Cassandra Shober: Doing It With A High Level of Passion

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Cassandra Shober: [00:00:00] real estate is not an easy industry. It is not easy at all. And I think sometimes social media and the media over sensationalize and glamorize what we do as realtors. A hundred percent. 

Tracy Hayes: Welcome back to the Real Estate Excellence Podcast. Great guest today. She is considered one of the top agents in Jacksonville. She works with one of the largest brokers in Northeast Florida, Watson Rillety, who ranked her number 12 in 2023. She was recognized by the Jack's Business Journal as one of the top agents in Northeast Florida.

Tracy Hayes: Today, we will find out what she does. makes this amazing agent tick. Let's welcome Cassandra Schober to the show. 

Cassandra Shober: Hey, thank you so much for having me today. I'm really excited to be here. Yeah, 

Tracy Hayes: I appreciate you coming down and hear your story. [00:01:00] You know, as everyone knows, I comb through everyone's social media before they come on.

Tracy Hayes: ~So, um, ~if I ask a question, it came because you've already posted it somewhere or put it on LinkedIn. One of the others I do want to reach out. ~Um, ~early today because I generally,~ uh,~ I've been forgetting here early in the show a little bit of sponsorship here from,~ uh,~ Remy graphics and everyone could see that in the show.

Tracy Hayes: These nice laser engraved mugs, they do laser engraved,~ uh,~ they got the, my logo on the other side in that bag that was on the chair there with you is your, you have a mug in there for yourself from the show,~ uh,~ set aside there,~ uh,~ but Remy graphics, they will do one off. So I think what's great is if you've got a customer, you had a closing and you know, So You want to have one or two mugs, she'll, she'll have those made for you or the other gifts that they have.

Tracy Hayes: And I put Remy graphics. com. They have other gifts other than the mug. So if you think you have something else, go on the site and she'll whip those right off in there. Obviously Remy,~ um,~ graphics is local. So all right. 

Cassandra Shober: Support your local 

Tracy Hayes: business. That's exactly. ~Um, ~cause sometimes I always kick off. ~Um, ~[00:02:00] you're not from Jacksonville.

Tracy Hayes: I am 

Cassandra Shober: not. Not originally. No. ~Uh, ~

Tracy Hayes: you, you grew up where Arnold Palmer's from. 

Cassandra Shober: I didn't even think of that. 

Tracy Hayes: Yes. I didn't realize that. I thought about that this morning. Lancaster, Pennsylvania. 

Cassandra Shober: Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Yes. Yeah. 

Tracy Hayes: Tell us about that and, and, and you'll go a little bit into your, your, I was reading your bio.

Tracy Hayes: ~Uh, ~your family was,~ uh,~ your mom was involved in banking and dad was in the construction and housing type industry 

Cassandra Shober: and, 

Tracy Hayes: you know, ~uh, ~tell us what it was like growing up in Lancaster and. 

Cassandra Shober: Well, growing up in Lancaster. So very, ~um. ~Amish community, farming, agriculture, and a lot of construction,~ uh,~ based upon the growth that happens in Pennsylvania, given large families because of the farming industry.

Cassandra Shober: ~So, ~my mother has a banking,~ uh,~ background. She was a regional vice president of Sovereign Bank. I believe Sovereign was bought out by Santander. 

Tracy Hayes: Okay. 

Cassandra Shober: Okay. All right. And that's a big. I've heard that name. Yes. So that's a big bank. ~Um, ~so I grew up watching my mom. She literally worked her, her, her way up from a [00:03:00] bank teller,~ uh,~ in the window at the drive through all the way up to, to becoming a regional vice president.

Cassandra Shober: So I watched her just grow in, in that type of industry. And then I watched my father who was, you know, really big into building things. Just build houses left and right so it's kind of it's kind of like I was groomed for this For real estate and I do have a banking background as well. Yeah to me. It was a little boring 

Tracy Hayes: Well, I so because you you know I was reading a little bit of your bio and obviously, you know If you can fill in between the lines a little bit you you know 18 19 20 years old.

Tracy Hayes: I mean, what were you thinking of as a career 

Cassandra Shober: as a career? You know, I really wanted to get into nursing because back when I was in school and in college, nursing was a really, really big industry. I just, it just wasn't my thing. So everybody encouraged me to get into real estate. Just given the fact of my background and my experience and growing up with my family and [00:04:00] 

Tracy Hayes: Well I think a lot you know, a theory I've always had for a long time and probably gained it when I was in college.

Tracy Hayes: A lot of us,~ uh,~ follow that,~ uh,~ what our priorities are. What we've seen around us, correct? ~Um, ~you know, to me, education, my, my aunt, my grandmother were both educators. ~Um, so, ~you know, ~uh, ~after thinking I wanted to be an engineer,~ um,~ and realizing,~ uh,~ you know, the, the classes you got to take for that, the upper chemistry and so forth, it was just too much for what I was doing,~ um,~ that I, I fell back to education fair.

Tracy Hayes: You know, the, the, the, the. That I would enjoy that now I only taught really one year and that wasn't even the year after I graduated I went back to it in between jobs later, but but we look for those things because they're they're You know, you're in front of your mom's in front of you. You see what she's I can do that Yeah, and then you you well, how long did you spend in the in the banking?

Cassandra Shober: ~Uh ~banking I think it was almost two years and I sat in a little cubicle And I stared at the back of an atm machine So it was fun. It was exciting. It gave me a lot of experience when it comes to [00:05:00] understanding how mortgages work, how customers think, how buyers think. So the experience was excellent. It wasn't my thing though.

Cassandra Shober: It was slightly boring. 

Tracy Hayes: Well, it's, well, that's what I really want to dig out of you from that standpoint, because how it's, how you've taken it to the real estate world, because obviously I've had several people on and have had mortgage experience before going into real estate. And,~ um,~ You know, again, I've been in this business almost 19 years, having worked at Quicken Loans and Loan Depot, both in their call centers for the first 12 years of my career, taking on a lot of applications.

Tracy Hayes: I've talked to a lot of different, different people. And some of these, some agents are, are,~ Um,~ they're scared to have just kind of the, even the basic surface level, even like, you know, where are your, where's your money coming from? Right. Right? Yeah. You know, questions like that, or just saying, Hey, you know, you, we might have a client or especially a new home buyer, first time home buyer, you know, Hey, you know, where's, where's your credit at?

Tracy Hayes: Do we need to work on that? You know, having those kinds of questions,~ uh,~ confidence to ask those questions. [00:06:00] 

Cassandra Shober: And, and some of that just lies in knowing how to process. proceed forward with those questions. So when we, when we start talking about numbers and financing, we first, Oh, what do you do for a living?

Cassandra Shober: Then we have this conversation. Oh, I bet you make. Yeah. And then it leads one thing to another, to another. So it's kind of like you make the person feel comfortable and then they start to open up themselves. 

Tracy Hayes: Yeah. ~Uh, ~and then just in the general conversations you're having as an agent 

Cassandra Shober: Yes. 

Tracy Hayes: You hear them say stuff Mm-Hmm.

Tracy Hayes: And you're like, red flag. We need to dig deeper into that. Yes, we do. When we Yes. All the time. We need to solve, we need to make sure that's not gonna be a let, 

Cassandra Shober: let me connect you with somebody here, . Yeah, 

Tracy Hayes: exactly. Exactly. Alright,~ so, um. ~You're in the banking, but dad's business,~ um,~ is growing from what I'm reading in your bio, right?

Tracy Hayes: It's construction business and actually, and,~ um,~ he actually starts to specialize in the drywall area. 

Cassandra Shober: Okay. Is that, if I'm 

Tracy Hayes: reading that correctly? 

Cassandra Shober: That was my ex husband. 

Tracy Hayes: That was, oh, I'm sorry. I thought we should, okay. 

Cassandra Shober: Which was great, which is great experience. Does he work 

Tracy Hayes: for your dad? 

Cassandra Shober: No, he did not.

Cassandra Shober: That's probably good. We ran our own business, but [00:07:00] he was great though. That also taught me things about how to price things, how to gauge things, how to speak to people, to understand things. Because sometimes you walk into a home and you see a strip of, of drywall, you know, coming apart. Oh, well, that's not really the drywall.

Cassandra Shober: That's the wall. It's the tape for the seam, and that's an easy patch. So you know, you know how to have conversations and it's, it's only like a 200 patch. 

Tracy Hayes: Well, how did, how did that experience and obviously growing up with that and the general construction as there, because we're, I mean, I don't know what the number is.

Tracy Hayes: I would guess it's, it's at least 40, 50 percent of the sales right now are new construction because that's where most of the inventory is at in the desirable areas where people want to hear in Northeast Florida. You know, how has that enabled you to, you know, have the confidence going in there? Because I'm a pre, I'm not, I don't want to say pre listing.

Tracy Hayes: I want to confuse myself. I'm, I am a,~ uh,~ advocate for having home inspections on these new constructions. A hundred percent. Yeah. A hundred 

Cassandra Shober: percent. 

Tracy Hayes: Yeah. 

Cassandra Shober: ~Um, ~so there's different types of new construction. We have our larger corporate new construction, like the D. R. [00:08:00] Horan's,~ uh,~ the K. B. Holmes. Those are all great.

Cassandra Shober: I highly recommend a home inspection with those types of, of new constructions. And then you have your You know, your custom building builders, your custom spec builders,~ uh,~ different things like that. And I recommend to ask a builder. If you're looking into custom building, ask them if they have a foreman.

Cassandra Shober: Ask him who, who's on the job site, cleaning up the job site, who's on the job site, making sure that the workers are doing what needs to be done. Now I know. ~So, ~okay. So you're digging 

Tracy Hayes: to go explain why and, and you know, what's the importance of that, that person and what are you going to get out of that?

Cassandra Shober: ~So, so, ~you know, I've been on a couple of different construction sites. ~Um, uh, ~Chris gazeys, One of the builders I used to sell homes for, he had a foreman, and the foreman was just on top of everything, on top of everybody, on top of everything. If he seen somebody doing something wrong, he was on it, he made sure the job site looked nice and clean.

Cassandra Shober: And you can always tell when there's a foreman on the site. And so I just always say, ask the builder if they have a foreman. Now some builders do have foremans for different jobs. [00:09:00] You know for the roof know the foreman there's a foreman for the roofing aspect There's a foreman for this. So these are some questions you want to ask 

Tracy Hayes: but just generally who's in charge of the entire Project correct because sometimes how 

Cassandra Shober: are they man sometimes 

Tracy Hayes: the the custom builder himself?

Tracy Hayes: Johnny builds good houses Jones is not always there, 

Cassandra Shober: right? Correct And this is why you like well, how do you know things are getting done, right? Well, we have, you know, the, the county comes in and they do, you know, permits and make sure that everything is fine. Okay, that's great, but who is managing your site?

Cassandra Shober: And you can always tell job sites from job sites to job sites to see if somebody is really managing it. 

Tracy Hayes: Because the county is not a quality control. Nope. You know, they're going in and making sure it was installed correctly. And obviously it's government. So there's some, you know, minimal level that you have to achieve.

Tracy Hayes: They're not going to put that bar too high unless maybe it's a safety thing or, you know, something, the bar might be a little bit higher, but,~ um,~ it's not going to be necessarily the quality [00:10:00] control that you're, Wanting for your customer correct, correct. 

Cassandra Shober: Yeah, and this these are important questions to ask and you know, sometimes they could be an excellent builder Excellent.

Cassandra Shober: It can be excellent construction, but we still recommend a home inspection. 

Tracy Hayes: Yeah, it 

Cassandra Shober: doesn't matter the age 

Tracy Hayes: ~Uh, ~I always like facts tell stories sell that's my one of my favorite sayings ~um ~with your experience and i'll kind of put you on the spot because I didn't prep you for this this particular question, but ~Um, ~i'm sure if you sold enough new construction in ~um ~You Anywhere.

Tracy Hayes: Yes, but here in northeast florida You'll give us a little story that will kind of set in for those who are listening of why you should have that home inspector on that track home that, you know, it's just, they're just throwing it up as fast as they can. 

Cassandra Shober: Right. So again, it goes back to is who's watching, who's, who's managing things, who's making sure things are done.

Cassandra Shober: And we're all human, right? At the end of the day, we're all human. It doesn't matter how many times a day you build a home, who's managing it, who's doing what. It's just important to. And, and just check the work [00:11:00] and, and that's just You know a learning curve and a learning experience as well. It's something important to do 

Tracy Hayes: Well, have you I mean so I want to do you can you think of and if you can't think of something right now Maybe i'll come to you just a a situation that you've had.

Tracy Hayes: Yeah A 

Cassandra Shober: roof leak on a brand new brand new construction, you know things like that And it wasn't that the roof was actually leaking. It's just that they didn't have things Connected properly. It's little things like that. I mean plumbing can leak if something's not connected Connected correctly, you know, these homes haven't been lived in before they're brand new construction, right?

Cassandra Shober: And that's the beautiful thing about buying a used home You already know what's been seasoned 

Tracy Hayes: a little bit 

Cassandra Shober: Exactly, exactly. So the the you know, i'm trying to think of one that really stands out, but I I it's not well 

Tracy Hayes: It it happens. You need someone to get up on that roof. I i've heard stories. I've had austin gray on and You know where?

Tracy Hayes: They're You Pre slab, they're putting the plumbing in where the you know, what's gonna be this plumbing That's gonna be in the slab and where the toilet and the [00:12:00] sink are not actually at the proper distance Because the toilet and sink aren't there yet and you go in and measure now It's like this ain't gonna work And then they're in there after they pour the slab having to chop up the slab to move the Plumbing over and now here's you know, you're hoping your slab You know has the integrity of the slab hasn't been Altered 

Cassandra Shober: correct when you do that, right?

Tracy Hayes: It happens every day I really highly says now the builders fight to fight you guys on that don't they? 

Cassandra Shober: ~Um, ~you know a little bit sometimes, you know lately. It seems like the builders really want to work with people

Tracy Hayes: Isn't amazing 21 that didn't even want to see your face You know, 

Cassandra Shober: it's a really good time for buyers to buy new construction there's a lot of bonuses There's a lot of features. But again, just have somebody representing you and looking out for your best interest as well 

Tracy Hayes: ~Um, ~so anyone listening and I think in speaking to new agents,~ uh,~ they need, I [00:13:00] mean, that might be listening.

Tracy Hayes: I mean, they need to reach out to someone like you, you know, you, you've seen it, you've have, you have previous experience, obviously in construction. If they want to, you know, get some, you know, sit down and have coffee with you because that's. Yeah. want to do. I love coffee. Yeah.~ Um, ~I had a situation,~ uh,~ I was,~ uh,~ privy to where,~ um,~ they did not put the air conditioning drain hose,~ um,~ in the slab.

Cassandra Shober: ~Uh ~huh. 

Tracy Hayes: ~So, ~the house is now built and they realized, so what they did is they, you know, they took it up and went up to the second floor, then went out and then, yeah, had to come out through the second. So now on the side of the house, you have this thing, but how do you get the water up to the second floor and over and out?

Tracy Hayes: They had to put a pump in. Well, there's a failure point. You're using gravity, right? That's not going to fail in the way it should be done. Now they're putting a pump in their failure. So what a, you know, but if we had a home,~ uh,~ a home inspector. ~Um, ~a company checking those stages, hopefully they would have caught something.

Tracy Hayes: And I would get, 

Cassandra Shober: I would get a highly professional [00:14:00] home inspector who has dealt with new construction because they know what to look for, the things and mistakes that people make. And depending on, on the different builder, you know, you can gauge those things. 

Tracy Hayes: ~Um, ~those jobs for those,~ uh,~ I don't know, what are they, what are the builders called?

Tracy Hayes: They're, they're site guys. Those are tough where they're bouncing around. They got numerous houses going on. They got contractors going over and, you know, they're not necessarily the most experienced. I've seen some very young guys out there, low 20s being, running a subdivision. ~Um, ~and so they're, what, what is their quality?

Tracy Hayes: Right. What do they expect? And then they're challenged, obviously, with the quality of contractors that are coming in. ~So, ~if 

Cassandra Shober: anybody's hearing this, we need more laborers. Yeah, need more, 

Tracy Hayes: need more quality labor. But you need to have the, the person on your team, an agent like yourself, and then who's obviously recommending a home inspector to, to go through those stages with you.

Cassandra Shober: Yeah, just because it's new construction doesn't mean it's perfect. Yep, exactly. You know, just because it's new construction, that means nothing. 

Tracy Hayes: ~Um. ~So what brought you to Jaxx? 

Cassandra Shober: Oh, what brought me to Jaxx? ~Uh, ~so I, [00:15:00] we were in Pennsylvania 2009 2010 is when the housing crash the housing market crashed and you know, it was a cold winter It was sky high prices and a lot of the homes that we lived in in Pennsylvania have oil They're ran by oil.

Cassandra Shober: Okay, and oil prices just skyrocketed and we're like, hey, we want something different And so we decided to come down to Florida 

Tracy Hayes: because the construction business You know,~ uh,~ I don't think many people realize I've mentioned it several times in 200 episodes, but when we had the collapse in seven and eight, the housing,~ uh,~ construction went below the, any mark, any low point in the previous 50 years, it went below that.

Tracy Hayes: And it didn't get back to that low until like 11 or 12. 

Cassandra Shober: Yeah, so that 

Tracy Hayes: was a low point. 

Cassandra Shober: It was. And so we, I was tired of the cold. I wanted something different. I have family in Florida, family in Jacksonville, and this is where we ended up. 

Tracy Hayes: Yeah. 

Cassandra Shober: And I love it. I love it. 

Tracy Hayes: All right. ~So, uh, ~there was a little gap in your timeline of your LinkedIn.

Cassandra Shober: Okay. 

Tracy Hayes: ~So, uh, ~you move the [00:16:00] jacks, but it doesn't actually say what you, because you didn't start real estate until 16. 

Cassandra Shober: Yes, correct. 

Tracy Hayes: So what did you pick up something or raising kids or what are you I 

Cassandra Shober: was raising kids and I was doing sir I was I was serving tables at the same time, which was flexible for for my schedule However, I you know didn't want to do it forever.

Cassandra Shober: I didn't want no offense to anyone. I didn't want to be the Yeah, it's tough work. I didn't want to be a seven year old still working at the Waffle House I was tired of smelling like a restaurant I was tired of running around and I said I can give excellent service ~Um, ~

Tracy Hayes: I,~ uh,~ I always, when someone says they worked in a restaurant, I always think of,~ uh,~ Howard flashing over at round table.

Tracy Hayes: Howard, if you're listening, you want his people to tell Howard, I mentioned him on the show, but Howard still has on his LinkedIn. I forget what restaurant he worked at, but he still has on his LinkedIn, his time,~ uh,~ working in the restaurant because everyone that's come out of that. CC Underwood's another one.

Tracy Hayes: ~Um, ~I'm just thinking of people who've told me they've worked in restaurants. I've worked around, I've washed dishes, I've bussed tables, I've waited tables. It's a 

Cassandra Shober: tough industry. 

Tracy Hayes: Yeah, you haven't, [00:17:00] I don't think you've really, ~um. ~Lived. Yes. 

Cassandra Shober: Or worked. 

Tracy Hayes: Yeah, unless you've worked somewhere, some level in a restaurant.

Tracy Hayes: Yeah, and 

Cassandra Shober: it's a great, for me, it's just, it's, it's a great job. In the restaurant, in the service industry, only the strong survive. Only the strong can handle it. And you have to have a serious, you know, go getter mindset if you're going to make money in the service industry because there are some professional restaurants out there where you can make a career out of serving tables.

Cassandra Shober: Right. ~Um, ~but that, that's not a career path I wanted to, to follow. Right. But it, it prepared me for the future. Hey, fight or flight, real estate is not an easy industry. It is not easy at all. And I think sometimes social media and the media over sensationalize and glamorize what we do as realtors. A hundred percent.

Cassandra Shober: A hundred percent. Yeah. This is, 

Tracy Hayes: ~um, ~I really, I've mentioned it again. It sounds like I mentioned all the time, but I'm going to keep mentioning it. Well, one, I think, I think every agent should have a,~ uh,~ a notebook that they [00:18:00] actually chart just like an attorney does. ~Uh, ~Sally called me at eight 45 in the evening, talked about how her and her husband have a problem with.

Tracy Hayes: Yeah, because you guys are counseling whether it's marriage counseling or pulling people off the ceiling, you know, obviously sometimes negotiations can go on for Days, if not weeks, 

Cassandra Shober: you know negotiated contracts for a month Yeah before getting a home under contract just because you know, some buyers slow and steady.

Tracy Hayes: Yeah ~Uh, ~they don't, people don't understand all that time and the importance of taking that call at eight o'clock. 

Cassandra Shober: Right. They don't, they don't, they don't because a deal could be falling apart. 

Tracy Hayes: Yeah. You got somebody who's going to be losing sleep and stressed out and who knows they might do something stupid,~ um,~ you know, ~uh, ~like call the next, you know, call the next morning, say cancel the deal and never return another phone call.

Tracy Hayes: Yeah. You don't want that. You don't want people to get to those extremes. 

Cassandra Shober: No, you don't. And, and a lot of it's just having. Communication with the buyer with the seller, you know, really understanding who they are. What makes them tick? You know, what's [00:19:00] going on? Why do you feel this way and just having it like you said i'm a therapist sometimes.

Cassandra Shober: Yeah, I really am So yeah, 

Tracy Hayes: I don't think I don't think the ~um ~the general public ~Uh, ~especially some of these people that are putting some of this stuff out here with the nars settlement and stuff and you know And I think it's they've tried to devalue agents. So I really have I think it's important for agents to stick to come right back 

Cassandra Shober: Right 

Tracy Hayes: now something I I ~um, ~I picked up the other day.

Tracy Hayes: It was an article I don't think many people picked it picked it up. I'm trying to remember the gentleman's name. He does a lot of ~uh, ~social media reels, ~um ~Something james james is in his in his name. ~Um, ~but I guess in massachusetts 

Cassandra Shober: Okay, 

Tracy Hayes: ~uh ~their mls, I think it's called pip or something like that. Nice You Yeah.

Tracy Hayes: ~Uh, ~they are actually challenging the DOJ and saying, Hey,~ Um,~ we think it's a,~ uh,~ freedom of speech to post the commissions on the MLS. So their, their lawyers are actually taking it up. And I hope some other states join in because I don't know anyone who says, Hey, transparency is taking it off so no one can see it.

Tracy Hayes: What? Yeah. That's, that's [00:20:00] our, that's our bureaucracies right now. 

Cassandra Shober: You know, again, it's an extreme, right? So there's been some, Extreme unethical things happening within the industry and it had to come to an end however Now we've like on doing a complete extreme and now we're all like ah so it's just finding the fine balance and holding folks Accountable, you know for ethics violations 

Tracy Hayes: How how are you in I don't know how often you know, because some agents never go in the office I mean I 

Cassandra Shober: go in almost every day.

Tracy Hayes: You like to go in how is the You The atmosphere of in Watson in the office with your particular office, your leadership,~ um,~ because obviously some people are, you know, you're having to pull some agents off the ceiling with this whole buyer doing a buyer's agreement and so forth. They're not used to that or they're a little nervous.

Tracy Hayes: It's new. How are you guys handling it? 

Cassandra Shober: Well, you know, I always look to the, to the examples, right? So Jan Shields is a top producing agent in our office. My gosh, she's cranking out numbers, but she's been selling real estate since [00:21:00] 1984. Okay. You want to talk about extremes and changes, you know, some of the top producing agents have lived through that.

Cassandra Shober: Okay. So all, it's all about adaptability and having a real positive attitude and you know, not allowing fear to overtake you. So that's just my opinion. 

Tracy Hayes: Have you been started you started doing the buyers agreement yet? 

Cassandra Shober: Yes, I have. Okay. So what 

Tracy Hayes: is your You're just to kind of share some best practices, how are you were you doing it before?

Cassandra Shober: No, I wasn't 

Tracy Hayes: not consistently not 

Cassandra Shober: consistently, you know, but with my sellers, you know, I tell them Everything is negotiable including commission However, we need to, I always shed light for the sellers. You need to understand that you're looking at a buyer who's looking to purchase a half million dollar property with a 20 percent down payment on top of 4 percent in closing costs.

Cassandra Shober: Now they have to pay another 3 percent for their agent's commission where your total sales and your total closing costs [00:22:00] is only going to be seven, seven to 8 percent help, help the buyer out, help them out. Well, really, And technically the buyer is paying for it because they are assuming the debt 

Tracy Hayes: Yeah, yeah, they're I mean they're that's what they're paying for the house.

Tracy Hayes: That's what I I don't you know I know it's hard for some people to get their arms around that right, but the buyer's always been paying for it It's just been in the price Because if if the buyer doesn't have representation the first thing they're you know Would be asking for is lower my price three percent 

Cassandra Shober: and where the ethical violation or where where the problem is coming in Is that selling agents or real tours were not?

Cassandra Shober: You know Allowing or disclosing to sellers that that commission is negotiable You know, hey, you know three percent to the buyers agents three percent to the listing agent They can the buyers can pay for that. I 

Tracy Hayes: don't know an industry that actually Broadcasts,~ uh,~ you go into the car dealership. Do they broadcast?

Tracy Hayes: Hey, here's our price, but Negotiate with us, right? [00:23:00] I mean they don't start negotiate when you say no 

Cassandra Shober: Yeah, and some of it depends on the seller circumstances too. ~So, ~you know, it's an individualized You know Basis everything depends on what the seller sellers needs are and it really depends on the buyers needs to 

Tracy Hayes: How important?

Tracy Hayes: Is it right now? I think to Maintain sanity in the business for Like I said when these when you're going on a listing appointment and you're going through this. Hey This is, you know, when you get to the point where we're going to, I'm going to have five, 6 percent commission, we're going to cut whatever back to the buyer's agent to cover that.

Tracy Hayes: And this is why we're doing it. Cause I think that this is why I think it has been kind of the part that we have kind of brushed over. Everyone assumes that the. Our consumers know what we're doing exactly when there's so much that even as a lender as a real estate There's so much we do below the waterline that they never see.

Cassandra Shober: [00:24:00] Yeah, and 

Tracy Hayes: ~um, ~

Cassandra Shober: they don't for sure They don't 

Tracy Hayes: how important is fat listing agent again to take that time? And of course, yeah, obviously add value to themselves, but take some time to explain this is what's going on, 

Cassandra Shober: show them the numbers, show them the numbers, show them where they can find a calculator with their closing costs, show them the numbers, help them see it too.

Cassandra Shober: And then we also help them try to see the buyer's perspective as well. You know, so it's kind of like the whole idea is to make the the transaction close, you know And right now sellers are really having a hard time adjusting with the industry. It wasn't what it was two years ago We're asking fifty thousand twenty five to fifty thousand dollars over Our, you know, list price.

Cassandra Shober: ~So, ~you know, we have to kind of prepare sellers. Hey, your home might sit on the market for six to nine months. Guess what, guys? This is normal. This is a normal. This is a normal market going under contract in 24 hours and having a supply of only 2300 homes in the MLS. This is this is unbalanced, [00:25:00] extremely unbalanced.

Cassandra Shober: So it's all about bringing balance back in. And once the balance is here, people are like, ah, But it's not even about that. It's just a matter of just doing the work consistently every day. 

Tracy Hayes: For an agent out, maybe new, maybe struggling, maybe haven't done a lot of listing appointments,~ uh,~ I have found that all the top agents like yourself.

Tracy Hayes: I mean have no no problem whether to tag along or sit down and do a You know walk through but you're like, what are these value points? If you don't know what the value points are because you haven't done enough listening You're just not thinking of all the things that you may know all the things but what are the important things?

Tracy Hayes: You know, how are you going to listen? Are you going to take professional photos who's paying for those things and you need to actually go down and itemize these things right And, and, and like you said, show them where is all this money going to 

Cassandra Shober: exactly 100%. So it's putting together a really pristine listing package.

Cassandra Shober: It includes comparables. It includes how you're going to market and includes everything. So you [00:26:00] know, I'm not going to reveal some of my secrets. 

Tracy Hayes: Well, I don't think anything's totally secret. There's things, well, I think you could, it's like right now,~ uh,~ what, what, every class you go to, right? It's video, video, video, right?

Tracy Hayes: You should be doing video. How many people are really actually doing it? I can tell you, even the best agents that I've had on, I go on their YouTube. There is a ton. Nothing there. There's a couple handful of videos. They may have done six months six years ago. 

Tracy Hayes: whether it's ~uh ~If you're a social media thing, but obviously I think ~um, ~I always go back to george guerrero If you're you know from miami george's, ~uh ~treasure right now at florida realtor.

Tracy Hayes: He's been president of the miami board He ~uh ~when I asked him what is three things that real estate agents need to be doing he said video video video 

Cassandra Shober: And I remember that When I first started in the industry, I remember one of my, my broker and now mentor, he was like, you got to get videos, got to get videos, got to get videos.

Cassandra Shober: And I'll walk around and people are like, we love watching your videos. And I'm like, it's just, it's just something simple and fun. I do, but people absolutely love [00:27:00] it. I, you know, 

Tracy Hayes: We have a lot of customers that are coming from out of state Where do you think they're actually you know,~ um,~ I mean, you you know, you're not old enough ~Uh ~to you haven't been in the business long enough to remember I I do remember back in the day my parents my dad dabbled in real estate at one time, but when they actually had to wait for the, the notebook to come out, right?

Tracy Hayes: They, they updated the notebook in the office of what the listings were. And there was 

Cassandra Shober: only a few of them. Yeah. There was only a few. And you were 

Tracy Hayes: only looking at this picture and this address and it said, Hey, yeah, it's three bedroom, two bath and so many square feet or hopefully it was maybe on a lake or on the water or whatever.

Tracy Hayes: You just got those. And then, so you had to actually go out and look at it. Right. Most of these people are looking at the house numerous times on the video. Right. Right. Right. Right. ~Um, ~I think, would you agree? Now, you've been at Watson for a while, but Is it Cassandra or is it Watson that you get most of your business from?

Cassandra Shober: Oh man, so I, I would say it's Cassandra. Yeah. 100%. Watson's just, just there to give me the tools to do it. And they support their realtors. [00:28:00] At the end of the day, agents need to understand your broker can't feed you. Only you can feed you. 

Tracy Hayes: Yeah. 

Cassandra Shober: Your broker can't always give you leads. If they're tempting you, if somebody's tempting you with leads, you better know how to get your own leads.

Cassandra Shober: They cannot feed you. They should teach you how to fish. So you can feed yourself. 

Tracy Hayes: Yeah, well, exactly. And I think these, these places that,~ uh,~ that are, you know, more lead generation up front, generally, you know, a new agent coming on, that might be a great way to get their business started, 

Cassandra Shober: you know, a little faster, 

Tracy Hayes: ~uh, ~type thing.

Tracy Hayes: ~Um, ~I'm sure I think where I was, I was going with my thought there. ~Uh, ~we, we both got off on a slight tape or the video video, but,~ um,~ the importance of them building a relationship with you over the video. Right. 

Cassandra Shober: Yeah, I guess they can see kind of my style, what kind of homes I'm doing, you know, I'll even, I like to say from castles to cottages or cottages to castles, I'll do mobile homes, I'll do luxury listings, we'll do it all, so I think it's just a matter of capturing everything.

Tracy Hayes: Well, We know,~ uh,~ everyone's headshot is not always,~ um,~ up to date. ~Um, ~there's been plenty of people I've had on [00:29:00] where I, the only thing I have is their headshot. And I meet them for the first time coming on the show and I'm like, ooh! ~Um, ~okay, is that you? Yeah, alright. ~Um, ~I see, okay, I see the resemblance.

Tracy Hayes: But, the video is, is, to me,~ uh,~ well, Scientists will tell you whether you're watching a video or like face to face or your mind doesn't differentiate 

Cassandra Shober: Yeah, 

Tracy Hayes: and they're building that relationship even though you're not they you know, you're talking to a camera They visualize you're talking to them and they see your mannerisms.

Tracy Hayes: I see you know, how you present yourself and you're like, hey That's someone I can Right. 

Cassandra Shober: I think some of what has helped me is just educating buyers and sellers, like there's nothing to hide. You can educate them. At the end of the day, they can make an educated guess, right? You're just there to help them with that.

Cassandra Shober: So I always say, Hey, this could happen or this could happen. What do you want to do? Because it should be their choice. I would say professionally from my viewpoint, yada, yada, yada. That's 

Tracy Hayes: the value add that you give. 

Cassandra Shober: That's right. You're, you're, 

Tracy Hayes: you're putting the videos out to add value. The customer's taking in some of [00:30:00] that value, but they're also bonding with you.

Tracy Hayes: The fact that you are a giving person, right? You're giving out because it's not 

Cassandra Shober: just them walking into a home. Let's buy the home. No. Okay. Let's talk about this. Okay. Your windows are 20 years old. That's going to be a 15. You got to have credibility 

Tracy Hayes: to have that conversation. Oh 

Cassandra Shober: yeah. Cause my, the whole thing for me is.

Cassandra Shober: setting my buyers and my sellers up for success and for repeat business and for referrals. So buyers turn into sellers, sellers turn into investors. 

Tracy Hayes: ~Um, ~I want to go, I want to circle back to your top secrets,~ um,~ that you, I, cause the reason why I brought up video is cause obviously that's what you guys are being told at all these trainings.

Cassandra Shober: Yes. 

Tracy Hayes: But how many are actually doing it's 

Cassandra Shober: nerve wracking. 

Tracy Hayes: Yeah, it's nerve wracking. There's a lot of really great Methods because every I'm sure you would agree all of you do your business a little bit different 

Cassandra Shober: right a hundred percent I'm completely different. Yes 

Tracy Hayes: You can't there's no There's people that come up and say, Hey, Cassandra, I want to know how you do your business.

Tracy Hayes: And you're, you give them the, Hey, this is what I do all day long. ABC, right? They're never going to do it exactly the [00:31:00] way you do it, but we call those assholes. Yeah. All right. 

Cassandra Shober: They just ask what to do and then they don't. Well, well, 

Tracy Hayes: I mean completely not do it, but I'm saying. They may do some of, like, they're going to take something, right?

Tracy Hayes: Some, if someone's going to move forward with it, they're going to take out what they think is the most valuable and then 

Cassandra Shober: do 

Tracy Hayes: it the way they want to do it. That's a 

Cassandra Shober: recipe. 

Tracy Hayes: Yeah. 

Cassandra Shober: It's like somebody, you get a recipe and then you add your own little flavor and flair and different styles and approaches.

Tracy Hayes: Yeah. 

Cassandra Shober: Yes. Yes. Much 

Tracy Hayes: like that. Yes. That was actually the analogy I had in my head. 

Cassandra Shober: There you go. 

Tracy Hayes: So to me there's there really is no top secret because you only you're only ~um, ~You're gonna disagree with me. But I mean, I I think every agent only has an influence to a certain level. You're not Massively advertising billboards tv and jacksonville So everybody knows who cassandra is you have your circle of influence right someone over here They have a totally [00:32:00] different they may overlap a little bit but They have a totally another circle 

Cassandra Shober: I think At the end of the day the secret is being you and being passionate about real estate You have to be passionate if you don't have that passion I I don't think it it will work for you because passion is what drives you right and people will Customers will see that and the secret is just just being passionate 

Tracy Hayes: And 

Cassandra Shober: showing up 

Tracy Hayes: and doing the work.

Tracy Hayes: Well, that, that backs up what you were, you know, like you say, when you're going into a house and you, you know, especially a listing appointment, you say, Oh my God, we need to fix this. We need to do that. And you've got to have,~ uh,~ the conviction or the passion that you're talking about and then backed up with some, some credibility.

Cassandra Shober: Right. 

Tracy Hayes: ~Um, ~The video gives you credibility, 

Cassandra Shober: right? 

Tracy Hayes: So you may not know everything about new construction, right? but if you go out and with a home inspector or whatever whoever might give you this education and then share that education with people right on You know through video all of a sudden you're gaining credibility.

Tracy Hayes: Yes, because you're talking about it 

Cassandra Shober: I agree. So so one [00:33:00] one of my approaches when dealing with sellers is when we have this conversation Hey, I understand you live in your home homes are made to be lived in Okay. But when we're selling a home, this becomes a beauty pageant and we turn it and like, Hey, we got to do this.

Cassandra Shober: We got to do that. We got to make this all pretty perfect because you're in competition. You're in competition to sell your home 

Tracy Hayes: in the markets. Obviously changing last, you know, buyers 

Cassandra Shober: recognize that buyers recognize a clean home for compared to somebody who's just like, 

Tracy Hayes: right. That's kind of where i'm because in in 21 they made it tolerated but today You know whether you're doing some staging or staging or obviously like you said you're going in, you know having some conversations Share, if you could,~ um,~ go back to one of those experiences you've had where you've had a listing appointment where you had to have one of those kind of heart to heart conversations with them and say, Hey, if you want to get the best dollar for this, we need to have 

Cassandra Shober: some So I, I was at a listing appointment,~ um,~ and ~Uh, ~it was a [00:34:00] referral, that's how they had called me, and my first thing I ever do is when I walk into a home, show me the home, show me around, show me.

Cassandra Shober: And we're walking around and I looked up and I noticed a stain on the ceiling. I was like, is your roof leaking? And she's like, I didn't even know that was there. She's like, we've had multiple agents come through this home and you are the first person to point that out. And I was like, you got to cover that up, like the roof, we got to check these things out, you know, and then we sat down and had a conversation two days later, they called me and hired me just because I pointed out a stain on the ceiling.

Tracy Hayes: Yeah. 

Cassandra Shober: Cause stains on the ceiling. Ah, buyers like, Oh my gosh. 

Tracy Hayes: Because I think the average, the average agent, they're afraid you, they're afraid where there might lead because you may have a leak in the roof, right? I don't know anyone buying a house right now. That's not having a home inspection Existing home, right?

Tracy Hayes: You're crazy. You'd be considered crazy to be doing that Yeah so why would they would be you know in you don't know if that customer is gonna pay for the cheapy guy who just Kind of goes through like an [00:35:00] appraiser and just looks and if he didn't see anything didn't nothing's wrong But some of these guys, you know, they have the equipment and the technology if there's a stain there there there's moisture up there Boom, they're gone You're digging deeper.

Tracy Hayes: ~So, ~and now you got, now you got, someone's going to back out of a contract, 

Cassandra Shober: right? Now it's an acknowledging problems. Disclose, disclose, disclose problems. And there's, we can always work around problems. 

Tracy Hayes: Do you like prelisting inspections? 

Cassandra Shober: ~Uh, ~depending on the home, depending on the home. Some, and it really depends on the seller's needs.

Cassandra Shober: I always recommend it, but you know, sellers are like, well, we'd just rather wait. Okay. That's fine. Just be prepared. 

Tracy Hayes: Right. 

Cassandra Shober: Let's just be prepared. ~So, ~you know, this choice is yours, but here's what could happen. They could find something massively wrong with the property, which could put a bomb into the deal and the contracts done, 

Tracy Hayes: right?

Tracy Hayes: Or it could be just a bunch of little things that don't cost that much, but they're going to put a bigger value. Fix on them then some of these things that they could have fixed themselves, right? And You know for pennies on the dollar 

Cassandra Shober: and this [00:36:00] is where like, mr. Seller mrs Seller you need to get a contractor out there to have that checked and you have your prices ready So if a buyer bounces back and they say this is 20, 000 and your contractor saying it's only 5, 000.

Cassandra Shober: Well, here's our evidence What evidence do you have to prove right? Besides your home inspector, where's the contractor, you know, and this is where the negotiations come in. 

Tracy Hayes: Yeah, the negotiation concessions Are those actual physical repairs so you might get less for your home, 

Cassandra Shober: right? 

Tracy Hayes: Because you didn't you didn't spend a few on you know, 100 up front, 

Cassandra Shober: right?

Tracy Hayes: Insurance, have you run into any issues with that? 

Cassandra Shober: Oh, insurance companies, we love you, yeah, we hate you. ~Uh, ~no, I mean, I always recommend during the home inspection period to have a four point inspection done. This is how, you know, a lot of insurance companies gauge benefits. Binding an insurance policy or not.

Cassandra Shober: So we have our roof panel box, plumbing and water heater. Those ages really, really matter when we're working with sellers right up front. Hey, just be prepared. If these things aren't updated in order [00:37:00] for the contract to close in order for you to sell your home. You have to either give a concession have it fixed and have it ready to to be taken care of because insurance companies will not Play, 

Tracy Hayes: yeah, 

Cassandra Shober: they're not playing anymore And 

Tracy Hayes: you have those marginal buyers, you know First time home buyers or just someone who's just tight on their debt ratio And all of a sudden the insurance comes back and it's twice as much, you know, we didn't have that problem three years ago But in the last you know 24, 36 months as insurance issues come up, we're seeing some crazy why we have 

Cassandra Shober: four point inspection that the insurance company has on file because nine times out of 10 when you have that on file, they won't mess with you because they know they can't because here my inspector, here's the evidence, what are you guys trying to say?

Cassandra Shober: I mean, even with roofs that are five years old now, like they're, they're like, your roof needs to be replaced. Well, where's your four point inspection? Why didn't somebody like, well they should 

Tracy Hayes: be doing wind, wind mitigation, and four point. I know some of the, some of the better,~ uh,~ home inspectors are, are just doing them 

Cassandra Shober: because they know 

Tracy Hayes: this [00:38:00] is an issue.

Tracy Hayes: And 

Cassandra Shober: my buyers, I always say, Hey, you, this is what you're paying for. You're gonna get an inspection, a four point and a win. Mid pay for it. 

Tracy Hayes: Yeah. 

Cassandra Shober: And a WDO. Yep. 

Tracy Hayes: A hundred percent. Uhhuh. . Alright.~ So, um, ~you come to Jacksonville. I come to Jacksonville. You're working tables. I serve in tables. In a really 

Cassandra Shober: nice restaurant.

Cassandra Shober: Okay, well that's good. 

Tracy Hayes: ~Um, ~why real estate? Why? How did you get lured into? 

Cassandra Shober: Oh, okay, so I was like, alright, you know what, let's go for this. I started taking my, my exam, not the exam, but preparing and studying for the real estate exam. ~Um, Uh, ~and one day I was like, what, what, 

Tracy Hayes: what, what got you there? What got 

Cassandra Shober: me there?

Cassandra Shober: I was tired of serving tables and people were encouragement, encouraging me. Hey, you can do it. We had some 

Tracy Hayes: people coming through the restaurant or people you knew personally, 

Cassandra Shober: like friends, friends and family. Everybody was really encouraging me to pursue it. You know, I was like, okay, let's let's start working on it.

Cassandra Shober: And one day of serving tables. And a woman comes in and she was like, you need to meet my broker. And I'm like, why? [00:39:00] She's like, you're really detail oriented. You understood everything I told you and you got it down correctly. And I was like, okay. And I was like, well, I'm in the process of getting my real estate license.

Cassandra Shober: She's like, Got to come meet my broker. And I was like, okay. So I went and met,~ uh,~ Eddie,~ uh,~ Cintron, who was the broker at Watson Realty Corp Southside at the time. And it, he was just like, Whoa, what do you think you can do? I'm like, let's, I really want to do this. I, this is something I really want to do. I had to, I had to.

Cassandra Shober: All right. 

Tracy Hayes: ~Um, ~So you got a you obviously you went over and signed up under him. 

Cassandra Shober: Yep. I did 

Tracy Hayes: Did you actually talk to any other brokers? No, just 

Cassandra Shober: I just I was like, I felt like he was a mentor He was encouraging he you know, he was like, okay Well, this is gonna be hard because now you're balancing two jobs, but he gave me a chance.

Cassandra Shober: They gave me a chance Right 

Tracy Hayes: Well, I think Watson gives a lot of people chances, but, but,~ um,~ the point I always like to make, I know you haven't listened to any of my shows, but,~ um,~ the broker choice is important. You got lucky. You were fortunate, but I mean, but [00:40:00] now you've been in the business a while and you've, you know, people in the business 

Cassandra Shober: and 

Tracy Hayes: how many of them,~ um,~ have gone, maybe, you know, maybe Especially that first one was the was wrong and they might have stayed there for years Some of them got out in six months and went to another brokerage because they knew right away I need to save my business But how important is that the the broker and not necessarily the broker the as the individual?

Tracy Hayes: but the the culture of the office because I think it's important if if your broker's not Out front that you have Other like, you know, experienced agents you can rely on, you can get energy from, or just like those basic questions. Like, Hey, how do I put a listing appointment together? Can you walk me through it?

Tracy Hayes: You know, having those people around you. 

Cassandra Shober: Yes, it's all you nailed it. It's, it's a hundred percent important. It's like having mentors. Right, so if you that and that's the beautiful thing with watson realty corp is the training the training aspect was was fantastic for me The broker aspect he was more of a mentor But he was also there to help me work the contract and would catch a couple [00:41:00] things as well So you want to make sure you have a mentor?

Cassandra Shober: At the end of the day, make sure you have a broker who's in house. A lot of these agencies, they don't have that. They don't have a broker in house. Now that works well for somebody with experience, but even with my experience, I still want my broker. I want to be able to call the vice president and have a conversation if I'm having a serious problem.

Tracy Hayes: Yeah. 

Cassandra Shober: And that's, that's the nice thing with Watson is the doors are always open. 

Tracy Hayes: Well, would you agree a challenge, especially for new agents is, you know, deals, these negotiations over, over repairs or negotiation is a big part of why you get paid what you get paid.~ Um, ~and everyone's different. So it's not like, Hey, you know, go order.

Tracy Hayes: I'm going to use this photographer. It's not like checking off the list. Negotiations are very important. And it's when you either win or lose a deal and oftentimes winning that advocate, that client that's going to refer you on and on and on, which is really. Right. The win. 

Cassandra Shober: Well, you know, the win comes when you've prepared [00:42:00] your sellers, you've educated your sellers and buyers, every, you know, realistic, setting realistic expectations, I think is what helps you win.

Cassandra Shober: You know with referrals in the future as well and sometimes sellers don't quite grasp that So you can kind of butt heads a little bit, but you know as a as a realtor I stand firm on some things But it's their decision so you can't you know fight that all the time 

Tracy Hayes: But how you present it and of course sometimes we some people get a little emotional Sometimes you need to like put the phone down walk away Take a walk around the block and then come back and let your mind but to have ~Uh, ~whether it's a great broker Right.

Tracy Hayes: The balance takes a situation. This is what I think we should do. What do you think? Right. And get that kind of feedback before you go back to your clients. 

Cassandra Shober: Exactly. Exactly. And I'll do that. Sometimes I'll have a conversation in the mirror with myself. I'll have a conversation with myself. Yeah. ~Uh, ~and then I'll have a conversation with a broker.

Cassandra Shober: I'll have a conversation with, with,~ uh,~ other agents who I, I've been influenced by, you know, I'll talk to other people, you know, [00:43:00] and, and sometimes my administrator, you know, just. Just little conversations can help you work a contract even better and part of it's just learning how not to get too emotional 

Tracy Hayes: Because I think you have to realize It's like, you know, every loan is different because you got a different person.

Tracy Hayes: Yeah, every So you're dealing with people and a different house. So it's nothing's cookie cutter and all this things going and you You have to watch, you don't, you haven't seen everything. Even if you sold hundreds of homes, you still haven't seen every situation. There's yeah, there's something, another situation comes up and you've got to deal with it to be able to reach out to somebody who's seen a hundred other different types of deals that may have done.

Tracy Hayes: with the situation before, 

Cassandra Shober: ~um, ~

Tracy Hayes: and be able to reach out to those people. And, and that's getting in that right office is what we're getting to. 

Cassandra Shober: Yes, a hundred percent right office, right broker. ~Um, so, ~so I was going to say this earlier, there's brokers who have different styles, there's brokers who manage. ~Uh, ~and they're good at [00:44:00] managing.

Cassandra Shober: And then there's brokers who are good at influencing, managing, and mentoring. And that's what you want to look for. And some people don't like my, my first broker was great. Other people may have not liked them, but it's just what you feel for you. That's the important, exactly, exactly. And,~ uh,~ don't be afraid to go out there and find it.

Tracy Hayes: All right. So you,~ uh,~ in, you, what was the three influence 

Cassandra Shober: mentor 

Tracy Hayes: mentoring, and there was a third managing, managing. 

Cassandra Shober: Okay. 

Tracy Hayes: Explain influence. 

Cassandra Shober: Influence, an example. How they've worked, how they've done it, how they show up to the office, how, how are they performing, how are, how are they inspiring you through their example.

Tracy Hayes: Should someone be deterred if their broker is actually still producing? 

Cassandra Shober: You know, 

Tracy Hayes: you 

Cassandra Shober: know, so I, I, my, I've had brokers who are still producing not a lot, but it keeps them fresh. So it should be okay for your broker to work a couple of contracts. It keeps them fresh, keeps them up to date on the contract, helps them with their [00:45:00] negotiation, helps them communicate.

Cassandra Shober: Effectively with you too, 

Tracy Hayes: right? 

Cassandra Shober: So I don't think there's anything wrong with a broker who's who has a couple sales under their belt 

Tracy Hayes: Yeah, no, no doubt. That's great advice there because I I agree with you There's some brokers out there who don't produce but they are Involved. Yes, they're whether they're down there.

Tracy Hayes: ~Uh, ~they're they're teaching they're involved at the board They're, you know doing the things that they need to be doing being out front, right? They need to be out in front of their agents. So they're hopefully, ~uh ~adding value to you, 

Cassandra Shober: right? 

Tracy Hayes: ~um, ~but I think there's ~um ~Just some that just drop back to the management thing and I think that they're dying at that point.

Cassandra Shober: Yeah. 

Tracy Hayes: Yeah Yeah 

Cassandra Shober: And you'll know when you when you you run into it you can tell and sometimes it's just it's not for them 

Tracy Hayes: Yeah, 

Cassandra Shober: some brokers some realtors are not made to be brokers and some brokers just they're amazing But it's not everybody's calling because you're managing It's more than managing.

Cassandra Shober: It's mentoring because if you want somebody to sell, if you want somebody to be effective, you have to be mentoring. 

Tracy Hayes: ~Um, ~yesterday I was over at Amanda Hauser. She's, she owns the [00:46:00] first coast real estate school and she had a group of seven new agents. And one of the things I shared, it was obviously some of the conversations that I've, you know, hundreds of conversations with agents and what they're doing and the importance of taking some time at the beginning of your career too.

Tracy Hayes: Cause you know, there's lucky ones that you just, you just. Fell in the right one. Yeah. And everything clicked for you. It really did. Yeah. And yet there's others ch to take the time and not only, you know, you obviously you gotta sit in front of the broker and listen to them. Right. Do. But that's, it's, you know, some people say it's like an interview, it's like two people lying to each other.

Tracy Hayes: Right. , they're telling you about how great their education is, how great their technology is. Compared to what right? Everyone has it. Everyone every broker's gonna take but just sit down with actual agents who work in that office And how they do their business and are you do you bond with that way they do business?

Tracy Hayes: Because you may find his office You got a bunch of people who can just do it on their own and they don't really need the broker So the broker they're like broker I don't really even call him because I don't I just call my [00:47:00] friend who's also been in the business or as Successful as I am and they never so you find out that broker really isn't You You might not be that person.

Tracy Hayes: Yeah, exactly. 

Cassandra Shober: Exactly. 

Tracy Hayes: ~Um, ~now were you ever on a team? 

Cassandra Shober: I think yeah once I started I started you started on yes, and yes It was the the the lady who found me at the restaurant or I found her. However, you want to okay And I just remember my broker's like you can do it. Just go for it Just go and do it yourself.

Cassandra Shober: And I I finally was like, you know what? I'm, just gonna go take the step of faith. So 

Tracy Hayes: it's just you kind of mentoring under her as a team Really 

Cassandra Shober: educated me with how to like work the contract how to understand the contract different things It just wasn't for me. I wanted to go off and do my thing I didn't want to have to 

Tracy Hayes: well, did she have a like a full fledged?

Tracy Hayes: I mean, you know It was you just but I mean how important though you think for a new agent getting in the business today to kind of Shadow someone like you're talking about the you'll see what a natural day in the life of a real estate agent You know 

Cassandra Shober: [00:48:00] I think shadowing is is fantastic for for a lot of agents and that and the broker should also be able to help you with That as well.

Cassandra Shober: ~Um, ~i've had a couple realtors reach out to me who've been selling real estate for two years and They had nothing and I was like, come on, let's hang out. Let's go to lunch. Let's talk. Let's do things 

Tracy Hayes: Yeah, 

Cassandra Shober: ~so, ~you know there was folks there for me. I don't mind being there for anybody. I you know, I love to inspire I love to help.

Cassandra Shober: This is the way I do things, you know, find you though find who you are 

Tracy Hayes: ~Um, ~well on your social media. I do see a little bit of your your ~um ~Co rural or socialization. Yeah. How, how, how important is that, do you think, in your, in your, it's, it's a fun part. And people always say, you know, like, we, we mentioned the,~ um,~ HGTV,~ uh,~ you know, ~uh, ~at the beginning of the show,~ um,~ it can be, it can be fun going out,~ uh,~ But you're actually, you are doing business as well, you're 

Cassandra Shober: building relationships, 

Tracy Hayes: you're building relationships, maybe hearing some stories that, you know, help you in your next transaction that might come up, you know, how, how important you think is for agents to, to have a little bit of that in there?

Cassandra Shober: Well, we're not, we're, [00:49:00] we're competition, but we're not competitors, right? ~So, ~you know, you need to respect everyone in the industry because All it takes is one bad experience and everyone will find out. I promise you, you know, so we have to respect each other as agents, you know, we try not to be drama and, you know, you, you, you gotta respect everybody and really try to build a relationship with everybody cause that, it'll always come back to you.

Cassandra Shober: I'm a little, I, I'm, I'm the same way, but I'm really about like, you know, I'll go out there and get it. ~Um, ~you know, and some of those get togethers with, with, you know, other agents. It's fun, but my, my schedule is, is filled with a lot of other things as well. Cause I do have children. 

Tracy Hayes: Yeah. Yeah. ~Um, ~opportunities come up where lunch and learns are, you know, when there's some slower times to jump out,~ uh,~ even if it's just going over to landmark,~ uh,~ which is a great training tomorrow, those listening live, there's a great training tomorrow,~ uh,~ speaker tomorrow,~ uh,~ there's an opportunity to socialize a little bit, right?

Tracy Hayes: Right there and shake hands say hi to some of these people who may be on the other side of transactions But you never [00:50:00] actually saw that, you know So, 

Cassandra Shober: I mean, I've I don't think you know, I've I've had some really tough agents in the past and you know, you meet them and you're like Like you you really want to try to avoid 

Tracy Hayes: what do you what do you think it is and their mindset and some When you say tough agent, I'm, I'm assuming, and you can clarify, but I have seen this,~ um,~ cause my wife's an agent.

Tracy Hayes: So I've seen where the agent on the other side is just being extremely difficult. Not the, not necessarily their client, but actually the agent themselves is being really difficult and not saying, Hey, I got a difficult client. Help me out. ~Uh, ~because the goal is we got a, we got a seller and we got someone who wants to buy that house.

Tracy Hayes: How can we get it to close? And I think 

Cassandra Shober: sometimes they think that this is their specialty with negotiation. Oh, sweetheart, it does not work like that. Like, you know, you can't, you can't operate like that. You have to really kind of explain, Hey, I have a difficult seller, so I apologize, but this is what they're, what, this is what's happening.

Cassandra Shober: Or I have a difficult [00:51:00] buyer or I have a scared buyer of this, you know, it's, it's just 

Tracy Hayes: because the reality is. As an agent just listening in here if you are one of those agents Hopefully I don't have any listeners like that But maybe I do if you're one of those difficult agents stop getting so emotional about it And it's not you're not giving up anything you what you're doing is You're you're sondra's on the other side You're talking back and forth and maybe your seller or whatever has to give a little bit They're going to give come up a little bit that sort of thing The bottom line is both people sign off at the end 

Cassandra Shober: right 

Tracy Hayes: the buyer and seller You Come to an agreement and it's on them.

Tracy Hayes: You just 

Cassandra Shober: You're there to facilitate. You're, you're, you're basically there to communicate. ~Um, ~but I know what it's like to work with some really complicated buyers and sellers. So I always tell agents, Hey, I am sorry if I'm coming across a certain way, but this person just, you know, and they're like, Oh, I'm so sorry.

Cassandra Shober: And then it turns into like, Hey, we can understand that. Cause we've all experienced that. How can we make this better? So we can get the dang deal close. Cause at the end of the day, [00:52:00] that's the purpose. 

Tracy Hayes: You come across as a person who's very,~ um,~ Upfront and just straight. 

Cassandra Shober: Yes, I try to be I've learned that you have to be 

Tracy Hayes: do you?

Tracy Hayes: Obviously, well, that's your personality. Yeah, that's my personality. You're from Pennsylvania. I was born But 

Cassandra Shober: some 

Tracy Hayes: our southern friends, 

Cassandra Shober: okay, 

Tracy Hayes: they take they kind of can take offense to it they want a little like Sugar added to it. I don't know and I've 

Cassandra Shober: had to learn how to kind of be like that But the beautiful thing is even the southern friends that they're professionals on on, you know They know how to they have to be up front too, right?

Cassandra Shober: Sometimes there's no sugar coating coating anything. 

Tracy Hayes: Well, it's business it's not personal when you start bringing in the personal thing like ~uh, ~they're they're toning the voice and I and I I can I have a History of being Misunderstood and it's generally a lot of things that I didn't even say More than things I actually said You know people get that emotion, but it's business and when someone [00:53:00] hires you you're you're hired to be their bulldog You're hired to do a job.

Tracy Hayes: Yeah, and And they yeah All right, so you get started you're you're You're,~ um,~ this lady who introduced you to the broker, you,~ uh,~ work with her a little bit and then realize it was just a few months and then the broker's like, Hey, you know, you're just your own solo agent type of thing. So what, what were some of your, your,~ Uh,~ what did you pick up from her?

Tracy Hayes: And then what were, you know, for those first, those new agents that might be listening or even someone struggling right now who might be in the business three years but it feels like their first year, what were some of the challenges you had and then how did you overcome them? 

Cassandra Shober: ~Uh, ~to answer, start, your, your question about 

Tracy Hayes: Her.

Cassandra Shober: Yeah,~ um,~ so she, that was great. I learned all about, like, how to operate the systems for DocuSigns and things like that. I understood the contract. She was really great at explaining things, communicating things. She taught me a lot of things. I just wanted to be on my own. [00:54:00] Well, you still 

Tracy Hayes: need that you need you want to learn those things now, I did have Angela Walker who was a long time Watson agent for years until she recently moved She when she moved now and obviously all those things change.

Tracy Hayes: Yeah, you know after being with Watson for 20 something years She's like I just wanna hire a transaction coordinator. I don't have time to learn those things now. Hmm. ~Uh, ~that's where she felt,~ uh,~ because 20 some years where she's at in her life and so forth. Yeah. She didn't want to have to spend all that.

Tracy Hayes: Right. But as a new agent, you kind of need to know how those things work behind the scenes, 

Cassandra Shober: even as a seasoned agent, you know, transaction coordinators are great, but you need to know that contract. You need to understand what I didn't say, the 

Tracy Hayes: contract I'm talking about, like, ~uh, ~the crm. Ah, yeah. CRMs. Yeah.

Tracy Hayes: Those, those kind, those kind of. The back office,~ uh,~ software. Yes, I can 

Cassandra Shober: see where, where we need those as well. But I'd like to learn the systems just because it, it just makes you, I think it does something to your brain learning new things and for agents who are really struggling right now. Oh gosh, what's.

Cassandra Shober: I just, you [00:55:00] just got to get out there and go get it. You really do. You have to mailers, flyers, door hangers, open houses,~ uh,~ your coy, you know, doing, doing the work. You have to do the work and you cannot be a secret agent. You have to be in people's faces. You have to be out at meetings. You have to go and meet people.

Tracy Hayes: You've gone, you know, you've, well, you went through the full cycle, right? You start in 16. Obviously, we know 1920, 21, it was gangbusters. ~Um, ~there's a bunch of agents that started during that time. Right. ~Um, ~obviously at the different seasons over the nearly, well, almost seven years you've been in the business now.

Tracy Hayes: ~Um. ~You've doing stuff a little differently what you didn't mean even didn't even have time in 21 to do What are what are some things you're doing now in summer of 24? that maybe you Didn't have time to do really weren't doing a lot of now But like you said getting back to the basis doing getting out there and doing it What are the some of those getting out there and doing it?

Cassandra Shober: Open houses for sure open houses is a big thing because back [00:56:00] back, you know back in 2021 You're stuck to sign the yard like oh my gosh Done and now you really have to focus on marketing Good mls descriptions professional photography things like that. I mean I was always doing that I was always That that person but now I have to be really really specific really really detailed really, you know You Prepare the market.

Cassandra Shober: Prepare the home to market. 

Tracy Hayes: How,~ uh,~ preparing the home, the market that has beyond the sale effects. ~Uh, ~now you've been doing it seven years. You've been around, you've, you're interacting with agents. You're, you're considered a seasoned agent. You know, you guys are having these conversations. The importance of Doing it right right having those professional photos because they're up there forever.

Tracy Hayes: Mm hmm. And that is your names on them 

Cassandra Shober: Yeah, and what's fun is when you see, you know listings where they have a Christmas tree and it's still June Like, come on, check your [00:57:00] listings. Like, I'm every day I'm, I'm, I'm like trying to figure out, can I do something different? Is there something I can change with this listing?

Cassandra Shober: Is there something that I'm missing? Pull other agents in. So it's just a matter of really working your business. You really got to take it. You don't slap a home up. And that's it you have really just constantly following up with it follow up follow up follow up We have a saying the fortunes in the follow up.

Tracy Hayes: Yeah But how many enter the business and you may have been like this at the beginning or maybe didn't realize it But now you i'm sure you do ~um ~You have to look at every every house that you're representing as not only yes, that 30 or 45 days and you close or, or, you know, if it's listed, whatever the period of time that house you're active, that house, but the things that you do with it is your reputation.

Tracy Hayes: It's 

Cassandra Shober: my portfolio. 

Tracy Hayes: Yeah. For, for future ongoing business for years and years and years. 

Cassandra Shober: And I don't think some agents realize that, you know, a lot of realtors don't realize that, but again, you know, there's different styles, there's different types. ~Uh, ~and there's different types of sellers [00:58:00] who. You know, I've heard some sellers say they don't like the professional pictures because it's not realistic.

Cassandra Shober: Oh, I never thought of that. I didn't I never thought not realistic never thought of that Like who thinks like that like no like I didn't I didn't think like that, but buyers don't see it like that So yes professional pictures 100 I know They're out there. 

Tracy Hayes: My answer to them is what do you care? You're leaving?

Tracy Hayes: I know You know,~ uh,~ we're not trying to sell it to you I've heard 

Cassandra Shober: realtors say this and I think that they've heard that from realtors who were just cheap You 

Tracy Hayes: Well, 

Cassandra Shober: because you know, you have to invest into your listings 

Tracy Hayes: when you're going into that. And this is a question I've never asked before, but I think it's important now with the NAR settlement and stuff like that.

Tracy Hayes: And actually on the subject that we're talking about is when, when,~ uh,~ you have that seller, right? You know, like I said, everything's negotiable when they start to have that right, the importance right [00:59:00] now is showing my value, showing your value, but being prepared for that. Now, not firing right back, but obviously letting, letting, because a lot of times people just want to throw it out there to see how you react.

Tracy Hayes: If you've been in sales long enough, there are questions people ask just to see how you react. Even if they're not actually thinking that directly, it's subliminally in their head. Yeah. I just got, I have to ask a question to let the, let the sell, let the salesperson know that I'm actually listening. So they throw a question, well, do we really need to do that?

Tracy Hayes: Or, you know, ~uh, ~well, can't you do better on your, on your, on your price and how important is to have, to be. be,~ um,~ you have to practice this maybe with other age role playing that sort of thing. So when you are in front of a customer, how your whole presence comes back with a distinct answer and then you just, you're moving on.

Cassandra Shober: Well, you know, we just explained what, what you're paying me to do and what you're paying the buyer's agent to do. And this is what I'm going to do. And this is what the buyer's agent is going to do. [01:00:00] And you know, we can always negotiate price and things like that if we need to. But you know, pay, pay, pay your agent.

Cassandra Shober: You know, if you want to list your home, go, you stick that for sale sign and have fun at it. And nine times out of 10, you will end up hiring somebody if you want to do a for sale by owner, because it is a lot of work. 

Tracy Hayes: Yeah. Yeah. They have no idea all that's interacted and the interactions that go back and forth.

Tracy Hayes: And,~ uh,~ you're not only just knowing, you know, I try to keep both sides, both agents, some, I don't necessarily tell the listing agent what my borrower details are going, but obviously keeping them informed. If you don't have someone representing you, they're not going to call you the seller and say, Oh yeah, by the way, the buyer Right.

Tracy Hayes: You know, it is in, in this, this is a situation that we're working through and we'll have it resolved. You want to tell the agent that so they can filter it, but the agent knows what's going on and everyone's handling, you don't get that when you don't have any, when you, an agent. 

Cassandra Shober: No. And they don't realize setting [01:01:00] up appointments, having conversations, you know, this, you know, having certain forms and disclosures signed a lot of, a lot of,~ uh,~ you know, And they have a separate job so they don't understand how real estate works.

Cassandra Shober: Again, social media and the media has over sensationalized what we do for a living. Okay. We don't all drive Porsches. We all don't dress up though, you know, in Gucci and Armani. A lot of us wear sneakers and jeans and we're out pounding the pavement every single day. 

Tracy Hayes: And sometimes you're cleaning toilets and cleaning houses right before an open house.

Tracy Hayes: 100 

Cassandra Shober: percent totally. And a lot of agents need to get. The, the selling sunset image out of their mind because no, this is boots on the ground, you know, pounding the pavement and 

Tracy Hayes: there's good money. If you're willing to put the, yeah, at the end of the day, you can definitely treat yourself to a nice dinner if you're putting the work in, but you got to put the work 

Cassandra Shober: in.

Cassandra Shober: This isn't, this isn't as easy as, as folks think now, you know, granted that there are those stories where somebody gets into the industry and man, they're making millions of dollars. Okay. Good for you. But no, it's not, it's not how [01:02:00] everybody is. Yeah. 

Tracy Hayes: They're the statistics of 80 percent dropping out before they even renew, you know, who knows when they dropped out?

Tracy Hayes: They might have dropped out in the first three months But they the statistic doesn't come around until the renewals don't happen. 

Cassandra Shober: A lot of folks are like well, I can sell okay. No It's not about selling you have to be multifaceted You have to know how to communicate you have to know how to negotiate you have to know how to market you have to know How to talk to people you have to know how to do all of that All sorts of things.

Cassandra Shober: You have to know how to be a therapist. You have to know how to be a firefighter. You have to know Like i'm like you're gonna be putting out fires You have to know you have to understand how mortgages work. You have to understand everything. It's one of the most multi faceted Personalities. 

Tracy Hayes: Right. And, and a lot of it's not actually, you know, there's no like, hey, go to a classroom and after 40 hours, you're going to know all this.

Tracy Hayes: You actually have to,~ uh,~ it's learning by every pitch that's thrown at you. ~Uh, ~going to every opportunity that you can, these lunch and learns where a lender or insurance company or whatever is giving [01:03:00] information, going to NEFAR, that sort of thing, and getting these things over time. And you just got to deal with the curve balls that are thrown at you, but hopefully you surround yourself with key people.

Tracy Hayes: The one thing you didn't mention in that great list that you just rattled off there,~ um,~ Because you said it's, it's, you can sell, sells has something to do with it. I think sales negotiation that, you know, some tending on what they've been selling or whatever, there's a, there's things, a lot of the things that you mentioned, but I think one of the,~ um,~ one of the things, a lot of,~ uh,~ sales people,~ uh,~ don't necessarily have to have is the relationship part.

Tracy Hayes: Now we mentioned having relationships with other real estate agents briefly earlier, but. As a real estate agent, you want to be seen as the,~ um, uh, ~you know, resource in the community, the concierge, you're going to have, just because you helped them buy the home, how are you going to make that into income?

Tracy Hayes: Future sales, how are you going to get referrals for them? You have to have a relationship with them because there's, there's a lot of transaction going on and you may be really good at [01:04:00] that, but then the closing happens. Now, what, what do you do next? What are some of the things that you would recommend?

Tracy Hayes: Some of the things that maybe you do or like to do in the relations 

Cassandra Shober: with your customers? Yeah, sure. ~So, ~so every customer is different. Right? And you have to understand that. But at the end of the day, you can't lose who you are as well, just because you need to coddle somebody's feelings. So you also have to learn how to be gentle with presenting certain things.

Tracy Hayes: Empathetic, I think is the word. 

Cassandra Shober: Empathetic, yes. And that's a very good word. You have to, are you dealing with a shark? Numbers, numbers, numbers, numbers, numbers. And they'll, they'll, they'll snuggle up. The Norse or Grumman engineer. Oh, and then are you dealing with somebody who's just like, Oh, Hey, whatever you need, who doesn't clean out the house right before closing, you know, like why?

Cassandra Shober: Yeah, they're just go with the flow. And then you have somebody who will, a lot of my foreigners are like this. My foreign customers, they'll ask you question after question, after question, after question, and you have to know how to answer these questions. So 

Tracy Hayes: stay cool after the third or fourth one. 

Cassandra Shober: And it's not because they're there, they're any certain ways because they need to [01:05:00] understand because we have a language.

Cassandra Shober: So that's, that's something that people need to keep in mind. Like everybody has different types of communication styles and you have to, you have to understand different styles and then learn how to work with that person while still maintaining your professionalism and empathizing with that person.

Tracy Hayes: Yes. No, I think you're a hundred percent right with our,~ um,~ our ~Um, ~they have questions, but that's, that's an opportunity to win. 

Cassandra Shober: It is. 

Tracy Hayes: ~Um, ~because if you take your patient with them and you answer their questions,~ uh,~ you get back to them in a reasonable period of time, they appreciate that service. 

Cassandra Shober: Sure.

Cassandra Shober: And let me make sure I understand what you're saying. We always ask, is this what you're saying? No, no, I mean it, like, you know, you have to, you have to, you always have to, and I do that, I do that with anybody, like, is this, do you, oh, so what you're saying is this, no, I'm saying, I gotcha, so it's like sometimes, It might frustrate people, but when you clarify a question, it shows that you're listening.

Cassandra Shober: So it's being able to listen. And that you care. 100%. That 

Tracy Hayes: you care, that you want, you're solving their concern. 

Cassandra Shober: [01:06:00] Exactly. Yeah. 100%. ~So, ~you know, again, we're not just salespeople. We're not just salespeople. 

Tracy Hayes: Almost seven years now. Yeah You had somewhat of a little bit of a mentorship at the beginning. You're caught that Have you advanced?

Tracy Hayes: Have you have you hired a coach at any time? You've thought about hiring a coach? Never really 

Cassandra Shober: eat a lot. You know, I I do I do some you know seminars and things like that I do a lot of reading that helps but no, I've never never hired a mentor 

Tracy Hayes: when you what do you like? What when you say reading I mentioned is kind of a You Not necessarily somewhat industry or sales specific type stuff 

Cassandra Shober: more like ~um ~subconsciousness, ~uh ~tapping into you know What we we personal development.

Cassandra Shober: Yes what we tell ourselves what we think You know what we think becomes manifest to become true self affirmations And a big one was ninja selling. That's a good one. I've heard that 

Tracy Hayes: recommended numerous times Hands down. 

Cassandra Shober: I need to do a refresher on that one. That was great. All right for sure 

Tracy Hayes: What was it specifically about ninja [01:07:00] selling that That you know some of the things that you've taken from that 

Cassandra Shober: They've combined they've combined the manifestation aspect the super consciousness understanding of hey this up here can can bring about anything that you want and then they also show you how to To fine tune that into your business.

Cassandra Shober: Hey, we have a buyer sheet, we have a seller sheet, we have a warm sheet, we have a hot sheet, you know, these types of things. We always follow up. We're looking for our buyers. We're looking for the sellers for the buyers. Like it's not, it's, there's a lot that goes into it. Your CRM work on your CRM 20 appointments in a week, you know, these, these types of things.

Cassandra Shober: ~So. ~

Tracy Hayes: Do you,~ um,~ and, and an advice for agents that's out there that may not be thriving? Mm-Hmm. , at least in their eyes, or again, in the new, any new agents? . I mean, are you, are you a time blocker? Are you, 

Cassandra Shober: I try. 

Tracy Hayes: ~ um,~ what do you think has been your, you know. Giving you the consistency of success some of some of the practices you try to do whether it's daily or weekly or [01:08:00] monthly that would things that you're doing 

Cassandra Shober: right?

Cassandra Shober: So so my morning routine hands down. That's my thing my morning routine. I wake up drink my cup of coffee I do my affirmations. I do my reading I get up I go for a walk. I work out I come back I get ready and I go to work and I do that all before nine o'clock 

Tracy Hayes: And you like going into the office. I love going into the office.

Tracy Hayes: ~Uh, ~you mentioned,~ uh,~ that the office triggered a thought you, because you mentioned earlier about,~ um,~ Watson had great education now, Watson has many offices,~ uh,~ the broker, I imagine has some sort of influence of what. Information or what's an offer a lot of stuff online that you could anyone can access.

Cassandra Shober: Yeah I mean you can go to any office 

Tracy Hayes: I was 

Cassandra Shober: just in orman beach and I went down and wrote a contract at the orman office, right? No, i'm i'm 

Tracy Hayes: talking from the standpoint of ~uh ~of the you know, there's the physical education where you're actually hey guys We're having someone coming in and speak, you know, the broker has control over 

Cassandra Shober: that.

Cassandra Shober: Yes, they do They're also they should be open to like your opinions of who a who can we have come speak 

Tracy Hayes: and add value Yeah Right. Do you like the, I assume they have a weekly [01:09:00] sales meeting? Every 

Cassandra Shober: other week, every Tuesday. And you go to those? Sometimes. 

Tracy Hayes: Sometimes? Yes, 

Cassandra Shober: sometimes. 

Tracy Hayes: Because I imagine as an experienced agent, that's the one challenge, you know, ~uh, ~we know there's brokers in town that, that cater towards more experienced agents.

Tracy Hayes: I'm sure you've gotten phone calls from them. 

Cassandra Shober: Yes. 

Tracy Hayes: ~Um, ~and then, you know, Watson is, is notorious, Keller Williams notorious because they have a lot of teams for new agents. Right. And the challenge of, Having a sales meeting with a lot of newbies in it Yes versus sales meeting with experienced people in what you can or what you're able to discuss.

Tracy Hayes: Yeah Yeah, where do you as an experienced agent now? He's like said you're not going to every salesman because some of those sales meetings are You know, they're talking to the new agents and trying to get them going and that sort of thing But as an experienced agent, where are you finding more of your?

Tracy Hayes: If we want to call it education, that's a very broad term, but expanding your horizons on real estate, 

Cassandra Shober: ~uh, ~expanding my horizons on real estate definitely comes from, you know, taking other classes,~ uh,~ you [01:10:00] know, landmark offers training, Watson always offers training, talking to the broker about different trainings,~ uh,~ and things like that.

Cassandra Shober: The team meetings I think should be like a mixed faceted group of Top producing agents, newer agents. So then the newer agents can sit there and learn and top producing agents can sometimes forget what it was like to sit there and be like, Oh my gosh, where's my lead going to come from this week? Like, what am I going to do?

Cassandra Shober: And it's just kind of like, it helps. I think it helps with the communication aspect. If you're working a contract with a less experienced agent as well. And I think sometimes agents with experience. Like to kind of overshadow the newer agents and be like, no, instead of trying to take them a little bit under their wing and be like, okay, let's do this.

Cassandra Shober: Let's let's try to work through this. I had one agent. She was like, I remember when you called me constantly and followed up about everything. And I didn't understand it until Like my third or fourth transaction, she was like, I am so thankful. You taught me about the followup because I didn't let the drop the ball drop on something.

Cassandra Shober: Right. ~So, ~yeah, 

Tracy Hayes: I think,~ um,~ the, the unique thing [01:11:00] about real estate is it's, it's this full life circle and you know, a lot of agents drop out, but how important it is, you know, for, You know, for an experienced agent to, to pour a little bit or be available for the newer agents because that newer agent is going to get some deals eventually if they stay in long enough, right?

Tracy Hayes: And if they screw it up, it only devalues the entire industry. Right. It's in or out. The experience agents best interest to help them have successful reputation. 

Cassandra Shober: And one thing I hear from experienced agents, Oh, the industry's this, and the industry is going to this. And you know, well, we have the opportunity to change that with every interaction that we have with other agents, you know, through great communication, through understanding each other, through working through each other, especially with the newer agents, because if an experienced agent just helps with that confidence boost.

Cassandra Shober: With a newer agent. I mean, that, that newer agent is going to feel so good after that deal [01:12:00] closes and they're going to want to go out there and get it again. 

Tracy Hayes: I don't think If every experienced agent today worked with every new agent to come in, I don't think it's going to move the needle of the amount of agents that are actively doing the business, that it's going to, you know, cause I think obviously, like I said, don't be, don't be, you're not really competition.

Tracy Hayes: You're, you're going to go further by collaborating and, and,~ uh,~ raising the bar on the, on the value of a real estate agent. That's far more important than any. Competition. I don't You're pouring in or you're there, you're only gonna add to the quality of the service and reputation of all real estate agents.

Tracy Hayes: Right. Versus actually moving the needle where 80% don't renew after two years. You know, maybe what does that move to 77%? Right. Right, right. It's not, it's not really gonna like, oh my God, I have all these other competitors out here 'cause I helped all these new agents. Yeah. I don't think it's gonna do that.

Tracy Hayes: No. But I think every transaction that's being done is gonna be [01:13:00] done at a higher level and that's how it should be. And then the overall. We 

Cassandra Shober: hold each other accountable to things right not all agents or not all real tours are like that So it's just a matter of hey, you know you and you'll find you'll find your flow You'll find people that you can be like, oh my gosh Hey, and you hug and you know, you love on each other at the end of the day people know we're like, hey We're all busy.

Cassandra Shober: We all got lives. Yeah, so yeah 

Tracy Hayes: things happen, right? should someone choose Cassandra to represent them as a buyer or seller? 

Cassandra Shober: Why should someone choose Cassandra? Because I am a go getter, I am a professional, I am disciplined, and I am determined.

Cassandra Shober: And I effectively communicate with my buyers and sellers. 

Tracy Hayes: Good answer. Thank you. That's your good elevator pitch right there. Yeah. You know, I like 

Cassandra Shober: my 32nd elevator pitch. One thing I want to say to newer agents is you're planting seeds. You're planning a garden. You're planning, you're planning, you're planning, you're planning.

Cassandra Shober: Give it two years, give it five years. And I promise you, your business, if you're doing the work will flourish. It will. 

Tracy Hayes: ~Um, ~Kevin Wagemann who's actually speaking tomorrow at landmark had him on the [01:14:00] last show and he said when he first started He spent a lot of time in the education, you know, all those things that you can you I mean you can go to lunch You can get free lunch everywhere.

Tracy Hayes: There's a lender. There's an insurance company. There's somebody giving a free lunch Somewhere or breakfast either or you probably could find both if you actually concentrated on it. Yeah, you actually concentrate But unfortunately, that's not gonna bring you bring you the business. You actually have to get Down to it.

Tracy Hayes: And like I said, whether it's doing the open houses, banging doors, all the thousands of different, there's a thousand different ways you can market this business. There 

Cassandra Shober: really is. There really is. It's just a matter of, do you have it in you? Are 

Tracy Hayes: you passionate? Find if there's a new, find someone that's, that's doing it and find out what they're doing.

Tracy Hayes: Find, if you like it, you may not like the way they do it. Right. There's some people that actually do like to bang doors. Yes. I mean, you know, I, I, it's all, it's a, it's almost August in northeast Florida. I don't wanna be out there banging doors, but there's people that do it, right. ~Um, ~and they're having success.

Tracy Hayes: Doesn't mean you have to do, there's other ways, but find a way and find a mentor that. That's doing it. And [01:15:00] like you said, you've got to do the money producing or you got to time block those money producing activities every day. Don't get caught up at NIFAR all day and think you moved your business.

Tracy Hayes: Right. You gotta 

Cassandra Shober: be, you gotta do different things, moving and shaking and trying to meet different people from different aspects, title companies, lenders, all different types of people, lenders, especially. 

Tracy Hayes: I'm going to actually, this, I'm going to finish. This is my last question. Sure. How important is it? to have a Rolodex of the, the service providers.

Tracy Hayes: And there's a whole list of, sir, I'm talking from roofers, the different contractors, you know, all these people that could do repairs, not only lenders and insurance company, how important is that you need to have a tight group around you that you, when they, you call them, they're going to act. 

Cassandra Shober: That's right.

Cassandra Shober: ~Uh, ~we have a list like, you know, our list of vendors of folks and you know, you always gotta freshen up that list 'cause somebody who was good two years ago might not handle 

Tracy Hayes: things or they might have gotten really busy 'cause they are good and they just can't service. That's right. Hundred percent. You as good as they used to.

Tracy Hayes: A hundred 

Cassandra Shober: percent. But it's very, very important. ~So, ~you know, meeting new home inspectors, meeting [01:16:00] roofers, you know, roofer people will call you day in and day out. Adam to the Adam to the list. Add it. 

Tracy Hayes: Yeah. 

Cassandra Shober: Get organized. '

Tracy Hayes: cause you never know. When that situation comes up and you need a, you need a roof replaced, you know, before or after closing and this guy can't do it or this guy's willing to do it before closing and not get his check until closing.

Tracy Hayes: You know, there's great guys out there like that. You gotta find those guys. 

Cassandra Shober: A hundred percent. Yeah. A hundred percent. 

Tracy Hayes: Appreciate you coming on today. 

Cassandra Shober: Thank you for having me. Awesome. This is great. I'm going to come back and do it again. Yes, definitely.