Amy Duong Kim of the Duong Kim Global at Compass has a background in actuarial science and was on pace to be a corporate financial consultant when her brother convinced her to get a real estate license. After closing her first sale within two weeks she dove headfirst into real estate and hasn’t looked back. In our conversation Amy discusses how she’s built up her business over the past 15 years and what she and her team are doing during stay-at-home to keep growing.
If you’d prefer to watch this interview, click here to view on YouTube!
Amy Duong Kim can be reached at 773.295.4387 and amy.duongkim@compass.com
Transcript
D.J. Paris 0:00
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Hello, and welcome to keeping it real the largest podcast made by real estate agents and for real estate agents. My name is DJ Paris. I am your guide and host through the show. And we’re about to have a wonderful conversation with top producer, Amy Diwan Kim, but before we get to Amy a quick reminder for everyone listening to just think of one other real estate agent that you know that could benefit from hearing from top producers, how they grow their business so that you can do the same. Think of that one agent and then send them a link to this podcast. You can either send them a link through whatever Podcast Directory you’re using, or send them directly over to our website, which is keeping it real pod.com We have all of our episodes we’ve ever done you can stream them live right from the website. Also please follow us on Facebook you can find us@facebook.com forward slash keeping it real pod in addition to posting all of our episodes there every single day we find an article that we source online designed to help you grow your business. And then we also do our video recordings of our episodes you can watch us record them alive see the behind the scenes and you won’t have to wait two weeks for us to produce it. You can actually watch it while we’re being recorded. So again, follow us on Facebook facebook.com forward slash keeping it real pod hope everyone is staying safe and healthy. And now on to our interview with Amy Diwan Kim.
Hey today on the show we have Amy Diwan Kim from drunken global at Compass. Amy who is senior broker and founding member of Diwan. Kim global is an alumni of the University of Illinois here in here in Illinois, in Champaign with a Bachelors of Science when I find this very interesting in Actuarial Science prior to a real estate career, she works as an actuarial consultants. Now Amy’s ability to adapt quickly to the real estate market has allowed her to take each opportunity as a learning moment, ultimately creating a stepping stone that really helped accelerate her career. She has been able to help many people find and sell their homes and is also extremely proficient on the commercial side. Now, Amy’s experience really does speak for itself. I’m going to read off some accolades. She’s too humble to talk about but I will brag for her because these are great, and it really impressive. She’s been acknowledged by the Chicago Association of Realtors, also Chicago agent magazine, Jameson Sotheby’s International and has tons and tons of five star reviews from clients. She’s also one to Chicago agent who’s whose awards and has been featured in timeout Chicago, Chicago Tribune, curb, Yahoo, Wall Street Journal, ABC News and the today’s show with NBC so we are so thrilled to welcome Amy Diwan Kim to the podcast. I’m also please visit Amy’s website at Duan Kim global that’s d u O N G. Kim global.com. And also follow her on Instagram at Duan Kim global we’ll be posting those links as well. Amy, welcome to the show.
Amy Duong Kim 4:12
Thank you so much. I’m happy to be here.
D.J. Paris 4:15
Well, we are happy to we’re happy to have you and thank you for for doing this. I was actually a podcast guest myself yesterday on a show and I am never a podcast guest and it was really uncomfortable. So I have a I have a renewed appreciation for what it’s like to be a guest now you’ve been on a million shows. So this is no big deal to you. But I was surprised how nervous I got. Because normally I get to like be in control and ask the questions. But I would love to introduce you to our listeners. A lot of people here in the Chicago market. Everyone knows you hear but we have listeners from all over the country. Tell us a little bit about how you got into real estate your background was was in Actuarial science. So how did you make that change?
Amy Duong Kim 4:59
You Yes. So when I was I loved to actuarial work. Actually, I just unfortunately wasn’t very good at it. So. So when I was looking for a career change, I actually had received an offer at Deloitte and Touche to go consulting. And we would be, I’d be doing something a little bit different data mining. So but you know, my brother actually had said, why don’t you just get your real estate license, just have it handy just in case one of your friends needs to buy a smart, and I took my license, I quit my job, I was about to take this amazing offer at Deloitte and Touche. And I walked in after I just gotten past my gotten my license. And I was going to hand it into my brother, who was who would have who was my managing broker for a while. And, you know, a client walked in, and he had said, you know, I’m looking to sell my home and buy another home. So I wanted to see if you guys could help me, I work down the block, I’ve seen your office. And my brother said, why don’t you just take this client? So I sold his house in a week? I said, that’s incredible. Yeah, that’s like my own camera, you know, 15 years ago, and then like, figure out how to use the MLS and stuff like that. And so I sold his house in a week. And then I helped him buy another house like the next week. And I was like, Man, this is like the easiest job ever. People just
D.J. Paris 6:28
walk in and give you two transactions.
Amy Duong Kim 6:32
I know. So like, I’m just gonna do this. I mean, I’m not gonna go back to like an office job. And, you know, obviously, I realized, this job is not like that.
D.J. Paris 6:42
So yeah, sort of the irony of the consultants life where if you were if you were traveling to clients, and doing that Monday to Thursday thing, and then flying home on the you’re actually working more than they probably were? Oh, totally.
Amy Duong Kim 6:53
Yeah. And I mean, it’s just like getting you when you go, right, and then you get that magical, like, hole in one. And then and then you’re like, you’re stuck with that with the with that hobby, because you’re just wanting that to happen again. So yeah, that’s how I felt.
D.J. Paris 7:12
That’s amazing. What a great story. And also, well, let’s, let’s talk about, you know, your first year, and obviously, you had some immediate success, which is incredible. But after that, you know, you I imagine had to really start to build a business, essentially, from scratch, right?
Amy Duong Kim 7:31
Oh, totally, it was all from scratch, we had a boutique brokerage. And everything was, you know, done differently. Back then a lot of faxing, I kind of denied having a smartphone for so long, you know, had my little TomTom that told me where to go. So but it you know, the goal actually was never to be a top producer. I just wanted to like pay the bills and hang out with my friends. Little did I know that, like all my socializing was a lot of networking. And that was super helpful in and building our business. And ultimately, and I keep this model still, is I try to treat every deal like it’s my own. And if I continue to do that, I really can’t really mess up too much. Or, you know, I know that this is the largest purchase for any person. And, you know, when, when listings accumulate market time, I know that someone has to pay for those bills. So it’s a if I owe I always keep that in mind when I’m working. And because of that lead to the amount of deals we do. But I wouldn’t necessarily necessarily say that was the initial goal.
D.J. Paris 8:45
Yeah, I think that a lot of times when we talk to top producers on the show, they often don’t speak about, well, here’s my production goals, or here’s the number of transactions I want to complete. They oftentimes talk about these fundamentals, like, Oh, if all I did was treat every single deal as if it were my most important deal, and in your case, my own deal, then maybe that’s all I really have to do. Because if that’s all I’m doing, that’s more than self going to create raving fans, I imagine.
Amy Duong Kim 9:21
Oh, I mean, yeah, I don’t know if anyone wants to read my review. Some clients leave very long reviews, which I totally appreciate I love and then we become really good friends actually afterwards. And I kind of am like an open book. I you know, like I have pictures with my kids. I have a video if you go to my website like about us and I always say you should pick a realtor who you feel most comfortable with. And trust because that it’s we’re working together for the same goal. You know, yes, I’m working for you, but it’s really a collaboration.
D.J. Paris 9:59
Yeah, I’d like to to reference the video that Amy’s talking about, if you go to her website, which is again Duan, Kim global.com, she has a really impressive intro video right on on the right when you open up her web page, and what it does, so eloquently and elegantly is tell the story of who Amy is. And it’s not a self congratulatory type of video, which a lot of realtors do, do those types, it’s very much like, here’s what I’m all about, here’s the personal side of me, here’s the professional side, it’s a really great model. For anyone out there who’s thinking about having one of these videos made as I would say, do one, just like Amy’s because it’s just, it’s one of the best I’ve ever seen. And it also grabs you emotionally, because it tells the story of a bit of your family, your parents in particular. And I think that is people love to hear, you know, how you came to be in the business and what your values are. And I think that you did a good job on that. So thank you everyone listening, go check it out and make something similar, you know, tell your tell your story. And then so So you started working with your brother, you started building your business? And and then you know, talk about that, like what really worked for you. I know, it’s been some time since you started. But talking about what really worked for you back then what was helpful? What maybe if there were things that didn’t work? You know, what did you find most useful?
Amy Duong Kim 11:27
So I started back in 2005, which was really the height of the market. And, you know, I honestly, I kind of think we’re going through that right now is that a lot of the top producers are getting a lot of the business. And it was actually really hard for me to gain business. So really, I didn’t become I guess the Chicago lands top producer, volume wise until after 2008 when the market crashed. Because I was working so hard to try to get clients in then from 2005 to 2008, I really didn’t see anything in fruition. And again, you know, that goes back to building a pipeline. But I didn’t really see that fruition until after 2008. And, you know, back then learning how to deal with short sales and dealing with foreclosures, I didn’t necessarily work with Oreos, but I learned how to win deals from doing short sales and foreclosures. And it’s really going back to like being able to pivot and adapt to a new environment. So. So I think that was the 2005 to 2008 was really just kind of like prepping me to hustle afterwards.
D.J. Paris 12:48
Yeah, and then everything changed, right? And then, and then you did have to pivot. And thankfully, you were able to do that a lot of people exited the business back then. Because it was so challenging. And totally, the halcyon days are over the salad days were over whatever the expression is, and all of a sudden, it became challenging. And so you know, you you dealt with short sales, foreclosures. And then just it tells you talk a little bit about that transition and how that changed. What did your clientele change? Did the people you serve as change?
Amy Duong Kim 13:22
Um, yeah, I mean, I guess in 2005, I have to really think very hard, because it was five to eight, it was really like by my friends, um, and then, you know, I think Yelp and Zillow and all those websites started rolling out. So then I, I was like, Whoa, you know, let me give, like, reviews a try and get my clients and past clients to write reviews about me. So then that kind of started. So I was an early adopter, I would say, of that. And then now we’re kind of going through another transition like, now we have people have been using Instagram for a while for work. And before Instagram, it was Facebook. So it’s, again, just adapting to where those clients are and figuring out how to make the tools that they’re using screen like where what they’re looking at, to kind of gravitate towards you.
D.J. Paris 14:20
And I also know that you work with investors as well, when did that start to enter your business? Was that right away? Or did that was that sort of later on in the career?
Amy Duong Kim 14:29
Um, it was later on in the career. So what I love about the fact that even though I was a pretty bad actuary, I did get a lot of math experience and a lot of analytical skills. So so they’re actually excellent for real estate. And because of that, it was I had a kind of very distinct ability and natural ability to kind of find investment properties for client’s and then roll that in with the fact that I had my first child, you know more power to those women who are or it could be spouses who are stay at home, but I just could not. So I really needed to focus on work, I could not wait until our nanny. So I could go back to work. But so with that, actually, I feel like that was like another milestone, you know, 2008, you know, kind of adapting. But after that, in 2012, when my daughter was born, that’s really when I was like, you know, I had to learn to be efficient, I need to learn how to put processes in my system, I need to figure out how I can work when I’m not hanging out with my baby. And that came the whole investors, situation where I was working with clients, who were, who are awake in the middle of the night. And that was in Asia or in Europe, because I had to be awake, you were awake in the middle of the night to night. So you know, I have like literally every app known to man Kakao Talk what group me. So I have to look to like all these chats to talk to some of my clients. So but it was, it was really, it was really interesting to be able to do something that that a lot of people weren’t necessarily trying so and we do speak several different languages in our team. So that has been super helpful to whether
D.J. Paris 16:29
you guys speak six different languages on your team. It’s absolutely incredible. So this is also a very smart thing, because again, investors can be global, right worldwide, totally. Amy wants to be able to support them. You know, it’s funny, I think there’s a lot of realtors who listen, who are listening right now, but probably thinking well, I don’t have any international investor clients and and what I what I have heard from dozens and dozens and dozens of brokers who work with investors who are top agents, is they say, Don’t worry about the investor, find the deal. Find the deal. And the end, the investors will find you that the hard part is finding the deal. The easy parts the investor, there’s always money around. Would you agree with that?
Amy Duong Kim 17:10
Oh, yeah, I mean, you know, you need to be well, knowledge about your area, what you’re speaking of, I mean, so there, Chicago is the only metropolitan city in the United States that we can get a possibility that at least I would say 6% cap rate, you know, in many neighborhoods. La you can’t do that to Francisco, New York. The entry level for Chicago is considerably low. I mean, we could we can get in at a multi unit as low as $400,000. I mean, it’s gonna have a little quirkiness, you know, but you, you know, that’s virtually impossible in other areas, and we have United States has freehold. So a lot of countries do not have freehold. And that’s owning your own property. I don’t know the real, like the true definitions, so you may have to Google it, but like that you own your property where, you know, if there’s eminent domain, then you’re the government has to pay you for that. So, but you you guys have to check that technical stuff, okay. But we have freehold in the United States, where other countries do not have freehold. So there’s like a lot of advantages of owning not only property in the United States, but property actually in the Chicagoland area. So when you know that information and know exactly where those deals are, you have to find the property and let them know about it. So totally, I totally agree with that.
D.J. Paris 18:36
And a lot of times those properties never hit the MLS or they’re there, they hit the MLS, and they’re snapped up pretty quickly. So you have to get really creative and so for anyone listening who’s thinking, Well, how do I start to learn, I always suggest you know, if you’re really interested in learning about investment opportunities, go to bigger pockets.com It’s probably the single greatest resource for real estate investors and they’ll they’ll start you on your education but there’s lots of wonderful meetups and and you know, investors love to talk about investments. So you can you can find all these other like minded realtors or just investors and start to talk about, you know, some of these you know, some of the actuarial part of it and running the numbers and finding those opportunities.
Amy Duong Kim 19:19
Totally, I mean, I feel like I look at for pockets all day long. I actually tell clients, I’m not going to look at the MLS for you. You can totally do that yourself on Zillow. Yeah, right. And, you know, compass or whatever website that’s on the public market. You know, I’m gonna just focus on the listings that are not on the MLS
D.J. Paris 19:39
Yeah, well, that makes you really valuable to people too because you’re right. You know, the MLS used to be behind lock and key that hasn’t been the case for a long time. Now everyone has access whether you have a realtor or not. And so now Yeah, being able to provide additional value especially on the investment side and and do you prefer Do you prefer working with investors or do you like working with traditional buyers and sellers as well, I assume you do everything.
Amy Duong Kim 20:02
We do everything. Um, I think it depends. I still like the emotional part of a home purchase, I love being able to be part of their, that, you know, next life or next chapter. So I still enjoy that too. So I really just and honestly, it just depends on the client like I, most of my clients are very like minded like me. So they really think the same way, which I really love. That’s actually why my bio starts out with the fact that I was an actuary because I think I gravitate towards clients who are like traders and you know, in the finance field are just very analytical. So it’s helpful to have clients are very similar to how I work.
D.J. Paris 20:47
Yeah, absolutely. Well, let’s talk about the what’s going on right now in obviously, all of us across not just this country, but But you know, globally are dealing with this pandemic. And we’re here in Chicago, we’re under a stay at home order. You know, thankfully, real estate is still considered an essential business. So we’re able to do some things. We had one of our agents at our firm yesterday. Oh, actually, all of them are doing this now. But I just the first I’ve heard of it, because I don’t pay that much attention. But she was like, Oh, I just had my first drive up closing where she had to stay in her car. But she got the closing done. And that’s obviously our world right now. What are you doing? Or what? Yeah, I would love to know what you’re doing to stay busy and continue on with your business?
Amy Duong Kim 21:30
Well, we have always implemented technology in our, in our listings anyways. So it actually wasn’t too difficult to transition to what’s going on right now. If people have not started virtual tours, I highly suggest to have your listings go on virtual tour, there are opportunities to do if, if you can’t afford that, then you know, even just meant to making a video and then doing reverse prospecting and emailing it to those agents. I think it’s something that you could do and be proactive about. If we have the ability, where we have some listings that are currently vacant and staged. Sure, we will offer the lockbox and we a lot, I mean, we will a lot make sure that there’s no showings within three hour time periods of each other. And we’ll turn on all the lights beforehand, so nobody has to touch anything. So we are trying to be fair, like, of course, keep business going. Because that’s the best thing we could do right now, as well. But be responsible and stay safe and do our social distancing. So but yeah, I mean, I think video virtual tours are things that we could be doing right now. And really just staying in touch with your clients not I already was great at continuing my pipeline anyways, but even more so right now. So staying top of mind to those clients is always important to do and even more so right now.
D.J. Paris 23:00
Yeah, I’ve I’ve been thinking and we’ve been talking to a lot of top agents who has said this is a great opportunity for them to reconnect or deepen the relationships they have with their sphere of influence and just even reaching out to let people know you’re thinking about them or that you care about them and checking in to see how they’re doing. You know, we’re all in this together. And so everybody’s scared everyone’s you know, there’s economic concerns, obviously, job security, a lot of people are it’s a tough time. And so I you know, been hearing from a lot of our agents and people on the show here, that this is a great time just to reach out and make people feel a little less alone. And that when when this all returns to normal, hopefully as soon as possible. I think those activities are going to reap amazing dividends, they’re gonna be like, Wow, my realtor really cares about me.
Amy Duong Kim 23:46
Oh, totally. Yeah. A good way to like create new systems to I mean, I love my peloton. So if anybody wants to follow me on peloton to a week long cube, so it actually like has given me the opportunity to like figure out a new schedule, which I actually love to make sure that I you know, focus on my health too. So that that actually has been really rewarding as well.
D.J. Paris 24:16
Yeah, it’s a great time to develop better habits right and you know, whether whether you’re doing peloton or you’re just cranking out push ups on your floor, whatever it is, like now’s the time to start doing that because those habits just again yield amazing rewards down the road and, and you know, we’re all cooped up inside and our physical health is is you know, often neglected I know for me, I neglect it quite a bit. So now it’s like okay, I can either veg out on junk food and television over the next month or two or i which is fine if that’s what I choose to do, but I would be a little happier with myself if I ate well and maybe turned off the television and cranked out some some exercise. He says that I, you know, and thankfully, in Chicago, you know, you can still walk around a little bit. So you get out of the house from time to time other places. It’s not as not as convenient to do that. But yeah, it’s a talk about, you know, I would love to talk to you about current listings. So we talked about this a bit offline. I ran some numbers on the Chicago MLS. And let’s see, I just want to get the number right. I. So I was looking at temps temporarily no showings and cancellations. And I was looking at just the last 16 days versus a year ago. And it appears that we are up in temps and cancellations 58% in Chicago. probably no surprise, but can you talk a little bit about what you’re currently doing with your listings? And what you’re telling sellers and buyers to just let them know, sort of what’s going on?
Amy Duong Kim 25:55
Sure. So I think the first important question to ask is if the property is occupied, if they even feel comfortable with showings? Because personally, I don’t know if I would be if it really just depends on that situation of that seller. Right. And so that’s probably the first question. The second question is, you know, just really figured out what if you have everything to be able to do a safe social distancing showing so we offer gloves to our clients and booties I’m in the process of making masks, but I’m a very bad seamstress. So
D.J. Paris 26:35
I Oh, you’re making them yourself. That’s amazing. Well, because,
Amy Duong Kim 26:38
you know, they’re like, low supply right now. And I do have a sewing machine. But it’s, we’ll see what what they look like at the end of it. So. But we do have, we do have gloves, we bring disinfectant wipes, hand sanitizer, like, you got to bring all this up for your own safety too. But for the people that are live there, and the people who are going to be see the property, and if it’s vacant, it’s, you know, obviously, even better, we do try to get there beforehand to turn on lights. But we do and sometimes we just sit outside in the car while they do the showing, and then we close up afterwards for them. So we want to provide them access. But you know, keep the, though we would love to show the property personally and, but it just during these times, we just cannot, of course beforehand, we always offer virtual tours. And like every photo that we have imaginable for, we usually put only like 40 photos in our MLS, but we have, I don’t know, 60 or 100, depending on what property it is so, and beforehand, we give it to the agents so they can send it to their clients so they can see everything and floor plans and all those all that stuff. So, but I think that people should leave their listings active, we there’s a lot of buyers out there that are a little too nervous, and rightly so are afraid to go out. But they’re still looking, you know, and they’re still looking, they’re still active, I think I maybe it was a NAR statistic that people are looking for a home 19% more on the internet than they weren’t even before. And that was already a lot more. So if you do the only way to be able for clients and buyers to see that is if you are active. So if you have the opportunity to do it, I actually think it’s good to do it. And if they are willing to do a showing, I mean, they gotta be pretty serious, you know, they’re not just like, hey, I’m bored this afternoon to go see a place like they are very serious about looking for a property so and that’s how all my buyers actually are there like you know, they don’t necessarily want to go out but they have to go out there they don’t want to be homeless. So I mean there is still a need for homes everybody needs to live somewhere
D.J. Paris 28:56
yeah, and I think I’m very curious to see and I don’t know that there will be any really way to to to chart the stats on this but I’ll be very curious to see how many people once are the stay at home ban is is lifted, and we’re all back to normal how many people upgrade to a bigger living space? I’d be very curious as I’ll bet you there’s a tremendous number of people who are thinking gosh, I need I need more space. Yeah, I know I’ve started to feel that way in my own place. It’s like maybe I need a bigger place so yeah, so definitely agree
Amy Duong Kim 29:30
with you on that. I think two things are gonna happen they’re gonna possibly look at a different floor plan and then also you know, rethink their financial situation just like they did back in oh eight and you know, I don’t want to say though, reduce their house payment or like the budget, but I also think that they’re going to be a little bit more conservative and see if that will still work within like if they get What they want being a little bit more conservative in their budget, so,
D.J. Paris 30:03
and I think you’re probably right. And then also rates are so low right now where money is very cheap. And so yeah, so people are still looking,
Amy Duong Kim 30:12
oh, people are still looking. And I think that they think it’s a great opportunity as well, too. So because the economy is, you know, uncertain at this point, but anybody who has been doing this for a while knows that, you know, again, everybody needs a home, everybody needs a place to live.
D.J. Paris 30:30
Yeah. I’ve been wondering to a bank on the commercial side, if if I wonder if there’ll be a lot of businesses that once we come out the other side on this, go, you know, we spend a lot of money on office space. And, and, you know, maybe we could do more virtual stuff. And so I, I wonder if the commercial world will shift, but the residential world is everyone still needs, like you said, everyone that needs to live somewhere. So great opportunities
Amy Duong Kim 30:55
I do, I do think it will be commercial real estate will be adjusted differently. So that’ll be interesting to see, as well.
D.J. Paris 31:04
Yeah. Well, I want to talk to you, we talked about technology. And this is a really cool thing. Because now, today, it probably doesn’t seem like that big a deal. But but the fact that you were doing this years ago is so impressive to me is that you you’ve closed deals on FaceTime. And again, now everyone’s using FaceTime, zoom, Google Hangouts, etc. Because we have to, but four years ago, we didn’t have to, and we’re still utilizing that technology. Can you mind sharing that with our audience first?
Amy Duong Kim 31:33
Yeah. So I have clients who have seen property or who have bought property sight unseen. I have clients who I’ve never met before, actually, physically, that we’ve only talked on the phone, and whatnot. So it was something that we were we’ve been utilizing for quite some time. Now at least. I don’t know for like probably Winston’s video started. We’ve been we’ve been doing it. So I mean, it is an inundation of information as much as you can because I want them to feel comfortable as well. So we probably go kind of crazy with when we do do showing the amount of video photography like photos that we take literally down to like doorknobs. To make people in
D.J. Paris 32:20
people care about doorknobs they really do so that’s really smart. I mean, it’s, it’s, we can joke about it, but it’s actually a really smart thing. People want to see the hardware on on the kitchen appliance or the kitchen cabinets and, and bathrooms and they want to see doorknobs too. It’s you’re absolutely right.
Amy Duong Kim 32:37
Yeah. And then like lots of measuring for them. But yeah, just like just every especially so for condo when it’s going to be their residential, I’m thinking of one in particular was an adorable two bedroom condo, she, she had to travel all the time for work. She was coming from New York, but she goes internationally all the time. So in she had no time to come here to buy a place. So every showing was just FaceTime and lots of videos and lots of lots of phone calls. Because when we were under contract, she was in Africa. So so it was really just adapting to what what we could what we could do with with the technology that we have. So and she’s happy, and we’re actually texting each other making sure everything’s okay with each other. But, you know, that is we have the so much power and technology right now that it you know, there really shouldn’t be an excuse as to why someone shouldn’t be comfortable with purchasing a home whether during this pandemic or you know, working with clients internationally.
D.J. Paris 33:46
Yeah, I think you’re right. I think that’s that’s such great advice is just to utilize the technology that exists and you don’t have to have a million platforms. But you know, right now, like, how many photos do you take for each listing? Well, Amy does a ton of photos for each listing, because she never knows that somebody might be making their decisions solely based on the imagery, because maybe they’re not able to physically come come to, you know, the location. So I think that that is really actually great advice. Can you tell us a little bit about your group? I feel like we’ve we’ve, we’ve talked a lot about you, but tell us a little bit about the group that you’ve built and your team?
Amy Duong Kim 34:24
Sure. Well, I work with my husband, he and I are partners. We started working together when we actually just shortly after we got married, so I suppose I was always on the forefront and he was helped. I’m very I’m a very disorganized person. I may seem like I’m not but I’m very disorganized. So my husband is very organized one he’s actually one of the reasons why we have a business the way we do is you know you gotta have I you know, I was always great about being in front of clients and knowing things about real estate but he was always the clothes like the one that finished everything from execute to contract to close, so and then building a great team and sense of not only the agents that you work with, but having a fantastic inspector, having a fantastic attorney, you know, this is how to help having an awesome lender, like having these, these really great partners really also assisted us and supported us to build our business even further. So what my brother is on my team, so he, you know, we had our boutique brokerage from before, I felt like I and our brokerage was great, but I just felt like I was just running a business and not necessarily selling so we really took the decision to move to a larger brokerage and really focus on them. And that was one of the reasons why we were able to build our business to what it is right now. One of my best friends is on my team, and she just, I was she was my client turned into a realtor, I’ve mentor her she’s doing awesome. Another person I met on a mommy playdate to just got her license and to you know, wanted some supplemental income and she’s doing awesome. So every all our team members are very organic. And the goal is we have other Eva, Anastasia Malka, we have awesome transaction coordinator, Vanessa. So I really feel like it’s important to have different types of personalities in our team, we don’t want to grow our team, to this crazy amount, because I want to always be a part a part of their, you know, process and know about their deals. And you know, there’s only so much time in the day, right? And the goal is that we all become $20 million producers, that’s the goal is that, you know, I’m helping them figure out what it’s really trying to keep them accountable, and push them to the next level. And once they get to there, how can I assist them even more. So, you know, I always say, Who whoever we interview with, or who we ever take a meeting with, you know, just so you know, if you join on your on forever, you can’t leave.
D.J. Paris 37:09
I did an interview with a broker in the suburbs a couple years ago, I apologize. I’m forgetting her name. But she said the funniest thing she goes, she’s a $50 million producer. And she said, she said when she brings on team members, she goes, Look, I’m the nicest person in the world. But if you just do everything I tell you to do, you will be a top producer within like three or four years, she goes, you have to do what I tell you. Because I promise you I know the path. And so she was very funny about it. But I would love to know what you know, right now, with everyone staying at home, we know, you know, you mentioned what you’re doing. What how are you helping your team? Or what are you telling them to do to stay busy? Maybe people who aren’t as seasoned as you are newer to the business?
Amy Duong Kim 37:55
Um, yeah, the same thing that we’re talking about stay top of mind with your clients just like pick up the phone or text? Do I suddenly, like zoom seminars and like webinars and educational things up the wazoo. So and they’re sending it back to us to like different ones that they found in their own sphere. So Anastasia just sent one that was pretty awesome. So it, you know, just learning taking this time to learn. We’re really upping our souls. Our social media presence, I think is pretty good. But we’re really revamping a lot of our listing presentations and the collateral and our BIOS, and this is our time to kind of revise everything, I actually do all of this, usually in q4 of every year. So then everything’s kind of set for the rest of the year. And I just focus on selling for q1, two and three. But you know, this was a great opportunity to get to everything that we weren’t able to get to before. So because there’s always projects in the backburner that you always want to get to, it’s really just making sure you get to it. We I’m a huge proponent of Trello. I love Trello. And it’s like a little to do list, I love checking things off. So if you’re that type of person, I highly suggest using Trello and everything that you ever thought of that you wanted to do. I have a going list of it. And I just start checking things off whenever we complete it.
D.J. Paris 39:22
So we run our entire podcast on Trello. So we’re big, big. So for everyone who’s listening Trello it probably for most people’s needs would be free, although there are upgrades, but essentially, it’s a visual, sort of project management, sort of task manager type of system, where there’s a visual component that is really powerful. developers use this. So if you’ve ever been to a developer company or company with developers, they usually have a giant board with all these sticky notes everywhere, and then they’re moving sticky notes all over the place. And essentially, you’re gonna do the same thing with Trello. And it just, there’s a visual thing that just cement sent to me that is missing in a lot of other To Do List systems. So I’m a huge fan of Trello.
Amy Duong Kim 40:04
Yes or they’re sometimes they’re overcomplicated. I don’t want to call anyone any app out. But you know, it’s just like, just this is a simple, really, really simple. It’s like literally, you’re right, having a sticky note and then moving around. So and I hate paper. That’s actually another thing when I, I, when the first when the iPad came out, I never printed out showing sheets at all. I put it I always downloaded the PDF into my, into my iPad, and then I just would go out with that because I hate having paper the fact that my kids like school homeschooled right now I have to print like a crapload of paper is really annoying.
D.J. Paris 40:51
Yeah, utilize technology, it is your friend. Right. And and you know, this is a great time, as Amy said, to look at the assets, look at your marketing, you know, assets, look at your listing presentation, look at your website, look at all of the things that you know, that maybe normally you don’t have time to do, now’s the time to focus on, you know, revamping the listing presentation, or start with little, little projects. And you know, it’s so wonderful these days to is if you go, Well, I’m not a graphic designer, it’s like, oh, don’t worry, there’s a million places online where you can borrow ideas, and also even just pay for a listing. I mean, there are companies that will just build your listing presentation, if you don’t have one for like $20. And it looks pretty good. And then you can go from there. So we’re just so lucky
Amy Duong Kim 41:35
to convert and can
D.J. Paris 41:36
but yeah, we yeah, we do everything on Canva as well, if everyone isn’t familiar, so go to Trello and go to Canva ca NVA. And there are you can just make amazing Instagram posts with it. You can do all sorts of cool graphic design, and most everything on Canvas free as well. So we’re so lucky to have these resources that really didn’t exist 15 years ago.
Amy Duong Kim 42:00
Oh, I had a like, I remember printing out all these postcards, and like sticking mailers on it, and then you know, mailing them out is so I mean, there was pros and cons to how it was done before. But yeah, we have so many different tools and capabilities that we didn’t have before.
D.J. Paris 42:21
Yeah. Well Amy, I think this is a great place to wrap up and I know how busy you are even now that you’re at home you have you have your mother, you’re a successful business owner and also of course working with all your team members and your clients. So I want you to get back to it tear your busy life. But for everyone who is listening, I want everybody to go visit Amy’s website because again, if nothing else, watch her video and feel how it grabs you emotionally and use that as a as a guide for your own marketing efforts. But if you just want to learn more about Amy too, it’s a great resource. So go to Duan Kim global that’s d u O N G. Kim global.com. Also please follow her on Instagram, which is also Duan Kim global, we’ll be posting those links. Amy, thank you so much on behalf of the listeners for taking time to to be on our show we’ve we’ve been wanting to have you on for a long time. So this is a this is a real treat for us. And on and also on behalf. Oh, I’m sorry, Amy, I completely forgot. If there is anyone out there who is a buyer or a seller or renter and investor somebody who’s looking for a new real estate professional and wants to work with you. Obviously they can visit your website. But is there another way they can reach out to you directly?
Amy Duong Kim 43:34
Oh, and like can I should I give my phone number
D.J. Paris 43:38
up to your you give your email whatever is whatever is more appropriate for you. Yeah, my
Amy Duong Kim 43:42
email. Amy, that’s Wong Kim at compass that calm. But yeah, I mean, my website is the easiest way that has my cell phone on there as well. You can just contact me directly. I literally work all the time, which I love. I love working. So and I think my response rate on Yelp is like 10 minutes. So I usually respond within 10 minutes.
D.J. Paris 44:08
But I know, I know if I was looking for a realtor, I would go well, I would love to have somebody that treats each my deal like it’s her very own. So Amy did say that earlier on, and I want to hammer that point home because I don’t know if you would say that’s the absolute biggest secret of your success, but I’ll bet you it’s right up near the top. So if anyone’s out there who’s looking for a new real estate professional or just doesn’t have one in the Chicagoland area Amy is a great resource and you should reach out to her.
Amy Duong Kim 44:36
Okay, thank you so much. It’s so sweet. So
D.J. Paris 44:39
I appreciate you being a part of our show on behalf of the listeners again. We do thank Amy for for her time this morning. And also sorry this did not stream live on Facebook. We had a zoom is having an issue with Facebook probably with all the other zoom meetings going on. But we’re going to upload this this video right now and then we’ll have the option Audio episode recorded and are released in about a week or so. But on behalf of Amy and myself to the listeners, we thank you for continuing to support our show and listening to these great interviews. And also please tell a friend of everyone out there just thinks of one other real estate agent that could benefit from listening to this interview, pass this over to them. You can find us in stream every episode we’ve ever done on our website, which is keeping it real pod.com Of course, we’re on every podcast directory, iTunes, Spotify, Google Play Stitcher, Pandora everywhere, just search for keeping it real. Also, please follow us on Facebook every single day zonna Our producer finds an article online specifically written to help real estate agents grow their business. And in addition to that, we post these these episodes you can even watch the behind the scenes videos of them as well. So follow us on Facebook facebook.com forward slash keeping it real pod. Amy thanks again. And we we will all get through this together and I’m really excited to continue to watch your success.
Amy Duong Kim 46:08
Thank you. Thank you for having me and be safe everyone.
D.J. Paris 46:12
Yes, be safe. All right. Thanks.
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