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Interview With a Winner:
Nadine Simantov

Keller Williams Real Estate, Langhorne, PA

2005 sales volume: $18 million
2005 units sold: 50
2005 average home price: $360,000
Software: Publisher, Quantum Mail, Top Producer and my TRIO phone (with email, palm pilot, etc. on it)
Referral Source Mix: Past clients, referrals, mailing, advertising in synagogues and Jewish newsletters

In Touch Today: How did you get started in the real estate business?

Nadine Simantov: I’ve been in it for ten years, since I moved out to Buck’s County. I sold commercial real estate in Manhattan for a short period in the 80’s. When I moved out here I was looking to reinvent myself. I was also looking for a higher ticket item to sell. It took me my first year to realize that it doesn’t matter what you sell – if you’re a salesman, you can sell anything. I knew nothing about houses – I lived in an apartment for 20 years.

In Touch Today: Were you an immediate success?

Nadine Simantov: I found my niche very quickly when I went into business – the Jewish community. I moved out here from New York City . You don’t necessarily want to be “ethnic” in New York because there are just too many groups. When I moved here, I actually thought about not using my last name. When I sold real estate in New York I didn’t use my last name. I used “Simons” because I didn’t want to have an Israeli last name, which “Simantov” obviously is, in the Jewish community.

When I moved out here, where we’re a little more scattered, it was perfect because as far as ethnic groups go, and this doesn’t only go for Jewish people, if they don’t know somebody in the business then they turn to somebody in their ethnic group. If a Russian person doesn’t have a referral, they’re going to hit the Russian newspapers. If they don’t find anyone there, then their next comfort level is going to be their ethnic group.

In Touch Today: How big is the Jewish community in the Buck’s County area?

Nadine: From my point of view, having lived in Manhattan , we’re very small. I don’t think we’re a very big community here and we don’t do “ghetto living” anymore here, which we used to. I grew up in Northeast Philly where we were an entire group. So we are very disbursed here, which is different for people.

Buck’s County is a newer area, and when Jewish people are moving out here they’ll call me and ask “where’s the community?” They have to learn that we’re disbursed. We don’t own any particular areas. If you have a Jewish neighbor, you did well. Since Realtors are not allowed to steer clients, I can at least give them some comfort level by telling them that I would be comfortable living there.

In Touch Today: So your referrals come from your Jewish niche. Where else would you say you get your business?

Nadine: Right now I’m in the referral business, which takes years. It really only kicked in the last couple years. Before then it was more from constant mailings or I’d just end up being the person they would call because they didn’t know anyone else. Now people tell me that they see me everywhere. I’m in newspapers and in the synagogues; I mail to them every month through In Touch Today. I also put ads in various newsletters.

In Touch Today: It sounds like you’ve branded yourself in the process?

Nadine: I don’t have anything specifically branded. Other people have “cute” things, but I’m not “cute”… well, I’m cute but I’m not a “cute thing” kind of person. What I am is sarcastic. I don’t send out “Happy Birthday” or “Happy Anniversary” cards because, coming from me, my clients would be like, “What? Are you joking?”

One of the things that I think is funny is that I send out a newsletter with a recipe in it. That’s a funny thing for me and for people who would know me because I work a lot and it’s so obvious that I eat out or order in. I’m the “mother on the run,” not really the type to send people recipes.

But somebody emailed me for one of the recipes! They said “I don’t need to sell right now, but I lost this recipe (from the newsletter)” and they wanted it from me again! This made me realize why people send out recipes. I used to think it was ridiculous, but it’s obvious that people keep them.

I do send out a huge mailing over the holidays and I include calendars so my clients have something from me on their refrigerator all year.

Before I systemized my mailing back in November 2004, I did it all on my own. If I didn’t have something in the mail, I felt like I was not in business. I think In Touch Today is the most important part of my business. I mail out 2000 pieces a month through them.

I tell people that it isn’t hard to be a Realtor. The hard part is getting your next buyer. That’s the only thing you ever have to worry about: where to get your next buyer. If you’re any good at sales or anything else you can make the rest happen. Marketing is the most crucial part of my business.

In Touch Today: What mistakes do you think new agents make?

Nadine: I think there are a lot of mistakes both new and old agents make. Take commission for example. I give classes on commission and one of my biggest pet peeves is an agent feeling that just because someone called from a referral, they should give them a discount. I tell them that they really should charge them more. They called you because they heard about your expertise and they want you – so why would you now give them a discount? They called because they heard you were good – you’re a slam dunk. You don’t even have to compete with somebody else. Then you open your mouth and put your foot in it by offering them a discount? They weren’t going to not hire you; they were going to love you no matter what.

Experienced agents are even worse about offering discounts. Don’t give a discount unless you are asked for one. And don’t give a discount if you aren’t in competition with anyone else for the job. I’ll negotiate with things other than money – but money is a last resort.

In Touch Today: What other kinds of things do you see newer agents doing that they really shouldn’t?

Nadine: They run scared, which is very hard. It’s so much easier to negotiate from confidence. I think that they constantly need to keep in mind that they do not need to reinvent buyer agency. They were hired to get these people a house. If they don’t get to the table, they didn’t get anything out of that deal. They didn’t get what the buyer wanted and they didn’t make any money. They need to concentrate not so much on things like giving a very low deposit and more on deals that keep the buyer in, keep the seller happy, and create a deal that comes to fruition.

For example, there are some agents who insist on their buyers giving such a low deposit – even though they have money in the bank – that it freaks out the seller’s agent. If they really want to buy the house, what’s the difference whether they pay now or pay later? Let them put down an appropriate deposit and you’ll have a firmer deal with a happy seller.

I have my buyers put down big deposits. It motivates the seller and helps my buyer move forward. I don’t want my buyer to be tentative. We didn’t enter into this contract for the buyer to back out. We entered into the contract because I was hired to sell them a house, and in the end they are going to own one. Let’s not put our feet gently in the water, we’re going to jump in all the way and buy the house.

I also think that newer agents, before they have clients to refer to them, need to give out an aura of success when marketing themselves. If people “see you everywhere,” they assume that you must be successful and want to give you their business.

In Touch Today: What other mistakes have you seen veteran agents make?

Nadine: I think home inspections are big killers in the industry. I think the agent opens their mouth before it was important to their buyer. I let the buyer read the home inspection first. Maybe they don’t care if such and such is an issue because they’ve dealt with that issue before and it’s not going to freak them out.

I only get upset over what upsets them. If there is a plumbing leak that’s detrimental to everyone’s health for example, we’ll try to get the seller to fix it. But if the sink was getting old, and the buyer is handy with home repair, and it could potentially be a deal breaker, then I’m not going to light their fire.

I think veteran agents light their buyers’ fires. They read the home inspection and then give the buyer a list of repairs to ask for. Once again, it comes down to opening your mouth – you make something important and you can’t take it back.

It’s the same thing if you go out on a listing and say “let’s test the waters at $400,000” when you know that house is only worth $360,000. How do you now get the seller to go down to $360,000 when you suggested trying to sell at $400,000?

When I go on a listing, I work really hard to get them to tell me the price that they want. If I think it is worth more, I’ll let them know. But I’m not going to put my foot in my mouth and try to live up to price just to get a listing.

In Touch Today: If a seller wants a ridiculous price, you’re the kind of agent who will tell them that it’s not a realistic price.

Nadine: I am. But I also think that no listing is the worst listing to get. I’m here to make sales. There’s nothing worse than zero as a commission, and there is nothing worse than not getting the listing. You have a contract, so you just say up front that you don’t agree with the price and where you think it should be. You can try their price for two or three weeks and then go to the more realistic. At least you can put your sign in front of the house and pick up other business.

Many people also oversell and overkill with too much information. I am a matchmaker. I get you the house that you told me you wanted, at the right price, and we’ll get other professionals to tell you whether or not the property is healthy – whether the heater is good for example – all those other things you need to know. I fill your dreams to get you into the house that you described.

That’s what I feel my job is. Agents who lose all their deals over their home inspection forgot their job. They were hired to sell those people a house. They weren’t hired to not get a deal. Your goal should be to close the deal and sell a house; that’s what the people wanted. I don’t kill a deal anywhere along the road unless my people choose to. We get through our home inspections.

In Touch Today: If your daughter wanted to enter the real estate business, what advice would you give her?

Nadine: I actually have a new agent I just took on board. I don’t usually hire “virgins,” but Keller Williams is a very different company. I was at Prudential before for nine years. Keller Williams is very nurturing, we hold a lot of classes, and I wanted to give it a shot. I have her concentrate on getting business.

She’s constantly in the computer and I remind her that, even though she needs to set up her database and attend classes, she needs to look for business at the same time. If you don’t have anybody to play with, you don’t have money coming in. So attend the classes but only take four. Do open houses, everything and anything that can get you a client. You need to be trained at the same time, but we all need to earn a living.

I’ve taken her out with me even though that’s a bit uncomfortable for me. I don’t talk a lot about my clients’ personal lives. I don’t usually know what my buyers do for a living for example. I have them talk to my mortgage company right way, and I get them pre-approved. I make them actually apply for a mortgage, but I don’t usually get into where they work or what they do.

I have a great time when I’m out with my buyers, and we all become good friends, but usually the husbands in any deal I’m in say “wow you’re like having a second wife.” I take that as a compliment. It means if I tell them to jump, they’re jumping.

Also, when I teach classes, I tell people that they have to have their own personality. If you said what I said to your client they might hit you. I have the kind of personality that allows me to curse, yell, to run the deal. But you can only be you. That doesn’t mean it’s a bad thing. Everyone has to be themselves and suit their nature in the way that they are going to deal with their people.

When I first started, I took a class and the woman went on a listing and sent the sellers a plant. My first listing I went on, I also sent a plant. And the seller called me laughing and told me that sending a plant didn’t look like me. She said I looked so aggressive that they were going to hire me anyway. You have to go with who you are.

With the right personality, sending “Happy Birthday” or “Happy Anniversary” cards is the perfect thing to do. It’s not perfect for me – I barely remember my own family’s birthdays.

I’d also tell any new agents getting into the business to “join a group.” I joined the Jewish Community Center as soon as I moved here. Any kind of non-profit group gives you some respectability because it shows that you’re willing to give up your time and energy to help other people – it kind of “koshers” you to get their business. If you’re a mother, join a mother’s group. Do social things and be involved in the community. While you’re asking for business, you’re gaining respectability.

In Touch Today: Tell us about your most successful marketing campaigns.

Nadine: People always want to get successful people together and discuss their successful marketing campaigns. I once asked one of my new partners, who works a much lower end than I do, what she does. She said that the most successful thing she ever sent out was an offer for a free pizza every month your house is on the market. I sent out 2000 of those and I didn’t get one phone call! But she had to buy so many pizza’s! Her market is $150,000 to $200,000 and my usual market is $400,000 to $500,000. My clients didn’t really care about a free pizza.

I think that marketing is all about frequency and professional looking pieces. I sent out the professional referral source series from In Touch Today, for example. The purpose of marketing is to remind your clients (and their potential referrals) that you are there.

My Jewish ads are pretty branded. I run the same sort of thing all the time. I have some play on the Hebrew National slogan. I wanted to call myself “Glot Kosher” (which means “the extremeness of kosher”) but the synagogues wouldn’t let me run that.

I never used to promote myself before I came to Keller Williams. Prudential ran their own ads. Once I began promoting myself, I doubled my business. So I make double the amount of money. Keller Williams also has the best commission rates of all the real estate companies. They just allow you to go further than anybody else does.

In Touch Today: Earlier you said that you send out monthly mailers to 2000 people. Are they past clients and sphere of influence?

Nadine: When I began my database, I took a school list and marketed to them. I also used a synagogue list. Really the most important people are your past sales. It takes years before those really kick in.

I started out selling mostly condos and townhouses, and those people tend to move up. Last year we all got older, so the majority of my calls were people in their 60’s who were going into 55+ communities. They passed me around, and I ended up with 10 deals. They took me into a whole new neighborhood – I had no idea where it was and had to use my GPS system to get me there. I really don’t know how to get anywhere. I have a thing on my license plate that says “Don’t follow me, I’m lost too.” I tell all my clients when they call me for directions, “I can never find the houses but I can sell anything.”

In Touch Today: So you’ve learned that mailing consistently does work?

Nadine: Absolutely. Nothing beats mailing consistently, but you also need a back-up… which is a good reputation. Your reputation is crucial in our business. I tell that to all the new agents.

I hear people in my office say, “We’ll worry about that at the table.” I only do one thing at the table – I drink coffee. We’re not worrying about anything at the table – ever. You announce everything, you call everybody to task, and you do both Realtor’s jobs if necessary. You make it so when you get to that table nobody is asking anything but “where is the sugar?” And the buyer is signing their mortgage papers. Why would you wait until the last minute to resolve an issue?

I also tell new agents, even if they don’t like the agent on the other side of the table, they need to be nice. That agent is going to cross their path again. You can’t burn your bridges with Realtors. It doesn’t take any major degree to be a Realtor so there are a lot of bad people in our business who don’t belong there. They’re unscrupulous and don’t play by the rules, but you can’t burn your bridges because you’re probably going to cross their path again.

In Touch Today: Who or what would you say has been the biggest contributor to your success?

Nadine: I worked my ass off! I love what I do for a living. If I got a call and didn’t return it for a couple hours, I would feel like I wasn’t doing my job. I kind of live real estate. My voicemail pages me. If you call and I’m busy, I’m going to call you to tell you that I’m busy and I’ll call you back. Each of my clients feels like I don’t have any other clients. I just want them to feel well taken care of so they will refer me to their friends.

I did floor for a long time and just recently had to stop doing it. I loved doing floor because you met somebody new and, if you were good, you then got to meet all their friends. Floor is a great means of increasing your sphere. If I was for some reason unable to do floor, I’d send out an email to the office to see if anyone else wanted to do it. Two days later agents would respond! I couldn’t believe that they didn’t respond within the hour!

Realtor.com is our biggest way to get leads off of our listings, and if somebody emails you and you don’t respond, you’ve lost business. I always tell people that if anyone calls you about real estate, then they are motivated at that moment. You grab them and run at that moment to further motivate them. By the end of the week, they could buy and sell a house even though they hadn’t thought about it two weeks earlier! If the same person calls you on a Sunday, and you don’t get back to them until Tuesday, they might not buy a house at all. They had the whim then and now it’s gone.

It’s so very crucial to be on top of your voicemails and emails. Grab them and run.

In Touch Today: If you could change something about your business, what would you change?

Nadine: I’d like to see more new construction for one thing. Other than that, all I ask is that people act professionally. I don’t like part time real estate. I think whether the house is $100,000 or $1 million, it’s the most expensive item in your client’s life. For you to represent them and not be available during the day, when you promised to take care of them, is disgraceful. If I, as a Realtor on the other side, am trying to call you and you can only reach me at 12 or at 6, when you’ve done your other job, it’s very unfair to all parties involved. If you’re just part time, then you’re also not keeping up on things. I think it’s a professional business and I would like the industry to have more professional standards.

In Touch Today: What are your goals this year?

Nadine: I’m growing my office within my office. I’m taking on other people to be part of my group. I think I have the marketing thing down, and I’m getting a lot of referrals. Now I want to make money off of other people, so I’m building up a team.

I have a girl working for me who went out on a listing. She came back and told me the seller wanted to interview other people. I told her, “Let me call her and see if I can close the deal.” But the girl wanted to wait until the seller called other people. I told her that if I was one of those other people, then she wouldn’t have a chance.

I asked her to tell me more about the woman. She said that her house was messy so she told her she had to clean. Come Monday, the girl still hadn’t heard from the woman. I told her to give me the number so I could call her. I informed her that her mistake was stressing the seller out. She went in and told someone with a messy home (who didn’t clean even though she knew her Realtor was coming) that she needed to clean. The seller would have no idea what to do next! I called the seller and told her that we’d sell her home “as is.” She could clean up a bit but wouldn’t need to fix anything. Then we went and listed her house. You have to read people. You can’t tell them to be someone they are not.

In Touch Today: Any last bit of wisdom you’d like to share with others who want to be successful?

Nadine: You don’t have to be organized to be successful, just get an assistant. You really need somebody to deal with the paperwork and the computer.

The Keller William’s philosophy really does work. When you go to a Keller Williams convention, I’m nobody. I came out of Prudential where the high players are usually $30 million to $100 million. At Keller, the high players are an office in an office. I couldn’t even aspire to get near them because they are so big! I don’t know what to aspire to personally. I don’t know how big I want to get.

And another important resource:

According to the National Association of Realtors 71% of Real Estate transactions are generated from repeat and referral business. Are you keeping in touch with your past clients?

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