Navigating a HOT Real Estate Market with Realtor, Adriana Martinez

In today’s episode, I am interviewing Adriana Martinez.

Adriana is a Minnesota-based Realtor at Coldwell Banker Realty. She’s a Certified International Property and Luxury Real Estate Specialist, The National Association of Hispanic Real Estate ProfessionalsTwin Cities Marketing Director, member of NAR and the SPAAR Diversity Equity and Inclusion committee. Adriana is Creative and very Passionate about her work, community, and clients.  Her previous background was in IT and the airline industry, Studied Cybernetic Engineering and Computer Sciences at La Salle  University, and she was a member of the Tae Kwon Do Olympic team in México. She and her husband love to travel around the world documenting memories with film and drone photography. 

You can find Adriana on Facebook at AwesomeDreamHomesTeam or visit her at awesomedreamhomes.cbintouch.com/

Tune in to learn:

• What attracts Buyers to specific properties
• Strategies for getting the best offer for your house
• Mindset shifts for winning the real estate game in 2021

If you’re in the process of selling your home or preparing your house to sell, this season of the Behind the Renovation podcast is perfect for you.  Over the next few weeks, I am interviewing industry professionals and related businesses for the Home Selling Success series to help you understand what home selling and buying look like in 2021 and how you can prepare yourself for the good, the bad and that elusive virtue called patience. 

Transcript

Alice: Welcome to the podcast. Adriana, thank you so much for joining me. 

Adriana: Thank you so much Alice it's so nice to meet you finally meet you in person besides Facebook. 

Alice: Absolutely. That's the one thing about social media that's nice. We get to meet people and then we get to see them. Technology allows us to do that now that wasn't possible, just not that long ago. 

Adriana: That is true. That is totally true. 

Alice: Can you tell me where you are located? 

Adriana: Well, I am in Minnesota. I am in Eagan, Minnesota is my office. So yeah, 

Alice: So what's happening in Minnesota right now. because I'm sure you've heard all the craziness that's happening around the country. 

Adriana: It is, it is pretty much general. It is, pretty much what you have here in California, you have here in Minnesota. The market is crazy. We have very low inventory and we have very, very many, buyers, all of them, one the same household, unfortunately. And yeah, something that I have noticed. I know you are a stay here and you can have a put so pretty the houses, something that I have noticed that yes, the houses that are, not the stage. And they look, that need TLC. They are still in stain when the market is crazy, they sell for less. And that is just the fact. Yeah. 

Alice: It pays to put a little more effort into putting your house on the market, even if it is hot. So you're telling me that there are, so you're seeing people who are actually putting their houses on the market and not preparing it properly. 

Adriana: Yes, yes. We have seen, I have some buyers and when they go to the houses and they see one that is very, very old or unfortunately, or fortunately they buy years ago with looks and they are emotional when they see a house that is not prepared, that is not staged, that is filthy. They really, really kind of eyes have turned, turned down for them even when they are desperate to find a house. Normally what I have seen is that houses that are not much in size, for example, small bedrooms and that however, they are super nicest stage, buyers go and say, oh, I want that one. That one is the one that I, that I was dreaming with. And they cannot go beyond the looks, some of the buyers, I mean, I'm not saying everybody many people are very savvy and they are researching the internet, they no more buyers are more wise now than before. Well, there are still, there are many people that go with looks. 

Alice: Yeah. Well, it just goes to show, you know, making the right first impression is really, really important. And like you're saying, so if they like the house, they're more likely. So if it's not well-prepared, if they like the house enough to put an offer, they are putting in a lower offer than, rather than having multiple offer situations where it's being bid up. Right. 

Adriana: Well, what I have found is that it is very bad to prepare the house is that it has one to offers for not that many offers that we have seen in all their houses. 

Alice: What was the most you've seen in your area like in multiple offer situations?

Adriana: What is what, excuse me?

Alice: What, what is the most you've seen in multiple offers like the number like 30, 40, 50, you know, there are some houses that are crazy right now where they're dealing with. 

Adriana: I don't have seen 20 offers in one house. Oh yeah. And it depends also on the price of the house, in the average price, like a hearing yourself this around, I mean, I'm saying around because every single city near, so that changes as well, but it's an average of 350,000. So yeah, those houses, we see many offers like 15, 20, depending on the house. How, how well prepared as we said, it is, but in general, we are seeing what people offer everywhere. 

Alice: No. Is that normal in Minnesota so outside of what's happening currently, is that something that's normal in the Minnesota market?

Adriana: Before the COVID, no, no, we, we can, we can't be, the normal market would be probably at least have super beautiful house gears. We see multiple offers and probably, I don't know, up to five offers for five offers. In general, in a normal market, we have seen kind of one or two offers at most in a normal market.

Alice: Right now. Huh 

Adriana: Right now it's crazy, everybody's, buyers are prepared, to give their best and try to get the house. They are desperate to get a house so, so sometimes you have to advise them to be also wise and not to just overspending a house that you know, is not going to uprise or it's not going to be, that expensive hell. They want to, to put, I mean, as much as they want to put sometimes, you have to advise them and say, you know what it might not that price nobody wants to offer for this house. So, 

Alice: And that can contribute if the appraisal price doesn't come in at whatever they offer that they have to pay out of pocket for the difference, right?

Adriana: Yes. Yes. We tried to put a closest in the contract saying, you know, price, we have the right to negotiate, or we have the right to walk out. Well, normally the buyer wants that house and they are saying, oh yeah, I can, I can pull them. I have all of my savings here and I, and I said well it's not the case if you you're getting totally out of money. The case is to find you a nice house. Yes, it's going to be challenging or not because of that you have to, to give out of you of your money, right. 

Alice: You want some money because you need to buy new furniture. You want to decorate, you want to do other fun things too. Once you get into the house. 

Adriana: Exactly. Exactly. You have to, you have to plan, and yes. In any good, a wealth planner would tell you is like you have to save some money for some other things as well. 

Alice: Absolutely. Are you noticing any trends with your buyers and maybe even with your sellers, are they looking for something different now than they used to are there certain houses are more popular now than they used to be?

Adriana: Yes. Hearing it, so then mostly helps us have basements. I understand that is not the case in the whole country. For example, Texas is not that common to have a basement. Yeah. Well now, buyers are looking for a finished basement and mainly with a bedroom or so, so they can live within laws so they can, rent out or they can make good use for that basement. Yeah. 

Alice: I, I think, basements are, pretty cool. The ones that I've seen, and it's usually somewhere in the Midwest or in the east coast, basements are pretty popular, but having a whole downstairs space, that's pretty much the span of your entire square footage is, is, a nice option to have, especially over this past year when you needed more space to kind of hang out, it's somewhere to go hide somewhere, to go play somewhere, to just do extra things or, you know, separate, spaces for each family member because everybody was doing everything from home. 

Adriana: Exactly. And yeah, the basements have totally and know their living area. They have bedrooms, bathrooms, a bar, a cinema, they are totally, totally, a living area. So people are looking more and more to have that separate space for either and now with a COVID many people have their offices at home. So they're looking to have an extra office, they're looking to have an extra space to, to be able to, to mingle around the house if you want. 

Adriana: They want to have their independence when they are together in one house. So they have, they want spaces for a gym. They want spaces for an office, they want spaces for different activities that they have in their daily lives. 

Alice: Yeah. So are things returning back to normal in your area? 

Adriana: Some offices are opening and in, I guess some of them are, are talking about opening in July, August. We still have, I don't know if you go to stores and that would you see kind of a 50/50, some people with masks, some other people without masks, in our office, we continue, following all the protocols, just for safety and for the safety of our clients and ourselves. So we continue with the protocols have faced and some masks, both. Yeah. The offices are opening and people are going back to work. I may say, I think it is very nice to be able to work from home and to have all of this technology, as you mentioned, is very nice because you don't have to, transport from one place to another, you save time. And that is a nice of it, but all of them that they mingling with people, they, they just have the all of that, live with other people. Is they, they, when missed.

Alice: Absolutely. Well, things are just starting to get back to normal here. I think we haven't completely lifted the mask requirement yet for the state, but I think that's coming very soon. And probably by the time this recording is published, it when we're live, it will be, I don't know, but you know, like you said, there's, there's going to be people that are comfortable not wearing masks, and there's going to be people that prefer to wear masks for safety and whatever works for you, do what you have to do. Right. Just nice to have things starting to resume and, you know, open houses. Are you guys having, public open houses now? 

Adriana: We have some are not very popular yet. Well, it is kind of opening now, the market is, is still kind of a, as I said crazy. So we still see a, for example, when we have showings, we see the case that we have to book 15 minutes at a time, 15 to 45 maximum at a time. And we have to wait for the person that is in the house to go out and then go in. Some stores are allowing, or, or owners are allowing the overlapping showings, but it's very common to see that they don't, they don't allow overlapping showings. 

Alice: So speaking of that, how are your clients, if you're working with a buyer, are the buyers looking online initially, and when they're searching for what's available in their price range, and then they come back to you and tell you, oh, I like this house, this house, and this house. And then from there, that's, when you're more involved in the process, or are you searching for them and giving them the listings to, preview?

Adriana: Well, initially I have a conversation with my clients and I interview them. I have a big question there just to try to narrow down what they want, because we don't want to lose their time, or anybody's time you're showing houses that they are not gonna like, right. So, I try to narrow down what they want. And then I said as many listing as I can. And in these times that there are very few listings. I try to send them as much as I find. And I live in choose a, as many houses they want to see, normally we see from three to five houses in one day, per client. So I think that is a good number to see houses, over than that, they use become confused and they are like, okay, which one I saw affairs that I seen these, and he's not, I mean, they, I guess in a normal human it is not easy to remember every single detail of all the houses. 

Adriana: So they take notes, I take notes. I try to keep a track of every house that I, that we see what they like, and yeah. But normally, yes. I send them listings and they see them. Sometimes they find listings and they say, oh, I went to see the, I need to see where they find them. Sometimes they send me listings that he though, you know, what it has been sold already. So, I mean, it is very common that, that they, because they go to internet, they look for whatever they find there and they just see something nice that probably in some website hasn't been updated or so, so they send me, oh, I want to see this house and they go research it. And they said, oh, it's sold already. But yeah. 

Alice: That happens very quickly these days. I mean, houses are selling within days. I don't think people are, I don't know if it it's happening with you, but I remember, you know, people were delaying, you're saying we're accepting offers on a certain date, and then they make their decision and they would push it out so that they can, get those multiple offers. But I think that timeframe is shortened now because everybody's so quick to make. 

Adriana: Yeah, it has. I mean, in a normal market, you can make your decision from one day to know the way to the, show it to them and then, okay. We like these house. We want to present an offer, but in this market, if you see a house that you like, make sure that you're ready, people will gonna like the same house. So if you like a house, you have to be fast on your decision and, yes present an offer and see, see if you get it because you're going to have competition, it is going to be challenging. And yeah. 

Alice: So now, have you been working with sellers as well during this market?

Adriana: Yes. Yes, I have. 

Alice: What are you advising your clients to do when they're getting ready to sell their house?

Adriana: Well, first of all, they have to really take care of the little details. Like, they have to stage it. Well, no matter what, I mean, I know it's a cold market I know is going to sell eventually, but you want to save for most money that you can. Right. and they, I mean, in this market, quite not to take advantage of the new, the multiple offers market. And if you can, I mean, if you are a seller and you are going to have your house, I mean, you want those multiple offers to arrive to your house. And the way we do it is to present it very well, I mean, you have something that is not fixed well, fix it. I mean, sometimes it's not really a very expensive things to do in a house is just for example, just changing the knobs, the doorknobs, changing the switches, the light switches that look very old, just put in a new light switch. Sometimes it's just that both in your, your pillows, sometimes you have any nice furniture. You see them presented the best you can. I normally have a stay here, that I work with and they gave a free hour consultation to my clients. And besides that, they, if they want to go for there, they can, by all means, and the stay here is gonna certainly advise them of what they need to do. And it's a complete change from a house that is not a stage to a house that is staged.

Alice: Have you had any clients, push back and say, you know, we'll take our chances. It's a good market. We don't need to do anything. Has anybody said that to you?

Adriana: Oh yeah, everybody tries to, but, you just, you just present the facts and you just, whether you and you have, the data that you have and the data that you have is the houses that you have been sailing. And you know what these houses sold this fast, and then you present the MLS information, the houses that have been staying there in the market. You show the pictures that they have, you show how they have these, and they've realized very, very quick. They realized that they need to present their house the best possible. 

Alice: Absolutely. Well, and because I know if I'm in the market for a house, for, or for anything, right, you're excited. And nowadays we have access to the internet and information 24 hours a day, seven days a week. I know if I'm the buyer, I would be searching every single real estate site possible looking for potential properties that I would be remotely qualified to purchase. And the ones that are going to stand out are going to be the ones that have beautiful photos of pieces that I would want to live in. Nobody even that same homeowner who owns that house would not want to buy their house if it looked boring and ugly the way it's being presented if they were to do nothing. 

Alice: So it makes no sense to me. If somebody says, oh, I don't want to do anything. But if they were looking on the internet and they saw their own house, they would be disappointed. They would not be interested in that same house. So it's worth doing a little extra to get so much more in return and quickly too. I mean, if you're going to sell your house, you're going to probably look to buy another house. You're going to need the cash from your current property, the funds from that in order to qualify for unless you have lots of money and it doesn't matter. But generally speaking for your average person, need the funds from their current property so that they can roll it into their new home. Right. 

Adriana: That is completely true. They, they need to sell fast because they need to move fast to the other property. And nowadays everything is kind of tight, like, you are going to move because you already have something on the horizon to, to move to. And you want the most money to pay for your new house. So yeah, it just makes sense, to present it the best and sell it the best. Yeah. 

Alice: See, everybody needs a good person to coach you through the process like Adriana, so that you're not making mistakes. And you know, it doesn't matter which market you're in. We're hearing it over and over again, it is a hot market. It is a very competitive market. There is, properties that are selling very quickly, but at the same time, if you're not presenting it properly and you're not giving what buyers really want, you're going to suffer as well, because your property is not going to sell as quickly and more than likely you're not going to sell it for those top dollar, that all your competition, your competition, which you're not even a competition, because nobody wants your house. So it makes no sense. So definitely, put forth the effort. Are you noticing anything in the Minnesota market specifically, or, you know, what was your market like last year when everything kind of first happen like March of 2020 maybe the first few months compared to what's happening now because everything exploding, but also everything is also changing. You know, the landscape is changing. Things are starting to go back to normal. So I'm sure you've noticed a complete change over the last year. 

Adriana: And it is a curious both. We have both, both sides, people that wanted to hurry on selling everything, where they have 

Adriana: People that put totally the brakes and say, no, I'm not going to sell now. I'm going to sell later. So it happens both when it just started, it was it now it's crazy, but that was another type of crazy about time because we have people that said, we have to hurry. We have to set it because we are not going to be able to sell it later. Some people said, oh, some people say that, no, we are not selling. We, we are going to stay with nobody's happening. The uncertainty certainly hears everybody. So people do have very, very random decisions at that moment. And they, few people to get like a, no, we continue normally. So I guess, I guess it happens a little bit of everything, but we still very, very much those two do an exchange.

Alice: And I'm sure everybody can relate to that no matter where which market they're in. That's probably right. And there's a lot of people who panic this said, oh my gosh, if I have to sell, I need to do it now because you know, I don't want to lose money. But they're probably if they know that they know what their house is worth now, they're like, dang it. I should have waited. 

Adriana: As I said, I mean when there is a certainty. You don't know, you don't know what is coming. You don't know if he's going to be better or he's going to be worse. So it's kind of a, okay, I just have to make a decision or do I stop or do I continue and that is what happens. 

Alice: Yes. I think he's gotta be okay with the decision that you make because you can't change it. Nobody knew how long this was going to be. People thought it might be a month and it turned into three months, turned into a whole year. And then, you know, who would imagine that we can get a vaccine so quickly and things are starting to kind of resume. So be grateful for everything that we have right. 

Adriana: Yes. I mean, just, just be grateful for every day that you have. And right now, I mean, I don't know, at that point, nobody knew that the vaccine was coming and who knows. We might not ever have a vaccine and what will happen. Right. Thankfully we do. And we have several options as well. So that, that is something that is kind of a to be grateful for. And that's why he's allowing us to go out again and resume our lives. 

Alice: Absolutely. Do you know if there are a lot of people that we're buying and selling there, they're local people, or are you noticing, people, moving into your area from other states?

Adriana: I have some people that are moving from other states to Minnesota. Yeah. So they still very affordable comparing to other states like California or New York. So yeah, some people are moving from other states. I, I am also in the international market and what I have noticed is that, yeah, people are not buying many, many properties right now because of the COVID and that it can have a slow down in that area as well. But people are still buying. I mean, it is low down believing stopped. So people are still buying abroad. People are still coming from other countries and buying here. Yeah. 

Alice: So which markets are you seeing people buying internationally. That's interesting because you didn't, you don't think about that. You always think about your local area, but you know, we're such a global market these days, people are buying properties all over the world. So which markets are you seeing people are still purchasing or where has it completely stopped?

Adriana: Well, Cancun is a very good example, people are buying a lot in Cancun, in Canavan, second homes and, also Costa Rica, for example, people are buying in those places.

Alice: South American areas. They're more, they're a little more relaxed. They were a little more relaxed during the whole, this whole pandemic situation versus like Europe, Europe was hit very, very hard and they're just starting to slowly reopen. So, but also you have a lot of the beaches and like the vacation vibes in those other areas like Costa Rica and Cancun versus your European countries, let's say. 

Adriana: Yeah, I think, I think that is the case. And, and also here in the United States, many people are moving from Minnesota to Florida. Kind of thinking already on early retirement. And something that is very interesting is because of the COVID people are realizing that technology is very nice and they can even work from wherever they, they are in the world. So people are buying houses, second homes in other countries and working from there. So that is another, another market that we are seeing that is, kind of, having, trained. yeah. Yeah. 

Alice: That's new, that's the new lifestyle. Everybody wants to work from wherever they are, which is, hey, that's a personal goal too.

Adriana: Yes. I mean, I don't blame them and it is possible now with all the technology that we have, you can pick wherever you want. 

Alice: Absolutely. So now, what would you say, and I've been asking everybody, this has been the craziest thing that's happened to you over this past year?

Adriana: The craziest one, a little bit of everything. I mean, just the change. I mean, I dunno. I mean, 

Alice: Did you have anyone specific ex buying or selling experience or something personal that happened that you're like, I would never think this was going to happen or it's just not normal. 

Adriana: Well, now it's normal to have transactions pretty much all over the internet. You use to show the houses, but, yeah. I have, a case where my clients were, everything, everything was through the Facebook messenger, everything. So that was crazy to me. But, it was the preference. So sending contracts, sending everything pretty much almost through messenger Facebook. 

Alice: I'm not even taking it off on Zoom or taking it offline to email. They wanted everything on Facebook messenger. Huh 

Adriana: Mainly, I mean, there were cases like they had to sign, I had to send it through my internet system and things like that, but all the decisions, everything was through Facebook messenger and he contacted the wife, the wife contacted him and yeah, it was, it was kind of an interesting, because you, you weren't used to seeing your play and then go and discuss with them, everything, even though Zoom or so, but now everything was through messager. So that was probably one of the craziest ones. 

Alice: I wouldn't even imagine. And had, did you know them before or no, they just met you through. 

Adriana: I knew them. they, they were, they were previous clients as well, so probably that will then make it easier. Well, still it was, it was Canada. Okay. Let's go-to messenger. 

Alice: Hey, whatever works, as long as the transaction went through and everybody's happy you, wherever platform works for you. Right. Huh. It's almost interesting to think that nowadays, because of technology, there are so many people that we're meeting and we're interacting with that we never really know other than through whatever social media platform that you meet or just online. And there are even teachers who were saying that they've never met their students the whole year. They know they've only seen them on zoom. They've never met them in person. So if they actually saw them, walking around in a store locally, they probably wouldn't even recognize them. So it's the wave of the future. 

Adriana: Yes. That is true.

Alice: Well, I mean, that's all the questions that I have, I think, it was very informative. Thank you so much for spending time with me. Is there anything else?

Adriana: No, I think we have to be always prepared to whatever it comes. I mean, I think Covid was a good teacher if you can take it like that. I mean, it has obviously many negative things, but, the positives that we can take from it is that we adapt. We as human beings, we can adapt as realtors. We can adapt. The clients can adapt. the technology is a blessing as we were talking about. And, when I was young, I wanted to be an astronaut. No, I, I mean it and no, I mean, these experience with Covid, is a very similar, I guess, to be in a space station because you have to adapt and you have to use the resources that you have inside. So just that and be prepared, be prepared for whatever it comes. Hopefully, our future is much brighter than it has been, but we have a lot of ways to be prepared. 

Alice: No, absolutely. I agree if, if this pandemic happened at 20 years earlier, 30 years earlier, it would be a completely different experience than when it happened. Because now when we have so much access to technology, which allows us to still communicate with people all around the world, right. Because we're not tethered to, we don't have to just use the phone. We have so many resources that there was no way this would have been the same experience otherwise.

Adriana: That is true. It's totally true. we are so blessed that we have all the technology that we do, pandemics have been before in the world. And they were not as lucky, as we are now. So we have to use to embrace it and learn from it and take all the positive that we can. I mean, now, even when COVID is over, we, I, I assume we're going to continue with zoom meetings. We're going to continue with zoom showings. Why, because it is convenient because it is easier because you don't want to spend time transporting yourself from one place to another. There are many things that we have learned that are going to be useful in the future, even without the COVID pandemic. 

Alice: I know it's going to be hard for a lot of people to want to commute in traffic, to get to a workplace in order to do their work when they've been allowed to do this from home for the last, you know, year plus. So yeah, there's, there's gotta be some things that, there's going to be some transition pains. You know, we had a little bit of transition pain when this first started and that will get used to this new lifestyle. And, going back is going to be another, we're all going to have to be flexible. That's the bottom line.

Adriana: We have to gain. And we have to probably incorporate one with some of the things that we have learned through all of these periods, into our new life. 

Alice: Yeah. It's amazing how quickly we adapt to things because even just certain areas don't require masks because I feel so uncomfortable, like not wearing a mask now, like, okay. Whereas in the very beginning, it was hard to get used to having to wear the mask. So, oh my gosh. 

Adriana: That is true and it is interesting because you go to one country and they are a little bit behind in vaccines and everything. So it's totally different. It's like a few months ago and you go to another country and it's a little bit ahead of us and country to country is totally different. So you have to really be aware of that and, and just prepare on, on whatever you're going to do wherever you're going to go. 

Alice: Absolutely. I know international travel will be very interesting going forward. 

Adriana: That is true. That is true. 

Alice: Thank you so much, Adriana. This was so fun. Thank you so much for spending time with me. 

Adriana: At least it's such an honor to have met you finally, and thank you so much for the time and the window that you gave me is really, really an honor. Thank you so much. 

Alice: I appreciate it. You take care. Have a great day. 

Adriana: You too. Thank you, Alice. Take care. Buh-bye bye.