Sell your home FAST using Digital Marketing and Analytics with Bay Tech Realtor Spencer Hsu

Do you want to sell your property fast? In this video you will learn more insights on how to successfully sell your home based upon Data Analytics and Digital Marketing together with the Bay Tech Realtor- Spencer Hsu, and Ariel Herrera of Analytics Ariel.

Transcription

Ariel Herrera 0:03

Hi everyone, today we have a special guest, Spencer Sue, who's a real estate agent out in California. He has a lot of great insights into what makes it successful for you to sell your home based upon analytics and digital marketing. Welcome Spencer to the channel.

Spencer Hsu 0:22

Glad to be here. Thank you so much. Yeah, so

Ariel Herrera 0:25

before we dive into the technicalities, and how you got to being such a real driven agent within the space, love to just hear a little bit more about yourself, and what actually even got you into real estate.

Spencer Hsu 0:38

Yeah, so I'm born and raised in the Bay Area. Prior to real estate I got I was in tech, I was a software sales manager for over a decade. And eventually, at the kind of tail end of that career, I started to explore it undersell a bit more about real estate as an investor. So I started by buying some properties out of state, I started also doing things more active, which was actually flipping the homes in the Bay Area. And as I flipped some homes in the Bay Area, that was when it really mattered, right? The numbers, right? If you're talking about analytical and you're talking about data driven, like, I'm putting a lot of capital on a bet that the value of this whole will not just go up, but doing the renovations that they budget that the budget, the timeline of the budget, the debt that we need it. So it's all a equation. All these are the if the deal makes sense or not. At the same time, it was also an equation, it's also an effort to be able to even find such an opportunity. So that's actually how I got started, I did that. And then I realized, holy cow, this is incredibly difficult to find these projects. That makes sense. But I was like, You know what, I talked to a lot of realtors, and a lot of realtors didn't have that approach that I have, which is much more driven by data to begin with. I think that knowledge of renovations, and that framework can be very helpful for a lot of people in the Bay Area, especially as a lot of people in the Bay Area are engineers, data scientists, managers, I have to deal with data all the time. And fortunately, my bet was was right. And that's how I got started.

Ariel Herrera 2:16

That's incredible. And as you were like seeking these data sources, what led you to them? Were there any difficulties there?

Spencer Hsu 2:23

You know, well, it depends, right. So if you think about the portals today, you have the portals like Redfin, and Zillow, and Trulia, and so on, and so forth. And they all have their own kind of Z estimates or their own estimates of the value of a home. But as we all have evidently seen, Z estimates have been a complete disaster for Zillow, it when it comes to her them making their own backs. Yeah, just be cautious. The reason why they actually created that was many, many years ago, long time ago, the MLS would not give them the data. So for them to give some sort of recommendation, they actually create their own formulas and guessed what the value of the home is. So it was a it was how they even got on the map that got the MLS to listen. But the idea, the reason why I bring that up is that the consumer portals like those are really good for discovering homes, and just seeing what's out there, right, that's the whole business model. But afterwards, of the evaluation there is you don't really get to pull the data sources very easily, you can do it manually, right by doing a search radius and be like copy and paste, copy and paste addresses like it's super slow, and it's inefficient. But within the database that we use as agents on the MLS, we do have access to all the data, and we can easily export it and share it with you in advance. So I usually if I want to really find it, too, I may export it into a Google sheet, I can just literally screenshot what the actual comparables are, what I saw the last two months, we can manipulate the data a lot more. Now, that being said, just because you have the tools doesn't mean a majority of agents know how to use the tool. So that's a different matter. But at least I have it. And I can easily do that in a way that's a lot faster. And quite frankly, I know how to value homes a whole lot more than a majority of people because I do this day in and day out. And you can also get a sense of like how things are actually tracking like in progressing through the months and through the year. So that's, that's that's the long story short,

Ariel Herrera 4:29

yeah, that helps to get the whole full picture and why having that MLS access is really critical to getting a lot of data at times. So was that the main reason why you shifted over to become a real estate agent or what was your passion behind there?

Spencer Hsu 4:43

There was many reasons right and it happened to be all at a time right on number one I was not that satisfied of the growth of like not just my company but that career. Because at any job there's a there's a cap right of how much you are worth In the market, right versus a small business owner, like myself, I can work as much as I want or as little as I want. And I can earn as much or as little as I want as well. And there was no cap, and it was somewhat more fair, right? Just cuz I get well doesn't mean all of a sudden, everything's cut in half, right. And now I'm competing with another salesperson within the company. So that was one part of the reason. And the other part is, as I mentioned, I saw a big opportunity, because this was a huge area, especially the Bay Area where this was not happening, it still was not gonna happen, and it won't happen. This is a mindset, right? You're not a data driven realtor, data driven individual by making stuff up. Like, this is something that you have to live by day in and day out, right? So I know for a fact like, this is not something that's simple for anybody to replicate. And I know it's a tremendous value. And also it helps people guy like, look, this is why it's selling for this. It's very clear why, if you understand what's happening, and in a lot of times, especially in real estate, it's been kind of a black box for a long time. But it isn't. Yeah, it

Ariel Herrera 6:08

doesn't have to be exactly. And I'd love to dive into some insights that you have as an agent side, as to how can help to for someone to sell a property on comparing traditional methods versus digital marketing methods. What are the differences between the two? And then if we could dive a little bit deeper of what they actually are? That'd be great.

Spencer Hsu 6:30

was a great question. Now, the funny part about being analytical and data driven is it works a lot more on the buy side. the sell side is nice, typically, and here's why, right? When you're selling a house, you want people to fall in love with it. And you want people to forget about the numbers. Right? Right. So it's not data driven on data add on for you as a seller, because your your goal is representing the seller, right? So the responsibles are different. So what does that mean? It means your goal is to be on all the major platforms marketed the best way that you can. So just traditional methods, just like kind of a, almost like a low level kind of photos, nothing really special just posted on, you know, Redfin, and Zillow and be like, alright, this is gonna sell. And then the more kind of digital but also more current model of what I do is, it's really all encompassing. So there's a lot. So yes, we do the professional photography, and have an amazing photographer there. But I also do videos, because I want people to know about the home itself, but also the community where they're about to buy, and why they should be buying this community in this area. Right. And our people don't know that, you know, especially right now where people have more flexibility in their lives ever than ever before due to remote work. There's a lot of areas that people are not really didn't ever consider. Right? I never really thought about living there their entire life, and now they're going to be moving there. So it's best for them to understand what are they about to buy into? Why are people even wanting to live here. And so that's a more of a lifestyle, you know, conversation but more of a dream. Now, there is some data. There is some analytical approach of how we listed, right, so we don't want to overprice it. So there is some level of math there. But it's nothing overly too complicated. We just don't want to, we're not going to return without getting punished in this market. listing in low because it's going to still end up where it's going to end up. Yeah. And so that's the general difference, though of a kind of a traditional approach, which is just really, some people are so you see this user this or phone to take, right, this iPhone, like crazy. And that versus like now professional photography, professional videography, 3d tour of the whole, that's really give them an easy look again, and ultimately, your drive a lot of traffic, or the fundamental thing is a very basic math equation, right? The more people that find it online, that fall in love with online, well, they want to go see it a person. And then the more people that see in person may be potentially more interested. They'll read the number of disclosures, which is all the paperwork about the whole, and the higher the number of that a lot more likely there's going to be a good amount of offers. Yeah, you ought to be have them, you know, beta with one another. So that's the general funnel the whole thing.

Ariel Herrera 9:22

Yeah, exactly. Using funnel metrics. That's impressive. And then taking a step back outside of just the metrics itself. I mean, it's really impressive how you've been able to build all these connections, like you said, the videographer, 3d touring, probably UPS skilling yourself as well. What was the process of like, of that of building relationships with other people in the real estate space?

Spencer Hsu 9:44

I think the thing that you are not you but most individuals will realize right, like, your best dollar per hour metric is a few things. When it comes to real estate. It's really about meeting people. It's around having appointments. It's about people essentially showing homes, and it's ultimately writing contracts and getting offers accepted. That's the highest dollar prior if you just fundamental want to break it down, yeah, there's a lot of things that's that's supported, right paperwork, transactions, getting pre approved, even the logistics of showing the whole, acquiring customers, right? There's all these other areas. But fundamentally, that's what it boils down to. So the key though, as you grow a business is ultimately leveraging out where you're either not good, or doesn't actually make the best dollar per hour. Like, for example, maybe there's people that are showing homes, right? I mean, I can show infinite homes, what is my dollar per hour worth there, versus I hire a really good assistant that will do the whole tours, I will still be involved with the strategy, which is a very expensive, and very high dollar per hour task, and a very strategic task. But it does show the home, like you can just go there open houses as well, like quite frankly, to write those different things, you can start breaking out by your business of what you want to do what you want to leverage out. And maybe as you grow, you may leverage out by price points, right, maybe sub million dollars, or whatever number it is, goes to some of yours or a team that you've trained, that are like versions of yourself, but you want to focus on a different demographic, or for whatever reason, it could be you just focus on sellers, right. So at the end of the day, we all have the same amount of time a day. And it's just kind of how you want to use it, and what's going on with your life and situation. And, and that's how you grow effectively, but also profitably too.

Ariel Herrera 11:37

Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. So if you really want to grow a business stop just being the sole person who does everything to understand what your worth is kind of put $1 towards it and see, could it be moved and shifted over to possibly someone else? Great.

Spencer Hsu 11:52

That's number one. And number two, like any business, it's better be the individuals better be a specialist. So for example, what are the things is like paperwork? Right? It's not, it's definitely not the best dollar per hour for me. But if I'm doing one thing and doing another thing, I'm doing it out there and do the other thing, that the core tasks of doing paperwork can actually get worse, versus individuals that are only specializing in transactions paperwork. Yeah, they just see it over and over again. So they're actually even more efficient. So not just your doll power is terrible at it. But you may even do a worse job that someone else, too, because that's all they're focused on. Right? Because the more you you have juggling, the worse it typically is. And so you just individually need to really understand, really understand that.

Ariel Herrera 12:43

Yeah, that's a really good point. Thanks for sharing that. And then also, you've seen your videos that you have a trackable dynamic plan that you set up for your clients. Can you explain a little bit what that is and how it helps?

Spencer Hsu 12:57

I think in general like it, this is one of the things I learned, fortunately, in smaller companies, but also just working in the corporate arena, and then transitioning into running my own business is a deal of the day, we should all be on the same page. So communication is very important. But also the key metrics of how things progress is very important. Right? As you brought up initially of that kind of the funnel metric. That's something fundamentally almost every business, it's understanding those numbers, understanding the variables and things like that, and tweaking and improving each of the items. Right. So the idea is, is that is tracking as we progress. It's almost like a project planner than anything else, right? If you think about putting a home on the market, there are several key steps to do. They all will incorporate either yourself or incorporate third party company. So there's a bunch of logistics of timing. And there's ultimately a lot of metrics that may come out of it. As I mentioned, maybe its views on Redfin, and Zillow, those are great early indicators that you may want to know is as well. From there you have how many people actually go through your open house, that's all tracked with like a digital sighted? How many people download disclosures, that's all tracked. So all of these funnels are very important, because it not just helps that client, it also helps you as a realtor talking with other clients like this is what's going on. Right? Right. Like this is actually what's happening. Because if there, if you think about it, if 70 buyers goes to an open house, and the open house sells in a week, or the house sells in a week anyways, that's 69 other buyers that are homeless, right. So they're like very clear indicators. And they all could go the reverse. And all of a sudden, well, there's only like 20 or 30 groups and like that it's all a funnel backwards. So you get to actually see in advance before any other headline articles based off of foot traffic, which is a very fairly hidden information if you think about it, right? Because only really that agent knows how many actually came through, right? The houses so that's also gets competitive until then for your other clients, too. Get educated like this is what's happened is we're about to happen of things like that.

Ariel Herrera 15:04

Awesome. And going along those lines, could you give like an instance of maybe whether it's the foot traffic or other metric within that line where it changed, and you have to kind of pivot your approach based off of it?

Spencer Hsu 15:18

I think the pivot approach is interesting. I mean, fortunately, the market that it has it however, you could start coming up with general ratios, right? Just like how you do forecasts, I mean, it's like no different than forecasting, right? Anyone that does forecasting, right, I think I bring in 100 people from there 20 will convert, you know, from there as a percentage will be clients, etc, etc. So you develop ratios. So you get a sense as to how you calibrate. But, you know, you kind of tweak that from time to time, there are times like right now, we're there's a lot more as a double disclosure is downloaded, potentially, because a lot of people may want to review it before they even go see it given COVID. So your ratios may adjust slightly there. But your ratios may also adjust depending on how nice a wholeness, right, because generally a very nice hole, they're not reviewing the review disclosures differently, which is generally going to be fine, versus a very ugly looking home, where they're going to review this because the first makes sure they're okay with any major problems to that car. So even the ratios itself will be different, depending on the condition of the home, the better condition on the home and the timing of it. So there are certain things like that are very insightful for buyers to really understand, like, what are things actually happening? What have I been seeing? And this is all, you know, very competitive Intel, hopefully gives my clients in that case, a little bit of an edge.

Ariel Herrera 16:45

Yeah, definitely super interesting, say if someone was a new agent, maybe in Ohio, and they're looking to also work with a mix of investor clients, as well as maybe some like new buyers. And they want to be able to employ metrics and also be able to track what's working, what's not, what are some of the first steps that they should do and building out a team or system in place.

Spencer Hsu 17:08

Lists are two different things, right. So there's one on the operations side as an individual, and then there's the others, which is actually on growing a team. So on the individual side, especially with an investor, they're likely going to be a little bit more numbers driven than a traditional, so less on kind of selling on, you know, the features of a house per se, but more about the numbers. So what does that mean? You need to be aware? Like, is this a good buy, relative to what others are renting for in selling for? Right? Every area has a ratio, every area, Every neighborhood has a ratio, every city has a ratio? Is it important for you to understand like, is this a good buyer or not? Because then it helps to get you where you want to educate the client to have showing the data. Right? They may not trust you. But once they see a few examples, they'll be like, okay, he knows exactly what he's talking about. He's showed it many times, it's not biases, not feeling, this is what it is. Now they can get used to it or look somewhere else. But that's fundamentally that keeps it on a level playing field, right? We're looking at the same set of data, right? But that certainly helps on the individual side. On the team side, the key is understand like, look, map out your day, right? Like, what is your day look like? And look reviewing is that the best dollar per hour that you can be doing? Now the best offer are always is having conversations, meeting new clients, finding deals, those are always your best dollar per hour, everything else can potentially be outsourced. Now, you don't do it all at once. You may not have the ability or the mindset to do it. But that's the the process that you want to do. Because what really helped me accelerate my business. In this case, it'll be a seven figure earner within basically two years, is delegating. Because a delegating, even though it's scary, hiring somebody, you know, pay whatever their wages, it helps you be more accountable, you will find things for them to do. And it will help you scale much quicker. Because if you're spending two hours a day prospecting, and you're doing two hours a day of paperwork, and now that paperwork is going, you can just double your prospecting. So if you had x clients, you just double the potential clients. Right? That's the real revenue generator, that the cost of you know, an assistant, which is extremely valuable at different levels.

Ariel Herrera 19:29

Okay, that makes sense. I really did like the point that you've said previously, this when you have the data, not just have it for yourself and make own decisions about the business, which is important, but also sharing that with clients as well, which is useful. Great. So I'd love to just transition a bit into your specific market since you have so much knowledge that you share on your channel as well. Do you have any insights or maybe forecasts of what things are to come within the Bay Area market?

Spencer Hsu 19:58

Yeah, so kind of full disclosure. So So I had all of the San Francisco Bay area. So I do track and I do see what's happening every county. And I have my own thesis that has been proven pretty accurate as to why things are what they are in the different pockets in different areas that ebbs and flows, especially a lot in the bay area because of remote work. And also the the the individual's desire to be in the office and things like that. There's different things that are always for a different time. But generally, it's important understand, everything is expensive. That is fair. But I bet you if you ask your parents as well, 2030 years ago, ask him was home or homes expensive, then everyone will always say homes are expensive, because everyone likes to complain about homes being expensive. They forget how much money they are making these days in a lot of these areas. And so when I see that, I understand it, you should understand that your debt to income ratio in the Bay Area, even though prices as a absolute are higher than most areas, your debt to income ratio for a lot of people here are actually much lower than a lot of other places outside the Bay Area. Be mindful of that. Because that's all that's really what it boils down to. Right. It's like, that's true affordability, right? How much are you actually putting down and how much is your expenses are relative to your income. And for that, it gives me a lot of faith. But it's clear, it's very clear why home prices continue to go up. And we should have a very strong year again, for that reason. Number one is that side. Number two, income has always been good. I mean, these companies are hiring like crazy. Stop, they're not anywhere close to stopping the hiring. Number two, which is a big shifts, the millennial generation is a massive population. I think it's like a 90 billion count. That's a massive migration of people going from a rental, typically, to a homeowner, they've always had plenty of income, everybody if you're dual income, there is no issue of affordability from that perspective. Right. So that's a huge migration. Those are the big catalyst. The last one, as you may have all seen, especially in the core Bay Area, is it'll build anything. It's very hard to build. And this is not a all California doesn't build at that's not entirely fair. There is true, there's a lot more regulation, things like that. But the fundamental thing is this. If you're a developer, and you have $50 million, and I'm going to give you I believe $50 million, and let's say, find me a place of land to build, you're not gonna find 80 pieces of land, because there is no limit. And the only projects that work is like redeveloping areas, right? Sorry. Now, old warehouses, old office space, all these things right now, yes, the city can always accelerate that. And I'm not saying they're doing the best they could. But at the same time, realistically, there is no place to build. Yeah. This is fundamentally what it is. Now, there's plenty of places that farther out, Tracy Mountain House, you know, Brentwood all these places further out that area is perfectly fine. You see a ton out there, make no mistake, the core Bay Area is very difficult. And they're going to build, they're only going to build condos and townhomes because they still sell very well. Right. So just be mindful of that, when you complain about what's happening is just understand, like, this is what it is, right? Yeah, that's what it wasn't what it is, is a pure supply demand. And there's so many companies that continue to expand massively here, the ratio is not the same, right? The ratio of about people coming here to work is significantly higher to the number of homes that are available for sale. And so with that, unless there's obviously a massive correction, which everybody's in trouble anyways. It should still be like this for some time. Yeah,

Ariel Herrera 23:59

I agree with that. So great points that you mentioned was a debt to income ratio, shift in population, and then lack of supply in terms of just land to build on in the area, which would force prices, those three parts, at least, to stay up? Great. So Spencer, I'd love to transition this now and more about yourself, what motivates you to keep going and still grow your business as big as it is fair?

Spencer Hsu 24:26

So I think there's a few main things right, number one, regardless of the price point, whether you're a first time buyer, or you're buy a four to $5 million plus place, everybody needs the best service and advice and insights at all spectrums. Right and that's what I love doing. And I it's super rewarding seeing that, because that we, as I mentioned, there is not much of a doubt. I'm not saying nobody has financial issues, but it's more of a mental educational issue than it is a pure finance issue. If you're able to spend four to $5,000 a month in rent for some little nice luxury apartment, like how can you say you have no money? Right? It's an education thing, right? And it's my job with my little YouTube channel, and my little social media. Educating people of this is what can be done. You make enough money to be an owner, there's many ways to do it. And everybody deserves that story. Or if you're looking for a luxury home, or trade appalled, like there's ways to do it effectively as well. So there's always different games for whatever level you're at. And I think not a lot of people know about it, nor could they know about it. I mean, this is what I do day to day, I track it, because I fundamentally want to help my clients gain a competitive edge wherever they're at. Right? So that's kind of what motivates me. Number two, what's super exciting is, you know, as we get older, many people don't actually meet many new people anymore, right? They come in, actually a lot people can start getting more shelled in, which is, I get it, right, they get married, they have kids, and they have these other things. But you know, I like the aspect of meeting and getting to know new people. And everybody has a different story, right. And it's super exciting. And so I've met so many new friends this year, whether they're clients or just friends in general, and we continue to be friends, and we'll continue to have events will cook dinner parties. And that's really, really cool, right? That's really, really cool. And I look forward to the next group of friends because we're just getting started on Lord and all we're personally throwing bigger and bigger parties. So super fun. Like, a lot of people have a lot in store for them.

Ariel Herrera 26:45

Yeah, smart celebrating 2022. Well, Spencer, thank you so much for sharing your knowledge was not just in your business, but also what motivates you and then how people can be empowered with data. So how can the viewers follow you through your social media network channel?

Spencer Hsu 27:04

Yes, there's a couple of ways right if you want to possibly follow me, you can look me up on YouTube, just type in my name, Spencer, H Su. You'll find all my content everywhere. You can follow me on Instagram. You can connect with me on Instagram, Bay Area Tech realtor, or text me anytime I'm happy to talk about your situation, whether you're buying or selling it or around the Bay Area. Like I said, I'm familiar with the markets here are familiar with markets all across the country. There's plenty of people investing everywhere. So happy to chat, you can just text me for 082235493 and either of the ways if you can't, if you didn't get my information, just google me you'll find me.

Ariel Herrera 27:43

Thank you so much, Spencer, please follow him after this so much great knowledge and I really appreciate it. Thank you so much.