Start With A Win - Creating Opportunities for the Future of Real Estate with NAR President, Vince Malta

Episode Date: June 17, 2020

Our guest on this episode of the Start With A Win podcast is Vince Malta, President of the National Association of Realtors. Vince is a real estate broker in the Bay Area who volunteers as the NAR President. He was voted California’s Realtor of the Year in 2007. Under Vince’s leadership, NAR created new mission and vision statements and reaffirmed their commitments to their realtors and homeowners across America by extension. During this pandemic, Vince has seen the great resolve and agility of realtors all over the country who have kept their clients safe while still getting more work done than anyone could have predicted. In most states, real estate was deemed an essential business function, perhaps thanks to the efforts of NAR to publicize their national guidelines about the necessity of realtors in providing shelter for so many Americans. Realtors are real estate agents who have aligned themselves with the NAR code of ethics in efforts to serve their clients with the highest levels of integrity, and they have lived up to their name these past few months. Vince has seen first-hand the ingenuity and resilience of realtors as they quickly adapted their normal business practices to handle most of the real estate transaction process virtually while still achieving high levels of engagement with their clients.Vince shares the current opportunities for realtors in this market, including differentiating yourself as an agent and realizing people are looking at their properties differently now. Perhaps people are investing in home improvements to either make their house meet their needs or to prepare it for selling. If you have had your own thoughts about your current living situation after spending three months at home, hopefully, you have a realtor in your corner to help you navigate your questions and any next steps. June is National Homeownership Month. Vince encourages realtors and other listeners of the podcast to check out and share the posts from the Homeownership Matters accounts, as well as share your own stories about home using the hashtag #createhome.Connect with Vince:https://www.nar.realtor/https://www.nar.realtor/coronavirusConnect with Adam:https://www.startwithawin.com/ https://www.facebook.com/REMAXAdamContoshttps://twitter.com/REMAXAdamContos https://www.instagram.com/REMAXadamcontos/ Leave us a voicemail:888-581-4430

Every day is filled with choices. You're here because you're choosing to start with a win. Get ready to be inspired, learn something new, and connect with the win nation. And welcome to Start With A Win. Adam Cotto, CEO of Remax here. And in the virtual studio today, I have producer Mark. How you doing, buddy? As always, I am doing fantastic. I love it. I love it. We have a very distinguished guest on with us today. We have the president of the National Association of Realtors, the amazing Vince Malta. How are you doing, Vince? Doing great, Adam. Thank you for allowing me to be with you and your listeners today. Hey, it's our pleasure and we appreciate your time. We know you are super busy. That is an

amazing organization that you are running. Just a little bit about Vince. He's a third generation realtor and the CEO and broker of Malta and Company, which is based in San Francisco, one of my favorite cities on this planet. Vince has done everything from testifying before Congress multiple times on behalf of National Association of Realtors. I'm sure that's really interesting doing that. As well as you've served on the board of directors for National Association of Realtors from 2002, and then you were the 2010 and 11 Vice President of Government Affairs, as well as, I love this, huge congratulations on this, you were awarded Realtor of the Year for the state of California in 2007. So Vince, we're super happy to have you here. Thanks for being on the show. Thank you. Vince, can you tell us what is the mission of

the National Association of Realtors for those on the show that are maybe not realtors? So two years ago, we started a process transforming the National Association of Realtors. And so late last year, the leadership team approved a new mission and vision statement. And it basically explains that our mission is to empower realtors as they preserve, protect, and advance the right to real property for all. And I think that encapsulates what our organization wants to be, our vision to be a trusted ally guiding our members and those through the ever-evolving real estate landscape. So it's more of an empowerment statement.

You know, it touches on so many of the things that we talk about as much as we possibly can when it comes to fair housing and equality and being an amazing part of the community. And we talk about Realtor. Tell any of our listeners out there that are not in the real estate space, what is a Realtor? Okay, a realtor is a member of an organization that subscribes to a code of ethics. So basically, there are real estate agents out there, meaning that they're licensed to practice real estate. But if they want to be a realtor, not all real estate agents are realtors, they have to join the state and local and national association of realtors and subscribe to the code of ethics and with that

it provides them a lot of services that non-realtors don't have access to so it's quite meaningful in in our industry space you know part of remax is we require people to be a member of the national association of realtors that is an important part of our philosophy and our values is your code of ethics. So we so much appreciate all that you do. So Vince, this has been an interesting beginning of the year. Your presidential year took an unexpected turn to say the least. You're running a huge business in an interesting time with COVID and all of the different society discussions that are going on and frankly, are needed so much. What have you learned during this time as both you're a business owner and

you're also a leader of a 1.4 million member organization? How do you balance that with everything going on? So yeah, we're volunteers. So I am not staff of the National Association of Realtors. So I'm a broker in San Francisco. And there is no realtor playbook for global pandemics. So this is something we've been writing with our local state and national associations as we move forward. And I'm very proud to say that in my over 40 years of experience in the associations, that I've never seen more done in such little time for our members, our industry, and for consumers. And that says quite a lot. And so this translates very simply that something I'm very proud of. As a Realtor, our members are resilient. They adapt. And this has really shown how that is. Imagine for a moment if we were in the airline, the restaurant,

or the hotel industry, and what that will look like years from now. It's going to be a very slow change. Realtors over the last several, have employed virtual tools so that they can still conduct business and keep people safe. We have been deemed an essential service and allowed to be doing what we do and keeping people safe. As a practitioner in San Francisco, I was finding space, rentals and homeownership space, for people that worked in emergency care. And they needed a very different type of place to live during this period of time so they can keep their families or their friends safe moving forward. So very proud that we were deemed essential and that we treated people in doing business, keeping our clients safe through the process.

So I think it's a huge testament to what we do. Absolutely. And you hear not everywhere real estate and realtors were deemed essential. There were some places where they were not deemed essential. Let's unpack that just a little bit more because I think this is really important. And shelter is a primary need of human beings. I mean, you need food, you need water, you need oxygen, you need shelter to keep you out of the elements, to have, you know, your family has to have a place to eat at night. That was actually something that National Association of Realtors really pushed for. And us at REMAX as an organization signed on to that as well, obviously.

So can you tell us about, you know, just talk about why is that essential? Because some people were wondering about that. Okay. So what we did at the national level is we were able to have guidelines made at the national level that state and local communities could follow and adhere to or not. And so that's why some states, what comes to mind right away is Pennsylvania was deemed a non-essential state. Okay. The concern being the public health and welfare, their concerns on that and putting it above what they might consider a business interest. But what we provide, and I think you're alluding to, is the fact that when you have an order for shelter in place, that really shows that it is essential that people are in a secure place.

And that's why we were able and deemed essential through this process. And we were able to demonstrate that we can do this while keeping people safe. And so that's a very, very important distinction. A lot of businesses really couldn't do that because so much was unknown. But because we're working for virtual tools such as eNotary, so that we could have virtual closings, all of those things were very important. We showed properties where we can go into the property, have our phones, show people at home where they're on their computer, show them the properties. So we were able to employ these tools and able to move forward. And that's why I believe and NAR believes that Realtors will be a big part of our economic

recovery as we move forward as well. Absolutely. Absolutely. And the two things that I heard out of that are, is it safe and does it help? And those are really the two concepts that National Association of Realtors was really looking at over and over again as you watched this thing unfold. I mean, from my perspective, I, you know, safety was number one concern in this whole thing. Sure. Number one concern. And then second, does it help? Because if it's safe, but it doesn't help, then why do it? But we had to, and I love what you're talking about with, you know, you had healthcare workers

who couldn't, you know, they, they would get on an airplane and go fly somewhere and they needed a rental place or someplace to live, or they needed to live separate from their families. So we were able to secure them rentals in their area so that they can get through this time. There were realtors even donating their mobile homes so that those care workers could park that mobile home in their driveway, be near their family, and yet keep that distance from them. So very proud of our realtor members and very proud of what we do for our communities. Let's talk about kind of coming out of this. We've seen some changes occur in how the real estate transaction, I don't want to say functionally works because the contracts

are generally the same, but how we're kind of digitizing around this. Can you tell us a little bit about what you're seeing in the changes of the real estate environment as we emerge from COVID? Right. And let me preface this by saying that all real estate markets vary by community that you're in. So what I might say may apply differently in Colorado or Idaho or Montana or New York or New Jersey. Okay, so it all varies. So to a varying degree, but what we're seeing is this in person, very in person transaction turning into more virtual. So let's just take the showing of the property, open houses. So in some communities, we're not going to see open houses like we've seen before. So open houses in some communities may be by appointment, may look like getting into a Trader Joe's where people are standing at the door six feet apart and waiting for their turn to go through

the property, wearing booties, wearing a mask, not touching things that we normally would be touching. So that is probably what we're going to be experiencing in some areas for the foreseeable future. There are some areas they're not going to allow open houses at all. And it will be only by appointment. And if the property is, let's say, tenant-occupied, it may be done virtually. So, very proud, again, that we adapt to the situation. We're problem solvers. That's why we're there. And so, we're going to find, as we move forward from this unknown to more known, this hybrid version of in-person and virtual as we move forward. And there are many electronic signature types. So what's not new is the signing of a contract does not need to be done in person.

We're finding closings do not need to be done in person. And the question I get a lot is, well, does that mean that we're less relevant as we move forward? Is technology really replacing us? And I quite simply say no. Technology is allowing us to have a deeper engagement with our client. Look, I'm here talking with you right now. As president of the National Association of Realtors, I could only travel so far. But by use of technology, I'm able to have a deeper engagement with my membership and we will have a deeper engagement with our clients when we utilize these tools.

So I'm very anxious about looking to the future because it holds a lot of positive aspects. And what is it, the old expression, necessity is the mother of all invention? Well, this necessity has really put this in hyper gear. We'll find out what that is going to look like at the other end of this, but it's not going to go away. I don't want to overuse this phrase, this is the new norm. Well, I've asked, when is business going to get back to usual? This is the new usual. We. And we're going to learn from it. And I think that consumers will have different expectations on their side as well.

So here we are. Yeah. I think the new norm is agility. And that's something that has definitely been demonstrated in the real estate industry with regards to all those different things you're talking about. It was, and I love the people in our space because you're right, 100%, you hit the nail on the head. They're problem solvers. And they've always been problem solvers because there's really no such thing as a really smooth real estate transaction. There's always something you find because every property is unique, every buyer is unique. Every seller is unique. I mean, this is the reality of it. It's not a commodity. To take those problem-solving skills and go into a pandemic situation and adapt those problem-solving skills in order to be safe and get the transaction done, I actually think you need a better expert than you needed before because

they have to be more concise about making sure that the deal flow, all the different things that happen in a transaction like the appraisal, the inspection, things like that are adapted to protect the consumer. And that's the job of the real estate agent, the realtor. I think it's up the game a little bit. Yeah. And it's managing expectations. I think our clients are expecting something. What we're dealing right now is a huge inventory shortage across the United States. So we also need to show sellers and managing that expectation that in today's market, they can realize a good price for their property because of historically low interest rates that we can get the job done. So we need that inventory level to go up because I have to say,

there's a lot of pent up demand. I'm not trying to sound like a commercial. This is just reality as to what I'm hearing all over the United States. So all of those things, we need to educate the public regarding as well, because their expectations may be very different than the reality out there. Oh, totally. I completely agree. And you talk about the pent up demand and really not setting unrealistic expectations at all, because we've got all these surveys. I mean, the beauty of National Association of Realtors is your survey capability as well, because you guys can go out and figure out, okay, what does the market look like on the reemergence from this? What's mid-year? What's Q3, Q4 going to look like this year? You have a great economist, Lawrence Yoon, and just what the

capabilities are there. So tell me, I have a mindset of abundance. I'm looking for the opportunity here. Can you tell me what you see as the opportunity in the real estate market right now? So there are lots of opportunities. The first one being is differentiating yourself as an agent to show clients what you're doing and how you've responded. And the first thing to do, and I've been telling agents to do this, that people have been in their homes now or their properties for three months. They're looking at them differently. They're looking, is this the right property for me? You know, do I have enough office space?

Because you know what, I'm going to be working out of my home. You know, I can't go to my gym anymore. Do I have gym space? My kids can't go to school. Do I have, am I in an area that I have adequate internet access to? Because that's how we're going to be getting things. So they're doing some searching. And this is a good time to be reaching out with them, to seeing how they're doing.

That in itself is a great opportunity. And the other opportunities that we have are to explain this new world to them, what's available to them. Some people might be having difficulty making their mortgage. They don't know that they should be contacting their servicer or lender and that there might be some forbearance programs available to them. So this is the time you really could show you are the trusted counselor and build that relationship because this has been such a dynamic

period of time for people. They will remember you more now for what you do and are not doing for them. So this is that opportunity to reach out. And I hope we're doing that. I know a lot of agents across the country are really doing it. Heck, they don't know that I'm a realtor and I'm getting those calls. I'm getting those and I'm really happy to receive them because they're doing, I think, what they should be doing for their communities. I love that. The things that you say really demonstrate this emotional connection to the community that all of the members have. This is probably one of the most unique business opportunities and careers, jobs, whatever you want to call it in society, because you get to help build a community. You're such an integrated part of that community that families, with their futures, things like that. And, you know, it's amazing, which kind of brings me to my next point here.

We get to celebrate this because June is National Homeownership Month. So what does this mean to being you, the president of the National Association of Realtors? I mean, and what advice do you have for potential homebuyers and sellers during this month? Okay, so this, as you say, is an opportunity to celebrate homeownership. And we're doing this a variety of ways. So share homeownership month social content from homeownership matters, which I think is important. Twitter and Facebook, use the hashtag creating home in your social posts. Submit stories in your life of who's proud of their home. Just from a very personal level, as the president of the National Association of World Tours, I'm on the road a tremendous amount.

I was scheduled to be on the road 28 days in March, 26 days in April, and almost all 31 days in the month of May. Wow. I have been in my home every single one of those days post-COVID-19. So if there ever was an appreciation for your home, this has been it because this has been my rock. And I imagine homeowners across the United States have similar stories as to what their home means to them right now. So share that content because I think we have a much greater appreciation than ever. So this really means a lot to Americans, I think more than than any other time, as we've seen. I love this so much.

It's interesting because I'm in Denver area, and we've started allowing people to go out and do certain things like you can order window shades now. And I needed a new window shade for my little video studio that I'm here in my basement. And the gentleman showed up and I said, how's business? He said, we have never been busier. We have never been busier because people are doing so much in their houses, either because they're upgrading them or they're preparing them to sell them because they want something different that they just figured out over the last 10 weeks that they want. And that's understandable because we have kids that are going to be doing homeschooling more, or we have just different

dynamics for jobs, work from home, things like that. So I think we're going to see a lot of adjustment in how houses, I hear smart and safe or smart and healthy or things like that in talking about different home design now. So it's certainly an evolving space. Pretty cool. But Vince, I have a question I ask everybody who's on the show and I get some amazing answers. I'm sure you have one as well. How do you start your day with a win? I start my day with a win by doing some personal exercise, especially now that I don't have a gym. My exercise involves my floor. So it's either sit-ups, push-ups, doing a run around the block, getting on my bike. Try going out and buying a bike right now. It is amazing. You can't find one.

But it's doing something physically to get breathing in the morning. And it's so important that you keep yourself well. So many people are depending on what you do. It starts with you and then you could help a multitude of other people. So that's how I get my day with a win. If I say I've worked out, I feel good, then I'm able to do the 10 Zoom calls a day and protect myself from Zoom fatigue a lot better. I love it. I love how you tie up the fitness, happiness, and business there because those things all play together so much. So true. Vince Malta, President, National Association of Realtors, a great man, great human being doing so much for all the communities around the US

as the President of National Association of Realtors. Be sure to check them out. Vince, we're online. Can we find National Association of Realtors? Well, you can find them at nar.slashcoronavirus. And that's for all the resources in relating to what we talked about today. But again, it's just nar.realtor. But if you want to know more about coronavirus, everything, advocacy, et cetera, slash coronavirus, it's all there for you.

It's updated regularly. Awesome. Thank you so much for being with us today. I know our audience got a lot out of this. Mitch Malta, we appreciate all that you do. And thank you for what you're doing. Very much appreciated. Thank you so much for listening to Start With A Win. If you'd like to ask Adam a question or potentially be on our next episode, give us a call and leave us a message at 888-581-4430. Don't forget to go into iTunes and subscribe, write a review and rate the show. For more great content, head over to startwithawin.com, follow Adam on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter, and remember, start with a win.