What If Uncertainty Is The Best Time To Build Wealth? A Send Off to 2025

The year tried to knock everyone off balance, but the savviest clients found their footing. We close the season by pulling back the curtain on a chaotic, very human year in Central Texas real estate—two big personal moves, a few dogs, a swing install mid-recording—and the market lessons that mattered most. If 2025 felt like a recession to you, you’re not alone. We unpack why the headlines screamed uncertainty while the on-the-ground reality looked like a long overdue correction, and how that split created a rare window for patient buyers and clear-eyed sellers.

We break down the strategy that worked: buyers winning on “deals or diamonds” with builder incentives, stronger negotiation power, and historically normal rates that still pencil when viewed over five to seven years. Sellers didn’t have it easy. Pricing shifted fast, expectations lagged, and the gap between wishful thinking and real demand widened. That’s where better tools changed the game. Our Compass buyer demand insights help map actual search behavior to a home’s features at different prices, while listing analytics and reverse prospecting sharpen outreach. Pair those with a three-phase listing approach—pocket, coming soon, then public—and you can test pricing without stacking days on market or public price cuts.

We also talk candidly about Zillow leads: why they can help in a new market, how 24/7 on-call penalties strain agent boundaries, and what we learned from the experiment. Creativity carried the year—structuring small land deals, solving financing puzzles, and prioritizing outcomes that mean more than a headline price, like a client finally opening their art studio. Through the noise in the economy and the culture, our focus stays practical and human: thoughtful pricing, data-backed decisions, and long-term thinking that outlasts volatility.

If you’re planning a move in 2026—or just trying to read the signs—this one’s your field guide. Subscribe, share with a friend who’s on the fence, and leave a review telling us what you want us to tackle next season.

https://hdnrealestatemeetsreality.buzzsprout.com/

Transcript

Year-End Chaos And Season Finale

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome to the house next door.

SPEAKER_02 0:01

With Barbara Gillio. And Anthony Harris. Where real estate meets reality. For whatever reason, we decided to drink during the last two episodes.

SPEAKER_00 0:11

Because it's been hard.

SPEAKER_02 0:12

It's been a hard. It's been a hard yeah. The last one was hard. We had We had 17 interruptions. We just decided to break out the wine.

SPEAKER_00 0:20

And the guy installing the swing, the dogs running across the yard. The dogs running.

SPEAKER_02 0:26

My son. My son. Everything. It's all been it's all been craziness. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 0:31

So welcome back to the house next door.

SPEAKER_02 0:34

So we're on our last episode of 2025.

SPEAKER_00 0:38

This is our first season of 2025.

SPEAKER_02 0:41

Yes, our last episode of our first season. A lot of yeah, last episode of the year. And our last Christmas episode. So yeah, this has been crazy. It's been a wild year.

SPEAKER_00 0:56

We we got into this about six months ago.

SPEAKER_02 0:59

Yes. Six months ago, we had that first conversation about hey, what do you think about doing a podcast?

SPEAKER_00 1:04

And here we are.

SPEAKER_02 1:05

And here we are. And there's so much involved, folks, in doing a podcast, especially if you're not like paying people to help you with it and you're working it out on your own.

SPEAKER_00 1:13

Ours is pretty good though. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:15

I think for being free. Yeah, I mean, it's free.

SPEAKER_00 1:17

Yeah, we spend some money.

SPEAKER_02 1:18

We spend money on it, but we do it all ourselves, which is really actually very gratifying.

SPEAKER_00 1:22

If we had a producer, it would be a lot easier. But would it? I feel like we'd still go into the studio and do the same thing.

SPEAKER_02 1:29

Yeah, we probably would. But yeah, it's been a crazy year. So Anthony and I both have had um moves, major moves this year. So Anthony, you moved to San Marcus.

SPEAKER_00 1:41

Yeah. Back into my house. Yeah. Um, and I'm sure we've talked about that, right?

SPEAKER_02 1:45

Well, and now you have a friend. You have a pet. Your possum.

SPEAKER_00 1:49

Oh, oh yes.

SPEAKER_02 1:50

Paul.

SPEAKER_00 1:51

Paul the possum. Yes. I was like, what pet?

SPEAKER_01 1:53

You're like, I don't even know.

SPEAKER_00 1:55

How drunk are you?

SPEAKER_01 1:57

I'm not drunk at all.

SPEAKER_00 2:00

I was like, what pet? Um, yes, Paul the Possum. So I have a ring camera on my front door. Or well, it's not I have one on my front door, but I have a one of the floodlights. And so every night at 11 p.m., Paul the Possum comes pawing around.

SPEAKER_01 2:15

That is so cute.

SPEAKER_00 2:16

He just wobbles around. He has his little path. He goes right next to the garage door. Then he goes right and then goes into my neighbor's like front yard and I can see him on the camera.

SPEAKER_02 2:24

Possums are really good. Yeah. They're very they don't carry rabies generally because of their their body temperature is too low to um carry the disease or something. I mean, I'm not an expert, but that's my scientific though. That's my scientific Googling that I have done because my dogs have eaten a possum. And so I had to make sure that they weren't rabid, you know. And uh, should I take them in or not? And I called the vet the next morning. They're like, no, they don't really carry rabies because their body temperature is so low. Interesting. Which is good, and they're really good. They're pest control, they're great for the big thing.

SPEAKER_00 2:56

Yeah, I think they like bugs.

SPEAKER_02 2:58

Yes, they eat bugs, so they're really I so I was very mad that my bears, my darling bears, ate he gets up. Yeah, guilt. My dog is part of this podcast today. Guilty as charge. And he they yeah, I was very upset with them. I couldn't look at them for a couple of days so you're so cute.

SPEAKER_00 3:15

I'll have to show you a video. He comes every night.

SPEAKER_02 3:17

Well, I love that. So Anthony had a big move. I had a big move, which we talk about. And half that's half the reason we met this year. Anthony and I met this year. I feel like we've been friends for a million years,

Big Moves, Pets, And Personal Changes

SPEAKER_02 3:30

and it's only been a year. It has only been a year.

SPEAKER_00 3:33

It was business development of last year.

SPEAKER_02 3:34

In January that we met. And I was moving to your neck of the woods. It has flown by. But how do you feel this year has been real estate-wise? Because I have my opinions.

SPEAKER_00 3:48

Challenging, absolutely challenging. Yeah. Um, trying, um, crying.

SPEAKER_02 3:55

No, trying and crying. It it has been a lot of people.

SPEAKER_00 3:58

There's been some rewards, um, for sure. I I ended the year last year really strong, and I think that helped me at the beginning of this year, but then like March and April just it was hard.

SPEAKER_02 4:10

Well, in March and April, that's curious that you mentioned those particular months because that's when I felt like the market was really cooking in the beginning, like January, February, even early March, March was actually okay. And I just felt like when we were gearing up in January and February, like this is gonna be a great year. I did too. After having some, you know, kind of challenging years since I mean, really, real estate has been challenging since 21, 22, 2020, 2020. I mean, really 2020, really. I mean, we've had just such major swings from a major, like everything stopped when COVID hit, and then it went to this major like seller's market, then it swung to a buyer's market, and it's and I think it goes and chaos.

SPEAKER_00 4:54

I think it's uncertainty. There was uncertainty whenever COVID happened, there's uncertainty now, and we won't get into the politics and all that, but right, yeah. But there's just a lot going on in the world where there's uncertain times.

SPEAKER_02 5:06

It is absolute uncertain times. We none of us know what's happening, and the economy feels a little fragile. A little. Yeah, I was understanding.

SPEAKER_00 5:16

I know we had a market update not too long ago, but I really want to say this year we're in a recession. Nobody is calling it a recession, and I don't understand how.

SPEAKER_02 5:25

Well, top economists aren't even calling it a recession, they're just calling it a soft.

SPEAKER_00 5:29

We are in a recession. We've had major job loss, we've had slowing major slow of the economy of purchasing, selling like the housing market is just very stagnant. It's tough, it's probably declining. I know in Austin it's for sure declining.

SPEAKER_02 5:47

Well, it's it's correcting, it's not necessarily declining. I mean, it is in that we're trying to find that happy medium, that price. That's right. Because we were so inflated, like we went so high during COVID. Those markets that really got inflated artificially so quickly are the ones that are having to correct the most. Yeah. And so that's our market. We're we're correcting the most. So it feels like a decline, but it was really an artificial incline.

SPEAKER_00 6:12

But created a decline.

SPEAKER_02 6:13

That created this decline.

SPEAKER_00 6:15

And same with the job market too. Yeah. The job market followed. If we're right, whenever during COVID, they were paying people way too much. They were hiring way too many people because the business was there. And then as it declines, then it's not a good thing.

SPEAKER_02 6:26

Yeah, you have to rectify everything is a correction, yeah. From

2025 Market Check: Recession Or Correction

SPEAKER_02 6:30

from kind of a knee-jerk reaction to a global pandemic. And so we're living that in real estate. Yeah. But the good thing is, if you're a buyer or you're an investor, it's a great time to buy real estate. 2025 has been a great time to buy real estate. Yes, rates are a little bit higher, but but historically they're not as high as they have been.

SPEAKER_00 6:51

My last finance deal was January of 2025.

SPEAKER_02 6:54

Okay, so most of all cash.

SPEAKER_00 6:56

All cash. Mostly investors.

SPEAKER_02 6:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 6:59

Um my investors have a lot of money, and that should tell you something. If they're buying, there's a reason.

SPEAKER_02 7:06

There's a reason. Because we don't know how long we're gonna have this buyer's market. Because if we've learned anything about real estate in these last few years, is that it can change overnight. And so, right now, if you've got the ability to buy or want to buy, it is the time to seize because there definitely will be a moment where it shifts.

SPEAKER_00 7:26

Yep. And at least in central Texas, where we work, yeah, builders have amazing incentives, amazing deals, especially as we're getting to the year end. So if you're interested in exploring those opportunities, call Barbara or I.

SPEAKER_02 7:40

Yeah, yeah. There's there's stuff definitely some good deals to be had. Now, sellers, it's been more challenging. Yes. And I think that's been our biggest obstacle this year is working with our listings and having to, you know, strategize with our our sellers a little bit more. Where, you know, I I know for me, I've talked to my sellers where we're getting ready to list, right? But they're not quite there yet. So 90 days from the time we first quote a price, you know, so I give them a price in say April, but we're not really ready to list until July. And so I don't know if I did the right amount of days, but the number that I gave them is very different than the number that now when they're ready to go, and and they're like they're frustrated by it. And I'm like, well, I'm frustrated by it too. This market is shifting and it continues to shift. So the number I give you today is not the number I can necessarily give you two weeks from now, or even three weeks from now.

SPEAKER_00 8:41

I was just having a conversation with a seller and I pretty much told him the same thing. I was like, you know, I'd I would love to say 500,000. Based on comps, I think I could reason it, but knowing the market, I can't we're not there. We're not there right now. Yeah. And I said, you know, uh this is my advice. This is what I see right now. I don't know where to price your home. I can show you the comps, I can show you the actives, and we can come up with a price.

SPEAKER_02 9:09

And we have a cool tool with our company that they just released. Um, so this is something I'm so excited about for 2026. Compass is our brokerage, Realty Austin Compass, and it's called Buyer Demand Tool.

SPEAKER_00 9:22

And I use this with him.

SPEAKER_02 9:23

Yeah, and not to plug, not to plug anybody, but I'm really excited about this tool because it will show you how many buyers there are for your home at different prices.

SPEAKER_00 9:34

And it uses the address, knowing how many bedrooms and how many bathrooms and how many square footage and all your features that are intertwined into the searches of other agents.

SPEAKER_02 9:44

Right. And so we can see these. We can a click of a button. Yeah, a click at a button. Like, so we do our comps, right? We're gonna still do our comps, we're still doing all of the things that we do, but this is just an extraordinary.

SPEAKER_00 9:55

One more enhancement.

SPEAKER_02 9:56

This is one more layer where we can say, hey, like you were just saying, comps say it should be 500. But when I pull up the buyer demand tool, we lose 20% of our buyers if we go there.

SPEAKER_00 10:07

Yep.

SPEAKER_02 10:08

Or 50% of our buyers. So that's such a powerful tool to be able to have because it had we can see that 3,000 searches.

SPEAKER_00 10:14

That's a good amount of people. That's a good amount of people. And that's just based on our compass agents in Austin.

SPEAKER_02 10:21

That's correct.

SPEAKER_00 10:22

That's not based on the market, but I think that we give a good representation.

SPEAKER_02 10:27

All real, it's not based on all brokeres.

SPEAKER_00 10:30

But I feel like we represent one-fourth of the market share here, so we have a good enough footprint to set the expectation.

SPEAKER_02 10:39

Yes, that expectation of it because we do we do have a strong market share here. Yeah. And if you're getting 3,000 searches at that price point with just compassion, then we're probably getting it so double that perhaps, or you know, four times it. We're one fourth of the market share. Exactly. And so it's just that extra layer. I'm so excited for 2026 because I feel like we have so many fun, cool tools that have been released this year. That have been released to help us help our clients. In a struggling market.

SPEAKER_00 11:08

In a very and it comes down to and it comes down to price. If it's priced well, um, one of our other agents was in a training that I was in the other day, and she said, um, people are buying deals or diamonds. And I stick by that right now, people are buying deals or diamonds.

SPEAKER_02 11:22

Yeah, and it comes down to, I know everybody's like, oh, if you just price low enough, everyone's gonna buy it. That's not it. We don't want to just price low. We want a price where our sellers aren't leaving money on the table, but they're also not leaving money on the table because they price too high.

SPEAKER_01 11:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 11:37

And so it's that delicate balance. And so being able to have some of these really cool tools that our brokerage is is rolling out for the next year, it's just gonna be so pivotal for us being able to help our clients not leave money on the table, not have too many days on market, and really pinpoint that price. That is so hard when you have these shifting markets. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 11:57

Piggyback on that is Compass really listens to us as agents.

SPEAKER_02 12:01

They do.

SPEAKER_00 12:02

And we build the brand. We they they empower us to do that. And so I'm on the Compass Advisories Council for the Business Tracker, is what we call it. Um, that's our platform. We get to come together to work with the product development team to really refine these to make sure that they're meeting the goal

Buyers’ Window: Deals, Diamonds, And Rates

SPEAKER_00 12:20

of our clients. Right. Because they listen to us.

SPEAKER_02 12:22

Yeah, they do, they listen to the agents' boots on the ground, and that's why we're able to have some of these really cool tools that um as we're leaving 2025 and we're going into 2026. I'm really excited. Even though, yes, our economy is kind of questionable. Are we in a recession? Are we not in a recession? I mean, we have a lot of things that are helping us to get through it.

SPEAKER_00 12:47

And it's yeah, and people are still buying and selling. That's they always will.

SPEAKER_02 12:51

People are always buying and selling, and and most sellers are buyers. Yeah, you know, and so there will always be a time. You know, I talked to another friend of mine who's uh she works in law and she does estate law, you know, basically my favorite.

SPEAKER_00 13:03

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 13:04

Well, in like helping people set up estates for when they pass away. And she's like, everybody's always dying, you know, like I never have an issue with that.

SPEAKER_00 13:12

Glenda brain uh Glenda Baker brings up the four D's. It's deaf divorce, dependence, and what's the last one? Uh downsizing.

SPEAKER_02 13:22

It's downsizing.

SPEAKER_00 13:24

Deaf divorce, downsizing, and dependence.

SPEAKER_02 13:28

Dependence, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 13:28

Upsizing.

SPEAKER_02 13:29

Upsizing, exactly. And so there, you know, there's always a pleasure or pain point, and whatever that may be. And so just because the economy might not be as stable, and just because maybe it's more of a seller's market or more of a buyer's market, people are still needing homes. I mean, I sold my home in one of the toughest markets and bought a home and one of the toughest markets, and I made money on my home and I got a deal on the home I bought. It's just all about weighing that greed. And I hate to say that word, but there's a lot of there's a lot of sellers who think that they should be getting so much more. And it's like, put this in perspective. There was a time where we were walking away with just you know 80,000, and I say just 80,000. That's not that's not chump change after paying all your fees and getting into your next house, but now even I would even say lower than that.

SPEAKER_00 14:23

Like there are 2015 or so, like it was not common to walk away with 100,000.

SPEAKER_02 14:29

No, not absolutely not. Now people feel like if they're not making 500,000, they're giving their house away. I'm giving it away. I'm like, you are not giving this away. Let's put all of this in perspective. It's so easy how quickly our perspective can be changed. And so um, even in these tough markets, you can make money and buy real estate and end up on top.

SPEAKER_00 14:52

And one thing that I just told a seller was and because he kept saying, We're in 2008, we're 2009. And I'm like, I don't know if we are, can't say. But one thing I'm gonna tell you is that in 2008, a lot of people made a lot of money.

SPEAKER_01 15:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 15:06

The people that bought homes in 2008 sold them five years later at a large profit. So do you want to be part of that group?

SPEAKER_02 15:14

And there's also a lot of times people they've felt like a preacher. Right, there's been very successful business people who have started during recessions and depressions. And times where people are fleeing business, they run to the business and they make a lot of money. And there's there's always risk in real estate.

SPEAKER_00 15:32

But it's less risky than stock market, it's less risky than other investors.

SPEAKER_02 15:36

Starting a business, yeah. It it's a nice, it's a good place to put your money.

SPEAKER_00 15:40

Overall, pretty safe. It's maybe not in two years, but five years or more out of it. Right.

SPEAKER_02 15:45

But it most people and this is what got kind of skewed is they using their house almost as a lottery ticket. You know, I bought it and now four years later, I want X amount of y most people live in their homes longer than that. You shouldn't see your home as a lottery ticket. Yeah, it's your home. It's a long-term investment.

SPEAKER_00 16:02

And part of us slowly appreciate, but also it comes down to it's your home, it's not a business. You're living there, it would you you'd be paying the same in rent. Like Right.

SPEAKER_02 16:14

Unless you're you're buying investment properties, right? Exactly. And so that that's a little different, but and those people see

Sellers’ Reality: Pricing In A Moving Market

SPEAKER_02 16:20

the future though.

SPEAKER_00 16:21

The long-term investment in this my my investors, a lot of them don't don't cash flow right off the bat.

SPEAKER_02 16:28

Right.

SPEAKER_00 16:28

Um, and it's their loc focused on the long term.

SPEAKER_02 16:31

Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_00 16:32

Because they know they can buy a good deal right now.

SPEAKER_02 16:34

That's right. And it it is a very good deal right now. I mean, this is the time to buy real estate if you can.

SPEAKER_00 16:40

And and taxes got passed. Um, the home exit uh home homestead exemption um increased in the state of Texas, which will help our homeowners. Absolutely. I I no, no, this is good.

SPEAKER_02 16:52

There was a lot of good things that passed recently. I mean, as in Tuesday.

SPEAKER_00 16:58

Well, we're filming a month later.

SPEAKER_02 17:01

But you know, things that we voted on. Yep. And um, so this year has just been very it's been it's been a challenging year, but it's been an interesting year. I know for myself, it's been a very productive year. I've had a very good year in real estate. There's just my my clients have taken advantage of the opportunities that they have and they've sold and and made some money, like I said, and bought and gotten deals. And myself, I like I said, I bought and sold during this time too. But it's even though it's been challenging, it's been a very successful year for me.

SPEAKER_00 17:36

Yeah. And I feel the same and not financially, but in other realms, in other realms, yeah. And I do think that there needs to be correction, and that's based on the properties and the people that are into the industry. If people are not making money easily, then it gets the unexperienced, unwilling agents out of the market.

SPEAKER_02 17:56

Right. We've had to think outside the box a lot this year. Very creative.

SPEAKER_00 18:00

And it's very common that me, Barbara, our sales manager, Amanda, whatever, get on a call and just brainstorm. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 18:07

Troubleshoot.

SPEAKER_00 18:07

And yeah. And that's what it comes down to.

SPEAKER_02 18:09

And I was just talking to a client and we're working through trying to figure out a land deal. And it's like, okay, we got to get creative.

SPEAKER_00 18:17

That's been the slogan of the year.

SPEAKER_02 18:19

It's like it's doable. It's just we have to get creative and think outside of the box, and we all have to problem solve. That is hard for some agents who aren't used to that or willing to do that. And sometimes it's not for the big deals, it's for the small deals that we're doing this. But those are some of the most rewarding deals, in particular for this client who's gonna start their art studio that they have been dreaming about their whole life. And I'm like, we are gonna figure this out. Come hell or high water. We are gonna get you this art studio and we're gonna do it this year. And it's not, it's not a mega deal, it's not a luxury deal, but it's probably your lowest price deal for the year. It probably is, you know, honestly. And it's gonna be the most fulfilling. Yeah, it really is.

SPEAKER_00 19:02

So 2025 has brought in a lot of challenges, learning, yeah, creativity, rewards.

SPEAKER_02 19:10

And I think for a lot of people, it's just it's it's been a hard, uncertain year. And I think we need to focus on the positive. Yes, because there's so much hate speech, there's so much hate. There's not to get political because we truly try not to get political. But it's just the environment that we're but we have to address the elephant in the room that there is so much hate and division in our country and in our media, yeah. And we have to turn that around somehow and believe in each other again and support each other again and find the goodness in in our humanity and helping our fellow people. I always say I hate people and I hate big cities, right? But I love I love people.

SPEAKER_00 19:56

It's funny because it's just like I hate crowds. But it's funny because like last week I was at H E B and someone blared their horn at me, yelled at me, screamed at me, flipped me off.

SPEAKER_01 20:07

So much anger.

SPEAKER_00 20:08

We're at the and I could care less. We're at the freaking grocery store. Right. Like, let's be happier alive.

SPEAKER_02 20:14

Like, there's so much to be grateful for. We don't have to be so competitive. We don't have to be so hateful. It's okay for one person to have an opinion that we don't agree with. Let them have that opinion without all of this violence. And you know, let's have progression. You know, and so I feel like we really hopefully going into 2026 because we I think we've all been through it.

SPEAKER_00 20:40

And I think we'll we'll see a lot of change.

SPEAKER_02 20:42

I hope so.

SPEAKER_00 20:43

Um overall.

SPEAKER_02 20:44

I hope we just see morale. Yes, you know, just human morale get better, where we're like, hey, you know what? I'm not buying into all this. Let's just be there for each other. And I know this is getting a little off topic from real estate. But it is.

SPEAKER_00 20:58

What was our theme? What was that theme?

New Tools: Compass Buyer Demand And Insights

SPEAKER_02 21:00

Saying goodbye to 2025. Well, we are. So we are. We're saying goodbye to 2025. 2026, where we've got these great tools going into 2026. We've got some, you know, struggles that we're saying goodbye to, but also some monumental life changes of moving. You moved, I moved, my mom moved. It's the first time in 20 years.

SPEAKER_01 21:22

I'm in the same town for two weeks.

SPEAKER_02 21:25

I had a foster dog. I Craig and I are so happy being out in Smithville. You got you got this the my dogs eat the possum. It's just it's been a very very pivotal year for both of us.

SPEAKER_00 21:41

I've seen a lot of growth in myself.

SPEAKER_02 21:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 21:44

Um, this year. And, you know, professionally a little bit, um, but really in myself and just preparing for the future.

SPEAKER_02 21:53

Sometimes we have those building years.

SPEAKER_00 21:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 21:55

Where it's not about how much money we make, it's not about how much production we do, but our adjusted. Our adjusted production.

SPEAKER_00 22:02

My kids have that night.

SPEAKER_02 22:04

Yeah. It's it's more about how we prepare for the future. Yeah. And sometimes we take years where we build our business a little bit more. Like this year is the first year I'm paying for for Zillow.

SPEAKER_00 22:14

Oh yeah. I forgot about that.

SPEAKER_02 22:15

I I never paid for Zillow. Now I have been a Zillow agent where I was with a brokerage where there's Zillow Flex and you take Zillow calls, right? And these are leads.

SPEAKER_00 22:26

I think should we explain how Zillow works to our audience?

SPEAKER_02 22:31

Yeah, well, Zillow is a complicated beast in our industry.

SPEAKER_00 22:35

Well, and I guess most of our uh audience is probably agents, so they probably know. But we we can go into a little snippet of it.

SPEAKER_02 22:42

So Zillow Love It or Hate It. Love it or hate it, they're part of our industry. They're a disruptor, a disruptor. And they have these estimates that are not correct, they don't have access to real data, and so many people think that that's the value of their home or that should be the value of their home, and that really isn't. Us professional realtors have the tools and the expertise to tell you.

SPEAKER_00 23:06

I don't think we'll ever get there. There's so many variables that go into a house. Like, how can a AI bot essentially tell you that we go there and we know the roof needs replaced, and that's going to be twenty thousand dollars.

SPEAKER_02 23:19

There's so many elements that go into pricing a house. I mean, even Zillow doesn't believe in their estimates.

SPEAKER_00 23:24

That's true. We just saw a video that even one of their executives sold 20, was it 20%? 40% below his estimate. Yeah. So here we are. Here we are.

SPEAKER_02 23:35

But Zillow does hold a huge market share in terms of their search engine. And so what they do they're a marketing company. They're a marketing company. So and they've got a search engine that a lot of people use and like. And so I have always been a referral agent, 100% referral agent using my sphere. But moving to a new area, you kind of have a way where yes, I'm still connected to where I used to work and all that good stuff. But I'm in a new area and I want to branch out to this new area. So I decided let's do Zillow leads and see how that goes. So I paid for Zillow Leads.

SPEAKER_00 24:10

And so every time a consumer goes on and says they want to look at a house, that's contact agent. Yes, contact agent. It gets filled in filled to a Zillow representative.

SPEAKER_02 24:21

But they most of the time the consumer thinks that they are calling the listing agent. Calling the listing agent.

SPEAKER_00 24:27

And they're never, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 24:28

Did you see that Saturday night live skip with um oh gosh, the guy from Schlitz Creek, and he's talking about Zillow?

SPEAKER_01 24:36

Uh-oh.

SPEAKER_02 24:37

Oh my god, I'll have to play it for you. But it's like at one point, it's like if you get really serious, you hit the button, call agent, and then it's like, hi, it's Barb, blah blah blah blah blah blah blah. And it's it's hilarious. And that's basically what we are when we pick up the phone.

SPEAKER_00 24:51

They pay per a per call, essentially. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 24:54

And so you you, you know, you pay XYZ for these leads, and then you and they're expensive. Yeah, they're not cheap. And then you, you know, you go and you try to help these people.

SPEAKER_00 25:02

This season I feel like I need to get close to the mic.

SPEAKER_02 25:06

And so my problem is I'm not used to being a leads agent. I'm used to being a referral agent. So when my phone call comes.

SPEAKER_00 25:14

And they already know you trust you and like you it's it's uh 50% or 100%.

SPEAKER_02 25:18

But but my problem is is you are on call 24-7 when you're a Zillow agent.

SPEAKER_00 25:25

And that includes when you're on the toilet, when you're in the shower, when you're on the airplane on the airplane.

SPEAKER_02 25:31

Yes, when you're asleep, and so when you get up to go get a snack.

SPEAKER_00 25:35

When you're scooping.

SPEAKER_02 25:38

And if you miss a call, it counts against you.

SPEAKER_00 25:41

So imagine this. What industry do you spend money in to get penalized if you don't do what they want?

SPEAKER_02 25:49

Yeah, that's a good that's a really good point. That's a very good point. And it frustrates me.

SPEAKER_00 25:55

You get penalized for not for spending money and not doing what's right.

SPEAKER_02 26:00

And sometimes you're showing a house with a Zillow lead and you get a Zillow call and you can't take it and you get penalized.

SPEAKER_00 26:05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 26:06

So I don't know that this is something, a business model that works for me.

SPEAKER_00 26:10

But we're gonna find out in 2026. And there's a lot of and there's a lot of agents that it does, and there's a lot of agents that it doesn't.

SPEAKER_02 26:16

You know, I mean I'm testing it out in small markets because

Long-Term Thinking Beats Market Whiplash

SPEAKER_02 26:20

the the markets that are really successful with Zillow are Zillow Flex agents, and those are with Flex brokerages.

SPEAKER_00 26:26

Which they also take a lot of our compensation. Yes. So we'll just leave it at that.

SPEAKER_02 26:33

Yeah, they take yeah, we can't talk about that.

SPEAKER_00 26:35

Well, I was gonna yeah.

SPEAKER_02 26:36

We can't talk about it. But it it's just a different choice, right?

SPEAKER_00 26:41

And different business models. It works for some people.

SPEAKER_02 26:44

And I'm expair I experimented with it this year and um the verdict is out.

SPEAKER_00 26:49

We don't know.

SPEAKER_02 26:50

I don't know. Yeah, I I haven't decided if it's a yay or a nay, but I do know like having to be on call 24-7 is a little challenging in that aspect because I have my own business that I'm doing too, and to be penalized when you can't pick up a phone call. I mean, nobody should be expected to be available 24-7 ever.

SPEAKER_00 27:10

Yep. Ever. And and typically these leads want to see it right now.

SPEAKER_02 27:14

Yes, they do. I have no window.

SPEAKER_00 27:17

We were gonna do an episode on respecting your agents time. I don't know what we well, we'll get to that.

SPEAKER_02 27:22

But it is one of those things where I but that's part of it is not we're flexible. Like they want to see it now.

SPEAKER_00 27:28

Yeah, and I'm in front of the house. I looked it up on Zillow, and I want you to open the door and ow.

SPEAKER_02 27:33

And now, and I'm like, Well, can we do it in a couple hours? No.

SPEAKER_00 27:36

No, I'm here now.

SPEAKER_02 27:38

Can we do it on Monday? No.

SPEAKER_00 27:42

So Or yes, and then they never show up.

SPEAKER_02 27:44

So different different things that we're trying this year.

SPEAKER_00 27:48

Some of some of the features that I'm excited for on Compass is the buyer demand, yeah, the reverse prospecting, where we're able to see all the activity on our listings, the listing insights. They're gonna include homes.com, Zillow, Realtor.com.

SPEAKER_02 28:04

These are all great tools that we can bring to our side. All these stats.

SPEAKER_00 28:07

And you know, the more knowledgeable we are as agents, the more we can successfully sell these homes.

SPEAKER_02 28:12

Absolutely the best value and not leaving money on the table and one of the toughest markets we've seen in a long time.

SPEAKER_00 28:19

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 28:19

So it is really important who you're partnering with and how you use that technology.

SPEAKER_00 28:23

Three-phase marketing, that was new this year.

SPEAKER_02 28:25

Or newer like it's been around, but where we do a pocket listing first, then we do coming soon, then we put you on the actual market. So this way we have tested the price through two off-market uh marketing, you know, campaigns before you accumulate days on market.

SPEAKER_00 28:44

What's the largest brokerage in the US?

SPEAKER_02 28:46

Yeah, so this is where we can test a higher price and say, oh, not responding. Okay, let's adjust again. Not responding. And there's no price change. Yeah, before we actually get to that price where we're gonna put it on the MLS before we have price change.

SPEAKER_00 28:58

I have two of them right now that we're doing that.

SPEAKER_02 29:00

It's it's amazing. It's a wonderful way in a difficult market to have you know price a little high, have those adjustments, and not have the public see it. It's really great. Yeah. So Wow, we've got some fun last year. And this is Merry Christmas. Goodbye, 2025.

SPEAKER_00 29:19

We'll see you later. No, we won't.

SPEAKER_02 29:21

We're gonna be we're gonna be enjoying baking cookies, burning down the house.

SPEAKER_00 29:25

I mean, um burning down the house.

SPEAKER_02 29:27

Making brownies, making cookies and all the good things. I spend time with my family. Christmas parties.

SPEAKER_00 29:33

Everyone got to our traditions, but it's fine.

SPEAKER_02 29:36

It's fine. We just hang out with our family and have a wonderful time.

SPEAKER_00 29:40

I guess that wraps up our first season.

SPEAKER_02 29:42

Season, yes, our first season.

SPEAKER_00 29:44

We're gonna see y'all in February, I think.

SPEAKER_02 29:48

Yes, February is going to be mid or end of February.

SPEAKER_00 29:51

Be on the lookout. It'll be on our social medias, um, on our website, housenextdoor tx.com.

SPEAKER_02 29:57

And we're going to be incorporating guest speakers for our season two.

SPEAKER_00 30:01

Talk about one of them.

SPEAKER_02 30:03

Yeah, absolutely. Let's just tease one.

SPEAKER_00 30:05

So we have one of our agents at our office, Masheed, and she's going to be joining us next year on our podcast.

SPEAKER_02 30:13

She'll probably be our first guest speaker. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 30:16

So exciting. Um, and she is a phenomenal realtor. Um, she kind of falls in with us. She well, I I say us, Barbara and her. Um they followed. But y'all got into real estate by accident.

Civility, Gratitude, And Community Reset

SPEAKER_00 30:30

And like they both started out as apartment locators, and um, and I did too, but I had more of the background of real estate.

SPEAKER_02 30:37

So And she's also done the Zillow thing. So it'll be fun. It'll be fun to have new voices coming in.

SPEAKER_00 31:21

Thank you for tuning in.

SPEAKER_02 31:23

We'll see you next week. Yes, so please like, comment, comment, share, follow, whatever it might be. Until next time.