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COOPERATION, NOT

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MILLENNIAL BUYERS

MILLENNIAL BUYERS

Cooperation, Not Competition, Creates Mutual Success for Agents

When people get along during a business transaction, everyone comes out happier. And in a service industry like real estate, agents have the power deliver that happiness. By working cooperatively, sharing advice and helping each other help clients, agents not only enhance their own reputations, but that of real estate in general.

“Bring everyone together”

Matt Kobelski, with Credentials Real Estate Group in Massachusetts, points out that providing good service involves more people than the party you’re representing. “I’m not afraid to bring together all the parties in a deal and say, ‘OK, let’s figure out a solution that works best

Teaming up with an agent from a different brokerage on a transaction is not as uncommon or complicated as it might seem

for everyone,” he explains. “My goal is to avoid being adversarial.” Real estate, he believes, should always be a field in which each person can win. “It’s about working toward a mutual goal, shaking hands, and walking away happy that a seller sold, a buyer bought and everyone got what they wanted.”

But Is it that simple? Most agents have experienced the ways conflicting personalities and tension during a transaction can heat up even the most cordial relations. In reality, however, it’s more productive to let down your guard and work with others as a team than it is to allow stress and competition to preside. South Florida REALTOR ® and broker associate, Risë V. Siegrist, for instance, has zero interest in competing with other agents. “It’s more important to be professional and associate with competent, caring people,” she says. By serving others with a cooperative spirit, experienced agents like Risë set an excellent example for emerging real estate stars. Risë hopes to be a model for the next generation of agents, training people who may one day become part of her team.

Risë’s position on cooperation inspires more reasons for nurturing relationships with other agents. Over the decades, many agents change brokerages several times. Who knows if that agent across the table will one day work at the same brokerage you do? Perhaps you’ll even have an opportunity to partner on an exciting, future transaction. Good relations keep doors open to endless possibilities.

Co-listing cooperation

Teaming up with an agent from a different brokerage on a transaction is not as uncommon or complicated as it might seem. In fact, some agents cleverly capitalize on their collective attributes, rather than competing against one another. South Carolina REALTOR ® Kimberly Pannit is a perfect example of the universal benefits of co-listings. Although she has always been an independent agent, Kimberly works hard to form professional alliances that give her business the feel of a cooperative network across brokerages.

This cooperative approach may be nontraditional, but it benefits clients in unique ways. By working closely with agents at other brokerages, she shows how agents can improve client service while helping one another.

Kimberly’s cooperative approach began in her own neighborhood, where an agent friend from a different brokerage also lives. “Several years ago, I approached her because both of us were friends with our neighbors. I asked, ‘Why don’t we give our neighbors superior service and

co-list together? We both love our area and are passionate about our jobs, the location and schools.’” She also didn’t want to make their mutual friends choose between them when they could work together. “I said, ‘Let’s give them amazing service together!’” With their brokers’ permission, two weeks later the agents co-listed their first home and put extra energy into ensuring uninterrupted client service.

Networking and “Co-opertition”

When the ultimate goal is to match a client with the perfect home or create optimal terms of sale for a listings, networking with other agents can facilitate that ideal buyer-seller match. Nashville REALTOR ® and broker/owner Lisa Land embraced every opportunity to contribute meaningfully to the real estate industry and to her local market, even before building her own team. “Agents would frequently ask me for help or advice,” she says, noting that she shares, rather than guarding, the methods she uses to get through difficult or confusing transactions. “I was fortunate to have great mentors when I started in real estate, so I’m always willing to offer help, even to agents outside of The Luxe Collective.”

Meanwhile, on Cape Cod in Massachusetts, Janet Leigh Scott describes the climate between agents as relaxed and professional. “While the real estate market is highly competitive, we’re truly a ‘co-opertition’ market; agents work together and a have greater sense of community than you might experience in off-island brokerages,” Janet says. “If I have buyer coming into town, I’ll reach out to agents I’ve done transactions with to ask if they have anything coming up that might not be on the market yet.”

Even in hot, competitive L.A. real estate, independent agents such as Andrej Nagy of The Agency RE knows the importance of receiving and providing professional mentorship. “My relationships with clients are extremely important,” he says. “But my relationships with agents on the other side of a deal are also important.” For REALTORS ® like him, working smoothly with other agents is a privilege. Doing so builds rewarding relationships while ensuring win-win transactions for everyone at the closing table.

STEFANIE RIDOLFO

STEFANIE RIDOLFO

Top Agent Stefanie Ridolfo is the Founder, Realtor, and CEO of LIV Partners at Keller Williams Success Realty, where she provides clients with the highest level of service in the suburbs of Chicagoland.

In 2014, Stefanie Ridolfo had grown tired of her corporate day job, so she decided to forge her own path. “I just wasn’t passionate about what I was doing in the corporate world ,” she says. “I always had an entrepreneurial spirit.” Stefanie was soon drawn to real estate, which allowed her to channel her passion through the community she calls home.

Today, Stefanie is the Founder, Realtor, and CEO of LIV Partners at Keller Williams Success Realty, where she provides clients

with the highest level of service in the suburbs of Chicagoland.

Even though Stefanie pursues her entrepreneurial aspirations through real estate, she appreciates the necessity of collaboration and

understands the philosophy that you can’t succeed alone. At LIV Partners she mentors and coaches a team of professionals to ensure that their clients receive expert assistance in everything from staging homes to marketing listings to coordinating transactions. Stefanie’s husband,

At LIV Partners she mentors and coaches a team of professionals to ensure that their clients receive expert assistance in everything from staging homes to marketing listings to coordinating transactions.

Vince, is her partner and has been instrumental in the growth and direction of their team.

When preparing to market a house, Stefanie and her team take a holistic approach. Perhaps most importantly, her talented staging division can render any house immaculate by the time it lists. “Our goal is to pull as much equity out of the home for the seller,” she says. Stefanie and her team steer sellers through an all-inclusive presentation process, preparing their homes for sale and ensuring that everything is perfect from photography, videography, and social media campaigns. “When we nail our preparations,” she says, “we get the activity we need to sell the home quickly and for top dollar.” As for buyers, Stefanie stresses communication and clarity. “It’s all about education,” she says. “We hold our client’s hand through the process, letting them know we have their best interests at heart.” And Stefanie maintains this genuine approach long after the deals are done, staying in touch with former clients through newsletters, phone calls, and quarterly events.

With this comprehensive care, Stefanie and her team have won themselves a sterling reputation, with well over half of their transactions coming from either referrals or repeat clients. For Stefanie, the formula is simple. “Our clients trust us,” she says. “They know that we have their back.”

Stefanie grew up in Schaumburg, and she maintains a personal standard to give back to the community. As such, she is planning on opening an outreach division at her office, a devoted task force that could lend support to those in need while shining lights on local businesses. Until then, though, Stefanie and her team are more than happy to partake in

yearly coat drives and holiday giveaways for needy families. “We like to be involved in any way we can,” she says. “As a team, we’re always looking to do things together.”

While Stefanie certainly has come a long way since leaving her corporate job in 2014, she can’t help but look to the future. This

year, she hopes to expand her staging division into its own business; elsewhere, she will continue to add fresh faces to her ever-growing team. “There’s always future plans,” she says with a laugh. Despite her lofty ambitions, though, Stefanie has never lost sight of the entrepreneurial spark that brought her to real estate in the first place. “I love everything about what I do,” she says. “My clients. My team. It never feels like work.”

To learn more about Stefanie Ridolfo

email stefanie@yourLIVpartners.com,

visit

www.yourlivpartners.com, or call (630) 200-2120

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