Real Estate Advisors

Speaker 1 0:31

I am Annie Seffaretti I don't usually use that because it's so long yeah, and we are the Busy Blondes. And this is my business partner, nikki Ryan. We're real estate advisors.

Speaker 2 0:44

Perfect. So what type of advisements do you give them? Is it for new homeowners, first-time sellers, all that good stuff?

Speaker 3 0:52

Our business is primarily helping people sell property, but we also help people buy and invest in real estate as well.

Speaker 2 1:00

Wonderful. And then, how did you two meet?

Speaker 1 1:03

We worked for a firm and we were in that with the same company for a long time and we developed a friendship and we developed our friendship through the giving back programs to the community and after some time we thought it would be a good idea to merge. Nikki always says the Lone Ranger, we're the.

Speaker 3 1:26

Lone Rangers in real estate A lot of agents. You have to do all the things because it's your business. So it kind of was make sense to maybe join and be partners with someone else so that you can do things together, which is more fun, but also spreading the workload out. Annie's better at some things and you're better at some things.

Speaker 2 1:51

Absolutely what's been the dynamic? Like like, for example. Maybe you have an opinion maybe Nikki has an opinion.

Speaker 1 2:04

How do you guys work through that and what's what's that like working with like a best seat? The owner of that house gave us the best compliment and he was so pleased that we were partners, because we do have a difference of opinion.

Speaker 3 2:18

But he said something about he said, if two people have the same opinion, then one person is not needed.

Speaker 2 2:28

Wow, that's perspective.

Speaker 3 2:29

right there, isn't it? Yes, I love that. So that was great.

Speaker 2 2:32

So you guys compliment each other in that way.

Speaker 3 2:34

And we'll say we don't, I'll say I don't agree with Annie on this and we'll just present our case. She'll present her case and it's a partnership. When you're working with somebody, it's a very emotional transaction to move and either buy or sell. So it's helpful, I think.

Speaker 2 2:52

Wonderful. And then for marketing, what are you guys doing to put your name out there? I see you brought some pamphlets and all that good stuff.

Speaker 1 2:59

Well, we have a very Love it. We have a very systematic business. Nikki is very good about keeping us organized. We also have a director of operations and a virtual assistant and our name is out there because of our referral-based business and also, for instance, we're on the kiosk with the hand sanitizers at the Giant in our market and I think people talk about us. Yesterday we were shopping, Tell the story.

Speaker 3 3:32

We have an annual holiday party, so we joined together in 2020, which was a very interesting time, of course. And we did this hand sanitizer kiosk at Giant. So, how about that for good timing? So? We were in getting our holiday party dresses and we wear the same dress each year. It's kind of a cute thing that we do. And we were shopping at Anthropology and Reston Town Center and the gal came in and she's like oh my God, are you guys so busy?

Speaker 1 4:05

And I said to Nikki this is why we have our picture everywhere, because Nikki and I, when we merged our practices, she didn't have her picture anywhere and I was like you got to have your picture, so now our picture is everywhere. And thank you to the girl at the anthropology. She recognized us and that's what it's all about is being front of mind so that people know you and we. Our brand is the busy blondes, and people generally remember that. Remember it, get a kick out of it.

Speaker 2 4:35

It's a fun thing.

Speaker 1 4:36

Yeah, don't change your hair color. Okay, I'm kidding.

Speaker 2 4:41

And then, what has the industry been like with so many changes, like, for example, on August I believe it was 14th you have a new law and the commission who gets paid. Talk to me about how you guys have been able to maneuver that or implement that.

Speaker 1 4:57

I guess I get to talk about that. That's why I look to you.

Speaker 3 5:01

We, uh, do our best to be transparent with our clients and just kind of explain how the playing field has changed, and we pretty much are telling our sellers you should expect to pay a commission and then, um, we will just get the offers in and then present them to you and you can look at all the net from if there's more than one offer, and make your decision based on that. And, um, I think that we've been each doing this for over 20 years and bring a lot of value. Uh, and I don't, we really haven't had any pushback on that.

Speaker 2 5:39

That's good. It's probably the way you present it and having that knowledge Cause I feel like that will make such a big difference how you present that and people are like I don't want to sign this. Like what on earth? I've never had to do this before, so great, so the communication is always key.

Speaker 3 5:57

Our buyers have always signed a buyer agency agreement, yes, and so we have always had to explain it. It's just not in the computer now.

Speaker 2 6:03

Okay.

Speaker 1 6:04

Right yeah.

Speaker 2 6:06

And then, what are some key factors that you guys think, in your opinion, people should be looking out for when choosing an agent?

Speaker 1 6:13

I think there are many things. I think the fact that Nikki and I have a systematic practice, we know what we have to offer, we share that we can provide all of those details, and I think that that makes a big difference. I mean, this is our selling your home guide, and so this has a lot of information in it about who we are, what we do, what our commitment is, what our vision is, what our mission statement is. It's all here, because a lot of times, I think people can't hear everything, and so I think that that is and our experience. Of course, nikki, do you want?

Speaker 3 6:56

to add. I think the thing that I want to add is the reason why we are in a partnership is because we both have a similar philosophy of always doing the right thing. So it's not what's best for us, it's what's best for the client at the time. So we're not here just for one transaction. People come into our family pretty much, so they're part of the busy blonde family, so it's advising, as Annie said earlier, like we're advising people and asking them a lot of questions so we know kind of they can help decide like what's best for them. Yeah.

Speaker 1 7:33

I also think that oftentimes people tend to think you know they can sell their house on their own, but there are so many risks involved. So I think that the fact that we are risk managers also people don't know what their risks are. So if we advise them and we manage the risk, you know that protects them.

Speaker 2 7:55

Yeah, no for sure, and that's why it's important, Like when people try to sell on their own. It's best to go with somebody who has more knowledge and knows the ins and outs, as opposed to like oh, I just read up on it, I think I can do it Right. So.

Speaker 3 8:06

I think the other thing, too, is that we really take a hands-on approach where we're holding their hand every step of the way. We've helped so many people after they say they bought a house in Reston. You know there's Reston homeowners association. You have to remove all your violations before the buyer is required to make the purchase. And the buyers didn't know that they bought the house and now they're going to sell the house with us and they have these outstanding violations and Annie's really good at working with the HOA to get those violations approved and so, yeah, that's another big thing. It's just step-by-step, holding their hand all the way through, I mean even now we're dealing with a transaction where something came up.

Speaker 1 8:50

We're representing the seller and the buyer has a loan and the lender is in communication with us. I don't know how many agents end up talking to that loan officer and helping them. You know, jump through some hoops, which we're doing right now. So this morning I was on the phone with the insurance broker for a condo association in order to smooth out some issues that the lender was having. So I, like Nikki, said every step of the way like we're not going to sit back. We're very involved in all of the process and the pieces of the puzzle.

Speaker 2 9:29

Yeah, I'm sure that is like some, a dream for some people, because it's such a scary process and they're like I don't know what to do, what if I forgot this? You guys have everything covered. You're like two steps ahead, making sure that you've got them and that it's as easy of a process for them as possible.

Speaker 1 9:42

Yeah.

Speaker 2 9:46

So that's super important. And then I saw online you guys have like a little bit of like how it's priced, how it shows, um, how it is marketed. Are these like the steps that you have like on your, on your uh brochure here and talk to me a little bit about that, because I've not seen that before. What's like broken down in that way and you explain that to the actual seller or buyer?

Speaker 1 10:01

Yes, we always want to do the right thing, as Nikki said. So, for instance, this one transaction we're in right now, we really encourage them to stage because there are some competitive properties on the market right now, and so we have to say, like these are the things that you need to do in order to be better than everybody else you have to be priced better, you have to look better, you have to be priced better, you have to look better, you have to be in the best location, you have to have the best marketing, the best photography, and so forth.

Speaker 2 10:33

Yeah, all right. And then how are you guys staying up to date on the latest changes, developments, trends in the real estate market?

Speaker 3 10:40

Oh, so we go to a lot of conferences and seminars and mastermind with other agents. We just went to the luxury. It was a luxury retreat at the Ritz in Georgetown, so we went to that and there was agents from all over the U? S that came and we were sharing ideas and then we went just went to the empowering women real estate conference in Belmont and we went to the NVR, had an economic summit presentation as well at the Capital One in Tyson, so that was really good as well.

Speaker 1 11:15

Additionally, nikki is really good about preparing us for seminars. We host seminars, you should probably say something yeah, tell me about that.

Real Estate Success Strategies

Speaker 3 11:24

so we're going to do a right sizing seminar. So we have a lot of people in our circle who have kids that have graduated from college and so they're thinking of making that next step, of leaving the home that they raise their children in, which is very overwhelming Uh, if you think about, you lived in your house for 10, 20 years and all the stuff that you've accumulated. So we have a seminar that we put on, that we're going to do again to help people know the steps that they can take and the resources that we vetted that we can recommend to help them purge. And then also we stay abreast of the new real estate that's being built or that's available that they might want to move into. Because if you're thinking that they're moving from a really nice house in Reston or Great Falls and they're going to go to a condo, you want to know what are the condos that are going to appeal to them. And then we're also going to do an estate planning seminar as well.

Speaker 2 12:23

You guys are busy, we are.

Speaker 1 12:25

How do you stay on top of?

Speaker 2 12:26

everything and how do you manage like home life, work life? What are you guys doing to keep boundaries where they need to be? Or maybe you're not.

Speaker 1 12:36

I think we're really good. That's that's we're the best, that's why we're partners, because I travel and Nikki travels and there are clients are never left alone. So if Nikki says I'm going to Italy for two weeks, then I know I'm going to be here and if I'm going somewhere, so we have great, a great, I guess, commitment and responsibility to our clients. But we do. We are all about living our lives now.

Speaker 2 13:04

Absolutely no. I love that Cause. I feel like I've talked to a couple of other real estate agents and some of them are they and it's fine. Everybody has a different journey and story and things that they're going through, but sometimes it's like they're there all the time, all the time, and maybe they don't have like a, a bestie or a partner that they can be like hey, I'm going to be gone, you take it, and it's just like I. You take it and it's just like I do it while on my vacation. And do you feel like, with time, maybe you're able to do that, because you know when you're starting out, you kind of got to like do the hustle, so tell me about that.

Speaker 1 13:31

You do it all in the beginning. Yeah, I mean and then you just we refine. I think we've just refined it and refined it so that we're able to do what we do now.

Speaker 3 13:44

I mean, we have a team, yeah, so we have everything's systematized. So if we get a listing, there's a system. We get a buyer, there's a system. We're having an event which we have a lot of client events, so there's a system like what do we do? The steps are all laid out. We do have a virtual assistant that helps us and we have a director of operations that helps as well, Cause you had said team, so I was like okay talk to me about this team, but here we go. That's amazing.

Speaker 2 14:09

And do you guys work from an office building, from home?

Speaker 1 14:13

Is it both? We basically both work from home now Really more. I guess after COVID it's sort of like we gave up our offices. It works really well for us because I don't think that the office I mean it's valuable. We moved to a cloud-based brokerage and I was like, oh, really nervous about that because I'm a people person. I don't blame you, but as it turned out, we shifted there and it had a lot of energy. They have a lot of meetings and a lot of cooperative um activities, activities, yeah, and so we it worked out well.

Speaker 2 14:52

Nikki was giving me the nudge, so okay, yeah, and then how are you building and maintaining relationships with your clients? Like, is there anything particular, like a secret sauce that you guys do that helps people keep you on top of their mind? Or you do something special, I don't know, maybe you send them a bottle of champagne on their anniversary. Talk to me about your.

Speaker 1 15:14

Well, we can't give away all our secrets.

Speaker 2 15:19

True.

Speaker 1 15:20

But I mean, we do, you know we have systems. I just like Nikki says we just have to leave the house. You know if we live? Nikki and I live very close to each other and we both know a lot of people and people know us and Nikki also is a pickleball player.

Speaker 2 15:37

Oh my God, that has like come up suddenly.

Speaker 3 15:40

Did you just start too? It's been over a year now.

Speaker 2 15:42

Okay, she's like I was on it before it became a trend this year.

Speaker 3 15:46

Yeah, the market kind of slowed down last October and I said I'll just go play pickleball and. I'll meet a bunch of people, which has been great, but we also do a lot of events for, and our clients are invited.

Speaker 2 15:58

So when do you hold those events?

Speaker 3 16:00

Well, we're going to have our annual holiday party.

Speaker 1 16:03

Put that out there. Probably like quarterly events is kind of our goal okay, we may do a little bit more here and there, like we did the pickleball thing and we'll have the downsizing seminar and yeah, we do different things, we don't. The only thing we do every single year is the holiday party, because people really like it and expect it and it's kind of fun. We wear the same dress it was. They're always like, oh, what are they gonna wear? You know?

Speaker 1 16:28

so that's kind of a fun, um, a fun thing, and then we do some, you know, like we've had an italian night, we've had, uh, the margarita truck, we've had that was fun. Sounds good like good times and um, yeah, so we do just a variety of and we call and we have coffees and lunch and yeah, the people stuff, not just like zoom I love that.

Speaker 2 16:53

I feel like sometimes that gets lost. A lot of people are like oh, we just do it through zoom which is fine and that's great too. That's a to add to it as opposed to taking it away. But I feel like completely taking away that people person connection like just changes everything. You get a vibe for what a person is, their style, the scent that they like to use. I feel like that's kind of irreplaceable. Sometimes, right, you can't really read people online sometimes.

Speaker 3 17:15

I tell Annie get out of the house, she knows everyone. Just don't be at home.

Speaker 1 17:21

Like yeah, it's, yeah, it's true, it's so true yeah.

Speaker 2 17:27

And what kind of advice would you like to give anybody out there? I know the market's a little bit um the wild west kind of scary for new buyers. The inventory is so low and like tight and every time something comes up it's like someone just snatched it up. So what advice would you like to give to people out there who are looking for a home and that don't lose hope and all that good stuff?

Speaker 3 17:47

Don't lose hope. It's always a good time to buy. The best time to buy is 10 years ago and the second best time is now. That's a saying in real estate and um partner with somebody who's successful? Um, there's things that you can do um To strategize, to win, to make yourself stand out from the rest of the competition. And partnering with an agent is a good way to do that.

Speaker 2 18:13

Okay, do you want to add to that?

Speaker 1 18:15

No, I was almost going to say the same thing.

Speaker 2 18:18

Okay, beautiful. And speaking of partnering up with someone, did you guys have a mentor or coach in the beginning and did you find that that helped? For anybody who's listening, maybe, and they're just like.

Speaker 3 18:26

I got on my own.

Speaker 2 18:26

I don't need a coach, like all the successful people, probably use summer. Didn't tell me if you guys use the coach or mentor. I did.

Speaker 1 18:34

Yeah, I did as well and the in the way beginning. That was a long time ago and I I did do some coaching too, um, over the years. I think it's just like the seminars are helpful, coaching's helpful. Anywhere you can learn is just helpful, like even at our stage in the business. We learn, we still learn Every day. Yeah so, but we interviewed a young gal recently and she's aware Like she needs to have a path to learn, and so you know we can do that because we know a lot of stuff.

Speaker 2 19:14

Yeah, I know that's good you guys. Um now, knowledge is everything, especially if people already been through it. People are just like crap. What do I do? Who do I call? Like?

Speaker 1 19:21

yes, we call our title attorney, we call our broker, just just never ending yeah.

Speaker 2 19:29

Love it. And then, what keeps your passion, I guess, ignited for real estate, um, what keeps like that passion and drive going for you guys?

Speaker 1 19:38

I guess, cause we love it.

Speaker 2 19:40

How simple is that.

Speaker 3 19:41

I think right now, we've been doing this a long time. We're just really good at it. Um, and and I think also it's our drive to help others Um, it's really sad to go on a listing appointment and find out that your client bought a house and it had all these violations and that's. It's not right. I guess I want it to be fair.

Speaker 2 20:07

Yeah, no, right, yeah, like you said, do the right thing. I feel like that's like a staple for you guys, like, yeah, yes, you're, you're a real estate agent and obviously you have to do your job, but you're also being honest and seeing what is best for your client to make sure that it works out for them in the best possible way.

Speaker 3 20:22

And that's important too, when they're selling their house and, um, I've sold a lot of houses that failed to sell the first, second, third time and you go in and you can see, okay, well, your window that's the main focal point of the room has a broken seal and nobody told you that you should replace that. And it's not always easy to give the hard news the hard news, but it's our job, yeah.

Vision for Business Success

Speaker 1 20:51

I love that. And the other thing that we do in terms of the you know, doing the right thing, as Nikki says, is we're big about we do events to give back in our community. So we do like food drives. We have a particular elementary school in our community in a very a demographic that has a lot of money and there are still children that don't have enough food or coats. So we do food drive, we do coat drives and I don't know it makes us feel good. I don't like to see kids be hungry or cold no, that's beautiful, I love that.

Speaker 2 21:28

thanks sharing that I didn't know that. And where do you guys see yourself in the next five years, Like as a person and with your business? Have you given that thought or you don't look too ahead?

Speaker 1 21:39

sometimes, oh, I'm looking ahead. I mean I, um, I would like to. What do we call it? There's the golden handoff. I would like to sort of slowly exit the business but make sure that the busy blonde stays intact. Nikki and I have a slight age difference, so we both a little bit want to retire as real estate agents do really retire, but her 65 comes a little bit later than mine, okay, okay. So, yeah, I mean just like enjoying our lives. I don't think we'll ever really be out of the business. There will be people who need us that we will want to help, yeah, okay.

Speaker 3 22:23

How about you? I think the dream would be to find somebody who wants to come into our business and then be part of our business which allows Annie to sneak away. Yeah.

Speaker 1 22:37

She said us, and then she said Annie, that's awesome.

Speaker 2 22:41

Do you guys have, like, maybe like some backup blondes or something? Do they have to be blonde? It would work for the marketing branding aspect of it.

Speaker 1 22:49

right, I'm given that thought blonde, it would work for the marketing branding aspect of it. Right, I'm giving that thought. Well, the blonde thing is isn't really necessary, but it's, it's the brand. But, um, we have. We've talked to a variety of different people, um, who have expressed some interest. It just they have to be, they have to want to do it the busy blonde's way. We can't hand something over to someone without showing them our way.

Speaker 2 23:14

I like that and I want to know what is the busy blonde way. Can you describe that for me? What's the experience like for a client when they go and work with the two of you? Talk to me about that. What makes you guys stand out?

Speaker 1 23:23

I mean, for instance, you know we have a listing launch, we have, you know, a buyer presentation. Everything's just a little bit different with us, and so it's. It's not. You know, we're not wing it agents, we don't just roll up, you know, and so I think that is the case in some situations.

Speaker 3 23:47

So I feel like what we have created, we would like to pass on to the next person, but they've got to learn our systems, but also be the kind of person who would always do the right thing, even if that means they don't get paid.

Speaker 2 24:05

Yeah, and oftentimes that can be a little bit hard or scary for some people, but I feel like, when it comes to your clients and building that brand and that trust and who you guys want to be as agents, that's such an important part, right. And yeah, I mean, maybe you can have like an intern or something that can like watch over yeah.

Speaker 3 24:23

That's a good idea.

Speaker 2 24:24

Just so they learn the ins and outs too, and if that might be something I don't know, I just feel like that's a great suggestion yes so that way they can really truly know and be with you guys in shadow.

Speaker 1 24:34

I don't know, that would be so good.

Speaker 2 24:36

And then? Yes they're brunette. Be like, here's some blonde I don't just kidding I just think that's so brilliant, because the fact that someone recognized you guys yep, they're there right there, love it, oh my gosh. Okay, and then, um, is there anything maybe that I have not touched on, that you guys want to talk about in regards to your business, yourselves, maybe life in general, anything at all? You have the floor.

Speaker 3 25:03

I think that, uh, we I have two children and he has one son and I and they're launched, and so we have the time to help people. That's part of our availability and also the partnership which makes a difference.

Speaker 2 25:20

Yeah, absolutely. Did you want to add anything to that?

Speaker 1 25:24

No, I think that that's exactly right, like we're both really family oriented and yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2 25:33

so it's easy to focus on that when you have a partner who picks up the slack when you're right around that sounds so nice, like I wish I had a partner like, hey, you do this podcast today, but yeah, you kind of work like that, but I like this because, like I feel like sometimes work has like such stressful times, sometimes, like with everything, you can literally talk to each other about anything because you were like there and you don't have to like super explain, we're at home, it's like, talk to me like it's, it won't make sense, exactly so I think it's so cool. And it also in the mental health aspect of it I think it's great.

Speaker 2 26:04

Like she has coverage, you've got her right covered she's got you, and I just think that dynamic is so cool, when you can find someone that aligns with your values, who understanding. Sometimes you don't even have to say anything, they just look at you and they get you. I think that's beautiful and I think that is amazing, and the fact that you guys have been able to do that like hello, that's the dream. It is. It is the dream.

Speaker 3 26:24

It is just you can go away and be away and not have to worry I love it.

Speaker 2 26:30

I love this, uh, energy environment you guys have built. So, yeah, my final question is going to be I'd like for you guys to individually answer this Um, do you have a quote or a saying that has inspired you, or maybe a mantra that you'd like to live your life by, and would you mind sharing that and leaving that for the listeners sharing?

Speaker 3 26:49

that and leaving that for the listeners, I'll start. Okay, I'm a big quote person. Perfect, it's not the years in your life, it's the life in your years, and to me, that means exactly this. We talked to a real estate agent who was in labor and talking to our clients and she's very proud of that and not to take anything away from that, but that's not how I want to live. So for me, it's really having a partner being able to be present in my situation and not having to worry in the back of my mind or be looking at the phone as everything so I can. Yeah, that would be beautiful.

Speaker 2 27:28

I like that.

Speaker 1 27:29

Mickey's really good at being present. She is better than I am. But I see, I see a quote over there that says I'm creating the life for my of my dreams. Yeah, and that's probably what I still am doing. Yeah, it's. It's a never ending um process journey, yeah, not even a process. It's journey, yeah, but it's all good. It's all good, but it's. I think you just have to continue focusing on that to make it happen.

Speaker 2 28:00

Absolutely. Those are both beautiful and great. I agree with both of them. Thank you so much for being on the podcast and having this conversation with me and giving us a lot of insight and wisdom. We really appreciate it.

Speaker 1 28:11

Thank you for having us.