The Neighborhood Realtor

Building Out a Niche in Luxury After Selling Timeshares — Moriah Taliaferro, FL

September 27, 2022 Matt Muscat
The Neighborhood Realtor
Building Out a Niche in Luxury After Selling Timeshares — Moriah Taliaferro, FL
Show Notes Transcript

Moriah Taliaferro is a Sarasota real estate agent and recognized as a brilliant 30 under 30 entrepreneur. 

 Jumping from college intern to licensed agent, Moriah began her career selling timeshares. She was sucked into the real estate industry, and began building relationships. Her internship turned into a sponsored real estate licensing opportunity—an opportunity she seized! She built the foundations of her career on timeshares. 

 By the time she was 22, she partnered with a local developer building new, luxury homes. That developer trusted her enough to let her begin selling for them, but she had to prove herself as a realtor, let alone a 22 year-old, to build a meaningful business with them. For Moriah, it was baptism by fire. She won the trust of this low-inventory, high-end developer, and forged her way into a profound career. 

 Moriah built a niche for herself in the luxury markets, and produced $29 million in 2021. One of her biggest wins was an $85 million luxury construction project she co-sold. 

Old school tactics is how Moriah won in the local construction real estate market. She found limited help in modern data reporting tools, and even the MLS was nearly useless for her work! Many times, when it came to her knowledge of her niche in the market, she was in the dark. Instead, she opted to pick up the phone to talk to other real estate agents, build relationships, and share information— a tried and true strategy from days past. Moriah eventually built a reputation for having a pulse on the market like no other agent in town. 

 She also creates an experience for her buyers like few other agents do. Every phone call she makes, she asks herself— is this worth their time? Luxury clients do not need to be sold, nor do they want to be sold. They’ll let you know when they’re ready. They call you first, and it will never be the other way around. 

 Moriah also hosts a variety of events to cater to all different types of clients and interests. It allows her to get to know her clients, and her clients to get to know each other. Luxury is an experience, not a price. 

 For people looking to break into the real estate industry, Moriah has one main piece of advice: become an assistant. Don’t jump in, but get as close to the fire as possible. This will force you to find a mentor and become a sponge for information and tactics. All of the rewards with none of the risk. Relationships are practically handed to you.  

 Connect with Moriah

The Neighborhood Realtor is proudly sponsored by Treadstone Funding and Neighborhood Loans. For more tangible tips in real estate marketing, check out Matt's book, The Tangible Action Guide for Real Estate Marketing available on Amazon.


Matt M.

Welcome to the Marketing and Other Markets podcast with me and my staff. This is a podcast for real estate industry professionals. We're doers. Each episode will feature an interview with a top producer, someone who's doing things differently, and an exciting way for those who already know me or have read my books and blogs. My brand of marketing is tangible and repeatable because we don't all need to reinvent the wheel every episode.

 

Matt M.

My promise to you that you will live with at least one tangible idea that you can execute.

 

Matt M.

Hey, everybody, thanks for tuning in today. Some marketing in other markets. Today I am unbelievably excited to have on with me a 30 under 30. Although you had birthdays like I don't totally know that still counts. So excited for you. Yes, you're welcome. So they were sitting down with Mariah. Tell us, Taliaferro.

 

Moriah T.

How you got it.

 

Matt M.

Awesome. I tried my hardest and she's with. Are these in Sarasota, Florida. So although most of the year, that's where everybody wants to be right now. I mean, it's the same temperature everywhere in the world. I heard that's.

 

Moriah T.

True.

 

Matt M.

She's kind of like, we're all at 100 degrees today, so.

 

Moriah T.

We kind of are crazy. Yeah, it is.

 

Matt M.

Right. Tell us. We talked last week and you had such an amazing story on where you started to where you are now. Like, so like walk us through your origin story of where behind and kind of what it led to because I'm going to stop you 20 times during your story because that's okay. Because I want to dove deeper on.

 

Matt M.

But I let you go.

 

Moriah T.

Yeah. Okay. So, well, my real estate journey really started in college. I started an internship with Wyndham Vacation Ownership in Destin, Florida, where I was selling timeshare. And they had this incentive that if you got your real estate license, you would actually be able to make commissions and if you like, sold a certain amount, they would pay for your real estate course and all your enrollment cost.

 

Moriah T.

And my mom was in the business and she was like, you know, why don't you just do that? Having your real estate license is awesome. At the time, I was thinking I was going to move to a big metropolitan city and so a completely different product. So real estate was never in the in the forefront of my mind, but I did it and I had a bunch of fun.

 

Moriah T.

I ended up becoming like third top sales representative for that. For that internship, I was able to sell enough to have enough income for my next year of college, and it was just like a whole game changer for me. So from there I.

 

Matt M.

Started, I'm going to stop here for a sec because you said something really impactful to me that I really want other people to hear, especially if you if you're thinking about going to real estate. And that's the fact that you are any real estate ish industry. Right. And you loved it and you did well in it. Like, I think that is a huge lesson for people out there.

 

Matt M.

If you are in that industry and you hated it and you sucked at it, it would be a good thing that you didn't go into real estate because.

 

Moriah T.

It's so true.

 

Matt M.

Skill set. It's a mindset and it's a skill set. But I think that anyone listening out there, like think about what industry you're in and what relatable skills it has that you already know that you're good at, and that the decision to get into real estate that much easier because all they're doing when you switched over was you jumped into a higher commission product.

 

Moriah T.

With.

 

Matt M.

More control over your clients and more control over the products that you wanted to work with. So I love.

 

Moriah T.

Absolutely. Yeah. And I'll add to that like a little bit of advice, you know, especially those that might be at a crossroads. Generally, what you're really good at is something that you're going to like doing because we all like to win, right? So really be honest with yourself. What are you good at? Because you're likely going to flourish in that area and you're going to enjoy that because you have a better quality of life or you just really love what you do because it's constant success.

 

Moriah T.

Our brains are wired to love progress. And if you're continuing to progress in the in an area, you know, stick with that.

 

Matt M.

Do you mean that I should stop this podcast now and go to become a Somalia?

 

Moriah T.

Yeah, maybe you should. Oh, my gosh. I love that.

 

Matt M.

Yeah, like I'm getting better online by the day, but I think real estate's still my favorite.

 

Moriah T.

But yeah.

 

Matt M.

We'll get to later. But there are fun ways to integrate your other passions that are just interest into your.

 

Moriah T.

Absolutely.

 

Matt M.

So you went from timeshares to your your brokerage after that?

 

Moriah T.

Correct. So, yeah. So I had one more year of college and then after graduation, I went down to Florida to work to Sarasota, Florida, where I'd gone to high school and started with Coldwell Banker, working with my mom. And so I was there for about six months. I really helped my mom and her business and kind of got a master's degree on what it was like to sell real estate, actual general real estate.

 

Moriah T.

And she had a pretty flourishing business at the time. And after about six months, I kind of moved more into new development sales. I had a real estate developer asked me to join them to sell their boutique luxury projects.

 

Matt M.

You got to pay.

 

Moriah T.

Me, which was cool.

 

Matt M.

Yeah, I need to know more about that because everyone I know is going to be thinking, Well, obviously she's doing a ton of business now. She got handed a free ride of a bunch of million dollar properties like was through what you had done that got you that answer really to give people across you know, everyone out there is not going to be the development person but right.

 

Matt M.

It's something so like casting.

 

Moriah T.

Did.

 

Matt M.

To get that opportunity. I want to hear about that.

 

Moriah T.

Yeah. So it took a lot of proving my capability because I was 22 years old. This developer didn't really think that a 22 year old could, number one, sell new construction and sell it to a high net worth clientele. So I had to really prove that I could and so he gave me a test run. He gave me a client that I could sell a house to.

 

Moriah T.

I did a really great job. I had a rating reviews from that client. And so it really took proving myself for about six months before he actually hired me. And it wasn't just working with the client, it was maintaining a relationship with him being able to get in front of him as much as I possibly could in various social settings and networking with his the other people in his company, like his VP of Sales, kind of winning them all over and it worked.

 

Matt M.

How did you do them in the first place?

 

Moriah T.

So actually, my it's funny, this is my mom sat an open house trying to sell his project before he was actually even listing it with anyone. So she and he walked up to her. She had no idea who this guy was. She didn't know that this was his building, that he was building. So she kind of treated him just like any other client and he really liked that.

 

Moriah T.

And so they kind of built somewhat of a connection and she really, really encouraged him to actually meet me. So that little shout out to my mom, you know, she she really knew how to win somebody over by providing really great service. And I learned that from her by working with her for six months. And then that gave me the foot in the door to actually meet this developer.

 

Matt M.

So, yeah, I hope that you send her like an amazing Mother's Day gift every.

 

Moriah T.

Year, right? Of course.

 

Matt M.

So, I mean, for everyone out there like this, like what she said sounds like she got lucky and then she did all the right things. But that's not the case at all.

 

Moriah T.

Because relax.

 

Matt M.

You put yourself in the right position in order to then have an at bat. And then you fought for that and wowed them and continue to wow them, which solidified your position. Something like how do this? And I think the answer is, number one, your mom met the guy at open houses. So if you want to get into luxury developments, offer it for free a million times a year to sit at an open house for these people.

 

Moriah T.

Totally.

 

Matt M.

Well, I think a lot of times people don't reach out to expensive javelins because they're scared. Really? Yeah. And a lot of those developers don't think about holding as many open houses because especially in the low inventory market. Oh, yeah, they don't need to. And so you offer to do something and then it starts working and then you get to an opportunity.

 

Matt M.

Even if no one walks through those open houses to show your communication style, to show like who you are as a person and what they can expect that some new idea will lead to. But if you do that multiple times in a strategic way, it's going to lead to totally. You just have to.

 

Moriah T.

Absolutely.

 

Matt M.

I love that.

 

Moriah T.

So true.

 

Matt M.

So you started with him. Where did it go from there?

 

Moriah T.

Yeah. So I worked with him for about two years and during that two years, I really drove into everything in construction. But one of the things that I realized is that the MLS doesn't actually report new construction sales in a way that is is usable to when you're pulling stats, when you're actually trying to track the market. And new construction is it is of course, within the same market, but it kind of follows a different a different timeline on sales price reductions.

 

Moriah T.

Price increases are different with selling new condos. And so because of that, I wanted to monitor how my project was performing compared to others. And when that data wasn't actually available, I just picked up the phone and called all the representatives of these various projects and create a spreadsheet, and I would update that spreadsheet every month and send it out to everyone that was in that I was calling, asking for their sales numbers and whatnot.

 

Moriah T.

So why do you.

 

Matt M.

Do you know, I mentioned that you were 30 under 30. So obviously you're at the age of 30 now, but it's obviously in the 2020s, which I think.

 

Moriah T.

For.

 

Matt M.

Everyone out there to realize is this is a textbook real estate strategy that people are using in the 1950s and sixties. This is not this is how realtors got told to call other realtors to find out what was going on. This is before anything, because you did this for your personal knowledge and expertize. Yes. If you saw a void in the market and you were able to purchase something and build a value that no one else had, you created staff that then had a year of entry for anyone else to get into.

 

Matt M.

And I think whether like number one, if you're a realtor listening to this and you're in a market and there isn't already a mariah, you could be that person. But normally it doesn't just work. It works for more than just developments. It works for being the master of every piece of data in your community and being being the most knowledgeable person on a certain area.

 

Matt M.

All right, keep your total in you. Yeah.

 

Moriah T.

Oh, no, you're good. So. So, yeah. So I developed that that spreadsheet. And I think by doing that, it kind of it helps build a relationship with these very various sales representatives. And one of them actually, she moved back into general sales and at the time she was merging with another top agent to kind of create like a team and they needed someone that was going to be their admin and marketing person.

 

Moriah T.

And somehow I just popped into their head and I don't really know how that happened, but I know I did.

 

Matt M.

On similar organized with all of your spreadsheets, you're so helpful that you were a good communicator. Orders. I mean, that's exactly why it happened.

 

Moriah T.

That's probably exactly right. Yes. Yes. And so I kind of attributed to all of those things. So so yeah. So when they needed that, she called me up, I interviewed with them and got the job. So they worked with Premier Sotheby's at the time and so I joined their team and essentially helped them run their entire business. It was kind of during this transition period for all of them, so it gave me an opportunity to step in and I just took on a lot of different roles.

 

Moriah T.

I really help them with transaction management. I actually did a lot of the negotiations, an enormous amount of the showing. So there is when I got a master's degree on how to sell real estate, but specifically to another luxury type of clientele, but not when it came to new construction. This is resale. So it was like I took the resale experience that I had with my mom.

 

Moriah T.

I took the new construction high hire network client clientele, and then I was able to combine the two while I was working with these women as well as, you know, adding in my experience with like business management and marketing that I learned in school. So it was like kind of cool how I was able to combine all those things.

 

Matt M.

So I was like a safe. There's also a safety piece there, kind of like I always tell, it's like you can start on your own, you can try to do it on your own. There are some people that have success with that. It's a combination of you, your network, your effort to market everything. But the way that you did it was kind of like slow and steady learning, learning, learning, which also gives you confidence because, you know, oh yeah, you before you make time close to top producer level, you had only done more transactions than the top nine.

 

Matt M.

The 99% of realtors in your market. It's so true experiencing like we do the same thing with our on a mortgage team. Anyone that wants to be a salesperson. The answer is usually no. Unless, you know, through setup and processing and being able, yeah, you have to work out a thousand deals under a top producer before you can go out on your own.

 

Matt M.

Because then when you do, we have the confidence that you are going to crush it and that you know your stuff and.

 

Moriah T.

That exceptional.

 

Matt M.

Personal benefit. But also.

 

Moriah T.

Hopefully.

 

Matt M.

You made some money along the way. It takes away the risk on an absolutely top producer.

 

Moriah T.

It's so true. It's it's invaluable. And I would encourage, like any new agent that's considering this industry become an assistant, it is the best way to learn the ins and outs of the business. And like you said, there's no risk and there's a ton of reward with it. So yeah, so I do that. And you meet people. Oh, yeah.

 

Moriah T.

So you, you yeah. You get a lot more exposure. Not only are you meeting your peers and you're associated with their branding and their name, but you're also meeting different types of clients. Like if they have a listing, you're able to do their open houses and those open houses are going to attract a different type of buyer. So it's a great way to break into a market that you wouldn't typically be able to break into.

 

Moriah T.

Not very many new agents can break into the luxury market. You really have to kind of start at the bottom and kind of move up to the top. So so yeah, it was just really it was a great experience to be able to do that now in 2020, I kind of reached a point where I wanted to get back into sales.

 

Moriah T.

I didn't want to keep doing the sales for them. I want to do them for myself. And so I, I went into sales on their team. And then in 2021, actually, I'm almost hitting my year anniversary. I moved strictly into an independent agent and started to kind of form more of a team, which is where I'm at now.

 

Matt M.

So going to walk over there, we always talk numbers on the show. What was your production 2021?

 

Moriah T.

Yeah, so my regional production in 2021 was about 29 million. And then in addition to that, I sold I sold a luxury downtown luxury new construction project that was a total of 85 million. So we were able to sell that all in one year and four months because the market was so hot. So that production kind of sort of goes into 2021, but it doesn't actually close until next year.

 

Moriah T.

So it was a lot of fun.

 

Matt M.

So your production was somewhere in between 30 million and 110 million?

 

Moriah T.

Yeah, something like that.

 

Matt M.

That's pretty. I mean, it seems like, you know, for anyone, even if you're not in that like ultra luxury range, I mean, you always have a lot of stuff pending. You never know what's going to pan out, but oh yeah, you put the work in, the results come in. So at that point.

 

Moriah T.

Yes.

 

Matt M.

No matter what calendar, you're you're.

 

Moriah T.

Exactly, exactly. You're going to get paid regardless.

 

Matt M.

It's also really cool because you have a niche, right? So like here, again, like I don't want people to turn this episode off because you're not into development or because you're not interested in one of the main messages here is that you're a realtor and you're a realtor and you're a new construction development expert. Yes, someone else. So there could be something else.

 

Matt M.

But you have to have somewhat of a niche in addition.

 

Moriah T.

Yeah.

 

Matt M.

I'm sure if I called, you sell my you know, I wish I had a $10 million house in South Florida, but I think it's probably a 10th of that value. So would you still sell a normal million dollar house? Oh, yeah, absolutely. Yes. But yeah, you need to have a focus. You had a reason for people to call you that aren't like people that are going to use you anyways.

 

Moriah T.

Absolutely. And that has to be something.

 

Matt M.

I have a realtor here who specializes in horse farms now. All of her business horse farms? No, but she gets every single horse from property that hits the market. And that's her passion.

 

Moriah T.

That's awesome.

 

Matt M.

But she's still doing 20 to 30 normal single family homes every year, but they both that's awesome. So slowly walk me through, you know so for the for the non development side of your business. Yeah what are you doing to really like I know in the luxury market especially you really have to love on people because everyone is competing for that business.

 

Matt M.

Whether or not they think that 520 realtor meetings in a week, I asked them what their goals are and you can almost guess what they're I want to do more in the luxury market. Yeah, look, obviously.

 

Moriah T.

Yeah, right.

 

Matt M.

How are you ensuring that your luxury clients stay with you? What are you what do you do?

 

Moriah T.

Yeah.

 

Matt M.

How are you staying in touch. What kind of marketing are you doing? Give us all the juicy details.

 

Moriah T.

I think the biggest thing is it's a mentality shift. You're no longer selling real estate, you're advising them because like their financial planner or their lawyer, like these are experts in the field and they call upon them when they need advice. And so that's the position I always took. I wanted to equip myself with as much information I could about market stats, whatever projects are coming on board, just having the most knowledge that I could possibly have to advise that client not only when they're looking to buy or sell, but just kind of in general.

 

Moriah T.

So that meant every year we send out a report on what what the value of their property is. We're going to start doing that on a quarterly basis. But it's also courting them a lot, getting together with them, networking with them even more, having wine tastings, having events with them, you know, developing interests that they're interested in. You know, a lot of people that I work with are entwined.

 

Moriah T.

So when you said something, I'm like, maybe I should become that. I'd be kind of cool just to hone that focus. So I think, you know, kind of going back to the original question, it's staying in touch with them, but also providing really valuable information to them on a on a very regular basis.

 

Matt M.

I love that. Also, number one, the first thing that I heard from you was luxury clients do not want to be sold and they don't need to be sold. They're going to let you know when they can do anything. But your job, when you're staying in touch with them isn't to do the phone call to say, hey, I know you're super busy, like you're ultra rich and wealthy, but like I'm a realtor still like you.

 

Moriah T.

Really know.

 

Matt M.

That doesn't work. But that's know most agents approach their past clients to do these calls to the broker told.

 

Moriah T.

Yeah.

 

Matt M.

Now and it's kind of like it's better than absolutely nothing. Right really makes you more of like a cheesy salesperson. Oh yeah. We're all like the hard working relationship that you put into it. I mean, actually, it can be rude. Yeah, but what.

 

Moriah T.

You do.

 

Matt M.

Is you make sure that you know all of your numbers, you learn everything you possibly can about everything that's happening in the markets that concern your clients. Yeah, just communicated to them whether they like it or not. Just eventually, whenever they need to know any piece of information that they're going to call you constantly making sure that everyone's aware that you're the expert, you have all the information, you have all the referrals, any, and they follow you.

 

Matt M.

It's a win because it's not you calling them. And exactly, if you can be poised to be their expert for question, you're sure as hell poised to be their expert when they actually need to buy, sell or invest.

 

Moriah T.

Exactly. So drawbacks.

 

Matt M.

I absolutely love hearing that because that is so the mentality that we all want, that we should all be striving for. Yeah, sometimes we forget because it's so easy when you're marketing to like do this, kind of like set it and forget it. Marketing where every is the same thing. Yeah, not, it's not respectful I mean. Right. I think the biggest difference and I really hear your thoughts on this, but between the luxury market and everything else, is that when you're marketing in the luxury market, it's you have to like think, is this a good use?

 

Matt M.

Is my message a good use of that person's time?

 

Moriah T.

Exactly.

 

Matt M.

Marketing to them in a way that's befitting of it. And that goes.

 

Moriah T.

For my.

 

Matt M.

Wine that you're serving at your events, to the outfits that you wear. It goes it goes to absolutely. And I.

 

Moriah T.

Absolutely like.

 

Matt M.

When I go shopping, for instance. Right. Like if I'm buying a watch at the, you know, whatever place that they're offering me champagne when I get there, they are literally they will send an assistant to like watch my kids so that I can see for 5 minutes they're sitting here with you. I'm getting handwritten notes. They're making sure that they know my wife's first name.

 

Matt M.

They're asking if I in my partner, they're doing all of those things and they're doing that at 10% commission on a, you know, on a product that's not millions of dollars. I'm not my.

 

Moriah T.

Right.

 

Matt M.

Watches. Just know they're doing the difference between, you know, zero and a couple thousand bucks.

 

Moriah T.

Yeah, certainly.

 

Matt M.

Well, literally some spam emails to their million dollar clients. So not to know their kids names, it makes no sense.

 

Moriah T.

Such a good point. It's that's so, so true. And you know, Sotheby's has always had the tagline that, like, luxury is an experience, not a price point. And I think that's what we live by is it's there experience by working with us. And what does that look like and is it breathing luxury?

 

Matt M.

And let's let's back up that for a second. Love is an experience. Most of the homes in all of the markets that my listeners are in right now, a couple of the realtors do luxury only, and that's the lifestyle there. And so they, in essence, deliver a luxury experience to their clients, whether they know it or not.

 

Moriah T.

Yes.

 

Matt M.

But 80% of the luxury homes in every market are being sold by the realtor that also sells 100,000 homes that don't truly live the luxury lifestyle. And you don't have to. But what it means is that if you want to continue to have the market and to get referrals from the luxury client to their luxury friends, you have to step into that world list for that transaction.

 

Matt M.

You get the referrals.

 

Moriah T.

Exactly.

 

Matt M.

What I think is the important thing. Like, I don't need you to go out and buy ladies in order to get a referral from her.

 

Moriah T.

All right.

 

Matt M.

But the customer service you do, the events you do the the the closing gift that you give them, all of those.

 

Moriah T.

Absolutely.

 

Matt M.

Need to make sense, because when they do, the luxury person's house that you sold, their neighbor, who just had a non luxury experience on their last transaction, is going to see it. They're going to want to work with you.

 

Moriah T.

Absolutely.

 

Matt M.

For success to get those referrals. Since the other realtors that everyone else in the luxury is using are not truly luxury agents. So absolutely love that you're doing that. And I hope that everyone out there can start to think a little bit more.

 

Moriah T.

So definitely.

 

Matt M.

I know for your educational stuff, you talked a lot about YouTube when we were chatting. Yeah. What do you what are you doing on YouTube?

 

Moriah T.

Oh, I love doing YouTube. So I started doing YouTube about a year ago and my intent was just to create like a really great blog for clients that were looking to relocate to the area. And it was just to have like a library of information, visuals and things like that. Well, as we started posting, we started to optimize.

 

Moriah T.

It actually became a great lead generation source, which is awesome. And I think what I love the most about YouTube and what we've been able to do is it has qualified the type of person that I want because it's focused on people that are looking to move to our area, looking to move to probably more condos, waterfront properties.

 

Moriah T.

So that kind of already weeds out a lot of people and it also kind of brings them up to speed on like a lot of things before they actually ever come to this market. So it's been super effective of getting those high quality conversions, but also saving me a lot of time and effort and having to educate them over and over again about things that they can just go and watch a video on.

 

Moriah T.

So when they come down, we have a really effective visit that we can just, you know, look at the various neighborhoods that we've already decided or the ones that they probably are going to work or like and and we focus on those. So it's been great. I highly recommend people do that.

 

Matt M.

So that there's a lesson there for everybody. And that lesson is that you you did the YouTube thing and yes, now you are getting leads. But yeah, still be getting an insane amount of value even if those leads hadn't necessarily absolutely used those videos in an intelligent way to help the business that you already have.

 

Moriah T.

Yes, exactly.

 

Matt M.

Helps on the luxury thing because you're giving those people more value now for everyone else as well and you're adding value. So I think like one big lesson for videos and one big thing, I think everyone screws up marketing wise is that we all put all this effort into creating marketing. Yeah, most of us don't market it. So yeah, there's two different majors in college, right?

 

Matt M.

There's advertising and then there's more advertising degrees. Usually you're talking about graphic design, you're talking about what's the message, what are the hours where am I going to put it? Marketing is like, how am I going to get people to see this stuff? And so for one, like if you're one of the people out there that tried YouTube ten years ago because we've been talking about this for literally 15 years now, I've been talking over a lot.

 

Matt M.

My 11 years in real estate. Yeah. It didn't get you a lead. You did it for three months. You stopped doing it. Number one, who takes like six months to build it to start getting those leads for number two, who did you sell the videos to? Your staff, your own clients? You got a stupid post posting on social.

 

Matt M.

Yes. Start by like figuring out an alternate use for those videos on YouTube. Just hoping and praying that a lead them are there leads the description direct them back to your website.

 

Moriah T.

Right.

 

Matt M.

Actually helps with your SEO in addition to. Yeah. Just like having a lead source. Yeah. I think everyone out there needs to write this down and kind of ways to get there. Stop focusing on creation and start focusing on dissemination.

 

Moriah T.

Yes, that's such a good point. And it is a science. There is a science behind it. And the more the more research you do, the more information that you try. And how do you actually perfect your craft? It's not about just throwing a video out there. If I did that, it wouldn't be seen. So I had to learn about optimization.

 

Moriah T.

Now we're learning about actually paying for the content to be seen so we can scale it a lot more. So it's not an instant success. It's taken or going on in over a year now and you know, as of six months ago on starting to see leads. So, you know, there's an investment, both time, energy and money.

 

Matt M.

I love that. So for people that are that are doing a lot of developments out there or that want to do it, and how do you sell the unbuilt developments? Because you're kind of selling the dream. You're it's it's a completely different skill set in my opinion then like, hey, there's a pretty house out here, I can take you to it.

 

Matt M.

The house sells itself all that. Want to get more into developments or who who want to work with builders and whether you need to pitch like how do you sell that? Because I see a different skill set. Like there's a lot of Yeah.

 

Moriah T.

That's so true. There's so much faith involved. And I think it really is going to depend on on the developer, what marketing material are they willing to commit to? A lot of developers, especially the more boutique they're probably not going to invest in a lot of those renderings. So you have to get creative. How are you going to create a visual that people are going to buy into a building that could cost millions of dollars and that they have to put 30% down before it's even built?

 

Moriah T.

You do that by creating those visuals through like drone footage and trying to paint a picture of what the lifestyle would be. And I think the biggest thing is going to be selling the lifestyle that that project actually offers. It's not about a floor plan probably 90% of the time when I'm having a presentation with someone, we breeze over the floor plan because they just kind of like, Yeah, it's going to work.

 

Moriah T.

It's the square footage that we need. It's the amount of bedrooms. Maybe I care about where the kitchen is, but it's more about the lifestyle that it's going to offer, both in the building and outside of the community itself. So getting those visuals, I think, is super important, but you have to also build a lot of trust. So part of that is having the knowledge on everything about that project, understanding the basic construction things that they're going to probably ask about, like what is the insulation between the walls, flooring?

 

Moriah T.

Am I going to hear my neighbors and having like actual the actual techniques that the developers are using to prevent noise from passing through those walls like that's going to build trust those little examples because they have to be building trust with you, but also in the project itself and of course in the developer. But you're the first contact.

 

Moriah T.

So if they don't like you and they don't think that you have the knowledge that they feel comfortable moving forward with the project, we're not going to do it. So you kind of are the gatekeeper. Yeah.

 

Matt M.

I think to that goes through like a lot of like when they Google you, what's going to pop up when they talk to you in social? Are they going to see that you're already clearly the expert in this or does your does your presence? Yeah, I see that you're the expert there. And that can really. Yes. Be harmful.

 

Matt M.

But getting back to like the rendering, so you mentioned you oftentimes are the one that has to get those renderings done. And then the bigger the development, you're typically working with savvy, your developers who done this. Sure. But I knew in my market a lot of the new developments are done by like one off, one off groups and then the real.

 

Matt M.

Yeah, they're really in charge of all of the marketing and there's still so many that I see when I'm searching for homes across the country where it's basically like an in-house agent at a development company and there's Yeah. Marketing, I mean, there's no run. Yeah, there's maybe a floor plan and a picture of a freaking field with some weeds.

 

Matt M.

There's no dream, there's nothing to be sold. And there's a forever. And then a realtor approaches that developer and says, Hey, would you care if I foot the expense to having some renderings done? And then all of a sudden I'm like, Obviously, if I get a lead, the only way for this to get closed is to give it to you.

 

Matt M.

So would you be cool if we partnered on that? I have so many agents who have taken that exact approach, brought it to a builder who has crappy marketing online. The builders like, yeah, I'll, I'll take free marketing and then they create something together.

 

Moriah T.

Yes. And then their next project they're going to use that agent.

 

Matt M.

Yes. And you then have a track record of success like marketing that you can show to everybody else.

 

Moriah T.

Exactly.

 

Matt M.

So if you're looking for a way to break into development out there, I think Mariah's idea of being the one to actually produce the marketing material and using that as your as your reason for a developer to want to work with you, you got to be cool. You got to be trustworthy. You have to show that you're in Iraq.

 

Matt M.

But that could be a really good thing for you.

 

Moriah T.

Yes, absolutely.

 

Matt M.

Those plans and renderings cost millions of dollars. Like what? What is something.

 

Moriah T.

Unmet? So I typically so what I've done is instead of creating the exact renderings to the projects that I represented, they actually did that. But we had to create a lot more. They didn't have the drone rendering site or the drone footage that we needed to show the views that you would get from the condos. So I think the important thing is to not be afraid to invest in a project.

 

Moriah T.

I mean, typically the developer should be doing that stuff and if they don't step up to the plate, you're going to you're going to win no matter what. You're probably going to get the next project. You're going to sell out that project and you're going to be seen by other developers in the future. So the more that you can more value that you can create, the better.

 

Moriah T.

But yeah, those renderings they can. Well, actually, there's some tricks. You can go to fiber and get renderings created for like $300. So. So it doesn't cost millions of dollars, but to do it right, it needs to be a pretty good investment.

 

Matt M.

But what I think that probably also plays a lot too to like the general price point that you're trying to sell, like the $10 million condo probably can't be a $300 fiber rendering, but the $195,000 condo, you can probably get away with that.

 

Moriah T.

Yeah. Oh, yeah.

 

Matt M.

Oh, lots of those. One thing I don't if you notice this, but I find that agents who kind of partner with developers on I'm like the the selling the dream type listings on the renderings if they're the ones who are actually listing the property in the MLS, the value isn't just the sale that you're going to get. The one time the value is the hundreds of leads you're going to get.

 

Matt M.

Oh yeah.

 

Moriah T.

Oh yeah.

 

Matt M.

I read one time and I, I don't know if the book was Zillow Talk or something similar that like 50% or more of the clicks on listings online are properties that don't exist. They're like to be built. Wow. Because this agents like you sell the dream so well and that rendering the photos looks so photorealistic, they get more clicks and then they get the inquiries and then the inquiries go nowhere because they're, oh, that's two years away.

 

Matt M.

Like everything sounds great. And then they find out it's two years away and they move on. But if you're a great agent, you can still nurture that relationship. And then something else so true.

 

Moriah T.

I have been able to really do that. It has paid off big time, like some of my highest priced sales have come from leads from other projects. So it's very easy if I.

 

Matt M.

Really buy the product that they.

 

Moriah T.

Know.

 

Matt M.

It's.

 

Moriah T.

Not something else.

 

Matt M.

The lesson there for everybody is to really make sure that everything your time, you get on the phone of the lead, you're extracting every potential piece of value. Like if you can't do what they immediately want, what could you do if it's not to happen for them? Who do they know? What do they do for a living? Can you give to their company?

 

Matt M.

You have to be quick on your hands. Like what could what's the real opportunity here? I totally hopefully get them in your database and market them in that high end way so they know that is not that they're going to be addicted to the idea of working with you on something.

 

Moriah T.

So true. Very well said.

 

Matt M.

I feel like I've taken, like, an absolute ton of your time. Well, I love it. I feel like everyone out there is going to be obsessed with you. So for everyone out there that wants to buy an absurdly cool house in Sarasota, I mean, how do they how do they get with you?

 

Moriah T.

Oh, man, I'm everywhere. You can go on Instagram. You on YouTube, you're on Facebook, just type in my name, you'll find me website. Same thing, but contact me directly by phone number is great too. And I don't know how you want to share that contact, but.

 

Matt M.

The notes that my notes the show and I'd like to give an easy like an easy pitch. I have a ton of marketing for agents around the country who do referral programs and basically market to their clients that they can help them anywhere. So if you're an agent listening to this and you have a clients, you probably have many that are going to be retiring to Florida or moving to Florida because the weather is perfect all year round other than, you know, the hurricane day.

 

Matt M.

I mean, do you work with other agents if they want to refer you to a buyer?

 

Moriah T.

Oh, yeah, absolutely. Oh, yeah. We work we we love working with other agents. Of course there is a referral involved. We keep you up to date on what's happening with that with that client. So they come down here and they've decided, hey, we don't actually like Sarasota, we might want to go to Naples. We'll let you know. So you can refer to an agent in Naples and will recommend other people.

 

Moriah T.

So that's the same for any other market. But we love we love referrals and love working with you. So anything that we can do.

 

Matt M.

Well, I appreciate that. If I ever decide to switch from Naples to Sarasota, I'll. I'll hit you up for sure.

 

Moriah T.

Thank you.

 

Matt M.

Right. It was a it was a pleasure having you on the show.

 

Moriah T.

Thank you so much. It's been a pleasure as well.

 

Matt M.

Thanks for listening. The Marketing and Other Markets podcast is probably supported by Neighborhood Loans and Treadstone funding. Visit them online to see a new type of culture and energy in home lending. For more actionable real estate marketing tips and tricks, check out my book, The Tangible Action Guide for Real Estate Marketing available on Amazon. Interested in being on the show, reach out to us via Instagram at Matt Mascot Idiot.

 

Matt M.

See you next time.