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- [00:00]
A
This is Scott Becker with the Becker Private Equity and the Becker Business podcast. Just absolutely thrilled today to be joined by a brilliant realtor. We're joined today by Paula Avenum. Paula's got a practice both in Illinois and also in Florida. She has a remarkable ability to connect with people and help people meet the real estate needs. She's wonderful. Paula, can you take a moment and introduce yourself and then we'll talk about trends, about your passion for real estate and advice for others and a lot more.
- [00:30]
B
Well, first of all, I'm honored to be on this call with you and to be here with you, so thank you for having me. And my name is Paula Avenom and I am a licensed global realtor with Beard and Warner in Highland park, and I live in Highland park as well. And yeah.
- [00:50]
A
So, Paula, you've built ultimately this great reputation in real estate. You've also done some work in title. Just, just a great career. You're constantly trying to conn people in trying to do great work. First drew you to real estate and what keeps you passionate about it, you know, today.
- [01:08]
B
Yeah, thank you for asking. It's a great question. So after college, I worked at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange in Chicago. And that was a great segue to which eventually led me to real estate. At that time, in 2000, we had opened up a mortgage company and a title company. And so I left the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and went into the real estate arena. And I handled the title side and some other people handled the mortgage side and I just fell in love with it. It was a great way to help people. It's very detailed and very detailed oriented person. And it's hard to walk away from title once you're in it. It just sucks you in because it's such a. It is a great career and a great field. So I was in title for about 20 plus years and then in 2017, I just decided to switch gears and get my real estate license. I felt like I was missing out in a part of the real estate arena doing title, even though I still loved it. And I felt like I was missing out and connecting more with clients and being more helpful with them in their process of selling and buying. You know, I would see them at the table and they were, you know, I'm a close. I was a closer and title escrow officer. And so I would be, you know, I would fund their deals for them. I'd give them their keys and congratulate them and give them their checks and all their packages and everything. And it was really exciting. And a great segue to. Which then ultimately led me to get my real estate license. And I was missing that piece of the connection with people and clients in helping them. So it was definitely my calling. So. And I've. I haven't looked back since.
- [03:00]
A
It's fantastic what you're doing. What are the trends you're watching in real estate today, both in sort of the single home market, the luxury home market, any other areas that you follow and what are you seeing currently? What is the state of the housing market?
- [03:14]
B
There still is a shortage at low inventory, which, you know, whenever there's low inventory, there's of course, then the. It's going to drive up the prices. So. So it's still low inventory. And especially there was like this kind of pause because of the cost of labor and product. And then with other things going on, they have come about this year with exporting and importing and the cost being so high. I've seen developments that were started like last year or the year before kind of paused. Things are taking a little bit longer, like getting permits and things like that. Everything's a little bit backed up. But I will say, even though the inventory is low, I am seeing buyers out there. So it's interesting because, you know, after Covid, when inventory was really, really low, the prices were just skyrocketed and so there were barely any buyers. The rates came down, everybody's refinancing. But then there's this whole thing in that little bubble where then people were at such low interest rates, they didn't want to sell their homes. Again, adding to the low inventory problem that we were having in the real estate arena was it was very, very difficult. And again, with that said, I am seeing still low inventory, but I am seeing more buyers out there. I had this big surge in like late July where I had buyers and sellers. I was under contract for every sale I had within one to four days. That's. And I had a lot of traffic. So it was interesting. It's different than it was post, you know, Covid. Post Covid, where there weren't very many buyers out there and the rates were much higher. We did have a couple downward ticks in the rates, which helped a little bit. You know, some the rates went down, but it doesn't. It's not like this real significant drop that people are like, everybody's running to, you know, to go try to find a home now, because it wasn't like a 1% or 2% drop where people would really. You would see a surge of Buyers. But the market is okay. I mean, actually, like I said, I've seen, it's been an interesting market. I have seen movement even considering the low inventory.
- [05:43]
A
No, no. And the rates are ticking down just a little bit. Right. But not a white hot real estate market, but still fairly stable. And still a shortage of inventory in a lot of places. And buyers looking for. Sure. Talk a little bit about. You've done this great job of building trusted relationships over the long run. You have a great reputation as just a very good person, high integrity. How do you go about building long term client loyalty and trust in a competitive environment? How do you think about that?
- [06:11]
B
That's another great question. There are a lot of realtors out there, so you really have to stand out from the rest. And the biggest thing is being authentic. People know buyers and sellers. They might like your product and they might like how you market. And it does matter. Ish. Right. But the biggest thing is they have to like you. They have to trust you. You have to be authentic in what you do. It's not just in, in work and in everything else. You have to be honest, you have to show up, you have to follow up, you have to be patient. And this is not a business where it's about what my needs are. It's what their needs are. And every single buyer and seller is different. They all have different needs, they're all going through different things. They handle stresses differently. You are empathetic and you're patient and you always show up and you always listen. They trust you. And then that's, that's where the relationship flourishes. And that's where we can, I can work really closely with my clients and, you know, help them accomplish what they're looking, what they want to do. And this is the biggest transaction of their life. So it's super important to make it as seamless as possible. We're going to work through kinks together. I have a great team, you know, I have a great team between just my own personal team and then lenders and attorneys, inspectors, people. Again, being in the business for a very long time, you do kind of sift through the people who I trust, the lenders who I trust, the attorneys who I trust, the inspectors who I trust, the people who have shown up, the people who are consistent, who do a great job. So then I have my teams and I'm forwarding that team to my clients. And so together we're having a really good experience. And so through that, those experiences, we build this trust and relationship. And then they, you know then they'll use me again in the future. They're super happy, so I'm super happy and they'll give me referrals and my business has mostly now been based on referrals and for. I'm so grateful, so, so grateful for that because it just says a lot to my clients and they're trusting me.
- [08:32]
A
Thank you. I mean, you are an incredibly well respected person. Talk for a second about resilient. And obviously you've had setbacks, you've had challenges. I know you're an incredibly resilient person. And any thoughts and talking about setbacks, career wise, really professionally wise, and how you sort of bounce back from those. You always seem to show up with a really positive, incredible effort and positive view and temperament. How do you bounce back? How do you deal with that resilience?
- [09:07]
B
I would say that in life, you know, we go through things and I would say that my thought in my head when I have to bounce back from something is my three boys, I have three boys and they have taught me to be resilient and we don't waver when things come up with our kids because we love them so much and would do anything. And so through that resilience, with just, you know, their experiences in school and relationships and other personal things. So that is definitely translated and transferred over into my career in terms of just being super patient, working through things, educating myself. I mean I really, education really is power. Knowledge is truly power in this business because then I can, when there's things that happen, you know, the market crashed and we had Covid and we had a pivot and what do we do in Covid when all of a sudden, you know, we're not going to be able to show properties. And then through our pack and through other things in the advocating for our rights, we were resilient as a real estate world in terms of advocating for ourselves to make sure that we could be considered a necessity during COVID So we were actually able to go to Washington and advocate for this and make an action happen. And they allowed us to stay open, to continue showing as long as we, we had guidelines we had to follow and you know, put masks out and there were all these guidelines we had to, to follow in order to do that. But that talk about a time of needing to be resilient where you could, your business could be dead for the next two years if you don't advocate for yourself. And we did and I did and that's being resilient. And it worked. And other times you Know, I've had clients that, gee, Scott, I have seen a lot, right? I mean, I had a client who passed away and he had 18 properties. And what do we do? What do I do? And we. I work with the attorney, I work with the probate attorney, you know, work with the executor. And we pivoted and we made it work. And I sold. I still have two properties left out of the 18, but we sold them in a year. And so you have to pivot. You have to learn to stay strong, stay true to yourself every single time. And it just works out. So, yeah, I guess I would say being able to pivot is the best thing that you can do when you're in business.
- [11:42]
A
I think it's remarkable what you've done and just incredible. And I love the commitment to constantly learning, constantly getting up and going after it. It just is literally inspiring to watch. Take a moment, Paula, on what advice you would give to young real estate buyers or young brokers, people trying to build careers, emerging leaders, emerging buyers or investors. What advice do you give to to emerging investors and brokers?
- [12:09]
B
So real estate is, you know, it's like the American dream. Owning it, buying it, selling it, investing in it, you know, you can manage it. It can be passive income. You can, you know, if you're an investor and you own a property, tenants in there, it's not, not so passive because you have to do maintenance and there's some things, but it is, in a way, passive income. There's so many different great ways to live your life in homeownership. And the range is so broad that I would say if you have any interest in it, you know, educate yourself, work with a great broker who can help you and guide you, take class, get in the leadership. I say it again, but knowledge really is power. And I firmly believe that you can design your destiny in the homeownership arena and build happiness, safety, finances. It's real. The money is real, the career is real, the opportunity is real, and the opportunity is wide and broad. I mean, it's not just in one state, it's across the world. You know, I say to my, my kids, the world is your oyster and it's just really true. So go for it and don't be afraid.
- [13:27]
A
I think just fantastic. I mean, you're literally an inspiration to so many people. Paula Avenum, it's just such a pleasure to feature you as the Becker Private Equity and Business podcast Realtor of the Month. Just a fantastic career and effort at this in authenticity. Just fantastic. Thank you for joining us today.
- [13:44]
B
Thank you so much. It's my honor.