KGCI: Real Estate on Air - Legal Expertise Fuels Luxury Real Estate Wins with Kelly Cheponis

Episode Date: July 17, 2025

SummaryJoin Kathy Byrnes as she speaks with Kelly Cheponis, a luxury real estate expert who seamlessly transitioned from law to real estate. Kelly shares how her legal background provides a unique advantage in navigating complex transactions, scrutinizing contracts, and fiercely advocating for her clients. Discover how a deep understanding of legalities can be a powerful tool for achieving significant wins in the luxury real estate market.Bullet Point TakeawaysLeveraging Legal Background: Kelly's experience as an attorney provides a unique and powerful edge in real estate negotiations and contract review.Client Advocacy: A legal foundation enables a higher level of client protection and advocacy throughout the real estate process.Navigating Complex Deals: Legal expertise is crucial for successfully handling intricate luxury real estate transactions.Enhanced Client Service: The combination of real estate knowledge and legal acumen leads to unparalleled service and client confidence.Building Trust: Clients gain immense confidence knowing their agent possesses a deep understanding of the legal aspects of their biggest investments.SEO Keywords/PhrasesLuxury Real Estate LegalKelly Cheponis Real EstateLegal Expertise RealtorReal Estate Contract NegotiationKathy Byrnes PodcastCall-to-ActionTune in to the full episode to learn how legal expertise can elevate your real estate game and secure more luxury wins!

Man, Kelly Sheponis today is my guest and you're going to be amazed at what this woman has done. She got her law degree and worked at in corporate law and all these different things which you're going to hear about in her attorney life and then switch gears and became a real estate agent and a very successful one. So you're going to learn lots of good tips from her. So stay tuned. Welcome to Real Estate Riches, where Kathy Burns empowers realtors to achieve the success. they've always dreamed of. Starting her career at 55, Kathy built a thriving business that offers the freedom of time and financial independence, and now she's sharing her journey to help others do the same. Whether new to the industry or looking to level up, this channel is your hub for proven

strategies, inspiring stories, and the tools you need to grow your real estate business. Join Kathy each week to explore global opportunities, successful systems, and expert insights to take your career to the next level. Get comfortable. Pick a video. and start learning. Your journey to success starts now. Hey, everybody. It's Kathy Burns here with Real Estate Riches. And today my guest is Kelly Sheponis. And I'm really excited to have her on. We had some good insight before we got started here. And you're going to learn some good stuff. Hey, Kelly, how are you? Hi there. I'm great. How are you? Wonderful. So Kelly, tell us a little bit about you. You kind of

treat me with an additional side profession that's nothing little. So talk about that. Yes. So I am a licensed attorney. I graduated law school in 2012. You know, I loved being an attorney at the district attorney's office. I started as a paralegal there. Then I went into the law firm setting and ended up in corporate law. But what I really learned about myself through law school and that process was I really love working with people, love contracts, love negotiating, and I'm an absolute workaholic. Corporate law definitely was not for me. So I did make the transition out of there and was a little, you know, not lost. I was just at a crossroads, you know, where to go to next. I did take a non-traditional path out of law and into real estate

just after a lot of soul searching and thinking about what I actually wanted to do with my life. And I'm really happy to be here. It's a perfect fit. Wow, that's great. You know, a lot of people are too scared to change. I mean, you had all that money invested, all that time invested, but it wasn't right. And so you walked away and yet you have skills, right? You've got skills from that.

Yes. That have been really beneficial. That's awesome. Yeah, it was a huge risk. There's no doubt about it. I was worried about what people would think about me. I didn't know a lot about the real estate world as a business. I knew about it as, you know, an attorney and as a consumer.

But I also knew it always intrigued me. But I knew it was going to shake things up in my world. And I just, it was a risk. It was a risk for myself, for my family, but I had their support. And I just took it day by day, you know. and it worked out. I could not be any happier. This was, like I said, a perfect fit.

And now my clients get the benefit of my education. And no one can take education away from you. I will never regret the time I spent earning that degree. Just so much knowledge. And it also trains you just to work very hard, to be a goal setter. You know, that just that whole experience taught me so much. So yeah, no, I'm glad. lot it led me here. It was a wild ride, but it was where I needed to be. Yeah, and that's courageous. You know,

a lot of people need to hear that story. I started, I've started life over so many times, but my last time was at 55 when I walked away from a life that didn't serve me. I moved to a whole different state. I was dead, broke, and started life over. And you know what, I was giddy about it. So I wasn't afraid. And, you know, 55 is a tough time to start over. But yeah, it worked out. That's awesome. Yeah, I was about 30 years old when this happened and I had little kids. Oh. I mean, it makes me like emotional to think about that time. But that's why I'm successful. And I'm sure that's why you are because if you aren't afraid, I always say aren't afraid to fail, you know. I felt like a failure, you know, like when leaving law a little.

bit. I was like, are people going to see me as a failure? You know, but it was that realization that wasn't right. You know, and I wasn't happy. And when I really took that, that soul searching time and figured out what I wanted to do, now I'm actually happy. Yeah. Happiness, you know, brings personal success, you know, like it's not about money or any of that or transactions. It's about, like, my clients being happy. I'm happy. My family's happy. Like, how many people are. How many people? people can say that. So, right? It's awesome.

Oh, I love this story. And it's very inspirational to a lot of people. I've been interviewed a lot in my past that share your story. We don't even understand how you did it. I'm thinking, it was no big deal to me. For me, I didn't care what other people left. And also, I left a whole state behind. So they didn't.

And the new people I met, I felt, I felt invisible when I moved to a new state. I remember walking around saying, I feel invisible. No one knows me. No one's judging me. nothing because they don't know. They don't know anything. And it was liberating and it didn't take me a while to make some money. So that was challenging.

But you know what? I'm a Christian gal and I just had faith. Yeah, no, absolutely. I mean, I pray every day, but, you know, I'm very thankful and I give thanks. But like during that time, you know, it was just, it was a risk. But faith in your, you know, just faith in general, being prayerful, faith in yourself, faith in your family and, you know, just let that guide you. But that's really awesome that you were able to step out. I mean, I know you said you weren't afraid what people thought of you. I mean,

now, you know, almost a decade later, I don't care as much, I would say, you know. Yeah. But back then I did. And Pittsburgh's a small, it's a small town. Yeah. I've never lived anywhere else. I've been here since I was like four. So, wow. Three and a half. So yeah, I'm a Pittsburgher. everywhere you go, you know somebody. And that to me, instead of feeling judged, you know, I felt really supported by my community. I was shocked like how many people were intrigued by the change and they support me online and they call and reach out. I mean, that's, that's again, what makes you successful in this industry is support of people. Yeah. Yeah. So I love that. You've been invisible. Maybe someday I'll move and get another license. Who knows? Well, you know what?

I think that people need to feel a part of that is age too. You know, when we're 30, we're at a whole different mindset. But by you saying, by you, you were way ahead of your time because you did soul searching. And a lot of people don't do that. Like for me to soul search, because I walked away from a very large lifestyle to nothing, broke. And so, but I knew that it didn't serve me. I wasn't happy in any aspect of my life with it. And I thought, if I'm going to do this,

I better do it now, you know, while I can. And I'll figure it out. And that's the thing about you, too. You know, you have a lot of grit just because you went through law school. You became an attorney. You worked in corporate law. That's not easy. All of that.

Your inner self knew, I did that. I can do this. Yes. I always said that. And I did evening school. Ian had a baby in law school. So I always said, if I get through this, and I did with a big smile on my face.

I love that time of my life. So, you know, hard work just means more opportunities, you know. And you just failed forward. You know what I mean? You didn't know if you were going to make it, but I'll bet you did know deep down. I think I got this. Yeah, no matter what.

There was no way I was going to stop until I figured out what I was meant to do. That was for sure, you know. Yeah, that's a big deal. So now you do luxury, you do first time. homebuyers and in my mind luxury is a different price point in my territory so I'm thinking first time homebuyers and luxury in the 5 10 million area wow that's pretty impressive but not every town has the same price point for luxury and you were telling us tell us a little bit about luxury in your

area yes so Pittsburgh's consistently rated the most affordable city most livable city to live And, you know, it's absolutely true. I mean, our luxury market, it starts around 850,000. And it's pretty rare to see a $5 million house, not going to lie. You know, my largest sale last year was $1.7,25 million. And that was huge for my school district. 1.7 billion. You just don't see so much. But what you're seeing in Pittsburgh is, you know, we've seen some increases, obviously steady increases. Now we're seeing more people who can afford that luxury, you know, if you will, the million dollar plus, you're seeing a lot of younger people who are coming out of schools with great jobs or family support and just people moving from other parts of the country to take advantage of this affordability, low taxes

where I live, so low. So yeah, I mean, the luxury market around a million for us, that's where it is, okay? Yeah, yeah. Yeah, for we, I'm going to go see a castle tomorrow. That's around 3.9 million with acreage. And then I have, you know, a $3.5 million home with a horse barn and guest homes and lots of acreage. But you're not really seeing those major prices like you are across the country. Well, it sounds like you've got some nice ones there. And I like you're looking at them. Oh, unbelievable homes. Huge. You know, it's also just such a beautiful place to live because you have the rolling hills, you know, lots of hiking, woods, golf courses. I mean, it's a beautiful place to live in great weather, I will say.

Where are people moving from to you? Oh, gosh. So we get a lot of people moving for jobs, whether it's medicine or oil and gas industries, huge up here. So we got a lot of people from Texas, La Floridians. They always come up. It's a popular place for them to retire. actually. You have the snowbird situation. But, you know, a lot of people, Texas is huge, New York, a lot of people from there, Florida. And then I do have some folks, a lot of West Coast people are moving.

This year alone, I have three clients coming from the West. So, yeah, Arizona, Oregon, California. So in those prices, and also the risk, I think people with home insurance these days with all of the volatility there. Yeah. You know, good weather, low prices, low cost of living, you know, so we're seeing a lot of people migrate here. Yeah, that's great. So beforehand, we were talking about how you do social media and you get a fair amount of your business from social media. Tell us what you're doing. Yeah. So I love social media. It's a free billboard, if you will. My first advice to people is do what makes you feel comfortable. And for me, you know, I don't. have business pages. I just have my personal pages. It's the best way to connect with people. They can see your likes, your interests, what you're doing in the world. And this is what's important. Being able to connect with people authentically, having that authentic conversation through

a camera, but it's like your face-to-face, you know? People want to hear what you have to say. And I was shocked, you know, first that people actually watch these videos. And I try to keep it. You know, I don't want to annoy people. I try to keep it. I try to time it appropriately. But, you know, it's just the conversation and the connection. So just, you know, talking to people doing a selfie video.

But then also I invest heavily in photos, videos, the reels, the drones, you know, that's very important. And today's how you said. house, you know? I agree. I was just on a photo shoot today. This house is a million, too. And but it's an older house. It's a 1999 house. And around here, it's usually way newer than that. Yeah. But it's in a popular area in Charlotte, right in the, it's called Midtown. So it's right, Plaza Midwood. And it's right in the middle of Charlotte. And it's walking distance. The houses are tight together, which I'm up at the lake. So it's a whole different feel. And the houses, up here are newer, although I live in a

1949 house. But it was unique in the sense, and lots of trees, very beautiful because it's matured. You know, it's lots of matured landscaping. So when you walk down the street, it's all kinds of big trees, lots of

color and feel to it, right? And the guy, the photographer says, man, I'm going to have a tough time getting the shot at the front of this house. I said, I know. He goes, so I'm going to take a drone and kind of fly up to that front porch because the front porch is what really makes it on that front of that house. But the photography is amazing. Now where I dropped the ball and I want to tell everybody about is when he was there doing that photography,

I should have been taking videos of him doing it. Oh, yeah. Because that's the B-roll that we need to have and talk about what we were just doing today. Because then they see us in action. I'm kicking myself. I didn't do that, darn it. And it's fun. It's like a new, it's like a TV show.

People are always on their phones. You know, I shoot my videos vertically now because people are just, they're on their phones. They want to see it. But, you know, obviously word of mouth is so important. But social media has become that water cooler talk, that place where we all gather. After church, you know, and my grandma used to show all the pictures and talk with their friends. That's now Facebook and Instagram and, you know, for better or worse, it's. Yeah, I like being out there.

It's good to connect with people. So I love that. Yeah. Hey, and if you ever have a great lakehouse, let me know because I have a lot of buyers going down to the Carolinas. Oh, girl, I got lake houses. That's what I specialize in. I'm a waterfront specialist. I'm glad we're talking because Pittsburghers, they love going down to the Carolinas.

Oh, great. Matter of fact, one came on today. So I've been watching, I have my MLS set up that gives me my target market of who I want to work, right? So I have the MLS set up to show me. I just reduced the number, which I was surprised that something would pull up. I said I want waterfronts starting at 700 to 20 million. And believe it or not, there was a 25 million on the lake here. This is a man-made lake, which is bizarre to me that anyone would spend that kind of money on a man-made lake, which, you know, gets cloudy when it rains. It's a little scary because I'm from Michigan and our lakes are clean.

And so anyway, this house came up for 779 today. It was a little 1969 ranch, brick ranch on the water, nice views. And this gal had said to me the other day, I'm looking for one and one popped up for 800. And it was gone in a nanosecond. I said, girl, this one's coming soon. If you want to take action, it's either cash. I need proof of funds or you better get pre-qualified immediately because there's probably going to be multiple offers. So that's a rare bird, but I got you covered if you need any waterfronts down here.

Sounds like it's a hot market like Pittsburgh. I mean, if it's on longer than a few days, you have to wonder what's going on with the house. Right. How'd you price it? You know, what's going on. And I use AI a lot in my pricing in oddball neighborhoods because the waterfront is very different here. I can be a trailer and a 5,000 square foot home, maybe two little cottages. a 9,000 square foot home, all on the same street in a row. How do you count that? You know what I mean?

And all could have different water views, different depth of water, different kind of dock. You start here where you count from the water in. It's interesting. That is interesting. But AI can really help. And I do a lot with AI. I teach a class. So if anybody wants to know my class, and it's free. So I want to help realtors really connect. with this because our world's rapidly changing and you need AI. And it's a great tool once you get used to it. Yeah, you know, you have to use all the tools. That's correct. So I definitely am open to learning about it. I don't think it's going to replace agents or lawyers. You know, that's what everyone's always afraid of or talking about. To me, we're in the people industry. We're the service industry. But if there's something that can make my

day a little smoother, I'm open to hear about it. Yeah, yeah. I love it. What else that I want to talk to you about, oh, like where people are moving from. You know, we talked about that a little in the beginning, you and me, because I want agents to start thinking about where their buyers coming from and how do they target their listing to that buyer. And you and I talked and you said, Texas, because oil and gas, it's big in your area. Florida, because if they moved up north, they go and cook down in Florida and they realize they want to come halfway back in New York. And also, also, you know, a few from out west because your taxes are low, right? Yep, low taxes, big houses, fair prices. So yeah, that's for sure. But the other aspect is so many Pittsburghers want to stay. So, you know, like I said,

I've been here since I was three and a half. My aunts live here, seven minutes from my parents' house. That's a big thing. So one of your biggest markets is just your neighbors because if they are what we call, you know, right sizing, for instance, going from their forever home to maybe their retirement patio home. Like, that's huge, the 55 and over. We can't have enough because so many people are just sticking here, staying here, and then all their kids, all their grandkids. Yeah. Everyone is sticking around, plus all the people traveling here. So, yeah, yeah, it's a good, nice sellers market. So tell me how, you know, because it's a small town, it's probably easy to stay connected.

And you mentioned that you post on a personal page versus a business page, which I totally agree with and love because it brings in who you are. Your kids can be on there, your passions of what you do on your fun time. They get to see the whole person, don't you think? Absolutely. Yeah. That's their ways to connect, too. You know, golf, the kids, vacations, you know, they want to know who you are.

Yeah. Because once they feel like they know you, then they like you and then they trust. you and they'll do business with you. And that's the fact of the matter. I mean, you know, you can't have thin skin in this industry. You know, when you're interviewing for a listing appointment, it's an interview. And your persona online, when they're Googling you and they're looking at you on Facebook or LinkedIn or whatever it is, that's who you are. And it's important in this industry to have a good partnership, you know, client and agent because we're a team and you want a mesh and be someone for everybody, you know what I mean? But if you really get to know

someone and you see their authentic self online and you see real reviews and you're seeing the value this person brings to society, I mean, it makes you feel better about hiring someone. Yeah, I totally agree. Well, Kelly, this has been great. Tell me if you got any other tips for agents out there on how to do their business better, because a lot of agents are struggling. Yeah. So my advice is just work hard. You know, keep your head down and get to work. You know, a lot of times you see offices are empty. You see the same three people out of 50 agents every day or you hear people complaining about the market. Don't complain about the market. You know, the market is there's always work. We are in this market. Let's be positive about whatever it is. I love that. Nothing beats hard work. That's all I can say. Yeah, I love it. Well, thanks so much. I really appreciate it having you on here today. It was a real pleasure. I enjoyed getting to know you. Okay, great. So that's it. Wasn't she you outstanding? I'm sure you got some nuggets in there for your business. So we'll see you on the next one.

Thank you. So thanks for joining me on this episode of Real Estate Riches. Wasn't that great? I'm sure you've got a nugget or two. I know I did. So if you liked it, please subscribe below. Share it with everybody. Make some comments. We really find that in valuable. And if you're thinking that you would love to talk about this a little bit more, let's get to a business strategy call. I'll have the link below. Let's see if we can't mastermind together and see if we can't empower each other. That would be great. So until next time, signing off. Hope to see you on the next one.