Khalil El-Ghoul

What people don’t admit is that sellers actually want their agent to be a little ruthless or unscrupulous . Everyone loves mocking Realtors online but when it’s their house, that represents most of their wealth, they want a shark in their corner squeezing every dollar out of their home. In theory people want fairness but not when it’s their money on the line.

Housing demand in our market is surging (DC suburbs), unlike anything I've seen since COVID. Any agent advising a seller to avoid the open market and instead go "private exclusive" is criminal.

Israel’s military said Wednesday that the ceasefire was back on in Gaza after it killed 104 people, including 46 children, according to local health officials. 46 CHILDREN!!! Are these not war crimes?

The Buyers Market that Doesn't Feel Like One linkedin.com/pulse/buyers-m…

@gregrobertson Welcome to the club :)

Looks like Robert Reffkin has blocked me on Instagram and LinkedIn. #thuglife

@AdvisorJohn Good = Not Overpriced

“I hear inventory is higher but there really isn’t anything good on the market in my desired area.” This is a common thing I’m hearing these days. I’m going to research quality and location of this push higher in inventory to see if it’s geographically centered in undesirable areas…that would change the negative housing narrative if they are. Maybe we back to sellers squatting until the spring in desirable regions??

We just posted an interview @krystalball and I did with Dr Mo and my god. No words. Really a must listen. Please share this because @elonmusk makes it impossible to share links but if enough people share it sometimes it breaks through the suppression youtu.be/yqLCW7EjwyI?si…

New direct mail for a listing that took 6 months to sell…leaning into the DOM :)

The “private exclusive/off-market” pitch works. Sellers eat it up. Twice recently I had to play along because other agents got them excited. One listing got an early offer and the seller was thrilled. I said wait. We went public and sold $50k over asking. Last week I tried calling it out as the scam it is and no surprise I did not get the listing.

@SactoGeoff They missed the point IMO, they saw bad branding whereas I see bad business.

@khalil_knows “Somebody” was 1000Watt a branding agency with some damn good ideas. To highlight the point that this sign is nonsensical. Co-listing, sure. Even that confuses people. The bottom name, nonsensical.

Someone posted this image on LinkedIn about branding, but missed the main point: it’s about ego, credit, and optics. The team lead seeks name recognition to boost production, win awards, and appear dominant. Team members use the brand to hide their inexperience. Everyone claims credit for sales, earned or not. Real estate teams’ business model misleads and operates opaquely, as this sign clearly shows. I suspect Cole is a new(er) agent that walked away with maybe 30-50% of the commission.

@thebeltwayagent I disagree...boomers love working with the "Neighborhood Expert" or teams that target their community. Some teams dominate their market based solely on name recognition.

@khalil_knows How much do you think team brands even matter at this point? How many people off the street could name a team brand? It’s all just buying leads + SEO.

The problem lies in the third agent, often new or inexperienced, leveraging their reputation and skills independently. Sellers contact the local team but are greeted by someone other than the lead, using scripts and tactics to secure the deal. This model creates bloat and increases costs & inconsistency, though service quality may not decrease.

@khalil_knows I dont know the 3rd agent on the bottom but the top 2 are absolute pros and work as a partnership. Very good LA's

@ethanflynncpa @LinkedIn Thanks!

@khalil_knows @LinkedIn Way to go!

Fifteen years ago I looked around the real estate industry and realized there wasn’t a place where I fit. So I built it: linkedin.com/pulse/15-years… via @LinkedIn

@AdvisorJohn Thanks John! I appreciate the support :)

The last part of this article is why I believe consolidation in the industry will lead to higher and higher costs, despite what many say. Small, nimble, high touch, high service will continue to prevail. Great job, Khalil!

@AImortgages @AdvisorJohn It’s true. However I do have a service department

@khalil_knows @AdvisorJohn “I’m in sales, not service” is a great line

Here's an observation, and hopefully a thought-provoking post encouraging comments and ideas to help experienced LO pros to regrow their business. "Selling" is so much more important than being the best at any craft. In fact, you can pretty much suck at your craft, be in the bottom 25%, and still outperform "the best." All you need is confidence...and the ability to "fake it, 'til you make it." At least, that's what I continue to see in the mortgage business. Many amazing, experienced, super-bright, LOs stuck saying, "How is that guy getting business and I'm struggling? He/She's awful. Underwriting hates them, mgmt is always fixing their mistakes, processors can't stand working on their files...but they keep originating more loans than me." It's a sad reality. My advice for those old-timers who find themselves in this position is to find ways of bragging about yourself that don't make you feel like a cocky slimeball. Trust me when I say those other LOs who can't shine your shoes, they shout from the rooftops how wonderful they are, how amazing they are, how they are the best...they ooze false confidence from their pores, and people fall for it. I find myself in this camp from time-to-time. I haven't sold myself, my skill, my way of doing business, in many years. I have been living off relationships formed 10-15 years ago. Those relationships are transitioning in life and business, with many scaling back, some retiring, and some hiring buyer's agents who are 20 years younger, running in different circles and selling to different people. All of this impacts my personal business and production. Last night, at an event, I tried the below twice: I just said, "You know, I'm not good at bragging about myself like all these younger LOs. I'm curious if that really works. Meaning, if I told you I've been a top loan officer for 25 years, I've trained and coached more $50M-$100M than most anyone in the area, and I'm the go-to problem solver in our company because my brain is like an underwriting guideline trap, would that impress you and make you want to meet up to discuss business? I just struggle with that kind of stuff because it just doesn't fit my personality." I found it to be a good bridge between being curious, trying to be humble but then to brag about myself. It worked pretty well...the convo moved in many directions. We talked about how hard it is to show your real value without sounding egotistical, we discussed stories of rocky closings due to falling for the "I'm the best, everything will be fine, the answer to all your questions will be yes" guy. I'm curious, what other ways do you think you can convey the same message?

@thebeltwayagent About 90% of real estate training is all about misleading clients. It’s crazy

So much of what counts for real estate advice (even reputable people) either assumes sellers are total morons or old people you can take advantage of, or ideally both.

I have three listings in DC and one upcoming, mostly from sellers who bought in NoVA. While I agree it's not automatically a net negative, from a seller's perspective, the uncertainty and optics shouldn't be underestimated. The narrative can affect out of town buyers, who may not take the new job or may choose the suburbs instead.

Four pre-approval calls today in Washington, DC. In every call, we talked about the new initiative by the administration to tackle crime. In every single case, they were more excited to buy a home. One person mentioned a friend said, "Why wouldn't you wait? Prices will definitely drop now because nobody wants this, and demand will crater." The people saying that are delusional. Their TDS has blinded them to the real concerns of local residents who live in parts of the city that taste the crime, especially with the massive groups of unruly kids. I've been saying for a couple of months now, DC housing is bottoming right now...I am very optimistic from here! Headwinds are becoming tailwinds. Crime, Work-from-Home, DOGE effects (or lack thereof), Rates...everything moving in favor of DC expansion once again...