Dave Karoly
Vice President of Sales
Lamacchia Realty
Waltham, Massachusetts
https://www.lamacchiarealty.com
Region served: New England and Fort Lauderdale
Years in real estate: 16
Number of offices: 12
Number of agents: 500
Favorite part of your job: Seeing how agents succeed when they use their training.
Motto/work philosophy that you live by: Same equals same. If you keep doing the same thing, you’ll get the same results.
As the market shifts, and we gear up for the spring selling season, how are you working with agents and setting them on the path to do more business and stay ahead of the competition?
It depends on whether an agent is new or more experienced. With newer agents, we’re working on making sure they get quality leads and quality referrals, and training them on how to convert them. We’re making sure they have a good pipeline, because if last year you needed five buyers to get two offers, this year you would need 10. For more experienced agents who already have a good book of business, it’s about mastering price adjustments. This blip on the radar where it’s busy in New England won’t last forever, and we’re going to start seeing slower activity like in other parts of the country.
You’re responsible for overseeing, training, coaching, teaching and advising agents. How has your approach changed/evolved over the past few years as we worked through a constantly shifting market?
It taught us the need to pivot and help agents who are creatures of habit. We always say that when you get too comfortable in real estate, things will change and then you have to start over. At the beginning of the pandemic, most agents couldn’t even show properties, and we were wondering how we were going to keep the doors open. Then, that fall was suddenly very busy, like we hadn’t seen before. Now, this past winter, we’ve had a much slower market than we’ve been used to in recent years. We’ve had to pivot with our training seasonally, as the market is shifting every season, and each one presents a new challenge. Also, giving data to our agents is important, and they can give that to their clients.
Having previously worked as an agent, what is your best strategy for getting transactions and making sure they close successfully?
We provide a lot of documentation to buyers and sellers before they even submit or accept an offer. We call it “the real deal,” and it breaks down all the steps and frequently asked questions throughout the process. There’s a different document for buyers and for sellers, and we make sure both read it before the transaction goes through. For getting transactions, you need to have a process every time you get a lead. Plan out every step you’re going to take to put everything into motion effectively and efficiently. It’s all about having a process that’s scalable.
What attracted you to Lamacchia Realty?
Seeing and truly believing where the company is going. I was probably the fifth or sixth person to join, and now we have 70 staff members, let alone agents. Knowing that we’ll be the largest privately owned brokerage in New England, and further expanding in the Florida market, is exciting. I really like the vision Anthony, our broker/owner, has. I’ve never seen somebody better at keeping in mind the wants and needs of three different groups (agents, buyers and sellers).
For more information, please visit https://www.lamacchiarealty.com.
