Episode 219: Kittyanne Hudson

On this episode of The Brad and Taylor Show, we sat down with Kittyanne Hudson from Production Realty!

To watch the full episode, check it out on YouTube below. In the meantime, here’s a transcript of the conversation…

Here’s what you missed from Kittyanne Hudson…

00:00:00:12 –> 00:00:03:14

Taylor: Welcome to The Brad and Taylor Show. Today, we have Kittyanne Hudson.

00:00:04:09 –> 00:00:14:13

Brad: You’re listening to The Brad and Taylor Show, a podcast that inspires entrepreneurs to pursue their passions. We’re sitting down with some of the best to learn how they got started and some lessons they learned along the way.

00:00:15:01 –> 00:00:16:25

Taylor: Hi, how are you? 

Kittyanne: Good. How are you?

00:00:17:18 –> 00:00:20:13

Brad: Doing good. Well, let’s get this show started. Tell us a little bit about you. What do you do?

00:00:20:26 –> 00:00:43:02

Kittyanne: I’m Kittyanne Hudson. I’m a realtor, a licensed realtor, obviously in the state of Michigan. I’m also a mom of four. I’m an avid golfer. I just graduated from the Michigan Realtors Leadership Academy. That was a two-year-long course that only 14 agents in the entire state were a part of. So that was pretty cool. I was the first one from Jackson to be able to do that. I’ve been in real estate now for just shy of five years. 

00:00:43:02 –> 00:00:44:27

Brad: Nice. Tell us more about that. Like how’s that work?

00:00:45:04 –> 00:01:25:23

Kittyanne: Yeah, so I got licensed in 201, late in 2017, like September of 2017. You know, was able to close a couple of transactions, and then in 2018 dove all in and stopped doing all these other side gigs and doing that and was all into real estate and ended up closing 51 transactions my first year in the business. So it’s been fun. It’s been an exciting handful of years. I moved over to Production Realty in 2018, no 2019, 2019. And since then, we’ve been in full-on growth mode over at Production. In the last year, we’ve actually been able to gain 25% more agents than we had the year before. So we were able to hire a handful of people in the last couple of years, hoping to keep that going as we roll into 2022.

00:01:26:18 –> 00:01:27:20

Brad: What’d you do before real estate?

00:01:28:04 –> 00:02:02:03

Kittyanne: Ooh. My degree is in Human Resources, HR background, and I dabbled in property management a little bit, but really the nuts and bolts of my growing up, you know, my twenties and then into my thirties were just waiting tables a lot of time in customer service. And in the restaurant industry, I laugh with a lot of people when it comes to real estate, you know, how did you, how are you doing this? How do you know how to talk to people that it’s just burgers and beers with a way bigger bill? Right? So instead of hanging out with you guys for 45 minutes and getting you food and ranch dressing, I’m selling you houses and hanging out with you for about 45 days, sometimes longer, sometimes less, depending on the market.

00:02:02:26 –> 00:02:07:09

Taylor: That kind of reminds me, you said burgers and beers, you and Ben had a little thing going on.

00:02:09:01 –> 00:03:09:19

Kittyanne: We tried this whole podcast thing. We need to bring it back. Our life news and brews. It was what we do, we need to bring it back. We really do. I’m actually, you know, a sneak peek into 2022. We’re hoping to team up with Agua Brewery, which is a new brewery in Jackson and actually filmed there and offer some discounts. If you mentioned that you watched the show and that kind of stuff. The problem was like, after that, we got the kids to bed and then it was time to like, you know, clock into news and brews. We were just whooped, you know, I’ve already taken off my makeup, I’m in my jammies. I’m like, oh my God. So yeah, we do. We definitely need to bring that back. And it’s on the docket for 2022. I mean, we just chatted about things that were happening in the industry and stuff that we were experiencing in our transactions. And it was, I think it was informative for the general public and you didn’t have to be engaged in real estate transactions for it to make sense. It was just like these questions that nobody wants to ask, but everybody needs to answer, so you’re right. We should bring it back. Thank you for the vote of confidence. We will do that.

00:03:10:20 –> 00:03:13:04

Taylor: I saw you guys doing it on Facebook and I was like, what is this?

00:03:13:05 –> 00:04:18:26

Kittyanne: I know I need to take all the old episodes and upload them onto a YouTube channel and do the thing. It’s just, there’s only so many hours of the day and never enough of them. Where did the idea come from? Oh, you know, probably drink a beer. No, Ben is a real estate broker. So he has been in the industry oh my God, I think for 20 years now. And he’s had Production Realty since 2009. We’re an independent brokerage, you know? And so he has all of the knowledge and so many experiences that he’s done and dealt with. Whether it’s with people in the industry, like actual customers and clients, or with agents, you know, especially newer agents that have all of these questions and just don’t have the practical experience yet to really answer them on their own. We spend a lot of time talking about real estate, so we might as well, like let’s get some marketing out of this and you know, help people at the same time. So it just kind of spiraled from there. I think we got like, I dunno, maybe 30 episodes in over the course of the last year, year, and a half. So yeah, we should, we should bring that back. It’s a podcast tip from you guys.

00:04:20:14 –> 00:04:25:24

Taylor: Is the brewery that you guys, maybe if you guys bring it back if you guys are thinking about doing there, is that by your new location?

00:04:26:02 –> 00:04:56:27

Kittyanne: It is. Yeah. So they just opened up downtown Jackson. They were like a three-year process into, so similar story found in an old building in downtown Jackson and have been rehabbing and remodeling it for the last handful of years. Lots of permits and hiccups type of things that happen anytime you’re dealing with a commercial build-out. But yeah, so now we can walk to it with our new location downtown. We’re a couple of blocks away, but it’s still definitely walking distance and I’m good friends with the owners of it. So I feel like we can just kind of collaborate a little bit and put something together. 

00:04:56:27 –> 00:04:59:14

Taylor: So for everybody who doesn’t know where your new location is, what is the address?

00:04:59:25 –> 00:05:23:16

Kittyanne: It’s 213 North Jackson Street. So for all of you that are local to Jackson, it’s the old Veach’s Office Bar. We purchased that back in 2019 and have spent the last two years, just renovating the crap out of it. And we are fully moved in and operating out of there. A couple of tweaks, you know, growing pains that we’re trying to figure out, how to really button everything up and make it be perfect. But it’s such a cool space. It’s so fun.

00:05:24:01 –> 00:05:26:17

Taylor: I love those older buildings. Do you guys have the exposed brick too on it?

00:05:26:17 –> 00:05:59:22

Kittyanne: Not on the inside. All of our interiors were plaster and it all completely failed. So we actually skim coated everything and then put drywall up and framed it all out that way. We’re hoping to bring back one of the exposed brick walls behind one of the drywall, but we were just out, let’s just get this place open. You know, so drywall was a lot faster on that back wall, but it’s in the plans to hopefully bring some brick back into it.

Taylor: Yeah. That’s totally understandable that one. 

Kittyanne: Yeah. Yeah. I can tell him. And you guys have, I mean, I don’t know what it looked like before, but it looks like you guys have done an amazing job in this building.

00:06:00:27 –> 00:06:12:24

Taylor: Very detailed plaster, plaster, messy, messy stuff to take down. What is the worst property that you’ve seen over the last five years?

00:06:13:17 –> 00:07:12:17

Kittyanne: There’ve been some pretty crappy ones and there’ve been some amazing, beautiful ones too. I was trying to think about that too. I think one of the worst ones, I was actually in the Hillsdale area, which is a really rural area of lower Michigan. The house was vacant, but when we left, it was just covered in fleas, like fleas everywhere. And then you have to bomb your car and you’ve got to vacuum everything out and change your clothes. Now you’ve got these little bites and it’s just, it’s just gross, like irritating. Well, you don’t see them, you know, but then you leave and you’re like, oh, my leg is itching. And then you’re like, oh my God, there’s fleas all over my pants. You know? And so that was one of them. And then when I was doing property management, you know, uh, tenants aren’t always the greatest at taking care of their places. I do remember walking into one and there were cockroaches everywhere. And you’re just like, okay, I’ll be back later or not like, can I just have that rent money please real quick?

00:07:12:17 –> 00:07:14:16

Taylor: So that’s if you have a window.

00:07:15:19 –> 00:07:31:07

Kittyanne: Right. It’s just, yeah. But those are probably the two worst experiences that I’ve had, like two worst houses that I’ve done. Yeah. Bugs bugs. And then you’re just afraid they’re everywhere. You know, I mean, we had to bomb the car out. It was pretty gross.

00:07:31:23 –> 00:07:35:18

Brad: That’s crazy. So what is some advice you got when you started out that kinda stuck with you?

00:07:36:20 –> 00:08:16:13

Kittyanne: You know, I think I’ve kind of held on to this mantra of think it, believe it, achieve it. And it sounds really corny and simple. And I’ve probably seen some signs somewhere at TJ Maxx, you know, but it’s like, I think our thought process and the way that we self-talk is really, really important to our success. So if we have an idea or if we have a problem that we need to solve or whatever it is, you have to think about it and you have to think about it in the right connotation and you have to build on those thoughts and then eventually you can convince yourself to believe in whatever that thought is. Once you believe it, then you’re actually able to achieve it. And it helps just build that confidence and keep you going on. So that’s really what I’ve held onto over the past handful of years. It’s think it, believe it, and achieve it.

00:08:16:26 –> 00:08:20:03

Taylor: A hundred percent though, in real estate, you have to believe in yourself very much so.

00:08:21:03 –> 00:09:18:16

Kittyanne: Right. And I think the more, you know, like the more transactions that you do and the more experiences that you have in the industry, the more confidence you naturally gain, you know, so if you’re only able to, if it takes a long time to get that first deal going, it’s okay. But then, you get that first deal. And all of a sudden those gears start turning and you’re so excited for the next one and one builds on the next one over and over and over again. So in just shy of these five years of being in the industry, being all into the industry for four, I’ve closed 200 deals. I mean, I think that’s a cool number, you know what I mean? It’s not the best amount of business that anybody’s doing in Jackson, but I’m also a one-man team. I don’t have an assistant, I don’t have a transaction coordinator. I’m taking that transaction from the time it starts like those initial phone calls and matching up with the lender and getting you all the way into the table or on the other side, you know, on the sell side. Start to finish, you’re talking to me, that’s it. You know, it’s pretty cool. It’s pretty cool to have those numbers in my pocket.

00:09:18:21 –> 00:09:21:19

Brad: Yeah. Gotcha. Do you think you’ll add on somebody soon maybe to help those?

00:09:21:20 –> 00:10:06:07

Kittyanne: Yeah. So I’ve gotten so close to pulling the trigger on doing that over the course of the last couple of years, really just in the last two, but I have this goal that I would want to be able to crush six and a half million value on my own. And then once I hit that mark for, I dunno why that number is there, you know, but for whatever reason, if I hit six and a half million, then yes, I will bring somebody else on and be able to continue and hopefully build my business and then hit 10 million and you know, continue to grow that way. I’ve got one more closing this afternoon for this year for December 2021. And I’ll be at 5.9 million. So I’m getting really, really close. I’m getting really close. I mean, just, that’s literally one more transaction and I can have that extra number there, but then in January, right?

00:10:06:09 –> 00:10:47:22

Yeah. We’ll start. We’ll start brand new again. This year, 2021 has actually been my best year. As far as volume goes in the business. I didn’t close quite as many transactions, but I think that’s a sign that I’m getting more efficient, you know? And the higher price per sale. That’s going on there. So I’ll close with I’ll end with 46 and at 5.8, 5.9 million for this year, which I’m okay with that, you know, I’m okay with all of those numbers. So that’s awesome. So 2022, you’re going to get six and a half. Yeah, at least, right. At least maybe, maybe I’ll get that halfway through the year. I’ll be like, okay, let’s go. It would be nice to, that’s definitely on the goal for 2022, is to hopefully diversify a little bit inside this business.

00:10:47:22 –> 00:11:52:13

And then also inside the industry. I would like to be able to start building my own portfolio as far as rental properties go, or maybe we’re looking at our second home, we’re definitely remodeling our kitchen this year. I’m not putting it off anymore at our own house. You know, I’m not doing it. But once we do that, then we can start to dive in and hopefully purchase another property or two with lots of remodels. I know. It’s just like what we do. It’s so crazy. I’m so sick of it. You know, we had this, not that you guys really care that much, but we had a remodel in our bathroom this year. I literally asked Ben to paint the ceiling. Like I just wanted the ceiling. And the next thing you know, the entire bathroom is completely gutted with the vanities out. We’re like chucking up the old tile floor. That’s like chicken wire down. And now I have a brand new bathroom upstairs, but the ceiling is still not, it’s still not painted. I swear to God, it’s not. I mean, we had a Boone new drywall everywhere, a new surround, new tub. It would just end. But no, the ceiling is not yet, but you know, hopefully, hopefully the kitchen remodel, we’re going to hire that one out and get it finished. So it’s all done.

00:11:53:01 –> 00:11:58:14

Taylor: Backtracking a little bit. How did you get your first transaction? How did it go? 

00:11:59:08 –> 00:12:42:06

Kittyanne: My first transaction was a seller transaction. So usually when you’re starting into the industry, you’re starting with buyers, you know, you’re running around with them, but this was a little different. So my oldest daughter was, oh gosh, maybe she was in third grade at the time. But one of her girl scout sisters, I don’t know somebody, one of the girls in the girl scout, the mom was like, Hey, we’re going to sell our house. We just heard you’re a realtor, so could you help us sell? And I’m like, yeah. Okay, cool. Absolutely. I’m so excited. You’re all like a little anxious, anxiety-prone, you know, like a little nervous. I’m good. I can do it. And so we met him at the house and I’ve got the whole book of my listing presentation.

00:12:42:06 –> 00:13:25:28

You know, I don’t have it memorized yet because I’ve never done this before. And we’re sweating and they’re sweating and they’re nervous and I’m nervous. And now all of a sudden I’m like, okay, I just pushed the book to the side and said, you know, Hey, have you guys ever sold a house before? And they’re like, no, we’ve never done this. And I was like, okay, me neither. So we’re just going to work it out together. Like I wouldn’t suggest doing that at all, but it worked out really well. We got a full-price offer within a couple of weeks and I was able to sell it and they already had another house lined up that they were moving into. So it did end up going really well. The house ironically enough was on a corner lot. And one of the lots was Hudson street. So it was like, oh, this was just meant to be, you know, it’s just good to go. So yeah, it was like a $69,000 house. What we ended up with, what we sold for the first one.

00:13:27:01 –> 00:13:33:05

Taylor: Sounds awesome though. Yeah. I was going to ask you if you told them that you were newer, but since they were newer too so

00:13:33:23 –> 00:14:07:25

Kittyanne: I just told her we’re both extremely uncomfortable. They didn’t really know how the process worked. And I honestly didn’t really know how the process worked either. I mean, you’re kind of fumbling through things like, it’s that confidence, right? You don’t have it because you’ve never done it before. And so like just, okay, fine. You know, we’re not going to look at any of this paperwork. We’re not going to read all these scripts. Like, let’s just be two humans. And like, let’s figure this out. And we were able to, and everybody was happy. We all walked away with a little bit of money in our pocket and were able to enter the next one, you know, and of course, one sign leads to another sign, leads to another sign. So the best advertisement that you can have is just a sign in the yard.

00:14:08:09 –> 00:14:11:04

Taylor: Do you remember how long you had your license before you got that first transaction?

00:14:11:04 –> 00:15:11:25

Kittyanne: Not very long. Not very long. So I dove right in, I was like, I’m doing this, I’m going to be a realtor. And, I was in a kind of a sink or swim sort of position financially, services, you know, some things happening externally. And of course, I’m like, yeah, let’s go into the riskiest business. There is real estate. It sounds fine. You know, but I had to be good at this. Like, you know, I had to be successful in real estate and nothing was gonna stop me from doing that. You know? So I think it was within the first couple of weeks that I had that first listing because it was still hot outside, I think we ended up selling, like closing on that deal. Maybe the first week of November, I’d have to go back and look in my notes, but you know, if the average takes between four and six weeks, and that means I would’ve signed that paperwork probably right around labor day. No, little after labor day, maybe the second week of September. And I joined my first brokerage, like on labor day or the day after labor day. So it was pretty fast, but it helped, you know, like just propelled like jet fuel. Here we go. You know? So yeah. 

00:15:11:25 –> 00:15:14:19

Taylor: Did your second one come right after that? Immediate or did it take some time?

00:15:14:22 –> 00:16:13:17

Kittyanne: That one? Oh yeah. So I mean, my license date, I think technically is like August 26th, 2017. I joined the brokerage that Monday after labor day in 2017. And I ended up closing three deals before December 31st, 2017. So yeah, I mean, I definitely dove right in, like I said, and that’s one a month after getting my license. I felt like that was pretty good. And then from there, you know, I don’t think I breathed too much in 2018, at 51 transactions. That just drives one a week that first year in, and there’s still so much learning that you’re doing, you’re trying to participate in all of the things and make it to all of the happy hours and be on the YPN and, and participate in stuff at the board and like make friends in the industry. Because it’s kind of cutthroat. It can be you know, it’s not so bad in Jackson, thankfully, but in other industries and other markets, I know it’s really really hard. But it just was like, oh, you’re doing business. Okay. Then let’s do this. Let’s do this. Let’s do this. 

00:16:14:07 –> 00:16:19:01

Taylor: Yeah. Before we started recording, you mentioned that you finished out the academy. What is that?

00:16:19:17 –> 00:17:04:13

Kittyanne: So Michigan realtors, you know, like once you’re licensed, you’re a part of your local association, you’re also a part of the Michigan Realtors Association. And then you’re also part of the National Association of Realtors. So you’re a part of the whole thing, right? So it all trickles down from NAR nationals and then at the state level and then local level, right. For the Michigan realtors every year they do what’s called a leadership academy. So it’s basically a year-long training course that you’re taking. So that eventually, if you so choose, you can start to climb the ladder at the state level and maybe eventually at the national level and be you know, different committees there, have a say in some of the policies and procedures and have a part of that trickle-down effect, you know, like it’s just kind of a broader scale than just being localized to the Jackson area.

00:17:04:25 –> 00:17:52:29

So I had to apply for the scholarship and get a handful of letters of recommendation. I was able to do that and nobody from Jackson’s ever done that before, even applied to let alone like got accepted. Unfortunately that all started in 2020. And then, you know, of course, this, the grand old COVID came through. And so we had to do a lot of things virtually and we actually were able to extend our academy program by an entire year just so that we had more time with each other. And you know, we were with people. So I was from the Jackson area obviously. But there was, you know, a handful of people from the Detroit area that was in Grand Rapids who were big players. Even Elk Rapids up towards Trevor city there, we had a gal from there and some people farther south in Michigan Ann Arbor area, you know, it was really cool.

00:17:52:29 –> 00:18:34:26

So I’ve got this really awesome core group of really rock star realtors that I can lean on now and kind of have this new referral network, which is pretty cool. And hang out really close with like leaders from our state, you know, that are doing all sorts of really cool stuff and be able to bring that back home and say, Hey, okay, listen, this is what’s happening at the state level, this is what we need to keep our eyes open for at the local level. So yeah, yeah, it was really cool to be a part of that. I was really thankful for so many opportunities that are gonna come from that already, they already have, you know, so yeah, definitely. Yeah. I definitely take real estate seriously. You know, that’s all I do.

00:18:34:26 –> 00:19:23:15

I don’t have any other jobs that I’m doing. You know, we’re a family of six at home, so it’s like that sink or swim thing is still there. And this is how we’re building our businesses is how we’re building our family, our building, our wealth, you know like we’re doing all of that stuff. And real estate is fueling all of those things for us. So not a part-timer. I think it’s hard to go into real estate part-time. That would be a bear. I think, you know, I mean, you can do it. There are plenty of people that are like, oh yeah, I just like looking at houses, so I’m going to get my real estate license, but it costs a lot of money to be a realtor too. You know, we’re playing a lot in local dues and state national dues, paying a lot for photography and marketing and, you know, you don’t actually need a whole lot of things in order to be successful in this business but you do have to know the right people and you do have to be able to spend a little bit of money.

00:19:23:26 –> 00:20:24:25

Cause I mean, if you’re not willing to invest in your buyers and sellers and why are they going to invest in you? You know, like if I was an average Joe, not selling real estate, I would personally, wouldn’t ever want to hire a part-timer. I’d like to know that they take this job seriously. And that time is not divided between, you know, their office job or their hospital job or their daycare job or whatever it is, you know? So yeah. I’m glad I’m all in. You know what I mean?

Brad: Before we go today, how can people get a hold of you? 

Um, I’m all over social media. Obviously, you know, I’m not really great at Instagram and I don’t have a TikTok. I’d like to watch the videos, but I’m terrified of TikTok. So yeah, I’m on Instagram, I’m on Facebook. Kittyanne Hudson is just what you would search for. I have my own website, www.kittyannehudson.com. And then I’m pretty good at answering emails and text messages too. (517) 745-8768 is my cell phone. That’s a direct line. If I don’t answer that phone, leave me a message. I will call you back. 

00:20:25:14 –> 00:20:27:02

Brad: Awesome. Hey, thanks for coming on and sharing your story with us today.

00:20:27:02 –> 00:20:34:02

Kittyanne: Yeah. Thank you guys for the invite. It was, it was pretty cool. I appreciate it.

00:20:34:17 –> 00:20:51:19

Hello. Hello. Are you there? Are there, are there, Hey guys, we just wanted to thank you for listening on either a podcast or on the YouTube video here. If you guys wanted to subscribe, that would be awesome. That would mean a lot to us. If you guys could give us a five-star review as well, that would be amazing. And we’ll see you on the next one.

Check out Kittyanne:

Production Realty

http://www.kittyannehudson.com/

Facebook: @KittyanneHudson

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