Work Hard, Play Hard, and Give Back - A Real Estate Podcast

S1E8 - Designing Success with Top Producer Valerie Rosenblatt

• Coldwell Banker American Homes • Season 1 • Episode 8

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Valerie Rosenblatt, a top agent at Coldwell Banker American Homes, shares her inspiring journey from an art and design major to a powerhouse in real estate. Valerie opens up about the grit and dedication required to excel in the industry, debunking the myth of real estate as an easy career. Listen as she details her relentless pursuit of market trends from Queens to Montauk and her strategic insights into breaking into new construction through trust and relationship-building with builders.

Unlock the secrets of luxury real estate design trends and discover how staging can transform property presentation and sales. Valerie also highlights the innovative use of drones to enhance property showcases, particularly for upscale homes with lifestyle features like golf and boating. We dive into the unique challenges of new construction, from rising labor costs to evolving design preferences, emphasizing the growing trend of outdoor living spaces as vital extensions of indoor areas.

Join us as Valerie shares her personal journey of career transition, illustrating the parallels between teaching and real estate through stories of kindness, education, and collaboration. Her narrative is enriched with heartwarming anecdotes and industry insights, offering a fresh perspective on the value of communication and mentorship in building a successful career. This episode promises to leave you inspired with tales of gratitude, giving back, and finding one's true calling in the world of real estate.

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Mike Litzner:

Welcome to the Work Hard, play Hard and Give Back a real estate podcast. I'm Mike Litzner, broker owner of Colwell Banker American Homes, and we're here at the studio at American Homes in Smithtown and I have the pleasure of having as our guest today Valerie Rosenblatt. I have the pleasure of having as our guest today Valerie Rosenblatt. Valerie's a great agent, not just a top agent, but a great agent in the Syosset Woodbury marketplace in our Syosset location. Valerie also finished in the top 1.5% of CoWheel Banker agents nationwide. So, valerie, welcome to the show.

Valerie Rosenblatt:

Thank you so much. All right, nice introduction.

Mike Litzner:

There we go. Well, you deserve nothing less. So, valerie, being a top agent, how do you maintain such high standards in your business? I know you're really detail-oriented and you take a lot of pride in your work. Being a top agent is no simple feat. So how does an agent achieve and maintain those standards?

Valerie Rosenblatt:

I think consistency, achieve and maintain those standards. I think consistency. So, being a realtor, in general, many people could look at it as a part-time job or a full-time job. For me it's a full-time job. So every morning I make my coffee, I look at the markets, I look at what's sold, what's pending, what's coming on, but all over, not just where I am, but from Queens to Montauk. So I think keeping yourself aware of what's going on in the marketplace is the first step.

Mike Litzner:

You know, isn't it interesting? I think the average consumer looks at a real estate agent and is like, oh, they showed me a house. You know, this doesn't look difficult, and yet what they don't see is the countless hours of research and time invested in understanding the nuances of a market, from school districts to traffic patterns that buyers or consumers are going to be navigating. It's a lot of work.

Valerie Rosenblatt:

That is true, because if you just look at it as I'm just going to sell this house, you're never going to grow your business. So it's like any other profession. You have to sell this house. You're never going to grow your business. So it's like any other profession. You have to study, yes, so you have to study what you're selling. What am I selling? Who am I selling it to? Who are the buyers? What are the demographics? What's needed here? Where else could I bring someone? It's all studying, yes, so for me there's really no downtime. Yeah, I start at seven, okay, and I finished whenever that is 10 o'clock, it's all studying.

Valerie Rosenblatt:

Yes, so for me there's really no downtime. Yeah, I start at 7.

Mike Litzner:

Okay.

Valerie Rosenblatt:

And I finish whenever that is 10 o'clock. It could be any time, yeah.

Mike Litzner:

A lot of time put in, so how?

Valerie Rosenblatt:

did you get?

Mike Litzner:

into real estate in the first place.

Valerie Rosenblatt:

I had my kids going to college, okay, and I was petrified of being an empty nester and I didn't know what I was going to do with myself and I always loved homes. So I studied as an art major and a design major and I knew that I loved houses and I liked looking at houses and, like everyone else, I love looking at house magazines and I thought I think I can do this. Yeah, so I got my license and then I didn't know what to do with it and I felt how am I going to get my first listing? What am I going to do? And I door knocked neighborhood after neighborhood until someone would have me go in their kitchen and I could actually sit down with them, and that's how I got my first listing.

Mike Litzner:

Okay, fundamentals, come back into play. It does.

Valerie Rosenblatt:

And it's funny because it was three blocks away from where I was living. Yeah. And then that listing I then parlayed into buyers that came to the listing Right and then people in the neighborhood knew, oh, she did a really nice job and then from there I got more work.

Mike Litzner:

You started to grow. Yeah, I'm often asked. Obviously, you know, having been in real estate really my whole adult life and being in a brokerage position, you know it's like people watch HGTV and it's like, oh, I love houses, you know, and I feel like I could be a great agent. And having that design background, having that love of houses, doesn't always translate over, because there's a missing factor here which you just touched on it's that willingness to do the things they don't show you on HGTV. It's, you know, pounding the pavement and reaching and getting your name out there, building your own reputation.

Valerie Rosenblatt:

Well, it's also building a brand. Yes, so I have Caldwell Banker behind me, but I also have myself. Yes, and I'm the vehicle that people want to work with Correct. So I believe an agent is only as good as they want to be. Yeah, if I work for any other brokerage, I'd still be successful. Yes, I like Caldwell Banker because I really love the people. That's really what keeps me here. Is I like everyone's genuine yes, and I don't see that very much out there, so that's what keeps me here.

Mike Litzner:

Yeah, no, that's great.

Valerie Rosenblatt:

In terms of work for me, for design. When I wanted to get into what I do, which is mostly new construction, I met builders over the course of a year and a half trying to get them to trust me, to believe I knew what I was doing, and it was very, very difficult. I finally broke through and now I have eight builders that I work with.

Mike Litzner:

I'm glad you brought this, because this is where I wanted to go, and that's where the boots on the ground, which is a great expression, I love that expression.

Valerie Rosenblatt:

And it really was boots on the ground, because I kept meeting people and they said well, you know, you don't have enough experience. Next, and then I finally met someone and then I said this is what I see here on this particular lot Knock the house down, this is what I see. And they went with my vision and they realized she's good at this. Yeah, and that's how it began.

Mike Litzner:

So tell us a little bit more about the design background. So you know you're artistic, you have a design background. Where did you go to college?

Valerie Rosenblatt:

I went to NYU.

Mike Litzner:

Okay, you majored in.

Valerie Rosenblatt:

Art history and design.

Mike Litzner:

Okay. Now when you say design, what does that mean for the layperson out there when someone takes design?

Valerie Rosenblatt:

Design is how things will coordinate in a space, whether it's outdoor, indoor. Design is also with art, how art works off a room or works off other pieces of art. Yeah, and I think it's something you naturally have within you, that you crave, that you want to do. When you walk into a space, my natural instinct is to want to reorganize it and give it a better flow, give it a nice walkway, put art in different pieces of the room. That's just something that's in me. Other people could walk into a space and not care, and you see that when you go into a listing Some listings when you walk into them you could see the agent really took the time to rearrange the furniture, maybe put fresh flowers out, stage, stage it a little bit, and then other agents there could be a whole array of nonsense going on. So that's the design aspect of things. You know where.

Mike Litzner:

I see, from my vantage point, the staging making a huge difference, especially the way business is done today as opposed to maybe 20 years ago. Photographs Could you walk our audience through what it looks like? You know the photographer, the staging, what type of packages? So?

Valerie Rosenblatt:

the first thing I'll tell my seller is that please be aware I will be moving your furniture around.

Mike Litzner:

Does that always go over well?

Valerie Rosenblatt:

No, but they let me do it. But that's the first thing I'll always say is your house isn't going to look the same because I'm going to be moving furniture. I'm going to be taking things out of the room. I'm going to be moving your couch because I will edit each photograph the photographer takes. So if I don't like how the photograph looks, I'll move the furniture and I'll have the pictures taken over again, Because that's really the first door to a buyer looking at your home. That's the window. The picture's online.

Mike Litzner:

Yeah, exactly.

Valerie Rosenblatt:

So that's your first step. So you have to realize you may have been in this house many times, but to that buyer that's their first meet and greet, so to speak. So the pictures have to look crisp. I'm all about the crisp picture.

Mike Litzner:

Yeah, are you a big fan of, you know, drones, night vision.

Valerie Rosenblatt:

I love drones if they're appropriate. Night pictures not a fan.

Mike Litzner:

Okay, why? What's the why behind that?

Valerie Rosenblatt:

I just think that they could be edited a little too heavily with light, and that may not really be the light that's there at night. So what I will always tell people is drive by the house at night and actually see what it looks like.

Mike Litzner:

Okay, yeah, it's a better indication of what they're actually getting. Right, right, all right, good.

Valerie Rosenblatt:

But I love drones.

Mike Litzner:

You do.

Valerie Rosenblatt:

I love drones. Yeah, yeah.

Mike Litzner:

Now the effect on drones is that based on maybe a price point. I know your average sales price is well above average from the industry. Right, do you want to share what the average sales price For me.

Valerie Rosenblatt:

My average sales price you personally yeah. Way over a million. Yeah, yeah.

Mike Litzner:

Is it over two yet or?

Valerie Rosenblatt:

Yeah.

Mike Litzner:

Okay, yeah, so do you approach a multimillion dollar property as an agent? You know from a sales point of view, different than you approach a 500 or 700?

Valerie Rosenblatt:

You really have to, Because the buyers that are coming in say, for a home, anywhere from two, five to 10 million. It's lifestyle. Yeah.

Valerie Rosenblatt:

So they have to know that the lifestyle they want they can achieve in that area, whether it's golf or shopping or boating, whatever it is they may want. So those things always have to be highlighted. In terms of drones, you want to always feature the property. So if I have a home on a 60 by 100 lot, the drone isn't really going to work because I'm going to get everybody else's house in there too and I don't want that. So, on properties half acre or more, that's usually my starting point for a drone.

Mike Litzner:

Okay, good, good. Now again the emphasis. I know, in the unique market you've been able to carve in new construction. Is it in a specific area and price points? Or is that just because the cost of land is so expensive on Long Island that all new construction is at a higher price point? What do you see is going on in that market?

Valerie Rosenblatt:

So for new construction, it's more about material cost and labor cost. So for the builders builders the material cost has leveled out since covid, yeah, but the labor cost has increased exponentially, yeah. So what has happened for them is they have to have so many projects going on at one time to fulfill the obligation they have with the, with the contractors for framing, for electric, for plumbing, otherwise they move on to other jobs, right? So that's where the cost is really coming. It's labor, okay, more than materials right now, okay.

Mike Litzner:

Now in new construction, what's the hot new feature, especially in the upper price range? Is there a hot new feature that they're all looking for, that you're coaching your builders to consider, including, I think?

Valerie Rosenblatt:

that the hot new feature is outdoor living space. So years ago you'd have a nice backyard with a pool and a barbecue and it was a great day. You're having people over popping open a beer or a great seltzer and you're having a great time. Now it's really become an extension of the home. Now it's really become an extension of the home. And it's funny because on my way here I had sold a home to a really lovely family nearby and he called me up and he said, val, will you design an outdoor space for me?

Mike Litzner:

Really.

Valerie Rosenblatt:

It's funny On the way here. Yeah, and I said sure. I said, do you want an outdoor room? I said, do you want a pool? Do you want a cooking area? Yeah, I want all of it.

Mike Litzner:

Really.

Valerie Rosenblatt:

Because people don't want to entertain as much in their home as out of their home, and in many cultures you only entertain outside of your home.

Mike Litzner:

Really Okay.

Valerie Rosenblatt:

So this is becoming a new buildable aspect in a home where we will say you can have that outdoor living room with the fireplace set up for a flat screen TV, whatever it is you may want, and people can do it on a small scale as well. It's not just for a big home, correct, you can do it in any home, home so is it like the outdoor kitchen sinks refrigerator?

Mike Litzner:

is it the whole?

Valerie Rosenblatt:

thing you have a covered space. Yeah, that's an extension of the home. You might have a flat screen setup. You could have a fireplace couches beautiful, you know tiled area, people put rugs on them couches, it's that's the way to go right now, is there certain materials that are more popular?

Mike Litzner:

Is it like more stone? You go back 20 years and it was like decking and wood, but I don't think it's decking and wood anymore.

Valerie Rosenblatt:

It's not decking and wood, because some of the composite materials get very hot under your feet, so if you put them down you really have to be careful. So it's more natural materials that people are leaning into.

Mike Litzner:

Okay, so the stones you're seeing pavers, even granite or quartz.

Valerie Rosenblatt:

Quartz is very popular. Yeah, yeah, quartz is very popular Even on the outdoor. Yeah, they'll put it anywhere.

Mike Litzner:

How hands-on are you with the builders in actually developing their plans? I mean, you've got the architects that are in there, that are.

Valerie Rosenblatt:

Well, on many occasions I actually sit with the builders and we design the house together.

Mike Litzner:

Okay With the architect.

Valerie Rosenblatt:

No, so I'll sit with the builder. I have a vision of what I would like to see built based on the conversations I'm having with buyers. I'm hearing what buyers are now looking for, what do they really want, and I'll sit down with the builder. They have their own CAD cam on the computer and then they'll take the drawings that we're doing together and that goes to the architect.

Mike Litzner:

So you're giving the architect the vision. And then they got to put the sticks and bricks together.

Valerie Rosenblatt:

The architect will write it up. You know supporting walls, you know beams setbacks, things like that, but the plans are actually coming from myself and the builder.

Mike Litzner:

Interesting Now when you're dealing with a buyer clientele at that level again, people coming in 2 million, 3 million, 4 million how much aftermarket customization will a builder allow for?

Valerie Rosenblatt:

My particular builders. It's unlimited.

Mike Litzner:

Really.

Valerie Rosenblatt:

Yeah, it's whatever you want.

Mike Litzner:

Ask and you shall receive. Yeah, yeah, it's negotiating the price. It's pretty much whatever you want.

Valerie Rosenblatt:

If a home is large enough, you want an elevator, we can do that. Yeah. You want a special custom inlay? We can do that. We never say no.

Mike Litzner:

Wow, there you go. I like that. I like that. You have a slogan, correct. Do you want to share your slogan with everyone?

Valerie Rosenblatt:

Oh, your goals are my number one priority.

Mike Litzner:

Yes, exactly See, I remember hearing that.

Valerie Rosenblatt:

That's my slogan.

Mike Litzner:

So how do you ensure that you balance your clients' needs with the often fast-paced, high-pressure environment of real estate?

Valerie Rosenblatt:

I always put them first. I never put myself first ever in a transaction. I'll always do what's best for them, what they need, because that's my business, it's a lot referral. Yeah. And people will say, oh, you know, she really did the best thing for us, because you're putting people in a home. That's where they're going to make their memories, their future. I look at it as if I'm helping someone get started with a new phase of their life, so I always put them first, yeah.

Mike Litzner:

Yeah, good, it's funny. It's a common theme that I often hear from successful agents. It's the focus on the client and helping instead of selling.

Valerie Rosenblatt:

It's funny because selling is never in the forefront. For me, it's always about meeting people, making relationships, sometimes along the way, making a friend out of that relationship, and the selling is a byproduct of that. I've never gone out and said, oh, I'm going to do this much business and I'm going to sell this. That was never even a thought for me. I think it's a very organic process where if you're genuine and you're there to actually help someone move forward in their life, they're going to want to work with you. I've turned people away that I felt shouldn't be making a move.

Mike Litzner:

Okay.

Valerie Rosenblatt:

I've discouraged sellers because I just I have to sleep at night, yeah, so if I really feel in my gut this is not the right thing, I will try to let people wait or go in a different direction and try to help them do the right thing for themselves, because the worst thing is to have people overspend in a new construction situation and it gets very difficult. So it's always best to put people on the right path.

Mike Litzner:

Now I assume that, based on the price points, that most of your purchasers in the new construction field are, move-up buyers, like first-time home buyer, doesn't typically come in and spend two, three, four million.

Valerie Rosenblatt:

Well, they are if they're coming from New York City. So a lot of them may be renting. Okay. And they've put money away and now they're ready to build. Okay, Other times family is helping them to buy and build. People pivot within areas. They might live in one area and their proximity to this other neighborhood and they'll move up that way. Right right, it's always different.

Mike Litzner:

Right, it's always different when someone has to sell in order to buy. How do you coach them through that?

Valerie Rosenblatt:

For new construction. They will have a window.

Mike Litzner:

Yeah.

Valerie Rosenblatt:

And if they don't meet that window, then we have to terminate the transaction. Okay, because the window for new construction is anywhere from 14 to 18 months and we can't build it?

Mike Litzner:

From what point? From the building permit issue.

Valerie Rosenblatt:

From foundation dig.

Mike Litzner:

From breaking ground.

Valerie Rosenblatt:

From foundation dig Okay. And we can't build a custom home knowing that maybe they can't close the transaction.

Mike Litzner:

Right, right. So it's obviously not common for it to be contingency sales. It's usually never yeah contingency sales.

Valerie Rosenblatt:

It's usually never. Most new construction is never contingent because you are building specifically your taste. What if you wanted a purple kitchen and that's what you dreamed of?

Mike Litzner:

Have you seen that before?

Valerie Rosenblatt:

I've seen some different kinds of kitchens. I've seen all colored countertops and things, but then how am I going to turn around and sell that? That's the problem. So we have to know that you're committed committed to the project.

Mike Litzner:

Yeah how, how um difficult is for the builders to meet those deadlines. If they're, they give a window. What happens if the builder doesn't meet the deadline? Is we always meet?

Valerie Rosenblatt:

we always meet the deadline. It's the buyers that get stuck in choices. Yeah, that will delay your project. Okay, that's, that is 100. What always happens yeah so if you tell a buyer you can go to this particular vendor and pick out a countertop. They're in a candy store yeah and we have to pull back a little and say you've got two weeks to do this, so we're always on time so outside of countertops you got stone, you have tiles you have the outside material.

Valerie Rosenblatt:

You could have vinyl, you could have hardy plank, you could have stone, you could have brick, you could have limestone yeah, it goes on and on. And then we talk about colors, yeah, and then we talk about mixing materials.

Mike Litzner:

So what about windows?

Valerie Rosenblatt:

you can have any kind of window you want. You know it goes on, and on, and on so how?

Mike Litzner:

how involved in that process do you get as the agent? Are you helping them, or is that really the more on the builder at that point, who's holding the hands and the builder resource.

Valerie Rosenblatt:

The builder holds the hands a lot, but if they're stuck I'll pick it up and try to help that buyer make a decision. Okay. Because sometimes they're just overwhelmed with choices.

Mike Litzner:

I haven't built the house that I'm in now. I do understand that it gets a little overwhelming.

Valerie Rosenblatt:

You get overwhelmed, yeah, and I always will revert back and say go basic. Yeah. Don't get too heavy caught up in the design because you might get tired of it. Yeah, don't get too heavy caught up in the design because you might get tired of it. So if you stick with the basic design, you can always embellish it with furniture paint, molding, things like that?

Mike Litzner:

No, that makes perfect sense. We have a big agent population that follows our podcast.

Valerie Rosenblatt:

Is there any advice you'd give an agent who is trying to break into the new construction market? It's very difficult right now because to try and get property is a challenge. Yeah, years ago, if a home was less desirable, the builders could come in and pick it up for pennies on the dollar. Right now, the end user will pick it up and renovate it, and that's where the problem is coming in is that the competition for the property is very difficult. So I've been leaning into the short sale market for them to try and get properties that way, because once they hit MLS it's impossible. The margins aren't there anymore.

Mike Litzner:

Right, right, let's face it, it's a business. They need to make their margins. Yeah, the margins aren't there, right right.

Valerie Rosenblatt:

Let's face it, it's a business they need to make their margins.

Mike Litzner:

Yeah, the margins aren't there, it's too much. Yeah they have a lot of overhead and running. You know to build properly.

Valerie Rosenblatt:

And money costs money.

Mike Litzner:

Yeah.

Valerie Rosenblatt:

You know you have interest on money, you know carrying charges, you're going to be paying taxes and you know other fees on this until you sell it. Yeah sell it. Yeah, so it's. It's a. It's more difficult. If people wanted to do it, I would say they would have to push out east a bit okay, where the markets are starting to.

Mike Litzner:

So for our audience that that's local, they understand the that new york market is very developed and is very little, very little available land, and many times the land that is uh, becoming available is reclaimed, so to speak, yes, and re-gentrified, so to speak. So where if? If you're in north carolina, sometimes they're taking over? You know, you got, you still got the room for the expansion or what have you.

Valerie Rosenblatt:

So I was on the phone this morning with someone and we were talking and they said I'm starting to go to South Carolina with a builder down there and buy and flip because I can't do it up here anymore because the market's so difficult, and he's already done six of them.

Mike Litzner:

In South Carolina.

Valerie Rosenblatt:

Yeah, Really yeah, six of them and made a nice profit on each one. Yeah. So people that live on the island tend to think you know, we're the center of the universe. And it's natural, because we really do believe we are, yes, yes, we're New Yorkers.

Mike Litzner:

We're New Yorkers, but there are many places in our vicinity where people are moving, where there's great opportunity to build, to renovate and to do flips as well so if you had a buyer who's wanted new construction out of you know, but in a different state, do you have builders that will work with them in different states?

Valerie Rosenblatt:

well, what I would do is I would look for caldwell banker office in that area. Yeah, we have a great network though and that's really where I would start okay to be honest with you. I would go that route first and see if there would be a new construction specialist that I could speak with in that area.

Mike Litzner:

Okay, awesome.

Valerie Rosenblatt:

Try to keep it in the family.

Mike Litzner:

Yeah, awesome, that sounds great. So, val, let's talk about life before real estate. What does that look like for Valerie Rosenblatt?

Valerie Rosenblatt:

So life before real estate buckle up it's a very long ride. Life Before Real Estate what does that look like for Valerie Rosenblatt? So Life Before Real Estate Buckle up it's a very long ride. I graduated school and I started working at Sotheby Park, bernet, which is the auction house, and I worked there for a while and I worked on provenance, which is the history of the pieces that would then go to auction, and I loved that. But I felt very confined in the city. I wasn't really a city person. So then I went for my master's in education.

Valerie Rosenblatt:

Okay, after I got that master's I wound up teaching in district 26 in the gifted and talented program. That was my first position and I taught there for many years and actually wrote some of the curriculum for the Gifted and Talented children in the program for the City of New York. So at that time that was just the beginning of programs like that. Before that there were pull-out programs, which still exist in many schools. Now that was the first magnet program and what that means is that it's a core group of children that travel together from K to six. So while I was there I would teach the same children, maybe several times, because at that time there weren't many teachers that were ready for that. At that time there weren't many teachers that were ready for that, and I designed a lot of curriculum, did things very out of the box, which is pretty much my nature.

Mike Litzner:

Yeah, you want to give an example of that.

Valerie Rosenblatt:

So I believed when I was teaching that the best way to learn was thematically. So, for example, if the curriculum is ancient history, everything that we're doing is ancient history. We're reading about ancient history, we're writing about it, we're learning the math of the time, the writers of the time, we're trying to replicate the art of the time in that full immersion. And that's pretty much, I think from my design and art background. Yeah, I felt that was the best way you could learn is just fully immerse yourself in that particular topic so did you pull out an abacus and oh, all kinds of stuff, sure sure, when we did the renaissance, yeah, we were making crests and we were out in the yard.

Valerie Rosenblatt:

I remember burning the edges and I probably was reprimanded for that by my principal because, I wanted it to look authentic, but that was a good part of me for many, many years, for many years.

Mike Litzner:

So what made you pivot out of teaching?

Valerie Rosenblatt:

I was married and became pregnant with my children, and my son was a little sick when he was born and I had to stay home.

Mike Litzner:

Okay, so that's a strong motivation, yeah.

Valerie Rosenblatt:

And that was the reason why I had to leave. Okay, and grown and great. Now I have a boy and a girl and they're great, but at the time it was just I couldn't leave them with someone I didn't know. Yeah, yeah.

Mike Litzner:

So when they got to a certain age time, it was just I couldn't leave them with someone I didn't know. Yeah, yeah, so when they got to a certain age, I assume, then at a certain point it was Valerie time again it was Valerie time.

Valerie Rosenblatt:

Again, I did help my husband with his business. He had a software business at home and I did work with him at home to grow the business. And then when I knew the kids were leaving, as I said, I had great fear of being an empty nester and at that point I felt very insecure with myself because I had been out of the workforce for so long. I didn't really know how I could compete with young people and where was I really going to fit in. And I just found that real estate in general is very welcoming Any age it doesn't really matter, it's a very welcoming industry. And I found my home. Honestly, I found my place again.

Mike Litzner:

You know they say teachers actually make very good real estate agents, and the reason they say that is obviously the communication skills translate over and, to a certain extent, as an agent, if you're doing the job the correct way, you're educating your client, whether it be the seller and how to bring it to market, or your buyer and how to navigate the open marketplace.

Valerie Rosenblatt:

It's funny you said that because I have been told on many appointments should I sit at my desk right now and I never understood why. But it's just trying to educate people and let them make a correct decision.

Mike Litzner:

Correct. It's very important for me. That makes sense. Yeah, that makes sense. All right, cool, that's great. I didn't know that about you, so it's interesting to get that.

Valerie Rosenblatt:

Yeah, that's where that came from and I still think I'm that person. Yes, I think I'm always that teacher yes.

Mike Litzner:

Perfect. You're well known and well respected in the real estate community and stuff you know, so tell me what's what it's like to be part of Valerie's network of of realtor friends.

Valerie Rosenblatt:

Part of my network of realtor friends. So for me, the industry is about everyone getting along. I'm a big proponent of we're all in this together, but in the real sense of it. So when I started the business, I always tried to imagine myself on the other side of the transaction. How are they viewing me? How are they looking at me? How is this agent looking at me? And I always felt it was important to be respectful of the other agent's journey as well as mine. As a new agent, I didn't know much and I was doing transactions with very seasoned agents, and it's a very difficult thing to do so. For me, it was always about making relationships with the agent on the other side of the table, sometimes more so than anyone else in the transaction, because I always felt I don't know where in my life I'm going to meet them again and if I'm in a situation where I'm giving them an offer, maybe they'll remember it was easy.

Valerie Rosenblatt:

Maybe they'll remember how professional it was, and I kept doing that, and I'm not of the belief that my company is better than your company. I don't really believe that. I believe every agent finds their home in their company and all agents work very hard. Yes, so it's always about maintaining that level of respect for each other. Yes, I don't see it a lot. I wish I saw it more.

Mike Litzner:

Yeah Well, it's a highly competitive business at the same time, and it's a matter of balancing that competitive nature with. I think, good common sense and moral ethics.

Valerie Rosenblatt:

But people can be competitive and nice. Yes, you don't have to be hurtful, you don't have to be cutthroat, you can be competitive, but stay in your lane and be respectful of people 100%, and that, for me, was really how I became an agent's agent, if there's such a term.

Mike Litzner:

Okay, agent-friendly.

Valerie Rosenblatt:

Agent-friendly, where many times agents, when they get a listing, will call me and say, val, I have this listing, do you have anybody? And I'll say, well, don't you want to put it out to MLS? Well, we do. But we'd rather work with you because I try to make it easy for everyone. Make this a nice transaction.

Mike Litzner:

I think this is wonderful advice to give to new and aspiring new agents. To follow Agents should not overlook that piece of advice you just gave.

Valerie Rosenblatt:

It's very important and I'll tell you a funny story. Okay, so during COVID, everyone was running around hoarding toilet paper, paper, towels, soap, whatever you could find, and a very good agent, friend of mine, who's the manager of a very large office yeah, not mentioning any names all good was talking to me and said I have no toilet paper.

Valerie Rosenblatt:

I don't know what to do. I said are you going to be in your office for the next half hour? She said yes. I said I'll be back because I remembered I was at a supermarket and I saw a lot of toilet paper.

Mike Litzner:

So you didn't bring her a bag of dried leaves or anything, no, I ran back to the supermarket and I got her as much toilet paper as I could. Yeah.

Valerie Rosenblatt:

And I called her and I said come on out to my car. And she was speechless. And she said you don't even work for my company. I said but what does that have to?

Mike Litzner:

do with anything, still a human.

Valerie Rosenblatt:

You needed this and we're friends. And to this day she will say no one's ever done that for me and it's just going that little extra to just show that you're a person. People sometimes have good days, they have bad days, agents have good days and bad days, and sometimes you just need someone there to say I got you. Yeah, this is okay. We don't have to work for the same company.

Mike Litzner:

No no.

Valerie Rosenblatt:

I'm there for you, and that's the difference. I think it's very important.

Mike Litzner:

Love that story. Love that story. It's my toilet paper story. So let me ask you this if you know, having been an agent up and coming and you've dealt with some of these seasoned agents before, was there anybody that was a mentor or took some type of you know, attention? You didn't have that person that jumped out. No, how did you put their arm around?

Valerie Rosenblatt:

I made so many mistakes I did so many mistakes, I did so many things wrong that I was skeptical in the beginning if I had the ability to pull this off and I actually kept a journal of all my mistakes. Really.

Valerie Rosenblatt:

I did because I didn't really have anyone to guide me as to how this business worked and I had a journal. I really did and I would write notes in it. Don't do this again. This was really, you know. This was better. Think about it this way and I guided myself through how I was going to mold my business and mold myself as an agent. I wasn't with Caldwell Banker at the time, so that's part of the reason where Caldwell is a very mentoring company, yes, but where I had started it wasn't, so I was pretty much on my own.

Mike Litzner:

Yeah, interesting, all right Well.

Valerie Rosenblatt:

And I'm all about the journaling for new agents. Okay. I think it's very important to write down what you're doing, what works, what doesn't work, and if you really look at that, you'll find your footing.

Mike Litzner:

Yeah, it does take a while or a certain amount of experience to find your legs, so to speak.

Valerie Rosenblatt:

It does, it really does, it really does.

Mike Litzner:

So I think new agents have to factor that in Again. They make it look sexy on HGTV, and yet there's a lot of unsexy things that we have to do.

Valerie Rosenblatt:

I think real estate is a very attractive field, but you have to treat it as a full-time job.

Mike Litzner:

Yes, as a business.

Valerie Rosenblatt:

It is a business.

Mike Litzner:

Yeah.

Valerie Rosenblatt:

It is a business.

Mike Litzner:

Yeah, they say, if you look at it as an agent, you're in business for yourself, but not necessarily by yourself. If you're with the right broker, you're not by yourself.

Valerie Rosenblatt:

Right. If you're with the right broker, you're not by yourself, and if you're with the wrong broker, it can break you. Yeah, and I did get to a point where I was very broken and very devastated at the industry. And the truth is and I'm not just saying it because I work for Caldwell when I came to Caldwell Banker I could breathe. Yeah.

Valerie Rosenblatt:

And my business started growing exponentially. Yeah, because I felt the space and the ability to just be who I was, and also a big part of it is that the managers are non-compete. Yes, so I had been working in situations where the managers were, and it was not good for me.

Mike Litzner:

No.

Valerie Rosenblatt:

It was very difficult.

Mike Litzner:

Being a top agent is a full-time job and being a manager, and doing it correctly, is a full-time job. You can't really do two full-time jobs effectively.

Valerie Rosenblatt:

You can't do both and having a manager and Leslie is my manager and I love her.

Mike Litzner:

She's great people she's wonderful. Yeah.

Valerie Rosenblatt:

And having someone that's always there makes the difference. Yes exactly, and that did change my business.

Mike Litzner:

Yeah Well, you don't want someone who's going to micromanage you. No, no, you need to know that someone's going to be there when you— when you need it. Especially as you're more and more experienced. You can figure a lot of stuff out, but every once in a while you need that sounding board right.

Valerie Rosenblatt:

You definitely do. Yeah, and no one's an island unto themselves. No, nor should they be In this business. I still learn something all the time. Yeah. I'm always and I'm always saying, wow, I didn't know that. I'm always learning something.

Mike Litzner:

And just when you think you have it down, they keep changing.

Valerie Rosenblatt:

Oh, you never have it down. You never have it down.

Mike Litzner:

You never have it down.

Valerie Rosenblatt:

It's always changing. But for new agents, I would honestly say, make it a point of meeting other agents, even if you don't have a buyer for something. Go to their open house, say hello, introduce yourself, check out a property, preview it, just so you know what's out there and you're meeting people.

Mike Litzner:

Yes.

Valerie Rosenblatt:

Because many agents are leering about doing deals with agents that have no experience. So if you can get out there and meet people, even if it's not with a buyer by your side, you're still networking. Yes exactly, and that's what's really important.

Mike Litzner:

That's a great piece of advice. So, valerie, just to pivot a little bit now and get a little more of the personal side of Valerie Rosenblatt, can you share a non-real estate interest of yours?

Valerie Rosenblatt:

Non-real estate interest of mine. That's a tough one, but if I have to, I love to cook.

Mike Litzner:

My background is Italian, so the kitchen is a very important place for me. Do you have a go-to dish or recipe?

Valerie Rosenblatt:

I love vegetable dishes. Place for me. Do you have a go-to dish or recipe? I love vegetable dishes. Okay, I love going to farmer's markets looking for new places where I can buy local produce. I love local produce.

Mike Litzner:

What's your best recipe?

Valerie Rosenblatt:

Stuffed zucchini.

Mike Litzner:

Okay, yeah, yeah.

Valerie Rosenblatt:

It's a favorite.

Mike Litzner:

It's a family favorite. Is it baked?

Valerie Rosenblatt:

Actually, the joke in my family is that I can make anything on a barbecue okay anything, anything. I can make it on a barbecue there you go I can make french toast on a barbecue. I can make eggs on it, I can make anything on a barbecue.

Mike Litzner:

So it's made on a barbecue, okay all right, I'm gonna have to, you know, report back to our audience. We're to have to have some stuffed zucchini in the future. I love cooking on the barbecue. I'll have to let our audience know if the recipe is worth it. Yeah, it's the best. No, it's awesome, it's the best. Would you be willing to share a funny story?

Valerie Rosenblatt:

I will share the story you're going for. I will share that story. It was a COVID story. Ah, okay.

Valerie Rosenblatt:

So again we go back to COVID. It was a very stressful time for everyone. Yes, that's true, and I feel, we saw the best of people and we saw the worst of people during COVID. Some people rose to the occasion, some people didn't, in terms of just how we would treat each other. Yeah, and when COVID was happening and everyone was stocking their pantries, I had a very strange notion of what should be going in my pantry.

Mike Litzner:

Most people- might be putting in canned vegetables or soups. Toilet paper Toilet paper.

Valerie Rosenblatt:

I seem to think that it should only be cake mix.

Valerie Rosenblatt:

Cake mix, only cake mix, and I really didn't know why, but every time I would go out if I saw cake mix, I would pick, pick it up. So, as we all have in our cabinets, you keep pushing things into the cabinet, you push it into the cabinet and then you put things in front and you forget what's behind. So about eight months ago, my, my kids, were home and they said I think we should clean out your bunker downstairs is that what you call it I? Called it the bunker.

Valerie Rosenblatt:

He said there's a lot of stuff and we think a lot of it's expired. So I said, yeah, yeah, you guys go have some fun. You know, whatever you see, if you don't think it's good, you could throw it out. And my children are very organic, clean eating the whole thing. So my son comes up and he says Mom, we have to talk. So I said what did I do now?

Mike Litzner:

You think we have a problem?

Valerie Rosenblatt:

I'm always doing something. What did I do now? He said what's with the 50 boxes of cake mix in the basement? He said what were you thinking? I said, honestly, I have no idea. But for me, cake and a warm cup of coffee, or a muffin and a cup of tea, I thought would have been a very soothing, relaxing thing to have during COVID. I never got to it because there were so many other things going on. I actually worked right through COVID yeah yeah, I worked.

Mike Litzner:

I never took a break no time for cake there was no time for cake, but yet you kept buying the mix, I kept buying more cake mix, thinking I was going to make it and there was no time for cake.

Valerie Rosenblatt:

And at that time many agents, as you know, we were double and triple masked. Yeah. And we were out there working yes, and I was one of them, so there was no time for cake.

Mike Litzner:

Yeah, no time for cake. Yeah, no time for cake. There was no time for cake. That's awesome, but of all the things to stock up on, water.

Valerie Rosenblatt:

It was an unusual choice. Yeah, I admit it to this day it was a very unusual choice. Now it's become pancake mix.

Mike Litzner:

Yeah.

Valerie Rosenblatt:

I've pivoted to pancake mix.

Mike Litzner:

I don't know if that's any better or not, it's not better.

Valerie Rosenblatt:

No, no, no no.

Mike Litzner:

So do you have any what you'd consider quirky habits that you'd like to share with our audience?

Valerie Rosenblatt:

I'm addicted to Post-its.

Mike Litzner:

Post-its.

Valerie Rosenblatt:

I love Post-its. Okay, at any given time, there'll be 10 Post-its on my desk. I love the idea of Post-its and I love Post-its when I can write what I have to do, and when I do, I can just have that great feeling of crumpling that post-it up and throwing it away. All right, this way you know you accomplish something. I love post-its. I think everyone should have post-its there we go realistically.

Mike Litzner:

If you had to say who's your biggest inspiration, you know who has influenced your life, maybe you know you're gonna get me very emotional okay my mom all right yeah she's not here any longer, all right?

Valerie Rosenblatt:

Well, sorry to hear that yes.

Mike Litzner:

So you want to share a mom story with our audience, so my mom was a very unusual woman.

Valerie Rosenblatt:

She was very simple. Okay, she gave me my love of the farm, the love of cooking things fresh, yeah, the love of being with your family. But she always told me one thing and I and I've imparted that to my children yeah, she said, in life you're going to meet a lot of people. Yeah, there are always going to be people with more. There are always going to be people with less. There are always going to be people that appear happier than you. There'll be people that appear less happy than you, she said, but it's always important to be happy with who you are.

Mike Litzner:

Yeah, the grass is never greener. Yeah, you know what I heard. The grass is greener where you water it.

Valerie Rosenblatt:

She said the grass is never greener. Yeah, don't ever look at what people have. Appreciate the journey that everyone takes and just love the journey that you have. And that's really how I live and that's really me in a nutshell. So I meet people that are extremely wealthy every day. I never look at them, it doesn't affect me, because I just go back to what she always said is just be happy with the journey you have. Yes, because the truth is most of us wouldn't change our lane for someone else's. Yes, we really wouldn't. No, you know we think we would, but if the choice were given to us, we really wouldn't.

Mike Litzner:

If you had to look at the whole picture, because I think what you touched on is you know, especially these days with social media, you get to see everyone's happy posts and everyone has challenges that they're dealing with and perfect words about, you know, just finding your own path and finding your own happiness.

Valerie Rosenblatt:

Finding your happiness on the path. I don't have an Instagram. I don't have any of those things.

Valerie Rosenblatt:

And people have said to me well, you know you have to have that, I don't have any of those things. And people have said to me well, you know you have to have that, I don't think you have to have it. If you're happy with doing that, that's great. That's not me, I don't have that. But for me, social media has become a problem for people in general because there's a fake portrayal of what happiness looks like Very materialistic instead of the organic. There's a lot of places you can get happiness. Yes.

Valerie Rosenblatt:

And making it all about material things. It's only going to last for so long. Yeah. I'm just as happy, honestly, going in my backyard and watching my honeybees. I had a whole family of honeybees over the summer and I could look at them all day and be happy. I didn't need to really do much of anything else. So you find happiness where you are, and that, for me, is everything in a nutshell.

Mike Litzner:

Your mother sounds like a special woman, yeah good. I want to pivot a little bit, and I think this is the perfect time to do this, because we always like to talk about. You know, giving back. So what does giving back mean to you? Can you share any stories you know, things you worked on or things that might be close to your heart?

Valerie Rosenblatt:

So giving back for me could have many layers to it. You could give back by helping another worker. You know someone working in the office that needs advice or needs help. That's a very basic level of giving back.

Valerie Rosenblatt:

Yeah, for me I had been doing some dog adoption years ago at the office yeah and then we did that for a few years and then there were issues with animals and people and we kind of had to stop doing that. But I still love that. And recently the office had a really beautiful fundraiser for some schools and I became involved in that as well and that was run by another person in the office and that goes back to my education background, where that's a very important thing for me. But giving back could be anything. It could be holding the door open for someone in a supermarket. It could be walking an elderly person to their car if they need it.

Mike Litzner:

You know, it seems to be lost. Art is, like you just said, holding the door and or like on a crowded bus or train, giving your seat up, you know, to an elderly person, sure, somebody who might not be, who might need it, need it.

Valerie Rosenblatt:

Yeah, see it up to an elderly person or somebody who might not be needed. If I see someone in a supermarket or a parking lot and they're having trouble unloading their groceries, I'll go over there and help them. I just think that's part of being human and, unfortunately, because everything in society has become so digitized and monetized, we forget that just a smile or being a good human.

Mike Litzner:

You don't need to take a selfie every time you do something nice.

Valerie Rosenblatt:

I don't think I've ever taken a selfie.

Mike Litzner:

I don't think I ever have, yeah, yeah.

Valerie Rosenblatt:

I never think about myself in terms of where I fit in the company. Right.

Valerie Rosenblatt:

Because my journey was not an easy one to get where I am and in the business, everybody has good years and bad years, yes. So I never like to think about what I do or how much I have under contract or how much I've closed, because that could change overnight. The business can change on a dime. So it's all about what I'm doing today. What am I doing today to try to insure myself for the next year? That's as far as I go. I never look at the bottom line. It happens, whatever it does, it's doing it, and I don't really think about it. No, you stay focused. It happens, yeah, whatever it does, it's doing it, and I don't really think about it.

Mike Litzner:

Good, no, you stay focused on what you.

Valerie Rosenblatt:

If I thought about that, I would become petrified. Yeah, because I say this year is a really good year for me. Yeah, and I may not have that year next year, right, you know, and I have to be okay with it, and I am okay with it, right, but I don't focus on it, right?

Mike Litzner:

Good, so please remember when you get a chance like subscribe. We appreciate your support of our podcast here. It's time for the drop the mic question. You have an extensive experience in home staging. Have you ever had a funny or unexpected moment happen during staging or a showing?

Valerie Rosenblatt:

I don't think I could talk about it now I want to hear it took a couple out looking at homes and, of course, the two most important rooms in the house or the master bath in the kitchen yes kitchen passed, it was great.

Valerie Rosenblatt:

We got to the master bath and there was something odd there and we couldn't quite figure it out. But there were two toilets next to each other. So we're thinking, well, maybe one's a bidet. On closer examination, there are two toilets next to each other. So I had said to the listing agent could you expand upon what this is? And the answer was is that the sellers enjoyed that experience together. At that point we could not control ourselves. Yeah, yeah. And to this day we still laugh about that story. It was very unique.

Mike Litzner:

I have yet to see that in the house.

Valerie Rosenblatt:

It was very unique, so those were drop the mic moments for me, because I'm supposed to be professional but I'm hysterically laughing and the my clients are laughing.

Mike Litzner:

We don't know even what, how to respond to this so of course the wise guy Amy wants to ask if the family that poops together, do they stay together?

Valerie Rosenblatt:

Well, we didn't make an offer on that house. So for all I know, it could still be there.

Mike Litzner:

Oh, that's great. That's great. Well, val, thank you so much for sharing all your wit and wisdom and experience with us today. I know the audience appreciates it and, most importantly, I appreciate you. So if anyone wants to reach out to Valerie Rosenblatt, whether it's doing real estate business or design, or has some questions on anything, how do they reach Valerie Rosenblatt?

Valerie Rosenblatt:

Well, first of all, I just want to say thank you for having me. I hope that whoever watches the podcast, I help them a little bit. If anybody needs any advice on real estate or cake mix or pancake mix, you can call me New construction. New construction pancake mix, preferably 516-238-7396.

Mike Litzner:

That's awesome. Thank you so much for being here today. Before we let you go, just remember again like subscribe and don't miss. The next episode drops in two weeks. Look forward to seeing you there. Thank you so much, val. Thank you.