Let's Talk, with Declan Spring

Carrie McAlister is a top producing East Bay Realtor®, founder of Calia Homes, and Team Leader for the newest Keller Williams office in Berkeley, branded as Bay Area Portfolio. This is a conversation about the newest Keller Williams office at 2089 Rose St, in Berkeley where my team, The Home Factor, is now housed. Keller Williams has taken a different approach to how this office looks, feels, and operates. Carrie and I talk about her career to this point, her start in the industry, and her general fondness of the career.  We talk about Carrie's own real estate team, Calia Homes, the rise of teams in the past decade, and the brokerages that power them.  Keller Williams has a structure and lingo that takes a minute to learn and we go through a breakdown of the various terms. We talk about the intention and goal behind the establishment of the Berkeley office, the Keller Williams culture, and Gary Keller's book The Millionaire Real Estate Agent. We also touch briefly on the word 'Luxury' and its meaning and use in the real estate industry.Several great local agents get mentioned, among them are David Gunderman, Faye Keogh, Pat Leaper, Claudia Mills, Remy Weinstein, Sara Min Zhao, and Robert Jones.Carrie McAlister is a licensed CA REALTOR® DRE#01464959Declan Spring is a licensed CA REALTOR® DRE#01398898

Jodi Nishimura is a top producing East Bay Realtor® and the founder of Kai Real Estate.Jodi has earned several distinctions both locally and nationally. Most recently, she is in the top 1% of Realtors® for the East Bay and was a recipient of Real Trends America’s “Best” designation — landing her in the top 0.5% of all real estate agents nationwide. Jodi and I talk her upbringing in Hawaii, her background in education, and her eventual move to the Bay Area after stints in Japan, and New York. Jodi's journey into real estate started as an investor, then as a Realtor®, culminating more recently in the founding of her own brand, Kai Real Estate, with an office on Solano Avenue in Berkeley. We talk about the value of coaching, the mental block that local Realtors® sometimes have with recognizing themselves as sales people, her decision to launch Kai Real Estate, why it is that Kai is attractive to newer licencees, the value that Realtors® bring to their local community, and the value and benefits of working with Jodi. In Jodi's own words, her favorite part of the work is "The gratification of helping clients make wise decisions that impact their future, the gratitude and humility that comes with being trusted by them to do so, and the joy in partnering with them in this part of their life’s journey."Jodi Nishimura is a licensed CA REALTOR® DRE# 01762935Declan Spring is a licensed CA REALTOR® DRE#01398898 

Pleasure and joy might be deemed frivolous by society at large but according to Katie Macks they are your birthright.Katie Macks is a leadership coach, and her brand is Audacious Leadership. From Katie's website: "Audacious leadership values our differences and creates an environment of belonging. We value and fortify one another with dignity, respect, and love and we’re changing the way business gets done! We are ushering in a new paradigm of leadership and business practices that changes the way we relate in our businesses and in our lives." Katie's message and coaching will be of benefit to anyone listening, but for real estate agents there's the added bonus that Katie was a top-producing real estate agent in a past life so she really understands and can empathize with the personal challenges faced by real estate agents.  To schedule a 30 minute alignment call with Katie at no cost please click here.

"Few things in life motivate me more than helping others get along more effectively. The core of everything I do rests firmly on a foundation of collaboration and collaborative problem-solving." So says Shawn Dunning, my guest on this episode of the podcast, a collaborative leadership, conflict resolution, & team development consultant. Shawn and I spend the first half of our conversation discussing his deep dive into local politics in 2022. Shawn ran for Mayor of the City of Richmond as an outsider in 2022 and came closer to holding office than anyone could have imagined. Following his mayoral campaign Shawn has set his sights for 2024 on a seat on Richmond City Council in District 6.  The second half of our conversation is devoted entirely to Shawn's professional career as collaborative leadership, and conflict resolution consultant. We discuss primarily intrapersonal and interpersonal conflict, and the A, B, C of conflict resolution.  To find out more about Shawn's consulting practice please click here. To gain insight into his political agenda please click here. To listen to a conversation I had with Shawn during his run for Mayor in 2022 please click here. To view Shawn's LinkedIn profile please click here.

Aman Daro has become a regular on the podcast, and with good reason. If you've ever received statistical charts from me or any Red Oak Realty agent showing aspects of the real estate market in the East Bay most likely they were conceived of and compiled by Aman Daro.  Aman Daro is COO at Red Oak Realty but is more fondly thought of as "the data guy". We invite you to follow along with our chat, a conversation around the 2023 Q3 East Bay Stats Report released a couple of week ago by Red Oak Realty, by viewing the 91 page report here as we highlight specific page numbers. Yes! It's an interactive live podcast!If you follow the podcast episodes with Aman what emerges is the story of the East Bay real estate market. In our last chat we speculated that the theme of 2023 would be low inventory. That definitely has been the case. But there's so much more. I encourage you to listen to episode #5 of the podcast, my first conversation with Aman, to better understand his mission at Red Oak Realty and his approach to tracking data and uncovering market trends.Aman Daro is CA licensed real estate agent DRE##1350412Declan Spring is a licensed CA REALTOR® DRE#01398898

Chris Brown has been selling homes in Las Vegas for 5 years and is widely respected as one of the top social media agents in the valley specializing in relocation and new-construction single-family homes. Chris is a Los Angeles native who moved to Las Vegas after spending three years in Orlando, Florida working in collegiate and professional sports. In the past year, Chris has sold nearly $10 million worth of real estate with 90% of his clients coming from social media. After working as an agent on a team with EXP Realty Chris decided to depart and join the number #1 luxury brokerage Simply Vegas as a solo agent. During this transition, Chris committed to targeting his clients 100% through social media by displaying the local lifestyle clients get when they live in Las Vegas. With an audience of over 160,000 followers, Chris has found his niche as the "lifestyle specialist", his new way of prospecting future clients.In our conversation we talk about, among other things, the primary differences between short form and long form video, and monetization metrics; why understanding what each media platform is best designed for is the key to growth and success; understanding that consumers turn to YouTube for instructional and ‘how-to’ specific content as opposed to general media which often generates more random entertainment content; the value of contracting with a professional strategist for long form video content; consistency. Chris can be reached by email at CB@TheBrownGroupNV.com or on TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube at the handle @CB.LasVegas.Chris Brown is a licensed NV REALTOR® NRED#188080

This podcast episode is cross branded with a podcast I host and produce on behalf of Bridge Association REALTORS®: The Bridge Association of REALTORS® PodcastThe first part of my conversation with Andrea Gordon was released on April 27 this year on the Bridge Association of REALTORS® Podcast and is exclusively available here.  Andrea Gordon has a robust business. She’s consistently a top producing agent, not just at Compass but at a nationwide level. This makes for powerful insight on many levels because Andrea is never not in contract. She’s always in the market. And at the same time she's learned how to always work on her business. We talk about the challenges of a lean market and where to keep your focus. Andrea is an MLS committee member. The MLS committee provides oversight of MLS policies, publications, and forms, and next year Andrea will be on the MLS board. Andrea is also involved with the MLS Management Group (MMG) consisting of representatives from Bay East, Contra Costa, and Bridge MLS. We talk about the recent stepped up pressure and threats to the career of being a real estate agent, the recent monumental change to Bright MLS on the east coast, and the first clear signs of changes coming to the decades old commission structure of real estate including several lawsuits that have been working their way through the court system and are finally coming to a head. For Inman subscribers, here are some links to get you up to speed: Anywhere settles lawsuit; Is Anywhere's settlement the first domino to fall?Andrea and I have chatted before on an alternate podcast. In 2020 we had a rich conversation on the Let’s Talk, with Declan Spring podcast. If you’d like to listen to that podcast episode please click here.Andrea Gordon is a licensed CA REALTOR® DRE# 01233563Declan Spring is a licensed CA REALTOR® DRE#01398898

Hailing from Sonoma County, and better known in the East Bay and especially in El Cerrito as 'The Little Hill’, Rachel Melby is an East Bay aficionado, and self-proclaimed ‘cool mom.’ After a dozen-odd years in the tech industry, Rachel finally made her dream of working within her local El Cerrito community a reality. Rachel is a tech and marketing veteran turned Realtor who discovered her passion for helping people find their next home while serving as an undercover real estate matchmaker through her El Cerrito-based instagram community page @thelittlehill.Rachel has years of experience building strategic partnerships, leveraging data, and developing content for companies like Google and YouTube. After too much time helping big tech get bigger, Rachel dreamed of nothing more than working alongside folks in her own East Bay community.In this conversation we talk a great deal about Rachel’s entry into the local real estate community as a social media expert with an already established and thriving community page on instagram, and how she managed with great care and integrity to use her community page as a launching pad into her real estate career @littlehillrealestate Rachel Melby is a licensed CA REALTOR® DRE#02179456

Aman Daro has become a regular on the podcast, and with good reason. If you've ever received statistical charts from me or any Red Oak Realty agent showing aspects of the real estate market in the East Bay most likely they were conceived of and compiled by Aman Daro.  Aman Daro is COO at Red Oak Realty but is more fondly thought of as "the data guy". Has the local real estate market started to recover?... Well, it continues to be complicated…In this conversation with Aman we catch up on the speculation floated in our March conversation that a historically low supply of homes might continue as the overarching theme through at least the end of Q2. Aman walks us through some of the key data points so far this year and contrasts them with 2022 and further back in time. We touch on recent challenges in the property insurance market and the surprising increase in the number of East Bay sellers who are not moving out of the area. I encourage you to listen to episode #5 of the podcast, my first conversation with Aman, to better understand his mission at Red Oak Realty and his approach to tracking data and uncovering market trends.Aman Daro is CA licensed real estate agent DRE##1350412

This podcast episode is cross branded with a weekly podcast I host and produce on behalf of Bridge Association REALTORS®: The Bridge Association of REALTORS® PodcastRuth Stroup is a 17 year insurance agent with Farmers®, and founder of the Ruth Stroup Insurance Agency in Oakland. In our conversation Ruth educates me on many aspects of property insurance and the changes she has seen in her 17 year career. Topics include a brief history of property insurance since the 1980’s and the unintended consequences of 1988’s Prop 103; State Farms May 27th announcement that it has discontinued writing new policies on California property; The reinsurance market; Population growth and property development; Insurance company formulas - loss ratio, combined ratio; Firelines and the 3 factors that comprise fireline scores; Types of insurance carriers in California; FAIR plan; Insurance coverage and purchase contract contingencies; Property insurance inspections after the policy has been written.Ruth Stroup Insurance Agency, 3560 Grand Ave, Oakland, CA 94610 License #0M13985 Declan Spring is a licensed CA REALTOR® DRE#01398898

This podcast episode is cross branded with a weekly podcast I host and produce on behalf of Bridge Association REALTORS®: The Bridge Association of REALTORS® PodcastCameron Platt is a broker and co-founder of Abio Properties. Cameron’s career in real estate was born out of a dissatisfaction with his practice of law. He realized he had a stronger passion for helping people in real estate transactions than in court. These days he considers himself a “recovering” attorney.In our conversation Cameron and I discuss the value and protection that REALTORS® bring to consumers and the pressing need for REALTORS® to understand and articulate their value to consumers in the face of downward pressure on commissions from various places including new tech, private enterprise, and lawsuits. We reference the  Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice of the National Association of REALTORS® as a key document that each REALTOR® should carefully review and consider in their dealings with consumers.Cameron has a long and impressive history as a leader in the REALTOR® community: Past President, Oakland Association of REALTORS®Director, Oakland Berkeley Association of REALTORS®Director, California Association of REALTORS®Committee Member, National Association of REALTORS®Click here for a link to the Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice of the National Association of REALTORS® Cameron Platt is a licensed CA REALTOR® & Broker DRE#01403911  Declan Spring is a licensed CA REALTOR® DRE#01398898

“A well thought out estate plan is an act of love for yourself and your beneficiaries”. So says my guest Loulena Miles. In our conversation we cover the basics of estate planning, and the different main documents that are involved in an estate plan. We talk about how to refresh an estate plan and the hazards of do-it-yourself estate planning. We also spend some time talking about digital assets, and the importance of creating an advanced medical healthcare directive and thinking clearly about end of life care and beyond.This conversation was originally recorded as a live Zoom presentation to a small audience and Loulena provided 3 documents to accompany her talk. The documents are available by clicking on the links below and I encourage you to download and/or print item #2, the Podcast Handout, and have it available as you listen to the talk.  Main Presentation Slides (simple)Podcast Handout (detailed)Biggest Mistakes People Make With Their Wills (WSJ - 2/16/2023)Loulena Miles has been practicing law as a licensed California Attorney since 2003. She began her career in public policy in Washington DC working for the Alliance for Nuclear Accountability. Following completion of her law degree, graduating in the top of her class at Golden Gate University, she worked as the Staff Attorney at Tri-Valley CAREs practicing environmental law and public policy. She then worked in private practice as an Associate Attorney at Adams, Broadwell, Joseph and Cardozo in South San Francisco with a focus on administrative law. Most recently, before forming Miles and Torres Associates, Loulena assisted senior citizens with legal issues including maintaining housing, healthcare and financial solvency. She is a Strauss Scholar and a New Voices Ford Foundation Fellow. She presented at the United Nations in New York and Geneva and the World Social Forum in Mumbai, India. She holds a certification in conflict resolution and mediation. She was awarded Witkin and Cali awards for top academic performance in Wills and Trusts, Criminal Law, Legal Research and Writing, Negotiations and Toxics Law and Policy. Loulena Miles is a member of East Bay Trust and Estate Lawyers and is currently serving on the nonprofit board of Tri-Valley CAREs.

This podcast episode is cross branded with a new weekly podcast I'm hosting and producing on behalf of Bridge Association REALTORS®. I thought I would take the opportunity to highlight the second podcast I've been hard at work on, The Bridge Association of REALTORS® Podcast, by publishing an episode to the Let's Talk, with Declan Spring podcast.Today I’m chatting with Bridge AOR affiliate member and mortgage lender Evelyn Freitas, with Guaranteed Rate. Evelyn has been a mortgage lender since 2004, entering the profession after 18 years in small business management and accounting. Evelyn fell in love with the work of helping people achieve their financing and family goals through home ownership and realized that the skills she had developed in her previous career found a higher expression in the service of these goals. We discuss what it is buyers' should ask when qualifying a loan agent, what types of products and services are offered by various lenders, and what level of care and communication buyers' and REALTORS® should expect from a loan agent.  We also talk about the recent CalHFA Dream for All program and its sudden and incredibly quick withdrawal from the market, and I ask Evelyn if other types of down payment assistance or equity sharing programs exist. Evelyn Freitas is Mortgage Banker with Guaranteed Rate NMLS ID: 247578

Aman Daro has become a regular on the podcast, and with good reason. If you've ever received statistical charts from me or any Red Oak Realty agent showing aspects of the real estate market in the East Bay most likely they were conceived of and compiled by Aman Daro.  Aman Daro is COO at Red Oak Realty but is more fondly thought of as "the data guy". Has the real estate market started to recover?... Well, it's complicated...In this conversation with Aman we talk all about the 2022 real estate market and how it played out since our last conversation in September 2022. Aman walks us through some of the key data points from the last quarter of 2022 and for the year so far, and offers possible scenarios for what we can expect between now and the end of spring.  We talk about inflation and mortgage rates and how the unnerving rise of each coincided with the beginning of summer 2022, marking the beginning of a distinct market downturn.  We also talk about Chat GPT. I encourage you to listen to episode #5 of the podcast, my first conversation with Aman, to better understand his mission at Red Oak Realty and his approach to tracking data and uncovering market trends.Aman Daro is CA licensed real estate agent DRE##1350412

Today we’re talking all about disclosures, with my guest Jenny Cook. As my Transaction Coordinator, Jenny is a vital member of my team managing the day-to-day task of ensuring my real estate transaction files are compliant with CA Department of Real Estate rules & regs. I can’t think of a better person to talk through disclosures with me and save me from being accused of mansplaining! There are numerous real estate websites consumers can go to for property information. Some of them are owned by real estate brokerages, some not. The general information they provide is useful but it’s not the property specific disclosures that licensed agents have access to. At a certain point it becomes essential to work with a real estate agent to gain access to disclosures and to also understand how to interpret the disclosures. This podcast is an effort to help you understand how to approach reading a disclosure packet once you’ve received it from your agent.Think of this as a workshop! Please follow along with us as we read through a disclosure packet. Click here to download the disclosure packet we’re referencing in the podcast. I’ve also included some key disclosure documents that we discuss in the podcast. This podcast is designed to be listened to along with Episode #23 on Home Inspections and Episode #27 on Pest Inspections. 

Janine Hunt is a REALTOR® with Red Oak Realty in Oakland, CA. Janine works alongside her husband, Paul Hunt, and together they've been serving residential real estate clients in the East Bay for 10 years. Janine Hunt is the outgoing 2022 president of Bridge Association of REALTORS®, serving thousands of REALTORS® from their offices in Berkeley, CA. Janine and I talk about her and Paul's transition to real estate following successful careers in other industries. Janine has mentored, coached, and trained people in multiple industries including in the field of real estate and her passion for training is readily apparent. Grab your notebook!! We talk about Janine's goals coming into her presidency, and her accomplishments. Several books are mentioned in the episode: Switch, Exactly What To Say For Real Estate Agents, Speed of Trust, Leaders Eat Last, Dare To Lead, and Outwitting The Devil. Janine Hunt is a licensed CA REALTOR® DRE#01909766  Felicia Mares-Villa is a Realtor with Abio Properties in Oakland, CA. Felicia is just 5 years in the industry, and at only 32 years of age is set to become the youngest and first Latina President at Bridge Association of REALTORS®. I first became acquainted with Felicia through her presence on social media, Instagram in particular. She brings a very strong game! We talk a lot about social media and her journey so far in her chosen career. Felicia has been on the podcast before, 2 years prior to this chat, on Episode #3 published in September 2020. We also talk about her upcoming role as president of her local association and what she hopes to accomplish in that role. Felicia Mares-Villa is a licensed CA REALTOR® DRE# 02028970

Dan Marzilli is a Pest Control Operator (aka Pest Inspector) with GT Inspects, currently based in Oakland. GT Inspects Inc. is a licensed Branch III operator in the State of California (Lic #PR7280). This is a companion piece to Episode #23, a conversation with Home Inspector Brian CogleyServing 30 cities in the East Bay, GT Inspects Inc. specializes in the following services:Structural termite inspections, including original inspections for real estate transactionsTest openings for potential stucco moisture damageCompetitive bids (free-of-charge)Chemical treatments for wood destroying pests and organismsStructural pest control repairsIn this conversation Dan and I talk about the benefit of a Pest Inspection; The criteria for becoming a Pest Control Operator; How a pest report is put together (click here far a sample pest report); What parts of a home are inspected and what parts are not; Various types of insects from termites, to beetles, and various types of fungus; The most common pest inspection findings in the East Bay housing stock; How to read a report to get the most out of it; Why damaged decks and windows are not always given a dollar value for repair; The differences between a Pest Control Operator's license and a General Contractor's License; We talk more than a few times about stucco test hole openings, and we talk about other daily aspects of the job.

Shawn Dunning is a candidate for mayor in the City of Richmond, CA. Shawn is the former chief operations officer of organizational development company Adventure Associates, Inc. During his tenure there, Shawn developed and facilitated leadership, team development, and conflict resolution programs for corporate, government, and nonprofit groups throughout the United States. Earlier in his career, he directed the Leadership Wisdom Initiative and also founded the Leadership & Training division for the international conflict transformation organization Search for Common Ground. Working from Washington D.C. and Jerusalem, Shawn led projects in the United States, the Middle East, the Balkans, Africa, and Southeast Asia that developed the capacity of emerging and elite political and civil society leaders to lead from a basis of common ground principles.Shawn is also an avid community organizer and volunteer, having served on nonprofit boards. He studied speech communication and psychology as an undergraduate at Cal Poly and holds a master's degree in conflict analysis and resolution from George Mason University, where he developed foundational theory and practice for Adventure-Based Conflict Resolution.Learn more about Shawn's professional experience at shawnmdunning.com and on his LinkedIn profile.

Aman Daro has become a regular on the podcast, and with good reason. If you've ever received statistical charts from me or any Red Oak Realty agent showing aspects of the real estate market in the East Bay most likely they were conceived of and compiled by Aman Daro.  Aman Daro is COO at Red Oak Realty but is more fondly thought of as "the data guy".  In this conversation with Aman we compare and contrast this years market to the market in 2021. We talk about the story of this years market and Aman identifies for us exactly when the market shifted in favor of buyers. We speculate as to why the market has shifted so dramatically. Aman walks us through some of the key data points for the year so far, the highs and lows,  and offers possible scenarios for what we can expect between now and years end. I encourage you to listen to episode #5 of the podcast, my first conversation with Aman, to better understand his mission at Red Oak Realty and his approach to tracking data and uncovering market trends.Aman Daro is CA licensed real estate agent DRE##1350412

Andrew Butt is a candidate for City Council for District 2 in Richmond, California. He’s managing principal at Interactive Resources, his family’s architecture firm in Pt. Richmond.   Andrew lives with his family in Point Richmond and has served as planning commissioner for the cities of El Cerrito and Richmond, and chaired the Richmond Design Review Board and El Cerrito Planning Commission. Andrew is also very involved in the local community through his volunteer work as board president of Point Richmond Music, which he co-founded, and serves on boards of several local non-profits, including the Early Childhood Mental Health Program, and the Mt. Diablo Silverado Council of the Boy Scouts of America.Andrew is an old friend of mine so I thought this was a good opportunity to chat with someone I know and trust about local politics in the city I choose to call home. We talk about how Andrew and I met; his father, Mayor of Richmond, Tom Butt, in whose footsteps Andrew is clearly following in many ways; we talk about growing up in Richmond; City of Richmond history from about the second world war to the present and Andrew’s recollection of racial tension as he was growing up; the collapse of industry in the middle of the last century and its impact on the population; we touch on redlining; we talk about Andrew’s family’s history of public service; his studying for architecture in Arkansas and eventual return home to work at his family’s architecture firm in Pt. Richmond; we talk about Andrew’s start in community service in Richmond, the Point Richmond Music Summer Concert Series, his work as an appointee to the Planning Commission, and participation with the Design Review Board; we talk about NIMBYism and its contribution to the housing shortage; we talk about Andrew’s reasons for getting into local politics; we talk a good deal about the Point Molate and opposition to Andrew’s preferred vision for Point Molate from the Richmond Progressive Alliance (RPA, the political group currently holding power at City Council level; we talk about the Rosie The Riveter National Historic Park and other preservation efforts; the challenges of getting good information and unbiased reporting; we talk about Andrew’s influences (there's some mention of former Mayor of Richmond, David Pierce) and his vision for the City of Richmond and how it might look if there were a revitalization of Richmond’s downtown main streets; we go on in rapid fashion to talk about many aspects of City leadership that concern Andrew and are the reasons he has created a 10 point plan and sees now as being an important time for him to run for office; we talked about the challenges of social media and the false narratives prevalent in social media that Andrew feels he needs to address.