Gia Arvin: 2024 President Florida Realtors

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Tracy hayes: [00:00:00] Welcome back to the real estate excellence podcast. Today's guest is the most important real estate professional in Florida in 2024. She is the broker owner of matchmaker realty in Gainesville. She is a Florida realtors board certified professional, 2011 Gainesville Latua association realtors president.

She has served as the district one vice president. And the 2017 Florida President Women's Council of Realtors. She has dedicated her professional career to make life better for the real estate industry. Let's welcome the 2024 president of Florida's largest trade organization with nearly a quarter million members, Florida Realtors, Gia Arvin to the show.

Thank you so much for having me. I appreciate it. I'm glad you could make it on today. I know you've been bouncing around the state and, uh, um, you know, sharing, uh, Hopefully some good news, but you know, our challenging industry, I think, you know, I've been, I've been in mortgages [00:01:00] for 19 years and obviously working with agents for majority of that.

I don't know if there's any more, any more, uh, water, cool, cooler or scuttlebutt or whatever more stuff that you could talk about right now than real estate, not only the market, but with the NAR settlement and all those things, the challenging subjects that are probably flashing in front of you guys all the time.

Gia Arvin: Yep. You know what? It's an interesting year. You never know what's going to come up the year that you're president. And wow, it's been an interesting year. Um, but I'm very excited to be part of this and be part of the change. Right. That's really what it is. So. 

Tracy hayes: Yes. Uh, yeah, I think, uh, you know, obviously you have a history of being involved.

You have a passion for it. Um, and, uh, you know, what's better than to be president and have a nice challenge and, and, and get the word out. I think of one thing, uh, you know, talking to a lot of real estate agents, uh, a lot of the top producers, they've got it under control, but you know, a lot of the new newbies or people may not be as [00:02:00] involved, uh, yeah.

You know, or they want to slide towards the negativity and they, they need, uh, obviously great leaders like yourself to, uh, you know, uh, put them, put them at ease. 

Gia Arvin: Definitely. So I think that, um, overall, you know, realtors are in a panic because it's changing the way that we've done business for decades. But at the end of the day, it's an opportunity for us to really shine and show our value.

Um, and we all need to get better at telling our story and communicating. So I grew up, I'm second generation realtor, and I grew up under the pretense of, you know, you make everything look seamless and easy, never let the customer know there's a problem. Well, you know what that did? That taught the customer that our job was easy, which we know that's not the case.

So 

now it's a shift of saying, Hey, we fixed it, but we had a problem this week. This is what the problem was. And this is how we overcame it. Um, because we do have to show our value now. We can't make it look seamless. 

Tracy hayes: No, no, no [00:03:00] doubt about it and we're gonna the questions I got it will lead into because I really think that's a underlying meaning It's been something I've been talking on the podcast about is how are you expressing your value?

Uh, whether it's through, uh, utilizing obviously the social media platforms, video or, and obviously your one on one presentations, um, you know, the top realtors like to get face to face. And I think part of that is building that relationship, but also, you know, looking him right in the eye and, and telling him this is what I'm going to do, which gets that underlying meaning of, of showing him your value.

Gia Arvin: You're 

Tracy hayes: exactly right. So I'm gonna, I'm gonna touch off the show. As everyone knows, I've been, uh, Remy graphics have made these beautiful mugs for me. Uh, laser engraved locally here in northeast florida. She can make onesies Tuesdays for you. If you want to put john and sally, you know, welcome to ST augustine, whatever.

Uh, as a closing gift, she can do that for you. [00:04:00] But Remy graphics and uh, I'm gonna put the Put their website up there. Remi graphics. com. I appreciate those mugs, uh, for us. And when you come to Florida, come to Jacksonville, GA, I'll bring you one of these. Okay. Yeah, those look awesome. All right. Um, I like to kick off every show to get a little background for those who, who don't know you personally.

Um, you, uh, you know, coming through your LinkedIn, you came here to Northeast Florida, to UNF. 

Gia Arvin: No, nope. 

Tracy hayes: I read that wrong. 

Gia Arvin: So I'm a graduate of university of Florida, 

Tracy hayes: university of Florida, UNF, the university of Florida. I'm a gator. I'm a gator. That's why I wanted the mind mindset. So you went, yeah, well, that's why it's kind of set me off when I saw that.

I, I, I might apologize. I'm embarrassed now. Oh no, no, you read, you go to university of Florida. Your mom already had matchmaker realty, right? At that time, right? So was real estate like what you were going to do or what was your visions at that time? 

Gia Arvin: Um, no, [00:05:00] actually the total opposite. So my mother started matchmaker realty in 1984, uh, but she had been a realtor since 1976.

So I was literally born and raised in the industry. And I said, I never. Want to do real estate. So I'll be the first one to tell you, never say never, cause you never know. Um, but I graduated from the university of Florida and I moved over to St. Augustine actually for two years. Uh, my husband, that's 

Tracy hayes: what it was.

I knew you were over here at one point. Yep. 

Gia Arvin: My husband was at Flagler college in St. Augustine. And so I taught school at Crookshank elementary and St. Augustine for a couple of years. And at the end of that, I told my parents that I wanted to go to law school. And so I took the LSAT, applied, was going to go to University of Florida to the law school here, and my mom said, please don't do this.

Please just try real estate. I think you're perfect for it. If you don't love it after two years, I will pay for your law school. No debt. And I said, well, how can you pass that up? Deal. Um, so [00:06:00] here I was about six months in, I knew I was hooked. I was stuck. There was no way I was doing anything different. Um, and so my husband joined me about three months later and then, um, we became a team and we've been doing real estate now about 21 years.

Tracy hayes: Awesome. Awesome. Yeah. Um, how was it from the standpoint, you know, working closely with your mom? Cause unfortunately I saw your bio there. Your, your mom passed away and obviously you took over the brokerage a few years ago. Um, I mean the opportunity, uh, which I don't think a lot of, you know, I was able to do that as a young person, work with my dad and his business when I, you know, pretty much, uh, through high school and, and, uh, in college, uh, to be able to work closely with your mom over those years.

Gia Arvin: So I think honestly, um, I got a deep perspective at the history of the industry. Um, which I don't think a lot of people get now, the people that come in, you know, they don't have a longevity or a background on where our [00:07:00] profession has been, where it is and obviously where it's going. And so she really taught me that customer service, that personal touch.

And you know, your name is, All you have in this world, right? So you got to protect it as much as you can. And so I think that was really cool. Uh, the first day I became a realtor, she said, go down to the board and join a committee. And don't come back until you do. And I said, well, why would I want to do that?

I mean, I'm trying to make money here. I'm not trying to donate my time. And she said, Gia, I promise you that you will learn from it. You will grow your business and you will become a better professional. Don't come back until you join the committee. So I went down, joined professional development and like literally dove right into my, um, Volunteership volunteering with our industry immediately.

Um, and then the women's council realtors gave me my first leadership opportunity. So I joined the women's council, um, about 24 hours in as well. So nothing like hitting the ground running, but I had a great example set for me, right. On how important that is to, [00:08:00] to give back and be involved. 

Tracy hayes: It has ever been in the, in the 20 plus years.

Now you've been in the business where you haven't been on some sort of a board or committee. Um, You know, at any level? 

Gia Arvin: Nope. Nope. I'm, you know, 24 hours in, I was, I was on a committee and I've been on a committee or been in a leadership role ever since. Um, part of that is a lot of my personality, you know, like growing up, I was student council, vice president, homecoming chair, like that was in my DNA, I think from the beginning, but she definitely instilled in me, you give back to the profession that gives to you, um, and you want to make it better for others.

And so that was. Very cool. And my husband's the same way, right? When he joined in, he immediately got involved as well. We've both been president of our local board, um, both been involved at the state level and just find true value in that. Um, not only does it fulfill us personally, but I feel like certain people are made to [00:09:00] serve others and serve the industry.

Um, and so It is our turn to step up and it is our turn to give back because someone's got to, right? And you want someone with true experience like people that are really selling And people that are living the life every day in the trenches 

Tracy hayes: Well a couple things to spin off because i'm actually jumping ahead of my questions But since we're on the on the subject of the serving, um, you're a young real estate agent You know young person young real estate agent together and that you know You're fortunate to have your mom to go but you know, she Kicks you quickly out of the nest and says, go down to the board.

But, um, you know, I, I think back to interviewing Patty Ketchum and she says one things that she regrets is she went years before, as she, uh, quote, quote, her did not, uh, cast a shadow in the doorway of the board for the longest time. And, um, You know, she regrets it. Of course, she's obviously made that up over the years, but where you [00:10:00] jumped right in the networking with the other agents and not all the agents that go down to the, you know, there's a lot of agents who are not, you know, huge producers, but, uh, to be part of it, to be, to understand real estate.

on a greater scale. I mean, like you mentioned just a few minutes ago, understanding the history of real estate and how it's evolved, especially in your local area and so forth. You can only really get that if you're, you know, your mom was doing it or you go down to the board and you talk to some of those agents who have been there and there are different cycles of their careers.

Gia Arvin: For sure. Um, I tell all of my new agents now, I tell them number one, I want you to get involved in some sort of nonprofit, something that you're passionate about to give back to the community because people don't, Care about how much, you know, until they know how much you care, right? So make that a genuine, um, interest for you.

Don't do something just to get leads. [00:11:00] Go there because you have a genuine interest in that cause, but number two, get involved with the board because again, the insights, I hear things coming down the pipeline before anyone else, even before I was state president. Why? Because I was. In tuned and in touch with my local board, my local and my local president always kept us in the loop.

So I always felt like I had a jump start of anything coming down the pike in our profession, which I think is one of the huge advantages for sure. Obviously, the referrals to that you get statewide by being on all these committees and being involved. You know, when I think of Tampa, I have an agent in my head.

I think of when I think of Boca Raton, same thing, Miami. And, um, so I built those relationships as well to develop a new referral network. 

Tracy hayes: And then, you know, you mentioned the kind of hearing what's coming down the pipeline and then you have control of how that narrative, uh, is going to get across because I think, you know, as we will get into a [00:12:00] deep here, there's a lot of, you know, negative scuttlebutt going on and then you and, you know, the other committee members are there to, um, filter it.

Right. And get out the proper message and how that's going across. And, and then the importance of, you know, if you're not satisfied the way you know, the education courses are, or the instructors that are coming in or the things that you, you can be involved in not in line. I think you mentioned something, you know, specifically, not everyone wants to be involved at the level that you have been involved, but, yeah.

You need to support you need to be, you know connected as someone in your offices support them And I think that leads to the importance of of our pack in in uh in that Can you touch a little bit obviously at your level? I was just saying, you know, we don't want an infomercial but right now to me No, uh, no, you know national association floor realtor being the largest realtor organization in the country.

I mean, it's important. We've got to get in there and influence [00:13:00] the way this settlement is going the best way we can from our position. Would you agree? 

Gia Arvin: Absolutely. Um, so when you're talking about our pack, we've had so many wins that are important. So for, you know, the people listening and maybe you've even done one, but hometown heroes.

So the down payment assistance program that was really birthed out of realtors. So we have think tanks at the state level and we talked about how can we really move the needle when it comes to affordable housing down payment assistance. So out of one of those think tanks came the idea of the hometown heroes housing program.

Um, and so with that, we've already been able to help 15, 000 first time homebuyers. So what a huge reward to see our direct advocacy efforts, helping a Floridian, but be a first time homebuyer in our state. Um, so that's just like one of the ways then insurance, you know, insurance is one of the major issues that we have going on right now.

Um, We've been really pushing for insurance reform, and we're now starting to see the fruits of that [00:14:00] labor. Uh, there was a special session in December 2022 that repealed one way attorney's fees and assignment of benefits. Um, and with that being said, we've been able to move the needle on insurance rates.

So we brought about eight new carriers back to the state of Florida. We've been able to depop, um, citizens from about 1. 7 million to 1. 2 million policies, all creating more, um, competitive nature so that we can hopefully reduce those rates. We're seeing rates stabilizing and a few decreases, um, overall in rates right now.

So that is all directly because of RPAC. Now when you talk about the settlement and you know, um, Basically looking at that narrative, Florida is a unique position because we are the largest trade organization. Uh, we're also a transaction broker state, which is different than a lot of other states. So when we're looking at, um, buyer broker agreements and things like that, that is a fundamental change in the way that we do business overall.

Other states [00:15:00] have already been functioning, um, in that capacity. So we are learning from other states. We are learning from people that are ready function with buyer broker agreements within our own state so that we can develop the right courses, materials, updated forms so we can make sure that every Florida realtor has the tools and resources they need to stay successful.

Um, it's definitely a process. We were hoping to have forms out by May 31st. We are waiting. Um, it's going to be probably middle of June when our updated forms are released. And then we're going to start an intensive training program. Uh, cause that is the number one thing that we can do is communicate and educate every realtor right now.

So they have no fear of the future, right? Um, realtors right now, I think are unsettled because they don't have a clear understanding of what's expected and what the changes are going to be, but we're hoping to take that mystery out of it and really be their support system through this change. 

Tracy hayes: Right. No, uh, no doubt.

We kind of, um, [00:16:00] this, it always happens. I have a list of questions and just in conversation, we jumped from question three to seven to 13. So since, again, since we're on the, on the RPAC. We, as you mentioned, uh, my question was, you know, what are the things, cause I know you guys were in DC not too long ago, uh, as well, uh, in, in Tallahassee, I would imagine, you know, insurance is being on, on the, uh, you know, top of that because it is becoming an affordability issue.

I put out a LinkedIn article, something Cindy Hayden said when I was talking with her about insurance and putting that, you know, just a statement up there about insurance. So, uh, Besides insurance. Um, I think people need to understand. I don't think the agents, um, I think they, I don't know, I don't know, undervalue is not really, maybe they just don't fully understand.

And I'm sure you have the statistics on [00:17:00] how many actually are contributing something to our pack. Um, but it's their, it's their industry and you're the only trade organization in the state. Uh, currently, uh, floor realtors and you guys are going to bat for them on a daily, daily basis. You're in the ears of these legislators and the governor and so forth.

Um, tell us some of the things that there's maybe some other topics we haven't talked about yet that are Tallahassee, but also in D. C. As well. 

Gia Arvin: So, um, one other thing in Tallahassee is the business rent tax, which I think is huge, not only for our commercial practitioners, but also our residential because really commercial, you can't have residential and commercial without each other.

They're intertwined, right? So, um, we've been able to get a reduction of the business rent tax all the way down to 2%. Um, and we are not done yet. We're going to continue to hopefully reduce that to zero, but that's a huge benefit. Um, we fought for water quality and restoration projects. So again, when you think of florida, why do people move to florida?

Because of our weather and our beautiful [00:18:00] water. So we have to ensure that we have clean water throughout our state and really protect that. So 1. 2 billion. That was huge. Everything from the panhandle all the way down to Okeechobee. And the Everglades. So, um, huge one for that. Um, we had unlicensed real estate activity going on.

Again, we want to protect our profession and make sure that people are using professionals. Right. Um, and so we had, uh, 500, 000 to combat license, unlicensed real estate activity. So again, always making sure that we're at the forefront, um, right now is actually a huge topic for us is Senate bill two 80.

which is the vacation rental bill. Um, we have an ongoing call for action right now to the governor where we're trying to get him to veto that bill. Um, because it will, um, limit the amount of, uh, rental activity, number of people per bedroom, as well as, um, a lot of fees associated with [00:19:00] licensing and having the requirements allowed to be a vacation rental.

So, um, really worried about private property. That would 

Tracy hayes: kind of supersede, you know, because obviously we know our. Our PUDs, planned urban developments, our HOAs already have, you know, something that they don't allow, but in areas where people can short term rent or they're not necessarily governed by an HOA or a CDD or some something of that nature, um, this would be kind of a blanket over the whole state?

Gia Arvin: Yeah, basically they want them to, um, have a license or a, um, A fee associated with becoming a vacation rental. So a registration process. Um, so that could be an issue. It also could limit the number of residents you can have per bedroom and you know, people come down to go to Disney. They're bringing in a couple of families.

They're renting a big house. Um, you don't want to limit things like that. Um, and I come from a college town, so we've always had those issues even for long [00:20:00] term long term rentals. Right. Um, but I think it's really important that we don't blend the lines of infringing on someone's private property rights.

Um, so we are urging, there's a lot of things in the bill we liked, but there were things we had major concerns with. So we're hoping to veto that bill so that next session we can come back with something that's a little bit more equitable, a little more, you know, terms that make sense for all parties.

Tracy hayes: You make a good point. And having been in these type of leadership, um, positions and being at, you know, one of the highest positions you can be in, in real estate, uh, you know, uh, board as president of Florida Realtors. A lot of people may think, oh, that's great. They're restricting the amount of people because I don't want someone to come in here and they got 10 people, uh, in a, in a room.

Um, But you have to watch when you write the law, not only real estate law, any law, you have to think through the process. Um, [00:21:00] one, I think the, the, the going joke is, uh, I heard there was laughter in the room in D. C. when they said, well, who is, who's going to, uh, enforce these, um, the new things for the NAR settlement?

But the, what you're talking about, It may sound good on the surface, but when you really dig into that bill, a lot of people don't truly think through it and it's leadership like you that obviously read those lines read between the lines and said, hold on a second, this is really not going to flow very well.

Gia Arvin: So I'd love to take all of the credit, but we have an amazing team in Tallahassee. We have an advocacy team that looks at, you know, there's a couple thousand bills every session and they're tracking two or 300 that really affect our industry every session. And they come to us and they say, Hey, You know, you direct us, but we're pretty sure that this is going to be a huge impact on our industry.

How do you want us to move forward? And we have lobbyists that are just wonderful. They allow us to sell real estate with [00:22:00] confidence all over the state. And they're worrying about what policies. And laws are coming down that affect our profession. So again, another reason that RPAC is so important without RPAC dollars, we don't have that voice that supports, um, and that force in Tallahassee and in DC, right?

RPAC really is, um, our main driver. We're an advocacy and professional organization, right? Um, but homeownership is the American dream, but it's also one of those things that we can't afford to lose. Um, and so anything that infringes on that possibility or the ease of becoming a homeowner, we're opposed.

Um, so when it comes to our pack, we are bipartisan. We are not on either party line. Um, we, it starts and stops with what makes sense for homeownership. And that's honestly, we don't blend any lines. It's all about homeownership, private property rights, and what makes sense for the homeowners. 

Tracy hayes: Yeah. [00:23:00] We don't think on a daily basis how much homeownership, um, the real estate industry in general, um, you know, new construction housing and so forth, has an effect on our economy.

It's a big part of our growth. Um, I wonder, I wrote down, um, I just, ethics down, because something came to mind, uh, the importance of, Uh, for realtors, the way you do business, you know, you don't average real estate agent. It doesn't have to be a member of NAR to work. And the importance that real estate agents need to know that course that they have to take every, uh, you know, you know, the ethics courses is required, right?

That's the course. It's always full. You can, if you want to sponsor a breakfast, go sponsor an ethics course. So when you get to be in front of a lot of real estate agents, absolutely right. Yeah. Perfect. But the importance of setting those standards that everyone, um, you know, agrees to that, this is how we're going to do business because, [00:24:00] you know, I've talked to, um, uh, you know, people in other, you know, other countries, whatever.

I mean, they can, they could have three different sales persons, signs in the front yard. And, and just the, the, the daily things that I think we mentioned very early in, in the, our discussion, you know, some of these things we've taken for granted and, you know, weren't really talking about that's below the surface.

Well, we'll part of that. Is the importance of Florida realtors and your local boards, the setting, the ethical standards of this is how the, you know, we're going to, we're going to play a fair game. Um, but this is how the game is played. So everyone's on the same surface. 

Gia Arvin: Yeah, absolutely. So, um, realtors, why is being a realtor so important?

It is because of our code of ethics, right? We are held to a higher standard. And you know, when you, this is the largest purchase of most people's lives. Buying a home is the largest investment they're ever going to make, and it creates generational wealth. There's so many things that homeownership does, but what we as professionals have to [00:25:00] say is we are assisting these families in creating this dream for their family.

The number one thing that we can do is make sure that we're honest and fair with all parties, acting on the good of all members in the transaction, um, dealing honestly and fairly. And so As realtors, we abide by a code of ethics and we know when we're dealing with another realtor, they understand the intricacies of that and respect the profession and all parties involved.

Um, you know, I think that we have a lot of licensees in the state of Florida that aren't realtors. Why is that? It could be a few things, right? Maybe, um, they don't truly practice real estate on a daily basis. Maybe they work specifically For, um, a franchise or for like a commercial brokerage that just does scouting, but they hold a real estate license.

There's lots of different reasons, but I think that the realtors, especially the residential realtors that are truly [00:26:00] invested in our profession, recognize and see the value of wearing the realtor are and carrying that, uh, brand as part of their business. Um, Across the country. I think the realtors are the ones that truly, um, stack up when it comes to the education, right?

We value education, you know, the designations that are recognized by N. A. R. If you're not a member, you're not having those additional designations and education. So that's a huge importance as a consumer. When you're looking at someone to represent you through a real estate transaction, um, Don't you want someone that is the best of the best that has kept up on their education and continued to push themselves to be a better professional?

And I think the realtor brand does that. 

Tracy hayes: I think, I think it's in, you know, we were talking about the importance of agents have to express their value in one way, shape or form or another. And I think you just hit on, you know, that's one way they need to [00:27:00] express themselves is to show that they are, you know, part of my industry is continuing it.

And I do more than just the minimal. I'm going out and getting these designations because I want to be the most knowledgeable, uh, uh, representative you could have, which is part of the value, uh, prospect. Um, you have, um, one of your goals, um, for, uh, 24 was to get more or encourage more people to get board certified.

Uh, as you are a, uh, if I'm a realtor, board certified professional. Realtor. Yes. What is, what is that? Um, what's it take to get there? Why and why should all agents be working towards that direction? 

Gia Arvin: So, um, as realtors, we always say that we want to hold ourselves to a higher standard. Uh, we were hoping to raise the bar as far as the entry level to obtain a real estate license in the state of Florida.

Um, but we realized that that [00:28:00] probably was not in the cards, uh, for the foreseeable future. And so we said, you know, what can we do to distinguish ourselves The folks that truly value that next tier service, that next tier education. So Florida Realtors developed a program, uh, two years ago called the board certified real estate professional.

You say, well, you have designations. Why board certified? But CRS, GRI, PMN, SFR, AHWD, That doesn't mean anything to the consumer, right? That's alphabet soup. We get it. But the consumer has no idea what those things mean. But board certified means something to the consumer. When you think of board certified, a board certified surgeon, a board certified, right?

So that is a coined term. So we decide to develop this program where you have to get surveys from your customers, surveys from fellow realtors. You have to fill out a contract based on a scenario. [00:29:00] You have to walk your way through a code of ethics scenario and find out, you know, what should you have done?

What could you have done differently? You're, you have a peer interview by five or six. Actually, Patty Ketchum I think was in my peer interview. She was one of the people that interviewed me to ensure that I have the qualities. of that next level professional. Um, there's a menu of items that you have to complete.

Some, you don't have to do all of them. Like if you've gotten a designation in the last two years, maybe you have to do a little less on this category. Um, so there's different criteria that you have to meet. Uh, and then you apply for it and Not everyone gets it that applies for it. This will be our second full year.

Um, so this was a, a program that was just released. We only had 20. Total in the state, the first year board certified real estate professionals. Why it's a new program and it is hard [00:30:00] to get. This is not something that's a fill out your form and turn it in and you're qualified. This is a true deep dive into qualifications and you proving your worth as a board certified professional.

So, um, we're excited this year. We don't know how many are going to be in our second class yet. We are, um, uh, Taking applications right now and then they'll be doing interviews throughout the summer and we'll be inducting that new class at our August meetings, but this was Florida Realtors way to say we care about the level of professionalism and the level of service we're providing to homeowners across Florida.

What can we do to stand apart and give you that opportunity? Once we figured out that the bar of entry would always stay the same, at least for the foreseeable future. We want it to have a next level opportunity for our members. Again, distinguishing that difference. 

Tracy hayes: Would you, um, obviously someone in their first year that this is, that's [00:31:00] not someone who you, but someone who has.

Three, five, seven years in the business. Where, where do you think they, um, is there, uh, some sort of qualification that they've done so many transactions to, uh, get on there? When do you recommend that someone should, you know, if you've been in the business X amount of years, you should consider, 

Gia Arvin: I think five is a good, it's a good year mark, I think if you've been in five years, there is a very good chance that you've met the number of requirements as far as transactions.

You have enough positive reviews. From your consumers and fellow agents. Um, you've been exposed to committee work, possibly county or city commission meetings. You've been in the crux for long enough that I think that, um, there's a very good chance you will qualify something that's, um, if you're brand new, I tell you to go ahead and look at your GRI graduate realtor Institute.

Why is that? Because GRI can also satisfy for your first, uh, license renewal, [00:32:00] your 45 hours. So if you obtain the GRI, that's kind of killing two birds with one stone and getting a designation. Um, another thing you could look at is C2EX. This was the National Association of Realtors next level opportunity for realtors to continue to develop their training and hone their skills.

And so it's an online program, a little less rigorous as far as the requirements. But if you're willing to spend, you know, um, 45 minutes to an hour a week on these online scenarios. Um, you could probably get your C2EX in a few months. And that's a huge, uh, certification that you can say that you have from the National Association of Realtors.

So I would say if you're newer than five years, look at those two as great opportunities. After five years, board certified professional for sure. Uh, CRS, Certified Residential Specialist is a great opportunity. Right now at the state level, because of all of the changes within the lawsuits and [00:33:00] everything going on, we have a focus on ABR, which is Accredited Buyer Representative.

So the ABR class as well as the Buyer Broker Agreement classes are offered for free right now across the state in a lot of areas. So definitely look at that no matter what, where you are in your career. I would say that those two classes are powerful right now to make sure that you have the skills you need to be ready for the changes.

Tracy hayes: So board certified was one of the goals that you had listed there. I'm not going to go down through the details, but obviously with the, you know, I, I would imagine the NAR proposed settlement and getting, uh, you know, use the word scuttlebutt, you know, everyone has, everyone's hearing these opinions has probably my estimation.

You can correct me. My assumption would be is maybe as distracted you from some of your goals. Where do you feel as president for realtors? Where do you feel as, as far as, um, you know, uh, accomplishing the goals you set forth here on the website, [00:34:00] where are you at, where, where are some that you feel you're, you're, you're might be ahead of, and some that maybe, maybe trailing that in the next, you know, six months you want to get caught up.

So, uh, at the end of end of 24, you could, you could say you, you know, you, uh, you scored well on your goal list. 

Gia Arvin: So I feel really lucky. We have a five person leadership team, right? So secretary, treasurer. Vice president, president elect, and then president. One thing that we as a team really set forward is yes, these might be my goals, but anything that's not finished, we all want these same goals as a team.

So they're going to be finished out next year. So like forewarned, that was a huge one of my goals that actually got accomplished in 2023. For one is an app that we made free for all every florida realtor member across the entire state. It's a safety app, but we were able to check that box in 2023. So that was huge.

I will say yes, I feel like our focus has had to be on the forms, the changes, the most critical [00:35:00] infrastructure that we need to put in place. to ensure that every realtor has confidence moving forward. Um, but we have an amazing staff at Florida real tours and they've really carried the water on a lot of other things that we want it to accomplish that maybe the leadership team and I, and the forms committee maybe are focused on forms and changes, but other parts of our organization kind of picked up the water on a lot of other things.

So board certified realtor, we'll see what we end up as far as, um, the new class. But we've definitely been promoting that across the state at all of our district conferences. And then we've also been having, um, what we call the Homegrown Advocacy Tour, basically taking Tallahassee and our advocacy efforts and RPAC to every district across the entire states.

We have one left to go on Tuesday, but at the end of Tuesday, we will have done 15 of those across the state, bringing advocacy home. Um, so we also. The buyer broker agreement. We talked about that and a B. R. We've made that free across the [00:36:00] state for most members. So again, trying to push that education to get people ready.

And that was another goal. We had, um, we expanded our commercial touch. So we now have the presence that I C. S. C. which is, um, uh, uh, Commercial conference for shopping centers and Orlando. Um, and so we have a booth there as Florida realtors really pushing and promoting our commercial practitioners because we really wanted to expand our footprint for our commercial world.

Um, advocacy. We had a huge year right from water quality to insurance to hometown heroes. That was awesome. Um, condo reform. So HOA, there's a bunch of, 

Tracy hayes: Good topic. 

Gia Arvin: Yeah, 

Tracy hayes: well, 

Speaker 3: yeah, you know, lots 

Gia Arvin: of surfside. Um, there's been measures put into place that we don't have another crisis like that again. Um, but one of the biggest issues for realtors across the state was access to documents, right?

So those rules and regulations, those [00:37:00] budgets, now we have rules put in place. So there will be access. They are going to be required to be on a website, um, accessible. So that was a huge win for us as far as access to documentation. Um, and then water quality and environmental funding. Again, we had 1. 2 billion awarded to that.

So we feel very good. Uh, Florida realtors has a waterway cleanup month, the whole month of July where we promote a waterway cleanup and actually your area, NIFAR, they have an amazing event, uh, several events. waterway cleanup. So we've been able to push and accomplish that goal as well. Um, and inclusion.

So my three big goals were professionalism, advocacy, and inclusion. Um, and I feel like we've done a really good job. There's going to be certain things like board certified is going to be ongoing. Every officer after me is going to have to promote that because it's a baby, right? It was a pilot program.

It's only in our second year. So that's going to have to be a commitment. And then, um, getting the [00:38:00] agents ready for our changing climate. I would like to say that we've kicked that off very strong, but that's also going to be a commitment to years for years to come. One of the things I would love to accomplish, but unfortunately I knew given the makeup of what was happening, it was probably unlikely, but I believe the rest of the team will.

Continue to push for it is some sort of group health insurance for realtors. Um, we've seen other States accomplish something good, not perfect. Um, but we're working on that in Florida and I hope that over the next few years that will come to fruition because that is a huge concern for a lot of our membership.

Uh, me included, right? My husband and I are both realtors. So we pay out of pocket every month for the two of us and our daughter. 

Tracy hayes: No, 100 100%. I mean, it's I mean, it's nearly a quarter million people there in a pool. And isn't that that's what insurance companies want. They want a pool, right? They want statistics.

Well, here we got a quarter million families, uh, involved there. [00:39:00] Um, I want this is a semi personal question, but just go going looking, you know, your experience in being involved. Like you said, you've been involved in been on some committee at some level almost from day one. Um, that you, uh, been in the industry, thanks to your mom taking this important role as president in 2024.

I imagine you had to look back. to your, your role in the different boards and the different things you're, you're accomplishing, how you work with the other board members because there are a lot of other ideas. Uh, other people think things are important. Um, when you sit down and as, as president of, of a very important organization, and like I said, the largest trade organization in Florida, largest realtor organization in the country, um, you know, you're the.

You're the point person [00:40:00] of all those things you've learned from all those committees were what are a couple of things when you go and in your Um, you know at having your meetings and discussing these different topics and what's important. What is the mindset you have? going into that Um because you you've got a long history, a long experience there.

And now you're at the highest level. I guess the only the only position higher than where you're at is being president of NAR. As far as I'm concerned, I don't know. Maybe there's something in between, right? Um, but what is your mind? What have you learned from those previous experiences that you brought here?

So 

Gia Arvin: I think the first thing is any time you have to go in with mindset of nothing's off the table. So you can't come in with a preconceived idea of how you think it should work or what you expect to happen. Because one thing I've learned is you're not the master of everything, right? So you have your specialty, like I'm very good at communications, very good at advocacy, residential real estate.

I would say those are my [00:41:00] superpowers, but every member of my team has a different superpower that I don't have. Um, and so, although yes, I may be president, but you don't always have to be the chief, right? So sometimes a topic will come up. And the first thing I'll say is this is outside of my wheelhouse.

Tim, this is in your wheelhouse. You need to take the lead on this and help us figure out where we need to go from here. So I think coming in with no preconceived notions and being open to everyone's ideas. Number two, knowing if that's not your strength and that's okay to say that and let someone else take the lead on that particular subject is key.

And then number three, what is going to affect the majority of our membership? When I look at our membership, I don't say we have 242, 000 realtors. I look at it as 242, 000 individual businesses and every decision we make affect the way that they do business and how they can be profitable. And we don't take that responsibility lightly.

[00:42:00] That's a huge weight. And I think about this with the changes and the settlement and making sure that we have crystal clear information to make sure that every realtor is empowered. And. continuing to be profitable and ready for this change. Uh, it's a huge weight, right? When you think about things. So I think that those three factors, when you come into every decision is key in order to make the right decision for the majority of our members, no matter what you do, you're not going to make every single member happy, but you hope that you've made the right decision for the right reason for the most amount of people possible.

Tracy hayes: I was just thinking about the Um, the insurance part of it and I, and this is going to lead to this next question I have. Um, if it's, I don't even know if this is something that's discussed, I'm not a real estate agent, so I don't know, you know, and embedded in the leadership, uh, circles that you have. Uh, but I always say, I imagine the insurance company is looking at turnover, [00:43:00] you know, we know 80 something percent are out, you know, when they're in their first two years.

How do you think or I mean, is this even discussed at any level? You know, how can we retain now? Obviously a lot of people get in for different reasons and they're not really passionate for it So if you maybe pre educated them on the business a little bit you may not have as many coming in but then you may have a higher percentage that stay in because their reasons for coming in are are Are a little more committed there.

Do you guys discuss that in any way? How can you retain, which obviously would increase your membership and so forth? Is ways to improve that ever been discussed in your 20 years? 

Gia Arvin: We do talk about that a lot. Um, and it's hard because I think our numbers in Florida are unusually inflated because people come here to retire, maybe, and they have a real estate license, right?

Um, [00:44:00] but one thing that really is important, we're trying to educate the brokers on the value of educating. And really having those hard conversations with potential members up front. Um, you know, I think it starts with the broker, the level of training that they're willing to do and pour into their realtors, uh, is going to be first and foremost to see if they're successful or not.

Right. Um, it's hard when you're, you know, bringing in a lot of realtors to give everyone that personal touch. But I think from a broker level, we have to say, all right, we're going to We're investing in these people and then they're representing our brands, not just the realtor brand, but you know, whatever company you're with, they're wearing that logo or that name tag on their shirt.

Um, and so it's important that make sure that they have that higher level of customer service and training necessary. I would love, and I know this isn't going to happen, but in my perfect world, um, you know, to be an appraiser, you have a two year apprenticeship. That's required. I [00:45:00] would love to have that requirement for real source because I really do think number one, they're going to get deeper training.

They're going to be more confident in their ability and they're going to be more professional and ready. But number two, they're also going to say, is this something I really want to do? Um, and so even if we had, I don't know, some sort of structure where they had a small salary, you know, and then bonuses for things that they sell amongst that two year apprenticeship, I do think that, um, a deeper dive and an apprenticeship style would, um, Maybe limit the number of people we have coming in, but I think it would retain more people, uh, than we currently do.

Tracy hayes: I always, I had a, this is a topic, I 204 episodes, a topic I've easily had in the high one nineties with all the top agents that I've had on. And one of the, one of the questions I ask almost religiously on every part is the importance of the, that [00:46:00] brokerage that these agents are signing up with, because I, I think, uh, you hit it.

straight on my whole, my whole vision. If you take the time and talk to agents. Talk to the brokers, but talk to the agency who are in this culture that every brokerage has. They all have their own different ways. They're doing business. It's a great thing about real estate because everyone kind of does it a little different, um, in matching up with that.

And, uh, the, the agents that go to those brokerage and they got a mentor or they got someone they can shadow, they're immediately, you know, plugging them into a system. And because the understanding of the longterm. of that salesperson, that agent, uh, you know, the longer they stay with your brokerage, hopefully you get better and better and their numbers go up and up.

And obviously the brokerage does better, but would you agree or disagree? I think a lot of people get into business and really have a short 90 day vision [00:47:00] in front of them. They're not really looking longterm, including some of these brokers who are not. thinking long term and what they're going to invest in that new agent and kind of have more of a, I don't want to say maybe a negative attitude, like, oh, hey, we'll see where they go and then I'll spend some time with them versus selecting the right person and putting the time and energy into them.

Gia Arvin: I do believe that. So just me on a personal level within my own brokerage, um, I probably interview between 30 and 40 people every six months and I only take two to three on a year. Again, I'm small and I want to be small. That's my style, but I take two or three on that. I truly believe. Number one, represent my brand well, but number two, have the drive and the ability.

And then I know they're going to make it, they're going to make it because they have the will and they have the desire and they have just that, that raw street smarts and that customer service, the communication skills, you know, you can teach a lot [00:48:00] of things. You can't teach a personality. Right. And so that's one of those things I look for.

Um, and then I pour in 20 weeks of training. So they have 20 weeks of modules of training. And then at the end of that, obviously, um, you know, we have a good support system. They can ask questions anytime, all of that. But for me, when I leave them at the end of that 20 weeks, I would personally give them one of my customers and feel confident that they would handle that with ease and grace and professionalism.

Um, um, and so You know, other brokers have the same, you know, there's great training programs everywhere. But what we do have to do is it completely tell the brokers, it is your responsibility to train these realtors that are coming into your brokerage. However you feel that you want to do it fine, but it is your responsibility as a broker.

Tracy hayes: The That goes right into the, um, the [00:49:00] importance of the broker that I was trying to get to and how many of them truly, uh, you know, invest. And if you were talking as a, you know, they asked you, Hey, here's a bunch of new agents during they're in, they're, they're studying for the test. They haven't taken the test yet.

They haven't signed up with anything. What would be two or three things that you would tell them that they need to do to find that right brokerage that they mesh with? 

Gia Arvin: I would tell them to interview several. Um, right. So you might have friends that say, Oh, definitely talk to this person or that person.

Great. Talk to several. Number one, you have to feel who you mesh with, who you feel represents your culture and who you stand for as a person. Right. Um, number two, What does their training look like? What does their support system look like? And does that align with your needs, right? Based on your experience, maybe you come from another state and you've sold real estate for years, so you need less support.

That's okay too, right? There are brokers that can align with that, [00:50:00] but figure out what your support level is and, and mesh with that. Number three, Um, ask questions, you know, do you have any reviews from customers that I can see? Can I talk to one of the realtors that you've maybe hired in the last year to get their experience?

You know, don't be afraid to ask the questions. Yes, they're interviewing you, but you're interviewing them. It is a 100 percent partnership. Because remember, you are your own business, just housed under their brand and their support. But you are your own business. 

Tracy hayes: I came, I remembered the idea that I had. I had this a while back and it comes from my, my dad was telling me when my dad was self employed and had, he did a couple of different businesses and at the local township that we had in Massachusetts where I grew up, um, business owners Uh, that would have a panel and you could go to them and talk about, you know, starting, you know, Hey, I want to start this business and they would give you feedback and [00:51:00] advice and type of thing Where I was like that is a brilliant idea for these real estate agents And it could be just a random rotating board It doesn't have to be the same people all the time and you wouldn't want it to be the same people all the time but the brokers that are participating in the board where Agents if they want to or some of our perspective agents I should say could come and sit in front of them You And, you know, such as the discussion that you and I are having here.

What should you do first? Well, I mean, even the top agents who've been, uh, some of them went to the wrong brokerage at first, some of them were lucky and have been at the same brokerage the whole time. They just got lucky and everything clicked. Um, you know, giving them these bits of advice, like go and talk to the agents, uh, that are, uh, that are already at that brokerage, you know, what do they feel?

You know, everyone, I think there's two things that's a joke in my, on my podcast is every one of these brokerages will tell you they have great training and great technology. I said, okay, let's take that off the table. Let's talk about everything else. [00:52:00] 

Gia Arvin: Yep, absolutely. And, and, you know, there's a fit for every broker and every person, right?

Like if you're strong in technology, maybe you don't care if the brokerage has great technology, because you've got that handled, you know, you have to figure out, play off your strengths and your weaknesses and find a brokerage that can fill in those gaps of any weakness that you have. 

Tracy hayes: I think Matt Rathman, I've, I've quoted him before, you know, I had him on here, uh, uh, back in January before our rebar camp, but, uh, um, Kim, that put on here in St.

Augustine. What a great event that was. Yes. And Matt said, uh, if you're, um, I'm, I'm almost sure it was Matt that said this, but if your broker's not doing it. You know is not active now. I know some brokers that aren't in production anymore, but they're very involved in what's going on They're out in front of the nar settlement.

They're you know, they're they're very involved at the board They're here and getting you know So they can bring [00:53:00] that information into their brokerages and share with their agents. So their agents are up to speed um, but you know the uh, according to matt if you're um broker or your mentor or whatever who you're following is not You You know, doing video and that's where you, you know, a lot of, obviously that's where all the professionals say it's way.

That's where I got to get social media and all this stuff. If they're not doing it, you probably want to go somewhere else. Cause they're really not going to be able to give you the true advice. Um, if, if they're not actively involved in transactions, if they're not doing video or whatever it is that you feel the path that you want to go down.

Gia Arvin: Yep. I agree. And if you bring it to them and you say, Hey, this is something I want to do. If they're not doing it and they don't immediately say, you know, I'm not doing that, but let me get you the support that you need. So you can be successful. You know, if they're not supporting what you're looking to do, then.

You know, maybe it's time for you to figure out what works best for your future. 

Tracy hayes: All [00:54:00] right. So we're going to, uh, change gears here and we'll kind of finish up a little bit. Um, I don't know if you, if you have to, because of your position, not, um, you know, openly on an open live stream, like we're doing right now, say something because, uh, you know, again, because of your position, but, um, give us a, a rundown, what.

Should every agent be hearing? I know, um, I get the ST Augustine boards, uh, emails and they try to obviously you'll put it out in the email that keep us abreast of what's going on and with the with the NAR settlement and so forth. Where is it at now? What should agents be being prepared with? What is, uh, you know, florida realtors position right now?

Uh, you know where everyone should be at? Um, as far as the settlement is, and as far as information of the truth about the settlement. 

Gia Arvin: So, um, the settlement is complex, right? Uh, there's a lot of intricacies. It's very complex. Um, but what our amazing staff at [00:55:00] Florida Realtors, our legal team, Joanna Watkins, we have a great legal team.

They've deciphered that, right? And they're really working on forms that we need to make sure that we're in compliance. So everything from, um, updated buyer broker agreements to showing agreements, um, to an updated listing agreement, all of those forms are in process so that we are going to be ahead of the curve.

Um, they should hopefully be ready by mid June. Then basically once those forms are released, we're going to immediately hop on a training wheel, right? So we're going to have webinars, we're going to have lots of, um, opportunities for you all to learn about the new forms, the changes and how to utilize them.

But hopefully at that point, if you haven't already, if you're a broker, you're going to get those forms and figure out how you're going to implement and what your process is going to be within your own brokerage. Uh, if you're an agent, this is an opportunity for you to reach out to your brokerage and say, okay, how now are we going to [00:56:00] function?

What is our process going to look like? Um, because as you know, we are no longer going to be able to offer compensation within our MLS. Where is that compensation going to be offered from your brokerage? That's a conversation that you can be having right now as well, uh, with your broker. If you're a broker, you need to be thinking about, um, how are you going to communicate that?

Right. So, um, once all of these changes are put into place, You're going to say, why are we doing these changes before the settlement has been approved? Because part of our settlement said that we are going to go ahead and implement changes prior to the approval of the settlements. Um, we believe that the settlement will be approved.

Uh, once it's approved, Florida is a little different because. Uh, if you're not aware, we have a lawsuit in Florida as well. In addition to the national association of realtors lawsuit. Um, however, once the settlement is approved, then our lawsuit by way of the settlement should go ahead and go away in [00:57:00] Florida, right?

That should also conclude when the NAR settlement becomes approved, but we don't know for sure that that will happen until the NAR settlement is finally settled. And then we'll go ahead and put that settlement agreement. In front of our judge here in Florida. Um, we believe that it will be, but obviously you don't know until the cook is done.

Right. So then immediately following that, I think you also, while you're learning these new forms, you need to be looking at what is your listing and presentations look like. Are you now updating that to have different conversations with sellers about compensation and who they want to compensate, how they want to compensate?

Um, and then I, if you don't have a, you've listing agreements, right? We've always had listing agreements and listing presentations. If you don't have a buyer presentation right now, that's probably something that you want to consider putting together. If you don't have that again, to show your value, communicate your value so that when you're [00:58:00] explaining to them the way that commissions work, they understand how you're working for them, what you're doing for them and how you're getting paid.

Right? Um, so you want to make sure that you're being crystal clear and delivering value to that buyer as well. The idea of the buyer broker agreement people are very nervous about and I'm like, it's no different than listing agreement for a seller. We've been doing that for decades. You just have to retrain your brain that you need an agreement no matter who you're working for.

Whether it's a seller or a buyer, um, I would also reach out if you know anyone that's always used by our broker agreements and say, help me, how are you communicating your value or how do you explain the buyer broker agreement? Uh, because I think that there are some brokerages in the state of Florida, not very many, but that have been using them for years and we can learn from them.

Uh, Cynthia Deluca, she's an amazing instructor of ours. At Florida Realtors, but she's also a [00:59:00] practitioner that has always used buyer broker agreements. I was able to take her a BR class just recently, um, and I learned so much. Uh, she's been operating with buyer broker agreements literally for 30 years, so.

We were able to take some of the, um, ideas and the things that she put into place within my own brokerage. So don't be afraid to reach out for help. This is new territory for everyone, but we do have the best professionals in place to ensure that you have all the tools and resources you're going to need.

And we've even amped up our legal hotline. Because you're going to have questions about forms. You're going to have questions about processes. Remember as a Florida Realtor, that is a free service for you. It's included in your dues, the Florida Realtor legal hotline, as well as the tech hotline. So if you have any questions tech wise, remember that is a service included in your dues as well.

Tracy hayes: To everyone who just listened to what you just said so we can bring them down off the ceiling [01:00:00] Because my initial reaction even though i'm not you know, all these documents I don't uh necessarily know every bit of it But I would imagine a lot of what you just there's You're not recreating a new wheel.

I mean, there's a spoke that in this wheel that you're, um, you're adding or, or, uh, improving, uh, in this and they shouldn't panic. They're not, you're not changing everything that, uh, these, all these people have been in the business for years have to totally recreate themselves. They should have enough experience to absorb these changes is that, would that be a correct statement?

Gia Arvin: A hundred percent. So I told everyone, take a deep breath. This is a change, but this is not altering our profession dramatically. It will foster more communication, I think, and conversation. And you just have to get comfortable with that conversation and what that looks like. But once you master that, I [01:01:00] think that you're going to see better communication, more professionalism, and just, you know, Overall smoother transactions.

Once we get over this hurdle, change is hard, right? No matter what you do, change is hard. But as soon as we pull off that bandaid, I think you're going to see it heal very quickly. 

Tracy hayes: And much like the contract classes, the many of the agents that I've had on say, you got to continue to go to that and hear it from different people because different people accent different areas of the contract that they think is more important, maybe than others.

Uh, the buyer's agreement. Your listing presentation go and hear it from some different people and now obviously make it your own. Would you agree? 

Gia Arvin: Yeah, 100%. I mean, honestly, the best form of flattery is taking someone else's idea and making it your own. Um, I'll tell you that we are very open about sharing things, um, within Florida realtors.

If you have questions, reach out to a leadership team [01:02:00] member. I've shared my listing agreement with, I don't even know how many realtors across the state. Um, I have a buyer book that I'm in the middle of updating now. Um, again, I think that we're only as strong as our weakest link, right? So anything that I can do to help grow someone else and leave the profession, uh, better than I found it.

I think that we all have a responsibility to collaborate and work together. Um, so that we can be the most professional realtors. We can, uh, for the Floridians buying homes. What 

Tracy hayes: do you think, um, you know, after getting through that, obviously this, this whole narthing is probably going to last, and obviously the trainings and so forth well in the 2025, uh, knowing what you know behind the scenes, um, uh, in, in the greater vision of, Real estate even on a national basis, let alone the large state, uh, as far as a realtor organization, but future challenges that we may be having [01:03:00] that, uh, uh, you know, these the 2025 2026 board needs Will be considering You know, what kind of challenges do you see in Florida real estate going ahead that the importance of Florida realtor being involved is going to be vital.

Gia Arvin: So, um, I think that we may have a decrease overall in membership, not from. A Florida realtor and NAR standpoint per se, like not because of settlements or anything like that. But I think that overall realtors, um, we're at a, uh, progressive age and we're not getting as many young realtors as we have older realtors exiting the business.

And so I think that we are going to see a decrease in realtor population overall over the next couple of years. So that will be Um, right now we're growing still, I mean, last year we anticipated that we would have a little bit of a fall off just because of the higher interest rates because of all lawsuits, everything going on.

Lots of uncertainty. 

Tracy hayes: [01:04:00] We 

Gia Arvin: did not in Florida. We increased 

Tracy hayes: interest. 

Gia Arvin: Um, So we do think that we still think that insurance is going to be a huge issue for affordability. Um, I will say workforce housing and affordability is at a crisis nationwide, uh, definitely in Florida, but nationwide, it's a crisis for us.

So we are going to have to figure that out. Um, what that looks like. I don't know. I just had an opportunity to ask 

Tracy hayes: your opinion on that. Yeah. What would be Gia? If Gia had a magic wand or was in control of it all, what would she do? So, 

Gia Arvin: um, you know, I think that affordable housing or work workforce housing is different for all people.

I think that if we were able to loosen up a little bit of our building guidelines, maybe we could have, um, a more of a, not a tiny home, but a more condensed home situation. I just had an opportunity to go to Fiopsi, which is an international real estate conference. Where we looked at projects from all over the world.

And, um, it was in Singapore, which was [01:05:00] interesting. But one, one thing, like 26 hours, it was crazy. One of the things we learned is that, um, they've loosened their building guidelines and they're having something now called pod parks. So imagine like the pod moving situation, it's container home parks. That people are building two bedroom, one bath container home build outs that are portable.

It's crazy. I mean, I, it's like a mobile home park, but a pod park. Um, so that was one thing. Another thing that we learned in Singapore, 90 percent of the housing is subsidized. And when I say subsidized, not rental. How we might think of it in the United States, the government actually builds it and then sells it to workforce housing at a reduction so that there are people that can live where they work, which was a concept I'd never heard of.

So, uh, instead of, you know. I don't know that that's the right answer for [01:06:00] us, but I think that we have to look at all opportunities to ensure that people in Florida can live where they work. Um, they basically took their FHA, their down payment assistance programs, and they said, could we build or repurpose homes right now and then sell them to our workforce housing for our costs?

Speaker 3: And 

Gia Arvin: they were able to do that, which was pretty huge. Um, um, I think that there's going to be a lot of things that have to come into play, right? Lower insurance rates, maybe some lower building code situations for maybe a tiny home situation like that. Um, You know, the septic tanks, especially in North Florida, are an issue.

I've been hearing about that. I just left Dixie, Gilchrist, Levy County, um, and they have a huge issue with trying to sell a lot to put a mobile home on, and the cost of the septic tank is going to be twice what the cost of the lot is. Well, that's a problem. We need to look at that regulation and figure out how we [01:07:00] can make that more affordable for that sector.

Um, I don't think there's a one, one, uh, one size fits all, but I think that we need to look across several, um, topics and see what we can do to increase workforce housing. Hometown Heroes obviously was a huge one for us. 

Tracy hayes: No, I was on the affordable housing advisory committee in St. John's County for, for years.

I, I gave it because my office kind of moved further north and to go keep going down there. But, um, one of the challenges, um, there was, yeah, like bringing, um, the public, uh, utilities to these lots. And, um, you know, because you're talking if the public utilities there and they could just tap into the water line, they could tap into the sewer system.

You're talking 20, 30, 40, 000 in savings versus that homeowner having to go in there, uh, build that septic, build the well, Go through all the permitting and all the things that need to be done to have that kind of stuff on there [01:08:00] versus just simply tapping into the, to the county's, uh, lines that are supplied there.

It is, it is a, you know, tending on where you're at. Uh, and sometimes it could be just little things like that. But would you agree there takes some political courage for some of these things to be made because somebody somewhere down the line has to take a stand and it may have to start with the governor, um, because he's, you know, versus that local politician who wants to make a stand.

He's outcasted because, oh, we're gonna bring lower, lower Uh, cost housing in here. It's gonna be a different, uh, population, you know, going to our schools. I know they all everyone wants to build a fence around their their little area there and don't want let anybody else in and where someone's gonna have to take up, have the political courage to kind of make a stand and start moving this in the right direction.

Gia Arvin: Yeah, I agree for sure. Uh, we all have that whole NIMBY, right? Not in my backyard situation. And we're [01:09:00] gonna have to look at what makes sense for our states, what we can do, um, But we're pricing people out right and left. Um, people are continuing to move further and further and further out of city centers.

Um, and then what does that look like when we're trying to get people that are able to work in restaurants and work in, you know, the dry cleaners, all those different things. 

Tracy hayes: Yeah. We're 

Gia Arvin: not going to have 

Tracy hayes: workforce for, for jobs that we need. And when you add, obviously, you know, yeah, the cost of fuel, the cars, cars, you're, you're driving that distance, let alone the fast food joint in between, you know, you got to stop and get something to eat.

I mean, yeah, then an auto sending that affordable house is not affordable anymore. When you realize what, what is entailed in going back and back and forth there. Um, so. Let me see if I skipped around questions. I want to make sure, um, uh, the one question I had. We talked about Tallahassee, but I wanted to circle back from a national basis.

You [01:10:00] guys are up in up in D. C. What are some of the things that Florida is trying to get done on a national, uh, or where the federal government has to kind of get involved? 

Gia Arvin: So we did. We've been talking to them about affordable housing as well. Um, I think that that's always an issue, like what programs can be put in place at a national level.

Um, we are always huge on, um, property taxes as well now. Understand that that's governed by the state. However, there is some national influence on that, um, uh, foreign buyers. That was another huge, um, topic of conversation that we had in Tallahassee. Um, and what does that look like? And we want to make sure that everyone has access to buy homes within our, our state and within our country.

Um, and so we don't want regulations on, um, people that are able to purchase. So, um, you know, Making sure that everyone has the opportunity for home [01:11:00] ownership and the right counseling, um, financially as well. So, um, you know, if someone doesn't have the right credit, what programs can we get them in or get in place to ensure that we're helping them build credit, um, and longevity so that they're able to be in a position to purchase?

You know, there's so many things that go with home ownership. They say that if you own a home, you're going to have Overall, uh, lower crime rate, you're going to have higher graduation rates amongst your children. Um, you're going to be more invested in your community. There are so many positives that come with home ownership that we're really taking that stance, um, in Tallahassee to help ensure that everyone has that opportunity if they want it.

Tracy hayes: I'm going to finish with this and then I'm going to give you an opportunity. If you, there's anything you want to add in here, um, Florida realtors talking to, you know, uh, Cindy Hayden, [01:12:00] talking to Kim Knapp, um, and, and others that I've had on the show from around the, around the state has a tremendous amount of services when you're a member that they offer forewarn, you know, obviously being one of them, what, what do you, uh, with, with All this there, you know, I understand there's an I.

T. Team there to help you with your technology, getting a printer hooked up or whatever that you guys have this support staff. What are some things that, uh, some services that maybe some of the agents who might be listening to this don't realize that florida realtors has and they just haven't tapped into it as part of their membership.

Gia Arvin: So yes, legal hotline for sure. I'm a regular on their tech hotline. I tell them take over my computer. I don't even want to know how you fix it. Just fix it. Um, but sun stats, I think that that is a powerful one that's underutilized. So sun sun stats. It's our research department. Um, so as a realtor, if you were to go to try to [01:13:00] compile research, you can drill down to zip code.

Um, Or service area. So like in Gainesville, I'm in Gainesville, for example, I could search Homestats for Gainesville. I could also search Homestats for 32607, which happens to be my zip code. Um, but why this is important is it'll drill down by zip code. It will. Brand it to you as the realtor, put it in a beautiful infographic or in a bar chart.

Um, and you can go in there and you can really research not just your area, but maybe there's another zip code that you're interested in trying to gain market share on. You can go into there and always be up to speed on what's happening in those areas. If you were to pay for that service on your own, it would be astronomical.

The, the cost, um, and our, um, um, Chief economist, Brad O'Connor. He does a once a month update. I'm also teaching you how to interpret the statistics and spin [01:14:00] it so that you can explain it to your customer effectively. So if you're not watching those videos on floridarealtors. org definitely do so. Um, the other service, YouTube site as well.

Am I not? Yep. Yep. It's on their YouTube site. Definitely. Um, the other service that I absolutely love is our take five videos. So as a realtor, I'm always looking at ways to brush up my skills, something I can bring to my office meetings as a broker. We have hundreds of videos that are called take five series and it's a five minute video.

To teach you about something. Maybe it's the way to help effective pricing of a new listing. Maybe it's, um, the best ways to communicate with your customers to wow them. Maybe it's five minutes on to create the most memorable video, but we have, uh, area content experts teaching a video. To help you. So five minutes, we all have five minutes.

We can brush up on our skills and utilize [01:15:00] something. 

Speaker 3: So 

Gia Arvin: I love the take five series as well. Um, our forms, if you're not utilizing form simplicity, uh, some brokerages have their own software, which is fine. But if not, you know, we have form simplicity that's also available to you as a member. Um, and that has all of our forms, all of our e signatures, all of that available.

So that's huge. Um, what else do I love? If you're not reading the magazine, I know that everyone says print is dead. It's a digital magazine as well. I will tell you that we've won more awards. We are, don't tell real, um, NAR this, but our magazine is better than the realtor magazine every day of the week.

So the content in there and the relevancy is huge. Um, there always is something that I have a takeaway, uh, every single month in there. So definitely utilize that if you're not. Um, there are just so many things that I love the sun 

Tracy hayes: stats thing. I think it's a good, I think, uh, Kim Knapp kind of [01:16:00] showed me a little taste of that, what that can do.

And I, and I see, you know, a lot of these agents are looking for content for their, For their, um, social media. And if I'm not mistaken, it will, it will create a Facebook post for you with whatever stats are, can you just quickly like, you give three or four things that you stats that you like to look at, you know, when you're pulling up zip codes or maybe going to that buyer or sellers, uh, consultation, what are some of those things you pull off, uh, that you think is important that SunStats gives you?

Gia Arvin: So average days on the market is what I always do. List to sale price ratio, which I think is huge. When you're talking to sellers, um, you know, they still think in their brain that we're going to have multiple offers in three days. Um, and although it's still a strong market, we're not there anymore. Um, and so showing them that the list to sale price ratio has taper down slightly.

I think it's huge. Um, I also like the number of units [01:17:00] closed in that zip code, um, versus number of active listings. So that's another thing that everyone will say, Oh, things are flying off the market. Well, you can see that there are 115 active listings and 63 of those closed. So how many are still available and why are those available?

You know, um, so there you can customize it however you want. I think there's like 26 different metrics that you can choose from to have on your specific sun stats presentation. But I think that that's, it's huge. It really is a huge opportunity for us to set ourselves up as the experts. When you go to a party and someone says, how's the market?

Speaker 3: And you're like, 

Gia Arvin: Oh, it's really great. Instead, you can say, you know, in our area, it's a 97 percent list of sale price ratio. Average days on the market of 39. You sound so much more educated. 

Tracy hayes: No, a hundred percent. I think, uh, when I saw Kim demonstrate that to me, I said, these agents, do they even know this is available to them?

Because I was like, [01:18:00] I see them post a lot of stuff from other places. I know they're paying for. So, you know, that is such a, uh, just one valuable tool, um, in your toolbox there at Florida Realtor. And 

Gia Arvin: Photofy does the same thing. It creates social media content for you free. 

Tracy hayes: If 

Gia Arvin: you're a Florida Realtor, you have access to Photofy and it's everything, all the content that Florida Realtors has.

Um, but that's a great opportunity. It's Photofy, P H O T O F Y. 

Tracy hayes: Excellent. Gia, is there anything you'd like to add here as we finish up? 

Gia Arvin: Um, I just appreciate the opportunity and, uh, our leadership team. We are, we want to be a resource. We want to be an open book. We encourage you if you have concerns, questions, things you'd like to see happen, reach out to us.

We are here to serve you. We are volunteer. leaders, um, that it happened to be practitioners and our job is to leave it better than we found it. So help us do that. 

Tracy hayes: Well, there's no doubt. Um, you know, Florida [01:19:00] is a state with probably more challenges than the average state. And with more people coming in, just exposes more challenges and to have great leadership, uh, that you have there, uh, in obviously, uh, uh, let up by yourself, uh, you know, these are, these are challenging times.

And I, and I don't think it's going to change anytime soon. Um, but not things that we can't overcome with great leaders like yourself. So, 

Gia Arvin: thank you very much. We appreciate the opportunity to serve and, uh, look forward to the changes in the year ahead for sure. 

Tracy hayes: Excellent. Gia, you have a super day.

Appreciate you.