KGCI: Real Estate on Air - Shelby's Update: Lessons Learned in A New Market

Episode Date: May 7, 2025

Welcome to the Agent Goldmine, the only podcast in the world, specifically for real estate agents who are stuck at five transactions a year to help them get to 20 plus. Your host, Alligarced and Shelby Johnson, two EXP icon agents, each do over 40 transactions a year and interview others who are crushing it. In this podcast, you'll receive the knowledge to help you scale your business using systems and processes with our interviews and monologues twice a week. If you want to be a part of our community, reach out. to the show. Welcome back to the age of gold mind. Today is a quick little nugget update on business in Lexington, Kentucky for me, what's happening? You guys, a lot of you have been following my journey from when I got back into production and you're probably like, maybe you are, maybe you're not. What's totally up to? Like, does she have, you know, a hundred closings

upcoming? Does she, she have no one? What is going on? How's the original game plan working? Give us an update. Well, if that's you, guys, this one's for you. And, it's going to be quick to the point. So as of now, I have 200 contract, which I think, I think you guys are tracking. One closing is happening in two days, which is exciting. The other one is about a month. It's been like the longest transaction of my entire life, which is totally fine. But some lessons learned in a new state that I just wanted to hit on real quick is that make sure that you understand the contract. I read the contract and I do this thing in my brief. which maybe you understand to Allie because you're changed markets, but I relate what I knew in my

past market to the new state. And my brain connects them and thinks it's the same thing when it might not be. An example. The one that is closing in two days, we wrote into the contract that there would be $10,000 in seller concessions. That's not actually what we wrote, but that's what we meant. And in the state of North Carolina when you are negotiating seller concessions, it does not specify how those concessions must be used. So if we do $10,000 in seller concessions, it can be used to closing costs, prepaid, it can be used, you know, with the VA loan, you can pay off your car, you can pay off your credit card. The world is yours. Like you can get a literally a concession at closing for whatever's remaining. That is how it worked in North Carolina. I learned yesterday. That is not the case in Kentucky.

And in the contract, it specifically says when where we said 10,000 in concessions, it says to be used for seller closing costs and prepaid, which in my mind, I kind of lumped closing costs into anything that it costs the buyer to close on the property. It's not what it means in Kentucky. It means specifically lender closing costs. And for this particular buyer's closing costs, there's only $3,500 in closing costs and we negotiated a $10,000 concession. So I called the agent because I'm like looking at at this and I was like, hey, like I just want to let you know that, you know, we are going to use the $3,500 to the closing cost and prepaid's and the remaining $6,500. I just wanted to game plan the buyer is cool with doing a price drop. You know, we could do a cashier's check to, you know,

like we literally, I was just like, because it's normal to me. And he was like, that's not how it works in Kentucky. And I was like, oh, do you tell? And he's like, would you like to pull up the contract. And I was like, no, because now I'm scared, but sure, I pull it up. And I mean, he is right that it technically says to be used for closing costs and prepaid. And he's like, in the state of Kentucky, if they don't have $10,000 worth of closing costs and prepaid, the remainder goes back to the seller. And I was like, what the? And I'm not cursing on podcasts anymore, right? I'm not doing that. You guys can imagine. the joyous surprise of this and the now the hoops that I'm jumping through to try to get

everything possible like jack up the prepaid's can we get like three or four years of taxes on this thing how much insurance can we get can we hack up like a you know like I'm trying to like rack and stack and doing that thing where you have to find a way to make this work but my whole point is if you are in your state you're a new agent make sure you not only read but also understand and don't be like Sheldie and get into a place where you're a couple days before closing and you have like an oh crap moment and you literally shit your pants. So thank you for sharing that. That is such a wow.

Well, another thing you could do is probably buy down the rate, right? We tried. So it's an adjustable rate mortgage and it's an in-house bake product. If it was a 30 or fixed, then absolutely. We would no issue using that full 10 grand to buy down the rate. but it's not possible for this one, sadly. But thank you for the idea. I do love it.

Yeah. Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. Okay. This leads me to ask you, would you have, because in this one, you're doing the paperwork yourself, right, before you hire a T.

Yes. Which I think if I used a T. Yep. Yep. You wouldn't have been in this problem? I'm not sure. One for T. This is another.

Use a T. Yeah. Or I realized that. I rely a lot on my TC for, it's a second set of eyes, you know, like, so I don't know, I just don't like doing any of the paperwork. So that's always my go to. For sure. Dang. It isn't really nice lesson learned, though.

I, you know, I really feel like I understand. And it's also interesting because in the North Carolina contract where it says like seller concessions, which probably North Carolina people are like, well, actually says this, dude, I haven't read that thing since 2021. So this is off memory, okay? But in Kentucky, what I'm going to have to do from now on is doing an addendum, like a general addendum where I write seller concessions to be used however the buyer should allocate them, as opposed to using the one that's pre-filled in their purchase and sales agreement,

what is just specific to those items. So all lessons learned. Dang. And if you are with EXP or considering joining EXP, EXP state meetings happen every week where they go over lessons learned just like this. So reach out. They're very helpful. Like they're, they're really good. So if you're a newer agent or you have relocated to a different state and you don't yet know their contract on the buy side or the sales side or addendums, you just want like a, they're very, very helpful. So check them out. EXP.world.

Yes. Okay. Another little updates for you. So we have this outside of those two that are under contract. I have for current, like now buyers, which is exciting for me. And they feel like that just pops out of the woodwork. But I actually do want to share where they came from. So if you are veteran out there and you're not on veteran PCS, yo, I get like a lot of, a lot of traction from veteran PCS. One of our new buyers just came from them, which I'm like so impressed with the website because there are so many sites out there who are like trying to pop up when people search certain things on Google, like get their SEO really intact. I don't know how Jason Anderson did it. Congrats to you. You're doing great. But like it's awesome that it works. Veteran PCS,

go and get your name on there if you are an agent. So one came from there. One came from Google, which I mentioned in the last podcast. One came from my listing that the video, you know, for the referral from you, Allie, that crazy house. They're like, hey, we're looking to buy and sell. And then the last one came from, it's sphere of influence. But this is a note that I kind of want to just touch on real quick is that when I decided to get licensed here in Kentucky, there is a lot of the tap into your friends and family.

And there's, which is a really common thing to say in real estate. And I personally didn't want to do that. I made the choice that I did not want to lean on friends and family in the beginning. What I wanted to do was make a name and be present on social media and have, if my family chose to want to use me and my husband for their business, I would be absolutely honored and love to help them. I don't want anyone to feel pressured, obligated, or uneasy deciding to work with me, especially since I am a newer agent in Kentucky. Although I know I am very experienced, but as we just heard, Kentucky is still new to me, prepaids and closing costs. That's fine. So anyway, all to say that it is nice that this is a sort of influence person who, one of the ones who it's like an extended family kind of connection that reached out and was like, hey, we would love to work with you, which is what's the goal all along. But I just didn't want to make people feel pressured. You know what I'm saying? You're nodding.

So you must. Oh yeah, yeah, definitely. Yeah. So anyway. Curious about the video. How did, so the client that came from the awesome video, how did that come about? They, it was all on Instagram, reached out. And actually what first happened was that she typed in the little keyword escape to get more information on the listing.

And in the, was she already a subscriber? She was a subscriber. She followed me. Okay. She was already a follower. Yes. In the little form, she wrote that, yes, I would like an agent. And from there, literally reached out to my little automated tax being like, hey, Shelby, like we've been considering buying, like we're ready. We would love for you to be our agent. And so I think that they had been thinking about it before, but it was just the trigger. And then the question that prompted and they are looking to both sell and buy. So that is exciting for the. That's awesome. But yeah, it is one of those things just like, guys, it is the power of consistently putting your face and name out there over time and people just, it is that nurture where they feel like they really know you.

And anyone watching Allie or YouTube has that same feeling where you're like, oh, my God, I've watched so many hours of your face. I just feel like I know you. And I don't want to talk to other people. I want to work with you. 100% and that is a good feeling. Totally. It's a good.

Like all the way like at, oh, I guess that maybe kind of sounded egotistical. I mean like it's a good feeling. It's a good transaction. You're like, hey, you can just be completely yourself because you put yourself out there. They already know. Yeah. What to expect. That is the other thing about like being authentic.

Like never try to be, you know, pretend to be over professional or pretend to be whatever. Like it's just way better to be your authentic fit. let people opt in or opt out. If you are looking to change brokerages this year so you can increase your business and you want to join us at EXP Realty and would like either myself, Alligar said, or Shelby Johnson to personally sponsor you in. So that way you have access to two icon agents, text the word join to either my number 914-318-49-18 or Shelby's number, 859-267-3849.

If I sponsor you and you have access to the both of us and everything that's Five Pillars Nation, we have the checklist, the systems, the process is to help you scale your business, and don't take our word for it. We've had agents switch brokerages to join us that were stuck making $300,000 GCI, and they join us so they can scale. So text the word joined to those numbers, and we'll take the next steps. I don't dig you. Unsubscribe.

Unfollow. But yeah. So, and I honestly, like I have not been. as good as I should have been with lately with my at least one story a day, at least post a week, one week. I have excuses that may or may not be valid. It doesn't matter. I'm getting back on the train because it works. It just works. So anyway, okay, that's where our four now buyers came from. We talked about veteran PCS, Google, the listing, outreach, and SOI. Then I also have four sellers coming up, which is exciting. And I have the one listing that is still live. We are

in the world's slowest negotiation. It is the world's slowest negotiation. But at least we do have an offer that we are negotiating, which is very exciting. And I hope, I hope everything works out. Oh my gosh. Because, you know, it's one of those things where it's like, this is applicable with listings in general. It's like that intro, the very beginning is the peak excitement. Everyone is the most excited possible in that freaking moment. And every day that goes by is less and less excitement.

And then you finally get to that tipping point where it's like, oh, it's been on the market a while. Oh, what's, you know, what's wrong with it? What's happening? Whatever. And so like I'm like watching the days and like, oh, my God. which especially it's harder to when it's like an incredibly unique weird property where you know that the buyer pool the interest pool is wide everyone's like oh i'm so curious what's up with

that's amazing but the buyer pool of someone who actually wants to not just dream about that but like live that life is like shoot it's just big so anyway of the four sellers that are upcoming. Okay. So of the four sellers that are upcoming, one is the listing outreach. You know how I said it was a buyer seller. So one is that buyer seller combo I just talked about. One was a referral from an agent who originally found me on veteran PCS. And he has now sent me to referrals. And yeah, it's actually small world situation. I actually knew this guy at Fort Bragg, which is so weird. But anyway, so that is coming up.

Then I have another one that was a Home Light lead, which I don't know if I've ever talked about on this show, but like Drake is really into like trying different lead sources just for fun. And Home Light is, it's like $70 to $5 per lead. And what they do, though, is they don't give it. So instead of like a referral, like, you know, Fast Track or. bunch of those. They do like a 25% chunk at closing. This is 75 bucks up front for the lead, which is like a way better deal. But they also send that person's contact out to like 15 agents.

Like it is a feeding frenzy. It is disgusting. But this guy, you know, I got that follow up. This is before we decided not to chase. I did like chase and follow up and did all the things. And yeah. So he's going to go with us. Took a lot of work, which is why. Nice. You have to do the content creation. You do the work up front and then they love you and you don't have to chase them. Or the flip side is you do have to chase them and you have to convince them and blah, blah, blah. So anyway, but we got him, which is exciting.

And then our last fourth seller is a referral from Aaron Beale from Instagram, a friend. So those are four buyers, our four sellers, our 200 contract and our one live that I have going on here in Lexington. And I like our pace. It's a good pace. It's manageable. I'm dreading the literal thousands of letters that are about to go out. Like there's like 6,000 letters that are like handwritten downstairs that are going to go out. And I'm actually terrified because I think the letters are amazing. It literally looks like my handwriting. And they're like very personalized. It's in my voice. I think we're going to get a lot of calls off of it, which is great. But I've also like gotten to this point where I'm like, I love working with class. here and there, but also still relaxing and enjoying my life. And now I'm like, oh, my God, I'm going to be so busy. I'm so scared. Wow. Okay.

This is so exciting. Okay. How many are you sending in this batch? I think it's 6,000. Shit. I mean, wow. Oh, man. I know.

And it's their, the price point is very specific. It's 800 to $1.2 million price point in, in Lexington. They must have owned it for at least three years. Like there's criteria involved in it. And if you want, I mean, I can go over that next time. I don't have the letter in front of me. I like show exact verbiage that we decided to go with. And yeah, they're going to go out here soon. There's a QR code on the letter that leads them to a video that Drake hasn't created yet, which is why they haven't gone out yet. Like he's, he's still scripting. Like we're close. But yeah, that's, I am excited and terrified. Yeah. Oh man, I'm excited for you. So they scan the QR code. They see a video. Is Drake going to be the main face of it? Like, is there a way that you can still relax? And Drake is the face of it. But it's all about like he's talking about me and us where he's like, ah, my wife did these things. And she's the one who wrote you the letter. And I'm, you know, like it's kind of one of those things because he is the video man. And I am the client facing.

this girl. I'm trying to, wow. Okay, I'm excited for you. I hope that you get all the clients, but also still relax. I wonder if this is going to be the beginning of the Five Pillars team in Lexington. We've already kind of been like, I can't work with that literally you can't just, you have a max capacity of the people that you can work with physically time and all that stuff. and we don't have like that's i think i put it out into existence my goal by the end of this year is to have a full-time megann i call them a megan you know what i mean by megan amyne the person who's like

the most perfect human in so many ways but also was like my first tc and an amazing listing coordinator but also like amazing at anything administrative but she's so much more than that too anyway clearly i put this human on a pedestal which she's earned and deserves. But I would love to have a Lexington in person, Megan, by the end of the year to have as like my right hand extension of self so that way we can really handle and service and 10 out of 10, 12 out of 10 service for like literally everyone. Man. And then once you find him or her, they could maybe be in the video so that way they start getting face time. The clients can know what to expect. They don't expect Shelby or Drake to go out to their house. They'll expect

And maybe. Maybe. We'll see. I don't want to let go too much. Like I did last time. I really pushed quickly away. And I am trying to stay. Like I do like working with clients.

I do like people now that I'm not burned out and just completely zombieified, which is. So I want to stay in it this time. Okay. Cool. Nice. Okay. That's it. That's my update.

I love it. Oh, one more update. Yeah. I'll say it. So my last little thing I was going to say is that remember how getting back into this, I was like, I'm only working with sellers, like I'm not doing buyers. I'm going to refer them all out. And now I have like four buyers. But two of them are the cutest first time home buyer like couples. They're so cute. And I was like, I finally get it. I really finally get why people are like, there's so many agents who are like, I just love working with first time home buyers. And I'm like,

it's because they literally don't know anything, like zero knowledge. And they're so. excited. And I'm like, I get it. They're just like a cute little puppy that you get to like blow their mind as you're walking through a house and you're like pointing out the littlest things. And they're like, oh my gosh, this is amazing. I'm like, I understand the appeal now and first time home buyers. So more buyers. Yeah, we'll see. To be continued, guys, that is your update. That's all I got. Love you. Love it. Be a bro and share this show.