Welcome to the luxury code, where we decode the mindset, the marketing and the business approach of successful luxury brokers, hey welcome back to luxury code. Today i've got monica fabio, the of the fab property group, a 20-year veteran of luxury real estate in austin, texas, uh. Monica welcome to the show thanks so much for having me exciting stuff. I've always learned a lot from you and i hope i can teach some now.

Oh well. I certainly appreciate it. I know just you know, having having sidebar conversations with you and then you know chopping it up with your coach jeff he's like she is a rock star, so so i've got really three or four questions that i want to unpack in this show today. Um.

Let's start with the first one like what does it take in your opinion to sell luxury real estate in austin and maybe kind of secondarily like how has the luxury market changed in austin in the last five years to a decade, the luxury? Well, the luxury market? In austin and to be successful, it's extremely competitive. The last time i checked, i think, they're about 14 000, probably 15, 000 licensed agents and at one point last year i think there were about 900 listings, so you can do the math. It's definitely, i would say, the top five, maybe 10 percent doing the top 90 to 95 of the business so very competitive. I think that uh, the main attributes that you need are a huge tenacity and patience and creativity, because people may be selling and they don't quite know it yet kind of thing.

If you i, i don't personally door knock, but i can track down almost anybody. I've lived here a long time and then we of course all have our ways of finding how to get a hold of someone and uh yeah. So you've just really got you and you've got to network, not just with your inner sphere but you're constantly. Looking for opportunities and you're constantly networking with the other luxury realtors, and it's like a dating game, you're trying to match a seller with a buyer because a lot of the sellers with the primo primo properties don't want to sell because where are they going to go? So it's interesting! So how do you? How do you learn or teach tenacity or perseverance, or you know, just the ability to follow through at the level that you and every other top luxury broker has to, because you don't like, find a client take a listing, make a sale on tuesday.

In many cases it could be 18 months, two years four years, five years, seven years of nurturing these relationships before they finally do something. So how do you learn that skill i personally feel like? I was just born with a very competitive um side to myself and it's really competitive with myself, not as much other people. I've always just been a um fighter through life and um have been very scrappy. I've gone from one into industry to the next, and because i'm also a huge learner, i am just hungry for knowledge in all different spheres.

Um. I just kind of uh have been like that from day one, whether it was dance or piano, or my education, even being a single mom um, and i'm just i'm just scrappy. I may not look it, but i really am so it's interesting monica. I just did a survey of a hundred of our top clients and the number one attribute that they all came back with was uber competitive that it just it was just something about in, and some could argue that it was the growth mindset that they're they're more Willing to lean in to do whatever it takes, but it was that, like competitive nature that they had from being a kid to now being in business um, but back to this whole tenacity thing i'm curious, um, most mega luxury agents.

I know have like this insane memory like they just seem to remember everybody from seven years ago, two years ago, the house, the meeting, is it the same for you or maybe more specifically. How do you follow up? Well because i'm a workaholic, i would say i'm a very, very hard worker and i do remember faces - and i do know a lot of people here. I think that's been a huge uh plus for me having gone to college here in austin. I left, but i came back, but even the relationships i've had in when i was in dallas in los angeles and how you can connect with people that way too.

Oh well, you're from la i used to live there and anyway i um uh i've just known a lot of people, and i may not remember their name and i'm ashamed of that, but because i'm a hard worker back on that nurturing, your database requires um. More than just the belly-to-belly conversations, which are the best ones but everything's big numbers, big data and to keep up in this competitive world of real estate, we're in you've just got to set up your systems. You've got to have your follow-up and i try to get all those boxes checked. Uh before i go to bed often times it's 1 32 in the morning and i'll you know get up at 6, 30 and start over, and i have to tell myself to take a break but um yeah.

I guess my memory is pretty good, just not with names, and my work ethic then allows me to do more follow-up, maybe than some others yeah love. It love it. So, let's, let's flip to uh, most expensive home, you've ever sold to or just tell us about a crazy deal, oh goodness, um! Well, one is i'm in the middle of right now and while it is not uh consummated, i know it's gon na happen. Let's not jinx it monica yeah, let's not jinx it.

Yes tell us! Well, let's see because it's so crazy right now it used to be that if there was a six million dollar property in the mls, that was just bonkers here in austin. We a couple of years ago, it made just huge news. It was, i think, a 38 million dollar property. In fact, i had a client coming in.

This was one right when everything went crazy flying in on a jet to come, see this said property because it had just fallen out of contract and the guy who was under contract had lost a couple million dollars in earnest money, and so we thought great well. Let's check it out, he gets on. The jet has to basically turn around to deal with the work matter, and we thought you know it's. A 38 million dollar property it'll be there next week.

Oh no, but then i can't remember if it was two weeks or three weeks closed done off the market. Yes, um! Yes, so it's it's pretty difficult, um, there's a client and just to give an example of austin, because it's now the bel air and people from different states are coming in and it's like a candy land to them and i had a um and then sellers. Of course, get greedy in some cases, but you have to really look at it. This isn't bel air.

This isn't jeff bezos property. In seattle i mean it's beautiful but come on. This is what you're asking it's like. Yes, but um.

I had a house that a a big client had decided okay, finally, after a year and a half two years of looking - and it was the main house, but it had this house next to it - that just we needed to get rid of basically. So we had to take that one down made an offer, which you know this property's. I really think six million on a good day. I didn't even go in it, but i'm pretty sure um and we had offered a cash deal of 15 million, wouldn't even counter waited decided.

Okay, we really want this other house, so then offered 25 million cash to make it go away and they did not take the deal, and so i'm like well, that's awesome. That was like a 60 70 million dollar deal that it took a long time to put together um. So it's uh, it's pretty interesting, putting together portfolios. Now you might find this great house, but people want the privacy.

So then they want to take down the house or the lot next to it or to tear it down and it's just more complicated um, but the numbers are staggering. How have you first of all i mean it's so interesting. I was uh with a friend recently from austin and he was like yeah. We now live in like austengeles right, like it's just austin la austin, san francisco um.

How has that altered your marketing? I'm just curious. I mean, i know you know you're in our network. You know your brokerage's network, i imagine agent agent. Referrals are a big deal, but what else have you done to to sort of market yourself as the go-to person? For you know the luxury clientele coming to the area? We do lots of things.

I do nurture my relationships with agents and all these groups, i'm in some of them, that are national groups, including tom ferry, yes from training, but we network a lot with the california, the new york, where a lot of our traffic's coming from you know chicago florida And then even within texas, there's quite a bit of traffic, so to me print advertising is we still do it? We uh will continue to do it, but it's really more of a listing tool and we then will show stats on more targeted marketing via videos and social media and then also blast various agents in various cities. Because we've built up databases and friendships. So and then, in terms of just being you know the fab property group, we want everyone to have a fab experience, so we try to go that little extra mile, the tipping point book where we have a fab faves map. That's a really nice bound thing, and then we put it on the website and we really really want to become friends and family with anyone and everyone.

I love meeting new people, it's the most fun part of our job 99.9 of the time and they you know. I tell them you're stuck with me and uh by the way. Here are all the music venues and you know, come with us to this concert and um go golf with my boyfriend, because i'm horrible, and so we just try to give a fab experience like a concierge level of service where we're really in it with them, whether It be hotels, events, all the vendors we can refer them to so well, it's so cool that you do all that and you do it in like high volume, like 63 closed transactions last year. So that's a lot of friends a lot of venues.

A lot of golf with your boyfriend um, so you know just think about how you keep all that together. This is the time where the very best separate themselves from the rest and drive their business to the next level. This is exactly what we teach at blueprint. It is the playbook for top agents for people like yourself that are looking to elevate themselves out of this market and take control.

It's gon na be myself and a bunch of top coaches and a bunch of top clients revealing their best practices. So you can plug and play and grow your business just go to tomferry.com blueprint and enter the promo code blueprint15 to get 15 off your ticket price. I can't wait to see you there, but i want to. I want to switch gears.

One of the questions i love asking people like yourself is when you look back over your career. What were the iconic moves that you made that made you who you are today in business? What were some of those moments, those decisions, those actions that you took that propelled you to this moment. Well, i think the first action is even if you're starting day, one is to just live and breathe. What you want to be - and you know perception's reality, so i knew i wanted to be a luxury agent.

Of course, you've got to get a little bit of experience under your belt and have people trust you and know that you can do it. But for me, after a couple years of i just really drove into training, i was asked to join capital city sotheby's when they first came to austin in 2006, and not only was i invited to go and uh be a luxury agent there, because i started having Some success in that in that area, but i got to be a financial partner, so on my business card not only was it set to be new to austin very luxurious, but it said uh, you know partner and i think people just really. That was a huge plus to my, not just level of experience, just my whole reputation and then i i kept that reputation by doing the right thing and working hard for people and fighting for them and it just snowballs from there. I think luxury is one of those things.

You've just got ta every opportunity you have to show and it's not about showing off, but it's just like look. You know what we can do, what we do. Look at our marking marketing, it's all high quality and, yes, we have the connections and we're out there we're finding properties that aren't on the market and um you're, really in the know, yeah. But you have to pretend first right until it's, you know it's so interesting that everyone, i interview, says says something similar like in the beginning.

You have to decide to make that decision like i'm going into luxury. This is what i'm gon na do and i'm gon na figure it out. I'm gon na learn the product, the people, you know the lifestyle, the language everything that's like just slightly different and then once you have it you're kind of in the club. If you will and then it does take you know, like the one thing you have work ethic hustle grind right determination and you know you clearly show that.

But now here you are 20 years later, when you look back, was there anything over the last few years? A decision that you made a marketing piece that you put out something that just gave you an extra splash could have even been an iconic listing. I i think, um. I think it would be a listing um for me, a couple of exact. I can't really you're all of us are under ndas.

You know. Yes, it's like what can you say? What can you not say anymore? Let's just say: that's a really big house, yeah um, but i think you know when you have a listing you're gon na communicate with buyers and then hopefully get to represent some of those buyers. And i was really fortunate in the last three years to capture some great buyers out of different states and if you do a good job for them it just the referrals start coming and you've just got to really pay attention to all those relationships. And it's not just the some of my biggest referrals came from very innocuous places.

It could be somebody who worked for someone or you know the assistant at some cpa's office and know something about a client they're friends with, and so you just treat everybody nicely in the sandbox and that's including your fellow realtors, that's so important that um, you be Your you know should be collaborative so, and i know some of us it seems like it could be competitive and i'm sure once in a while. I have a little streak because i am competitive, but i'm truly competitive again against myself and and i you know i was a one person sports person, even ballet versus tennis. I would have felt like i was disappointing my partner, so i compete against myself. I love it.

I love it so last question: what are the biggest challenges you're facing today and how are you overcoming them? Well, there are a couple of challenges: um one, as i mentioned, is the lack of inventory, and how do you get around that? How do you get a seller to sell when you can't find them something on the other side necessarily or it's not easy to yeah um and we've had so many multiple offers, if you're representing buyers it can be, it can get very you're, weary and they're weary, But the market always comes out as it should and i think once they're worn out maybe three offers in they start to listen to you a little more and either change the price point down or spend more money, um and i think the other challenge. Really. It's been so fast for so long here. I think all of us who are doing a lot of business, it's just to take care of yourself uh.

I think, there's a lot of burnout right now. I know we're all super fortunate and extremely thankful. You have to make hay while the sun shines, and i i completely get that, but i just literally for uh easter weekend went to the beach and for the first time i i didn't check out completely, but i just really needed it and um. I came back and i mean i'm already back in it, but at least i felt a little more creative and and refreshed, and so i think we all have to remember to do that because if you're a workaholic you just never stop, and then you start losing That drive and that creativity yeah, i think you can appreciate um, especially on that last point.

As i'm, you know, i get to talk to so many people around the world, and i ask i always ask one question which one do you need more of time or deals i'd be curious for you, which, one time or don't say both. I know i know it's different, i'm like i'm doing double this year. Well, i think you know i always have to question. Why are you doing all this like? What's the point, if you can't enjoy the fruits of your labor and um, none of us are promised the next day.

So i'm going to croatia for 16 days in june. Congratulations congrats! So it sounds like time is the answer. Even though everybody wants both. If you can only have one, i find that the busiest agents all say i just want a little more time right time to breathe time to relax a little self-care a little time.

With my, you know: boyfriend girlfriend husband and wife yadda yadda, because once you've got the deal machine going, the deal machine is going and i see that clearly with you yeah. There are a few clients who really just want you, but you try to train them way ahead of time, because we all deserve some sort of a life, but i think really, we probably think we're a little more vital um than we may be for deals to Happen and i've found any time i have gone on vacation, i'm usually getting on a plane, and i get about five referrals. So if you want more business, you go on vacation and the last time i took a vacation was a long one was last. I went to costa rica last summer, i was literally in the rain forest on a bridge tour with maybe eight people dallas person looking in austin in the neighborhood one of them, where i specialize so in the rain forest on a bridge.

I got a referral and then walking down the path at the resort where we were staying. There was another california, well everybody's moving to austin, but i'm thinking you can still do deals when you're on a bridge in costa rica. That's it it isn't. It's funny like.

I mean, as a veteran you know like the old, like in the old days when listings didn't sell in 14 seconds or 14 days. The old joke was, if you have a bunch of stale listings, what should you do book? First class tickets non-refundable get a hotel room, get on the plane and the second you do offers start coming in right. It's instantaneous, yeah, so june will be my best month right. I know i'm excited for you, so doubling your business this year, lots of good stuff covered on this uh on this session monica.

So if somebody wanted to reach out - and they wanted to find you what's the best way, is it on instagram? Is it you know via email, go to your website if somebody's got more questions about austria and they just want to chat with you about high-end real estate? How do they reach you? Well, the uh monica at the fabpropertygroup.com, our instagram handle is the same at thefabpropertygroup.com and surprise. The website is the fabric. Propertygroup.Com love, it love it good, branding all right. Well monica.

Thank you so much for your time today and everybody out there watching and listening make sure you follow her and if you've got questions you can ping her there. You can certainly leave it in the comments here. As always, we appreciate you and all that you do i'll look forward to seeing you at an event soon i'll say hi to jeff your super coach coming up big shout out to jeff mays monica. Thank you so much for being on the show.

Thank you. So much we'll, hopefully see you in anaheim for a day anyway. Yeah all right i'll see you soon take care foreign.