Allyson Lenz - From Middle School Science Teacher to Military Family Advocate and Top Realtor
Jun 21, 2024
Alimond Studio
What if pivoting from an unfulfilling career could lead you to your true calling? Join us in this episode as we uncover the transformative journey of Allyson Lenz, who transitioned from a middle school science teacher to a top-notch realtor with Compass. Growing up in a military family, Allyson's frequent relocations ignited her passion for real estate. She shares her struggles with an unsupportive administration in the education system and how those challenges guided her to a new path. Listen to how Allyson overcame initial hurdles in the competitive real estate industry, and how her experiences now serve to mentor new agents.
Discover the unique strategies Allyson employs to assist military families relocating to Northern Virginia, from navigating higher living costs to finding the perfect neighborhoods. We highlight how her personal military background enriches her approach, including leveraging virtual tours and market insights to make informed decisions for clients purchasing homes sight unseen. The episode concludes with a powerful discussion on adopting a service-minded approach in real estate, emphasizing the impactful work of the Veterans Association of Real Estate Professionals (VA Rep) and the significance of community collaboration. Tune in to understand how a mindset of service and excellence can create profound impacts in the real estate world.
What if pivoting from an unfulfilling career could lead you to your true calling? Join us in this episode as we uncover the transformative journey of Allyson Lenz, who transitioned from a middle school science teacher to a top-notch realtor with Compass. Growing up in a military family, Allyson's frequent relocations ignited her passion for real estate. She shares her struggles with an unsupportive administration in the education system and how those challenges guided her to a new path. Listen to how Allyson overcame initial hurdles in the competitive real estate industry, and how her experiences now serve to mentor new agents.
Discover the unique strategies Allyson employs to assist military families relocating to Northern Virginia, from navigating higher living costs to finding the perfect neighborhoods. We highlight how her personal military background enriches her approach, including leveraging virtual tours and market insights to make informed decisions for clients purchasing homes sight unseen. The episode concludes with a powerful discussion on adopting a service-minded approach in real estate, emphasizing the impactful work of the Veterans Association of Real Estate Professionals (VA Rep) and the significance of community collaboration. Tune in to understand how a mindset of service and excellence can create profound impacts in the real estate world.
Speaker 1:
My name is Allison Lenz. I am a realtor with Compass and I kind of consider myself a very hands-on white glove service kind of realtor who is very anal, retentive. So I really work on trying to help my clients kind of smooth over everything by paying attention to the details.
Speaker 2:
Wonderful, and how did you get into real estate? Tell me a little bit about your backstory.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, so I grew up in a military family so we were moving on average every two to three years. You know, you move a lot when you're active duty and so I got used to that. And then after college I ended up deciding on teaching because I love helping people and, you know, while I loved being in the classroom working with the kids themselves, teaching as a career, you know, just kind of burnt me out a little bit, especially working for a very unsupportive administration. What were you teaching? So I taught seventh grade middle school life science, so basically like middle school biology. Yeah, that's a tough job it is. It is, you know, we didn't have a whole lot of resources for, you know, like the labs in the classroom or anything like that.
Speaker 1:
I taught down in Manassas so it was kind of a higher population of, you know, minority students, very high risk, low income kind of families. We had a lot of students on, like, free and reduced lunch, you know. So for most of the students, homework at home was not a priority. They may not have had money to have, you know, extra jackets over the wintertime, you know. So sometimes it was, you know, keeping like a blanket in my classroom for the kids who would get cold, you know, bringing them extra snacks, buying a lot more stuff out of pocket, and then I hear that from teachers a lot.
Speaker 1:
Yes, and you can only write off $250 on your taxes. But I would probably spend closer to like 2000 a month average between, like, buying stuff to do labs with my kids, or paper, you know, or or extra pencils, glue sticks, you name it literally everything and that was all on your own.
Speaker 1:
Yes, wow, yes, yeah, and unfortunately the administration that I worked for, the principal was just very unsupportive. You know he did not like science as a kid. He made it a point to say that science was his least favorite subject, that he hated it, so he didn't make it a point to say that science was his least favorite subject and that he hated it.
Speaker 1:
So he didn't make it a priority to, you know, support his teachers, but especially the science department. Um, so that was a little frustrating. And, um, you know, I had bought a house and was just kind of like, you know, that process was kind of cool and it was neat to go look at houses and um, you know, so, the more I thought about it, the more I was like, okay, like I love the kids but I can't stay in teaching, so what should I do instead? And was that a difficult crossroads for you.
Speaker 1:
It was, um, you know, I think so. I taught here in Northern Virginia for about five years. I had been down in the Blacksburg area for a couple years before that and I, you know, realistically just kind of felt like, okay, I need to do something different, but I still want to do something that is helping people. And I kind of view being in real estate, kind of like, you know, still being a teacher, I'm still kind of teaching and educating my clients or a new agent, but also, you know, it's just a different classroom, you know, and they're just grown up instead of 13 years old.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, so you started your career in real estate. Did you have a mentor or anybody that kind of helped you guide you through that?
Speaker 1:
process, sort of In real estate. A lot of it is you kind of figure it out as you go. I had a really sweet broker and she and her husband, you know, kind of ran the brokerage and I had a few agents in the office that I would be able to ask questions to. But a lot of real estate is you get in it and you learn just hands on every transaction and you kind of figure it out as you go and you ask questions as you go. So I didn't necessarily have a true mentor getting into real estate but with my teaching background, once I kind of went through my first transaction I was like, oh okay, I got this.
Speaker 2:
I totally get it, I can do this, you know.
Speaker 1:
then, moving forward from there, anytime that we would have somebody brand new come in, I would kind of take them under my wing, so to speak, and help them kind of figure out. Okay, how do you work with the clients? What paperwork do you need? How do you fill it out? How do you negotiate for your buyer on, say, home inspection repairs, which home inspections aren't really so much as much of a contract thing with the current market? But you know, just kind of filled in what I guess I had kind of wanted in a mentor, by being one, as you know, for the new agents who came into the office, kind of filling that gap that you didn't quite have.
Speaker 2:
Yep, yep, exactly.
Speaker 1:
Exactly.
Speaker 2:
What challenges are you seeing in the market today and with all the changes? How are you dealing with that and overcoming that, and what tools are you using?
Speaker 1:
Great questions. So I, um, I'm at a company called compass and, uh, they're very forward thinking, they're very, um, on top of technology and, uh, you know, giving us as many tools and trainings and coaching as possible uh, possible to kind of help us deal with the current market and also the NAR changes. So that's one of the things that I'm really leaning on is the company that I work with, but then also real estate and, growing up in the military, you just kind of have to take a very easy go with the flow, you know, kind of shift and adjust and pivot as you need to, because otherwise you're not going to be able to survive. So what I'm seeing in the current market is, you know, we do have interest rates and, depending on somebody's credit or maybe depending a little bit on the company, you know they're, they're definitely higher than where they were a couple of years ago, but they're at realistically, like overall big picture, they're kind of at historic averages.
Speaker 1:
We were just at extreme lows the last few years. So but shifting up so quickly from, say, a 3% to a 7%, that's a big shift and it happened very quickly. So that's been hard for a lot of folks to kind of work with. So what I'm seeing is a lot of homeowners who are in that position where maybe there's something about their house that they're like. You know, this isn't really perfect anymore. I would really love a house that had X, y or Z, but I've got a great interest rate with a great monthly payment. A lot of times they're kind of hanging on to their houses, staying in them a little bit longer and either turning it into a rental or just not selling. So that's meaning that we have less housing choices out there.
Speaker 2:
I keep hearing over and over again how low inventory is. Yes, exactly.
Speaker 1:
So that means that we have very low inventory but with higher rates and you know the pricing is definitely continues to go up year over year as a whole in our area just because of appreciation that we have here. But it's definitely not you know, your typical crazy. You know 2021 market. I know it's definitely not. You know your typical crazy. You know 2021 market. But we are still seeing a multiple offer situation. If a seller has done, you know, the right work to, you know keep on top of their monthly maintenance or yearly maintenance, you know really kind of pull their house together. You know those houses that you know they show well, you can tell that the homeowner loved it and they're ready to move on. Those ones are definitely still seeing multiple offers. So it's challenging.
Speaker 2:
And is it happening quickly? Or things like what's the period, average period of time.
Speaker 1:
Things are sitting these days, so it's going to depend a little bit, but for the most part if a seller's done their job and they've listened to their agent and they've, you know, prepped their home for sale, then most of the time they're going to be able to sell that first weekend on the market.
Speaker 1:
On average, overall, we are seeing maybe like a week to two week timeframe, taking into account everything that's on the market. Because there are some homeowners who for one reason or another, you know, maybe they don't have the funds to kind of, you know, put into repainting the home or maybe new carpet or staging or something like that, you know, or maybe they might want to list it a little too high and then their house may sit a little bit longer because buyers are like, well, okay, yeah, there's no inventory but it's more expensive for me to buy a home, so I wanted a little bit more move-in ready. So I'll pass on this one. So we're seeing some sellers might have their home set a little bit longer, but for the most part if they've really done what they need to do and listened to their agent to get that home ready, that market ready, then yeah, they're still selling within that first weekend.
Speaker 2:
Is it hard convincing sellers to invest a little bit more? I mean, everything's appreciated so much, right? So I think so many people are like, oh, I'm going to sell and I've done well on this financially. Is it hard to convince them to paint or do the staging when inventory is so low? Is that kind of like a hard thing to convince them to do?
Speaker 1:
It depends on the person. So that's a really good question. So it really depends on the person. There are some homeowners who, you know, just kind of feel like, hey, like I can put a sign in the yard and I'll get an offer.
Speaker 2:
No, matter what. I've heard that a couple of times from people you know, particularly a friend that's trying to sell that. She's like I don't want to put, I don't want to put anything into it, Right, but now it is sitting for a little bit longer.
Speaker 1:
Yes, exactly, and that's why. So if you're going to be a seller in today's market, you also have to think about what is the buyer coming into. They're paying a higher price for the house, they're paying a higher interest rate and that's going to mean a higher monthly payment and property taxes are higher, right? So the buyer is going to have a higher payment than the seller more often than not. So the buyers are usually not coming in it with the perspective that they have the money to repaint, do new carpet, et cetera.
Speaker 1:
So for I know, I know homeowners a lot of times, you know, do want to, you know, get as much out of, out of their house as possible, of course, but you know it's really depending on what's needed in the house to really make it shine so that they can maximize their profit out of the home. So I just always try to focus on explaining to the seller here's your options and you know, kind of have a little bit of a reality check with them on. Okay, if you don't want to do anything in the home, that's great. Decluttering and packing isn't going to cost you anything but your time. True, that is a huge part of making a house show ready.
Speaker 2:
That's step one.
Speaker 1:
Yes and well, actually, if you backtrack it, step one really is keeping on top of your home maintenance. True.
Speaker 2:
For years prior. For years prior.
Speaker 1:
Yes, exactly, and if you just keep on top of it and you can declutter and clean, then your house should sell no problem. But I think for the most part you know if a homeowner is in that position where you know they don't want to sell it, that's fine. But you're probably not going to get as much for your house compared to the neighbor who is going to go ahead and repaint the home, maybe put brand new carpet in, you know, to the bedrooms or something like that.
Speaker 1:
You know and do a little bit of staging, you know, just kind of make it really shine. I kind of tell my sellers you know a buyer's going to want to come in and buy that HDTV cream puff home you know they want it.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, Cream puff home.
Speaker 1:
They want it completely moving ready, Neutral, like they could just eat it up and move right in you know and, but they're going to pay for it.
Speaker 1:
So you know you have to balance what's comfortable in your budget as a homeowner to get it ready versus how much do you want to get out of it, and you know.
Speaker 1:
So I try to help them understand some options so that they know what they're comfortable with financially. But also the reality is is how much they can probably get for it doing. You know step one, two or three, yeah, and then for the homeowners coming in who are buying, you know for the buyers, whether they're a first-time home buyer or you know, maybe they already own and they're looking to move up to a bigger house. I try to help them as we look at showings, look past you know the paint and you know the seller's furniture. Look at the bones know the paint and you know the seller's furniture. Look at the bones of the house, you know, because that's really what you're buying for some people. Some people are really most people are really visual, honestly, so it can be hard for some folks to walk in, see it. Um, you know and and and only see, like, how the seller has their furniture laid out or, um, the red paint in the dining room Exactly.
Speaker 1:
Right, exactly, you know, or like a very 1990s kind of like color scheme and design. Sometimes it is hard for buyers to take a look at that and I find more often than not buyers always overestimate the cost of doing any kind of cosmetic update or, you know, longer term type of maintenance. So I find there, especially if they're a first time home buyer, you know they usually think it's going to cost way more money than it actually does to fix something. Or, you know, maybe do a slight, you know cosmetic update or a bigger you know bigger update on, say, a kitchen or a bathroom or something you know.
Speaker 1:
So if it's in great working order, I try to help them understand like here's, here's the reality of this, and obviously I'm not a contractor, I'm not a home inspector, but you know I can kind of help them, or at least I try to help them. Look at it, for look at the bones, here's what you could do with this. But you can move and build equity, you know, and especially if it's a house that maybe might be a little bit outdated but they've priced it under the market value because of that, then they could walk in with like, basically, a really good deal, as much of a good deal, as you're going to get in our market and then be able to have that you know kind of money almost built in to make it what they want?
Speaker 2:
Yeah, absolutely. Now you mentioned that you came from a strong military family, right, you guys moved around a lot and do you like helping veterans or military families that are moving into this area? I do.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, I really do so. I grew up in a military family. My dad served in the Air Force. My grandfather and great-grandfather were both Coast Guard. My uncle was in the Navy or actually he was Army and then worked civil service to the Navy. My cousin I worked government contracting to the Navy for a while and then I had two sisters-in-law and a brother-in-law who were active duty Army.
Speaker 2:
One is still active.
Speaker 1:
Wow, you certainly do come from a long line, yeah, so we have a lot of military family members and, uh, you know, I grew up we moved on average every two years, you know, so I lived that lifestyle. I know how it is. Where you know, sometimes you have a very short notice of, hey, you've got three weeks to be halfway across the country. You know, good luck. Here's the movers numbers. You know, so luck. Here's the movers numbers.
Speaker 2:
You know. So sometimes they're a lot, especially in this area for some of those military families coming from other areas coming to Northern Virginia, dc area that's just gotten so outrageously expensive. Is that kind of a hard transition for them and adjustment you know they used to be able to afford you? Know, maybe a larger house somewhere else, and now they've got a downsize. How do you work through that?
Speaker 1:
Yeah. So usually whenever I I work with someone and most of my business is word of mouth referral, and so that's usually how I end up connected to military folks who are PCSing and coming into this area, and usually the first conversation is just kind of a reality check, so to speak, of what is our market like and what do we have as our normal average pricing. What kind of deal with traffic and commuting are they going to likely look at? Where are they going to be stationed, so that we can figure out which neighborhoods and towns they should really focus on? You know, and then also talking about the townhome versus a single family home, how the space works differently. You know all of that stuff.
Speaker 1:
And then from there, a lot of so with our military clients, if they live off base and we don't have a lot of base housing, you know, especially in this area then a lot of times what they're doing is they're getting what's called a BAH. It's a basic allowance for housing from the military. So most of my military clients will take the BAH number and then want to stay underneath that for their housing, for either a mortgage payment or their rent. So then from that that gives us our budget to look within and then I can help direct them that that gives us our budget to look within and then I can help direct them to hey, we might want to look in these cities, these areas, et cetera, because these are going to be the houses that are going to best fit under your budget but also fit the needs for you know, whether they have pets, kids, if they need a two car garage Kids in the school system or not in the school system, exactly, exactly, exactly.
Speaker 1:
Yeah. And then what I like to do because a lot of them don't really have the time to take a trip before they move here, or they may not be able to take off work to come out and visit is I like to actually do some virtual tours with them, so I'll show them a little bit of what it looks like for the commute, uh, and so that they can kind of see what the traffic looks like.
Speaker 1:
Um, and yeah, you know get a chance to go to some of the houses, plug in where they're going to work and then be like, hey, you know, um, my GPS is saying it should take you 29 minutes on average from this house to your office. Um, you know, or something along those lines, and then I will do a video tour, because so many of them are buying them sight unseen, Correct?
Speaker 1:
Yeah, a lot of them are buying them sight unseen. Or they come in with two, three days and we need to see as many houses as possible. So if we know ahead of time that I can do some virtual tours, then I will and I'll go through the house. I'll take a video tour for them, you know, and there's an app that I use that will send them a video notification, but also they can rewatch the video later. So that way you know they can take a look through. I'll walk out the house, I give them a sniff test, make sure the house smells okay, that's a big one, which is a big one, especially if you're buying sight unseen, so I'll be able to let them know.
Speaker 1:
hey, this wasn't in the professional photos, but I can actually see that there's a big crack in the foundation and it smells really musty down here in the basement. Or hey, the house smells like cats and I can see that they have three litter boxes around the house. That might be a little harder.
Speaker 2:
Is that going to be a deal breaker Is?
Speaker 1:
that going to be harder for you to deal with? Um, you know, is that, uh, you know? Or if they have dogs, you know, hey, there's already a you know a fence here and it's fully fenced in the backyard, um, you know, and I can get out and show them stuff, um, you know, and that way I can spend time giving them as much of that in-person experience as possible, but virtually, and then that way we can chat, you know, kind of feedback after showings on each house and I also like to be able to kind of review that whole offer process with them ahead of time. You know, or, I've also the flip side. I've had some clients where they've gotten they've lived here, they've gotten orders so quickly that they've have to move out, and then I come in and help with stager or, you know, a contractor to coordinate on the flip side.
Speaker 1:
And then you know, we look at, you know, hey, we just want a fast closing, you know, because the house is empty and ready to go.
Speaker 2:
Right yeah, what do you find most rewarding about what you do?
Speaker 1:
Really it's helping people. It's rewarding on all aspects. So it's really rewarding to help somebody be able to come here, get into a home that they can get settled and know that they're comfortable and have as decent of a commute as possible. Or have somebody be able to be that first first time home buyer, get into a home, start building equity, start building wealth through real estate and you know, just know, that they're, they're on that path to be, you know, be able to have that long-term plan, um, you know. Or, or find, find that dream home. Do you have a?
Speaker 2:
favorite buying or selling story.
Speaker 1:
Ooh, that's a good question, something that like sticks out to you. That's a really good question. I have so many stories so it's hard to pick a favorite. Honestly. You know, I think for the most part, you know there's so many that I've helped that I really have found very rewarding.
Speaker 1:
One in particular was a recent sale. They're a military family but they're staying in the area and they wanted to keep their kids all in the same school district, so the same whole pyramid of elementary, middle and high school. So that meant we were looking in a very small location to keep the kids in the same schools and we started working together before COVID. We looked at several houses, we made a few offers on some and then, of course, with the market kind of creeping up and going crazy like it did Literally going crazy Exactly Then, you know, we just kind of had to really find the right house in the right time and earlier this spring a house popped up on the market. A military family was PCSing out of the area so they needed to be able to move quickly, get it under contract quickly, but have a little bit of have a little bit of time and flexibility on the move date because they were going overseas. And then my clients you know we. It was in the perfect location great lot, great house In their school district.
Speaker 1:
In their school district, in their school district and we came in. My clients absolutely loved it and even in a spring market we didn't end up with any competition on making an offer. So I was actually able to get my buyer's closing costs covered so that they could buy down their interest rate and have a lower payment. So it worked out really nicely. That's amazing, you know. Yeah, it was a military to military connection between the buyer and the seller and, you know, it just kind of seemed like we needed the right house in the right time.
Speaker 2:
Yeah Well, I mean four years of looking at homes. That must have been hugely rewarding for them. It was For them, and for you Absolutely, To find what ultimately was going to be their home right, exactly. Yeah, that's awesome. Yeah, I mean, you're helping people with the biggest purchase of their life, but that is a great example of patience and perseverance and waiting for the right thing to come along. Right, right, exactly, and it did yeah, so that's awesome, for sure, good for them.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, what are you doing these days for advertising and marketing? What's working? What's not working? How are you getting people in the door?
Speaker 1:
Yeah, great question. So, uh, I I work mostly through word of mouth referral, so I stay active on social media. I friend most of my clients on Facebook, um, and I network uh as well, so I try to make sure that you know I'm finding them on Facebook. We're staying in touch, um, you know, and, and and that way it helps me to stay top of mind, but in a not pushy way. And then, um, you know, as far as, like any kind of marketing advertising, most of what I do market for is for my clients, for my listings or if I have a buyer you know saying, hey, I really want something in this particular neighborhood. Um, you know, and and do a little bit of uh online, like Facebook ads and uh, and just stay on top of my social media, uh, you know, to stay active and top of mind and then touch base with my clients regularly and keep putting yourself out there as we kind of wrap up here.
Speaker 2:
are there any last parting words you'd like to leave us with? Words of advice in real estate business, or just maybe a mantra that you live by?
Speaker 1:
Yeah.
Speaker 1:
So I think one of the big things is just kind of always put your best foot forward.
Speaker 1:
I think that's super, super important and you know it's something that I take to heart, you know, just personally and professionally, and it's also something that I work with a national nonprofit called VA rep it's the Veterans Association of Real Estate Professionals and I and we kind of take that same approach to have, you know, service-minded. You know, our organization is made up of mostly people who are in the military, had some kind of military connection, but in the real estate world, whether they're lending title, a realtor insurance, something along those lines, that's like a great organization it is. It is, and we, you know, focus on educating the military community directly with housing needs and their financial literacy education, but then also helping our real estate community better serve our military community. So you know, it's something that you know I always kind of take that approach of just putting your best foot forward and come, you know, come at it from a service perspective and, you know, just really try to kind of educate and work with like-minded people.
Speaker 2:
Wonderful. Thank you so much for being here today and thank you for sharing your story with us. Yeah absolutely.