It is fun to keep up with past students to hear how their real estate careers are doing.  Recently, I talked to Rafi Pinsky in South Florida.  He attended a class at Demetree School of Real Estate, then I sponsored him to join Keller Williams.  He has been doing very well there since he started, just about a year and a half ago.  Here is our interview…

Tell us briefly about you.

I was raised by my grandmother (my mother’s mother) at 18 months old.  During the first 18 months, my grandmother and mother were in a custody battle as my mother wanted to raise me but was unfit due to alcohol and habits which deemed her unfit to raise a child.  I was in foster care during that period and thankfully I was placed in full custody with my grandmother.  I never met either of my parents and unfortunately was informed of the passing of my homeless mother about a year ago.  I didn’t grow up with any luxuries or any siblings but I was blessed to have all that I needed and all in all, I had a great childhood and a loving parent.  I went through middle school, high school, and three years of undergrad where I worked as a waiter part time before deciding to join the Israeli military.  I served in an infantry unit in the West Bank before returning to New York to finish my last year of school.  After obtaining my Bachelor’s in business, I started working with a friend selling different kinds of loans to small businesses.  When COVID hit, I decided to become a real estate agent with Keller Williams.  I started a podcast at the same time as my real estate career and I’m proud of my accomplishments.  Karen has helped me ace the exam.  I will always recommend her to anyone looking to take the exam and ace it (10/10 would recommend).

How long have you been in real estate and how long with Keller Williams?

I’ve been in Real Estate since August of 2020 and have been with Keller Williams from the beginning.

Why did you choose Keller Williams?

I initially interviewed with Douglas Elliman but found their rules on social media posts too restrictive for me.  I interviewed next with Keller Williams and was much happier with the energy there.

What do you like most about selling real estate?

I love networking, solving problems and negotiating.  I can’t say either of them are more enjoyable than the other.

What do you like least about selling real estate?

I dislike when clients aren’t truly willing to proceed and just want to waste my time looking around.  Prospecting can be a drag when not knowing when your next client will come but the early stages of any business are difficult so I’m ok with it.

Where do you find your clients?

I find most of my clients through cold calls.

Tell us a story about one particular sale.  Maybe one that was challenging or particularly interesting or anything that made it memorable to you.

I had a listing (seller representation) where the seller received an offer around $50,000 over appraised value and we still had difficult closing.  Post inspection, the buyer asked for everything to be credited and that was where the war started.  Thankfully, the other agent and I worked well together to close the transaction and after numerous, and I mean numerous back and forth negotiations, almost killing the transaction.  We were able to close by giving part of our commissions as a seller credit to the buyer.  I also spent an entire day physically helping them move out since the movers came late and they were short on time.

How important to your success was joining Keller Williams?

The Keller Williams office in Aventura has a wonderful atmosphere with people who are always happy to help one another. Keller Williams as a whole, is an incredible company for new agents who need guidance and hands on coaching to succeed in a business like Real Estate. I don’t know what the future holds but I don’t have a reason to go elsewhere and I highly recommend KW to anyone who’s about to be licensed anywhere in the country and in any country that has a KW office for that matter.

This is Karen again.  If you are a real estate agent or aspiring agent who is looking for a great place to work (even if it’s not in South Florida), give me a call.

 

Please note that neither Karen Climer nor Demetree School of Real Estate have any affiliation with Climer School of Real Estate.  My father, Ron Climer, started Climer School of Real Estate.  He sold it in 2014.  It was recently acquired by a large national corporation.