A question came from a consumer who asked, “how we are selling so many properties, so quickly, and for top dollar?” My answer was, “it’s all in the secret sauce!” What I mean by that is it’s all in our system and people. We’ve created the system, tested the system, refined the system and execute it at a very high level. The other key component is the people. I’m sure you’ve heard the saying, “no one succeeds alone,” and that is so true. We succeed because of the people on this team. I’d like to introduce you to them, so you know who they are and how they make The Hawai`i Team look good. With every listing we take, all these team members have a unique and integral part to our success.
Claire Romero – is our full-time executive assistant for the team. She’s like the quarterback of the Real Estate team. She overseas everything that’s happening. She takes care of all the paperwork. She makes sure all the T’s are crossed, and all the I’s are dotted and that we get from listing agreement all the way to the closing table friction free.
Sharon Sakai – is our full-time Copywriter. Real estate agents are notoriously bad at writing copy and so we don’t even try. We have Sharon on our staff full-time to write all the marketing copy for all our properties. She tours each one of the homes and then curates copy that can be used in all our digital and print marketing. She makes sure she keyword stuffs all the copy so the terms are easily searchable in Google.
Manny Victor – Manny is one of the first people through the door on a new listing. He’s our contractor and he oversees all our subcontractors as well. I usually bring Manny in to give me an expert opinion on what he sees for the property. What needs to be fixed, what needs to be repaired? What needs to be touched up and what could we do to improve the property, either major or minor, to get a higher purchase price. If you’ve ever had contract work done here on the island, then you’re going to appreciate what I’m about to say. What makes Manny different is that he actually shows up, actually provides a written estimate, does the job on time and brings it to the finish line on or under budget. Pretty rare here on the island.
Julie Lyle – she’s our stager and we stage all our properties to some degree. What I mean by that is some properties need an entire makeover because they’re either vacant or the furniture in there is really dated or not very nice. There are some scenarios where the furnishings are terrific, but there may be too much. In this case Julie will remove some pieces and tweak the way things look or are situated in a room. Finally, one of the best things she has is an eye for color and design and the small touches. A lot of times some properties just need a few tchotchkes to spruce them up and look fresh.
Josie Saldivar – is our cleaner and I’m sure most of you know the value of a good cleaner. When you find someone that cleans like Josie cleans you hang onto her and give her whatever she needs to keep doing her job. She has tackled some real messes for us over the years and when she’s done, the place absolutely sparkles. This woman cleans every screen, every window, every door, every cupboard, every drawer. She’s amazing and we couldn’t do it without her.
Henry Houghton – is our photographer. A picture is worth 1,000 words and, in our case, here on the Big Island a picture is worth several million dollars. I know a lot of photographers can make a property look good, but it’s Henry’s superpower that I love the most. What Henry does better than everybody else is fly a drone. Now that’s great for the overhead shots but what Henry does is he flies his drone through YOUR HOUSE. He’ll fly it through a sliding glass door into the living room, around in the kitchen, through the bedrooms and out another window or door. These cinematic, high-definition videos are like no other. Each time we have Henry shoot a house the homeowner is always blown away by his photography, and you will be too.
Trisha McCombs – is our director of marketing and is dedicated to marketing all our properties digitally and in print. If you see any of our properties pasted all over social media that’s Trisha’s fingerprint. If you’re getting an email blast to your inbox that has an amazing looking property with all the details and pictures, again that’s Trisha’s handy work.
Other people come to mind, like our amazing virtual assistance, Ragu, who does our data mining to help us reach all the buyers out there in the U.S. Or Ali, who produces all of our high-quality videos on our YouTube channel so people can discover what it’s like to live work and play here on the Big Island. There are more and more people behind the scenes here on The Hawai`i Team, too many to honestly mention in this article. I’ve highlighted all the main players you might interact with during a transaction.
These people and our system are what makes up the secret sauce that is The Hawai`i Team’s success. If you’d like to hear or explore more about this, we’d appreciate the opportunity to earn your business. Contact me on my cell phone at 808-987-3306. I will pick up the phone and I’d love to speak with you.
