All Forum Posts by: Kate Barry

I sell residential real estate and invest and I agree they are totally different.  I have my realtor mindset and my investor mindset.  I like to buy investments and I'd love to get more investor clients myself honestly, but its very niche and I simply have more fun selling residential single family because it feels like I'm helping people who need it to make this huge financial decision.  Its heavier and emotional but it really brings me a lot of fulfillment.  Investing nurtures the fun and competitive side of me.  Sometimes it feels like I have a split personality because Realtor Kate is so different from Investor Kate 

Speaking as a realtor - a full mailbox is a huge red flag.  Mostly because who still works with a mailbox that gets full??  There are so many apps and services that will avoid this, and so this means that they are not organized or able/willing to work with tech to streamline their business.

I work with a high volume for my area and at the end of every day I have a clean inbox, returned all my calls, checked in on my current pending sales (I usually have 4-8 in my pipeline at any given time), and responded to all my texts and facebook messages.  I am not trying to toot my own horn, but I am a LOT more organized than most agents that I work with, and it shows.  The agents who have the constantly full voicemails are a nightmare for me to work with, usually muck up the process, and lose deals...

A good agent will be be able to in-take you on the first call and then plan a next step.  Not every client that I in-take will become a top priority client, I'm looking for those who are ready to buy or list right now.  But a next step is always established.  Maybe they need to narrow their area of search, so I set them up on saved search of properties and tell them to take some drive bys and I'll get them set up with a newer agent on my team who has the time to drive all over the state if they want to set up showings.  If they aren't ready to buy I get them set up with my lender to get pre-qualified.  Clients that are looking for 6months - year down the line to buy or sell are put into our CRM and we do monthly check-ins, and I always get them set up on a saved search for their criteria.

This systems helps me work directly with the clients who are seriously ready to buy or list.  If you are one of those types of clients you are basically worth your weight in gold, and if you aren't getting set up within 24 hours then you should move on to another agent until you get the service you deserve. 

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This property is really unique.  Its 2 houses on 2.4 acres in a rural part of southern Vermont.  The land is absolutely beautiful, complete with pond, gazebo, multiple decks and patios.  4 car attached garage and it won't need a capital improvement for 10 years when we would put a new roof on it and most likely add solar panels.

The deal analysis shows that it is cash flowing at -$1050 per month, but since we would be house-hacking the house, and also work-hacking the house, I'm having a hard time deciding if its a good deal or not.  We would be paying $1000 per month for a 3 bedroom 2 bath house that will appreciate in value, and we could eventually move out and rent the whole house and that would give us a + $1000 cash flow per month.  There is also opportunity to make the units in the duplex cash flow more, one of them is an ideal Airbnb that would get $150 per night in this market, and the downstairs unit has an attached garage that we could turn into another bedroom.  

So I am just so jazzed up because I listened to Vivid Visions (audiobook) and I am realizing my 3 year goal is to own my own brokerage.  I know that my first step is to find a business coach.  I signed up for Tom Ferry's free consultation, as I am completely green when it comes to this and it seemed like a safe no-obligation way to get my feet wet.  Any other agents here use coaches to start their own brokerages?  Would love to hear your stories!

I would LOVE to be a part of a Vermont REIA. We have 2 investment properties in Southern Vermont and actively looking for our next property (maybe 2).

I am down in Brattleboro, but would gladly do Zoom but also would be totally down for traveling!  I've been wanting to do this for YEARS

I'm covered in tattoos but I do cover them most of the time - not really that intentionally I just wear long sleeves and pants and don't have a neck or face tattoo.   I live in Vermont though and its pretty common for people my age.  Most of my clients love that I have them because then they know I'm cool :-D 

Sent you VT and NH!

@Patrick Liska Thank you so much for explaining that makes sense!

@Caleb McKitrick  What part of Southern Vermont are you?  My husband worked as a snowboard instructor at Mt. Snow for many years.  We have investment properties in Dover and Brattleboro

@Mark Surdam I sent you a PM but also wanted to put it out there - I'm interested in investing in the Bennington area.  We have a MF in Brattleboro that does very well, but the lack of and high price of inventory is keeping us from investing again.  We are really interested in looking in Bennington but it seems like the lack of inventory is there too