The Best of the Best
Each week we will seek out the best of the best in every imaginable business and explore the secret to their success. Prepare to gain insights and perspectives that will help you propel your business and personal growth forward. Hear how these leaders started, the stumbling blocks they overcame, and what’s next in their journey.
The Best of the Best
Building Trust in Real Estate through Genuine Dialogue with Joymarie DeFruscio
Get ready for some real talk with our sparkling guest, Joy Marie, a realtor who rocks her unique approach to real estate, all stemming from her background in teaching and recreational therapy. This episode is a treasure trove of knowledge, with Joy shedding light on the importance of an education-based approach in real estate, the value of having the latest market statistics for your team, and how to find just the right real estate agent. You are about to hear about real estate like you never have before, diving deep into the key elements that can make or break the biggest financial, emotional, and legal transaction of your life.
We then transition into a conversation that emphasizes the importance of truthful and genuine communication in real estate. We talk about the enduring relationship between agent and client, with the goal of securing the trust of the consumer in perpetuity. A special tip of the hat to Joy, Marie, and Cory for their priceless contributions and the impact they've made. We stress teamwork and the power of genuine concern for the outcome of the transaction. Tune in and be a part of this enlightening insight into customer care in the real estate industry.
Okay, here we are on another episode of the best of the best. Therese, who do you have here today?
Speaker 2:I am super excited. I'm sitting here with one of my really good friends, and she is a rock star realtor, joy Marie. It has been such a pleasure working with you. I'm excited to have you here because you know what you are one of the best of the best.
Speaker 1:Thanks so much. I've learned everything from you.
Speaker 2:I think you've learned some things from me, but you've learned a lot more and I'm learning from you, which is so cool that that happens, isn't it?
Speaker 1:Yeah, well, you gave me the space to grow and spread my wings.
Speaker 2:Yes, yes, and it's been fun to watch. You guys are just. You do things so well and I like watching it, and I think one of the things that you do really extremely well is the way that you take care of your customers, that client for life mentality. I'd like you to tell us a little bit about that.
Speaker 1:Well, so, Corey comes from a teacher background and my major in college was recreational therapy but, you know, always had this sort of social work mentality. I really wanted to do something that helped people and winding path, you know, sort of led me to real estate. But what I think that she and I both feel is such a great and rewarding part of the job is that you get to help people through transitions and chapters in their lives, whether it's really good and exciting things like moving up or having children or getting married or whatever the case may be or through really challenging ones sicknesses, deaths, divorces, all those kinds of things too. It fills our cup to be able to help them in this time of their lives through real estate.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and that's that's so authentic, like it really comes across when you take care of your customers, and the feedback that we get is saying that that's exactly what you're doing. So it's it's really nice to see. I think the other thing that I love about you guys is you're very education based. You're always learning, you're always providing learning opportunities to the public, talking about what's going on with the real estate market, because we're in this like really crazy space right now in a market that I've been in the business for 30 years We've never had Right. So it's like this new place and point and consumers are confused yeah, and they're hearing people that are supposed experts, real estate agents, talking about stuff that really isn't the case.
Speaker 2:So I think it's really important that you are spending the time to understand what did the statistics say, what is really happening, what does history say is going to happen and I see you doing that all the time, and I think, with the way you meet with your team and you have them armed with such great information so that they can share it back to the public, talk a little bit about that.
Speaker 1:Well, you're right, this is a super strange market. It is not what it was a year and a half ago. As soon as the rates went up September, October of last year things changed and it is still a sellers market because of inventory, but it isn't the same kind of sellers market that it was a year ago. And is that changing? And how do rates affect it? So time of year and seasonality and all those kinds of things are no longer. There's no rules. There's no rules. You have to take your experience and your instincts and put them together to try and help your sellers understand the possibilities, and so I think it was really so.
Speaker 1:Our team has a meeting every single Monday and Thursday mornings and that's when we talk about all of these things. What have you encountered? What have we encountered? What did we read? What is new in the market? What is the newest statistic? What is happening with rates? We have experts join us on Thursdays, whether it's a mortgage lender, or this Monday we have someone coming to talk to us about the newest information regarding SEPTIC and things like that, Because the truth is, what we do is one of the is probably the single largest transaction in the world financially, emotionally and certainly legally, of people's lives, and we're not attorneys, but we do need to know the contracts. We need to know a little bit about everything, Isn't?
Speaker 2:that the most amazing thing. It is, and I think you know the experience that you bring to the table is what gives you that leg up. And I think in this marketplace right now, consumers really need to take pause and they need to think about who they're hiring, Because if they're not hiring the right agent, they could be getting the wrong pricing, the wrong advice. The transaction may not make it to the table. You know how many transactions do you see? Oh, great, we got it sold, but there's a lot to do. That's like the beginning of the work.
Speaker 2:And I think that's really something that you and your team do really really well. You have a wonderful support staff and everything right. I mean we can't do everything.
Speaker 1:No, we, rizzo and I, were just talking about that. I mean, at some point you have to learn how to bring in people who can support and you can leverage your time so that you can do what you do well and let them do what they do well.
Speaker 2:Exactly. And that's something I think you do extremely well and that's to the benefit of the consumer.
Speaker 1:I do have to give some credit to Corey on that, because sometimes I need to get pushed right over the hump on some of those things because I feel like if I can do them, why wouldn't I do them? But then to my detriment, right, and she's been really instrumental in getting me to adopt that idea.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think that was another part of your. You know your growth was finding Corey and the two of you coming together and realizing that you really make a whole. You know, the two of you together is very fun to watch because it reminds me a lot of Tom and I and he's really good at some things and I'm good at others, and it's the same thing with the two of you. So your clients getting this such well rounded opportunity.
Speaker 1:I agree, and having been on your team when I first started gave me that those role models. I mean you guys really were not only you. I mean you're very, very um in almost in a parent, in a parental sort of way, like a child watches their parents. I was able to watch you and Tom have this really nice flow to the way that you guys worked. You were able to have arguments and come back and debate and and and but also be on the same page. I got to watch all of that happening. It was amazing modeling for me and um, sharing all of the information and not gatekeeping what you know, and I think that's an amazing part of this culture, this entire office. Corey and I just did a training class on how to handle multiple offer situations. Going back to what you just said, having an agent that is experienced in being able to manage those things and knows the nuances to maximize a seller's return is huge.
Speaker 2:And they don't have that experience unless someone like you is willing to share it with them. Right and I think that's another great thing that you bring to the table is and it is this culture of this company you know we share and we help each other grow, because there's plenty of room in this business, totally there's enough business for everybody.
Speaker 1:Not everybody should be in the business, don't get me wrong but there's enough business for people who take their job very seriously. This is a like going back to what I said before. This is a huge transaction in people's lives. It needs to be taken seriously. That's one of the things we do pride ourselves on.
Speaker 1:We do this full time A little bit probably workaholic full time but we do this full time and, you're right, we do take advantage of all of the education that's available to us, because, again, you've modeled and explained to us that the best agents are the ones that are taking the time to continue to educate themselves. And the new opportunity with and I will forever call them suburban west so, but it's Tri-County with their new education program where it's one flat fee for all these classes, is amazing and we are definitely taking advantage of that. And then again, being able to share it here also again fulfills our need to be able to help other people, and so we love helping. You know, whether it's new agents or agents who haven't encountered some of the things, because what we're encountering in this market is there's a lot of agents out there who have never had to negotiate a home inspection. They've never really had to do a CMA.
Speaker 2:Right, right, I mean there's just so many things that are gonna, or a price reduction.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean whether they get it wrong or whether the market speaks, or do they know how to have a conversation? Right, oh, that's a whole thing. I mean, I think that there's a lot of people that are struggling to be truthful and I don't mean in a deceptive way, but sometimes it's hard to have conversations, you know, and tell the seller what they might not wanna hear, but they need to hear in order to. That's almost like a conflict. In a way, it is Right, it is.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so I think that's one of the things that you do bring to the table when you're talking to the agents here is you have to have hard, honest conversations, right, because that's how you build that great relationship, because, at the end of the day, the consumer is hiring you for that advice, right? So even though they don't always want to hear exactly what you have to say, they need to.
Speaker 1:Right, but that goes back to establishing that authenticity and the genuine care and concern for the outcome. That's right. They receive it better when they already know that you're there to support them yes, and you're not doing this transactionally that it matters more than just that.
Speaker 2:Right and you're not. When I said earlier on the client for life, you don't go into the transaction trying to trick someone into being your client for life. You go into the transaction earning their business forever.
Speaker 1:That matters to us Right.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I think that's great. So I do see that all the time and I just want to say Joy, marie and Corey, they are just such a pleasure to have here at this office. It's so nice because I can, even as the broker owner, run ideas past them as well, and it's so nice to be able to collaborate with people who are in the business with you that you know really, really well and are looking for the same thing to see other people succeed. So I want to thank you for being part of this company. You are an amazing person.
Speaker 1:Well, corey we're gonna sit down and talk too. Yeah, thank you, you have. You know, I tell you this all the time, but you changed my life and I will always be grateful to you for it.
Speaker 2:I love you, thank you.