Latham Jenkins from Live Water Jackson Hole talks about Jackson Hole, Wyoming and what makes it very attractive for people to live there. Next, Latham talks about the beginning of his career in real estate business. Latham describes how valuable aesthetics are and how to story-sell properties. Latham also talks about the buyer’s side and how important it is to understand their needs before showing them any property. Last, Latham talks about the what the luxury market looks like in his area at the moment.
If you’d prefer to watch this interview, click here to view on YouTube!
Latham Jenkins can be reached at 307-690-1642.
Transcript
D.J. Paris 0:00
This episode of Keeping it real is brought to you by gogos bootcamp Are you a real estate agent looking for the very best media training program on the planet. Gogo Beth key is considered the top Instagram Realtor in the country. And her step by step training program will take your social media game to the next level, keeping it real listeners receive a special discount. So please visit Gogo podcast.com That’s Gee Oh gee, oh podcast.com for your special discount, and now on with the show. Hello, and welcome to another episode of 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 in just a moment, we’re going to be speaking with Latham Jenkins from Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Before we get to Latham, we want to announce to everyone that we are just about at our 300th episode, which is very exciting. Because when I first started, I never thought we’d get to 300. I wasn’t sure that anyone would be all that interested in this podcast. And thank goodness, I was wrong. Because here we are. And our audience is as big as it’s ever been and continues to grow. And we are so grateful to everyone who is listening right now. And to celebrate, we have a contest coming up. So it’s not fully cooked yet we’re in the process of working on it, but it will be in partnership with the closed.com. So we have a special prize that we’ll be giving away. And we’ll be announcing the details and rules for that contest very, very soon. So keep your eyes and ears open for that. And also, please remember the best way you can help us grow our podcast is by telling a friend think of one other real estate agent that could benefit from hearing from top 1% producers like Latham Jenkins, which were who were just about to speak with and send them a link to our show. We are so lucky to have all of these top producers sharing exactly how they grew their business, so that every other realtor who tunes in can learn from these Mavericks. So again, thank you for supporting us all these years. Thanks for the first 300 episodes, and we’re gonna keep making them and we’ll hopefully have another celebration at the next 300 But for now, on to our interview with the great Latham Jenkins.
Today on the show, our guest is Latham Jenkins from live water Jackson Hole in Jackson Hole Wyoming. Let me tell you about Latham Latham Jenkins is a leading luxury and lifestyle real estate broker in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. He’s worked in that position for many years, and has sold luxury homes to many individuals including a list celebrities, and high net worth individuals looking to get out of the big city and move to a quiet neighborhood. Uh, Jenkins is known to push the envelope to set his listings apart from others, his properties span across and the homes have vast histories one of his recent properties being 110 year old real estate or sorry, estate aspired by the Navajo Indians. Latham takes pride in his unique ability to help his clients find more than a home, but a way of life. Please visit Latham at live water Jackson hole.com And you can see some of the properties that that he’s working on and learn more about him as well. Uh, Latham, welcome to the show. Thanks for being here.
Latham Jenkins 3:42
DJ, thank you. And thank you for having me on. I really appreciate it.
D.J. Paris 3:46
Well, we are really excited Jackson Hole is been a place where about every year, my Well, my girlfriend and I say we’re going and then for some reason, of course COVID Prohibited some of that last few years, but it’s one of those few places where I everybody that has that I know that’s visited and spent time there in the summers or the winters just absolutely loves it. So before we talk about you, just for any one of our audience that isn’t that familiar with Jackson Hole? Can you tell us just a little bit about that area?
Latham Jenkins 4:16
Sure. You know, we live in a place that has this unique combination between national parks, great air service, the Wyoming tax benefits of being the most tax friendly state in the nation. 22 million protected acres of which only about 3% are private. So we have this great scarcity of private land for us to live on but yet surrounded by a wealth of just state and federal lands that protect the habitat the big views. You know, all the reasons that people first fall in love with Jax and to then only realize what a phenomenal community and the people that have come to make life here and all the creature comforts you know, you can literally Safari During the day with big animals and climbed mountains, and returned back to a five star dinner at night, so, you know, we’d like to think it’s a very nice balanced quality of life.
D.J. Paris 5:09
Do you mind sharing with our audience what you mentioned to me about how you woke up this morning? Speaking of a big game animals? Yeah,
Latham Jenkins 5:16
I mean, especially in the fall time, you have them in your yard, and I was, you know, asleep, and I heard this crashing noise, you know, and I look out the window, and it’s a bull moose who has been just scraping, you know, has antlers in the trees. And, you know, even funnier, like last year, they love the kids toys in the backyard, like lacrosse bounced back and the trampoline, and they push the trampoline, the Bull Moose did all the way up against the neighbor’s house. And so, you know, particularly in the fall time you wake up, and you just look around and see what’s happened throughout the night, and who might still be in the yard in the morning. It’s a very special time
D.J. Paris 5:51
at Wyoming to I mean, it’s it’s been popular, of course, Jackson Hole area has been extremely popular for a long time. But I know that Wyoming’s really exploded in popularity, I believe, in the last few years, because with COVID, and people being able to work remotely, I imagine there’s been a population surge of people moving to the area.
Latham Jenkins 6:09
Sure, we, you know, we’ve seen a lot of newcomers come in, you know, COVID was basically an accelerant on the trend that was happening before with the ability to work virtually, and, you know, pre COVID, we were still traveling a lot. So our service was was most important for folks that still need it to get in and out of the valley. You know, post COVID Not that we’re through it yet. People aren’t having to travel, but they’ve been freed up to work virtually. So. Yes, lots of newcomers, you know, young families. It’s not what it was traditionally, which were baby boomers, you know, retiring here, as empty nesters, it’s folks realizing, hey, I can live in a great place. And why not try Jackson Hole?
D.J. Paris 6:49
It reminds me of sort of the Denver boom, where young people I don’t know, 3040 years ago, decided to go, hey, I want to live near the mountains, and I want to live with this sort of perfect climate area and Jackson Hole and lots of different parts of Wyoming seem to sort of fit that, that exact same criteria, let’s talk about you tell us or our listeners would love to know how you got started in real estate.
Latham Jenkins 7:13
You know, I my approach was really, really from a love of just storytelling, you know, at large. And I always aspired to be a professional photographer. And, you know, during college, I wrote to National Geographic, just asking, Well, you know, how do you ever get to do that be a photo journalist, and they sent me this great letter back and said, We don’t hire photographers. We hired historians, we hired economists, we hire, you know, paleontologists, what have you we hire people that really understand the topic. And photography is a tool. And so you know, it always kind of frames storytelling, for me from the standpoint of, kind of zooming forward to where I am today is still a magazine publisher, and a real editor that, you know, in essence, I’m constantly telling stories to various audiences, as it relates to real estate and my entry into it. You know, it was, it was really a desire to build a frame a house in the right light and help people see it as they would as if they were living in it. You’re around, you know, a lot of times we’ve come to showings in the middle of the day, it’s the worst time to see the house lights harsh, no animals in the yard, what have you. So this love of storytelling kind of drew me in because I honestly believe every house has a story, every property has a story, you have to spend time figuring that out, and then understand how you’re going to generate a story from it, that will resonate with that buyer. And so, you know, my entry was a little different, really, from the standpoint of saying, Look, I want to tell stories about properties.
D.J. Paris 8:44
Yeah, it’s so interesting. You mentioned that I’ve interviewed other luxury agents on the show before oftentimes, who are dealing with high net worth individuals who, maybe this is their third home, or their fourth even or even more than that, and they echo that same sentiment about storytelling. And I even had someone on the show not too long ago from Florida, who said, I almost rehearse an entire monologue, so to speak in my mind, and I break it up into different acts. And, you know, she really thought of it from a theater sort of point of view. And that was her background. And she goes, You know, when I meet the team of people that might be coming under the property, I know exactly, you know, how I’m going to tell this story. And storytelling is oftentimes I think, an underutilized tool in a realtors sort of playbook. And I’m curious to know, you know, as a magazine publisher, let’s talk about your magazine to tell us about that and then show you how you made them.
Latham Jenkins 9:44
I published to in Jackson Hole I published the travel guide so you could imagine that people you know, coming here first come as travelers and leave pre COVID You know, I had plenty people in COVID Never had been here just bought a house moved in because their neighbor said it’s you know, great but no a more traditional market, you come here as a traveler, you know, experiencing whitewater rafting, horseback riding, hiking, and then you kind of, you know, you’ll play pick your head up and say, wow, we really enjoy it here, we’d love to buy a house. So, you know, my love of sharing the stories here first kind of starts with walking through what it’s like to be a visitor in the community. I, you know, a traveler, and, you know, telling deeper stories about the people behind the restaurants, the people behind the rafting companies and kind of their journey in life. So that, you know, when people are traveling here, they have a greater foundation for understanding what makes this place tech. And, you know, I think anywhere you travel, it’s a travesty not to ever understand that it’s why we do travel is coming to appreciate other places, whether we, whether it resonates to move back there or not. That’s part of our journey and learning. So the travel guide has been where I started, just 25 years ago, publishing that. And then I augmented the travel guide, as I noticed, so many of the advertisers were architects and interior designers, not having another medium at the time to advertise. And I started, you know, it’s called a shelter magazine. But for us, it’s titled homestead magazine, which is art and architecture in Jackson Hole. So it works out perfectly. Because, you know, as they progress into the buy cycle, I have a magazine then to start calling out who the professionals are in the community, and helping the audience understand, you know, which type of work would resonate with them? You know, are you looking for a modern architect, or traditional one, a blend of the two with mountain modern. And so, you know, I ended up, I guess, working with over 400 small business owners in the community. And as my real estate clients need anything, I have a great kind of, you know, base to fall upon to make recommendations and connections with and it kind of goes back to what I was saying, you know, I really, I share stories of Jackson Hole and, you know, as relates to real estate, tying them even closer into the house, so they can understand the context of the house where it lives, and you know, where it sits in the community and the types of activities you would do from that part of the valley. So, yeah, it blends together really well.
D.J. Paris 12:13
That’s incredible. I imagine your connection to all things real estate in Jackson Hole is is is a, I would I would guess, guessed that you probably have more connection based on your magazines. And, and obviously you’re you’re working in real estate to to that industry, where you become, I would think very valuable to people who are interested in in pursuing, you know, a home there, whether it’s a primary residence or, you know, something they visit a vacation home or an investment property seems like, you know, all the players, for somebody who wants to build a home or even service it or I imagine that that the magazine probably, you know, indirectly brings a lot of business your way on the real estate side?
Latham Jenkins 12:58
Well, it does it you know, it’s one of the credibility builder, you know, you think about you’re buying a property in an out of area market. It’s a much, you know, the need basis for the buyer is much much different than if you’re just buying you know, a subdivision over or suburb over in Seattle, shown anywhere, do you understand the greater context of where you are, you don’t have those kinds of 101 questions that an out of area buyer will have. So you when you work in a resort mark, and I kind of like to refer to it as a lifestyle market. You know that finding a house is the easy thing. It’s more of walking them through what makes this place tech and whether or not that connects with them. I don’t want to pretend that Jackson holes for everyone, no places for everyone are we flooded with people, right? We it’s 20 below the wintertime here I’m not going to tell you it’s not. But for those that it does connect with, you know, I do have an ability to help them understand what life is like here, I’ve raised a family here. And so I find that part of this kind of journey for them, you know, wanting to, to fulfill this inspirational desire, this aspirational desire to live in a lifestyle community, a great way to connect with them and build a deep and meaningful relationship. You know, I ski with many of them, and help them understand what a day is like, you know, skiing, I take them fishing on the river. I take them on the white orders. So I’m able to kind of integrate them into my life for which they can see a parallel to which might be of interest to them. And it’s yeah, I find that that’s a very genuine approach because these are things that I do anyway myself. And I think it builds a level of confidence with them that this is bigger than just buying a house. This is moving a life to a place that we’ve never lived before.
D.J. Paris 14:43
Yeah, I agree and you you sort of live eat and breathe Jackson Hole and you’re immersed in so much of the culture and and the artisans there and the different service providers. So clearly you’re just this hub of of knowledge and information And you yourself are also a resident, of course, and have raised a family. So, you know, I was just thinking that maybe with, with the remote work trend that that is likely, I would assume to continue, although maybe that’ll pull back a bit as people start feeling more comfortable returning to, you know, private workspaces. But if they are able, if their employers allow them to continue to work remotely, I imagine there’ll be almost a whole other industry in real estate about Connect, you know, a local agent connecting with an agent and a vacation area or a lifestyle area, such as Jackson Hole. And you are like the perfect example of the guy where you would want, if you had a client, if I had a client here in Chicago that was looking to, to move out there, I would just instinctively say, Oh, I know someone there and he lives and breathes it. So I’m curious if if you’ve seen an increase in that sort of traffic your way, as you become more well known. And hopefully this podcast will help in that, in that sense, do
Latham Jenkins 16:03
you why, you know, DJ, it’s an interesting thing that I don’t feel like I’ve been successful in reaching out, nor feeder markets, building relationships, so that when their clients, you know, happen to mention to them, oh, we’re going to Jackson Hole, you know, it triggers a thought of, hey, let me make your connection with you. And, you know, if you play our demographics out there, they’re very, I can tell you, where our guests are, you know, our buyers come from, and I think it’s a real opportunity, you know, Chicago, New York, San Fran, LA, Houston, Dallas, Austin, Atlanta, I mean, these markets, which basically represent the direct flights in the Jackson Hole, sure, big feeder markets. And I think there’s a real opportunity to do a better job networking with my peers, in those feeder markets, and hopefully gaining their competence for the referral. You know, we all covet these, these clients, and we protect their privacy of being in our fold. But at the same time, you know, I guess we ought to be thinking about how it’s to serve them. And, you know, in our outreach, you know, just making, making it aware that, hey, if you’re traveling to Jackson Hole, or Aspen, or Palm Beach, or what you wherever they’re going, you know, let me know, I have great connections that can guide you. Because, you know, a lot of these folks, they don’t buy on the first trip. So I played tour, and I helped to make sure they have a very positive experience, and one that’s, shall I say, a little deeper and more meaningful than if they show up here. And they don’t announce that they’re here. Because it’s like being a tourist, you know, you’re going to make all the mistakes the first time to then only come back and know exactly how you’d like to go through it. So yeah, I’d say that’s a work in progress.
D.J. Paris 17:44
Well, I was just thinking about as a magazine publisher, and also a realtor specializes in the luxury market, you obviously have a very specific aesthetic that I imagine, is important to you. So when you’re showing homes that you know, your clients may want to purchase, or maybe you’re listing a property to put on the market, how important is getting the aesthetic of, of how you would see it, versus, you know, similarly to maybe putting a layout together for your magazine, how important is getting the aesthetic, right? If it’s your listing, for example, and going in and saying, here’s what we need to do, here are the changes we may need to make to get this place ready to list.
Latham Jenkins 18:25
Sure. Well, you know, if we talk about, say, the cell site first, we might work in the in the magazine business, also kind of overlay, owning, and still having a small part of it is an advertising agency. So we don’t want it when I think about telling the story, it always goes back to what we use in advertising as a creative brief. And you know, when you think about populating a creative brief, it triggers all the right thoughts that you have to capture on paper, you know, as simple as saying list out the key selling advantages of this property and boil it down to something very simple that will resonate and that might be three to five key selling points, which then frame the story and then it frames which visuals you’re going to go after. So you know, I see myself although I am actually a photographer and I love shooting video and I you know, I’m not the world’s best but it enables me to, to fulfill the vision that I have. And what I like to say to others is that the role of the realtor really is that of a producer, you are producing a story so although you might not be technically inclined, chances are if you’re not you’re gonna hire a photographer someone to help you with video, but you own the story. And and you must enable them to be successful through having you know this creative framework ie a creative brief to share with them which gives them guardrails, gives them focus and keeps everyone on the same page. There’s a term in advertising called coherence, and basically that everything fits together and the great brands that we love in our life have done it so successfully. But yet real estate you look at what we do And we just stumble over ourselves at times. And, you know, it’s because we’re not really thinking that, hey, I’m not a producer, what do I know? I’m going to contract that out. You can’t contract it out that photographer you hired needs direction, the video person needs direction, the story, right? I mean, the, I use a writer to capture the narrative, which is where we start to then figure out what supporting visuals are needed, and then what time of day, you might need to be in there. But again, it’s all in the creative brief. And if you really commit to using a creative brief and go get your friends and advertising to tell you what it is, it’s a game changer.
D.J. Paris 20:36
Wow, you know, it would be so easy to move on from this point. And I’d really rather sort of step on it a little bit, because about 300 episodes we’ve done, I haven’t really had this exact conversation yet. And I just realized, as you were mentioning it how valuable it is to our audience, which whether it’s a luxury, a sort of lifestyle property, like like the ones that often you are promoting, or showing to clients. Or if it’s just a first time home in, you know, the downtown of Chicago, there’s still there’s still a story there. And it doesn’t necessarily have to be an impressive sort of story of that has lots of exciting variables to it, but just understanding what are the main features of this property. And if I’m listing it for sale, how I mean, the idea of even just telling the photographer hears, you know, I’m really want to highlight, I want people to feel these three emotions, or I want to highlight these three features. I suspect 99% of realtors have never thought to do that. In fact, they’re oftentimes not there when the photographer is even,
like, go get some photos.
Boy, you just you just said something that is so incredibly valuable just to understand, and you don’t have to be a marketing or advertising expert. But you do need to know your property well enough to say, here’s the story, I want to tell. And in your your idea of hiring a writer for you know, to tell that narrative is probably worth its weight in gold for whatever that writer and that you I don’t know, if you do your own photography, since you’re a photographer, but whatever you’re paying these service providers to to, you know, sort of construct that that story. I imagine that is so valuable, because I know buying a home or maybe a vacation property, you want to know that story. And you want to feel emotionally connected, especially when it’s a secondary, you know, sort of property to your primary life. And, and, boy, that is such a smart idea. So I applaud you for being able to sort of communicate that to our audience. It’s very, very big,
Latham Jenkins 22:41
right. And one more thing, like a homeowner, interview the homeowner, you’re like, you don’t know that brand. And when you show up, you mean you make a listing presentation, you think you know what’s going on. But if you don’t come if you don’t find ways to inform yourself about, you know, in this case, the home or were vacant land, or whatever it is that you’re promoting, you know, you’re acting from an uninformed base, and the best place to start are the homeowners and ask them how they move around the property where they like to have breakfast, where they finish the day? Is there a light that comes to the house at a certain time that just, you know, warms your heart? Or their sounds? Or neighbors? Or you know, take it out? Like where do you go for a walk when you leave the property? All of this is very important and boiling down, you know, what will be something that’s unique in the way that you go about telling the story. And, you know, I think all too often my colleagues don’t see it like this, they want to focus on granite countertops, and in you know, the pool in the backyard, like alright, well, those are checklist items, but you got to show how labs and the best person is the seller, like spend time with them?
D.J. Paris 23:49
And that’s right, too. And they’re going to know the cool little intricacies that aren’t obvious in photos or in the description.
Latham Jenkins 23:57
Yeah, you know, and that just informs everything. So it always starts with a homeowner interview. And you’ve got to spend some time on your questions, you know, because you got to dig deep, that you know that a lot of times they’re emotionally detached at this point that are straw, they’re having a salad or for whatever reason, but then they start, you know, when you ask them that question a everybody loves to be asked, give me your opinion, right, it kind of confirms it. And then B, they see that you care and you’re taking time to talk about their property. And, you know, they realize by listing the house, their neighbors are looking into their lives now. So they want to be seen in the great in the best light possible. And so set them up for success. And they can be very informative in the process.
D.J. Paris 24:45
And they will also I am I’m not going to speak for you but they’ll tell you the story right. They will give you the story that you will then communicate so you don’t have to create the narrative in most cases they’re going to tell you and all the really big talking
Latham Jenkins 24:57
points things that they love times of day A to be in those rooms to take pictures. No, it’s very, very important. I feel like if you don’t engage the homeowner, you’re just, you’re throwing darts at a dartboard blindly like you don’t know really what the story is that you’re trying to tell, and you could miss it completely. And, you know, the difference when you take this step is it’s very meaningful and the outcome you’re going to, you’re going to get for the homeowner. You know, in many cases, they you know, they often ask for that photo book afterwards. You know, it’s a story that lives on about a property they love for a point in time in their life. And, you know, when you show up with these books that listing presentations, it’s very hard for people to say no to you if they go, yeah. Okay, I see how you do this much differently than your colleagues.
D.J. Paris 25:49
I was I just recently purchased a condo in here in the city, and I have a rooftop space on the on the rooftop. And it’s beautiful, because on one side, you can see the entire downtown skyline. And then on the other side, which is facing west, it just looks like you know, sort of city, city life, nothing spectacular, unless you come at sunset, and you see the sun fading away. And it’s the most beautiful array of colors. And you’d said something earlier that I just now connected, because I myself am not a producing agent. I am sort of work in the Office of our all of our agents. But if somebody went to see my property, if I was to sell it, I would only bring them there at sunset. And I would say you got to see what this because you watch the sun go down on one side, you turn around and you can see the city as the sun goes down, you can see this light reflecting off the buildings and then how beautiful the Chicago skyline is. But I just realized you wouldn’t really know about that unless my if I had an agent trying to sell it. I was like Do not bring anybody here unless it’s, you know, maybe bring them twice, but bring them for sunset. And you were saying that earlier with a property where you said the light was kind of harsh at that particular time of day. But that’s where you that’s great information to get from the from the seller to understand, hey, what’s the best time of day to like, what are the really cool things? Boy, you just mentioned a lot, a lot of really important things. I know, we’re kind of getting stuck on this one topic, but it’s such a valuable topic. But we talked about the sell side, let’s talk about the buy side. So when you are then taking buyers around, are you then speaking to the listing agent saying tell me the story of this property? Or are you asking the listing agent to meet you at the property to sort of tell that story? Or how does that work?
Latham Jenkins 27:33
Yeah, it’s good question, you know, that first thing I do with the buyers is obviously as much research as possible. I mean, Google is a good friend, you can try and just, you know, build a foundation of what you know about them, even if you don’t mention it to them. Soon as they get in the car, you know, I’m always asking about the family dynamic. You know, is it just a single person? Is it a married couple as a married couple with kids? Is it a married couple with kids? And now have grandkids you want to mean like, like, you know, we have more generations here? And, you know, I love the question, you know, you know, What does Christmas morning look like in the house? How many people are going to be in this living room that you need to accommodate? And, you know, as they start answering these questions, it’s informing me and then I, you know, I’m asking about how often they’ve been the Jackson Hole, which can be a very intimidating place to those from the outside, you know, a lot of times people come in to Jackson Hole, it’s a male oriented, you know, driven scenario, they want to ski they want to fish, you know, maybe they want to hunt or something. And their wives are a little more timid about it. Because they’re like, Oh, my Gosh, it’s cold, it’s snowy, like, what are we going to do here. And that’s, that’s not the case. So I really try and figure out their level of sensitivity about buying in the market, and then start, you know, practically addressing the concerns. I’m always very straightforward whether you never want someone to move in that this is just not the right fit. But with that being said, you know, you’ve got to help them understand how to survive a winter here. And it’s not surviving. It’s thriving and wintertime, because in the wintertime, there’s never a down day, you know, it doesn’t rain here it snows and you can go do anything in the snow. But back to what you’re saying, you know, you create a base level of understanding of what they’re looking for, and then start orienting, you know, your behaviors around that. You know, a lot of times they think they want to go look at things because the price points are right, but you can already tell it’s not a right next, you know, you’ve got 12 people on Christmas morning, it’s got two bedrooms, why are we looking at this? You’ve said that you’re not moving resident tax residency here. So chances are, you might want to consider buying in an area has short term rental opportunity so you can make an investment property and take advantage of the write offs. The the level of questioning is, I think key to helping them realize exactly what they’re looking for versus thinking you have all the answers. You don’t you know, and they don’t know what they’re doing. aspiring to buy either you have to spend some time with them. And so you get to the, you know, you get to showings quite often and, you know, some agents are really informed and others are, you know, they’re still looking at their spec sheet to answer questions. And I feel like, you know, that’s where it gets hard. I think Additionally, when you buy in a kind of a resort, lifestyle market, it is absolutely critical that you understand what you do allow on the property. In other words, where the hiking trails are, where do you take off on your bike? And what might you go ride? Where might the kids go to school? And how long a drive would that be? You think of you think of it’s where it’s positioned in the community, relative to the lifestyle, these clients are looking to live, you know, I always like to ask, tell me what a day is like in your life? Do you get up and go to the gym every morning, and you need to find a great coffee shop. And you know, times old by New York Times, you know, I need to understand how you live and then I can help orient you to, you know, still having many of those creature comforts around you. But yet, buying in an area here, that’s inspiring.
D.J. Paris 31:12
I wonder how many realtors out there, when they’re talking to their buyers? At that conference, maybe that first or second consultation, say, walk me through your typical day, and maybe an ideal day, if you were to move to another, you know, do you want to be near a coffee shop or hiking trail or grocery store or a gym. And I suspect that people of course, realtors know to talk about schools and, you know, various sort of more obvious things that the buyers are interested in. But understanding lifestyle is, Wow, what a great tip for audience is really having that conversation. And whether you’re in a rural or more urban area, you can you can start matching people in Chicago, we have public transportation called the owl. And you know, and other cities have have their version of that, and some people need to be right there. And others say I don’t care, and just understanding sort of what somebody’s day looks like and how they want to move around. And, you know, where are the closest parks? And do is that important to them? Boy, that’s, that’s such a great tip for our audience. And one last question I had for you was how what does the luxury market look like these days? Have you noticed any change in the last, you know, several years? Or is it sort of steady and consistent?
Latham Jenkins 32:35
Yeah, well, and you know, that’s a harder one. So we’ll, you know, let’s break down a little bit, let’s just say demand for luxury properties, has remained very, very high. In fact, you know, we’re burdened in Jackson Hole from a deal buying perspective, because only 2.85% of this county is private. So that’s about 15,000 deeded parcels. So, you know, the great scarcity of inventory, even in a in a down market will when we see more come online, you know, we’re dealing with very few options to show people at any one time, which is, which is always a challenge. You see many people here, DJ that have had a very successful business exit. And I had a dream to come and buy a property here in Jackson, you know, I can sometimes it stumbles on for years until they find the right property. And, you know, these budgets aren’t constrained, it’s just our housing options are. So Jackson all benefits through the scarcity that we have, and also benefits because of the be in the most tax friendly state. So you take those two items together, and it just it just pops up demand for us year after year. The you know, as far as pricing and where we are, you know, as of September 14 2021, our pricing is starting to stabilize, versus the great run up that we’ve seen 20 to 40% over the last 1214 months, I hear a lot of people saying hey, I’m gonna wait, I think the pricing is going to come down domain coming down or mismatch properties with the pressure, you know, sellers shooting for the moon, because they saw it, their neighbor just got there like, well, I could get that I guess I am a seller, but otherwise, you know, on a standard market value and I do believe that this focus on more risk rather than resort I refer to them as lifestyle properties, it’s going to be a growing trend in our virtual work enables that and why not live in a place that’s fulfilling to you wherever that might be. And so all of these things will continue to enable the luxury market to go forward and successful way and then you know, the other trends that we see, you know, the home that my parents would have built, chances are is not the home I’m looking to occupy. So you know, they might have been happy with an 8000 square foot wall at home, you know for for for buyers coming in and their, why don’t we just say on average in their 50s, they’re looking really for that mountain modern to contemporary architecture. And sure, you know, we’re seeing a lot of home conversions in that direction. So I think the products having to change to meet the market. And when I say that so much of our vacant land is built out, so you’re buying existing homes, and considering how am I going to retrofit this to suit my taste, because I don’t want to look at long walls, which some people love them, and some people don’t. But you know, there’s always a great way to kind of balance that. So I think this demand will be persistent and foregoing, and I don’t suspect any great downturns.
D.J. Paris 35:42
Well, we should mention to our audience, and thank you for that perspective on sort of the Jackson Hole area, we should mention to our audience, which is nationwide, and even in other countries that if you have clients that are interested in considering Jackson Hole, and you would like to refer to a realtor who lives there, publishes there and also has raised a family and in that area, what’s the best way one of one of the listeners to our show should reach out if they have somebody that’s interested in purchasing in your area?
Latham Jenkins 36:16
Yeah, well, thanks for that. You know, being in sales, we all love that tee up. But um, I actually published a third magazine, one that’s called the outsized reasons why you will love living in Jackson Hole. And that’s a starting point for any buyer. It’s a very deep community magazine about what makes this place tick. And it’s a great starting point to align people as to whether or not this is the right lifestyle decision to be here, but also tells a very deep and meaningful story about Jackson Hole and one that most people would never figure out, you know, for years after being here as 30 years of being here for myself. You know, I’m still learning every day. So, you know, I invite people to come to my website at live water, Jackson hole.com, I invite them to connect with me on Instagram. It’s Latham Jenkins real estate is my username. And you’ll see just your ongoing story. And when the time is right to move forward to consider buying, of course, reach out, and we’d love to host him here. Maybe we ski for the day, maybe we fish for the day. But we get to know each other and informs me so that I can make the best use of their time as they’re looking for real estate.
D.J. Paris 37:24
Wow. Well, thank you so much for this great interview explaining to us how you go about working with buyers and sellers. I’d like all of our listeners. And by the way to the magazines that Latham produces and publishes. We’re going to have the links to those in our show notes. So if you’re listening on a podcast audio episode, just look in the show notes. And that will give you access to those publications as late the mentioned, but please visit him on his website as he just mentioned, which is live water Jackson hole.com. Or follow him on Instagram, which is Latham Jenkins and Latham is l a t h a. m. Jenkins real estate again, we’ll also have that in the show notes. Latham, thank you so much for being on the show. He provided tremendous insight for our audience. On behalf of the audience. We thank you. We know how busy you are. And spending time with us on a busy Tuesday is very appreciated, for sure. And then on behalf of Latham and myself, we want to thank the audience for listening to this episode and continuing to support our show. Before you sign off everyone, please just do one thing. Tell a friend to think of one other real estate agent that could benefit from hearing this great interview with Latham and send them a link to our show. Easiest way to do that you can send them right over to our website, which is keeping it real pod.com Every episode we’ve ever done, they can stream right from their browser. Or if they’re a podcast person, just have them pull up a podcast app search for keeping it real and hit the subscribe button. Latham on behalf of the audience. Thank you so much. And we will see everyone on the next episode.
Latham Jenkins 38:58
DJ thank you and to all those that have given you know a few minutes of their time to listen to what I had to say.
D.J. Paris 39:04
It was very it was very appreciated and very actionable. And I’m hoping our audience will start doing some of those things that are our guests. Do that separate them from other agents. So thank you so much.
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