Megan Hughey: Real Estate Agent Quick Study to Success

REE#189
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Tracy Hayes: [00:00:00] Today's top producing agent was a part time fitness instructor, instructor, pharmaceutical sales. She has been bachelors. She has a bachelor's degree with the university of Maryland. She owns a landscaping company and it's just two years as an agent. And she's been recognized by.

The Jaxx Real Producers for her 2023 production. She has unwavering commitment to client satisfaction and a deep understanding of the luxury market. She has a house full of kids, four kids and three French bulldogs and claims to be a foodie. So hopefully we get a restaurant review here from our recommendation.

Let's welcome the Megan in the MeganSellsJaxx. com Megan Huey to the show. 

Megan Hughey: Thanks for having me. 

Tracy Hayes: Thank you for coming on today. Uh, looking forward, uh, to, to digging into you cause you really have gotten off to a great start in your career. Um, you know, and, uh, and you, I, I mean, I see your social media and I see you do comment.

Obviously you're one of my, my, my fans and I appreciate that. Um, uh, listening to each [00:01:00] and every one of the podcast and I've been following you. I, and when I went on to your LinkedIn Oh, she's only been doing this for two years and already and already be at the production level You know to be at the jacks real producers that is very rare um, you know to get there so there's gonna be some Uh some tips some tricks some things that in the last 24 months Hopefully you're gonna be able to share it to the listeners today.

Megan Hughey: Yeah, I hope so. 

Tracy Hayes: Yeah, so, um where we kick off always 

Megan Hughey: I'm from Laurel, Maryland, originally, um, moved to Jacksonville about 15 years ago, I think now. Um, yeah, and been here. I kind of was in the fitness industry, medical device sales, pharmaceutical sales for a while, um, stayed with fitness, personal training, group fitness training, um, managing fitness facilities until COVID happened.

Um, and then. You know, everything shut down, especially that world. Um, well, I don't 

Tracy Hayes: want to [00:02:00] jump too far ahead. We'll get, we're going to pick up there. Cause I was always going to make your transition in the real estate. Tell us about the university of Maryland. What, what did you choose there? What was young Megan, you know, visualizing as a career, you know, 

Megan Hughey: a young Megan was in public and community health.

Um, that's what the degree was in. Um, and I thought I was going to work like in a health department, um, doing women's health. sexual health, reproductive health. I did a lot of that kind of stuff in college. Um, but I did my internship at a health department and I was like, yeah, this is not for me. Almost immediately.

Were 

Tracy Hayes: you like a junior, senior and didn't go do the internship? How old were you? Yeah. It was like 

Megan Hughey: your last semester in college and I was like, yeah, I can't do this. Like the nine to five, it just wasn't for me sitting in an office. 

Tracy Hayes: Was it the that the nine to five structure or just the, you know, I want to use the word clientele.

I mean, obviously, or the [00:03:00] issues and challenges that that You know, uh, because you're, you're, when were you working at a county level or state level office? It was county 

Megan Hughey: level. Um, and I think everyone who does that work is amazing. Um, very selfless work and, um, but it was being in the office and sitting down all day.

And at that point in my life I was just, you know, very active and it was hard for me to be. sitting there and like me and the copy machine, it was like my arch nemesis. Well, 

Tracy Hayes: so you You, you know, you were fitness, uh, you know, part time, but that was part, you know, something you were doing for a decade. Were you already doing some sort of, was that part of the curriculum, um, to, uh, you know, I don't know what the credentials are to be a fitness instructor, or is that something you did after school?

Megan Hughey: Um, it was after school, so I got into managing and doing sales in the gyms whenever I moved here. Um, I believe it was [00:04:00] Gold's Gym at the time, and That just kind of got me into, you know, teaching and getting my certifications and all of that. 

Tracy Hayes: The, um, the transition from going from Maryland to, you know, to Northeast Florida.

What took you here? 

Megan Hughey: Um, I followed a boy, which then later, you know, led me to my husband. But, um, yeah, moved down here. It was just something different. I always have loved the beach, um, wanted to be close to the ocean. And it was kind of one of those perfect timing situations. 

Tracy Hayes: Was he was your, is your husband from Jacksonville?

Megan Hughey: My husband is from Jacksonville. Yeah. 

Tracy Hayes: So he go to the University of Maryland? 

Megan Hughey: No, no. It was a different boy. . Oh, a different boy. Oh, okay. . 

Tracy Hayes: Alright. Um, Maryland's a, a unique area. I spent, um, most of the nineties, uh. In in Centerville, Virginia My aunts lived in Springfield, Virginia, but we I mean the business that my cousin [00:05:00] and I were doing I mean we were You know, basically traveling every every from Richmond up to you know, uh, the baltimore area just north I mean with all the building going on, uh, you know working with the home builders, you know what we were doing um and and traveled through that area and it's It's it's different.

Megan Hughey: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's very busy. Yeah, very busy We were You know, I grew up right smack between Baltimore and DC. My dad's originally from Baltimore. Um, but it is very, very busy. Lots of traffic. Um, just a very fast pace all the time. My mom worked for the federal government. My dad was local government. And she just I mean the commute into dc every day, I don't I don't know how she did it It's just a very busy busy lifestyle and also very cold Yes, the majority of the year and it was just not for me.

Tracy Hayes: I mean you have the seasons there. It's nice Yeah from that standpoint, but but you're right. I mean, I [00:06:00] mean i'm type that I like to wear shorts year round. I mean, yeah um Yeah. And we're 

Megan Hughey: three hours from the beach, so it's too far for me. 

Tracy Hayes: Um, so you get a taste that that's not what you want to do. Um, uh, uh, at least working for the, um, the government.

Yeah. County or local. You come down here to, to Jack's. What introduces you just, just going out and trying to find a job? You just ran, went into the gym and just said, okay, yeah, that looks like a decent job and just. Yeah, 

Megan Hughey: it's kind of one of those things, you know, you get your degree and you think oh, I'm gonna get a job and then It's like what job am I gonna get?

I don't want to do the health department thing and also a lot of times It's hard to get into the health department because people stay there. Yeah, once they get in so I was just applying to different jobs and I got the job at Gold's gym and as a sales rep and Yeah, that just kind of got me into that lifestyle.

Tracy Hayes: Mm hmm What do you think? I mean, you did it for a while. So, I mean, [00:07:00] do you still do some instructing privately with anyone? Do you know, 

Megan Hughey: um, once real estate's taken up your world and kids and kids. Yeah. So yeah, once COVID happened, um, and everything shut down, I just kind of stepped away from that. Um, still worked out and all of that, but I didn't train anyone.

Tracy Hayes: That industry is interesting from the standpoint that, you know, you see. You know the advertisements for the different franchises, I don't know how some of these places they charge 10 a month for you to join You know now you got these CrossFit gyms Which you know a lot of them are finding they're not buying the retail space or like a gold's gym where they got this huge very costly Building.

Megan Hughey: Yeah, 

Tracy Hayes: um, you know these you're competing with these crossfit gyms who are going in back basically in warehouse spaces Which are a lot less expensive right and in competing it just it Mind boggles me from us from a sales side. I mean, what are I don't even know how [00:08:00] to ask this question, but you know With the competition out there.

I imagine being in the sales part of the of the of the gym uh competing against You know the different campaigns that you had to try to do to track attract attention, I guess 

Megan Hughey: Yeah, yeah for sure and it was a lot of like old school, you know boots hitting the ground running and all that But yeah, it was it was a weird time It was kind of when gym memberships went from that like 40 a month to the 10 a month model So yeah, I was there during that time and I remember having a manager who was Um, really, really good at problem solving.

So, I would come to her with a problem, like, How, how are we going to do this? And, she was always really good at just figuring out, like, a solution to everything. So, that kind of helped shape me into thinking that way. Like, okay, here's a problem. It's not, you know, it's not stopping us. It's maybe [00:09:00] a speed bump, but let's, like, figure it out.

Tracy Hayes: Right, right. So. Well, that's real estate. Okay. That's real estate, that's parenting, that's everything. So the, so the sales in the, the, the gym area, um, the 10 that, that, you know, that's, that's easy. Anyone's like, okay, all right. Yeah. I like the gym. My friend goes here 10, not really a deep thought, but obviously I would imagine the goal is there's an up sale.

You know, to get, uh, one on one instruction or get them in the aerobics class or, or whatever, how you, you know, what kind of, did they provide proper training for you? Or are you just doing this internally? Your manager? How does that, that's the roadblock, right? What, what, how do I get this customer to the next level?

How do I get them spending 50 a month in here? 

Megan Hughey: Right. Right. And it's creating value, of course. Um, That's why also I got into group fitness. I [00:10:00] remember I was, I was actually managing one of the locations, um, and they wanted a kickboxing class and I was certified in group fitness and it was like they wanted one at like 7 15 at night and I'm like, Okay, cool.

Like I'll just teach it. So I started teaching it and I loved it. So I could kind of invite people and come take my classes. Um, and then it just kind of went from there to personal training as well. All 

Tracy Hayes: right. So during this time period to you, um, you go part time with the fitness. Because you pick up a pharmaceutical.

Yeah, okay, so There and I think you said Device sales. Yeah, so there's a lot of training involved. Yeah, there's a lot of education in that part of the I always wondered is it in the That industry is kind of unique from what I understand, uh, friends, a friend of mine, he's been in it for pretty much his whole career.

And it's like, you know, this product come out or this medicine comes out [00:11:00] and the company hires a bunch of people go out and sell it. And then another company, they come out with a new product and this company is dying down. So they shift over here and they, they, there's a lot of networking involved, uh, and moving forward.

What are some things that you picked up? Um, that you're still, you know, you know, as we'll get into real estate, some of the things you picked up, whether it was in training or just again, you know, working, you know, talking to a doctor because like you talk, you talk about luxury sales, you know, those are type of clientele that you're now working with and, you know, trying to either earn their business to list their home or, you know, You know represent them as a buyer.

Megan Hughey: Yeah. Yeah, I think you have to know what you're talking about for sure you have to sound educated and Um, you know be very well versed I think but also just confidence in in what you're selling so to speak I I noticed All my sales weren't really me selling something because I believed in what I was selling.

For instance, I worked for Dynasplint. Um, so it was, uh, [00:12:00] splints helping neurological patients with, uh, tone and people basically when their hands are clenched shut, the splints are dynamic and they help stretch them out. So it was a really just cool thing to be able to offer physical therapists, occupational therapists.

Um, So it wasn't me feeling like I was selling something. It was just bringing value to something they were already doing. 

Tracy Hayes: Right. Much like a house. 

Megan Hughey: Yes. Yeah. The house. 

Tracy Hayes: I mean, either do they either like the location or they don't. Right. Yeah. You know, really 

Megan Hughey: salesy, so to speak, in my opinion. I don't feel like it is because I'm just bringing the value.

I'm showing them. I listen to them what they need and bring them what they need. They like it. They like it. If they don't, they don't. I mean, 

Tracy Hayes: I would, I would imagine, well, I mean, imagine, I mean, the pharmaceutical world is, is competitive, but then there's, there's companies that specialize in doing certain things that they're really the only ones doing it.

Megan Hughey: Yeah. 

Tracy Hayes: Right. Yeah. I mean 'cause it's [00:13:00] not, I imagine 'cause those are unique situations. They're gonna listen to you and say, okay, when I have a customer that needs it, I'll call you. 

All: Right. You know, type of thing. Right, right. Exactly. 

Megan Hughey: Yeah. 

Tracy Hayes: Um, alright, so Covid happens. 

Megan Hughey: Mm-Hmm. , 

Tracy Hayes: you're. Yeah, going to doctor visits, right?

Or I don't know if you, you know, that type of thing. What, what's, what changes and all of a sudden, what leads you to real estate? 

Megan Hughey: So, okay, uh, pre having my daughter, I kind of got out of the medical device sales. So she's eight now. Um, born in 2015. And then. COVID happened 2020. So in between then, uh, I was helping my husband.

Tracy Hayes: That's right. Start his landscaping 

Megan Hughey: business. Yup. And he was a loan officer during that time as well, kind of juggling both. Um, I was personal training kids, all the kids, um, during that time COVID happened and training shut down. We moved to [00:14:00] Fleming Island at the time we have a blended family situation.

So to kind of make sure we were all close. So schools were not an issue. We wanted to stay close, um, to my stepdaughter's, uh, mom. So, there, I'm just kind of Figuring it out with kids and helping my husband with the landscaping business. He kept saying to me. You really should get into real estate You'd be so good at this, you know, 

Tracy Hayes: well, I'm kind of curious.

He's telling you to get in real estate. He got out of mortgages Which today would be a good idea but then 

Megan Hughey: Um, but I was kind of, I, I had gotten into this groove with the kids and being kind of a stay at home mom, helping my husband, that kind of thing. I was really worried about leaving them before they got to, you know, kindergarten, my youngest got to kindergarten.

Right. And I was having a really big fear of failure, imposter syndrome, um, the whole thing, and I was kind of putting it off. Mm. Um, [00:15:00] He's like, what are you doing? I'm like, I just don't have the time, you know, all the kids and this and that. And he's like, I'm telling you stick them in a camp, you know, I will support you on whatever you need to do, but you need to go take this test and take the class.

So he was super supportive of that. And Kind of pushed me. Did you 

Tracy Hayes: have a girlfriend or someone that you knew in real estate or he just obviously him being in the business He knew agents She's 

Megan Hughey: a friend of mine and yeah, she was kind of my she was my mentor it is my mentor and she was like an inspiration to me because I see her with her three kids and Managing businesses and all the things and i'm like, well, she did it.

So yeah, I can do it too. 

Tracy Hayes: Yeah um So you Talk about you go and just to go for the week for the class or you do it online. What did 

Megan Hughey: Yeah, I stuck my kids in spring break camp Went during their spring break and I went for the week [00:16:00] and took the class Okay, and then yeah pass the class and then you know, you have to take your state exam But that was what I was really pushing off like buckling down and studying So once he kind of was like, come on, do you recommend 

Tracy Hayes: taking the test like right away though?

I mean after looking back, did you would you just take the test? To do the weekly course and like pretty much schedule it, you know, pretty close. 

Megan Hughey: Yes. Study for a few weeks and then yeah, I think I used prep agent and I buckled down for two whole weeks and I just kept taking the practice tests back to back to back.

Um, 

Tracy Hayes: cause there's a lot of crazy stuff on there. I, this summer I, I was, uh, I, I went in and dabbled in and did the pre thing and I'm like, oh, this will be simple, you know, cause I go on and do this mortgage stuff, but I've been doing mortgages for 18 years. Yeah. So. When they started licensing everywhere, I had 21 licenses at one time because at Quicken where we're talking everyone all over the country and So, you know now of course They have just kind of one big test that a lot of states accept and then some other stuff But [00:17:00] the continuing ed and stuff I just go in there and I could just let it play and answer the questions without Because I've just done it so many times when I started looking at what you guys are Learning which You know, some of it's good.

Some of it, I guess they really want you to kind of understand the bigger picture. Some of the stuff you'll never use, um, you know, they start breaking into the. I forgot, you know, the acreages and how the, how it's, you know, I guess how you can read the description at the county level. Um, I, I question how many agents actually double check that versus just taking the county's word for it.

Let the title company figure that out. That's what they do. You know, you know, but, um, so there, there is, you do need to do need to study on some stuff that you may never used before. Okay. And you probably will never use again, uh, for sure. It's, it's not, it's, it's not as simple, but it is a low threshold.

You, as you spend, you know, well, basically [00:18:00] a month and you were licensed, you know, uh, from the same. So day one, obviously Jocelyn, I assume sponsors you at what was then exit real estate gallery. Uh, you go in, are you shadowing Jocelyn? Are you, what are you doing in those, those first few weeks that you'll get started.

Megan Hughey: So, um, we at exit at the time, it was a week long training course with Sunny Ray, Nancy, um, and, uh, 

Tracy Hayes: new, 

Megan Hughey: new agent orientation. Yeah. And it was really thorough. Um, and yeah, so we did that and she was kind of already setting me up with what I needed to do. Um, you know, start taking pictures, get your headshots, get your business cards, do this, do that.

Um, she was really on top of me as far as like, you know, Being prepared for that. Um, but after that, it was a lot of just immersing myself in the community of real estate agents. Like I didn't know [00:19:00] really, I didn't feel like I knew what I was doing, but being around people going to trainings, it just makes you be in that world.

Cause I think it's easy to get your license and then just kind of be like, all right, what do I do? Yeah. You just have to be around. You know, real estate agents and in that community and doing all the trainings, I think. 

Tracy Hayes: Well, you bring up a good point and these waters are for you. I don't know if you, if you need a, yeah.

Um, this, this is a question and you, I'm sure you've heard me ask this a hundred times if you've listened to my, my podcast is how important, you know, Well one you had you already you had a successful Agent who you were friends with who who you have on your speed dial, right? She's already telling you, you know, hey, you need to be doing this You need to be get those cards get those cards printed because it's going to take a week Whatever getting all those things done Uh type of thing, but I also know jocelyn's well connected and she has her little um [00:20:00] Group around her, uh, very successful agents.

Many of them work for other brokerages, 

Megan Hughey: right? 

Tracy Hayes: Um, and here now you're kind of invited into this, this group, so to speak. I'm sure you're being introduced to some of these people if you're hanging out with Jocelyn or whatever, socially or whatever. How important When you look back now, you know, the 24, 26 months you've been in the business based on what you just said, how, how important is that played or helped you, uh, go back to a word you, again, you used earlier confidence and having some of these people that now you've been introduced with and now you feel a little comfortable.

These are, you know, they don't work with you every day, but they're working with you cause they're out there. Yeah. Yeah. 

Megan Hughey: She definitely has a great connection. Um, I feel like The people I met in our, you know, my training course, like we're still on a group chat today. I'm going to group chat with Jocelyn and another agent.

Um, we can always just kind of lean on each other [00:21:00] and hey, are you going to this training? Are you doing this? Uh, what do you do? You know, we have worker support, of course, at United, but, um, we can always check with each other as well. 

Tracy Hayes: Well, as a new agent and I know as a loan officer, there's stuff that comes up all the time.

It's like, uh, Did that guideline change? Uh, what's your, have you, how, how do you, how do you, do you know a good landscape, you know, whatever, whatever it is that you need, you don't want to contact the broker and ask him, you know, who a good landscaper is. That's, you know, I'm not going to wait. I'm not going to wait.

Yeah. I'm just using that as an example. But, um, the, uh, the, those agents are, have, They're good because they have those connections. Yeah. And now, now you're able to get him and it's much quicker to get a hold of Jocelyn, I'm sure, than it is to Ray. It might, it might be a little bit before he calls you back.

Oh, 

Megan Hughey: yeah. 

Tracy Hayes: Uh, a type of thing on those things. But I mean, how does, if, if, you know, you're coaching, as I said, pre show, there may be a new agent who's in the class right [00:22:00] now, right? And they're getting started in these first couple of weeks. What, what are the, um, Uh, the things they should have in their tool belt as, as quickly as possible, such as a, a landscape or a contractor.

What are some things you, you learned from these Mm-Hmm. experienced top agents, uh, that help speed your learning curve. 

Megan Hughey: You need to have people, you need to have a mentor or a coach, or both . Mm-Hmm. . Um, and you definitely need to just. Have people surrounding you who you can always call on. So yeah, like the landscaper, the handyman, of course that comes with time, I think.

Um, and experience and just people that you can reach out to. Your people, your group, your tribe, so to speak. So yeah, I mean it's important for sure, but At the end of the day, you learn as you go along, I feel like this business, you're just constantly learning, um, with each transaction, I feel like I learned something new.

Tracy Hayes: Well, and this is, uh, you know, to go [00:23:00] back to, you know, obviously the, the subject of the month is the NAR lawsuit proposal, 

Megan Hughey: right? Yeah, yeah. 

Tracy Hayes: And the value of a real estate agent and, and so forth. And then, you know, I don't know when they started, uh, You know, if it was a decade ago that, Oh, you know, this, everything, this is going to be a.

com, right? You're going to be able to go to Zillow and buy a house. You know, uh, the reality is it's almost impossible because every transaction is different. 

Megan Hughey: Yes. 

Tracy Hayes: Um, you know, you've done enough transaction. There's, there's people have been in the business 20 years that are still experiencing something new because It's a different property and it's got a different title issue are, you know, lending right now is, uh, uh, you know, a lot of loan officers, there's a lot of extra puzzle pieces as I'm sure we talked about.

You got some listings going on. There's a, you know, Uh, the contingencies today are different than the contingencies 18, 24 months ago and juggling and [00:24:00] setting up those loans. Uh, so, uh, I'm going to spin this question into, you know, we talked about, you've got listings are hot right now. Our inventory is growing, but what are some of the challenges that, uh, agents are running into?

Or, you know, you're, I'm sure what you're running into other agents are too, um, right now with the current market. That we have um in in putting some of these deals together. 

Megan Hughey: Yeah, um, well I can think of one listing right now I have going on that's You know was built in 2020 and it's a new build community.

So i'm dealing and it's still growing So they're they want to sell now and we're dealing with um builders incentives, which is tough to battle Um interest rates all of that. So yeah, that's that's like the main thing 

Tracy Hayes: Well, I think what are the one thing we debt we all have learned and having worked with the big builder Myself if you think you might be moving in a year or [00:25:00] two You don't want to be the first house in in one of those now you you could possibly make some equity But you really want to hold out until that community's finished, but if they're building a couple thousand homes They might be there for 

All: Yeah, yeah.

Um, 

Tracy Hayes: because we, we are seeing the, uh, the builder in incentivization coming in. What are, from your buyer's side, what are, you know, you know, the buyers have kind of slimmed out right now because rates are where they're at. 

Megan Hughey: Yeah. 

Tracy Hayes: Um, but we are getting closer to summer. Um, the, the challenges of some of the, I wouldn't say Because 55 percent of the deals in Jacksonville right now are cash Which we'll talk about in a minute because those are not slam dunks, but what are some of the challenges you're seeing some of your buyers?

Megan Hughey: One specific buyer that I'm working with it's like they're in that sweet spot where if they were in st Johns County, they'd probably get something [00:26:00] immediately, but they want to stay in Duval In a specific area and it's it's hard to find them the inventory that they want at the level price 

Tracy Hayes: price point or Level level of community that they're looking for a 

Megan Hughey: level of community It's something between like, you know, 750 and a million I would say and Those are like very, you know, pretty nice houses, right?

And But in specific neighborhoods in Duval, they're not as upgraded as they would be, you know, brand new in St. John's. Right. Yeah, so. Right. But, so it's kind of like location. We need to 

Tracy Hayes: talk to them about a renovation, though. 

Megan Hughey: I know 

Tracy Hayes: Um, I 

Megan Hughey: don't know that they want to renovate though they kind of want turnkey so 

Tracy Hayes: well that is something that i've uh, Bobby brendan and I think it's been a month.

I Probably been two months since I had her on for a little brief market update But that's what she was saying. She was from most of the customers that they want to turnkey 

Megan Hughey: Yeah, 

Tracy Hayes: my the upper echelons and the lending institutions are like hey [00:27:00] promote renovation loan promote renovation loans Yeah, we could talk renovation loans, but a lot of these You know, dealing with contractors and so 

Megan Hughey: forth.

It's 

Tracy Hayes: tough. Yeah. I mean, just to get them to show up is, is, is a challenge, uh, because they're, they've got plenty of new build construction to go do. There, there are people who are doing renovations and, you know, they're, they're getting top dollar. It's not a bargain. Uh, you know, it's, it's, it's, it's, uh, with the demand in the area, you know, is putting on it and of course you have, uh, the home flippers, they're using them.

Yeah, you know, and if you get someone who's regularly home flipping, they're hopefully moving their contractor like a builder from one to the next project, right? Um, from that, from that same one. Um, All right. So you're, you're, you're getting these initial things. You're, you're starting to, uh, network, uh, early on, uh, here and, uh, start to chit chat with some of, some of the other agents, tell us how you've progressed.

I mean, you had, I don't know [00:28:00] how was 23 was great. How was the overall year of 22 for you? I mean, was it, was it a rough start or did you, did you have some deals come early to you that started to make things start to flow for you? 

Megan Hughey: Yeah, um, I would say my husband is like my biggest cheerleader, and he tells everyone he knows that I'm an agent.

Um, so actually the first deal, the first listing I had was Sphere of Influence, and it was through my husband. Mm hmm. Um, through work, through the landscaping company. Um, and it, from there, it was like Sphere for the most part. One of them was, I think, an open house I'd worked. But, you know, I, I wasn't, like, Super stressed about it.

I guess you could say it was one of those things that I was like man This is gonna be some nice extra money like, you know, like that kind of thing, but it wasn't something that I was like I have to make this amount. I have to do this. I don't love 

Tracy Hayes: you Weren't worried about if you didn't make a sale this month that your kids weren't gonna eat, right?

Megan Hughey: Yeah, we have you know, we had the landscaping business. I think that is a luxury that I had. I'm [00:29:00] very aware that that's a privilege But yeah, we already had the landscaping business going. So that's our primary income and then Whatever I need was kind of like extra. Right. And I don't like that pressure I think.

Tracy Hayes: Speak to someone again looking to get in the business. Right. Cause that is a jump. I mean, I've had many ladies, uh, come on. Uh, some just went through a divorce and they're trying to start a real, it's a business. 

All: Yes it is. 

Tracy Hayes: Um, and you may, you may go. A while without getting that first sale or you know, whatever it is You know when you are looking at it knowing what you had And what you went through?

That if you're planning or thinking about getting into real estate, you really need to sit down and kind of map out You know, what if I don't get a sale for six months 

Megan Hughey: you need to yes You got to have some money set aside to start I think 

Tracy Hayes: Yeah. Um, but that, that mindset, um, because you guys [00:30:00] already had it from the, from the landscaping business, uh, from that sound, which sounds like you're, you're, you guys have got a, a decent, you know, in 2017, right.

As I saw that on there is when you started. So really in seven years, I mean, you guys are grown and, uh, you know, you probably have HR people now because you've got so many people working for you, but, you know, but sometimes as a real estate agent, you're, you're, you know, you're, it's you. 

Megan Hughey: Yeah, 

Tracy Hayes: you know, which this is what the situation is you're 24 months into it.

How um, can you be distracted? Have you found yourself? Being distracted at times or the opposite side you've gotten busy Because you're working your sphere and all of a sudden there's more business than like you even thought about having. 

Megan Hughey: Yeah, I'm more so on that end. I've been working my sphere and it kind of has come naturally, luckily.

And again, my husband with referrals has been great. But yeah, working the sphere and then all of a sudden i'm like, oh my gosh, i'm [00:31:00] so busy I don't have time for anything Which you know, it's a good problem to have right i'm actually looking to hire admin now because it's like I can't Um, and I'm like, I need help.

Tracy Hayes: Well, what kind of support does United and if we get, you want to brag about United or maybe not, I don't know. Um, because I think that the one, uh, topic in the shirt, cause you listened to the show, uh, that I always say is how important it is. Do the brokerage that you team up with. Because like you said, every day.

You're learning something new every transaction. You're learning something new. You're still plowing through you had a great year But now you've starting to reach a lid or a lid that you have anyway that you personally feel like hey I need to dump some of this stuff off on somebody else. Yeah, and you know That jump is can be huge for some people.

Megan Hughey: Yeah. 

Tracy Hayes: Because they want to control everything. 

Megan Hughey: Yes. 

Tracy Hayes: Do you, are you in the control area? Are you, you know, you know you need an [00:32:00] admin, but you've been kind of procrastinating about it? Or how do you? 

Megan Hughey: Yeah. So, uh, as far as transaction coordinators go, I prefer to do it myself. Some people say that's dumb. I mean, you should not do that.

But um, I do have a problem with control with like the transactions and it's strictly communication between my, you know, my customers who are a lot of times, you know, friends, family. I just, I want to make sure it's really personal and I have An issue with wanting to stay on top of everything. Um, you know that that's probably a fault of my own My 

Tracy Hayes: wife's the same way for the standpoint like the loan.

She wants me to like inform her and let her actually go and And 

Megan Hughey: yeah, i'm 

Tracy Hayes: like, okay, that's the way you want to do it, right? You brought them to me. So Yeah, that's also 

Megan Hughey: if there's like a problem behind the scenes. I want to talk it out first and figure out again If there's a solution right Rather than you going straight to my customer and like [00:33:00] creating a dumpster fire.

Well, it 

Tracy Hayes: is definitely for any loan officer, whenever there is something sidetracked, the first call, especially if the agent, you know, the agent referred you, that person is to call the agent and say, here's the problem. I'm going to call the customer. I'm going to tell them because the first thing the customer is going to do.

They ain't gonna hang up with me, they're gonna call you. And if I don't 

Megan Hughey: know what's going on, yeah. 

Tracy Hayes: Yeah, 

Megan Hughey: so I, yeah, with that kind of stuff, absolutely. With, um, stuff like, you know, my monthly newsletter, following up with leads, scheduling appointments, that's something I really need help with. 

Tracy Hayes: Right. 

Megan Hughey: Um, and that's why I'm looking to hire somebody for that.

Tracy Hayes: Well, um, I want to say it was Jordan Ferreira. There might have been others, but I remember Jordan saying because, uh, at the time she was with Kim Knapp over at Caldwell Banker and, and Kim's very, uh, wise and been in the business, uh, several decades. And they felt that the, I think her and Jordan disagreed.

Jordan hired a transaction coordinator. She [00:34:00] told her to hire an assistant and Jordan goes back and says, yeah, I should have hired the assistant first. 

All: Yeah. 

Tracy Hayes: Yeah. Um, I, cause I think, uh, the transaction is the transaction. That's the, uh, that's your opportunity. Um, which I'm sure you, you know, uh, agree with, if you want to make, make comment on the transactions and opportunity for you to, uh, when you're working with them and how you're, you know, coming up with solutions, you know, repair, whatever it is, right.

These things that come up for you to, uh, win credibility points. To hopefully get a referral from them. 

All: Yes. Um, 

Tracy Hayes: we're sending out the, the monthly newsletters and 

Megan Hughey: Right. Yeah, I agree. I agree with that. I think like you're again, you're creating value when you're staying in touch with your customer throughout the whole transaction.

Um, just my personal opinion, but as far as everything else, like, you know, with life, uh, my husband right now is in the busy season of. [00:35:00] landscaping. 

Tracy Hayes: Yeah, it's turning up. It's getting warm out. 

Megan Hughey: Um, so he's very, very busy and it's also my busy season. I would say, um, you know, in real estate. Um, so we also have four kids who are in four different activities and, you know, school and all the things, um, laundry, cooking.

You know like groceries and all everything else that comes along with just life and we're not at a nine to five job We're in pretty much 24 7. So I really need someone to like just help Well, 

Tracy Hayes: you know like I said, it's a good good thing to have One at one thing I was I think was us I don't think it was I was talking to Maddie and Hannah might have been the The show before and again going back to the value of a real estate agent, right?

That's what we need to get out and hopefully that that's what I try to project on the show since the beginning But I think the nar loss should now makes it more of an exit Well in your little gift bag in there is a nice journal and I think every agent should start [00:36:00] Just like a lawyer does start tracking what every 

Megan Hughey: Yeah.

Tracy Hayes: Um, they spend so many hours on the computer, whatever it is about with every client, because I mean, how many times, like you said, it doesn't, it's not, you're not nine to five. How many times at eight o'clock at night you're getting a call from your buyer or seller who's, you know, stressed about something, right.

And you're doing a consultation for a client. 45 minutes an hour with them, 

Megan Hughey: right? 

Tracy Hayes: You know, uh, because you got to pull them off the edge. 

Megan Hughey: Yes But 

Tracy Hayes: that's our business, you know, that's that's you know, you've got to be available if you see you don't want that neither of us want that client that we have to lose sleep Right.

You know, if they can talk to us for a few minutes at eight o'clock so they can sleep that night, that's important. 

Megan Hughey: Right. Absolutely. Yeah. And I think also doing personal training for so long, it got me out of the, [00:37:00] you know, thought process that My time is off like I'm off work like people were texting me all the time like can I eat this what about this?

And same thing with landscaping, you know I still have customers from the landscaping business reaching out to me if they can't get a hold of my husband It's all the time and it you know, you get used to that and it doesn't become so like invasive I think 

Tracy Hayes: well spin this in and you have four kids. Yeah.

So what is our age range here? 

Megan Hughey: Um, from 7 to 14. 

Tracy Hayes: Okay, so I've got, I've got a 10 and 14 year old, so I got half as many and I know, you know, between both of them are in the school play. 

All: Yeah. 

Tracy Hayes: Um, one's playing basketball, the other one's taking voice lessons and, and, you know, those types of things and, you know, we're, we're running around.

I'm, I'm, you know, texting my wife, all right, do you want me to pick him up at five? Cause, you know, she's an agent too. How do you, how are you, um, juggling this time? As [00:38:00] imagine there's. A lot of agents out there that are in this and is there a better way? Yeah. How, how are you doing it? 'cause I don't know if I, you know, I'm already pulling my hair out.

Yeah. How do you juggle it around with all that? I mean, are you and your husband, is he flexible enough to, to slide by and be able to pick him up over here type of thing or? Yeah. Yeah, definitely. Were, you guys are constantly coordinating. Well, 

Megan Hughey: we have a, um, a babysitter who I'm like, she's leaving for college.

I'm like, so sad. . I dunno what I'm gonna do without you. Um. She's very helpful. She picks the kids up from school, brings them home, homework, helps with homework, snacks, all this stuff. Um, chores as well. So, I have a babysitter. Um, my husband definitely helps. Like, we have to have really good communication all the time.

Otherwise, it just all goes to Yeah. It all 

Tracy Hayes: Who's gonna be where at what time yeah, it's 

Megan Hughey: constantly juggling a schedule and being adaptable Um, and I think that's actually helped with real [00:39:00] estate because it's always like okay. I gotta change this I gotta do that. It's not so You know, it makes you not be so type A, I think it makes you kind of be like, all right, this is life.

We got to go with it. We got to roll with it here. 

Tracy Hayes: Uh, roll with it. That's a very good, um, uh, thing. Um, I was going to throw out a promotion to, um, I don't know if you've seen that app life 360. 

Megan Hughey: Yes, we have that. Yeah. 

Tracy Hayes: Know where everybody's at. 

Megan Hughey: My babysitter's driving with them in the car, like all the things, right?

Tracy Hayes: It is. So anyone listening, you have to look at this app life 360. It's, it's wonderful. It's free. You can buy extra features if you want, but it, you know, when they arrive home, bing, you get the bing, my dog. Now. When, cause I'll be sitting at home. Actually, I don't, I don't think I have, no, no, I do have the alarm.

So. You all four of us have a phone So my wife and daughter may [00:40:00] drive in and the in the phone ping the dog runs to the door now with the i360 So it's that someone might arrived at all tells you when they're at you could set all these, uh, places work You know, when they arrived to school, they left school, it tells you all that kind of stuff.

Right. Yeah. And like you said, it will tell you the speed and everything else that they're traveling. 

Megan Hughey: Yeah. And my husband, he's into cars and I'm like, oh, 

Tracy Hayes: what are we doing? Yeah, because you can go back and say, yeah, the highest rate of speed, uh, Yeah. Uh huh. 

Megan Hughey: I'm like, please don't die, we have four children, like, That's right.

We're driving too fast. Um, 

Tracy Hayes: well, you know, that, that, that, Um, I know it's, uh, I was, uh, and I still do, I follow Carl White, he's, he's in the mortgage business, but he said one of the greatest things he ever did was to get some domestic help. 

Megan Hughey: Yes. 

Tracy Hayes: Um, you know, um, he was, he was, uh, reached a level, and even his wife didn't work, but what he realized was he would come home and, you know, she was the type that liked [00:41:00] to make dinner and everything, and, you know, he, he was successful, so he wants to go veg out on the, uh, uh, And you know, she's in there doing the dishes and stuff like this is, you know, I can afford a, uh, some domestic help.

Let them make the meal, let them do the dishes so they could spend more time together. You know, Carl was, I don't think he has kids, but they're older, uh, from that standpoint. But, but with an active family like that, I mean, at the end of the day, you're like, okay, how are we spending our time together or do You know, I imagine, you know, planning a vacation or just some a few hours on the weekend that all of you were actually going to go do an activity, 

Megan Hughey: right?

You know, we like, um, Friday nights. Like once the girls get home from cheer, um, we like to just sit down, we order these pizza and like watch a movie together. That's one of our, one of our things. We also like just spending time in the backyard, um, listening to music, hanging out, just. Right. Yeah, that's kind of our thing.

[00:42:00] But I do outsource. I have started outsourcing laundry for myself and my husband I make my kids do laundry their own laundry now all four of them on specific days Um, so that keeps them kind of organized and then me and him i've had to outsource laundry and obviously i have a babysitter And yeah, I have someone to come clean bathrooms.

Yeah 

Tracy Hayes: Because all of a sudden you get to the weekend and you're like, okay, you know, we worked hard we want to You Spend some time together, but oh, no, we got to clean the house. 

Megan Hughey: Yeah, that was getting yeah That was getting really tiring and with 

Tracy Hayes: four kids. I know how much laundry we have just the four of us But you got six and you know, the kids are just turning through it.

Yes. Yeah. 

Megan Hughey: Yeah And also i'm like, why am I spending so much time putting laundry away and 

Tracy Hayes: folding and yeah 

Megan Hughey: Yeah, i'm like y'all can do this on your own. Yeah. Yeah 

Tracy Hayes: sort the socks. Please sort the socks Um Uh, okay Now where you're at, you're, you're [00:43:00] 26 months into this, if I read your LinkedIn correctly, uh, over, well, we'll go back and just look at actually the 26 months as a whole.

So Jocelyn's your initial mentor. Jocelyn takes you, I mean, obviously you still, I'm sure you still converse to her, but what, as you started to understand the business a little bit more, started to do some transactions, how have you expanded that? You know your your um, you know mentor might be able but You know these resources from these different people because what joss would joss may have taken you to a certain level But have you had to reach out?

You know To try to get to the next level Jocelyn's at the level you're at 

Megan Hughey: Yeah, but 

Tracy Hayes: sometimes it's hard for people because they're busy too, but just to explain like oh, yeah I mean I just I this is what I did or I Sometimes people fall into things and don't even realize they fell into things and then just keep going.

Megan Hughey: Yes, 

Tracy Hayes: but as you start Yeah, so you start analyzing your business To start having some [00:44:00] other mentors. Have you have you expanded that? 

Megan Hughey: Yeah, I did hire a coach So I've been working with her she really stays on top of me So yes, I did hire a coach to talk about United I kind of we didn't touch on that but I love Sonny and Ray and Nancy.

They're amazing and United I just It's a nice little community, has great trainings, and then, um, also we have broker support, which is like 24 7. So, it's really nice, like anytime there's a contract question or whatever it may be, you just pick up the phone 

Tracy Hayes: and call. And this is part of the question I had, because, I mean, you, you have to, um, expand your, your resources.

Not everybody knows everything. Yeah. Jocelyn hasn't done every type of transaction. You know, she's been doing this for a while. There's always something new. Um, Talk about the broker support because I think, uh, you know, we talk about brokerages, uh, and people move around because I think for several reasons, brokerages [00:45:00] stop adding value.

Um, you know, Sonny and Ray have been successful for, for years. So there's something they're doing to keep the, the plate spinning, so to speak. What are, what do you see there that they're, uh, Um, someone said the, uh, the other day, I was, I think it was talking to Garrett with hair and real estate and he mentioned, um, uh, how do you say it's being in the moment.

As far as the, you know, the training, for example, like obviously in the last couple of weeks, the NAR proposal, right, everyone's talking about that. So immediately they're on there and educating you or, or giving you a peace of mind because I think there's a lot of water cooler talk going on. And obviously negativity and clickbait online will lead you to a lot of bad information.

Right. You know, or there's, there's, there's just a, You know the market has changed and now listings are more important So I imagine their education as far as listings and how to have listing deployments and structuring Some of these situations have changed versus what it was [00:46:00] You know when you started 

Megan Hughey: yeah, 

Tracy Hayes: yeah So how does united you?

I guess stay in front 

Megan Hughey: Um, they definitely stay on top of their training. So, I mean, Sunny's been doing the buyer broker agreement, um, class pretty much since it came out. Um, just to keep us all educated, up to date. We've known this was happening for a while, um. Yeah, he just it's always new trainings kind of getting innovative with it Asking us what kind of trainings do you guys want?

And we tell them and they listen. 

Tracy Hayes: How do you feel they I mean Good in 24 months is this is something you know Why I was leading that last question because I think If I asked a lot of people why they go to the brokerage they want, they're going to tell me it's education and technology. 

Megan Hughey: Yeah. 

Tracy Hayes: So, okay, well, they all have education and they all have technology.

Megan Hughey: Right. 

Tracy Hayes: But really what do you think the, the, as far [00:47:00] those things are great, but you can't just have it and stop, you know, like, Oh, Hey, I got, I got this, I hired this great trainer. Okay. That's today. You got this new technology, which we know is, you know, next week is already old, 

Megan Hughey: right? 

Tracy Hayes: So how, how is United continuing to add value to you that, that, you know, you aren't feeling lacking or needing something in your business?

Megan Hughey: Well, I think I've gotten to the point where, like, I can call Sonny or text him and he will respond and he helps me, especially with, um, like the luxury listings, uh, listing appointments, he has, like, prepared me immensely for all of that, um, so that's been very helpful anytime, like, I've had an issue one time, um, with a contract, calling Ray, I mean, So, I just feel like they, um, they really stay on [00:48:00] top of us and they definitely, like, keep Adding value to me because they keep investing in me.

So 

Tracy Hayes: what i'm reading out of you is is They have a pulse. Yeah on the business. That's what I was trying to draw out of you. I wanted you to say it but I knew that's what you i'm like They're 

Megan Hughey: just regular like the regular people but they create so much value They bring so much value to me into my business 

Tracy Hayes: because I think a there's a lot of brokerages out there.

Um You know, which statistically is obvious, but the the brokers are no longer producing so they're not necessarily dealing with some of these new or They're not necessarily feeling the the changes, you know, we'd like to think history repeats itself, but it's always a little different. Yeah, right Yeah, we had 2008 Collapse that was that was a you know a change in the mark, you know the market How are we gonna deal with that?

We overcame that Because we overcame that will overcame the not will overcome this NAR proposal or whatever how that might might [00:49:00] change the industry But how we do it, it's gonna be different. We just know we got to do it We were gonna overcome and in the business will progress but the brokers it sounds like Basically from your what you're explaining to me is, uh, Nancy, Sonny and Ray really have a pulse on the business, even though they're not necessarily producing and dealing in transactions themselves, they are deeply involved with their agents, uh, you know, socially and, and, and getting the feel from them and what's going on so that they can then, uh, gather and come back to the group with, uh, 

Megan Hughey: Yes, and they definitely like they show up for us as well, which is nice Um, you know when we have our little united events like they will be there Um, so, you know, we have a big brokerage now and they still show up to stuff, which is nice, right?

Tracy Hayes: um, yeah, so I was when you said, uh a small community They well I met when it was exit. I think they were a little bit I don't know if they've gotten the numbers back or lost numbers or whatever, but they're still [00:50:00] I don't know what four or five hundred You Agents, something like that. Yeah. Um, and I know you guys have contracted some of the offices.

Are you an office person? Do you like going in there? You or you just pretty much try to 

Megan Hughey: No. With the kids 

Tracy Hayes: and home? 

Megan Hughey: Yeah. I, I have an office at my house. Mm-Hmm. . But, um, no, I don't really go into the office very much. I used to, when we had a plumbing island office, because when I started I was doing a lot of floor duty.

Mm-Hmm. . Um, but. No, I don't really know 

Tracy Hayes: what you were doing. Did that did you benefit from the floor duty? Was that a because I know some of the locations are all all the locations Uh, I have never been to all of them. I've seen some of them. Are they more in the retail? Center that doing floor duty because someone literally won't walk in.

Megan Hughey: Yeah. I mean someone could walk in. I haven't really seen that but with my own experiences But it me it made me sit down and actually do the trainings, you know when you're at the house You'll be like, oh I need to do this around the house. But yeah, it definitely makes you focus more, [00:51:00] 

Tracy Hayes: right? and You mentioned, uh, Ray helping out with the luxury.

Now, somebody just say, you know, cause I, I was questioned from my side. I was like, all right, what's luxury. And everyone says, well, it's not a price point. It's a service. Well, uh, do you really treat the 300, 000 client much differently than you do the million or million five or whatever? Yeah. I mean, you're still going to go through your process.

You're. You know, those, uh, questions, you may, may talk to him a little differently because I think there's some people that come in and think their stuff doesn't stink or they walk on water, whatever phrase you want to use. Um, so you kind of treat them with, you know, kid gloves, but talk about, talk about preparing for that luxury listing.

What, what were you and Ray talking about? Give us some nuts and bolts there. 

Megan Hughey: So it was more so like. So Sonny's very, very [00:52:00] service oriented. He has a customer service background. Um, so he was just like, these are the questions that they are probably going to ask you and I could do my research from there.

Um, so he was just prepping me like, these are the questions that they're going to ask you basically, and. 

Tracy Hayes: Kind of role playing a little bit. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, 

Megan Hughey: definitely role playing I'm always like taking notes whenever I'm talking to him because he talks very fast but Yeah, and then I kind of go over it in my head and kind of talk out loud We'll dig 

Tracy Hayes: into some of these things that tell us what are some of the questions that he was saying that you know Let's be prepared Which every agent should be pretty much on every sale because I imagine doing some of these, these where you're, you think you need to be hyper focused have made you better with even the lower price point sales.

Megan Hughey: Yeah. So, well, what I do, and this wasn't necessarily what Sonny told me to do, but I just, In general, whenever I'm talking to anyone, I'm like, what is it you need? What are you looking for? What's important to you? Um, so then I know if it's like [00:53:00] the amount of money they want to take away from the sale, like that's number one, most important or time is it, I need to sell this quickly.

Um, 

Tracy Hayes: or the money they're going to take away. You need to set the proper expectation, right? And then 

Megan Hughey: it's that it's kind of talking about expectations, talking about what I do as far as marketing goes. Um, Yeah, so it's it's listening to them first and then kind of making the bullet points And then going over what it is how I can help them with that.

Tracy Hayes: What are some of the You know, you would think yeah the obvious thing, you know, son Sonny race and they're telling you that yeah, obviously you know, go through and what, hey, what's this going to cost? And what are you going to walk away with? Make sure that's going to, you know, as you know, you're not going to shock them later when you got an offer and then you show them that a worksheet say, yeah, you should walk away with X.

And they're like, no, no, I wanted Y, right. You definitely need to cover that. But what are some of the, um, when you're in your experiences so far in trying to find those needs, [00:54:00] what are some of the, just kind of, Like off the wall needs that you like never didn't even think of but in your conversation of digging through them discovered 

Megan Hughey: Um, I find almost Every time it's usually like the amount of money they want to walk away with that's that's just what I have my who I've worked with.

Um, and then with that, it is definitely like managing that expectation. Um, I've dealt with, you know, divorces and 

Tracy Hayes: so there's expectation. Well then, so they have expectations because of going through this. So, so, I mean, which creates sometimes a challenge. Um, right. So, I mean, in some of your divorces, what are some of the things that you've had to deal with as far as the seller, like, You know, I know, uh, sometimes they, they need to rent back because their next house isn't, is being built and it's not finished yet.

Or, I mean, what are some of the things that you've uncovered? And obviously when you go to list it. You [00:55:00] gotta, you gotta know this stuff. 'cause when the buyer's agent makes an offer, you need to say, well, this is what the seller needs. Yes. 

Megan Hughey: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, yeah. And I do, I'm pretty upfront with that as well.

Like, this is what they're looking for. Um, with the divorces, it's usually just a very, like, uh, I'm the middle man in communication. If they cannot communicate well, which. You know 90 percent of the time they can't so I don't want to yeah, or don't want to or they can't do it very well So I'm the person that's kind of being the buffer And I've gotten into some very interesting text chain conversations in the middle of that But yeah, just being the buffer and being the person to kind of be like this is what we need to do.

So How are we gonna do this? Like this, you can do it that way. You can fight it or we can get this house sold and you can move on with your life a little 

Tracy Hayes: quicker. You know that just this is another one of the things if we made a list that would cover this wall, of all the things that an agent does. Yeah.

And [00:56:00] Sometimes it is dealing with those, those couples and you are a mediator. They don't live in the same household anymore. One may still be in the house, but the other one's over here, but you've got to satisfy both in this sale. 

All: Yes. 

Tracy Hayes: And how much time are you spending making two phone calls where normally you would only be one.

It's because they're getting divorced. You got to do two. 

Megan Hughey: Yeah. 

Tracy Hayes: And then, I mean, 

Megan Hughey: This person wants to walk away with this amount of money. This person wants to walk away with this. Sometimes 

Tracy Hayes: it's so, and sometimes that difference is so stupid. It's so, 

Megan Hughey: yeah, it can get very petty. Yeah, 

Tracy Hayes: yeah. And then you 

Megan Hughey: gotta talk to them like a friend.

Like, you're like, hey, okay, I'm about to talk to you this way. So, like, let's, I'm just gonna get very real with you, like, you gotta put your pride aside here and, you know, most people take well to me saying that rather than the other party saying that, so. 

Tracy Hayes: And, I think, well, to me, my belief in sales, [00:57:00] uh, through my career, um, You're gonna resonate with you're probably resonating with one.

Megan Hughey: Yeah, 

Tracy Hayes: whoever probably hired with hired you initially You know, it's probably you'll feel as they have this bond with you, but now you got to make the bond with the other spouse As well, but then they're like well She hired her do I trust her? You know? How do you 

Megan Hughey: Navigate. Yeah, how do you navigate 

Tracy Hayes: that to win the trust of the other spouse who may not be the one who actually hired you?

Megan Hughey: Yeah, they're a little weary of me. So yeah 

Tracy Hayes: Yeah, thinking that you're doing the bidding of the other spouse when really you know How do you convince them that you're trying to do the bidding for both of you together in some sort of you got like the? Double agreement you got agreement with the buyer Over here, but you also got to have an agreement right with the with the two owners Yeah, 

Megan Hughey: who are not seeing eye to eye on things.

Yeah Yeah, I mean, I think it's just being a human and getting to know them on a more personal level [00:58:00] Um and just being like I understand this is a really hard situation Like this is not easy for anyone involved and i'm here to make it easier um, and just letting them know like anything we talk about and confidence stays between us and You I'll make sure that I am doing the best for both of you.

Tracy Hayes: Do you try to, um, cause immediate, my immediate thought was you talked about a text chain or, or, you know, email chain where you have the group email with all three of you on 

Megan Hughey: there, 

Tracy Hayes: but then you also have over here knowing that these conversations are private, but when there's, when, when there's a something that needs that the other person needs to be said, you put it on the.

Megan Hughey: Yeah, 

Tracy Hayes: the longer that we're all three of you are on there. So one person sees you saying what they told you saying it to the other person all on the same thread, you know, it was like a little games. I like 

Megan Hughey: put my mittens on when I say it, you know, in a nice way. 

Tracy Hayes: Yeah. Yeah, filter it a little [00:59:00] bit. That's actually brings up.

Because I know people try to specialize in it, but They kind of you know, there is a market for it. I mean, why are people selling homes right now? You know, it's Probably half of them. It's because they have to because of a divorce situation, right, you know death death and divorce Causes these transactions to go on because most people as I'm sure you've experienced with you know With most majority of homeowners right now with sub five percent interest rates aren't moving from One neighborhood to knock it to your knockity to another neighborhood because they've got a three percent interest rate and then go over there But they're like, well, I don't want you know, I don't want that payment, 

All: right?

Exactly. Yeah, 

Tracy Hayes: um, and it's slowing slowing down um The market what have you found? You know, we've, we've been going through your life experiences. What have you found to be the, the, um, uh, greatest challenge for you personally, as a [01:00:00] real estate agent, something, you know, that you come up with, and obviously you're listening to podcasts and stuff and trying to educate them, but what, what do you think is your, uh, yeah, I mean, your, your weak point or Achilles heel or something, maybe you haven't quite grasped, or you don't have the confidence in just yet.

Megan Hughey: Mm hmm. Um, 

Tracy Hayes: that's a really deep i'm putting you on the spot i'm putting you on the spot on that one 

Megan Hughey: Yeah, um I i'm not so sure because I really am the type of person that thinks I always have something to learn. So I wouldn't call that an achilles heel per se I guess um I notice that when I'm speaking to people like what I'm actually confident in and I'm like, oh, I guess I do know that like really well, right?

Um, But if I don't know it i'm always like hey, let me figure that out. I'm gonna ask somebody I don't know the answer, right? 

Tracy Hayes: but is there a part in the transaction or a transaction that you've had [01:01:00] that I don't know. Maybe you just you know It could it could be in some sometimes negotiations can get dicey 

Megan Hughey: Yeah, 

Tracy Hayes: you know going back and forth Where you feel like hey, you know, I could have handled that better 

Megan Hughey: boundaries Actually, I feel like probably and setting the expectations.

So it's what I do Better now, but in the beginning I did not You 

Tracy Hayes: can you give us an example someone might be listening when you for example on boundaries Or how are you getting better at that? 

Megan Hughey: Well, like I guess it would be more so setting the expectations than the word boundaries But like in the beginning, I think it was I was learning as I went along as well So I wasn't preparing The seller as well as I would now, um, like, Hey, by the way, these are the, these are the steps that we're going to go through.

This is, you know, doing the net sheets and all of that. Um, I mean, I was doing it, but I think it was more so the [01:02:00] bringing the comps to the table, like in the listing presentation, like this is what we have around us. This is what it's going for. Um, I would kind of let them dictate, I think a little more, whereas now I'm like, I'm the professional and I know what I'm talking about.

Tracy Hayes: For a new agent, like you could sit down in a class and they could say, Hey, you need to be telling them one, two, three, four, and five. And you're like, okay. 

Megan Hughey: But then when you get there, yeah. You don't know 

Tracy Hayes: why until you've had, You know, you're telling him, hey, your expectation is you should come out with X amount of dollars.

Right. Okay. You go through negotiations and repairs, who knows, maybe you're giving some 10, 000 in seller concessions. They don't realize that that's going to change their bottom line of what they get back some people don't realize I mean when I explain I remember it wasn't that long ago in the last few weeks was explaining a customer of how Seller concessions work and basically if the seller is going to give you some concession I gave you some sort [01:03:00] of money whether it's for a repair or help with closing costs It's coming out of their equity their profits of selling that home.

Oh, they're like, oh, that's where that comes from so You may not realize that, that they don't actually understand that that's actually going to affect that bottom line. We, you know, now, you know, right away, someone says concessions, you nearly, you know, that the seller's getting less. 

Megan Hughey: Right. Right. And it's all about that learning, you know, the learning curve of it all, but that's why it's really important to have people around you that can support you and know what they're talking about to teach you.

Tracy Hayes: Initially, did you, did you do some shadowing? With I mean, did you go out and actually sit down why? Jocelyn or anybody else was doing a listing a presentation to sit with them. I 

Megan Hughey: wish I had right Because yeah, I kind of went into it. I mean I would did some role playing but Um, no, I wish I had gone to a listing appointment and really saw what it was about 

Tracy Hayes: So if we were to [01:04:00] think of two or three things that a new agent you 26 months ago.

Megan Hughey: Yeah You 

Tracy Hayes: What you've learned in 26 months what they should do or try to do as soon as they possibly can One would shadow Right because I've heard some great says, you know, someone were able to like shadow a person for a couple weeks. 

Megan Hughey: Yeah 

Tracy Hayes: And how fast that helps your learning curve. It's faster. You make money, 

All: right?

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. 

Tracy Hayes: Um, so shadowing someone going on a listing appointment, listening to what they're saying Yoda again, so you have confidence when you go do it. Yeah, um the first time because you're maybe your first customer You're lucky is a family member and you know They love you anyway, and they're gonna it's gonna they want you to list the house They want you to get the deal And so you could pretty much say whatever you want and they're not really going to you know Or fumble or whatever but that you get somebody that doesn't know you and you may have to win You So you need to shadow what would you think it'd be a couple other things that if you look back like man I [01:05:00] should have done this month one 

Megan Hughey: Yeah, shadowing a listing appointment would definitely be important.

I think trainings are really important Surrounding yourself with other agents is really important in just the life like What I did do with Jocelyn was go to like new build communities and learn about the different communities and And I think also role playing with your mentor or coach about what objections and questions that you are going to get.

The more likely ones, you know, things can be different, but definitely the more likely ones. 

Tracy Hayes: You mentioned you said learning communities, that's what I just wrote down So when you first came to Jax, where did where were you living? 

Megan Hughey: Okay, 

Tracy Hayes: and then you went over to Fleming Island in 20 

Megan Hughey: Yeah, we were in Arlington for a little bit and then yes, Fleming Island and now in Green Cove 

Tracy Hayes: now Even though it's been a short period of time If we were to narrow down, where [01:06:00] is most of your business because because the river is a Natural geographic dividing factor.

Yes. Are you finding most of your business on this side of the river? The other side. Or on the other side? Yeah. In the Fleming Island, Green Cove, Clay County? 

Megan Hughey: Sorry. I mean on this side. On this side. Like, Queens Harbor, the beaches, south side. Yeah. Okay. That's where most of my business is. All

Tracy Hayes: You need and because I want to drill down on how important it is, like you said, you took some time and the new builds are easy. You can drive around, sit down with the site agent, but Queens Harbor isn't a new build. 

Megan Hughey: No. 

Tracy Hayes: What are the type of things that you need to know? For example, just talking about Queens Harbor.

As a real estate agent, you need to know this before you can bring your first person in there and show them a house. 

Megan Hughey: Yes. Yeah. You need to know about the community, the amenities, um, you know, their HOA dues. Um, the lock system is like the biggest thing in Queens Harbor. You're going to have a boat. Yeah.

Yeah. [01:07:00] And what makes, what sets it apart from other communities like it? Yeah, you need to, you definitely need to know. What I like to do is I like to call other agents who have listings in that community. I think it is a little taboo and people say like, why would you do that? But if someone calls me, I don't mind.

Talking, you know educating and like having collaboration like we just did a broker's open and I reached out to every listing agent in queens harbor and was like Do you want to do this with me? Like I saw that 

Tracy Hayes: you had was like five or six. 

Megan Hughey: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, i'm like You know, we can all We can all get together and bring more to the table rather than just being against each other.

I don't 

Tracy Hayes: There's, uh, yeah, I'm totally with you, um, cause I wrote the word taboo down, someone said, why would you call You know if you you you're going to do a listing appointment or You have a listing in there and now you're trying to [01:08:00] strategize You know really fine tune how how am I going to market this?

Megan Hughey: Yeah 

Tracy Hayes: to calling Those people what you need to tell those people they need to be listening to this podcast Because every one of those agents that I have on I guarantee if I ask them they're all doing what you just said you're doing 

Megan Hughey: Yeah, 

Tracy Hayes: and they're calling the other real estate agents There's agents that really Specialize in there and you know any agent that's worth their salt have been doing this long enough realizes People choose who they want to sell their house or represent them as a buyer right for many different reasons You don't know that they they might be brother and sister They might be you know college girlfriends, sorority sisters, whatever.

You don't know the relationship. So you can't go and start getting all defensive because Hey, I'm the queen of Queens Harbor real estate, but you're bringing in a, you know, you have a possible buyer, 

All: right? 

Tracy Hayes: Well, I want a relationship with you. Cause I want you to bring more buyers. [01:09:00] 

Megan Hughey: Yeah, let's be, let's play nice on the playground.

Tracy Hayes: Exactly. I mean, you're going to bring, if, if they're, if they're working in farming that neighborhood and they're getting regular listings and you have a buyer who's interested, it's just like, A new build community. Yeah. That site agent needs to build relationships with the agents. Say, bring your customers to me.

Megan Hughey: Yeah. And 

Tracy Hayes: let me educate you on the community is why you're so your cus you feel good bringing 'em there. 

Megan Hughey: Yes, I agree. 

Tracy Hayes: Um, I yeah, I I what you, what you did there is awesome and, and uh, you know, putting that because you want, you want to create an event, you wanna create a Yeah, 

Megan Hughey: I want more people to come. I want more brokerages to know about it.

Tracy Hayes: One of our biggest motivators or sort of thing is like the fear of loss, right and you now you got You know five or six open houses going on at the same time yet someone bouncing around and they're like, oh wow This event's going on. Maybe we need to make a move on one of these houses right 

All: now Yeah, you know 

Tracy Hayes: and it may not be yours this time, right?

But hopefully the next time and the other agents appreciate your [01:10:00] organization. 

Megan Hughey: Yeah I think I mean it was a success and I hope we all you know You We all eat, 

Tracy Hayes: right, right. Well, the fact you have six open houses going on the same time, true. You now are going to have this influx of buyers coming in that hopefully maybe some of them aren't represented.

And now you may have a buyer who may not actually be a Queens Harbor buyer, but you might take them somewhere else. Yeah. And 

Megan Hughey: also like the neighbors, they come and they want to see. You know, what kind of house that they have that, you know, yeah, what upgrades they've done, how much their house is listed for, what they could sell their house for.

It just creates relationships all around 

Tracy Hayes: the, the group dynamics that creating the event is, is, uh, is, is important. Um, but I, I think, you know, like I said, agents, you need to be listening. I generally don't sell my podcast. I just let it do itself. But, but you, you're spot on. As someone saying that. Why are you calling the listing agent?

How important is it? And this might be something you discovered and [01:11:00] tell us how this might evolve for you. When you're making an offer on a house, uh, you may want to call the listing agent, like maybe get some information. So when you make the offer, you're not having to redo it. 

All: Yes, exactly. How many 

Tracy Hayes: times have you on the listing have gotten an offer and not a phone call?

Megan Hughey: Yeah, it's kind of wild to me. I don't know. Because you want to know. I mean, at the end of the day, we want The sale to go through, like we want our sellers happy. We want our buyers happy. Someone wants to sell 

Tracy Hayes: the house and someone wants to buy it. Yes, like this 

Megan Hughey: makes work, you know what I mean? Like we are the middle people.

So let's like, let's collaborate and let's make sure that you're bringing an offer to the table that actually, you know, myself will entertain. 

Tracy Hayes: Well, when you're in, some people may not be, again, this goes back to the value of a real estate agent, right? Yeah, you're, you're in your. doing the listing appointment and you're explaining to them, this is the value.

Well, one of the values are communicating with the buyer's agent and [01:12:00] explaining the needs of the seller. So that you get quality offers on the other side, 

Megan Hughey: you know, 

Tracy Hayes: they're not gonna take less than this or You know, my wife had one recently. I mean it was you know, her new home is not gonna be completed for a few more Months, so she needs a rent back, 

All: right?

Tracy Hayes: You know Luckily this house was under high demand and the other people They could pay cash They really like to sell their current home first. Well, now they have extra time to do, you know, you know, they're not in a rush to move from one to the other. They can, you know, but having that collaboration. So now when the offer comes in, it's a quality offer and they're not falling because I have a feeling if rates go to 5.

875 on a 30 year fix, we're going to have, go back to 20 offers on a lot of these homes. 

Megan Hughey: I'm looking forward to that because I haven't been in that. 

Tracy Hayes: Yeah, you kind of missed that. You kind of missed that. Yeah. Yeah. Well, Jocelyn, I think if I recall correctly, [01:13:00] she told me she had 69 offers on one home. 

Megan Hughey: Yeah, that's insane.

Yeah. I can't even imagine. 

Tracy Hayes: First thing I'm like, I'm not. Maybe i'm not charging enough Um, what what are what is the uh, you know not getting into the the weeds of the of the nar lawsuit But you know, you are interacting with other agents right now Um, and obviously I try to bring information from people who are In the know.

Yeah, but what are some of the things? Um, some of the you know, are you hearing some fears? What what is the general attitude of your peers real estate peers right now about You know to me, it's just gonna we're gonna it's I don't think it's as big as As we want to make it out to be The more we're hearing about it and the fact that it hasn't been approved yet because I don't think it's going to be by the courts But what it what it just the general attitude of the real estate agents that you hang with 

Megan Hughey: Um, a little bit of [01:14:00] fear, a lot of annoyance.

Tracy Hayes: Yeah. 

Megan Hughey: Um, but a lot of people just kind of like, well, this is the nat you know, this is the nature of the beast. Like, we just have to adapt. 

Tracy Hayes: Right. 

Megan Hughey: So, a lot of adaptability. 

Tracy Hayes: I, um, I saw this great reel, uh, I think it was yesterday actually. And he was explaining, the guy said, The buyers have been paying for this all along.

All: Yeah, 

Tracy Hayes: you know, it's not you're taking it's not the seller The seller ain't gonna discount the price, right? That's why would they discount the price? They're willing to pay that much and why would they discount the price? So it's not the buyers have always been paying for their buyer's age They've been paying that much more for the home to make up the difference and that's and it was a simple explanation of that I was like He just said it so well, right?

Um, and, and that just needs to be out. The, the, the buyers have been paying for it all along cause it's built, it's in the price of the home, right? You know, um, uh, from that, from that standpoint, um, anything else you want to add? You don't think so? Any questions? Well, I, I, I'm going [01:15:00] to put you, I'm going to, we'll put you on, on, on the spot.

Cause you know, I, I, um, a little bit on the spot. Um, Just because I want to create hopefully create some there'll be some great reels out of here, but Why is you know if we if we were to make a real right now, and I said you have 60 seconds to explain why Someone who doesn't know you right so you have no time, but they're searching online for a great real estate agent and come across This video come across this real why?

Should someone use Megan to let's let's let's make the buyer they're coming from out of state You know midwest northeast whatever coming here don't know squat about you know They may have visited friends or relatives here and like okay. Yeah, we'll move there because it's cheaper or whatever Uh, we want to be in the warmer weather and get out of whatever's up there Um, why should they select Megan as their agent to represent them?

Megan Hughey: So what I've been [01:16:00] told is, uh, that I am a really good communicator. Um, I am adaptable, so I accommodate, uh, for my customers. I definitely accommodate them, um, in their schedule. Um, and I think I just, And I just am prepared usually. That's also something I've been told is I stay prepared. Um and I make sure I know what I'm talking about when I'm walking into, whether it be a listing, you know, showing a buyer a home, whatever it may be.

Tracy Hayes: This stuff comes natural to you? 

Megan Hughey: Yeah. I 

Tracy Hayes: mean, it may be not natural from birth, but through your life experience, 

All: Yes. 

Tracy Hayes: um, you know, being prepared, That's you. 

All: Yeah. 

Tracy Hayes: And I think, you know, as any, all of us, you know, uh, you know, someone who might have great athletic ability doesn't understand why someone doesn't.

Right. Right. And we're, what you just explained is like, well, this is what they tell me [01:17:00] because that's just natural to you that you just do that. You're going to provide that service because that's what you do. 

Megan Hughey: I never feel like I'm prepared enough, which I think Equates to me being prepared. Right, yeah.

Um, and that's, uh, you know, I'm always thinking like, Oh my gosh, I, you know, I'm not prepared enough, but to whoever I'm working with, they think I'm very prepared. 

Tracy Hayes: What do you, what, um, Your, if I want to use mindset, ideology, whatever word, when you're, when you're thinking about your process, because, you know, I think we all, after a transaction is done, or maybe sometimes in the middle of the transaction is like, how could I have done this better?

What can I, can I do? But if you were trying to, uh, you were in front of a bunch of people at United training, a class, your, your 30, 000 foot mindset, what do you want that to be? Client to experience from the first phone call and [01:18:00] consultation through Closing and then what's your after closing? Uh, you know, what do you want them?

Which, like I said, we're always evolving and tweaking things and getting better. Maybe coming back, you know, doing a different type of newsletter or whatever it is after closing. But what do you, that, that customer, they would describe you, um, or, you know, you're describing to the, this group of real estate agents, your mindset that what you want the client to experience through the whole thing and 

Megan Hughey: I want them to experience.

That I am listening to them that I'm not just their realtor. I'm a friend and a trusted advisor Um, I want them to know that I have their best interest at heart, of course Um, and that they can reach out to me with any questions that they're not an inconvenience Like you're not just another number to me.

You are Someone who's now like in my community 

Tracy Hayes: All right. I'm gonna drill down a [01:19:00] little bit deeper here. Okay, because those are um, Uh Well, maybe it's because I talked to so many top patients. You know, okay, that sounds great. But when, before anyone goes and has, especially with, uh, somewhat of a stranger and maybe it might've been someone who was referred to, you just don't know them yet, right?

So you've never had a true conversation with them. What are some of the things that you do mentally? Like to, to do those things that you just mentioned, you know, to, um, to let them know that, you know, you're listening. Cause not everyone, you know, we were all told, uh, what is it? We have one mouth and two ears.

So you should be doing twice as much as that as you should be talking, but you got to go in with like a mental game plan. 

All: Yeah, 

Tracy Hayes: right. Do you think about that before you sit down with someone you don't know yet? And how important it is to, to go in and really focus that you are going to listen, or maybe are you, are you taking [01:20:00] notes while they're talking to you?

What are some little things that you do to try to earn that credibility, even as, even if it's perceived? 

Megan Hughey: So I think I always come in confident and Friendly, I just kind of try and be myself and let's talk about what you need Um, and yeah, I will take notes for sure and kind of circle back around 

Tracy Hayes: because confidence is not is not um, Confidence is something you're internally telling yourself.

All: Yeah, I 

Tracy Hayes: can do this, 

All: right? I'm 

Tracy Hayes: gonna win this listing appointment Yeah, i'm gonna get these buyers. I'm gonna represent these buyers because i'm good, 

All: right? 

Tracy Hayes: um

But you don't want it to, like, become the, uh, start making your mouth move. Right. Right, like, I know more than you, so you shut up, I'm gonna do the talking. No, 

Megan Hughey: yeah. You really Especially with, I deal with a lot of, um, like, strong men, uh, you know. Alpha personalities, right and I've kind of learned I have to definitely [01:21:00] adapt for sure 

Tracy Hayes: Jiu jitsu, it's mental jiu jitsu.

Yeah, you gotta use their weight against them 

Megan Hughey: And I think also like the personal training and the sales background and all of that has helped me learn how to read the room So to speak and like figure out like oh if I come at this person too confident It's going to make them feel like, Oh, like, I don't know what I'm talking about.

Now I feel. 

Tracy Hayes: Well, they may disagree with you, but they don't understand why they disagree with you because you're not listening to them. 

Megan Hughey: Yeah. 

Tracy Hayes: Yeah. So they're not going to, they're going to shut you off. 

Megan Hughey: Well, usually they're not listening to me, but yeah. 

Tracy Hayes: Well, if you're not listening to them, they, so the few minutes, you know, when you counter and actually answer their question or respond to their statement or whatever, they shut you off because you're not even letting them, you know, Get their full thought out before you're mentally going.

Oh, I already know the answer to that. I can, you know, I'm gonna let them get it all out. So they feel, um, uh, that's there. I think the confidence is a, a word that's been in many of the episodes [01:22:00] been used. Um, if you're, if you're new, it is going to be my last question. Cause I, I do believe someone who hasn't been in this or any sales, you, you know, if you're selling a particular product, you go to the car dealership and you're, you know, if you're selling a Tesla right now, it's not like they have 30 models like Ford or Chrysler or whatever.

They just got a few models. You're confident in it. You've got all this background, you know, they're the, they're the, Founders of the EV car, right? Everyone wants that they're coming in because it says Tesla on it, right? You can get you can get behind the product because the customer coming in is already behind the product, 

Megan Hughey: right?

Tracy Hayes: so but from from this standpoint, you're the Every house is different. So you're not, when you're doing that buyer's, uh, buyer's consultation and trying to win, you know, the higher you as the buyer's agent, or even as a listing, even you don't even know that much about the house yet. I mean, you know, some stuff [01:23:00] that's on paper where you haven't dug behind the walls and realize, Oh, there might be mold or whatever.

So you're not necessarily confident about the product as much as you need to be confident about yourself. 

All: Yes. 

Tracy Hayes: How give us two or three things. What are a couple of things that you think are things that might have helped you or looking back as a new agent or an agent who may not be doing this two or three years, but they're not exuding that confidence that you are.

What are a couple of things that helped you get that confidence? 

Megan Hughey: Trial and error, I think. Um, it was just learning people and learning what their needs are, I think. And then once, like you said, like once they get it all out, you know, Then I can assess where we are what type of personality they have and how I'm going to attack the the problem there, um and I I think I'm always Giving off the vibe that like I don't know everything but I can figure it out and that's [01:24:00] who I am 

Tracy Hayes: Do you think you're giving off the vibe or you know that inside?

So that's why you cough it That's why you are confident. I know 

Megan Hughey: it inside. Yeah. I guess I know it inside. Yeah. I mean, cause I'm 

Tracy Hayes: the same way. I mean, I, I, I'll tell you, I don't sit there and study the guidelines. I got underwriters to do that. Yeah. I mean, I learned the guidelines. I know the, the, the basic guidelines.

Cause 95 percent of your loans fall within the general guidelines. There's only the 5 percent that are off over here and I can't spend my time working on the 5 percent or you're not doing moneymaking activities. Right. Cause you're worried about somebody who may be one in a hundred deals has this unique situation.

Megan Hughey: Right. Right. 

Tracy Hayes: Did you. Uh, I'm going to hear you're going to ask another question. You mentioned, like, learning their personalities and so forth. The trainings, the education part of it. 

Megan Hughey: Yeah. 

Tracy Hayes: Whether it's going down the knee far or what United's offering, or what a lender or home inspector's offering, you know, at a lunch and learn.

Megan Hughey: Mm hmm. The 

Tracy Hayes: importance of going to those things as much as reasonably possible. Yeah. To, you know, [01:25:00] have that knowledge there and know, these Situations these stories. So when they do happen, you may not know the answer it. You know what? I know who to call because they had a similar situation. Yeah, you know, how important is the agents to show up to those things?

Megan Hughey: Oh, it's it's so important 

Tracy Hayes: I 

Megan Hughey: mean even now like no matter how many years you've been in the business I think you should be going to regular trainings because everything's changing and We always have more to learn. We don't know everything. 

Tracy Hayes: Are you are you a block? 

Megan Hughey: I try to be. I try to be. I live by my calendar, that's for sure.

But my calendar changes quite often. 

Tracy Hayes: But they should be regularly searching out. These education opportunities, whether it is just an hour, you get a free lunch and do a lunch and learn by all the different support vendors that are giving you some sort of knowledge or, you know, going to more formal at NIFAR or obviously any anything at United to meet your, your [01:26:00] peers there.

You need to be putting these things in your schedule. I think, um, People find excuses not to 

Megan Hughey: right. They're 

Tracy Hayes: like, well, I don't know the last one. I went to I didn't learn a lot. Well, you don't literally learn. You don't know you learn something until you need to use it. Exactly, you know, and you may have actually learned something, but it might be months.

It might be a year before you go. Oh, I remember that. He was talking about that. Let me call him back and get the details on 

Megan Hughey: that. Right, right. For sure. Yeah. No, I think there's always more to learn. 

Tracy Hayes: Uh, in the, in the, I, well, I think we, uh, if you want to be a top agent, although I, you know, I think there's people out there maybe don't network, but if you're a new agent, you need to talk shop.

Megan Hughey: Yeah, that's actually another thing I would add to the list is I try and connect with somebody People per week. So whether it be, Hey, let's go grab some coffee, 

Tracy Hayes: another agent. 

Megan Hughey: No, not even another agent, a friend, someone that would be in my sphere who would [01:27:00] refer me because I'm staying top. I didn't 

Tracy Hayes: even get the marketing.

You are a hundred percent right. Go on and explain. So, so you try to reach out and have coffee or lunch with random people, friends, 

Megan Hughey: friends, people who are in my, you know, honestly, it becomes natural because I actually want to go have coffee with them and catch up, but I also, you know, the, the kind of part of that, that happens naturally is like, then they want to refer me to somebody or, and I never actually have to bring up real, real estate.

Usually they're the ones bringing it up. 

Tracy Hayes: Right. Well, it's like, it's, I mean, you and two strangers meet it's like, it is, you know, Hey, what do you do for a living? Right. Um, most of them already do, but, um, The agents need to realize, you know, around here, there are a lot of people with licenses and but The fact that you're you're meeting with them and then of course they bring up.

Hey, what's going on? You know, you're selling any homes and then you're telling him about well, I got two listings I've you know, the three sales last whatever it is had a [01:28:00] great 23. They're like, wow, she's doing it She must be good. Now. They build confidence in referring you, right? Yeah, 

Megan Hughey: exactly Actually had someone the other day say Oh, I didn't think I thought you only did luxury and i'm like no I do everything A sales sale They see on social media, you know certain things and i'm like no I I can help you I can help everyone 

Tracy Hayes: Well, it probably tells you maybe when next first time homebuyer you get you come on and tell the story.

I know 

Megan Hughey: I definitely need 

Tracy Hayes: I my recommendation I I would it's one thing I would you know, the many visions I have Is I think you know you one You Agents to start journaling their interactions. It's like a lawyer would spoke to him for 30 minutes at 8 o'clock at night Whatever it is, you know spent this much time so you can look back in the someone ever questions you like well What does it do?

So let me open my journal I spent this sale. I had to spend 35 hours. 

Megan Hughey: Yeah 

Tracy Hayes: on you know, this listing. I mean, [01:29:00] what's that? What's the value of that? Right? And the other thing is, uh, I, because I, I like YouTube, although all my reels are on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube, Facebook and Instagram. They're there for whatever, maybe they bring them up every so often, uh, type of thing, but YouTube's there forever.

It's a library. 

Megan Hughey: Yeah. 

Tracy Hayes: And to take some of those clips and put them on your website of, hey, uh, I just recently worked with a first time homebuyer. Here's what's their situations. We ran into some challenges. I got the home inspector, we got the win point, we got great insurance, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Yeah.

Just tell the story in a minute or two. And it helps those people that you're talking about. I do first time homebuyers. But I also sold this 1. 5 million home over here, too. And this is what happened over there. Right. Yeah, no, 

Megan Hughey: I need to do more of that, for sure. I 

Tracy Hayes: think, uh, with this NAR lawsuit, it's, it's, uh, going to give reason.

Now, not everyone's going to take the reason, but, um, you know, the key times for every training you go to write video, video, video, you should be [01:30:00] doing video, right? Yep. These are going to give you reasons to do video, do, do your own video testimonial, how you overcame and negotiated and got this deal done for your client.

Those are the, the facts, tell stories, sell. It's my favorite. So Megan, appreciate you coming on. Anything you want to add? No, good. All right. Well, we've been going. We're actually in an hour and 30 minutes now. I appreciate you coming on. Yeah. Thank you