¶ iDesign Lab Podcast Open
The following podcast iDesign Lab is an SW Group production in association with Five Star and TW Interiors . This is iDesign Lab , a podcast where creativity and curiosity meet style and design . Curator of interiors , furnishings and lifestyles .
Hosted by Tiffany Woolley , an interior designer and a style enthusiast , along with her serial entrepreneur husband Scott , idesign Lab is your ultimate design podcast where we explore the rich and vibrant world of design and its constant evolution in style and trends .
Idesign Lab provides industry insight , discussing the latest trends , styles and everything in between to better help you style your life , through advice from trendsetters , designers , influencers , innovators , fabricators and manufacturers , as well as personal stories that inspire , motivate and excite .
And join us on this elevated , informative and lively journey into the world of all things design . Our guest today is Allison Stewart , a seasoned real estate expert . She's a local legend in Delray Beach , florida . Born and raised in this vibrant coastal community , she brings a deep-rooted passion and unparalleled knowledge of the area to every client she works with .
With 15 years of experience in the real estate market , allison has built a reputation as one of the top agents in the region , consistently recognized by her peers as a top producer . Year after year , her expertise shines in her ability to achieve the highest possible prices for sellers and match buyers with the home of their dreams .
Whether you're buying or selling , allison's commitment to excellence ensures every transaction is handled with the utmost care and precision . Beyond her real estate prowess , allison is a dedicated philanthropist giving back to the community through her support of the City of Hope Charity Foundation .
She has co-chaired numerous events , tirelessly raising funds for a cause close to her heart
¶ Welcome Allison Stewart
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Welcome to iDesign Lab Podcast Today's guest , Allison Stewart . A dynamic leader in real estate , she specializes in high-end residential properties in South Palm Beach County . She is an awesome leader in our community and also a dear friend . Welcome to the podcast . This is fun .
So the first question we have to ask is how did you get into real estate . How did I get into real estate , honestly ?
Yeah , no , no , honestly into real estate . How did I get into real estate , honestly ?
yeah , no no honestly . I wanted a flexible job where I didn't have standard hours and I thought it would be fun and pretty . I'd get to look at pretty things all day and you know , this is 20 year old , allison right and then I'd have a ton of free time I could travel . And the reality is I have no freedom , no flexibility .
Now . Now , that's because you're successful . Yeah , you're taking care of the needs of all your clients .
And I like to work , yeah . But when I got into it I thought , oh , this will be fun . I get to see pretty houses and make my own schedule , did you ?
have any family members or anyone that kind of led you towards it ?
No , my degree was in finance and marketing and I thought I'd go into business with my dad who's a financial advisor . I interned in that industry in college and that was my path and I hated it .
Really you didn't enjoy it at all . No , I hated it , didn't feel the connection ?
Not at all . And so I , literally my dad , was friends with somebody that was in the business , family friend , and little did I know they would hire anyone , did they mentor ?
you in that regard ? Not at all , and I stayed with the same company for 20 years , but you had to get a license first .
They would hire anyone . Did they mentor you in that regard , or have you ?
come and see how , and I stayed with the same company for 20 years , but you had to get a license first .
Oh yeah , you had to get a license and go through these silly courses .
But did you have to have the license first before you could work or start doing anything ? Yeah , you had to .
So I went through the class to see if it was something I really enjoyed or thought I could see myself doing . And and then you've taken an exam , and um , and then they officially hired me so what did it look like ?
starting out like , how did you go about gaining clientele ? Like you said , you hung your hat at one particular branch or what do you call that ? A real , yeah , real estate firm , real estate office .
It's hard to get into . I mean , you don't realize , if no one's handing someone with no experience a house to sell , you don't just you know someone . It's someone's biggest Asset , asset , their biggest decision that they're making . Probably , maybe ever , maybe in 10 years , they were not going to hand me .
So how did you get your first client or how did you start building clients ?
I don't , even I would take anything . It's like the chicken or the egg kind of I would take anything . I lived with my parents for six months to a year . I went at least six months without a paycheck .
Wow .
But , were you enjoying it during this growth time ? No , no , I mean , I wasn't .
I didn't . I didn't hate it , but it was just like when is something going to happen ? And you know this was 25 years ago . So I would do $200,000 places any kind of lead , any kind of I would just work anything and really word of mouth .
You know , somebody referred a friend and then they referred a friend , but it took me 10 years to get my own confidence , to know that I , oh yeah , to know that I could beat out another agent , that I was better for the job .
And then that comes across when you meet with people , not in an arrogant way , just like I can help you and I'm going to put the effort in more than somebody else is .
Is there one skill that's more important than anything in a position like this ? That's more important than anything in a position like this ? I mean , is it having confidence in yourself , or great people skills , or really knowing the community and what's for sale ? Is there anything that's more important than another ?
No , I mean , it would be hard to do without confidence and you know you can't have confidence without the knowledge true , a lot of people a lot , a lot of people have knowledge but not confidence . A whole lot of people have confidence without the knowledge or they you know , they just don't know , but they pretend , and I think that's dangerous to you know .
It's hurting people , yeah , hurting clients .
So when you say knowledge , you mean knowing everything else that's for sale , necessarily not just what you're selling , Because anybody , these days especially , can find out what's for sale , but just strategically .
you know how does the ? Market feel . What's the market doing ? Okay , this household for this . But it's not apples to apples . You know , everyone thinks their house is nicer than their neighbors , so I learned that very early on . Um , funny , you know , they , they think their house is nice .
Oh , but ours has worth more and I'm like you know , sometimes it matters and sometimes it it just doesn't right . Um , I think honesty with people , being upfront is huge because I've missed out . To this day . I don't lose too many listing appointments . If I go on a listing , I'm probably getting it .
But you know , I learned that I was losing listings , and listings is how you grow and how you get more business . Most realtors I mean just being a listing agent versus a buyer's agent . That's how you really grow . But I was losing listings because some other realtor would come in there and say , no , your house isn't worth $2 million , it's worth $2.5 .
And they were just telling them what they wanted to hear to get the listing . And it would sit on the market for a year and um , but I was losing out and I never changed my strategy .
I was never going to overprice things because it would be a waste of my time so when you say strategy , we kind of think of that as designing the direction of your business , designing how .
This is the iDesign lab and we try to talk about design all the time you're designing , what goes into kind of the thought process of designing like your next new client well strategy strategy . Is there a strategy ? Do you look at each one differently or is the same ? I was just gonna ask that too .
I mean , do you look at each listing as something ? You have to have different strategies for each one ?
Yes , I think so . And time and market you know time and place of what's going on .
What's going on in the world , what's the price point , what's happening at a $400,000 place and a $4 million place is very different , so you have to look at them each individually and in that moment in time and I mean interest rates , insurance , stock market , elections there's so many things that affect what could be going on in that particular house .
If you sold it two years earlier , it would have been . I would have told you a different story , or two years later .
What are you predicting now that the election's over COVID's passed ? The boom is kind of yeah .
It was a quiet summer . Every election cycle we have a quiet . People just don't know the direction of things . They're hesitant to make a move . We've had interest rates high , which hasn't helped , but every election time it's quiet . So this past four months it's been very quiet .
You think it's going to pick up ?
Oh yeah , yeah , I do definitely . I mean I think especially South Florida , palm Beach , Miami . I mean I think we South Florida , palm Beach Miami , I mean I think we're in higher end , the high end market . I wouldn't say that it was slow or stopped because of the election , but a lot of those people aren't here in the summertime , so that made it quieter .
But I definitely think that it will help . I don't know that we're going to skyrocket at all , to the frenziness that we saw right after COVID when everyone was trying to escape New York and escape California and Chicago and all these places , but I think it'll be healthy .
Is there an aspect of real estate that's your favorite part , that you really enjoy more than is it like the first meeting with the client ?
getting the contract , knowing your relationships too , or so the thing that I am least excited about okay I'll start there . Or cared the least about is the paycheck . I mean , that sounds crazy , but you know me well enough to know that like I don't even think about it , I don't even care , I don't know if it came in .
Usually my husband Nate is like did you get that check ? That's like the last thing I'm thinking about . My favorite thing is like I'm so competitive I am . Which is good I just I get a lead and I'm like I'll be there at 845 tonight and I've done that multiple times One of my , the cute little blue house on Ingraham that I sold .
¶ Client Dedication and Party Planning
You know , after we sold the house he told me why he hired me over I won't name but big top agents by the beach . And you know he called me and said you sold a house across the street and a blind lead . I don't know what you really call that , but just like not a relationship , right ?
And he just saw my sign across the street and he said well , my wife and I are thinking about it . This is a week before Christmas , a few days before Christmas , we're thinking about it , so maybe we'll have you come by the first week of January . My kids are coming in town , my grandkids are coming in town , so that sounds good .
How about we make an appointment for the first week of January ? And I said well , when do your kids come in town ? And he said tonight or tomorrow . And I said well , I'm in the area , I'll come by now . And I don't even think I was in the area .
But I was like I'm in the area , I'll come by now , and I don't even think I was in the area but I was like I'm gonna come by right now . I'm like I don't want to wait . I get so excited . I don't want to wait until January and a lot could change in two weeks , in in January , you know in that in that time they might forget about me .
So he was like really , uh , okay , let me just holler to my wife and she's gardening , okay , come on over . And I said , obviously I'm not going to be prepared with a full listing presentation , but I'm excited .
I want to see this house . I knew the house already .
So just from you know selling in the area , but I just I love the and I just know I'm going to get it Well .
you have a remarkable tenacity about yourself and conviction to like your clients . You are dedicated to them and getting their house sale . I mean morning , noon and night , it's like 24-7 , seven days a week .
But what we know and see of you is that you are there to make it happen for your clients , which is , I mean , there's not a lot of people like that , which is probably the reason why you do so well .
One of my most memorable compliments was from you , scott . About a year and a half ago , scott called me . I have no idea about what it was probably about a barbecue this weekend or something . And I picked up the phone and it's a Saturday and I'm like , oh yeah , I'm doing an open house and I've got a coffee .
And it's a Saturday and I'm like , oh yeah , I'm doing an open house and I've got a coffee truck it was so cute and you know I've got all this stuff going on and and I don't know how it came up , but he was like god every time , you , you , you have such good work ethic .
You know you , just you do and I I guess I knew that , but listen , coming from you and and the businesses you've run and and what you've seen and who you met , and your , your success it's , it was like a very good feeling and you're , you're very impressive the way in which you were like just you just said a coffee truck .
I don't like who has an open house ?
oh , all of our coffee houses are spectacular . Tell us how even you go into curating each of those events . I mean , you're a great party planner .
To begin with . So I find that a lot of realtors don't want to spend money . I mean the coffee trucks .
They don't want to spend money when they're going to make a lot of money .
Or the champagne truck or the mimosa truck . Right , I'll do the mimosa truck . I'll do the mimosa truck , I'll do . I'm having an ice cream truck in andover sunday . I mean I'm I'm doing an open house and I people don't want to spend money . Who wants to spend people ? They won't .
They don't want to spend money on the photos , the extra money you know I spend a thousand dollars on pictures the , the ice cream or the coffee truck probably is twelve hundred dollars for two hours but there's the old expression you spend money to make money . Yeah , yeah , and I first of all , I think it's fun , I want like a prop .
I want people to come and have a good time .
And remember , they'll remember you .
Yeah , I want them to remember it . And you know , in my neighborhood my neighbors always pop by ?
I was just going to say does it like draw more people too , that wouldn't necessarily maybe come by ?
Yeah , I mean nobody's coming from Palm Beach just to drive down to my ice cream truck .
But it's realtors who are showing up .
Sometimes Some is realtors . It depends I do brokers opens and I go all out . Sometimes I hire a party planner to do a-huh to do a full spread um and make it pretty . I want it to elevate the house . I want it to um . I want brokers to have a good time social media , even though I'm new to social media . I want them .
I know they'll put it on social media um , and you know , sometimes the owners don't even know that you've done all what I'm doing . They usually find out after the fact , because their neighbor will tell them holy cow , you had the best party at your house .
You know they're not there . They're never there .
That is so funny , but yeah , so usually people , I think , find out or they realize how good I was to work with or how much I took care of them after the fact yeah , you know . I think they like take a chance and hire me , and then I exceed their expectations and then they refer me .
So when you get a listing , are there any important aspects that's important with a listing ? Will you take any listing ?
No , that's interesting really .
Like if it's in a bad location or it's 15 years ago I would have but not now , of course .
Now I no , I won't take an overpriceless thing , because it would waste my time and I would disappoint someone and then you know it . Then that goes back to just being honest with people . I would rather tell them up front .
And if they don't , if we're not on the same page , or they don't believe me , then you know we we part ways and someone else is a is a better fit
¶ Home Staging and Listing Management
. But , um , there was a time last spring where I was so incredibly busy and had nine listings , which is way too many . I like three or four at a time and then sell one and pick up a new one , but that's a good rhythm for me .
Why is it like nine too many ? Because I don't know . It's just me , because you can't be there .
You can't service nine listings .
Okay .
Your phone rings . This is probably like when Nate would be showing up without me all the time .
Yeah , you know , I've got two little girls .
It's just you , can't you . You know , I've got two little girls . It's just you can't . You can't service it I was so spread too thin , my phone's ringing way too much If I had a whole you know team under me of people . But I like to control my business and I want to be the one to do everything and I've had to let go of a little bit of that .
But nine listings are not good and so even when I piled up the nine listings , I had people calling me hey , I've got this condo , you know it's worth a million two , or some sweet person that says you know , I have this cute little $450,000 townhouse . And I just said to them I am sorry but I cannot service you . I just can't take the business .
You will not get the full what you deserve .
So , yeah , back to that honesty , again . Yeah .
So what happens or what do you do when you come across a house and you know , okay , this is a good house , it's in a great neighborhood . And you walk inside and it's an absolute disaster Happens all the time I was going to say yeah , this morning , this morning , yeah .
So you've got to fix it , and not every situation . When did that begin Like that ? Whole fixing these houses before I started doing this about maybe 12 years ago . That I really remember , and 12 years ago I was not as I was doing . Well , you know , fine , but not to the point where I am now .
I would go in and you know that those 90s maroons and the greens , and you know I would the dark red colors , and I was seeing that a lot . It was just kind of old world , yeah , and so I would say what do you think about painting ?
the house .
You know , just that was it .
And how do most people react to that ?
That's a lot of work when you're living there . You know , they don't think it's worth it , they don't get it . Oh , these new people are going to paint .
They don't want , they're not going to want my color , I'm going to pick this color and they're going to want .
But it is about making something , sell it all right , not just .
You know , if you're living in a house and you have to make your beds and clean it , clean it up and get everything ready , you don't want to do that for six months , you don't want to pick up your kids , toys or what , whatever it is , and for six months of showings where you could have a showing twice a week because but do most people clean up and make
their beds and have the house presentable , or do you go around doing ? it well , a little bit . Is that in an agreement that ?
they kind of take care of the housekeeping . No , never .
I usually kind of know somewhat of what I'm getting into . You know I can . I can tell um , but a realtor in my office just yesterday was kind of joking that he has . He's at a point where he has about nine listings right now that he's had for six months . That's too long right well way too long and he and I have one listing right now .
I have two coming on today or tomorrow . But he was like you , just yours , sell . You , sell them fast . I would rather I think this is key for my business I would rather spend a month prepping a house , literally getting myself dirty . I'm not the one painting , but coordinating painters .
And I have a great team of landscapers , painters any kind of resources . Wait , wait , wait , landscapers .
So you're fixing landscaping for a house that you're going to set . You have to have it .
curb appeal , any curb appeal you need to give people purpose to . Okay , this is a usable backyard . You need them to picture themselves there . So I would rather spend a month , three or four weeks prepping a house , telling them what to put away , what to pack , what to get ready . Listen , you're moving anyways , so take down all your photos .
Yeah , you're right , Put all your garbage away giveaway boxes . So get it out of my sight and you'll feel better too , Right ? So then you're going in and maybe reorganizing furniture and Sometimes I mean it depends A lot of times you're decluttering and and a lot of times you're holding somebody's hand . They've been in a house for 20 years .
It is emotional , it's hard .
They're not quite ready .
They don't know where to start . It's overwhelming . So you become part therapist filming . So you become part psychologist therapist .
Um , but so probably 12 years ago I I can remember this one house in my neighborhood where you know all these dark , red walls and the the owner didn't have a ton of money , didn't want to do it , and I said I'll do it will you let me pay for it ?
and so so do you ask them for the money back when they sell , or it just comes off your commission ?
No , I just said I believe in it that much that it will make a difference in how much money you get and how much easier it will be for me to sell it's worth your time so it's worth my time and money . Right Time is money , so it just is like it brightens a place , up it kind of .
Then you can kind of see okay , this is just not my furniture , I can replace the furniture , and they always end up painting anyways .
Nobody ever keeps the color . Well , when you talk about , I mean , furniture that brings in like the next level of staging opportunities , which I know you rely on sometimes too .
Yeah , I have a . When did that even change the industry ? But explain staging for people who might not ever know .
So staging is where you bring in furniture that you're borrowing . You're renting for a period of time it could be two months to hopefully not more than six months . It costs a lot of money to stage places and it's very hard at times to convince a seller that this will help your house sell . And you also have to tell them your taste is not everyone's taste .
That must be a tough one .
It can be very tough , you know , your baby's ugly .
Right your baby's ugly .
How many times I've gotten a phone call from this sweet person that says oh , we updated our kitchen and this and that . And I'm excited . It's going to be a great listing and it was updated in 2005 . And it's just , you just have to be gentle with people and tell them that it's lovely . But it's not what people want right now .
So I started paying for things at times myself .
I mean , I wasn't trying to be too crazy and throw money away , but if I really believed in it or I would say , I'll split it with you , I'll split the difference with you because I'm invested personally Right and I believe in this , and so I think , especially splitting something with people they could get on board .
Yeah .
And then , as I saw it , work and work better you got more confidence in pushing it . I would get more confident with going to speak to someone and saying , hey , you knew the , the Smiths down the street . You went to dinner parties at their house for Christmas years before .
But you saw what it looked like three months ago when we sold it and people are like , yeah , never looked better . You know like , oh , it was amazing . Nobody ever cleaned up their yard until you sold it .
You know , so then they can , they can , and I always tell people I talked to a seller and I'm like Picture yourself , you're the buyer , I'm going to show you houses . What are you looking for ? What are you looking at ? Would you buy this kitchen ? Would you be able to see past these walls ? And I think that kind of helps people .
There's definitely so much psychology in it , not in a mind trick kind of way , but just understanding and helping people understand .
People are so different .
Why are different and everybody's got a different motivation why they're moving , why they want to downsize . Life changes . So you know it's like every situation is so different , which I also think is really fun about my job .
So this , what we've been talking about has been people selling their houses and changing it , but what about the people who are going out looking to buy a house , who are going into houses ? The average person really can't visualize themselves how it could be different . How do you overcome or how do you work with that to help people visualize ?
Or even if you stage it , yeah , and they don't care for the staging ?
Well , people typically like the staging because it feels newer and fresher Right , even if it's not their style . Right .
At least it's a blank slate or it's clean With buyers . I mean , I have a pretty good eye and I know silly information like ballpark , what a generator costs , ballpark , what a roof costs . I'm pretty good within a window of . I'll say to somebody I bet this roof is $50,000 to $55,000 . And then they're always like Allison , it was $54,000 .
How would you know that ?
I'm like I've seen a lot of roof .
So same thing . Hey , we can move this door and now this can be a bedroom instead of something else . Or half the time I'm texting Tiffany . What can I do here ? Tiffany , help me , this has potential . How can I change ?
that I didn't know that , oh yeah .
Yeah , yeah , yeah , I mean , I see well they go hand in hand .
Yes , yeah , one of my resources two industries definitely go hand in hand .
You know one of the things that we do , a lot is 3D visuals . I don't know if you've seen , like where ? We're a little bit , yeah , we're taking where someone looks at what they currently have , yeah , and then they're looking at a big picture that's 3d . It looks like a photograph of what it's going to be .
Sometimes they're hard to tell apart whether they're photographs or yeah .
Yeah , it's so realistic , you mean like the front of the house or any any room so cool , it's amazing as soon as people see that , they're immediately okay , we want that , change our whole room , or that we want to change all these rooms , just the way the pictures are yeah , well , it makes our job a little easier yeah I there's time do you use any of that
or ?
so , um , the about probably six years ago , I started um using this photographer that they're kind of ahead of . They've always been ahead of the game with virtual staging . Um , do you know what that is Like ? You just implant furniture into a white room and some of it is really bad , really bad A plant .
But this particular software that they have , I mean , it is hard to tell in some of them that it's not real . People are blown away . But sometimes you have to stage so that people can feel it and different . You know , oh , okay , this room is so big .
But oh , I see two sitting areas , Multiple sitting areas , exactly .
But the . So I use a little bit of the virtual staging , Sometimes some renderings staging , sometimes some renderings . But you know , it's amazing what you can offer people and kind of help them with their process of what something could look like .
So what's the average time that something stays on the market , and what's too long ?
You know , the old pre-COVID six months was the norm , right , okay , and then for three years , two and a half years , during COVID it was a week A day , you know .
Had to make a decision . It was a day .
And now I think probably four months is the norm and of course it depends on the price point , but I would say that's realistic four months , and if you are , but it's always price , People can make excuses or can think it's other things and it could be other things , but at some price someone is going to buy this and someone could look at that and say , well
, at a lower price I could have done it on my own , which I don't think is really the case , because you have to just have that experience to to be able to guide
¶ Pricing Strategy and Buyer Communication
somebody through that .
You know and is it true that , like really , your first offer is typically your best offer A lot of times a lot of times it is Um , that's you know .
I hear little rules like oh , you can offer 10% , you know , off the list . Well , I've never . That's not true , but a lot of times your first offer is your best , maybe a little over half the time .
So what does that happen ? When you get those offers , what does that negotiation process look like , and how do you even know to weed them out ? Like , yeah , this is something I'm willing to even entertain with , and how do you ?
even know to weed them out . Like , yeah , this is something I'm willing to even entertain with . So I like to price properties .
If you guys said to me , allison , we want , we have to get 3.8 for our house , okay , a lot of realtors might come in and say , and you guys might think this way also , let's list it at 4.5 , give ourselves room to negotiate and again , confidence and experience , I might have thought that , yeah , good strategy , let's try it .
And sometimes we can try it , sometimes it might work . But I just think that you're helping other houses to sell when you are overpriced . There is not an urgency in buyers . So I like to . If 3.8 was our number but of course a little more would be great I would say let's price it at 3.999 . And you are going to get real buyers .
There is going to be an urgency . They're going to see the value . They're going to want to get it before someone else gets it Because it was a good buy or a proper , or just it's fair , it's a fair . It's . You know , there's when it's overpriced .
They may love it and come in and say but it's going to be here tomorrow , it's going to be here next week , so let's just keep looking . We'll keep an eye on .
Scott and .
Tiffany's house and they're gone . They're not coming back in most cases and then you sit and then you have to do price reductions anyways . So you know , but it's important that you have an advisor that you trust , that knows what they're doing . Advisor , you mean a realtor , you know a realtor that you trust and you know they have your best interest .
They're not just trying to make a quick sale or a quick buck or add to the listings .
They're just really trying to move it Right right and it's hard .
I mean if you were sitting there and somebody tells you , hey , it's worth 4.5, . I mean if you were sitting there and somebody tells you , hey , it's worth 4.5 and somebody else says it's worth 3.8 to 3.9, . You know , it's tempting to go with the higher price . But you know facts are facts .
When it comes to what the history of a neighborhood is selling for , what the history of market is selling for and the market , you know the buyers are going to determine what somebody's house is worth .
Not you guys , even though sellers like to think it's them Right . The buyers are the ones who are making those .
Yeah , yeah .
What's the norm in your selling someone's house ? How often do you typically communicate with that person ? Is it every day ? Is it once a week ? Is there a norm to make people feel comfortable ?
I mean , if it's silent , if we're not getting any action , if I'm showing it every day , I'm talking to them , texting them every day .
Hey , I'm here . Here's the feedback .
But if we're not getting showings or phone calls , that's when it gets a little scary . But it's best to communicate rather than go into hiding . Good realtors get nervous or they don't like the uncomfortable conversations and so they kind of avoid and hope something's going to change , hope something is going to happen , and it's just better to reach out .
So I don't think I would let more than a week go by you know four or five days to just give feedback . Hey , you know , I'm not , i'm'm not seeing , we're not getting phone calls , or we're getting .
Does that really ?
happen . Yeah , wow , yeah , it happens . And and also if I have other listings and I can see , hey , there's a ton of action over here , and there's not over here . So we can't just say there's no buyers , right , you know ?
Um , they're just not putting the same value that that you are on this , um , so , yeah , I mean it's , it's um , I don't like doing the same thing over and over and over again . So if I am getting the same feedback from people , if I am showing a house to buyers and I'm getting the same feedback , like I don't know , I'm just trying to think .
Well , do you follow up with buyers , like other realtors , and see what they say ?
Yeah , but it's so rare to get honest , real feedback and it's hard because the sellers From the people who are out looking or the realtors who are with those people , all of it .
Buyers and buyer's agents . It's hard to get real feedback . Sellers expect that everybody would give real feedback . The buyers themselves ? They just say not a fit .
Right .
But they don't want to offend you and say the ceilings are too low .
Your baby is ugly . The baby is ugly .
They don't want to offend you and say the ceilings are too low or it's got to . You know no curb appeal , they just don't . And then buyers , realtors , have moved on . Their feedback is we're not calling you again . That is their feedback and they don't want to waste their time . They don't want to put the energy I mean myself . When I'm with a buyer .
It's kind of annoying when a listing agent that I showed a place to is like can you give me some feedback ? And I'm like , uh , yeah , not interested you know , like you , just so , it's hard to get real , real feedback . It's very helpful , though , but so if you're seeing the same thing , hey , um , the house is too dark , the house is too small .
There's going to be things you cannot change , of course , but I have changed course mid like , we're on the market three weeks and I'm like , nope , this isn't working . It's not always about just reducing the price . It might be about , hey , we have to stage this playroom , this house wants a dining room right .
People need to see a dining room and they can't see it . So sometimes I'm like time out , we're , we're shifting gears and we're gonna stage something or paint something , or so do you take it off the market ? Um , not too often , no , just it depends . It depends . Sometimes I'll put it off the market . Not too often , no , just it depends , it depends .
Sometimes I'll put it temporarily off market for a minute . Sometimes I just say , hey , it can't be shown until Sunday , and this is probably one in four or five listings , so it's not every time .
So your focus is mainly on your listings , not taking people around to see other houses . Am I correct in saying that ?
A little bit . You know , 15 years ago I worked mostly with buyers , probably because I didn't and I liked it . I mean , I was making money and it was good and I'd get listings . But you want listings ? Listings is how you get more buyers . Listings brings get listings , but you want listings . Listings is how you get more buyers .
Listings brings more listings Buyers . You can drive them around for three years and they go buy from somebody else . That's true .
Oh , that's the worst , that's true .
That's got to be terrible .
Listings . You have a contract . You have a time to sell it . You have an opportunity to sell it . You're up against the clock kind of thing , but you're getting paid most likely . You know buyers it's like if this works , then this . And sometimes buyers have to sell their house to buy .
So sometimes they want to look at what they could buy but they have to sell first . So we know we're showing things that they can't actually pull the trigger on .
That's got to be difficult in wearing .
Yeah , yeah , I enjoy some of the buying process Seeing a lot of what's out there . And you get to know the people On the listing side . A lot of times it's more transactional . After the listing , appointment and the prep you barely see them . Right , they're out of the house , you're in the house .
So the relationship isn't the same when you work with a buyer . You know their motivation . You know you really get to know them . Motivation , you know they're , you really get to know them . I mean good and bad , you know you . You definitely play therapist and yeah , um , but I get pretty fortunate with buyers .
They're , they're serious , they're only working with me . Um , there's a confidence .
Yeah , you recently made a big change . As we started this conversation , you said how you started with a family , friends , business and you kind of stayed there for quite a while . In the world we live in now , like this digital world and social media , how did switching to a more mainstream global company .
Well , actually , I guess they just announced this week that they're going global , Going global .
And all that infrastructure that comes with it . How have you found that evolution for your path ?
¶ Navigating Real Estate Career Changes
Why did I move ? Why ? And just like the big difference , like just all the what is it ?
The more helpful .
Yeah , strategic partnerships or the .
Yeah , I mean , I'm a very loyal person . I don't like a lot of change .
No , people don't .
You think , yeah , knows people don't . You think , yeah , you know , but I could eat the same dinner like four nights a week and not be content .
We can't . I know . We have to have something different .
That's good for Nate . We'll be married forever . You know , like , I'm very loyal , I like the same thing , I like what you know , so it just works .
I'm saying that just about dinner , what so ? It just worked at my own .
I'm saying that just about dinner .
What we like , something a different type of dinner every night , so we're always cooking something .
You know that .
So you know , it was kind of it worked at the company I was with for a long time . People were working with me . They were not working with the company . It was a smaller firm , it was a local firm , a family firm firm , but it was all my relationships right in 20 years . They never gave me a single piece of business .
They didn't , never , never , and I it just didn't , it didn't really matter , yeah but they were also mostly a Broward County firm right , and I mostly work Palm Delray , boca , palm Beach County so but it always just kind of coasted and I nobody bothered me . I knew their systems , I knew you know how they had their own marketing department .
It's just like flowed . And COVID was a big , really big growth in my business and I just saw opportunity and just you know , for my family , I just said , okay , how long ?
is this going to ?
last . You know how long is this boom going to last ?
I'm going to take every opportunity while you can get it , but really I kind of became like a household name in a lot of little areas and so that growth and my the price points changed so much you know , every 800 000 house became a 1.6 house and they sold in in days or hours days and then the houses that were two million dollars became $5 million .
So just a few good relationships that led to some great opportunities , great sales , referring business . I moved into this really nice price point , $2 to $5 million , close to the beach in Delray , and they're all friends , everybody's friends , and you know referring me and it's so cute . I love these people .
You know , I really do become friends with them and my kids will play with their grandkids . But I got into this price point and there were a few times last year where I went on a listing appointment . That was a cold call . They just saw my sign , no relationship , and I interviewed for the job , but without knowing the people , without a connection .
And there was this one in particular who actually I saw you that day , oh my gosh . So this one in particular , probably a year and a half ago , a year ago , where I knew I got this listing , I nailed it , I prepped and had this awesome presentation and I also knew who I was up against .
They told me who I was up against and it was like the top beach agent that's been around for 20 years .
Right .
And I connected with the wife and the husband and it was just great .
It was you know .
And so two days later I get a call and they said we just want to let you know we love you . Allison , your presentation was better . We like you more . You sold our neighbor's house , but we're going to go with the national company . We think we need this high end luxury brand . And it was like I got punched in the gut .
And I'm like , okay , you know , I understand .
So you didn't lose it because of you . You lost it because of who you're working with .
Yes , yes . And they said you know we like you better , you know we trust you more .
The commitment was so there too from , and I had such a plan .
I was like here's what we're gonna do . We're gonna do landscaping here , we're gonna do this . You know all these things and and I'm always willing to show up meet contractors yeah get myself dirty . you don't have to be here , you , you , you go , stay at work .
I will meet these people and make this all happen and it'll be ready in three weeks or whatever for the deal and um .
So I , I remember I walked into tiffany's office and I just started crying and I , I mean , I mean that had not happened to me in 10 , 15 years , crying over not getting a listing , come on , but it just was Such a catapult , it was a it just I knew I should have gotten it .
The people didn't feel you had the support system behind you , right , right .
So they felt like they needed a luxury national brand , and I had heard that another time or two , but this one was like a sure bet that this was my house to sell and , truthfully , it wasn't even the best house . It wasn't a great house to sell .
It was expensive , but it had a lot of challenges of its own and so it wasn't a slam dunk for me to sell it . It was a challenge that you said you enjoyed yeah .
And I , like these people , and I just , just , you know , knew it was for me to do in this moment , and so I didn't get it , and can I tell you , I mean I cried and and , but it was fine , I kept the relationship . I never shut a door .
I kept the relationship .
I ended up working with them two more times this year , even though they listed with this other person they . They worked with me to sell their mom's house , help their mom find a new house , and I've kept this relationship with them . The house stayed on the market for over a year with that realtor .
Wow .
Kept dropping the price , kept dropping the price and this couple that I had become friends with , they were calling me saying hey , what would you do ? We got this offer . Should we drop the price ? Should I knock the house down and build a spec house ? And we're talking this is like a $3.5 million house . Should I knock the house down ?
The lot's worth this , I can build this . I'm like what does your realtor say ? What are they saying that you hired ? And he's like well , I don't know , I trust you and I'm like this is crazy . And he knew , they knew that they made a mistake . Also , that other national brand realtor overpriced the house by 400 , 500 , 000 and I said , absolutely not . Look .
And I showed them a , b and c of why it was and I said we , they were , they'd moved out of the house . You know they had moved on . So somebody who's moved out . You don't want to just hang on to something . It's a liability , it's a .
It's costing you the drain yeah , yeah , there's no , and it was a house that was going to need a roof right , it was going to need it wasn't improving .
Nothing was getting better for this house , and so I I I said a certain price , and then the other one said five hundred thousand dollars more , and I would check on that house all the time and they would just shave off 100 . Shave off 50 . Price improvement . Shave off 50 .
And you know it was Did it eventually sell ?
It did for Like a million dollars less than what it started when they wanted to be or where they were told it would be . I mean , it sold for lot value and you could definitely make this a cute beachy house with the right decorator .
So you ended up changing to a new firm just recently .
Yeah , and I had the opportunity . Yeah , that and that , and I had the opportunity . So again , I've become friends with with this couple and worked with their family twice and maybe two months ago , um , I told them that you moved . They were part of the reason why I moved at that conversation and they felt terrible .
They were like , oh my gosh , no , we didn't mean for that . And you know we were stupid and I said , honestly , sometimes you just need that kick in the pants and I just I was scared . I've got little kids .
I didn't want to go through the process of rebranding and starting over because I knew it would be a setback to have to but was it really in hindsight . Well , I'm still in it .
I mean , it's so new , it's so new .
But so , yeah , I'm learning all kinds of new technology and programs , assets that they bring to the table . Yes , yes , I mean there's so much that I moved to Compass and there's so much that they offer for realtors , for their clients , and there's so much to learn .
¶ Building Camaraderie in Real Estate
I keep joking that I'm a dinosaur when it comes to this stuff .
Are you enjoying the learning process of this ?
No , I'm not . I'm not . Why do you speak that way ? No , but what I am enjoying that I've never had , because I always was like just this lone person . I worked from home . I never had interaction with any realtors in my office . They never showed my listings . I never showed their listings . I wouldn't go into the office .
That's not a very supportive operation .
No , it wasn't their fault . I created that . A lot myself Insulated yourself . I just knew what I had to do and I went to work and I didn't need them . They held my paperwork , they held deposits , they put their logo on things . So I didn't realize .
But I used to call other realtors that are in town that I respect , that are my competition , but I have great relationships with a lot of them and I trust their . You know a handful of them . I trust their judgment and so sometimes I would call them and say , hey , what do you think about this price point ? I think I'm listing this at $2,999 .
And they would say , well , I've got this under contract down the street for $3,200 . I think you could bump the price up down the street for three , two , I think you could bump the price up . So it's like this camaraderie or this . You know other professionals that do well , that know the business work in my area .
Right , I never could have asked a single person at my old company To even understand where your feet were , ever , ever and even at my old company , I was a couple years their top producer , which was great , a nice pat on the back . It didn't get me anything . Didn't get me anything other than not even a dinner .
Nothing , but just like thanks for it sounds like it's good that you moved on .
Yes , yes , but at the old company , even if I had forged relationships , they were selling a different market . They were selling not only Broward County but $400,000 houses not $2 million houses so it's great to walk into my office now , which is right in downtown Delray .
We have the cutest little , cutest little brand new office and I've got there might be two , three people . We've got a team of there's about 15 of us on the team and I can say , hey , I've got this coming on on market . Or does anybody have ? I've got somebody looking for a rental . They'd spend $80,000 a month , right , anybody .
Wow , have a client that you can ask can I give them $80,000 for the month of February for their house ? Right , and somebody goes huh , I think I might have a guy that is going to be in Europe for February and he might do it so already . I've only been officially there two or three months , but already that is happening daily these kinds of
conversations um sounds like a much better one company .
Yes , Well it's , it's kind of it's refreshing , it's nice to have an office . Yes , a lot , a lot of you know young people and you also are not alone . I didn't really . This is a specific office with just a team of 15 . They belong to Compass nationally , but it's not an office with 300 realtors . It's a small group .
So it's still kind of I'm learning a lot , but I do really love the fact that I have an office to go to and it's right where I work .
It is .
I pop in in between appointments and then I'm going to have conversations with people that who knows what that's going to lead to .
Yeah , Well , I think that's amazing and a great way to wrap up on a positive , exciting .
Let's ask a couple of last questions . No , I know we will .
We'll do our fun little stuff . Oh okay , but I was saying , I like .
Yeah .
Alright , so we always wrap up with just some fun design questions . Okay , what is your favorite restaurant ? Design wise , oh , design Ooh Doesn't have to be local .
It could be any way you've traveled .
Do you have one . What's the place with the princess cake ?
St Ambrose .
I love that too , anywhere that has .
Palm Beach Island .
What's that style ? It's like an art nouveau or anything at the Boca Raton they've done a dynamic interior . I love that style and that is like an art nouveau Palm Beach .
Yeah , the flamingo .
So pretty and I feel like it has little touches in my house you feel comfortable there what about hotel design ?
wise , you have a favorite design wise .
Yeah , um , I don't know .
Um , I mean , I love the breakers just the history , the history back in time yeah , yeah , it's the gilded age .
Yeah , it's not just like a hotel , it's a little experience and timeless and destination .
What's your favorite design element in your home ? Probably my pantry I know I like I would be my my butler's pantry that we created from nowhere everyone told me it , it , you couldn't have it , it couldn't exist .
And then I said I know who I know you could figure this out . I'm gonna call tiffany . I swear . I tell people that all the time .
So you're very heavily involved in charitable foundations in the area in South Florida . Is there one particular event that you really like more than any ?
Well , I mean , last week was fun the Hope Bash , it's probably one of the best . Put you know , put on events that annually we go to , it's one of the best that I've been to in years yeah , that's good in terms of how well organized it was .
Yeah , what was really amazing to me is is that it was a premium open bar , which I haven't seen that in years and years and I actually loved how the bars were destinations , like they were like in the room , like I thought they were . Really . It was so cool yeah .
Yeah , I was at a meeting there yesterday and meant to tell them that you commented on that . It was like a follow-up to the committee that chaired it and that was one of my notes that I've got . That's so cute .
No , it was a , really it was well done yeah and I think what we were talking about yesterday in this committee kind of follow-up meeting was it's a younger crowd .
For a lot of times what you see in Boca it's not the same people Like a lot of times you go to , you know , and I go to other things too and they're wonderful , you know charities and um , my , my dad and my mom and brother . They've always been a part of . You know different charities and giving back but um a lot of times you see the same people .
You go to the ? Um . You know the the alzheimer's luncheon and you go to the breast cancer luncheon . Right , leukemia Right and the Boca Hospital and you see a lot of the same people and they're wonderful , generous people that are giving and able to give to all these organizations , but for some reason , place of Hope .
It's the last five years or so that I've been involved . It's kind of a different crowd and I was telling them yesterday I love that they don't shy away from their beliefs . You know their faith .
They're letting you know , this is a faith-based organization .
We can't do it alone . You know God is a part of it . They don't shy away from that .
It was right at the front podium and America .
You know how pro-America they are .
It is true .
And they want . I think it's catching on in the last two weeks too .
I think , it's really resonating with people , faith and freedom , Mm-hmm but yeah , it was a lot of fun .
It was fun to have you guys there .
Well , it was a lot of fun . It was fun to have you guys there . Well , it was fun to go and attend and get dressed up , and get dressed up in a western theme , which we seem to all kind of like these days . Your girls , yeah little , yeah , so cute .
Well , thank you for joining us today on iDesign , your first podcast . I don't I've never even listened to a podcast before .
Tiffany's addicted to them , I know I listen to like five a day .
I do know this , I do know .
So thanks for having me on .
All right , until next time .
Thanks , iDesign Labs podcast is an SW Group production in association with the Five Star and TW Interiors . To learn more about iDesign Lab or TW Interiors , please visit twinteriorscom .