PROPERTY MANAGER 10-3-22

PROPERTY MANAGER EDITION

5 Lessons from Silicon Valley to

Modernize and Monetize Your Business

Uncommon Contact:

CONNECTING WITH CLIENTELE THROUGH SOCIAL MEDIA

6 Things You Need to Do to BE A GREAT MENTOR

5 SIMPLE MINDSET SHIFTS THAT WILL HELP YOU

ACHIEVE YOUR GOALS

FEATURED PROPERTY MANAGERS

CARMELO CARRASCO CARMEN VERHOEVEN KYLE McCAW COVER STORY

ANDREA JACOBI

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6 Things You Need to Do to Be a Great Mentor

Everyone reaches the point in their career where they feel they have gained enough experience and wisdom about business and what it takes to succeed, to actually help someone else achieve the same. Although you may have trained or given advice over the years, taking on the official status as a mentor to someone is a whole new ball game.

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Although mentorship is an unpaid endeavor, you’ll be surprised to find out how much you’ll gain from the experience. You’ll also grow as a business person through the process of teaching someone else. It’s also an endeavor that many will pay forward one day, creating a business atmosphere that is based more on mutual success than competition, which is better for everyone.

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If you were mentored, you may already have an idea of what it entails, and what you liked or didn’t like in your mentor/mentee relationship. Although it is a personal relationship that will need an individual approach, there are certain things that are key when it comes to being a great mentor: 1. Be a good listener

est about your own failures. It can be a huge relief to find out someone they look up to has gone through similar experiences and still managed to come out on top. As we all know, oftentimes the greatest lessons come from failures, which can be times when our character is truly tested. Building trust through mutual respect and honesty will make every aspect of your mentorship more effective.

You’re basically a sounding board who needs to hear your mentee’s ideas, plans and goals in order to advise them. Strong, constant and clear communication is key to any successful mentoring relationship.

Sometimes just letting them talk things out with you, will lead to them to discovering the solution they were looking for.

2. Set expectations and goals at the start When listening to your mentee in your first meeting about the potential relationship, it’s important to establish the parameters of what that relationship will be: What can you give them? What do they need or expect from you? Once the terms are agreed upon, you may want to set specific goals you’ll be working on together so that there’s a defined plan of action, timeline and result you can both expect.

3. Be honest This is important when it comes to offering them constructive criticism or tough love, but more importantly, you need to be honTop Agent Magazine

4. Get them to think, don’t make decisions for them Sometimes being a mentor is being a bit like a psychologist. By asking certain ques-

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tions you can lead your mentee to their own conclusions about their business dilemmas and strategies to reach their goals. Being a mentor is all about guidance. Build confidence by drawing out the best in your mentee rather than just presenting them with solutions.

5. Look at the situation objectively One of the key strengths you offer your mentee is a complete emotional detachment to their business. You have no sentimental attachment to doing things a certain way or working with an incompetent vendor because you ‘go way back’. Your only motive is what’s best for your mentee and their business. Although emotions cans still get in the way sometimes, having a detached perspective on hand to guide you is invaluable.

6. Don’t just offer constructive criticism, be supportive Yes, being a mentor is sometimes advising your mentee that he’s doing something ineffectively, but your main purpose is to alway approach everything like cheerleader.

You need to let them know that through it 6

all, you are a reliable support to them and have a complete belief in their abilities.

Make sure to always praise their accomplishments.

Remember: your job as a mentor is more about guidance than constant feedback.

Your goal is to help someone become the best they can be, not someone who just does everything the way you do it. You’re helping them build confidence in their own intuition, which will hopefully lead to a lifetime of success, and one day, they too might be a valuable resource to another mentee down the road.

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ANDREA JACOBI

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ANDREA JACOBI Andrea Jacobi of Seattle, Washington, has built an established enterprise with Windermere Property Management over the course of two and a half decades.

“The longevity of my career means I am consistent, communicative, and reliable.

It’s not always the most glamorous job, but it’s rewarding when it’s done well.”

Originally, Andrea owned a coffee shop in a commercial building, and her prior experience as a tenant, combined with her entrepreneurial spirit and her relationship with her landlord, pushed her to make the transition twenty-six years ago. “While I was in the thought process of selling the coffee shop, the landlord asked me, ‘What is your next plan?’ I said ‘I have no idea!’ Then he offered me a position as a leasing agent at Windermere Prop-

erty Management. It was as simple as that – I haven’t looked back since!” Presently, Andrea works as a solo property manager with a single full time assistant and a large team of administrative support at Windermere. She manages one hundred and fifty separate properties in the Seattle proper area, with roughly five percent of her business trickling over to the east side. With her position cemented in the industry, Andrea boasts a book of business that is one hundred percent referral based, and almost eighty percent of her total transactions are working with repeat clients.

The cornerstone of Andrea’s success has been her long standing relationships with investors and tenants alike. “We specialize in tenant placement services for people

Andrea Jacobi works as a solo property manager at Windermere Property Management. “The longevity of my career means I am consistent, communicative, and reliable. It’s not always the most glamorous job, but it’s rewarding when it’s done well,”she says.

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Andrea’s connections, paired with the advertising and marketing expertise of Windermere, bolsters and supports her referral based practices. “Aside from our own property management page, we market on Rent. com and Zillow, and smaller, more local pages as well.”

with single family homes. We primarily take care of investment properties or properties with owners who needed to quickly relocate.” The breadth and scope of Andrea’s responsibilities include a daunting list of regular tasks, but her experience and connections makes them a simple matter of course.

“We handle everything for our clients.

Our ongoing monthly management includes collecting rent, taking care of any maintenance issues that come up, cleaning services, and all of the unforeseen complications that arise.”

Andrea’s industry expertise allows her to easily surmount predictable hurdles and adapt to the inexplicable. Her prowess has established lifelong connections with some of her clients: “My owner relationships are fantastic, and the flexibility of the work has allowed me to be able to work from home and raise two kids, who are now twenty Top Agent Magazine

and twenty-two. The work requires a lot of flexibility, but that also gives me a lot of opportunity!” Her connections, paired with the advertising and marketing expertise of Windermere, bolsters and supports her referral based practices. “Aside from our own property management page, we market on Rent.com and Zillow, and smaller, more local pages as well. Once it’s on Zillow, it’s pretty much everywhere.”

While her position at Windermere is solidified, Andrea is looking forward to the next chapter of her real estate career, which aims to include a position in sales.

“I want to dive into the sales side – it takes a special person to do that job too, but I’ve got what it takes.” She hopes to maintain the flexible schedule that affords her ample opportunity to enjoy the gorgeous outdoors, participate in any water or mountain activity, travel, and most importantly: “spend time with family, my children, and friends.”

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For more about Andrea, call 206-227-5803 email ajacobi@windermere.com or visit her website at windermere-pm.com www.

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Uncommon Contact:

Connecting with Clientele Through Social Media Social media is one of the newest and most powerful tools in an agent or mortgage professional’s arsenal. With just a few keystrokes, you can stay top-of-mind with buyers, sellers, and borrowers near and far, past and present. The key is knowing how to use these mediums to your advantage, working smarter instead of harder to keep the thread of professional relationships intact. With that in mind, here are a few ways you can maximize the pull and power of social media by shifting just a few of your ideas and practices for the better.

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Not everything has to be about business.

While your relationship with a client or fellow vendor began over the course of business, your relationship going forward doesn’t have to be limited. One of the great things about social media is that’s it’s social. Not every comment, post, or communication has to revolve around your business, its metrics, or turning a sale. In fact, you should do your best to branch out and curate a brand and online identity that’s about who you are and

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the lifestyle you’re authentically interested in living. In that vein, consider interacting with clients in an organically-driven way, encouraging them during life’s milestones, reaching out with a local event, restaurant, or news item that’s relevant to their interests or neighborhood. The goal is to be a persistent presence in their lives without feeling like a talking head. Engage as you would like to be engaged with, as a human being with interests and needs and boundaries. Keep that personal thread in mind and your dynamic will shift from past business contact to present resource.

Expand your medium.

Many Realtors are comfortable on Facebook as an interactive meeting to connect with clients, but there are several other mediums where you can connect with clients both past and present, as well as future. Particularly when courting Millennial clientele, the fastest-growing segment of the buying market, a presence on Instagram and Snapchat are key to finding new faces, demonstrating hot properties, and creating an interactive brand as an agent. Not only does this help when you’re listing a property and seeking potential buyers, but it also serves as a perusable portfolio of your work and real estate prowess. You can also use these mediums to interact with clients on an outlet they might feel most comfortable in. Liking pictures, commenting, streaming Instagram Live home tours and Stories are all ways you can build engagement by simply spreading your social media presence around. Likewise, 14

these photo and video driven mediums are popular for home design ideas, and before and after renovation pictures. When you expand from Facebook into these new platforms, you’ll already have plenty of visual content ready to be transferred and consumed by an expanded audience.

Don’t just react.

Create your own content.

It’s easy enough to post a link to a new listing, or retweet a helpful article on real estate news. Creating your own organic content is a different story, but worth its weight in gold when it comes to luring engagement, ranking higher in search fields, and overall crafting an interactive presence for yourself and your business online—which is where more than 90% of homebuyers and sellers begin their process. Creating your own content can seem risky, or else like no one is listening in a digital world already crowded with information. However, original content is sure to boost personal engagement with your social media pages, guaranteed.

Instead of recycling content, consider posting a video with a Q+A theme for first-time homebuyers, or perhaps posting a live tour of a new listing will perk up your clientele surfing at home.

No matter how you decide to expand your social media presence when it comes to interacting with clients, consistency is key.

Find the ways that work best for you and stick to them, and you’ll watch your audience and business grow in tandem.

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CARMEN VERHOEVEN

As an experienced business owner and serial entrepreneur, Carmen Verhoeven knows what it takes to build and manage a business. As a licensed Florida Realtor®, Carmen is enjoying a dual career as both an agent and a District Property Manager. She serves the fast-growing greater Jacksonville market. This area draws people from all over the world because of Florida’s beautiful climate and vast business opportunities.

As a District Manager, she oversees 400 properties and personally manages 200.

She works with a mix of single-family, multi-family and commercial properties 16

serving individual owners and investors.

Property management entails a large list of tasks that ensure things are running smoothly. Maintaining the physical property, accounting, leasing, and tenant relations are all essential parts of the job on any given day.

The majority of Carmen’s business come from return clients and referrals. She says that people come back when they feel they’ve been well taken care of, appreciate the level of service they’ve received and been heard and validated. Communication is key to her success. She stays in contact with investors on a weekly basis, providing Top Agent Magazine

detailed updates about what’s happening with their portfolio. She’s also in close contact with tenants and always accessible by phone or email. Over the course of a month, Carmen says she usually speaks to everyone at least once.

Carmen’s goal as a Realtor® is to make every real estate transaction as smooth as possible. What sets her apart in working with clients is the resources that she provides.

She’s also very thorough and walks clients through the entire home buying process including recommending a home inspection or lender. Carmen says that what she likes best about her work is the opportunity to create lasting relationships. Being part of people’s lives over the long term, as opposed to a single transaction, creates bonds that make them feel like family. Her happy clients help to grow her business; she says word of mouth is still the best advertising.

When she’s not working, Carmen loves to walk her dog in the park, spend time with her grown children and go to the gym.

She’s also active in the local community supporting organizations that work to prevent homelessness. Working with the VA to address veteran’s challenges in housing is something she’s especially committed to.

Going forward, Carmen wants to grow her business and continue to provide excellent service to the people she serves. She has found a career that allows her to use her strengths and experience deep personal satisfaction while helping to make others happy. It’s a winning combination that Carmen plans to continue well into the future.

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To learn more about Carmen please call 408-306-1300, email carmensellsjax@gmail.com or visit carmenverhoeven.robertslackflorida.com 17

5 Lessons from Silicon Valley to Modernize and Monetize Your Business Silicon Valley may be the region for disruptors, tech entrepreneurs, and futurists, but even the most forward-thinking, abstract companies are still businesses that have to keep tabs on their bottom line. There’s much to learn from America’s fastest-growing sector, and even if Silicon 18

Valley seems like a world unto its own, there are key lessons prime for adaption in your own endeavors. Below, consider a few ways to translate the trends and teachings of Silicon Valley for your own business, and reap the rewards in the process.

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1. Diversify your value Real estate is a business built on relationships, but your relationships will go stale if the only thing you communicate is you interest in making a sale. In order to sustain relationships for the long term, you’ve got to remain valuable to your clients beyond the transaction. Serve as a local resource, not just a salesperson or real estate expert. Ensure your marketing materials, social media presence, and communications offer useful, relevant, and original content your clients will benefit from. What’s more, vary your communications so that every time you reach out it’s not just about new business or a referral.

2. Company culture matters Silicon Valley tech giants always emphasize the importance of company culture—not just as a way of drawing and retaining talent, but also as a way to appeal to clientele. What are your company’s values? What do you stand for? How you’re positioned in the marketplace is becoming just as important as what you do and how well you do it. Your company culture is part of your branding, and your brand should feel clear and composed to clients eyeing your services.

3.Think big picture More and more, clients want to have an experience, not just a transaction. When it comes to buying a home, this means they care more about a property’s bedroom and bathroom count. As an agent, consider showcasing properties in terms of lifestyle. What neighborhood amenities are nearby? What opportunities are there for community involvement? How does public Top Agent Magazine

transportation stack up in the area? Before making the purchase of a lifetime, clients want to envision a complete lifestyle.

4. Leverage multiple platforms By now, you probably recognize that social media is not afterthought. Your social media presence should fit your brand and voice, interact across platforms, and actively engage with your audience. In other words, if you want to reap the benefits of social media, it’s not enough to post a few times a month and walk away. Active engagement means responding to comments, interacting with your followers’ profiles, and posting original content beyond a sales pitch.

Likewise, you’ll want to be active across multiple social media platforms and ensure that your profiles are interconnected. That way, you’ll be working from a unified voice and brand.

5. Reputations rule the roost Never underestimate the power of word-ofmouth marketing and testimonials. If you haven’t asked for feedback from past clients, and you aren’t sharing positive testimonials and reviews—you’re missing out on one of the most powerful tools at an agent’s disposal. You can pitch the virtues of your working style all day long, but those courting your business want to hear about positive experiences from the client’s perspective.

If you want to take your business to the next level and maximize the twenty-first century values of a company on the rise, look to the lessons of Silicon Valley to get your start. There are always opportunities to innovate, and doing so will help you break from your routine and stand apart from the pack.

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CARMELO CARRASCO Dedicated to helping both real estate investors and clients find the property management solutions that are right for them, Carmelo Carrasco upholds a high standard of service as he enters his 27th year in residential property management. As Co-Founder and COO of Axel Property Management, Carmelo connects investors and residents with the resources to ensure their success.

Carmelo and his team at Axel Property Management serve the Lehigh Valley and the surrounding areas, including Allentown, Bethlehem, Easton, and more.

Since launching the company this past April, Carmelo and his team have expanded their portfolio to almost 200 doors in less than 6 months. It’s an astounding feat that speaks to the high level of confidence investors and residents have in Carmelo and his team. “We’ve really flourished, and we’ve grown organically from word of mouth,” Carmelo says.

It’s easy to see why word has spread so quickly. “To us it’s not always about price, it’s about the value we bring,” Carmelo explains. Carmelo is a member of the Institute of Real Estate Management, and has been for his entire career. He is an Accredited Residential Manager and a CPM candidate. Carmelo also has completed all the requirements to become a Real Estate Broker in Pennsylvania, and will acquire that license this year. “When you work with us, you’re dealing with a professional who’s been doing this for a long time,” Carmelo says. “I understand the real estate management business and how to handle every aspect of it. I’ve also completed over $6 million-plus in renovations and home improvement projects, and I’ve handled acquisitions, due diligence, onboarding, and new construction lease up for thousands of units in my career.”

Carmelo and his team develop an individually tailored plan for every investor they work with. “Whether an investor comes to me looking to scale and grow their business, or they have more units than they can handle on their own, I sit down with them and create a strategic plan. We find out what their vision is, and we design a playbook for every investor so we can figure out exactly what they’re looking to do and what they want to get out of real estate investing. We will help you and be your bridge to success: guiding you, being on your team, and making sure you’re being led directly to where you want to be.”

Carmelo is likewise compassionate and caring when working with residents, and he is guided by his own personal experience growing up. “I grew up with a single mom who worked very hard, and I see my mom every day in this business,” Carmelo says. He helps tenants find government programs and funding to help keep a roof over their heads when times are tough. It’s all part of the job for Carmelo. “I try to educate investors about how to be good landlords, and educate residents on how to be good tenants. I represent both sides, and you can always tell when the owner has pride of ownership and the resident has pride in where they live.”

Looking toward the future, Carmelo plans on scaling his business to over 500 doors in the coming years. He also plans on growing the team and looks forward to serving the need for a premier property management company in the local market. “There was a need for someone like us to bring the value, experience, and knowledge to help maintain those properties and serve the community,” Carmelo says. “We want to make sure we are providing good quality housing in the areas we serve. That’s our vision.”

To find out more about Carmelo, please call 610-424-3744 email carmelo@axelpm.com or visit AxelPM.com www.

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5 Simple Mindset Shifts That Will Help You Achieve Your Goals

Everyone knows that a positive attitude is one of the key steps to achieving success. It’s very easy to let negativity bring you down and oftentimes, people end up quitting at the first set back. Even if you don’t think of yourself as a negative person, you’re probably doing numerous things you don’t even realize are holding you back.

Recognizing these negative mindsets, and then implementing simple mindset shifts, are sure to help you not only create a more positive outlook, but a more successful outcome to whatever goal you’re trying to achieve.

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Turn jealousy into admiration

It’s very easy to look at someone who has what you want, and feel envious, which quickly turns into criticism and excuses about why you weren’t able to get what they seemed to get with ease. This is something successful people never do. Instead, they recognize that the only thing keeping them from success is themselves.

If you want what someone else has, you should look to them as a role model. What

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are they doing that you aren’t? There’s probably more to their story than you’re giving them credit for. Someone else’s success doesn’t hinder your ability to do the same, but constantly having a ‘life’s not fair’ attitude definitely will.

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Tackle the things you dread doing first

We all procrastinate to some extent. Usually it’s things we don’t want to do. But when you put something like that off, it creates a serious cloud over your whole day.

Experts recommend getting those things out of the way first. Not only do get it crossed off your list, but you will feel energized by your accomplishments and tackle the day with even more force.

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Don’t make decisions based on emotion

Reaching goals, especially long term ones, can have a lot of ups and downs. The key to achieving them is to stay level-headed during setbacks, really focusing on your plan and how the setback fits into your long term vision.

If you have a solid plan in place, you could be destroying months of hard work with one rash emotional decision, that is probably coming from a place of panic.

When you’re feeling emotional...wait.

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you’re back in a rational state of mind and take it from there.

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Learn to love feedback

It’s very easy to be thrown off by negative feedback or constructive criticism. No one likes it. But when it comes to achieving your goals, you need to be able to hear it, assess it and then make an unemotional decision about what it means to you and your success.

In fact the business world’s most successful leaders are there because they not only take in that feedback, they actually constantly ask for it. Fresh perspectives on what you’re doing are always valuable. When you’re in the thick of it, it can be hard to see what needs improvement. Asking a trusted peer or advisor can be instrumental in keeping the momentum on reaching your goal going.

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Replace a fixed mindset with a growth mindset

You might be wondering what the difference between the two are. A fixed mindset thinks that growing intelligence or skills is impossible, while a growth mindset thinks those things can be developed.

People with a growth mindset are more likely to expand beyond their comfort zone, since they really believe almost anything is possible with hard work. And if it isn’t?

They’re willing to give it a try. Being willing to try and fail, is a key element to reaching even the most lofty goals.

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KYLE MCCAW Kyle McCaw is a passionate real estate broker and property manager based out of Texas. He’s dedicated to helping his community build wealth through the power of real estate investment.

Kyle’s passion began during his days at Texas A&M University and has only grown since then. Following graduation, he purchased several investment properties, with his first duplex he realized this path’s wealth potential. In just three months, he bought his second duplex, which deepened his appreciation for real estate.

After becoming an agent in 2003, Kyle dedicated himself to helping others achieve the same financial freedom and security. Along that path, he managed numerous duplexes and apartment complexes throughout the Columbus, OH, area. After accumulating many successful properties, he relocated to Dallas-Fort Worth to be closer to his family. In 2008, Kyle founded McCaw Property Management after being certified as a Texas real estate broker. His team helps clients all over the metro areas of Texas, but their bread and butter remains in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

Kyle’s core philosophy is to make investing easier for residential property owners. Real estate investing has many benefits, and he is happy to share his knowledge. That’s why he uses his first-hand knowledge and a wealth of experience to provide comprehensive management services.

He understands that the realities of property investing can pose numerous problems, such as dealing with difficult tenants, property maintenance, and more. Kyle and his team at McCaw Property Management focus on anticipating and meeting the needs of both clients

and tenants. Whether that means providing detailed financial reporting, streamlining tenant requests, or providing effective screening for potential tenants, his team is happy to help.

What sets Kyle apart from other real estate professionals is his ability to see the investment potential in a property paired with over 20 years of managing rehab projects and construction efforts. He believes that guiding people to make the most of their investments can help them build a sense of security for their loved ones while establishing their legacy.

Kyle is not only growth-oriented but also values family, honesty, trust, and investing in the community. For this reason, he is a member of professional organizations such as the National Association of Residential Property Managers (NARPM) and the Board of Realtors.

Texas A&M still plays a large part in Kyle’s life. He is often found volunteering his time at the McFerrin Center for Entrepreneurship. Among his favorites programs are the Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans and the MBA Venture Challenge. McCaw Property Management has also been recognized by Texas A&M as one of the fastest growing Aggie owned business.

If the past is any indication of the future, we can expect Aggie 100 again soon.

These values of connection keep the business in a constant state of growth. They now manage over 800 properties in addition to helping buyers lease directly.

McCaw Property Management’s connection to multiple Texas MLS systems and syndication to over 60 targeted websites put their properties in front of the right eyes every time.

For more information about Kyle McCaw, email Kyle@McCawPM.com and call 817-491-2553 Top Agent Magazine

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