All right, ladies and gentlemen welcome back to another S.A.D. you meet up Not sure if it's even in morning or afternoon, but we're here we keep going and today We're gonna have with us a very special guest if you're wondering why it takes to sell some of the most incredible homes in Some of the most competitive markets such as Los Angeles and also in school to Arizona You are in the right place. We're gonna have with us Erica Schafer She's the former cat member of the famous Bravo's TV show Multi-million Dollar listing and she's gonna bring us great insights on what it takes to sell some of the most extraordinary homes As well as building your personal brand. Good to see you.
How's everything in Arizona? Good to see you everything's amazing. It is a hot one and it's only 9 a.m. So Right, it's quite early right there.
I'm in the evening right here. It's actually 10 p.m. already So we're almost in the other side, but you just came back from a beautiful trip in Hawaii, right? I did I did yeah, we had a great time.
We did some excursions. We hung out by the beach. We had a great time Listen who could tell us that we cannot travel the world and still being doing a nice life and keep the business up and running correct? Yeah, that's kind of the cool thing about real estate, right?
You make your own schedule You can work from anywhere around the world as you know Exactly. Well, thank you very much for joining us. I think it's a very interesting conversation ahead now I was making a quick intro about yourself. You're a very successful luxury real estate agent You started quite on an early age as an assistant for one of the most dominant agents in the market And you also were part of the multi-million dollar listing TV show in Bravo.
So tell us a little bit about how your journey has been in real estate It's been pretty wild. So I initially got into real estate I worked for an older woman who was like the queen of real estate in Beverly Hills She had been doing it for 40 years and I learned a lot from her, but I kind of wanted a more Like useful vibe. So I was on LinkedIn one day and I saw that Tracy was looking for an assistant Tracy Tudor on the show and she was with Douglas element at the time which is who I'm with and I reached out to Matt Altman who's also on the show and I was like You know, what's the deal with Tracy? Like do you think it would be a good thing?
Like what do you think about her and he said I think you guys would be amazing together, you know, she's his she's cool She does luxury real estate. She's vibrant like she'd be a great mentor So I switched companies I went over there and I assisted for her for about two years I'd say and I just learned from the best and that's advice that I always give to new agents is a lot of You agents just want to go out and a really hungry and that's amazing But you need that foundation of a really good man. What's your turning point when you were boom your career completely changed It was it was partly the show but it was also gaining that confidence I really started being more confident and just going after things and not taking no for an answer and approaching clients that I was Like oh, this is like kind of out of my house. Let's go, you know, and then it paid off And that's that's what happens you start getting more and more sales and people start hearing your name more and that's how you build your business You were talking about your turning point when you were actually the assistant of Tracy Which got landed this opportunity at the TV show million dollar listing and then you also became part of the show, right?
Right, right So that was a really exciting experience because I just thought you know Tracy can be on the show and I'm gonna kind of Man off is a little bit while she's filming and then she was so gracious and you know kind of allowed me to be on the show with her and in This you know certain aspects of it and it definitely helped in terms of building my brand But it was very difficult to kind of get out of that. Oh, you're Tracy tutors assistant I get so many referrals and those referrals come from agents all over the US all over the world I refer business to agents, you know, like you and other other agents nationally and it's such a cool way of kind of working without working out of the places that I visit are people second and third homes and Why not by an Arizona why not by an LA? Why not catch them a house like you know during that time that you're meeting with them and help them to understand why they should purchase an LA or why they should purchase an Arizona it's a great way to network and to build that relationship with people Totally I agree with you and it's funny because you know at the end of the day Yeah, the world might seem too big But there's always those particular destinations where like creme de la creme meets or you know, there's the Location let's call them right and when you are there when you are there and you are part of that same lifestyle You ended up building connections and a relationship that go way deeper than being the local guy at the you know The place where you are true It's so true, and I really think that like the future is referral based business Which is like if you have a client in Miami Well, you can't tell them oh, I'm gonna fly with you LA and get a house with you But I have a great agent out there and then you get your you get your cut of it But you're also involved in the deal but not as involved and you're making money while you sleep, you know It's a no brainer So let me ask you this area because obviously you are a very sweet person very knowledgeable and also you inspire some people to trust you Because that's not easy, you know a lot of people don't have that personality How do you work towards building your personality to really be so likable and trust you? So I grew up in a household I mean everyone in my family is like super outgoing I could talk to like the wall and you know Feel that to be one of the top agents and the best agents you have to have that and you have to be able to connect with everybody from every walk of life from every country and I just do that because I love people like I just I can find something some kind of common ground and Relate to them and my clients are all really different You know I have some clients who are like this is business You don't need to know anything about my personal life like this is what it is And I'm like okay cool And then there's other you know clients that I'm at their baby showers and their birthday party exactly it just depends on like how closely Those people want you to be mmm.
That's true. All right. I'm America now Let me ask you this because obviously you've traveled a lot You've also been surrounded by some of the most incredible homes as well as luxury brands So I always like to ask this question What really is luxury to you luxury to me is really like a house being set apart right is the house have like an indoor pool or Some kind of cool feature or a big wine cellar a movie theater or something That's not your cookie cutter houses like four bedrooms three baths and you know It's like something that really exudes like oh that upper echelon of quality You guys are free a three million dollar house But it has a great movie theater or this crazy gym with this sick view and that's luxury right now when you connect And you're great at that when you connect the right brands and the right individuals You know like influencers luxury brands towards a nice property and you build an experience that will make any potential buyer Have a great first impression or remember, you know the story It's all about an experience So a lot of times like how we'll set ourselves apart for showings is like we'll find out what their favorite drink is What a favorite food is and we'll bring sushi to the house or we'll have a bottle of champagne there That's waiting for them. That's our favorite champagne Like we kind of do a little bit of digging and research with that agent will have their favorite band or music playing because that's how They're going to entertain, you know It's like exactly feel the house and you can't just walk into a house that someone else is decor and expect people to connect to it Like you have to really set the mood and set the tone and that's how luxury sells houses I need to go to one of your open houses to see how When it comes to a more personal question, you are so upbeat so positive and you're always like let's do it doesn't matter What do you do?
I mean besides having a great mentor is there any specific routine that you do that keeps you so uplifted? Well, yeah, like in the morning I get up between I don't know six thirty and seven. I'll take my dog for a walk I put on some good music whether it's like Christian music or inspirational music and kind of get my head in the right frame of mind I stay on my phone during the walk. I'll just kind of be focused mostly like yelling at her like behave And she's a handful so at our morning walks as much as I'm trying to focus I'm also focusing on her But I stay off my phone Don't be texting emailing at all during that time I get back to the house I'll have a coffee and then I sit down for two hours and just go in on emails and text and all that kind of stuff because the morning for me is my most Focus time like I have very little distraction in the morning and I'll try and fit in some kind of workout three times a week Which is very helpful.
I think people kind of don't take into consideration that your mental and physical health is Important, you know when you're dealing with big deals and a lot of personalities You know some clients are more difficult than others some agents are more difficult than others So you have to be centered and not let them kind of derail you So true. All right, great now. Are there any specific takeaways that you would like to share with the audience by audience? I mean anybody that is currently trying to raise their business or getting into any new industry such as real estate or anything in luxury I mean honestly, I think just grinding like this is not a nine to five or a you know on vacation Do you please I mean on vacation?
I'm still working like crazy. It's like people see a million dollar listing or they see you know Not each posting these gorgeous houses and they're like oh ten million dollars. I can do that I mean there's a lot that goes into a deal in the transaction So learn learn like really sink your teeth into it do open houses ask any agent to help I mean that's like whenever somebody reaches out to me like I'll do anything I mean that's somebody's hungry, you know my first job She wasn't hiring and I had an interview with her at this lady named Joyce Ray and she was like I mean on Sundays you become in the office. I was like done and she was like I'm really you know like I don't know how much I can pay I don't even pay me I don't care it was just more so like getting in with those there you go.
That's what it's about That's amazing. It's all about you. Yeah, exactly the hassle And you know it's funny because sometimes especially in real estate everything looks so glamorous, you know, especially when it comes to luxury real estate They're amazing But there is also a lot of work behind right oh my gosh I sold the house I don't know a couple months ago and we did a final walk through and the house was fine And then I come back and they had like taken everything out of the house And it was a disaster and they left crap on the sidewalk So I'm literally at seven in the morning with like arms full of junk and trash and holding it out to the garbage and Sticking it in my car and I'm like have a hammer This is what people really should see because that Should be putting more of the behind the scenes work because I mean obviously everybody likes to put the end result There's a lot of work behind even here, you know, we're currently having this conversation I mean it's in the morning over there over here is I mean the model I could be like look good. Bye.
Yeah Yeah, but the same with you you were in Hawaii still connected doing business So I believe that nowadays we have the beautiful opportunity of being connected via internet with You can still be working on your deals and you said it right there It's all about the connections when you have the right people in the right places You can operate at any level, you know absolutely I'm a firm believer in that it's like work smarter not harder, you know, yeah, exactly And you need to put also the hours, you know, like for me right now It's when I start working why because it's their standard time when people are starting to operate That was the drill you knew that it was gonna be a big time That's what you're gonna have to be doing and everyone that you're with knows that and you know my poor friend sometimes I'm like, I can't make that I'm so sorry. I have to do this I have to do that You know, he's the same why like when you're when you're a driven person You're it's not always one to PC you I think it's all about not separating your personal and professional and finding the way to really connect it And have fun, you know what you're doing so true so true But anyways, you are definitely an inspiration for many I was reading some of the some of the comments that we're sharing here and everybody's very inspired by what you've done What you've got? Very not Also the way that you carry yourself so keep up that smile keep up the great work I look forward to seeing you in weather scones Well, I'm gonna be in Miami middle of May, so I will see you in Miami That's funny because I might be in LA so I'm gonna be in LA so let's try that at some point Yeah, of course That's why I cross paths For sure, no I really enjoy anything else anything else that you would like to share before we wrap this up No, I think we're good Well, enjoy it. Yeah, thank you so much Please everybody that is tuning into this conversation follow Erica She's amazing if you have any questions or have any requests in regards to real estate in Scotts, Arizona or Los Angeles Reach out to her she's amazing Also, if you're just looking for some inspiration follow her because she's great Sorry, thank you so much Have a wonderful time I look forward to seeing you soon Yeah, of course Bye guys And thanks again for everybody tuning in today We hope you enjoyed it And remember embrace it's beautiful success in life My name is Alvaro and I'll see you next time