The Alimond Show
Welcome to The Alimond Show --join us as we share our entrepreneurial guests' stories, uncover their secrets to success, and explore the unique paths they've taken to build thriving businesses in our community.
In each episode, our host, Aliyah Dastour, sits down with a diverse group of local business owners, from the corner cafe to the boutique shop, from tech startups to family-run enterprises. We peel back the curtain to reveal the trials, triumphs, and transformational moments that have shaped their entrepreneurial journey.
Discover the passion, perseverance, and innovative thinking that fuels these businesses, as well as the challenges they've overcome along the way. Whether you're a budding entrepreneur seeking inspiration or simply a curious listener interested in the stories behind your favorite local spots, The Alimond Show has something for everyone.
Our guests share their experiences, insights, and valuable advice that can empower you to turn your own dreams into reality. We discuss topics like marketing strategies, customer relationships, community engagement, and much more, offering practical takeaways you can apply to your own business or career.
Join us every week as we celebrate the unsung heroes of our local business community and explore the vibrant tapestry of entrepreneurship in our area. Tune in to The Alimond Show and get ready to be inspired, informed, and motivated to support and nurture the businesses that make our community thrive.
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The Alimond Show
Erik Weisskopf - From Aspiring CIA Agent to Real Estate Veteran: Mastering Market Challenges, Leveraging Technology, and Embracing Positivity for Success
Erik Weisskopf, a seasoned real estate maven with nearly four decades of experience, joins us to unpack his incredible journey. From once aspiring to work for the DEA or CIA to becoming a stalwart in the real estate world, Erik's story is a testament to how determination and a competitive nature can lead to unexpected successes. In our conversation, he reveals his approach to handling market challenges, including the intricacies of foreclosures and the seismic shifts during the COVID-19 pandemic. Erik's cautious but strategic use of technology offers valuable insights for anyone navigating the fast-evolving real estate landscape.
In a world where the right real estate agent can make all the difference, Erik shares the secrets to his success, emphasizing the power of meticulous note-taking and creative problem-solving in negotiations. He recounts his experiences with owner financing deals and how such strategies have forged lasting relationships with clients. Erik also gives us a peek into his adventures outside of work, from skydiving to scuba diving, showcasing his ability to face fears head-on and the importance of a balanced, adventurous life. His candid reflections on utilizing social media as a business tool provide relatable lessons for pros and novices alike.
Erik's journey is not just about bricks and mortar, but about the power of positivity and gratitude in transforming lives and relationships. Through touching personal anecdotes, he illustrates how these principles have shaped his outlook and interactions, offering listeners a blueprint for personal and professional growth. Highlighting the importance of surrounding oneself with positive influences, he shares how this mindset has been a guiding force in his life, supported by inspiring quotes that resonate deeply with him and his family. Whether you're a real estate enthusiast or simply seeking inspiration, Erik's insights offer a refreshing perspective on success and fulfillment.
My name is Eric Weiskopf. I've been with REMAX 25 of my 38 years in the real estate business.
Speaker 2:I love that. Talk to me about how you help your clients and what situations do they get in.
Speaker 1:Oh boy, there's all kinds of situations. We deal with estates, we deal with divorces. We deal with it all. Everyone is unique. Nothing is cookie cutter. I have a two-family home I'm putting on the market today. I have another townhouse I'm putting on the market. That's an estate that is for a client of mine whose daughter I just sold. So now I've done three generations of that family.
Speaker 2:Wow.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:How do you build close relationships with them enough to be like, hey, you know what? We're selling another house. We're buying another house. We want you to be the guy.
Speaker 1:Oh boy, that's a good question because my follow-up isn't what it needs to be, but hopefully I've planted a seed well enough with them at the inception. They see what I do. Hopefully save my contact under real estate, delete anybody else and only use me.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah. Well, you must be doing something right, because you sound booked and busy, especially just today.
Speaker 1:Oh, it's crazy. It's crazy, that's awesome.
Speaker 2:Before we get into the nitty gritty, I'd like to know a backstory on yourself and how you got into the real estate industry.
Speaker 1:Wow. So the backstory went to college University of Maryland. I was fortunate enough to play baseball there. I wanted to actually get into the DEA or CIA but they were having a hiring freeze when I got out of college and I didn't know what I wanted to do then and I talked to a lady about becoming a realtor. Then they said that most people are out in two years, probably because of my competitive nature. I didn't want to be one of those guys.
Speaker 2:That was in 1987, 1988 timeframe. Okay, I love that.
Speaker 1:What's the journey been like so far being in real estate? What are some changes that you're just like, wow, back then that definitely is a. And then, you know, it slowed down. We got to see interest rates at almost 11% when I bought my first house. So those that are complaining now about six, seven, not so bad really.
Speaker 1:But the whole thing has kind of evolved through different markets. You know we've had the foreclosure market where a lot of people froze, didn't know what to do. I picked up the phone, called a few banks, emailed. Next thing, you know, I had more business than I could actually handle doing foreclosures and short sales. Then COVID, you know COVID froze a lot of people up. Fortunately our market here was not like Pennsylvania, which was completely shut down during COVID. Covid was actually some very good years for me personally. And now we're back to another crazy market. It's not, you know, ideally I like kind of a balanced market, kind of how it was many years ago, and who knows when we're going to get back to that or if we get back to that around here For sure.
Speaker 2:It's kind of in the unknown right now. Yeah, I'd like to ask you about technology, and has that changed anything for you in your industry? Has it made anything harder? Easier, in your favor?
Speaker 1:Oh boy, you would ask me about that. Obviously, it's my first podcast, so there's some technology there.
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 1:Today we shot a film for a property that I don't normally do, that kind of footage where you're putting a whole package together with a video reels, the whole nine where you know I have to say things and I don't like being in front of the camera. So everybody you know all the new kids on the block they're in front of the camera all the time. I don't know how much business they're doing, but they're certainly getting their TikToks and stuff done. So I stick to the grind and stick to what I know. I implement some of the new stuff if it's needed, and some of it I don't really think is needed.
Speaker 2:Like what.
Speaker 1:Like we have three different kinds of form access, for example. I kind of like the way that I know and I can do it my way. It's easy, it's quick. Where I have my TC do it, it's you know, it's easy. I don't need to learn two more new systems just because it makes it easy for the brokerage. So that's just me dragging, kicking my feet along the way.
Speaker 2:But you're doing it and I'm glad that you showed up here today. I know you just said you're not a fan of being in front of the camera, so it's amazing and incredible. So thank you for taking the time to come on here and take a chance with us.
Speaker 1:Well, certainly, thanks for having me.
Speaker 2:Absolutely.
Speaker 1:It's good to get out of my element.
Speaker 2:Yes, Just experience new things. You know what I really hated that I never want to do that again.
Speaker 1:Maybe you'll find out.
Speaker 2:you know what that was so bad?
Speaker 1:Kind of like a zip line across a river. I learned that in Belize. No, thank you.
Speaker 2:Have you been to Belize? Yes, was that for a job or just?
Speaker 1:vacation, no vacation with my family.
Speaker 2:Okay, very nice, I love that.
Speaker 1:How do you like to use so REMAX? Fortunately, as I mentioned before, I've been with REMAX 26 years now. We are an international brand. Personally, I've been very fortunate to be connected with other agents throughout the country. Not so much internationally, although I have met some in Putakana, and when I see what's going on on the West Coast, sometimes that's what starts to happen here next. At least it used to be that way, and some of what's happening here is helping some of my friends on the West Coast and talking to people in Florida. For example, I just implemented something that a colleague of mine uses down there which has been phenomenal, and it's just learning from different people and not being afraid to share, because a lot of people in this business they want to cut each other and you know they don't want to help each other. Oh no, and it's unfortunate because really you know when you help people, ultimately everybody rises.
Speaker 2:Yes, I'm a firm believer in that. Is it that, I guess, catty or cutthroat in the real estate world?
Speaker 1:It is very much so.
Speaker 2:Dang.
Speaker 1:It is very much so.
Speaker 2:You would think everyone would want to like be a community, or like not hog something or like no, I don't want that.
Speaker 1:Oh, I've witnessed it many times.
Speaker 2:What do you think could be different about it? Or if they, if they could change, if you could change one thing about it.
Speaker 1:If I could change one thing and I've preached this for many years I'd raise the bar. Raise the bar of entry. Raise the bar of entry. Raise the bar to stay in. Make it better for the consumer, because the average consumer thinks most agents are all the same and they simply are not. I would not want somebody who does one deal a year. I mean 74% of the realtors last year did not do a single deal. That is fact. 74%. That leaves a small margin which did a lot of the business. The heavy lifting. Yeah.
Speaker 2:Oh my goodness, that's a big number there in comparison. What are y'all doing out there? But thanks for sharing that. What do you currently see as the biggest challenges that real estate is facing right now or maybe that's going to be coming up later that you predict or feel?
Speaker 1:Well, the biggest challenge is actually for the purchasers, because it's an absolute fistfight out there, and if you don't have an arsenal of weapons, you simply are not going to be able to get a house period unless you're buying prince william county, uh.
Speaker 1:Stafford county, uh, some of the outside areas. It can be practical, but to get into fairfax county, for example, uh, it's, it's not fun, it's not fun. You got to be out there when the snow is on the ground. You got to be out there when other people are not hustling, yeah, otherwise your clients aren't getting the house. Oh my goodness, yeah.
Speaker 2:And what do you think you're able to bring to the table with your experience and your service? Customer service knowledge just all of that for anybody listening out there.
Speaker 1:I think primarily. I mean 38 years, 37 and a half, 38 years that's a lot and I don't know it all. But I feel like I bring some things to the table, negotiation-wise and relationship-wise, quite frankly, that nobody else can. Every agent I deal with I keep in my phone. What were they like? Were they a pain in the ass? Were they super cool? Did they lay down on the negotiation? I keep notes so that if my phone rings on one of my listings, for example, I can say, oh well, hey, kat Mazzetti is an agent that I know. She's very good, writes a good contract, good negotiator, and I know what I'm up against with someone like her. Some of the other people I kind of know too. But if you can broker a deal where you say, hey, remember when we worked together in 1990? These people are are like how do you remember that? Well, I obviously don't, because I just used my phone hey, that's smart, that's very smart.
Speaker 2:You can't remember everything sometimes. I can't remember yesterday. I'm like what did I do? What did I do so having notes on that and keeping tabs? And someone rings the phone, you're like, you read your note, you're like yeah, I'm not answering that phone there yeah right.
Speaker 1:Plus, you got to think outside the box. You really have to Like I'm not creative at all. When it comes to a lot of things, when it comes to putting a deal together, I can go way outside the box. I've done a lot of different. In fact, the house I put on the market today that's why I have that guy from about 18 years ago. He had another agent and I pieced the contract together because he didn't know his agent didn't know how to do owner financing. So I taught him both. He ditched his agent and now this is the third property since then. I've sold them.
Speaker 2:That is awesome. See you're doing something right there Looking out for them, something right there looking out for them. I'd like to ask what do you think are some key components that people should be looking out for when they consider using a real estate agent?
Speaker 1:I mean they should just call me.
Speaker 2:Period Point blank. Just call Eric.
Speaker 1:Yep, no matter where you need to be, I can help. I got people all over the country. No, seriously, you've got to find out. If that agent, what have they done lately? Right, like some people would think, well, he's been in the business 38 years, but what has he done?
Speaker 2:lately. What has he done?
Speaker 1:Well, I've done a lot lately and I can go right down the list, and you have to be production-based. If you're not, yeah, maybe you want to give a chance to the new guy. I personally would not. I don't want to use a new guy to build a patio on my house either. So you know, that's, I think, experience, I mean, one of my hashtags is profit from my experience.
Speaker 2:I love that. Do you use that on socials?
Speaker 1:What I do with socials, yeah.
Speaker 2:Okay, tell me a little bit about what you do, are you on? Insta, Facebook. Why are you laughing? Come on now.
Speaker 1:Because I'm 60 now and. I do not know the socials that good, that's okay. I do a little bit on Instagram. I'm still learning that. You know Facebook. Sure I can handle that, a couple of reels here and there, but it's usually a reposting what somebody else has.
Speaker 2:Okay, that's okay. That's cool, Did I?
Speaker 1:mention no creativity in this stuff.
Speaker 2:Yes, you sure did. You mentioned that. I think you're creative, but in different ways, and I like that you're self-aware, where you know where your strong points are and where you're not, and you're just like. Right, hey, I'm just being real here. Well, thank you. What do you like to do on your free time? Free time yeah.
Speaker 1:Well, my kids. I got one on the West Coast who just got engaged.
Speaker 2:Oh, congratulations.
Speaker 1:Love to visit with her.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Kind of chokes me up because you know, as you get older you don't see your kids as much. But we have a great relationship. My other daughter lives in Wilmington. I see her more frequently. Obviously we like to do hikes, we like to do ziplining, we do some crazy stuff, we do stuff that a lot of people don't do.
Speaker 2:Would you skydive?
Speaker 1:I did skydive. I skydived twice. We just for Christmas we went scuba diving With sharks?
Speaker 2:No, we didn't see any sharks.
Speaker 1:We went scuba diving in Tulum.
Speaker 2:Okay, yeah.
Speaker 1:Mexico yeah.
Speaker 2:Very nice Wow.
Speaker 1:It was actually Akmal Akmal Dive Center, but beautiful and nobody's done it before except for me, and I was the most scared of anybody. Look at that. Well, I got to look out for all these kids.
Speaker 2:Yes, let's tone it back down a little bit. No, I'm just kidding. But how did you become so adventurous? Like, how does one know they want to skydive? You just do it. What if you're like just wait, I regret this.
Speaker 1:You can't just stop midair and be like oh, I'm sorry um well, the first time I went, I stopped three times really yeah, I called and canceled and re-upped, called and canceled, re-upped and went in vegas, uh, over the hoover dam, which was very cool. Glad I did it second time I had to do. It was a birthday thing for a friend of mine, you had to do it yeah. I didn't want to do it and I didn't like that at all. That one was an open door and you went up with the door open.
Speaker 2:Because I'm also afraid of heights. But you skydived.
Speaker 1:I did skydive. Okay, but I would say the zip line across a river was more difficult.
Speaker 2:Really. Not even a zip line. It's one of those ones you hold on to?
Speaker 1:Is it the triangle one? You hold on to the rope across the top and you're on a rope across the bottom. But, you're all hitched in.
Speaker 2:You can't fall, you feel safe?
Speaker 1:I didn't feel safe at all. And my daughter was behind me, and she's the one that kept going. You got it, you got it.
Speaker 2:Come on man, 100% chance. Well I, don't know.
Speaker 1:My wife still says it was a 10-foot drop. I think it was about 1,000 feet.
Speaker 2:Perspective, oh my goodness. Well, I'm glad that you are out there living your life and being able to channel your insides through these adventures of yours here, skydiving, ziplining kudos to you. I went one time and I canceled it and I just I don't want to do it, did you?
Speaker 1:Yeah, oh, you got to do it. It's once you do it, it's. It's really not that big a deal. They kind of push you out anyway, I mean the guy's attached to you, but you don't really have much choice. You kind of keep scooping up until you're the next one out.
Speaker 2:It's just my luck is crazy that I would be the one with the parachute. That doesn't you know. That happens very rarely. Very rarely, I just get scared.
Speaker 1:Golf is more my norm, though you know I could do that. Just a little golf, have a beer, cigar, relax with a couple buddies, that's more.
Speaker 2:More your tone there. Yeah, I love that and being able to do all of these things plus being your own, you know, business owner for your real estate job career. How do you find boundaries? Has that something you've had to learn along the way? Good question.
Speaker 1:I got asked to play golf today. Obviously, today's a nice day. I don't know why they're out salting the roads already, but they were on their way out here. Yeah, but I do what I can when I can, and I will jam in as much as humanly possible.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Which my wife doesn't always love. She says we're too busy.
Speaker 2:I don't blame her.
Speaker 1:I'll be. You know, I like to keep going. Sitting around is no fun.
Speaker 2:No, I agree with that. Tilling your thumbs just like what's the next thing?
Speaker 1:Let's go, yeah and there's always in real estate. It's a never ending. There's always something you could be doing.
Speaker 2:Absolutely Love it. And what is something new that you've learned about yourself, that you've come to learn? You're like, wow, I never thought that I was going to be that guy. Or like my dad was right, or my mom was right through your career in real estate was right, or my mom was right through your career in real estate.
Speaker 1:Success is hard to sort of accept sometimes. How do you mean, I don't know. You know you there's, if you always I guess I've been at the bottom. You know, when I first got in the business, I would get a cigar if I sold a house, and I smoked three cigars my first year, wow, okay, now I smoke them whenever I want, but I didn't kill myself to get here. So maybe I should set the bar a little bit higher, and when you do that, it becomes a lot more attainable. I learned about SMART goals a long time ago and in doing that it simplifies the process, but there's always I don't know if there's hunger for more, because I don't really care that much about stuff. I like to have experiences.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:And I like the freedom certainly, but for me it's just you get here, then you want to do a little more and then a little more.
Speaker 2:Each time.
Speaker 1:And then yeah it's. I don't know if it's because of Each time. And then yeah, I don't know if it's because of being competitive. All my life it could be, it's hard to explain.
Speaker 2:Yeah, no, but that's good that you're always like chasing that next thing. You never want to just be still and be like, well, I've reached the pinnacle of all.
Speaker 1:Well, you're not going to reach the pinnacle. I'm not going to reach the pinnacle. I might reach my own pinnacle, but I might have already, maybe. Yeah, there you go. Okay, I love it.
Speaker 2:Is there anything that I have not touched on that perhaps you would like to take this opportunity to talk about? It could be maybe about yourself, your industry, I don't know. Maybe you're writing a book, maybe you're going to start a podcast.
Speaker 1:Well, I won't be doing it. Doing a book would be uh I would. I like helping people uh, achieve things that they never thought possible. And you know I've taken over deals for other people. I don't know why, but I, literally I've had at least five transactions, I can count, where someone said I can't handle them. Only you can handle them, whoa, and I have handled them. I have almost fired one. I did fire one Thanksgiving morning, uh-oh, she came back, but I did. I had enough of her and I hate to admit this, I don't want this to be. You know, this is a podcast. It's going to be seen by who knows, maybe two people or five, or a hundred, but if I take over for somebody else, it's a must-succeed situation.
Speaker 1:So it's not. I've been presented with this challenge and now I've got to do it right. I remember selling a lot in Great Falls to a builder and he was leaving town and he's like you can make it happen. How he thought I could make it happen. And I don't even know if he thought I could make it happen, but because he said that I made it happen. And it was. I can't even tell you. I can't even tell you.
Speaker 2:I've used that phrase a million times because it's very empowering and I think maybe do you think, are you? I know you're competitive, but do?
Speaker 1:you ever sometimes doubt yourself, or is that not even a question?
Speaker 2:I never doubt myself. Yeah, sure, do you sometimes feel like there were times where people were just like, man, you got this, you can. There were times where people were just like, man, you got this, you can do this. And you were just like obviously, fake it till you make it. Just like this guy who's like you. You right now told me you couldn't believe or you didn't know why. He thought that he thought that you could make it happen. But you said you know what? I'm going to prove that I can. When you have those times, what do you like to do to, I guess, push yourself to do it? Do you talk to therapists? Do you read books self-help books, I've read.
Speaker 1:I was telling my wife about this one last night. I don't know if you ever heard of Zig Ziglar.
Speaker 2:That sounds a little bit familiar.
Speaker 1:Well, maybe not to your generation, but to my generation, he's very familiar. Well, zig Ziglar was a sales trainer for a long time, wrote a lot of books, tapes. I had his cassette tapes. I don't even know what those are, I do. So Zig said that one of his phrases was if it only costs $1,000 to go around the world, I didn't have enough money to get out of sight, and I've been there right. Zig had to park his car around the corner of his house so it wouldn't get impounded.
Speaker 2:Oh my goodness, that's how broke.
Speaker 1:He was and Zig made it. You know, he made it and he kept going up, up, up, up up and he did fine, going up, up, up, up up and he did fine. And like I mean the third house I bought when I was younger, I thought if I was rich, that was the house I would buy, which is a very self-limiting belief Really.
Speaker 1:And I did buy that house that, not that particular house, but a house just like in that neighborhood which was really not that big of a deal, but it was a big deal when your world is smaller, so the more you're learning and out there and meeting other, people and you see yeah, the exposure to everything is you can always grab something from anybody. You can learn from a homeless guy.
Speaker 2:Yes. You know you can learn from anybody, absolutely, and it's just also having an open mind and being able to have conversations with people and just being open to talking to them, right.
Speaker 1:I love talking to people. My wife usually drags me off.
Speaker 2:Really.
Speaker 1:Enough enough Okay. You're in the right career path, then I mean, I was in St Thomas and I was talking to a guy at lunch. Well, lo and behold, his wife grew up in the same neighborhood I grew up in and was selling her parents' house. And I pick up a deal while I'm in St Thomas.
Speaker 2:Dude, that's crazy so yeah, it's.
Speaker 1:You know, everybody knows people. It's really a small world. I've met people internationally Thailand, from the US who we had things in common with. My goodness you know it's if you talk to people a little bit.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:I mean.
Speaker 2:You can get a lot. You can. Yeah, I love that. You're a people person. Yeah, you are. It's fun. Wifey has to pull you away. Mm-hmm, mm-hmm, I hear it. Yeah.
Speaker 1:We're too busy this weekend. No more stuff. Yeah, I hear it all.
Speaker 2:Aw, give her a little break.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:She's trying to keep up with you okay, she should.
Speaker 1:She's 11 years younger. Oh, my goodness.
Speaker 2:Cut.
Speaker 1:I'm just kidding.
Speaker 2:But I love that. I love how you just get into like, how you love talking to people, because at the end of the day, it's making those connections with people. Yes, you've got to know your stuff and your experience helps you so much. But having that connection and being able to actually genuinely talk to people and getting to know them, hearing their needs, seeing what you have in common, you've got to be able to build that connection, to have that trust. So I think you're doing quite well in that department.
Speaker 1:Well, listen to you. You're on the other side here and you are doing a great job. You ask all the questions, it's easy, it's very relaxing. I commend what you do because I couldn't sit there and ask. I always find everything I don't know.
Speaker 2:I look through a different lens, I think, than a lot of people. Yeah, that's okay. It's what makes us all unique. You're going to be like I. Like your positivity perspective.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it is. I mean, positivity is everything.
Speaker 2:Yes, Anybody can be negative Mindset. Yes, yeah, it's hard, I will say. Growing up it was harder for me. I feel like I was not in a good place and I felt negativity. So it took time to get here and I'm glad that I've been able to change my mindset and just grow. And when you change the mindset, it's amazing.
Speaker 1:You know, my stepdaughter kind of harasses me about gratitudes because I will always tell people, you know, gratitude will change your attitude. Yes, and so I would always tell it to her, which you know. They're not always that receptive. Yeah, but what did I get for my birthday? I think her Christmas last year was a book on gratitudes, well, well, well.
Speaker 2:So apparently, look at that, you made it home, you did, and it's funny how it hits you in some ways. Right, you're just like, hmm, I think I mentioned a little bit about that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, but think about who you like to hang around with, right, you don't like to hang around with the drain, you want to be with the fountain, that's right.
Speaker 2:That's a great way to put it. I like that, not the drain, the fountain, the fountain of youth, preferably. I'm just kidding, I'm kidding, but no, yeah, I love it, all right. My final question All right, do you have a quote or a saying that has inspired you in your life? Or maybe you heard a song lyric, a poem?
Speaker 1:Sure, I would like to know what that is, and you could ask my kids what the mind believes and conceives. The body will achieve Period, simple, easy use it on them for many years.
Speaker 2:I love that.
Speaker 1:I don't know why I'm acting like a sap here.
Speaker 2:Stop it's fine, it's okay. Thank you so much for coming on the podcast and I appreciate you coming in and sharing all your experiences and journey that you've been through. It's been a pleasure Sure.
Speaker 1:Thank you.
Speaker 2:You're welcome, thank you. Yeah, thank you, thank you.