Business Innovators Radio - From Physics to Real Estate: The Inspiring Journey of former Teacher, Violet Delgado

Episode Date: May 23, 2023

The third episode of the Agents Lounge Podcast features Violet Delgado, the team leader with Jason Mitchell’s Realty Group. In this episode, Nathan Gaylor and Marco Salinas interview Violet and uncover the secrets to her success in the real estate industry.Before getting into real estate, Violet was a teacher for seven years, teaching physics, biology, and avid, a college prep course. However, when COVID-19 hit, she decided to take a step back and become a stay-at-home mom for a couple of years. During this time, she noticed one of her high school, college, and career counselors closing deals left and right in real estate, and she was intrigued.In this episode, Violet shares how she transitioned from teaching to real estate and how her educational background has helped her in her current career. She also talks about the importance of building relationships with clients and how she goes above and beyond to provide exceptional service.Violet’s success in real estate is evident in her team’s achievements, with over $30 million in sales volume in 2020 and being recognized as one of the top 250 Latino agents in the country by the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals (NAHREP).Listeners will gain valuable insights from Violet’s journey, including the importance of having a strong work ethic, the power of building relationships, and the benefits of having a supportive team.Overall, this episode is a must-listen for anyone looking to learn from a successful real estate professional who has achieved great success in a short amount of time.https://thejasonmitchellgroup.com/agents/violet-delgado/https://www.realtor.com/realestateagents/6146c510cf87190012c16468https://www.facebook.com/violet.delgadoAgents Lounge Podcasthttps://businessinnovatorsradio.com/turbopassusa-podcast/Source: https://businessinnovatorsradio.com/from-physics-to-real-estate-the-inspiring-journey-of-former-teacher-violet-delgado

Welcome to the Agents Lounge podcast, where we talk all things real estate with the industry's top performers. Join us as we dive into the inspiring journeys of successful agents and uncover the secrets to their success. Whether you're a seasoned agent or just starting out, we've got the tips and tricks to help you navigate the world of real estate. Brought to you by Eritory Comfort Solutions. So grab a seat and join us in the Agents Lounge. Welcome back to the third episode of Agents Lounge Podcast. Excuse me. I'm your host, Nathan Gaylor with Air Integrity Comfort Solutions, accompanied by Marco Salinas, our producer, and a co-host, Francisco Bermuda's Jr.

Yeah. Howdy? How's it going? We're doing great. And we have our special guest today, Violet Dogato, who is a real estate team leader of Violet's Realty Group with Jason Mitchell's Realty Group. Yes. It's a little bit of a mouthful. Yeah.

That's okay. Yeah. But welcome. It's a pleasure to have you. Welcome, Violet. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for having me.

All right. So before we get into the nitty gritty, just, you know, you did tell me that you taught physics. So just real quick, what's a superpower? If you could have for a day, what would it be in why? A superpower? Probably like lightning speed. Lightning speed.

Especially as a mom trying to get everything done. I wish I had lightning speed to get around. Oh, that's hilarious. I thought you were going to go travel the world type of thing. Yeah, and travel the world too. Get it all done in one day. Okay. So just tell us a little bit about your background.

Before getting into real estate, what did you do? So before I got into real estate, I actually was a teacher for seven years. And so you mentioned physics. That was the first year teaching. I taught physics. And then after that, I taught biology for several years. And then I kind of ended my education career teaching Avid, which is a college prep course. And so taught high school the entire time.

I mean, really loved education when I was in it. I even got a master's in education from Texas A&M. So I was like full into. Yep. Yeah, so sure. So full into education. But then COVID hit. And at the time, I had a four-year-old and a two-year-old.

And I was like, what am I going to do? Like, I don't want to send him to daycare. It's crazy world we're in. And so I decided to take a step back and just kind of be a stay-at-home mom for a couple years. And I really enjoyed that time. And then, yeah, kind of steered me. You want me to go ahead and go and talk about it? You know, that's the bridge into real estate, I assume, right?

Yes, into real estate. So while everybody was on social, me, media during that time. I noticed one of my high school college and career counselors. I still followed him on Facebook. We still kept in touch. He actually helped me get my jobs in education when I was applying. And I saw that he got into real estate and I saw him closing deals like left and right. And I'm like, I don't see agents do that. Like, you know, they'll close several deals a year. But he was like every other week. Machine. Yes. Back to back. Like crazy. And I'm, I'm.

I was like, okay, tell me your secret. What are you doing? So I gave him a call and I'm like, hey, I noticed you're in real estate. Tell me a little bit about it. And he was sold. I was sold pretty much. Yeah, I was sold. So he's like, you were already pre-sold by all of the transactions.

Yes. I was like, oh, how did he know all these people? And so, yeah. So he's like, go get your license and I'll take you under my wing and kind of the rest is history with that. Okay. That's awesome. So like, how did it? he get connected. So I was going to ask, like, what are the really challenges that you face getting

into it? But I feel like a lot of people might struggle with having those connections. So, like, what was his key to, like, getting, like, what did you see when you came in? Like, did he do networking groups, just good advertising? What was it? Well, he started his career. Like, he was in education as well. And then on the side, he would do construction. His dad was a contractor. So he learned a lot about the construction world. And then he got in touch with the brokerage that I'm with now, the Jason Mitchell group. And he knew Jason personally. And he told him, hey, you know, start a brokerage in San Antonio, our own little branch.

And Jason's approach is a little different than other brokerages I've seen, which is that he's established relationships with huge mortgage companies. Our number one is Veterans United. And so he has this relationship with them where they give the agent's referrals. And so you could be, they call it network certified agent, where you get referrals from different mortgage lenders. And then we get to work those deals and help those clients. And so that's what he did. That's how he got his start.

And I think his first year, Ruben, his name is Ruben Preto. He, I think he closed about 38 deals. Last year he closed 42. and a lot of those came from referrals that we get from our brokerage. And so he has a different approach. So it's great especially for new agents that don't know a lot of people, haven't really networked yet because it's hard getting into real estate, especially if you don't have a huge network of people that you know.

Right. And so this gives you the advantage to get in front of more people that you would otherwise not have the opportunity to, you know, to know. Sure. And then his philosophy is, once I get you in front of, of these people and you, you know, help these families, then you build those relationships and they'll send you referrals. And so from there, that builds your book of business. So. Yeah. So what's the key advice for a new realtor, like your opinion? What's the top, top one?

I definitely think find a brokerage that's going to help you just start off if you don't have a huge network of friends and family that would, you know, buy from you, I guess. And so I think this gives you kind of a leg up, is finding a brokerage that will help give you leads, and that it's a lot of practice. So I feel like I'm very fortunate that I kind of hit the floor running, and with like a short amount of time, I was able to close a large amount of deals, and that gave me like a huge amount of experience just, you know, going into it. So I'll just follow up. And how do you think being a teacher has helped you or teachers that are out in the teaching field? I mean, what would you recommend for them?

Frank used to be a teacher too. I feel like the teaching skills that you get in the schools are very transferable to a real estate agent. Yes, 100%. I mean, well, we have the patience. That's number one. Oh, man. Yeah. You have to have a lot of patience, too.

You're teaching, your buyers and your sellers, how to buy or sell their home. And so a lot of it is teaching. And so I feel like teachers already have those skills. We have the organization skills. We have the time management skills. We have the people skills. So all of those skills are easily transferable into the real estate world. I think that has given me a huge advantage just with working with my clients because I use literally I'm there teaching them every step.

This is what's going to come next. And I prep them beforehand of what to expect, what good things can come out of this deal, what things to look out for and you're just teaching. So, yeah. That's a great question. Really good question and really good points that she brings up because you would think that those two are very, you know, far apart. But the reality is that there's a lot of connections between that and being a teacher

is a great precursor to real estate success, I think, you know, as long as you have that desire right to go out and do well and succeed. for sure. Yeah, and I think teachers are literally the hardest workers out there. And so actually two members on my team are former teachers. So that's kind of like the prerequisite to get on my team. It's like, have you been a teacher? Okay, I know you're going to work hard.

Right, yeah, true. And so I know they're going to do well because they have all those skills. Definitely. Yeah. No question. So, I mean, it sounds like you had a great start. But is there like anything? that you wish you would have known from the beginning that you know now,

like maybe an obstacle or barrier that you ran into when you were first getting started? I think it's good and bad with my time management. Like, I really wanted to get into real estate for just the flexibility of it. And I think going in, I wish I would have just kind of figured out my days a little better. Like, okay, I'm going to kind of block schedule my day because I kind of was just working all the time and always on the phone, making calls. So I wish I would have just started, like, okay, from this time to this time, I'm going to work on, you know, these items.

I'm going to call my clients. I'm going to check up on them. I wish I would have had that in the beginning kind of set up. So you use block scheduling now? Now I use block scheduling yet, as much as possible. Now I still get interrupted and I'm not there yet where some people, like, will turn off their phones. Oh, yeah.

But I definitely will be like, okay, I'll call them back. Right. I mean, if you're a lead, I can imagine that you get pulled in several different directions, right? So it's just like if you're on a block schedule, you're like telling yourself you're supposed to be doing this, but you get another call that pulls you in another way. So, yeah, organizing can be tough, right? Yes. Especially for my team. Like, I always answer the phone when they call me. That's something I learned from Rubin as well.

We always joke because every time I call him, I'm like, okay, quick question. And it ends up being like 15 minutes long. But he always answers the phone for me. He always answers my questions, and I think that has been a huge help with, you know, being able to just have a great successful first year. Yeah. Two years. All right. I would like to dig in for some maybe a little insider information.

Okay. So, like, how would you handle a property that has been on the market for, like, just an extended period of time without any offers? For me, I've had situations like this before. I think always if you have a seller, you have to kind of set them up in the very beginning of what's to be expected throughout the process. So, you know, the first thing I tell them is there's three criteria in how your house is going to sell. One of them is location, which you cannot change. The second is condition, which depending on your funds and what you want to fix, you know, that just kind of depends on what you can do with the whole. home and then the third is price. So if you have a, you know, you're set on a certain price,

but it's not moving, I always recommend like, hey, we're going to have increments. If the house has been on the market for, you know, over three weeks, let's do a small price drop or, and then kind of set them up to know that I'm going to ask in the next couple of weeks because we need to move forward with selling your home. The longer it's on the market, the more time people want a greater deal out of it. So your buyers are going to come in with lower offers and we don't want that. So we try to get them to move as fast as possible. But at the end of the day, I do leave it up to them at the price they want to be at. Sure. And I tell them, but if it doesn't work, we got to, we got to do those price drops. Yeah, I kind of have to like whisper in the air a little

bit. Just like, I tell them stuff that they don't want to hear, but it sounds like it's important to set realistic expectations from the beginning. Right. That way, you're not just what the kids say, like, gassing them up for, you know, the best outcome possible. Exactly. Yep.

Mm-hmm. Okay. That's definitely nitty-gritty. Yeah, yeah. It's a good question and a good response, too. it's kind of piggybacking off the last question, but what is your strategy for dealing with difficult or uncooperative clients? Those don't happen.

That never happened? Mylaid doesn't have those. I don't have those. Oh, wow, congratulations. They're all perfect. They're an anomaly. I mean, I've had a lot, the majority of my clients, honestly, I feel like I'm really blessed because the majority of my clients, even if they are the type of client that needs to call me

every day, I will answer the phone for them. I will talk to them. So I haven't had a situation where I've had somebody be like really confrontational with me. Yeah. I think we kind of set off like when we first initially meet and they know and I talk to them and they get to know me. Then I don't know. You just kind of click. So if we click, we keep working together.

If we don't click, well then. Like maybe try to try to cut it off like earlier on, right? Right. Yeah. It's like we're just not vibe in here. Let's both save each other. Yeah. The hassle of this.

Yeah. That's a good move because otherwise it's just like wasted energy. Right. And I've had that happen to me where I'm like, you know what? I don't think we're a good fit. But I know somebody who would be a good fit for you and I will refer them to a different agent. And they work awesome together. I'm putting you with those agents.

A pit bull agent. Exactly. But they work. Put you in your place. Oh, man. I don't want to put you on the spot, but do you refer them to agents that you like? Yes, I do. But I know that they can handle them.

Case by case. Yeah. It's all case by case by case. I look at their personality. I'm like, look, we just don't mesh well, but I know somebody that will mesh well. And they've closed a deal together and it works out and everybody's happy. That's great. Mm-hmm.

I don't take offense. So I'm just like, I got you. You know, some, like I mentioned, some personalities just don't click. That's right. And that's exactly right. I mean, anything that's customer service related, even being a teacher, you have to have some tough skin, right? Yes. Yeah.

Dealing with. Teachers have had students that just you couldn't get along no matter what. So, yes. But you still work through it and figure out a way. Yeah. But I think, though, I mean, bringing it back to teaching, I feel that you're very good at nurturing, like, those situations, like, when they come up, like the training and how are you going to talk to them?

Yeah. How are you going to set up the expectations? I mean, that's a very valuable skill. Mm-hmm. Oh, you're right. It's faster management, right? It's the same thing when they teach us as teachers. Like, you got to set up your class for, you.

You know, not that I have roles or anything like teachers do, but you set up those expectations early on and you kind of prepare your client early on and then it kind of saves with the shock later if something comes up because they're like, okay, yeah, I knew that could have happened. Yeah, very true. Because all deals have complications. They never run, you know, 100% smoothly. Yeah. One more slight piggyback.

So can you provide a specific? example where you've negotiated a better deal for a client or clients? Yeah, actually, I had one of my friends that I worked, one of my friends actually taught with, she was a teacher too. So it was during the time when the market was pretty crazy. And so I ran some comps for their home, and I know her husband was, like, adamant that he thought his house was worth like five, nine. And at the time I talked to him, I brought him some comps.

I'm like, I think it's worth $620. And so he's like, I think who would pay for that? That's like crazy. And then we waited a couple months and I pulled comps again. And I was like, actually, I think I could sell your home for $6.50. And he was like, oh my, like he didn't want to do it. He's like, who would do that? I didn't.

He just, he had paid probably like $300K, three years before for the home. Wow. Now he did put some money into a pool and other things. But, you know, like you said, the market was crazy. The market was crazy. And so we put it on the market, and within a couple of days, we got a cash offer at $6.75. Oh, my goodness. And, you know, closed in a few weeks, and he was just in shock that, you know, that his house would sell for cash so fast.

And then you were like, but let's talk about buying the next house. Which I did help him buy the next house. I'll talk a little bit about that, too, because that was a crazy. That was a crazy situation too. So they, after that happened, they moved into an apartment to kind of settle and they were looking for a house in Alamo Heights and they're like, okay, we're kind of, we're going to wait and see until we can find something perfect. Well, during that time, the interest rate was, had started going up. Oh, yeah. And so, and the prices were still up too. So it was kind of a crazy time. And this particular home that they wanted to purchase, it was

priced high. Comps weren't, they weren't matching up. And so we threw in a lower offer. They accepted. But then once we got under contract, we had to discuss the roof because it was a metal roof. And the owners had put in a claim with their insurance for some hell damage, just like cosmetic hell damage. But they used the money to remodel the restroom. Oh, sneaky. Yeah. So what happened? And so my buyer's insurance is like, we ain't going to cover that roof. So my client was like super adamant. Like, well, then they need to reduce the price by the quote that I give them. And so we got a quote, $30,000 for a new roof.

And they're like, well, how about this other one that's $20,000? We're like, no, pretty adamant. So we were able to kind of stick to our guns. Yeah. Him pushing me as well. So he was like, oh, come on, we got to do this. And so they lowered the house by 30K. So they got to get it, they got into that house with equity.

So they built another room instead of that. I know. Yeah. The roof can wait another. Yeah. So the roof, no, the roof was on cosmetic. And I think when they took out their insurance, they only got like $8K for the cosmetic. But their insurance was like, sorry if in the future something happens, we're not going to cover it.

Right. Uh-huh. So they got to get another price reduction of $30K. So I think off the price, the listing price, it was like 75K off. Nice. Too shabby at all. Yeah. So they got two great deals on both ends.

No kidding. Yeah. I bet he's going to refer you some business if he is out. Oh, yes. He does. Yes. And his wife is like one of my best friends. Oh, that's great.

Sorry. Okay. Yeah. So how do you, this is definitely for listeners, but like how, how, do you stay informed about the ever-changing market and just market forecast? Do you have a specific source or multiple sources that you go to or is it all by ear? For us, it's all by ear and then just always being in the field and kind of seeing how things are going. I think because we're all, myself and all the agents in our brokerage, especially here in San Antonio, we're working like

crazy all the time. So we are, we can figure out how, you know, the market. is changing because, you know, I don't write the same type of deals that I used to when I first started to now. And I've only been in the industry almost two years. So they're definitely very different. So it's all by being in the field and then talking to our division president and then just listening to our broker, Jason Mitchell. He'll do coaching calls. And so we're listening to that too. So, but it's mostly like being in the field and figuring out firsthand. Yeah. Do you have a recommendation for people? people who are like considering getting into real estate how they would keep up with it maybe?

Do you have a recommendation? If you don't, it's cool. I just kind of put you on the spot with that. Well, I mean, I like listening to my broker's coaching that he does weekly. So I don't know if it's public. I think it might be. But I know it's definitely for the people within our brokerage. I like listening to that.

Very motivational and gives a lot of great advice. Okay. That's what I like listening to. So is your group or Jason Mitchell's? either or are you all involved in the community? Do you all do philanthropy? Is there anything that y'all do? So I myself, we like to get back to teachers.

So for like my team, we just did a teacher appreciation breakfast for one of the local elementary schools here. And then I was like, you know what? A great idea for a giveaway would be like a gift card to Amazon for their classroom and one for themselves. because so we do some giveaways, so things like that. And then so always trying to keep the teachers. We love our teachers. Yeah. Are you guys doing any kind of recruiting at the schools as far as trying to find new agents?

Do you have an official process of that or just more like what you just mentioned, the teacher appreciation? Just more teacher appreciation, yeah. Because that could still lead to a conversation, right? It's like, you know, yeah, I really appreciate the Amazon gift card. Thank you. conversation. Yes. Yeah.

It would seem like you guys would be really good at, at, you know, setting up a system for finding your next superstar within that world, you know, because you guys are, I've met some other teams and they're like, we're all military, you know what I mean? And so, but you guys are like, we're, we're the teacher squad. Yeah, for sure. So it is a really, that's, I mean, I think that's an interesting niche that you have as far as an angle, you know, that you're coming in at. And I could definitely see how once you're like, hey,

hey, this was a former teacher. This was a former teacher. You know, and then the success stories of all of you guys, right? That would be something that would, I think, be very enticing. Because, you know, again, my family has a background in that world. We know other people in that world. And a lot of the teachers are still being, you know, overworked for lack of a better term. You know, and I think that there's probably a lot of them that are always looking for those opportunities to escape.

Right. Or they can come do AC with me. That too. Not quite as sexy, but, you know, I understand. Yeah, definitely. Some people like to get dirty. People like to get down and dirty, man. Yeah.

Like dirty jobs. Some of that show? It's not dirty. We're not plumbers. It's a little, dude. Some of the pictures that you've posted on Facebook are a little bit dirty. Yeah. Let's be honest.

He's like, here's the worst roach infestation I've ever seen in my life. Oh, yeah. And you're thinking people are going to jump on board? I don't know about that. Come on. Come on. You might want to make it look a little bit sexier Roaches every week

We're going to work on a calendar Is it going to be a nasty calendar? I mean, we'll try to keep it PG As much as a time off, breakfast Every other week, every other day Vacations They don't offer that in real estate For sure they don't

What else do we do? Party break anytime you want to Right Oh yeah In the backyard Just go behind the shed. As long as you're behind the shed, it doesn't matter. Just watch out for the bees.

Another benefits, yeah. And then you get to go on the sauna every once in a while. I think you have successfully sold all the listeners on why they need to contact about being a real estate agent. But at the same time, equally, we respect what you guys do 100%. Because, man, that's tough work. It's still hard work. It's rewarding work, but it's hard work.

So we'll stick with, you know, I'll do my work from the coffee shop. That kind of a thing. Yeah. So lastly, just maybe something that you do to decompress a hobby outside of work. When your phone goes on, do not disturb, the time block is self-time. I hardly have any of that, but when I do, because I have two little, I have two young kids. But the thing I don't really have any hobbies either. But the thing I like to do for self-care is at least once a year, sometimes twice year.

I make my husband book me a hotel stay at Hotel Emma and I stay there and I relax. Kind of a staycation. Kind of like a staycation where I can, like I'm not woken up at 6 in the morning by any kiddos and I can watch whatever I want on TV. Mimosas and brunch. I was saying brunch at Sutherley. Oh, yeah. Right? That's what's attached to that building, isn't it?

It's a supper. Oh, okay. Got you. Yeah. That's a beautiful place. It is. And they have that library. They give you two free cocktails when you get there.

They have your little wine down or they bring you tea at night. Are you taking notes for your wife? Oh, boy. In January, they have specials. It's like half off the rest. There you go. Oh, really? Noted.

Yeah. And then the spa, the hiatus spas. like my favorite place too. Oh, really? Is that a part of it? It's in the pearl. It's not connected, but it's like really walking distance. Yeah.

And just the farmer's market there in general is just gorgeous on the weekends. Yeah. It's a beautiful place. It is beautiful. Good choice. Go escape. I just go escape for the, for a day or two. I try to book two.

My husband's like, okay, one's like the max, but come back. Don't leave me here. But it's good. But that's what I try to do. My husband's the one that has all the hobbies, so I don't have any. Your hobby is work. That makes you a very good worker. Yeah, my hobby is a work.

Very good agent. Yeah. In the agent's lounge. Yeah. But my hobby is working. What do you mean? Exactly. Working and staying at Hotel Emma.

Right, right. And mom duties. And all my mom duties. Yeah, all my mom duties. But yeah. She's just in mom mode right now. Mom and work mode. Mom and work mode.

That's all. Your time will come eventually. And still. teaching mode, like with just with real estate. And then, oh, I wanted to mention, too, so one of my former students is actually on my team as well. So, yeah. Oh, former student. Yeah. Wow. Yeah. So. I did not expect for you to say that. Did that come from you? Like, was that your connection? Yeah. You reached out? Mm-hmm. So she was my student. I taught her. It was a college prep course called Avid, and she had messaged me like, hey, I think I want to get into real estate. You know, she, I was like, get your

license and so um she started she joined my brokerage first and then once i created a team then she hopped on my team and she's been doing well um that's great she's closed a few deals and and is actively working with buyers as well so and she does that while she's in college so oh dear estate's part time for her but she's still doing really well so good start yeah what she go into college for uh communications so yeah that was kind of my role them too a little bit. Okay, communications, yep. Well, yeah, a little bit more politically driven, but yeah.

Okay. Well, Ms. Delgado, thank you for taking the time to sit with us today and, yeah, in the interrogation room with the pod squad right here. Thank you so much for having me. Great info. Yeah. Everything you shared was awesome. I don't have.

So that does it for another episode of the agents lounge. Thank you all for tuning in, and we'll see you next time.