Caleb’s Unlikely Start In Real Estate

SPEAKER_00 0:31

My name's Caleb Smith. I work at Washington Fine Properties, but with one of their best teams, the Thornett and Quarter team. So it's me and then two other agents, and then we have an operations manager, and I serve all kinds of people. And yeah, I don't know where we're gonna go with this, but uh yeah, I've every single type of human that you can interact with I've worked with so far.

SPEAKER_01 0:54

So amazing. I can't wait to learn more about everything you do. So take me back to how you got started in all of this. Tell me how you got to where you are today.

SPEAKER_00 1:04

Yeah, so uh I graduated high school in 2020, COVID, uh locked everything down, and I worked at Jersey Mics and Percival and uh went to JMU, went through my freshman year at JMU, and I uh had an internship at a financial advising company, and they canceled it because there were holdovers from the year before from COVID. And so my dad is a builder in McLean, and he's like, hey, I've got these real estate agents that are really awesome. You should work with them, just do their grunt work. So they were having me sword paperwork or whatever, and I was like, This is terrible, Micah. Like, give me something to do. So he just had me knock on teardowns and was like, hey, if you get us a teardown, like that's a big deal, and it helps your dad out a lot. Now I completely struck out, probably knocked on 200 doors in the middle of the summer. But that like chance of something awesome happening was a lot more interesting to me than just methodically knocking stuff out. So went to JMU. I don't know how far you want me to go with this, but I went to JMU, graduated in three years, and was going to be a bartender and like manager of a restaurant in Harrisonburg because I had applied to a couple real uh real estate groups in Harrisonburg and they didn't want me, didn't answer the calls. And then I had a family friend say, Hey, I've got this 25-year-old agent that I work with, and he's a stud. So I got a beer with him. I was like, I'll do whatever you need and just try it out. I'd probably go into something

Learning To Lead With Service

SPEAKER_00 2:39

um maybe trades related or some other sales job if it hadn't worked out. But luckily, the nine months selling commercial real estate in Harrisonburg, I think was a great experience, and got married and moved up here and started at Washington 5 properties. So yeah.

SPEAKER_01 2:55

Very cool.

SPEAKER_00 2:56

That's kind of the the down low.

SPEAKER_01 2:59

Very cool. So you kind of went all over and get to where you are. So that's awesome. And so you started your career working with some incredibly unique early deals and markets. Looking back, what was one of the biggest lessons or turning points that shaped the way you approach real estate today?

SPEAKER_00 3:18

The best thing about Craig, the guy that I worked with and kind of taught me initially is that his focus is all about helping people regardless. And if they end up screwing him over, then he just doesn't work with them again. But he kind of he goes above and beyond. He underpromises, over-delivers. And so at the beginning, because I was struggling to pay rent, didn't have much money for groceries, which you get creative. I needed the commission check or to sell a house so bad that it's like that's the only goal, but you're gonna do a lot better in business and treat people better when that's not the goal. And so I think a lot of people have the conception, and it's not a misconception, that realtors are can be shady. Um, and I think part of the reason is because you're looking at people very transactionally. Whereas if I have a client that I sell a house for, buy a house, and they love me, um, that could open me up to their entire family, friends, all that. So without referrals, you're gonna waste all your money on marketing. So you still haven't spent any money on marketing.

SPEAKER_01 4:24

Hey, that's awesome. And I love the point that you make about just having those client relationships. I'm sure from the beginning of when you meet them till far even after the deal has been closed, they are reaching out to you and wanting to confide, consult with you. I think it's great.

SPEAKER_00 4:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 4:41

So now that you're with the Washington Fine Properties, one of the most respected brokerages in the region, how has that environment elevated the way you operate and serve your clients?

SPEAKER_00 4:53

My grammar's constantly being put under fire. And then the way I dress, so I would always roll in jeans, Carhartt shirt, or like gym shorts. Um, because also if you dressed like this, you would be people wouldn't like you in Harrisonburg. Um, so you'd even have to slip into a southern accent

Leveling Up At Washington Fine Properties

SPEAKER_00 5:12

a little bit just to make people feel comfortable. But so the first day I got there, Jenny and Micah, who are my uh teammates, they kind of they give me direction and I just learned from them. They went on Brooks Brothers and a bunch of like schmoozy sites and were like, you need to get a better wardrobe. So that was like my wedding present from them. But it's kind of how to act, how to be professional. And even though the company in general and the team, I think, can be sticklers about things, they also have this elite brand to keep up. And so you have to elevate to be a part of it.

SPEAKER_01 5:51

Absolutely. And so, with that, you know, the Northern Virginia market is known for being highly competitive. How do you stay focused and deliver consistent value for your clients in such a fast-paced environment?

SPEAKER_00 6:06

Yeah, I mean, um, I know it's true nationwide that there's more agents than there are homes that sell every year. It has to be true in Northern Virginia. Beyond just friends and people constantly getting barraged with marketing, you also have everyone's cousins a realtor, um, everyone's aunt. It was a learning curve because normally the way I'd

Competing In A Crowded NOVA Market

SPEAKER_00 6:30

gotten business in Harrisonburg was cold calling Craigslist for sale by owners, driving around trying to find signs, people selling, people that had struggled to sell. And normally I could give them the pitch that I would help and do more than anyone else would, which was an easier sale to uh someone selling a $30,000 piece of land than it is to someone selling a million dollar house because I'm competing with 55-year-olds that have been doing it for 30 years. Uh, I yeah, I ate a lot of poop for the first uh six months and still am, but um it's it makes you better and you yeah, it's been great.

SPEAKER_01 7:08

Yeah, I think it's such an important thing to remember, not just for this field, but all fields, is that we all start somewhere. And as we grow along the way, it just makes us so much stronger and the wisdom and just the tactics that we learn along the way. So you're doing great.

SPEAKER_00 7:24

Yeah, the first uh so I got business originally, I didn't really have anything to do, so I was just finding expired listings and knocking on the door. So those are listings that have been on the market and the previous agent hadn't been able to sell it. Usually it's because of being overpriced is the main reason, but it could also be just terrible presentation, usually with the photos, no care to make the house look great. And so I found that if I knew something, anything as an entry point of conversation with the person that I wouldn't get the door slammed in my face and cussed out. So even if it was, hey, you're a Nats fan because I saw it on their Facebook or something, like not creepy, but just like, hey, it was on Google. So that improved my chances a lot and it worked a couple times.

SPEAKER_01 8:17

So for sure. I feel like there's always a way to relate to somebody and kind of build that, build that initial relationship. Yeah. And kind of digging a little bit more into that, you mentioned that you focus on building strong, authentic relationships instead of cold calling or chasing referrals. What does that relationship first approach look like day-to-day?

SPEAKER_00 8:40

Yeah, I mean, I prefer to call

Winning Expireds With Real Rapport

SPEAKER_00 8:43

with the clients over everything. So when we're in the heat of like putting in multiple offers, I will might be on the phone with my clients 13 different times just because a text, especially coming from me, where I'm just like, you don't think about the emotion and it can be easily misconstrued over text. So I think just phone call with everyone, the agents, because the relationship with the other agents is super important as well. But the phone call as opposed to a text or an email every time they can my goal when I'm done with every client is that he might not be the brightest bull, but he cared the most about me. So that I that's how I do it and try to show that I care to clients.

SPEAKER_01 9:28

Definitely. And having that that great communication, I mean, communication is key, and your your personality just I can tell how it really will just help kind of seal the deal on knowing that you're the one for them to help you find their home.

SPEAKER_00 9:41

Thanks. Thank you.

SPEAKER_01 9:43

You've said that for you, real estate is personal about trust and relationships, not just transactions. What kind of experience have made that experiences have made that philosophy so important in your work?

SPEAKER_00 9:57

Yeah, I mean, at the end of the day, we have to pick a job to make money. And so the goal is to make money, and if we don't sell any houses, my sweet dog doesn't eat. It is a job at the end of the day, but you can either be super transactional, cutthroat, and cold about it and just purely go with the numbers, which a lot of agents do and do it to success. But

Relationship-First Communication Habits

SPEAKER_00 10:21

I don't feel any fulfillment if that is the way I handle it. Um, our team motto is that we're working for God and not for man. So um we're trying to treat people the way they we would want to be treated, how we would want my grandma to be treated, how we would want my mom to be treated. So yeah, it's just treating the people the right way.

SPEAKER_01 10:41

Well said. I love it. And you recently sold a two million McLean lot off market in just five days. Can you walk us through how that deal came together and what made it stand out?

SPEAKER_00 10:55

Well, that's not sold yet. It's under contract, it's not contingent anymore, but yeah, that'll pop up in a few days. So the difference there, there's been some rule changes nationwide with commissions, with how um listings are being presented. And so a lot more deals are happening in the off-market space. Uh, Washington Fine Properties just got acquired by Compass in February, I think. And so we now have access to all of Washington Fine Properties listings as well as Compasses. So we can see a huge spreadsheet of all the Northern Virginia, Maryland, and DC listings that are off-market. And the reason someone would do it is they don't want to sell right away, they want to test a higher

Faith, Values, And Client Trust

SPEAKER_00 11:41

price, or they just don't want a barrage of showings. So for the for certain sellers, it's really beneficial. I just put land in Hamilton on the off-market database that will eventually go onto the public market, but we're I'm this is the time I'm taking to like call builders, call developers, call any investors. So it gives us a little bit more control of the narrative sometimes. And uh for certain clients, they've gotten a lot more than they would have on the open market because of like the exclusivity of it. So Okay. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 12:14

That's very exciting. And then also it's so fascinating to hear about all the moving pieces and moving parts that go behind all of this and the different people that you go through to get that final end result.

SPEAKER_00 12:26

Yeah. Yeah. No, there's never been an easy one.

SPEAKER_01 12:30

So you've talked about raising the bar in real estate and

Off-Market Deals And New Rules

SPEAKER_01 12:33

how agent quality impacts the client experience. In your view, what truly defines a great agent today?

SPEAKER_00 12:41

Yeah, it's uh I've don't think I've changed explicitly as a human in the past two years of doing it, but I've gotten a lot more knowledge. So there's a base level of knowledge, obviously, needed, but if you're a bad human, you're gonna be a bad agent. And if you're a good human, you're likely gonna be a good agent. The nice thing is Micah on my team is like a sticker, a stick stickler, stickler contractually, and he'll review everything, and so he makes sure that our stuff is very professional, very clean. Um, and then the rest of it is just human relationship because it that's the whole business is relational. Um, so good person, good agent. Personally, I think is that, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 13:23

Having those core values just to start with is I feel like the main thing. So technology and AI are reshaping every industry, including real estate. How do you see AI impacting agents and how are you personally adapting to stay ahead of that curve?

SPEAKER_00 13:41

Yeah, I think I mentioned it to you, but uh I always like to look at the uh 65-year-old agents who clearly just put their listing description in Chat GBT because there's a long dash three different times in their summary. So you gotta get rid of that. But yeah, it's right now it's helping with small stuff, and it is helpful being about as young as any agent I've met because you're a little more used to technology and can get on the AI train. But eventually, I don't see a world where we don't get replaced at some point, but I think there is a much longer runway before that happens than some computer science jobs and everything like that. I know there's been several different companies that have tried to replace the agent. There's one in Northern Virginia, there's been a couple, but to this point, none of them have really gotten any traction. So I think we're safe for a few more years, but I might be a plumber in five years. Who knows?

SPEAKER_01 14:41

Let's hope not. I think you're on the on the path for you.

SPEAKER_00 14:44

I hope so.

SPEAKER_01 14:46

So you're part of a younger generation of agents that's redefining

What Defines A Great Agent Today

SPEAKER_01 14:51

what modern real estate looks like. What advantages do you think newer forward-thinking agents bring to the table?

SPEAKER_00 14:58

Yeah, I think it's really hard unless you have like a mentor that cares about you as a human and not like a money center, because like I had the advantage of the first house I ever was I did the transaction on was my own home. So I could say, hey, this is my experience from that. And you don't have to explicitly say that I it was my house that I bought, but I bought a house off market. And so I it's really hard for a 50-year-old with kids to trust some 21-year-old kid who has never bought or sold a house themselves and just took a 60-hour class. So it's a really big uphill battle. I think the easiest way for someone

AI’s Role And The Human Edge

SPEAKER_00 15:45

my age or in this generation would be to come in with like the social media angle, the AI training angle, and add that to a team. And then you can't just take, you have to add something. So my version of the ad was door knocking, just grinding stuff out when I could, and being the guy that would drive an hour for a $30,000 listing. But I think that's the most tangible way that someone our age could could do that.

SPEAKER_01 16:14

For sure. And I think also Strive just really comes into play. Uh even if it's a $30,000 listing, yeah. You were getting up, you were ready for it in growing from that. So that's amazing. So Washington Find Properties represents some of the region's most exclusive listings. What's your strategy for helping clients navigate off-market opportunities or high demand properties?

SPEAKER_00 16:41

Yeah, so those are two different things. Um, I would love to get in on some of the uh $35 million listings that uh what that some of the Washington Fund properties agents have. But I look at the off-market one as,

The Advantage Of Young, Hungry Agents

SPEAKER_00 16:55

hey, for my buyers, whether it's me bringing it to the table or if it's something in the compass database, hey, this is an opportunity we can go a little slower. You're not going to be rushed. It's not going to be, hey, we've got three other offers we're competing with in a Monday deadline. So it usually helps the buyer to make a more informed decision. They can get a home inspection, usually, all that. In a multiple offer situation, obviously the numbers are what the numbers are at the end of the day. So the only thing that I can expressly provide is being the most professional agent and putting the cleanest offer I can in front of them and also getting as much information as I can so that my clients, if they really need the house, they know what it takes to get it. But I've told a lot of clients that, like, hey, we've got to we've got to find a number that you're not going to wake up tomorrow and say, hey, I could have done 20,000 more, and not a number that we wake up and said I shouldn't have spent that extra 20,000. So you never want to be representing the buyer that gets cold feet and then you gotta keep it together. That's just not a good situation to be. So I try not to be pushy in those situations because it's not gonna, it's not gonna work out in the end.

SPEAKER_01 18:09

Definitely. I like how you said that you do your research too, because I feel like it's so important in an industry like this to do your homework.

SPEAKER_00 18:16

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 18:17

Wonderful. I heard that your team has a fun challenge going on. If you hit 150 million in sales this year, something pretty memorable is set to take place. Can you share what that challenge is and what it says about your overall team culture and its fun and engaging energy?

SPEAKER_00 18:34

Yeah, so I didn't

Strategy For Off-Market And Bidding Wars

SPEAKER_00 18:35

get um I didn't get consent from either of my teammates to post this on Instagram, but I did, and it's one of my top Instagram videos, um, which isn't saying much because it has like 120 likes. Anyway, it if we get to 150 million, which would probably put us as like the number two or three small team in Virginia, um, Micah, my male teammate, would have to shave his head, which he has beautiful, luscious locks. But we're at, I think probably 105 or 110 right now. So we'd need to sell one of those $34 million houses at this point to get across the finish line. But there are some fun ones closing this week that'll bump the numbers up. So I'll probably do one more update. But unless Jaden Daniels, Josh Harris, one of the commanders, uh guys with big contracts comes through, then we're probably in trouble. But it was a fun thing to shoot for, and a lot of people have brought it up to me that don't even know Micah. So um, yeah, I think it's been it's been a lot of fun.

SPEAKER_01 19:36

For sure. It sounds like such a just fun and spirited and engaging team of people that you're with.

SPEAKER_00 19:42

So no, it's a great time.

SPEAKER_01 19:44

It definitely shows up in business as well, not just kind of in the team environment. Finally, for someone thinking about buying or selling in the Northern Virginia or DC area, what's one piece of advice you'd give them before they reach out to an agent?

SPEAKER_00 19:58

The value proposition here. Um, no. I think if you have a family member or someone you trust that sells more than five houses a year, I think

Team Culture And The Sales Challenge

SPEAKER_00 20:10

the status 72% of agents sell one or less houses a year. So if you have a cousin with a license, that doesn't mean anything if they don't sell any houses. If you're working a full-time job and you're also a realtor, then you can't write contracts in the middle of the day. You can't be totally available. So I would find a full-time agent whose job who lives in Breeze real estate, and then I'd find someone that you trust because at the end of the day, yeah, we might not have the marketing budget or the Botox or the, you know, I have a Toyota Corolla and not like a Porsche. But if you trust your agent, then that goes a lot farther than the Porsche.

SPEAKER_01 20:52

Trust is everything and what's inside and doing the homework and showing up every day. That's that's the important thing at the end of the day.

SPEAKER_00 21:00

For sure.

SPEAKER_01 21:01

As we wrap up, is there anything you'd like to add that I haven't touched on today?

SPEAKER_00 21:06

I guess I'll have to come back and we can talk about the my uh interactions with the cops and the manslaughter case and uh all that, but that's for another time.

SPEAKER_01 21:16

Yes, you gotta update us on Micah too.

SPEAKER_00 21:18

Yeah, yeah, we'll see. We'll take a selfie and send it in.

SPEAKER_01 21:21

Awesome. Caleb, thank you so much for joining me on the podcast today. It was a pleasure to hear a story, an inspiring one of that. And I wish you the best of luck in the future and all that comes to you.

SPEAKER_00 21:33

Thank you. Thank you very much.