IAM146- Real Estate Agent Helps Families Buy and Sell Their Homes

Real estate agent in the Northern Virginia area working for the last 14 years helping families buy and sell their homes.

• CEO Hack: Book; Secrets of the Millionaire Mind by T. Harv Eker
• CEO Nugget: Knowing people helps you connect them and also helps you learn new things.
• CEO Defined: Being able to give and help many people as you probably can

Website; http://www.nara.realtor/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NaraRRealtor
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nararealtor/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/nararealtor

Transcription:

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Intro 0:02

Do you want to learn effective ways to build relationships, generate sales and grow your business from successful entrepreneurs, startups, and CEOs without listening to a long, long, long interview? If so, you've come to the right place. Gresham Harkless values your time and is ready to share with you precisely the information you're in search of. This is the I AM CEO Podcast.

Gresham Harkless 0:27

Hello, hello, hello, this is Gresh from the I AM CEO Podcast and I have a very special guest on the show today. I have Nara Rakhmetova. Nara, it's awesome to have you on the show.

Nara Rakhmetova 0:36

Thank you. Hi, Gresh. How are you?

Gresham Harkless 0:37

I'm doing great. And what I wanted to do is just introduce Nara. She's actually a real estate agent in the Northern Virginia area. And she's been working in the area for about 14 years helping families buy and sell their homes. So Nara, I wanted to ask, are you ready to speak to the I AM CEO community?

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Nara Rakhmetova 0:50

Absolutely.

Gresham Harkless 0:51

Awesome. Let's do it. So the first question I had was to hear a little bit more about your CEO story. And what led you to start your business?

Nara Rakhmetova 0:58

Well, what happened was I came to this country about 21 years ago with my husband and a three-year-old son and was lucky enough to get a nice position. And, at a company in DC that enter the corporate world and was making good money, was in the 30% of the highest earners in female employees. I don't know what you may call it. But it only took me like five years to drive myself into depression. Because I was selling products I didn't believe in I was doing something that I didn't really, believe in.

So it ended up driving me into that depression, which a therapist session will it took therapy with a professional to realize that, hey, I need to quit that job. So I had to quit that job. And I had to become my own boss in order to not kill myself as a result. And so after thinking, about what is it that I can do and be my boss, I decided to try real estate. And first, it was real estate investing. And then somebody told me, well, why don't you become an agent, learn how it's done.

And then if you want to still invest, you can at least know how it's done, and then invest with that knowledge. But, once I became a real estate agent, and once I saw the way that I could help people, actually a lot of the things that people face during those transactions, because it is the biggest investment in their life cause a lot of stress and anxiety. And I felt like I was in the position to understand those families and actually help them remove that out of the soul process. And I became a real estate agent. And, that was about 14 years ago, and never looked back.

Gresham Harkless 2:39

Awesome, awesome, awesome. Obviously, I'm sorry to hear you had depression. And all of that was coming along when you were talking but I always say sometimes it's darkest before dawn, and sometimes those bad experiences kind of redirect you to towards where you should be anyway. So sometimes you have to appreciate those.

Nara Rakhmetova 2:54

And you have to go through them in order to get where you are. It's just the process. That's life. Right?

Gresham Harkless 3:00

Exactly, exactly. You have to go through where you want it to or not but definitely seems like you're doing a phenomenal thing. So I wanted to drill down a little bit more and hear a little bit more about like what you're doing to help out these clients that you're working with.

Nara Rakhmetova 3:10

Well, absolutely. So how there are a lot of real estate agents, and realtors, helping people buy and sell real estate. But what I do, and I think where I stand out of the crowd is that my philosophy and my goal number one is to really take that anxiety and stress out of the process. Because I have a lot of first-time homebuyers. I help a lot of downsizing families empty nesters or people who are thinking about going into retirement and want to rethink their mortgage payment and do something about it.

So when people do those real estate transactions, they are the most part because they have to do something it's not like on a whim, deciding to change something in their lives. And so there's always stress associated with it. And my goal number one is to remove that, and the only way I can remove that is by keeping my clients completely informed whether it's bad or good. Explaining things ahead of time, so they know exactly what to expect, and nothing is a surprise.

And I basically just take my client's hand and take it from step one to the last step, which is closing. And as a result, I get a lot of hugs and thank yous and kisses and smiles and happy relief at the closing table. And that's what I work for. That's what I'm looking forward to in every transaction.

Gresham Harkless 4:30

Yeah, that makes sense. And as you mentioned I can imagine when you get in and you sit down to make that final signature, so to speak, or signatures, maybe I should say, you probably do have a lot of stress and everything. But when you finally understand that, you've been saving or maybe planning to do this for years and years and years and it's come to fruition. I'm sure that makes everything work.

Nara Rakhmetova 4:50

Absolutely. Yes.

Gresham Harkless 4:52

Yeah, that makes perfect sense. And I also like the fact that you do you know make it a point to the kind of educate people on that, especially if you're a first-time homebuyer. The first time you do anything. There are so many things you don't know and to be able to kind of lean on somebody to be able to say, hey, you can help me out with X, Y & Z. Or at least I may not know everything, but at least I know I can talk to my real estate agents so that they can explain everything to me helps out a ton as far as like alleviating that stress.

Nara Rakhmetova 5:14

Exactly. And industry changes with time. And there are a lot of other restrictions that came along after 2008. And even if you bought before, even if you bought and sold before, and you think you're very experienced, it still helps to have a good professional on your side that you can pick up the phone and call anytime with any question and get the answer. Just like with a good doctor or a family practice, you know, the doctor that you can ask questions, anytime that something comes up. We cannot be professionals in everything. And you don't know what you don't know.

Gresham Harkless 5:47

Exactly, exactly why it makes so much sense to be able to, have somebody you can call, so appreciate you for doing that, and definitely helping out those first-time homebuyers. And now I wanted to ask for what I call your secret sauce. So you might have already touched on this, but what do you feel kind of sets you apart and makes you unique?

Nara Rakhmetova 6:01

Well, I use the latest technology in my practice. I make it a point to research and learn new techniques and new technology in order to save my clients time, money, energy, and effort. And as an example, the latest technology that I've been using is virtual reality house hunting. So basically, I save my clients time and effort, and gas by not letting them drive around multiple houses when they see something they want to go out and check out. Instead of that, while they're at work, I go work for them and record a 360 virtual reality video of the house from outside in. Everything in the house with my commentary, and then I send them the video.

And, I provide virtual reality goggles when we first meet. So that, you can actually see those homes at 2 am at night sitting up on your couch and deciding, okay, do I want to actually drive to that house and see it in person? Or do I see something already on that video that I don't like? And that helps to narrow down you know, 10 houses potentially from you know, for you to drive around to one, two, or sometimes none. And that saves a lot of time, a lot of effort, and a lot and especially if it's a family with little kids. It's impossible.

Gresham Harkless 7:15

Yeah, I can imagine especially, you know, definitely like in this northern Virginia area, it takes so long to go down the road sometimes takes an hour just to go down the street. So, being able to save time is tremendous. And I can imagine that, when you're doing that commentary, like when you're actually recording, you probably already know the client, you probably already have an idea of what they're looking for at night, so you can provide them kind of unique perspective on what they're looking for.

Nara Rakhmetova 7:38

Yeah, absolutely. And then another plus of this technology is that for the sellers, I do the same thing. I will record a virtual reality tour, which is a 360 video. And anytime a buyer wants to see and approaches me, I will send them the link and say why don't you take a look at this video. And if you still want to come to see it. I will schedule the time.

This way. I am limiting the looky looms, people who are not very serious and just want to see inside. And it's a hassle to get your house ready for showings. You have to make it constantly clean. You have to just know, it's not life. If you live in the house, and there are so many showings that way. You know, with your house virtually available online, you're saving yourself a lot of hassle.

Gresham Harkless 8:24

Yeah, and I can imagine a lot of stress too, especially like you said, if you're living there you have people come in and get you to know, I can't imagine how that is, but I can imagine it's not an exciting time probably.

Nara Rakhmetova 8:33

Not really. No, it's a hassle. Yeah

Gresham Harkless 8:35

Yeah, that makes sense. Well, awesome, awesome, awesome. Well, what I want to do is switch gears a little bit and ask you for what I call a CEO hack. And this might be an app or book or a habit that you have, but it's something that makes you more effective and efficient as a business owner.

Nara Rakhmetova 8:49

Well, I don't know what effective and efficient but at least it puts me in the right mindset I read and I tried to follow the principles every single day of the book that's called Secrets of the Millionaire Mind by T. Harv Eker. And if you follow those practices, it just puts you in the right mindset. And it's basically working and living from a place of abundance of everything and it just makes life better and easier and more pleasant to live. And that's what I kind of live by.

Gresham Harkless 9:23

Yeah, that makes sense. And I've always read about I haven't actually read but I have seen that book. I can't even actually see the cover funny enough is that I haven't opened it but I definitely will now but yeah, living and operating from that kind of mentality of abundance kind of helps you see the world in an entirely different way instead of the lack or the scarcity that allow.

Nara Rakhmetova 9:41

Absolutely. Yes, positivity abundance, and always looking for good things in anything that happens to you.

Gresham Harkless 9:48

Yeah, absolutely. I always heard this kind of comment where things don't happen to you, they happen for you. And that's kind of like this idea of abundance because it's happening to propel you to where you're supposed to be anyways.

Nara Rakhmetova 9:59

Yes.

Gresham Harkless 10:00

Absolutely. I love that, I love that one. Now I wanted to ask you for what I call a CEO nugget. And this is a word of wisdom or piece of advice. Or if you could happen to be a time machine, what would you tell your younger business self?

Nara Rakhmetova 10:11

Oh, my goodness, if right now I discovered networking either after helping families with their home purchases, what I've realized is that when you get to know people, and you understand where they work, and what they do, you are in a position to connect them. So if somebody does something in one profession and needs another service in a completely different industry, and I happen to know that person, it makes me so happy to make a connection and introduce people.

And if there is a new client, or new business, or a new job that comes out of it, just makes me sure about organizing networking events, for people to come in and network, like on a monthly basis. But what I also came to a conclusion is that I can be more effective and efficient if I constantly utilize the same concept by connecting on LinkedIn.

And I've been connecting to LinkedIn professionals and talking to them and meeting them instead of just connecting-connecting and being done with it. I am messaging them, I'm reaching out to people and I'm saying, Hey, you guys don't have a big network? How can I support you? Can we talk? Can we meet for coffee? Can we call? Can we have a 5 to 10-minute call? How can I support you? Is there anything I can do for you?

And I'm not asking for real estate business. It's just trying to see if my network if I can connect people within my network to have some more business going on, or a new client found or a new job started. It just makes my life so much richer. And that's what I'm enjoying. And I think, if I had a time machine, and I told myself, hey, you can 14 years ago, you could do this, I would definitely start with that. Because that's just something joy in my life.

Gresham Harkless 11:52

Yeah, absolutely. And I absolutely love that. And obviously, we got connected on LinkedIn, because you reached out. And that became to fruition. And I really loved when we were talking and chatting just on how you were able to combine the virtual with the physical I'm a big proponent of that and being able to do both, not just one or the other, but both here but connect on LinkedIn, but then go get coffee or go get lunch or whatever that is kind of seems like that's where it takes a relationship to another level.

Nara Rakhmetova 12:18

Exactly. Because you are able to find out things that you wouldn't know otherwise. And it's just, you will be amazed at how many new things I learned just by talking to different people, different professionals, different industries, it's just a lot of information that then kind of sits somewhere dormant until somebody else mentions it. And I'm like, Oh, hold on a sec, I have this guy that I can connect. And I've already made those connections, which feels great.

Gresham Harkless 12:44

Absolutely, absolutely. Yeah. I love that CEO nugget. And now I want to ask you my absolute favorite question, which is the definition of being a CEO. And we're hoping to have different, quote-unquote, CEOs on the show. So I wanted to ask you Nara, what does being a CEO mean to you?

Nara Rakhmetova 12:57

Oh, my goodness, that's such a big question. being your own boss comes to mind, being able to decide the direction of your business, however small you want to stay however big you want to be. It's your business, you are ultimately responsible for it. And it's just, yes, responsibility is heavy, but it's the joy of when you see the results. And when we see the development, and then we see the growth, because it's just you. You are the CEO, it's you. And if you have employees, and you're able to make their lives better, because of your growth, that's even better. So I think it's all about being able to give and help as many people as you possibly can.

Gresham Harkless 13:38

Absolutely. I think that makes perfect sense. And I appreciate that definition. But Nara, I truly appreciate you for taking some time out of your schedule, what I want to do is pass you the mic, so to speak, just to see if there's anything additional, you want to let our readers and our listeners know, and then also how best people can get a hold of you.

Nara Rakhmetova 13:52

Well, thank you so much for this opportunity, first of all, because it's really always great to be able to share your knowledge and the energy, of positivity with anyone willing to listen. And I can be easily found online if you search by my name. And as a Nara Realtor, you'll find my YouTube channel, you'll find my Facebook group, where I educate people about real estate transactions. You'll find my website where you can search for listings. I am everywhere online. As I said, I'm utilizing the latest technology and the internet is a huge part of it. And you can find me on LinkedIn as well.

And I'm here just to kind of try to help as many people as I can, even if it's just answering a question and even if somebody is not doing business with me. It's not about money. Ultimately, it's about helping people achieve what they're trying to achieve. And if answering one question gets there, that's great. If helping somebody buy or sell a house, get them there. It's great. It's the ultimate goal to get them where they want to be.

Gresham Harkless 15:01

Absolutely, absolutely. It sounds like you're doing a phenomenal job of doing that. So I truly appreciate you for reaching out on LinkedIn and definitely, of course, spending time a day. I've truly had fun and I hope you have a phenomenal rest of the day.

Nara Rakhmetova 15:12

Thank you so much.

Outro 15:14

Thank you for listening to the I AM CEO Podcast powered by Blue 16 Media. Tune in next time and visit us at iamceo.co

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