The Rested & Rich Real Estate Agent
A podcast for real estate agents who are burnt out and tired of grinding, and want to find a better way to take care of their clients, themselves all while building a rich life. Say 'no' to hustle culture, and find a better way to work. Helping agents get from chaos to clarity.
Hosted by Sumina, a real estate agent with 18 years of experience in the Austin, TX area.
The Rested & Rich Real Estate Agent
How to Sling Houses When the World is on Fire
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In this episode, I grappled with a question that's been weighing on me for months: how do I continue doing my job as a real estate agent when the world feels chaotic and making social media posts about listings seems tone-deaf?
After sitting with these difficult questions, I've realized that what I can control is showing up with kindness and compassion for my clients - not just as "Sumina Realtor" but as a human being. People appreciate this humanness, especially during emotionally charged times like buying or selling a home.
Real estate transactions often happen during life's big moments - marriages, divorces, deaths, job losses, relocations. There's no replacement for simply caring and being present rather than maintaining "positive vibes only."
I encourage fellow agents to acknowledge that we're living in complicated times, recognize that we have specific skillsets that can really help people, and find ways to give back - whether mentoring other agents or contributing to causes that matter to us.
When the world feels chaotic, our ability to show up with groundedness and compassion for clients making major life transitions is exactly why this work matters.
You can find me on instagram @rested.real.estate.agent, and you can sign up for my newsletter to keep up with upcoming workshops and other offerings on my website www.suminabhatti.com.
Welcome and Episode Introduction
Speaker 1Hello everyone and welcome to the Rested Real Estate Agent , a podcast that helps you navigate life as a real estate professional , while finding some balance and rest along the way . I'm your host , samina , an agent with 18 years of experience in the Austin Texas area , and I believe there's a better way to do our business serve our clients and not get burnt out . I help agents get from chaos to clarity . Welcome to episode 11 , y'all . Today we are going to talk about how the fuck to wrap your head around the chaos that's happening in the world and keep slinging houses . I don't know about you , but making social media posts about my newest listing feels a little out of touch and a little tone deaf when I'm watching the news and the chaos of the world around me unfolding .
Speaker 1I've spent a lot of time over the past six months and honestly , honestly over the past few years really grappling with this question . You know , especially when it comes to things like social media , which seems so frivolous and pointless and humorous almost right You're sometimes just doing some funny stuff on social media as well . Why is it important to keep doing that when there are so many really difficult things happening in our world ? How do we make sense of all of these things , and I know that
Navigating Business During Global Chaos
Speaker 1I'm not the only one who's struggling with this when I talk to some of my other colleagues . It's a common point of conversation in many of the groups that I'm in of how to keep going through the motions of our regular lives while attending and paying attention to what's happening in the greater world around us . I definitely have felt disillusioned and hopeless watching a lot of people in my community face a lot of uncertainty and a lack of safety with their work and their lives . I live in a city which has a lot of tech and over the past couple of years there have been a lot of layoffs in the tech sector , especially now with this political system we're in . I have clients who are on H-1B visas and I also have a lot of clients and friends who are queer and in more marginalized groups who are very concerned about what they see happening .
Speaker 1So , in light of all that , how do you show up Thinking about ? How do you just keep the dog fed and keep your kids fed and make sure the oil is changing in your car when these things are happening ? All sort of tugs at the same thread . But what I do know after really sitting and contemplating these questions which , of course , I'm not the first one to have contemplated this type of question over the years . This is literally the philosophy of things like Buddhism , which talks about how to hold suffering in our lives as we experience our lives , right , how to live and live joyfully while also being aware and tending to the suffering that we see in the world . The thing that I do know is what I
Showing Up with Compassion and Skill
Speaker 1am able to do is I can show up with kindness and compassion for my clients and for myself . Right . That is often something that is lacking when you're feeling fearful , when you're feeling scared , anxious , nervous , et cetera .
Speaker 1Okay , so it's not just showing up as Samina Realtor , right , it's showing up as a human , which most of us do . Sometimes we're taught not to do it right . This is a professional setting . Be professional , don't be too casual in how you communicate or how you handle yourself in your business , and there is truth to that as well . I'm not saying that we throw all that out the window , but I'm saying that there's a humanness that I think people appreciate when we are interacting with them , especially in this time that we're in now , and what I find with real estate , with our work is that we are often meeting people at times when emotions are high . Right , there could be good emotions , like they're having a baby or they're getting married , the family's expanding , and they can be painful emotions sometimes too . Sometimes they're selling a home because a loved one has passed away , or they're getting a divorce , or they've lost their job and have to move . In the case that I'm in right now , many of my clients are hiring me to move out of the state of Texas because they feel the policies here are not safe or are not where they want to raise their children or where they want to continue living , let's state , with some regressive policies . So how can I show up for that ? There is no replacement for caring , being present and being attentive , and not quote positive vibes only when someone is going through a difficult move , but being able to show up and say this is difficult , right , you're leaving your family , you're leaving your home for reasons that you may not have wanted to , your company is whatever , down-sizing , right-sizing , and you are having to move because , in order to keep your job and keep your financial security , you are having to go to a different state and leave behind a community and a culture that you've built and , for me , the skills that I've developed over the past 18 years have allowed me to sell real estate .
Speaker 1I'm not trained in medicine . I'm not a therapist , I'm not a lawyer . What I do have , what I happen to have honed over this time , is my skills in real estate . So when a client shows up who needs to buy or sell , I know one that I am well skilled to be able to serve them . Right , I have educated myself , I have practiced my skills . I have been in the industry for a while . I have seen many , many contracts at this point , hundreds of contracts for both buyers and sellers come across my desk . That includes things like new construction contracts . It includes things like condos and townhomes . It includes things with all kinds of different contingencies and all kinds of different markets . Also , right , the pandemic market of 2021-22 was a wildly different market than I had ever seen , and being able to adapt quickly and advise our clients well in those times was challenging , and staying on top of what was happening in the market was challenging .
Speaker 1So my clients who are choosing to work with me know that they're not only getting a highly skilled professional , but they also know they're getting someone who cares about the community , a community that I live in and that they live in . You know , when I get my commission check , as us agents do , we have a choice of where we spend our money , just like all of our every consumer does . Right , I try to be mindful of where I spend that money . It doesn't always work out , but I do things like choosing to work out at a smaller , locally owned women owned gym versus a big box gym . I try to buy my books from the local black owned bookstore versus a big box retailer . I try to go to the local coffee shop over Starbucks . Does that mean I never go to Starbucks ? Of course not . Sometimes it's the most convenient thing I'm hungry , there's a drive-through and that's all I can do at that moment .
Speaker 1I also do things when I have clients who are coming in from out of town to visit Austin and ask me for a list of recommendations for local places to go eat or venues to check out . Almost all of those for
Being a Down-Regulator of Drama
Speaker 1my list are local , local small businesses owned by people who live here in the city where the money goes back to them , and I really try to profile places that may be off the beaten path so that those local small businesses can get some additional boost that they may not have gotten otherwise . This matters to my clients and I think it matters more and more these days than it used to before . I talk openly about supporting local businesses and supporting small businesses . It's not easy in my city , in Austin , to run a small business . A lot of people who own cafes and little bars and lounges and restaurants are not making a bajillion dollars . So all goes to say that people these days are paying attention to that , as a lot of them are with their own funds and where they're spending it . And the other thing that I can control is my mindset right . I can choose how I'm showing up for my clients , especially in high emotional situations .
Speaker 1I had a client last year and they bought a property together . They were now separating and it was not amicable and I was navigating , helping them sell this property . You know buying and selling within a year . They bought the property in late 2022 or trying to sell it in 2024 , which , as most people know . You know it's not advisable typically to buy a property and sell it within less than five years , especially not in those particular years , and emotions were high and they were agitated with each other , but my job they hired me to do is to help them sell this property , find a viable buyer with the best terms possible and terms that match what they needed . Could they have hired another agent who could do this for them ? Actually , they did hire another agent and they did not work out with that agent and so they eventually had reached out to me through a referral and I ended up taking over that listing , and I think it still took us about 60 days to sell it , but we eventually did sell it .
Speaker 1So one of the ways I think about it is that my mindfulness practice helps me be a down regulator of drama for my clients , and it helps me also work with other agents to look for more collaborative solutions than if I am impatient or angry or frustrated with the other agent , and that can really often as you know if you're listening to this podcast it's often the agent to agent bickering that can sometimes , or lack of proper advice and counsel to your clients , that can make a deal fall apart , right ? So one of my takeaways here is that the only you can show up in the way that you know how to , only you have the mix of things that belong to you right . Only , you are a realtor that lives in this city and that has all these nuances of things that make you unique in what you're doing . You don't have to have any kind of other unique selling proposition or the other things we're told in marketing . Hone your skills , know what you're doing , know what your market is doing
Why Your Work Still Matters
Speaker 1and then go serve your clients . Show up with compassion , show up with groundedness and mindfulness for them , because that is what they need . That is what they need If they're hiring you , if they need to make a move , if their life circumstances are dictating that they need to make a move . Your ability to show up in those moments as best as you can is why it's important , especially when the world is on fire , because you are best to be able to guide them through the process amidst this chaos . It's like having a firefighter help you through a burning building , because they have the right skills , the right tools and the right knowledge to help you move through that in a way that may be fearful or scary if you didn't know that . So , if a client needs to buy or sell and they find you through a referral , through an ad , through an open house , the best thing you can do , especially because our world is on fire , is to help them with compassion , with kindness , with awareness of what they're going through , and it's a gift . It's a gift that we get to be that steward for these people through this time that they're going through . Can another agent , a transactional agent , guide them through the process , put a house on the market and do the marketing ? Of course there are . In my market there are currently , I think , 17,000 licensed agents , so of course there's a slew of agents that a buyer or seller can pick to work with . But the reason they picked you out of the choices they had was because you represent an idea of how they hope you're going to be able to guide them through this process . Could they have made the same amount of money or spent the same amount of money with another agent ? Maybe , but it's also the experience of feeling heard that a lot of people want and I think is becoming more necessary in our world . This is what I can do in this time when the world feels hard and hopeless . This is a way I can show up the other things that I think about what I can offer back . I talk about this . I think I've talked about this in episodes previously , but there are , I think , 1.2 million realtors licensed in the United States was the number that I had last seen several months ago .
Speaker 1We engage with and touch a lot of people's lives in our work and in our business and in our day to day . There are not many professions that do what we do . We have clients who maybe everything from teachers to high end tech workers to social workers , and we navigate around the city a lot . We are in and out of people's homes , we are in and out of small businesses , we are in and out of neighborhood meetings , chamber of commerce meetings , keeping track of small businesses , and so the energy and the essence that we take around and share with all these people that we touch . You know , a coffee shop owner or small business owner may never be my client . They may already have a relationship with an agent who they like and work with . That's totally fine . But I'm still happy to take my clients to a small , local coffee shop and share with them , you know , a local business that they may not be able to find anywhere else .
Speaker 1The other thing I want to mention one of the antidotes , I would say , to the feeling of helplessness when the world feels really chaotic is to
Finding Purpose Through Giving Back
Speaker 1help and give back . Getting myself out of my own brain , out of my own way is a way that I can feel that there's something I can do out there to help alleviate some of the pain and the chaos that's out there . And one of the ways that I do that in my world is to mentor agents . Mentor agents who are newer to the business , mentor agents who are maybe struggling in a certain point of where they're at , and that really gives me a sense of fulfillment and it gives me a sense of helping them with their business and places they may be stuck . Having the experience and the scope , the viewpoint of being outside of someone's situation to see where there may be gaps in their business that you can help them with . That's the other thing I would encourage you to do if you're feeling hopeless and helpless about your work and sort of disconnected from what you're doing and why it matters and how to continue doing it when there are much larger issues at play .
Speaker 1The other thing I like to think about or helps me as well is thinking about the money that these sellers are going to get from the sale is going to help them move on to the next chapter of their life . Whether that's moving out of state or buying a new property or medical bills or college kids fund or whatever , it is the same with buyers . You're helping them establish a home , you're helping them find a place that is safe , you're helping them find a place for their families and themselves to be and their pets , and there's joy in that and there's honor in that and there's getting to be a part of that journey . The other thing that I think is important to mention is that funding causes you care about takes money . So go earn the money , go post the posts , go ask for business with integrity , because to fund the causes you care about whether that's your local animal shelter , whether that's more global issues that you want to fund , helping people in need often takes money . We still live in a capitalistic world and sending help to and from places takes money and it only feels gross or can be gross if you are out there posting and asking for business without honoring the other parts of suffering that are happening in our world . And when that's happening and you're going out there and looking for business , that can feel icky , but if you are talking about it , knowing where your money is going and knowing why you want to earn the money you want to earn . Those are great reasons to be clear about asking for business . And then I have clarity around why I'm posting , why I'm wanting to work with clients , what the purpose of earning money is when the world is on fire , what the purpose of selling houses is when the world is on fire . So I hope that helps you too .
Speaker 1In today's episode , we've talked about a lot of things . I hope that you've gotten some takeaways from here , with one acknowledgement we are living in what seems to be a very challenging time , and there's a lot of things changing around us too . You know , technology's changing , ai is changing , climate change , our industry changes alone right over the past year or two have been pretty major , and we've had to keep going through all that . We've had to adapt , we've had to educate ourselves , we've had to educate our clients , we've had to be angry about it , we've had to be frustrated about it New forms , new legislation , new compliance and all that stuff . And so I hope that you have one acknowledge that we are living in a time that is complicated and difficult .
Speaker 1And two , that you have a very specific skill set and that skill set allows you to really help people through the chapter of their lives that they may be going through and because of your skill set , you can help them get to that goal in the best way possible . And three find ways that you can give back , ways that you can offset the helpless feeling . The helpless feeling puts you in a place of feeling like there's nothing to be done , so I'm just going to curl up in a ball and cower down , and there is sometimes time and place for that . I'm not saying there isn't , but what can you do ? Can you give a hand up to a fresh agent who's just newly licensed and is struggling in this market ? It doesn't have to be even in the real estate industry , right ? What are some ways you can just give back out there in the world , whether that's adopting a pet or fostering , giving back with your time or your money or your skillset .
Speaker 1I feel like that episode was quite the journey . I'd appreciate it if you stuck with me through it . Please drop me a note . All my info is linked in the show notes . I would love to hear from you on email or just a DM in terms of if anything resonated from this episode . And how do you ? How are you finding some reprieve among the chaos ? How are you finding some relief or some pressure release valves in this time ? Thank you again so much for joining me on this episode of the Rested and Rich Real Estate Agent . If you found this episode helpful and useful , it would mean a lot to me if you'd share with
Key Takeaways and Final Thoughts
Speaker 1a colleague in your office . If you're interested in joining in on some of my workshops , which I will be releasing soon , you can go to my website and sign up for my newsletter , where all upcoming workshops and offerings will be listed . Thank you again so much for listening and until next time be well .
