The Agent Podcast EP 85 Katelyn Ciaramitaro
[00:00:00] Katelyn Ciaramitaro: there's this one agent, you know, that always comes top of mind. It's just like, how, how does she get all these liftings, you Well, and she's been doing it for 20 years. Like, stop, like you're, you haven't even hit your two year mark of, of passing your exam.
[00:00:15] Katelyn Ciaramitaro: Don't compare yourself to others, even new agents, you. because you don't, you don't know what background they had before. But certainly don't compare yourself to those that have been selling real estate for 5, 10, 15, 20 years. You are just beginning. And, and don't get discouraged. It's hard, you know, I have had friends being like, you know, it sounds so great.
[00:00:40] Katelyn Ciaramitaro: You know, maybe, maybe I'll do that. And I'm like, have at it. Best of luck. Let me know how I can help. , but it's hard, you know? And, and it's, it's easy to get discouraged when you know, you meet somebody. Like for instance, I met somebody on, on Christmas Eve, somebody [00:01:00] introduced me to this woman. She's moving back up.
[00:01:02] Katelyn Ciaramitaro: She wants this, she wants out. We exchanged phone numbers. I got her email. I texted her a couple days after Christmas. Completely ghosted me. You know, it's just some, sometimes you get your excitement up because, oh, you've met the new buyer. You, you met somebody who will list their house and then something happens.
[00:01:49] Ray Sjolseth: Hello and welcome back to another episode of The Agent Podcast. Today I'm here with my friend, Caitlin. Caitlin, welcome to the show.
[00:01:56] Katelyn Ciaramitaro: Thank you so much. Thanks you for having me.
[00:01:58] Ray Sjolseth: Of course. It's privilege. So why real estate? ,
[00:02:02] Katelyn Ciaramitaro: why real estate? You know, when I, when I first had the conversation with a broker, that was, that was kind of very similar question, why real estate? And my answer to her was, you know, for so long, for so many years. You know, I've just loved homes.
[00:02:17] Katelyn Ciaramitaro: My mom and I used to love driving at night and we used to like see what the interior was of all the big houses that we lived around, you know, but, you know, never been in and, you know, and as I got older, I purchased my own real estate and I, you know, although it was very stressful, I loved the process of it.
[00:02:35] Katelyn Ciaramitaro: And unfortunately, you know, during Covid we all had. You know, life changing events and I was had been working in the travel industry at that time for about 17 years, so obviously travel went to a complete halt, and I was encouraged by a colleague of mine and also one of my best friends to get my real estate license.
[00:02:58] Katelyn Ciaramitaro: You got nothing to do. You know, instead of moping around being miserable that I haven't been on a plane or I, you know, my dust, my passport is full of dust, do something. So I did it. I jumped in, you know, having, like I said, been in, in travel. It was business development and sales. So matching that experience with the love of, you know, homes and especially my area, waterfront community.
[00:03:23] Katelyn Ciaramitaro: You know, I kind of just paired the two together and here I.
[00:03:25] Ray Sjolseth: So tell us about this what, two and a half, almost three-year journey.
[00:03:29] Katelyn Ciaramitaro: Yeah, so I started, let's see, I think my. I think it was July or August of 2020 that I started my real estate courses, and it came to a screeching halt when we had a little bit of tragedy in my family.
[00:03:43] Katelyn Ciaramitaro: So, kind of put that on pause for a little bit, but, you know, again, get my head down and, and do it and get it done. I got licensed on my grandmother's 94th birthday. You know, I never told anybody when my test was cause I was so nervous about. Failing it. You know, I'd heard so many stories. I've only took it six times.
[00:04:02] Katelyn Ciaramitaro: I took it seven times and my mom overheard me tell somebody, oh, it's on my grandmother's birthday. So my mom was the only one that knew. So January 28th, 2021, I passed. And I think I had my first listing in March. And I was fortunate to, to kind of grow and, and become a group or have a partner, which was one of my very close friends who was one of them that encouraged me to get started into real estate.
[00:04:27] Katelyn Ciaramitaro: So kind of just kind of snowballed from there, you know, ups and downs of, of this wild market. But it's a new year and I look forward to kind of navigating this year 2023 on my own and.
[00:04:41] Katelyn Ciaramitaro: pushing hard. So having somebody paired with you that you can kind of handhold and parallel and walk in their footsteps, or at least walk alongside them, that is a huge edge over most huge young agents that just jump in.
[00:04:56] Ray Sjolseth: What are some of the things that you feel have created your success, working with that person, you know, working with your partner? , what are a couple things that stick out? Like because of A, B and C I was able to do X, Y, and Z as an example.
[00:05:13] Ray Sjolseth: Yeah, sure. So, you know, because I partnered with you know, that friend of mine, she had a book of business, you know, which kind of, kind of helped.
[00:05:23] Ray Sjolseth: So the first listing we had was a mutual friend's parents you know, 50 plus community. and the buyer that we had was unrepresented, so then we got her, then we had her listing. You know, so it kind of just, just happens. And just having that, that person next to you to kind of tell you, okay, this is how you, you know, Use dot loop
[00:05:47] Ray Sjolseth: I never use dot loop and, and write a contract to purchase and what comes next? I mean, you, you know, you, you take these classes and these hours for your exam and you're like, oh, you know, so many people tell you you won't need it to know any of that, which you do. You know for sure you have to know a lot of things.
[00:06:05] Ray Sjolseth: But what was missing was. How do I write a contract to purchase? You know, what, what is a purchase in sale I didn't, hadn't bought and sold in my own experience and I wouldn't have known what, you know, how to do that and what comes next. And so having that partner just really sit by you and, and she made me do it.
[00:06:24] Ray Sjolseth: She didn't do it with me, she didn't do it for me. It was, here's a computer, you do it. I'm by your side. Which was a great cuz I, I learned by doing. So but again, just having that, you know, her experience, you know, that kind of starting point of that one, one seller turned into buyers and more sellers.
[00:06:44] Ray Sjolseth: What is the number one thing you've learned from her in the two years you've worked together?
[00:06:50] Katelyn Ciaramitaro: Definitely organization, . She is very organized. . I have my own chaotic organization. You know, I, I kind of go my own way. But you know, I think that was definitely one thing is, is how to organize this whole transaction. It's not just one piece of paper and one conversation. It's, it's a lot, you know, especially on sales side, a lot of people, a lot of you know, a lot of documents and you know where to look for that and what to do with it.
[00:07:18] Katelyn Ciaramitaro: You know, for sure it was.
[00:07:20] Katelyn Ciaramitaro: It was, it was definitely, you know, organization. Okay. Of all things real estate.
[00:07:26] Ray Sjolseth: Sure, what what are you guys doing for lead generation going into 2023? Obviously, I'm sure there's a referral business in place with a book of business, but what else are you guys doing?
[00:07:36] Katelyn Ciaramitaro: Well, so we've kind of, my, my business partner, my best friend has now.
[00:07:40] Katelyn Ciaramitaro: She's now wintering in Florida. She's a snowbird. So, you know, although we're still, you know, a group, you know, we're kind of doing things separately. So I'll speak for myself. And what I'm doing is I'd mentioned to you before we got started that my husband runs a very successful block. He's been doing it for 15 years.
[00:07:59] Katelyn Ciaramitaro: It's all about the Cape Band community from Gloucester, Rockport, Manchester, Essex, mass. I know these small little towns that probably may never heard of but. One thing that I'm, I, I set my goal was to get more involved in the community. You know, having grown up around this area, I know so many people, but how can I be a part of this community?
[00:08:19] Katelyn Ciaramitaro: And in that way, you know, my business will grow. But that's not really all hundred percent not all in on just being part of the community to get business. I wanna be a part of the community. I wanna give back as such a. awesome area. And so for before Christmas we did a kind of like a shop local series where we went to all the local stores.
[00:08:40] Katelyn Ciaramitaro: You know, what's your favorite Christmas gift this year, or holiday gift this year? And that really got. My mind going is, what else can I do? I became part of Rotary I'm helping out with a tourism board for Gloucester. You know, just getting out there in the community and making a name for myself and, and.
[00:08:58] Katelyn Ciaramitaro: Being recognizable, you know, when I walk into a restaurant or a local store and, you know, known for, you know, what I'm doing, but also, hey, I'm also in real estate. I think, I think being part of your community has such huge benefits all the way around, you know, not just for your business and but it's, it's nice to give back.
[00:09:19] Ray Sjolseth: Yeah. That is a very underestimated branding move, right? Yeah, yeah, for sure. People don't understand. Your brand is not your logo. Your brand is not your colors, but your face on your public profile. And that same face. Being able to make appearances in and around community events, places, people, volunteers, whatever that is the best branding that you could possibly ever have.
[00:09:44] Katelyn Ciaramitaro: Yeah, absolutely. And you know, just chipping away at it little by little you know, kind of instead of working out at home getting back into the gym and, you know, you get into these routines after, you know, covid and whatnot. It was just getting back out there. And and actually I went to the gym yesterday and I ran into somebody who I've known.
[00:10:02] Katelyn Ciaramitaro: Many, many years. And he's a lender and we set an appointment, we've got lunch, you know, upon my return from my vacation. And so it's like these, these things kind of just fall into place as long as you're putting that energy and effort out there.
[00:10:17] Ray Sjolseth: I love it. What are some things you're gonna do different this year than maybe you've done over the past couple?
[00:10:23] Katelyn Ciaramitaro: Well, over the past few years I was employed full-time doing the travel, being in the travel industry being a business development manager and really trying to balance my full-time job, you know, which was my priority to building my business in real estate. And that was d. That was very difficult for many reasons.
[00:10:46] Katelyn Ciaramitaro: And in September I chose to leave my full-time job. It was, you know, a big part of it was, yes, I really want to focus on real estate, but another was to help my mom and, and my, at that time, sick [00:11:00] father. And, and, and have that real estate to kind of fall back on. Unfortunately my father passed, but it has opened up a, you know, huge opportunity for me to focus 100% of my time, energy, you know, money into building my business.
[00:11:15] Katelyn Ciaramitaro: So again, it's, it's actually being able to do social media. all day long, whereas I couldn't before going to open houses, you know, during the, the week doing the caravans that are coming back and being a part of the community, getting out there, you know, all day, all, you know, into the evening where I couldn't.
[00:11:34] Katelyn Ciaramitaro: So I'm hoping that that time and energy that I have now where I didn't my first year and a half, we'll, we'll, I'll hopefully really see big results from. ,
[00:11:43] Ray Sjolseth: it seems like it would be very natural to go from being in the travel business, which is very concierge like into real estate. Like what are some things that you see that you've been able to bring with you from all your years in the travel industry that naturally help you in real estate?
[00:12:01] Katelyn Ciaramitaro: Sure. So I mean, there's two things. One is definitely being able to have a conversation with people, getting to know people, getting to know. You know, just, just being out there. I'm so used to being, you know, in front of a thousand people giving a presentation. You know, cold calling. I didn't really do well.
[00:12:20] Katelyn Ciaramitaro: I guess I did my first year maybe, but that was, it seems like so, so long ago. You know, and, and just being in uncomfortable situations and knowing how to deal with them. Especially dealing with what we dealt with during Covid and how. Massive stress of, I just lost weddings and honeymoons. And, and not only did I lose 'em, but my, my travel agents, my accounts did, and their clients did.
[00:12:42] Katelyn Ciaramitaro: You know, so going through those crazy, insane, life-changing moments, which is, which is also real estate. You know, and, and two is I would help build business with travel agents. And you know, my big thing was in travel, you. You get to help somebody build their dream, whether it be honeymoon, you know, vacation.
[00:13:04] Katelyn Ciaramitaro: They've never been on vacation, they've never been on a plane, they've never been to Mexico or the Caribbean, their big destination wedding. Maybe a, you know, multi-family trip, multi-generational family trip. It's, it's built, it's, it's match. Their dream to that destination, to that resort. And it's very much like real estate is, okay, tell me your priorities in a home, you need a three bedroom.
[00:13:26] Katelyn Ciaramitaro: You want, you know, half an acre of land, you want a swimming pool, let's find what's out there. Let's find that perfect home for you. Which is very similar to what I did in travel, which is great. I mean, come on, we're, we're selling dreams here, , you know, so,
[00:13:41] Ray Sjolseth: What do you do for advertising locally?
[00:13:45] Katelyn Ciaramitaro: Luckily I do. You know, we have our, like Cape Ann, you know, chamber of Commerce you know, book that's given out and, and tourism has grown so much in Gloucester. So, so many people are coming into Gloucester for the first time, falling in love with it, wanting to live here.
[00:14:00] Katelyn Ciaramitaro: I don't know if you ever watched the movie Coda, it just recently came out, I believe it was last year. It was filmed in Glos or all about this fishing family. It. Absolutely. I get goosebumps talking about, you have to watch it. It's called Koda. C o d. Yeah, c o d a. It's, it's Children of Death Adults.
[00:14:19] Katelyn Ciaramitaro: Oh. That's what it stands for. So it's, it's an incredible story based in Glosser. So that won a lot of, I'm terrible with awards like Emmy's or Academy Awards, and it was like an indie film. It's on Apple Plus. Okay. , you know, there's wicked tuna. The perfect storm was filmed here, you know, so, so many people love to come to Gloucester.
[00:14:41] Katelyn Ciaramitaro: So again, getting, being a part of the Chamber, being a part of the Rotary and just putting my face out there. But I do a lot of social media. I hired a social media manager who's done such an incredible, beautiful job of my Instagram. You know, fortunately, like I mentioned, my husband has that blog, which hits about 42, 60,000, no.
[00:15:00] Katelyn Ciaramitaro: Yeah. 40 to 80,000 people unique hits a day. Amazing. So, . I mean, I don't do a lot on there, but you know, it kind of just organically happens that his wife is a realtor, . And that's, you know, I haven't really done too much print advertising. Sometimes I'll do a, you know, a charity event, you know, donate a couple hundred dollars for, you know, a golf tournament and have my business card and name it, you know, the 10th hole, whatever it may be.
[00:15:27] Katelyn Ciaramitaro: So I haven't really, you. kind of made advertising as far as, you know, print or whatnot, a a huge priority quite yet. So trying to figure out what, what, what works, what doesn't, and I guess you just have to do it and figure it out.
[00:15:41] Ray Sjolseth: Yeah. It's this is all one big experiment, right? This thing we call what in your community, since it's growing and there's an influx of visitors, What's going on with real estate investing and or like Airbnbs in your area?
[00:15:56] Katelyn Ciaramitaro: Airbnbs are, you know, dealing with one hopefully transaction that will turn into an Airbnb. Like I mentioned, Gloucester is beach community.
[00:16:06] Katelyn Ciaramitaro: Waterfront community. We're a little island. A lot of people, you know, during Covid bought their second home here, you know, to get away from the city. So we saw a lot of that, you know, going from. Small apartments in Boston to these bigger homes to have a, an office for both husband and wife or partners or whatever it may be.
[00:16:25] Katelyn Ciaramitaro: But Airbnbs, it's gonna be interesting in Gloucester cuz there's a town called Salem. Sure you're familiar with Salem Witches and all that. They've really cracked down on Airbnbs. So I wouldn't be surprised to see some kind. Rules, regulations, cutbacks on Airbnb opportunities here, but it certainly happens.
[00:16:44] Katelyn Ciaramitaro: I had a phone call last night from somebody looking to move out, you know, just a little bit outside of Boston to the North Shore to Gloucester and , you know, I looked on m l s for rentals and I would say 90, 90% of them are winter rentals. So, you know, you've got the September through April because they're the people that live in New York, you know, live out of state that just some here, so.
[00:17:11] Ray Sjolseth: It's so interesting, right? Like we. We're privileged here to live in the United States with everything that we have and what we do and resources. But then everything always has their little, you know, niche. It's so interesting, right? Like each little pocket of the world, it can only be 50 miles away and it's so different.
[00:17:30] Katelyn Ciaramitaro: So different. I mean, even from here to the town where I grew up in 15, 20 minutes completely, you're going from ocean to. Horses, , you know, lots of land, lots of wooded area. It's, it's incredibly different, which is good, you know, because some people wanna move out of those, you know, communities where they're, where they're paying astronomical taxes in their big 5,000 square foot homes to a smaller condo townhouse, ocean oceanfront here.
[00:18:02] Katelyn Ciaramitaro: So, you know, I did kind of jump on that last year. You know, having known so many people. Including my partner that moved from another town to Gloucester to downsize to be close to the ocean. So we jumped on that, sent postcards with this beautiful life ch lifeguard chair on Good Harbor Beach, and sent it to those communities that had the 5,000 square foot homes.
[00:18:23] Katelyn Ciaramitaro: And they're, you know, kids are gone off to college, graduated college, and they're looking to move, they're looking to downsize, you know, capitalize on, you know, on that, that market. Sure.
[00:18:33] Katelyn Ciaramitaro: So what are, what are three things that you could share to new or newer agents that you can pay forward? What are some lessons that you've learned being a newer, newer agent yourself that you'd like to share and pay it forward to help some of these other agents out there?
[00:18:53] Katelyn Ciaramitaro: I will say one thing is don't compare yourself. love that there's this, yeah, there's this one agent, you know, that always comes top of mind. It's just like, how, how does she get all these liftings, you Well, and she's been doing it for 20 years. Like, stop, like you're, you haven't even hit your two year mark of, of passing your exam.
[00:19:13] Katelyn Ciaramitaro: Don't compare yourself to others, even new agents, you. because you don't, you don't know what background they had before. But certainly don't compare yourself to those that have been selling real estate for 5, 10, 15, 20 years. You are just beginning. And, and don't get discouraged. It's hard, you know, I have had friends being like, you know, it sounds so great.
[00:19:38] Katelyn Ciaramitaro: You know, maybe, maybe I'll do that. And I'm like, have at it. Best of luck. Let me know how I can help. , but it's hard, you know? And, and it's, it's easy to get discouraged when you know, you meet somebody. Like for instance, I met somebody on, on Christmas Eve, somebody introduced me to this woman. She's moving back up.
[00:20:00] Katelyn Ciaramitaro: She wants this, she wants out. We exchanged phone numbers. I got her email. I texted her a couple days after Christmas. Completely ghosted me. You know, it's just some, sometimes you get your excitement up because, oh, you've met the new buyer. You, you met somebody who will list their house and then something happens.
[00:20:17] Katelyn Ciaramitaro: You know, that one, divorce, death, you know. Lost their job. You know, so many things can happen from when the time you're introduced some to somebody that might buy or sell to when it actually might happen. So don't get discouraged. Keep on moving. And the third, oh geez. Keep learning. You know, I've got books on books on books and you know, I, like I mentioned, I love, I love I work out quite often.
[00:20:48] Katelyn Ciaramitaro: I love going for walks around here. I, and you know, before I throw on Pit Bull and now I'm on like, oh, what Agent podcast can I go on now? You know. And, and just continue to learn. Just because you [00:21:00] passed your test and you had a few transactions doesn't mean you know everything. You know, keep learning and you know, I'm part of so many different Facebook pages and you know, for obviously real estate related and I learned so much about what people would do in certain situations.
[00:21:16] Katelyn Ciaramitaro: You know, so many people will post. What would you do? and you know, I have it in my mind what I would do, but they'd be like, oh, that's a great idea. You know, so be open and keep learning.
[00:21:26] Ray Sjolseth: Thanks for sharing that. I think those three are all extremely valuable things to move forward with. So all of you listening, adopt at least one of those and commit to that as you move your business forward.
[00:21:37] Katelyn Ciaramitaro: Yeah, absolutely. And, and you know, sometimes you remind yourself to do that, you know, just cuz I said those recent, the things that go, I don't practice that every day and, and I have to, you know, I have to remind myself, just keep learning and, you know, don't compare.
[00:21:51] Katelyn Ciaramitaro: I say that quite often and, and their habits
[00:21:54] Ray Sjolseth: ultimately, like that's what they become, right? Their habits. Yeah. Yep. Becomes an adopted mindset. That becomes a rule book for how you're living your life, right? Like, yep. There's. I don't remember who said this, but there was somebody that had a quote that basically said, you know, stop judging and be curious instead.
[00:22:14] Ray Sjolseth: And I love that. Like that was a game changer when you put that in perspective, instead of having an opinion or judging somebody's decision. Be more curious. Right. Like, Why would they do that? Or why did they make that? Or what is their circumstance that put them in that position, right? Like you start asking better questions, and within those better questions, you find much different answers than you would normally be exposed to.
[00:22:41] Ray Sjolseth: And that perspective shift enables you to learn so much more.
[00:22:46] Katelyn Ciaramitaro: Yeah. Well, here's the thing with that, judging is easy. You know, asking questions and being curious takes time and effort. And there are so many people that don't wanna put that time and effort into being curious and asking questions, judge, and move on, you know?
[00:23:01] Katelyn Ciaramitaro: And, and that's, that's a big mistake of, of, you know, taking that root of judging and moving on. Yeah.
[00:23:09] Ray Sjolseth: And a lot of people don't wanna put themselves in an uncomfortable position. Right. And that's what it is, you start to look at things different as you're outside of your comfort zone. Yeah.
[00:23:19] Katelyn Ciaramitaro: Well, in real estate you're gonna be in a lot uncomfortable
[00:23:22] Katelyn Ciaramitaro: Yeah. In times. Yeah. Especially when it comes to negotiating. You know, it's a part's not easy, but. I kind of put, put this like mask on my face or become like an alter ego person because, you know, I, I find myself sometimes like just too nice, you know, too, like, it's fine, we can do this, but Sure. You know, and it's like, no, I have to like, put on this like Caitlin 2.0 , you know, and just put it on my like, you know, real estate base.
[00:23:51] Katelyn Ciaramitaro: And I do. And it, you know, and it, if you think of it as, you know, another version of yourself, it. Habits create, you know, a lifestyle. So, hundred percent. I dunno if that makes sense. It's kind of like outta nowhere, but you know.
[00:24:06] Ray Sjolseth: No, it's true. I love it. Yeah. Caitlin, where can people find you if they need a real estate expert out your way or they just want to talk?
[00:24:15] Katelyn Ciaramitaro: My Instagram is realtor underscore Caitlin. K a t e l y n. I know it's not that you know, it was 18,000 versions of Caitlin. But you know, I. I prefer phone calls. I do. I'm, I'm a talker. I'm a people person. That's how you're gonna get to know me. That's how you're gonna, I'm gonna get to know you.
[00:24:32] Katelyn Ciaramitaro: And I think that's so important. But of course, I don't know if you share, you know, my credentials as far as like phone number and email when it
[00:24:38] Ray Sjolseth: comes to this. Yeah. All of that'll be on the podcast episode with links. Yep.
[00:24:42] Katelyn Ciaramitaro: Yeah. So that's, that's the easiest way I, but like I said, I love my Instagram. I'm so proud of Amanda, who is my social media manager.
[00:24:49] Katelyn Ciaramitaro: She's done such a great job. I do a lot of stories as well, you know, being out in the community and doing things. You really get to know what's happening in Gloucester from restaurants to, you know, [00:25:00] sunsets and sunrises here. Just kind of getting to know, you know, allowing my, my day here be part of yours.
[00:25:08] Katelyn Ciaramitaro: So definitely Instagram realtor underscore Caitlin.
[00:25:11] Ray Sjolseth: Yeah, I love it. Caitlin, this has been fun. Thanks so much for sharing with us today.
[00:25:15] Katelyn Ciaramitaro: Thank you.
