Humans Over Houses: How Relationship-Based Real Estate Builds Long-Term Brokerage Success

Julie Reisner (00:00)
So one of the pillars of Next Home One is what we call humans over houses. And it’s really humans over everything. So it’s being a fiduciary and doing the right thing for our clients long after the transaction closes. I had a client reach out to me yesterday, true story Scott.

I sold them their house in 2018. So what is that? Eight years ago, she called me. She said, ⁓ my goodness, we’re going through a divorce. Very sad situation. She’s like, I’m lost. I don’t know what to do.

Scott Bursey (02:05)
podcast powered by Investor Fuel. I’m your host Scott Bursey and today we’ve got a massive dose of that high octane fuel we’ve all been craving, especially when it comes to scaling a modern brokerage. Our guest today is the dynamic leader, Julie Reisner of Next Home One

Julie is absolutely crushing it, navigating and building a culture that breeds success. She’s bringing the blueprint on how to lead from the front, empower your agents and dominate your territory. Get ready to level up your entire business strategy. You don’t want to miss a second of this. Julie, welcome to the show.

Julie Reisner (02:42)
Thank you so much, Scott. I really appreciate you having me on.

Scott Bursey (02:45)
It is awesome having you here and for our listeners who may not be familiar with your journey, please tell us how did your career begin and what is your main focus now?

Julie Reisner (02:55)
So this is my encore career, as I like to call it. I was in training and development for a big bank.

locally here in Kalamazoo, And one day I got called in on a Friday and was fired very unexpectedly. And I had little kids and I didn’t know what to do. And so I was trying to find a job and I wound up through a series of jobs working for a high producing real estate agent as their assistant. And after three years of doing that, I thought, you know what?

I think this is something I could do. I really enjoy helping people. And so I got my license, started as an agent, and haven’t looked back. So that’s why I call it my Encore career.

Scott Bursey (03:41)
Fantastic. That gives our listeners the perfect context for what your journey has been. And it’s been a roller coaster. No question about that.

Julie Reisner (03:50)
Yes.

Yeah, spent about 15 years that I’ve been in the business.

Scott Bursey (03:54)
So Julie, what is the most single powerful value proposition you offer your agents right now in your view?

Julie Reisner (04:01)
I think the experience that I bring as a producing agent as well, being in the trenches with them and going through the flow of a very changing evolutionary.

industry that, I mean, you know, Scott, it’s changing by the minute. And so if you’re not keeping up with that, you are getting left behind, whether it’s technology or procedures or how to how to market. mean, I didn’t sign up to be a content creator yet. Here I am making these silly videos. Right. And it’s just helping them navigate the challenges of a low barrier of entry industry. Yet.

We want to continuously raise the bar of the industry to be seen as professionals and fiduciaries for our clients.

Scott Bursey (05:37)
Spot on. That was really well stated. And Julie, no business is perfect. What’s one thing that you’re still figuring out or working around here recently?

Julie Reisner (05:48)
Yeah, I think the biggest thing for me is that there is not a lot of brand recognition for Next Home in Michigan. We don’t have a lot of footprint in Michigan, but yet Next Home is a corporation that is nationwide. And Next Home One is a franchise that I own. So it’s like Starbucks or Bigby or Insert Franchise here.

Right? And so we have the backing of a corporate entity, which is amazing because our leaders, James Dwegans and Keith Robinson, they’re making just amazing headway in our industry. And so we have all of that backing, yet we are also franchise owners. So we can shape our brokerage however we want to. And so that’s one of the challenges is a little bit of name recognition.

Is it any different than Julie Reisner real estate? Yes, because we have that corporate foundation. But yet we can scale it and do whatever we need to within our market to make it relevant.

Scott Bursey (06:53)
and you’re located in Kalamazoo, Michigan, what is your geographical market?

Julie Reisner (06:57)
Yes!

So our geographical market is, well we always like to go with the Mitten. Everybody’s familiar with the Mitten of Michigan and we are the southwest portion of Michigan. So we are everything from Marshall, Battle Creek, all the way over to Lake Michigan, the beautiful Lake Michigan. And we go all the way up to south of Grand Rapids to the border of Indiana.

So it’s Southwest Michigan is our real regional core.

Scott Bursey (07:27)
Awesome. Julie, which market niche like short-term rentals or fractional ownership presents the greatest untapped growth for modern brokerage right now?

Julie Reisner (07:37)
For us, we’re seeing a lot of requests for multi-generational homes. I think that has a lot to do with the affordability of home ownership right now. And also we have aging parents that maybe we need to have live with us. And so we’re looking for that multi-generational either layout or ADU situations which are not popular here.

and we have some townships fighting us about them. And so that’s one of the biggest requests is how can we age in place or have a multi-generational situation? So that’s the biggest request that I’m getting right now.

Scott Bursey (08:17)
And we were discussing before the show about the groups that you’re involved in. Could you elaborate on that just a bit?

Julie Reisner (08:23)
Yes, so one of the programs that I am proud that Next Home One started was a senior series for our aging seniors. And listen, I’m not that far off from that, okay? I just happen to have parents who are aging right now and need more support. And I’m the only child in town. My brother lives a thousand miles away, so I’m their boots on the ground.

So we started a series of bringing in speakers that are very topical and relevant towards aging, like wills, trusts, mobility, all of those real estate adjacent sort of aging in place. And we did a six month series of bringing them in to just simply educate. And it’s just information.

Because when our kids were little, we had the books. What to expect when you’re expecting, what to expect the first year. Well, no one wrote the book on what to expect when you’re raising your elderly parents and raising children at the same time, growing a business and doing all the other things like living life. No one wrote that book. So we thought, well, maybe we can write that book.

Scott Bursey (10:08)
That educational factor is so key.

Julie Reisner (10:11)
Yes. Yes.

Scott Bursey (10:12)
What a great cause, Julie. And if you could walk us through what’s one non-monetary commitment that is essential for cultivating a high-retention, high-performance culture within your teams?

Julie Reisner (10:14)
Thank you. Thanks.

⁓ yes, so I cannot talk enough about relationships and building relationships. When I started in real estate, the person that I learned from was very transactional, which I realized going through it, that wasn’t what I wanted to be. I didn’t want to be a transactional agent. I wanted to be very relational, because that’s the way I’ve been my whole life.

And I’ve lived, worked and worshiped in this community my whole life. So I have a long history here and I’ve built a lot of amazing relationships.

So one of the pillars of Next Home One is what we call humans over houses. And it’s really humans over everything. So it’s being a fiduciary and doing the right thing for our clients long after the transaction closes. I had a client reach out to me yesterday, true story Scott.

I sold them their house in 2018. So what is that? Eight years ago, she called me. She said, ⁓ my goodness, we’re going through a divorce. Very sad situation. She’s like, I’m lost. I don’t know what to do.

Eight years ago, I’m still top of mind for her to call in a crises. I did my job. I created that relationship and I became a resource for her.

and that’s humans over houses. So that is a non-monetary pillar that is a non-negotiable when you work at Next Home One

Scott Bursey (11:51)
I love that and that’s a game changer for our listeners, Julie.

Julie Reisner (11:54)
Yes, it really is a game changer in this industry when we see such transactions falling apart because there is no investment in the person behind the purchase.

Scott Bursey (12:08)
Our pros listen because they want the needle moving pro-secret insights. Let’s get to the money question now. You’ve built an impressive platform at Next Home One If you could share one deep dive secret, a process, a metric, or a mindset that has been an absolute game changer for maximizing per agent productivity and profitability, what would it be?

Julie Reisner (12:15)
Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

I think it is to one, not be afraid to live like yourself, not be afraid to be yourself, live out loud, be on social media and not to be polarizing or anything, but be so supportive of others in your community and others doing business, like make those connections because those connections are what are going to mushroom out.

to allow you to have conversations that you would never have before. But you have to be the person who starts to have those conversations. You have to be the caring one. You have to initiate them. And that’s hard for a lot of people because after COVID, we started to be real small in not having those intentional relationships and conversations.

Scott Bursey (13:19)
That’s top shelf advice right there listeners. And Julie, could you leave any golden nuggets or additional advice with our listeners today?

Julie Reisner (13:29)
I think the thing is, is that this market right now, at least for where we sit in Michigan, is it’s hard. But I think every market has its challenges. And I think if you just align yourself with the right people who support you and lift you up and keep pushing you, they’re not yes people, they’re gonna keep challenging you and keep pushing you, you have to find your tribe.

And those are the people who are going to continue to get you through. it doesn’t growth does not include everyone, right? It doesn’t include everyone, yet it includes people that maybe you never thought of before. And so when you’re looking at me, somebody like an indie brokerage that maybe doesn’t have a huge footprint corporately, give us a chance. Talk to us. Let us let us show you what we have to offer.

because it’s pretty amazing the support we have corporately, but yet the passion we have locally.

Scott Bursey (15:11)
And that passion resonates. Thank you for sharing your insight with our listeners today, Julie. And before we sign off, always want to make sure that for our listeners that want to follow your journey, collaborate with you. What’s the best way for them to reach you?

Julie Reisner (15:13)
Thank you.

Thank you, Scott.

The best way is social media. I know I said it before, I’ll say it again, I’m old. So I’m like a Facebook girly. I am on Instagram, I’m on the TikTok, I’m on all of the social platforms, but I live out loud on Facebook. I have a business Facebook page, it’s Julie Reisner Realtor, but if you just follow me on Julie Reisner, which is my personal page, you’re gonna find everything there. And you know the best way to get ahold of me? My phone number is everywhere. Text me, connect.

Let’s connect. I love connecting with my heart, with other people.

Scott Bursey (16:00)
And Julie, you certainly connected with our listeners today. Thank you so much for being on the show.

Julie Reisner (16:06)
Thank you, Scott. Thanks for the opportunity. I really appreciate the platform for allowing people like me to get our message out there.

Scott Bursey (16:12)
and to our listeners, appreciate each and every one of you. If you got value from today’s episode, please subscribe. We have exceptional guests, just like Julie, who are making huge moves in the market. Until next time, keep your standards high and your vision clear. We’ll see you on the next episode, everyone.