Episode 218: Rebecca Smith
On this episode of The Brad and Taylor Show, we sat down with Rebecca Smith from eXp 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 Rebecca Smith…
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Taylor: Welcome to The Brad and Taylor Show. Today we have Rebecca Smith.
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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.
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Taylor: Hey Rebecca.
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Rebecca: Hi. Thanks for having me guys.
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Brad: Oh yeah, for sure. Awesome. Well, let’s get this show started. Tell us a little bit about you. What do you do?
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Rebecca: My name is Rebecca Smith. I’m a realtor in Southeast Michigan. I have a family of five and five fur rabies. My life is very active and yeah, that’s pretty much it. I just love helping buyers and sellers. My favorite thing is to help first-time home buyers, because it’s like, you know, the joy that you receive from giving somebody the keys for the first time is just it’s.
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Brad: That’s awesome. So how did you get into real estate? What’d you do before this?
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Rebecca: Before real estate? I actually sold furniture which actually seems to be pretty common. I worked for Gurner White Furniture. I was there for five years. I have been in real estate now for almost four years. Yeah. Almost four years now. But it was just kind of one of those things. It was the same thing every single day. I’m not the type of person that can be stuck in a box. Even as a real estate agent, I barely go to the office. Like I have a home office because I have to keep myself organized. But I’m just always on the go and always looking for different things to do. So being stuck in an office is kind of, or in four walls is kind of exhausting to me.
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Taylor: Yeah. I know you probably travel all day long to show home, so that’s kind of the perk of getting out of the 9-5.
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Rebecca: And I hate driving.
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Taylor: There you go then.
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Rebecca: Oh, when it’s in small spurts, it’s okay. But I hate driving when it’s like, we have to go on a road trip. I’m like, can we just get out of a plane? You know?
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Taylor: Yeah, that’s different though. That’s hours and hours behind the wheel.
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Rebecca: But when you’re a real estate agent and you’re busy, you can start your day for showings at 9:00 AM and not until 9:00 PM. And I get home until 10 and then you’re writing offers and your day really doesn’t end until, you know, after midnight. So yeah,
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Taylor: It is the schedule.
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Rebecca: It’s different though. It’s fun. And I know you might get the best job I’ve ever had.
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Taylor: I know you mentioned being organized. Is there something that you do specifically that helps you stay organized?
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Rebecca: Yes. I have this board right here and sticky notes. That’s what helps keep me organized. I know a lot of agents, they have a calendar. I have the same calendar sitting on my desk. I think it says like 2019 on it. I just paste them all on that one page. It’s ridiculous.
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Taylor: That’s funny. Tied block and all.
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Rebecca: I’m the worst. Okay. So I do that, but I have noticed that when agents do that, they are very, it works for some agents and it doesn’t work for everybody. I’ll have a client that’s like, Hey, can we see it as tomorrow at nine? And I’m like, yeah. You know, I’ll make those calls later. Um, yeah, no, I just do it every day as it comes, I try to time block. It’s just really hard when you’re a busy agent. Next year I’m going to try and start building my team. So then maybe I’ll have more time to do that. But for me, it’s like, I understand that there’s so much urgency in this market. If your client wants to see a house. I’d pretty much just throw it out, whatever it is I’m doing. And I’m like, okay, let’s go see that house.
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Taylor: Yeah, yeah. With how fast everything’s going. You kind of have to do that. So you mentioned building a team next year. That’s exciting.
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Rebecca: Yeah, my husband is actually joining me next year. So he’s going to be working with me and then I have another buyer’s agent that’s going to be joining me as well. Hopefully, it will be able to help more buyers and sellers and it’s exciting. It’s exciting stuff.
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Taylor: Yeah. That is exciting to see you going to join you at the beginning of the year, or is he working on that process?
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Rebecca: Now? He actually just, he just finished his class and he’s going to be taking his test too. So we’ll see. We’ll see. He doesn’t like me telling him what to do at home. Let’s see what happens in real estate.
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Taylor: That’s funny. What’s the best piece of advice that you’ve received when you first started out in real estate? Anything that has stuck with you throughout the four years?
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Rebecca: So it wasn’t necessarily when I started in real estate, it was actually when I was still working in furniture. There was a lady that I worked with that I would kind of a bend to about, you know, my goals and trying to make myself better and what it is that I want to do and how scary it is to get into real estate because it’s so scary because you know, people aren’t coming to you, you have to go and get those people. And when I worked in furniture, it was like, okay, somebody comes to the door, you’re either lucky, or you’re not when you’re in real estate, you have to make those phone calls and you have to let everybody know, Hey, I’m a realtor, you know, it’s not as easy. And it’s scary. It’s actually quite terrifying. And when I was doing that, I was speaking to a lady that I often did and I had sent to her. I said, you know, I really want to do this, but what if I fail? What if I crumble? What if I wasted all this money? And I’ve not gotten anywhere. And she said to me, she goes, but what if you don’t, what if you don’t fail? What if you’re really good? You know, worst-case scenario, you end up back in furniture or selling something else. But what if you don’t fail, you can’t live your life in fear.
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I would say that’s the best advice I’ve ever received. Not necessarily at the beginning of my career, but just, just beforehand,
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Taylor: Believing in yourself.
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Rebecca: Yeah. It’s pretty terrifying. It is. It’s terrifying. So anytime I need somebody that’s interested in it. I’m always like, you know, it’s scary and it’s okay to be afraid, but I am repeating that phrase so many times because it’s so true. What if you don’t feel?
00:06:46:06 –> 00:06:52:29
Brad: Yeah. So true. Well, that’s awesome. So let’s say you had to start all over today. What is one thing you would change?
00:06:53:25 –> 00:07:45:29
Rebecca: Okay. So this is a no-brainer for me, do not stress about the things that are beyond you. This is my very first closing. We went for a walk through the hot water tank, exploded in the basement and I was a nervous wreck. There’s always a solution to everything that happens in real estate. You either move forward or you walk away, you find something different. In that particular instance, we had to draft an agenda before closing, and then the sellers ended up taking care of it, but it was terrifying, you know? And you go, you’re like, oh crap, there’s water all over in the basement. And I had to go to the closing and a half an hour. So it’s just, don’t stress. Just, there’s always a solution. There’s always a way to make it work.
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Taylor: I know you mentioned growing your team earlier, do you have any advice, when you do grow your team to those new agents that are coming on board with you, how to get that first client?
00:07:59:07 –> 00:08:47:23
Rebecca: So I would definitely suggest reaching out to your personal sphere. It was the same thing in furniture. When there are sales across the board, you reach out to everybody, you know, you let them know, Hey, I’m doing this. I would appreciate your support. Usually, you know, after time goes on, those leads, those free leads will start trickling down and into your sphere. And I would say my first year was a little slow. With personal sphere leads. I did have to work on a team. I have no regrets about working on that team because I learned so much in training. So important. Eventually, once you get past that first year, you will soar.
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Taylor: Nice. And before we go today, Rebecca, how can everyone get a hold of you? And where are you located?
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Rebecca: I am, my office is in Trenton, but as you guys know, I don’t go there. But you can call me (734) 626-4055. That’s my personal phone number, call text, email me [email protected]. Anytime I make myself available for my clients.
00:09:17:17 –> 00:09:22:09
Brad: Awesome. I like it. Hey, thanks for coming on and sharing your story with us today.
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Rebecca: Yeah, no problem. Thanks for having me guys.
00:09:27:16 –> 00:09:45:19
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 Rebecca:
https://www.rebeccasellsmichiganhomes.com/
http://rebeccaasmith.exprealty.com/
Facebook: @RebeccaSmithProfessionalRealtor
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