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

S3E1 – Waterfront, Winning Bids & Work Ethic: Inside John Gandolfo’s 1,000+ Sales

• Coldwell Banker American Homes • Season 3 • Episode 1

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Top agent John Gandolfo joins host Mike Litzner to unpack the routines, product knowledge, and client care that power more than a thousand home sales. He shares the disciplined pipeline that turns leads into listings, contracts, closings—and lifelong referrals—plus the “bedside manner” that keeps transactions calm and informed. You’ll hear waterfront specifics (bulkheads, floating docks, ramps, tides), flood insurance realities, and why equal treatment at every price point matters. John also explains his luxury-grade marketing playbook—professional photography, floor plans, and twilight shoots—for every listing, not just high-end.

You’ll learn: a daily/weekly pipeline cadence; win-win negotiation principles while honoring fiduciary duty; how to sell benefits (not just rooms); navigating insurance and replacement-cost spikes; and setting one premier standard for all homes.
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SPEAKER_01:

Hey, we're here in Franklin Square at the studio at American Homes for the Work Hard, Play Hard, and Give Back a Real Estate podcast. Today, we have John Gandalf, top top agent at the Oceanside location of COWOL Banker American Homes. Welcome to the show, John.

SPEAKER_00:

Glad to be here, Mike.

SPEAKER_01:

Awesome, buddy. I'm so excited to have you here. We got a lot of great questions, a lot of things going on. Before we get into the the uh conversation, I just want to remind our audience if you like what we're doing here, make sure you like, subscribe, share, share our podcast any way possible. But remember to stay to the end for the drop the mic questions. Always the most fun part of the whole uh conversation. So um, John, you know, let me let me share with uh the audience a little bit of your background, besides being in the industry for 25 plus years, so obviously you're very experienced, one of the top ten agents in the entire company, your team leader for the Gandalf team, along with your wife and son Nick, which we'll talk a little bit about. But some of the achievements that uh you have had, and this is just some of them because we we don't have all day, so so we got some stuff. International Present, Premier Award winner, uh Safford County Certificate of Achievements, uh Nassau County uh uh Office of the Executive Citations, Quality Service Pinnacle Awards for Superior Performance, Outstanding Performance Production, over 300,000, many, many quality service awards, president's award for centurion, which includes quality service and pinnacle status, centurion producer, all in the same year. 2024 honoring our best top 1% worldwide, uh, from the New York Herald. I mean, I can go on all day, but you know, uh obviously your success in real estate and um achievements jump off the board, John. So I think our audience is going to be super excited to kind of hear your perspective on uh some of the industry topics out there. So let me kind of jump in with you, alright, John? Sure. With over a thousand houses sold, it's I mean that's a staggering accomplishment by itself. Can you pull back the curtain for our listeners? What is the negotiation or the non-negotiating, I should probably say, daily and weekly rituals that powers the level of sustained production that you bring and your team brings to the industry?

SPEAKER_00:

That's a real good question. I guess you get me off.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, you know what you're going to struggle with? It's a daily thing. So you're probably like, all right, what time in the morning are you getting up? How early are you just hitting it already?

SPEAKER_00:

So first thing in the morning, I have my cup of coffee, I'm in front of the computer, I'm looking at I'm checking my emails, I'm looking at offers, I'm following up with offers, um uh looking at marketing, scheduling new appointments, uh uh doing photo shoots on properties. Uh i it it's a constant effort. Um, you know, you have to.

SPEAKER_01:

This is all before 9 a.m. Oh yes, oh way before.

SPEAKER_00:

9 a.m. is lunchtime. So so so what it's about is in real estate you have a pipeline.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes.

SPEAKER_00:

So the pipeline starts with your leads, which you convert into appointments, right, which you convert into listings, which you convert into contracts, which you convert into closings. Right. So it's keeping a steady stream.

SPEAKER_01:

Which you convert into lifelong referrals.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, lifelong referrals and relationships. Because listen, it's not all about the numbers. Relationships are at the heart of what we do.

SPEAKER_01:

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00:

So people that we've sold houses to, people that we've sold their houses, they become our extended family, especially social media today. We watch people um get married, have babies, babies, communions, bot mitzvahs, bar mitzvahs.

SPEAKER_01:

How many uh families that you sold a house are now working with the kids now?

SPEAKER_00:

Oh, yeah, yeah, that too. And also we recruit some of them. Some of them will get their licenses later down the line and and get into real estate. But, you know, and then we watch their children get married and have babies, and and it's a cycle. So that's what's so great about social media, not to jump ahead because social media is another topic I'm sure you want to explore, but but that's what's so great about it because we see we're involved in people's lives. We're wishing them happy birthday, we're saying congratulations to whatever you know function they have, they're you know, uh happy anniversary, happy birthday. There's it's just one thing after another.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, you know it's interesting. So um to kind of come back to the the focus of the question, it's like you know, it's a daily and weekly rituals. What jumps out from my vantage point, not just you know, five feet across the table, but with our you know, having had a relationship over 20 years with you and having seen how you approach the business, it's the intense focus on the business as a business each and every day. From the moment you wake up, you go at it. You know, when an agent's telling me, like, how come I didn't know about that?

SPEAKER_00:

I mean, you know, it's your job to know about it. Right, right.

SPEAKER_01:

You know, there was emails out, there was this, and it's like, oh yeah, I don't read emails. I'm like, how do you not read emails? It's an intense focus, you know, what you said. I I wake up, I'm checking email, I'm looking at text, I'm I'm checking industry news all before my competition even wakes up. So it's that intense focus on succeeding that just burns through and separates you from an average agent, which is great.

SPEAKER_00:

Education is a big part of it. And people, you know, I've I've spoken to people and and they'll tell me I've been doing real estate for 25 years. Well, you're not been doing it, you've been doing it wrong for 25 years. So, you know, so it's about learning. As soon as I get in a business, I immerse myself into it. I wanted to learn everything about it. Within two years, I had a broker's license because I wanted to achieve the next level. Every training that was available to me, I I I took and and I consumed myself in the business. You know, it's it's it's a very serious matter when you represent somebody and you're selling their home.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, the biggest some of the big biggest financial decisions they make in their lifetimes.

SPEAKER_00:

And some people, it's it's the the largest asset, and and you want to treat it correctly. And then on the other side of it, uh obviously we have a fiduciary responsibility to our clients, which in my case is is sellers, okay? But we also have it. Right, right. The bulk of it is sellers. We do have some some buyer clients, but the other part of it is if a customer comes in, whether they are my customer or another agent's customer, you want to give them fair and honest treatment. Right. You want to do the right thing. You don't you you you want people to have a memorable real estate experience in a good way. I like it. In a good way. In a good way. Yes, exactly. Yes, because you could be memorable in a bad way. Right. Because we've had we've had people call us and say, listen, my listing's about to expire. I was with with another realtor for a long time and it was a horrible experience. And can you please meet meet with us? And we meet with them and we go over everything. When I sit down with somebody, I give them a marketing plan. In that marketing plan, it discusses every step of the way, including today, we're doing a comparative market analysis. Then we're gonna review paperwork, then we're gonna schedule photography. The house should be photo ready, one step after the other, from contract to closing, when we're doing a walkthrough, when the bank appraisal occurs, that I'm gonna show up, meet the bank appraiser, and furnish them with comps to substantiate the sale price on the house. So there are many things that I do from morning until night.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

And if it has to be seven days a week, so I take off when it's convenient to take off. Even when, incidentally, even when I'm on vacation, my phone is on and I'm working. Yeah, of course. Because you can't just shut the switch off because these people, this is their lives. Right. Okay? This is very important to them. So when somebody calls me at eight o'clock at night, i because they have a question, to all right, I understand why they're calling me. You know, I don't want them losing sleep over a certain issue, so I don't mind answering the phone and and going over it with them.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, you know what I love that you touched on? Um it's transaction management, essentially. You know, they're they're they're hiring you, and then while you're or they're deciding to hire you, actually on the listing appointment, they're trying to decide. It's like an interview, essentially. But you it's we used to term it uh a bedside manner. You know, we liken to if you went to a doctor and they were gonna give you a shot, if the doctor just walked in, looked at your chart, grabbed your arm and jabbed you with a with a needle, you go, Whoa, what are you doing? Right? But they don't. They come down and they introduce themselves and they say, Look, explain the procedure. Right, and they walk you through as a bedside manager. We're gonna numb it out first, yeah. Right, right, right, right. But that's exactly a little pinch. Right, right. But that's exactly what you're doing. You're walking them through the process because you your experience and you you took the time and you touched on super important from the beginning. Educated. You got educated about the process, and you're you've leaned into the business as a professional so you it can walk them through the process from day one so that they can see the path forward. So I love that approach to you know, it's a consultative approach to listing properties. So I think that's something very different than the average agent out there. So if there's a takeaway, so if there's an agent out there and you'll and you'll you're listening here today, this is one of the this is a gold nugget you're sharing with them.

SPEAKER_00:

So the people that we represent become our extended family.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

And that's what it comes down to. So you treat everyone equally. It doesn't matter if their listing is$10 million or$400,000. Right. They still get the same treatment, they still have the same, they're a human being, and they have needs, and their needs need to be met by us. Their real estate needs need to be met by us. Yes.

SPEAKER_01:

So now something else you touched on earlier, which was interesting. So I'm curious your take as a veteran in the business. You talked about how much education uh you talked and involved or immersed yourself in, especially in the beginning, because I think people take the what was a 45-hour course is now 77 hours of New York State licensing class. And it there's it's good background information, but it doesn't teach you the most important things about real estate, successful real estate, which is the business side of it, you know. Right. Yes.

SPEAKER_00:

The experience that you're gonna that you're gonna get in the field.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes.

SPEAKER_00:

But one of the great things about our company is this we have always had training. Yeah, so now our training used to be at various office locations because we have so many offices. Right. So ever since COVID, everything changed. Yeah. So now all our training is online, which is fabulous. I don't care if you're a new agent or a seasoned vet. Sitting in on one of those trainings and reviewing one of those trainings, it it it it's definitely it's good for the soul.

SPEAKER_01:

Absolutely. It's one of the reasons why there's literally no cost to any of our in-house training because I don't want that to be barriers for agents to improve themselves, you know, improve their skill sets.

SPEAKER_00:

If you hang your license with COW Bank of American Homes, yeah, there's no excuse not to know something.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes.

SPEAKER_00:

Okay, because it's all there. It's all there, and it's all online, and you could go and you could view it, listen to it over and over again as many times as you like. You don't even have to put pants on, you just gotta show up. That's right. For sure. That's it. I don't have pants on. Are we supposed to wear pants today?

SPEAKER_01:

So, one of the other things I wanted to lean into, because as an experienced, again, seasoned agent, you know, it's it's kind of interesting to look back and say in the beginning, I was thirsting for knowledge because I need I'm learning a new industry, and now we know we find out in hindsight how much more depth that there is to the industry than what we expected because someone saw HGTV and said, this looks like a good thing to do. But um, it's actually relearning. So, how much has the industry changed since you first got your license? I mean, uh look at the last two years, uh, right?

SPEAKER_00:

So when we first started, yeah, it was Zone Books.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

It was Zone Books. At that time, if you if you needed to look up an address, you had a Hagstrom map. We didn't have we didn't have cell phones, right? Right, right. We didn't have what we have today. Yeah so in the beginning, we started out with Zone Books. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Then after Zone Books. For our audience, by the way, I didn't mean to interrupt, but um, who's not necessarily licensed out there when we interact with the multiple listing service, which is the collective listing property listings of every broker in the system, so it's how we access that. So I didn't mean to cut you up, I just want to give clarification.

SPEAKER_00:

So in the beginning, we had Zone Books. Zone Books essentially had a list of all the different listings in there, and basically there was one photograph of the listing, and that's all you had to go by.

SPEAKER_01:

In black and white.

SPEAKER_00:

In black and white, right. So then from there we went to computers. And in the in the beginning, computers were green screens, so they didn't have the photos or the videos that we have today. I mean, today we have cell phones. Everything's accessible. You could you could look at houses, you could look at videos, you could shoot houses, shoot videos with your cell phones if you want, although we always employ professional photography because we want to provide the best product for our clients and customers. Yes.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes. That's that's tremendous. So one of the things we've noticed over the years, you know, again, being so close to your business and seeing how you it's developed, your client reviews. They clients consistently mention your negotiating skills and your ability to problem solve even the toughest deals. So when a transaction hits a major roadblock, what is the Gandalf playbook for keeping the deal alive?

SPEAKER_00:

So when we're in the heart of a negotiation, yeah, each party has to feel like they won. Each party has to feel like they're getting something out of the deal. So it's about finding that common denominator. Obviously, we have a fiduciary responsibility to our client, and we're gonna meet that fiduciary responsibility regardless. Right. To me, it's always been a it's a challenge. I've always been very competitive. Right in that competition, I look at that negotiation as competition. Okay, so and and and it's funny, I am always about getting a higher dollar. I'm not working from the bottom.

SPEAKER_02:

Right.

SPEAKER_00:

So I'll have I'll have a seller say to me, John, I need this number. I need$950,000. Right. So I'll shoot for$960 or$975. I'll try and get them more money.

SPEAKER_01:

Underpromise and overdeliver.

SPEAKER_00:

Exactly. Now, I'll call him up, and I just did it yesterday on one, and I said, I got good news and I got bad news. So the bad news is I didn't get your nine fifty. I know it's called. And he said, What's the good news? The good news is I got your nine sixty. He says, Ah. Come on. Yeah. I said, really. So, but the but the reality is when we're not working from the bottom, when somebody calls me and they say, What is your seller willing to take? Yeah, what are you my answer to them is what are you willing to give? Yeah, the person who's first loses. Exactly. It's just like when you're in a negotiation and you're at a stalemate. The first the person who picks up the phone first loses. Yeah. It's always been that. So my seller's like, well, get back to No, no, I'm not. Uh the way we left off is this is where our number is, and they need to get back to us. Right. We can't sell them a house. They're gonna buy the house. Right. They want it, they have to see the value in the house and they have to make the offer accordingly.

SPEAKER_02:

Right, right.

SPEAKER_00:

We sell a lot of waterfront homes. Yes. So somebody is looking at a waterfront home and they don't want to come up to a certain number. Now, inventory is very low today. So what happens? Yeah. So you say, okay, you don't want to come up to this, okay, you don't want to come up to this number, that's fine. Maybe, maybe this home is not for you. Maybe you want to buy, oh, wait, that's right, there are none. Right. Okay. You know, so supply and demand. Supply and demand. Same thing. Mother daughter, it's not just it's not just high-end. We're selling a mother-daughter homes. There's a shortage of mother-daughter homes. Yeah. You need that second kitchen, you need that auxiliary apartment, whatever it is. Uh you know, you don't see the value. There's a value.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

There's a value to that extra space, and that value is greater to you than it is to me. So come on, what are we talking about? We're talking about pennies.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes, exactly. What you just touch on again, this is another big golden nugget for anybody who's newer in the business who's trying to understand how to craft a what I call a business worth owning, right? It's product knowledge. It gets to be a lost art. You can't just learn the marketplace by sitting in front of a computer. Yes, you can see what's available and stuff, but it's also seeing what sold and what didn't sell, you know, how long it was on the market, understanding the supply and the competition in the marketplace and consistently because it changes from month to month to year to year. So, you know, obviously we've seen it change huge in the last couple of years.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, it's also knowing your product, which is, I think, what you were touching on. So knowing your product. So when you walk, when you walk into a living room, you're gonna point out this beautiful living room with four-inch plank, hardwood floors, cathedral ceilings, uh uh coffered ceiling, whatever. Right. All right, you point out. You don't walk in a room and and and say, This is a living room.

SPEAKER_02:

Right.

SPEAKER_00:

It was quite obvious. When you get in the kitchen, you say this is a kitchen. You know what? The stove gave it away. Right. Tell me about it. Tell me about the kitchen. Okay, we we have a thermidor stove with your all thermidor appliances, soft closed drawers, you know. I mean, the the details. Product knowledge. It's in the details, product knowledge. Exactly. You know, if if you got a job selling cars, you would have to when a new vehicle comes out, you'd have to learn about that vehicle.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, you need to know more than it has four wheels.

SPEAKER_00:

Right, exactly. How does it what's the operating system? So so we look into what's the operating system of this home.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Okay, what what makes it tick? Does it have gas heat, does it have oil heat, how much electric is it? 200 amp, 150, 100 amp. What is it? Do we have subpanels? Um all the details. Yeah. It's about it's about details.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, it's not just a house.

SPEAKER_00:

Right, right, exactly. You know, I mean, you especially when you're selling houses at prices that we're selling today. An entry-level house is$700,000. So at that particular entry. So at that particular point, all right, you have to sell the benefits of the house. What are the benefits of owning this home as opposed to another home? And the more benefits you sell, the more money you get your clients, the more happier both sides on the transaction are going to be.

SPEAKER_01:

Exactly. So I really what I really like, and I think the takeaway really here, it's it's it's easy to know that it's a house or that it's a four-bedroom house, or that it's a high ranch, but do the agents go the extra yard to understand that higher level of the features, the benefits, you know.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, on my team, and I I know Barbara and my my partner Barbara, my wife, yes, our philosophy is we don't get the extra yard, we go the extra mile. Right. Okay, so we're going the distance for you, and that's the bottom line. And you we are yin and yang. So where I am high velocity, yeah, okay, she is softer, more maternal, but the knowledge that she has about real estate and homes, because she's actually been doing this longer than me. How long has Barbara been doing? Barbara's been doing it a little over 30 years.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, yeah, yeah. And she thought so. I just wanted to make sure.

SPEAKER_00:

She was an entrepreneur early out, you know, she had her own hair cutting. She owned her own haircutting salon at 18 years old.

SPEAKER_01:

Fantastic. Doesn't surprise me.

SPEAKER_00:

No, she's she's always been an entrepreneur, I've been an entrepreneur. Um, together, we we have a recipe for success.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

And that's really what it comes down to. And it's about, it's again, it's about people.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes.

SPEAKER_00:

It's about building relationships. All right? Listen, the universe is one big circle.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

The more good you put into that universe, the more good that's gonna come back to you. Yeah. So if you do what you're supposed to do, maintain honesty, integrity, professionalism, and care about people. Because again, what's the old saying? People don't care what you know until they know that you care.

SPEAKER_01:

100%.

SPEAKER_00:

All right, so that's what it comes down to. So when you give this kind of service to people, when you care, they feel it. Yes. Okay? They're not just a number. Yeah. It's not about numbers. Yeah, okay? It's uh it's about people.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, very much so. Now you touched on a little bit with Barber and and the team. So at on the Gadolfo team, for our audience, why don't you share a little bit? What is the dynamic of that? So um as you and as barber and as yin and yang, and so and who else is it Nick as well now?

SPEAKER_00:

So Nick, Nick is uh raising a family, coaching football, and he does real estate also. So Nick is very active. He's there doing open houses, he he's there when we need him.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Um, and he's going to, in the future, he's gonna play a major role as we get older. He's gonna take a more active role and and and his children get older. Yeah. So as we get older and his children get older, he's gonna play a more active role in real estate as we need to take a step back if that ever happens. Yeah, right. Right.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, he's got a you gotta he's got a perfect mentor right there. He's got a front row seat.

SPEAKER_00:

So what's great about it is our our children learned and know more about real estate than half the agents out there, just from being a fly on the wall. At the kitchen table, actually. Just from being a sponge and being in the room and hearing us on the phone, because I'm on the phone negotiating a deal. Barbara's on the phone negotiating a deal, you know, uh and and and they hear it day in and day out, year after year after year, even though you don't think they're listening, subliminally, they know it.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, they hear. Yep, they hear it. They hear it, yep. So it's so what when you touched on the yin-in-yang between you and Barbara, so what does that look like task management? Do you do you kind of take on specific tasks and she takes on specific tasks? Is that so is it has and how do you approach how how do you approach that breaking up of of responsibility? Is that based on skill set? Like everyone has natural strengths and weaknesses and it's knowing your strengths and weaknesses.

SPEAKER_00:

That's exactly what it is. It's knowing what your strong points are. If I get somebody that really needs a lot of hand holding, Barbara's the one. Barbara's the right, she is, because I'm in the I'm negotiating a deal. And sometimes there's sometimes during the day that I'm so busy going from one task to another where I don't have that time, where she does have the time.

SPEAKER_02:

Right.

SPEAKER_00:

It's also it's also her knowing. You know, she was on the phone with somebody the uh the other day and they're presenting an offer, and and and there's a co-op board that's involved.

SPEAKER_02:

Right.

SPEAKER_00:

And the people that are want to buy have they're retired. Yeah, they have something that they didn't sell yet, so now and and the loan office is not getting back to her giving information. So, right then, Barbara says, red flag, if they have all these outstanding obligations, how are they gonna pay their maintenance? What's left yet? Right. What's gonna, you know, and and it's knowing these things. She's very sharp and she's on top of it. Yes, she is. Yeah, and she can she can handle it. Listen, I have no problem, you know, handing the reins to her. Yeah, you know, she she's definitely on top of it 150%. Yep.

SPEAKER_01:

Great, that's great. Now, you touched on something before I think we want to get back into because um it's such a a niche field, but you touched on the waterfront. Obviously, oceanside has you know a substantial waterfront community.

SPEAKER_00:

It's in the name. Yes, in the same way. Oceanside ocean.

SPEAKER_01:

So um waterfront. What you know, I you you've been uh hugely successful with the waterfront properties, canal fronts, bulkheading. What's what's a a major challenge that you tend to run into with waterfront home homes that you don't run into with other properties?

SPEAKER_00:

Bulkhead is one of the major uh will be a major hurdle. Uh we recently had a property and they redid everything in the property except the bulkhead. Okay. The bulkhead is a$50,000,$70,000 job coming up, and we we had the house listed for$9.75, and we wound up closing out at$9.40.

SPEAKER_02:

Okay.

SPEAKER_00:

And that's with a$50,000 to$70,000 future bulkhead bill. So it was like we got over a million dollars for that house. Now the seller put a lot of hard.

SPEAKER_01:

You can see that in the comps, but that's part of the problem when other people see that. It's knowing the story behind the comparable sale. Exactly.

SPEAKER_00:

So that's that's a big thing. And then people don't, people don't, they don't understand what is bulkhead. What is bulkhead? Well, bulkhead is dead men, it's tie rods, it's whalers, it's sheathing, and it's poles. That's what bulkhead is. Yeah. And it's how it's all put together.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

And and and our background, and when I say our background, Barbara's background also.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

In construction in waterfronts, we've had bulkheads done on our our on our own properties. Yeah. So, you know, so we know about this. Right. All right. We've lived through Sandy, we've seen Irene. We know with you know what's involved.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

What about floating docks? Floating docks, average floating dock is between$15,000 and$25,000. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Everything's more expensive. And then an aluminum ramp is like$7,000 for aluminum ramp. So if you're talking about$30,000 between the dock and the ramp.

SPEAKER_01:

Right, right. Yeah. So what do you know about flood insurance for our audience?

SPEAKER_00:

So flood insurance, if you have a grandfathered policy, that's the best. When somebody has a grandfathered policy and they've had the policy over 20 years, we're really happy. Their flood insurance is$1,500 a year, it's$1,800 a year, as opposed to somebody that says, ah, I paid off my mortgage, so I didn't keep up the flood insurance. Right. Okay. Now they have to get a new flood policy, and when that gets quoted, depending on the height of the risk, so it's all risk assessment, that's why they that's why they'll run your credit when you get when you get a homeowner's policy. Because it's also, they're not just insuring the house, they're insuring you.

SPEAKER_01:

Right. So now, just officially, for again, for uh our our audience here, so flood insurance technically in any zone is not required. It's not that we're suggesting they don't, but if if you're getting financing the bank's going to recover it.

SPEAKER_00:

Correct.

SPEAKER_01:

So if someone comes in all cash, they can choose to risk it, not that they should.

SPEAKER_00:

Right. They could be self-insured.

SPEAKER_01:

Right, essentially. Right.

SPEAKER_00:

That's what it is. If you're if you don't have insurance, uh uh, you know, people do it. You know, people do it with flood insurance, people do it with homeowners, but now you're not covered. God forbid there's a fire.

SPEAKER_01:

Right.

SPEAKER_00:

Right. You're sustaining a total loss. Correct. All right. So so again, insurance is a big part of our business now. Insurance overall has gone up and up and up. My particular house that I'm living in right now started out at 1600. It's now 4,900. Okay? In five years. In five years. So now what happens? After COVID, prices went up on everything.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Construction prices, materials, everything went up. So now what these insurance companies did is they reassessed the policies that were in place. Right. So the replacement value that they had back five years ago insufficient. Because now to build your house back then, you could have built your house for$400,000. Now it's costing you a million to build a house. Right. It could be, you know, it could be that high. Yeah. Because that's another dollar per square foot.

SPEAKER_01:

Right. Absolutely. Yeah. Absolutely. Now what's interesting is this is because many waterfront um properties are really on the high end of the marketplace. There's some of the premium spots, they get the highest price prices. So it kind of forces you to play in the luxury market. So as somebody who deals with luxury properties and high-end properties, how do you approach marketing different differently as a realtor on a luxury property than say an entry-level property?

SPEAKER_00:

All my luxury properties get professional photography, professional video, floor plans. Sometimes we do 3D floor plans. We give details about the homes, the communities, et cetera, et cetera. But again, like I mentioned before, right? What I do is I set a standard for my luxury homes, and then I just pass that down.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay.

SPEAKER_00:

Okay? So what I do is I give premier status to all my listings, whether it be a luxury home. So I look at the luxury market and I achieve what I need on paper, on video, on on the computer, if you would, right, to present that house to the marketplace. Right. And then it just trickles down. Because your house is millions of dollars and somebody else's house is only$400,000 or$500,000 if you could even find that today. Right. All right. Or or let's let's go with an entry level uh seven. Right. Okay,$700,000. I'm gonna give that seven hundred thousand dollar premiere. Premier.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Okay? And so come back and describe that as something. It's about treating people equally. Correct.

SPEAKER_01:

And I like that. I I like that. So come back uh to to the difference of premiere photography because I see your listings and the quality of pictures uh definitely jump out off the page. Uh you also do a lot of the nighttime shots with the lights on and with the phone. The twilight photography. Twilight, yes.

SPEAKER_00:

Twilight photography and twilight video.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, and it really gives a different image and feel, it's which really feels high end on every property. Talk about what or expand upon when you say premiere photography. What does that mean for a homeowner?

SPEAKER_00:

Well, Let's start at the beginning. So when I first started doing this, when I first started in real estate, I couldn't afford to have professional photography. Right, right. So I went out and I bought the camera and I learned about the camera. Then I I I shot video and I learned about video. Then I got a drone and I learned about that. There's been instances where I've even done collaborations once in a while. I, you know, I come out of I come out of hiding and and I'll shoot something.

SPEAKER_01:

You know, do you actually schedule your photography based on the sun, so to speak? If I know a house isn't facing a certain way, you already know ahead of time.

SPEAKER_00:

So weather, no matter what the property is.

SPEAKER_01:

Right.

SPEAKER_00:

So now I have to look at when I plan photography, I look, I look at the weather, I look at the calendar, I look at sundown, sunrise. Now if I'm shooting a waterfront property, I also gotta look at tides.

SPEAKER_02:

Okay.

SPEAKER_00:

I gotta see when's high tide, when's low tide.

SPEAKER_02:

Right.

SPEAKER_00:

So I have all these different factors that I have to put into it. Then I have to coordinate with my photographer, you know, whether he's busy or he's available. Right. So this is this is all part of my on top of on top of the negotiating and everything else that we do. You know, and then when we come to shoot a house, we're not one of these realtors that come and we're in and out in 20 minutes. Right. We're at the house for two and a half hours. Right. So I tell my clients, listen, when we're coming on Thursday at 6 p.m. or whatever the time is, and sometimes I gotta do, I gotta go there twice. I gotta go there, shoot my shots in the middle of the day because I want the sun to be centered over the house. Then I gotta shoot my twilight photography later in the day. So I gotta look at when sundown is, I gotta get there 15 minutes before sundown, and then we shoot from 15 minutes before sundown till about an hour and a half after sundown to complete until it's completely dark.

SPEAKER_02:

Right.

SPEAKER_00:

And we shoot a range of photos, and then in the editing room, we'll look at all those photos. And when I say we, I'm talking about my team, my photography team. They'll look at all those photos and they'll pick the best ones, and that's very important. To get that high-quality photos that we have that you see, yeah, that's what that's what we do.

SPEAKER_01:

Those pictures feed to third-party portals.

SPEAKER_00:

Right, right. So it's not it's like showing up for an interview with rib jeans. Yeah, okay, you know what I'm saying? Yeah, yeah. What you put on the internet, what you put out there is basically you represent. Correct. Okay, so it shows showing that house in its best light.

SPEAKER_01:

I give you guys great credit because there's a tremendous difference between a professional shoot, an agent that cares, and one who's just getting by. So there's a clear difference. So um again, any agent paying attention and wants to raise the game, follow the example of a top agent.

SPEAKER_00:

Listen, I'm always here. Yeah, we we recruit people from uh from our team. When somebody comes to me and they're interested in getting on my team, yeah, they'll say to me, Well, what are you gonna do for us? Right. It's like that whole mindset, it baffles me.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, it because it should be the other way. Like, you know, are are you really willing to raise your game to our standards as opposed to the other way around?

SPEAKER_00:

When I got into the business, there was there was not like what are you gonna do for me? Right. It was like, what can I do for you? Right. What was I bringing to the table? Right. You're hiring me. So if you're hiring somebody, it's what they're bringing to the table. Correct. They come with a resume.

SPEAKER_02:

Right.

SPEAKER_00:

I'm evaluating their resume. They're not looking at mine because mine over obviously you see on my shelves with all the trophies and and and and awards.

SPEAKER_01:

But they talk about your online resume, everything you post online, including pictures for your listings and how you write up the ad tracks and remarks, uh uh represents you. So every agent should look at every single thing they post, is they're part of their online resume. And your online resume speaks for itself. So again, they shouldn't be asking you that. They you should be asking them, or they should need to be asking themselves what what do I bring to the table? Right. You know, even if it's just a desire, a sincere desire to learn and grow. I I can work with that, you know. If someone's looking for an it, you know, an easy paycheck, mm-hmm that's that who needs someone for who's looking for the easy way out.

SPEAKER_00:

See, and that's another thing about the team, um, as far as the team goes. The team is uh the team has basically always been barber and I. We do we do the bulk of the business. Right. Now I I have seen teams and what they do is they have an army behind them and they take credit for all the closings, for all the sales. So their numbers are through the roof. Yeah, because they got 15 people working under them, and it's 15 people's amount of business. I take credit for what I do, right, and everything that we bring in, Barbara and I, we split the credit down the middle.

SPEAKER_01:

Right.

SPEAKER_00:

Okay? So she gets her credit, I get our credit. If Nick produces something, he gets his credit. If Bob does something, he gets his credit. We're not taking anybody else's credit.

SPEAKER_02:

Right.

SPEAKER_00:

What we do is what we do.

SPEAKER_02:

Right.

SPEAKER_00:

So these numbers are not because we have an army behind us. Right. All right, it's what we do. And again, like I said before, it's not all about the numbers. It's about the relationships you build. Right. It's about the lives that you enhance. Right. Okay? When I walk into a house and I see another door jam that has their children's heights that they, you know, that that hits close to home.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

They raise their kids in this house. Right. So now we don't want to just get them top dollar. Yeah. We want to get them somebody that appreciates the home. We want to get something. Well, we we we want to have somebody that they could, they could, they're passing the torch. Right. I raised my kids here, now you're gonna raise your kids here. And and and and that's what it's all about. Well, it's part of humanizing. Right. It's a human. It's not just even though it's brick and it's just brick and mortar and post and beam, it's not just brick and mortar and post and beam. It's it there is a lot of emotions. There's a lot of emotions that go into it. And us understanding our clients and customers' emotions are a big part of it.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

You know, so we have to be therapists on top of negotiating and marketing experts and all this other stuff. Yes. You know, it's like there's there's a lot that goes into it. So it's having the perfect recipe.

SPEAKER_02:

Yes.

SPEAKER_00:

The perfect recipe, all the right components in the right equal parts, right? Okay, to make this perfect recipe for success.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes. Great tidbits and, you know, again, tremendous golden nuggets in here for anyone who's thinking about taking their real estate career to the next level. I hope you guys are paying attention. I hope you're subscribing and following and sharing this uh podcast. So um, John, I we're at the point of the show where we want to kind of pivot a little bit because we're talking about the work hard, and again, this your your work ethic is really unparalleled. But we also want to get a little bit into the playhard, which is our way of saying what's the human side of uh John and Barbara? What does that look like? So with the pace um that you guys run at, you know, what does playhard truly look for like for John and Barbara Gandalf?

SPEAKER_00:

So playhard usually involves um going to Florida, going on vacations. Uh we do our travel? Yeah, we do we travel. We have a place in Florida, Boca Raton. Um we we love to go there. That's that's one of our happy places. We'll we'll go to the islands, we'll go to Barbados, we'll do that. We do some with friends, some with family. We have our family trips that we plan um every year. So we have a uh a winter recess and a spring break that we do with family, then we have a January that we do with friends, and then we have uh we'll invite people to our home in in Boca Vatan, and then sometimes we'll do stuff by ourselves.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, yeah. Now you touched earlier on um, you know, grandkids. Yeah. So what is uh That's our heart. There you go. So sh share, share what is like you know, being a grandfather, you know, what does that mean to you?

SPEAKER_00:

Listen, once you have grandchildren, you realize that this is what you've been waiting for. That nothing else is as important as your grandkids. You know, uh so m my granddaughters or my grandson, if they'll ask their parents for something, and if they don't get the answer they want, they come to me because they know it's gonna be yes. Yeah, there you go. There you go.

SPEAKER_01:

What's your favorite thing to do with your grandkids? We have different different levels.

SPEAKER_00:

Right. So my grandson Roman. Yeah, I see the football pictures, right? It's very funny because when uh when Nick, when when Nick was playing football in school, I used to go there back in the day, and this was before cell phones. So I had a camcorder, and I'd be there filming his games. Yeah. Now, on the same field that Nick played, and I filmed his games, I'm shooting Roman.

SPEAKER_01:

Vertical or horizontal? Both.

SPEAKER_00:

I gotta do both. Because some is for posting and some is for, you know, right. So, yeah, so I gotta do both. So that now, Viviana, yeah, Viviana, she's a dancer. She loves to dance. So that's her thing. She's she's in various competitions and that, so that's my favorite thing with her. Um so Madeline and Michaela, the twins.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

So with them, it's we do we do animals. You know what animals is? No. So we go on the computer, and if you go to um paint 3D, there is you click on a little link there and you can put animals. So we'll put the animals in, and then we'll put a birthday cake, and we'll say, okay, we're having an animal birthday party, and then and then they get to color on the page. This this you know, all different colors.

SPEAKER_01:

It's hard for me to picture you sitting still long enough, but I guess a grand granddaughter could make you do that.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes, they can. Yes, they can. And then afterwards we print it and they wait for the papers to come out, and then they give them out to, you know, so stuff like that. And then they do the pop-pa-bridge where they climb across my legs over the table. But e each one of them has their own thing. And now we have Audrina, yeah, who's a year and a half. Okay, and we're actually gonna have baby Matthew Monza, who's gonna be coming in October. So, yeah, so we're gonna have we have five now, and we're gonna have six. Yeah. So it's four girls and and two boys, it will be.

SPEAKER_01:

That's that's fantastic. Yeah. You can see, you know, I'm sure our audience if they're not watching or listening to the audible, they're watching, you can see the glow on your face completely change once you start talking about the grandkids. Yeah, that's that's fantastic. They're they're the best. Yeah, they're the best. Love it. Love it. So, John, if you had to pick one book, podcast, or movie that has influenced your perspective on life or business, what is it and why?

SPEAKER_00:

So I guess the heart comes from It's a Wonderful Life.

SPEAKER_01:

Right.

SPEAKER_00:

And then Wall Street, the Wolf of Wall Street, and Wall Street. There were two. One was with Michael Douglas and one was with Leonardo DiCaprio. So there were actually two from the business side of it, without ruining people and hurting them. Right. But again, so if you take the three of them put together, okay, and you take the heart and soul from a wonderful life and employ that in your business with your, you know, uh sharp business skills, you drive, right? Yeah. You put that all together, then you have a good re again, go comes down to recipes.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes, there you go. In the right proportioned amounts. Right. So let's talk a little bit about giving back. So, you know, there's a strong culture of community service and giving back and charity in American homes. And um, so you know, your clients often say that you treat them like family. For you, does that philosophy of service extend beyond the transaction? How does that relate to giving back aspect at American homes?

SPEAKER_00:

When I first came to American Homes, we were Century 21. That's before before we we signed a new franchise agreement with Co-Old Banker. Uh originally we were we were Easter Seals and St. Jude's. And and you know, and then I think you and Tom wanted to play a more um a more comprehensive role in which direction money went to as opposed to just giving it. So you started your own foundation, which was genius.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. Um but aside from five or six years into the heart of American foundation, so I would say certified tech certified uh foundation. And I think the focus, just to clarify our audience, is really the there's so much local need. Right, and it allows us to do fundraising and leverage those dollars very local to real situations that are right here in our communities. Right.

SPEAKER_00:

And you have and and you have people that sit on boards and and decide where funds are allocated, which is very important. Listen, we've we had a closing and and the person was, you know, uh losing mobility and they had to sell their house because eventually they couldn't do stairs. Yeah. And and you know, when we closed on that deal, you know, we told you cut her a check for X amount of dollars, giving it back to her to help her out. Um, you know, with the Knights of Columbus. The Knights of Columbus in the past, we've gotten involved. There was there was a person that lived in a home and it was a ranch, but he was eventually not gonna be able to live in that home. So, you know, we built a ramp and we we made his doors accessible so he didn't have to leave the home. You know, so there's there's things like that. During during Hurricane Sandy, a lot of people lost everything. So we have a huge office in Oceanside. So our office actually turned into a donation center, and people would come in and they there would be used, slightly used clothing or or canned goods, and we had bags set up with food, and people would donate food. Then all of a sudden it took off, and there was a couple of clothing distributors that got wind of this. And one day it it it just it just mushroomed. So we see a tractor trailer pull up in front of the office.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

And now with the forklift, he's bringing pallets of children's clothing out. So this thing just took off. It just really took off. There were people that were living in devastated homes.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, very much so.

SPEAKER_00:

You know, even on my block, I I lived on the water at the time.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

So I had a backup system where my generator backed up my house.

SPEAKER_02:

Right.

SPEAKER_00:

So I was running extension cords to four houses. I was going through like 40, 50 gallons of gasoline a day so I could run the gas to keep my house going and go on the other house. Yeah, keep the other houses going.

SPEAKER_01:

And it was like That's what I love when community comes together. You know, you see the strength of a community when challenges happen.

SPEAKER_00:

I never forget I'm driving down the street and I see a dominoes. It's open, the door's open, the lights are on.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

So I ran in there and I said, Oh my god, you guys are open because nothing was open.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

So I was like, okay, give me 15 pies.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

So I got 15 pizzas. So I started going to my neighbors and giving pizzas out. Yeah. You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

And my neighbor who was devastated by this, all right, he, older than me, hugged me and started crying. I could, you know, and it's like it's like that moment, all right, that really defines you. But this is how Barbara and I are in general. Right. We've always helped people out. Right. You know, uh I could tell a dozen stories, but I'm I'm of the belief system when you do a good deed, you don't tell anyone because it diminishes the deed.

SPEAKER_01:

The actions speak for themselves.

SPEAKER_00:

The reason you do something is not for the applause. Correct. You're doing it to help somebody. Yeah. And that's what's very important.

SPEAKER_01:

Absolutely. Absolutely. So, John, we come to the part of our episode where we always love the drop the mic question. Uh-oh. It's time for the drop the mic question. But before I ask the drop the mic question, again, I just want to remind our audience if you like what we're doing here, like, subscribe, share our episodes. We'd love to have you back. Um as this is episode one of season three, by the way. So if someone owed you money, what would be the most effective way to collect on that debt?

SPEAKER_00:

If somebody owed me money, what would be the most effective way to collect on that debt? Oh, that's a good one. Uh we're talking 2025, right? Yes, yes. Okay, yeah. 1995 percent. Um I guess, I guess uh just being uh being relentless like I am in my business. Being, you know, you have to you have to pursue it. You have to remind them, hey, listen, I lynch you this money in good faith. And yeah, please, please, please give it back.

SPEAKER_01:

You know? All right, let's give you an easier one. Let's do an easy thing. Please that was playing with you a little bit. Yeah. All right. If you could trade all your sales awards for one single talent in a completely different profession, which talent are you taking?

SPEAKER_00:

Olympic swimmer.

SPEAKER_01:

Really? How's that? How's that? That fits in with the whole waterfront thing. Yeah. That's awesome. All right, and we would just like to have fun with that question. So, John, it's been a pleasure hanging out with you here and uh you know, sharing your success. I think the our audience is going to get a lot of benefit out of uh listening to this podcast, and that's really what we want. We like to share our industry insights and our experience, and certainly you you bring a lot to the table there. So thank you so much for being part of our podcast.

SPEAKER_00:

Thank you. It was a pleasure being here. Awesome. Okay.

SPEAKER_01:

All right.