Hamptons On Air
Hosted by real estate agent Sarah Doud of Saunders and Associates and Bill Wright of PAR East Mortgage. The duo covers the Hamptons Real Estate market while highlighting local events, business owners and community organizations.
Hamptons On Air
Hamptons On Air Episode 8: Hamptons Networking and Market Update
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Created & hosted by Hamptons Real Estate Agent Sarah Doud of Saunders and Associates and Bill Wright of PAR East Mortgage. The duo covers the Hamptons Real Estate market while highlighting local events, business owners and community organizations. In this month’s episode they share the airwaves with a few of their favorite networking groups to discuss “HAMPTONS NETWORKING.”
Meet Paul Della Valle – LETIP International - network, refer, grow (Vice President, East Coast)
Meet Aram Terchunian | First Coastal Consulting - Vice President Southampton Business Alliance
Meet Christie Tagliavia- President The Wealth Collective (Elite Networking. Limitless Possibilities.)
You're listening to Hamptons on Air.
SPEAKER_04Hello, everybody. Welcome to another episode of Hamptons on Air. I'm your host, Bill Wright, with Par East Mortgage, and my co-host Sarah Dowd with Saunders and Associates. What's going on? How are you?
SPEAKER_01It's a good day.
SPEAKER_04It is a nice day.
SPEAKER_01It's a good day also because there was very light traffic in the Hamptons today. So it's getting here. Pretty perfect for the beach. I love it. Maybe we'll go there after we after we hit this episode. So today we're actually going to let our guests introduce themselves because we have three people in the room. Basically, the concept is Hamptons Networking and to me, three important rooms to be a part of, and great people at the round table today to share a little bit about it. So why don't you guys go ahead and introduce yourselves and the group?
SPEAKER_00Great. Thank you, Sarah. My name is Christy Taglavia. I am the founder of the Wealth Collective. We launched this year, and we are out here in the Hamptons and we are excited about the growth process.
SPEAKER_02Well, thanks for having me. My name is Aram Terchunian. I'm with the Southampton Business Alliance. We've been around about 30 years now, and uh as the name uh indicates, we're here to help Southampton businesses grow and do better.
SPEAKER_01And a great voice for radio podcasting. I like it.
SPEAKER_03I was told I have a face for radio. And I talked about it. Yeah. I thought it was a compliment. So my name is Paul Delaval. I'm a vice president for La Tip International networking group. Started in 1978. Um prior to that I was a retail florist and I was a member before crossing to the corporate side. And I crossed because the flower industry started changing, right? Retail uh supermarkets started selling beautiful flowers and kind of squeezed some of the margins. So uh I never thought I could love something as much as I love being a florist, but uh I love being vice regiment of La Tip. So thank you for having me.
SPEAKER_04That's great.
SPEAKER_01Super happy to have you here.
SPEAKER_04Very diverse. I like it.
SPEAKER_01Well, these are rooms and and and folks that I've gotten to know um, newly a part of the SBA, which is a growing uh group for me and and I plan to be more involved in. Um they do wonderful things. And so I just wanted to kind of share a lot of these resources as you did with our listeners, and you know, maybe there's someone who's a business owner out there who wants to be more involved or kind of take their Hamptons business to the next level. And I agree. It works for me, so it could work for them.
SPEAKER_04Absolutely. Aaron, you said you've been around 30 years, the Business Alliance.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, a business alliance, uh, you know, founded by you know half a dozen business people who's who and number one, you know, wanted to uh have a network where they could get the goods and services they need in their day-to-day work, but also to have a presence in Southampton Town Hall where legislation that affects businesses can be very impactful. That's great. Um it's a tremendous organization, incredibly diverse. And in fact, we're having a terrific networking event on June 23rd. Yeah, right next to our ship. Yeah, I'll be there as well.
SPEAKER_01Have you been over to Shippy since it's been reviewed?
SPEAKER_02Yes, I uh I was there before and I've been there after, and uh they're really keeping to the theme. It's pretty impressive.
SPEAKER_01And the uh the garden room, I think it's called, is wonderful.
SPEAKER_02And the atrium, yes.
SPEAKER_01The in the atrium, and those networking events that are there are always a good time. So I plan to be there. Hopefully you guys as well.
SPEAKER_03And I will just say as an outsider, I think it's very important to have somebody like you with Town Hall looking out for small businesses, because really they they are the backbone, right? I find of all communities. And I always say, you know, I was traveling and here comes 12 Amazon trucks through the center of town, right? And that's what's breaking the back of all these small businesses. So to have you as that advocate is huge.
SPEAKER_02Well, thank you. And we you know, uh it's it's a true labor of love. We are a not-for-profit. Uh nobody gets compensated. We do have an executive director that gets compensated, but all of us on the board are volunteers, as I think uh, you know, many organizations operate that way.
SPEAKER_01So I know why I like it, but why for you is this an important group to be a part of?
SPEAKER_02Well, you know, I'm uh I'm a what they call a local, been around here a long time. Founded my business in 1975 when I was a junior in high school. So uh we just finished 50 years in business.
SPEAKER_01Congratulations.
SPEAKER_02And um you know, it uh it would just it seemed natural. Uh that's the kind of our mindset around here. We all work together, we compete hard, and when the competition's over, we get together and play hard. Um and it's uh it's kind of a remarkable and unusual circumstance.
SPEAKER_01And so for people who want to grow their business or or who kind of hear about these networking opportunities, um, maybe they have already an established business and they're thinking, I don't need this. What's the benefit for someone who's already successful for being a part of an operation like this?
SPEAKER_02You know, it's like AI. You don't you don't think you need AI? You think AI is gonna replace you? No. AI is gonna make you stronger, it's gonna make you better, faster, smarter if you use it. Networking is exactly the same thing.
SPEAKER_04I agree.
SPEAKER_02Um hundred percent you know they said computers were gonna do away with paper and people. We've had more of paper. That's great.
SPEAKER_01And you yourself um you're on the board, obviously, but then you've also taken apart with your own business, involving your own business.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, so First Coastal, like I said, we were formed uh originally in 1975. Uh we're an environmental services company and uh coastal construction. We do wetlands, beaches, bluffs, build docks, uh anything that touches the water, we're involved in. We like to say any beach anywhere. I love it.
SPEAKER_04Government involvement is good to be involved in that business. You have to have the relationship in that, I'm sure. Absolutely.
SPEAKER_01And it's a conversation that comes up often in real estate. So it's good to have these relationships where then there's a resource to get it done and get across the finish line.
SPEAKER_02Well, yeah, that that's uh we do a ton of pre-purchase analysis for people. And uh, you know, uh that's one of the great things about uh networking. You know, we're we're dealing with everybody from real estate agents to attorneys to landscapers to builders to electricians, all of those trades are involved in the business alliance. And when we get in a room together and we start to share our stories, we're like, I can I can help with that, and I could get some help with that. That's great.
SPEAKER_01Thank you. All right, so Paul will send it over to you. So um being a part of LaTip, you're in a leadership role there. What are the the benefits off the top of your head for being a part of the group?
SPEAKER_03So being part of a Litip group is of course growing your business. But you you refer to what if you're established, right? And you might not need it. The referral sources it gives you for your clients, because someone who's well established becomes they're the go-to person. So when they reach out to you and say, Hey, I need a roofer, it's with confidence you can refer that roofer because I have found a bad referral. You could lose a client over a bad referral. So we have several people that say the value cash in my pocket is wonderful, but that referral, knowing it's gonna be done the way I do business and in a timely way, that's a tremendous value.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I think in the last week I sent out a private chef, a painter, and a builder all within the group. And they're all important connections that help me look better at my job and do my job well, um, despite having resources to kind of You know, as I said to you, I came as a retail florist.
SPEAKER_03And what I realized was I was just a creative guy in business, but I wasn't a businessman. And I also learned how to be a businessman through the tip. So I use this quick story. My flower shop was a thick old house. I fixed up the basement, that's where I saw my brides. Uh first floor was the work area, the meeting uh work area, and the retail spot upstairs was storage. I'm being visited because we have a visitation by other members. So this person happened to be a New York life, he was our life insurance person. He's a businessman. So he's waiting. I come up with a bride and her mother, and my designers know to have a bouquet there. I hand the bouquet to the bride, and off they go. Hopefully, I'm gonna do their wedding. And he said to me, Can we talk about you today? I said, I'd love that. He goes, Why do you say brides downstairs? I said, Oh, it's all fixed. Do you want to see it? He goes, People go downstairs to save money. That's the budget area, and yet it's your highest ticket. They should be going upstairs to the penthouse because that's where you're willing to spend more. And I'm like, How did he see that? And I didn't because I was too busy running the business and I didn't have the experience he had. The next one blows you away. Does the bride pay for the wedding or the mother? Because she walked out with no flowers. You let the wallet leave without touching it. How stupid was I. So three weeks later, true story, we went upstairs, that's where brides were. I started charging and getting more. And that second okay became, Mary, do you like them? Because if you do, I'll give them a deposit once I touch the mom. So those were two quick things I got. And that doesn't go into what the value of Letip is, but that's what happens when people share. And that's what we want to have as a community of people sharing, because that to me is where the value is. And it's crazy. And as I said, during the pandemic, everybody became a community. And we're like 5,000 strong throughout the US. And when people start to share, like when a young mortgage guy comes and says, Can I pick your brain? You have stories and things to tell him he can't learn in the best college. Right. Yeah. And it's rewarding to share. And that next generation. You probably join your team. Probably have another office here. But but how great is that? Like you pass it on to the next generation.
SPEAKER_01So and and so being in the Hamptons and not being a local, but being kind of new to the area, what have you had a chance to enjoy yet?
SPEAKER_03Oh, I walked around like I was a local today. I drove by Starbucks six times because there's no green awning. You know, it's it's not allowed. Oh, yeah, it's not allowed. You know, the GPS kept saying it's here. I found that. But you know what I find that I love? I think the people are wonderful. I think they're warm, they're inviting, uh, even to outsiders like myself. And I think that's wonderful for her community.
SPEAKER_02If you want to drink like a local, excuse me, if you want to drink like a local, you need to go to Hampton Coffee.
SPEAKER_03When we got oh, when we got there.
SPEAKER_01I got excited there. You thought you were going to Shippies. So I'll I'll send you the details for uh Hampton Coffee, send you the area. Yeah, cool. Um wonderful. Thank you so much for being here. I know you made a big drive to be here in the show for it.
SPEAKER_03It's well worth it. Thank you.
SPEAKER_01Okay, so now for you, I I love the part that you said that um the not-for-profit and the the funds going back to helping other people. So it's amazing. Hit on that.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, so that was what that was something that really um started the idea of as we're operating um this collective, what is something that we can do to give back? Um, I myself has been a part of the community for a very long time now. My husband is born here. Um we both made a lot of our progress personally and professionally through networking connections. Um, so the nonprofit, what we decided was to take the proceeds and put it into an entrepreneurial scholarship initiative and work with the local schools so that we could then award it to one or more students and help them on their journey at a very pivotal time. Um students that are either interested in moving forward into business or have a great idea and want to see that nurtured into something, we truly believe that great things can come from great ideas. Um, so if we can be that for them, that's something that really drives us.
SPEAKER_04That's amazing. Yeah. And you said you've already signed up with a school?
SPEAKER_00Yes, so we're working with one local school. Um, we're really excited to be presenting the scholarship the following school year, so next next year, to the students. Um, but we are hoping to grow and work with other schools in the area.
SPEAKER_04Do you have a projected target number of what your goal would be? As far as students or no, as far as like scholarship-wise, like what were you?
SPEAKER_00So, yes, we would like to offer the scholarship obviously to more than one person. Um we are looking at somewhere around five to ten thousand a student if that's you know, if on the trajectory that we're looking at. If it performs. If it performs. That's great.
SPEAKER_02So let's do some uh networking right now. So um I can definitely get you into the West Hampton Beach High School, and their business development program is is nationally known. They've won national competitions several times. Yes. And they have a tremendous teacher, Amy Demchek.
SPEAKER_00Yep.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, Amy's great.
SPEAKER_00I know Amy well, yeah.
SPEAKER_04And uh so I've done breakfast. I love the breakfast that they do. Oh, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_00So we'll be there next year. That's okay. Um we'll be there personally and also with the wealth collective. My husband owns a business in the community as well. Um, so we're hoping to really hit home and get out there in front of the students, say, hey, there's other options. Um, you know, if you have great ideas and you're looking to take a different direction in your life, there's people here to support that. And you know, with the right support and the right um network of people, um you can really achieve great things.
SPEAKER_01So what is your thoughts? Because you just kind of hit an interesting point there, where like take a different direction or take a different path. Um, the the idea was always graduate, do well, go to college, get a job. Sometimes it's pushed to be like a corporate job, but there's so many successful entrepreneurial people in the Hamptons, especially. I believe that's is that is that kind of the direction that you were going to be.
SPEAKER_00Exactly. So personally, I mean, it's very difficult at that age to decide exactly what you want to do. And personally, I was in that boat and you know, I was thought to think that I was going to take certain steps because I had to, instead of really acting on what I wanted to do.
SPEAKER_01And I don't know if it's generational and it's just shifting now, or if it's just the kind of the local sphere out here that sees how you can thrive if you really just work hard.
SPEAKER_04Well, I think it's there in the environment of, you know, I mean, I would venture to say there's a lot of parents in the West Hampton High School who are self-employed.
SPEAKER_02Right. Right. Well, and uh what we've done with the business line is very complementary to that is we're focusing on the trades. Right. And so we uh we give scholarships as well, and but we give them to tradespeople and uh we give them uh toolboxes, and they love it.
SPEAKER_01It sounds like you were maybe one of those people too when you were younger because you founded your business very early on, right? How old did you say?
SPEAKER_02I was 17.
SPEAKER_0117, and you started your business and then grew into you know how successful it is now.
SPEAKER_04So that sounds amazing, but now what is the actual explain the concept of the group, the group collective. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00So we are um a newer networking group. Um we were we launched this year, it's been uh years in the making. Uh we are a selected group of business people and entrepreneurs from the community. We meet once a quarter, which makes it a little unique because we do want to be you know conscious of people's time because people are busy, we have a lot of stuff going on. So we do meet once a quarter at a very big event put on by the organization. So it feels more like an evening out. Um, and what we do is we highlight a different business each quarter that gives them the opportunity to speak at the event and also network themselves through the organization. We do a lot of follow-ups with emails, we do have requests sometimes for people that want to meet a specific person, and we can help facilitate that relationship where we set up a lunch or whatever that might be. Um so having it each quarter gives that chunk of time to really focus on that one business and help them grow and get out there as much as we can. And the best way for people to be it's launching or it is officially launched. So we have officially launched. You can find us um right now on Instagram, the Wealth Collective Network. Um, we have a lot of information on there. Um, thewealthcollective network at gmail.com is where we can be reached. Uh, we do have a lengthy list of people who have joined us, and we we're just looking to continue to grow out here in the community.
SPEAKER_04That's great.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_03You know, when you talked about education, um, having four kids through college, two with a master's, networking is not taught in college.
SPEAKER_05Right.
SPEAKER_03And and I'm gonna say with my kids like others of their generation, they didn't have business skills. My sons never shoveled a driveway. They never cut people's grass. Things that I did because my parents didn't give me money made me a businessman and that my sense of I had a hustle. So I find like the older the kids in their 30s, they're not hustlers, right? So the tip's looking at getting kids right out of college and having them do networking, but not in the the regular groups, it would almost be the minor league that you teach them networking to bring them up.
SPEAKER_01That's neat.
SPEAKER_03Because they don't have a book of business, they really don't know the skills. And again, I go I'm gonna use my son because I can. He's in the moving business and he does really well. But there's a million movers that can move you. What do you do different? And that's what people look for. Right. So I had used this example. Um, when the moving trucks come in down the street, it's the first day that people are gonna be in their new home. You're the first knock at the door, bouquet of flowers, welcome home.
SPEAKER_02It's always about the flowers. It comes back, you know, and the closing.
SPEAKER_03But the point I'm making, they'll talk more about the guy who came to the door with flowers than a truck. Because the trucks are a dime a dozen.
SPEAKER_04Right.
SPEAKER_03And what do you remember? So his response is it sounds like a Hallmark movie. And I said everyone loves Hallmark music, so keep that in mind. Cliches are there for a reason. They are but again, I do think to teach them, they all have to be taught.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and I think to touch on your point of networking itself being so important, if you think about we're coming out of a um an age of influencers and social media being so heavy into the AI phase, people are craving networking and experiences more than ever. So there's an importance to what we're doing, to give that to people, to make them feel like they're a part of something, have an idea and grow it. And I I feel like there's a lot of people out there that are looking for that. And the more that we can make it a people aware that we are doing that, um, it's it's exciting, especially the the Hamptons community. There's a willingness to be together, grow together, and help elevate each other.
SPEAKER_03I was told by somebody that my children thirty young 30s and kids younger, uh, verbal communication is a secondary language to them. It's not their primary.
SPEAKER_02Well, this is their primary. Try to get somebody under 30 to answer their phone call.
SPEAKER_03Right. And again, when I say that's the future and they need to be taught, or the things that we know will not be the same.
SPEAKER_01And what I love too is that this moment now was created by a networking lunch.
SPEAKER_04A networking lunch.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_04Yeah.
SPEAKER_01So to start with that and then have an idea and grow it into something.
SPEAKER_04And then a little bit about the Hamptons on Air, right, is not only are we, you know, talking a little bit about our own markets and what we have, and I have some very exciting stuff I want to talk about. I always have fun facts, so I have fun facts today. But we're also giving other businesses and networking groups and things a platform that maybe are not up to speed with the Instagram and the other things, and then we post it on ours. So we're actually helping them grow as well as and benefiting in all anything.
SPEAKER_01Well, I think it's kind of like um you help them, they help you, and then everybody rises together.
SPEAKER_04So that's great, it's amazing. So let's hear some good news. So I got some fun facts. So the Southampton Business Alliance was responsible for creating the two lanes on 27, correct? The Buzzway. The Buzzway, yeah. That was there. That was a big that was a big hurdle.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. Well, we we um tackled, we've been tackling traffic since day one in the business alliance. It was one of our founding issues. Um, what I can tell you is there's still traffic and there will always be traffic. Uh the real question is, you know, how do how do we deal with it? And um, you know, the US Open is coming, which is fantastic for our area, for business, for people, for every for our whole country thing, fortunately. Um, but uh people are worried about the traffic during the open. Usually during the open, the traffic's better. Yeah, probably because you have some help down and there's make it work. And yeah, yeah, and then they put the resources into it. And um traffic is a whole nother podcast for us to dig into someday. Well, I gotta I gotta you know give uh Charlie McCardle, our uh superintendent of the highways, a shout out. He's done some just little things tweaks that have helped. They really have, yeah. And uh and uh you know, which out out of the box thinking, and that's that's what networking gets us. So something you haven't thought about, and you're having a conversation and you get that aha moment, that's that's when networking really has value.
SPEAKER_03Well, we say all the time your chapter meeting is the time to try something and then see what the results, and that's where things come out. A lot of great ideas come from trying it. That audience.
SPEAKER_04Love it. And then I guess my second fun fact is more of a congratulations, right? Thank you. The real trends verified list came out. You were ranked nationally in the top 1.5 percent.
SPEAKER_011.5%, yeah.
SPEAKER_04That's amazing. Congratulations. That's a huge honor.
SPEAKER_01It's fun to see those things. It just kind of hardly you know you're working hard. You know, you feel it every day. They're like, oh, yeah, it's it's paying off.
SPEAKER_04A little thank you goes a long way. Yeah, it's nice. Well, congratulations. Thank you. Well achieved. So I guess we'll just segue right into the mortgage market. I'll let you go first.
SPEAKER_01All right. Well, it's been uh successful, it's been hot. I think everything has offers on it, um, except one of my listings that um, you know, hopefully will move soon. Um, but things that are priced well are moving, and I'm a big fan of that. I really love pricing purposefully because when you do that, it is effective, and then you have great marketing behind it.
SPEAKER_04Makes everyone's job easier.
SPEAKER_01But it's also then you can do your job. Yeah. Then you can, you're not kind of just spinning your wheels in the sand stuck on the phone.
SPEAKER_02Waiting for the client to come to the realization that they've overpriced.
SPEAKER_01Right. And and then it's stale, and then you're reducing. So when you and you don't want to underprice it, but when you're pricing it purposefully to be effective, um, it performs. And so that's um that works and it's been working and will continue to work. And the market from my end is looking really strong. So tell me we have good news. We do.
SPEAKER_04I mean, so I mean I think the last two months I've said the market is kind of status quo. Um, rates are in the low sixes. There's even products in the fives. We're busy. We're seeing a lot of people have enough uh, I guess, positive view of the market that they're jumping into the house now, getting pre-approved. Um, we're seeing people pulling money out to do work, people doing work on their houses, renovating, puts more money back on the streets, puts more money upgrading and doing different things. So I think right now, I think 2026 it's gonna be kind of status quo and what it is.
SPEAKER_02And then I think status quo is at a pretty high level.
SPEAKER_01Well, I was gonna say, you know, status quo sometimes has this like connotation that it's like, eh, not so great, but like this is we're we're doing good.
SPEAKER_04We're doing good. I mean, if you really think about it, everyone wants to talk about two and three percent rates, right? We knew that. But if you really rewind the clock, the average 30-year fixed was 5.8756%. And I said, if we get the rates in the mid to low fives or even high fives, the country humps. People borrow money, you can either afford it or you cannot.
SPEAKER_01And I find that people, once they're closing immediately, they're saying, Do you have a painter? Do you have a landscaper? Do you have a pool guy? So it's not that they're just buying it and then putting the brakes on.
SPEAKER_03They are continuing to kind of just said, aren't those really historically low if you look at history?
SPEAKER_04Yeah, nationally. I mean, you know, if you if you if you take a look at history, that is correct. So I mean that I've said it. The country runs at a really great pace in the mid-fives.
SPEAKER_02So I I remember the 70s when it was 17. My parents told me 11 or 12 was their nightmare. Yeah, happily alone.
SPEAKER_0415 years ago, my first house, it was 6.875, and that was like a I was in the business. That was like a great rate. You know, we we got in during COVID.
SPEAKER_01We got it during COVID. COVID. So like right before, so we had a pretty sweet entry, um, which was nice.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, and that's been a little bit of a break on the market, people with these tremendously low rates, and they just it's hard for them to let go. They don't want to let go.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, yeah, but unfortunately, your families keep growing and you can only renovate. And uh but no, all joking aside, you know, i people are gonna upgrade no matter what. The average person stays in a house, either refines or sells their house within seven years.
SPEAKER_01If you keep it, then keep it as a rental because that would be just the best. The best. Keep that income coming in. Because when you have a rate that low, you're gonna out here in the Hamptons rental market, you're absolutely going to be able to have some positive there.
SPEAKER_04This was a really fun. I loved it.
SPEAKER_01I love when our guests actually um jump in and and kind of make it their own. So bravo to you guys. Thank you. And thank you. Appreciate it.