Keys & Credit

Real Estate Without the BS

• Focal Point Media

Share episode

Ask us a question!

Meet the real estate and lending partnership that's redefining client service in the housing market. Bill Jerikovsky, the "no bs realtor," and Barb Miller, a "straight-talking lender," launch their Keys and Credit podcast with a refreshingly honest conversation about what truly matters in real estate transactions - and it's not commissions.

The duo draws a sharp distinction between being mere salespeople and true representatives. While many agents focus on transaction volume and quick closes, Bill and Barb prioritize building lasting relationships through transparency and genuine advocacy. They share stories of talking clients out of overbidding on properties, strategically navigating multiple-offer situations, and staying available around the clock because "our job starts when everybody else stops."

Their approach has yielded remarkable results - in nearly seven years working together, they've only lost two clients. Why? Because they understand that real estate decisions have long-term implications. When life changes inevitably occur - new jobs, growing families, or parents needing to move in - clients who received thoughtful guidance rather than high-pressure sales tactics thank them for their foresight.

The podcast promises to deliver practical advice and insider knowledge in future episodes, moving beyond introductions to real estate do's and don'ts. For buyers and sellers tired of being treated like commission checks instead of people with dreams and goals, Keys and Credit offers a glimpse into what true representation feels like.

Ready for a different kind of real estate guidance? Subscribe now and share with friends navigating the housing market - this is the straight talk you've been searching for.

Speaker 1:

Good afternoon. Welcome to our brand new fantastic podcast, Keys and Credit. I am the no bullshit realtor, Bill Jirikowski, here with the best lender on the planet.

Speaker 2:

I am Barb, your straight talking lender.

Speaker 1:

So today's podcast, we're just going to kind of introduce ourselves. Okay, we're not going to do too much on what to do and what not to do, we're just going to introduce who we are, how we do things right, right, right. So I have a hard time talking about myself and what I do and how we do things right. So the hardest part for me is self-promotion, right?

Speaker 2:

I'm not sure if it's the same for you, but Right what we do, right, bill, and what we do good.

Speaker 1:

Question is what do we do? What do you do as a team, you and I? What sets us apart?

Speaker 2:

Well, we're there for our clients 100% of the time Right.

Speaker 1:

Like this morning, the conversation we had this morning on our plethora of buyers that we have right now. What I brought up is when do you and I ever talk about our own money? Never.

Speaker 2:

Never.

Speaker 1:

It's never about commissions, it's never about how much we make. It's always making sure that our people are good.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, that they're taken care of, yeah. They're going to close. If they're going to rely on us to get them that house, we're going to make sure that we can help achieve their goals.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, and if you think about it, most people that you call say you call Joe Schmo out of out of the blue.

Speaker 1:

you're gonna get a fucking used car salesman you're gonna say oh yeah, I can do whatever you want me to do as fast as you want me to do it. Just sign this contract and blah, blah, blah. When they call us, we just kind of slow it down. Right, absolutely, what's the plan? What are you doing? Why are you doing it? How are you planning on doing it? But yeah, so instead of being car salesman and focusing on volume, uh, transaction count, I guess, I mean, I would say we do it different because we actually care about the fucking people care about the people.

Speaker 2:

Well, we also have agreed that these clients of ours, it's not just a transaction, these are relationships, right, and we are constantly building relationships with our clients to help them obtain their goals. They're coming to us whether it's their first time, second time or fifth time of buying a house, but each one we make sure we can get to the finish line.

Speaker 1:

Well, that's another thing. How many clients, customers, whatever have we lost over the years?

Speaker 2:

Zero Zero.

Speaker 1:

Zero Okay, because we don't do the whole push you into house as fast as you can type of thing.

Speaker 2:

We don't sell them the song and dance, right, that's just it.

Speaker 1:

We don't sell them shit, we give them information, we let them know what's going on. Representation is very different than a salesman. Like how do I put this into words? So when you get a real estate license or a lender license, sure, you are licensed to do your job, but you were just a salesman, okay, you don't know how to do your job, you don't know why people are signing what they're signing or doing what they're doing, because you're just told that's what you're supposed to do, right, whereas us, we're representatives. We tell you why, how, where, how to do it, the best ways to do it, and we'll tell you if you're being a dumbass. How many people have we talked out of the multiple offer situation? Absolutely right, many. I mean tens of thousands of dollars over a house doesn't mean that's what your house is worth or how to navigate through it.

Speaker 2:

Maybe you do enter into a multiple offer situation, but I mean maybe not bid 50 grand over the list price, maybe maybe less right, right sometimes and that's what we always say.

Speaker 1:

Sometimes, the highest or the best offer isn't just the highest offer, it's about the terms. Now imagine if you were a car salesman and you didn't know any of this stuff. You just said you know what? Just throw as much fucking money at them as you can, you'll get the house. It'll be great. Two years later, after their capital gains time has expired, they go to sell their house and they are 50 grand upside down. I know what they're gonna do because life changes.

Speaker 2:

What are you going to do? Life shows up right. We have twins, right, bill yeah. Bill has twins, by the way. And then all of a sudden, our two-bedroom one-bath condo doesn't work when we have twins, or we have a job change or our parents have to move in with us because there's lots of generational living Right. And our two-bedroom one-bath that we spent. What are we going to do now?

Speaker 1:

Right, and then you call that same sales agent. They say oh well, we can sell it for you. We're going to try this, and they'll try it at this astronomical fucking price, and then they'll drop it, and then they'll drop it, and then they'll drop it Until you lose your ass. But they don't tell you that's how it works Versus us. If you showed up at the beginning with us in a situation like that, you would be good, Because for one we either would have negotiated down to a manageable price and you could have sold it two years later, or two. You wouldn't be in the situation at all.

Speaker 2:

Or if you were like I like it, love it, can't live without it.

Speaker 1:

I really want to offer 50 grand over.

Speaker 2:

We'd maybe talk you down and say are you sure you want to do that? Because life changes happen and that is so.

Speaker 1:

that's where representation comes in, because if a buyer comes in to us and says, hey, I want to offer 50 grand over, and you're not a representative, you're a salesperson, you're going to say, okay, let's do it. Who cares the consequences? Fuck the world, burn it down, I'll get a paycheck Right. When they come to us like that, we slow it down. Why? How? I mean, what are you going to do if life changes? Barb's going to have a thousand questions. I'm going to have a thousand questions instead of let's go get a paycheck Right.

Speaker 2:

We may suggest okay, well, we understand you like it, love it, it can't live without it.

Speaker 1:

But maybe you offer 10 grand over, not 50 right, or maybe a better term, maybe more earnest money, maybe less inspection time, maybe a shorter commitment date right or a shorter close date.

Speaker 1:

Or maybe you talk to the actual list agent and say, hey, what do the sellers want? Right, there's a big thing, because, uh, power in words is kind of what I do, right, barb is power in numbers, bill is power in words, and most agents out there will just start fucking talking and if you say the right words, the right sentences, they just tell you everything. They'll tell you their third grade report card if you let them talk long enough. You know so. Sometimes, instead of you know, in that multiple offer situation, instead of going way over and just spending your entire fucking life savings, you can get from the seller's agent what the seller actually wants and use that to your advantage for a better term instead of a better price but not all agents take the time to really talk to the listing agent to find out what the sellers really want.

Speaker 2:

If they even talk to them at all right, Right, Some just throw the offer in, send it via email and let it buck. See if it works.

Speaker 1:

There's been ones that have been known to just send in a DocuSign without a fucking tag or anything, just say there it is good luck. Luck, sons of bitches. I don't know who I am, you don't know who I am, and but let me know if it works.

Speaker 2:

Let me know if it works, it'll be fine, or send them a blank purchase agreement.

Speaker 1:

There you go, fill it out. Just let me know what we're, uh, what we're doing. Tomorrow it'll be great. Oh, let's see what else. What else do we do different as a team?

Speaker 2:

well, we're always available bill that's true, yep yep always available uh as a banker I'm. I'm not a banker, I'm a lender.

Speaker 1:

But bankers sometimes are nine to five barb has a shit ton of money she likes to give people to buy stuff.

Speaker 2:

That's what barb does my company has a lot of money to lend so people can buy a house. We can satisfy their goals and dreams.

Speaker 1:

So my phone is attached to my face. Now, it's not that I take time away from family or I take time away from personal life, but to answer a phone call, to answer an email, it takes what? 30 seconds A minute, and usually that is what can make or break a transaction. That one minute could solve a problem right, Whereas some agents, oh, I don't work past six. Or you get the part-timers that say I only work after three and before seven, so you only get them for three hours a day. But what is that? That's not representation, that is just salesman right, I would say and you can really find that out about agents too.

Speaker 2:

Just call and listen to their voicemail. It will tell you when you're shopping for the right agent. I'm not available after 6 pm I'll return your voicemail tomorrow, then you gotta sit back and think but wait a minute. I work during the day. I really need someone available in the evenings.

Speaker 1:

Right, so our job starts when everybody else stops. We say that all the time, correct.

Speaker 2:

Yep, my busiest hours are from like 4 to 8 pm. People say oh you work the weekends.

Speaker 1:

Oh, you work the evenings. It's like, yeah, absolutely, but I have like a Wednesday off. Who has Wednesdays off? It's fantastic. You can go anywhere on a Wednesday and do whatever you want. There's no lines, there's no nothing Off.

Speaker 2:

But if you have someone that needs you on a Wednesday you will work your phone's attached to your face.

Speaker 1:

Right, seriously, it is Right, yep, right so in your mind.

Speaker 2:

You might think you have Wednesdays off, but your Wednesdays might turn into be full days. It just depends.

Speaker 1:

Even if Sam so say. I'm out with the girls, the Twister sisters, and my phone rings. If I don't see it right away, I'll see it within a couple minutes.

Speaker 1:

Oh yeah, right, take five minutes, three minutes, whatever it is. Figure it out, because you and I are in this every day, day in and day out, 24 hours a day. This is what we do. When someone goes to buy a house, they're in it for three months and then they're out for 10 years, right? So I mean them asking questions that we know. You know we've heard a thousand times that week.

Speaker 1:

they don't know that, right, and we don't care because there's no such thing as a bad question, and these people, when they call um, they're usually freaking out oh, they especially you because you're the money lady. They call you like barbara's, not stuck at my house.

Speaker 2:

Oh my God, and we can always calm them down. Yep, yeah, no, we are a 24-7 team. We do probably prefer to sleep from like midnight to 6 am, but Sleeps for quitters.

Speaker 1:

Oh, let's say repeat buyers. Why do you think our repeat clients? So, just for the record, out of hundreds of transactions over the past six, almost seven years, I have lost two clients one because I they told me that I made them work too hard on a land transaction, and the other one was because their daughter became an agent. Why do people keep coming back? There's a good self promotion. Why do people keep coming back?

Speaker 1:

because they like working with you right, well, you too well, I know right most of the time, um, when someone comes in with their own lender, I don't mention anything. If they ask who I need to refer, it's barb. It always Barb, right. And then, from then on out, I mean we've had lots and lots of returns absolutely that have used Wells Fargo.

Speaker 1:

They've used I mean, look at the the icky ones from a couple years ago. They came back to you too, right, right, because of who you are, what you do, yep, yep, and you have a bunch of money to give out for people that want to buy houses, just right so, after all that self-promoting nonsense, we're not trying to self-promote ourself, but this is the end of the first one.

Speaker 1:

Okay, no more self-promoting from here on out. We're going to kind of give you tips, pointers, do's and don'ts. We got some interesting stuff to talk about. Hopefully it's relevant to you guys. I'm Bill.

Speaker 2:

And I'm Barb. If you found this helpful, share it with a friend or leave us a review. It helps more than you think.