Off The Vine with Kaitlyn Bristowe - Mary Fitzgerald: Real Estate Tips, Selling Sunset, and IVF

Episode Date: August 2, 2022

One of our favorite real estate agents, Mary Fitzgerald, joins Kaitlyn to talk all about her life on and off the Netflix sensation, Selling Sunset, and she is dropping facts left and right about buying and selling your next home. In today’s episode, Kaitlyn and Mary find out they have a few very important things in common… is it time for Kaitlyn to get into her second career and join the Selling Sunset cast!? The two dive into some firsts (including a Selling Sunset word association), worsts (like absolute nightmare clients), and reverse time to give younger Mary some advice. Plus, we get an update on Mary and Romain’s journey with IVF and embryo freezing as Kaitlyn opens up about her own experience freezing her eggs. Last but not least, Mary shares a hilarious confession involving a celeb client.  Thank you to our sponsors! Check out these deals for the Vinos: HYUNDAI - Learn more at HyundaiUSA.com.   EUROPEAN WAX CENTER - Book your smooth escape with the experts at European Wax Center. Make a reservation today—your first wax is free. PROGRESSIVE - Quote at Progressive.com to join the over 27 million drivers who trust Progressive. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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It's time to unwind. Here's your host, Caitlin Bristow. Welcome to Off the Vine. I'm your host, Caitlin Bristow. And I am so happy I got to sit down with this super hot, talented real estate agent. Is that creepy? I feel like I was creepy there and get to know her better. I'm good friends with her fellow agent and co-star, Rochelle. And I've heard nothing but amazing things about this lady. And she proved that right. This is a fun combo where we get into her background, her career. You'll get some real estate advice. And what's next, including her journey with IVF. So enjoy my combo with Mary Fitzgerald. clearly i'm just a mess over here and i feel like my podcast producers are probably like okay we get it you're a mess every single day and i always have i always have an excuse though and today mine is that i'm just freaking tired do you travel a lot yeah okay have you been traveling lately where like flights are getting delayed and canceled and rebooked and like the airports are nuts or have you been having good luck? Isn't this just a me problem?

I've been traveling a lot, yes. I have actually had good luck, which is not normal for me. Yeah, I haven't had any of that luggage. Yes, that's been an issue. But no canceled flights, no issues as far as that goes. But I know a lot of people that have had that problem. I usually consider myself like a pretty like horseshoe up my ass kind of gal. And this whole like the flight situations and I am such a diva with my sleep. Like I need eight to nine hours to be like on my A game. And the other day I went from I was in Toronto and I cannot deal with the Toronto airport. It's if you ever have to go there, just don't book your flight somewhere else. It's a nightmare. And so I was like, okay, I'm going to be smart about this. I booked a car in advance. I drove from Toronto to Buffalo to

fly out of Buffalo to go back to Nashville so I didn't have to deal with the customs of the Toronto airport smart right except for the fact that on this was it feels like yesterday but day before yesterday I was in Toronto Buffalo Detroit Atlanta and then ended up in Nashville all in one day because of delays cancellations rebooking everything it was insane and yesterday I I slept pretty much the whole day and then today I feel like I'm starting to wake up it's 3 p.m. here and I'm like just starting to feel awake right now. Yeah. You deserve to sleep and producers like give you a break because that is insane. Right. Oh my God. That made a city one day that is unheard of. I've never done that. I've been in a lot of cities traveled a lot, but never like that. No. It's just that's crazy. Stupid. I'm so mad at

Delta and I hope they hear this. I'm just kidding. Okay. I'm so excited to talk to you. Obviously, everyone is obsessed with Selling Sunset, and that's kind of how everyone's gotten to know you. But I'm one of the weird, like, 0.001% of human beings who haven't watched it, and it's on my list of things to watch. I have a whole list of shows that I want to start watching. Selling Sunset is one of them, because obviously, Chrisel is a dear friend of mine, and I'm obsessed with her. Oh, is she?

Oh, my God. Yes. So we were on the same season of Dancing with the Stars and became, like, friends during that. And, yeah, she's amazing. and she actually brought my wine. I have a wine label and she brought my wine to one of the pool parties on the show. And I was like, I love you.

Thank you. Really? Well, what is it? It's called Spade and Sparrow's. And she like came into a pool party once and she was like holding the bottle. And it was like label forward to it. And I'm like, yes, honey, gets it. I'll have to try it.

Yes. Oh my gosh. Well, 100% send you some. Do you like red, white, or rosé or do you like all of the above? I like all. I typically drink rosé, but I like all of them. At night, if I'm going to sleep, bread, during the day, whatever. But if it's day drinking, rosé.

Oh, yes, my girl. Okay, I'm the same way. Tell me where I can get it, and I will try it today. You can get it at your house because we will send you some. Well, that's even easier. That's where you can get it. But I just want to kind of get to know you. And over the past few years and why everybody loves you on the show.

So you're just so impressive. And I'm just excited to kind of dig into who, you are, what makes you you. But first, I do have to congratulate you and selling Sunset. You guys won best docu-reality show at the MTV Movie and TV Awards, which is so awesome. Yes, and Michelle's the best reality star, which is amazing. I know. I was so excited for her. And it was just so I'm like, why have I not watched this yet? I need to get on it. My show is like rewatching every episode of Grey's Anatomy. And I really need to branch out. That's been going on my whole life. See, I just started in the pandemic.

I'd never watched it. And so now I'm like, I get the hype. I get the hype. But do you watch? Yes, I start from the beginning at the very beginning of the pandemic. And now I'm on season 18, which is what the season is right now. And it's taking me that long to get here. But I am so invested to the point where I'm already sad when it's going to be over.

And I can't wait to go back and start from the beginning. Like, why am I like this? It's an escape. It is an escape. Yeah. It's just like where you can dive in and you're just like, you know, there's something that entertains you and that's true. And I get so attached to the characters.

I feel like people probably get attached to you guys obviously as well. But do you watch the show back because I was on The Bachelor and Bachelorette and I am one of those weirdos who actually enjoy watching it back because I'm like, how is this going to be portrayed or how is this going to be edited? And I like, I thought it was so fun to watch back. But I know a lot of people actually get like anxiety from watching it back. So what do you do? I do watch it, but once, typically, just to see what happens, because everything happens

behind your back sometimes, you're not in every scene. So you have to know what's going on. So you can answer questions and interview, stuff like that. Typically, it gives me anxiety. I get it. I mean, it wasn't like I'm saying I didn't get anxiety ever. I did. Or if I was watching back, I was like, wait, what?

I didn't even know, but, yeah, I understand. But it is fun, though, sometimes. If it's like fun scenes with the girls or like my wedding, I do go back and I watch my wedding. I bet. Whenever, for a minute I get in an argument, I always go back and I watch it. And I'm like, okay, I'm good. That's nice. Yeah, yeah.

So, I mean, there are certain moments, but I do, I do fast forward. If I do watch something like in the beginning, I always. and watch the scene, what did I wear last season to make sure I don't re-wear something. And I'll read and then I'll fast forward through any of the drama scenes because it totally gives me anxiety. Yeah. I mean, it is, it can be pretty dramatic, especially when, you know, you have that meant. I mean, that's what TV shows a lot of times are for is, you know, to make things dramatic. And that's why people tune in.

And that's why people like shows like this and The Bachelor because of the drama. But yeah, I can imagine how hard that is to watch back. Wait, that's really cute that you watch that back. if you're like having an argument because I'm like, ooh, what can I do to go back? And I should just like listen to Jason proposed to me on my podcast. I could just go back and listen to that. That would be nice. Okay, I'm going to go back and watch. What season were you on? So, okay, this is where it gets confusing. So I was, I was on season 19 of The Bachelor, but then I was season 11 Bachelorette. But Jason, who's also, he's from season like 13 of the Bachelorette. So he's not

who I met on the show. I got engaged to another bachelor person, broke up three and a half years later, met Jason, and then we met on my podcast. And then he proposed on my podcast. Are you sure you're not on selling sunset? I could be. You need to join. Do you want to do real estate? Yes, actually. I would just have to get my real estate license and then I would just jump on in there and I feel like I could fit right in with everybody. I think that would be fun. Except your background is so different from mine. Obviously, you've, you like are one of the most legit real estate agents on the show. How long have you been in real estate for? Since 2008. 2008. Okay. Yeah. I have a really, I always do confessions on my podcast and this is going to be mine is the fact that I don't even

know what this is because I was doing research and I saw you closed your biggest escrow ever recently, 35 million buckaroos, not a big deal. Congrats on that. And then I was reading it with my pretty And I was like, wow, that's so cool. And then I was like, what does it mean? What does that mean? What escrow? Yeah. Okay.

So escrow is where it's basically where the buyer's money is held. It's like a third party. So during when you write an offer for a buyer, the money is held there until all contingencies are met, inspections are done, like everything. And so it's like a third party that makes sure everything's done that's neutral for both. sides. And then once everything is completed, then they can transfer the money over once title is transferred to the buyer, then the money is transferred to the seller. Okay. Okay. So that is a really big deal. Congratulations. Thank you. What initially made you want to get into real estate because you have been doing it for so long? I got my license once I got to L.A. I moved here in 2001 or

2000. I can't remember. But I moved around all the time. And L.A. is so big and so cool in a way that it has so many pockets of Sprint. Everything has its own vibe. And everything's so different. Like from Beverly Hills, Culver City, Manhattan Beach, Studio City, Pasadena. Like, it's so big. And it's all L.A. County. And within all of those, it's got its own.

character and there's so many different types of architecture here in most places you have like one or two like styles here there are so many styles and i love architecture i love history that's what my favorite like house style is like like a traditional house that that has a lot of character like from the 20s or something that has been remodeled but it still has that character and like substance to it's not just like cookie cutter speccom you know there's there's something there that's true that's a good point actually because i feel like nashville which is where i am has a lot of pockets too but every house looks the same here it is so hard like i drive into my neighborhood and i'm like i'm one of those people that lives in a cookie cutter house like my inside has some character and

it's great and i've i've remodeled a lot of things so it's been fun but i feel like nashville all is the same where you're right la has so many different vibes going to it and especially in the houses. And what were you doing before you got into real estate? I went to college for radiology. Okay. Yeah. And then I got into real estate kind of because I moved out to LA and that was back

at the time where they were giving sign on bonuses for like all in my industry. They were giving sign on bonuses. So I moved out thinking I could just like figure out what area I want to be in, find school for my son. I'll get a job. And that wasn't the case. Something happened in LA. There were no jobs. And so I was like, oh, shit. I moved all my stuff here. I like packed up and came. And a friend of a friend owned a mortgage brokerage. And so started working for him as a loan processor and kind of solved that side of the industry. It wasn't really too interesting. to me but it got me into it like where I started thinking about real estate right and then my son

got a little bit older and and I moved from palace four days to believe it was hermosa beach at that time and and I had the time to do it and and I loved I wanted to move every single year and it was so really I uprooted us all the time and I was always looking at things and I just wanted to move because I loved looking at new homes. Yeah. And I love like the whole process of it and and finding that gem. And I was like, finally, I was like, okay, I can do this for other people, make money and not spend a ton of money. My family, like, duh, like it wasn't thinking about this before.

Right. But, yeah, that's how it all started. That's cool. I feel like most people hate moving. Like, I definitely should have been out of this house I'm in right now years ago because it's just the, But I'm like, I'd rather not. I'm just going to, like, do some renovations and not move because moving is so hectic. So that's smart.

You're like, you know what? I'm going to just move four people, find them homes. And then you can still appreciate all the things that you do without the stress of moving all the time. Absolutely. Well, now I get too comfortable. Now I just don't want to move at all. And I'm like, okay, I want to buy something like bigger and invest and do all this stuff. And I'm like, it's a lot of work.

It is. I don't know. It is. I feel like the older we get, the more we find comfort in like consistency or building a home and like making that you're a little sanctuary. You know what I mean? Like I used to kind of be the same. I would have never wanted to even buy a couch when I lived in apartments. I would always rent furnished because I was like, well, I'll probably only be here for a while and then I'm going to go somewhere else and try a nude adventure. But the older I get, I'm like, this is my sanctuary. I want to come home to it. I'm going to make it mine and I want to stay and I want it to be cozy. This episode of Off the Vine is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Now, most of you listening right now, you know what you're doing. You're multitasking. While you're listening to me talk, you're probably driving. Maybe you're cleaning, maybe exercising, going for walk, maybe grocery shopping.

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If you have questions or concerns about your gambling or someone close to you, please contact Connex Ontario at 1-866-531-2,600 to speak to an advisor free of charge. BetMGM operates pursuant to an operating agreement with Eye Gaming Ontario. We're going to get into some first. This is my first home I ever bought. I think that's why I may be attached to it. But I want to know what's the first showing you ever had or remember. having and how did it go oh god that was so long ago um first showing i don't remember my first

showing but i remember my first listing and and um that was in redondo beach it was at townhouse maybe don't remember the price maybe like 750 to 800 000 yeah met the clients at an open house. I don't remember which one. But I got the listing and then sold that. And then they bought another home in like very close to the beach and Hermosa Beach, a new construction. And that's how I started. And then I got a couple of new clients from the gym from my son's school. Yeah. It was interesting. I had a really good mentor. And I think that's helpful. very important. Yeah. That is. Having a mentor is everything. I feel like sometimes people don't even realize they have a mentor, but like having wanted to talk to and to guide you and to ask questions to who there's just special people out there that want to help others. And it's so incredible to have someone like that. Do you still keep in touch with them? I don't. It was it was just in real estate. Yeah. I would love to actually. I should reach out because I think she changed my career. And now Jason, When I got back into it, I moved to London and New York for like two and a half or three years.

Yeah. And when I moved back, I had to start in the Hollywood Hills, which is completely different than the beach. I mean, everything's different. I had no clienteer. The whole landscape's different. I had to learn everything, basically. And so Jason's been an incredible mentor. Oh, that's cool.

And like, how do you find yourself? Like, if you're moving to an area like that, and this can go for. listeners who are in real estate who are doing anything that need networking like do you find yourself like to be like you like going out and networking and meeting people and doing that or are you like more of let me get a really good client and then have word of mouth yeah the second i i you know i it's so funny i guess being on this show has made me realize who i really am i always thought i was an extrovert and i'm not yep same i'm really yes exactly same situation. I always thought I was till I went on TV. Yeah. It's like if you know people and you're

ready for it, they're like on a red carpet, I'm fine. But if I just go out, I'm like, no, I just want to stay at home. I don't want to. Like, and I don't like talking to be, I get nervous to talk to people. Even if I know that they would be excited to talk to me, I can't go up to them. If they come up to me, I'm like, I'm like, oh yeah, let's take pictures, do whatever, but I can't do it. And so it makes me nervous. I get anxiety. Wait, I think we're called ambiverts, ambivort. Oh, I haven't heard that.

What is this? It's a person whose personality has like a balance of extrovert and introvert. So I definitely, my fiancé would say I'm like the biggest introvert. And then my friends and family who have known me since I was younger would be like she's an extrovert. And I'm like, but I'm both. And I found out that's an ambivort. Oh, okay. You just taught me something.

and I fit in that category. Yes, because it's hard too because I think once you open up your world to so many people and so many opinions, it's like you feel so safe in your own little space that you're like, if I'm here and I know me and my family and like closest friends know me, that's all I need because you can see the outcome of people having opinions of you that don't fully know you to your core and then that becomes scary and makes you want to like shut off. Yeah, absolutely. A hundred percent like you, you get me. I do. I am you. You are me. And I see, I am going to come on your show. Oh, yeah. Okay. I'm going to talk to production today. Yeah. There you go. Perfect. Sign me up. But yeah, it is a thing. And I have realized that over the years. And I think that comes with getting to know yourself. You know, I think I was trying a little too hard in my 20s to be that outgoing person because I was like, I don't know. I found that I like making people laugh or I like it. And entertaining. So I must be an extrovert. So I must put that on. And then when I'm home and in my little

safe place, I'm like, oh, I feel the happiest here. So it's like a combination of, you know, feeling that way. And especially when your privacy has become, I don't know, now it's your kind of your career to be on TV and for people to know who you are. So your privacy becomes sacred when you have it. I was just going to say that same word. It's like, this is my sacred space and my like just to just to be with myself or with romayne or like where no one has an opinion no one's watching and and and i can just chill yeah makeup on i don't have i can feel my pajamas i can work from here and it's like it's so nice but i also love going out i feel you people and and and taking advantage of this incredible opportunity too and i love my clients

Yeah, well, yeah, because you shouldn't, you shouldn't feel guilty about, you know, enjoying that privacy and stuff because that's who you are. But also two can exist, both can exist. You can be outgoing and love your clients and go do your work and then be able to have that duality of coming home and feeling safe there. Yeah. Amnabert. Is that what it's called? Ambivert. Ambyvert. Yeah, I'm going to send you, I'm going to send you, I'm going to send you the link for the definition. I know. I was like, you just like, I unlocked a whole new level of self-love for you mind below okay do people bother you at showings like how do you how are you able to be solid in who you are as a career woman and also be a tv star uh we have to vet a lot of people now

yeah it still happens um i have a listing and i'll do showings we vet them and then at the end of the showing they're like the agent the buyers everybody they're like we love you on the show can we do a picture please and stuff and I'm like and then other people will just like they'll call up and they want to see properties but it's like they just want of course connection and so and I'm I am all for that but just if it comes to business I want to focus on that like I prefer not to waste my time on on course vetting people that have no interest or ability to buy just be like hey it's disrespecting your time I'm a yeah I'm a think can we can we do a selfie can we do this like don't merge the two like don't don't waste my time yeah oh that's good that you guys have a vetting

process because i can only imagine how crazy that might get if you didn't yeah and then i have my assistant come like to open houses or remain will come sometimes yeah um just make sure i'm safe because when you post like that's part of it yes open house today but you're also opening it up to people that could come like yeah like creepers that's actually so scary because I always think about that with even when I'm doing events where if I'm doing like a bottle signing for my wine and I'm posting where I am, I always have a bit of like fear in the back of my head of like who what like you know, we live in a very scary world. And I'm like, what if somebody is like totally out to get me and now they know exactly where I am. So I think that's

obviously important that you bring people along that make you feel safe because yeah, that's a scary part of it so people obviously every one of my listeners I'm pretty sure as a fan of the show so they wanted me to play a game with you called this is really not a game it's just more of they want to know the first word that comes to mind when you think of the other agents on selling sunset okay just like a word you know word association game um that comes to a word that comes to mind when you hear Chriselle. Strong. I agree.

Christine. I don't want to say that thing. See, now I really want to watch because I'm like, I don't like to say mean things. Like, but I'm like, I'll take them to use. Okay, that's good. Okay. I don't, I'm honestly like, I got to go watch because now I need to know who you're seeing this. Okay.

Jason. Loyal. Heather. Angel. Oh, that's a good one. Emma. Mama bear. Okay.

Now, is this how you say, Amanza? Uh-huh. Okay. I have so many to say she's my best friend of 20 years. Oh, she's my best. She's my bestie. One of a kind. I don't know.

That's good. Well, Bestie even works. That bestie can be what comes to. Yeah. I just call her bestie. I love that. Chelsea. Vibrant.

Ooh, vibrant. Oh, I hope people say that about me when they, what's the one to describe, Caitlin? If they said vibrant, I'd be like, that's a good one. Well, and Angel. DeVina? I want to say something better than direct because we've had history. Yeah.

But she has, she has tried so hard and she's done a lot to try to change some things that she's done. So I want to say something better than just direct because she has a certain. certain personality, which everybody, I respect that. But I want to say, I don't know what the word is, but I want to say something better because she deserves something better for how hard she's tried to change. Like growth. Yeah. Okay. Perfect. Yeah. Okay. Thank you. Be acting like I know who these people are. Okay. And obviously we get to see a lot of glamour on the show between your outfits to your incredible listings. But I want to know some of your worst. like what is the worst listing you've ever had and that could be because you know like it was hard

to sell or the client was a nightmare or whatever reason that comes to mind on this show or off the show anything there was one in my one in marina del ray that was very challenging tell me why um it was uh i got the listing from the show actually yeah but it's just you know when old owners are very unrealistic and and they won't do the changes they want like a certain price but they won't do the changes you get them even the price that they ask for but then they like start fighting they're their own worst enemy sometimes because then they're like oh well no I'm not going to agree to that I want more now it's like I I just got you the impossible like are you kidding right and they won't take it then they're like well what happened with that

You turned it down. Yeah. And so, I mean, that's happened like two different times. Well, I feel like you become like an easy target for people to blame when it, when things like don't go their way or they realize something else they could have. I feel like you're like the easy target for them to take it out on. Absolutely. But Jason taught me to manage like clients expectations. I always want to.

I say way too much. I just like, I'm an open book. I love that. Me too. Yeah. I get myself in trouble all the time. Stop. Don't say that because now they affect that. You have to manage their expectations and be like, okay, this is, this is what is likely.

Don't promise them this or don't like say, oh, we hope to do this because they just hear that and that's what they hold on to. That's your like goal, but that doesn't mean it's going to happen. And so I like I always want to. I always want to exceed my client's expectations. And so I work so hard to do that. But you end up disappointing them at the end of the day. If it doesn't go your way, sometimes you still exceed. Sometimes me.

But when you don't, like I take it personally and I actually, I probably take it more, I take it harder than my clients do. If I like do what my like ideal situation is, if I don't achieve that, I'm like, I failed. Oh, God, I failed. Yes, I get that. You don't feel that way, but I feel that way because I just always get that. Yeah.

That makes a lot of sense. First of all, when is your birthday? On Friday. What? Is it really? Yeah. Oh, my gosh. Happy birthday.

Thank you. That's amazing. What sign does that make you? Leo. Leo. Okay. Leos are like, well, I'm, I'm, again, like, I only know, I'm Gemini, but like. Oh, my husband's a Gemini.

Really? Yeah. I'm Gemini, but I also relate very hard to cancers. Okay. So I feel like it just like depends, but I go back and forth between Gemini and cancer. So I'm like, I always ask people what their signs are. And then I'm like, I don't even know what that means.

But Lou, doesn't that mean you're like fierce and loyal and like, I don't know. Yeah. Yeah, it's, yeah, I'm very passionate about things, but very loyal, very headstrong. That probably makes, I feel like that when people are like really successful in what they do, I feel like it has a lot to do with who they are as a person. So that makes a lot of sense. But with you wanting to like exceeding people's expectations, I feel like it would be hard to put boundaries on your working relationships. Like with clients wanting to like text you all the time or ask you questions day and night, how do you put boundaries into place so that you can have that time to yourself to recharge your batteries? still working on that yeah i don't really yeah i feel like as a realtor you have to make yourself available whenever your clients are available yeah and i have clients all over the world and so which is awesome but hard to manage boundaries yeah it gets it gets uh to be a lot sometimes but then on the flip side, you also get like time offer. I can just go and leave because I control my schedule.

I ultimately decide what I want to do when I want to do it. And it's up to me how hard I want to work. So, but if you want to be a really good agent, you got to answer your phone. And whatever hour it is, like I get so mad at other agents when it's like 7 p.m. And they're like a Saturday or Sunday after an open house and they're like this is my family time like we're eating dinner like we can like talk tomorrow at like 10 a.m. or something. I'm like, what? I was like, wait, I'm sorry. Are you joking? I was like, I mean, we're calling about your open house and time is of the essence. Otherwise, like someone else could get an offer in before. So I'm like, I'm trying to like give you an offer. You lose people. Answer your phone and say submit.

Yeah. Like it's not that difficult. That's good. Yeah, you are, I love, I love the fire and passion you have because again, that's what makes you successful. So we've talked about first, some worse, and now we're going to reverse. So let's go back in time. Do you have any regrets or like mishaps from the beginning of your career in real estate that you wish you could go back and change? Like maybe something you would even tell your younger self when you first started. Don't go to London. Don't get married to my act. And then I wouldn't have taken those couple years off. Fair enough. You know, in my career, I think I'm lucky. I'm so blessed.

Things don't go. They haven't gone in the direction at all times. Like I thought they were going to. I think every struggle, every mistake is a chance to learn, a chance to grow. And I've had a lot of them. And I'm sure I will again and always will. That's just life. But I think every single time that you struggle, like, you get stronger from it.

You have to get through it. You have to push through. And like, you learn from it. It's so true. It's always so hard to say that and feel that in the moment. But every single time you look back on that, you go, oh, okay. That was like where I grew the most or how I learned the most from the moment. that situation. It's, it's never from the easy times. And you say you're lucky, but I don't

believe in people being like, well, I mean, there's luck, but whatever. I feel like you have gone through a lot. You've worked through a lot and you've worked really hard to give yourself opportunities that might seem lucky to people, but you've probably been through a lot to get those things that happened to you too. So that, that's true. Yeah, it is true. But I mean, and you were a single mom at a young age and raised an amazing son. And I'm sure that was not an easy path. But again like you probably look back on that and just are like this was supposed to happen yeah oh absolutely like I I would never change it it was very difficult I made a lot of mistakes and and typical mom guilt like you know you always want to do the best for your kid and

sometimes circumstances just don't allow the best you do the best you can given a situation but it's what it is I love my son more than anything and he's the best thing that's ever happened to me. So with all the struggles, I would, I would never change it. And I just, like, I'm so grateful for that happened. Yeah. All right, Vino's, we're in the middle of summer, but guess what? You don't need a summer getaway this year to transport yourself.

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IVF. Are you going through it still right now? So we need to do our second round. We went away. I thought it was going to be, I mean, you have to take a month off. And so it's supposed to start in July, but I was out of town. So we're probably going to start in August or September, depending on my body's timing. Yeah, of course. Yeah. And, uh, And so, yeah, we're going to do it again. You know, it's one of those things where we're kind of laid a little bit laid back about it, but a little bit like, we have to figure this out because turning 42 on Friday. And, oh, I think, yeah.

But, you know, my fertility is not what it was. A couple years ago, I was so cocky. I was like, oh, my numbers are so good. I'm like a 20-something year old. I don't have to, like, freeze my eggs or embryos. And a couple years later, like, time flies by. And we want to wait for a couple more years. Like, he wants to wait.

I want to wait. But we may not have that opportunity because I feel so young and I'm not. I know. This is what's so challenging about being a woman is that technically your body is supposed to have a child when you're younger. And so your eggs age way faster than you feel like you're. aging and so as young as you feel it's that's something that i've learned too i froze my eggs when i was 32 or 33 i can't i can't remember but i did it i did it at 32 or 33 i'm 37 now and again

like i thought i would have kids at this time and i don't and like around 40 sounds a little bit more realistic to me so i am glad i did it but i still feel like that wasn't it i'm like i should have done it three times because how many did you get so i think i got They said if I, for my age, they said if I got over 10, that would be great. And I believe I got 15. Oh, amazing. Yes. But now, how is freezing your embryos different from freezing your eggs?

The difference is they actually fertilize the eggs. So, and there's better chances of them taking when you implant them. There's better chances. You can also do genetic testing on them. And so especially my age, that's an additional thing that we do. do, but they not only test us, like, Remain and I both and make sure that there's no like chromosomes or whatever, like that are off that it will work. And then once they get, I do all the medications, they get the eggs, and then they fertilize

them, do the incubation period. And then once they do that, they, whichever ones take and are like the best ones healthy, then they sent them to the genetic lab and then they test them and sometimes there's because once you hit a certain age there's like a lot of like um issues that can happen yeah you're at higher risk um and so unfortunately we out of 15 10 were viable some were too small not mature enough to to go to the next phase um we had 10 um they tried to fertilize those 10 seven took And then three made it to the lab, like, because the rest just either didn't grow, they whatever, something going on.

Three made it to the genetic lab, but all of them had, they were abnormal. Wow. Gosh, that's so just like you feel defeated and frustrated. And it's especially hard. You're like, my body isn't doing what it's supposed to do. Why? Because I feel great. so why isn't this working and it's yeah that's so challenging i know you had said that you would be

happy to just have one but i know it's important to romayne and now you so i wish you all the best with that and good luck with that because i know that's that's got to be challenging to it's because it's not an easy thing to just go and do that you know it's it takes a lot it takes a toll on your body on you mentally physically in every way so it's yeah that's really hard I know you had said somewhere that you really want a girl. Yeah. What would you look forward to the most if you and Romaine had a girl? To watch him be just like she would be a daddy's girl.

And I think he in some way he says initially he kind of, if you just ask him he wants a boy, but he would be okay with either. I think it would be the biggest gift to a child to like the world, basically to have like this he would be the best dad and the best role model for a little girl and really show our daughter like what a man's supposed to be how you treat a woman like like I think he would be so amazing and it would be such a gift to a childhood to be raised and have a dad like him I love that I always say that about my dad I'm like dad you set the bar way too high for me because he was just like the best dad I could have ever asked for and it really did set the bar high, but you want that. That's a good thing. Exactly. My dad's, I feel the same way about him. We're polar opposites, but, but he and I just have like such love and respect for each other. Who's like the best dad. Like so I feel like we're the same freaking person. Everything that you're saying, I'm saying, yes, me too. Yes. When you're in LA, we got to hang out.

Absolutely. And now speaking of, you know, making a baby, I saw a little TikTok where Romaine was maybe joking about hooking up at a listing. I'm like this. I'm like, have you done this because this could lead into a really great confession or if you have a different confession for me? Yes. I love it. the giggle. I got something. I haven't, yes, I have hooked up in a listing before, but it was a long time ago at the very beginning of my career. I would never do that again. There are cameras, technology, and I just have to lose now. Like, I was young and stupid back then,

and yeah, I'm sexy to do that, but I'm like, that is not getting out. Like, I'm not going to lose a client. I'm like, let's go someplace afterwards. But, But not in my life. You're like, let's do the adult thing now because people's house. Yeah. I was good. That's, I actually didn't even think about that. The fact of technology and that there's cameras in places.

Yeah. That's a good point. That's a good point. Okay, we've got to have some confession for me. I do. But it's going to be funny and gross at this age. That's exactly what all of these confession. Every single confession that has happened on this podcast, like people have confessed a lot of things about

like pooping their pants or like. Oh, no. Oh, so I'm just going to go for it. So I had a really big celebrity client and I have stomach issues. I have like I have IBS and like yeah, we're taking medication for it and all the stuff. Yeah. Well, my assistant when it hit like before I started taking medication. Yeah.

My assistant would have to like run and go do a showing for me. If I'm like, okay, I am not going to be able to make it. like 45 minutes like or 30 minutes to like this house and then do the showing like I I need to stay at home right now and my system was not available and it was very important I had two showings back to back and it was a very important client very important listing and I was like I have to risk it like I'm not letting you down the biscuit so I drove out there I was sweating profuscy like my makeup was like running out like I was so bad And I'm like, just like trying to set things up.

But it's like, it's so painful. Yeah. And so I went ahead and did it. And I was like, I had to look like the biggest freak. And I went through it. But then in between the showings, like I was able to like contain. Unleash. Oh, I thought you were going to say unleash the poop dragon.

Okay. You were able to contain it. I was able to like contain everything until after the first showing. And I'm like, oh my God. like I was like she I have to go and no toilet paper anywhere in the house except for the personal bedroom of the person and I didn't live there at the time but I was still like oh my god cameras everywhere like all this stuff I was like what am I going to do but I had no control over it um yeah so went to the bathroom and I was texting like okay once I get just like um

in between showing so like trying to hold off the other showing um and the course they come in I'm like diverting around that bathroom like I'm like I'm like oh my god it was like the biggest night rag and mom went straight to sleep I was like so mentally and physically exhausted I was like I just can't I'm so embarrassed you're like it's been a day I need to just shut the brain off yeah you poor thing that sounds miserable I'm we always say that hot girls have stomach issues and you just start a true test to that queen of it yeah that's so awful yeah did they buy the house though. Not that client, but another client. Okay. Well, it's a win. You didn't poop your pants. Yep. You held it and you sold the house. So you came out on top. Yeah. That's amazing. Okay. I have one quick game for you before I let you go. It's called real estate or fake estate where I'm going to get into some real estate myths or facts about what I actually think could be really helpful for some of my listeners looking to buy or sell a home right now, which is including me. I'm thinking about selling my house finally. Okay, so is this real or fake?

You should price your home higher so you have room to negotiate. Fake. Okay. Why? I always thought that was, I thought that was going to be true. You want to price it just at market value or just under because people are going to negotiate regardless. But if they look at two different homes, you have to comp the homes out for their values.

And if you look at two different homes, And one is priced, whatever, like $3 million. And you price it at $3.2 because you want room, they're going to immediately go to the other one. You're pulling yourself out of the market and taking away financial buyers because you're overpriced. If you price, like appropriately, then you can just hold firm. You're like, no, here's why we're priced here. This is why we're not going to negotiate. It's priced well.

This is what it's worth. And so you can hold firm. but I mean, you always have buyers that feel like they have to get a deal. And that's up to the agents to work together and figure out how to manage our clients. But for a seller, always price, try to be the best priced home as far as value goes in your area. Oh, very good advice. Okay, I need to hear that. Okay, you should renovate your home before selling specifically your bathroom and kitchen.

That's a tricky one. I know. Okay, let's say it's an older house. An older house, no, don't do it. Because people are probably going to put their own mark on it. Just price it like you would, like what it's worth. For that condition, you're going to put the money into it anyway. Say, like, if you do a kitchen and a couple bathrooms, say you're going to put 100 to $200,000 probably into the home. Just price it that much under.

You don't have to deal with the work. you can list it and someone else that comes in it might not be their style anyway you might get a developer that wants to knock the whole thing down so um yeah i would say it just depends on the goals of the client oh that's because right now in like my house i i love a lot of things about it it was built in 2003 so it's not like super dated but it's dated the main bathroom is like pretty shitty for compared to the house and like the size and everything about it that main In that case, I would, I would remodel the bathroom. Okay.

You notice that? Because if it's a nice house, like, I'm talking about, like, a something that needs a full, like, right, a gut job. Like, it needs to remodel. Don't spend your money on that because most likely you're going to have so many other issues, like, in and inspections and people want to change floors. And it just snowballs. Like, you're never going to be done because then that doesn't match this. but in your case if the house is fairly new or like it's it's good there's a couple things that need to be tweaked but there's one point that's like this is terrible fix it okay that's so good

to know oh i'm learning a lot here this is definitely not for the listeners it's for me um okay the agent keeps the full commission that we see on selling sunset yeah i wish that'd be nice yeah that would be really nice no that's not i I don't even know what they put, but no, that it's, I don't know if they put our side of the commission or if they put, like, the full commission. Because typically it's like five to five and a half percent for our listing, but then a buyer's agent gets two and a half percent and then we get two and a half or three percent, depending on what we negotiate. And then Jason, then we have to split that with Jason also. Oh, got it. Yeah.

and Jason staging your home can help sell it for a higher price. Absolutely. Okay. Absolutely. You will make significantly more. You'll get offers like significantly more if you stage as opposed to not. There are so many sellers are like, I don't want to spend that much money like on this. I can't afford that. It is you will make more like it is so worth it. If you can, you have to do it. I've even tried. I've worked out deals with the staging companies where they only pay half in the beginning. and half at the end um jason oh like our brokerage will fund it sometimes if we at their price right and it's a great house it just needs to be staged if we leave like like in them and trust that the clients are going to be good and not like just be kind of high maintenance clients that are

going to back out uh well we will fund that in the beginning too uh like it's funcier kind of like service that's so cool yeah because i was looking at a few houses in Nashville and some were completely empty and then some were staged and the girl that was showing me the houses she said some people like to see what it would look like with nothing in it she goes but the majority of people like to see like it staged or have because it feels more like a home where you're like oh I either like what they did with the place or I don't like this but I could switch that because it's just staged so people don't have imaginations for the most part like you walk in and just looks bare so you're not impressed if you totally possibilities

of what the rooms and the property can offer. Yeah, maybe you don't like it. You would do it differently, but you can envision it then. Yeah, that makes sense. That makes sense. Okay, this was so helpful. Also, it was so nice meeting you,

and I just appreciate you taking the time to come on the pod today and talk to me, and I just, I really enjoyed talking to you. Thank you, you too. And where can people find you online, like TikTok, Instagram, all the things? The Mary Fitzgerald on, I think, I think it's all, all, like, across the board.

I'm pretty sure. Okay. Definitely IG. Definitely IG. Okay. Well, thank you so much for taking the time today. And I will, I'll be sliding into your DMs any minute now. Amazing.

It was so nice meeting you. So nice to meet you too. Okay. Have a good day. Me too. I'm Caitlin Bristow. I'll see you next Tuesday. Thanks for listening to this week's episode of Off the Vine.

Don't forget to rate, review, and follow on your favorite podcast platform. And we'll see you next Tuesday. Hi, podcast listeners. This is Kelty from the Lady Gang podcast with over 150 million downloads and about 150 negative reviews on iTunes. You know that people either love us or they hate us and that makes a great show. Lady Gang is a twice weekly podcast where we help you feel less alone in your life. with the help of our favorite reality stars and housewives, but mostly me and my two friends, Becca and Jack,

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