S8 E10: How To Achieve Predictable Income Through Prospecting

Kathren Hatayama (00:05):
So the year before I got into calling, I was getting deals from people I know and my husband’s network of people, but it wasn’t predictable. And I really disliked that and I thought to myself, I can’t live my life like this. I can’t cross my fingers and sit here and think, I hope I get something this month. That’s not my personality at all. I just can’t.

(00:31):
So when I decided to take charge of my business and have more control, I decided to integrate this into my everyday routine. If people have success from it, I don’t care what they they’re doing, I will do exactly what they do. I’m very coachable like that. Repeat and duplicate. That’s all we have to do here. So if this person’s having success, let me just do exactly what they’re doing. Oh, they’re calling people, they’re making their contacts every day, they’re being held accountable, they have coaching? Of course. I mean, all our answers are in front of us, whether we want to work them and do them, it’s up to us.

Ren Jones (01:12):
It’s that time. Welcome to Roadmap, how to take three listings a week until you’re ready for more. Each week we interview a great agent who’s consistently taking several listings each month, and we have an exciting guest today. We encourage you to take notes and apply as much of their knowledge as quickly as you can and then use the copycat principle.

Sarah Close (01:36):
Copycat principle.

Ren Jones (01:37):
Let me introduce, speaking of that, my co-host from beautiful Camp Dennison, Ohio, just outside Cincinnati, where the horses are grazing and the skies are not cloudy all day. Sarah Close. Hi, Sarah.

Sarah Close (01:53):
Thanks for having me. That’s pretty accurate.

Ren Jones (01:56):
You’re welcome. A little bit. I mean Sarah, you have a real estate company in southern Ohio that includes Dayton, Ohio, Westchester, Cincinnati, Northern Kentucky, all through that several million population region, correct?

Sarah Close (02:13):
Yeah, absolutely.

Ren Jones (02:13):
How many agents do you have now?

Sarah Close (02:16):
Across our little regional area, about 560.

Ren Jones (02:20):
560. That’s awesome.

Sarah Close (02:24):
Yeah, it’s a lot of fun. Lot’s of awesome agents.

Ren Jones (02:27):
And Sarah practices, way before we ever started Vulcan7, calls expires for sale by owners around listings and sales and has been doing that for a number of years. What is your goal, your team, what’s the goal for sales this year and are you on track?

Sarah Close (02:46):
Our goal for sales this year is 200 units. We hit that last year and we’re going to be real close this year, so we might still make it.

Ren Jones (02:55):
Good.

Sarah Close (02:55):
Nice. Yeah-

Ren Jones (02:56):
That is awesome. And Sarah is dialing for dollars on most days.

Sarah Close (03:01):
That’s exactly right.

Ren Jones (03:02):
And she is making it happen and she practices the basics, which you can be rich or famous, rich is better.

Sarah Close (03:11):
Yeah. I’ll take rich all day.

Ren Jones (03:12):
There we go. Let me introduce our guest today from the beautiful Los Angeles area, specifically along the beaches, Kathren Hatayama. Hi, Kathren.

Kathren Hatayama (03:23):
Hey, Ren. Thanks for having me here.

Ren Jones (03:25):
Welcome, welcome. We’re thrilled that you’re here. you’ve been on the list for a long time, you just didn’t know it. Because you’re making things happen. So we want to hear what you’re doing, how you’re doing it, and hopefully everybody can learn a few ideas that they can take, and take a few listings next week or this week.

Kathren Hatayama (03:47):
Absolutely.

Ren Jones (03:48):
Or tomorrow.

Sarah Close (03:51):
Or today. It’s only 10:00 AM in LA, so it could happen today.

Ren Jones (03:55):
That’s it.

Kathren Hatayama (03:56):
The day is early, so there’s a lot of possibility. Just got to get on the phone. Really, that’s what it’s all about is getting on the phone, making it happen.

Sarah Close (04:04):
Tell us a little bit about what the anatomy of your day looks like. You’re obviously very listing focused. Take us through a typical day in your world.

Kathren Hatayama (04:13):
Yeah, Sarah, great question. So my whole day is just focused on making money and how do we make money as realtors? Well, we have to prospect. My business is cold calling. I do the neighborhood search. That’s where I really have had a lot of success, so I’m incredibly grateful. And I do the neighborhood search. So I have had a lot of success with that. A lot of people in this marketplace, if you haven’t thought about selling your home in this marketplace, I don’t know. Do you have a brain?

Ren Jones (04:44):
Yeah, breathing.

Kathren Hatayama (04:45):
Honestly, because we’re at such an all time high. We’re at an eight-year-high. We haven’t seen these numbers in 20 years. So I just have a great conversation with all these neighbors and I call them about things that are in escrow and then I get appointments. And they take a little bit more nurturing because they’re not as far down the funnel as day’s expired.

(05:08):
But the great part about it is that it’s my lead only. So I love that. I can choose where I want to work. Los Angeles is huge, so I don’t want to be driving from Manhattan Beach to Hollywood. It could take an hour and a half with this kind of traffic. With this circle dialing with the neighborhood search, I can choose the neighborhood I want to work in, which is awesome. I just love that. I’m beaming at that because it’s all about the commute here and I’ve had a lot of success from it. And again, it’s my lead and my lead only. I believe it’s between the 6th and 12th contact, 80% of sales are made. So it’s all about the follow up game and I’m great at that and I love the fact that nobody else has it. And if I follow up, it’s mine because they’re like my friend at the end of it.

Sarah Close (05:58):
That’s really awesome. So not only is it just your lead, but you didn’t buy it, which is huge. And not all of us have had as much experience as you have with the neighborhood search. Tell us exactly how you use that and then if you would be comfortable, share with us what your follow up plan looks like.

Kathren Hatayama (06:15):
Yeah, absolutely. I was told that every listing should birth you another listing. And I like to challenge people when they tell me one thing or another. So I said, okay, well if that’s true, I’m going to see if this works. So I had a listing in January and it gave me two more within the next month from circle dialing. And I was like, oh my God, I cannot believe that this actually works. This is brilliant. And it’s also, for a lot of people that are watching and who are scared to call these expired listings; I mean, expired listings can be very intimidating; you need a very thick skin, but the neighborhood search, the cold calling is just so easy. They want to know what’s going on in the neighborhood. So I have a immediate success from calling, and I sold a listing from my circle of influence, my sphere, in January. And we had 45 offers and we went 107,000 over the listed price, no appraisal obviously.

Sarah Close (07:14):
Wow.

Kathren Hatayama (07:14):
And I set a huge record, so I called everybody to tell them about it.

Sarah Close (07:18):
That’s awesome.

Kathren Hatayama (07:19):
And not only were they interested, but a lot of the neighbors saw. They physically saw the amount of people that came to the listing. So I think it’s all of those different variables. And then I’m calling them and they’re like, “Oh my gosh, you’re the girl who sold the house at the corner.” And I said, “Yeah, I am. Did you see it?” Oh my gosh, I saw that. How many people? Then I come to their house and then we go from there.

Sarah Close (07:43):
That’s awesome. When you’re calling them, what script are you using or what are you saying with them?

Kathren Hatayama (07:48):
So I’m calling them and I’m saying, “Hi, this is Kathren. I’m a Westchester realtor. I’m working in area, in Los Angeles now called Westchester. So I’m a Westchester realtor. I’m calling about the home on Flight Place. It had a ton of interest, it’s an escrow and I’m calling to see if you would consider selling for a premium right now?”

Sarah Close (08:04):
Awesome.

Kathren Hatayama (08:05):
And then they say yes or no because whatever they’re thinking. And of course they don’t know me, so there might be a little bit of a wall. So say they say no, and I say, “No, I completely understand that, but if you could get way more money for your house now than you ever thought you could, would you at least consider it?” I’ve had lots of reactions from that, “Oh, well, what’s way more or blah blah, blah?” If they give me any kind of little leeway, I’m going for the appointment.

(08:36):
But if it’s continuous, no. Then I go, “No, okay, I understand. I have a lot of people looking in the neighborhood. Has any neighbor mentioned that they want to sell for a premium right now?” So I just keep asking and asking as many questions as I can. And then if it’s another, no, then I go, “No, okay, I get it. The neighbors have me keeping them up to date on the marketplace. What’s a good email address so I can do the same for you?”

Sarah Close (08:59):
That’s great.

Kathren Hatayama (09:00):
So I’m constantly trying my best to get something, even if it’s just an email.

Ren Jones (09:06):
That’s not a yes or no, it’s not like, can I send you an email? It’s, what’s a good email address so I-

Kathren Hatayama (09:11):
I don’t ask permission-

Ren Jones (09:12):
Your assuming the yes, I love it.

Sarah Close (09:17):
Yeah, absolutely awesome.

Ren Jones (09:19):
So you’ve been doing this two years, the first year and only this year you’ve been calling. What are you tracking for? What’s it looking like?

Kathren Hatayama (09:27):
Well, I’ve closed more than 10 million in volume already. So I was tracking to make 180,000 this year, but I made that in June.

Sarah Close (09:38):
Wow.

Ren Jones (09:39):
Okay. So now what are you tracking for?

Kathren Hatayama (09:41):
Yeah, so that kind of threw me off, okay? I’m not going to lie because I was not prepared for that avalanche to come as quickly as it did. So the end of the year goal for me, and I do GCI goals, is 250. And I’m so close to it to be honest with you, obviously. And then next year I’m going to reach for probably 400,000 GCI.

Sarah Close (10:02):
That’s awesome.

Kathren Hatayama (10:04):
And granted the median sales price in Los Angeles is 660,000 including condos. And I’m at a point in my career, I’m not picky. If it’s a $600,000 condo, I’ll take it. If it’s a 5 million house, I’ll take it. I’m not going to not work with somebody. I’m more excited to have the opportunity than to care about the price point. I really am. So.

Ren Jones (10:26):
That is exciting. That is really-

Sarah Close (10:30):
If 600,000 is as bad as it gets, probably going to be just fine.

Ren Jones (10:36):
What’s a commission on 600,000, gross commission, GCI on that?

Kathren Hatayama (10:41):
Well it depends on what. I like to charge. Five and a half percent, sometimes five, whatever’s negotiated. But 600,000 is what? Like 12? 12 ish? 12,000?

Sarah Close (10:53):
18,000 at 3%.

Kathren Hatayama (10:57):
Is that wrong? Oh, I’m sorry, 18,000.

Ren Jones (10:57):
Yeah. Well 18, it’s at 3%. So it would be somewhere around what, 12 to 15 if you’re doing five and a half. All right, when you do five and a half, who keeps what? Oh. Oh, you’re keeping the three. You’re keeping the three.

Kathren Hatayama (11:10):
Yeah, of course.

Ren Jones (11:10):
Okay. So 18. Yeah, got it, love it. Good. So yeah, those little dinky $600,000 houses aren’t so bad.

Sarah Close (11:19):
Nope, not at all. Got to love 3% math. That’s all good stuff.

Ren Jones (11:22):
That’s it.

Sarah Close (11:24):
That’s great. So when you think about doing your calls every day, do you go in with a target of contacts that you would like to make? Or how do you sort of approach your call sessions?

Kathren Hatayama (11:35):
So when I broke it down, my goal was 12 contacts a day, but because I had no business in the beginning, I just was blowing through 2025 because what else am I going to do? So that was originally I think why I exceeded my goal so much by June because I just put the pedal to the metal. I definitely burned out a little bit, which I think is normal. You can’t go from zero to a hundred and not expect some type of repercussions. But now I’m at a contact pool of about 10 a day. And again, I get on the phone, I have an accountability partner, his name is Randy Kelderman, we are on Zoom and we prospect together and we cheer each other on. And the accountability is everything also. If you can find an accountability partner, it’ll just change your business.

(12:23):
So him and I prospect together. His goal, for instance, is 40. Mine is 10 right now. We’re in totally different markets. He’s in Arkansas, I’m in Los Angeles. It’s totally different. So every day I come in and I focus on making at least 10 contacts from dialing. But in addition, my day also consists of taking people out to coffee and networking events and just being involved and constantly having real estate on top of mind. Take 52 has changed my career so much in the sense where everything that you do can be affiliated with real estate. And I really mean that. I walk my dogs every morning and I go into the same cafe every single morning and I met somebody there and we closed about almost 4 million in volume in a month.

Sarah Close (13:11):
That’s a good return on that coffee.

Ren Jones (13:15):
We appreciate, Kathren, you’ve mentioned Take 52 several times. So for those that don’t know, it’s our best practices. That runs several times during the week where everybody gets on and they learn from each other. And one of the things that we drill in is, if you’re not involved with some sort of individual coaching somewhere with some company, that you need to do it. And I understand you did that too. Aren’t you involved in some coaching?

Kathren Hatayama (13:43):
Yes, I am involved in coaching. The accountability is everything. Coaching and everything. Having people in your life that really want you to succeed is really great. I wake up every day and I’m like, okay, I’m going to get on the phone. And I have people relying on me to get on the phone. So people relying on me to make my goals and it’s very, it’s infectious. It’s a great energy. Great energy.

Sarah Close (14:08):
So talk to us about how did you choose your accountability partner and what does that look like with you guys? You say you turn on Zoom. Kind of anatomically, what does your prospecting session look like?

Kathren Hatayama (14:18):
Well, the first thing about your accountability partner is, for instance, for me, I am Zooming with them. Accountability is in all different ways. You can have somebody that you text at the end of the day and say, “Hey, I called for two hours and I made 18 contacts and whatever.” My accountability is having somebody on Zoom. So in my office I have dual screens. One screen is for when I’m calling and the other screen has my Zoom going. So I feel more motivated when I know somebody’s in the trenches with me. Know what I’m saying? You just feel better knowing you’re not alone. And when I have that and I have somebody who’s doing it too, it’s like, oh, this isn’t that bad. What’s so bad about making money?

Sarah Close (15:03):
Yeah, it’s like meeting a friend for a workout.

Kathren Hatayama (15:06):
Exactly. Exactly. They’re waiting for you at the gym, so you better get to the gym.

Sarah Close (15:11):
What do you budget to make your 10 contacts? Generally speaking, how much time are you spending every day doing your lead gen?

Kathren Hatayama (15:19):
Good question. So with the circle dialing, the neighborhood search I’m doing, it’s typically between 8 to 10 contacts an hour, but sometimes it exceeds that. So maybe I’ll call for an hour and a half. If I have more time, I’ll do more. So that’s also the mindset. Well, if I have the time now, I’ll do more.

Sarah Close (15:37):
Sure.

Kathren Hatayama (15:38):
But yeah, so it’s about an hour, hour and a half. It’s nothing.

Sarah Close (15:43):
Yeah. And I’m curious because-

Kathren Hatayama (15:44):
So doable.

Sarah Close (15:45):
… From an expectation standpoint, how many people do you think you have to proactively dial to get 10 contacts? What do you find is kind of your ratio there just from an expectation standpoint?

Kathren Hatayama (15:57):
Oh, that is a good question. To be honest, I actually don’t know. I never track how many dials. All I care about are live answers. So I couldn’t even tell you because I don’t even look at that because to me it doesn’t matter. I need to get somebody who’s got hot breath on the other end for it to count.

Sarah Close (16:16):
That’s funny. That’s all good. So what does your follow up generally look like with the folks that you’ve gotten in contact with and had permission to stay in touch with?

Kathren Hatayama (16:25):
Yeah, so I do a folder for every single month, and actually I’ve gotten to a point where I’m splitting that in half. So based on the conversation and the follow up, I’ll put them in the next month’s folder at either at the beginning of the month or the end of the month. And then at the top of that folder system, I have hot prospects. And these are people that I can tell are really… They’re there, they’re ready to jump in the deep end, they just need to be talked to more and told what’s going on. So I have the hot prospects and I call them at least once a week. And reaching out to them is in all different shapes and forms. If they allow me to text them, I will. I always ask permission. But I’ll call them, leave a voicemail if they don’t pick up, email them if I have their email address. So I touch them in many ways.

(17:14):
And then every time I also have a good conversation with somebody, I write them literally a thank you card with my business card in it. So, “Hey Sarah, such a great conversation. I loved learning about your neighbor at blah, blah, blah. I’m excited for your move to Arkansas. I’m looking forward to interviewing for the job of selling your property when the time is right. Best regards, Catherine.” With my business card in it. So I send about five of those a day.

Sarah Close (17:42):
Oh, that’s great. That’s great. The favorite mail that everyone wants to open is something hand addressed. That’s true.

Kathren Hatayama (17:50):
Yes.

Sarah Close (17:50):
That’s great. Very exciting. Good stuff. Good stuff. So you’ve been at this about a year; when you first got started, talk to us about that transition from your previous profession to what you’re doing now and what did it look like? For someone, maybe they just are newly minted, what advice would you give?

Kathren Hatayama (18:11):
Well, real estate was never something that I actually thought I would pursue as a full-time career. I got licensed and I didn’t do anything for a year. And the year after that I was an unpaid assistant and that was challenging in its own ways. And then I just went out on my own. So I’ve been really just practicing on my own for two years now.

Sarah Close (18:31):
How did you make the transition? And that’s very helpful information you have. Yeah, absolutely.

Kathren Hatayama (18:36):
Right. Okay. So the year before I got into calling, I was getting deals from people I know, my husband’s network of sure people, but it wasn’t predictable and I really disliked that and I thought to myself, I can’t live my life like this. I can’t cross my fingers and sit here and think, I hope I get something this month. That’s not my personality at all. I just can’t. So when I decided to take charge of my business and have more control, I decided to integrate this into my everyday routine. If people have success from it, I don’t care what they they’re doing, I will do exactly what they do. I’m very coachable like that. So repeat and duplicate, that’s all we have to do here. So if this person’s having success, let me just do exactly what they’re doing. Oh, they’re calling people, they’re making their contacts every day, they’re being held accountable, they have coaching? Of course. I mean, all our answers are in front of us. Whether we want to work them and do them is up to us.

Sarah Close (19:39):
Right. No, that’s an excellent point. You talked a lot about your sphere too, as being kind of a second leg of the stool for your business. What types of things are you doing to stay in touch with your sphere and to integrate them into your real estate community?

Kathren Hatayama (19:51):
Yeah, I am part of a book club, which I really enjoy. It’s something that I genuinely like to do. So I am part of a book club where we meet once a month, and so that’s really great. And of course I bring up, does anybody have any real estate needs? I always have that conversation. And then I’m trying to do an event once a month, something fun, a client appreciation event. So I just did last month, a yoga event. I hired a yoga teacher in the park and I had raffle prizes. So I had four raffle prizes, all my past clients came and we did the raffles. And it was such a fun time. I had multiple clients come up to me after and say, “Hey, that was really fun.”

(20:30):
And then I had them all fill out a form to be part of the raffle that says, “Who do you know that I can help?” You’ll get 10 raffle tickets if you write down two people you think I could help: their name, phone number and email address. And so I’m getting leads from my past clients that way of people that I can call from my event and they’re all having a great time. And of course it’s free for them. So.

Ren Jones (20:53):
I got a comment on that because if you’re listening to this, that was such a carefully constructed question: who do you know, not do you know, but who do you know? And then they have to look around their brain for an answer that I can help coming in contribution. It is one of the best designed sentences. Most people don’t do that. They come up and they go, “Well, if you ever know anybody that wants to buy or sell, remember me.” And then they walk away and that doesn’t do any good. And then sometimes they’ll go, “Do you know anybody that wants to buy or sell?” “No.” And that doesn’t work either. But what she said, who do you know that I can help, that is a gem. So thank you for sharing that because it’s huge. That actually works, and works at a high level.

Sarah Close (21:41):
Yeah, excellent point.

Kathren Hatayama (21:42):
The people in your life that love you and that are friends with you and also past clients that you’ve done a really good job with, they want to genuinely help you. They really do. They want you to succeed. So it’s such a great way to also get more business. Oh, hey Sarah, who do you know that I can help? I’m really trying to help four more families by the end of the year. Is there anybody? And then you say, “Anybody at church, anybody at work maybe mention it?” And jog their brain a little bit and then say, “You know what, Sarah, can I rely on you for maybe just one person to refer me by the end of the year? Just one. Do you think that you could do that?” And people are like, “Yeah, absolutely.”

Ren Jones (22:24):
Keep it up. These are high quality, carefully constructed scripts. She isn’t winging it, folks, these are well-designed questions.

Sarah Close (22:32):
I think that’s an excellent point, Ren. Kathren, you’re not winging it, but your tone is so conversational that in this interview I’m like, “Well, I’ll make sure I get your referral.” I’m bought in to what you’re asking of me because you’ve got it so internalized that I am very much at ease with how you’re approaching me. I’m not feeling like you’re coming after me for something. So it’s extremely well done, really.

Ren Jones (22:57):
And when you’re coming in contribution like that, everybody wants to help.

Kathren Hatayama (23:04):
Now they’re looking out for you. And I just want to share this really quick. I have a friend who is one of the people that I kid you not, goes through the recycling at the beach, like the garbage cans for recycling and brings them to the center. And because I walk every morning, I’ve made friends with him. And now he gave me three leads last week.

Sarah Close (23:23):
That’s awesome.

Kathren Hatayama (23:25):
Three. Because I’ve asked him, “Hey, Tim, who do in the neighborhood that might be looking to sell?” “Oh, you know what? I think that blah, blah, blah is looking to sell.” “Oh, awesome.” “Yeah, she’s really great. Kat, I’d love to introduce you to them.” What more can I ask for?

Sarah Close (23:38):
That’s awesome. That is a great example of that, for sure.

Ren Jones (23:41):
How do you avoid the downward spiral that agents get caught in our world? What we find is a lot of agents, they have 8 to 12 people that they’re working with that want to buy a home, and then something comes on, they make an offer, but then they’re only putting down 5% and they have to sell their house first and this, that. And they’re working with basically a lot of buyers that sit on the fence and maybe one or two now and then after a lot of hard work and a lot of contracts written go through because the demand well exceeds the supply. How do you avoid getting caught in that?

Kathren Hatayama (24:12):
So I have a big theory because this year has been a lot of ups and also with that has been downs. New experiences, all of these things. So I have a thing called five second funeral. And if I have a buyer, which again, I don’t even work with that many buyers, but if I do have a buyer that is feeling just discouraged, I’m there for them whatever they need. But my eggs are not all in one basket. I will tell you that much. I am not sitting there thinking, oh, I can’t wait for my next paycheck. That deal’s going to close with this buyer. I am constantly looking for new opportunities.

(24:50):
So if they need to sit on the sidelines, then they need to sit on the sidelines. The last thing I want to do is force somebody to do something. All I can do is consult them and guide them in the best way possible. But at the end of the day, I’m constantly looking for new business. Constantly. I have a pipeline, it’s fat and it’s great, but I’m also continuously filling that pipeline because I don’t want it to dry up.

Ren Jones (25:15):
So when you get bigger, every solution creates a problem. Once you get bigger and you’re taking even more listings and then you have homeless people because they have nowhere to live and you sell four homes and three of those want to buy locally and they want some help, what are you going to do? Are you going to get caught into carrying them around for three weeks and not list property and then go ride the rollercoaster or are you going to have someone you hand some of those buyers to? What are you going to do? What’s the plan?

Kathren Hatayama (25:42):
The plan is to bring on a buyer’s agent so that I can start doing exactly what you said. I think that especially in this market, for instance, and the reality is a lot of people do need to sell to buy, they have a lot of money tied up in their homes. So contingent sales are so difficult that I like to bring somebody in to assist with the buy side the same weekend that I go live with the house. I have a very strategic strategy with listings. I put it on the market on Thursday because a lot of buyers agents plan their days on Friday for the weekend. So it goes live on Thursday. Friday, people are seeing it. People are, “Wow, ooh, we’re going to see this.” And then I have open house on Saturday and Sunday.

(26:21):
I always tell every real estate agent, “Give me your highest and best offer. I do not want to counter. I do not want to counter, not in this market. Put your best foot forward. Everybody that walks through the door, I tell them that.” And then on Monday I review offers with my clients. And Tuesday I like to open escrow. During the time that I’m showing them the house that weekend, I have a buyer’s agent taking them out to see other property. I like taking-

Ren Jones (26:44):
You doing any double sides out of that feeding frenzy?

Kathren Hatayama (26:48):
Oh yeah.

Ren Jones (26:48):
Good. Good.

Kathren Hatayama (26:58):
Oh yeah.

Sarah Close (26:58):
Good for you.

Ren Jones (26:58):
Getting your five and a half.

Kathren Hatayama (26:58):
Yeah.

Sarah Close (26:58):
Good for you. That’s great. That’s really-

Ren Jones (26:59):
That’s a bigger check.

Sarah Close (26:59):
… Strategic.

Ren Jones (27:00):
There you go.

Sarah Close (27:02):
That’s very strategic. Good stuff. So it sounds like everything that you’re doing, you’re thought purposefully about how you want to have that system integrated into your business and it’s scalable, it sounds like. So that’s really phenomenal. It makes a lot of sense to start that way.

Kathren Hatayama (27:17):
Definitely. I think a lot of realtors’ personalities have a hard time giving up control, but when you’re growing at an exponential rate, you need to get comfortable with it. So as much as I want to show them houses and sell their house at the same time, it’s not physically possible. So I think that a part of being a real estate agent is growing and growing your business. And that also looks like hiring people.

Sarah Close (27:43):
Absolutely.

Kathren Hatayama (27:44):
It’s scary, but it’s the reality. If you want to get bigger, you have to do it.

Ren Jones (27:51):
You got people working for you, handling pushing the papers and ordering termite reports and lining up inspections and things like that. You have that?

Kathren Hatayama (27:58):
Absolutely, I have a transaction coordinator for every single deal that I do that I trust that has done many of my transactions. I have a virtual assistant and I have a buyer’s agent that I’m working with. So I’m-

Ren Jones (28:11):
You’re strong in the area of delegation. That is a tough thing for a lot of agents. They don’t want to let go and they end up making a third as much because they feel like they have to touch everything.

Kathren Hatayama (28:21):
Yeah.

Ren Jones (28:22):
How do you get into the mindset of delegating?

Kathren Hatayama (28:26):
Because I want to get bigger, and I know that you cannot grow to where I want to go. I want to get incredibly big. I want to get to a point where I am bringing in a million GCI and that is, of course I am. No big deal.

Ren Jones (28:40):
Well, that’s not many houses where you live.

Kathren Hatayama (28:45):
Either I need to up my price point or I need to do more transactions.

Ren Jones (28:53):
And I think to be fair, somewhere there’s a 2,000,000 and two and a half and three in GCI in there, isn’t there? To be realistic where you are?

Kathren Hatayama (29:01):
Absolutely.

Ren Jones (29:02):
I mean, you’re not in Iowa.

Kathren Hatayama (29:06):
Absolutely. And the sky’s the limit, which is the best thing about this job as a real estate agent. However hard you work is what you get back. I love the fact, if I want to take it slow, I can take it slow. If I want to really ramp it up, I can really ramp it up. It just is, where do I want to be? What do I want to do? How does my business want to look? Well, let’s figure that out. If I want to make that much money, there’s a way.

Ren Jones (29:34):
Your mindset is infectious, obviously. So what are you putting in to ’cause all this output that Sarah and I are watching here?

Kathren Hatayama (29:46):
This takes a lot of training, but I have had a gratitude journal that I started in January 2019. Every single morning I write down what I’m grateful for. It could be for something so stupid. It could be I got a good parking spot; it’s something stupid. But I always write what I’m grateful for. And then I always write my income goal. So I think, and I truly believe that I wrote down 180, 180,000 from January to June. And I honestly believe it had a lot to do with the… Because I made exactly that as of June.

Ren Jones (30:23):
Well, add a zero.

Kathren Hatayama (30:26):
Yeah,

Sarah Close (30:27):
That’s right. You hang around Ren a whole lot, you’ll be adding zeros. That’s for darn sure.

Ren Jones (30:32):
Yeah, this is exciting. She’s got this thing figured out. And a lot of people struggle with mindset. In the morning they’re watching CNN and they’re starting their day yelling at people and whatnot and listening to things, and then they think they’re going to go look for new business. So I mean, you’re putting in a lot of good stuff and gratitude probably is the highest thing on the list that you can…

Kathren Hatayama (30:55):
I don’t watch the news. I don’t. And you know what? I’ve noticed that a lot of successful people don’t. I don’t want to start my day like that. I wake up every day excited and full of energy. I really do-

Ren Jones (31:12):
And you’re walking along the beach, how bad is that?

Kathren Hatayama (31:15):
I do. With a coffee and my dogs and the sun is rising and I’ve met such great people just doing that. Just walking in the morning I’ve met people and closed transactions. It’s unbelievable. Business is everywhere. Business is everywhere.

Ren Jones (31:31):
In real estate, for darn sure.

Sarah Close (31:33):
That’s exactly right.

Ren Jones (31:33):
Good for you.

Sarah Close (31:34):
Talk to us a little bit about what you do for your energy. So you get up, you take your dogs out, you’ve got the sun and the glorious ocean. You’ve got a ton of energy and obviously that helps people. You’re a huge attractor. What are you doing to take care of yourself so that you are growing this empire and you’ve got your health to go along with it to enjoy it? What do you do when you’re not selling real estate?

Kathren Hatayama (31:57):
So I do an hour walk every single morning. I think it’s more for me than it’s even for my dogs, honestly, at this point. I drink wheatgrass with my breakfast every single morning. I don’t know if that really gives you energy, but I feel good after I do it.

Ren Jones (32:10):
It makes your Cheerios green, that’s for sure.

Sarah Close (32:14):
That’s awesome. It’s really energizing to talk with someone who has complete ownership of what they’re doing. I mean, I feel better than I did now than when we first started talking. You have such a great energy. It’s such a pleasure. It’s really fun. I see why your clients love you. So.

Ren Jones (32:31):
And folks, what you want to do is take this show and then every morning, watch it or li listen to it while you’re in your morning routine. And she will get you in the right place in your head.

Sarah Close (32:43):
That’s all it’s about. Great.

Kathren Hatayama (32:45):
Definitely.

Ren Jones (32:45):
This is a good mindset to nurture, the gratitude.

Sarah Close (32:50):
Absolutely.

Ren Jones (32:50):
Gratitude. Good deal.

Sarah Close (32:52):
Skip the green Cheerios part. I’m saying no to green Cheerios.

Ren Jones (32:59):
But to think how powerful that is, green Cheerios with wheatgrass.

Sarah Close (33:02):
Oh, it’s so bad.

Ren Jones (33:05):
Oh, it might be really good.

Sarah Close (33:07):
I don’t know, Ren.

Ren Jones (33:08):
Might be delicious.

Sarah Close (33:08):
We’ll have to talk about that.

Ren Jones (33:09):
Well, look how much money she’s making. Look how well it works. I think you should try it.

Sarah Close (33:15):
That’s all good. I’ll keep mine in a glass.

Ren Jones (33:18):
It’s working. It’s working.

Sarah Close (33:20):
That’s good stuff.

Ren Jones (33:21):
This has been a wonderful show. We have learned a lot. I think this is something that can help a lot of people out there get a good start. Thank you for the endorsement of Take 52. We want people to get involved. This gets them started and then they can start writing a check out and have a one-on-one coach from any company. There are a lot of major coaching companies where somebody work with you, hold you accountable, and push you north. That’s the whole purpose of Take 52, is to get people started, take a few listings, and then have somebody who is working with them. I have four coaches I pay a thousand dollars a month. Four, and I can take it to the bank. So I’m a big believer. Thank you for being in Take 52, glad you’re in coaching, glad you’re on this show, and I’m glad you love our neighborhood search. We appreciate that a lot.

Kathren Hatayama (34:12):
Yes, I do.

Ren Jones (34:12):
Good.

Sarah Close (34:12):
Absolutely. Kat, it’s been an awesome pleasure. Thank you so much.

Kathren Hatayama (34:16):
Thank you both so much. I love being able to share everything. As you can see, I’m so passionate about growing business and doing well and succeeding. So I hope that somebody out there has felt a little bit more inspired just from this conversation.

Ren Jones (34:33):
Well, speaking of that, what’s the best way for them to reach you if they have a referral? Because a lot of people refer to Los Angeles, people moving in, people moving out. So what is the best way for them to reach you? And I warn you, you will hear from a lot of people.

Kathren Hatayama (34:49):
Well, that’s fantastic. So just call me (424) 298-0616 or text, whatever’s easiest for you. I always have my phone on me. I’m not going to lie. I’m pretty connected to it. And I would be honored to help anybody coming to Los Angeles or leaving Los Angeles, whatever, would love to help. So.

Sarah Close (35:09):
Thank you again. It’s been an absolute pleasure. Enjoy the rest of your day. You’ll probably take a listing today.

Kathren Hatayama (35:15):
Thanks.

Ren Jones (35:17):
I want to thank everybody for being here. We’ll be back next week with another exciting guest. And thanks everybody. Thanks Sarah.

Sarah Close (35:26):
Thank you. It’s been a lot of fun.

Ren Jones (35:28):
Thanks, Kathren.

Kathren Hatayama (35:29):
Thank you.

Ren Jones (35:30):
Bye everybody.