Fabulous. Hello, Real Estate Rockstars. Your host Hana is here today. My guest is our coach, Jess Stone. Hi Jess. How are you? Lovely to have you here. And um, some of you might have seen the advertisement for today's Jam Session topic, and it's something that Coach Borino, our, our beloved founder would never want to talk about because from his experience and his expertise point of view, he would say, no, you have to focus on sellers. So you have everything under control and you don't end up be
ing an Uber driver and you know, yada, yada, yada. However, for some agents working with buyers, it's just the right thing, the right cup of tea. For newer agents, it might be the easiest way to get their feet wet. And, I know, well, you know, we all know that Jess is not a new agent, but she still likes working with buyers. And today she'll share why. Okay. And how she makes it successful. And she will also tell us about red flags. She doesn't know it yet, but I would like to know what are the
red flags of working with buyers and even how to fire them, not only how to hire them, How about how to fire them? So I'm not sure if we have enough time, this is supposed to be only a 30 minute session, but if we will run over time or maybe we can set up a part two. So this is part one. So just, just why don't you tell us first why do you like working with buyers? Okay, now I, I would, I would like to preface this with Borino fully knew that I like working with buyers. He would tease me mercile
ssly about it. And the thing is, I mean, yes, listings are where it's at. It's you know it's, you get a listing, you are going to get paid. Buyers, you don't always have that. They don't always stick to you. You know, it's, it's like they'll see a house on the internet and they'll be like, okay, hey, you know, can you show me this house? And you'll be like, yeah. And then you go and you find out that they're working with another agent. And me personally, that's like, you know, I don't like to po
ach. I am going to ask straight up front whether or not they have another agent that they're working with. Yeah. And if they do, I'm like, you really need to call your agent. This is, you know, I can't help you with that. That is, It's not ethical. It's not ethical. It's, It's not, you have to follow ethical conduct, so the whole industry, uh, you know, has a good reputation or as good as it gets. So you are now talking about like a vetting questions. So you will first ask them if they have an,
if they, if they signed up with the realtor. Righ? If they have a representation. Yeah. What else? What else are your questions? Well, there's, there's quite a few questions. I actually have a consultation that I do with people when I talk with them. Um, because I don't work with a lot of people. I choose who I work with. And if I don't think it's a good fit, then, you know, yeah, I'll refer it out to somebody else or I'll suggest somebody else, you know, to go to. But the consultation is the bi
ggest thing. Mm-Hmm. Um, to kind of go back to the first question that you asked about why I work with buyers, it is a dopamine hit. I love walking into a house and I love seeing people's faces. Like when it's THE one, it is like, you know, oh, we can put the Christmas tree over here, or Oh, we can put this, this great piece of art over here, or Oh, I can really see this. It is, I love people so much. I love just seeing how their inner head works and how their mind kind of comes up with differen
t things that they can do. It's, it's really, it is, it's, it's a dopamine hit. It really is. And to me, when you have a good connection with somebody and you can actually see that dopamine hit kick in with them as well, when they get excited, that's like, alright, okay, I'm doing a good job. It's gold star for Jess. You know, You're going after the emotions. I can see that. Yes. Because it's like matchmaking Mm-Hmm. You know, for many, many years ahead. And, uh, yeah. Yeah. It's, it's, it's exa
ctly like matchmaking. It's like, you know, you're not only matchmaking, but then you move into the whole, you know, herding cats kind of aspect of it where you're like controlling the chaos and it's like, no puppets, do what I say, not what I do. And, you know, you just really kind of, you gotta go with the flow a lot of times. But with buyers, everybody's off... Okay. There were, there were a few people that were like, you know, they're not sellers in the comments. And yes. Okay. Yeah. No, buy
ers are not sellers. But you can't sell something if you don't have a buyer. Yeah. That is, that is true. We need both sides. And also, let's keep in mind these buyers will eventually become sellers over certain ..couple of years as the family is ... Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So, but when I work with buyers, I, like I said, I have a six page consultation. Oh. And at the end of that consultation, I actually have a buyer's agreement that I'm actually having them sign. Because, you know, now in this wonder
ful, wonderful age of that wonderful NAR lawsuit Yeah. Where, you know, they're, they're saying, oh, you know, I overpaid commissions or whatever. We, we have to be very careful about what we as buyers agents tell. And Side note, just imagine that, that here in Northern Virginia we are starting to see listings with the zero buyer's commission. We've, we've seen that too. We've seen that too. I've seen $1, I've seen zero. And it's, it's so important to have that buyer's agreement, especially if t
his is somebody that you're going to spend time with. Yeah. Because it means we're spending our money, we're spending our gas. Yes. How do you protect yourself, uh, to be paid for your work? Mm-Hmm. So let, let's, you know, a couple of questions. You have the buyer's agreement, uh, does it outline your commission? Mm-Hmm. How do you go about that? I, you know, I tell them it's, I write it down in plain black and white. I show them exactly where my money is going and what it's going to, and if I
am, you know, if I'm gonna spend, you know, $60, $70 in gas every couple of days taking them around and showing them different houses, I wanna make sure that my time is worth that money. And if we're seeing it here in Florida, I mean, we still have our listing agreements that actually show Mm-Hmm. That we cooperate with other agents where it's specifically listed in our contracts where, you know, we're gonna give the buyer's agent a certain percentage. Yeah. But we can still write in zero if we'
re getting that listing contract. So to me, I'm like, okay, this is what I normally get paid, and I'm not gonna talk about figures because Yeah, that's, yeah. Just very big. No-no. Um, but I specifically say, this is everything that I'm doing. I'm rolling out the red carpet for you. I am going to show you everything. And I very much, that was one thing that I learned very quickly, to know what you are worth. Yeah. And if you are not worth having them sign a buyer's agreement and be like, yeah, o
kay. I trust you to help me find my house, my dream house, you know, or, you know, my starter house or my starter condo, whatever. I feel like I am worth the money. And if I can convey that to them with my actions, they're not gonna have a problem with it. Well, absolutely. Because let's just quickly line it up. It's not only you finding the right proper homes or, you know, showing them, touring them, but it's also your expertise in real estate, knowing how to negotiate a contract, knowing, uh,
how to schedule and conduct inspection, knowing how to assist, uh, buyers if they need a loan, there is so much to it. There is,.. without proper guidance, uh, they might make, really costly mistakes. So Yeah. Especially with first time home buyers that don't know what they're doing. It's, I just, um, it's funny. It's like, I actually had this, somebody walk into our office just yesterday and they were like, you know, hey, you know, we saw your sign outside on the road and we want to buy a house
. We just don't know what we need to do. But this is fantastic. I love it. It doesn't happen very often. It really doesn't. I, It, I could be like sitting by the door waiting like, Hey, anyone, Everybody's like on Realtor and everything and you know, it's, it's potluck whether or not they call you on like, Realtors, Zillow or whatever. And you know, honestly, I don't throw Realtor or Zillow a lot money. I do more advertising on Facebook and, and Instagram and, and now I'm doing TikTok even thoug
h we'll see how that goes. But I'm just.. asking questions is the number one thing that you can do when you're working with buyers. 'cause a lot of times they don't know what you're, what they're doing. So Let's, let's go through the questions. Now we know why you like working with buyers. You just get this buyer's high mm-Hmm. Uh, I can see that. And then now we know that you have them sign your buyer's agreement where you outline even your commission and explain why and how it's being distribu
ted. And now let's go back to the questions. So the question number one obviously is do you .. have you signed a buyer's agreement with another agent? Right? That's Yes. That's, that's "weeding". Yeah. And then that's like, That's like a weeding ... But You know, I mean, you go through the standard questions of, you know, asking 'em how many bedrooms and bathrooms they want. You know, I always ask, okay, what, what bath, how many bedrooms and bathrooms would make you feel comfortable? You know,
do you want, sometimes they're like, okay, we have like six kids, so we need at least like four bedrooms, you know, and we'll, we'll bunk some kids together and stuff. But I always ask like to ask, you know, where they're comfortable with and what they can settle for. Because you can't always get what you want in this market. It's, the inventory is still so low. Um, another big question that I like to ask is, you know, well, yes, obviously the money, you always wanna find out if they're pre-appr
oved. If they're not pre-approved, I have, I have been, since the beginning. I am like, I will show you one house, and if you're not pre-approved, you're gonna get pre-approved before we go to the second house. Smart. Because you don't wanna waste your and their time. Mm-Hmm. You have to know where you are standing because that will narrow down your search as well. Exactly. And also when you're on that one and done, as I like to call it, you know, you can also get a, a better feel for that perso
n, for that particular client. You can actually sit there and you can be like, okay, they're not really serious. You can tell a lot by just observing people. But if they're like, oh, okay, you know, we can look at this and this is, oh, this kitchen isn't big enough. I really like to cook. Or, Ooh, this backyard is phenomenal. Or, Ooh, this backyard is, ugh. You know, you can get a lot of information just by watching somebody. You can tell if they're serious or not. I like it. So you are, you are
willing to do one showing before they'll be pre-approved. Mm-Hmm. Do, do you, would you do one showing even before they would sign you buyer's agreement just to, just to feel them out and see if you are actually the right match? Mm-Hmm. Absolutely. Like, it, it's like a, it's like a sample in a, in a, in a mall. You know, in the restaurants, when they stand with the tray and feed you. It's, It's not as pushy as some of those mall kiosks! Well, the time you then spend with the buyers is so impac
tful that you really wanna protect yourself that you work with the right people. I, I totally see no problem with that. And then once again, guys, whoever is listening, by the way, you can chime in with a couple more questions while we are having this live, uh, live, streaming on Facebook or send it later on. I can catch up, uh, with Jess on another session. Keep in mind, your business is your business and you run it the way you wanna run it. Okay. Don't let anyone to tell you how you're suppose
d to run your business because, uh, it's, it's your life. And basically what Jess is describing, some of you might say, oh, no way, Jose, but you know what? Just listen and learn and uh, and observe, you know? 'cause there is always room for improvement or at least knowing how other agents operate successfully, right? Yeah. Exactly. And you know what? Every transaction for me is a learning experience. I feel like I learn something from every single deal I do. And I've been doing this for, you kn
ow, nine years now. So Yeah. It's in over two states, you know, so just, you learn how to deal with people. You learn how to, I don't wanna say manipulate people because that's not what we do. Right. You are guiding them. We, Them, we guide them. We are, we will hold their hands. We are their, you know, we're, we're, we we're their best friend for throughout the transaction. We are there to talk them down off a ledge if, you know, they get crazy. You know, I, I love actually, when parents come i
n, this is gonna sound so funny. Um, okay. I don't really love it, but I love the ability to actually be like, to, to somebody that's buying their first home, And their parents come in and they're like, poo-pooing everything. And I love pulling them aside and saying, what did, it doesn't matter what your parents think. It doesn't matter what Uncle Johnny thinks. It doesn't matter what your best friend thinks. It matters what you think. It matters if YOU like the house. If you don't like the hous
e, you don't have to buy it. If they don't like the house, well then they don't have to come and visit. And usually that really cracks people up and it really kind of like puts them more at ease. And it's, it's just, it's almost like you have, it's, it's a little confidence boost. You have to, you're their guide as their buyer's agent. You hold their hands. And it's like, we can be, we can be therapists And anyone who is buying a house, with Jess is getting a free, uh, therapy sessions. Yeah, No
, I'll, I will, I will. If somebody texts me, I've had texts like at 11 o'clock, oh my God, I'm thinking about this. What do we do about this? And I will just shoot them back like a kitten, like a, a little kitten meme or something. And just something to kind of like, like, it's okay. Just calm down. It's okay. We got this. And it is, you know, make sure you set up your boundaries 'cause you will get tasks. So Let's, let's talk about boundaries. So you first do the questions, the lineup, uh, whi
ch protects you and them as well. Yes. And then, uh, let's, let's, let's dig a little bit deeper. So how about what are the boundaries? Because at 11:00 PM honestly, I'm not gonna respond. No, I'm not gonna answer the phone. I'm not, Anybody that calls me like that late, if I answer the phone, it's my own damn fault. So yes. But yeah, I, I normally, yeah, boundaries. Make sure you set your boundaries. I usually tell people, okay, you can call me anytime after nine o'clock in the morning, but usu
ally I am with my family after seven. Perfect. Setting up boundaries upfront in a verbal or written form in an email, you can always go back to it. Remember when I told you, remember, I've sent you the email. What are my, uh, office hours? And they are definitely generous more than to five. Uh, and some light weekend work included as well. People have to, we have to teach our clients how to treat us. Yeah, yeah. Especially during the school year, because I've got kids that are in school and some
times, you know, I mean, a lot of buyers want to go out on the weekends. So if I'm working on the weekend, I'm gonna take a day off in the week, during the week. I'm gonna sneak away for a matinee during the week, you know. I try and keep like one weekend day Mm-Hmm. specifically off.. just like, okay, I need this day, you know, I'll help you out tomorrow. And it, it rotates between Saturday or Sunday. It just depends, you know, normally it's a Sunday that I'm off, but if somebody comes to me an
d says, no, I, you know, I understand that you only, you only work one day a weekend. Can you please do this? Sometimes I'll make that exception, especially like for out of town clients that are coming in for like a weekend and we do marathon sessions. Reasonable. Yeah. With, with marathon sessions, that's another, that's another topic entirely as far as handling. That's, that would be like a good buyer's time management discussion. Can You ...us for one minute? What do you mean? With the buyer'
s marathon? I, I know where you are heading, but some, some might be questioning, you know, what exactly is that? Yeah. Okay. So like, buyer marathons, that is when you are with like one client all day. Mm-Hmm. That is like, they come in from out of town, which we have a lot of that here in Florida where they're coming in from, like New York or, or California or wherever, you know. Um, I had a guy from North Carolina just the other day, and he was only in for that weekend. Okay. And How many, ho
w many, how many properties you've seen? Oh geez. I only do eight a day because after ...only eight a day with one client, because after, you'll get confused and I try and put together like a packet. Yeah. Like before we go out of every single house. Yeah. I'll give them a little notebook and I'll be like, okay, this is every single house that we're doing. I want you to take notes and I want you to, you can even take pictures, but just make sure that they are, you know, they're paying attention
because you see eight houses a day, you're gonna get confused. Oh, absolutely. Yes. That's just what it is. Plus, you know, you also have to outline the route, like an Uber driver, Uhhuh. And, Um, so tell us, what were the results did your client purchase a property? Um, not yet. So we, we have narrowed it down. Okay. So We have, um, because we originally, we started with, I start big, I start with like a big list of, you know, 50 to a hundred houses that I think. Oh wow. And then I will say, ok
ay, pick your five favorite houses in this area. And then, so they'll pick out what they like, and then I will ask them questions Specifically. Okay. What did you like about this house? Okay. What, what specifically about this house is intriguing to you? What are you wanting to do? You know? Um, it's, it's all part of the consultation. In the consultation. It doesn't end just sitting at the table talking about what they want. You have to pay attention because their needs could change as they go.
That's true. That's true. How about if you have a, you know, buyers and they are unsure about a timeline, what are you willing to do? What is your best practice? When someone will be like, well I wanna buy maybe maybe soon if something good pops up. Or maybe within a half a year, what would be We were talking about a boundaries. My consultation actually. Ah, how about the red flags boundaries and red flags? They're kind of side by side. Tell me what would be a red flag when it comes to a buyer?
So from your experience? Yeah, I have like three types of, three types of, uh, buyers. I kind of narrow them down. I have my A buyers, my B buyers, and my C buyers. My A buyers, they have a time limit. I am going to dedicate most of my time to them because they have something, the core driving in motion, whether it is a job, they have to move or their lease is coming up to an end. They are going to be the most important people. I'm gonna be talking with them every day, if not every other day. W
hat Would be their timeline like with the next three months or shorter period? Usually the next.. A buyers I put in 30 to 60 days. Whoa. Fantastic. Yeah. Okay. That, that's, so that Is, yeah.... category. How about B buyers? B buyers are 60 to 90 days, or a little bit more than that. Uhhuh. They're ones that are like, you know, okay, yeah, we have a deadline, but it's not for a while. We really wanna find something that we really like. And they're, they're usually my most prepared buyers because
they're pre-approved. They know what their budget is, they know exactly where they wanna be. The A buyers, usually it's a little frantic, where they're like, okay, hey, you know, oh, we like a lot of people that move, they're like, oh crap, you know, we've been recruited by this company. We have to move. We need a house. 30 days. 30 days. That's brutal. It's a whole... And it, it might not be, you know, we might not be able to actually hit that deadline. Yeah. I'm guessing sometimes. No. Oh yea
h. Yeah. How about your C buyers? Like that's like 90 days and sometimes within the year, A few buyers are my buyers that they're either looking for the perfect deal, they don't have to buy right now, there's nothing holding them to buying that ..they are gonna be on my kind of like my drip feed and my, I'm gonna touch base with them like at least every two weeks or so, just to check in, see how they're doing. This could be, and they're ready. Right. Those could be investors as well who Yes. Wai
ting for the right opportunity. Mm-Hmm. Yep. I actually have quite a few investors that I've worked with that are in my C category, Uhhuh. So it's, yeah, C is something that they're waiting for like the right deal. They're waiting for the right house. There's nothing that they have to do. They're ready to go when they're ready. Yeah. But then usually those people are like maybe cash buyers. They're, they're ready to make the move and then the transaction happens super fast. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Wow
. Okay. I wanna share one of my favorite questions to ask people in my consultation, Please. Yes. Yes. Show and tell or ask and tell. My, one of my favorite con conversations is, what is your favorite thing about your house right now? Um, why do you ask this question? Because that tells me, like, if they say, oh, I love my kitchen. It is, it is so spacious and I have tons of room, I'm going to start, when I look through the search that I set up, I'm gonna specifically kind of pull out specific h
ouses that have like big kitchens, or if they have, if they like spending time in the backyard, oh, I love my backyard. I, I love gardening and everything. Mm-Hmm. I just specifically pull houses that have big backyards with lots of potential for, for gardens or whatever they wanna do. Or if they wanna pool, like they wanna swim, you know? And then that helps you get to know your client that because you ask somebody what their favorite thing is, they're gonna talk, they're going to light up and
they're just gonna be like, oh yeah, I love this and this. And then after you hit them with that, my second, my follow up question. Okay. So what's the number one thing that you hate about where you're living? Mm. The opposite. And that makes sense. The exact opposite. And they're gonna be like, Ugh. Because that's where you're gonna find your deal breakers. That's gonna be, I always like to ask for, you know, what are your deal breakers? If a house has this, what is going to be instant "No". Mm
-Hmm. And then I will actually go through the list of the houses that I'm gonna send them. And if any of those deal breakers pop up, I'm gonna eliminate them. Yeah. Narrow, narrow the search. Make it easier for them. Mm-Hmm. Yeah. Yeah. The more you talk with your client and you ask them questions, like, I know a lot of agents, you know, they'll go on, they'll take, take you out, they'll give you your MLS sheet and you'll go in. And I always like to do the research beforehand. I always like to g
et to know the property beforehand and I'm like, oh, hey, check this out. You know? Oh, I found out this about like, if there's an HOA, it's like you can't park on the driveway, you can't park on the street here, but you can park in the driveway and like, if they're into camping or something, I'll be like, Hey, this HOA has like a little area where you can like park your camper and you can store it so you don't have to worry about it. You know, messing up with your HOA, Basically you have to lea
rn as much as you can about the lifestyle and needs and must haves and can't have, uh, from your clients to, to help them. Uh, okay. Before I'll let you go, time is up, but one more, and that's a tricky question. Maybe we can dedicate it to another Jam session. Uh, you said that inventory is still a low. How do you deal with emotions, uh, on a buyer'ss end when they don't get the house where you put the offer and uh, you know, the disappointment? Oh my goodness. I went through that a couple time
s. It's hard. Even though I work in real estate. I know. And it's hard. It's my, when we're to the point where we're putting in an offer my buyer, I know them so well and I know how to be like, Hey, you know, we just didn't get it. I do my best. I have, even when it was crazy, crazy. And I have even written into contracts. "Agent will buy seller dinner one night at restaurants of their choice" within reason We're thriving. You know, I do everything that I can to make sure that my buyer is top of
the list. And that, I mean, it doesn't always work. And yes, it can be disappointing. Would you, would you warn them going into the offer that this also is a possibility that it can happen? You, you really have to, especially in this market, because I mean, we're still seeing down here, I'm still seen multiple offers on Yes, same here in Washington, DC area. Absolutely. Inventory is still, it's still very low, but things are moving. Like we are busy. So yeah, You just, you just really have to,
you have to be empathetic and understand that, yeah, okay, this is, this is how it is. You know, we might not get this one, but I'm going to do my damndest to make sure you get the next one. Uh, well at the end you are doing all you can and that's all you can do. So I love it. So basically you make sure that buyers, you make sure that they are not working with another agent. That's, that's number one important thing. You make sure that you understand their needs and then they get pre-approved an
d, uh, then you split them into the three categories. I love that. I think, uh, I think it, it would be reasonable to extend our session maybe to another session. Now, I will have to let you go because I have appointments as well. But, Jess, thank you so much for your time. You're welcome. Yep. And I would love to do a buyer's webinar for you guys, so Rockstars, if you want me to talk buyers Yes, I can, I could totally help you guys out with that one. So I would love to do that. And, you know, y
eah. And seriously, guys, if you guys, if any of the Rockstars out there, I know that you probably don't wanna admit that you're working with buyers, but, but it's what we do. I mean, we wanna help everybody and I'm more than happy to answer any questions. You know, I will share my consultation forms if you guys want, you know, it's, Oh, I, okay. Okay. Stop there. I am already seeing phenomenal hour and a half webinar. where you can totally unleash your buyer's expertise. Yes. And we can all lea
rn from you. I would love it. Well, whoever is watching, guys, if you would like to be on the webinar, just chime in. We'll start a waiting list and meanwhile we'll have enough time to put it all together and, uh, have Jess back, uh, and maybe even have you back for one more jam session just to keep on talking about the buyers, because they're as important as sellers. Without buyers, we have no sellers. Without sellers, we have no buyers. It's, you know, hey, I don't wanna be political, but the
left wing needs the right wing to fly. Right? So, yeah. And that's it. That's it. I'm done. I'm done. Deep. It's all connected. It's all yin and yang. Yeah. Yes. Well, again, thank you so much Jess for your time. You're You're very welcome. Thanks for watching or listening, and I'm looking forward to be back again. You have a wonderful day. And go get them! Bye guys. Bye bye.
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