Behind the SW Florida Listings with Tina Muracco

Southwest Florida realtor Tina Murocco joins Red Lips Real Talk to reveal the real side of real estate—safety as a female agent, spotting scams, navigating today’s shifting market, and what first-time buyers really need to know. From human-trafficking red flags to AI-driven virtual tours, Tina breaks down the modern realities of buying and selling in Florida.

Tina Muracco, J.D

Premier Sotheby's International Realty 

390 Broad Avenue South | Naples | FL | 34102
office: 239.434.2424 | mobile: 239.778.6817
tina.muracco@premiersir.com
tinamuracco.premiersothebysrealty.com

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Transcript

Oye, mi gente, you're listening to the Red Lips Real Talk podcast, where we talk
about life, love, and everything in between. You already know, it's time to get
real.
Welcome back to Red Lips Real Talk, where Sunshine meets Sold Signs.
Today, we're diving into the vibrant world of South Florida real estate with someone
who knows how to turn for sale into sold faster than you can say ocean view she's
got style, hustle and stories from the beautiful southwest Florida market from luxury
condos to beachside bungalows she does it all with flair so grab your iced coffee
crank up the AC and get ready to meet the powerhouse making real estate sparkle
under the Florida sun. The beautiful Tina Morocco, the woman making waves in the
South Florida property scene. Welcome, Tina. Thank you, Jasmine. Thank you for having
me today. I'm so excited to be part of your show. Oh, no. Thank you, Tina, for
being here. I know you're very busy lady, and I'm really excited to have you here.
But can I just say that your fashion is always on point. I try. It was all those
years in retail.
So did you, when you got into the real estate scene, was it always something that
you were passionate about or just fell into your lap? How did that happen? You
know, I've been in sales in a lot of different ways for a lot of years and I was
always interested in real estate and I got into real estate kind of as HGTV um
gaining in popularity and my husband was always like you know you might be really
good at real estate why don't you give it a shot and so um when i got licensed
it had been something that i was thinking about for probably almost 10 years wow so
yeah 10 years did you have a mentor or somebody that kind of was like let me
teach you the ropes into this or you did this all by yourself yeah well actually
um when i first started in real estate i started on teams. And so I thought that
was a good idea so that I could learn the ropes from somebody who had been in the
business for a decade. So yeah, I started on a team that, you know, somebody that
had been in the business for a long time, which was really helpful. Also because
when I moved to Florida in 2016, you know, Southwest Florida is a big, big area.
And we covered a lot, Lee and Collier counties when you think of Naples and Fort
Myers and Fort Myers Beach and Marco Island. It's a huge, huge area to cover.
And, yeah, so just learning the area and learning the industry, there's a lot to
learn there. Okay.
Okay.
So can you remember your very first deal and what you think went right or maybe
something that went wrong? My very first deal. Yes, I remember my very first deal.
It was somebody that I was working with. So remember back in 20, let's see,
this was 2016 or 17,
we had a lot of still, we had a lot of foreclosures in the area. And so I had
customers that were really looking for a great deal. So we looked a lot.
And so I went into a lot of areas. They were really looking like bargain hunting.
And so I went into a lot of properties that weren't necessarily safe. Some of them
didn't have electricity on. So after I did that a couple of times, I was like, you
know what? I'm really not comfortable going in some of these by myself. So I took
somebody along with me while we did it because the customer was virtual. So we were
doing virtual tours. And yeah, it was
you know, entry into real estate. I was like, is this how it's going to be? But
quickly, that turned around. Do you get a lot of that still, virtual? Virtual,
absolutely. And I would say so many people start looking in this area, in Marco
Island and Naples, they start looking because, you know, they vacationed here. And so
they'll contact a real estate agent. They'll be like, you know, I'm coming down in
a couple weeks. I'd really like to look at some properties while I'm here. But in
the meantime, if you see anything, you know, that might fit my personal.
a salesperson too so yeah absolutely lots of virtual that's funny because i remember
merta saying someone told her they accidentally bought a house in another state i
think it happens quite a bit yeah you fall in love with the area with the photo
and and depending on the market sometimes you have to jump you know when when you
see something you like you might not it might not be there once you get right here
in person so yeah it's a It's a fine line between, like, jumping and trusting and,
you know. Exactly. So I wanted to ask you a question because you had mentioned
something about, you know, safety concerns, being a female agent. Let's tap into
that. Sure. What happened some of, if you don't mind, this may be a little
personal, but have you ever been scared in a situation, whether it was an open
house or you were, like, uncomfortable? If you don't mind sharing, How did that,
if you don't mind sharing a story? Absolutely. So my very first open house I did
by myself in Naples. And I didn't know. It was in a community. You might be
familiar with it. It's not far from Vanderbilt Beach. It's not gated. Naples Park
area, usually really busy in season. When I did this, it was kind of like at the
beginning of season. So it wasn't really, really busy. But, you know, there were
still people around. So I get to the open house, and like I said, it's not gated,
no security or anything. Get into the open house and I walk all the way to the
back of the house to start turning on the lights, which I shouldn't have done. And
I get to the back and I hear the door bang shut that somebody came in behind me.
And I, you know, I turned around and I couldn't see the entry door and I was, you
know, saying, hello, hello. I turned around. There was this big guy just standing
there. And it turned out, I think he had just seen me. He was just going for a
walk. He just saw me. But he was also hard of hearing. So he couldn't hear me
when I was saying hello, hello. And it was just odd to me that, you know, somebody
would come in after me. You know, he saw me carrying open house signs, but I
didn't put them in the yard yet. You know, so It was just, it was very, very
unsettling. And, you know, a lot could have happened, didn't thankfully, but it made
me realize, you know, lock the door once you, you know, once you get into the
house and, you know, make sure after that, lots of times I'll sit outside the open
house or, you know, make sure that I can see who's coming in, just to be a little
bit more careful. And obviously, if you can do an open house with two people, it's
much safer. right so now moving forward when you have to do open houses by yourself
what is something that you always do because of what happened to you in that fear
like what's the one thing that you do to always make sure that you're safe yeah
well i mean and this i don't know if this makes sure that i'm safe but i always
lock the door so i can see who's coming in so you know when somebody knocks on
the door i'm ready and i can see you know who it it is. Not that I can vet
them, but it just makes me feel a little bit safer. With virtual leads, do you
still have the same security issues with that? Yeah, absolutely. And kind of even
more so, because, you know, with the virtual leads, we have a lot of people that
are, you know, sadly trying to scam a lot of different ways. Wire fraud is huge.
And just, you know, whatever reason why they're trying to meet up with an agent,
there's a lot of different things but so I use a software now it's called foreworn
so when somebody comes in and for people out there that aren't don't know what
virtual leads are so a lot of times when you click on to like zillow or realtor
.com or something if you're looking in a city that you don't know an agent it'll
connect you with an agent like if you want to know more about a property it will
connect you and so you know it's kind of like a live call talking to a real
person and a lot of times you know, you get in a conversation with that customer
and they want to see the house. So, or they want to sell a house. So it just
depends. And so this forewarned software at least gives me, I can type in their
phone number and it gives me a background check. Not completely thorough, but at
least I can see, oh my gosh, like this person is, you know, not great. Or,
you know, maybe there's no, no history on that person. That's a big red flag too
because a lot of times that's what a scammer is doing with you know kind of blank
phone numbers have you come i'm sorry no go ahead have you come across any scammers
100 % yeah and actually here in marco um i had a customer call call me and wanted
to list a property and um that happens all the time you know and i don't know
them um i have them submit their IDs to me this person had two different IDs
sounded completely legitimate. This is for a land lot in Marco Island. And I talked
to them several times on the phone, you know, had the whole story. And it turned
out that it was completely fraudulent. Completely. I listed the property. Did the
photos, did everything. And then because my brokerage sends out a listing,
the hard copy listing to the address of the owner on file, the listing came and
that owner was like, wait a minute, I didn't list my property. What is this? And
so they contacted me, you know, and it was, it was so bizarre. You're like, what
is the end game here? But you have to think it's probably wire fraud at the end
of it. Are you getting more of those kind of leads versus in person now, like in
today's world? So most of my customers are like repeat customers or customer
referrals, but there are, you know, even, even customers that I'm meeting that are
walking into my office, you know, I just, it's hard to say, like, are they for
real? Right. It's just, you just never know. Yeah. So, Tina, not to keep bringing
up security because, you know, you're a female real estate agent, but have there
ever been times that you've walked into particular properties and you've seen things
inside the property not necessarily like a person there but things that didn't that
seemed off absolutely jasmine and thank you for asking that because um whether or
not people know human trafficking is um really prevalent in south and southwest
Florida um and that is people being held as basically slaves for a lot of different
reasons um and And so we've had quite a bit of training on how to recognize some
of the, you know, how you, how you can spot human trafficking. And a lot of these
organizations that are helping people that are being trafficked kind of say that real
estate agents are a lot of times the first way they can find out if, you know, an
area is being human trafficked or, and the reason for that is there's a couple of
things you can look for and locks in strange places, locks on bedroom doors as one
of the things. And if you see a lock on the top and the bottom, if you're showing
properties, that could be something that look out for. That could be somebody locking
somebody in a room. The other thing that we've seen is rooms being built inside
rooms or inside of garages. And I have been, unfortunately, in a property,
showing property where I was in a garage one time and there was a room built into
the garage that you couldn't really tell. And there were several people in there. So
that's just something that you have to look out for and certainly just report it to
the hotline just so they can check things out. I mean, it's just a sad kind of
reality of what's happening. I mean, that's mind -blowing to me, because you just
said right now that real estate agents sometimes are the first eyes to notice
things. I never would have thought that. I would have never thought that either.
Yeah, and I mean, it's just, you have to know what to look out for. And oftentimes
the scary part about that, the one scenario that I was telling you about where
there was a room in the garage, I was at the property by myself. And I was on,
thankfully, I had the customers on FaceTime. They were live with me on the call. I
got out of there as fast as I could. Do you call the police at that point?
There's a hotline that you can call. I wouldn't, I mean, I guess you could call
the police, like maybe the non -emergency number, but there is a hotline number that
you can call. It's a national human trafficking hotline. And there are a lot of
organizations in this area that are helping, assisting with the victims of human
trafficking. Path to Freedom is one of those. But there are quite a few, the
shelter for abused women and children. I had no idea that this area of Southwest
Florida was so prevalent with human traffic. I mean, I'm like mind blown right now.
I would say South and Southwest Florida. We're huge because, you know, we're near
the water. So that's one of the reasons, you know, get people in and out easily or
near major airports. So, yeah, that's crazy. So that it makes sense, these are
properties that are probably being rented out? Not necessarily. So these are
properties that are being sold, you know, the properties that I'm in, they're listed.
And so what's happening is there's people in there, you know,
that are being held, whether or not the owner knows, you know, it could be, it
could be a tenant in there. That's what I mean. Yeah, okay. So, the property that's
being sold is possibly rented. It's not like, wow. Also, so the, so the owner is
renting it to someone and the owner doesn't even know that that's happening. In
certain situations. Oh, my God. That's, that's wild. That's what? That's mind -blown.
To me, I would be like so, so, like if I was the landlord,
I would be devastated. Right. Yeah. That's incredible. But we can help just keep
your eyes open. Yeah. Well, thank you so much for sharing that because honestly, I
had no clue that that was something that real estate agents were kind of the first
eye sometimes. Sometimes.
So talking about open houses, Tina, educate me a little bit on this.
or even the open house signs, I'm paying for all of that. So yes, that's part of
an agent's. Wow. I think about that because there must be, I mean, I don't know if
it happens to you, but I feel like there may be people who just like, oh, I have
nothing to do. Let me call the agent. And they go and see two, three houses. And
that's your time. And do you feel like that happens to you quite a bit with
certain people? Or do you now know how to like, you know, weed out those type of
people. Great question. So a lot of those people, that used to happen a lot,
but last year, last August when NAR came out with new kind of guidelines,
new things that we have to do, and one of those things is we have to have a
customer sign a buyer representation agreement to show them properties. I think that
really cut down on showings for what we call it like looky -lose, people that are
just kind of trying to be entertained on a Sunday, a cut down on showings a lot.
So I think because that representation agreement will outline not only the timeline
of your representation with them, but also the agent's compensation. And in some
cases, the buyer will be responsible for paying the agent's compensation. Depending on
the market, right now in Southwest Florida, sellers are still paying most of and,
you know, if you go into a different market now, because this is a guideline that's
across the country, not just Naples, sometimes the buyer will be responsible for the
agent's compensation. And I think when customers are seeing that, it gets much more
serious. You know, they don't want to sign anything. And so that will cut down on.
If you're serious, you'll sign it. Right. So, absolutely. And that's a protection for
also your time. Yeah. and the money that you spend on these showings and listings.
And also for sellers, too. I mean, they don't need to have people in and out of
their house that aren't serious customers. So if you don't mind me asking, because I
notice that there's a lot of changes with percentages, just like you said, like, how
does that work now? What have you seen? Because before it'd be like, okay, the
agent charges 6%. We split it 3 % here, 3 % there. What are some of the changes
now that you're seeing in that area? Good question. So the conversations that I'm
having with my sellers are, you know, basically this is my compensation as the
listing agent. Now, it's up to you what you want to offer a buyer's agent should
they come in. And in this market in Southwest Florida, where we do have a lot of
inventory right now, you know, I would highly recommend you offer a competitive
compensation. Because what happens is, and this shouldn't happen but it does an agent
will call call me and say hey what is the what is the seller paying for agent
compensation and that way they are shifting the focus on maybe you want to see this
property maybe you don't want to see this property so sadly that's happening so i
think sellers really need to be cognizant of you know we need to offer competitive
compensation in a market where it's, you know, kind of shifting towards a buyer's
market.
We're in that era now, right? We're in southwest Florida. In southwest Florida,
there's a lot of places that are not in buyers markets right now, but yeah, we are
for now. However, I think we're going to have a good season. You think so? I do.
And why do you feel that way? I'm getting a lot of calls and a lot of calls from
people that I didn't expect past customers wanting to buy again or, you know,
referrals from past customers, you know, just kind of looking around hoping to buy.
I think the fact that we didn't have a terrible hurricane season yet here helped.
And I think the other thing that's happening is insurance is settling down a little
bit. You know, we have a lot more insurance providers coming into Florida. So
insurance instead of like skyrocketing and plateauing a little bit more. And in some
cases I've had customers say their insurance went down this year. So hopefully that's
a trend that will continue. So I think a lot of people probably purchased during
COVID. I had a lot of customers purchased during COVID and found out that they
didn't use the properties as much as they thought they would. And the carrying costs
in Florida are high, oftentimes higher than they anticipated. So I think that's why
we had a lot of people list in our area at least. And Now, you know, I think the
cost is probably moving in the right direction, getting a little bit easier to
carry. And so we'll see, we'll see the buyers pick up a little bit more. So I
wanted to shift the question here a little bit. I don't know if you know the
answer to the question I'm about to ask. Hopefully you do. But I know a lot of
people that are leaving their homes or transferring their homes to family members or
their children, and I've seen it quite a bit because, you know, homes have gotten
very expensive and they're just like, let's just keep the home in the family. Have
you seen that quite a bit? I've seen that quite a bit. And I can talk about it
from my perspective as kind of a listing agent and the, you know, the things that
I've seen pitfalls, I would say, but also the nice part about it. So in Marco
Island and in Naples, we have a lot of customers that purchased condos in
communities where they've had them for decades. And, you know, it's kind of been
like a family tradition. And oftentimes these families have more than one unit in a
building, you know, because it is like maybe it's, you know, mom and dad and then
the siblings, you know, something like that. It's kind of like a family tradition.
yeah, when when people pass away or when people are getting older, they're thinking
about what is the best way to transfer. And I can't speak to the best way because
obviously that situation is different for everybody. But what I have seen is
sometimes the parents end up putting the properties in like three siblings names.
Well, I've had that go south lots and lots of times. And the reason for that is
sometimes, you know, one of the siblings can't afford the upkeep of it and that
causes a rift between them. Sometimes one or two of the siblings want to sell. The
other one doesn't and that one can't afford to buy them out or, you know, or if
they list the property, not all of them agree on the agent. And so that causes
some issues there. And also what you have to think about is getting everybody on
the same page say you're listed and you know you're listed for a price you get an
offer everybody has to agree on all the terms so it's challenging definitely when
there's it has to be challenging when you have more than one person yeah you know
because if it's your daughter then she can decide to either sell it rent it out
remodel it I mean the the possibilities are endless but once it's oh my other
sister or my brother and it's two three people just like you said that could be
something a good intention could end up being a huge nightmare for your family so I
understand what you're saying especially if it's a legacy property that's been in the
family for years and there's a lot of emotion attached to it it's it's tough would
you happen to know what are the tax implications when you do this it depends on
the scenario. So that's best. Talk to your wealth advisor, talk to your attorneys.
I would say it's just different and, you know, different scenarios have different tax
implications. Yeah, I can imagine that because I asked these questions because
actually a few people were like, oh, since you're doing the show, maybe you can ask
because I actually know so many people who want to do this. And they have more
than one child. And they're like, I want to do the I think, but it's a
conversation that I think you need to sit down as a family, figure it out first
before you do it, because, like you said, it can cause problems. I've also heard
about ladybird deeds, or is that what it's called? Do you, what is that,
you don't know what that is? Okay, never mind. Okay,
I've heard of them. It's a different department. Yeah. All right. Sorry about that.
That's an estate attorney. Exactly.
So, Tina, if you don't mind, can you share a story about a deal that totally
changed how you think about this business that you're in?
There's so many of them. So many good and so many bad. I think.
Let's start with the bad one.
Yeah, well, I would say, you know, going back to what we were talking about with
the families that there are multiple people listing,
you know, on the deed, and it's just, it turns into a nightmare for everybody,
you know, and it's not something easy for me. It's not something easy for the title
company. It's not something easy for the siblings or, you know, the children,
everybody involved. So, you know, that I will say, I've gone through it quite a few
times and it's tough. So that makes you really think about, like you said, think
about things in your own family, like what could happen or what would I like to do
or what would I do differently based on the scenario that I've encountered. I've
also, you know, learned a lot about people. I think A lot of times when people are
purchasing properties here, they don't necessarily know what they don't know. And they
oftentimes rely on family or friends or bartender or somebody in their community
neighbor who is telling them information that might not be right. And oftentimes they
believe them rather than, you know, the expert. And it's so funny to me like who
they and who you know it's just it's just tough and trying to you know make sure
that you're citing your sources and making sure that they trust you as an expert is
so so key because oftentimes i mean i don't want to be discredited because you know
somebody my friend said this my friend said that my friend said don't buy in this
neighborhood because of this and it's not true you know so it's just tough trying
to dispel the You're competing with other people's opinions. Right.
Keeping it back to the facts. What is some great advice that you think you can
give, given your experience to first -time home buyers, especially young couples, or
they're thinking about starting a family? Like, what are the, in your opinion, things
that they should really know before they get themselves into this? Oh, yeah. I think
just, I think the first thing, if you're financing, number one, connect with your
lender, know all of the costs of purchasing, because I think a lot of people,
you know, they go online and they go to the mortgage calculators and they see how
much they can afford. Well, that's good, but it's also, I mean, there's a lot of
costs there that might not necessarily be on the calculators. You know, HOA fees are
very different. Taxes are different based on where you are. There could be a CDD.
You know, there could be special assessments. Homeowner's insurance is different based
on the scenario of your place. Flood insurance is that required. So I think just
doing as much homework before you start touring properties and falling in love is so
key, especially for the first -time homebuyers and first -time homebuyers in Florida, I
would say, because it's oh, so different here than it is. And, you know, up north,
New York, New Jersey, Illinois, like, it's just different. So just doing your
homework and finding out.
afford it. So it's the same mentality. It's like you need to know what your
finances are, what's really important to you before you even start seeing homes. I
think that's great advice. Yeah. Are there programs out there for first time
homebuyers? Oh, there are so many different programs out there for first time
homebuyers. And I would, that's, that's connect with a lender because,
and connect with multiple lenders even because, you know, different companies offer
different incentives, different programs. There's a hometown heroes program now that
applies to, you know, police officers, people in public service firefighters, teachers.
So I would just, yeah, there's a lot available, a lot of incentives. I didn't even
know about that. Home, hometown heroes. That's incredible. I'd never heard of that
until right now. Yeah. So you're right. You have to kind of like do your due
diligence and see what's out there for you because I'm sure there's some pretty
amazing programs all across the board. Definitely. Definitely.
Would you say that for the average Joe that doesn't own a home or hasn't ever
thought about buying a home,
renting versus owning? Like how would they go about making that decision?
I think, you know, that's something where you've got to like have a spreadsheet and
figure out what what are the benefits for you are you going to stay in the area
long term that's one of the big things if you're not planning on staying maybe
maybe renting is a better option for you because you know real estate the market
goes up the market goes down but if you're in it long term usually it pays out
but you know if you're just going to be here for two years that might not be the
best option for you and these interest rates going up and down. Do you believe that
also has an impact on? Oh, 100%. You know,
on the past couple years, it has impacted first time homebuyers and, you know,
people wanting to stay on their properties longer because they have a great rate.
And, you know, if they have a 3 % rate, you know, getting into a property at a 6
% rate, really, how much can you afford it's just a huge difference that's like the
joke it's like if you got a 3 % or 2 .5 % you're you're not moving i'm not fucking
leaving we're not fucking leaving you're staying right here that's exactly what's
happening yeah do you do you see maybe interest rates coming down at all do you
think i'm hopeful yeah we all are hopeful um that they'll come down i don't will
they come down to 3 % 2 and a 2 .5 %? I don't think so. But, you know,
who knows? Yeah, I think that's far, far in a way. Yeah. I mean, I was just
listening to, I think it was DeSantis where he's really pushing for no property
taxes in Florida. And I was just thinking to myself, that's going to make real
estate go through the roof. I mean, do you agree with that? I agree with that
100%. You know, property taxes are so outrageous. They're outrageous and some states
and get communities yeah and so i do think that will make people that'll drive a
lot of people i think property taxes obviously you know they pay for so many
amazing things in our community so it's a double -edged sword right but my personal
opinion it's like you know the elderly that are living off of social security and
their house is paid off those are people who definitely should not be paying
property taxes anymore again this is just my opinion And something that I struggle
with is if you bought your house for $400 ,000 and now it's assessed at $700 ,000,
for example, why are you taxing me on the assessed as opposed to what I actually
bought it for? So that's something that I think they should definitely,
if they don't get rid of property taxes altogether, at least make some changes.
Because If I bought a TV for $1 ,500 and I have to be taxed on it for the rest
of my life, okay, tax me on $1 ,500, not $3 ,000 or $5 ,000.
So I think there's always been something with property taxes that rubbed me
personally the wrong way. I don't know if you agree with that, but it's obscene.
Yeah, they can get out of control, for sure.
I know he's looking to definitely change that for people that have paid off their
houses. And I think the other thing that's important is, you know, the people that
are claiming Florida as homestead, you know, those people should obviously reap the
benefits the most, I think, rather than, you know, the vacation home.
Yeah.
My opinion, though. Yeah. What's something that's happening in the real estate market
right now that you, most people don't know about, but you think they should know
about? Is there anything happening currently? We, in Southwest Florida,
the development is going bonkers here as well, I mean, I don't think that's a
secret though. Yeah. We're expanding rapidly, especially in areas east of 41 and I
-75. It's just the development that's going to be there is astronomical and it's it's
coming yeah how do you feel about the new developments since you brought it up do
you feel like these homes are actually being made very well or they're being made
quickly because i know the older homes they have their own issues but they're
structurally sound like they were made very differently as opposed to knocking so
many out now have you seen anything that you're like wow this is a new property
and this is is happening already. Maybe something that people can look out for.
Yeah. Well, so the one piece of advice I would give people looking at new
construction is think about getting a home inspection when you're getting a new
construction home. Just because a lot of times the builder isn't necessarily, you
know, they obviously have like a warranty and everything, but you want somebody to
go in there and just have a second look. So that. I think that's incredible that
you said that because most people don't think of like, oh, it's a brand new
property. It's pre -construction. I don't have to pay the two, three hundred dollars
to have an inspection done, but you should. And I think if you're in the market
right now and you're thinking about buying a new home, take that advice because
later, two years later, and you're like, wow, this is not working. Why is it
falling apart? So that's a really good advice that you just gave. Thank you for
that. But I will say, too, a lot of the new construction communities are very well
done. I think the ones that are being planned are incredible. And I think, you
know, just in general, we'll probably see issues, of course. But there's a lot of
really good builders out there. So yeah. So I wanted to switch it up a little bit
here. Obviously, you know that there's been some huge changes with AI right now and
all of us all of us are like oh my god i wonder what's going to be in the
future you know we talk amongst ourselves as friends we start thinking about these
things do you think that's going to affect your line of business 100 % really has
affected my line of business so if you don't care to share what what are your
fears so not my fears i think um people that are fearful of AI um are really
going to you know, if they're not using it, that's kind of to their detriment
because there's going to be a lot of agents and early adopters that are really
going to get good at it and it's really going to benefit. And it's there to help
us rather than, you know, replace us in a lot of aspects. But I think it can make
your job easier in some ways. But I also think, for instance, I'm seeing a lot of
virtual tours. So I'll just use one example, Madamy Homes.
I think you have those in Miami, too, a new home community that I'm seeing. They're
doing more of like an AI, like virtual tour of the community,
which is great. You know, 24 -7, you can get a tour of the community. You don't
have to be there or you can be there. And it's kind of almost like one of those
tours when you go through a museum and you put on a headset and somebody's there.
But Is that live or pre -recorded? I think it's, I haven't done it, but I think it
has almost like a chat bot aspect to it where you can ask the questions. Yeah.
No, I was just thinking right now what you said, because I'm like, what if I want
to see what the neighborhood looks like on a Tuesday at 3 a .m. Yeah. And you can
see it, you know. Yeah. That's incredible. Like, I never even thought about that.
But that's what's happening. I think, I mean, I think that will become more and
more common just because, you know, people getting tours of neighborhoods, you know,
may not be ready to buy, but can, you know, easily come in and out with, you
know, the right credentials. Yeah. And what's some advice you would give to someone
if they're listening to us right now that's thinking about going into real estate or
becoming a realtor? Would you still recommend it? Obviously, yes, yes, yes, yes. But
just, I think that the most surprising thing is the cost of being an agent. It's,
you know, people think that agents make a lot of money. And certainly they can and
do in a lot of cases. But there's a lot of costs associated with that. Remember,
you're running your own business. Right. So you're responsible for your marketing.
You're responsible for, you know, just little things that you wouldn't necessarily
think of. But I would say partnering, I like, I really like it when agents partner
with, you know, a mentor or on a team because the contracts are tough, the areas
are tough, and it's just a different business. So knowing the cost of business is,
you know, key. And I think learning from somebody that really knows what they're
doing because you certainly don't want to do it as service to your customers. Yeah,
I think that there's a big miscommunication. There are people going in and they're
not educated. They're a little naive and they don't realize, okay, you're becoming a
real estate agent or a realtor and you don't realize that this is your own
business. You have to find your own clients. You have to build network. It's not so
glamorous, like million dollar listing. You know? On that note, would you be on a
million dollar listing? Of course. You would? Would you be the good girl or the
villain? Good Good girl, obviously. It's the good girl. I know. I love watching that
show. I always sit there and used to watch them, especially like the New York ones
and the L .A. ones. And I'm like, looking at it and I'm like, I don't like that
house. I don't like the windows. And it's like $20 million.
It's always funny how you credit, like you look at it. Like you can really afford
this. And I'm like, no, hard pass. Yeah, yeah. Are you using any,
are you working yourself with any of these AI apps that you were talking about?
Yeah, definitely. So, I mean, I'm starting to get into it a little bit more, my
marketing starting to use it. But I think it's great for, like, social media.
I think it's great for property descriptions. I think it's, you know, it just, I
mean, it obviously checks, but it adds more, it adds more depth and, you know,
gives you more options and, you know, kind of I like how you can change it up and
you know give me a more a luxurious style give me more coastal you know or
targeted towards this audience or you know that type of thing I think it's I think
it's great Tina
has there ever been a time that you sold a home and then a couple months later
that person you sold a home to wants to sell it and they want to get yes I'm so
glad I asked that because I heard and I was like that can't be true If someone
invested all this money, all this.
You know, or sometimes they, you know, they make friends in a different neighborhood.
And, you know, they come down here and as a vacation home and all my other friends
live in this neighborhood, not my neighborhood. I want to be in their neighborhood,
too. So that's happened. It's, you know, life is lifing. Right. Yeah. So I'm
surprised to see how, because that's such a, to me, that's like such a huge
investment. It's life changing to buy your first home or a second property and then
a couple months later you're like no we're selling and i always like wow like
there's people who actually do this actually do that and sometimes you make money
depending on the market really yeah oh okay do you think that's possible in this
market right now or not really yeah i well in this market it just depends um
because right now we do have a lot motivated sellers. A lot of properties have been
on the market for a long time. And I think the other people that can really make
some money, we have a lot of properties here that need to be updated that haven't
been updated in decades or even 10 years or haven't been maintained. So if you're
willing to put that, you know, TLC into a property, a lot of people here can't or,
you know, just aren't here, just don't know the contractors. So if, you know, if
you're somebody that can put the investment in, you can get it out pretty quickly.
So I have a question in regards to when you're finding an agent that you really
want to work with. In your opinion, what are some red flags that we should look
out for for an agent that we're like, that may not be something that I'm
comfortable with? Yeah. Sometimes it's so hard to tell. But like I was telling you
before, I like when new agents are on a team because that way they have contract
support, that's huge. I mean, you're writing a contract for, you know, half a
million dollars, a million dollars, something like that. And if you don't have
somebody that knows what they're doing, they could cost you a lot of money. So
just, you know, do your research. In what way can they cost you a lot of money? A
contract, you know, I mean, you can be responsible, A buyer could be responsible for
special assessments. A buyer could be responsible for, you know, taxes or transfer
fees or something that normally they wouldn't have to pay. I had that happen, you
know, on an agent, let me think, an agent came to me on one of my listings.
And when I read the contract, it's not my job. If the agent doesn't know how to
write the contract As, you know, a listing agent, you know, I feel bad for the
buyer. But on the other hand, it's my seller's benefit. Right. So it really,
I mean, it costs their buyer, you know, several thousand dollars. Oh, wow. So,
I mean, it's just, you know, and it's difficult, Tina, because it's a good situation
for your client. It's a great situation for my client. But, yeah, I just feel sick
to, you know, had they had a diligent buyer's agent. Yeah.
No, no, no. I hear you. Yeah. Yeah, that happens.
I've had that happen or a family member had that happen to. Really? They didn't
realize that the agent didn't know certain things. And then at the end,
it's like, wait, I have to come up with another $5 ,000. And I shouldn't be picking
on new agents either for this because I've seen if agents aren't keeping up, things
happen change quickly in real estate. So if they're not keeping up with the forms,
they're not keeping up with the training, you know, they could just not know. Yeah,
well, you can be a new agent, but just like you said, if you have a strong team
and you have people helping you, you can be a great agent. But if they leave you
all alone and you got to figure it out on your own. That's something that you
should really know when you're doing business with an agent. Do they have to
support? Because you can give them a chance. Yeah, for sure. But you have to also
make sure that they're going to protect you just like you said. Definitely. Yeah. So
Tina, being in the sign of business that you're in, you said you were in and now
for about 10 years, right? Have you felt burnout from this or any type of emotional
fatigue from this? And if so, could you share some examples? Definitely.
I think when I first got into real estate, we were in, you know, a really,
really solid buyer's market. And it was, when I first started,
we were in season and I was touring people around. They wanted to see 15 or 20
properties and, you know, just make lowball offers. Like, I'm talking like 50 % of
the list price and it was over and over and over again on the flip side that gave
me really good training of the neighborhoods the communities i was in and out and
in and out so i learned a lot made no money um but i did learn you know the
questions to ask are they serious buyers you know you really learned to figure out
is this somebody that i'm just entertaining or you know is this somebody that's
actually going to buy. So that, I mean, that was months and months of that. So it
was just, it was exhausting. And I thought, you know, what did I get myself into?
On the flip side of that, you know, when you're in COVID, I also felt like it was
a great market for agents, but it was a horrible market for buyers because, I mean,
I had buyers where I was writing contract after contract going way over list price
and they couldn't get anything, you know what I mean? Like the best, you know,
doing the best of the best, escalation clauses, cash deals, you know, and you still,
you just, I felt like I was failing them over and over again, just because it was
so outrageous. So that was, you know, that's also like a time where I was just
like, I don't think I can do this. I just feel like I, you know. Yeah. And also
like in a market now where you're doing everything for the sellers and it's just
not happening because we just don't have the buyers,
which is changing. But, yeah, it's tough. It's tough. Yeah. I know in a seller's
market, it can be difficult because I had a friend who was trying to buy a house
during that time of season where it was the seller's market. And they literally kept
getting turned down, turned down, turned down, you a better offer here, a better
offer there, or even if it's the same offer. You have to write a letter. Tell me
a little bit about yourself, your family, pictures. I'm like, what? Yeah. So they
were like literally fighting to buy a house in that market.
So, yeah, I can see how it's tough. Yeah. And then you think, like, as a buyer,
you think, is it my agent? Is it, you know, is it what am I doing wrong? Is it
just me like and you know I felt so bad for the people that weren't cash at least
here it was like there was no chance you know yeah unless you waived your financing
contingency which to me was
yeah that's that's wild yeah yeah just thinking about that it's like to me that's
crazy yeah so I wanted to ask you a question here just to switch it up a bit um
how do you Tina personally describe success in in real estate.
And has that definition evolved on how you started 10 years ago and how you think
today?
Because most people would think that the success is... More money. Money,
money, money, money, which yes. But is it just that or are there other areas? No,
I would say no. Actually, it's not the money. And The transactions that have been
the most rewarding for me are when, like, when I have an ecstatic seller or buyer,
then I feel like I really did my job, you know, regardless of how much money I
made or not, you know, it's just my job is to get the transaction done and get it
done, you know, as beneficial to, like, my buyer or my seller. And when that
happens, it's just so rewarding. It's It's definitely not about the money.
And that's what makes you special, Tina.
For someone who's thinking of becoming a real estate agent or a realtor,
how many years do you think they would have to foresee before they actually see
some good. Oh, it just completely depends, because I've seen agents their first year,
just knock it out of the park. They're killing it, yeah. Killing it. I think it's
the hunger. It's the hunger, yeah. And I think also the willingness to work because,
I mean, agents, successful agents work a lot of hours typically. And it's just,
you know, you have to stay on track. And even some of the stuff that we do is so
like monoton, it's like over and over and over. It's like this again. But I think
it's the agents that stick with it and find a system. And, you know, those are the
ones that can be successful pretty quickly. But I will say, you definitely need to
have some money to start. Can't just start with a zero bank account. It's like you
say, you're running your own business. So nobody's there pushing you. Nobody's there.
You know, you have to push yourself. You have to have some kind of funds gas money
yeah all of that because it's come yeah and you're working nights and weekends right
if you're not putting in the time yeah like yeah people are working nine to five
Monday through Friday they're probably not not able to see so you got to work yeah
you know and that has to affect your personal life it does it does if hopefully
this is not too much of a personal question but has that impacted your relationship
at any Time? 100%. Yeah. Yeah. Oftentimes, I mean, I was running out of dinners,
you know, writing an offer or, you know, it's just, you know, my husband is not
happy with it, but he's used to it by now. And he understands. And I feel like I
got better at controlling it more. But yeah, it's still a lot of, a lot of
weekends, a lot of nights. Right. I mean, is the people more available in the
evenings on weekends than they are during the day, like Like the hours? It just
depends. So if you're working a lot with first -time homebuyers, a lot of times
they're, you know, working during the day. So nighttime and weekends are when they're
available to see properties and their contracts. So, but here too,
open houses, you know, typically Saturdays and Sundays. So that's time. And,
you know, it's just when somebody says they want to get into real date because they
want to make their own hours well that's kind of a joke to me at least yeah that
is a joke because i'm sorry i didn't mean to interrupt you but it it's like people
think that they go into this and they're going to be like oh it's going to be
right maybe a fun job and i don't think it is i think there's aspects that are
fine i'm sure that there is i'm sure let me take that back but it's it's a lot
of hard work it sure is yeah it sure is and it's a lot of patience i think and
just learning to bite your tongue. I can imagine. I think wasting someone's time and
just having, oh, we don't have anything to do today. Let's call this person. We
want to see two, three homes. I think to me, if I was in your line of industry,
that's something that I would struggle with, to be honest with you. So I have two
thoughts about that. So I think sometimes they're not just like trying to waste
time. They're thinking at some point someday, I'd love to buy a house. You know,
I'm not ready yet. And some of that too.
to buy for another couple years might find themselves touring a buyer around because
there's no other way for the person to get into the neighborhood. Right. So whether
or not that's a waste of time, it's just, you know, a long, you have to see the
big picture, I guess, and hope that those customers, you know, use you in a couple
years. That's another thing, staying in touch with people. Right. So let me ask you
a question. I saw this on Modern Family one day Because, like, what's the guy's
name? Was it, Paul, he's a realtor, I believe. And Sophia Vergara's character, she
went to bitch one of the clients out. He was like, he's not a real estate agent.
He's a realtor. And there is a difference, but I don't know what it is. So I was
like, well, I'm going to ask Tina, is that real? And what is the difference? Yeah,
so you can be a real estate agent and not be a member of the National Association
of Realtors. So National Association of realtors is that realtor designation got it
so that's what it is thank you for answering that question so
tina this is a fun question that i wanted to ask you uh what is a dream listing
of yours something that you were dropped dinner be like honey i'm sorry i'm out of
here Like, is there a dream listing that you would just love to be involved in?
That's a good question. I've had some dream listings, I think, that are, like,
really exciting, beautiful properties. But I think it comes down to not just the
home, but the customers, too. You know, is it something that the customers are great
to work with, or are they not? So, you know, I think there's two sides to that.
Is it a dream house or is it a dream relationship? On that note,
have you ever fired a client? Yes. Really? Because I was thinking there had to have
been times where you're like, I just can't work with this person, care to share
that story?
I'm trying to think of the specifics, but definitely buyers where they're
disrespectful or it's just not a match. And sometimes even when they just call in
and I'm talking to them, I, you know, can say, I think you're better off contacting
a different agent. Okay. Do they get upset when you say them? No, I think they're
offended. You know, I think they're surprised maybe because they think, you know, I
don't know if they think all agents are desperate for business, but it's just, you
know, at a certain point, you realize right off the bat that this is not going to
go well. Yeah. And I think that comes also from being an agent, a few, you know,
you've been an agent for quite some time. So you're able to say, no, this is not
going to work out for me, as opposed to maybe someone who's just starting and it's
like, I'm going to deal with it. Yeah. Well, and there's certain things I can do
and I can't do, you know, and I'm not going to work for free either. You know,
it's just. Is it because they're trying to ask you to lower your percentage more um
sometimes that's that's a um sometimes that's a thing that they're asking me to do
um i've had customers ask me to work for free before with you know trying to have
the other side pay you know they'll they're they're not going to pay but the other
side's going to pay okay which is So if I'm understanding correctly,
they don't want to pay you, for example, let's say 3%, but they want the other
agent to give up their 3 % to give it to you. Right. Yeah, okay, that makes sense.
Yeah. So just looking for a deal. And the other thing is, you know, when customers
are just unrealistic, they give you their wish list. And I tell them, okay, you're
arranged with everything that you've given me is this. And they're like, no, I'm not
paying that. Well, I'm not a genie. Yeah.
How many of your friends and family ever throw that at you?
Let's see. I really haven't had friends and family do that to me. I can't think of
any. I mean, I've had friends and family with extremely high expectation. Yeah, I
haven't had to fire any of them yet. Yeah. I know someone who had, like, they were
asked to do all these things and they didn't want them to charge them.
Right. Yeah. Yeah. I've had that happen. My husband often says that he's my worst
customer. Why is that? He has high expectations.
So when you were buying your
How did, how did you do that? Were you your own? Yeah. Yeah, we bought and sold a
lot of property. I think we're on our 13th house together. 13. Seriously?
13. Wow. So you're, so you're the person I was talking about earlier that bought a
house and then would sell it a baby like less than a year later? No, not a year
later. But yeah, yeah, we've bought and sold a lot of houses. And it's just, you
know, I'm in the industry. So when I see something or he decides he wants to be a
boater and not a golfer or, you know, just a different scenario, I see a good
investment.
Have you ever sold a home to somebody famous, a celebrity?
No. No. Surprised with this market. Like, it were the area that you represent you
would think so yeah i can't think of anybody that would be like well known renowned
not yet not yet not yet not yet i'm open to that so if you don't mind me asking
what is the norm right now that you're seeing what is the norm that you're seeing
right now with commissions we don't talk about commissions too much we're not really
encouraged to do that um I will say, I haven't seen a huge decrease.
I think a lot of, you know, when NAR came out with a ruling last year, I think
the fear was that, you know, agents weren't going to get paid anymore. You know,
we would have a lot of agents come out of the industry, which we have seen quite
a few agents leave. But I think it's more because the rules have changed. Like
every time there's a big shift in something, you know, any industry, you know, you
get people that come out, but we get people that are coming in because, you know,
this is the new norm. So I haven't seen, I haven't seen a huge downward shift in
commissions in our area, but that's, not to say it's not coming or,
but I think other areas may have. Yeah. So I wanted to ask you a question because
I think people are very emotionally attached to their homes. So when they decide to
put their house up for sale, I think a lot of people are wanting to list it at a
price that they feel their home is worth, as opposed to reality.
Right. And that is a very delicate conversation. So have you found yourself in that
situation? And if so, what do you think is the best way to let them know?
Okay, you want to sell your house for $1 million, but you got to do the kitchen,
you got to do a bathroom, or the comps in the area are $8 .50. How do you do
that without hurting, without hurting their feelings? I think it comes down to just
facts. That's the only thing I can turn to, you know, even despite,
you know, the emotional attachment, it's just like what This is what this home sold
for. This is your house. Like, what does your house have that this doesn't have?
Like, let's go through it. And if you were a buyer, what would you say? You know,
would you pay, you know, a million dollars for a house that's worth $800 ,000? You
know, would you, would that be a try? Would you go see a house, you know, even?
Yeah. The other thing that we run into now is not even, like, necessarily emotional
attachment it's we have a lot of sellers that don't need to sell so they just want
to throw it out there test the market and just see let's see if we have i'll put
it on in season and you know i'm not taking less than a million um but let's see
what happens and the house is worth 800 i see it all the time because i've seen
people and you're like no one's going to buy it at that price because the neighbor
who has a place that's pretty identical to that just sold it for $300 ,000 less,
and it's fully remodeled. Right. So I just feel like what are they, what are they,
it just makes no sense to me. It makes, that makes no sense to me either because
what else could you be doing? I know you don't need to sell, but what else could
you be doing with your money that instead of like paying out like because like we
talked about the cost to carry in Florida is not low. So what else could you be
doing with that money rather than just sitting, sitting here with it, not using it?
The reality is people will pay what they want to pay.
Like,
that's it. Right. Just because you think it's worth it. Doesn't mean someone's going
to pay for that. Yeah. And as a listing agent, it's, you know, do you take that
listing, knowing that your seller is, you know, is the seller?
A lot of times you don't know until you get an offer. Like the seller might say,
I'm firm, I'm firm, I'm not coming down. And then they do. So it's just kind of a
gamble. If it's that far off the mark, it's just not worth taking.
Yeah. I was wondering, you know, when you are dealing with the other agent, right,
there must have been, there must be situations where you're not getting along with
the other agent or you're not meshing well. Is that something that's common in the
industry? And how do you surpass when you got that problem? Yeah,
I think, I mean, it just comes down to business. Like, we got to do, like, we're
both in this transaction together. Our goal is to get to the closing table. And
regardless, you know, I think sadly, like the less interaction you can have with
them, the better. But, I mean, you have to keep the communication open because
that's what's going to get the transaction to the table. So, I mean, you can't just
hide in a hole if you hate the agent. It's just, you know, you just have to get
it done.
Do you find yourself competing with those websites, like next door?
Is it where they buy the home at like 2 2%.
We haven't had, I mean, that I know of, we haven't had that be a big deal around
here. So, and I think that could be because we have so many absentee owners, it's
tough for them to have an agent that doesn't have full service here because they
need somebody that is in and out of the house. They need somebody that's there.
Yeah. And a lot of Those agents don't really do anything that are,
you know, they'll put the transaction online, basically, but it's not like it's a
full service. Is there another market that you've been wanting to tap into that's
outside of the market that you're in now? You mean, like the areas that you
represent. So, I mean, I have, I've actually scaled back some of my areas because
it does the drive time, you know, it doesn't work for me. I do
building. So there's a lot of new construction coming in Fort Myers Beach, which is
very exciting. But, you know, Fort Myers itself is so huge. So we've got the city.
We've got, you know, all these golf communities. So a lot of those areas were
relatively unaffected by the hurricanes and everything. But again, Fort Myers has so
much new construction, which is exciting for them. Do you think that area is good
for new, like young couples that are starting out, like, what areas do you think
would be affordable for younger couples? Yeah, so compared to a Marco Island or a
Naples, Fort Myers definitely has a great price point, and so does Benita Springs
and Astero. We're seeing Estero, lots of new construction there further east, and the
neighborhoods are really nice. But again, with those neighborhoods, you just have to
look at the HOA fees, the insurance, the whole picture. But yeah, great
neighborhoods, tons of amenities that appeal to a lot of different populations.
Okay. Well, Tina, thank you so much for all this wonderful and informative
information. I really think there's a lot of people listening to this show that are
going to learn a lot of things that they didn't know because of everything that you
shared, and we really appreciate it. And before we say goodbye, why don't you let
our listeners know how they can get in contact with you, your social media, your
phone number, all that good stuff. So you can get in contact with the beautiful
Tina Morocco to help you find your dream home. Thank you, Jasmine. Well, I'm just
honored that you guys have even, you know, asked me to be on the show. You have
such a great following and such a great program, so I really appreciate it. Thank
you. Yeah. So you can reach me. I'm on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook.
What's your TikTok name? Tina Morocco.
Tina Morocco. So at Tina Morocco. Yeah, at Tina Morocco. So Tina, if you don't
mind, go ahead and give us your phone number and the name of the business that you
work for, the real estate agency, and your email. Yeah. So I'm 239 -7 -7 -8 -6 -8 -1
-7. I'm at Premier Sotheby's. My office is downtown on Fifth Avenue in Naples,
Florida. You can also reach me at Tena. Dot Morocco at PremierS -R -S -R -D -com.
That's Tina. dot morocco at P -R -E -M -I -E -R -S -I -R -S -I -R -T -R -T. That's Premier
Sothebyes International Realty. I told you she was fancy pants. I told you,
she was fancy. Well, and that's a wrap. Another episode sold, sealed,
and delivered. Remember, folks, always read the fine print and make sure that you
read those contracts. Unless is the Wi -Fi password, you'll be fine. Catch you on
our next episode. Hasta la proxima. Thank you for listening. Make sure to subscribe
to our show so you don't miss an episode. We will be dropping an episode every two
weeks. Oh yeah. No, like seriously, subscribe now. So just chill to the next
episode. Follow us on Insta and TikTok. Until la proxima.