RE: Real Estate Podcast

Ben Harang, REALTOR® (00:37)
Hello everybody. Welcome to another episode of RE real estate podcast. I'm your cohost Ben Harang along with my sidekick, Clint Galliano. How you doing today, Clint?

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (00:52)
I'm doing wonderful. Hi-ya! Y'all couldn't see that on the camera, but I kicked to the side.

Ben Harang, REALTOR® (00:57)
Yee-haw! We gotta try to have fun doing this.

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (00:59)
Yes indeed.

Ben Harang, REALTOR® (01:00)
So what we're gonna talk about today.

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (01:03)
All right, so today we're going to talk about how to choose the right real estate agent.

Ben Harang, REALTOR® (01:10)
985-859-2500 that's all you need to do. Call me. No.

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (01:14)
Sometimes. Sometimes it's a 985-647-4479

Ben Harang, REALTOR® (01:20)
There you go.

You can call one of us or you can go through a process and we're to talk about the process.

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (01:21)
Yeah, so.

Yeah. And part of it is, I'm gonna pull a Ben here. Part of it is finding somebody that you match with, you know, and if you feel through listening to us and watching us, you know, hey, feel free to call us. We're more than happy to talk to you. You may find out that you don't like us or we don't like you. That could happen.

Ben Harang, REALTOR® (01:31)
the

No doubt.

Mm-hmm. could happen. That's happened once or twice.

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (01:49)
It has, but what we want to do here is kind of give you an idea of things you can do to help you make a decision on what's the right agent for you. So you can make an informed choice and not based on somebody else's experiences or what somebody else told you to do. And we'll kind of start from there. The first point is we want to kind of...

Ben Harang, REALTOR® (02:02)
Exactly.

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (02:15)
discuss why the right agent matters and I'll let you kick that off then.

Ben Harang, REALTOR® (02:19)
Well, in my mind, the right agent matters because you need to have a connection with that person. It's one of the biggest decisions you're to make in your life about buying a house or selling a house. It needs to be somebody that you can talk to that'll listen to you. Somebody that has the experience to bring you to the market.

the transactions behind them because we all make mistakes and believe me, I made a ton of them in the last 30 years. I try not to make the same mistake twice. So with some experience comes some market value.

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (02:54)
Another thing is familiarity with the region. We've mentioned it a few times on other episodes. We're in the Bayou Board of Realtors and we're part of this conglomerate of boards called ROAM ⁓ And I think we've got currently either

Ben Harang, REALTOR® (03:10)
huh.

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (03:15)
seven or eight out of the nine boards in the state of Louisiana belong to it. And what it amounts to is a data sharing agreement where agents in those other boards can see listings in our area. Their listings in our area show up.

all over that everybody has visibility of it. So what we have is, is if somebody has a friend that's an agent in New Orleans, and they want to buy in our area, they can have that agent represent them. And that agent has full visibility of all of our listings and information and vice versa. They may not have a knowledge of the market or the area. So

Ben Harang, REALTOR® (03:36)
Mm-hmm.

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (03:59)
they may or may not be doing an injustice to their buyer. Same thing with listings. We have listings for out of area agents in our area. they're, for the most part, they're not doing a whole lot other than sticking their sign out, or at least that we have visibility of, because that's all we see is the sign.

Ben Harang, REALTOR® (04:13)
Mm-hmm.

Right. And, and speaking of signs, they, they'll put up the sign and they never go back to the property and whoever's cutting the grass will pick it up and put it down. And they don't know the sign is no longer up. and everybody's wondering why nobody's calling off the sign. so it's just find somebody that's it, that lives lives & breathes in the community where you want to buy or sell your house.

You know, an exaggerated example is I have a sister that lives in Shreveport. She's not a realtor, but if you have somebody in Shreveport trying to sell you something in Houma Thibodaux in Lafourche, Terrebonne, it's probably not a good idea. Get somebody. If you have a relative or a friend, get them to call us. We'll work something out. We'll do a referral, but we'll get you in the house that you want.

And we'll better be able to represent you locally than somebody 300 miles away or 50 miles away. and you can take it into a micro market, Clint's in Houma I'm in Thibodaux you know, we live and breathe this entire market, but we have areas that we focus on. you know, the, the born and raised in Thibodaux that's, that's my, my focus.

I know it like the back of my hand. Clint's a Lafourche parish guy that, that focuses in both the Lafourche and Terrebonne. so just find somebody that knows the market you're, you're in and can help you and will respond to you when you ask.

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (05:49)
Yes, indeed. I'll say that a lot. I guess I need to try and stop saying that. But it's true. It's true. know, and the other thing about the about getting somebody familiar with the market, we're also very sensitive to flood zone and insurance challenges and requirements and, you know, just what's going on in the area.

Ben Harang, REALTOR® (05:55)
It is.

Yes.

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (06:14)
looking at a I've got a listing appointment next week when I come back from vacation on a property that according to the planned flood zone changes flood zone X ends on a portion of his house now that's preliminary maps and all that fun stuff so I don't know for sure what or where or what have you

Ben Harang, REALTOR® (06:29)
Mm-hmm.

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (06:38)
that's going to be remained to be determined. Of course, we don't have locked in new flood maps yet, but it could, it does appear to be Lafourche Parish. That's another thing I need to verify. you know, and it may be that since the majority of his house is in flood zone X, he may be able to get a LOMA for that last little portion and have the whole house in flood zone X, but that's not something.

Ben Harang, REALTOR® (06:44)
Right. Must be a Lafourche Parish prop.

Hmm?

What would a LOMA be? What

would a LOMA be Clint?

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (07:08)
a Letter Of Map Amendment or Adjustment depending on who's saying it because I don't remember exactly what it is but I think it's map amendment because you're amending the map.

Ben Harang, REALTOR® (07:17)
Yeah.

And that's based on, if you heard what Clint just said, that's based on local knowledge. He knows where the house is. He knows where the line is. And it has a solution maybe to get it out of a flood zone where you're required to buy flood insurance. Somebody from out of town is not going to have that intimate knowledge.

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (07:39)
Yep, and not having to flood insurance will make a $150, $200 a month note difference for a buyer.

Ben Harang, REALTOR® (07:52)
Cause I don't, I don't suggest you not buy it. If you, if you buy it, make that an informed decision. Don't just not buy it. Cause you don't have to buy it. Don't buy it you don't want to buy it. But, we in South Louisiana and everybody was scurrying around with their little storm that was supposed to come dump 10 inches of rain on us this week. And it looks like it's going to fizzle out. Thankfully. you know, so it's a matter of price. It's not a matter of if on the flood insurance.

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (08:16)
Alright, let's move on to experience and track record.

Ben Harang, REALTOR® (08:19)
Okay. I'm going to go.

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (08:21)
So with you

10 minutes into business, what can you tell us about experience and track record, Ben?

Ben Harang, REALTOR® (08:26)
I've been in the business for 10 minutes also known as 31 years in my 32nd year. Look, I love what I do. I love putting a deal together for people. like helping people. Those years of experience, you get the benefit when I represent you. As far as the local knowledge, the real estate experience, how to write an offer that's

acceptable to the seller, how to market a house on a listing. Just everything that we've, that I've done over the last 30 years, when I started before there was anything such as the internet and we had books and the idea of a podcast, the term had not even been coined. but, I keep up, I know the market and in my mind there's two agents and some agents, new agents, we tell them.

Look, if you don't have a track record to stand on, talk about the time you can spend with them because you don't have any clients and that's fine. And that might work for some people. but you're, think you're better off served by somebody that, that knows the market understands it has the experience has made the mistakes, has the, the war wounds to prove it and can help you either get into a house or get out of a house.

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (09:38)
it makes a difference. And then the other thing to take into account too, is that it's not just years in the business, but number of transactions also. Because nationally, I think, what is it, 50 % of...

Ben Harang, REALTOR® (09:47)
Right. Right.

I think it's two thirds

of the agents have not closed the transaction this year nationwide.

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (09:58)
Okay, but

I mean on average.

majority of agents do less than eight deals a year?

Ben Harang, REALTOR® (10:03)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (10:05)
So that's something to keep in mind when you're evaluating an agent and deciding on who to work with. Our market is not the national average. So, you know, remember location, location, location. So we don't necessarily follow very closely with the national average because our market does its own thing.

But at the same time, we have agents that do more than a couple of dozen transactions a year. We've got agents that do zero transactions a year. And that matters, especially when they're doing paperwork and they're sending the wrong paperwork or not filling it out correctly. Those are things that need to be paid attention to because that can impact

Ben Harang, REALTOR® (10:50)
Yeah.

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (10:56)
your purchase or your sale.

Ben Harang, REALTOR® (10:58)
And you, and, talk, talk to the agents about how many people they're currently representing. Cause you might, you might be more comfortable being one of two or three, as opposed to one of 12 or 15 current clients, because all of those clients have to be dealt with. And it's gonna, it's gonna mean longer hours, shorter conversations. If you want somebody to hold your hand.

through the entire process and "Sha" you to death,

An experienced busy agent is probably not the agent for you. You probably ought to find somebody that's relatively new in the business has two or three clients. can, they can afford to spend the time with you, to, maybe go see houses that are not in your budget or maybe they might be more flexible on, what they, what they'll show you. my track record is let's go pick out three or four houses. Let's go look at them. You pick one and let's go do the deal. It sounds,

A little cold maybe, but that's kind of what it is. go and see a house above outside of your price range, whether it's too high, too low, doesn't fit you. You must haves is there's no reason to go see it. in my mind, everybody doesn't have that opinion. so that's why one agent's not for everybody and everybody's not for one agent. We all, we all do it a little different. We all can, can be as successful as we need to be or want to be.

And you know my my best attribute is once we find the house it's game on to make you To help you get that house. I don't tell you which one to buy but once you decide on a house I do everything in my power. I become a pit bull Trying to help you get that house

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (12:41)
Yeah, once you decide what house you want to move forward with, we figure out the best way to do it and make it happen. So another thing you want to do is verify your agent's credentials. We're in the age of where anybody can make up anything they want.

Ben Harang, REALTOR® (13:04)
Mm-hmm.

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (13:04)
If you want

to verify that an agent is actually a licensed agent, can, that's a good one. You can go to their brokerage's website. Potentially, they will have their name listed on the website, their name and their picture.

Ben Harang, REALTOR® (13:09)
a good place to start.

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (13:22)
Alternatively, you can go to LREC.gov and scroll down about two scrolls of your mouse wheel if you've got a mouse wheel. And there's a button, big button on the bottom right that will say, verify a licensee. Click on that, type in their last name or type in their first and last name and click search.

Ben Harang, REALTOR® (13:27)
Mm-hmm.

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (13:45)
and it'll bring up a list of names or if it's a unique name it'll bring up the one name and you click on the name and it'll tell you what brokerage they're working at and you can look and see how long they've been licensed, who they work for, how many agents work at that brokerage, things like that.

Ben Harang, REALTOR® (13:51)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah. Another simple way is just Google the name, type the name in a search bar and hit enter. Um, and you'll see all kinds of stuff about them. And you know, you'll know, you'll know quickly whether not they're really in the insure in, uh, in a real estate business. have insurance on my mind. Um, well, 27 years. Um, but it, it's all connected. Um, the storm got me thinking about the.

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (14:18)
Now let's fix and say how long you've been out of insurance, Ben.

Ben Harang, REALTOR® (14:32)
flood insurance and all that stuff.

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (14:34)
Yeah, when you search for their name, it should pull up their real estate web page if they have a Google business.

website or address or whatever you want to call it. There used to be a special Google business page and they converted it into maps. So now it's a business address. But that's where they collect Google reviews. You can go there and read the reviews there. ⁓ And also anything related to their business from Facebook will also show up there. And you can look at people talking about them on Facebook.

Ben Harang, REALTOR® (15:00)
Mm-hmm.

And we're.

We also talked about before we started recording about reviews. I don't chase reviews. some people do. So the idea of whether or not you have the reviews, how many reviews and it's their age. Maybe I need to change that. but don't stop at the reviews, talk and talk to them. You know, I'm, I'm a little older than a lot of people.

And a lot of younger people don't like talking, pick up the phone and call and let's have a conversation. as a lot get, a lot gets lost in text and email. and I do a lot of texts and a lot of email, but that initial consultation, let's, let's sit down and talk and visit and get to know each other. and, we can tell pretty quick if we're a good fit or not. and, if you find the right agent for you, you'll be much more successful finding.

the house you want or selling your house. Then if you have an agent that you don't like talking to, the agent doesn't like talking to you. They think you're a pain in the neck. You think they don't, they're not responsive enough. Just those issues are too easy to avoid. just sit down and find somebody that you can connect with. And if something comes up, deal with it, talk to them. you'll, you'll get much better representation and have a better chance to have a successful outcome.

then if you get into a situation where you just don't like talking to them or communicating with

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (16:32)
Yeah, the other thing that you want to look at too is ask them some questions. If you're thinking about homes that may be in a flood zone, ask them how familiar you are with those areas or neighborhoods or wherever you're considering.

Ask how many homes they've sold in that area or how familiar they are with the area and what's going on with the market in that area. What similar sales have they closed recently?

Ben Harang, REALTOR® (17:00)
I'm I'm a pi-

I'm a pick on Broadmoor and Homer. Broadmoor and Homer is three or four, five contiguous subdivisions was commonly referred to as Broadmoor. And some of the houses in a flood zone, some of the houses are in a flood zone that are not required to buy flood insurance. So just because you're in Broadmoor, does it mean you will or will not be required to buy flood insurance? If you don't have somebody with local knowledge, you'll find that out.

after maybe after the house goes under contract or just a lot of those things you can find out on the front end in a void going down a rabbit hole that you never should have gone down.

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (17:38)
Yeah. So next thing you want to look at is communication style and compatibility, which we've kind of been talking about compatibility all along. communication is the number one complaint in real estate between consumers and their agents. So it's a good idea when you do have your consultation with the agents and while you're interviewing agents.

Ben Harang, REALTOR® (17:48)
Mm-hmm.

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (18:05)
Tell them what you prefer. If you prefer to get texts and you'd rather not get phone calls, say, hey, I want text messages. I prefer to get text messages. If you prefer a phone call, say, I need to get a phone call. So if you just email me updates on a regular basis, if that's all you need, let them know. Some red flags to help you make those decisions.

Ben Harang, REALTOR® (18:18)
Mm-hmm.

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (18:27)
while you're still in that interview phase, if you've got slow response times, unclear answers, or just when you're talking with them, you feel like you're on a used car lot, unless you like that kind of thing, then maybe that's not the agent for you.

Ben Harang, REALTOR® (18:46)
or pay attention to the ex external forces going on. we all have our cell phones. We all getting texts and phone calls all the time. you know, Joe Boudreaux talks about be present where your feet are. are they present in the interview with you? Or are they looking at their phone or saying, look, let me grab this call. And let me, let me respond to this text real quick. And they're looking at you and they're doing something else and that's what you're going to be dealing with.

If you hire that agent, just know that that might be okay with you. but, take it all, all into account. cause when I'm, when I'm with somebody, I try not unless one of my kids or grand grandchildren called me, I'm not dealing with anything else when I'm with you. you know, I'm doing a lot when I'm by myself, but I'm, I'm, with, when I'm with you, I'm with you. not gonna say I can't take a phone call.

if I need to, but I'm not trying to multitask because I don't think anybody can multitask. I laugh when people say they're multitasking. They're doing one thing at a time. They're just doing five different things at five different times. ⁓

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (19:53)
and they're

not realizing that they're the lost time they have in task switching.

Ben Harang, REALTOR® (19:59)
And in not doing many of them very good. So anyway, that's just something to some, it's a pet peeve of mine. You know, let's, let's sit down and visit when we have one-on-one time. Cause that one-on-one time is valuable. you made an effort to, to make the appointment we got together. We both made an effort. Let's spend the 10 or 15 or 30 minutes we're going to spend together. Let's make it quality time. Get to know each other. Talk about life, talk about how the process is going to work.

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (20:02)
Exactly.

Ben Harang, REALTOR® (20:27)
get you, your wants and needs down and your price range. And, you know, we just, I go, I tend to cover that stuff quickly sometimes. but it's always the same thing. Let's, let's just get through that, get to know each other. And if you decide whoever that agent is, whether it's Clint or me or somebody else live with that agent and Clint had something earlier about, one thing you might want to do. Want to, want to make sure it is in the

in a contract before you sign.

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (20:56)
What's that? yeah, yeah, yeah. You want to have your contingencies. Those are always a good idea.

Ben Harang, REALTOR® (20:58)
I'm out.

You know, and

I'm talking about specifically a Buyer Representation Agreement.

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (21:10)
Yeah, we didn't say that

during the recording. We said it before we started.

Ben Harang, REALTOR® (21:13)
Right,

right. That's why I was giving you the chance to see it, but I'm gonna see it now. I know you're trying to multitask. Go go, go ahead.

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (21:16)
⁓ I was lost. I'm trying to...

That's right. You're right. Guilty as charged. Yeah, that's a really good point. I'll go ahead and take that

on. So everybody to work with a real estate agent nowadays, you have to sign a contract saying that you're working with that agent. You want to read through that contract and make sure that you have an out.

because some agreements don't give you that out. They're an exclusive agreement and you have to stay in that contract through the term of that contract, which they may write it for six months, they may write it for a year. And what that means is that you're stuck with that agent and or that brokerage for the term of that contract. That's not a... Well, I personally don't believe that's fair.

Ben Harang, REALTOR® (21:56)
Mm-hmm.

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (22:13)
Because if I don't like working with you and you don't like working with me, why should we torture each other and make it last for six months or a year if in the first week we figure out we don't like each other? So make sure your contract has an out.

Ben Harang, REALTOR® (22:20)
Exactly.

Right. Right. There, there,

there is, there is an option. If you already signed a contract that does not have a, have a term termination provision, I don't like the option, but it's better than,

Do doing nothing. You may end up paying a fee twice, but you may be able to get the house you want working with the agent you want to work with. So I'm not a lawyer. Didn't sleep at a holiday and express last night, but, but there are options. If you find yourself in a situation, that you, that you don't like, that you just be, you're going to stop the process before you deal with somebody.

Call us. I'm not trying to talk you out of anything. I'll help you try to navigate on how we can help you buy a if somebody else is not helping you.

Was that, was that, did a dance around it enough Clint?

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (23:20)
That was tap dancing and pirouettes. In fact, you were almost en pointe

Ben Harang, REALTOR® (23:23)
the

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (23:25)
All right, so in conclusion, make sure you're a good fit with your agent. Investigate their experience and their track record. Make sure that you confirm your communication style and your compatibility with them and their compatibility with you.

Verify that they've got local expertise, that they know what markets they're operating in, and make sure they're licensed. And as we just, you know, probably spent five, 10 minutes talking about, anything they give you to sign, make sure you have an out. Because even though things might seem rosy on the front end, you never know. So make sure you're able to get out of that.

Ben Harang, REALTOR® (24:10)
It's an emotional buy or sell. know, things can get heated and I view one of my jobs as keeping the emotions out of it. If you need to vent, vent at me. But before you make a decision, don't make an emotional decision. Let's make a business decision, which is right for you. Not out of spite for somebody, not because you want, not for any other reason than it's right for you.

so just find that agent you can talk to is a, is the best advice I can give you. Okay. We, think we're about wrapping it up, Clint. didn't talk about subscribing and commenting and liking and sharing the podcast is available wherever you get your podcast. ⁓ it would be re real estate podcast.com. You can get the audio, the video, to,

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (24:57)
And what podcast is that?

Ben Harang, REALTOR® (25:06)
Two bald-headed fellas talking about real estate, buying and selling real estate in black and white. If you can get past the video, watch it. If you want the audio, you can have that too. ⁓ So, however you want to consume it, it's available.

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (25:16)
Yeah.

And for those watching the video, I'm not in black today. They had a closing this morning and I didn't bring a change of clothes. So there we go.

Ben Harang, REALTOR® (25:28)
And that might be the second of 36 that we're not in black and white. So, all right. Well, I believe that does it Clint.

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (25:32)
Pretty much.

Yes, indeed. All right. I was only said it what three times this episode. I'm doing better.

Ben Harang, REALTOR® (25:43)
Well, we learn it. If you go back and look at the first one or two that we thought we were not going to use and we decided to use them when we were trying to figure this stuff out. The subjects haven't improved, but I think the content and the quality of the video and audio have improved. So if you like it, give it a comment and a share and subscribe and let us know what you think. Talk to you later. Clint have a good one.

Clint C. Galliano, REALTOR® (26:06)
Yeah. All

right, Ben, you too. Bye bye.