Behind the Curtain at Compass Real Estate

Your listing doesn’t have to “go live” to start selling. We’re joined by Amanda Dudley and John Coake from Compass Central Texas to talk about what happens behind the curtain when a brokerage mixes real human coaching with real marketing leverage and real data.

We get into the culture piece first: why accessibility matters, what it’s like to move from agent to manager, and how the best support often looks like listening instead of fixing. From there we break down the three-phase marketing strategy agents use to create momentum before MLS, including private exclusives, networking across a nationwide agent base, and how early outreach can protect sellers from the stigma of days on market.

Then we go tactical. We talk pricing with tools like Buyer Demand, why hyperlocal inventory pockets can still be hot in a “down” market, and how to translate market stats into a living-room conversation that clients actually understand. We also dig into Compass Cares and the local giving-back legacy focused on affordable housing, plus the leadership mindset that helps agents stay in the business long enough to win.

We wrap with the lessons you only learn the hard way: the grind after your first “easy” closing, why Ninja Selling works for non-salesy people, and why it’s okay to part ways with the wrong client. Hit play, share this with an agent who needs a reset, and if you like what you hear, subscribe, leave a review, and tell us what topic you want next.

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Transcript

Welcome, Guests, And Viral Reel

SPEAKER_04 0:00

Welcome back to the house next door where real estate meets reality. I'm Anthony Harris and I'm Barbara Gillio. And today we have some really exciting guests that are very close to our dear to our heart.

SPEAKER_01 0:14

And they hear us talk every single day, and we have all of our problems.

SPEAKER_04 0:17

We have our problems. Sometimes we have to call agent support. Sometimes the real uh the love line that Realty Austin has. Um and we talk to our lovely sales managers. So we have Amanda Dudley and John Koch. Did I say that right? I don't say I just want to say something else.

SPEAKER_00 0:35

Your title's different though, right? It is, yes. What's your official title? It's managing director of uh Central Texas for Compass. For Compass.

SPEAKER_02 0:43

We are Compass now. Oh, I'm sorry, drop the reality off, but we are now Compass. We, as of July 1st, we are official Compass employees.

SPEAKER_01 0:56

Taking a year. Taking two and a half years.

SPEAKER_02 0:59

So I'm a sales manager, but I deb myself as a real estate coach. Yes. Um, because I like I said, when I won the Manager of the Year award with the Austin Board of Realtors.

SPEAKER_01 1:12

We forgot to say that she's also viral now.

SPEAKER_04 1:14

Oh my gosh, yeah. She does not have a virus.

SPEAKER_02 1:18

She is viral. Viral. Yeah. Yeah. You're trending on Instagram. We're at almost 80,000 views on my reel. Yeah. Wow. Yeah. Since yesterday. It's pretty fun. If you need a really good laugh, go look at the comments because they are hilarious. And you want your hand, what is your handle on Instagram? The Amanda Dudley. The Amanda Dudley. So if you want to see. I have almost 3,000 followers, but I think I gained a thousand from just this reel. Like that's just wild. I'm trying to break a thousand. Yeah, but my main my title is um uh sales manager, but I dubbed myself real estate coach. Yes, because you coach us too. Yes, because I like I feel like I don't manage all unless you're being naughty, which I really hope. Like very rarely, very rarely. But um, yeah, I just it's a coach therapy session every week, right, Anthony?

SPEAKER_05 2:10

Yes, every week.

SPEAKER_04 2:12

Every week. I've texted you with all kinds of things, yeah, and then John too. And sometimes John's like, okay, just reach Amanda. Oh, yeah, that's when he's done with you.

unknown 2:21

That's it.

SPEAKER_04 2:22

Next week we dismiss this.

SPEAKER_00 2:24

We spent time. We had a coaching session.

SPEAKER_04 2:26

We did, we had a fabulous coaching session the other day where um yeah, we talked about all kinds of good things. AI and the website, in the podcast, and both of you are so always available for us, no matter if it's you know, after hours, a weekend, in the morning. Every time I've reached out, you guys have been there, which has been wonderful.

SPEAKER_00 2:48

We love our jobs. We do. We did weird things. We did together.

SPEAKER_04 2:51

We did start together. Now, this was not the best. This is Realty Austin. Oh, no, no, no. Because I've been my story.

SPEAKER_02 2:57

We've been in a relationship for 11 years. We've been in a relationship for 11 years. We started at Realty Austin. No, in fact, um, before when we after we were colleagues, he was actually my manager too. And one of the best years of my real estate career was under him as well.

SPEAKER_05 3:17

So thank you, John.

SPEAKER_04 3:19

So when we when Realty Austin started, you guys were the very first orientation class.

SPEAKER_02 3:23

No, we were we well, I think Realty Austin was about what 15, 10 years in, and so we joined in 2015. Together, we all built together, but at the same time. Yes, and we had a big orientation class, and there's several of our agents now that are st that were in that class that are still with us today, which is fantastic. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 3:46

So yeah, it was great.

SPEAKER_02 3:47

John became a manager right before, like a year before COVID happened, I think.

SPEAKER_00 3:52

Yeah, it was December 2019. I moved in for because I was in sales at at RA, and then I moved into managing the North office. Yes, I remember you were my manager. It was wonderful. Yeah, it was great.

SPEAKER_04 4:02

He helped talk me off. Like every year, I would want to I wanted to quit real estate. And and John's like, no, you don't need to quit real estate. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 4:12

But we talked about new home sales there for a while, too.

SPEAKER_04 4:16

I was like this close to going to work for MI. And you were like, oh, and and I stayed. I stayed on. I'm still doing hard time as a real friend.

unknown 4:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 4:27

But what made you both cross over? How did you get out? How did you get out?

SPEAKER_00 4:32

I'm just asking for a friend. We've got a hard job. Just asking for a friend. I

How They Got Into Real Estate

SPEAKER_00 4:35

know they're career planning.

SPEAKER_02 4:36

I'm gonna take notes if you don't mind. Yeah, John's been in real estate a lot longer than me. So what's your background?

SPEAKER_00 4:43

Yeah, so I started um in real estate in 2001. And I originally I was in like corporate America, I worked for Microsoft, consulting firms, and all sorts of things. And um I got into flipping homes up in Seattle. So I was originally licensed with Windermere Real Estate up in Seattle. I was a broker up there for 13 years. And um, but I got into real estate by flipping homes, like old craftsmen and colonials like early 1900s up there, and so I got fell in love. That's where I fell in love with real estate. That is, oh and it was really and it was all kind of in my neighborhood. A house came up for sale, and I was like, oh, we can make this turn this back into something beautiful. So bought that, and then I was working with my real estate agent. I was like, this is actually kind of cool. And so I looked into real estate for a little bit and I was like, well, I can start buying these houses myself and flipping them and not having, yeah. So not a good thing, it's a yeah, it's a lot, but then but then I just kind of fell into it, and and that's kind of got my start in real estate back then. Yeah, so 2001 licensed and then was a broker.

SPEAKER_05 5:35

That's a long time ago.

SPEAKER_00 5:36

I know, and then gosh, it was 2013 relocated to Texas, and you guys, you know, starting your career, you can imagine. It's like I knew one person in Austin when I moved here. I'm like, do I really want to get back into real estate again? But you know, with all that experience in real estate, it's kind of like you know how to run, you know, it's like starting and running your business, you know the basic principles of what you need to do and how to take care of your clients. And so I just kind of repeated what I did there and started my business over and did that for a while at RA until this opportunity to move into management happened.

SPEAKER_02 6:03

Yeah, yeah. Well, we had opened the new office too, right? So um I started in real estate in 2014, and just like you, like I bought and sold houses, and you know, Dale was like, my husband, he was like, You should do real estate, you'd be so good at plus, you're gorgeous. And I'm like, Oh, we love things. Yeah, love it.

SPEAKER_05 6:23

Okay, it's true. Yeah, I mean it is gorgeous.

SPEAKER_02 6:26

So I'm so excited. That's what I mean. That's what I'm saying. I do not like sales, my dad's a realtor, he's terrible at it. Like, that just sounds terrible. Like, can I just be a stay-at-home mom, you know?

SPEAKER_04 6:35

You saw the other side.

SPEAKER_02 6:36

I did, well, yeah, and I had run my own event planning company before then, too. So I knew like being an entrepreneur what was needed. And so um, this lovely couple out of KW, they took me under their wings, they mentored me for a year, and actually was running into our former owners um at Realty Austin in like the you know, the circle, you know, we would go to fundraisers and I'd just see them give and give and give. And I met with them, I'm like, why are y'all giving so much? They're like, We're actually giving on behalf of our agents. They donate a portion from their sales commissions, and then we give it to the the charities that they choose. So nice. So I was like, that's really cool. And then I started talking to one of the owners who's very tech forward, and I'm like, this is what I need, you know. And so um, that was in 2014, 2015. I was like, I'm sorry guys. I like cried to my team late, I'm like, I'm sorry, but I have to go. And she's like, she was so mad. But her husband's like, we get it, Amanda, you're gonna go kill it. So so I did that um until 2019. Um, I started our ambassador program at Realty Austin, and we got really close to the owners. And what is the ambassador program? Because our listeners may not know.

SPEAKER_01 7:50

Does it still exist?

SPEAKER_02 7:51

Well, it's in a different, it's kind of evolved, right? Now we have like a like a group of agents that are Compass and Realty Austin, and they're kind of our advisory note. Advisory board, you know, and so they're like your voice, right? So anything that you guys need, like we are the beeline to the owners that make the decisions, you know. And so that's what we did. And we were like the welcome committee. So if you see a new agent in the office, you like run up to them, you introduce them, we would go to orientation. Yeah, such a good culture. Yeah, but my my background in event planning, you know, the one of the owners, they threw a ton of parties for we have such a great culture anyway. And so um the one of the owners was like, You really should help her, you know, and I'm like, okay, so let's do that, but I still need to sell because I'm killing it this year, you know. And so they I'm not ready to give back. Yeah, they kept me on. I planned a diamond club party for us, and right before then, they were like, Listen, you love this company so much and you're so good and hospitable. Like, why don't you become the recruiter? And I was like, No, I'm killing it. I'm gonna do 10 million this year. Well, I ended up doing it and loving it. In fact, my boss he handed me a slide deck in our very first interview. I'm just going through and just selling it and selling it. He's like, Have you seen this slide deck before? And I'm like, no, but I've experienced all of these things, you know. Oh, nice, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 9:12

So um firsthand, organically, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 9:14

Yeah, and then COVID happened and we had to really shift how we were doing things, right? I mean, I became very familiar with Google Meet and Zoom very quickly. So but that was our biggest recruiting class was during that time because a lot of brokerages were not supporting their agents, you know, they weren't shifting fast enough for what they needed, and so we've got a lot of agents out of that. So I did that, and then um, and then our R VP now at Compass, Gabe Richter, he's just kind of trying to figure out some things on how we can scale. And so he offered me um the position at the North office as a sales manager, and I was deathly terrified. I'm like, there's no way I knew she was gonna kill it. But you know, well, here's the thing it's like the it's a difference between being a colleague and then being a manager, right? You know, and then building up that trust with the people that you have to serve, and so that was my biggest fear. I get that, yeah. I think we both went through it.

SPEAKER_00 10:12

I had the same fears because you know, shifting from like being in sales to being a coach and a mentor, but then you look back at like your experience and my experience that we had, it's like all those were valuable experiences to kind of pass on. And I think our personalities were good at like from a coaching standpoint, yeah. They're really connecting with people and different varieties of are agents too. Because everything's a little bit different.

SPEAKER_01 10:32

I think it makes a better leader too, because there's a difference between a manager and a leader, yeah. And when you've been through that transition, I think it yeah, yeah, it brought a lot of insecurities out for sure.

SPEAKER_02 10:42

Um, because you're just like, I I didn't, I haven't sold it, like I don't have the experience that these agents do in sales, right? And then so you feel insecure, like how am I gonna guide them? And finally, when I was just like I'm gonna treat this just like I treat my clients, I am just here to serve you and listen to you and help you. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And you leave with that servant's heart.

SPEAKER_04 11:02

That's where you find your group. Yeah, yeah. So yeah, it's you guys are both very um different in how you get coach and support and lead. And I love that because each each each style is really important and it connects more with some agents and more with other agents, but it you guys have been amazing, really amazing, especially in some hard spots that I know I've been through and other agents have been through. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, we so appreciate it. We go through it all with your journey to us.

SPEAKER_02 11:29

Yeah,

Switching From Agent To Manager

SPEAKER_02 11:30

I mean, sometimes I don't know if you feel like this, like I feel like I'm more of an extension of you and your family and your goals and all your needs. And so there's a lot of times where I've had agents just come into the office, they don't have an appointment, they just show up, they walk in the door, and they just give me the biggest hug because they're just having the roughest time, and we sit there and we talk, and we you know, therapy session or whatever it is. And once, as a coach, once you get past being the fixer and just being the listener, it just makes it that it makes that connection just so much.

SPEAKER_04 12:02

That's a really good point. I never thought about that. Where you feel like you've got to come in and fix it and do all that, and then sometimes it is just to listen. Yeah, yeah. Without intervening and just letting that conversation happen.

SPEAKER_00 12:17

Yeah to well, it's the same with your clients too. I mean, you have to listen to what their goals are. It's the same with us because we'll have you know, agents come in and they'll sit down and we listen to what you have to listen, you have to listen to what their goals are because some agents have huge growth goals. I want to double my business this year. There's other agents who's like, I have two young kids at home or a brand new baby at home. I just want to sustain my business over the next year. I just want to sustain my business this year. You know, how can you support support me in creating that work-life balance? Yeah, and then I'll get back into eventually wanting to grow my business again. So it's not always about like, oh, we're pushing you to be like, you know.

SPEAKER_04 12:52

No, you guys, yeah. I was talking about it.

SPEAKER_00 12:54

So it's it's listening a lot.

SPEAKER_01 12:56

I think that's the very different about our brokerage versus other ones, too, is that wait me and Barbara have been at a couple, um, and you don't get that support frequently.

SPEAKER_04 13:08

Sometimes we have a a one-night stand out, you know, with another brokerage. But we always come back, we always come back to our original lover.

SPEAKER_01 13:21

Oh my god. Yeah, but I think that's what keeps Compass and Realty Austin different than support. Yeah, and that's what brought Amanda and probably John to the brokerage.

SPEAKER_00 13:31

It did, yeah. I mean, Amanda mentioned we were very tech forward company, and when I was with Windermere, it was very tech forward. And I enjoyed having those, that platform and those tools. And I think that's what was unique about Realty Austin is we had tremendous, amazing tools that were created that supported the agent's business and running it on a day-to-day, making it easier for you to serve your clients. Same with Compass. I mean, they've invested so much money in creating a platform that makes it easy for you to start, run, and grow your business also. And then we get to do the fun stuff is like actually the platforms there. Now we can like support you on the other goals that you may have and those types of things.

SPEAKER_02 14:06

So anytime I was uh interviewing agents for brokerages, I would it was either us versus them. Yeah. And I hated it when they went over to Compass. But I but I understood why. So when this happened, when this acquisition happened, I was so excited. Yeah, because now it's just one. And now it's just one of these.

SPEAKER_04 14:36

Well, and I remember when I was um wanting to come back and I reached out um which time? Well, when I went to you, Sassy. So the first time? And the second time wasn't her decision to leave.

SPEAKER_01 14:59

It turned into a recording. Time for me to leave.

SPEAKER_04 15:08

But I wanted to come back to Realty Austin, but then I ended up talking to Compass, and I thought they were kind of the same thing, but it ended up at that time they were still very separate. And so I ended up going Compass, but I really wanted to go to Realty Austin. And then later on, my neighbor, um, who's with Realty Austin and Compass and all that, she went back to Realty Austin. I'm like, hey, I want to go. How did you get to do that? And she's like, You can do it, and so then I just pick up the phone and call. I just picked up the phone and called and I'm like, so now I get to be like Compass, but with all the Realty Austin stuff, and so it was perfect. And now I think it's even better because we were always one family. Yeah, we just had different little names, and now we're just one family, yeah, and it makes it easy.

SPEAKER_00 15:50

So but I love that we're doing. I mean, it's a lot of it drives it comes from y'all, it comes from things that we're working on, but like the culture. I think that's what differentiates us from a lot of brokerages in you know, in Austin and in other places, yeah. That was my question.

What Makes Compass Feel Boutique

SPEAKER_04 16:02

What makes compass unique?

SPEAKER_00 16:03

It is very much because people don't know. Yeah, it's our culture. It's like we're part of a big corporation that has a lot of these great, you know, technologies and tools, but we're able to kind of re you know maintain that kind of boutique, smaller feel where you can pick up the phone or you can walk into the office and you can sit down with me, or you can sit down with Amanda. We're always available, so it's got that smaller boutique feel versus when you get big big corporations where it's like you call and it's like an automated AI line or something like that.

SPEAKER_02 16:31

So I think that's that's where you have to go into a portal with your avatar to go look for your broker.

SPEAKER_04 16:36

Why do we always have to have an avatar for that? And my avatar is always like something weird that I can't do.

SPEAKER_01 16:42

Yeah, the broker's not really the broker.

SPEAKER_04 16:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 16:46

That's what I love. It's like when you guys call, any of any of the agents that calls is like, it's okay if I talk to you or whatever. Because I may not be the manager. And I'm like, absolutely, I absolutely love it when you know people call and ask, you know, about things on our Facebook page.

SPEAKER_01 16:58

That's our Facebook group.

SPEAKER_00 17:00

Yes. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 17:01

The collaboration is just so unique, I think. Um, and I think that's just our agents. Like, I think Ninja Selling really helped with that. I felt like when we uh incorporated that into our processes, um, it really brought our agents together and encouraged y'all to like really create your own little network, right? Then you attach that to the Compass network where you have you know 30,000 plus agents that you're connecting with online and through these coaching at Compass calls and all of that. I mean, it just makes it that much more powerful. So it definitely does.

SPEAKER_01 17:35

When you say that, that's um the Katie's at Compass. That's what comes to mind is they have a group of all the Katie's. And it doesn't matter how the name Katie is spelled, but they mean they have a group of Katie's at Compass. Oh wow.

SPEAKER_02 17:46

It's an affiliate uh group, and they just all network together and they're all Katie. It's like the you know, the Heathers, right? Like you have to be a Katie in order to be a part of this group.

SPEAKER_01 17:58

People back and forth, like it's a big network.

SPEAKER_04 18:00

Okay, what is Barbara's looking like? Is there that four of us? And we're all over 70. Yeah, an old name. We need to bring the barber name back. All smoking, Virginia Slits, Maros, and this you're weakened.

SPEAKER_01 18:17

Oh, sorry, I need to bar back. I love it. I love it. Oh, well, whatever. We didn't start off with a joke. We didn't. That's okay. Oh, you can go back. Okay, we'll do it at the end.

Three-Phase Marketing Before The MLS

SPEAKER_04 18:33

I I want to share some things that I know you guys know so much about. I live it because I'm a I'm a realtor with you, ground on, you know, boots on the ground. But like our three-phase marketing program that we have, where we have the coming soon, we have the uh private exclusives, and that whole sort of behind-the-scenes marketing that we can do before we even hit the MLS that often gets our houses sold for our clients before we even go into the MLS. Can you explain how um Compass has this program that is very different than other programs?

SPEAKER_02 19:07

So it's not a program, it's actually a strategy. It's a strategy. You don't have to be at Compass to have this strategy. Um, how often, Barbara, did you get a sign listing agreement and you come into the office or you call Anthony or a colleague and say, Guess what? I just got this great listing. It's coming on the market. Let me know if you have any buyers interesting. We organically did that. Yeah. And so what the three-phase marketing strategy really does is not only are you telling your colleagues here locally, but you're telling them Compass nationwide. And so it's a platform for you to use with your sellers to say, hey, listen, while we're getting the house ready, while we get the photos taken, while we start determining the price, let me just tease this listing out there a little bit and see what kind of interest we get.

SPEAKER_04 19:55

And when we say nationwide, we really mean it because Josh Flagg is with Compass. And everybody knows that we're obsessed with Josh Flagg. Oh, yeah. Well, Tracy Therm, Josh Flag is seeing your listing.

SPEAKER_01 20:06

Yeah, and that's going live in Christie's.

SPEAKER_02 20:08

Can internationally can they see now that we're bringing more and more of the Anywhere brands onto the platform, we are going to have over 300,000 agents that will have access to your listings too.

SPEAKER_04 20:20

Wow, so that's a huge number. That's a huge number before it even hits the market.

SPEAKER_02 20:25

Yeah, but it's great, especially with this um balanced market that we're starting to feel. Like you can start really teasing it, get it ready, get it show ready. You don't have to have a photo, you don't even have to have a price set, but you're not really getting it out there and getting the negative, you know, response, like days on market.

SPEAKER_04 20:42

Days on market, or oh, you know, the market, even though we have the data to support this price, whoopsie, the market doesn't like that. And they're shifting again. So you can kind of play that out before you actually have days on market, which is nice.

SPEAKER_00 20:55

It benefits your clients so much. It's like you're providing your clients with something that a lot of other brokerages are not able to provide. So it makes it a very unique for you for all of your clients as you are preparing those listings. And then also when you think about from the buyer side, too, having access to that knowledge ahead of time. It's so great. I always see there was two agents in our office, they were sitting at our little collaboration or where you both sit, and then one was talking about a listing that was coming on, or maybe it was in our market thing, and the other one was talking about a buyer need, and they were like, I actually have a buyer for that property. Right, it's all right.

SPEAKER_04 21:26

Yeah, I just sent one of my clients a coming, not a coming soon, but private exclusive, and I'm like, we are the only ones who can see this really, and and it, you know, we're gonna go look at it. So it's great.

SPEAKER_01 21:36

And I like the make me sell too, because for those unique buyers that they're looking for they have their set criteria that make me sell, you can see where someone might be entertaining the idea of selling without being on the market. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 21:51

Oh, wait, buyer demand tool. I am obsessed with the buyer demand tool. Yeah, and that's a tool for people who are listening and don't know. Um because yeah, you're not they

SPEAKER_00 22:01

They don't know all of our tools. They don't know all of our tools.

SPEAKER_04 22:06

But it's so cool because it'll show you a listing. Say, you know, I have a listing at 123 Main Street. And it'll show, like, if you set it at this price, how many buyers are there for that home at that price and in that area? And then it shows you, like, oh, there's this much at this price, this much at this price. Sometimes it's surprising. There's more buyers when it's priced higher than lower. And so it's just interesting to be able to use that as a pricing strategy tool. It's not my only tool, it's one of the tools I use just to see how that particular area is responding and how many buyers are in it.

SPEAKER_01 22:38

And as we get more agents on board, it's going to be even more effective. Yeah, definitely.

SPEAKER_02 22:43

That buyer demand tool is really interesting, you know, too, because you can reverse prospect with that too. So if you have your sellers are thinking about doing a price reduction and you see that there are more compass searches saved in that price range, you can also reach out to those agents that have those saved searches. Yeah. So you can be proactive and say, hey, you know, we have we're we're thinking about price reduction here. Do you think your clients would be interested in seeing this property? Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 23:10

Yeah, and really have their contact info and everything. Because I I do use it.

SPEAKER_01 23:14

And even from the Compass app, I think you can text them, right? Or just email.

SPEAKER_02 23:18

It's just an email and it's you can text too. Yeah, you can text through the portal too. But it's just a really great tool. I think what agents really struggle with is what do I say? You know, we get so stuck behind this text world, texting and emailing. Like, pick up the phone. Like you have to old school it now. Yeah. You know, gone are the days that you can just throw a listing on the MLS and hope that it sells. You have to start calling. And so tools like three-phase marketing, make me sell, and buyer demand really help you with that outreach strategy to those clients. You gotta hustle now. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 23:51

One of our top producing teams called me the other day with a listing and she's like, hey, I see that your client matched, and that's what they're doing.

SPEAKER_03 23:58

Picked up the phone and called you. Yep.

SPEAKER_01 24:00

I answered, can you believe it?

unknown 24:01

No.

SPEAKER_02 24:05

I know we get so many spammy calls, but we are in the world of real estate, you know. And you need it now.

SPEAKER_04 24:11

You can tell when it's a spammy call and you you need to hang up because it takes a minute for them to be a good thing. This clearly is not a real at all.

SPEAKER_05 24:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 24:24

You brought up a really good point though. When you're talking about like determining a price for you know that particular area, because we always get the stats, and everybody gets them, you know, all probably all your listeners, they see the stats that come out and they're purported on the local news networks and stuff. That's for the MSA here. So it's like Austin, Round Rock, you know, San Marcus, um, and you're looking at a broader spectrum. And so it's hard for your clients sometimes to go, oh my gosh, there's nothing going on in the market. Well, in a neighborhood where you're specifically listing, there may be no properties available, and that market might be very hot. And so having access to these tools and really looking at what's the hypermarket doing, you know, right there, having those to your disposal, you can say, we can list a little bit higher. And a lot of people don't know that. That that's because there's no there's no inventory in there. Right. So that's why we're seeing multiple offers, and people are what do you mean we're seeing multiple offers? The market's the market's down. It's like, well, it's not down everywhere.

SPEAKER_04 25:17

It's not down in this pocket that happens to be, you know, uh attached to a school that has a certain principle that's bringing in more people, and it's just those real nuances that can make a difference in pricing.

SPEAKER_02 25:28

Yeah, so can I just say that Compass is more than just a platform? Okay, I know everyone's like, oh, they're you know, technology, all this stuff. But John is our market stats guru. And so not only do we have him giving us the local stats, but then we also have our compass intelligence team that gives us the national stats too. So as agents, it's really valuable valuable to you guys to understand what is happening on a macro level and a micro level, right? And then you can relay that back to your clients too.

SPEAKER_04 25:58

It's how we can serve them as best as we can, you know, having as much agents.

SPEAKER_00 26:02

Every morning I'm on the treadmill listening to Logan Mogoshami on Housing Wire and I love him.

SPEAKER_04 26:08

He's awesome, yes. Sometimes what he says, it just goes right over my head. But the Housing Wire, if you're a Stats Geek, to check out their podcast with them.

SPEAKER_02 26:18

It's so fun. I host regularly on Momentum Mondays, Mike Simonson, our chief economist. And I'm like, I love nerding out with him. I think I even start the podcast, like, okay, Mike, let's nerd out together with some data. But and he he can really get off on some numbers and things like that. And so my job in those meetings is to then take it and say, okay, as an agent, here's how you translate

Hyperlocal Pricing And Market Stats

SPEAKER_02 26:40

this into the living room. Here's how you have that lumbering conversation.

SPEAKER_04 26:43

Yeah, because sometimes you can make people's eyes glow glaze over there. Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 26:48

I've heard myself in those interviews where I'm like, where is he going with this? Okay, how do we okay, let's bring it back in, Mike. Exactly.

Compass Cares And Giving Back

SPEAKER_04 26:56

And I wanted you to also share about um Compass Care's program. Yes, that was something new that you were saying that you just had, and I want to I want to hear about that, and then I want to hear some stories.

SPEAKER_00 27:08

Okay, yeah, absolutely. No, so you know, when we had basically Reality Austin had an amazing philanthropic program where all of our agents for years and years and years have given back millions of dollars and millions of or thousands and thousands of hours to Habitat for Humanity and foundation communities and so many other local nonprofits that support affordable housing in central Texas. And so one of the things that you know we were working on, I'm very proud of, is Robert Redfin, who was the you know the founder and CEO of Compass, came in and we sat him down with our kind of leading charity givers and we talked about the programs that we were doing. He loved it, and so he built it into the platform for all agents in every market to do donations for it made a comeback because of Ralty Austin.

SPEAKER_02 27:56

It made a comeback.

SPEAKER_00 27:57

So every agent across the United States can now, like we did, make a donation with every single transaction. And it's all part of Compass CARES, which was creative before. So recently we also had another program which was Cortisone Circle, which represented and recognized agents that gave a thousand dollars or more per year as being like those that are very forward and like giving and our our mantra of you know, work hard, play hard, and give back. And so we've been working recently with our team here in the state of Texas to relaunch that. We just launched it in June. It's called the Change Maker, so it's an evolution of that, but it's rolled out here in the state of Texas now. So every agent that donates a thousand dollars will be recognized as a change maker in our Texas markets for our local philanthropic yep. Yeah, so we're using that kind of as a starting jumping point, and then one of my jobs is I'm gonna try to get that pushed nationally next year in 2027 so we can have that across the country.

SPEAKER_04 28:52

Yeah, so we're all just giving back making the community. It makes such a huge difference.

SPEAKER_00 28:56

And I think you know, when I was working, my clients like it was in my listing and buyer presentations like, oh, you give back for you know, and I do. It's like it was important to me.

SPEAKER_02 29:05

Yeah, send them an email saying, Thank you so much for working with me and for your business. Because of that, I have donated, you know, a percentage of my commission to these foundations. And here's what that means.

SPEAKER_04 29:16

Because they all think we're greedy sometimes, you know.

SPEAKER_00 29:18

They don't realize how much we're trying to make the world a better place. We're out there building homes and we're doing all sorts of things.

SPEAKER_02 29:26

And the focus is affordable housing, so it's it comes back to the community. Yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 29:32

And just with that being said, too, is networking with our other agents. Like I volunteer a lot with uh foundation communities and Brian and Jeremy and all of them. We it just brings the team closer together when you're giving back and seeing change. It's really cool seeing interacting with the community on that capacity.

SPEAKER_04 29:52

Absolutely, you feel like a part of it. Okay, I want to hear some stories.

Hard Lessons And The Early Grind

SPEAKER_04 29:56

This is the fun part. I mean, I love everything about Compass, and and I love it. I love to have that platform to share because it's it is a really important company. But I want to hear some stories. So let's start with um okay. What was one of the best learning experiences you had in the real estate industry? I think this was like your aha moment, like, oh my gosh, this is blowing my mind.

SPEAKER_02 30:24

Oh my gosh. I it it's hard for me to put, I have uh one, but I think I want to tell my first my very first um transaction. Because that was very an aha for me. So I love that. Um well, you know, as an entrepreneur, you know it's gonna be hard, right? And so my very first week being licensed, I put on Facebook, my husband and I had a lot that we had um for sale that my dad was actually representing, and he sold that lot right when I was getting my license. So I was like, oh yay, you know, we were so excited, we sold our lot, da-da-da-da. And then one of my friends from high school reached out and he said, Hey Amanda, are you? I saw you got your license and you just sold this property. Um, can you represent my dad? And so I was like, absolutely. I can. Right over. This is like three days after getting my license. You know, yeah, usually it's like four months after your license, right? I don't even think my transfer to the brokerage had gone through yet on the track, but yeah. So it was 26 undeveloped acres of land in driftwood. And one so you just went straight farm and how all of real estate school, when you're having to learn all like how to convert acreage into square footage, you're like, why am I never ever? And the very first one was farm and ranch. You never used it.

SPEAKER_01 31:42

But you still didn't use it.

SPEAKER_02 31:43

I still well, so let's so listen to this. So it was 26 undeveloped acres. One acre was in um an HOA, and so it was restricted. And it had endangered species. Um, okay, it had like an act, like all these different things. Well, my luckily my team had already had this listing with a different, you know, a different agent that they had on their team before. So they had everything. So we literally within an hour of me getting the ink signed, we put it on the market. Um, an agent in that area called me right away and she's like, hey, I saw this one on the market. I think we had it listed for like five, $4.75 or something. Right. And um, and it was 2014, so it was probably a good deal, you know. Um, but she knew the property. She's like, I know this land, I've walked it so many times. I had the perfect cash buyer. Oh, this is what you want, a cash buyer. And I was like, heck, yeah. So that Friday, we got it under contract, we closed the next week, and I was like, this is going to be so easy.

SPEAKER_01 32:39

Do you still stand by that?

SPEAKER_02 32:41

Um, and it wasn't, you know, and I think I actually wrote a substack on this. Like, it is real estate's hard. It is hard. And you sometimes you get lucky, sometimes more than not, if you are very protective of, you know, your process, you're gonna get those easy transactions, right? You're gonna get the the great client set or just gems and referrals and stuff like that. But it took another six to nine months before I actually had another transaction and it was a grind. Yeah, I was doing open houses, I was doing everything I could um to learn and to really build up that pipeline. And so, not even a year at you know, being licensed, my first January I actually closed 1.9 million in sales because of that grind, you know, and that's what yeah, that's what got real T. Austin to call me, you know, too. So that I think was like an aha moment. Like it is not easy. Yeah, you have to work your butt off. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 33:33

How about you, John?

SPEAKER_00 33:35

Wow, I know I was thinking about this. I think the foundation that like when I started, because it was it was way back, way back when, but I think that you know, getting into real estate and I'm not a salesperson. I have to do that. Always hated sales, me too. And when I was I don't like real estate, yeah, I was yeah. And when I was getting into real estate, I was like, oh my gosh, I'm gonna have to be a salesperson. And I was like, I was really nervous about like that's not who I am. And I discovered, and we talked about this. I discovered ninja selling.

Ninja Selling And Client Boundaries

SPEAKER_00 34:02

And so I went through ninja selling, and it was like, oh my gosh, that was like the big like that was your aha moment. Yeah, I didn't I didn't have to be a salesperson, I needed to be me. Yes, I needed to be the person that created relationships, what I love to do, right? Have some systems in doing that, meaning pick up the phone and call my clients that love me and they love to talk to you. It's like when you think about you have a buyer sometimes in the car for hours, you know, and then all of a sudden you sell them the house, they still want to hear from you every once in a while. So it's like keeping those connections and just doing those things that naturally came to me, just building relationships, staying in touch with people, not being salsy, and thanking them when they gave me a referral. It's like, you know, thank you very much for you know supporting my business and giving me a referral. It changed the my whole outlook on what real estate was. Yeah. Because I was like, I don't have to be that salsy person. I can be just who I am and it fit who I was. And I think that built my success by being more natural. Like, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 34:56

So you can be you. You don't have to be able to do that.

SPEAKER_00 34:58

We're not all like the you know, a salesperson out there that's like, oh, you've got to buy this. No, you don't have to buy. We were talking right before. It's like one of my first clients, I sold, I went in toward 67 condoms. 67 condoms before he purchased, yeah. I remember that number because it was a lot.

SPEAKER_04 35:15

It was a lot frontwards and backwards.

SPEAKER_00 35:18

So, but that was kind of that was the foundation that kind of changed and set kind of put the basis and you know, for my career moving forward.

SPEAKER_04 35:25

Yeah, yeah, and that's good for people to know because a lot of people think they have to be salesy in this industry, and I think you're more successful when you are authentically who you are. And sometimes that is salesy and that works. But for other people like myself and John and I I think Amanda too, and and also you, Anthony, we are not that way. So we do we approach it differently.

SPEAKER_01 35:44

Okay, I think as I see it, we we give the information they need to make informed decisions. I'm not buying a house, but you are it's your money.

SPEAKER_02 35:52

And you know what? It's okay if a client chooses not to work with you. You could do everything so right. I had an agent text me on the way here. She's like, Are you available? I need to talk. And I'm like, What's wrong? She's like, Oh, we had these buyers, we had a great conversation, but they decided not to use me anymore. And she's like, I feel like I did everything right. And I'm like, You probably did. Yeah, but that's okay. Yeah, and and also vice versa. It is okay to fire a client. Oh, yes, it's okay.

SPEAKER_04 36:16

Yep, yeah, I 100% agree.

SPEAKER_02 36:19

I had yeah, I had one client, I was going through a lot of health stuff, and you know, I was in an L hospital, I had a hysterectomy, and my broker at the time, he's like, Amanda, if you don't fire them, I will fire them for you. And and I ended up just sticking it out, and that is my biggest regret is that I did not. You didn't listen to your gut. I didn't listen. Yeah, well, my gut was on the hood. Well, your gut table.

SPEAKER_04 36:44

Yeah, your your gut is no longer there, so that that sucks.

SPEAKER_02 36:48

I left it on the table.

Ghost Stories And Old-Home History

SPEAKER_04 36:50

Okay, I have a quick so this is before we wrap up, we you know, we're all about a ghost story. Oh my goodness. We're all about a good haunting. And so, do either one of you have a good, like, we walked into a haunted house or a ghost story about some house you showed with a creepy feeling or something. I don't know. Our listeners love a good little scary.

SPEAKER_02 37:10

My own haunting story. So I'm I'm half Mexican, right? So I believe in the Juju and all these things. Yeah, and one of my best girlfriends lived in Kyle's their very first house. It's actually the the same high school people that with my first transaction. And they had a little boy, and he just wasn't sleeping well, and I there's just something happening with this house, you know. And a lot of those houses out there are rebuilt on farmland and whatever else is underneath it, you know. So um, so they brought in a priest to come into the house, and the priest is going and he's going, and you know, the holy water is everywhere on the walls or whatever. So they are all downstairs, so then he's upstairs, and then all of a sudden she was like, Amanda, it just got super quiet. And then all of a sudden, you heard a kid running out like screaming and then slamming the door. And she was like, Everyone was downstairs. No one was upstairs except for the priest. Wow. And she said after that, everything was calmer and quiet, and then we had no other issues.

SPEAKER_05 38:15

Wow.

SPEAKER_02 38:16

Is that something that you're supposed to disclose on a seller's disclosure?

SPEAKER_04 38:20

No, no, no, no, I don't know the house, I don't know the people, we know nothing, no details. Yeah, yeah. Oh, that's a good one. That is a good one. That's a good one. Okay, Sean.

SPEAKER_00 38:29

I don't really have any ghost stories. I we were I was talking about when I got into the business, like remodeling and refurbishing these old older homes. And it's amazing, it's like when you go into them, and we did some of the work, we also, you know, with contractors, but as you peel away like wallpaper back in the day, it was so popular. But when you peel away like six layers of wallpaper and you start to see the generations and what they did, and there was one green velvet with all these really wild. I mean, it was really cool just uncovering kind of the history of like some of these homes, and you start to think about the generations that were lived in those, especially the early 1920s, you know, how many families and the remodels they went through and the bad remodels they went through.

SPEAKER_04 39:10

Yeah, like see layer by layer, that it's almost like the house is telling you a story. Right.

SPEAKER_00 39:15

Yeah, but part of it that was then it makes you like when we redid these, it's like preserving that history and not taking that apart, modernizing it for the homes. But you know, the original oak floors, making sure you kept those and all those beautiful things that made those homes great family homes like forever.

SPEAKER_04 39:31

Which you love, which I love you, just a steward of old homes. Yeah, yeah. One day I will have an old, old home. My home is not old, it just looks old. But um, is a farmhouse built to look like an old farmhouse? But one day I will have a true historic. Yeah, I know.

Where To Find Everyone

SPEAKER_04 39:48

We loved having you on the show. And you have so much to share. So I feel like this is gonna be you will be reoccurring guests on our show. Oh, we have to do that. Because there's so much, yeah. I want to hear about your craziest clients and all good stuff.

SPEAKER_01 40:01

And the thing that goes viral. Yes, we have so much money to share.

SPEAKER_04 40:06

The white claw is hitting y'all.

SPEAKER_01 40:08

So we need my claws. Yes.

SPEAKER_04 40:11

So, what how does everybody find you besides on Instagram?

SPEAKER_02 40:14

Like mostly on Instagram. I do have a substack that I toy around with. I was kind of thinking my husband was in radio, right? And so I'd wanted to create a podcast without having to create one. So I'm I'm gonna evolve it into something. But sometimes like I just get these crazy ideas, and I just like when my last one, I was sitting watching the NBA playoff, and I'm like, how do I relate that back to real estate? Yeah. So yeah, so just on Instagram's probably the best way LinkedIn, Substack, uh at Compass, you're Amanda Dudley Compass.com.

SPEAKER_04 40:45

Amanda.dudley at Compass.com. And how about you, John? How do people reach out and find you if they have questions? He's on Insta.

SPEAKER_00 40:52

I'm on Instagram, give me over a thousand. Yeah, yeah. I need all of your millions of viewers to you know, come and like me. Follow me on Instagram. Yeah, it's just John underscore Coke at Instagram.

SPEAKER_04 41:02

And Coke is C O A K E. Okay. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 41:06

Well, thank you again. And you can track my grandkids and all sorts of stuff.

SPEAKER_02 41:10

You go up to your farm, you have a farm up in Oklahoma. And then I told John, I was like, you gotta post more personal stuff. Like, people want to know who you are. You know, and he's been doing that.

SPEAKER_05 41:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 41:19

Well, thank you again for being here.

Listener Qs And Closing

SPEAKER_04 41:21

And to our listeners, if you guys have any questions about real estate, want to see or buy real estate, reach out to us. We're happy to help you answer any questions. And as always, like, follow and check out our new website.

SPEAKER_01 41:33

Subscribe and check out our new website. Oh, yeah, we have a new website.com.

SPEAKER_03 41:41

Why am I always a blank on what it's called? Okay. Well, until next time.