What Every Buyer and Seller in Nassau County FL Needs to Know Right Now | Nicole Reams

REE #321 Transcript

[00:00:00] Nicole Reams: if you just starting out, my biggest piece of advice just starting out is to get your systems in place upfront. That way, once your business starts to grow and you have clients and you have activity, I'll say all day long, the systems that you created in the beginning are what's going to carry you through and make sure that you don't like you're drowning in all of the things that are coming at you 24 7. Hey,

[00:01:00] welcome back to the Real Estate Excellence Podcast. I'm your host, Tracy Hayes. Today's guest has been serving buyers and sellers in Amelia Island and throughout Nassau County

[00:01:08] Tracy Hayes: 2013.

She went independent in 2018 and hasn't looked back, named one of the top producing agents in the north, Florida Every year since. Featured real producers magazines recognize the Florida's top 500 and even appeared on HGTV. She specializes in relocation, luxury military buyers, land and new construction. And she has built an a hundred million dollars career as a solo agent and single mom. Please welcome Nicole Reams to the show.

[00:01:37] Nicole Reams: Thank you.

[00:01:37] Tracy Hayes: Welcome. Thank you. Well have to be here. Well, you, you figured out, you figured out how to get here.

[00:01:41] Nicole Reams: I did, I did, I did.

[00:01:42] Tracy Hayes: Lemme just your, microphone there. Just a little bit to point at you there. Alright. I always like to get everyone just to, get everyone a feel of where you came from. 'cause every eight real estate agent came from somewhere else. You know, whether they had a previous career, whatever it was, and I don't, I really have not. Well, no, I can't say. I have found a few very young

[00:02:00] agents who actually went into college and actually real estate was already on their mind. It's very rare. But tell us a little about you. what what were you looking as a young person, what you wanted to do, and then what ended up leading you to real estate?

[00:02:12] Nicole Reams: Gosh. I did, I did start out, I went to UGA, and started out in corporate America. once upon a time I was married and had two little girls. And, after the girls were born, I didn't want to be locked in an office all day. You know, it's 10 hours driving into Jacksonville to go to work and then your work day and coming back. And I felt like, I needed to be available to my children and not stuck in a building. You know, it's challenging when kids get sick and daycare issues and all of the things that come with that. And so, One day actually, actually. Mm-hmm. it was when I was buying my house and, my agent, he said, you know, Nicole, you would be good at this. I think I did most of that work myself with him. Great guy, but I didn't get what I service wise mm-hmm. In that transaction. and so I did most of the

[00:03:00] research myself and most of the negotiations myself. And said, this is something that you should look into doing. You know, you're good at this.

[00:03:06] Tracy Hayes: You like, get one of these Iyer agents or whatever that,

[00:03:09] Nicole Reams: No,

[00:03:10] Tracy Hayes: he just was not very good.

[00:03:11] Nicole Reams: He just, yeah, I think he was busy and, I know, but I did the bulk of it myself. And, he said, you, you should look into doing this. should get into real estate. And he asked me to come and work with him. So I started out as an unlicensed assistant at that point. working part-time with him in the office. left my day job, so speak. And after. I know, maybe six months. Ended up going getting my license and I on as staff for a year after that, before I jumped out on my own. And, the rest is history.

[00:03:46] Tracy Hayes: Yeah. tell us a little bit, 'cause I, it's often brought up, someone thinking about getting the industry, maybe they're listening to the, the podcast today. You wanted some, I guess the word, I used the word flexibility. Mm-hmm. You wanted to be able to. You know,

[00:04:00] pick up your kids at end of school or, you know, those things that you mentioned. But there's some people who, and I'm sure you've seen 'em, just think that either the job, I wanna say easy, I don't know if they necessarily mean it's easy, but that they think they have full control of their schedule. what have you found in being a single mom and handling the kids? What is the real lowdown when someone comes to you today and say, Hey, I want to get into real estate so I can, you know, go to my, pick up my kids at three o'clock.

[00:04:29] Nicole Reams: So, first of all, I will say. You have limited control over that. the benefit to me is that yes, I do. I wanted to pick my girls up every day and drop them off. I wanted to be able to attend all of the field trips and I wanted time to give back. I love to volunteer, like being involved in my community. and so being in estate did give me, does give me the ability to work around our schedule. that said, I work around everyone else's schedule. I work around the girls' school, buyers and sellers, you know,

[00:05:00] people have regular jobs and my job is to accommodate their jobs and their schedule. Yeah. So that they can continue to do what's important to them all day long. so I won't say. Freedom. but flexibility. Flexibility a lot of times to be able to work around what everybody else needs from me and still be able to be available to the girls and earn a good living and, be part of the community too.

[00:05:21] Tracy Hayes: Yeah, I mean, I think people don't realize one, I do the same thing. 'cause when you, when you need something on Saturday night at at seven o'clock, that has to do with financing. I've gotta be able to take that text message or that call to how, depend on how urgent it is. You need to, a lot of people need to, they're working during the day, so they gotta go in the evenings to go look at places or obviously on the weekends. but the flexibilities is there to say, Hey, I, you know, I've got this appointment at three o'clock, but I can meet you at four.

[00:05:51] Nicole Reams: That's

[00:05:51] 321 VIDEO: right.

[00:05:51] Tracy Hayes: Yeah. The type of thing to set that kind of schedule. Tell us a little bit about, HGTV. What, what happened there?

[00:05:58] Nicole Reams: it is a lot of fun. They

[00:06:00] reached out. Mm-hmm. Um, most people don't know it is all reenactments. so they me up one day actually, and the caller ID on my phone said HGTV. And I thought, is this? Is this a joke? Is it a scam? it was shopping with my oldest daughter, actually for homecoming, and, caller ad came up, said HGTV. I picked up the phone, and she said, Hey, you this is so and so casting director with HGTV. She said, and, uh, we've noticed you. like your houses. like what you're doing. and we wonder you'd be interested in being on a show. And so, they provide a topic for us. whatever they're looking for. In this case, they were looking at waterfront properties, and said, Hey, listen, you you've got some properties that we like. gave me a couple of addresses of homes that they wanted feature on the show. so I went back to the clients and got everybody on board and they come out.

[00:06:48] Tracy Hayes: These are houses you had already sold?

[00:06:50] Nicole Reams: Yep. Houses we've already sold.

[00:06:51] Tracy Hayes: Mm-hmm.

[00:06:51] Nicole Reams: they go back to the buyers. At this point they were beachfront, bargain hunt houses, so these were buyer homes. went back to the buyers of those properties,

[00:07:00] asked if they wanted to feature on the show with me, and then we went back into the home and kind of reenacted the whole process. And, it's a lot of fun. It a lot fun.

[00:07:08] Tracy Hayes: How corny is that though? It

[00:07:09] Nicole Reams: is. It is. And it's a little bit awkward because you're like, Hey guys, you remember when you first saw this house? and We had to pretend, or we didn't have to pretend we had this issue with the sliding glass door. Let's go back and let's talk about that and pretend that you didn't know about this again. Um, so it is awkward, but it was a lot of fun and people enjoy it. They feel like hometown celebrities and so,

[00:07:29] Tracy Hayes: right, so, right.

[00:07:29] Nicole Reams: right. It It was good. It's good. We enjoyed it.

[00:07:31] Tracy Hayes: Cool. you, mentioned obviously the gentleman, recruiter, you didn't really go search out. you started working as an assistant.

[00:07:37] Nicole Reams: Mm-hmm.

[00:07:37] Tracy Hayes: for him. You've been, you know, basically in real estate. We've almost 13 years now. Right. Tell us a little bit of what you've learned, for the agents that are out there, the that are listening, how important it is to find the, the brokerage that that clicks with your business. And I, I said 'cause there are, we know that there are some agents that can go anywhere. They're just, they own their

[00:08:00] business. You know, we've mentioned Melissa Ricks many times. I think she, Melissa could work for any brokerage. She's, She's, a running her own thing now. But for a lot of people getting in the business, they could be successful if they men, you know, met the right mentor or the right broker. The, That adds, builds that culture around them to get going.

[00:08:17] Nicole Reams: I think that support is everything. I always tell new agents when they come into my office, different brokerages offer different things. Everybody's gonna have the same basic idea, right? but your broker is there to be your support system. And I think one of the biggest things I will say about I've been with my brokerage seven years now, changed my life, changed my career. you need a brokerage that's gonna provide you the support that you're looking for. You need systems, you need people, and you need a broker going to be in your corner regardless of what you run into, what time of day you run into it. our job is to take care of people and we are dealing with people. We're meeting them where they are different times, different life experiences. We're dealing with divorces and and dream homes

[00:09:00] and investments and real life scenarios that sometimes get a little bit messy. and I think that. Having a broker in your who is always on your side has your back, regardless of what you're facing, is everything.

[00:09:13] Tracy Hayes: Yeah. Uh, you mentioned systems.

[00:09:16] Nicole Reams: Mm-hmm.

[00:09:16] Tracy Hayes: How important, you know, as you get going to really be able to, to scale? call it the lid. I think a lot of new agents, they come on and they, they do a certain amount of business and all of a sudden they're just full. They can't really handle, 'cause they're doing everything for themselves, but the, how the systems come into play to really start to scale up and do larger volume,

[00:09:39] Nicole Reams: I think that. Systems at the beginning are everything. they tell you when you first start in the business, you know, do open houses, just jump in and figure it out. when you're actually doing the job, when you're meeting people all day long and around the clock, calls and texts and different time zones and all of the different things that we're dealing with, it's easy to

[00:10:00] get weighed down and inundated with the constant information coming at you. constant questions and research and things to figure out and do and handle. if you just starting out, my biggest piece of advice just starting out is to get your systems in place upfront. That way, once your business starts to grow and you have clients and you have activity, I'll say all day long, the systems that you created in the beginning are what's going to carry you through and make sure that you don't like you're drowning in all of the things that are coming at you 24 7.

[00:10:32] Tracy Hayes: Do you, Time block your day. because obviously one of the biggest things that we both have to do, we probably spend more time, Mar I call, you know, marketing basically prospecting whatever you, you've gotta build that into every day. Otherwise you will, have a couple closings one month and then you'll go a couple months because you got yourself too busy messing around and doing, distracted by working the actual. Deals you haven't processed versus making sure you're doing some

[00:11:00] prospecting every day.

[00:11:01] Nicole Reams: That's right. Yeah. I do live by my calendar. If you ever look at it. I've got time blocks every, all the different colors. and colors. tell me importance and who it's related to. So each of the girls has a different color business. My things, everything's different,

[00:11:15] Tracy Hayes: right?

[00:11:15] Nicole Reams: but yes, time blocking first thing in the morning is always easier before the day gets going and you start getting a lot of calls and texts people and things all day long. so in the mornings I start my day with all of my follow-up calls. I also, I think it's very important to schedule out your marketing pieces, specifically social media, post Google posts, things of that nature. All of that is scheduled out and time blocked one day a week. And then the mornings you want to spend an hour or two every morning handling your follow-up calls. Your database. Make sure your systems, that's one of the systems that I swear by. Make sure your database is in order and everything you do goes into that database so that when you are time blocking in the

[00:12:00] mornings, you have a clear plan of who you need to contact and what they're looking for from you. When you do reach out,

[00:12:06] Tracy Hayes: Would you say that it sounded the way you accented it, that that is kind like a cornerstone for you? Mm-hmm. Like a must do?

[00:12:12] Nicole Reams: Mm-hmm.

[00:12:13] Tracy Hayes: of it because you can get carried away. Days go by. You haven't entered these other people that you've talked to, you meant? I remember I had, um, Marky Lemons? Yes. Marky Lemons. Yes. Marky Lemons on it. She says she likes to add, like she, she tries to add eight people a day to her. that her, you know, her, CRM. Yep. So they're starting to get her, her newsletters, her emails, they are, whatever prospecting you have that engine going. and a lot of that help comes from the brokerage too, because a lot of times they're providing that, that you know, is your brokerage, got an assistant that's kind of managing, making sure there's something going out, touching your people the time. Because you can get overwhelmed. You start, get the busy, you, you forget to like that moving along.

[00:12:58] Nicole Reams: Yep. Yeah. Well, and I think that it's

[00:13:00] important, not only do you have your automated systems that, that make your touches to people that you're not dealing with every day, but the people exactly right. My goal is 10 conversations a day, and whether that is 10 conversations about real estate or, you know, four conversations about the girls or about, you know, water mission or whatever it is we're doing, those conversations translate into contacts with people and it gives you content for them and reasons to reach out and follow up. I always make sure to keep important events for customers on my schedule as well. So I'm always calling for birthdays, anniversaries, somebody had a baby. I'm reaching out with congratulations. Just ways to stay in touch with people and make sure they know that your goal is them, that the relationship matters and that you're there for them and whatever part of life they're in. To help them all along the way, not just during the transaction.

[00:13:52] Tracy Hayes: that's a very good goal, and very great advice. 'cause I, I know we do rely, and I'd like to say, Hey, you know, here's social

[00:14:00] media and, you know, you message some people on social media, which is great. You wanna be social, on social media to remind people, you and actually say something to them. But you're, taking to, you're actually trying to put the human touch. Mm-hmm. maybe, maybe it's not actually shaking hands or having coffee with 'em, but you're, you're, making a phone call. Yeah. They're hearing your voice. And, just saying that and go back to someone who might be listening, go, oh man, I got 10 conversations a day. But really, like you said, it's just 10 different people that you're having some few minutes of time with.

[00:14:31] Nicole Reams: That's right. Making a conscious effort to connect with people. And I think part of that for me is volunteer work and being involved in the community. those are conversations everywhere you go, even in the grocery store, talking to somebody asking about their day. You know, there's a lady, Ms. Pam, she works at Publix mm-hmm. I make it a point to go through her line every time I go to the store, just so I can say hi to her and ask her husband. or I had another thought on that. I lost it for a second.

[00:14:58] Tracy Hayes: That's all right. I'll come to you when [00:15:00] you tell us. Tell, well, since we're, you've brought up a couple times. You, you're donating summer house. You guys participate. Tell us about the water program that you're.

[00:15:08] Nicole Reams: So Water mission is

[00:15:10] Tracy Hayes: Water mission.

[00:15:10] Nicole Reams: That's a

[00:15:11] Tracy Hayes: water mission.

[00:15:11] Nicole Reams: It a mission for water. it is an international organization. they are out of Charleston, South Carolina. And the whole purpose of the mission is to bring clean, potable water to areas where it's not available to people. and so Summer House, we are proud that we donate a percentage of all of our commissions within the brokerage and individually. To that mission. and then every year we do go out to South Carolina. We've actually gone to different around the world Yeah.

[00:15:42] 321 AUDIO: Oh.

[00:15:42] Nicole Reams: To help build wells and contribute to bringing clean water resources to people who don't have that. Who,

[00:15:48] Tracy Hayes: who got that started at the brokerage. Was that something you brought in or,

[00:15:51] Nicole Reams: I did not. Mm-hmm. when I started with Summer House, I think James and Jenny, it was Jenny, realistically. they had already been part of that organization

[00:16:00] when I started. and honestly, when I first came in, it was just something that we did and I didn't really understand. The impact that we were having on these people until I went to South Carolina the first time and we to their, um, the plant where they build the wells and we actually, the headquarters that we work out of. and it was during that meeting that I saw the resources and I was able to see videos and content of these people and, the difference that we're actually making. I think a lot of times, you know, you see things on TV or you read about it and you think mm-hmm people actually live that way. I that's a thing of the past, but it is not.

[00:16:35] Tracy Hayes: Yeah.

[00:16:35] Nicole Reams: There are who don't have these resources. and so that's what we do.

[00:16:39] Tracy Hayes: yeah, I don't think people realize, I have a gentleman in my Associ, he's been building houses down in Ecuador and it's like, well, that's not really that far away from the United States. No, it's not, but. there building houses for $2,500.

[00:16:52] Nicole Reams: Mm-hmm.

[00:16:52] Tracy Hayes: people don't realize and then the, um, the crime, you know? Mm-hmm. The, there's no safety there. some of those countries are

[00:17:00] starting to, get that, but I don't think, you know, really not that far away. I mean, obviously, you know, we have our issues in the United States, but we know the police really aren't that far away. And for the most part, they're not corrupt. Some of these countries, people don't even call the ' cause they know they're corrupt. They don't even wanna talk the police 'cause they know they're part of the half the problem. They're part, they're part, yeah. That's the problem. So, I think, and it was similar when you were, you were talking about the water mission. How important it is the real estate agents. don't, this is one thing I don't think people realize. you know, after the NAR set, the settlement and all that, you know, it was trying to, it was in a way trying to, I think trying to demean real estate agents mm-hmm. And their value, but how how important real estate agents are to a community. have said numerous times that the, the real estate agent is the pinnacle. The housing sales is big of our GDP, the move building of houses moving. 'cause every time someone moves, there's obviously a large amount of money's moving around. People are buying appliances, people are buying new

[00:18:00] beds. All this flooring's going in all these different things that we manufacture in the United States and, you know, and, and things are being bought and sold and, and that's big part of our GDP. But it's the real estate agent that really facilitates that, whether it's referring to a loan officer or an insurance company, the home inspector, all these businesses that are involved around real estate. And it is the real estate agent who is the pinnacle of all of that and how important it is and how much they, and think there was some stat out, recently, I'll have to look it up, but I, I'm read that it's real estate agents are more active in things like the water mission, things in their community than any other profession.

[00:18:41] Nicole Reams: I agree. I always tell people, particularly clients, I am the quarterback of this whole transaction. My job is to bring all of the parts and the people together to help get to the finish line.

[00:18:52] Tracy Hayes: Mm-hmm.

[00:18:53] Nicole Reams: in doing so, you are correct. We are not only buying and selling real estate, but we are connecting people with a lifestyle. We're

[00:19:00] connecting people with resources they need. A lot of times coming from other areas, they have no idea. I mean, all kinds of things. Where do I take my kid to the doctor? Where do I go, you know, to find somebody with a plumbing issue? Where do I go when I need new furniture? Where do I go? Anything they need. Comes through us. Yeah. And in exchange, we're giving back to the community. And I think, you know, for us, especially in Nassau County, particularly on the island, we believe in supporting local. We believe in taking care of the home team. and so a lot of times when people come to me, they're looking for local businesses. They want to shop small, they wanna support the people in our community and in our job, my job is to connect people with the right resources to help them get things done while still supporting the community making sure that everybody at home grows.

[00:19:47] Tracy Hayes: What have you found, the spin on that for that when you're working with some of the more we'll say affluent buyers? You're more luxury, you know, when you start working customers in the, the. the

[00:20:00] Multimillion million and a half, or I would say an up, you know, you start getting two or 3 million. They really need, to speak to the agents that are listening. I call it a concierge. Mm-hmm. They really need an agent who is a concierge that has all those people on the Rolodex. Mm-hmm. The guy who can renovate the, the kitchen, it can renovate the bathroom. I need numbers on this, I need numbers on that. That when you go on out and you're showing some of these houses that, that have these people or already have, like ai, most people are probably gonna wanna renovate this kitchen, so me get a number on it, right? Mm-hmm. So you, and just, they expect you, your level of service at that level of client to, to really have those things at your fingertips.

[00:20:40] Nicole Reams: Well they do. and that's something I pride myself on actually. I have a guy is what I'm known for. I had a client once, as a closing gift. He me a tshirt. list that I know a guy. because I do, and I think I say that probably 57 times a day. I know a guy. I got it. I'll call somebody, I'll let you know. Right.

[00:20:55] Tracy Hayes: right.

[00:20:55] Nicole Reams: but they do, they expect us to know who to call. They expect us to know where to find these

[00:21:00] answers. and one of the things that I pride myself on is the ability to find those answers quickly. and to have, like you said, a Rolodex of people who I've built relationships with. People who, obviously when people come into a town and a new area, their first question is, I'm you know someone can trust. I'm sure you have relationships with somebody who we know will do a good job for us.

[00:21:19] Tracy Hayes: Right?

[00:21:19] Nicole Reams: and so I think that having those relationships and those contacts and being able to hop on a call right there in a house, when somebody Hey, you know, I think all of these windows are going to need to be done, what will that cost me? And I say, you know what? Let me just hop on real quick with my contractor. I can get you a number on that pretty quickly. Or let me send a picture of this to my AC guy and see what he thinks. How quickly can we get this done? Is this as alarming as it looks? I think that that's huge. And people appreciate those connections. Yeah. And they appreciate the knowledge and the relationships that we in our community.

[00:21:49] Tracy Hayes: There's a level of customer that expects it. Mm-hmm. There's another, and I don't wanna say, but the lower price point really appreciates it. Mm-hmm. That you

[00:22:00] are, like, they really feel you're looking out for them. when you could say, Hey, I have a guy.

[00:22:03] Nicole Reams: Yep.

[00:22:04] Tracy Hayes: Yeah. I

[00:22:04] Nicole Reams: have a guy.

[00:22:05] Tracy Hayes: Yeah.

[00:22:05] Nicole Reams: always know somebody.

[00:22:07] Tracy Hayes: Was there ever a time when you asked, you just said to yourself, am I doing the right thing in terms of real estate? real estate really for me? Did did you ever hit that point where something, something really negative sets you back and you're like, should I be doing real estate?

[00:22:24] Nicole Reams: I feel like we have all felt that way. specifically, you know, recently, the past several months, you know, the market is interesting. It's tough out there right now. I mean, truth be told, it is tough. and I think that the strong survive, mm-hmm. because I mean, in this business, things are moving slower. The market, I think as the state of the world and the state of the economy is scary for people. Rates are higher, things are uncertain. and so I think that it's easy, especially, you know, I've had I think three. three contracts canceled this month, and that's, it doesn't feel good

[00:23:00] when that happens. Mm-hmm. And you do think to yourself, am I, am I even good at this? Is this a fluke? Like, how, how am I successful when this stuff is happening? but I think that in talking with other agents, just yesterday we had our affiliate expo when I was talking to some other agents in town, and had this same conversation, said, girl, I'm so sorry that you're facing this and that things are challenging for you right now. But it is such a relief to me to know that we are all going through the same thing and we are all in this together. And this is temporary. It's cyclical. Everything is cyclical, specifically the market. it will turn around and it will come back. You know, keep your head down, keep doing good business, keep taking care of people. Remember why you're doing this and how much you love it and stay the course.

[00:23:40] Tracy Hayes: Yeah. And agree, agree or disagree with me on this. but I feel that you. your, higher end buyers in the millions, multimillion dollar properties do really watch the market. When the market's doing good, the stock market, their investments are doing good, they feel good, and they'll go out and spend.

[00:23:59] Nicole Reams: Yep.

[00:24:00] Tracy Hayes: When, If feel something's coming up that, oh my God, I need to retract, they'll wait.

[00:24:04] Nicole Reams: That's correct.

[00:24:05] Tracy Hayes: Yeah. I'll give that, that insert just made me forget what I was going to ask you. Let's dig into the questions we have prepared for you though. All right. Nicole, your buyers, and sellers, are probably Googling right now, RNA Beach, fina Beach, a buyer or seller's market right now, and getting very mixed messages. When someone calls you and asks, is this a good market to sell or a good market buy? What is your honest answer you're giving them right now? And does it depend on which side of the table they're sitting on?

[00:24:36] Nicole Reams: Not right now. I think that that I get asked often, Hey Nicole, how's the market and is this a buyer or or seller market? And my answer is always the same. I think right now it is anybody's market and everybody's because there is no one side or the other that I think is stronger or an advantage right now. I think that because. As we said previously,

[00:25:00] the economy is what it is. Rates are a little bit higher than people would like. you know, we just came out of this boom where prices went through the roof, and so sellers now everybody wants top dollar for their house. buyers, buyers see that things are slower, that there are more houses on the market, that rates are higher. And so buyers really want to negotiate hard. Sellers now are flipping and seeing that, hey, I've gotta give a little and I have to negotiate in order to make my property stand out in the market. so I think that right now there is no strong preference, one side or the other. I think that it's a relatively even playing field for everybody. and think that right representation makes all of the difference in this market.

[00:25:42] Tracy Hayes: Of the three deals that you said, how many of 'em in a negotiation because. The negotiation right now is, is critical. You've gotta find an agent who knows how to negotiate through some of the minefield that you're because you do have a buyer who,

[00:26:00] wants it for nothing, and then you have a seller who wants it for everything.

[00:26:03] Nicole Reams: That is correct. and we also are seeing. With buyers, they want to negotiate, they find their home, but a lot of times buyers have to sell first as well. And so we're seeing a lot of contingencies where the sellers are seeing, Hey, listen, I need a buyer, but this buyer also needs a buyer. And if we take this contingency and their buyer falls through, then you have a domino effect where our sale is going to fall through and we can't move forward. And so everybody is kind of relying on other right now in this market, which is where strong negotiations come in and agents who understand different contingencies and different addendums and things that you can add to your contract to make those offers stronger and to give a leg up in negotiations.

[00:26:44] Tracy Hayes: Yeah, that's a good point. I was gonna use that as my chime in from the mortgage side. Oh, I am finding, at least here at Planet, I'm not saying we're gonna own any lender, but there are, some of our Products are becoming a little more lenient mm-hmm. In making that situation happen,

[00:27:00] where you do have the contingency. Now, if someone has no equity in the home, they're trying to sell. It's pretty tough. It's tough. But, the bridge loans are, are much more, I wanna say affluent, easy love a bridge loan. Yeah. they're not as expensive as they used to. I mean, there was a day where, you remember when I worked for a bank, they were like, you know, pretty much cost what it does to do a first mortgage. The costs are down on 'em. Mm-hmm. they're really using 'em as a tool to make these transactions happen. So, you know, we personally have one in-house here. We can outsource it if there's, you know, some extenuating circumstances that we don't want to do it. But as a large servicer, we're like, Hey, let's make the transaction work. 'cause we want that. that Big loan. Mm-hmm. We'll do the bridge loan, make this, you know, make these things happen. So I, the lenders are trying to be a, trying to, you know, amend that, to contingency challenge a little bit. then we have our purchase edge program, which I'll, I'll tell you about afterwards, but there, so yeah. Get with a lender, ask questions with your lending partner, the real estate agent. You're listening right

[00:28:00] now. Ask questions. What if I get in this What if I have a contingency? Just someone has a contingency, you may be able to solve it with a good lender who could say, well, you know what, we can actually get 'em done without the continue. That's, we can do. This is how it can be done.

[00:28:12] Nicole Reams: Well, I think that that goes back to having the relationships and the connections with the people.

[00:28:16] Tracy Hayes: Mm-hmm.

[00:28:17] Nicole Reams: Who can help you get things done. Exactly. 'cause having a lender. Who understands all of these different products and is committed to helping you find a solution or solution based.

[00:28:26] Tracy Hayes: Yeah.

[00:28:26] Nicole Reams: and so having a lender who has the solutions and has products in their toolbox who can help you get the job done is also everything.

[00:28:35] Tracy Hayes: Yep. A hundred percent. a lender that if they can't do it, they, generally know someone can

[00:28:38] Nicole Reams: and they're willing to refer.

[00:28:40] Tracy Hayes: Yes. Save face. I mean, I mean, you can't have that, you can't have that relationship if you're, I think you look worse when you say, I can't do it. And they know they're gonna go, look, you're better off saying, Hey, you know what, I can't do it. But I know John over there at that other lender, they have that product. So, you

[00:28:54] Nicole Reams: know. And that creates trust with you too. Exactly. Not just with the agent, but with the buyer as well. When they

[00:29:00] say, Hey, listen, This guy was really great and he tried to help me and he just couldn't do it, but he connected me with somebody who could, and we remember that down the road. Yeah, we 100% remember that.

[00:29:09] Tracy Hayes: A hundred percent. Yep. you've built a significant relocation business here. Mm-hmm. these folks are moving from some of the most expensive real estate markets in the country. When a buyer relocates here from Miami, New York, or dc, what are the top two or three things they think they know about buying here that are actually wrong? And what do you spend most of the time educating them on upfront?

[00:29:33] Nicole Reams: Oh, gosh. From other areas? I think the biggest misconception is. flooding. everybody comes here and they think we're going to flood tomorrow and flood zones, and they have all of these resources. Everybody's a Google Warrior and you know, I looked up Nicole, and this is gonna flood and what am I going to do? so I spend a lot of time educating people on flood

[00:30:00] zones, what that actually means, flood insurance. Um, it is not nearly as expensive as people think. I'll you know. it is important, but it is not as expensive as people think. And I think a lot of times people from other areas, they come here and they're thinking, okay, well I can get a house here for a fraction of what mine is in California. but they don't understand that. Along with that, we have flood policies, we have different insurance rules, we have different zoning rules. and so there's a lot of education that goes into the area and what goes along with that home purchase in addition to, you know, just your home purchase price.

[00:30:35] Tracy Hayes: Yeah, my wife probably is not gonna listen to this show, but she has listened to some, the misconceptions of a flood policy.

[00:30:41] Nicole Reams: Mm-hmm.

[00:30:42] Tracy Hayes: It's rising water, just 'cause the hurricane rips your roof off and everything inside gets wet is not a flood flood. so knowing what an actual flood is, and then, something I learned, and I will remember her name. I could see her face. she was with nars on NARS insurance, committee.

[00:31:00] But the homeowner, you are in a flood zone. Yeah. Yeah. The existing, you can, a lot of 'em will allow you to assume their flood policy, which could save you hundreds of hundreds of dollars. at the same price. That's that's not Yes,

[00:31:10] Nicole Reams: that's right.

[00:31:11] Tracy Hayes: So you wanna look into, if you're selling a property that isn't a flood zone, to go and get the flood policy from the, seller And that as a selling tool.

[00:31:19] Nicole Reams: That's another thing that's important with listing agents, choosing Right. Representation matters in so many ways.

[00:31:24] Tracy Hayes: Mm-hmm.

[00:31:25] Nicole Reams: Um, but I always get that upfront from my sellers. I say, listen, this is what I need. I copies of all of your policies. I want copies of your elevation certificate, copies of your flood policies. That way when a buyer comes before we ever get to offers and due diligence and places where a deal can fall apart, we have all of that information up front and we already know what can be assumed, what's transferred, what that cost will be, and what are included. And of course, not all flood policies come from fema. Mm-hmm. So people don't understand that either. And the benefit of going through FEMA going through some of these private companies in Florida is huge.

[00:31:59] Tracy Hayes: Well,

[00:32:00] the, the importance is, you know, obviously it getting educated. You were insurance right For you before you got I did your

[00:32:07] Nicole Reams: research.

[00:32:08] Tracy Hayes: Of course I did. I always said license insurance. 'cause I know there's a couple insurance questions in here, but, FEMA is just a, I mean, a typical government policy mm-hmm. Where a private policy is going to, you know, put you up in the hotel if you're, you know, you have to move outta house. Is those, all those extra you would want an insurance company to, uh, provide

[00:32:27] Nicole Reams: Yeah.

[00:32:28] Tracy Hayes: For you? So even if you're not in a flood zone, I think it was the St. John's County, um, boy, I was years ago I was there. They were changing the FEMA maps and went to a, a presentation and they're like, you know, if you live in Florida, you should have a flood policy. But obviously if you're not in a flood zone, it, it cost, you know, four or $500 a year. Okay. But judge, do you want a female plug policy or a private policy? And you needed have that discussion with your insurance agent. you might find the private policy might be a few dollars less or just a few dollars more, but it provides more,

[00:32:57] Nicole Reams: more coverage.

[00:32:58] Tracy Hayes: Yeah.

[00:32:58] Nicole Reams: And they have different

[00:33:00] regulations than FEMA does and. Nothing against fema, however, when there is something catastrophic, right? A lot of people ask me about hurricanes. When's a hurricane gonna come? How bad is it? Does everybody evacuate? No, we generally don't evacuate and we can talk about all of the reasons why. but when there is a hurricane or there is a disaster of some sort, FEMA is generally slower and more detailed with the things that they need from you in order to process that claim and get you, to

[00:33:28] Tracy Hayes: because they're not worried about the customer service review.

[00:33:30] Nicole Reams: That's right. It's a completely different thing. Yeah. Whereas your private companies are going to step in generally a lot quicker and provide more resources for you. and a lot of times coverages are higher on those policies as well. Mm-hmm. Which doesn't sound important until you're in that situation and you realize, hey, everybody in town is looking for a temporary place to stay and we need help. We need a team people behind us who are gonna make sure that we get the relief that we need when it matters most.

[00:33:57] Tracy Hayes: Working on the beach. Imagine, have you had

[00:34:00] some truly beachfront or even working one block off? you need to know your stuff. You need to know your, that house was to get destroyed. you rebuild it?

[00:34:08] Nicole Reams: Yep, that's right.

[00:34:09] Tracy Hayes: You know, you, do need an agent who can inform you on that before you're gonna invest millions of dollars.

[00:34:14] Nicole Reams: Well, because we have something called the coastal control line, which is how far east you can build toward the water. And that line does change in time, just like zoning changes and flood maps changed recently. Flood maps are based on a hundred year flood history. so every so many years they reevaluate that history of the area. And they changed the zoning, they changed the requirements for flood policies. and so especially on the island, properties close to the water and properties close to the marsh. Believe it or not, I think marsh front properties are more at risk of rising water. The ocean, obviously, you it comes and goes, but when the marsh comes in, it sits. so a hundred percent we do need to be aware of water and what that means for properties

[00:35:00] also docks, those rules change, right? So people come to me and they say, Hey, you know, if my dock washed away in a storm, can I rebuild it? The answer is not always. Yes. Yeah. It's not always. Yes, unfortunately.

[00:35:11] Tracy Hayes: Yep. You definitely want to, definitely, definitely if you're, you're buying it because of that, you, you know, it could be catastrophic to, to find that out later. and the only, and the person, they're gonna look back. Is the real estate agent that didn't tell them.

[00:35:24] Nicole Reams: Nicole didn't tell me.

[00:35:24] Tracy Hayes: Yeah.

[00:35:25] Nicole Reams: Never wanna hear Nicole didn't tell me

[00:35:26] Tracy Hayes: exactly. this a little different, but I think it might bring out something that you wanted to share. you know, we were talking about pre-show, a or deal, uh, or a client conversation, a challenge from the few months or so that you keep coming back to one that reminded you what this work is really about. That's a deep question.

[00:35:46] Nicole Reams: That is a good one. one. What it's really about, well, I think my job is to take care of people regardless of what that looks like. Everybody a need and they have a reason. most often I think military

[00:36:00] customers touch my heart. they are, to go back to what you noted earlier, Military buyers and sellers, they don't generally have control of their timelines. And so I have a family recently who bought with me two years ago, they bought home, sight unseen. They had to move quickly, which is some my favorite types of people to work with. Mm-hmm. Um, but they had to buy pretty quickly and then had to turn around and sell because they were being relocated two

[00:36:27] Tracy Hayes: years.

[00:36:27] Nicole Reams: Mm-hmm.

[00:36:28] Tracy Hayes: Mm-hmm.

[00:36:28] Nicole Reams: Mm-hmm. And. I don't think property values haven't dropped. We're not seeing that. However, we're having to negotiate more on pricing in order to move things quicker. and so to be able to work with people and sell a property quickly, knowing they don't have a whole lot of room in the price, knowing that we have to negotiate that upfront, we have to find them somewhere to pretty quickly. And I'm dealing with children and mother-in-laws and all of the things that go into their family and that relocation. I think that's what it's really

[00:37:00] about. And being able to truly help people get where they need to go quickly and some of the most stressful times of their lives.

[00:37:06] Tracy Hayes: Mm-hmm. The, a lot of these, they, if they come in and they're using their VA benefit

[00:37:11] Nicole Reams: mm-hmm.

[00:37:12] Tracy Hayes: they're, if they're active duty, they're paying the funding fee, which being in on top. Mm-hmm. So you're already at a price plus. now, two years later and the market really hasn't moved, but you're ha and but you're having to, you know, negotiate down. Obviously the real estate agents need to get paid. There's other expenses involved in, in buying and selling a home, and how much the buyers, and this is a situation that real estate agents are, everyone's got one of these deals right now, a they're sitting on where it's like it's at rock bottom. They can't take another dollar less, because it. it's not they wouldn't come off if they didn't, if they had the money, so they don't have the money. To make up that, or I'm sure you've probably had some closings recently where they have come with money

[00:37:54] Nicole Reams: closing. We had to bring money the table. Yeah. And that's a hard conversation to have, to look somebody in the eye and say,

[00:38:00] listen, you know, I've done everything I can on my side. We've decreased commissions, we've credited where we can, but we have to lower this price. It's the only way I'm going to get you out of here. Those are hard conversations to have. fortunately I think I've only had one in my entire career where somebody had to bring money to table because they just couldn't make it They could not get out of that house without having to pay some the end. but they are very challenging conversations to have for you.

[00:38:26] Tracy Hayes: Yeah. Yeah. You said publicly that overpricing is the single biggest mistake sellers are making now. Walk me through what actually happens step by step when a seller on pricing above market, what does it go wrong or where does go wrong? How quickly and what Does it cost them in the end compared to what they would've netted if they priced it right from day one? In other words, took your advice.

[00:38:54] Nicole Reams: Oh gosh, yes. Please listen to your agent. Get a good agent and listen to her advice.

[00:39:00] here's the thing. Everybody wants top dollar their house. Everybody wants top dollar and I 100% respect and understand that, but right from the jump, okay. The conversations I have with people and what I hear most often is, okay, here is the range. This is the range of what we're looking at. comps are falling between X amount and X amount. and you've gotta be the wow, okay? You have to be the wow in this market. And what they tell me is, well, you know, this house down the street sold for this and that's, you know, this many dollars a square foot. So mine can do the same. it can. But that house also sat for eight months. You know, and it had different features than your house had. so the response usually is, okay, Nicole, well, can we price it here? Can we try this and see what happens? Which is my favorite thing to hear. Can we see what happens? I can tell you what will happen. We can price it high. We can

[00:39:53] Tracy Hayes: with high percentage of accuracy.

[00:39:55] Nicole Reams: That's right.

[00:39:56] Tracy Hayes: Yeah.

[00:39:56] Nicole Reams: Yes. Well, I've been doing a long time. Yeah. 10 years of

[00:40:00] success and, and a fluctuating and changing market mm-hmm. It Is Is always evolving. and it's cyclical, we said earlier. So I've seen this happen, I think three cycles now in my time. and the thing is, when you price a house high, first of all, I tell people, if you don't get the attention you want in the first two weeks. We drop the price to where I recommended it to begin with because statistically, you're going to get the most views your first two weeks. First of all, your first offer is always going to be your best offer. if you price it high and you get a low offer, that's worth considering. if not, if we price it higher than what we should be, higher than what I recommend to get it moved quickly for you. What is going to happen is it's going to sit. The longer it sits, the more people see that you are willing to negotiate because you're in a bind and they say, well, this this is,

[00:40:47] Tracy Hayes: well, they appear to be a bind.

[00:40:48] Nicole Reams: That's right. right. Yeah. Because they know that's the the perception for the buyer. A hundred percent.

[00:40:51] Tracy Hayes: Yep.

[00:40:51] Nicole Reams: It's either, Hey, it's been sitting so long, so the seller must be ready to negotiate, or it's, Hey, this house has been sitting so long. wrong with it?

[00:41:00] Why is it sitting?

[00:41:00] Tracy Hayes: Yes.

[00:41:01] Nicole Reams: Yes. Well, let's negotiate. So then what happens is it sits for weeks. We end up dropping the price anyway, which just reinforces the idea. That the seller is motivated or desperate to sell. And when you do have a buyer come along, they want to negotiate even further than what we had drop the price in the first place. Whereas if we price it for the wow upfront, then you get the buyers up front. And you know, my last two listings, we had multiple offers within two weeks because the seller listened to they priced it accordingly. They allowed it to be staged and prepared the way that I recommended, and it sold. We were done within 45 days, days, People moved on and everybody was happy.

[00:41:41] Tracy Hayes: And uh, would you, how many of those situations or you know, at least some where you are, you do get multiple offers and you asked for X and you got plus because you had two people.

[00:41:52] Nicole Reams: That's right. Because you priced it well and it brought the wow. People look at the house and they say, why is it priced here? Why is this house

[00:42:00] so much less expensive than the neighbor's house? And the reason is because you had an agent who was able to help you navigate market and put it on the market at a price that would draw attention. And then you had people who were competing for it because they thought, wait, is, this is a house.

[00:42:14] Tracy Hayes: It's

[00:42:14] Nicole Reams: a good deal. The price I want it. It's, That's right. That's your, wow. It's a good deal.

[00:42:18] Tracy Hayes: Yep. I'm gonna send you the raw stuff here because I think you can put some, what that whole explanation that you just put right there, could be put right in your website. Little question. And then that little two minute clip of you talking about why it's important. To do that. So anyone going on your website, looking you up or whatever they're hearing you say exact 'cause you said it very clearly, very distinctly everyone could understand it. And you're saying exactly what every other agent is, but it's not on video.

[00:42:50] Nicole Reams: Thank you. I appreciate that. Yeah.

[00:42:51] Tracy Hayes: I appreciate that. Yeah. All right. wild light, is exploding. And for those who don't know, might listening wherever you are at in the world, in Nassau County, which is

[00:43:00] again, one the hottest counties in Florida, because it's, it's one of those last. You know, coastal counties, if you want to, do that, that has still has reasonable, which includes Amelia and Ferna Beach, but also goes inland. But there's huge, subdivision. I'm sure Nicole will give us a little more detail on it, but it goes all the way up the Georgia line, right? It's huge. It's a huge, and all levels of homes are being built at all different price points with amenities and so forth. So wild light is exploding. buyers are calling you asking about new construction there every week. But buying new construction is not as simple as picking up a floor plan and signing a check. When a buyer tells you they're thinking about new construction in wild light or Yuli, what are the things you make they understand before they walk into a builder's model home? Especially, the things the builder's sales reps is not going to tell them.

[00:43:54] Nicole Reams: Oh gosh. I think the first thing I will tell you, the builder representatives, the people who are

[00:44:00] sitting at that desk, when you walk into the model home, represent the builder. They do not represent the buyer. They're very nice people, often very helpful, but you have to remember that their interest is the builder's interest. That's how they get paid. and so it is, it is still so very important that you have your own representation walking into a builder. there is a misconception that buyers have to pay their own representative. That is not case. Builders love to take care of agents because they like when we bring buyers to them. so there, it's, it's free representation for you any day of the week, use an first of all.

[00:44:35] Tracy Hayes: Well, for the, for the NAR thing, I don't if we want to necessarily say that, but the builders have and fair. Often we'll take care of the buyer's agent.

[00:44:42] Nicole Reams: Yes. Fair. You do have to have your buyer's agreement upfront,

[00:44:44] Tracy Hayes: right?

[00:44:45] Nicole Reams: 100%.

[00:44:46] Tracy Hayes: We'll just put that disclaimer in there, but disclaimer the builders love to take care of that for you.

[00:44:50] Tracy Hayes: Yeah.

[00:44:51] Nicole Reams: original point. So yes, new construction. When you walk into wild light, I think it's to note with any new construction, there are a lot of different builders inside that

[00:45:00] community. Wildlight is designed to be a one stop shop. The rethink rural mindset, I love it. they designed it so that you don't ever have to leave the bounds of wildlife. They have all of their own, you know, hair salons and restaurants churches and schools,

[00:45:14] Tracy Hayes: grocery store.

[00:45:15] Nicole Reams: Yeah. They have everything you need, right? They're inside the bounds. It is a massive community. with that, there are several different builders. Each builder is going to bring a different quality of build. they come with different incentives. They come with floor plans. I think it's important to note that when you walk into a model home, there are negotiations that can take place. There are different things that can be done aside from the standard incentives that they're offering. And so I think it's important to compare the builders, compare what you can get, compare is even within wildlife, each of the communities while you have your overall wildlife amenities. each the communities, each builder has their own amenities and their own perks and benefits as well inside the separate areas.

[00:46:02] Tracy Hayes: You know, I had an agent on, we asked a similar question 'cause obviously new construction, Northeast Florida is, is big.

[00:46:07] Nicole Reams: Mm-hmm.

[00:46:08] Tracy Hayes: the site agent isn't going to tell you what areas they can negotiate and

[00:46:14] Nicole Reams: No.

[00:46:15] Tracy Hayes: Yeah. They definitely tell you where they can't negotiate. they will you, oh oh no, that's the price. We can't do anything about that. but being represented by an agent who's regularly doing business in there knows where the soft spots are.

[00:46:27] Nicole Reams: That's right. And we know which builders are more able or likely to work with you on the things that you need. So for example, know, if you have a buyer who's coming in and they don't have cash closing, they can't do it. we know which builders are to cover every bit of that and which ones aren't really offering those incentives. Some builders offer all of your appliances, other builders will not include your appliances. there are different things, I think, and knowing who is offering what and what you're able to negotiate, where comes back to choosing the right

[00:47:00] representation to get you there.

[00:47:01] Tracy Hayes: Yeah. especially for first time home buyers, you know, who are often a little tight on the money. Mm-hmm. they need assistance, whatever it is to line up with the builder who's going to be best to, cause oftentimes, would you agree? A lot of first time home buyers need a turnkey mm-hmm. House. Mm-hmm. You know, appliances, all that kind of stuff because there's, you have some builders. They have standard great fixtures. Some builders, you gotta go to their design and you gotta pick these things out. And then they, you run up a bill while you're Yep. Sitting or all these things. So,

[00:47:31] Nicole Reams: which is additional money out of pocket for those incentives. Yeah. some builders now design centers are less common. and so also relevant, some builders have standard features and you get what you get and that's end of it. Mm-hmm. And it could be a really good thing, on what the buyer need is. but they do, they do vary.

[00:47:50] Tracy Hayes: Yeah. Well, you know, to, yeah. Go to the other extreme. You have a buyer who is looking for a little more, custom.

[00:47:57] Nicole Reams: Mm-hmm.

[00:47:58] Tracy Hayes: they wanna choose their

[00:48:00] fixtures. we know a lot of times it's just, Hey, just send get the base fixture From the builder that so we can pass inspection.

[00:48:07] Nicole Reams: That's right.

[00:48:07] Tracy Hayes: And cause they're gonna go out and buy something that's much nicer, even the builder doesn't even provide.

[00:48:11] Nicole Reams: And why roll that into your loan? You're going to pay interest on your fixtures, right? Let's just get it done as well as we possibly can. And then you pay cash and upgrade things as you go. Also worth noting, I thought it you were talking, you know, you have these big builders, your Hortons and your nars your dream finders and all of these big builders who have their options everything laid out for you already. There are also custom builders. People don't realize, you know, private, builders. builders Who also offer incentives and offer fantastic things. And they often have a little bit more room to negotiate and they give a lot more room to change your features and less of a one stop shop feel while giving you all of the incentives that you would get from a builder

[00:48:54] Tracy Hayes: in and in Nassau County. There's a lot of opportunity for mm-hmm. To, if you want, even if you're

[00:49:00] just building a basic home, maybe are a new time, a first time home buyer, and you have this lot of land out in Callahan or something. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. there's construction loans that are there that Yeah, they're gonna put all that in there. in FHA VA construction where, you know, if you're a veteran, you could literally have a house built and if the builder's gonna pay the closing costs, you could be in that house with no money outta your pocket, just like you were built, buying an existing one and actually have one built.

[00:49:26] Nicole Reams: That's right. It Yeah. Goes with all of the warranties and it's exactly what you're looking for. Yeah. Even more custom than going through a big builder,

[00:49:33] Tracy Hayes: and you don't have to be in that HOA or whatever you're, you know, find those things. That's right. Yeah. I wish more people, I don't, I don't know if you dwell in this, but I know obviously when you, you are out there in the Callahan and, and headed west, the manufacturing home, manufactured home market is, is. Is out there. Mm-hmm. And there's a lot of people looking for affordable housing. Mm-hmm. And there are lots out there. They're, we call 'em, they're basically,

[00:50:00] we treat 'em like a construction loan so they can get pre-approved by us. Go find the, go, find the lot with you. Go buy the manufactured home spot and say, Hey, I want that house. The great thing about the manufactured home is have all the people in place to take that lot to a livable, you know, bring in the utilities and all they do all that stuff. All

[00:50:20] Nicole Reams: included in the loan.

[00:50:21] Tracy Hayes: All included in the loan. All included in the loan. It's all, built in and, and, and, uh, not that we're the only lender that does that, but you know, we actually have a product that. So if you are for something affordable. And these manufactured homes are, are built actually, they're actually have higher standards than a stick built home.

[00:50:37] Nicole Reams: They do. Yeah. And they all have, now you've got engineering certificates required every time. so all of these homes, I'm asked that question too about hurricane ratings, mobile homes, manufactured modulars, all of those homes being better quality and a lot less expensive realistically.

[00:50:53] Tracy Hayes: Yeah.

[00:50:53] Nicole Reams: You can buy the have that home brought in, they deliver They do of your, well, your septic,

[00:51:00] everything for you as part of that loan product. And

[00:51:03] Tracy Hayes: generally within a month or two.

[00:51:04] Nicole Reams: Yep.

[00:51:05] Tracy Hayes: It doesn't take that long.

[00:51:06] Nicole Reams: Yep. And then they're all attached. I mean, they're tied down just like a regular home would be, or a home, I should say.

[00:51:12] Tracy Hayes: Yep.

[00:51:12] Nicole Reams: and it's, I mean, it's a good buy, especially land now in Nassau County. You cannot lose, you can't lose with land in Nassau County. Regardless what you're doing with it, it will appreciate regardless,

[00:51:23] Tracy Hayes: yeah. The, the actual fiscal manufactured home, single wide, double wide, triple wide if you want to For you to get that versus having someone build it is, I wouldn't say it's half the price, but it's significantly less. And then, like you said, we can do the whole land, land, manufactured home loan all in one. Mm-hmm. group. Just like if you were building and constructing, we would. Pay the owner the lot that you bought, and then the construction, it's all done at that initial closing. So those are options. I think a lot people don't actually realize that are out there when they're, they're looking. And especially when I think when you especially are looking at affordable housing, you may want to go out

[00:52:00] and s sif around. It's not that difficult to put those together. You may think, oh, I don't have a lot money. You don't need a lot. FHA has a program for that. Obviously we've talked about va Fannie, Freddie Mac still, you know, with those who qualify their, their 3% program and you can get down payment assistance. There's all, there are programs for that if you really want get your own place and or, you know, you know of a lot,

[00:52:21] Nicole Reams: I started to say that too. It's only one down payment that way. Mm-hmm. Whereas if you buy the land and then try to do the home later. You've got generally 20 to 30% down on land and then you've gotta come up with, all of the build or the pull in for your modular, whatever the case may be. Whereas when you do it as one package loan, you only have that one down payment.

[00:52:41] Tracy Hayes: Which It's like you're buying the, if the home existed already.

[00:52:43] Nicole Reams: Yep.

[00:52:44] Tracy Hayes: Yeah.

[00:52:44] Nicole Reams: and instant equity because you've got the land.

[00:52:46] Tracy Hayes: Yeah. And now it's developed.

[00:52:48] Nicole Reams: That's right.

[00:52:48] Tracy Hayes: Yes,

[00:52:48] Nicole Reams: that's right. Impact fees. Goodness gracious.

[00:52:51] 321 VIDEO: You

[00:52:51] Nicole Reams: save on all of that.

[00:52:52] Tracy Hayes: yeah. If you've got aunt and uncle that owns some land out there and they want to give it to you, we can help you put a home money. We got. Yeah, we got you.

[00:52:58] Nicole Reams: I know guy.

[00:53:00] Tracy Hayes: Exactly. You've passed a hundred million in career production as a solo agent. A luxury is one of your core specialties in this market where luxury inventory is. Up in buyer patience is thin. What is, what's the strategy and marketing approach, that most luxury sellers don't know to ask for? And what are you doing in the first 30 days of a high end listing that separates a fast close from a year long grind?

[00:53:30] Nicole Reams: Oh, goodness. so luxury homes are a different beast. it's exactly what you said. People who are buying luxury generally have more options. They have more time. They're not a hurry. Generally, these are people who are looking for something specific and they a reason versus, you know, a first time home buyer needs a home. It's a different need that we're filling. with luxury homes, I go back to the, wow, you have to be the wow, especially at a point if you're looking we're selling over a

[00:54:00] million, the buyer pool is naturally smaller at point, and so you have to bring the wow right up front. I think pricing is half of the battle. But more importantly, before we list, I do listing appointments in a two step process. I come in, meet with you, we do a full walkthrough of the house, and we make a list together, start to finish. We start at the front door and go all the way around, inside and out, and we note room by room, what needs to happen. Everything from, you know, minimizing closet. Clutter to decreasing stuff on your shelves. we're for things on the ceilings, clean vents. curb appeal. Curb appeal is everything. think that people, sometimes when you live in your home and you get used to looking it and you see it and it's a beautiful home, it is. But you have to go through and look at your home as a buyer would look at your home. so our first appointment is always a walkthrough go through, figure out what needs to happen. We always say dress it right, price it right, and then present it right. We wanna make sure that your home is

[00:55:00] So when it hits the When I bring out professional photographers, we do videographers and drone footage. also that we are marketing home and all of the aspects on all of the platforms, making sure that it shows appropriately and then provides that wow by price when it hits the market right up front. And then of course, once it hits the market, we have, a marketing plan for things that we do every week. While you are listed from focused ads, videos, email blast through your CRM, it's a whole strategic list of ways that we market on those homes to make sure that we're getting the attention

[00:55:37] Tracy Hayes: How often, because there's other, you know, top producing agents like yourself up in that area that you reach out to them and say, Hey, you know what? I've got this one coming on. Do you have anybody who might be interested? It.

[00:55:48] Nicole Reams: so right out the gate, anytime I list a property, I contact every agent within our board, send out a blast of this is what I have, these are the features, these are the, benefits of the house, and this is

[00:56:00] what we're offering. A lot of times in this market right now, the sellers are prepared. With certain things they'll offer, whether they're saying, Hey, I'll a concession for Windows, or I'll offer a concession closing costs, or whatever they're giving to kind of give them more of an oomph with their wow. so we blast that out to all of the agents front. But then at the same time, we're doing reverse prospecting. So I can see if an agent has somebody in their database who fits this house, I contact that agent specifically and say, Hey, listen, this is what I have. What do you have? Do you have a buyer for me? Come by, a look at this. I think broker open houses, a lot of people don't realize there are different types of open houses. broker opens our strategically planned and targeted towards specific brokers and agents who have a buyer pool that fits the need for that house.

[00:56:51] Tracy Hayes: Yeah, that's another you need to put on your, um,

[00:56:55] Nicole Reams: Thanks.

[00:56:57] Tracy Hayes: Yeah. that's a, someone looking

[00:57:00] for The right agent.

[00:57:01] Nicole Reams: Mm-hmm.

[00:57:02] Tracy Hayes: sees video of you explaining that to them. It's like, I need, I need talk to that person. And, you know, it could, because we know, you know, somebody gets lucky out there that maybe the sellers just say, oh, I got this big beautiful house at the beach and, you know, it's unique. anyone can sell it. No. But yeah. To, to, right. And then, and maybe at the right time stars line up and the right buyer just happens to walk by at the time they put the sign in the yard and it's like, yeah, yeah. Or they've been watching this house or something. But really to, one, I'm sure these luxury sellers don't want to go. 90, 120 days, people coming in and outta their house. that's, that's not their style. They want that. they're connecting with that agent that's hopefully know, or, you know, know either has a buyer themselves

[00:57:52] Nicole Reams: That's right.

[00:57:52] Tracy Hayes: Already, or their circle of real estate friends is going to bring someone by and one or two showings and it's gone.

[00:57:58] Nicole Reams: That's the importance of targeted marketing. Yeah.

[00:58:00] Targeted not only with your online marketing through database. Or through platforms.

[00:58:04] Tracy Hayes: Mm-hmm.

[00:58:04] Nicole Reams: But targeted to the agents who goes back to relationships. Mm-hmm. Agents who we know have buyers in their database and they have a reputation of dealing with high-end clients who fit this house.

[00:58:19] Tracy Hayes: You hold a military relocation specialist designation? I do. And are both Cardis and USAA relocation certified. Which I didn't know there was such a thing, but Makes sense. When a military family contacts you with PCS orders, on a 60 to 90. day Timeline, what are the first things you do with them that an agent without a military relocation background might miss? And what does a VA loan buyer need to know about this specific market that isn't in any VA pamphlet?

[00:58:51] Nicole Reams: Well, so in our market, Nassau County is right on the border the state line. we have a lot of Kings Bay

[00:59:00] Relocators coming in mm-hmm. Who really like our side of town better. obviously being on the beach is better just is people like that. so a lot of times when I have VA buyers coming in, the first conversation I have. Is what's important to you when it comes down to, Hey, we wanna be on the beach and we just, we can be 20 minutes from base if we live there instead of here. The questions I get asked are difference in taxes. Obviously you've got income taxes in Georgia that you don't have in Florida. We have homestead exemptions in Florida that they don't have in Georgia. insurance regulations are different in Florida than there are in Georgia, so there's a lot of education on the front end with military buyers and relocations, that have to happen before I can point you in the direction of the right community. and then our next step is to talk about what your BAH looks like versus what you had before. That's a huge thing, especially people coming from other areas. California and New York. I've got three right now coming from California who are being sent out here and wanted to be in Nassau County, but they still wanna

[01:00:00] be close to base and they still have to hit that BAH, for where they're being sent to. So we have a lot of conversations about what area fits best for them, what is close to base, and then of course the difference between new construction and reloads are, reloads resales right now is important to military buyers, because of that VA funding fee. what's getting waived, what they're gonna have to roll into their loan and how that impacts their payment every month?

[01:00:25] Tracy Hayes: Well, and I imagine, cause every agent that's doing any amount of business right now has that house that's in that neighborhood that is still under construction and they're trying to sell against the builder and it's the VA clients. It's these active duty members that I worry about the most because they did go a hundred percent and now two years they are trying to sell in a neighborhood and the builder's giving away the kitchen sink.

[01:00:49] Nicole Reams: I always ask people too, and this is more your lane than mine, Mm-hmm. so I'll just briefly touch on it, but I think that it's worth a conversation with VA buyers. Does the VA loan, is that the best fit you? Because if you can buy without that loan, and if that can avoid the fee for you if there is a better option,

[01:01:08] Tracy Hayes: yeah,

[01:01:08] Nicole Reams: I think it's a conversation worth having. Let's not assume that this is the best loan or the best product for you. Likewise, if we're talking about new construction versus resales, you have different incentives. A lot of times when you have resale homes and like Woodbridge right now, Woodbridge is huge. I love what Richmond is doing out there. They have a lot of incentives. The houses are gorgeous. The resale homes in that neighborhood are having to compete with builder incentives, which is challenging. So a lot of times you're able to negotiate more with the resale sellers because they know that they're up against incentives from the builder.

[01:01:43] Tracy Hayes: Mm-hmm.

[01:01:43] Nicole Reams: Which are good conversations to have upfront as

[01:01:45] Tracy Hayes: well. Yeah. It's, it's one thing they did buy it in 2019 or 20

[01:01:49] Nicole Reams: mm-hmm.

[01:01:49] Tracy Hayes: You know, they do have equity in it so there is room there mm-hmm. for that seller and then but who's bought a house in the last year or two in a new construction neighborhood then now is

[01:02:00] trying to sell it. Good luck. yeah. You're gonna come outta money outta your pocket. It's

[01:02:03] Nicole Reams: hard.

[01:02:04] Tracy Hayes: Or, or if you put a lot of money down, you're not gonna get it all back.

[01:02:07] Nicole Reams: It's part of why I love new construction for these buyers. like my couple from California right now, I them. Mm-hmm. They, uh. I like that new construction for them. We were able to get them into an FHA versus a VA loan because they did not know. They didn't know that this funding fee was going to roll in and then increase all of their and they didn't understand that it's not always the best option. It's a beautiful option for our va. but it's not always the loan. Right. So, point being with new construction and all of the incentives that they're offering right now. The money that you are spending upfront on these houses and the rate being offered and the closing costs that are being offered, all of these incentives allow you to build equity in that house quicker so that if you do have to leave within the next two years, you have more room when that time

[01:02:57] Tracy Hayes: comes. Yeah. Yeah. And they have to when you're working

[01:03:00] with but you, you have to, what is their exit strategy?

[01:03:03] Nicole Reams: That's right. To, And how long do you expect to be here?

[01:03:05] Tracy Hayes: Yeah.

[01:03:05] Nicole Reams: That's huge.

[01:03:06] Tracy Hayes: Yeah, a hundred percent. And I imagine a lot of these, pre-calls, you're doing 'em over Zoom or Or over the phone, because they are still in California.

[01:03:14] Nicole Reams: And there's a lot of sight unseen FaceTime tours, Right,

[01:03:17] Tracy Hayes: right. So and there's a lot of great, agents out there who do have the military relocation. You've gotta find them. obviously you contact me here, I know a lot of them, but like Nicole who knows how take that call, that zoom call prep, and then obviously go show, show you houses that because you're, you know, 3000 miles away, you know, that narrow it down for you. Mm-hmm. So when the time you are here is spent efficiently, land land development is one of your specialties,

[01:03:43] Nicole Reams: it's my favorite.

[01:03:44] Tracy Hayes: When an investor calls you about, buying land in Nassau County, what are the questions you ask them before you ever start showing them parcels? And what the pitfalls that even experience real estate investors? Miss when they buy land in the specific market for the

[01:04:00] first time.

[01:04:00] Nicole Reams: And Nassau County, first and foremost, if you call me and say, I want land, my first question for you is, what do you want to do with it?

[01:04:08] Tracy Hayes: Mm-hmm.

[01:04:09] Nicole Reams: What is your goal? Are we buying to hold as an investment? Are we buying to build your home? Are we buying for an investment? What is the goal? With this land, specifically with commercial property, right now there's a lot of people looking for land to develop commercial stuff, because Nassau County is booming. Everything is growing so quickly out there, especially on the west side of the county. You can get property for relatively very inexpensive. Knowing that over the next five to 10 years, I think it's going to blow up out there as wildlife gets bigger. and the industry, you the island can only hold so much and so it's kind of pushed into Yuli and now we're pushing out into wildlife, and next it'll be Callahan and then Hilliard. Mm-hmm. know, it just keeps going west. so I think that the first thing that we need to establish is what's your goal for this land? What do you want to do with it, and how long do you plan to have it? and then the

[01:05:00] next step is making sure that people understand the difference in zoning. Um, different elevations, things that can be built. Wetlands are always a conversation. People don't understand that wetlands are not necessarily flood zones and flood zones aren't necessarily wetlands. Wetlands can be jurisdictional and you can also have wetlands that are not jurisdictional. And you can backfill and you can build just spine out there.

[01:05:23] Tracy Hayes: Most of St. John's County is backfilled.

[01:05:25] Nicole Reams: yeah.

[01:05:25] Tracy Hayes: yeah. It It was Yeah.

[01:05:27] Nicole Reams: Well, and sometimes it's surprising. I think that goes back to knowing the people and the resources. And where to go to find the answers on mitigation credit. And you know, a lot of that is jurisdiction. It's managed by the St. John's River Management. and so a lot of that comes down to making sure that you know who to call to get the answers, and making sure that you do your due diligence upfront on these properties, so that you don't end up in a situation where you've bought something that in turn you can't do what you plan to do with after closing.

[01:05:54] Tracy Hayes: Mm-hmm.

[01:05:54] Nicole Reams: we also have overlays, now we have the tides to timbers overlay and different

[01:06:00] things happening that they overlay with the zoning. So just because zoning says you can build, you know, x, y, z, that doesn't necessarily mean that the aesthetic overlay that the county has implemented fits what you're trying to do either.

[01:06:14] Tracy Hayes: Right. I just want to throw it out there. You know, what you just put out Obviously anyone listening says, Hey, Nicole. And you, you're probably just tipping of the iceberg all the knowledge that you have on this topic. But when you're dealing, you have knowledge on the beach, you have knowledge, buying land in Callahan and all these different things. I just, I want to just put out, out there, you've educated yourself. And I could tell just by the way presented, you presented very confident that you know what, you, you know, what you know. And not enough agents have spent the time that obviously you have to feel confident to talk to someone who's just, Hey, I'm for 10, 15 acres 'cause I want commercial land. I'm gonna build a strip mall. Not every agent can that. They've gotta hand it off to someone like you.

[01:06:57] Nicole Reams: I do development.

[01:06:58] Tracy Hayes: Yeah.

[01:06:58] Nicole Reams: And I pride myself on

[01:07:00] knowing, and making sure that I can adequately educate people. because that goes back to, I never wanna hear Nicole didn't tell us. Yeah. If Nicole didn't know. She couldn't tell you. So I make it a point to know. See every transaction like it's my own.

[01:07:10] Tracy Hayes: You're a certified staging professional. I a credential. Most agents never bother earn. And Amelia Island and Nassau County market specifically named two or three staging moves that are specific to coastal Florida buyer psychology, things that work here and contradict what standard national staging advice. Tell sellers to do and tell us why they matter more in this market than anywhere else.

[01:07:37] Nicole Reams: I think that staging matters in any market. a lot of agents don't stage. I think that that's something that kind of sets me apart too. I stage as part of my process. You know, we talked about that two step process where I come in and do a full walkthrough. As part of that conversation, we talk about what furniture we need to remove, what things we need to move around.

[01:08:00] people in the coastal market where I have been my entire career, people like bright, open, clean spaces. and so it's important that when someone walks into your home that they can envision themselves in that home. They don't need to be distracted by all of your beautiful things. family photos are wonderful. We don't grandkids faces on the internet. so. I think that staging, staging is at the top of the list realistically with pricing. I downsize, I minimize everything. I don't want anything in the floors, anything in the corners. all of your windows should be open. Curtains. Curtains need to go. that is an unpopular opinion. But People like sunshine, they like bright houses. so I always tell people we remove all of your dark curtains, take those down. throw pillows are also an unpopular opinion. Everybody wants a lot of pillows. I think they're distracting. so we remove anything that is distracting or, feels less neutral so that when a buyer goes

[01:09:00] in, they can imagine their home, their belongings and their lifestyle in this space.

[01:09:06] Tracy Hayes: How many times have you had, you're recording your HTT vs. And you, you go into that empty house and are like, you know, they'll go into bedrooms and look and go, oh, this is the bedroom. But I don't know if my kings size bed will fit in. I always think their bed is bigger than it is.

[01:09:21] Nicole Reams: They do,

[01:09:21] Tracy Hayes: and if you're staged they can actually see, oh yeah, my bed will fit in here and look how much room I'm gonna have on both sides of the bed, or whatever, whatever. 'cause people, they really have a spatial challenge and their furniture is always bigger than they think it is,

[01:09:36] Nicole Reams: or bigger than what's in the house, specifically with empty houses. When I work with vacant homes, I actually have a separate. Storage building full of my own staging stuff because people have a hard time imagining empty spaces.

[01:09:51] Tracy Hayes: Mm-hmm.

[01:09:51] Nicole Reams: Um, so bringing in furniture that fits that space and making a note, of the size and what you can actually do with a room, I think changes

[01:10:00] everything when a looking.

[01:10:01] Tracy Hayes: Yeah. it's those things that I, you know, and in sales, some of the things learned and spending most of my, adult life in sales, it's some of the things that people don't say. When they walk in, you know what they're thinking, but. walk yourself it and think, what would you be thinking if you were in, you were buying this house? and the thing is, people do walk into master bedrooms and they're like, oh, I don't think my bed's gonna in here. I don't know if my dresser or whatever it is that they have. Their couch is always too big. You know, someone's always got some piece of furniture they're attached to, that they gotta bring with them. And they feel, oh, whoa. How will it look in this room? And so you've gotta kind of give them a little bit of picture to take that completely out their worry.

[01:10:43] Nicole Reams: Well, and carry, carry a toolkit with you guys. I always have, a tape measure at every showing.

[01:10:50] Tracy Hayes: Yes.

[01:10:50] Nicole Reams: I bring a tape measure because when somebody says, babe, do you think that our would fit in here? I'm, not. it just looks very big. You can ask them, how large is your couch? Let's measure.

[01:10:59] Tracy Hayes: Yeah.

[01:10:59] Nicole Reams: Hold this for me.

[01:11:00] I'm gonna go over here. and, it helps, it helps tremendously.

[01:11:03] Tracy Hayes: A hundred percent. Go back to your, let's go back to insurance here for these last two questions here. Your buyers ask about insurance constantly. The governor is saying relief is here. Headlines are saying premiums jumped 18% in 25. Are Florida insurance reforms actually changing the conversation you're having with buyers right now or is it still out of, a gut punch moment when you see that a first insurance quote on a coastal property, what do you tell them to do to get the best possible coverage? for the best possible price,

[01:11:35] Nicole Reams: first of all, relationships matter. Mm-hmm. Make sure that you have an agent who has a good insurance broker. I think that in Florida, I grew up in Georgia and I worked in insurance in Georgia, and in Florida as well, but. In Georgia, for example, you can call, you know, state farm Bureau, whomever you want to work with and get these different quotes. Whereas I think here a broker is important

[01:12:00] because a lot of these underwriters are companies that aren't marketing. They're not out there talking about their products or why it's different working with that company. so start with the broker. The other thing I, I think is important to note is that we cannot foresee or control what the insurance market is doing. I can't tell you if there is relief coming down the line. I can't tell you if rates are going to go up. I can't tell you if your insurance is going to be high or low. What I can tell you. It's what an insurance company is looking for on this house to make sure that we can get ahead of it. I want to know the age of all of these important items like your electrical and your water heater and your roof. I know that certain aged properties have different types of piping that's going to be a problem for insurance. And so I think the important thing with insurance is getting ahead of those conversations and making sure that you have an understanding of what they're looking for so that we can tackle that upfront. I also recently,

[01:13:00] I have been getting insurance quotes early in the past it wasn't as important. You know, we get insurance by closing. Mm-hmm. It wasn't a big deal. Get a couple of quotes and it's fine. Now I'm telling people upfront at the beginning of due diligence or even before an offer, if I have concerns, I get with my insurance guy and I say, Hey, listen. Take a look at this for me. Tell me what are my hurdles? What do I need to know? Is it even worth going down this road? Because I don't want my buyers to spend the time on inspections and the money and, the frustration on this, and then fall in love with the house and on the back end, find out that there's some major insurance issue that they either can't beat or that the seller isn't willing to work with. so quoting early on and making sure you have that information upfront in your toolbox makes all of the difference with insurance.

[01:13:47] Tracy Hayes: Yeah, I, agree a hundred percent. having worked for a major builder, for years there, I mean, you know, 'cause there was a new build, so everything's up to spec. Right? You got a new roof, everything's there and you know, we waited till the last minute, but in 20

[01:14:00] years of being in business, yeah. Insurance was never really, we could guesstimate. Mm-hmm. you know, and hey, if we, are 20 or $30 off a month, no Big di wasn't gonna throw you you off. But you've get, and, and, and I, I think listing agents and I realize. You know, maybe your guy doesn't get that deal. You know, you're selling the house. The buyer's gonna choose their own insurance, right? Mm-hmm. And maybe their a, their agent's going to, but to talk to, your go-to agent who getting your business when you're on the buyer side, hey. to hey. Take a look at property. 'cause they, they have access to data. Mm-hmm. you know, the age of water heater, the last permits were pulled on the roof, all that kind of stuff. And now you have that information so you're prepared of what a fire agent might be asking for, like replacing the water heater. 'cause it's 12, 15 years old or the roof is 15 old and it's like, hey, they're gonna call for insurance and the insurance company's gonna say, Hey, you only have a couple companies to work with. 'cause it's 18 years old

[01:14:57] Nicole Reams: because it is what it is. Yeah. I had one recent, well I say

[01:15:00] recently, it was probably two years ago. completely. I had no idea, no idea that, when we went to get quote and like you said, work with you're comfortable with if you have somebody get a quote. but when we went to my insurance guy for a quote, he pulled the background on this and it turns out that there had been a fire in that home. it, There's no fault to the buyer all. There's nothing they could have done. No way we could have known this. Mm-hmm. However, The home was uninsurable because of this fire that happened years prior. which goes back to my original point. Get this information upfront. Know what you need to know before you get to the end of the line because that's a deal chart.

[01:15:40] Tracy Hayes: the repairs done to the house may have not been done by a licensed contractor.

[01:15:44] Nicole Reams: Yep.

[01:15:45] Tracy Hayes: And or whoever. They covered up whatever caught fire and we don't know if, you don't know if it was done up to code.

[01:15:51] Nicole Reams: That's right. And there is a timeframe that follows fire claims as well. So regardless of whether it was your claim and you're going to a new

[01:16:00] house or a claim on that house, there is a timeframe attached to that fire, that prevented that home from being insurable. The whole thing fell apart.

[01:16:07] Tracy Hayes: Yeah.

[01:16:08] Nicole Reams: It was military people too. It was actually really sad.

[01:16:10] Tracy Hayes: Oh yeah.

[01:16:11] Nicole Reams: We, it was sad, but we fixed it.

[01:16:12] Tracy Hayes: But, but it is, it is the, the point is, get insurance early. I think the selling the list, I mean, to me, if I'm selling a house, I wanna make sure I have everything covered. anybody says anything about anything I already know about it, you know, type of thing. You're already prepared to negotiate. If not, just go ahead and nip it in the bud. So there, there is never a question about it. That's why I'm, I like pre-listing inspections too.

[01:16:33] Nicole Reams: I like pre-listing inspections, but that's why I said that's why I said we always get the insurance information up front. Mm-hmm. I wanna see policies, your coverages, your agent. I wanna be able to talk to these people before I ever list your house so that I'm ahead of those hurdles when buyer comes to me.

[01:16:48] Tracy Hayes: Yep. Alright. This is the last question.

[01:16:50] Nicole Reams: Okay.

[01:16:50] Tracy Hayes: AI. Dug deep into you. So you have, to bear with me. It's a long, it's got a long pre preface to the question, I guess is gonna say.

[01:16:56] Nicole Reams: I'm scared.

[01:16:57] Tracy Hayes: Alright. cause it's, read all your bios in, but

[01:17:00] this is this, usually like to end with why you love real estate. And I think when you complete this question, you want to add that to your answer. Okay. Okay? it's semi-personal. You've built a million dollar solo career as a single mom through loss, difficult divorce, your daughters alone, and a global pandemic in 2026. You're with sellers who are by, divorcing buyers who are starting completely over. How does your own experience navigating those exact kinds of life transactions shape you? How you show up for those clients? And what would you want someone sitting at home right now in the middle of one of these moments to know about you? And you work they won't on a Zillow profile.

[01:17:48] Nicole Reams: So I always tell people I see myself more as a service, or my career, I should say more as a service than as a sale. I genuinely

[01:18:00] want to get people into a better position than when I met them. when I started my career, it was in fact the most challenging time of my life. going through a horrible divorce and I had two little girls and my mom had just died and I left my corporate career to jump into this. And then unexpectedly, you know, everything fell apart. And so, I was showing houses with a 4-year-old, you know, put her in the corner, you're okay for a minute and I'm gonna go talk to these people. I think that it's important to realize that. We're all in this together. My job is to help you and I genuinely want to take care of you. I love people. I love my clients. and so this is a lifestyle change for you whether you are starting over because you're going through a divorce on your own, or whether you are starting over without family, or you're picking up and moving away to chase your dreams and you always wanted to live on the beach. Whatever your situation, I'm here to help you succeed.

[01:19:00] and I want you to know that it is better on the other side. Whatever it is, whatever we're trying to do, we're in this together and it will be on the other side.

[01:19:10] Tracy Hayes: All right. Finish up. Tell us why you love real estate.

[01:19:13] Nicole Reams: Why do I love real estate? well, I genuinely love people. obviously I love houses. That's my favorite part of my job. I just wanna see them all sometimes, I'm like that one's pretty, I wanna go there. there is a lot of, it's rewarding, I think is what I'm trying to say. It's rewarding to me when we get to the table and to see how happy people are when we reach goal. getting to know families, you know, holding babies at the closing table. We've seen births and I've been to funerals with people. I think I love the ability to earn a really living while still being in my community and getting to know everybody and genuinely people move forward in whatever stage of life they're in.

[01:19:58] Tracy Hayes: Appreciate you coming on today.

[01:19:59] Nicole Reams: Thanks for having me.

[01:20:00] Tracy Hayes: you. you.