Building a Thriving Team in a Competitive Market and How to Balance Life with Kim Holmes | Total Agent Access

In this episode, Host Colin Breadner speaks to Kim Holmes, who has been a licensed real estate agent for 12 years. He discusses with her her background, what made her shift careers from the restaurant industry to real estate, and her worst and aha moments so far in business. She stresses in her book the necessity of needing mentors and teams before giving her secrets or marketing strategies, which include the use of social media together with other traditional ways like door knocking and open houses. Kim Holmes shares her thoughts on how to make it in the real estate business. She brings out the importance of marketing and being part of the community by sponsoring local events and volunteering for community programs. She also shares the value of "in person" relationships and building such with clients. This includes the actionable takeaways the agents can get from, for instance, some of the conferences they may attend, taking it back to basics, and the use of video in marketing. He also shared some of the challenges that are being faced in the real estate industry, such as change in government and artificial intelligence. Kim talks about giving back to the community and her work with the Royal LePage Shelter Foundation.

Links:
Instagram: @macdermottholmes
Website: macdermottholmes.ca

Takeaways

• Building relationships and staying connected with people from previous jobs can lead to unexpected opportunities.
• Having a mentor and being part of a team can provide valuable support and guidance in the real estate industry.
• Persistence, resilience, and a willingness to learn are key qualities for success in real estate.
• Effective marketing strategies include leveraging social media, creating videos, and utilizing traditional methods like door knocking and open houses. Marketing and community involvement are essential for success in the real estate business. Volunteering, sponsoring local events, and building relationships with community members can lead to authentic and valuable connections.
• Face-to-face interaction is a powerful tool for generating business. Building relationships with clients and providing personalized service can lead to repeat and referral business.
• Utilizing a CRM, such as Follow Up Boss, can help track and organize business, ensuring that no leads or opportunities are missed.
• Maintaining work-life balance is crucial, and setting boundaries with clients is important for personal well-being. Building a team can help distribute workload and provide support.
• Attending conferences, getting back to basics, and utilizing video in marketing are actionable strategies that can help agents elevate their business.
• Challenges in the real estate industry include government changes and the impact of AI. Adapting to these changes and finding ways to utilize technology while maintaining personal connections is key.
• Giving back to the community is not only fulfilling but can also lead to positive brand recognition and client referrals.

Transcript

0:01

Welcome back to the podcast, Total Agent Access. This is a really, really neat one because today's guest is Kim Holmes and I have literally been friends with you for over 20 years. And this is the first time in a long time that we've actually chatted, not via text. I know it's kind of fun like for anyone listening, Colin was my boss at one of my first jobs. The public's not even there anymore is it? It's a different... Okay, so in the restaurant industry and I remember when you left to get into real estate, like I still remember that. So I just think it's really cool how we've kind of come full circle. We kind of stay in touch over the years and you're really good at like touching base and we follow each other. And, but yeah, it's kind of fun to kind of come back to my roots a little bit. So I'm super excited to chat with you. And let's first off talk about your roots. Where did you grow up? Yeah, so I am born and raised in Prince George. I lived there for 24 years. I think it's kind of funny. Like, when I was younger, you just want to get out, you know? Like, you just want to leave. And I was so anxious to leave. But now, looking back, like, I love Prince George. I love where I came from. I love the roots of the city. I love everything about there. So I moved down to the Okanagan when I was 25, when I got my real estate license. We vacationed here as... Yeah, it is, right? It is. And so we always vacationed down here as kids. My dad moved down here first, and it was sort of a natural transition when I was ready to leave Prince George. I came down here, and I love it. Like, I pinched myself that this is where I get to call home. So many people come here, they vacation here, and it's the most amazing city. But like I said, Prince George is my roots, and I love it there as well. And I'm super grateful of where I came from and all of the people that I'm still connected to there. What do you like to do in your spare time? Well, I'm a single mom, so my spare time is a little less sparse, but I'm big into hiking. I'm big into kind of the outdoor lifestyle here. You know, I'm five minutes from the beach, five minutes from hiking trails. So often if I have like any bit of spare time, that's sort of where you can find me is, is hiking. I live in wine country, but I'm not much of a drinker, but I do like to go. you know, to the wineries and kind of do all the tourist stuff we have as well. But we're lucky. Like we just have beautiful four seasons here. So really just kind of getting outside is where my jam is. That's what fills my cup. You know what, honestly, I think all of us living out here in British Columbia in the rest of our country and rest of North America probably will be chagrin this, but you know, we, as British Colombians, we are very, very lucky to live where we live. Absolutely. And it's so funny, like when you travel, like you see beautiful places, but it almost like always reminds you of like, wow, we live in the most beautiful place. Like BC is incredible. It really is and very, very diverse. So we touched on it a little bit about what you did before you got into real estate, but let's open that up a little bit and tell me about your working life because most of us, myself included, you too, we sort of had second careers a little bit beforehand. Mine was much more of a career owning restaurants and I'm a chef by trade, but. You worked in restaurants as well with me, and then you moved down to Kelowna and continued to work in restaurants there when you got your real estate license. Yeah, yeah. So I worked at Sammy J's restaurant. I started working there pretty much as soon as I moved to Kelowna. And I continued working there up until I think I left three years into my into my career in real estate. And I'll kind of touch on that a little bit later. But like it's this the service industry and I know you and I have had this conversation like there's so many qualities and things that I learned from being a server. that I think serve you so well going into the real estate business. There's so many things, anytime that person is sitting at your table or sitting at your bar, it's like you're trying to make that experience for them. You're wanting to remember them, you're wanting to connect with them. And I think that really getting to dive in with people, having those conversations. remembering them, making it a good experience. And also, you know, the hustle and bustle of serving. Like there's so many intricacies that happen to make it seem like a smooth experience for, you know, the customer. So I think like it really kind of gives you like a good foot. And both of the younger girls on our team have both been servers. And I have been like such a big advocate of it from the beginning because I feel like it's an awesome way. to build so many skills that transfer over. So I'm super proud of it. Yeah, it's a fantastic way to meet people. Yeah, 100%. Like, and so many of my clients that I met in the beginning were from the restaurant. And they might have known that I was brand new, but they knew their experience with me in that atmosphere. So they had confidence in who I was. And you know what I would do for them just knowing how I maybe served them at the restaurant. And like, you know what it's like, like you get the same people that are always coming back to the restaurant. So the same people get to know you and they become fans of you and they're excited for this next chapter of your life. And they're excited to support you. And I'm like, I still go to Sammy J's. Like, I love, I love that. I think it's great. Yeah. Amazing. So at that point, what dreed of becoming a real estate agent? So my stepmom at the time was a realtor. So when I moved to the Okanagan, I wasn't sure what I was gonna do right away. I knew I was going to need to do something. I had been teaching dance for many years. It's what I did in Prince George, but I loved it. It was a passion, but I knew that financially it wasn't going to be, unfortunately, what I was going to do forever. So it was really my stepmom in the beginning. She, you know, she was doing really well. I started to really kind of see, okay, this is a really cool career. You know, I can have my own freedom. I can kind of make a difference in people's lives. You get to be part of this really exciting process with them. And I'm such a busy person that it was like, no two days are going to be the same. I, you know, you're always gonna be challenged. You're always gonna be learning. So I think it was kind of my stepmom's experience looking into it myself and thinking like, okay, I really like people. I've been serving for years. Like this feels like this is like a natural step for me that I'll be able to, yeah, like dive in and see. And obviously you go into it with rose colored glasses and you think this is gonna be wonderful. And you quickly learn it's very humbling in the beginning but I'm still here. So yeah, yeah. That's great. So, you know, we've all had them share with us your worst moment in real estate and tell us that story and tell us what you learned from it. Yeah, so I think everyone, like you said, everyone has a worst moment. And I was trying to think because I probably have two situations that I'm like, oh, those still make me kind of sweat. I think the first one was we had met this amazing couple, my business partner and I, at the gym and they had a beautiful luxury home. that they had been unsuccessful selling with another agent. It wasn't the greatest market, you know, who knows what the factors were. So they brought us on, we were going to list the property and we were super excited, beautiful home, beautiful area. And one of our, and they'd done a massive renovation. So they had done like, you know, top to bottom, everything was stunning, new, whatever. One of our business practices, which I'm sure is yours as well, is we always make sure we get a copy of the city file so that we know permits, zoning, anything that's going to happen with the property. You have to. Yeah. Yes, exactly. So here it takes can take five or six days sometimes to get the city file and we have to have the listing contract signed to get the city file. So long story short. I get the request in for the city file and we, you know, one of those kind of luck situations end up getting an offer right away. And we get this offer accepted and I'm stoked. I'm really happy. They've been trying to sell and we get the city file back and I'm like skimming through it and I'm like, it's really strange. There's no permits in here. Like I know that they've done like massive renovations. They've hired a contractor. They've done new gas lines, electrical. Like they've done a ton of work. And we're dealing with a very A type buyer, which is great on the other side. So I call the agent. At first I asked my clients, like, did you guys get all of this work permitted? They're like, yeah, we hired this contractor, the name, and everything was done with permits. And I'm like, okay, it's super strange. There's nothing in the city file. Do you mind, you know, trying to track them down? I'll see what I can do on my end. So in the meantime, we're in subject removal period, right? So we've got I've got to give the city file to the agent I have a call pressures on I Call him. I'm like, hey Darcy like You're not gonna see any permits in there, but I'm on it. I'm like, let me figure out what's happened Maybe for some reason the city doesn't have it or whatever. So to make a very long story short We uncover that there was no permits for whatever reason and they had hired a professional contractor and like I said this was not this was not just moving a sink this was like exterior stairs added gas line blow-in walls kitchen electrical like it was intense and my and my yeah oh no yeah well yeah and it was a market where you know, you're not getting an offer every day. And we had an amazing buyer's agent, an amazing buyer on the other side that were willing to be like, okay, what can we do here? And my clients were amazing, but they were overwhelmed. A lot of people don't understand. They've hired someone, they think everything's done properly. They have no idea. Like they just don't know, right? So I'm like, okay, you guys, we need to try to get this house permitted. But I know, and you know. The city needs to check things like gas and electrical when walls are open and I'm sweating. Yeah, but I'm trying to tell them like, it's gonna be okay. So I got them to compile a list of all of the trades they had used and I basically told my girls in the team, like this is my focus for the next five days. So I called every single trade and I basically was like, look. I don't know what happened. I don't know why a permit wasn't pulled, but we absolutely need a permit pulled for gas, for plumbing, for renovation. I think there was a pool heater that was done. It was a whole list of things. Of course, some of the trades were like, it's really challenging. This was done in 20... The work might have done in 2017. I think it was 2019 at this point. you know, whatever. And I'm like, I don't care what you have to do. We need to get this done because these buyers are not gonna move forward. And not only that, it's gonna be a defect that we now need to disclose, you know? We need to get this pulled together. So long story short, I, you know, managed to get all of the trades to resubmit permits. A lot of them had pictures from, they were able to trace pictures of the work that they had done. I called the city, I met with the city inspector, he came out, I walked the property with him, I was able to show him a lot of the stuff. It was like, anyway, it was a huge thing. But we ended up getting the house fully permitted, getting everything signed off, and the deal went through and it was amazing. But it was one of the most stressful, you know, it was very stressful. Yeah, yeah, five days of my life, yeah. know how fast, you know, any city management works or any contractor or trades or anything like that. And you're out there hustling and going well beyond what many would do to keep it together. Exactly. And that's the thing, like, you know, like you just, you have to be creative, you have to be willing to pivot. And you have to be willing to kind of step into Jobs that are not necessarily what we do traditionally But it's like you have to get things done and sometimes we are that middle person that is just like, okay What do we got to do here? like so Yes, yeah to either run with the ball or pass the ball. You have to do all of those things. The ball is always in your court as a real estate agent. And that is what where some shine and some don't. Your ability. have to work under pressure, right? Like, your clients are depending on you, and like, you got to make it happen. You got to deliver, right? So, yeah. So if you could give yourself advice when you first started, what would you say and why? I think you have to, and I mean, I guess I still think this today. Like you have to stay resilient, persistent. I think you always have to focus on like training, education, growing. And I think it's really important, and I'm a firm believer in this, and it's not everyone's cup of tea, but I think having a team and having a mentor and having that support. For me, for my life, it has been so crucial and I joined a team from day one. So that's all I've ever known. But I think the benefit of being on a team, having a mentor, having those tools that someone can share with you, you're not starting from scratch. You have the support. You might be brand new, but you know, if someone's on your team, they can say, yeah, I'm brand new, but look at who I've got supporting me. So I think when you're starting out, it's not having that ego, cause you're not gonna know it all. Like 12 years later, I still don't know it all. You know, you're always learning. And I think realizing that there, I think that there's strength in numbers. And when you're on a team, there's different strengths that everyone brings. I tell anyone that's starting out, like I think that's such a big part. And you have to be a little bit obsessed. You have to be disciplined. You have to want it. because you know there's no one that's saying, get up and go to work. How many calls did you make today? Did you do that? There's no one. So if you are not determined and you don't have that motivation to just get up and get going, it's not gonna work out. So, yeah. that you are completely right. I've been selling for over 18 years now, and I have mentors, I have a coach. And, you know, like literally I have like five mentors, if you come to think of it. People that I lean on and pick their brain and use it kind of like a company board, right? That you go to and talk. And I think that's so crucial. Another thing that you mentioned about putting the ego away, I have found a lot of people, they all wanna do everything themselves. They want to be the big agent right out of the gate, year one, they wanna be that person. And I'm like you, get on a team, get on somewhere where you'll have somebody beside you, showing you along the way and making it easier until you feel like you're ready if you want to go the solo route. or you can just stay on the team. Yeah, and like, I'm a big believer in like, there's room for everyone, you know, I'm always open to sharing with people. I'm not one of those people that's like, oh, I'm not gonna tell them what we do. Like, I truly think there's room for everyone in this business that wants to put in the work. And yeah, like I think if you are really open to learning and having mentors, you can only get better. And we are always learning. It's such a fast changing industry. that like that's the beauty of it. We're always learning. So you have to be open to that. And I think that's like really what's helped me. And I think that's what my advice would be for anyone. Yes, very much like you, I operate from a place of abundance. I tell everybody, you just ask and I will tell you exactly what I do for marketing, what we do on our team, to take care of buyers, take care of sellers, what's our routines, what's our schedules like. All you need to do is ask, I'll tell you everything. I am not the type of person that comes from a place of scarcity because I, like you, believe that there is enough for everybody. Yeah, I love that. Yeah, me too. Again, on the positive note, not on the scary thing, we've all had one of these as well, where the moment it all clicked in our business, where it all made sense and you gained that sense of clarity, tell us your aha moment, that moment that sticks with you and helps push you forward. I mean, I think for me, and if I really think about it, like I mentioned before, like when you get into this business, you know, it's very hard. There's nothing easy about the beginning. There's a lot of ups and downs. There's a lot of doubt if you're going to make it. Especially, I found I was young, I was 25, so you know, a lot of people don't take you seriously. And you know, I was working at the restaurant four or five nights a week till two in the morning and I was getting up, getting into the office and that's just what I did for three years. And I still remember at the time going, as soon as I can consistently sell one house a month, I just needed to sell one house a month consistently for six months, I felt like I can give up the restaurant business. And it's not because I necessarily like wanted to, I just kind of had that goal for myself that like I want to be able to dive into this. And I remember when I hit that mark of like, you know, I was selling one house a month and it was six or seven months and you know, things just start happening and you can like feel the trajectory kind of going up and I was so scared. And I still remember my boss at Sammy J's just being like, Kim go like you're ready to fly. Like, I don't want you to leave but I'm so excited for you. And it was like, yeah. And like on the other side of that fear of like, quitting that safety net of that money, it was like as soon as I let it go, business just started to really come and that's when things just really started to pick up. So I think for me, if I think back, that's my aha moment when I was really able just to go, okay, I'm at a place now. And like I said, every agent will be different. For me, it was like I just needed to sell one house a month and then I was comfortable and I just dove in and kind of the rest is history really. That's a really good benchmark to look at is one home a month. All also depending on your market. Your market is much more expensive than mine. I think mine I would have to do, you know, two, maybe three a month to feel comfortable. But yeah, totally, right? But for anybody that's listening, that's new, and you're going from part-time to full-time. That's a really good benchmark. Like look at how much you need in income in your life. Look how much you make. And then if you can do that for six months, you're probably ready to be full-time in the real estate game. So can you open up your toolbox and share with our listeners? What are your marketing secrets? This is coming from a place of abundance. What has worked for you when you first started and what is working for you? right now. Yeah, and I mean, I think we are very diverse. And I am a firm believer that there are so many new tools that are being introduced that are so important that we adapt to. Obviously social media is a huge one. Video, I mean, it's free. And it's the biggest avenue to get out there. We've just hired a social media company. It's something that we are looking to grow. Every time I go on social media and I watch your videos and I watch so many other agents, like it's just, it's such an incredible way to connect with people, with agents, you know, give out valued information and it's free. Like it's, we have this crazy, crazy tool that is free. So that is a big part of kind of where our focus is really turning now. But at the same time, we do also believe and still very firmly are very much back to basics team. Doesn't matter what kind of market we're in, we have five or six tools that we religiously use that are very old school. You know, we still send out and door knock and do just solds. just listed. Every weekend we're doing open houses. We are really pulling on expireds for sale by owners. One of our team members, her name is Alex, she used to own a student paintworks company. So student paintworks, they go door to door, they knock on your door. So she is ingrained in her mind to do door knocking. So she is absolutely incredible. I can say to her, hey, I've got this amazing new listing in this neighborhood. If I print you off 150 flyers, will you go and drop them? Yes, she will drop flyers for us probably five days a week. So we will find those opportunities within our market, whether we're looking for a buyer, we have an open house coming up. So we are kind of a blend of like old school and then trying to bring in, you know, a lot of the new stuff as well. But I do think a lot of the old techniques. still work today and there's a lot of people that just aren't doing them. It's not their comfort zone or it doesn't necessarily fit their business model. And we are really big too at like volunteering and being involved in our community and that's a big way of how we get business. Just really authentically through being involved, you know, we'll sponsor a lot of kids tournaments, coach kids teams for different sports. Just try to get out there and support as many community members, business members as we can. And it's like reciprocity, it comes back to you. So I would say the marketing of us is a little bit of everything. And again, having a team, we are able to kind of like divide and conquer based on whose personality and what fits what. And it allows us to kind of do all these different things at once. That's great. Everybody has a different zone of genius and some people just love to get out there and pound the pavement and you know, kudos to them because that's hard. But there is nothing, there's no straighter line to the money than face to face with people. Totally, and we are very like, you know, buffini, I like to say, like we are very belly to belly repeat and referral, like we track our business very diligently through Follow Up Boss, and we are over like 70% repeat and referral. So that's where we are putting our bread and butter. That's where we're spending our time in front of our people. And that's why I think it's it is super important, you know, to use a CRM to track your business because if you don't know where it's coming from. and you don't know where your success is, then sometimes you're just trying to figure out what you're gonna do. And you know, there's so much that you can be doing, but you also wanna just make sure that you're not just dropping pins everywhere and hoping something sticks, right? So, yeah. Yeah. I love shiny objects. I think I've said that on this podcast before, and I get distracted really easily on shiny object syndrome. And I said, you know what? This year we are going to basics. We also use follow up boss. I love it. I love follow up boss. It is it is like the center of our team. and everything that we do is tracked. And it's amazing. It's so good. Yeah, it's one of those things that I, we have tried a lot of CRMs. You know, I would highly suggest if you're listening to this and you haven't tried Follow Up Boss, I think it's the best one. And it can feel daunting to start organizing your business, but what it can do for you and how organized you can be, yeah, you need to do it. Yeah, we have ours literally set up that when the sales team comes in, they start on the left hand side column, they work their way to the right, making phone calls, text messages and emails. And it takes them about two hours a day, which is good prospecting time. And then they're done. And then they've cleaned up what they need to do today. And then our backend admin staff is in the background, myself included. and just tracking where everything's going and where everything's coming. It is a beautiful, beautiful CRM. So success doesn't come easy, you know, for most of us. We sacrifice time for success. How do you keep your work-life balance as a single mom? And what advice could you share? Yeah, I mean, like, does anyone have balance? It is something... No, I know. It is something that I am very conscious of. And I think the most important things are you have to be very, very good at time blocking. Like, my days are time blocked. Like, the entire week is pretty much time blocked. you know, every Saturday, Sunday for the week. I know pretty much if someone calls me where I can fit them in, you know, where are my days. And I have my non-negotiable time in there as well. Like I need to pick my kids up from daycare, after school care by five o'clock. And I know from five until I get them ready for bed at 730, I have very limited time available. So I am really conscious of my schedule. I'm really, really good at scheduling. I know my non-negotiable times. And I think also, you know, as you get more experience, you just become a little bit more comfortable. You know, if a client reaches out to me and I know that it's during my son's hockey or something else is going on, you know, a lot of times you get in your head about how is the client going to respond if I'm not available? Are they gonna go find someone else? I think it's all about setting the expectation, offering them alternate, you know, options. Hey, I've got a commitment at that time. but would such and such day or such and such day work for you? You know, or I can't be there, but my team member who you've met, she can show you the property. She'll get call me after. I'll call you. So I think it's about making sure that your clients don't run your schedule. You run your schedule. You have to be assertive. And I know I've said this many times, but this is, again, the beauty of a team. We make sure that all of our clients meet at least two of us. so that if someone is away, if someone has something going on and I need to bring someone else in, they're not like, who is this person? I don't know them. So we make sure that they are connected to, very connected to at least two of us. And it allows us to have a life. I want my girls on our team to be able to go, you know, out on a movie, or if they go away on vacation for the weekend, I want that. I don't want people to feel like they have to do this 24 seven. I want us to be able to have that balance. And I think your clients understand that. They will understand it, right? You attract what you kind of put out. So I think if you are putting out that, you're gonna attract those type of clients. I really believe that in our heads, we think that the client is gonna run from us, they're gonna go find somebody else, but they really don't. If you set up that expectation ahead of time, they understand that we have lives as well, and that we're not available 24 seven. And like you said, always, if you're not available, give them a couple options. And if you're on a team, that is excellent advice. Always make sure that each client knows two people on the team. Yeah, it's like we have group texts, like from the very beginning, two of us are involved with everything. That way the client is totally comfortable, they don't feel like they need to retell any story when they're dealing with the next person. And it makes it so seamless. Like if Krista calls a client and then I call them the next day, they're not confused about why there's two of us. They feel actually more supported. They feel like they have more people kind of on board with them, so. I feel like again, yeah, yeah. And I always tell my team, like, if a client is going to leave you, you're not showing your value. So I feel like if they believe in your value, what you're offering, how you operate your business, they're gonna stay with you. They're gonna understand, like, if you have something where you're not available. Like, they're going to understand. I fully agree. What is the one thing that has you most excited about the future of your real estate business? I think so much. We're at a really, really good place. We have intentionally, you know, really tried to grow organically. For my own reasons, we don't want to be too big of a team. There's five of us total with two in Min. And we've really cultivated like just an amazing culture. Even really stepping into a bit of a mentor role with some of our or newer agents, like it's just very, very exciting for me to see them grow, to start to see them getting these levels of success. And I think, as you know, with this business, like it's endless. What you put into it, you will continue to get. So I think just seeing the growth that we've had year over year, the number of clients were able to help. the experience and the fun. It just makes me excited. I'm excited to see where we can go and I'm excited for the industry and like I'm super passionate about it. So I think the sky's the limit. Ha ha ha. I love one thing that he said, the fun. I think it's something that a lot of people forget. Fun is at the top of what we're about because if you're not having a good time at work, then what's the point of doing it, right? Life is way, way too short. it's way too short. And I, every time we sit with a client, I'm like, you guys, this is going to be fun. Like, it's going to be fun. And they might not know all the fires that we're dealing with in the background sometimes. But like, and that's good. You know, they don't need to know. And I think that that's the fun. Like, it's, it's a really, really fun business. And I don't know about you, but like, when I'm writing a contract, I still have that same excitement that I probably had the first contract I did. Like, it's a buzz, it's like a high, you're excited for your clients. Like, it's so fun. Yeah. Yeah, that's true, yeah. Yeah. I get to do this, you know? And I get to do this as a career and I get to help people. And that, you know, for me, that's what drives me is, you know, I get to help people. It's the servant's heart, right? So give, we've given a ton of value already on this podcast, Give our listeners three actionable takeaways that you think every agent should be doing in their business right now. Yeah, I would say the number one thing that has grown our business in a different sector that we hadn't thought about. So I would say it's been five years now that my business partner and I have been extremely active in attending conferences and really trying to go to as much networking as we can, you know, outside of BC. You know, we'll go to kind of any conferences that we can make it to. And a lot of people... will say like, I don't understand, like you're just, you're spending all this money to go like sit with other agents. But the amount of referral business that we have now coming in from agents all over the country is incredible. We probably have at least one referral every two weeks from an out of town agent, whether it's Ottawa, Toronto, Winnipeg, because we have spent five years now really cultivating these relationships. really networking, really having these, like we have online chats with lots of different agents where I'll be like, hey, I'm struggling with this listing. You know, do you guys have any advice of like, what would be something new I could do with this? Or this team member situation, or I think it's just the value of realizing that there's so much that's even more outside of your own market. And when people think of Kelowna, I want them to think, oh, Kim and Krista, their team, that's who I wanna send clients to. And we're blessed, we live in the Okanagan, a lot of people move here and relocate here. So I think that relocation and that attending conferences and extending that realtor sphere has been game changer for us. Yeah. Yeah, for sure, right? Like it's, and then they're fun again, it's fun. Yeah. And I know we already touched on this, but just like you said, like I think... an act, a step is like just get back to the basics. The basics work. If you're in your business and you're kinda like, okay, I don't know what to do next, like how can I spin some business? Like doing open houses, finding some top agents in your office saying, hey, like do you have a listing that I could go drop flyers for? Or do you have a buyer that you can't find inventory for? You know? We have our agents, so we print off, like anyone that sold with us, basically the last like five, four, three years ago, we printed off all of those people. Our girls are doing complimentary CMAs for them, letting them know what their house is worth today, what's going on in their market. We're getting those hand delivered to them, because again, like that's a client of ours who bought five, four, three years ago. We know they have equity in their home now based on the market. Things might have changed. And that's just another touch, right? Like we've had them be like, hey, you know what I've been thinking about you? Thank you for sending this. We've actually been thinking about moving. We've, you know, we're outgrowing our house now. So sometimes it's just like going back to your database or if you don't have a big enough database, reaching out to an agent who's maybe too busy to nurture that database and finding out like, what can you do to kind of spin some business from that? There's always opportunities if you sit down and you just think about the business that you've had. you know, doing Popeyes, doing home anniversary, all that kind of stuff. And then I think the last one is, you know, is get on video, right? Like get on video, deliver market stats, talk about a new development, talk about a business you like, do anything, right? People like to connect with someone that they feel connected with. People in your market probably look at your social media before they hire you and same with us. Like they wanna know who you are because at the end of the day, You know, there's so many agents we all do the same thing. We all are, you know amazing But sometimes what it comes down to is the connection and who you are and what you're about and I think Getting on video and social media. It's just a this crazy way that people can see who you are Yeah, it's actually really funny. We get a lot of traffic with our YouTube channel and people will meet me and talk to me like I've been their friend for years when we just met them and they feel that they already know me and know a lot about me and my opinions on restaurants and they ask me, what's the best this or whatever, they already have that relationship with you. And you're just taking that relationship and deepening that and, um, moving them along the track to, you know, getting them into a great place. So. Yeah, yeah, exactly. So what do you see in the future for organized real estate? What are our challenges? I think, I mean, obviously AI is changing the landscape of real estate tremendously. I think it's really important to realize AI is here, it's coming, and in order for it not to kind of overtake the human connection, you know, we're trying to find ways to utilize it in our business, but also make sure that we're not losing kind of those, you know, personal touches. But AI is here. It's you know, it's definitely going to change the future of real estate I think in a lot of ways and for the Okanagan Specifically like a lot of our challenges are the government changes We are a tourist city like we you know, that's what we are And I don't know if you guys have a lot of that in Prince George But the Airbnb changes where people will no longer be able to Airbnb a lot of their properties I mean we had 16 or 17 buildings built primarily for this, zoned for this. I myself bought two presales to do short-term rentals in that are closing in the fall that I'll no longer be able to operate as short-term rentals. So I think these government changes, they're really, really impacting our market. There's gonna be new flipping taxes, all these things, right? It's just, it's really hard. It's creating a lot of difficulties in our market, a lot of... a lot of challenges and we're just kind of having to pivot and adapt. And I think that's kind of at the core here for sure. Good to know. So you touched a little bit about charities and your community. What I found is that realtors are generally a really giving bunch. What are you doing to give back to your community? Yeah, one of the things that I love about Royal LePage is they have the Royal LePage Shelter Foundation. So what it is, it's a foundation that they formed and it's supporting women's violence and shelter prevention programs. So what I do, a couple things, so a portion of every one of my commission checks is donated to the Royal LePage Shelter Foundation and they partner with the local women shelters and all of the communities, so the Kelowna Women's Shelter. So I'm really proud I was top 1% donor in Canada for 2023. Thank you, yeah. Yeah, and then by every two years, they do what's called a shelter trek, where you apply for, they take 100 agents across Canada and they always go to these very remote areas. So I just went to Ecuador in November and you hike for five days. We have to... spend all the money to get there and we raise money and 100% of the money we raise goes to our local shelter and the Royal LePage Shelter Foundation. So I raised $11,000 for that as well. So I'm presenting a check to the women's shelter next week. So I'm really excited about that. But yeah, I think it's important and whether it's money or time, like again, you know, it's like getting out in your community, volunteering. If your kids are in sports, like get involved, like be, you know. Be involved as much as you can in your community. I think it's really important and I think people really appreciate that. And it makes them think of you. If someone's looking for a realtor, they're like, oh, I know Kim. Like she sponsors my son's hockey team. And you know, so I think it's really, really important to find ways that you can give back, even if it's your time. If it's not money, it can be time. And even outside of any sort of future business that may come of it, I think it's just really important because doing stuff out in your community really fills the tank. it yeah it makes you feel really good yeah I fully agree. So. Are you ready? Are you ready for the rapid fire round? You gotta adjust yourself in your seat and get ready here. OK, they're going to come at you fast and furious. Actually, they're kind of long winded. Number one, what is the one piece of technology that you just can't do without and why? But you can't say MLS or cell phone. And we've already talked about follow up boss. I'm gonna say Canva. I don't know if you guys use Canva. We use Canva. We use Canva for everything. And yeah, I think it's great. You don't need to reinvent the wheel. There's gonna be a template on Canva. What is the best book you've ever read and why? I listen to a lot of podcasts when I'm driving. I have listened to and read this book a couple of times, Don't Split the Difference by Chris Voss. I think it's just got great negotiating skills. It's an easy read and listen, and I think it's got a lot of value. really great book, I have it somewhere behind me or maybe over in another direction, not on camera. So what is the best business advice you've ever received? I think it's something that is still, you know, to my core and it's it is one of our core values is like we are relational, we are not transactional. Like, I'm, I'm a people I'm here to help you it's not about the transaction. And I think when you carry your business that way, it shines through. Imagine you woke up tomorrow morning in a brand new world that's identical to Earth. You know no one. You still have all the experience and knowledge you currently have. Your food and shelter is taken care of. But all you have is a laptop and 500 bucks. What would you do to resurrect your real estate business in the next seven days? That's a hard one. I think probably things I don't want to do. I would probably print a whole bunch of flyers and I would hit the pavement and I would go door knocking, honestly. I would go door knocking. I would do open houses. Assuming we have social media in that world, I would fire up my social media and start posting as many videos as I can. But really I would just be trying to get in front of as many people as I can. post videos or record videos while you're knocking doors. Right? Get both of them going. And that again goes back to what we were talking about. The straightest line to the money is belly to belly. Before we let you go, got the last one here. Give us a quote that has guided you in your life, and then we will say goodbye. I mean, there's so many good quotes, but I think, like, do something you love, and it's never going to feel like work. And that's how I feel about real estate. So, and I can tell you do too. So I think, yeah. Yeah. Yeah, same. Same. Absolutely. Big part of this podcast. We love for people to listen and send referrals to people that have been on We want to create a really amazing Referral network if somebody has a referral going into Kelowna or somebody that's in Kelowna that wants to sell How can they get a hold of you? Yeah, so our business page is McDermid Homes, so on Instagram, at McDermid Homes. Call me, email me, I can send you my contact, obviously, to attach onto here. But if you Google McDermid Homes and Associates, you'll find us there, and I would love to handle your referrals. We serve big white, lake country, West Kelowna, and Peachland, so a lot of the central Okanagan area. beautiful part of the world. We will have all your contact information in the show notes for this podcast. So if you are listening, you can get a hold, come and take a look at the show notes and you can get a hold of Kim that way. Kim, thank you very much. We have, this has been nothing but extraordinary and you've given us so much value that I hope that somebody that's listening to this will. will hear it and they will be able to elevate their business as well. So thank you. Once again, it's been wonderful to connect with you. Take care. Thank you so much. Bye.