Million Dollar Boston Real Estate Agent Video Interview

DT

00:00:00

So excited to have everyone with me today. This will be a fun topic, no doubt for real estate agents, we have the opportunity to speak with one of the Stuart St James team members, Milos, and he recently closed a million dollar deal.  And million dollar listings are something that all real estate agents enjoy speaking about. And so I'm really thrilled to have the opportunity to have Milos come on and speak with us today. So Milos, thanks so much for taking the time to join us.

Milos Stevanovic

00:00:30

You're welcome Darin and it's my pleasure. I'm just looking forward to this chat.

DT

00:00:35

Yeah, and maybe you could take a minute and just introduce yourself, you know, speak about maybe how long you've been in real estate, how long you've been practicing, and maybe what your focus, what your niche, is in the general real estate space.

Milos Stevanovic

00:00:48

So I've been in real estate since 2016 as an agent, but I had a passion for real estate. Even prior to that, when I was buying my investment properties and my primary residence. So started in 2016 and joined Stuart St James in late 2018. Prior to that, I was with another brokerage. I was with Keller Williams. My niche market, I would say, is helping buyers acquire their homes in the 15-mile radius from Boston Metro area. So I live in the South Shore, I'm in Milton. So naturally my, you know, first pick is the South Shore, but I'm also open to, you know, all the opportunities that are beyond that.

DT

00:01:40

That's awesome. Tell us a little bit about this most recent deal that you closed. So we're in May of 2021 right now. And tell us a little bit about this, this most recent deal of yours.

Milos Stevanovic

00:01:54

So this first to just kind of highlight, it was a $1.26 million purchase for a buyer who I've known for 15 plus years prior to this deal, actually I helped him and his wife buy their vacation property at Martha's Vineyard. So this was a second time dealing with them. The journey started actually earlier than this year, it was right around April of 2020. So in the middle of the pandemic, they started looking for an upgrade. They have the condominium in the South End area,  so they sold that and they were looking for a 5-bedroom, either house or a condominium in Arlington, Mass or Winchester. So we started looking in the spring and the summer of 2020 made a couple of offers that didn't go through. And then they took some vacation. They got a little bit discouraged by some of the offers they made that weren't accepted. And then we had a pause in this transaction until about the beginning of this year, when we identified a couple of properties, one being the one that they actually ended up purchasing in Arlington. So definitely the one thing that I will highlight is I believe that I did a good job with my buyers in 2017 with their Martha's Vineyard property and then they are returning customers - they decided to call me again to help them out with a new purchase.

DT

00:03:42

I think that was going to be one of my questions for you was how did you initially establish contact with this client. You definitely addressed that. And then the other kind of question I was thinking about is, you know, the million-dollar-plus market is something that all agents strive for, and it sounds like what allowed you to unlock that really was the professionalism in the way in which you serviced this client on another purchase. And that really helped you along the way. So that's excellent. I think something else that you touched on that would probably help a lot of other agents out there is you mentioned the market that we're in right now, especially from a buyer's perspective. It's very obvious that inventory is very low and that it's a seller's market. And as you mentioned, you had a couple of offers that were put in. I'm sure that they were strong, but weren't able to get accepted. And that's not uncommon today. What were maybe one or two things that you saw with that deal that did go through that maybe you changed, that you had some course corrections along the way that you learned that allowed you to strengthen your offer for, for your on behalf of your buyers or allowed you to kind of breakthrough and kind of get through probably, you know, what we're probably five or 10 plus offers on that single property?

Milos Stevanovic

00:05:08

So they had identified three properties that were their top choices. This one they were initially excited about, but despite the fact that that was listed for close to $1.5 million, it needed in their view, some upgrades. They wanted to change some things around, the kitchen, also, some landscaping needed to be done to be according to their liking. So they had this as maybe second choice at the time when they pursued some other opportunities that didn't go through due to, as you mentioned there, and multiple offers that the data and although they were offering always, either asking price or over ask, they didn't happen. So what I did once is about a month passed since all these offers were made. And then I noticed that this house was still listed. So I, you know, although I haven't heard from them again about this specific listing, I, you know, wanted to revisit and ask, hey guys, I'm seeing this property still available. Would you be interested in maybe talking about offering a little lower than what the asking price was so we can allow for all the renovations and things that you wanted to be done on the house? So they actually liked that idea, both the husband and wife, they had another conversation between them. And they decided it was definitely worth pursuing

DT

00:06:52

That's great. And congratulations again on putting that together. So one thing I'd love to ask, you know, I see this in myself, I try and be self-critical and hindsight being 20/20. Is there anything that you would do differently, Milos, on this particular deal, looking back that you would change if you had the opportunity to do so?

Milos Stevanovic

00:07:17

Well, you know, that the constraints about 2020 are well known to everyone. We had the pandemic, we have the open houses for all of these properties. They were conducted in a very specific way. Some of them were virtual showings. Some sellers were not even open to open houses. It was definitely a limited number of things that we could do given the circumstances, but you know, other than that, the year itself and that the challenges we had throughout the year were very unique and little things could actually be changed by us. So we adapted, we tried our best. We were out there being extra cautious with our masks and following all the protocols and procedures, but it was definitely a challenging time for real estate, absolutely.

DT

00:08:11

Absolutely. Hey, to switch gears a little bit. You know, one thing that I hear from agents oftentimes, almost once a day usually, is they're sceptical of Stuart St James, 100% commission brokerage. They really think it's oftentimes too good to be true. And you know, one of the questions is, is this really legitimate? Like, are you closing a million-dollar-plus deal and are you seeing 100% commission flow into your bank account? And I just want to candidly ask you, can you share your experience there and what that looked like?

Milos Stevanovic

00:08:43

Well, I can definitely confirm that Stuart St James is 100% legitimate. My commission for this million dollar sale is already in my bank account and I couldn't be more thrilled about that. Another testimony to the brokerage, once I joined in late 2018 and started actually doing business in early 2019, there was about a dozen agents that were with Stuart St James at the time and now we have about 60 or 62, the last time I checked. So that's another testimony that people are, you know, happy with the brokerage, with the support that we get, training. Also importantly, all the supporting technology that goes with our businesses in place. So I can definitely testify that it's the real deal.

DT

00:09:42

That's awesome. What for you personally has 100% commission meant to you, your family, your business. You know, I hear a lot from agents who maybe come from a Keller Williams or another kind of big-name brokerage, or a brokerage where there's a really large commission split, and they're not able to reinvest back into their business while at the same time supporting and running their family and their life. What has closing a million-dollar deal, seeing 100% of that commission come to you, what does that mean for you Milos, your life, your family, your business?

Milos Stevanovic

00:10:20

Well, certainly keeping bigger portion and, you know, having the opportunity to keep 100% of my commission allows for less hectic lifestyle and I'm not driven by the number of deals I have to make for this to make sense financially. So one of the things that reflecting back to my career at other brokerages, that there were royalty fees, commission splits that, you know, on paper were justified by additional training and some resources that were there for us, but frankly, moving over to Stuart St James, I didn't really see a big gap in what's offered here and there. So there are multiple aspects of the fact that I enjoy working for Stuart St James versus traditional brokerages. And this allows for overall a better lifestyle, more time for me to spend with the family versus looking for a number of deals and just keeping a portion of my commission. So I'm a big proponent of a good work-life balance - so this is the number one reason why I'm here.

DT

00:11:41

That's awesome. Is there maybe a book, a piece of content, something for you personally that has really helped you on your journey in the real estate industry in general?

Milos Stevanovic

00:11:55

Rather than a book or something published, I would say it's just my life experiences. I am originally from Belgrade Serbia. I've been in the States for about 20 years and I'm married to a woman from Peru. So I have this multicultural experience that I'm applying in, you know, making connections with people and ultimately being their real estate agent, doing good job with them. So just one piece of advice that I, that I can offer is always, you know, stay in touch with people, not necessarily just when you're looking to make a business connection, but genuinely be able to meet, have a drink with your friends and family, and then deals just come naturally your way.

DT

00:12:50

I think that's really thoughtful advice, you know, especially thinking forward, not always focused on a particular deal. And I think that that comes off in conversations with people and they recognize that you're genuine in your approach. And I think that makes a lot of sense now, as we wrap up here, I'm sure that people will see this and they will want to work with you, you are someone who is genuine in your approach, as we just mentioned. If someone wants to reach out, connect with you, work with you, what's the best way to connect and get in touch with you Milos?

Milos Stevanovic

00:13:23

Absolutely. Yeah. I'm always available via phone or email. I'm in Milton. So, you know, I'm open to, you know, meet with my fellow agents, maybe have a coffee or a drink chat about the opportunities, or just say hello, definitely the aspect of, you know, as being online for a year now is created a need for people to meet more in person and then have a chat. And I'm definitely open to that. Yes.

DT

00:13:58

Absolutely. Hey, thanks so much for coming on today, Milos. I really appreciate it. I'm sure that other agents, as well as, you know, potential clients of yours are going to get a lot of value out of our short discussion today. So thank you!

Milos Stevanovic

00:14:09

Thank you Darin. I appreciate the opportunity.