Step into the world of success and innovation with Real Estate Champions, a compelling TV show that highlights the exceptional leaders, agents, and investors shaping the real estate industry. Each episode uncovers the strategies, leadership, and insights that fuel the success of industry trailblazers, offering practical takeaways for professionals across residential, commercial, and investment real estate.
Real Estate Champions brings together top professionals and thought leaders from various sectors of real estate, including residential, commercial, and property development. These influential guests share their journeys, expertise, and advice to inspire and empower the next wave of real estate leaders and entrepreneurs. Today our hosts, Sarah Olson spoke with Krystine Torella .
Krystine Torella
Owner and Broker at Team Torella Realty
Website Address: Https://www.TeamTorellaRealty.com
Short company description:
Residential Real Estate Brokerage serving Metro Atlanta and surrounding area since 2002
Transcript
Sarah
Welcome back to another episode of Real Estate Champions. I’m your host, Sarah Olsen. Thanks for so much for joining us. And today, I’m excited to welcome Krystine Torella of Team Torella Realty in Marietta, Georgia. She’s a broker owner since 2002. And, and then started Team Rella in 2009. Did I get that right?
Krystine
Yes. That’s close enough.
Sarah
Okay, perfect. All I know is it’s been a while, right?
Krystine
Yes. It’s been 2 or 3 minutes.
Sarah
Yeah, 2 or 3 minutes. And you, like me, have seen the real estate market, in heyday and nada and Covid and all the things. And right now. Yeah, right now you’re on your own.
Krystine
Yes, yes, I am.
Sarah
Tell us, how is Marietta, Georgia real estate?
Krystine
You know, it’s, we’ve got quite a bit of inventory over here right now. And so I’ve, I’ve seen it shift from a seller’s market back when, you know, people were buying homes with no appraisals and no inspection contingencies a few years ago to now, having to give the expectations that houses are going to not fly off the shelf, even if we price them correctly.
Krystine
You’re looking at a four to a six month, day on, of market. So it’s a little bit different than what people are used to. But, you know, once you explain it to them, show them the statistics and the data, then they understand why, why you’re telling them these things and you’re not just being pessimistic.
Sarah
Yeah, definitely a challenging market. And in, in, in like in anything you have to set the expectations, for your clients and yourself. We spoke a little bit about the real estate agent Success Academy just with new new real estate agents coming into the business. And what do you think is your what is a big challenge for anyone coming into this business right now?
Krystine
I would say that new agents typically think that this is an easy business, that, you know, they get their license and they’re going to sell something the day after they get their license. And that is not the case. I mean, now you have to build up your clientele. You need to make sure people know what you do for a living.
Krystine
You’ve got to build relationships that they even before building the clientele, you have to build the relationships with, your potential customers and vendors as well, you know, the other professionals in our industry so that, you’re able to have have things to draw upon, experiences to draw upon, and not just, you know, think. Because now you have a license that you’re going to automatically surveys.
Sarah
Yeah. The phone, the phone just doesn’t ring when you get your a piece of paper in the mail, does it? You know, and you are doing you are doing just that. I mean, you’ve been in the business for a while. But tell us what you’re doing with vendors. You touched upon that and also with your network.
Sarah
Share share with everybody what you’re doing. Those two things.
Krystine
Sure, sure. So I do have a relationship with the local credit unions here. They have a program. I would encourage any agent to contact your local credit union, get to know the business development managers of the credit unions, and ask if they have programs that, are for preferred realtors. So if somebody walks into the credit union and they want to buy a house and they don’t have an agent already, then the loan officer that that takes care of them will do, you know, go into the system that I’m in the credit union and, see that I’m a preferred realtor, that I’ve got, good reviews and I do what I say
Krystine
I’m going to do, and then they’ll choose me for that client. So that, of course, I do need to pay the, the credit union a referral fee at closing, but that’s business I wouldn’t have had otherwise. And so I’m always grateful for that. I, I never balk at having to pay a referral fee to anybody. I just received a referral from an agent in Nashville through through a very strange channel.
Krystine
She somehow found me. And I’m closing on that client next week. And hey, here’s your here’s your money, you know, for it. So just sending me that person and I’m always super grateful for it. And it kind of.
Sarah
It’s a one time referral fee and you’ve got the client for life. And that’s and that’s what you do with that client is what bears fruit for years and years to come. So so smart. Yeah. We’ve we’ve used, lenders to help us with home buying seminars, too. I didn’t know about the credit union though. So the so that’s good.
Sarah
I might, might be using your tips. So.
Krystine
Yeah.
Sarah
A. Go ahead. You have a networking group. I do a large networking group.
Krystine
Yes. We actually we like to call it a mastermind because we are it’s not sitting for an hour and everybody talking to each other. It’s sitting for an hour and allowing the owners, myself and two of my, my business partners to facilitate with the topics that we’ve already come up, come up with. So it’s for women business owners or ones that are interested in opening up a business.
Krystine
And what we’re doing is helping them develop professionally and and personally as well. Today’s subject, we talked about breaking down the differences between vision, goals and tasks. And, you know, tell me about your most perfect day. And when people tell you about their perfect day, a lot of it includes tasks. And I’m like, really? If you could just pick anything you could do today, would it really be, call your laundry, see, you know, smell.
Krystine
Yeah. That’s something that we put on this list, like, I’ll do it someday. So those are the kind of things that we teach, and. Yeah, we have, five meetings a week, and we have, I think we’ve we’ve grown in a year from like 15 members up to 60, in their paid the people that pay to be there.
Krystine
Because we are taking our time and, and using our experience and our knowledge to share with them and, just the progress that I’ve seen from these women, has been amazing. And it’s very inspiring for myself. And for the other people in the group to hear, you know, how they started and how they where they are now.
Sarah
And so I love that, I love that, and you’ve taken something that’s passionate to you, and I assume it helps your business as well. You’re you’re held more accountable because people want to see you and and see you and feel you be successful and reach your goals. And I love the vision board, too. I mean, January to month of Vision board and yeah, I haven’t done yet.
Krystine
Oh yeah, I we did that as a group. Yeah. In early December. Because we wanted to have something going into the new year for, for us to be able to look at and be inspired by. And yes, I, I have several years of vision boards and I never throw them away like you’re supposed to. Actually, I don’t know if you know this.
Krystine
You’re supposed to recycle your vision board every few months because.
Sarah
Oh.
Krystine
Yeah, I know, which is surprising. I thought like maybe once a year, but no, it’s supposed to be every few months, so that. Yeah, I.
Sarah
Didn’t get my Bentley in the first quarter that I got to leave my bag on.
Krystine
There. You can put it. You can continue putting things on there. But, it just helps you grow more because, you know, what you wanted three months ago may not be what you want today. Yeah, but, yes, vision boards for me, years are very much part of my life.
Sarah
And you, we mentioned off camera before we got here that you’re wanting to grow your team. You want to share a little bit about what you’re looking for.
Krystine
Yes, yes I am right now I’m a solopreneur. So I I work here by myself. Me and my dog hang out in the house, and, sometimes she goes on appointments with me too. But, but I have been, thinking about how I can create multiple streams of income, and I don’t want to reinvent the wheel.
Krystine
I don’t want to start a business that I don’t really know anything about. I probably I’m not looking at multi-level marketing type things. So when I really broke that all down and said, what do I know how to do? Well, I know how to sell real estate. Yeah. How about if I bring in a couple of agents that.
Krystine
Now I’ve done this before. I’ve, I’ve had agents on my in my brokerage before I started off with new agents. The first time I did it. That was difficult because I had to spend a lot of time, hand-holding, which I understand if that’s what I’m signing up for. But this time, I’m not signing up for the new agents.
Krystine
I’m looking for a couple of experienced local agents who, already had their sphere of influence, already know how to get their leads and just, you know, need a, a nice, quiet place to work with. That’s not going to be expensive. I don’t need a huge commission cut. And I’m I’m offering support and encouragement and, coaching and all of the things that that a broker would do.
Krystine
Availability. That’s amazing.
Sarah
Yeah, it there’s there’s a place for everyone, and I think, you know. Yes. For new agents, they can come see me. That would be just fine. But yes, the seasoned agents, it’s still nice to have that camaraderie. And it does sound like you. You have something to offer them. With your mastermind and your ideas to be able to, you know, help grow their business even if they are already successful.
Sarah
So. Really fantastic.
Krystine
So thank.
Sarah
You. Well, thank you so much, Krystine, for being, on today’s episode. I have enjoyed talking with you and getting to know you more, and I look forward to reciprocating those referrals to Marietta. And if you want more information on Krystine, perhaps want to join her team, you can go to Property solutions.com.
The Daily News Network, Buzz Tv News, and DAILYBIZBRIEF highlight business professionals, nonprofits, veterans and community leaders on over 40 TV Segments including The Horse’s Mouth, Legacy of Leaders TV, Veterans Buzz TV, Finding Your Frequency, and Buzzworthy Businesses.
Teal, The Agency, powered by Client Focused Media, offers marketing agencies a full-service white-label solution to scale their services without the cost or complexity of building large in-house teams. Tailored for small and medium-sized agencies, Teal specializes in relationship-driven lead generation, advanced CRM workflows for personalized client engagement, and end-to-end project fulfillment. With powerful integrations like HighLevel, Stripe, and Zapier, Teal simplifies your operations while optimizing efficiency—saving you valuable time and resources. While other tools on the market like Vendasta, RocketDriver, and DashClicks, may require contracts, Teal provides flexible, no-contract pricing, giving you the freedom to grow on your terms. Ready to elevate your agency’s impact and efficiency? Explore how Teal can help you deliver exceptional results and better serve your clients. Apply on BeTeal.com today to start your journey toward becoming a marketing powerhouse by understanding digital marketing strategies for agencies, SEO best practices for marketing agencies and scaling a marketing agency.
