Unlocking Your First Home: Keisha Weir’s Secrets for New Buyers

Michelle Kesil (01:32)
Hey everyone, welcome to the Investor Fuel Podcast. I’m your host, Michelle Kesil, and today I’m joined by someone I’m looking forward to chatting with, Keisha. And she’s been making some serious moves in the real estate space. So Keisha, I’m so excited to have you here today.

Keisha Weir (01:58)
You

Michelle Kesil (02:00)
I think our listeners are really going to take something away from how you’re approaching your real estate business. So let’s dive in. So, yeah. Awesome. So for anyone that’s listening to this and who may not be familiar with your world yet, can you give us a short version of your main focus these days?

Keisha Weir (02:12)
Thank you, thank you. I’m excited to be here as well.

Okay, good. So I am in the South Florida area. I mainly deal with first time home buyers and second repeat buyers. ⁓ I love working with first time home buyers. I love holding their hands. I love seeing their faces when they think something’s impossible. And know the dream comes to life like, wait, it’s really possible when you have the right person and the right team behind you helping you guide you through the way. So that’s currently where I’m at right now.

working with first time home buyers, repeat buyers, small sets of investors, but love working in South Florida and helping clients.

Michelle Kesil (03:08)
amazing. Yeah, that’s really important. And when you work with these like first time buyers, what do you feel is your main approach that differentiates you from other agents?

Keisha Weir (03:25)
perfect question. I came into this industry blindly. Like I was an accountant before and then I started shopping for my mom. So we were on this journey together looking for a house and I found it was very impersonal. was very much, okay, well, let’s just make this deal happen more so than educating the clients, having them understand their options, what’s best for them. ⁓

What’s going to be best for you long term? So I look at it as a customized approach for each client. No two people are alike. Everybody’s wants and needs are different. So I find it very important. And for me versus any other agent, I’m very hands on. I want to know what your needs are, what your goals are, how can I help you best? And I will always suggest what I think is going to be beneficial for you generations, years down the line, rather than…

let’s just close this deal and make this deal today. That’s not my MO. It’s very personable. It’s too much money that’s being spent and I don’t know how long it took it to acquire it and I want to make sure all of those things are taken into account.

Michelle Kesil (04:35)
Yeah, I love that. That’s super important. Yeah, that really caught my attention of how you’re so hands-on with your customers and that’s not easy. It’s really important to do, especially in this climate when people are just trying to make transactions, you know?

Keisha Weir (04:47)
Hmm?

Correct, correct. That’s exactly right.

Michelle Kesil (04:55)
Awesome. So what has been like the top key to keeping that machine running smoothly for you?

Keisha Weir (05:52)
⁓ I think it works that you have to make sure you have a balance. As much as I love to customize for every client, I am only one person. So I think when it is that the clients understand that we are here for the best product and not the shortest product, and they understand that certain things may take a little time, and they’re open to understanding, hey, she’s one person, but I feel confident that she has my interests at heart, your clients are willing to wait.

A lot of time in this industry it is, if I can’t get the realtor today or I can’t get the mortgage broker today, I’m on to the next. But once you set up a structure with your clients and they feel that you are literally connected to them because your dream is now my job and my job and my goal is to satisfy everything as much as possible that you have brought to the table. So once we feel that we have made a united front, it’s a lot easier for you and your clients to work together.

Michelle Kesil (06:50)
Yeah, that’s so important. And you mentioned creating a structure together. Is that something that you can expand on?

Keisha Weir (06:59)
Correct, okay, so most clients, especially first time buyers, they come in with this notion of let’s go look at three houses and pick it and this, this 8G TV mentality of everything is instant. And it’s very short lived and it can be deflating. once we’ve, it’s almost like instructional. I’ve set the tones of how this is actually going to work in reality.

So great, the concept of the Cinderella, I go look at a house and I find it and Taj Mahal, but practicality comes into play. Years of experience that I’ve had comes into play. So I put them on a series of things that they need to follow. Let’s look at a particular location, but we also have to have contingencies, your B and C options. Thirdly, what are things that you can give up or what is most important? So putting certain parameters in place.

and then having the backup plans in place is very important. And once you can put that structured into the client, it works a lot better and then they become knowledgeable. So when you have a knowledgeable buyer, it’s a lot easier for them to feel comfortable with you rather than feeling like, again, just a number of client that’s being pushed into a purchase for a sale.

Michelle Kesil (08:18)
Yeah, I feel that’s super valuable, so thanks for sharing. And every operator has also a moment where things may not have gone as planned, things maybe got more real, a deal possibly went sideways, or you had to pivot fast. Would you mind sharing a moment like that for you?

Keisha Weir (08:22)
You’re welcome.

Mm-hmm.

absolutely. So one experience that I have had is I had a client she had a lease. She paid off for her lease but she was having issues with the company reporting on her credit that the lease should have been paid off. So we’re getting to contract, we get to closing and two days before closing the company re-reports the lease on her credit.

So when the company now did that, it changed all of the parameters of her pre-approval and we are set to close. Mindless to say, she wasn’t able to buy that property because there’s no fixing it within that amount of timeline, but we were able to get her funds back, find a better property and get all of those things straightened out. So while you’re in it, she’s sad, she’s deflated.

But again, once we have the contingencies that we’ve let the clients know, these things may go awry and surprises happen all the time, especially at the end. I don’t know why at the end they tend to pop up. But once you get your clients know again, hey, I’m here for you and I’ve already have a contingency plan in place, they become a little bit more relaxed, a little bit calmer. So even though the situation for most people would have been devastating,

She understood, we set the parameters, we set the contingency plan, and we were able to find her a better place for a better deal. So I think everything happens for that person the way it was supposed to happen.

Michelle Kesil (10:53)
Yeah, that’s so beautiful. I’m glad that things were able to work out for your client and yeah, you had all that in place.

Keisha Weir (11:01)
Correct, correct.

Michelle Kesil (11:04)
Awesome, yeah, that’s the kind of stuff that people don’t talk about enough and it’s really what separates the ones that are just dabbling in the industry versus the ones that are really ready to be in the long-term game.

Keisha Weir (11:18)
Correct, absolutely.

Michelle Kesil (11:20)
Awesome. So let me ask you this. What are you most focused on right now? Maybe something you’re solving or ready to scale next? Like what’s that next real big goal for you?

Keisha Weir (11:35)
My next big goal is to merge into two different sections. One, to grow a team and secondly, integrate the future. We are going into automation, we are going into advanced intelligence, no matter how I’d rather keep it, you know, one hand here and one hand there, there’s no stopping it. So instead of being scared, I want to put into place again,

the advanced intelligence, the AI systems, while also growing the team. So right now I’m looking for a second or a third person to come in and learn the same systems, the structure and why they’re in this industry. If you’re in this industry solely just to make money, it will be very short-lived. I feel it’s very personal when people have saved up years trying to get into what is the biggest wealth builder for most people.

And people will feel that you’re not genuine when you’re just a sale. So I’m looking forward to growing the team with the right people, putting in the advancement so that way the clients on the end of it are the one who really reaps the benefit. They’re not gonna be left behind. They are still gonna have the personal touches and they’re gonna get the benefit of both worlds. So that’s what I’m really looking forward to is growing that structure, making it better, not for just me.

But for the clients, because again, the whole point of this is the relationship that you’re going to do with the clients. Not just for today, but for 10, 15, 20 years down the line. That’s what’s important to me.

Michelle Kesil (13:13)
Yeah, absolutely. That’s super important. So now I know a lot of people that listen to this podcast are either early in their journey with real estate or they’re just looking to level up. And I think they could benefit from hearing this. What do you feel has made the biggest difference when it comes to

Keisha Weir (13:16)
Mm-hmm.

Michelle Kesil (13:42)
building your relationships and growing your network.

Keisha Weir (13:48)
⁓ very good question. I think what people really need to hone in on is that you have to start small. Perfect example. When I came into real estate, like I said before, I was looking with my mom. I wasn’t an accountant before, I wasn’t a realtor. And because seeing the process of something that should be so big turn into a sale of, you know, just buy it just because I need my commission check. ⁓

It taught me about personal relationships and it taught me to start small. I started with the core. I started with the person from the gym who was in my class and that one person turned into a referral of three. She has also been a repeat client with me for three or four times. The others are the same. So I have literally, I’ve been doing this about 14 years and I would say 95 % of my business has solely been on referrals and repeat business.

So in a time where most people are still struggling to find like, where’s next deal? I have been so fortunate, I have been so blessed that there’s always somebody saying, hey, know, contact this lady or contact this lady. And that is where your business will grow. Once you deal with people the same way that we want to be dealt with, we want to be cared for, we want to be thought of, we want to make sure that you’re handling me the same that you would want to be handled.

And that’s what’s going to take you from just an agent who is in it for the cash or the agent that’s in it for the long haul for generations. So that’s very important in scaling to never forget. It’s a personal business. It’s a relationship business. That’s very important.

Michelle Kesil (16:16)
Yeah, absolutely. And is there any way that you’ve networked outside of your personal circle and referrals? Are there any other strategies that you can recommend to people?

Keisha Weir (16:28)
absolutely. ⁓ Going online, right now we’re in the, again, the advancement age, whether you’re using Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, whether you’re dancing or whatever the case may be, it’s a great way to also still meet people. It doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re directly in your sphere, but it may be somebody who has seen you online. I have closed deals, met people, built relationships from online, and that…

space of advertising, it’s still pretty much free. You can advance it, but even with the free platform, you can still reach out to a lot of people. You just need to be consistent. And I think it still shows through the genuineness. Once the Instagram page is down and you’ve now made the connection, the dancing is over, people are still going to say, is this person in it for me or is it just a fad?

So you can still have a great business and a growing business from outside your sphere, but you just still have to maintain the genuine connection behind it.

Michelle Kesil (17:33)
Yeah, that’s really important. Relationships are everything in this space, so I love how you touched on that in so many different facets.

Keisha Weir (17:35)
Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Correct.

Michelle Kesil (17:45)
Awesome. So before we close and wrap up here, if someone wants to reach out to you, connect, maybe collaborate, or just learn more about what you’re doing, what’s the best way for them to reach out to you?

Keisha Weir (17:59)
Yes.

Well, there’s gonna be a couple of different ways. One, the easiest way would be to contact me via cell phone. My cell number is 754-204-5431. I’m also on Instagram at realtorquesha, so R-E-A-L-T-O-R-K-E-I-S-H-A. So that’s a great way to see me, see me with my family, see me what I’m doing with clients.

You can also reach me at my website, would be Keisha Ware. So K-E-I-S-H-A-W-E-I-R.com. So that’s first and last name. And that website would provide you all the other ways that you can contact me as well.

Michelle Kesil (18:46)
Perfect. Well, listen, I appreciate your time, your story, and your perspective. We really need more people in this space who are doing things in this correct, innovative, relationship-building way. So thank you for being here.

Keisha Weir (19:00)
Mm-hmm.

Thank you for having me. It was a blast.

Michelle Kesil (19:04)
Awesome, and for those of you tuning into the show, if you got value from this, make sure you’re subscribed. We’ve got more conversations coming with operators just like Keisha who are out here building real businesses. And we’ll see you all in the next episode.