Real Conversations with Jaime Holt: What an Anthropologist Can Teach You About Real Estate

How does a background in anthropology shape the way someone approaches real estate?

In this episode of the Real Conversations Podcast, Jaime Holt, a real estate broker with Keller Williams Bothell, shares her journey from earning a Ph.D. and teaching anthropology to building a successful real estate career.

Jaime discusses the similarities between research, teaching, and real estate, why helping people achieve homeownership is her greatest passion, and how understanding the meaning of "home" has influenced the way she serves her clients. She also shares lessons on perseverance, educating clients, and overcoming the fear that often keeps people from buying their first home.

Whether you're a real estate professional, a first-time homebuyer, or someone considering a career change, this conversation offers practical insights and a fresh perspective on what it means to help people find home.

Connect with Jaime

425-780-7469

jaimeholt@kw.com

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:07

Welcome to the Real Conversations. Welcome to the Real Story.

SPEAKER_03 0:20

Good afternoon and welcome to the Real Conversations Podcast. I'm your host, Dan Edwards, team leader of Keller Williams here in Bothell. And I am with Jamie Holt, broker with Keller Williams Bothell. And we're going to learn her story. We're going to learn all about Jamie. This is not practice, it's rehearsed. That's why it's called real conversations, not fake conversations. Matter of fact, she doesn't even know the questions I'm going to ask her.

SPEAKER_01 0:43

He won't even tell me. So this is all very much on the fly.

SPEAKER_03 0:46

That's exactly right. So here we go. First off, what's your name? Just kidding. She knows the answer to that one. Um, tell me what got you into the greatest industry.

SPEAKER_01 0:56

Yeah. Yeah. I've always had an interest in real estate. Um, a little bit about me though, is my previous career was in academia as an anthropologist.

SPEAKER_03 1:06

Ooh, excellent. So digging up bones?

SPEAKER_01 1:09

Yes, sir. Yeah. So I was an archaeologist, and that's what I went to school for.

SPEAKER_03 1:14

That's crazy. So, where did you dig up bones?

SPEAKER_01 1:16

I dug up bones in Belize.

SPEAKER_03 1:19

Oh, no.

SPEAKER_01 1:19

And parts of Mexico.

SPEAKER_03 1:21

Oh, that sounds horrible.

SPEAKER_01 1:22

That was awful.

SPEAKER_03 1:23

Why did you give that up for real estate? That's awesome.

SPEAKER_01 1:26

I love the field. I love being out there. I love the people. I love just being in that environment. Um, it's very fun, it's very exciting. Um, being a professor of anthropology, there are not too many jobs out there.

SPEAKER_03 1:39

Oh. Yeah. So you're kind of limited. You basically have to stay in. Yes.

SPEAKER_01 1:44

So you have to be willing to go over the jobs are, whether it is Singapore, Australia, Kentucky, wherever that might be. And then for me, I was like, okay, well, my family's here. Family's in Canada, in Vancouver. So I want to stay close in the area. And I was like, okay, well, what can I do where I can bring all the things I love about being a professor and a researcher and bring that to a different field? You know, how would this work? So the answer I get all of the time is in the question is like, how do you go from like being a professor to a real estate agent?

SPEAKER_03 2:23

Okay. So what's the answer?

SPEAKER_01 2:25

What's the answer? The answer is like taking the things that you love and just bringing that to the field. So as a professor, the things that I love was, you know, guiding my students, helping them reach their goals, being the person to, you know, support them, you know, watch them achieve things. And in real estate, it's very similar because you have your clients. You're helping them achieve a goal, you're doing the research, you're gathering all the information, it's educating. And so for me, like a lot of that translated really, really well.

SPEAKER_03 2:56

Oh, that's great. Yeah. So the teaching and education obviously is a part of it. And also you're you're doing some archaeological digs. I mean, you're digging deep, especially when it gets into some of the older properties here.

SPEAKER_01 3:08

Yeah, there's definitely some historic homes, you know, built in the early 1900s. Um, you know, I'm looking around, I get to see the plans for them too sometimes.

SPEAKER_03 3:16

So that's pretty good. Okay. So where did you grow up?

SPEAKER_01 3:19

I grew up in Vancouver, Canada.

SPEAKER_03 3:21

Vancouver, Canada. Hey, I grew up in Vancouver, USA.

SPEAKER_01 3:23

Oh, okay. Vancouver, Vancouver.

SPEAKER_03 3:25

Yeah, I always had to say, like, no, no, especially when I moved to Seattle. Uh I had no idea there was another Vancouver.

SPEAKER_01 3:31

Oh, yeah. Me as well. Really? Yeah. I was like, Vancouver, there's another one. There's another one? Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 3:37

It's such a great uh explorer, they named two cities after him. I suppose. Yeah. Okay, so you grew up in Vancouver.

SPEAKER_01 3:43

Grew up in Vancouver.

SPEAKER_03 3:44

And that love of archaeology, how did it start?

SPEAKER_01 3:47

Traveling.

SPEAKER_03 3:48

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_01 3:49

Traveling. Um, I think I was 16. I had never really left Vancouver. Um, I went on a trip with my family to Hawaii, and there was beautiful beaches and sand and just incredible. And I was like, oh, this is pretty good. Where else can I go? So then at 17, I took a trip for a month with a couple friends through Mexico. Maybe I would not recommend what we did then. We basically I had $300 for a month. We just rode the buses, we stayed on all over Mexico. All over Mexico. Yeah. Yeah. We stayed in little places, ate mangoes, slept on the beach.

SPEAKER_03 4:27

That sounds fantastic.

SPEAKER_01 4:28

It was fantastic, you know. And I remember showing up at Teotihuacan, which is outside Mexico City. Have you seen it? Like the big pyramids and no, I've been to Jechenisa. Oh, that's also incredible.

SPEAKER_03 4:41

So is it similar to that?

SPEAKER_01 4:43

Similar, but like larger scale. This is like a huge ceremonial center. And I remember walking along this avenue and there's the big pyramids. I'm like, this is incredible. And just the feeling of being there, and like I want to learn more about this. And if there's a job I can do where I can travel the world, learn about different cultures, eat different food, meet different people, and just keep learning and exploring. Get paid for it, sign me up. Wow.

SPEAKER_03 5:10

So how long did you do that for?

SPEAKER_01 5:12

Um, let's see. So I went to graduate school for anthropology and archaeology. Um so I spent seven years in school and then throughout all those seven years.

SPEAKER_03 5:22

So to get your PhD, right?

SPEAKER_01 5:24

Seven years with PhD, four years before that. So my gosh. Eleven years of school. Wow. That's a lot of school. It's a lot of school. Yeah. Okay. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 5:32

But that's how you get your PhD.

SPEAKER_01 5:33

That yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 5:35

You gotta spend a lot of time researching and that's a lot of time.

SPEAKER_01 5:38

And yeah, you learn a lot. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 5:41

That's great. Um, I had a friend who did that too, but he was mostly in Texas and New Mexico. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay, so your journey goes, all right, I now want to put down roots. Is that really what it was? You wanted to be near family?

SPEAKER_01 5:55

I want to be near family, and it's like, okay, if I want to pursue the academic tenure track job, because I've been teaching in other colleges, I was like, okay, well, if I want to do this, it's a pretty big sacrifice.

SPEAKER_02 6:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 6:08

You know, you're gonna have to go this track and commit to it and see what happens. And I didn't know if I was really ready to move my family and do that.

SPEAKER_03 6:18

And so then you decided. So how did you get started in real estate then?

SPEAKER_01 6:24

Yeah, so I had a longtime interest because my family owned some property up in Canada. Um, and they owned a little um, I don't know, little multifamily right on the UBC campus.

SPEAKER_02 6:36

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 6:37

And so I was familiar with that and um little background, my family came over from China. Okay, and that's how they were able to sort of get a foothold in Canada.

SPEAKER_03 6:46

Was owning property.

SPEAKER_01 6:47

Owning property.

SPEAKER_03 6:48

Oh, that's so cool.

SPEAKER_01 6:49

So they opened up a little grocery store, worked really hard, were able to buy some more properties. You know, my mom and her siblings were able to go to university. So huge door opener owning real estate.

SPEAKER_03 7:01

Big time. Big time. Every every story that I've had where I hear, you know, somebody coming into real estate usually had to do with some family ties of some sort.

SPEAKER_01 7:10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 7:11

Yeah. So that's awesome. So so you started in real estate in what year?

SPEAKER_01 7:15

Oh gosh, I think it was 2020.

SPEAKER_03 7:17

2020.

SPEAKER_01 7:18

2020, just before that. I think I just got my life.

SPEAKER_03 7:22

So you were doing that before COVID, because I have a lot of what I call COVID babies, you know, people that were like, oh, I'm staying home at work, so why don't I get into real estate? But you were on your way before that.

SPEAKER_01 7:31

Yes, that was always the plan. It was always in the back of my mind. Maybe I could, you know, work part-time as a professor, which was like what I was doing, and also do real estate. And then I was like 2020, I'm just gonna do it. Get my license, let's jump in. Yeah. I think for a lot of people it is scary, you know, going into a new field.

SPEAKER_03 7:49

Yeah. Was it scary for you?

SPEAKER_01 7:51

A little bit. Why? A little bit, just because it's like no safety net, right? Yep. It's like, okay, I don't, I don't have a partner, I don't have family here. It's me and it's all riding on me.

SPEAKER_03 8:04

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_01 8:04

So I have to make this work.

SPEAKER_03 8:06

So, how did you do that? How did you make it work?

SPEAKER_01 8:07

You work really hard.

SPEAKER_03 8:09

How'd you make it away?

SPEAKER_01 8:10

You just don't give up. I think that's the main thing. It's like through everything I've done in my life, like the difficult things, it's like you just keep going. Even when it feels like maybe I'm not progressing that much, it's like, okay, I've come farther than I was before. I just keep going.

SPEAKER_03 8:26

Was there a part uh in that where it became easier?

SPEAKER_01 8:30

Yeah, I mean, to some degree. As you know, in our field, a lot of it is like, you know, finding clients and connections, and it's always building, building. Yeah. You know, until one day, you know, we'll get to that point where everybody just comes to us.

SPEAKER_03 8:44

Do you think it ever stops building?

SPEAKER_01 8:46

I don't know. You know, because like with real estate, you can there's so many things you can do, right? Yeah. And so there's always the potential to grow, which was the thing I really loved about real estate. It's like so many things you can learn. You know, there's the residential side. If I want to, maybe I'll explore the commercial side and you know, investments. Like I know you've done some investments.

SPEAKER_03 9:05

Yep, yep. Um, what would you say is, I mean, I kind of know the answer to this because you described why you got into it, but what is your superpower in real estate? Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 9:14

Um, I think a lot of it is, I don't know. I have a couple. One of is tenacity for sure.

SPEAKER_03 9:22

Yep, keep going. Keep going.

SPEAKER_01 9:24

And really for me, like it's about the people. Like my background studying humans and humanity. And like, I love human beings. I want to learn about them, I want to know about them, you know, and it's important to like think about how we communicate and what people want and what their goals are. And for me, my passion that sustains me in this industry is like I truly want to help people reach these goals.

SPEAKER_03 9:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 9:47

You know, like how can I help you? How can I be an advocate for you?

SPEAKER_03 9:51

So I wonder if there's parallels. If you look at all of your experience in archaeology, I mean, mostly what you're looking at is where communities come together. Like you studied communities and homes, right?

SPEAKER_01 10:03

Which is like very true, households. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 10:05

So, so um how does that experience in your past help you inspire you or push you to help your clients when it comes around home and housing?

SPEAKER_01 10:19

Yeah, I think it's that's a great question. And it's about thinking, what does home mean for people? Right. And back then, you know, it meant so many things that shelters, sanctuary, community, where bonds are built, where where everything's established, you know, it's the same today. Like we see that continuity. We see people gathering, sharing, growing. And it's so important because it's it's not just shelter, it truly is sanctuary for a lot of people.

SPEAKER_03 10:49

Right, right. Where you lay your head at night after a long day, stressful day, all those things. Yeah. Um, it becomes uh, like you said, a protection from the elements, but also from the world, the kind of beating that we take in the world and stuff like that.

SPEAKER_01 11:02

Yeah, and it's it's something that where you can feel a sense of freedom and growth. You know, like when you own your first home, you're like, it's like the sigh of relief, like, wow, I've I've made it to this point, you know, and this is mine. You know, when you're renting, it's like, okay, well, you know, I should I put all these pictures up, or am I gonna leave these poles? Am I gonna get my deposit back? If I do these things, can I paint the walls?

SPEAKER_03 11:25

And it may be where you lay your head, but it's not your home when you're renting, right?

SPEAKER_01 11:29

Anyways, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 11:30

So from uh a homeownership standpoint, um, what is what is a story where you helped somebody and it really changed their life? And again, I didn't prepare her for this, so I'll give I'll I'll give her time to Yeah, I'll have to think about that, you know.

SPEAKER_01 11:44

Um, I guess a couple, you know. Um, I actually had a friend when I was starting out in real estate, and she put her faith in me, which was wonderful, you know, and she was one of my early clients, and she was someone who was like, Well, I don't, I don't think I'll ever be able to afford a home. And I was like, Okay, well, you know, let's let's see how this process would look. Let's talk to a lender, let's go through it, let's just see what's possible. She was like, okay, you know, let's let's just look into it. And we looked into it more and more, and I was like, your timeline, no pressure. And once we got through the numbers, she's like, I I can afford a home. And I was like, Yeah, it's just let's do this. Like, just like I didn't think I ever could, but what was holding me back was just this fear in my mind.

SPEAKER_03 12:35

Fear of the unknown.

SPEAKER_01 12:36

Of the unknown, like it's just this this huge thing, like owning a home. Oh, it's for rich people, it's for this, it's for that, and and talking about things like down payment programs and all these options that are out there that a lot of people don't know about.

SPEAKER_02 12:50

Right.

SPEAKER_01 12:50

And she was like, I didn't think I would ever be able to have a house. And so we ended up getting her an amazing place.

SPEAKER_03 12:58

You know, it's actually astonishing as you're telling me that. I'm thinking back to when I bought my first home.

SPEAKER_01 13:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 13:03

And, you know, you're it's it's shell shock. You know, you don't realize, like, I don't know if I can do that. And that was 20 some years ago. And but that feeling of, wait, I can do this.

SPEAKER_01 13:15

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 13:16

Uh what a tremendous empowering feeling that you can give your friend, right?

SPEAKER_01 13:20

Absolutely. I feel like it is really empowering for people.

SPEAKER_03 13:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 13:24

And there's just so many ways where you can like achieve this. You know, the idea of achieving something that you didn't think was possible. And for me, I'm like, this is the passion behind it. How can I help someone, you know, achieve this thing they didn't think was possible?

SPEAKER_03 13:38

That's awesome.

SPEAKER_01 13:39

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 13:39

That's awesome. Um, can you think of any extra difficult stories where you've helped a client in the in a way? Um I mean, every transaction is so different, right? They are very different. They are very different. Is there anything that like stands out?

SPEAKER_01 13:53

My most difficult transaction or a difficult. Um I guess this would be more on the listing side.

SPEAKER_02 14:00

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 14:01

Um, with my older clients that are downsizing and I feel very protective, you know, of my older clients. I want to make sure nobody takes advantage of them. And unfortunately, in this industry, you know, there can be people with not the best intentions that are just looking for commissions. Looking for commissions, or there's a lot of off-market things that happen. And um, I just wanted to make sure that that my client was like protected, that she had someone to fight for her because she had people relentlessly calling her. Hey, you know, I want to sell your place. Yeah, we'll sell it off market. We could do this, we can do that, you know, we'll get you this. Just a lot of, I would say almost harassment to the point, you know. And she was like, I just don't know what to do, I don't know who to trust. Um, and then, you know, I came along and said, Yeah, I'm happy to help you, you know, we'll sort through all this together. She was going through some medical issues at the time, so we're very careful to make it a low stress situation for her. And we had gone under contract, and it was um it was actually an assignment. So it was a company, an investment company.

SPEAKER_03 15:13

Oh, and and so the assignment for those listening, it basically means that this buyer can then assign it to someone else.

SPEAKER_01 15:20

Yes, and I'm usually extremely tentative of these situations where I talk to the broker, he's a licensed real estate broker, he's like, Oh, no, no, you know, very like, oh, we have everything set up, and of course, it really wasn't. It wasn't, and she had moved her stuff into storage and she was expecting the earnest money and just crickets. And I thought, okay, well, what's going on? Tried to reach out to him, his partner, they weren't calling me back. I called them multiple times, you know, trying to get hold of them. I said, Look, this lady, she's put her life on pause, she made these plans, she has health issues, and now you're just gonna you're gonna ghost her.

SPEAKER_03 15:59

Wow.

unknown 16:00

Wow.

SPEAKER_03 16:01

So what was the outcome?

SPEAKER_01 16:03

The outcome, um, you know, they I think they called me back once or twice and like, oh no, no, no. Well, you know, our our buyer just it just didn't work out. I said, Well, you're not gonna be accountable, like, you know, what is your integrity worth? And I just didn't really have an answer. And I said, Well, can you help her in any way then? Like, and the best they could do is they they gave her $1,000. They did transfer that and less than what the earnest amount was.

SPEAKER_03 16:31

It was gonna be, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 16:32

But I said, you know what? Let's take this, let's put this toward that. Um, and let's move on. And we will went under contract with a different fire, not an assignment, not an assignment, they were wonderful, you know. Um, but the idea was during that whole time too, she had people still calling her up, just showing up at her door because this company had told other investors they had just started knocking at her door, showing up.

SPEAKER_03 16:59

So being able to be there by her side while this is going on, people are essentially trying to take advantage of her. Yes, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 17:06

Low ball offers, telling her, Oh, you know, you'll never get anything more than this. Yeah, you know, I got her over a hundred, hundred and twenty grand more than that.

SPEAKER_03 17:14

And what that yeah, what they were trying to get to. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 17:17

You know, there's a lot of that. And so again, that very protective nature. And I was just so touched, you know, her daughter reached out to me, it's like, Thank you so much for helping my mom in this situation. That's awesome. Yeah, that's awesome. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 17:31

Well, so if you were to sum up like what your goals are in the future, um, and how can people get a hold of you if they're interested in working with you?

SPEAKER_01 17:40

Um, my goals in the future, obviously, to help more people. Grow my business. Um, I've been learning about the investment side, so maybe step into that more. I have a condo up in Canada, but looking for some investments here in the United States too.

SPEAKER_03 17:54

Awesome.

SPEAKER_01 17:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 17:55

So how do people get a hold of you?

SPEAKER_01 17:56

They get a hold of me. Okay, so 425-780-7469. You can also reach me at jamieholt.realestate on Instagram.

SPEAKER_03 18:06

Perfect.

SPEAKER_01 18:06

And Jamie Holt Jamie Holt at KW.

SPEAKER_03 18:10

Perfect.

SPEAKER_01 18:11

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 18:11

Well, Jamie, thank you for coming on. It's I did not, I I did not know that you were a professor of archaeology.

SPEAKER_01 18:18

Anthropology, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 18:19

Anthropology. Anthropology. It's it's different.

SPEAKER_01 18:22

Well, yeah, anthropology is umbrella, yes, and then archaeology underneath.

SPEAKER_03 18:26

Yeah, I'm like trying to say she's less than that. No, she's she's like professor. Professor Jamie Holt here. Dr. J. Dr. J H Dr. J.

SPEAKER_01 18:34

Yeah, studying culture.

SPEAKER_03 18:35

Well, thank you so much for coming on.

SPEAKER_01 18:37

Thank you so much for having me. I really appreciate it.

SPEAKER_03 18:39

Cool. Let's see. I will hit stop to end recording.