subject: Metro Brokers Top Producer Agent Joe Powers [print this page] Interviewer: Hi, I'm Kathy Soltero with Metro Brokers TV. Today we are very fortunate to have in the studio with us some of our top producers with Metro Brokers and today we have Joe Powers. Joe, in the last four to five months, you have done $36 million with Metro Brokers and that's just about as much you did with your previous office. Tell us, how do you do it?
Joe Powers: You know, we do lot of property management, a lot of government sales, first time buyers. We just got into property management, which is one of the reasons we had left the outfit we were at prior to coming over to Metro Brokers and we've been able to scale our business back to where, you know, we are more profitable and more capable at Metro Brokers.
Interviewer: Tell me little bit about your real estate career. How long have you been in the business and where have you been?
Joe Powers: Well, I started out actually on the property management side, you know, at the end of my college career, and about three years after that, I came back, got licensed in Colorado in '03, and was at RE/MAX until about the end of last year, so I have been in, roughly, about 10 years in real estate. I've always been real into the technology so, given the amount of the technology has changed and since I got into to real estate, you know, almost ten-fold. I think Metro Brokers offers a lot of that, you know, almost free of cost to the broker, you know, a lot of other bigger franchises say they offer all of the technology, you end up paying for it in the end, though.
Interviewer: That's right. Tell me about where you've been before and how does that compare to where you are now?
Joe Powers: We've got lot more freedom where we're at now. We were with RE/MAX prior to this and, you know, it's not always about the money and the desk fee, you know, when you are doing a lot of volume, you can afford, you know, the $10 to $15,000 a year write off for your office space and your corporate desk fee, but you don't have the freedom that you get with Metro Brokers and it's cheaper with all of the a la carte things that come along with it, so the freedom really to do, you know, the property management pieces like that, along with your regular real estate business. It's really a good fit for us.
Interviewer: Tell me about your office location and what do you specialize in?
Joe Powers: We specialize in, you know, first time buyers, low income, government-subsidized properties, and we also have gotten into property management. That was the main reason we chose our Denver Uptown location. We're two blocks from the Capitol in Denver, around 1225 Logan Street. We're going to homestead that area and farm the Uptown/Capitol Hill area for property management.
Interviewer: Do you think you could share with us some of your secrets? What has made you so successful in your business, do you think?
Joe Powers: You know, we have been successful because we work hard, mainly, you know. A lot of it is who you know and what you know, so we have had some good relationships that we've been able to foster, you know, for the last seven to 10 years. They have been very nice for us.
Interviewer: You have also specialized, you said, in the government properties, being the HUDs. Explain that little bit and maybe some possible changes or something that's coming up?
Joe Powers: You know, HUD, we've had a contract with the asset management for HUD for about five years and they are going to start renewing those across the country. We don't know exactly what it all is going to entail, but we hope we are involved again.
Interviewer: And it's really has been big part of your business then, right?
Joe Powers: It has, you know. We specialize more in buyer sales than we do on the government listing sides. It's been a good, you know, part of our business and we also do manage a lot of bank properties, probably about as equally as much as we do HUDs, so that part of our business has been a great income provider for us, but we do cater to the first time buyer and, you know, and investors.
Interviewer: It's a huge part of our industry right now, so tapping into that really makes it a big benefit for realtors.
Joe Powers: Yeah, and it will be interesting to see with, you know, all of the new government programs for work outs and modifications, what happens to that type of business, you know. As long as you can stay ahead of the market and evolve, and know where that's going, hopefully you can capitalize on, you know, the next wave of income.
Interviewer: All right, Joe. Thank you very much for joining us here on Metro Brokers TV. Congratulations, too, for being one of our top producers.
Joe Powers: Yeah, thank you.
Interviewer: All right and thank you very much for watching Metro Brokers TV. For more real estate videos, be sure to tune in.
