What Home Buyers Really Want in NC Real Estate

Episode originally aired: April 14, 2026

In this episode of the DASHcast Podcast, active DASH Carolina real estate agents Courtney LaMotte and Jason Gardze dive into one of the most common challenges with home buyers in North Carolina real estate: the gap between what buyers say they want and what they actually choose.

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What Home Buyers in North Carolina Really Want (vs. What They Choose)

Full Episode Transcript

The following transcript is from the DASHcast audio, formatted for readability.

Foreign. Oh, my gosh. Hey, guys. I am Courtney and I’m Guardzing and he’s Guard Z and this is the Dash Cast podcast. And.

Yeah, Dash Cast podcast. No, no. Three times fast. Go. Dash Cash podcast.

Podcast. Dash Cast podcast. I’m not sure you were close. Anytime at all, whatsoever. Did it, though.

Did it. All right, well, congrats. You one for three. I guess that gets you in the hall of fame, right? So 333.

Yeah. Nailed it. Nailed it. All right, so what are we going to talk about today? We are talking about some things that buyers say.

They’re like, I have to have this or I’m not going to buy this house. So our must have lists versus, like, what’s actually going to happen in real life. The old must have list. Right. I mean, everybody goes into it with one, right?

We all go and we’re dreaming about what we’re going to have. Right. I mean, honestly, what, what, what was it? Come on, is it a clawfoot or can you just describe the tub? The clawfoot tub, like an old school clawfoot tub with a faucet that comes up from the ground.

That is a dream. I was like, I’m not buying a house unless I have one of those. I was quickly checked into reality. What’s bougier than bougie? Is there a word for that?

Do we just call it Courtney? I would say what I say back home is like, bourgeoisie, is like, you are just up there. Yeah. Yeah. Okay.

So that’s kind of where. That’s kind of where we’re at. Right. But unfortunately, that’s what we run into quite often. Right.

There’s a number of people. And why wouldn’t you, if you’re going to scrape together every penny you can beg, borrow, and steal in this world. Right. Because that’s exactly what people are doing. If you can afford 350, you want to buy at 425.

Right. And then it just goes up from there. My taste is at 425, but my budget’s at 350. Damn. Right, the old filet mignon taste with a hamburger budget.

Right? Yes. Now, can I blame people for that? No. Right.

But I think what it is, is there’s an art form to helping people understand that you can and should have your must haves. Yes. But it is okay to continue looking from there. Right? I mean, we always say there’s no such thing as a perfect house.

You’re not going to get every single thing you want in the world. There’s going to be compromise yeah. And I think buyers going into it, I can’t just tell you, hey, bro, just good news. You might get 50% of that. Right.

I mean, I think we have to tell people. And I say it all the time. Right? People are great. They’re smart and they’re pretty.

Yes. Hell yeah. We’re going to find all those things you’re looking for, and we’re going to go and we’re going to find that claw foot tub and we’re going to find that bonus room you’re looking for in the fence backyard on a coldest thousand dollars. Yeah. For way under budget right now.

I’m not, I’m not selling them a bill of goods. Right. But I think I do need to understand what exactly you’re looking for. And then I think a very powerful part of it is the why of it. All right.

Yeah. I think a lot of people, like list off the things that are must haves without ever actually thinking of the whys or just like in a perfect world. But what is the actual reason? I feel like that’s what we have to dive deeper into as agents. And that’s.

That’s what most people miss. They’ll take that very top level, super superficial answer. Hey, we need more space or hey, we need more that. And then they don’t really do you. Right.

You know, I. I actually tell people. So I’ve done this for a long time. I’ve told buyers my must haves and I’ve told them in such a way where I’m basically teaching them how me. Right.

And so I’ll tell them, look, all right, so I need a fence backyard for my dog. I need a bonus room for my child. Last time we were looking at houses, he wasn’t 16, but he’s 16 now, right. Need a bonus room for Noah. I want a downstairs master for Jess.

And I. I want a downstairs guest suite for Jess’s mom. Right. Who’s coming to stay. And then I’d love what I had.

One other. And I can’t remember what it is right now. Gourmet kitchen. Oh, yeah, gourmet kitchen, of course. But.

And I tell people all the time, how many of those do you think I got? Because I’ll count them out just like this. How many of those do you think that I got? And they’ say, well, four, five. And I say one.

And that fence backyard is where Eleanor Jean Gardzi spends her day sunning herself on the back deck. And yes, my dog does have a middle name and that is very. I love that Sadie’s middle name is Sue. Yeah. See?

Oh my God, it’s wonderful. So, but I think it’s very okay for people to have that list and then that’s our job to help them work their way through finding a place more often than not, especially with a lot of our first time home home buyers. Right. You know, I’ll use the words safe, happy and comfortable. Safe, happy and comfortable.

Because again, I’ve had plenty of clients that started their real estate journey with me acquiring a property and then next thing you know they’re like, hey, bro, that one’s going to be a rental. I’m ready for the next one. Yep. And to be able to stair step your way up there or what many people do the last year. Forever home.

Yeah. Into your forever home. That then won’t be your forever home at some point because then you’re going to decide I need to get move here or there or downsize or something. Right. But yeah, I think I, I think that’s a true art in our job is to help people understand that I’m here for it.

Whatever you got, whatever your must haves are, we’re gonna go find it. Let’s do it. I also think it’s important to help people understand though that I’m many things, but a magician is not one of them. Nope. If you need a three bedroom, two bathroom in North Raleigh with a fence backyard and a claw foot tub and everything else under $300,000, you ain’t getting it.

It’s not because you didn’t look@realtor.com hard enough or zillow.com often enough, I promise. It’s simply because it doesn’t exist. Exists. Right. And so helping people to find their path forward amidst a journey that doesn’t always have joyous moments.

Right. Unfortunately, I think when people are buying and selling, there’s as much disappointment as there is anything definitely is. There definitely is there. I mean, you get so excited because you like want to shoot for the moon and stars. You think that you’re going to be in this house forever, but typically you’re not.

And it’s just that first baby step then to getting into your home that you’re gonna be in forever. And then even that home, like you said, we probably won’t be in forever anyways. No. I helped somebody buy their forever home last year and then she calls me three months later and says, you told me this was gonna happen, Jason. And now we’re ready.

So yeah, it’s okay. We’re gonna go buy Another beautiful new construction home. And I mean it’s a fantastic, fun process. So. All right, so tell me this.

And you’re much more the expert in this realm than I have ever been or will ever be. But, but I want to know the impact of social media these days, right? I mean everybody spends their time scrolling from my 16 year old to all of our agents to every client we ever meet, spends their evenings and free time scrolling and I think I’d love to kind of understand a little bit more from your perspective. How is social media influencing today’s buyers and sellers? For buyers, I think the biggest thing is a lot of buyers see influencers that are buying like let’s say five, ten, $16 million homes.

And it’s like seven bedrooms, seven baths and it’s for two people and they’re like, I want these big homes, I want all this space to do all these things that I’m going to eventually grow into. And I think like the biggest red flag for me is that you don’t need 18,000 square feet to have a great life. You don’t need 18,000 square feet and seven bedrooms and seven bath to like have a beautiful home with your family. Whether it’s just, and your partner, if it’s just you by yourself or if it’s you and 10 kids, you still don’t need 18 bedrooms. So I think like the big thing on social media right now that’s like driving me crazy is like all of these people who’s just one or two homeowners living in these massive, massive, massive homes and everyone thinks that I have to have like this huge, big home with all these fancy, all these things, the pool, to like have a great life.

When you don’t, I mean the mo. Like I grew up in a very, very small home with all of my family and we’re. You spend so much time like being actually close with your family, these big homes where you’re, everybody’s all over the place, then nobody sees each other, nobody spends time together. So I think that’s probably like the first thing for me is like you don’t need a big house to have a great home. Another thing for me is I think buying something that is perfect and move in ready, like you might have to throw some like sweat and tears into your home to like make it you.

I’m a firm believer in buying something that I know I can make my own and something that’s not necessarily produced for the masses, if that makes sense. Like a lot of new construction right now. It’s like these big, beautiful, perfect, pristine boxes and you move in and everything’s brand new and shiny, but it has, like, no soul to it. So, like, my other thing with social media is thinking that like, new and brand new and squeaky clean is like the best way to go. But me personally, I love to see people want to have homes with like, a little more soul to them and like, put their own stamp on their homes and not just do things with their home that like, appeal to the masses.

Sure, if that makes sense. Yeah, I love it. I mean, the, the American dream, once upon a time, was just to have a roof over your head, right? To have a place to call your. And that shifted to the point especially with the availability of the influencers and everything that, again, look at me and look at what I have and people just seem to be chasing and chasing and chasing and what a tough way to live, right?

I think, again, what many buyers start at. And again, they want the clawflit tub. They want everything in the world. And that doesn’t mean you’re not going to get there one day. One day.

Baby steps. Safe, happy, comfortable. And honestly, I think part of what we do for clients is help them to understand this is an investment. Right? Real estate is an investment.

And if you buy, well, because you make your money when you buy, not when you sell. Okay, when you buy, not when you sell. If you get a good deal and you make good money when you buy, when it comes time to sell, look, we’re golden. It’s gravy, right? And so I think what people have to understand is this is as much an investment as it is a place to call home.

And if done well, you can nail both fronts. So fantastic. Good. I appreciate the insight on social media because again, it’s not necessarily my forte. It’s one of those things that I’m like, I get burnt out sometimes.

It’s just too much. It’s an evolving process. It’s. It’s just so. It’s.

It’s a whole nother world. And again, I think the, the deeper people go and the more time they spend and yeah, stressful. The more stress they get. I think personally, the more I scroll and the more I try to learn about everything in terms of, like, buyers that attracts their attention or doesn’t. Like, I get so overwhelmed because there’s just so much and I feel like on the other side with some sellers, they are still living in this whole other world where it’s.

I can just put my house up for sale and someone’s going to buy it, but online, they’re telling them, like, oh, yeah, just price it right. You’ll be great. You could price it right, and I think you might be great, but you also might need to clean. You might need to take some photos off the wall and do, you know, clean the tub out or the toilet or something like that. So I think social media has also let sellers think that it’s okay to just throw up your house for sale without doing some prep work.

And I feel like us at DASH always like to make sure that we’re making sure our clients know all the pros and cons of everything and that they’re always putting their best foot forward and having that first good impression. So doing prep work, not necessarily always something that’s gonna be a necessity, but we always are gonna preach to them. We’re trying to make the best first impression. So whatever social media is telling you that, oh, you have to go spend $10,000 to upgrade your kitchen, and you have to go spend $40,000 on a new lawn, and you should put a pool in the back because it’s gonna give you an extra hundred, fifty thousand dollars. We’re just gonna tell them, like, hey, let’s just.

Let’s just clean up. Let’s maybe do a couple of paint jobs here and there. Let’s just put some new mulch in the front. Like, we don’t have to spend hundreds of thousands or even just thousands of dollars to make your house. House shine in the best light.

Sure. Yeah. I think that’s where social media kind of like tricks with the seller’s mind is that they have to spend all this money or they have to do nothing. We can find happy in between. Love it.

Yeah. Yeah. All right, let’s. Let’s hop back in then, and we’re going to talk more about buyer expectations. Right.

We talked a little bit about the must haves, but I think it’s important really, to give buyers a clear and concise roadmap into what they’re getting into, what the journey looks like, about the highs and lows and things like that, and then truly how you can best support them as an agent as you’re going through this. Right. And so I’d love to hear a little bit more from you about how you’re generally able to help a buyer understand what’s going to hit them next. Right. What they’re going to run into and really how to find that really sweet spot and ensuring that they get the home they’re looking for at a price they’re looking for, right?

Every house, the right house, the right price. We say that all the time. We say there’s no such thing as a perfect house for you. Right? Because again, how many times one get away.

And it’s. I promise, every single time the only house I’ll ever love. And then they, you know, find the next one. And. Oh, my God.

So unfortunate. I didn’t. So tell me more about what you’re doing, what you’re seeing. I think that anytime that I get my clients must have list, I go looking for it. I said I’m gonna do everything in my power to find whatever you guys are looking for.

But at the end of the day, I’m not 100% sure I’m gonna be able to check all of your boxes. Because there is no such thing as a perfect home. Every single home is different. No matter if we’re looking at a 1930s house, a new construction, we’re gonna see so many different things, and not everything’s gonna check all of your boxes, and I just let them know we may not find a 10 out of 10. But I will do my best to find an 8 out of 10, a 9 out of 10 that checks almost every single box if we’re missing a couple boxes.

But you’re happy with the monthly payment. You’re happy with your commute to work. You’re happy with your neighbors, your community. There’s a park nearby. Whatever the case may be, if you’re overall genuinely happy, that’s how we’ve won.

Like, I’ve always told myself I’d love to live in five points, but I know for a fact that I cannot sacrifice a garage. I just can’t do it. But if a house came up in five points that I could afford buy garage, I don’t need it. I don’t need it. So I just.

I use that example when I talk to my clients, is like, when something comes up that you guys will love enough, it may not check all your boxes, but it’s checked enough boxes, and that’s going to be the one that we move forward on. It’s not about jumping through hoops and making you guys be uncomfortable in terms of price point. Because at the end of the day, you can find a perfect house. It’s not going to be 100% perfect, but if you have, you know, all the money in the world, you can do whatever you want. But I want to make sure that you guys are happy with whatever you decide in terms of actual livability.

Your monthly payment sure and we’re not going to go stretching for that and make you guys in a bad position trying to hit all of your boxes. We can get to that house in a couple years after we’ve used this one to build equity. So I think that’s kind of like where my talk track kind of goes with my clients, is like, if this is our first house, we don’t have to shoot for the moon and the stars. If we want to, we can, but let’s build our life here, and then in a couple years, we go build our life somewhere else. And then you’re gonna continuously have these stepping stones until you’re somewhere where you’re like, I’ve worked so hard to get to where I’m at now, and I feel like that’s kind of where I just make sure that they know we’re gonna do everything we can to make you happy.

But there’s not always gonna be that perfect house at that perfect price point. But if you love it enough and you’re happy with the monthly, then I got you. I think you nailed so many things. There’s so much that I can kind of pull out of there. And you kept saying it.

The monthly payment. I think what people have to understand, you live in the payment on the purchase price. Right? The payment, not the purchase price. I don’t know about you, but what I budget for every month with Jess.

Right. Is what our mortgage payment is, not whatever we bought the house for. Right, Exactly. And again, for every single buyer, it’s going to look and feel different. I don’t know your finances.

I don’t need to. I got great lenders that are going to work all the way through that, and they’re going to give you a number. 123 Main street is going to cost you this much every single month if you pay this much. How’s that sound for you? And so for you to continually reiterate that I think is so powerful because it really helps people reframe what they’re looking at.

Right. I mean, we have so many people that start this whole process and have no clue what they can afford. Right. I mean, there are some little calculators out there, and they’re like, hey, I got kind of an idea. Well, surely not enough that I’d want to base the next 30 years of my life on.

Right. And so I think one of those things that you said was fantastic. I think the other big part that you continually reinforced here is, look, I think I’m going to say it more clearly. An agent’s value isn’t in finding a property for. For you, okay?

We are not magicians. I cannot create that perfect house for you and just the amount of money you want to pay. And sometimes a client will look at you and be like, well, what the hell are you doing? Right? And again, our role in this whole thing, our value and what we’re able to bring to the table is ensuring you get the right house, the right price, right?

Looking at the home in greater detail with the appropriate vendors to ensure, again, that the money that you’re putting down is going to be a smart asset and investment for you for a long time to come, as well as a place where you can be safe, happy and comfortable. Right? And so again, you know, to be able to continually say that to people. I mean, I tell and look, you know, 102% of stats are made up on the dot. But this one I actually heard one of these times, I love.

So. But honestly that 71% of people actually find their own home. And I started thinking about that, right? And after I’ve talked about it more and more, it’s like, well, yeah, I’m going to tell you, client Jason’s going to tell you today what I want, right? And they’re all the must haves.

And you’re going to go out there and you’re going to set up exactly what I’m looking for. And when it doesn’t exist out there, not a whole lot’s going to show up. Or if there’s a couple out there and I don’t like that one, I don’t like that one. I don’t like that one. What are Jess and I going to do, right?

We’re going to lay in bed at night, we’re going to scroll. She’s going to be on Realtor, I’ll be on Zillow, and we’ll just be. Yep, yep, yep. And then we’re going to send it over to you. Do you like this one?

Every single time. And so. And you’re going to say, well, no wonder that one didn’t come up in the search. It’s a thousand square feet bigger or smaller or it’s more expensive or it’s outside of the area. It’s not in that same school district for Noah or whatever it is away from work, instead of 30 minutes, we’re gonna tell you those things we were never, ever, ever gonna compromise on.

Sure as shit, here we go. We’re compromising, and I think that’s okay. And I think that’s an okay thing. To tell people about their journey, to say when the time is right, right? Because you can’t just tell you day one, hey, bro, not getting most of those things, but there is a time when you can help people understand.

Safe, happy and comfortable is important, right? A quality investment is important. Getting you the home that you want and that you need at this moment is paramount. And ensuring, again, it’s a smart investment for you and that we put you in a place to win, not only with this house, but long term, right? Whether that is your house for the next 50 years or whether you call me in six months and tell me, hey, JK, time to sell it, right?

But I love how you said, like in this moment, in this moment, this house might make sense for you, it might not make sense for you in five years, it might not make sense for you in six months, but in this moment, we’re going to find what makes sense for you and your family or just you. Who cares? Whoever’s moving into the house, I don’t care. But if it makes sense for you in this moment, we’re here to help you. We’re not here to push you into anything ever.

Just make sure, you know, all the pros, all the cons. I think people glamorize the journey a little bit. I think it is, they go into it with rose colored glasses thinking that every day is going to be great, grand and wonderful and Courtney’s going to show us the houses for a few weekends and it’s going to be so fun and then I’m going to pick one and then we’re going to move in and so great, right? I think it is okay to help people live through that journey. And I think so much of our role, it goes beyond just realtor.

It’s, it’s psychiatrist, psychologists, it’s, it’s everything to be able to support you on the good days, right. Hug you when good things happen and you know, take the heat when bad things happen because they got to blame somebody and the clients for a shit aren’t blaming them, right? I mean, so we’re going to take the weight for you for sure. And that’s okay, right? It’s okay for us to be the steady emotional support in order to help guide people towards what they’re looking for.

Right? I mean, truly, I use the word guide so often because that’s what people need in life, right? They don’t need a hero. I’m the hero of my own story, right? Not a teacher, although I do educate.

Yes. But I’m a Guide. I’ve been here before. I’ve done this before. I’ve seen this before.

And here’s a few ways this can work out for you. I think the most important thing for people is to give them options, right? Give them a decision. Hey, you like this house, but you like this house? A 25k under.

Great. Let’s. Let’s go after it. And I’m going to sell the heck out of our offer with the understanding that here’s one of three things that may happen. Right?

And once I can give them that guidance. Cool, bro. I’m going to work, right? Because I work for you. And I love how we at DASH make sure that we’re always walking shoulder to shoulder with our client.

Where I feel some agents are, we’re always a step ahead, but we’re always at the day we come back and we realize that we’re shoulder, shoulder with our clients. We’re not the ones, like, dragging them along. No. We’re walking with them to get them to the finish line. And I feel like that’s super important, is that they’re not just along for the ride.

They are, but we’re making sure that we’re with them. They know that we’re with them through the good, the bad, until we get them to that final stage and that, I mean, there’s nothing more important. And I think that’s what’s really different about how we’re able to support people through is that again, everything we do is done with the idea that, look, I’m. I’m your ride or die, right? This is you and me forever.

I don’t. I don’t think you ever need a realtor ever again because I’m your person. Right? Something’s broke with the house. Cool.

Call me. Right? The new house. Cool. Call me.

After three months, after three years. Call me. Call me. Right? I’m your real estate Rolodex.

And anything you need, you just give me a call forever. And I think going into things with that mindset, it’s not transactional, it’s relational. It’s an opportunity for me to build a business with people I like. Right? With people that trust me.

When you trust me, it’s a hell of a lot easier to support you through something than when you’re keeping me at arm’s length. Right? I mean, you. We are slimy smooth talking salespeople to some. Right?

And there are people who keep us at bay, and there are people who, in a moment’s notice, when emotions are already high, when you’re talking about every penny you can beg, borrow and steal in this world. Then when that emotion shifts, you find yourself on the other side of the table very, very quickly. Right. And so again, so much of what we do and so much of what we talk about is ensuring that we’re guiding you through the process, helping you to understand that it’s not all going to be good days. Right.

But we’re going to help you see what’s going to hit you before it hits you and prepare you appropriately. Right, Cool. Love it. I think that was a killer segment by us. I think we crushed it.

What are we going to talk about next? Okay, so the next thing that we’re going to talk about is how we can best set up new agents for success. Like, what are the big things that we want to make sure we like, really hone in that they understand is going to be crucial to them being good and great and fantastic and reliable Five star agents. What a stellar conversation topic. Yes.

Why do you feel like we’re so well suited to do this? Great question. So I am a success partner here at Dash Carolina and Gardzee. Is the dude that trained you four years ago? Yes.

That’s all I was leading into. This is for me, this is not for you. That whole lead in was just for me to give you a little bit of shit here. But no, you spend every day. I mean, what do we have, like 20 agents a month?

Ish. 25 agents a month to join us. And, and I think any agent, their expectation is I need everything. Right. They, they demand, as well they should because this is an individual agent’s business.

Right. This is not my business or your business. That is their business. Right. And they’re choosing a brokerage to partner with.

And with that choice comes a level of responsibility for both the brokerage. Yes. And the agent. Right. And so from a brokerage standpoint, I think what we’ve done better than many.

Right. And I think there are, I don’t, I don’t always try and toot our horn or whatever, but by God, our onboarding program, the number of seasoned agents that support our newer agents by way of a shadowing program, by way of support and availability, the market analysts that we have that are available at a moment’s notice, I mean, the level of support that we give a new agent is absolutely everything they need. Right? Absolutely. Because they’re the guide.

And what, they pass 150 hours of real estate school and all of a sudden it’s like, all right, bro, go help somebody with all the money they got in this world and try and figure out if that’s a good deal or not. Right. So I think what we give them is everything they need. Right. But I’d love to hear a little bit more because that’s currently your day to day, right?

You spend your day to day more often than not right now helping our newest agents. We get 25 or so through the door every single month. Tell me more about what are some of the things you tell them day one and then tell me more about some of the things before you pat them on the butt and send them out to their first time with clients. Right. So just give me a little of that.

Just knowledge bomb. Just drop it right here. What do you got? I think the first thing that we teach inward is we give so much to our agents and we 100% expect, expect them to always give back. So I think the first thing that I always tell them is like, we’re going to expect a lot about, like we’re going to expect a lot out of you.

If you don’t want to be held accountable, this is not the brokerage for you. We want you to show up, we want you to do your best, and that is in any way, shape or form. We want you to help your colleagues, we want you to shadow, we want you to come to events, we want you to meet with our partners and our vendors, because that’s how we grow better as a brokerage and then as individual agents. So I think that’s probably the first thing that I always tell them, like show up in every way, shape or form. And I think too is that at the end of the day, you are your own boss, free to do whatever you want to do.

But the best people in this business are held accountable by other really great agents that, whether that’s your sp, your op, all of the people here to help you, the only reason that we’re holding you accountable is because we know that if we don’t, people slip through the cracks. And we want to make sure that our agents not only hold themselves accountable, but also show up best for their clients. So if you’re just like, I don’t really need help or I know everything, I don’t need to come into trainings, I’ve been in the business. You probably won’t last. You probably just won’t last because we teach things differently, we care about our clients differently.

So if you, if you think that you’re above learning all the time, then I don’t think that that’s gonna be Something that’s gonna make you a great agent. We have to learn and be open to learning 24 7. I don’t think any agent at Dash, whether they’ve been in real estate for 30 years or two months, can say that they have stopped learning. Like, it’s literally all day, every single day. So I’m like, show up.

Whether that’s for yourself, for your team, for your brokerage, for your clients, show up and be the best version of yourself. And then two, I will say be open to learning and failing and learning and failing 247 until real estate is not your thing forever. Nailed it. And look, we don’t demand that you come to anything, because why would we? Either you’re going to be one of us or don’t be one of us.

Right? But you know what I think is unique to us at DASH is this. We are the largest independent brokerage, and I don’t know how big we are as compared to so many others, but we don’t have the brand recognition that many others do. Therefore, one single agent who’s out there pounding the pavement, showing clients houses and doing things is so many individuals representation their only knowledge base of who we are and what we’re about. And so it’s paramount that we have agents that are trained the right way and supported the right way.

Because God knows, you don’t know everything when you’re starting out. You don’t know everything after you’ve been in there for years. Right. I mean, there’s a level of mastery, and you nailed it. That just continues this learning and this growth and this development forever and ever and ever.

But we have it a little tougher than most places. I’ll just call it what it is. Right. Because we have to continually provide the only knowledge base you’ll know of DASH with every single interaction you ever have with the DASH agents. Right.

We don’t have that market base across the nation. We don’t have this big understanding, although we are the largest independent brokerage and one of the largest in the triangle here. We’ve done, I think we almost 1700 transactions just last year. But still, you talk to a lot of people, right? Yeah.

No, we’ll golf clap for that. That’s right. Yeah. But it’s almost like we have to be held at a higher standard, and that pays dividends for our agents. I think either you want to be a part of that and you want to be that iron that sharpens iron, or, look, there’s plenty other places.

And I’m not going to say that we’re the right brokerage for you. There’s plenty of great brokerages out there for sure, but I feel like it’s also making sure that we’re not requiring you. We want you to want it. Nobody wants a gym buddy, but by God, I need a gym buddy, right? I need somebody that’s going to ask me where I live, want to be here, and then we will help you get to wherever you want to go as long as you want it.

And as long as you’re hustling, it’s a beautiful thing. I mean, we’ve proven to take great people and turn them into great agents, right? We’ve proven to take people into consistent top producing agents at a pretty regular basis. Right. I mean, we have the, the leads, the support, the systems, the tools, everything that you need to launch a very successful real estate career.

I think what people really need to bring into it though, and you nailed it from the moment you got you started talking about it. It’s, you got to put in the work, you got to put in the effort, right? Nothing is handed to you, Nothing is free, nothing is easy, nothing is given. The expectation is either you want to be one of us and you want to kick ass and reach whatever your definition of a dash is, or you just don’t. So great stuff.

I really appreciate kind of how you laid that out there. I think you put the simplicity in all of it that just simply says, if you want it, we got it. But we’re not going to chase you, right? Definitely not. What do you think is the one thing that through your four years, four, five, six years, I don’t even know at this point.

Long. Lots of years, lots of years of training agents that you has seen be the most effective way to like, light their fire. I’ll tell you. I mean, the great agents come in with a level of tenacity, generally speaking, that’s beyond others, right? I mean, they come in with that.

It’s an eight, right. People are winners, right? I mean, we are in sales roles and people like to win in sales. I know several individuals who have very successful real estate careers that aren’t necessarily salespeople per se. Right.

But at the same point, that work ethic, that drive, that care, compassion, concern for those around you, I mean, we’re helping people find a home in a safe space. I mean, it’s a very rewarding career in so many ways for people. So I think again, people have to come in with, I’ll continue using word tenacity. Like they have to want It. They have to have a drive.

But I’ll tell you, real estate’s a lonely business. Real estate is a tough business as you’re continuing to just live in between your two years sometimes, and that’s a tough place to be. Right. So many of the people that are out of our industry very quickly, it’s not because they didn’t have the lead count to support them or even the systems or tools or anything, but you got to know that somebody cares about you. Yeah.

You got to go out and get people. I think one of the things you and I do well, and I think it is something that becomes natural, is. Yeah, I mean, we care. I think why we’ve succeeded in our roles is because we’ve gone out of the way to tell some people, like, hey, today was a good day for you. They might not see it.

Right. But, hey, you had your first time out there with a stranger you met off the Internet, and guess what? They want to see you again. They actually showed up. You crushed it, right?

Yeah, they showed up. They liked you, and they want to see you again. Are you kidding me? You are winning right now, right? It’s those baby steps.

It’s those little things along the way where you have to reward yourself some. Right? Where you have to see what those things are. And I think we’re. We’re really good at is helping people understand, like, today was a good day.

You know, you know what you can. You can clock out today knowing that you did what you needed to to build your business and feed your family, pat yourself on the back and go have time with your family. Right? Because again, this business will take every second you’re willing to devote to it. But when we can take individuals who have proven to become great agents and put them in front of our newer agents on a very regular basis, and then we can go out and get our good agents that are new and tell them, hey, dude, we love you.

We’re happy you’re here, and we’re happy that you’re out there making us look great in the market, too. And we’re happy that you love what you’re doing. Right. I think so much of that care, compassion, and concern that we put into people shows in the fact that really, people don’t leave us and go other places. Everybody wants to be part of a community you.

You can make. There’s higher splits elsewhere, right? I promise there’s probably better tools and, I don’t know, not cooler people. Not cooler people. Not cooler people.

And probably not support. But I’m telling you, like, there are other places that are great, but I think what. What we’re able to do is really spend the time and energy caring about people, caring about their why, caring about what drives them, caring about their dash and what that should look like. I’m not going to tell you. Yeah.

No. If you don’t sell three houses this month and you’re out of here, buddy. No, it’s. Hey, why are you here? What are you doing?

What. What do you do when you go home? And why do you want to succeed in this business? Right? So I think that’s the best way I can answer that question for you.

Is that fair? Chef’s kiss. All right, last thing, then. We’re gonna. We’re gonna wrap this bad boy up.

I think the important part is. Yep, wrap it up here. It’s a wrap, people. You know, I think we’re gonna do this again sometime, probably, right? I think there’s ample opportunity for us in the future.

More Dash Cast podcasts. Say that five times fast on the outro here. Let’s hear it. No, Come on, give me five. Let’s go.

Okay. Dash Cash. Podcast. Podcast. Dash Cast.

Podcast. Dash Cast. Podcast. Dash Cast. Podcast.

Dash Cat. Podge. I got at least three out of five. I was pretty close. Close.

I think it was two. All right. Nailed it. That was two out of five. Great podcast.

Good stuff. Yeah.