Business Innovators Radio - Interview with Sam Bennett Real Estate Agent with Opt Real Estate

Episode Date: February 5, 2024

Sam is the owner and founder of her own residential remodeling company as well as a licensed real estate agent in both Oregon and Washington. She and her husband, Travis, bought their Happy Valley home through the team that would become her brokerage, Opt Real Estate (then The Drew Coleman Team). The team also secretly video-captured his marriage proposal at one of their favorite places, Cannon Beach.Sweet, fun, efficient, and hardworking, Sam has been in the residential industry since 2012. She graduated from Colorado State University with degrees in both apparel and interior design and with an offer already in hand for a position as a professional interior designer at a design/build firm.Between her love for working with homeowners and three years’ worth of prodding from her Realtor® husband, she eventually became licensed as a real estate agent herself. Clients find that Sam’s eye for design can help them to see what is possible within a space while her attention to detail ensures no deadlines on the transaction are missed.“My clients find ease and fun with our process. My purpose is to really get to know you and your family so together we can make this custom experience enjoyable and easy.”In her free time, Sam writes pop punk songs with her husband and plays bass for the band they created, “all in ur head”. “Travis and I go to Guitar Center so often that a number of the employees know us by name.” In addition to auditioning for modeling and acting gigs, she loves to take their RV out to the coast or visit their favorite jaunts across Portland. They especially love Tusk NW, The Original Halibuts, and venues like the Hawthorne Theatre and Crystal Ballroom.When they’re not walking the trails in their neighborhood, you can catch the couple alternating between the one-wheel and electric scooter. “Sometimes we bring our very athletic bulldog, Sonny. Rubble, our other bulldog, is not so athletic – he keeps the sofa warm for us while we’re cruising around the neighborhood.”Learn more: https://theopt.com/Elite Real Estate Leaders Podcasthttps://businessinnovatorsradio.com/elite-real-estate-leaders-podcastSource: https://businessinnovatorsradio.com/interview-with-sam-bennett-real-estate-agent-with-opt-real-estate

Welcome to the Elite Real Estate Leaders Podcast, brought to you by Trailstone Insurance Group, bringing you interviews with the best real estate and mortgage professionals, empowering you to understand the current trends in the housing market so that you make the American dream your reality. Enjoy today's episode. Welcome to the Elite Real Estate Leaders Podcast. Today we have with the Sam Bennett, who's a real estate agent with Opt Real Estate. Sam, welcome to the program. Hi, thank you for having me.

I'm excited to be here. Yes, we're excited to talk with you and learn about what you do and how you do it and why you do it. But get it started first with your story. What's your background? Why did you get started into the real estate industry in the first place? Yeah, so it goes back quite a bit. So growing up, my dad was in commercial real estate. So I kind of watched him go through that.

And then when I got to be on my own, I went to interior design. school and I actually did that for a while, started professionally in 2012, met my now husband about five and a half years ago. And I was doing design sales at the time and meeting with awesome clients and whatnot. And he was like, you really got to get on the front end of this and show people these houses before they buy them. So you can talk them through the various issues and also get them ready for, you know, getting on the market and all of that. So after about two years of him rating me, telling me I should get my license, I finally did when we moved from Denver out to Oregon.

And, yeah, I've been doing real estate ever since. That's awesome. That's a neat background because that design flare tends to be something that's a value add as a real estate agent. and I think a lot of times when you don't have the actual background of sales and being in that industry, then that can get left out. So how do you find that you're integrating that in with working with your clients now? Oh my gosh. It's so seamless. And it's so much fun because when I walk into a house, I can talk about the different kinds of opportunities that a house has. My background isn't just in decorating, but I do do decorating, but it's more residential remodel. So I actually started,

designing in the basement, which you can learn a lot about a house from a basement. That's how everything is kind of put together. You're in Colorado, so you know that. In Oregon, we don't have as many basements, but it really taught me, you know, from the foundation of all about the HVAC, major systems, we're plumbing, draining, where we can move things, how to tell if a wall has posts in them, how we can open up the space. So, I mean, there's countless things, at least on the buyer side that are directly related to interior design and getting somebody excited about a house, but also like, oh, I can see that all we need to do in this one is paint the walls. You know, you know how people they hear one thing and then they assume something and it's completely

the different story? So when I hear design, I think colors and swatches and drapes and things and you're, and I'm sure that's part of it. So let's, let's, you know, clarify that. But what you're talking about goes way beyond just what's the best color or, you know, where should I put this sofa in the room. So I think some of those, you know, like HVAC and some of the foundational things really help open up the buyers and sellers' eyes to potential. Oh, absolutely. And the other thing is when I was doing interior design, it was always like, okay, well, what's going to be our return on investment? Because this is very expensive to do.

It's a big investment when you're redesigning your space. So doing all the research to find out like, okay, well, what's a kitchen going to add? And should you do it for yourself or should you be doing it for the next buyer? And those sorts of questions, I'm able to guide my clients through all of my interior design training on that. Yeah. Can you think of a time like maybe someone was thinking of, oh, I need to redo my whatever, let's just say kitchen. and then you took them through that thought process and even calculation and it was like, you know, if we spend X, it's going to be time and hassle and all of that, which is, of course, yes, it increased the value, but wow, we barely made a buck or two.

And if we don't do it, then that's fine. But can you think of an example where it kind of enlightened someone to the calculations once you laid it out and they were happy they did? Yeah, let me think about that for a second. There's been countless projects that I've done actually, too. More on the increasing the value size and like, so like, let me, how do I say this? Almost the opposite of that. So like, I'll walk into a house with a listing that we have.

And I'm like, okay, what is the most affordable way to get as many people emotionally wanting to buy this house? And it's like, okay, what are the simple things we can do? We can change out the light fixtures. That's super inexpensive. And immediately when you walk into the space, it's going to feel better. If you have something a little bit, you wanted to match the house, of course. But like if you want it more modern and updated, little stuff like the door hardware is a big one. Which plates, like little details like that and then just going through and like really with a fine,

tooth comb and looking at your painted walls, cleaning them, like really, really cost effective things. What are the easiest things that cost the least that give the biggest pop initially? Exactly. I think we all know, like, a fresh coat of paint goes a long way, and that's something that homeowners can do themselves. There's creative ways that you can make paint do more than just, I guess, change the color of a room, too.

like for instance, and we had, I had this listing not too long ago where they had this really, really dingy basement. I had like the asbestos floor tile down there, really cool woodwork down there, like cedar walls and stuff. But it was very dingy. So I walked down there, I was like, let's put carpet in here. We'll make it into a studio space. They had like a laundry slash furnace slash utility slash had a shower in their toilet. And it. It was, I don't know, just like a basement bathroom essentially. And I went through and all I did was I taped like the bottom or the top half of the ceiling, maybe 12 inches down. Make sure that made sure that all the HVAC ducts and plumbing pipes and stuff like that was at that line and painted that all black.

So it made the ceiling look like it was an intentional in the space versus like you look up and it looks unfinished. You can see that and like breweries and stuff like that. but just like little easy things. I would say having a designer on your real estate team, definitely something that you want to do. Probably similar to like curb appeal. If you had a landscaper that could do a quick little refresh from the, from the front yard side and the side yard,

that would give that initial first impression. Same is what you're saying with someone with an eye for design. Yeah, you can take a space that's like not functional at all. and give it a purpose and that goes a long way, especially like I said, with emotional buyers who are going to purchase that house to live in. And if you're telling that story, it's easier for them to see it,

I guess, versus making it up on their own. I was going to say, because it's so interesting kind of what you're talking about. And I feel like a lot of people are going to listen to this and be like, wow, I didn't know design went that deep into real estate. But if you think about it,

before you even got into real estate, it was almost like you were already comping out homes. Like realtors always get comps. It seems like you were kind of already doing that. So I feel like that's probably a huge skill set that you had just coming into it. And knowing that ROI, that is like so huge to have someone on your team who knows the ROI on any of these changes, just immediately right there. Yes, absolutely. I completely agree. And one more, what was I going to say?

Sorry, I lost trick. kind of thought that's such a good point. I switched here. Sorry. No, no, no. You're you're totally right. Like being able to compare it to the, oh, I remember what I was going to say. Yeah. So how you like set up the home too is so important. I'm actually staging a house right now. And we're going through each room. It's a three bedroom, two and a half bathroom, townhome. And in this specific area, there's not a lot of three bedrooms. And the client. It's like, well, if we're going to stage it, do we really want to do all three bedrooms with beds in them? I was like, well, actually, yes, because this is not something that's normally in this area. And one of them we're actually going to stage as a child's room. And in my opinion, if you're like walking through the space and you're like thinking as a buyer, if I'm in there and I'm childless, I'm going to see that room and be like, okay, that's an office.

Okay, that's an exercise. But if I have a child, it's like, okay, I can have the, our kids stay in this room. and then downstairs on that second primary, we can have our parents stay in that room whenever we need help and as a guest room. So it's kind of knowing those sorts of things and really just like, how is this space going to be used? And like you cannot assume that a flyer is going to be able to make these stories for themselves. You really have to show them. It's psychological and it's emotional and you really have to invoke that emotion, I feel like, as a lifting agent. So if any lifting agents out there are listening, they're going to probably

gain a whole lot of knowledge here because if you don't have that design eye, you know, you almost have to hire a stager or somebody like you to come in and say, here's how we're going to invoke this emotion in these buyers and kind of know the psychology behind it, which just sounds like this crazy formula on its street. Yeah, absolutely. And if you're on the buyer side and you're like walking into a space, there's so many homes that are vacant and you can't afford staging and all of that as well. It's like being with the right agent that can like help you with spatial recognition and knowing like what you can fit into the each room and how the room can be purposed is super, super important too when you're finding an agent. And you know, from the buyer side too,

it's probably what you've found when you could walk in and go, here's this buyer that loves this place, but they're kind of hedging on this and this on the room side, but you can kind of sift through that and go, yeah, but if you just could. consider this. And from a design standpoint, all you need to do is, and rather than feeling like in that basement room with the ceilings and the black and things, that could be a turnoff. But you could go, wow, if we just did these two or three things, it could just really freshen it up. And then that could ease their, you know, trepidation as a buyer. So I think that design flare really is a huge competitive advantage when you're working with sellers as a listing agent as well as as a buyer's agent.

Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. Absolutely. I completely agree. It's really got me very far and been able to direct my clients in a way that I feel they're really happy with the space and know what they can do with next steps and feel like they have a plan in place and don't just feel lost. Yeah. Well, and I feel like you probably have a really unique buyer and seller process just because of your background. If you want to talk a little bit more about that. Yeah, totally. So when I am working with a buyer, when we first meet, we typically, I like to meet at a home that they've had an eye on so that we can really talk through the space. I give them a really amazing tour. And then I work with a lot of first time homebuyer. So I do explain the entire process. And then after that, I talk about what the next steps are going to be, which is setting up another appointment where we're, for me, what that means is we go see three to five, homes. It's a mix between maybe some of the homes that I find in my network and some of the things

that they find online. Usually by the time they come to me, they've been looking at houses online for maybe, you know, a couple of years before they call an agent ready to look. So they have some houses in mind. We use a fine tooth comb to like really be like, okay, does this check all of your actual want or needs boxes? And is there anything that's a deal breaker on this? So really, I only show probably three to five homes before we're writing an offer on a place because they know, hey, if we're going to start this process, we get really serious. And before we go anywhere, we're going to really look at these with a fine tooth comb. Then from there, at every single house, we stop before we leave. We talk about the pros and cons and then how it compares to the other properties that we see.

and then what, you know, the list of projects that we're going to have to do as well. So that's pretty much how it works on the buyer's side. And then on the listing side, what we, what I do is I typically go out to the house, meet them at the house for the first time. And unlike other agents, I don't always bring a CMA. I'll have one as a backup, but really I want to get to know them and their goals first. And then we set up a second follow-up appointment that's virtual maybe a few days later when I can actually really dig into all the details. And that's when I give them a, you know, I give them a good, better best, like good.

If we do nothing to the house, we just list it today. Here we have if we did like all of these different projects, here's what the projects are going to cost to do this. And then maybe somewhere in the middle. And we just talk about all three options at that point, in which way they want to go, how much work they want to do and how involved they want me to be in it or if they want to take it on themselves. So, yeah, that's basically my process for those two things. That's awesome. So what are you seeing in the Portland real estate market today? What are some of the unique opportunities?

What's going on? And then how do you position yourself to navigate those from either working with buyers or something? because there's going to be nuances that's different with both. Yeah, totally. So the market is picking back up and rapidly. I'm sure you've experienced this as well, but with interest rates the last couple years, it got a little bit slower. You know, you really had to work on your relationship building and follow up.

And it's weeded a lot of real estate agents out of the game. So, but now, I think interest rates are pretty steady and clients seem to be understanding them more. The media seems to be on our side saying it's now is a good time. My phone has been ringing off the hook. People are excited to buy again. People are excited to list again, low inventory. So, yeah, I'm really excited about this market. It's picking up fast.

That's what I got to say about it. that's really cool and I think that we also mentioned about the kind of the story you tell about the house the listing and it's the story you tell with you know hey here's you know what what is you envision when you're looking to buy this house that house so I'll ask a question about kind of going deeper in your story because I understand that you and your husband are very boring and you're like accountants and you sit at home at night and do nothing and no but looking Looking at your bio, you've got some uniqueness that you bring to bring fun. So talk a little bit about that.

Yeah, absolutely. That's, you know, that's fun that I'm glad that you brought this up because one thing I was really afraid of when I first started is, and this was the same thing with interior design is like being anything but a very, very professional interior designer. And what I'm finding or like professional real estate agent, and that's my one identity. But what I'm finding is clients really want to get to know me and like who I am. Travis and I have a pop punk band that we just started a little over a year ago. So we're constantly making music and we're very active on social media with all of that. I mentioned zero things about real estate on my Instagram.

But I get people that want to work with me for real estate from it. And then most of my clients, after I met with. them one time. Like, like I said, I do a lot of internet leads and stuff like that. So like, immediately they're finding me on Instagram and getting to know me and like wanting to talk to me about my band and like really, really supportive about everything. And it's not like I'm going to find them. They're definitely finding me. And then and these clients have been sticking. So I'm just, it's, it's very eye opening to me that people, people want to work with a personality. And, somebody that has something going on more than just real estate.

They want to work with a real human. A fun real human. Yeah. Yeah. A good pop punk band. True. Very true. We do have a lot of, and that's like a big thing with me as well is like the experience

is so important to me and like making sure that every single one of my buyers, every single one of my sellers is having a good streamlined. easy experience, but we also have a lot of fun along the way. So that's one thing. With my personal brand, having fun, it works for me and having the band works for me. It might not work for everybody else. Other people might have other things. But I would say just, you know, the more you could be yourself, your clients are going to love that too. 100%. Well, Sam, if someone is interested in coming and attending a pop punk band concert or your design Flair for working with buyers or sellers, what is the best way that they can learn more about

you and reach out and connect? Oh, great question. Best way to get a hold of me. Anything real estate related would just be to call or text me. So my phone number to reach me at would be 503-664-6868. Again, that's 503-664-664-68. Again, that's 503-664-668. Yeah, call, text me anytime. I'll get back to you as soon as I can if I don't get back to you right away. But I do interior design remotely as well. So I can talk you through. I have my own interior design company on top of that. So anybody who is listening, agents or whoever, please feel free to reach out to me, pick my brain. I'll be here. Awesome. Well, Sam, thank you so much for coming on. It's been a real pleasure talking with you today. Yeah, it was great. Thank you so much for having me. I'll come back anytime. Thank you for listening to the Elite Real Estate Leaders podcast, brought to you by Trailstone Insurance Group. To learn more about the topics mentioned on today's show or listen to past episodes, visit www.org.com.