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- [00:00]
A
What's going on, everyone? Welcome to Real Talk Realtor. This is Real Talk Real Estate and I'm David Green. And if you're a real estate agent who wants to sell more houses, do a better job for your clients, or build your own wealth, you're in the right place. I am joined today by a fantastic, a beautiful and intelligent and a successful realtor from my own home state of California who I happen to run into at a restaurant with Brandon Turner. It's a very cool story, which I'm going to let Chloe tell everybody and hopefully you all learn something today about how you can have a better career. Chloe, how are you today?
- [00:35]
B
Good. I'm good, thank you. How are you?
- [00:37]
A
I'm doing great. I get to talk to you. You have an infectious personality and a wonderful energy. It was very. I was actually impressed that you had the courage to just walk right up to Brandon and I and introduce yourself because you didn't know that we were going to be at that restaurant where you were actually at a top producer meeting with your brokerage and then happened. I'll let you tell the story, Tell everybody, like how we ended up meeting.
- [00:59]
B
Okay. So we just had an after party after this Compass event in Carmel and my colleague was asking us, hey, guys, do you know this guy? And he pulled up a picture of David, of course. And they show the whole table. And I was like, what are you talking about? The legend, the bigger pockets. David, where is he? And he. And he was like, he's crushed the room right there at the table. And I was like, oh, my God, I need to go meet him. I have to go say hi. But at the moment, I was so nervous. I was so, so awkward. I was like, okay, let's just say hi. I believe he's super cool. I run over and this whole table of amazing, friendly people and Brandon Turner and David Green was, were there having a great time, talking about real estate. And I introduced myself and said hi, and they both take a photo with me. I was like, this is my luckiest day. I'm so happy to be here today. Thank you.
- [02:19]
A
It's very cool. We're going to get into your story and what you've been through that built up the courage to walk up and say hi when you were very nervous. But I was impressed. Now I want to know because we haven't prepped, so I have no idea what you're going to say. What did you think when you saw Brandon and I in person? Did we look the way you thought we were going to look? Was the energy different than you expected? What do you remember about that?
- [02:43]
B
I remember you guys were so friendly. When I just run to your table, I was like, this is so rude because you are in the middle of the conversation. You're having fun with your friends, and I'm this just stranger, like whoever, just come over and say hi. Super cool you. And the brand is super cool. Seriously, I'm so happy to met you that day. And I have been listening bigger podcast since 2019, I believe, many, many years. I always see you on social media. Also listen to your podcast. So I know who you are for sure. My life too.
- [03:33]
A
I changed your life. Okay, how did I change your life?
- [03:36]
B
Uh, so my last job was accountant. That job killed me. And I remember when I was sitting at my desk every day, I was thinking of, but this is not for me, I need a change. And I was auditing all the numbers. But every day I put you on my ears. Of course I listen to your podcast, and every single episode is just so inspiring. I know this is what I want to do. And one day I need to change my job and start doing real estate. That's the start.
- [04:16]
A
And then you became a real estate agent?
- [04:19]
B
Yes, I did. First a real estate agent, and then a flipper. And the investor and the landlord. Yes.
- [04:28]
A
Okay, that's a lot. We're going to get into that in a second. What did you think when you first saw Brandon's beard?
- [04:37]
B
Very big, very long. And when I come over, say hi, you both look amazing. I have to say, especially when you stand up, you are so, so tall.
- [04:53]
A
You're more than you expected, right?
- [04:56]
B
Yes. Because every time I see you in this square camera, and I never thought you could be that tall. I. I was probably I at your waist. And I'm five one. How tall are you?
- [05:11]
A
Are you in shoes? I'm six three.
- [05:14]
B
Six three. Yeah.
- [05:15]
A
But then Brandon's even taller than me. Do you see how tall he was? Yeah, he's like 6 5. He's huge. I think this is my theory, Chloe, on why people think that I'm shorter. Part of it is what you said in the camera. You can't really tell because we're always sitting down. But part of it is people think Brandon's normal. And then I stand next to him and I look short. And so people think, oh, David must be short. Because when I get recognized at the gym or at Walmart or at an airport, people don't think it's me because I'm bigger than they're expecting me to.
- [05:47]
B
Be.
- [05:47]
A
And I think it's because Brandon's so tall that it makes me look short. Do you think that could have something to do with it?
- [05:53]
B
I don't know. You're so tall. You both are very tall. Yeah.
- [05:59]
A
Yeah. That was very fun. So one of your colleagues had come over and he just walked right up like a realtor and started talking to us. And I was like, like, how do you. How do you know who we are? He's like, I'm a realtor. Compass has a top producer dinner. We're in the banquet room down the way. And then he left and you came back over, and we're just so nice. And I was like, I see why this lady's a top producer producer. She's got. I call it the it factor. Sometimes I don't know what to say. But when agents come to me and they say, david, what do you got to do to sell more houses? My answer is always, there isn't a secret lead source. There's not a secret script. It's the quality of human that you are. People can just sense it. They work with the human that they like. They gotta trust you. They gotta believe you know what you're doing. And they have to believe you're gonna look out for them. And they have to believe you're intelligent and you're competent and you can't fake it. You really do have to work on yourself if you want to become a top producing realtor, which is what all the people listening to our show is. And that's why I asked you if you do a recording. Because I'm trying to figure out what is the secret sauce that makes Chloe the way she is. And I think when people hear your story, they're going to be very impressed. And I hope that it inspires people, no matter where they are in life right now, to give it everything they've got. Because sometimes being at the lowest state can be the best thing that could happen to you, especially if you don't have an ego. So let's start with, like, tell me a little bit about your business. What, how much production are you doing? Where are you selling, what type of real estate? Then we'll get into your story.
- [07:25]
B
Okay, so I based in the East Bay. I live in Berkeley. I sell about like 20 to 25 houses a year. Most of them are single family homes.
- [07:39]
A
So that's probably what, like 15 to 18 million in that area?
- [07:43]
B
Um, probably 20 to 25.
- [07:49]
A
So your. So your average price is around a million bucks, somewhere between 900 to a million. Okay, yes. That's very impressive. Um, that's a very competitive market. Also, was, was the David Green team working in that area when you were working, or did you come in after?
- [08:03]
B
Uh, I think I come in after.
- [08:06]
A
Okay. Because we sold a lot of houses in there in Oakland, like kind of during COVID and just before. At one point, 25% of the houses in contract in Oakland were with David Green team agents. That's how much business we were doing in that East Bay. But it's really hard. I mean, it's. Every house is getting multiple offers. You have to be aggressive. You have to be able to not only communicate with the listing agent to get your offer accepted. You got to get your client to know when they need to be aggressive and when they just need to walk away. This isn't like your typical go show. 10 houses, they pick the one they like the most, they write an offer, maybe you get them some closing costs. You got to be a shark. So to be able to do what you're doing out there and still be this friendly is very impressive. That's why I wanted to kind of get an idea about your production. Now I want to learn about Chloe. So tell us, like, how did you get into the country and what is your origin story?
- [08:59]
B
Okay, so I moved here at the end of year of 2009 with $2,000 without a job offer, without a house, without any education from the US but somehow I fell in love with this guy in Beijing. He was the main reason why I moved here. And I used to own an advertising company in Beijing. Beijing. So I, I, I have been entrepreneur for my whole life. And I ran a very successful company back there. And then when I moved here, I know no matter what, I can survive even. I only had $2,000 in my pocket at first year. I did mover, Chinese teachers, gift shop, cashier. Anything, anything can just make me, could feed myself. And I went back to school. I studied accounting. Finally I got a job, a full time job in 2018, after I finished my school. But the job wasn't the thing that I was looking for. I wasn't very excited.
- [10:32]
A
It was boring.
- [10:33]
B
It was boring.
- [10:34]
A
I know you, Chloe. I can feel the energy. You are one of those people you need to make something happen. You need to connect with people. You need smiles. And sitting at a desk, looking at a computer probably killed you, right?
- [10:46]
B
Yes, it killed me. Yeah. But I found bigger pockets. And I start to listen to David Green every day. Your talk, your episodes is just like so much information. It just feed My confidence feed my desire that I want to become something else. So I got into some online pro program to get real estate license. I, I, at the moment, I feel like I didn't have to become salesperson, but I want to learn. That was the point, has been the point of my whole life. I want to keep learning. I want to keep exploring what I can achieve.
- [11:44]
A
That's okay. I want to ask you a question that I've always wondered of people that come here from other countries and then crush it in America. It's fascinating to me. I'm assuming that you learned some English in China. Is that correct? Okay, so you have a basic understanding of English, but it like, I speak some Spanish, but I don't understand Spanish nearly as well as I can speak it. Was it similar for you that you could put the words together in English, but when you had to listen to it, it was hard to understand?
- [12:15]
B
It was very hard. It's still hard every day because I say stupid things all the time. Like, my husband is a white guy, and every time he would feel embarrassed when we go out together, he was like, chloe, you know, sometimes you don't need to say that thing.
- [12:37]
A
Give me an example of a thing that you would say.
- [12:41]
B
I remember when we, when I first came here, and I will go to a restaurant, order something, and they will ask me a question. For example, I order a salad, and they ask, is the dressing's name? I still don't remember. Let's say ranch or blue cheese or something like. Something like that. And I would say, yes. And then they ask, ranch or blue cheese? And I said yes, because I don't know what ranch or blue cheese. Whatever, Just give me the salad.
- [13:21]
A
So you're saying yes because you're hoping she'll just leave you alone?
- [13:24]
B
Yes. Every time when they ask me a question, I say, yes, please. But it's actually a question that I need to make a choice.
- [13:34]
A
And that's funny. Okay, so here's another question that I've always wondered. If I had to go to school to learn accounting, that alone would be challenging. But if I had to learn it in Mandarin, that's like 10 times as hard. You have to learn a new thing in a language that you don't really understand. So you don't understand the language very well. Now you have to learn a concept being taught to you in a language that you don't understand. And, and they're using words that even people in English don't understand when they talk about depreciation and cost segregation and Credits and debits and all these accounting terms that when I talk to my cpa, I always gotta ask em, can you say that in English, man? Like, I don't know what the hell that means. If I had to hear that in another language, I wouldn't even know what it was like. What was the stress level like of trying to learn a new vocation in a language that you don't understand?
- [14:33]
B
It was very stressful. And I had to take two classes two times. Twice. I have to take two classes twice because I failed, of course. But because of. I was 35 years old. So my goal was so clear. I knew no matter what, I need to achieve my goal because I have to do whatever I can do to make myself have something in this foreign country. Otherwise, I don't have a backup plan. I don't have a mom or dad can just like, okay, come back home and we will provide things for you, right? I have to pay my own rent, my food. I have to provide my kids. If I don't work really, really hard, we will end up in the streets, right? So this is something that if to anyone, if you have your mind set up, you will achieve anything, because there's no plan B.
- [15:52]
A
Well, here's what I think is impactful about that. If you're stereotypical Realtor Karen and your broker says, I need you to go hold an open house this weekend. And you go, oh, what if they don't like me? I don't really have an outfit that I want to wear. What if they don't use me? I just. I'd rather do this other thing. And then you have a Chloe who's like, if I don't do this, I might not eat. I want to do this open house and the next open house and three more open houses, right? How does realtor Karen possibly compete? When that person walks in the door and they talk to her and she's nervous and she's tripping over her words and she's holding back because she doesn't want to get rejected. Then they go to Chloe's open house, and you're like, yes, yes, yes, come in. Tell me all about yourself. And you're all excited. That desperation that you're describing, it's actually healthy because it brings out the most of you as a person. You get the most out of your personality when you feel like, I have to do this, right? All of the anxiety, all of the insecurities, all of the fears, there's no room for that. You just got to go be Chloe. And you got to be the best version of Chloe there is. And clients I'm going to assume can feel, oh, that's a real genuine connection that I have. This is a hungry person, she's going to get me what I want, versus this other realtor Seems more worried about their own insecurities than they are about the client. Have you noticed this, as you're just kind of working throughout the industry, that the Native Americans tend to not have the same level of commitment that you do?
- [17:24]
B
Yes, all the time. And I remember a lot of my colleagues, they have a price point. Sometimes they wouldn't host open houses because this house list price is below certain number. And if it's not staged, they don't want to host open. If this location is not the primary location, they don't want to host it. And I remember when I first started, there was a crazy time. Then it was a rainstorm. It's crazy. I remember I was driving 880 and I felt so, so scared. I thought I was going to die on the road because I literally couldn't hold my steering wheels. So I was like, okay, if I crash today, no matter what, at least I die hard. And that day I got 20 leads and I. I closed half of the lease that open house from an open house.
- [18:30]
A
You closed 10 leads that you got out of an open house?
- [18:32]
B
Yes, yes. It was like a crazy days. People just rolling in. Then was a fixer, fixer upper. So I think totally. I got like 50 groups came in that day, and none of them were representative. And I was like, so happy. I wrote down all the numbers. I even forgot my, like, iPad to do a fancy way that day. I just got a scratch paper of pen and I start to talk about how you should invest. And let me talk about what problems this the house has. Yes, I closed 10.
- [19:21]
A
Okay, so I'm gonna. We're gonna dissect this right here and get a good, good understanding of how you did this. First off, you didn't worry about technology to make your job easier. The iPad didn't work. You just wrote their names down on a piece of paper. People can tell. That shows you're hungry and you want this. When it was raining and you were scared and you were like, all these reasons to just turn around and go home. You're like, nope, I'm doing this. I'm just going to die before I quit. Otherwise you wouldn't have even got into the literal door to do this. Now you get 20 names of people that come in and you said something I love. I used to do the same thing in open houses. You showed them everything that was wrong with the house. You did not try to sell people on something they didn't want it. You tried to get to know the client and you said, hey, this house is not for you if you don't like all these issues. This is a fixer upper. I know that. Establish trust with these people. And every other agent is trying to trick them. They're like, don't you love the countertops? Yeah. The backyard's really small, but that's okay. It's less maintenance. People don't like that. They don't like when you're trying to sell them something they want to sell themselves. You pointed out everything that wasn't good about the house. What was your follow up like with those 20 people once you left?
- [20:36]
B
Okay, so I just keep calling them, Right? Never read an email because people never really respond to it. I keep calling them. I remember one buyer, I follow up for a year before we close, before we found a house for him. But he remembers me so well. He was like, chloe, you always check in with me every month, certain time, certain day, I know you will call me and you will just provide some really great houses and always know what I should know and what I shouldn't do. So this is why I wanted to go with you. Because he was only focused in Fremont and I live in Berkeley and it's kind of like pretty far. It's like a 1, 1, 1 hour.
- [21:31]
A
Commute each way with no traffic. It's more with traffic, right?
- [21:36]
B
Yeah, totally. And one buyer wants to work with a realtor. They want super local ones like where the real.
- [21:43]
A
Yeah, they think it gives them an advantage if they're local. Yeah. So I'll give some people some like background into what you're describing here. Fremont is going to be an area where there's a heavy tech focus. It's like probably as far as you can get away from Silicon Valley, but still commute into Silicon Valley. So this is going to be like the fringe area where if you work in Apple and Google, but you want a nice big house to live in, you might go as far as Fremont. Berkeley's an hour north of there. That's where University of California is. And it's like going to be some older homes. It's very different demographic than Fremont, but one of the things you have to be good at to sell Bay Area real estate, which is where most of my career was, is actually talking the client out of the city. They want to be in and into the city that they can actually get in. It's that competitive over there. People will say, hey, I'm pre approved for a million dollars. I want to be in Fremont. And you're like, well, they list for a million, but they sell for 1.3. You're not going to buy something in Fremont. You can get into Concord, you can get into Berkeley. And they're going to say, I don't want to. And then you're going to have to dance this delicate dance of, well, I don't want you to get nothing, but I don't want to make you buy something that you don't want. I have to get you to realize realistically this is the market you can fit into. And I know you understand that. I just wanted the listeners to grasp how challenging what you just described is, is to talk somebody out of really great schools, really good location, a lot of money, not very much crime into an area that's kind of spotty. Some areas are good, some areas are going to be rough. Berkeley kind of borders onto Oakland. So you get into that, like south Berkeley area, it's going to be a little bit rougher. And then if you're in the Berkeley hills, it's gorgeous. So now you have to be able to, to explain to this person, when you think of Berkeley, you're thinking of this, but let me show you what you could get and why it's better. That's hard to do, especially for someone that doesn't have English as their first language. Like, how did you pull that off?
- [23:46]
B
Um, I mean, you always have to be honest because people can tell if you, a salesy person, if you just want to make a transaction easily, right? And to build a trustworthy relationship, it takes time. Especially when your English is broken, right, people? Sometimes I say something in a weird way, words backwards, right? And. But the sincere would I give the true advice that I give. And what I really see something like, my kids go to school here, what kind of music programs they have in the Berkeley schools. And also the market that I go every day, how much the produce, you know, sell, like how much it costs a pound of, a pound of Apple will cost. It's just like little things. It's just like. And if you talk the details of your daily life with your clients, and sometimes they can feel you really, really care about them. So when people know you care about them and then that's when the trust start to build.
- [25:16]
A
That's a great point. And that's what a lot of realtors don't think about. They know what they want. They want that closing, they want that paycheck, but they don't know how to give the service to the clients, because, frankly, I don't think that they put the effort into learning about the markets. And the clients can tell, and you can't fake that. Okay, so this was that one person. Do you remember any of the other nine people that you closed from that one open house and any stories you can share of how you did that?
- [25:41]
B
This guy came to the open house, and then he just told me one sentence. I like the house. I want you to write it. Actually, it's two sentences. And I was like, yeah, right. Because, you know, for realtors, we have a saying. Buyers are liars.
- [26:02]
A
Buyers are liars. Right?
- [26:03]
B
Yeah. They don't really mean anything. Right. And it happened. He called me the next day, said, chloe, do you still remember me? I said, yes, I do. We met at my open house. And he said, why don't you write the offer for me for the house? And I was like, okay, let's do it. And I wrote the offer. We planned with all of the details, the terms, and we got bid.
- [26:39]
A
So that was a person that he almost had to work a little bit for you because you didn't know if you believed him at first. And obviously he didn't feel like you were pushing him to buy a house he didn't want to buy. Because you. Most realtors hear that, and they go, okay, let's write the offer right now. And they jump in. And I don't think that's a good strategy. Like you said, if I'm a person who's nothing about, let's say, cars, and I walk in and I see a shiny red car, and I love it. And I say, I want that one. And the guy goes, great, let's write an offer. My first thought is going to be, why are you so eager to sell that one? Maybe that's not your best car. But if he goes, hang on. Why do you even want that one? You sure you don't want to look at some of the other ones? Tell me what you're even looking for. I may or may not buy that car, but I definitely just bought that salesperson. Now, I believe he's helping me to figure out what's best for me. And when I get that buyer's remorse and I'm going to back out of the red carpet, I'm not going to back out with that agent. I think that's a great point. I mean, we could make the whole show, just talking about this one open house because these are such skilled sales tactics. Did you learn this from your broker or another agent in your office, or is this kind of natural skills you've developed?
- [27:55]
B
First, I feel like this is kind of my personality. I always go with the flow. And also when I was running my own company in China, I never was a really cushy sales because you might believe. I know if someone wants to work with me, they will, because it's not because of what I sell. It's because of who I am, if they want to work with me, if they trust me. And over the years, because of the successful stories that I had and I kind of learned from myself. And also Compass has some coaching program I attend sometimes. Yeah, that helps too.
- [28:55]
A
Uh, that's. That's fantastic that you were able to pull that off. Can you tell me about how you got the seller to accept that offer? Cause I'm assuming there's probably more than one offer.
- [29:05]
B
Mm, yes. Um, can I say this?
- [29:12]
A
Yeah, go ahead.
- [29:14]
B
So I. I work with the. I work with the seller's agent. We're in the same brokerage. And because of that rainy day, she couldn't find anyone to help her open houses, and she really appreciate my help that day.
- [29:36]
A
Just to give context to what you're saying, okay. It's very common in a competitive market when there's multiple offers for a buyer to get really excited and be like, yeah, I'll pay 1.3 when it's listed for a million. And then they get their offer accepted, and then they get cold feet the next day, what did I just do? Right? And if there's a contingency in the contract that lets them back out, or sometimes even if there's not, they just never send their earnest money in and they go, nevermind, we don't want the house. And now all the other people that wrote an offer, they're mad that they got rejected and the seller's in a really bad spot. So when you're trying to put a house in contract in a market like this, you are worried as the listing agent that that buyer who wrote the really strong offer is going to change their mind. And I know that that's what you're getting at here is your listing agent in your office knew if you vouch for this guy, that means he's going to buy. Which usually in my mind is because the buyer's agents that are good, they've prepared their buyer clients for what to expect. They've already reviewed what a Contingency is they've explained what could be wrong with the house. They've ensured that that's the red car that they really want. They're not going to change their mind later. And like you said, it's the reputation of the agent that could get the offer accepted.
- [30:50]
B
Yes. Because when they heard certain names or if they know you previously, if they know who you are, you are already building this trust in between the agents, too. So, yeah, if you're a realtor, if you're a local super local, super local agent, you need to work on your work ethic, too. It's so important. Very, very. Yeah.
- [31:20]
A
And your reputation with the other realtors.
- [31:23]
B
Yes, your reputations with the other realtors. Because when you're. When the other side of realtors trust you, which means you will get better chance for your buyers, too.
- [31:36]
A
Something I've been working on. I say working on, it's more like God's brought it to my mind that interferes with my relationship with him and my ability to reflect him to other people better is my ego. And I don't want to make. I don't want everyone to hear that David has an ego. We all have an ego. I'm just becoming made aware right now of my ego. And the ego is the part of me that thinks that I can do it my way. I don't need to ask God. I don't need to ask for help. I don't need to be humble. I can just trust my mind and I can just do whatever I want. And I've noticed that in real estate, specifically with real estate agents, so many of them ruin deals and blow things up for their clients because of ego battles between the agents. And the more expensive the houses and the more competitive the market, the bigger the egos. I've watched deals blow up over the stupidest things because realtors didn't like the tone that the other one gave. They didn't like the way that their transaction coordinator talked to their transaction coordinator. They didn't market pending in the MLS fast and like, whatever stupid things that sometimes they're like unwritten rules. Like in baseball, we have this idea that they're not. It's not in the rule book, but it's understood you're supposed to do it. Okay. Real estate has a lot of unwritten rules. Can you just talk a little bit about some of the things that you've seen when it comes to realtor egos? Because you don't seem to have this problem. You seem to be very humble and hungry, especially for someone who's successful and how you notice that this can get in the way of becoming somebody's best version of themselves.
- [33:10]
B
I do understand other agents have their own standards because to be honest, we are kind of a higher paid career. Right. And once your income at certain point, of course you have a higher expectation for everything. Right. But because of. I came from so low, the lowest point that I was fear to lose a place to, to. To live or some basic needs. And I really appreciate every day I have without fear and I appreciate the job that I have can, can bring me a nice house I can live in, provide my kids. And I just feel like, you know, and it's not just like a 500k house, clients that you don't want to serve or 3 million budget clients that that's the only ones that fit in your, in your standard. It's just people need help, People need your knowledge. People want to hear what you think as a perfect, as a professional. Right. So for me, there's no price point. Anyone, trust me, want to work with me? I really, really appreciate the opportunities.
- [35:00]
A
That's such a beautiful perspective. I hope everybody caught that, that by taking your. What I. Here's what I heard you say. By taking your focus off of yourself and your own ego and putting it on the clients and what they need, that problem kind of solves itself. When you want everyone to recognize you, when you want respect from everybody else, you're not thinking about the client. You know, that's funny. This reminds me of the advice I give people when they're about to speak on stage and they get nervous. Everyone goes through this, even you, before we record, you're going to be nervous. You're on the David Green show. Right? The way that I learned to get over that when I was hosting the Bigger Pockets podcast and I was new, or when I go speak in front of like big groups. I've spoken at Keller Williams events with over 10,000 people in there. You have to just tell yourself, the audience doesn't care that I'm nervous. They pay this money to go to this event to learn something. And I'm being brought in to help them, to teach them. If I show up and I'm focused on my own nerves, I'm robbing them of what they came for. Right. The, the key to getting over nervous is to be a servant and to think about the other people and it just kind of goes away. Is that something you think you just naturally kind of understood?
- [36:14]
B
I think so.
- [36:15]
A
I think so too.
- [36:16]
B
Yeah. Yeah, I'm so nervous. I'm really nervous, but that's my point.
- [36:21]
A
You're nervous, but you're still able to do such a good job because you're thinking about the listeners. You're not thinking about your nerves. The people who only think about their own feelings and their own nerves are the ones that show up and give a bad performance. And then it's painful for the people that are listening. So I think this is relevant for everyone who's holding open houses or everyone who's scared about calling that list of 20 people from the open house. We all get that feeling. I don't want to call them and have them yell at me. I don't want to bother them. You get over it by thinking if I don't help them, some other agent who doesn't care as much is going to get their business and they're going to get screwed up.
- [36:57]
B
You're right.
- [36:59]
A
Yeah. All right, Chloe, tell me some more tricks of the trade that you've got figured out here that are helping you close this many houses in a hard market.
- [37:08]
B
I work really hard. I almost work 24 7, to be honest. I know it's sometimes unfair for my family, but right now I know it's the stage that I need to try my best. Like what I said, I don't have a plan B. If I don't succeed, I fail. That's what I always tell myself. I'm not choosy, and if I can take on another new client, I would just do it. Even I know this listing won't sell right away. Even I know this person is really hard to deal with. Like the new referral I just took from my colleague, she was so tired working with the buyer. The buyer is so emotional, abusive, emotionally abusive, yelling at her. And she couldn't do it. I mean, my colleague just could not do it. And then she referred the buyer to me and we just got in contract with yesterday. H. Yeah, it was.
- [38:21]
A
So what did you do different with that buyer?
- [38:24]
B
You always have to become. Because as a realtor, you are not just a real estate agent. You are a therapist. Sometimes marries counselor. Seriously, like a couples got really emotional. Sometimes you have to. In between the fights inside of the house. So you always have to become. Never respond with emotions or, you know, it's like even they have really high demand. You know, this is one of the biggest decision of their life. And you have that. You need to have that empathy. And then also the. You also have to have the understanding that, you know, you are helping them to go through One of the hardest time. And once you have that mindset, you know this is the right thing you can do. And after a while, no matter, because people also regret when they are super emotional or rude to you. And when they realize that, they come back, they say, okay, my realtor really are here. My realtor really is here. Try to help me. She's not trying to tell me what to do. Not pushy, not trying to close a trend, not trying to close a transaction.
- [39:55]
A
Were they ever abusive with you?
- [39:57]
B
Oh, all the time. Yeah. When they are dealing with millions of dollars. Deal. They can become monsters, to be honest. Like sometimes you receive a really abusive email in the middle of the night. I remember one seller sent me an email at 12am telling me how horrible the job I did for him, like how horrible the staging was. And then the next morning, he apologized right away. He said, I drink too much wine last night. You know, it's just like we do receive a lot of negative comments. But what you do, you can't call him back and say, this is wrong to do. You know, we need to walk through the whole process and give them comfort and make them feel secure and they know you are here to support them.
- [41:07]
A
I love that you didn't look at this like you're a victim. Although in a sense you are. If they're being abusive and they're yelling at you or they're calling you names, you looked at it like, that's a wounded person who needs my help. And I'm glad it's me that can help them because somebody else couldn't. And my guess would be, like you said, they know that they're being ridiculous and they feel bad after the outburst of the stress. Those are the people that tend to bring you the most referrals.
- [41:40]
B
You are right. Yeah. And you know, if something goes wrong, it's always the realtor's fault.
- [41:48]
A
Yes.
- [41:48]
B
We all know that.
- [41:49]
A
Oh, that's so true. That's one of the toughest parts. I remember where when the loan officer screws up, they don't call and yell at the loan officer. They call and yell at the realtor. When the escrow company screws up, they don't call and yell at the escrow company. They call and yell at Chloe. You end up being the one that has to be the therapist because you're the one that has the close relation. You're really the only one that has a relationship with them. The other people are just providing a service. And I also was always kind of irritated that I have to go Find the client. I gotta lead generate to the public as a realtor, the loan officer, the escrow officer, the title company, the home warranty company, the home photographer, the transaction coordinator. They get to lead generate to me as the realtor. They don't have to go to the public and find the clients. I was always. I thought that wasn't fair. And then there's respa laws that prohibit getting a referral fee or a kickback to the realtor, even though they're the ones that feed everyone else in this business, they never get fed. But then they're not allowed to get any of that money back. And what it does is it creates all this stress that you are the one that gets yelled at, you're the one that gets rejected, you're the one that gets blamed, but everybody else gets paid. And it seems like that doesn't bother you as much as it bothers some of your colleagues.
- [43:05]
B
It doesn't. I mean, life is not easy no matter what, right? I mean, even you are a truck driver. I believe you have all the late nights, you have to go through, you know, the long road by yourself. Even you are a doctor, right? You have a great job. But I, I believe you know, once you have the patients come in super late or a super complicated surgery, you need to do your best. I appreciate my career. I love it. I like it. That's why no matter what kind of things, how hard of the things hit me, I'm not afraid. I'm here to fix the problems. That's my mindset always.
- [44:14]
A
Yeah, I wish I had a lot of Chloe's on the David Green team. That was the attitude I was always preaching to the agents. Is the way you think is the way agents have to think. And this is also why 90% of the business goes through the top 10% of the agents. Because it's very difficult to achieve the level of, Of Zen that you've achieved at absorbing all the negativity and just giving back positivity. But that's what people, that's what they need. And you hit it on the head. They're buying a million dollar house. They're buying a. They're buying a $1.5 million house, and they only want to spend 1.1. They don't like that fact that they are forced to spend more than they want to. And they want someone to be mad at if they can't be mad at the listing agent because they'll lose the house. And they can't be mad at the loan officer because they can't affect the interest rate. And they can't be mad at the other buyers because they don't see them. Guess who they're going to be mad at. Be mad at Chloe. Right. And you just have to absorb that and then repay them. And that's where the referrals come from. But this is such a rare opportunity to interview a top producer who's honest about the emotional side that goes into real estate that requires someone to be successful. Because, like you said, realtors make a really good living when they're good at this. I just wanted to ask you, do you tend to get a lot of your business from referrals? Are you buying leads? Where's the majority of your business coming from?
- [45:38]
B
I never buy leads. All of. I say 90% of my clients, new clients, are from my past clients, my friends, too. And also referrals from other agents. Because if I speak Mandarin, sometimes agents report me Mandarin speakers. Yeah. And also, you know, because they know my personality. They were like, you know, how the person. Yeah.
- [46:14]
A
Did I say that right? How the. Is that good?
- [46:17]
B
How. Da. Yes. Yes.
- [46:19]
A
Is it that bad that you didn't even recognize I was speaking Chinese?
- [46:24]
B
No, I thought you were going to ask a question like, how the.
- [46:29]
A
And there was more coming. That makes sense.
- [46:31]
B
I'm sorry. That's my good. Your pronunciation is really good.
- [46:40]
A
Yeah, I think I speak Buhao. But thank you for your kind words. I see why you go.
- [46:45]
B
Where did you learn it?
- [46:48]
A
Okay. Do you want me to tell you the honest truth?
- [46:50]
B
Yes, please.
- [46:51]
A
I have learned that most human beings are afraid to ask questions because they don't want to look stupid. And so if you learn, like, six phrases in every language and you only say those, and then you leave before someone can talk back to you, you can make people think that you speak 20 different languages. So. So I just learned how to say, please, thank you. Good, bad, hi, goodbye. Like, things that you would say to the person working at a checking register or the waiter or somewhere, like, I can't speak Spanish, but every other language. I just learned, like, a couple phrases in Russian, in Mandarin, in Tagalog, in German. And then you just say them around other people and they hear it. They go, what the heck? But they just. I guess David learned as a cop how to speak all these languages. Now, normally, I don't admit to everybody like I am right now that I don't speak that many, but, yeah, I just look it up and, like, you can use Google Translate and ask how to say thank you, and then it'll give you. It'll even pronounce it for you, right? They'll go, shush it.
- [47:55]
B
I should do the same thing. That's a great strategy. Thank you. I'm going to steal it.
- [48:01]
A
My favorite thing is when you. The person who. Well, first off, you have to guess what language they speak to surprise them, right? So you got to risk being offensive because you might end up speaking Spanish to someone that speaks Tagalog and you look stupid. That's a. That's one of the things you have to be humble to pull this off. But if you say salama, that's how you say thank you in Tagalog to, like, the person working at the cash register or the cleaner, it makes their day, right? They feel seen, they feel acknowledged. They don't feel like they're a secondhand citizen that has to learn English. You're kind of showing them a form of respect by saying, I learned your language and I want to thank you in whatever that is. You watch their eyes get big and they'll smile, but then you just got to walk away really fast before they start talking to you and you don't know what they're saying.
- [48:46]
B
That's so true. That's so true. If my clients can say xie xia.
- [48:53]
A
Makes you feel good, right?
- [48:55]
B
Exactly. Yes.
- [48:57]
A
Yeah, you said that really nice. All right, so what about being organized? Are you working with. Showing assistance? Are you doing all this yourself? Are you, like, dedicated to your CRM? Tell me what the operations sort of look like with. With when you're doing a lot of clients like this.
- [49:14]
B
Man. I'm not very good at that, but I would tell you that. So I set up my alarm once a week. I don't do it too often because sometimes I think people might think it's annoying. But once a week, I make phone calls. I would do what is called time blocking. Is it called.
- [49:41]
A
Yeah, time blocking.
- [49:43]
B
Time blocking. So I usually do Wednesday morning from 9am to 10am and I just pick up my phone, start to call people. Sometimes it's just my friends that I haven't spoke for a long time. Sometimes I call my past clients. To be honest, 80% of them never pick up the phone. Right. That's how we live our life. But once they pick up their phone, they were like, I haven't talked to you for so long. How are you? I'm so happy you called. Let's talk about blah, blah, blah, right? And we had a great conversation. And by the way, my friend who say, oh, I know this person, they are Thinking of buying a second home. Can I send them your contact info? This is the best way.
- [50:47]
A
You're getting referrals from Cold reach out. That's how much people like you.
- [50:54]
B
I mean because I ask questions about their life and I talk about my myself too. It's not like, hey, do you know anyone that want to sell or buy homes? No, I never say that. Right. It's just like a start a conversation because I was thinking about them and it's truly I was thinking about them. That's the only thing what I do for my CRM, to be honest. And I don't buy leads, but I do social media a lot.
- [51:31]
A
Do you get leads from that?
- [51:33]
B
Yes, a lot. Because I'm not sure if you have heard right note. It's a Chinese social media. It's kind of like a Chinese Instagram.
- [51:48]
A
What's it called?
- [51:49]
B
RedNote.
- [51:50]
A
RedNote, yes.
- [51:52]
B
I got so many leads from that. I just make videos. I sometimes my husband asked me, are you a video editor or you are a realtor? Because you always on the phone shooting videos and editing videos and post things. I'm like, you know, you have to do this kind of thing nowadays everybody is on their phone. That's what I do with my marketing. I make videos, I post them on Chinese social media. And then you know, in the Bay Area there are a lot of Chinese speaking people.
- [52:31]
A
Oh, that's probably huge. Of course. In fact, if I'm being honest, I was assuming that most of your clients would have been Mandarin speakers and that was how you were going to be. I thought you were going to come in and say, hey, I came here from China and I found a way to work with Chinese speaking people, which I'm sure you do. But I have been incredibly impressed with how good you are with English speaking. You're beating the English speakers with their own clients. You are a much more genuine, humble, transparent person that English speakers are wanting to work with. Right. You didn't have to choose who am I going to be. You're just a good person and people are drawn to good people. Like you said, you don't call people and say, do you know if you want to buy or sell a home? There's a bazillion realtors. Everyone's tired of that. You make it about them. And I was also curious on your social media, what type of content are you posting that you think is getting eyeballs?
- [53:26]
B
It's always about how to repair your house is like, yeah, it's like I'm sometimes that I will show Today I want to talk about stucco. Why there are so many houses. Exterior material is stucco. What is good about stucco? What is bad about it? If you thinking of replacing your previous stucco, what you need to do. And when you apply for CTE inspections, what do you need to aware of something like that? Some useful information. Yeah. And sometimes I post photos of an interior design for the eyes. Right. And sometimes I just post myself. My life, my food. People really like it too. Sometimes just like a new restaurant, a new, new spot for some great Japanese food or Chinese food. Yeah.
- [54:31]
A
What's your favorite restaurants in the East Bay area?
- [54:38]
B
Any kind of food or just Chinese?
- [54:42]
A
Let's go with Asian.
- [54:44]
B
Asian. Okay. There's a Thai restaurant called.
- [54:51]
A
Red Chili.
- [54:53]
B
I never tried it in Hayward.
- [54:55]
A
It's like my favorite restaurant.
- [54:57]
B
Red Chili.
- [54:58]
A
Red Chili in Hayward, which is just south of where I guess would it be south? No, be just north of Fremont that we were describing on Mission. They have pad sea. Ooh, that's like the best of it. I can't eat it anywhere else because it's so good there.
- [55:12]
B
Okay. And I won't tell you mine because you won't eat it there.
- [55:16]
A
Well, I'm not going to eat their pad. See you. But I might eat something else. I thought, what are the odds that she's saying to say the same one that I really like? This place is Vietnamese and Thai fusion. So what's the one you like?
- [55:26]
B
Okay. It's called Farm Thai.
- [55:29]
A
Farm Thai?
- [55:30]
B
Yeah.
- [55:31]
A
Okay. Is that in Berkeley?
- [55:33]
B
It's really good. It's in Berkeley on Shaddock. It's like a really, really authentic. The flavor is strong. It's not some, you know, vanilla Thai food restaurant. Sometimes Thai food can be like a plain and a vanilla. I don't know.
- [55:50]
A
Yes. Especially American Thai food. That's very true.
- [55:53]
B
Yeah.
- [55:54]
A
Have you ever been to. It's a Mexican restaurant in downtown Berkeley. Casa's in the name. It's like Casa Bonita. Maybe they have a Casa Latina. Latina, yes.
- [56:04]
B
Yeah. Casa Latina is so good.
- [56:06]
A
You got to get their tres leches cake. It's like the best in the East Bay.
- [56:10]
B
Yes. I used to live like five blocks away from that restaurant. I always.
- [56:15]
A
The one that has all the pictures of Freda inside with her mustache. That's the one we're talking about, right?
- [56:20]
B
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Casa Latina. Yes.
- [56:23]
A
Yeah. So I worked for the BART police for a long time. That's like the transit agency in the Bay Area. So I got to know all the different Bay Area cities because we Had BART stations all throughout the whole bay. And then I sold real estate there afterwards, so I learned quite a bit. And there's a. A dim sum place in Walnut Creek that's incredible. If you like that. And I'm. I'm trying to remember the name. It's something Creek House.
- [56:48]
B
Creek House, Walnut Creek.
- [56:49]
A
Yeah. It's worth driving to if you like dim sum. It's like usually a huge wait to get in there, but your husband will be very glad if you take him there. He'll love you. All right, Chloe, before we get you out of here, is there any other advice that you wish when you were a new agent, someone would have told you that when you learned it, it really turned around your business.
- [57:15]
B
Okay, So I want to let you know, somehow, nobody likes realtors. You need to be strong, okay? This is not some glamorous like, nobody likes realtors.
- [57:31]
A
If they could get rid of us, we would be the first people to get rid of. We're like lawyers.
- [57:34]
B
It's somehow we are always the people to blame.
- [57:41]
A
Yes.
- [57:41]
B
I'm not sure if you agree with.
- [57:43]
A
Yes.
- [57:44]
B
If we make the transaction too easy, too fast, with no problem, everything is smooth. And then they will feel like, oh, shoot, why do I hire. Why do I hire her? Right? I could just sell the home myself.
- [58:01]
A
That's a great point. If you do an amazing job, they're like, well, why did. Why did I even hire you? I didn't need you.
- [58:06]
B
Exactly. And if the transaction is so long, if you are working with the buyer for two years, they blame you, they still can't find a perfect house for them, it's your fault.
- [58:18]
A
Or if the house doesn't sell, it's your fault.
- [58:21]
B
Yes, exactly.
- [58:22]
A
That's such a good point.
- [58:23]
B
Yes. So be strong and never take it personal. If you a new realtor, you know, and when you just start, when you just started, never be picky. You know, you just take whatever you can to start and over the years, building your sphere, building your experiences, and then you will have more confidence upon how you can serve the best to your clients.
- [59:03]
A
This is incredible advice. I love that. I didn't think you're going to be ready to answer that question. And you answered it like you're Miss America at a pageant and you had the perfect answer ready. That was so good. Nobody likes realtors, so you got to be strong.
- [59:15]
B
Nobody likes us. Seriously. And it's a really hard job. It's so hard. A lot of people just think, oh, they just like put like a nice clothes and open the doors and that's it. No, it's not. You know, the whole process, you know, finding the right house, finding the problems, reading hundreds of pages of disclosures, understanding what might cause some major repairs for the future owners, and the lending process, everything.
- [59:55]
A
The appraisal process, the escrow process, the city zoning process. Like, yeah, it's always what it seems like is the client goes to the realtor, the realtor goes to another person, and that person does the bare minimum and pushes it back on the realtor to go solve the problem. But you also never want to go tell your client, look at everything I just did. Feel bad for me. So you just shove it down and you do it yourself. And they yell at you and they get upset with you. And like you said, you have to be able to just absorb all that negativity and try to return positivity. And one of the ways that I got through those moments, that's really good advice, was I told myself, look, when this is over, I'm gonna have a $15,000 check. Is it willing. Am I willing to have everyone hate me for now and love me at the end and have $15,000, or would I rather not have $15,000 and just be done? And the answer was almost always just put up with it. Just let them yell at me. Just let them blame me. Let them have someone event to. Let them tell me how unfair it is, because I don't know at the end of the transaction if any of them still felt that way. Once distress is gone, they always come back. We're so sorry. That was rude. My husband shouldn't have yelled at you. My wife shouldn't have yelled at you. And the truth eventually comes out, and they see at some point what you did to try to save the deal. And then you get paid. And if you did a good job, they will send you referral. And that, especially as a new agent, every client you have, you're not trying to close a deal. You're trying to close a deal and get their business in the future. So you have to give great service. You have to have a great attitude, because if you close the deal but they don't like you, that's all you get. But if you close a deal and they like you, they're going to send you, their aunt, their grandma, their friends, like. Like you had, hey, this person wants to buy a second house. And that's how you build a business of people coming to you so that you don't have to get yelled at by people on the phone forever. Like, you did in the beginning.
- [61:49]
B
That's true.
- [61:50]
A
And you're on the way, Chloe. I can't wait to see how your career continues to progress. We're going to have to have you on again in the future. I connected you with Christian, my partner with the one brokerage, and we're going to see what we can do to help scale your business. And if you're listening to this and you think, wow, this is such a great podcast. Well, first off, it's because of Chloe. So thank you, Chloe, for being here. But second off, please take a minute to like the show and subscribe to the channel if you haven't already done so and leave us a comment so Chloe can know what you thought about her performance and you can let me know if you know a realtor that you think I should interview on the show. Also, I'm going to be starting my own brokerage and we're going to be selling houses all across the country. So I am looking for brokers in different states who are interested in hanging their license with the company so that we can recruit agents underneath them and hopefully be a bunch more Chloe, it's not that we're going to find a bunch more clothes. You guys are very difficult to find. I hope your husband wakes up every day and thanks God that he hit the lottery and was super lucky and watches the show and is very proud of you because we all are, too. Any last words before we let you get out of here?
- [62:55]
B
That's it. I really appreciate your time and I was so lucky to met you that day at the restaurant. Oh, so happy. Thank you.
- [63:07]
A
Well, now everybody else got to benefit from that, too. So thank you for giving us your time. We'll have you on again. We'll make sure we stay in touch. And thanks everybody for listening. We'll see you next week on REAL talk.