Latest / NOISE vs SIGNAL by Inman / Building Beyond the Closing Table with SERHANT. Naples Founders Matt and Megan Chionis

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Building Beyond the Closing Table with SERHANT. Naples Founders Matt and Megan Chionis · NOISE vs SIGNAL by Inman

0:00
I am Tom Bohn, CEO of Inman, and I could not
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be more excited to have my guests here today
0:04
from Serhant, Matt, and Megan Chionis. They have
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an incredible story to tell. Never were in real
0:11
estate, yet. grew to the 1 % group here in Naples,
0:15
Florida. They are an incredible husband and wife
0:18
team. They have a compelling story, including
0:21
late night texts from Ryan Serhant. Lofty turns
0:42
every agent into a top producer. Visit lofty
0:45
.com to see how agentic AI can put your business
0:49
growth on autopilot. Everybody in the business
0:52
of home has a pitch. Almost nobody gets asked
0:55
a hard question. This show fixes that. Welcome
0:58
to Noise vs. Signal. I'm your host, Inman CEO
1:02
Tom Bond. Each week we sit down with the top
1:05
producing agents, industry CEOs, prop tech founders,
1:08
and the people shaping the future of the business
1:11
of home. Then we break down the week's biggest
1:14
headlines and decide what's noise and what's
1:17
signal. Let's get into it. I want to hear what
1:21
you did before, because I actually think it's
1:23
incredible kind of what you used to do and how
1:25
that ties into your success as realtors, particularly
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in this luxury market. So Matt, why don't you
1:31
start? Sure. Prior to real estate, you know,
1:33
we weren't second generation agents. We're not
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anything we said, this is the plan A or plan
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B. And it's not something we fell into either.
1:41
So prior to real estate, we were downtown Chicago,
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pre -kid. So we were fun back then, we say, but
1:47
had a medical consulting firm. Megan and I built
1:49
from the ground up, work with medical offices,
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wellness offices, fitness centers, et cetera,
1:55
and helping them shift to a wellness model. So
1:57
we would go in and help them make that transition
1:59
into wellness, not just maybe a sickness model.
2:01
as we'd call it. And big companies started playing
2:05
in that sandbox and Megan and I, while it was
2:07
a very successful company. big company started
2:10
coming into a sandbox and we said okay it's time
2:12
to make a shift you read the room and and see
2:14
what's next so we had a nice exit from that nothing
2:16
major i was one of those companies that we didn't
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start with the end in mind and we learned from
2:21
that but had an exit and then said what is the
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next challenge for us and real estate was always
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a passion for ours and so we said let's launch
2:28
our real estate brand let's move from downtown
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chicago let's move to naples and we said let's
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approach real estate not like a realtor Let's
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approach it like a consultant. You are, in your
2:39
previous role, you were speaking to rooms of
2:40
8 ,000 plus people. Is that different now than
2:44
kind of meeting with luxury sellers, talking
2:48
to them individually, or those transferable skills?
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I would say the public speaking really wasn't
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as much of a transferable skill. We're very operationally
2:56
minded, and that was what we would speak on.
2:58
I'm not a motivational guy by any stretch of
3:01
the imagination. I'm very, here's how it's done,
3:03
and let's get it done. So with public speaking,
3:06
it was great experience and being in stadiums.
3:09
And I think really it was the personal relationships
3:11
that translated the most with very successful
3:14
physicians, surgeons, people with huge fitness
3:17
companies and really being around that clientele
3:19
and then the clientele they serve. So when you're
3:22
working with a plastic surgeon who is operating
3:24
on executives or the fitness that you have to
3:27
have a certain net worth to even get in the door
3:28
to be his client, his or her client. That is
3:31
really the thing that translated the most was
3:33
those kinds of relationships and how to treat
3:35
those clients. Why Naples? I'm going to let you
3:39
go with this one. Yeah. Tell me, Megan, of all
3:42
the places you could have picked coming from
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Chicago. It honestly, it truly was a flip of
3:47
the coin. We said, you know, okay, we wanted
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to move out of the city. We really didn't want
3:50
to go to the suburbs of Chicago. And so it came
3:54
down to Dallas or Naples. And one day I'd say,
3:58
let's move to Naples. And Matt would say, no,
3:59
let's move to Dallas. And then I'd wake up and
4:01
say, okay, let's go to Dallas. And then he's
4:02
like, no, I changed my mind. Let's go to Naples.
4:04
And so finally one night we flipped a coin. We
4:07
landed on, I don't know if it was heads Naples,
4:09
tails Naples. Packed up a moving truck and here
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we are. What's crazy about your story to me is
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that you don't have a real estate background
4:17
before you started this. But in 2023, you did
4:21
33 million. I mean, that's insane. Thank you.
4:25
Like, how do you just drop in and then you become
4:27
one of the tips of the spear for Surhant in Naples?
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I mean, did you manifest this? How does this
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happen? I mean, truly, because it's not easy,
4:39
especially in this day and age, to become a realtor,
4:42
to get started, and to really try to develop
4:44
the types of relationships you've developed.
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Like, what does that look like? you know we started
4:48
with the brand first and at the end of the day
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this business is about people you know there
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are people that are market experts which you
4:55
absolutely need market knowledge i don't want
4:57
that to get misconstrued but money comes from
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people the business is with people and if you
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can treat people well the business will follow
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and so we started with our brand and with people
5:07
and so when we evaluated the market We actually,
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real estate, we said, I think we can really bring
5:12
this to the next level and really elevate the
5:15
experience people have here. So that was where
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it started. And the concierge concept was started
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during Irma, right? We were displaced. We were
5:24
in Tampa. Yeah, we were in Tampa. We didn't have
5:27
power in Naples. And so we just were up there
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and had time to kind of think and look at the
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water. And we said, okay, how are we going to
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be different? Because there's, at that time,
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there were over 6 ,000 agents in Naples. Now
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there's over 8 ,000. Obviously in Lee County,
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there's a lot, a lot, a lot as well as an understatement.
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And so we just said, how are we going to stand
5:44
out? Because we're very competitive. when people
5:48
were actually talking us out of doing real estate
5:50
here. They were. People were actually saying
5:52
to you, don't do it. Do not do it. How are you
5:55
going to stand out? There's so many agents. And
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we're very competitive. So we just said, look,
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the cream will rise to the top. And we're just
6:01
going to outwork everybody. We get up earlier.
6:02
We work later. And let's be different. Let's
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provide a different level of service. And that's
6:08
what happened with it. So it led with the brand.
6:11
And then the brand drove our success. And your
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brand was something completely different up until
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about how long ago? The brand was pretty much
6:22
the same. Not so much brokerage, but yeah, the
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brand itself. Right. You too as a brand, but
6:26
the brokerage was completely different. Correct.
6:27
So you come down to Florida, never been in real
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estate. Let's replay this whole story because
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this is why it's such a good story. You come
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down to Florida. You've never been involved in
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real estate. Okay. You have a hurricane. You
6:42
get displaced. And in 2023, you still do $33
6:45
million. I mean, that's baller. Do you understand
6:49
that this is why I wanted to have this conversation
6:52
with you guys? So walk me through that. You start
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with a group here. You become one of the top
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teams in Naples. And all of a sudden, and Megan,
7:01
you have to tell this story because you told
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it to me at lunch and I thought it was absolutely
7:04
hysterical. You now start to get, he's out of
7:07
the country. Let me set this premise here. He's
7:10
out of the country and you're getting these random
7:13
texts and stuff. And talk to me through the origin
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story of... Jumping on to the Surhand platform.
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So we weren't looking to leave our brokerage.
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We were at the top there. We were comfortable.
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And we saw the changes from... everything from
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NAR to AI to just a lot of things that were going
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to be changing the industry. And we knew that
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we were going to have to adapt to that in some
7:42
way, shape, or form, whether it was on our own,
7:44
with our brokerage, third party at all. And that
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kind of led us to, we somehow got onto Serhant's
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radar. we kind of figured, you know, who doesn't
7:55
want to be in the Naples market? It's a luxury
7:57
market. It's, you know, everybody wants to be
7:59
here. Everybody wants to live here. So we got
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a message from Sir Hand. and Matt very eloquently
8:06
said, no, no thank you. So who did you get an
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email from? So we got an email from Ryan, and
8:11
then we got an email from the VP of security.
8:13
Was it actually from Ryan? I assume so, yes.
8:17
Though I would speculate. So yeah, so we got
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an email. You said no. You said no to Ryan Serhant.
8:21
I did not say, let that be on record. I did not
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say no. I said no. Matt said no. Matt, Matt,
8:28
let that be on record. Matt said no. Okay, you
8:32
told Ryan Serhant, TV celebrity, you know, all
8:35
over the place. No. No. Thanks, but no thanks.
8:38
Okay. And what was the reason initially? Yes,
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he did say no thank you. Yeah. I was politically
8:42
correct about it. I think I did make a comment
8:45
of like, hey, you're a celebrity brand. That
8:47
was really recent. You're a celebrity brand.
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That doesn't resonate with our market. I wish
8:51
you all the best. And I'm pretty sure I said
8:53
something about like, this is probably not going
8:54
to work here. I'm pretty sure I said something.
8:56
Wow. It was just like a, nope, no thank you.
8:59
That was that. And Ryan was offended. He walked
9:02
away. What did he do? I don't think that he responded.
9:06
No. The VP, you know, kept saying, you know,
9:09
let's just set up a Zoom. Let's just meet. Let
9:11
me just present. Right. Let me present what I
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want to present. So a little bit of time went
9:17
by, not very much. And I believe that Ryan, yes,
9:21
Ryan was international. And I got a text at a
9:23
very odd hour. And it started with. And Matt's
9:26
out of the country. Ryan was out of the country.
9:29
Oh, Ryan was out of the country. He was out of
9:30
the country, hence the odd time that I received
9:32
the text. So you're getting late night texts
9:34
from Ryan Serhant. From Ryan Serhant. The text
9:37
said, it opened with, hi, this is Ryan Serhant.
9:40
Well, I'm sorry. Anybody in their right mind
9:43
would say, that's probably spam, something auto.
9:48
There's just no way that Ryan Serhant's just
9:50
casually texting people on his cell phone. So
9:54
I... press the little button that's report to
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spam and then it comes up. So you reported Ryan.
10:01
That's awesome. I hope he didn't miss any deals
10:03
from that. Sorry, Ryan. You know, so whatever,
10:08
you know, spam, unsubscribe me. Let's move on.
10:12
And then the VP of growth reached out again and
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said, you know, hey, can you at least just respond
10:19
to Ryan? You know, kind of can you have. better
10:21
manners and actually respond. And I had an oh,
10:24
S -H -I -T moment. Yeah, yeah. You're allowed
10:27
to say it. Okay, I had an oh shit moment. Yeah,
10:29
yeah, yeah. We have a three -year -old, so we
10:31
spell a lot. Yeah. Which he's going to probably
10:33
learn to spell faster than we want. So yes, I
10:35
had an oh my God moment. I blocked Ryan Serhant
10:38
and I look like I'm really rude because I didn't
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respond to him. So anyways. we i unblocked him
10:44
we sat down on a zoom with the vp of growth and
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you know he said give me 30 minutes okay we can
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give anyone 30 minutes you know if they if they
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give us some value absolutely we sat on a zoom
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with him and i would say within five ish minute
10:59
we were just blown away and said if this is real
11:02
even to a fraction of it this is exactly what
11:07
we were looking for in light of all the changes
11:10
coming to the industry and so this is our business.
11:14
This is how we pay our bills. This is how we
11:16
pay for our child. And so we said, if we are
11:19
going to make this transition, if we are going
11:21
to take on this role and this responsibility,
11:23
we need to fly out and see it for ourselves.
11:26
Kind of like Matt says, take a peek behind the
11:27
curtain. So we flew out to Soho incognito. And
11:31
that's actually, I will tell that story now.
11:34
Is there a costume here? There should have been.
11:37
So obviously we were still with our brokerage.
11:39
We went out there. They were having one of their
11:41
sales huddles, their company sales huddles. And
11:44
they let us sit in on it, which I thought was
11:46
really great. We don't belong to this brokerage,
11:49
but you're letting us sit in. It's kind of war
11:51
room style. Here's what's going on. Here's what
11:53
we're seeing. Here's what we're doing. Here's
11:54
how we're leading. And then that also just happened
11:57
to fall. on the season premiere party for Owning
12:00
Manhattan season one. And so they invited us
12:03
to that, to the VIP red carpet. It was quite
12:05
an experience. So during the sales meeting, there
12:10
was obviously hundreds of people in the SoHo
12:13
office, and there wasn't a lot of seating area.
12:16
And so we finally spotted a window that had a
12:18
pretty substantial ledge. And one of the corporate
12:23
employees said, hey, go grab those seats so that
12:25
you guys can sit comfortably. unbeknownst to
12:29
us though we should have known because again
12:30
Serhant is such a social media brand that there
12:34
would be recordings and social media posts of
12:38
this sales huddle from Serhant's main page to
12:42
the state pages to the agents to what have you
12:46
We were seated directly behind Ryan Serhant as
12:49
he's talking. So we were on probably hundreds
12:52
of Instagram stories while we were there incognito.
12:55
And this is all being sent back to Naples and
12:57
people are saying it. Okay. Yes. Why are Matt
13:01
and Megan there? Why are Matt and Megan there?
13:02
So anyway. We can never be spies. Then we had
13:07
no choice. We had to join. But Ryan was very
13:11
gracious while we were there. He sat down with
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us, and he just leveled with us. I'm good at
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what I do. You guys are great at what you do.
13:18
And putting those two things together, you guys
13:20
will absolutely grow your business exponentially,
13:23
more so than what you guys can do on your own.
13:26
And Matt's not easy to impress, and he was very
13:29
impressed. I'm very skeptical. And I felt...
13:33
Ryan's confidence in it. And so we said, okay,
13:35
you know, we obviously we prayed about it. We
13:37
didn't just say, okay, you know, we prayed about
13:39
it. We thought about it. And, you know, we said,
13:40
obviously this opportunity came in such an odd
13:42
way. We weren't looking for it. You know. It's
13:48
meant to be. Here we are. So I think what's what
13:50
is really telling to me on that story is the
13:53
fact that, you know, someone like Ryan, who does
13:56
get that criticism occasionally about being the
13:58
celebrity realtor. And I think the thing that
14:00
I've found out in working with his teams and
14:03
talking to him is that he is incredibly hands
14:06
on. and very involved in the business. And the
14:09
fact that he would take that time and be recruiting
14:11
and see that value in you guys, that is a very
14:15
personal, bespoke type of process that you wouldn't
14:18
necessarily see with a lot of people like that.
14:20
So I think that's fairly impressive. Did that
14:22
impress you guys? The intentionality, I think,
14:26
was there. And when you see, we spent a lot of
14:28
time with Ryan subsequent to that, launching
14:30
a new building and cars on fifth, doing an event
14:32
with him. And we rented a Mercedes Sprinter van
14:36
because we were driving so much. We had a chef
14:37
on board. When you spend like 10 hours literally
14:41
with someone and you watch your CEO grinding
14:44
right in front of you, we'd have fun conversations.
14:46
And then it was a... He'd be grinding. We got
14:49
a call from someone looking at a list and we
14:51
high -fived in the car and he's like, why haven't
14:53
you called them back yet? And it was like, when
14:56
you see your leader doing that, that was huge
14:59
for us. And the fact that they don't expand like
15:02
other larger brokerages do with whoever has some
15:05
pockets can do it. And this is very, they're
15:08
intentional about where they go, who they select.
15:11
We know agents in other markets they've talked
15:13
to, they said, nope, that's not the right fit
15:14
for us. Maybe they have great numbers, but maybe
15:18
the business acumen isn't where it needs to be
15:19
or the personality or they have an ego. And so
15:22
watching that intentionality has really been
15:24
big for us to say, OK, this is not they're just
15:27
going to grow where they want to grow. It's a
15:28
here's where we want to grow. I love that. And
15:31
I think one of the things that I also we mentioned
15:34
teased earlier was the fact that. What attracted
15:38
Serhant to you all is this whole concept that
15:41
you have about most agents disappear after the
15:44
closing. And I love the comment that you shared
15:47
with me, which is you feel like your job begins.
15:51
when you close. And you've really brought to
15:53
bear this whole concierge type of concept and
15:56
this consultative concept and really bringing
15:59
to bear resources around your buyers or your
16:02
sellers. And talk to me about that. I mean, there
16:04
was even a story, Matt, about getting this super
16:08
car into someone's driveway. So tell me a little
16:10
bit about what that concierge approach looks
16:12
like and how it's distinguished you all. Yeah,
16:15
it started with that being our brand and how
16:17
we're different. And that is a big part of Your
16:20
branding is what aligns with who you are and
16:23
also then price point and geographic area. And
16:25
that's a whole other branding discussion. But
16:27
yeah, we said we feel that the people we want
16:30
to serve deserve the next level of service. And
16:33
so many agents do disappear right after the close.
16:36
And we know agents who literally block people.
16:38
I don't know. That does not make sense to me.
16:40
But they will block someone after it because
16:42
they don't want to get the calls afterwards and
16:44
other things you need. We said, let's continue
16:47
the service. Is that why my realtor won't call
16:48
me back? No, I'm kidding. I'm kidding. We're
16:53
all blocking people here. And so, yeah, it really
16:57
just began with our brand and the concierge service.
17:00
So how it all started, Tom, almost a step -by
17:04
-step really for us was we were in an open house.
17:07
We'd start sitting open houses, which is all
17:08
the new agents should do. And we would just listen
17:11
to. people walking through, right? What were
17:14
their trepidations? What would preclude them
17:16
from maybe purchasing the property or understanding
17:18
the area? And we just listened. And that was
17:20
that consulting approach. We said, let's listen
17:22
to the problem and be the solution. It wasn't
17:24
rocket science. And so we would listen to people
17:27
and then create the solution for it. So it started
17:29
with more home -related things of we're a very
17:32
seasonal market here and people aren't here a
17:34
lot during the year, especially this time of
17:36
year when it's hot. And so people would say,
17:38
well, who's going to watch my house when I'm
17:40
not here? So we said, well, let's have a concierge
17:42
home watch. Maybe someone would find the perfect
17:44
property, but you know, the area of the neighborhood
17:47
they like, but boy, who's going to renovate my
17:49
house. And, you know, I hear horror stories of
17:51
contractors taking my money and running. And
17:53
we said, let's start a renovation concierge.
17:55
So it started within that and then vendor discounts
17:58
and started that way. But then clients would
18:01
make a flipping comment. One of them about wanting
18:02
to test drive the new Bentley. And it wasn't
18:04
even out yet. We said, okay, let's, let's do
18:07
this. So. Reached out to Bentley, and because
18:10
of who we were, we had good connections with
18:12
them. And the new Bentley was not even on the
18:14
market. It was delivered to his driveway for
18:16
a test drive. That's incredible. And then it
18:18
evolved into private aviation and yachting. And
18:21
then it's evolved into wealth management and
18:23
estate attorneys. And we've really become that
18:26
central spoke for people. When someone has a
18:29
life event, we're the first person they think
18:31
of. And that's been great to still be in that
18:34
sphere for them. Then it's evolved into lifestyle
18:36
events. I don't know if you want to talk about
18:37
lifestyle events, kind of how that's evolved.
18:39
Yeah, absolutely. And just to kind of tie a bow
18:42
around what you were saying, you know, so we
18:43
got licensed in 2018. And we are still in active
18:48
communication with clients that we met in 2018.
18:50
And it's not, you know, it's beyond the occasional
18:54
Christmas card. You know, are you ready to list
18:56
yet? You know, what's going on? You know, it's...
18:59
A lot of them went to our son's baptism. We go
19:03
to their birthday parties. We've traveled with
19:05
some of them. And so just that really, the care
19:08
and the maintenance of the relationship, I think
19:10
is just something that has, it absolutely has
19:13
built our business. It's the foundation, it's
19:15
the walls, it's everything. And so we've been
19:18
very, we've just been very intentional about
19:20
that. In terms of... the lifestyle and the events,
19:25
you know, post -COVID, we saw a lot of people
19:28
starting to spend more time down here. You know,
19:30
six months, nine months. We also have a lot of
19:32
clients that are full -time now. You can work
19:33
from anywhere. So why am I going to work somewhere
19:36
where it's freezing cold and, you know, there's
19:37
a blizzard every other day? So we have a lot
19:39
of people here more, which then has led them
19:42
to say, you know, I need to build my social circle
19:45
here. You know, I've lived up north for my entire
19:47
adult life. I have that social circle I've built
19:50
over the years. I don't have that here. how do
19:54
I find friends? How do I know that they're good
19:56
people? How do I know that I can relate to them?
19:58
You know, our clientele, they are very successful.
20:01
They're well educated. They're well traveled.
20:02
They're, you know, they're very high up in what
20:05
they do. And with that, you know, we always say
20:08
that comes with, it's a little bit harder to
20:11
make friends. It's a little bit harder to grow
20:12
your social circle because you do need to be
20:14
mindful of who you are. sharing things with who
20:18
you're sharing life with and so we thought again
20:21
there's a problem let's find a solution because
20:23
if people are spending more time down here and
20:24
they're making friends then they want to spend
20:26
even more time down here and they want to bring
20:28
their friends so how can we be the solution to
20:30
that problem we started our events which are
20:33
probably my favorite part you know i always say
20:35
you know i'm a realtor by day i'm an event planner
20:38
by night and so you know we said what if we can
20:42
find a creative fun elevated way to bring successful
20:46
people together so that they can meet, mingle.
20:49
It's not networking. It's just come, have fun,
20:53
enjoy an experience that's worth your time, that
20:56
you'll love to do, that you'll enjoy, and then
20:59
meet some people that you're probably going to
21:00
be really great friends with. With our ecosystem
21:03
of other vendors and companies and businesses
21:06
that we've built these relationships with, we
21:08
said you... bring your clients you know invite
21:11
your invite your clientele because your clients
21:14
are my clients and vice versa they're all the
21:16
same people and in these events you know we've
21:19
seen really beautiful friendships come out we've
21:22
had clients go into business together we have
21:24
them traveling together and so that's just been
21:27
really special to see because again it's so not
21:31
real estate related but that's kind of our That's
21:34
kind of our thing. We're more than a realtor.
21:37
Yes. We said let's be the solution for them.
21:39
How does that – so you guys obviously do very
21:41
high -end homes, beautiful homes. There's pictures
21:43
on the wall here that folks at home can't see.
21:46
But is that transferable to like the $400 ,000,
21:49
$500 ,000 realtor, the whole concierge approach?
21:51
And what does that look like for the average
21:53
realtor who's not maybe on the luxury side? Absolutely.
21:57
It translates because it is service, and this
21:59
is the customer service business. If you're approaching
22:02
real estate to sell, this is not for you. If
22:05
you're approaching it to love on people and serve
22:07
people, get ready for a big career ahead. So
22:10
regardless of the price point, it is absolutely
22:13
transferable, translatable to north, south, east,
22:18
and west. And so what we did with it was we knew
22:21
the name concierge realtor and other agents were
22:24
using it, white glove service. I was like, this
22:27
won't work because it's kind of a fluff thing.
22:29
And Megan being the brains and the beauty and
22:32
everything, she's everything. We agree. No argument.
22:38
And so we said, okay, Megan goes, if everyone's
22:44
fluff, what if we're substance? Let's actually
22:46
create this menu. The first thing for any agent
22:49
is looking at your market and listen to your
22:52
client's needs. What are their concerns? There's
22:56
so much market data out there. I think the future
22:58
for agents belongs to the ones who serve the
23:01
best. They're trustworthy. They create the most
23:05
solutions and access for their clients. And so
23:08
for us, we started in that 400 ,000. I think,
23:11
yeah, 400 ,000, which is, I mean, for most markets,
23:14
that would also be a lot. But when you're new,
23:16
you have to start somewhere. And I know there's
23:18
people that are going to say, well, that's not
23:20
dreaming big and shooting for the stars. Well,
23:22
you have to start somewhere. And that bullet
23:24
going to the stars started from somewhere, and
23:27
then it had the journey, and then it arrived.
23:29
And so this is not get rich quick. This is building
23:31
a business. And so if you build your brand on
23:34
service and loving on people, then any market
23:38
this will work in because at the end of the day,
23:41
people are people. Right. And no matter what,
23:43
they want to know that they're important to you
23:45
and you're there for them. And so that's really
23:47
why that this concept is transferable. So do
23:51
you want like a step by step of how we did it?
23:53
Maybe someone else can replicate it. I mean,
23:55
you tell us. Yeah. Yeah. So let me let me let
23:59
me let me put out the the elephant in the room.
24:01
OK, you guys are married, right? If my wife had
24:05
to work with me every day, she'd throw herself
24:07
off the bridge, like literally. Like there's
24:10
no possible, there's no universe for her and
24:13
I work together every day. And I am always absolutely
24:17
amazed by couples who can work together, raise
24:21
a child together, and still be happy and thrive.
24:23
And you guys are all of those things. How does
24:26
that work, Megan? What does it feel like? At
24:28
what point do you shut it down and it's not about
24:31
business or it's just about family or it's just
24:33
about each other? Oh, that's a good question.
24:37
I think shutting it down is definitely something
24:39
that we need to work on, but we are also in the
24:42
throes of growing our business. So that does
24:45
lend to a little bit more 24 -7, 365. So yes,
24:48
we are either talking about business or our son
24:50
most of the time. But that being said, we have,
24:55
you know, we've been together for about 16 years
24:58
now. We got into business together almost when
25:02
we first started dating. So kind of like almost
25:03
from day one, we've been in business together
25:06
from our consulting company to now real estate.
25:09
We have found, and again, we both have our master's
25:12
degree in psychology. So everything that we do
25:14
comes through that filter. of how we relate to
25:18
other people, how we relate to each other, and
25:20
how we set boundaries. We have found that he
25:22
and I are quite polar opposite in our personalities,
25:25
how we build, how we deal with people. We always
25:28
say in the good cop, bad cop situation, he's
25:30
the good cop and I'm the bad cop. He's very political,
25:32
he's very kind, he's very soft. I did tell a
25:34
client one time to either put up or shut up because
25:36
I was just over him. Brian, that one's for you.
25:42
How do you break a tie? Matt, who wins? Like,
25:45
how do you? I do. All right. There you go. I
25:48
knew it had to be. But no, we definitely, like,
25:53
we play on each other's strengths and weaknesses.
25:54
So there are things that he really excels in
25:56
that I'm not, and vice versa. I love the marketing,
26:01
the creativity, the events, all of that kind
26:03
of stuff. He loves to just have a cup of coffee
26:06
with people, have lunch, you know, take them
26:08
around. He can go into a networking event, whereas
26:12
I will find the closest exit and hightail it
26:15
out of there. So yeah, it works for us. We work
26:18
together. We work separately. He will mostly,
26:20
most of the time, find us in two separate cars
26:23
driving to the same location and then going into
26:25
two different directions. So yeah, it just, it
26:28
honestly, it just works. It's not for everyone
26:30
though. And Matt, you agree with everything she
26:32
said? Yes. Your witness, your honor. I didn't
26:39
kick him under the table. Exactly. Yeah, we're
26:41
going to have to edit that out. He's been grimacing
26:42
this whole time, kind of like, hey, yeah. There
26:46
are so many jokes I want to make right now that
26:49
are not correct. But, no, it's really the mutual
26:52
respect we have for each other, and I really
26:55
admire everything that Megan is, and, yeah, we
26:58
have that respect for each other. If you had
27:00
to give one recommendation for couples out there
27:02
who are thinking about doing similar types of
27:04
things together, what would they be, Matt? Make
27:07
sure your relationship. is solid first. That's
27:10
where it starts. And so, because if there's internal
27:12
conflict, then that turmoil will ripple into
27:16
other parts of your business, which then it's
27:19
a very cause and effect. Also, then you have
27:22
issues with the business, which impacts income,
27:24
then income hurts the relationship, and it just,
27:26
it's not a good cycle. So make sure your relationship
27:30
is solid first. I love it. Okay. This is the
27:32
fun part of the podcast. You guys ready for this?
27:34
It's called signal or noise. I'll throw out some
27:37
topics and you will tell me whether it's signal.
27:40
It professes something that will be a trend or
27:43
continue or be important or it's noise and we
27:46
need to discard it and not worry about it. Okay.
27:48
You're ready for this? Ready. You both get an
27:50
answer. Matt, you can't look to her to determine
27:53
what the answer is before you say it. Okay. You
27:56
actually have to stand on your own here, all
27:59
right? You can do it. Okay, first question. Ryan
28:03
Serhant's hair, signal or noise? I can go first.
28:09
Oh, well, right now he's in a situation of whether
28:11
he grows it back out. So I would say as is, signal.
28:15
Signal? Noise. Noise. I, noise. Bald is beautiful
28:18
and screw you, Ryan Serhant, all right? That
28:22
one had a situation behind it. We'll need more
28:26
about that story later. Yeah, exactly. I'm not
28:29
bitter or anything, just so you know. It's fine.
28:31
Okay, the bravofication of real estate. Agents
28:34
building a following before they build a book.
28:37
Signal or noise? Noise. Noise. Okay. I agree.
28:43
Noise. Dig into that a little bit. I mean, I
28:45
see a lot of these folks. I mean, I literally
28:47
had someone share with me a reel the other day
28:49
from someone. They said, God, is this true? It
28:51
was a realtor who, when I actually dug into who
28:54
the realtor was, they barely did anything. But
28:56
it was like, Florida's prices are collapsing
28:59
50%, you know? And it's like, dun, dun, dun.
29:02
And they're in front of a screen and all this
29:05
type of stuff. It's really, it's one thing to
29:09
kind of get clicks and to get people to follow
29:12
you. It's quite another thing to get people to
29:14
actually trust you with their home to either
29:16
sell it or buy it. Would you agree with that?
29:18
Yes, there is a lot of clickbait out there. And
29:21
look, is social media a phenomenal way to grow
29:23
business? Absolutely. But in a market like ours
29:26
and so many other markets. there does need to
29:28
be that track record. And some of the agents
29:31
that sell the least amount in Naples have some
29:32
of the biggest followings. And that was something
29:34
Serhant, when they reached out to us, they were
29:36
like, you don't do any marketing. Your social
29:38
media, did they say abysmal or terrible? Abysmal.
29:41
I think that was abysmal. And they go, yeah,
29:43
you're top 1 % in Naples year in, year out. And
29:46
you have not been doing this for 20 years. You
29:48
have not been doing this for that long. We said,
29:50
well, it's the relationships. And so that, yeah,
29:52
some of the most followed real estate agents
29:54
in Naples actually do. not very much volume florida
29:58
migration is dead people are no longer moving
30:01
to florida signal or noise noise noise okay tell
30:05
me about that because that's something i wonder
30:07
about all the time because we have this big migration
30:09
of folks coming in it has slowed down quite a
30:12
bit but as florida's better days still ahead
30:14
of it Absolutely. Because, you know, with the
30:17
COVID era happening, we were essentially borrowing
30:20
from the future. We had a lot of clients that
30:22
were not going to consider their move for three,
30:24
four, five years down range that started buying
30:27
earlier just because of COVID. And there was
30:30
the YOLO mentality for these people saying, well,
30:32
whatever's going to happen is going to happen.
30:33
I'm not getting any younger. I'm not going to
30:35
wait to see what happens. The world's going to
30:37
be okay. I'm going to jump in now. So there is
30:41
such a buyer demand built up that our forecast
30:43
for the future, especially for Southwest Florida,
30:46
is extremely strong. Do we need interest rates
30:48
to drop precipitously, or do you think that's
30:50
going to happen in 27 either way? I don't think
30:55
that that impacts Florida as much as it does
30:58
other markets. You know, Naples across the board
31:01
is usually in a 70 % -ish cash. West of 41, which
31:05
is kind of our area, is in the 90 % cash. So
31:08
there's not much contingent upon the interest
31:11
rates. Obviously, it does have an impact. I do
31:14
think it'll be sooner rather than later, but
31:16
we don't have that as weighing as much as other
31:19
markets do, in our opinion. Okay, so private
31:22
off MLS listings for the luxury market become
31:26
the norm. Signal or noise? Becomes the norm.
31:31
Becomes the norm. Signal. Signal. Wow. Signal.
31:35
Signal. Yes. So on this whole battle of private
31:38
off -market listings, where do you guys sit on
31:40
that? It's what's ever is best for the seller.
31:44
That's all that matters. And we've dealt with
31:47
that so much here because it was kind of the
31:50
Wild West with off -markets before. And in some
31:53
ways it was very good because then it was kept
31:55
to agents who actually knew what they were doing.
31:58
concurrently, there are agents that would just
32:00
want to double end the deal and not do what's
32:02
best for the seller. So it is all about what's
32:04
best for the client. And so I think there are
32:06
situations and markets that are absolutely perfect
32:09
for this off -market private placement platform.
32:12
And then there are different price points in
32:14
different markets where that is not what's best
32:15
for them. Excellent. Okay. Here's the last one,
32:19
but I think an important one. Brokerages are
32:23
now a commodity and it's all about the local
32:25
realtor brand. Signal or noise? You can't look
32:31
at Megan. I'm trying to look off the reflection.
32:34
You're trying to get a reflection. One more time
32:37
on that one. I want to have a gut reaction. I
32:40
was just trying to process. Yeah. Brokerages
32:41
are becoming a commodity, and it's all about
32:44
the individual brand of the realtor. Signal or
32:48
noise? Currently, signal. I think eventually
32:54
it will be noise. Eventually, noise. Megan? Signal.
32:57
Signal. So let's walk through that, because I've
33:01
said this actually in a number of my podcasts
33:02
and speeches, and I actually think it's all about
33:04
the local realtor and not about the brokerage
33:07
itself. But in your case, I think their case
33:09
could be made that Serhant's brand and all the
33:12
features and everything have elevated in some
33:15
sense what you're doing. How does that look,
33:17
though, for folks who may be not in a similar
33:20
type of brokerage? We tell people that the brokerage
33:23
doesn't make the agent. The brokerage doesn't
33:25
dictate your bank account. It is up to you to
33:28
build your brand, build your business. But if
33:31
you as an individual are being left behind because
33:35
you're not adapting to technology, then that's
33:38
on you. Concurrently, if your brokerage is holding
33:41
you back because they're not adapting, they're
33:44
not trying to empower the agent and do what's
33:47
best for the client, and they're not growing
33:49
that way. If their head is in the sand, which
33:52
we've seen a lot of boutique brokerages, their
33:54
head's in the sand a little bit, then it is a
33:56
problem. And that is where it definitely does
33:58
hurt the agent. But at the end of the day, it
34:00
is all about the agent. Last one. I said that
34:03
was the last one, but this is truly the last
34:05
one. I lied. AI is going to come for realtors'
34:09
jobs. Who's going to turn the lights on? Signal
34:12
or noise? Who is going to turn the lights on?
34:14
There is an app for that. There is an app for
34:17
that. I interviewed him yesterday. I think signal
34:22
in some ways. Okay. Tell me about that. Because
34:26
certain markets, that is more of a commodity
34:29
where I think it's going to impact the most where
34:32
there's markets. And Megan, correct me, obviously,
34:34
anything you feel differently about. Markets
34:37
where... Maybe they are lower price points where
34:40
discount brokerages are more acceptable. The
34:42
level of service is not needed. I think that
34:45
becomes more of a commodity and agents can be
34:47
replaced to an extent. Or it's more flat fee
34:50
brokerages. So we look at a price point we work
34:53
in. A flat fee brokerage is not acceptable at
34:56
all because of what is needed. And so that's
35:00
why I think it's market pending. That's why a
35:01
lot of the answers have been yes one way or another.
35:05
But I think it's going to be market specific.
35:07
Megan? I think that it will. I do agree with
35:09
that. I think in our market, in a luxury market,
35:13
that person who is buying or selling wants a
35:17
person that they can trust that will do an excellent
35:21
job in the sale and the packaging and the marketing
35:24
and really putting their heart and soul into
35:28
it. And that can only be done by a person. And
35:31
so I think that that will always. reign true.
35:34
But I do think that the clients that are not
35:37
adapting or integrating AI will absolutely be
35:41
replaced over the agents that have taken AI and
35:43
used it to really not replace their business
35:45
or run their business for them, but empower their
35:47
business and help it to grow alongside. Because
35:50
when you do use AI, for example, to do a lot
35:55
of the administrative or what we call the necessary
35:57
evils of running a business, then if you do it
35:59
well, that frees you up to, again, be building
36:01
more relationships, be out and about, be able
36:04
to grow your business more so because all of
36:06
that's being taken care of in the back end. Not
36:08
using it well, not using it at all, yes, that
36:11
will be problematic. I like to say it raises
36:13
both the floor and the ceiling. Yes. Right? Because
36:16
the opportunities, I think, for those who embrace
36:18
the features of it, administrative tasks and
36:21
and all that off their plate and dive into it
36:24
raises the ceiling but it's also raising that
36:26
floor and if you don't get out of the way and
36:29
use it and embrace it i think it's going to come
36:31
for for all of us so i think you know adapt or
36:34
die Matt and Megan Chionis, Naples Concierge
36:38
Group at Surhand. You guys are awesome. Loved
36:40
having you on the show today. Really appreciate
36:42
the time. And we appreciate your time. Thank
36:44
you. Thanks for listening to Noise vs. Signal.
36:47
Follow us on Instagram at Inmanews for more conversations
36:51
and industry insights. And be sure to subscribe
36:53
wherever you get your podcasts so you never miss
36:57
an episode. I'll see you next time.