Speaker 1: 0:30

I'm Aaron Nichols and I'm a real estate agent and a team leader for the Nichols real estate team, and we offer services for people who are thinking about buying, selling, investing mostly first-time homebuyers, downsizers. Those types of clients are our clients, so yeah.

Speaker 2: 0:52

Pretty cool and I know you started your new business about three years ago. Tell me how that's been, what the process has been like and what made you want to start that.

Speaker 1: 1:03

Yeah, so before I was in real estate, I was actually a pastor for 10 years and so I had bought and sold homes in different areas and I knew the process was pretty stressful. It could be pretty stressful when you're buying or selling a home and um, and so I made a transition three years ago into full-time real estate and um, really with a heart to serve clients and to help them through um stressful times in in their life. You know, anytime you're buying or selling a house or anytime you're moving, it's often caused by some sort of major life event.

Speaker 1: 1:37

So, uh, whether that's you, know, happy thing like having a baby or getting married, or sometimes it's you know because somebody was divorced or somebody passed away, something like that. So, uh, so there's a lot of, there's a lot of things that go into the whole process and I think, um, it's more than just a transaction or contracts. These are people's lives that we're helping them kind of navigate some of those issues?

Speaker 2: 2:03

Yeah, absolutely. How have you maintained relationships with some of your previous clients and how are you building those relationships with your new ones?

Speaker 1: 2:12

It's pretty easy. I mean, I care about what's going on in their life, so it's not too difficult for me to pick up the phone. And you know, if I'm driving through a neighborhood that I remember seeing a house with them in, or or a neighborhood that they live in, then you know I'll pick up the phone and call them and just ask how they're doing and ask about their kids, see how work's going, stuff like that.

Speaker 2: 2:36

So it's, it's not too not too difficult, you know, because it is a relationship driven business, gotcha Great. And now give me a little bit of a backstory about yourself, about how you dipped your feet into the real estate industry and I know you have like a couple of other endeavors. I want to say you've got the construction management, and then correct me if I'm wrong. If this is the same one, is it the one where you design it, style it and then bring it to life? Is that the same one?

Speaker 1: 3:04

Yeah, so there's a couple of things. So when I was a pastor, I've worked in churches that were established, but I also helped start a couple of churches. So part of my you know my passion is starting things and getting things off the ground. So I've helped start a couple of businesses over the last several years. I serve on the board of a business that my friend owns and then in the real estate world, we, you know, obviously do sales, but we have a property management company. I'm working right now with a with a builder and we're talking talking about custom build, builds and starting a company around that, and so yeah, and that's. You know, I've enjoyed doing a lot of different, a lot of different things and I think in real estate you have an opportunity to do several things in the in that same, the same industry and you flex a lot of different muscles, you know.

Speaker 2: 4:01

No, absolutely. Um, how has that been Like? How are you Cause that's a lot, I mean? I mean, how are you doing a balancing act with everything like with your personal life, finding time, setting boundaries, managing this, managing that? Talk to me a little bit about that.

Speaker 1: 4:21

So the key is not doing everything yourself. The key is setting up systems around you that help support all of your different interests and different businesses, and then not just setting up the system, but also setting up a team right. So I have a team of people that are helping me on the sales side of the business. When we list a home, it's not I'm not the one going and staging and taking pictures and doing all that stuff. We have a team of people that work together on it and we all focus on our strengths. And I think the key is that when you, when, when you're not the person that's doing everything yourself, when you're the one that is, you know, maybe leading the team and everybody's using their gifts, it actually leads to a better client experience.

Speaker 2: 5:11

Right.

Speaker 1: 5:12

So so I think that's the that's the key is knowing what your strengths are and then kind of setting setting up systems and setting up a team around you to help manage those things. So I'm not doing. I'm involved in all those things, but I'm not doing everything. Yeah.

Speaker 2: 5:26

No, I think that's brilliant, because there might be some listeners here who are trying to get on that level and they're entrepreneurs and they're just like I just don't know how to transition, I don't know how to start. Like, how do I step back from this business? That's my baby. Could you give them maybe some advice on maybe letting go or being so like, oh, I need? No, that's not how you do it. Like no, let me just walk away from it.

Speaker 1: 5:46

Yeah, I mean, well, you know, I get it Like everybody's business is their baby. I have kids, so I've got three boys at home, I've got real babies and I've got a.

Speaker 1: 5:55

I've got three boys at home Real babies. I've got real babies and I've got the 7-year-old, the 10-year-old and then I've got the 13-year-old. And so what you learn when you're a parent is that, yeah, when they're little and when you first have the child, they require a lot of your time and energy to help them grow and to help them survive. But as time goes on, you have to learn how to work with the teachers at your kid's school or the coaches in your kid's sports to help them grow up to be the best that they can be. It's no different in your business.

Speaker 1: 6:26

Just at some point you have to learn how to let go and utilize the strength of others to let that thing flourish. Think so.

Speaker 2: 6:35

Awesome. Thank you for offering that insight.

Speaker 1: 6:37

Yeah, absolutely.

Speaker 2: 6:38

Um, and then, as far as marketing goes, are you an avid social media user? How are you getting the name out there about the businesses that you have and the services that they provide for others?

Speaker 1: 6:48

Yeah, so I have like a brick by brick mentality, uh, when it comes to marketing. So we we do a lot of social media. We will do like direct mail, like print marketing, stuff like that, but really it's about the relationships in my own sphere. So I nurture my, my sphere really well my friends, my family, my past clients, things like that, and and so my marketing is like targeted towards them and it's less about getting my name out there and more about delivering value. So the more value I can deliver to them, um, what you, what you put out, what you give to others, I'm a firm believer it comes. It comes back to you. Um, it may take, may take time, but I think, uh, the more value that you can give, uh, the more it comes back.

Speaker 2: 7:36

So, yeah, absolutely. The more value that you can give, the more it comes back. Yeah, absolutely. And, like you said, I'm sure that most of the marketing probably is word of mouth and people's past experiences and sharing it with others and just having it all come back.

Speaker 1: 7:48

Yeah, absolutely. And then just being able to kind of distinguish yourself from your competition, right Like knowing what others are doing, and then just trying to be the best at your craft and trying to constantly sharpen your skills.

Speaker 2: 8:01

On that subject. I'm curious what do you do to try to stand out from others?

Speaker 1: 8:07

So we are again, we're very client focused. So I am, I'm always looking for ways to make the client experience as easy or frictionless as possible, and I think everybody says that. I think in practice, you know, in practice it looks a little bit different for everybody, but in real estate right now there's there's a big shift that's happening with, like, buyers, agents and the you know, the whole NAR settlement stuff and and um and how, in the structure of how real estate agents are paid. And so, uh, with my background I have a background, you know, in pastoring part of pastoring is like being able to sit down and take time to explain how everything works and being able to kind of move somebody from point A to point B, um, addressing their fears and addressing their their, you know, concerns, and so it's no different in real estate or in any business. I think for me that's probably a strength that I have that I don't know, I guess maybe somebody other agents do, but um, but that's one way that we, yeah, yeah, differentiate ourselves.

Speaker 2: 9:16

Absolutely. I think that's great. Especially I'm going to speak for myself here, not other people but especially if you're newer and you don't know the ways of real estate or what to even look for and you're like, okay, let me call this agent and ask a million questions. I don't really know what I'm doing so it's great that you are very client-focused and willing to.

Speaker 2: 9:36

You said, like when it comes with your background being a pastor, explain, sit down. I think that is just great in itself, because maybe sometimes people might feel like frustrated, like okay, how do you not know the basics, but I'm sorry, like I don't know. So I think that's great.

Speaker 1: 9:50

Yeah, yeah, it's great. I think the key is like knowing your client. Like one of my favorite clients, my best clients, I met her at an open house and she walks into an open house.

Speaker 2: 10:05

Have you ever been to an open house. I have not.

Speaker 1: 10:06

Okay, so open house, you just walk in, you kind of look around the house it's open to the public, that sort of thing, and she just walks in. And I just asked her you know what has you looking for a house? And she mentioned that she was going through a divorce. Right, so my previous background, I know, when somebody is going through a divorce, that they're thinking about where are the kids going to go to school and, like, you know, how are we going to split the assets? How are we going to? Like they're thinking about a million different things right.

Speaker 1: 10:33

Exactly and so like. So I just reached out to her and I just said, like I know you have a million things going on right now. Um, let me help you take care of the house. Like, let me help you take care of this aspect, this one thing that is like weighing heavy on your mind and and here's how I'm going to do that Right, and I think just having that understanding of, like the whole person is really really key, um, in any business, because I can't solve your kid's school problem that you're thinking about, I can't help you figure out how to talk to your ex-husband or anything, but I can help you find the next house and sell the house and those sorts of things.

Speaker 2: 11:13

Maybe start a new little chapter by finding that right, exactly. Yeah, that is awesome. No, that's great.

Speaker 1: 11:17

Thank you for sharing that I like that story.

Speaker 2: 11:20

When you're not, I guess, managing and managing, trying to find time for yourself. What is it that you like to do when you have that quiet time for yourself?

Speaker 1: 11:30

Uh, quiet time for myself. I mean yeah, I mean, I'm, I'm a big sports fan. I'm like, uh, uh, I'm a Washington commanders fan, Um, so, you know, enjoy watching football. I've got three boys at home too, so, uh, I coach all their football teams, basketball teams. You know, I enjoy that. That's probably, I don't know, that's probably like the thing that I do to de-stress or like during downtime.

Speaker 2: 11:55

It's sports, it's what you like.

Speaker 1: 11:56

You want to be involved in it, yeah, okay, watch it on TV and do it too, coach it. So I think that's great yeah.

Speaker 2: 12:01

Where do you see yourself and your business or businesses in the next five years Like? Where do you hope to see them expand?

Speaker 1: 12:08

Yeah, so I would love to continue growing my team and for me, like you know, every business owner wants to increase their profits and they want to make more money and that sort of thing. I definitely want to do those things as well. But I think, growing the team and investing in others in this business and just passing on the things that I've learned, I want to really focus on that, probably in the next next five years or so, and and then on a personal level, like you know, I've only got so many years left with my kids before they move out and so um. So I'm thinking about that, like how, how do I invest in them, as you know, as a dad, at this stage, and then and then, um, you know, they'll move out and move on at some point, so yeah, oh, that sounds sad.

Speaker 1: 12:54

Yeah, move on. Yeah, yeah, you know.

Speaker 2: 12:56

But like start their lives.

Speaker 1: 12:58

I'll always be the dad, but, like you know, there'll be adults soon, I know, yeah, yeah, something to think about.

Speaker 2: 13:09

I'm glad you're starting to plant the little seeds of how I'm going to be involved in that Exactly. So that's cool. Okay, and any thoughts on when you say grow a team, does that involve maybe going to other states, or maybe can you do stuff virtually, or things like that?

Speaker 1: 13:20

Yeah, you know, I'm still exploring that like what that looks like. If I'm honest, I'm very connected in a lot of in a lot of different parts of the country and so I'd love to grow my reach, like in in those areas as well. Yeah, um, and. And then obviously locally here too, I mean there's a lot of opportunity locally, um, to just to just grow our, our business um and and serve clients well locally in, you know, virginia, dc, maryland, and then even West Virginia, um, delaware. I mean like we're right here within a couple of hours where we have several real estate markets, so, um, so I think that would be that would probably be number one priority and then maybe growing nationally.

Speaker 2: 14:08

Cool, cool, cool. And not to add another thing to your plate, but have you ever considered or thought maybe being like a public speaker or a coach, since you have like experience with like starting new businesses and like being able to step away and maybe help other entrepreneurs?

Speaker 1: 14:23

Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I I'm a firm believer in like you know, if you, if you have something to say, the platform will will find you Right. And so I'm not actively seeking out. Like I want to be a speaker, I want to be a coach. You know, I think right now I'm just really focused on sharpening my skills and growing. And then when the time comes, like I think there probably will be opportunities to do that, but it's not something that I'm actively seeking.

Speaker 2: 14:50

Right, it's it.

Speaker 1: 14:51

It will find me eventually.

Speaker 2: 14:53

Right, it'll find me so cool. And is there anything else that you would like to bring up that maybe I haven't touched on yet, that you'd like to share with us, like?

Speaker 1: 15:03

any events coming up or writing a book. Not, really no.

Speaker 2: 15:09

I mean.

Speaker 1: 15:10

I wish I was writing a book. That'd be cool.

Speaker 2: 15:12

Some people like forget to mention that, so I'm like let me ask them.

Speaker 1: 15:14

Yeah, yeah, At some point I mean, yeah, we're just. I mean right now we're, we're just like continuing to grow, grow our businesses and, you know, continue trying to serve clients as best as we can.

Speaker 2: 15:25

And yeah, yeah. So can you talk to me about the other business? Um, I'm so sorry I can't remember the name of it, but I saw the website and it's the one where you can like design it, um model it and then like make it uh, the like.

Speaker 1: 15:45

What do you talk about? Like the house, like the?

Speaker 2: 15:47

like a house, yeah, like designing it and making everything look like super nice yeah.

Speaker 1: 15:51

So I mean we, we work with, we're working, we partner with, like a custom builder, um, who you know. You tell them the plans that that you want for the house and, um, they'll design it, they'll model everything out and then and then and then build the house. I mean it's it's like an all-in-one kind of service. Sometimes when you go to a builder to build a house, then they will have a plan based off of something they've already built and they have a couple of different models to work from. And this is just. You know, it's a company that does custom home builds. You know we've done some pretty big projects, uh, pretty big projects like 10 and $15 million homes.

Speaker 2: 16:32

I saw some of the pictures and I was like this is gorgeous, like I'm like, oh my gosh this is it's like very modern and it was very bright and just chic and I love it.

Speaker 1: 16:41

Absolutely, yeah, we so. So we partner with them. And then, uh, we have a property management uh company as well. So, the property management company, again, our goal is, like, it's client focused and it's full service. So I have clients who, yes, they're buying a house for their family, but they also own, like, several rental properties and we want to be the one stop shop for anything that has to do with real estate. Stop shop for anything that has to do with real estate. So the custom builder, the, the property management, um, you know, help helping you buy and sell a house, anything that's involved in in real estate, uh, we're, we're kind of like the one-stop shop.

Speaker 2: 17:19

Okay, cool, and again I apologize because again I'm new at this real estate stuff, but uh, so when you say like one-stop shop, does that mean they would get like all those services potentially to get help with when they, um, either buy or sell a house with you?

Speaker 1: 17:35

Absolutely, yeah. Yeah, so we have, like we have different tiers of services for our clients, which I think that that is something that differentiates us from most real estate teams or agents or services. Uh, most of the time you say I want to go buy a house or I want to sell my house, you meet with a real estate agent, realtor, and they say, okay, it's going to cost you, you know, whatever percent of the sale for to work with us. For us, we lay out like options and we'll say, you know, we're happy to do kind of our lowest level of service for this fee, our white glove service for this fee, something kind of in the middle for this fee. And you know, on our white glove service, it's when we're selling a house, it's staging. It's sometimes if the house needs work done to it, like it has old kitchen and stuff like that.

Speaker 1: 18:26

We have an in-house design team that can do like renderings of what the house could look like if it were updated. Um, we have an in-house design team that can do like renderings of what the house could look like if it were updated and then we can offer that to buyers and say you know the that? Um, this is, this is what the updated kitchen would look like, and here's a link to all the materials for it. Here's the estimated cost. And it kind of helps with the sale of the home. Uh, we'll do things like you know store your stuff in your house while you're in the middle of moving. We'll hire movers to help, you know, get some of your things out.

Speaker 1: 18:57

Yeah. So we try to be like a kind of have that one-stop shop, you know, all-in-one, all-inclusive service, and then yeah, but we also have different options based off of your needs. And then and then yeah, but we also have different, different options based off of your needs.

Speaker 2: 19:09

Okay, yeah, that's cool and I like that you have those tiers too, because if you just had one and kind of be like, uh, I don't know this kind of price.

Speaker 1: 19:14

Yeah, exactly, I'm not ready for that. So that's great. Yeah, it's brilliant. Yeah, yeah, all right?

Speaker 2: 19:20

My final question, um, maybe something in your heart, on your mind.

Speaker 1: 19:26

Um, yeah, I mean, I again I think like if you, if you have a heart to give to others, like just giving as much value as you, as you can, um, it's going to come back and help your business. Your business is going to grow. Um, it might not be overnight, but I think you know that's, that's been our. Our mentality since day one is just give, give, give, and it always comes back. It always comes back Awesome.

Speaker 2: 19:54

Well, thank you so much for being on the podcast. Thank you for spending your time with us. We really appreciate it.

Speaker 1: 19:58

Yeah, you're so welcome, thanks.