Prior to becoming a top Chicago real estate agent, Amber Kardosh was in the corporate world. Oh, and she was an Ironman athlete, too. In this episode Amber talks about her daily disciplines around client communication and prospecting. She provides tips on how to use LinkedIn to find out what’s going on in your contacts’ lives and how to rise above the thousands of other brokers to establish deeper relationships.
Amber Kardosh can be reached at 773.726.2070 and akardosh@atproperties.com.
Would you rather watch this interview on YouTube? Click here to see Amber!
Transcript
D.J. Paris 0:00
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Hello, and welcome to keeping it real the largest podcast and most listened to podcast made by real estate agents for real estate agents. My name is DJ Paris, I am your host and guide through the show and we are so excited to announce that we finally have video we are now recording with video every single interview that we do starting with Amber Kardos, who you are about to hear or see in just a few moments. Now, if you’re current if you’re listening to this via a podcast app on on iTunes, Google Play on Stitcher, Spotify, but nothing will change you’ll continue to be able to listen to the episodes. But if you want to see the episodes, there’s a couple of ways where a couple places you can go to watch them. First is keeping it real pod.com Our website we’re going to have links to every single video interview inside of the episode in the show notes. Also, by the way, in the show notes on your app, there’ll be a link directly to the YouTube video so you can always watch it right there. But we also really encourage you guys to go to Facebook and subscribe to our page. So it’s facebook.com forward slash keeping it real pod. Not only do we continually post the links to the audio episodes, but now also the video episodes and sometimes we’ll even be broadcasting it live as we record it right on Facebook. So guys again facebook.com forward slash keeping it real pod. Let us know how you guys like watching versus listening really want your feedback. And this will help us continue to make the show better. So you know just shoot us a message on Facebook or via our website. Let us know what you like how to make it better and we’re so excited and thank you for continually reminding me to get video up and running so we have it so guys, please continue to support the show tell a friend if you know any other realtors that would benefit from listening or watching interviews like the one we’re about to do with Amber, please pass this information over to them the more people you pass us over to the more episodes we can do the more people we can help so thanks again from from all of us on the keeping it real podcast team and now on to our interview with Amber Kardos.
Today on the show we have Amber Kardash oh sorry, car dose from the Phelps Hamsun Kardos group at app properties dedicated and driven to exceed her clients expectations in providing top notch customer service in an ever changing industry is what Amber prides herself on most as a realtor. Amber is a Top Producing agent in the city of Chicago and the western suburbs. Amber sets the bar high for quality of service, she does not make excuses. She provides results being a Chicago native for over 20 years. Amber’s experience, intellect inconsistent research of market trends enable her to create new opportunities for her clients in an ever changing market. She believes the key to being the realtor of choice means being an exceptional listener, educator and advisor for her clients. Welcome Amber from the Phelps Hansen Cardos group
Amber Kardosh 4:16
and our properties. That is a mouthful indeed, isn’t it? Yes,
D.J. Paris 4:19
thanks. Well, you’re worth it. Yeah, this is a really big deal for us. First of all, I want to tell the listeners and viewers that we tried to do this on Friday, and we had a technical difficulty. And Amber was so sweet and saying no problem. We’ll do it on Monday. So thank you for your patience with that.
Amber Kardosh 4:34
No problem.
D.J. Paris 4:35
So I know how busy you are. And this is a big deal for us to have you and you’ve we’ve wanted to get you on the show for a long time. And I know we’ve had Robin on before so we’re so grateful to have you. Can you tell our audience a little bit about how you got started in real estate?
Amber Kardosh 4:49
Yeah, it’s actually a really funny story. Because I get asked a lot like what made you decide to be in real estate and honestly, it was Robin like I had no desire. I was As you know, I always thought it was kind of fun like a car, you can talk to people. I love talking to people. That’s kind of cool. But it was actually so back in 2009. Robin was my husband will now husband’s realtor. And she was referred to him by a family member of his. So we I wasn’t really involved with the sale of his condo. It wasn’t mine. So I was kind of like the girlfriend who live there. So I didn’t really get involved. But I did talk to her. And you know, we kind of hit it off. And fast forward to 2012. We were ready to buy together after renting for, you know, years after she were both pregnant at the same time. And we were chit chatting. And I you know, I don’t remember exactly when this happened. But she reminded me about a couple of weeks ago, she’s like, do you remember? I was like, you’d be really good. I mean, you do Ironman? And like, Ah, wow. Not sure if that’s same, but thanks. So it was really her having confidence that I would do it. And I was like, I have no idea. I just know I like talking to people. So you know, I love Chicago. I love the history. I love you know, the different buildings and what they were and you know, I knew that far, but as far as real estate, I knew nothing. So
D.J. Paris 6:19
well. I mean, but that’s what’s See, I think the Iron Man thing is everything right? Because, you know, in order to do Ironman, you type events. You have to be so insanely like discipline. Isn’t that like a full time job in and of itself?
Amber Kardosh 6:35
It is I mean you have to be I think most triathletes are total Taipei’s, which I’m one of them. And you know, you really have to be dedicated. I mean, when I was training, it was workout, go to work workout, go to bed, and it was nine months of you so nobody.
D.J. Paris 6:50
Wow, yeah. How many? How many Ironman triathlons have you done?
Amber Kardosh 6:55
Well, so I’ve only done two. I did only done two. I mean, the people, that’s
D.J. Paris 7:01
an amazing number
Amber Kardosh 7:03
of people that I am around, you know, right? They do one or two every year. So two is like, yeah, and I did it in 2010. Because I had a friend who did her while she was training for her first in 2006. And unfortunately, she was on a bike ride training, and she got hit and she passed away. So she was really good friend. And you know, I My husband was doing it when I met him. And I’m like, You guys are nuts. I don’t know how you do it. So I decided to do it kind of like finish what she started. Oh, I did it in 2010. And I happen to qualify for Kona, and my brother in law, he was like you did, you’re gonna qualify, you’re gonna go to Kona, I’m like, Okay, I gotta do all I have to do was training again, you know, so it was just, it was great experience. But um, yeah, it taught me a lot of things that I think I’d bring forth in real estate in terms of, you know, my dedication and just drive and people who know me. I think it’s helped with referrals with warm introductions, and I think it has helped me along the way.
D.J. Paris 7:59
Well, I think it really speaks to an important quality, which is how hard you’re willing to work, right. And I suspect that people who do triathlons, in particular Ironman, triathlons, I suspect if I would be curious to see what types of positions they hold in the business world, what type of income because I suspect there’s a correlation between the amount of dedication it takes to put something like that together. And also, you know, that it seems like a skill set that naturally translates to real estate for sure.
Amber Kardosh 8:30
I agree. Yeah, for sure. So yeah, and I think I so now, you know, I have two kids. I don’t have time to do that kind of course. So now I do CrossFit. And is it again, it’s a type of workout that you have to have the mindset to do and I’ve met so many amazing, strong people and again, they they see what I used to do in the Cardio World or the you know, endurance world I do in the strength and you know, it’s been very, it’s very, it’s been very nice, kind of like meeting those type of people and I have all walks of life friends, I’ve CrossFitters triathlon, you know, so I think it’s been really helpful with real estate.
D.J. Paris 9:07
Yeah, we have Ryan, do presale on the show once a month. And Ryan talks a lot about what he does a coaching hour with us, you probably have listened to some of those. Yeah. Oh, thanks. Ryan O’Brien is will really appreciate hearing that because every time we get off the episode and Ryan’s like, so such a great human being, but he goes, was this good. And I do a good job. I said, every time you like, you don’t need me to tell you that but but he talks a lot about the investment you make into your physical body and how you know, you need energy to be able to sustain because you know, you were like, for example, we’re going to have Matt Lera see on the show in a few weeks. And Matt’s one of those guys who’s kind of famously like, I sleep four hours a night and I if I didn’t have to, I really don’t even want to do that. I just want to work 24 hours a day, and he just outwork everybody, and I find that to be very consistent. That necessarily doesn’t always have to be and you put in the most hours, but that you’re willing to go the extra mile. Pardon the pun with the triathlete. But really, that is such an important component of the success. It seems to be the consistent. You know, the one thing that everybody we’ve ever interviewed for the show, not one person is like, yeah, I only put in like, 30 hours a week, they would go like, Oh, no, I put in, you know, whatever the number is, but it’s usually much, much higher.
Amber Kardosh 10:25
Yeah, I mean, when I got into it, I, you know, again, not knowing anything, I just, I think I had the, the, the idea that most people trying to get into real estate, you don’t work a lot. And you make money, like a lot of money quickly. And it’s easy, right? And it’s completely opposite. I remember when I got into it, nothing easy about it. Well, and it’s the hours, why do I think I really worked 15 hours, I had no idea my nanny that I had, I was like, I have to let you go, I don’t think I’m gonna be working that much. You know, I’m not gonna play work for 40 hours, you know. And so after the fact, she’s now with a friend of mine, so I’m always like, four years after I’m like, she was amazing, anyway, and realizing I work more than I ever did in corporate America. But the difference is, I don’t feel like I do, because I enjoy it so much. Yeah, yeah.
D.J. Paris 11:13
And we also, before we get too far in and I forgot to mention this at the beginning, as is your group your team is looking to expand? Right? Can you talk a little bit about what you’re looking for? Because 99% of our of our listeners are brokers. So can you talk a little bit about what you guys what you guys are looking for?
Amber Kardosh 11:31
Yeah, you know, we’ve, we’ve been searching for a few years now. We’ve interviewed some people. And you know, we want people to have the same mindset as, as Robin. And I do like we are, we always joke, we’re the same brain. Like, we’ll be texting each other. And I’ll and I’ll ask her a question. I was like, I think that she was I was gonna say the same thing. And that’s just not to say that everyone has to be exactly like us. But we want people who are as passionate about what they do, especially real estate, and want to learn. And I feel like the people that come in, they want to make this big name for themselves. And that’s great. But you should probably stick, take a step back like I did, and just learn learn the process and continue to learn. I mean, I’ll be five years in in July. And I’m still learning I’m still that’s why I listen to your podcasts has been amazing. I’m always like, trade out how people have these little insights and helpful tips. And I take and I work yeah, so I think if you at any point, think you know, at all about real estate, it’s not a good idea. Because you there’s no buddy that knows everything about real estate,
D.J. Paris 12:30
for sure. And if there is a listener out there, who does want to talk with you guys to see if it’s a good fit, what’s the best way they should reach out,
Amber Kardosh 12:37
they can reach out, we actually have a email address. It’s pH que group at@properties.com. And that goes to both of us.
D.J. Paris 12:48
Perfect. So everyone who’s listening, if you want to hook up with a team that’s doing things right and doing things at a high level, and you want to men get mentored and add value to their team. That’s it’s a team I would consider joining as well. This is It’s funny, we were talking about being a producer earlier, and I’m not a producer. I’ve never produced real estate myself. But and I realized after talking to all these top one percenters, like yourself is like, Oh, I don’t have that much discipline, I couldn’t do it. I know what to do. And I know what I should do. But the reality of it is, um, the truth is, I’m not willing to put in that kind of time. And and I’m also my skill sets better served elsewhere. But I think that’s, that’s so you know, amazing that you guys, I know how hard both you guys work. And looking for, you know, a partner. Or another somebody to join the team can be can be tough, because you expect a lot and you want somebody to have a similar sort of work ethic and mindset and attitude. And but if anyone out there thinks that that’d be a good fit, reach out, we’d be I’d be happy to talk about. So. I want to talk a little bit more about specifically. So you’ve been in business five years. And Robin’s obviously she’s been on the show. She’s amazing. Um, can you talk a little bit more about why you think you guys have had tremendous and I say, Guys, I shouldn’t say that. Why the two of you have had? Yes. Why you two ladies have had tremendous success? Like, what do you think it is that you do differently? I mean, there’s 46,000 realtors, in the Chicagoland area, believe it or not. So why do you think it is that that both of you have done so incredibly well?
Amber Kardosh 14:24
Well, I think you know, regarding our sellers, we team up with a lot of our listings, because we feel you know, you have two people trying to sell your property. It’s much better, you’re not It’s no cost to you. And also we are very upfront and we’re very strategic. And we go by data, you know, it’s we don’t we don’t want to be a roadblock. Like if you think your property’s worth 100k more than what the data is showing. We certainly don’t want to be like okay, bye but we want to understand and try to compromise and figure out what’s best without you sitting because you want to sell and even though I know I’ve talked to a lot of sellers and I’m sure a lot of real estate agents are like, they talk to them. They’re like, we don’t need to sell. And understand, like, nobody needs to sell unless you want financial reasons, of course, but you’re talking to an agent because you want to sell. So here’s how best to do that. And if it means the relate, you know, you just want to talk through it and compromise at the end of the day, because you want you want to sell, we want to sell it for you. And so I think we’re very upfront in that respect. And for buyers. I feel like communicating and overly communicating to the point of giving them as many scenarios of the outcome as possible. Yeah. I’m very transparent. You know, early on, I tried to be this like really kind of a goofy person. That’s just my personality people. Sure. And they appreciate that. But people who don’t know me if I come at you, like we’re, you know, people are like, Oh my gosh, he’s a goofball. Sure. And I thought I was good at sometimes I can’t read people. So I try to stay, you know, neutral till I read people. And it was funny, because I have a client that I just helped buy a house, actually on my blog. And she was really hard to read. And I’m like, I’m gonna stay pretty professional, not going to show her my goofiness. And fast forward to a month ago, I invited her to this gathering, and we were joking. And I looked at her I go, this is me, this is like, actually how goofy I am. And she turned to me with the straightest face and goes, you think you hid that? I’m like, Yes. And everyone was just dying, laughing, including her. So I mean, I think I’m just one of those people. I guess I try to hide things. And what you see is what you get, and I think it’s helped. I think people appreciate that about me.
D.J. Paris 16:30
You know, it’s funny, we’re pretty goofy at the company I work at. And so I’m in charge of our, like, our recruiting website. And so we got all these photos done, like in the last year. And just for fun, our owner said, let’s all do a goofy individual photo, in addition to our professional ones. And I went, Yeah, that’s kind of fun, whatever, we all did something silly. And then I was rebuilding our website, and I went, you know, we are kind of goofy and silly. Like, why are we not? Why am I putting our serious professional ones that look really nice? On the website? Why am I not putting our goofy ones on there? And we switched over to our goofy ones. And then we used to say, like our company management team, and I put a cross through the word management team and just wrote goofballs, and I thought I thought that was kind of silly and funny, but that’s really who we are. And it as a result, people talk about it all the time. When they contact me. They’re like, yeah, that was pretty funny. I mean, it’s right on our homepage. And I went, well, that’s kind of who we are. But it took me 10 years to go. Oh, yeah, it’s okay to be who you are. Yeah. Okay. To let your personality shine through.
Amber Kardosh 17:31
Yeah, I think I think it’s it’s nerve racking, right? Because you have this, especially in real estate, you feel like people want you to be super serious. And like, it’s super like, and I just, I can’t do that. And I found I think, I don’t remember who was on the podcast they were talking about, I think it was the YouTube guys. And they’re like, how they advertise about brewskis. And like, those are the people that work with them. And I kind of agree, like, if my personality turns you off, I may not want to work with you anyway. But I haven’t had that people appreciate it. And I have another funny story. I had a couple clients who they were I worked with them. They referred me to their friends. And it happened three times. But they all were laughing one day, they’re like, you’re funny, because you were so goofy, and fun. And then when it came down to like inspection and things, you just switch and you’re like, Okay, this is what we have to do. Yeah. And they found that fine. They’re like, it was just not we, we were used to, I’m like, I work hard. I’m and I’m funny when I need to do, but I’m serious when I need to be so
D.J. Paris 18:24
yeah, here’s a little here’s a little tip for everyone who’s afraid to show their goofiness. You also have to have that serious committed professional side. And people love to see somebody shift from goofy and silly into serious it is it is a I don’t know what it is in us, inherently that loves to see that. But it is like, Oh, that’s cool. So you definitely have to have both. But don’t be afraid to let both sides show and when appropriate, I think is probably the key message.
Amber Kardosh 18:56
Yeah. And of course I think on the buy side I think just silliness comes out a little bit more than the sell side and he’s still comes out but in a different way. Just because it’s a different approach.
D.J. Paris 19:06
Well, you and we should mention of course you work it out properties legendary firm in Chicago, largest real estate firm in Chicago, and masters of branding and they just do so many things, right? I mean, we’ve probably had more people on our show from our properties than anywhere. I’m such a big fan of everything they do. But you know, obviously brokers are coming in getting their license every every day probably here in Chicago and you know, they’re listening to our show. A lot of times students get worried that we have the show. So I’m going to put you on the spot just briefly and I apologize for that. But you know, if somebody’s just getting their license, do you have some tips about what they should start doing immediately to grow their business?
Amber Kardosh 19:48
You know what worked for me is just plan on meeting have coffee, have lunch have drinks have be get in front of people. I went on my LinkedIn and I was like searching for P But I haven’t talked to you in a while, and people who shipped jobs and like and one guy, I knew him back when I was at fitness formula working out in a previous life. And I saw that he switched jobs. I’m like, Hey, let’s grab coffee love to hear about it turns out, you know, we were talking, he goes, Oh, you know, I have a girlfriend who’s moving here, she’s looking for a place, like, oh my gosh, so I helped her. And then they bought an investment property. And then like, he bought one like, so it was like a signal. And then he sold his place, and then sold his place. I had four other listings in that built same building from an open house. So it was kind of like a domino effect. I think, if anything, just get in front of people, and just, you know, I think that is just relationship building. And it’ll, like, it’s not the goals of making X amount up for me. It’s not, I’m gonna make 5 million this year, I’m gonna make 10 million, you know, it’s, it’s all about working on the process, and figuring out how I can get even better for my clients, because I always tell my buyers, like, I want to make sure this is fun and not stressful. And I’m gonna do whatever I can, I’m gonna hold a literally hold your hand, I’m gonna text you. Okay, this is what’s next. This is what’s happening, because it is so satisfying when they’re so excited about this house. And you know, and everyone’s like, well, you like the closing because of the commission. It’s to me, of course, everyone likes money. But it’s not about that, for me, I love just the satisfaction of of helping do what I said I was going to do for my clients.
D.J. Paris 21:24
Yeah, no, I think that’s exactly right. And what a lot of times people forget, you mentioned LinkedIn is, and this is, you know, again, I’m not out there producing. But if I were, I would be checking LinkedIn every day number one for birthdays, because they show you but also, they tell you, when people switch jobs, they tell you, when people have new positions, they tell you when they have work anniversaries, and nobody knows anybody’s work anniversary, so you can go and say, Hey, I saw on LinkedIn that it’s your second year at Heinz or whatever, congratulations. Oh, by the way, I saw the Heinz Superbowl ad or whatever. You know, there’s lots of ways you can reach out to people in LinkedIn that you can’t do really on other social networks. And you know, it’s just a great opportunity to give a reason to contact somebody.
Amber Kardosh 22:07
Well, and it’s a good way to warm introduction, like cold calls, like I’ve never done, I’ve not been good at that. I don’t like it. I’m comfortable. Sure. But what I’ve done is I find out who like expired listings and cancelled I don’t spend a whole bunch of time. But if I see something like I’m like, oh, and I, the person on LinkedIn, know, someone whose first connection, I’ll reach out to that first connection, like how close you are you with this person? They’re like, Oh, I know them from blah, blah. Do you mind doing an intro? I’ve gotten a lot of listings that way. Wow.
D.J. Paris 22:34
Let’s say that again. Because that’s really important. And very few people would ever think to do that. So she was mentioning as she looks for, I’m sorry, is it called first connection? Is that right? Yeah.
Amber Kardosh 22:44
So on LinkedIn, you’re if you’re connected to someone that’s directly connected to Yeah, right. And then obviously, your second connection, that’s another way that you could kind of potentially get connected. But if you’re connected with the first person, it’s nice, because if they’re connected to that person directly, if they know them, LinkedIn has gotten weird, like people are asking you to connect, and you don’t have any idea who they are. So it’s less people going, Yeah, I know that person. But I do get a lot where they’re like, Yeah, I know this guy. And so they’ll send a personal introduction, and because they know me, not that they worked with me in real estate, but they know how I am and how I work personally, professionally, they just know. And so they’re very comfortable about absolutely, I’ll send you know, I’ll do an introduction. And it works.
D.J. Paris 23:25
Yeah, one of my one of my very earliest interviews with was Josh Weinberg, from Keller Williams. And obviously, Josh and Tommy are both legends in the Chicago market, of course. And I asked Josh on the show, I wasn’t sure I’m not sure if this was on the show or not. But I asked him at some point. Maybe it was off camera or off recording. But I said, Oh, what are your goals? This is before like, I didn’t know what to ask. And these interviews, oh, what do you what are your production goals? And he was like, Yeah, we don’t think like that. And he goes, it was so interesting, because he came up with, he said, all we ever care about is, and this, we assign this task to Tommy, but he said, If Tommy meets one person a day for the next 365 days, we won’t our production goals will take care of themselves. They just boiled it down to that one metric. And so I thought, and they’ve been in business for a long time, right? And like, I’ve kind of figured, oh, maybe at that point, they’re not still doing that. Maybe they just, it’s all referral based. And I’m sure their business is mostly referral based, but I just love that they were still doing that daily discipline. It’s like training for the Ironman. They’re just doing they’re hitting the pavement every day or jumping, you know, swimming or whatever. And it’s just that constant activity. So if it’s LinkedIn, or if it’s Facebook, or Instagram or going to networking events, I just saw there’s a guy who puts together networking events here in Chicago, his name is Tony P. It’s free plug for him. I don’t know him personally, but I get his messages and I was like, that’s a good idea. And I just think he’s some realtor. And he puts it together and he puts these cool events. I’ve never been to one but
Amber Kardosh 24:52
an open invites. I haven’t been to one Yeah, but but I
D.J. Paris 24:55
just love the fact that there’s so many opportunities to get out there and what I’ve heard that daily discipline is that you can do that. And there’s lots of daily disciplines, of course. So yeah, so obviously getting out there meeting as many people as you can, Brian Buffini always says meet two to five people every day if you can, which is really hard to do. But if you can do that, you know, all your leads will take care of themselves if you can stay in touch. And, you know, I think people sometimes miss the the, some of the more personalized touches to the handwritten notes and, and those things that most of us just don’t do anymore.
Amber Kardosh 25:31
Yeah. And to be quite honest, I’m not very good at them. I’m trying to be. But I think another way is trying to create value when not asked like, you know, I think one of the things that I’ve done recently over the last year that’s been helpful is I will sell a condo or something, a house and in the general vicinity, or in that building, I will try to find contact like email, and sometimes I’ll get them through the association contacts or whatever. And I’ll send an email saying, Hey, I just sold, you know, so and so’s condo, a service that I like to provide is to let other unit owner, unit owners in the building know that they don’t have their homeowners exemption. And I saw that you don’t. And I Oh, and so I saw the forms. And then if they’ve owned it for more than three years, I’d like and if you do this certificate of error, you can get up to three years in so I’ve actually had people go, Oh, my gosh, that’s amazing. Thank you. Hey, by the way, you know, I’m actually thinking about something. And it’s not like that, if I don’t get that like I’m like, but it’s just creating value and like having people go I had no idea. And then wow, yes. So that’s a that’s one I just started doing about last year.
D.J. Paris 26:37
I love that. In fact, when I bought my first condo 2005 or whatever, I forgot to do the homeowners thing. And for years, it just was like, oh, yeah, I should do that. But I didn’t know how and eventually I got it done. You know, years after the fact. But I there’s got to be tons of people like me that just never did it.
Amber Kardosh 26:56
Yeah, I mean, time, friends, and I just say hey, you know, you don’t have it. And when one of my friends is like, Oh, we make too much money for them. Like that has nothing to do. Like this is for everyone’s just like, Oh, great. So I had
D.J. Paris 27:11
Joel shop from guaranteed rate, we just put an episode live today, we recorded on Saturday. And I said, Hey, dude, this is before we were recording. So Joel, what do you do on Friday night? I think it actually did make it to the recording. But I said what did you do last night because Joe and I are friends. He goes, I spent all night riding everybody I knew who owned a house and or that was one of his clients in the past 12 months. And he just goes, Hey, I just wanted to let you know, rates dropped again, I don’t know if it’s a good time to refi or not, but it might be so I just wanted to let you know whether you use me or not. It’s not important, but reach out to your Lending Officer and ask them for a no cost refi and see what the rate is. He goes because everyone I’ve done deals for it’s better, you know, in the last two years, it’s better for them now to refi. And I was like Joel that is brilliant. Like, it’s so simple. And it’s exactly what you were doing with the homeowners exceptions, the same idea.
Amber Kardosh 27:58
Yeah. So and again, it’s nice to because I’ll get phone calls from people who bought or sold a home recently and they and that was it. That’s the thing. So sidebars, like when you get into real estate think everyone’s gonna use you. You know, you’re like, Oh, I know a lot of people this is gonna be great. And it was hard because I was like, wait, you have another agent. But we’re friends. We’ve known each other. Yeah, it was very hard conversation.
D.J. Paris 28:19
You’re my sister. No.
Amber Kardosh 28:23
But like, it’s just one of those things that I think now I respect it. Like if you have a good agent, and they do a great job for you. Yeah, don’t change, because I would hate for someone to say that. Well, I just got in the business. I don’t care. You know, I mean, so I respect it now. But it was something that I think people think they know a lot of people, they’re automatically everyone’s going to use them. So that was one thing that I realized I have to figure out how to get in front of people, not just my friends and family to make it so that’s yeah, that’s just one thing to kind of know for new people. Yeah, I
D.J. Paris 28:54
haven’t I Yeah. To piggyback on that, you know, Brian Buffini has really mentioned him a few times already. But he’s really famous for saying your contact list. Your database is not, no, your contact list is not your prospect list. I mean, it could be and those do happen. But he’s always and I’m just kind of probably misquoting him, but he, he’ll say like, those are the people that are your advocates, too. So maybe they may they might use you they might not. But those are the people that can tell other people about you too. So you know, if you’re brand new, and you’re wondering, you know what to do with your contact list, the very least tell them, hey, if you know anyone that’s looking to buy or sell or rent or whatever you’re looking at, you know, like, Please pass my name along. And sometimes that’ll even get you further because yeah, maybe their brother in law is also a realtor and they’re gonna go with him because it’s family or whatever.
Amber Kardosh 29:42
Right? Yeah. So I think and it’s kind of funny, you mentioned that because I was telling you that my husband got referred to from a family member. Well, that family member actually bought recently. And I it was so I mean, it was totally fine, but I was like, Well, you know, so well it’s Robin you know, she’s an Meeting broker. I mean, I wouldn’t be where I am without her. And I was like, yeah, no, she’s working with me. Right? She’s like,
D.J. Paris 30:06
Yeah, that’s, that’s super funny. But yeah, so this is a relationship business. And whatever you can do to, I always think the best way to add to build a relationship is to add value when the person like you were saying, isn’t expecting it, you know, I, I think anytime you can solve a problem for somebody when they’re not looking for it, or just make them feel wanted or needed, or appreciated, or you thought of them anything like that is always the way to go. And the good news is, and it’s not just with realtors who struggle to do it, obviously, people at the top, like yourself, do these things. But it’s kind of across all industries. I mean, I have a lot of different service providers in my life that make money off me every year for various services. And very rarely do they ever reach out to add value. I mean, they’re nice people. I like them. I’m not interested in switching to other people. But it would be nice if somebody ever reached out and said, Hey, I noticed it might be a good time for you to refinance. Like nobody even does that. So you know, these are all opportunities, realtors have to add value. And, you know, eventually people be like, let’s give DJ Ranbir a chance. So, no. So I have a couple of stories. I wanted to hear from you. I want to hear about the cardboard penis story. You don’t mind sharing it?
Amber Kardosh 31:26
Well, I guess at the time, it was probably more it was funnier than probably me telling you this now, but it was. I
D.J. Paris 31:32
think it’s funny now it’s funny. It was like it
Amber Kardosh 31:35
was a vacant condo. And we were we were touring some condos. And then we were going in and out. All of a sudden I hear my client go, Oh my God. I’m like, what? And she comes out. She’s like, look, and it’s just giant cardboard penis. And I’m like, why is that there? And I didn’t know how she was gonna like React. I mean, she’s pretty. She was pretty laid back on like, Oh, man. And then like, Can I take a picture of that? She was like, yeah, it was sweet. So I posted it and like, yeah, it was really funny because it I mean, it would be different if someone was living I don’t know if there’d be any different be still weird, but having a penis cardboard penis and I make bacon just
D.J. Paris 32:07
what just sitting out on a table or was there like they moved out?
Amber Kardosh 32:11
And we’re like, let’s just leave the car. Oh, they
D.J. Paris 32:12
left it there. Yeah. So yeah, well, I guess maybe you don’t move the cardboard penis that’s kind of a disposable. But then just the fact that somebody that you guys touched it is amazing. I would have like, grabbed like tweezers and why didn’t
Amber Kardosh 32:25
touch it. Let’s just you just took a picture. Yeah,
D.J. Paris 32:29
yeah. Oh, I love that. And then And then since we’re on the, you know, sort of a new kick. Tell me about the Sleeping Naked story where you had a tenant. Yeah. So traumatized.
Amber Kardosh 32:40
I don’t open doors that are tenant occupied to this day. It freaks me out on my clients work. Why I’m like you do it? Because it was one of the first places that we were looking and it was a buy, but it was for you know, it was tenant occupied. So I was told the tenants weren’t there. And you know, so the one it was a two bedroom one was open, and one was closed. And I just figured it was close. And I opened it. And it was like a guy face down. But naked. Luckily, it was down. But I freaked out. I closed the door and my clients like what like, Don’t go in there. There was a new admin and let’s go, let’s just go let’s just go and I got really uncomfortable.
D.J. Paris 33:16
Well, no, I mean, right. That’s a that’s even a potentially unsafe environment. Right. But it’s certainly uncomfortable to say the least. Did so they did not end up buying that that property, I’m
Amber Kardosh 33:28
guessing no. And now I’m like, I have nervous twitches every time I go into a tenant occupied. I’m like, no naked bodies.
D.J. Paris 33:37
I think hey, what, what what better place to wrap up than with a couple of naked or sort of, you know, genital stories, general calm genital stories. But yeah, so so just to recap a couple of couple of things, guys, first of all, the Phelps Hansen coders group is amazing. They’re top producers in Chicago, including the suburbs, western suburbs, in particular, but they’re all over and they’re willing, you know, to work with you, whether you’re a buyer seller or renter and investor, they are happy to talk to you. So if there are people who are listening, who aren’t realtors, but but the public who wants to work with a top producing team, or if you are a broker, as we mentioned earlier, that is looking to join a team and add value and and take your career to the next level. What’s the best way they should reach out to you?
Amber Kardosh 34:22
I mean, they can call me at my phone number is 773-726-2070. Or again, they can use our team email at pH. K group at app properties.com.
D.J. Paris 34:34
Awesome. And, guys, this was our first experimental video podcast recording video cast, I guess. So Amber was so sweet to be the first guinea pig to try it out. And we’re so grateful Amber on behalf of all the audience, that you were able to take time two different days to get this done. So thank you for you know, being with us throughout the some of the tech problems but I think this went really, really well. And we’re really excited to continue to provide these episodes to everyone. We’re going to be doing these probably every single time now. So we’re super excited you guys asked for video. So here it is. And on behalf of the audience Amber, thank you for taking time. I know how busy you are. And if you ever do another Iron Man, let us know so we can support you and maybe, you know, raise money or whatever on keeping it real amazing. Can Happen. Well, oh, can I just end with one silly this this is this is almost a mean thing to say. But you’ll appreciate it just as it’s just it’s just a joke. But whenever I see so Ironman, people probably could laugh at this. So you know, they put the sticker some people put stickers in the back of the car. It’s like 26.2 or Yeah, so I always thought and believe me, I’ve never run a half marathon. I’ve done a few five K’s and that’s plenty for me. So I am I am exactly the kind of person that should not be making fun. But whenever I see the half marathon, the 13.1 I always go. Am I supposed to be half proud of you? Or? And I’m only teasing. That’s still an amazing accomplishment. That was just a joke. I always thought was funny. But no. But anyway,
Amber Kardosh 36:12
I needed those stickers. So that’s, I don’t think you should because
D.J. Paris 36:15
Iron Man, people are just amazing. So anyway, thanks again for being on the show. We’re so grateful that you took time out of your day to do this. And we’ll see everyone on the next episode. Thanks.
Amber Kardosh 36:27
Thank you. I look forward to listening to more podcasts.
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