Episode 29 - Whitney Robison - Realtor® & 2026 Women's Council of Realtors President (Portland Network)

Welcome back to The Realtor Who Wines! In episode 29, Rashelle and Whitney get real about what it means to build a business, balance a family, and stay sane in this wild world of real estate.

Whitney Robison and Rashelle Newmyer open up about the real realities of being self-employed, including the financial hurdles, the sleepless nights, and the emotional rollercoaster that comes with being “on call” 24/7. From late-night client texts to juggling deadlines and school pickups, they talk about how realtors somehow do it all (and occasionally forget early release days).

They share what it’s really like starting out in real estate and why it can take months (or even a year) to see your first sale, how to use slow open houses as a business tool, and why time-blocking and boundaries are your best friends.

And yes, they also talk about money commissions, taxes, the myth of “easy money,” and how that $10,000 check can quickly turn into $4,000 once the dust settles. It’s candid, funny, and packed with advice for new agents trying to find their rhythm.

Ultimately, this episode is about community, having a network of supportive agents, mentors, and friends who cheer you on and help you win. Because in real estate, no one succeeds alone. Pour yourself a glass, take a deep breath, and join them for an honest conversation about the hustle, the heart, and the humor it takes to build a career in real estate. Cheers!

Thank you for listening! Connect and collaborate with Realtor Rashelle on any of her social media platform pages > https://linktr.ee/RealtorRashelle

Transcript

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Welcome to the Realtor Who Wines podcast. I'm Rachelle Newmeyer, your hostess with the mostest a student of life, a connector, a passionate wine enthusiast, and your local favorite guide. Join me as we explore the vibrant Pacific Northwest. Savor the finest wines and champion the spirit of entrepreneurship. Each episode, I'll sit down with inspiring guests, supporting business ownership and uncovering the stories that make this community unique. So grab a glass of wine, settle in, and let's embark on a journey of discovery and connection together. Cheers. Hi, everyone. Welcome back to the realtor who whines. I'm Rachelle Niemeyer, your realtor who ions. And today I'm with my very good friend and fellow realtor, Whitney. I can't wait for you to learn more about her as we dive into all things real estate. But first I'd like to say cheers. Thank you for being on. Thanks for having me. Whitney likes rosé, so we're drinking rosé today from Cloud Vale. They're out of Dundee, Oregon. Super nice and refreshing. It's also like 8590 today. Yeah, yeah, we're recording in August, even though this will be live in October. But today, in August, it's very today in August. Right. Not perfect. Yeah. We're in the past. Yeah. When you hear this it'll be the past. But today's rosé is amazing. Perfect. Will you please introduce yourself to everybody? Yeah. My name is Whitney Robison, and I am, fellow realtor. I'm with Keller Williams, Portland Premier, and I'm very happy to be here. Originally from Kansas City, Missouri, which was shell and I. That's how we bonded. We were both originally, Remax and I can't remember what training it was or something, but it was like some training and we both walked in and this was before. Okay, don't come for us in the comments. This is before they were winners like they had not won a Super Bowl in years. We've been fans of theirs for a long time because she grew up in the KC area. I lived in KC for about ten years. We went to games when I was like $10. Yeah, and like no one was there. But we both walked in to this like training and she was in a KC shirt and I was on a KC shirt and we were like, whoa, you exist in Oregon. This is amazing. Yeah, instantly. And then besties after that, we're like, oh, how can we not be friends? We have to represent. Now, of course, everyone assumes we're a Chiefs fans because of Taylor Swift, but we also like Taylor Swift, but her fans of them separately. Yeah, it's funny. I mean, I get a lot of heat when I wear Chiefs stuff because now they're good. But, they were terrible my entire life. Yeah. And again in high school, we would pay $10 to sit in the nosebleeds just to go to a sporting event. Yeah. Wasn't because they were good. They just. Well, I like I wanted them to become good. So bad. And now that they are, everyone's hating on it. I know, give them a break. Well, and it's funny, like, I had a Travis Kelsey, jersey before again, they were Super Bowl champs and pretty like Taylor Swift. And I won't wear it now because then everyone assumes I'm a bandwagon like Swifty fan, which is also a weird position to be in. This has nothing to do with real estate, by the way. But anyways, welcome to oversell Whitney. But it's so funny because I do love Taylor Swift and I do love the Chiefs. They're just separate to me. And now I feel like I have to pretend like I don't like one or the other. Like it's so weird. I mean, my six year old, we're flying to Kansas City on Monday and she thinks she's going to see Taylor Swift. You never know. I mean, you never know. That's the reality we live in now. So, Thank you. That's funny. I guess so, yeah. And Taylor. Yeah. Well, thank you for being here. I, wanted to have you on for multiple reasons. We have a lot to talk about with real estate, but we also both have connected through women's Council Realtors and I, slowly trade a real feelin because I knew you'd be, like, amazing at it, but, Whitney is actually the president elect, so she will be president next year of the Women's Council Realtors in Portland, Oregon, which is exciting. When you first got into real estate, was being a leader in real estate even on your radar? No. Yeah, it it's been a very eye opening experience. I will say, when I first I came from college athletics and working in men's basketball for a while, being the only female like you kind of have your own little niche, I guess you would call it. Yeah. And when I decided to follow a dream of real estate, that was really scary. No idea that I could be in the position that I am in today. Yeah, it is definitely helped grow my business. The people I have met and you are one of them have been incredible. But it's also nice to have a group behind you that is going through the exact same things. Like when you're talking to buyers and sellers, you're experiencing the same things and it's great to have a soundboard outside of your little office, I guess, of other realtors that are experiencing the same thing. Well, and like resources and stuff out of your area, like every now and then. I do most of my business on the west side as you do, but of course, like my longtime friends and clients, I'm not going to not hold them on the East side, but sometimes it's harder to get there. And through Women's Council, I've had friends that have met my clients. For me, if I couldn't get there in time to like open a door or go drop something off really quick, or like in a pinch, like if something happens and I had to go get Ryan from schools, I can't make it to the east side, and I wouldn't have the resources or relationships without something like women's Council. Well, and real estate is lonely also. And so having a group to connect with, not only in Portland but outside, obviously Kansas City, like I went to school, college in Kentucky, like my friends are everywhere in the family. And so it's always nice when someone needs a referral, like, I'm, I'm going to Women's Council. Like I'm going straight there because I know that they're in it just as I am. So it's nice to have that network as well that I didn't know existed. Oh for sure. And so for anyone that's listening that doesn't know what Women's Council of Realtors is, is, is a is sub affinity group through the National Realtors Association. There's multiple and Women's Council is all about building women and leadership roles within women's state. But then women's state or real estate. Hello. Good afternoon everyone. But yeah within real estate and like some people are like, well, why can't men be in it like, can we actually have 9% of our membership as men? It's not a men's club by any means. But even though it's like 65, 68% of realtors are women, it's only like 3% are in leadership. So the whole reason behind Women's Council is to continue to develop leaders who are female within real estate. It's not to like hold anybody else back. It's just giving tools and resources to let women grow. And it is national. So we have like 13,000 members nationwide. So to Whitneys point, like we can collaborate with people in other states and we actually meet a lot of them at national conferences, at year conferences and things like that. So it's not just like, oh, I saw them on the website and they're Women's Council. Like we've actually had conversations with them multiple times and they're just invested, as in the code of ethics and trainings and stuff as we are. So you just know they're going to take care of whoever you refer to them. So that's been wonderful. I'm really glad that you did decide to come and tell Women's Council. The first time I pitched it to her, she's like, you are nuts. Yeah, I don't have time for that 100. I don't have a need for that. And I was like, no, you'll be president someday. She's like, lady, you're crazy. I mean, I still think back. Rochelle was like, hey, let's go to lunch. And I was like, why does she want to take me to lunch? And then this whole plan started inventing itself I guess. And yeah, I was just coming off of kind of an online brokerage because I was staying home with my two year old at the time or one year old, and I have two little ones. And so life is busy and I didn't know how much capacity I could put in. But I am a busy bee as Rochelle is very busy. But I thrive when I'm busier and that includes family, work, everything in between. And so as I got into it, people are like, oh, you're going to be pretty. And I was like, I will never be president. And here I am. Here I am, and she's doing amazing. She's an amazing president elect. And you'll be okay. So, it's been quite a process. And I when people ask me about women's council, like, what? Why should I join? And I'm like, well, this is my experience. Like, my business has grown tremendously because I feel like I have the support for all these people behind me. And it's fun to go to some events, there's C classes involved. So it's not just all these fun things, but, well, there's even like just, professional growth is one aspect, but there's a lot of personal growth type stuff that they focus on, too. And just so everyone knows, what do you know, I get no kickbacks, by the way. Nope. Today by Saint talking about women's council. Like, these are true thoughts and feelings and why we're passionate about it and why we've been in leadership about it. But, yeah, like, we're not going to get a check in the mail if you do decide to join C, I know. Yes, please write it out too. Yeah. But again, it's something that I feel like that if not for Rochelle, when I was at Remax, I knew nothing about Women's Council and it would have been a huge piece of my business, especially being a new agent, getting into real estate to have this whole nother network, just support system. Correct. So getting the word out, I think is a big thing, for us that we're still getting new members that have no idea what Women's Council is. Yeah. And that's been a process, but I feel like we're gaining momentum and headed in the right direction to get the word out that come to us. Well, one thing that Women's Council has done for me or has opened doors for me is one. So before I knew women's Council was even a thing I clearly wasn't participating in. Like my local association, which is Portland Metropolitan area, and also like Oregon Realtors and stuff. Like I didn't even realize, like, should I get involved in that, what that even look like. But being in leadership and Women's council, you do a lot of stuff with other local associations, with the state association, with the National Association. And you just see so much more. I will be really honest. I was one of those agents when I first got licensed. I was like, why do I have to pay this fee, this fee, this fee, what do they do for me? I don't even know who they are. I'm just like writing checks. That's one thing that people don't know. Before you get into real estate that like it costs thousands of dollars just to be able to potentially sell real estate. And that has nothing to do with like, your marketing or anything. It's just to like, have all the licensing, and being able to access lock boxes and things like that. But as a like brand new agent, I was just like, what am I paying for? Like, who are them? Like, who are them? At least they speak English. Yeah, it's hard of them. But like, who are they? Like, what do they do for me? And then once I got involved in Women's Council and I started going to these other things, I was like, oh, I didn't know. Oregon Realtors and the local associations help provide a lobbyist at the Capitol that go on our behalf or Oregon leadership, or like the reason we were allowed to sell real estate during 2020 was because we already had things in place that made us essential workers versus like a lot of businesses weren't allowed to do that. Right. And so, like, that's what your dues go for. Oh, they provide all these education credits. I had no idea I wasn't looking. So I think it's really important that any realtors out there listening, whether you're in your first year or your 20th year, get involved in something and be a little bit enlightened. What the associations are doing for you, your state association, and then something like Women's Council, Realtors or any of the other affinity groups, I think is just so important because it just also elevates you as a realtor. Absolutely. I mean, I will say that speaking of the opportunities that you get, when Rochelle was president of WCR, she was very hey, we're going to DC and I'm sitting here going, okay, great. You know when it's time. Yeah, have a great time. And she's like, no, you're going, you know. And so again I was super excited but I didn't know what to expect. And the first time going just being in a room with all these people and I'll never forget a lady from Florida stood up and said, hey, one of you, someone's running for president in this room one day. And I'm sitting here like, oh yeah, people tell me that, you know, it's not going to happen. And she said, no one's going to let you fail. And I took that and kind of ran with it because it was from someone I didn't even know. But that's what it's about. Like, we're not here competing against each other. We're trying to collaborate, support, support and do all that stuff. Well, then next year comes around and I didn't go to the Capitol and speak my first year, but then the second year I'm getting emails and I'm like, who signed me up for this? Like, you're welcome. I'm like, what is this? What is going on? But, going to the Capitol and advocating for fair housing. I am still at a high of. Yeah, what an experience it was. It's kind of cool. Now to one of the, senators I met with was Senator Wyden. And just to see, like, all of his things that he's currently doing now because not getting into politics, but, just the advocating that he's doing for Oregon. And it's cool to see that I got to meet with him and talk to him and talk about fair housing and how it does make a difference, because I don't think a lot of people realize if people are not going to the Capitol on the advocating, then we will not have housing for everyone. Yeah, well, and in real estate, we like to say we're the purple party because we want everyone to have a house and we believe everybody should, you know, have the right to homeownership. So it doesn't really matter what side of the lane you're on and, even still, like, so even if you're blue, you'll sit with red, red you'll start with. But it doesn't matter to whoever's in legislation. You're going to be sitting with them and talking to them about what's going on. And it is really cool to see them take us seriously. I the first time I went to the Capitol, I did not know what to expect. And I thought they'd just be like, that's nice. Okay, take a picture. Have a great day. You know how I think. But they're really like, oh that's interesting. Yeah. So your clients are experiencing xyzzy. So we did this. Do you think that would change or impact it or how do you think this bill would do this to your clients. You know. And it's like they are truly invested. And they asked a lot of questions. And then we gave suggestions like only we come prepared, right? It's not just off, off the cuff like we know what's on the docket and we come like prepared on certain topics that we're like, really hoping will help them make a decision on how they vote. On their doing that. But I never once have felt, not heard or like them. They always felt like every time I've gone to the Hill now that they, like, truly appreciate the real life examples that we're giving them that are from our clients. And then also we talked to them about the job, the profession, real estate, like one of the things we talked about this year was health insurance for realtors, because we're all self-employed. Yeah, and self-employed insurance isn't the best and it's not the easiest. And so now we end up with a lot of agents running around with no health insurance because they, you know, choose to buy marketing or whatever. Right. And so just talking to them about like, what are some options that we can offer like better health insurance especially to like, you know, single moms or like anybody out there that's like trying to do it. So it's pretty cool. But we would have never just randomly went to DC on our own. No, we're not having a girls week. And we're like, you know what? We should do the capital. Exactly. And then this past year, we had someone on our board, Angie who? Her agent. Yeah. Is the head florist at the white House. The chief there. Chief. She's like. Yeah, her. It was. We had no idea. I just thought we were going on the white House tour and. Okay, great. And then all of a sudden we got back. Back of the house. White House tour was really cool. It was a really cool experience. And again, something we were in D.C. we are already there doing different things. So again, you never know, like what's going to come out of it, but you meet different people from all these different brokerages and obviously I know Rochelle's background, but there's some people that I don't I was in sports my whole life until real estate. A lot of people don't know that. And that's okay. Yeah. But it's always, like, ever changing. I feel like. And even though, I mean, I'm going. Well, you're almost done with year five in real estate, I feel like I'm still like, no, Whitney's in real estate now. Whitney is not in sports anymore, but still the sport. And that's on it. I mean, it is. You get the adrenaline and you want to get the offer and also the, the physicality of like sometimes putting a lock box in certain spots or whatever. I was actually giggling the other day because some people think like the scariest part or the most dangerous part of our job is like meeting strangers at strangers houses. Try putting out open house signs. It's like a game of Frogger. You're like car, person, dog. So true. Like, where do I put this sign? Where people will see it and where it's actually helpful? And then also, how do I not die or get hit because you're running to pick them up in a hurry? And where do you park your car? Because there's not sometimes like a side lane where you can just pull off to the side and put your flashers on? Yeah, in a safe spot or whatever, especially if you're like in certain areas that I was just thinking that the other day I was like, we need to talk more about open house signs. This is dangerous. It is. Well, it's funny you say that because I was putting out signs for an open house and I had my car, like on the side of the road talking about being dangerous. Yeah, and I'm a girl female. We want to be, you know, safety. And this big truck, like, pulls in front of me and I'm like, all right, what's going on here? Whatever. Well, anyways, he gets out, he's like, hey, I need to sell, you know, my uncle's house over here. Can you come take a look? And at the time now looking back, like, what was I doing? But yeah, I left the door open. Sure. So there we go. And you have another listing, so you never know. But now the open house signs, you never know, like what's going to happen. And that just happened on a random Saturday, but not my sense. But what's so wild about our profession, too? Like, never ever would you randomly be like, hey, I need a haircut. Can you just like, come over like you would make an appointment to go to the business? And then also no one's negotiating with, like, the hair? No. Or the mechanic or the doctor. The dentist, like, none of these other professions have to justify what they're doing for you. Yeah. You just pay whatever their service fee is and you understand, like you're hiring them. It's so crazy. Like, we're just like, oh, sure. Yeah, I'll come to your house and and that's I feel like, okay, there you are. And then, you know, turn around and you sign listing paperwork and you're just like, wait, where did this come from? But again, that is are so similar to sports. You never know. Like what is coming. I would love to know what's happening tomorrow, but I have no idea. And then it kind of goes into just like the way the market is right now too. Not only are we realtors, but we're also like giving out our opinions and our professional of, hey, this is how the market is, and people don't like what we're telling them right now, and they don't want to hear that they have to pay for. Yeah, the buyer's closing cost, closing costs and all that stuff. But, it's a real thing right now, and we'll see what happens. But, that's been an adjustment for sure. So I've been in therapy mode the past couple of days. So I think your sports background, because I have a sports background too, I think it helps make us resilient though, because it's always like fourth quarter push all the time lately, or just like we're good at giving ourselves pep talks on like the days that it's like terrible, like, well, we're down by 22 and it's half time. What are you going to do to not be down by 22? How are we changing the game plan? And so yeah, but a lot of times because we are by ourselves, you're just like hyping yourself up in the car, like here we go. You're not going to get hit by a car. I put these open house signs out and and sell this person's house for them today and even, like, just prepping to, like, call a client and being like, okay, like I'm expecting the worst. Hopefully it doesn't go like that, but hopefully it goes better than expected. But you never know the day they're having you there because that right. Or sometimes it's opposite. Like sometimes I'm like nervous. Like, man, I really don't want to make this call just because no one likes being the bearer of bad news either. Like, you know, the inspection report came back and like, there's a lot going on in your house that you probably didn't even know about. You know, it's not even like the negative calls where it's like they said, your house stinks or something, you know, and then you call and they're like, oh yeah, oh, well, yeah, we'll take care of that. And you're like, oh, that was so much easier than I thought. And then other times you think you have good news and you call and they're like, what? What do you mean? And you're like, whoa, why are you mad? What's happening? What's going on? So it's a roller coaster for me. It is. But I will say, like the when you find out there's like multiple offers or something like, that's when it, like, kicks into gear of, like, okay, how can I be creative and make sure that my client's offers looks better than yours? Oh. Or whatever that is. Yeah. So that's like the fun puzzle piece for me where like, the competition comes out. Yeah. For sure. What's one of the most, like creative things you've done to try and get your offer accepted? Oh good question. I think just using some, like, creative financing. Obviously if I don't have a lot of money to play with, then kind of going, not asking for a lot. Maybe we're only asking for things over$5,000, right. Or something like that. Yeah. Depending on the age of the house, what we think it looks like, I'm a big fan of letters to the seller. I feel like that's how my husband and I got our house. It's funny, because a lot of agents have a lot of agents, and a lot of times, I don't like. Again, some people say don't submit it. And I will say, like, during Covid, like, I feel like some of them like my sellers, I remember one of them were like, oh my gosh, if I were to let read the letters before I looked at all the offers, I probably would have gone with this one, right? Well, that was like that was partly why they for a while it was it took it away. Right, right. And so like you have those situations. But I do think that when you especially the sellers who are selling for the first time, they want someone to come in and love their house, right? And so appeasing them, if you're going to come in and rent it out to someone else like they don't, of course they will. But they would like someone to come love their house. Totally. And they just think it goes a long way. And I mean, ours was I felt really weird writing about myself, but, you know, we said, hey, this is our forever home. Like, this is where we want to be and where you run the risk with letters, too. It's like sometimes that'll help our like, oh, another family. Yeah. And their kids were two and four when our kids were two and four about this house. But sometimes you'll get a like, And this is why the letters are, touchy situation as a like some people will not choose them because they're like, all our neighbors are all retired. No one wants kids on the block. Or, like, they'll make that decision, or they've spent so much time and energy on their yard and they love their yard. And you might someone might write a letter that's like our three dogs can't wait to play in their yard. And they're like, they're going to ruin my petunias. I spent all this time in that yard. I'm not selling to these people that have three dogs. So that's why some agents are like, maybe you don't use it because you don't want to sway in one way or the other, but then sometimes it does help get your offer taken. When during the bidding war season, of the low interest rates and all that stuff. I do a lot of coastal homes and a lot of the people that live out there full time are going to miss being on the Oregon coast if they're moving away. So one thing we started doing on offers was including a week to come back and stay in the house after. So like next year, you get to come back and spend a week in the house. So one, it's like you get to see how they're living in it. Yeah. But you, you get to come back and visit for free and your place and we got quite a few offers accepted with that concession. That's awesome I love that. Yeah. I was like, sorry, you guys are gonna have to leave your house for a week. But this is the only way we're getting this. But we're going to get the house. So just. Do you want the house? They might go stay with your mom for exactly. They might say no. So just let's figure it out. Yeah. So when some of them are buying them as investments anyways and weren't going to live there full time, but yeah, that really helped, that's for sure. I love that. Yeah. I mean again, I feel like it's all substantial of like what depending on the situation that you're in right now. I mean during Covid, I remember my client wanted one specific neighborhood and they were not willing to go one block this way, one block this way. And we lost like eight houses and we were going to. So I mean that's $100,000 over asking. And it was my clients were like okay this is the last weekend we're going out. If we don't find anything this weekend we're just going to rent. And there was this house. It stayed on the market. It was a Monday. I called my client and I was like, hey, this house is still there. There's no offers. And she's like, no offers. Let's do it. Exactly. So I said, I'll see you there in an hour. And they wanted like a full gut house and to put their own taste on things. And she walked in and she's like, this is it. And now it's beautiful. They've redone the entire place. But it's just funny how things I always say, and my husband will make fun of me, but if this is meant to be your house, it will be your house. Oh, yeah. And I totally believe that because there's so many things that can fall through in a transaction as, we know, different. Yeah. Not being a realtor, getting through all these contingencies, things can still go wrong the day before closing or the day of closing. You tell clients not to open a credit card or buy a car, and then you see them show up and you're like, well, whose car is that? Yeah. Whose car is that? We just got it. Yeah. It's exciting. And you're like, no, you might not qualify for this house. Yeah. So talk to your lender. So you always you never know what's going to come. Yeah. And it's not I feel like when I first started to think about real estate I was like oh this is going to be fun. I get to go in these cool houses and see these cool things. Yeah. It is so far beyond that. A day in the life of a realtor, you never know what's going to come your way when it's so much more than just opening doors. I think like things HGTV like selling. Seriously. Seriously, it's nothing like we don't have our short skirts on and our high heels. Oh my God. I'm like, how do you get to any like, seriously, any lock boxes? Yes, I barrow like sometimes. They put lock boxes on the other side of a fence in the backyard, but like, you can't get the latch unless you reach over the fence. So like, sometimes I'm like, half like, almost like a Winnie the Pooh situation. Like half over the fence, trying to reach the lock, the gate things open while I'm on the gate. It's like. It's like there's no way I'm doing that in a mini skirt. Oh, yeah. Nope. Not happening. It's. It's wild. It is. Well, and to your point, like, the thing about like it's there's all this different roller coaster emotions for our clients through the transactions, but also through us. Because I was explaining myself the other day that, like, I always feel like a duck because, like, on the outside, like above water, I'm just floating around like everything's great. But if you saw what was going on under the water, it's like nonstop movement. And that's like being a realtor. Like you are supposed to be the calm to the storm for your clients. And if you're a good agent, I at chasing bananas when an agent gets their clients riled up because, like, sometimes your clients don't know how to be mad about something. Yeah, or like the audacity of something. But then you're like, can you believe the buyers are asking for x, y, z? And it's like the sellers might not have even cared if you just said, hey, the buyers are asking for this. That's yeah. And they're like sure. Done less. But if you approach it with like can you believe after we gave them this and this and that, the buyers want the chairs in the backyard like something stupid and then the sellers would be like, oh, I think I'm supposed to be mad about this. Like, no, I can't believe it. Not only you, they're not getting the chairs. No, I don't want to pay for the repair or whatever. And you're just like, what is happening? Why did you get them riled up? Well, and I think that in this market right now, you have everyone like sellers think they're still getting top dollar, which they're not. They're not they're everyone's coming in with concessions because they need it for closing costs. They need it for my down. Everything is more expensive right now. Right. And so, you know, less is more. And I feel like I've learned, you know, you keep evolving, but just provide them with the information. That's all that you can do well and keep like, obviously, we advocate for our clients and we we do everything they can to have their best intentions at heart. It's their money, it's their transaction. But I think so many times we personalize it and like we're offended by like the offers. And I remind other agents all the time when they're like getting heated, even on a call with me, I'm like, you clearly care a lot about your clients. And that's awesome. You care about my client, too. But at the end of the day, it's their money. Yeah, this is what's going on with my client financially. Can this work for your client? Can you find out? Like, we're not trying to make you angry. We're not trying to be offensive. But this is what they need to make this pencil out. But, like, this isn't. I'm not trying to attack you. And normally when you approach it that way, all of a sudden the other agents like, oh God, I should chill out like I am getting heated. It's true, though, because I mean, it's refreshing when you get a good agent on the other side because you know they're not working against you. Like we are both trying to keep the deals together and and where everyone wins like no seller is hoping to, like, screw over a buyer. No buyer's going to the market. Like, what seller can I take advantage of? You know, like everybody is trying to come out as fair and as even as possible to do whatever they need to do for themselves or their family. And so when you work with an agent like that, that has that same mentality. Those transactions are so much better for everybody because there's just not this war going on. Yeah, but yeah, it's crazy, like the stuff that we do behind closed doors or the conversations that we have. But you're right. Right now sellers really want top dollar. But unfortunately a lot of houses are hitting the market overpriced. So like you're not going to get asking and people are asking for concessions. So that's pretty. And again we're recording today in August. This will air in October. So if interest rates or the market changes by the time you hear this. But as of August this is what's going on. I didn't love on the interest rates for like 2 to 3%. I don't know about you. I mean, it was awesome for our clients. Yes, it was awesome because, like, ultimately our buyers were paying way over asking to get their offer accepted. And I had buyers that wrote we wrote 18 offers before we finally got one accepted, which was just like they were getting defeated and frustrated. It's a ton of paperwork, it's a lot of emotions. But then sellers, they're like jazzed when they get these offers, but they then have to turn around and buy. So then all of a sudden they went from this high to this like low, because now they're on the other side of it and they're like, well, now you're having to offer 100 over to get your offer accepted. Which kind of sucks because like if you qualify for like a $500,000 house, you were shopping for 400,000 houses so you could offer up to five, have to even be considered when the interest rates are that low. I would love to see them come back to like five. I feel like five would be doable for a lot of people in their area. People, now that they've been at seven ish, floating around the sevens for a while, I feel like people would be grateful. Oh, I see them at five, but it wouldn't cause the chaos that it caused when they were like 3%. I mean, I remember again, not that I didn't always lock the door, but people would be banging on the doors of like, oh my gosh, hey, it's my appointment time. And I'm like, well, the person before me was 15 minutes late. So sorry that we are now running late. Yeah. But if you didn't get to a house within an hour of it going on the market, there was already three offers in. Oh my gosh. And I'm like, wait, it just came on the market and you just called me back. So, I mean, I am very thankful that is passed for now. And again, like, you're still seeing some multiple offers, but I feel like some of the I feel like if they're priced right, if the house is priced right and they have like a price meet feature those one two or something. Yeah. Like multifamily living situation which has been really popular. Absolutely, absolutely. Is that like more people are working remotely and instead of like your parents downsizing into their own place, a lot of there's multi-generational like like us, for example, we both have younger kids. We're seeing a lot more people our age where their parents are living with them, helping with the kids. And then you're also helping with the parents. So it's like a full circle situation, but you need a house to accommodate all of that. Or like you don't want to like, go crazy. So like 80 years and like to master two main suites is like a really big deal. Absolutely. I just saw one this morning in my neighborhood. I was like oh that looks lovely. Yeah. We didn't do that okay. Oh gosh I know that's the hard part about being a realtor. I was saying that the other day, I was like, I think this is how people feel that like, love pets and volunteer at shelters. Like, I can't adopt all the pets, but I want to help other pets. Like we can't buy all the houses, but we're always tempted. Like we're just like, well, do I need a pool? Well, do I cause you see it all the time? Do degrees like I would be nice. It's all winter. And you're like, how do I winterize it? Yeah, exactly. Yeah. How do I do that? Yeah, it's true though, but I feel like also you go in so many houses and then I go home and I'm like, well, I don't know that I would like that when the whole open concept was like a huge thing and that's what everybody wanted. Yeah. I was like, oh, that would be great. And then now I'm like, no, because then my kids stuff would be ever at least. It's like hidden behind the wall or like an a playroom or something like that. So it's the give and take I think a little bit. But I also my three year old would just I mean, I want to redo my kitchen, but he walks around with a Sharpie and it's all over the cabinets. So why would I do that? Right? Right now, you know, that's the way. Yeah. Yeah. So it's like okay. And then they're driving their cars and bikes and denting the walls and it's like, okay, it's fine. Like don't care right now. Yeah. But yeah, you're in so many cool houses and you're like, oh, this would be so. But then my furniture wouldn't fit. Like, it's not the vibe. Like, I would have to start all over again. And, you know, it keeps going up and up. So yeah, it is funny to you to see the different trends to like there is for a while, like you go in and every house, like, all the walls are gray like gray was like huge, huge, huge. And now it's back to like, cream and stuff. For a while it was like the farm house, like shiplap everywhere and like live, laugh, love was everywhere and like all that stuff and, like, you don't see that as much, just more like minimal type decorating and stuff is more popular again. So that's that's crazy. What is some advice that you would give an agent if they were just starting out as a realtor? And like, how would you guide them? Yeah, I mean, it's very eye opening because you go and you pass the test and you think like, oh, this is great. Well, you just passed the test. Now it's reality of, this is what a realtor does and there is no training for it sometimes. But I think putting yourself like in the best situation, I had a great mentor. I still do. And so that has helped me tremendously. To just watch her and go with her to things. So I think do your due diligence, like, don't just go to a brokerage just because it's down the street, like go for based on fees, like she was more beyond the fees. Correct. Don't look at those because they will eventually even itself out. Like we both started at Remax. And I thought the fees were really high. And now looking back I'm like oh yeah they're they were minimal right. Yeah. I know when I was shopping around it was interesting and you try not to steer yourself into just because the fees are so low, but you're not getting the support. Right. So it's the give and take of my advice would be, make sure you find a place where people are willing to help you, because if you're left on an island, you are not going to succeed. Yeah, well, you and I have both moved brokerages a couple times, which some people in the industry think that that's like bad and others are like, whatever. And we both made the decisions based off of like more life situations versus like what was going on at the brokerage. But like when you decided to go for Remax exp, you knew you weren't going to be like going to the office meetings because you had a young child at home that you were going to be at home. So you're like, well, I'm not going to be going to office meetings. I'm not going to go out in person trainings. I'm not going to need those and all that stuff. So it made sense. But as soon as, he was ready to be in a more of a daycare situation, you're like, okay, I miss in-person trainings. And then you made the change again. Totally. And I think that's okay. I think sometimes that happens, too, as someone starts at a brokerage and then they worry about, oh, if I leave, everyone's going to think I failed here or something. And one thing I've learned is you can call I don't know if any of my clients know what brokerage houses. I don't know if they pay attention to that, but I think, I mean, other brokers do. Another realtors do like, oh, she went from this place to this place. I wonder why or whatever. But like, my clients are like, Michelle's a realtor, but they're not like Michelle, the realtor, blah blah blah. They're just like, oh yeah, I wish I was a realtor. Oh yeah. She goes, so that town, oh yeah, she'll do these kind of houses. But so if you're an agent out there and you're, like, wavering or not getting what you need from a brokerage or you're ready for a change, like I want to worry about what the general public thinks. They agree. And to be honest, most of the brokerages, as long as you know, I'll leave like a creep. Like, just be honest. Like I left Remax like you did, like, totally on the up and up. Lots of, like, friends. I was just like, hey, I'm leaving for these reasons. I just need my office to be in a different location, different things. Same. When we were both at Keller Williams at the same time. Jill, you're still there at that office. Same thing. I left because I moved and I was like, I don't like commuting to this office as much, and all these things have nothing to do with, like something that the brokerages are doing. Sometimes it's just a you decision, but also sometimes it is like more you're getting that at that brokerage. I don't like at staples over here or whatever. You know, sometimes you move because of that, but I think just have friends in the industry ask the questions and then like, find what's best for you. I was gonna say, and I think to the more like when we when I started at Remax, I thought that's all I knew. And so as you progress, you want a little more and I wanted more. And it's not that they didn't have it, I just wanted something different. And so then you start looking into other options. And I totally agree. I don't think any of my clients know. I will say for me, being with like a Remax, a Keller Williams, Coldwell Banker, the bigger names like my family's all in the Midwest. They know those names versus the smaller brokerages out here. And that does matter to me. Just because I want my family to be like, oh, Whitney works for Keller Williams and people like, oh, I know who that is. When I was at Exp, I did not, you know, I had some older clients are like, well, I've never even heard of this, you know. Yeah. And so not that it's a bad thing. But again, they don't know and they don't care. They want you as their realtor and that's all that matters. Yeah. And if you are starting out to like picking, sometimes one of the bigger names is the best way to start, because I do have way more training and onboarding because I've been doing it for so long, building huge businesses for so long. Yeah, but, you're so right. Though. The license a lot of times, like getting your real estate license, it's all about just like the rules and regulations. It's nothing really about like, how do you fill out a form? What's. Nothing. What's a sales agreement? That's not even a question on that test. Like, yeah, I mean, it's more like the laws around it. And, you know, like things like that. And how can you get fined as a realtor if you break these rules? But there is no like, what do you do in a multiple offer situation or, there's not even stuff like what if the house has a septic? What kind of inspection should you have? Who should you reach out to? What kind of questions you should ask a seller that has a septic? Well, before you list a house so you're prepared when people ask you questions like these are all things you just learn on the go, or from a brokerage and you're running your own business. No one teaches you like that to me. Should be like a side portion. Oh yeah, you are running your own business. And here you go. Luckily I was running summer camps for a while, so I had an idea of running your own business. But that's a whole nother platform that I don't feel like people talk about near us yet. All that stuff. As a self-employed ticket, it is very difficult. And like we were talking about earlier, it takes thousands of dollars. Yeah, just to be able to be a realtor, that does not count. And I remember my mentor was like, plan on one year and not having a sale. And so I took that to heart and I was like, okay, one year and my husband's like, yeah, it's gonna take you one year to sell one house. And I was like, well, that's, that's what people are telling me. Whatever. That's the word on the street. Exactly. So like mentally and I have told some new agents in my office, two of like mentally prepare for that because you don't know when it's going to come. I've had a bunch of listings recently and I've had some new agents doing open houses and talking to a new. And she's like, well, it was a slow open house. They only had three groups through. And I was like, oh no, that's great. Those are three opportunities that you have to talk to people to give your business card out. That's okay. Yeah, but I the grind of keep doing them and keep doing them even if no one comes, I'm like, okay, fine, that gives me two hours to get some work done. That's what I didn't get to do, leverage that time. So like, let's say the open house is quiet, which sometimes happens, especially during the summer. I think a lot of people assume open houses are really busy during the summer. They're not know because kids are still in sports, are still like travel teams going up. People are enjoying vacations. Sometimes they're enjoying the weather, sometimes they go out because it's hot. Sometimes they stay in because it's it's like this whole thing. So but if you do get three people through, at least you got three people through. So it was three opportunities to one help sell the house or to prospect for clients that aren't being represented yet. But two, that's a great time to be uninterrupted with anything doing emails, doing marketing, following up with clients, putting together other like CMAs and things like that. And I always do a lot of social media stuff. Open houses, of course. For those of you listening, what I'm just going to say you have to have permission. You can't just be making videos at anyone else, but you have to have a seller's permission. And if it's not your listing, the listing agent, the permission, but most of them say yes. So like that's a great time to come up with like all week's social content around real estate while you're sitting there. Like leverage that time, so many people just sit there and like crews on social media themselves, they don't do any work. And it's like you are working. Think of it as office hours of no one's coming in, just be working well. And I will say to another time, blocking is a real thing for real estate because your day can be turned upside down very quickly. But you also still have timelines and you have to make sure they get done. So if you don't set aside an hour to make sure that I hit that 5 p.m. deadline, because the inspection contingency, oh my gosh, expires, you're not going to have that. And I'm a big fan of that. I need to do more of it. But again, if it's not my calendar, you will not see me and I will not be there because it will be there because like our kids have early release, we're in different schools districts, but we will text each other like it's early release day because like, we'll forget like, oh, it's like someone's going to pick up our kids. So it's like even that's on my calendar. Like my daughter's activities, even when she gets out of school. And some people might think I'm a bad mom for that, that you need that on your calendar. Remember to pick her up. I do, yeah, when I'm in the middle of all this, like paperwork and I'm trying to hit these other deadlines. And then next thing I know, it's 1:30 a.m. like that. Yeah. So. But if I, it's on my calendar, I get a calendar. You're like, hey, you need to leave in ten minutes to go get Rylan. Yep. Then I can wrap up what I'm doing because it's hard and you have some clients are better than others, but we're trying our best to be parents also. And so, I mean, I like to have family time. I get to pick up my kids and I wanted that right. That's why we became realtors. Exactly. We could do the flexibility to have that. But there also is downtime. We are working weekends. We are literally a clients calling, and then we're leaving an hour to go show a house. Yeah. I just compared to the other professions, people get mad and want like we're constantly having to justify the amount of money we get paid, but like, are you texting anybody else that you hire for a service at midnight? Yeah. Like, are you texting your hairdresser? Like, I'm thinking about bangs. What do you think about bangs at midnight? No. Yes. Not. But you are texting your realtor totally. Like, hey, do we ever hear back from the Xyzzy? And like, a lot of times I'm up at midnight and I debate, like, how do I respond? Because I'm a yes, it's hard. Then it's like, I want to encourage you to always text me at midnight, but at the same time, I have the answer right now. So normally I respond, but it's just so funny. Like, there's not a lot of other professions, where you're answering calls or like text emails at all hours of the day. It's we we joke. My in-laws moved from Chicago, and my mentor now, my mother in law used to text her, and she would be here, like, all the time, but she would never give her head up. And it would literally be, hey, I just landed. I want to see five houses tomorrow. And she would literally voice text her when we picked her up at the airport. And at the time, I didn't think anything of it because she responded, the realtor responded, and I wasn't an agent. I wasn't an agent. And now looking back. But she always responded. We saw five houses the next day and I'm like, oh my gosh, I cannot believe. But now sitting here, I'm like, yeah, it happens and I'm ready. And that's why it's hard to commit to things on the weekend. Like if if it's early, that's fine because typically, like not a lot of people want to get in at 9:00 in the morning. Right. Well, and you have to keep in mind too, a lot of it's not just us. Like sometimes when I'm like, oh, that house isn't available. They're like, wait, why can't you show it to me at nine? And I'm like, I can't. What I'm saying to you as the house is not available because people live there and they don't want to be gone yet, or they're. That's right. When the school bus comes or that's right when they're working from home and they have a meeting. So sometimes you're like, it has nothing to do with me or my schedule. I'm just. Yeah. So I would just pet. Yeah. Oh yeah. That too. It's I feel like where, like, real estate is horrible. It's not. It's just so much more robust than people realize. And that's like what we're talking about. I was joking around the other day, too, that, like, being a realtor is like dating multiple people at one time. Yes. And it's like, yeah, I just got, a referral from an agent from out of state, and I just met her client in person for the first time, and she called me yesterday and was like, hey, by the way, he loved meeting you. You loved your vibe. He thought you were great. And I was like, he did I again, I'm just like, dating again because I go, you never know. I go, it's so much like dating where like, you'll have one meeting with a client and then you're like, I hope they call. Or I wonder if they want a second date, you know, or like, we're meeting or whatever. Or sometimes we're always thinking about our clients way more than they're thinking about us. I don't know about you, but I'll even be in a shower like this. Addendums gotta get down. And this has to happen. And this are my clients aren't like, no, I haven't heard from Marshall today. Or I'll be thinking like, oh, I haven't like someone I sold a house to like two years ago and I haven't talked to him in three months, I have it. Oh, I really need to reach out to the Smith family. I haven't talked to them amongst the Smith family. So walking around like we're short and cold and mugs. But I haven't gotten anything for myself. Weird. But it's so funny. Like you were always thinking about them. Like, I just feel like I'm constantly, like, chasing like dates. Like I hope you like me. Please call me back. One, two in a second. It's like that. And then you again. You don't. When you meet, meet people with this whole Na settlement that now you have to have a buyer broker agreement. Oh yeah. I struggled with that for a while because my it happened in August. I had an out-of-town client who I had never met. We've done a couple zooms with them and they flew into Portland to see houses. And I was like, I have to ask them, they don't even know like how I operate. I mean, I've tried to explain to them, they can only learn so much via zoom to totally. And so it was a weird thing, but we worked through lots of questions. It was very good. But and now I feel like it's better. But people are now asking more questions, as you said, of like, oh, you make this much money and sometimes, okay, well, I might be making $10,000. However, yeah, I have to pay out, you know, all these little buckets that people don't realize. Yeah. And it's hard. Well, and sometimes to like, I have a listing on the market right now. And my first conversation with her was October of last year. And we met and talked and like, house prep and all this stuff. And I didn't go on the market till March. And then by the time I close, like I might have been working with her for a year. So it's like, we'll take that lump sum and then you have to take all the fees out and all this other stuff that people don't realize that we have to pay. And then taxes are huge because we're self-employed. So like that's a huge chunk. So like let's say we'll just use $10,000. A lot of times you'll walk away with like four grand of the ten grand. And then if you divide that by 12, that's not even minimum wage. No. So everyone's like, where's your Rolls Royce? I'm like, if you tell me, babe, please, please tell me. Okay. So again but it's always it's always like that. And again I feel like everyone's journey is different, which is a good thing. Yeah. But if you have the support and you have a team behind you, you will be fine. Yeah. And sometimes the team has. Just like friends at another brokerage. You are on my team. Yeah, I was exactly I had a listing out here in Yamhill County and I was like, Rochelle, hey, did that guy. And she's like, do this, this, this here's a photographer, here's this. So yeah, that's another part of Women's Council also is you have a network of different agents and different parts, and we all have the same to each other when like that. Some agents that have been like, Whitney, why didn't you just refer that to me? I'm like, hey, yeah, that's awesome. Okay, you want this person, this person, this person. If you need an open house person and you want come out here, I'm out here. Oh, yeah, why don't I so. But yeah, it's all about just seeing each other when and stuff. Obviously you and I could talk for a minute on rails. This is why I wanted to have you on. Just because there's, like, so much to say. We'll definitely have you back next year, and you'll have to tell us all about how your presidency is going once it's like full fledged. But cheers to you. Thank you very much for joining me. Thanks for and thank you for everyone listening. I can't wait to see you next week. Cheers.