Step into the world of real estate with a twist as we sit down with the one and only Gladys Margarita Diaz!
From bricks and mortar to bytes and algorithms, Gladys takes us on a journey through the ever-evolving landscape of property development.
In our chat, Gladys gets real about the importance of using AI to create spaces that not only look good but feel good too. We're diving deep into the power of aesthetics and emotions in making a property truly stand out.
But that's not all! Gladys spills the beans on AI in real estate – no, it's not just robots selling houses (yet)!
She breaks down how AI-native apps are changing the game, giving buyers and pros alike a personalized experience like never before.
And let's not forget about social media – your new best friend in the world of house hunting! Gladys dishes out tips on how to use social media to showcase properties and build a real sense of community.
So, whether you're a seasoned pro or a first-time buyer, grab your headphones and join us as we explore the future of real estate with Gladys Margarita Diaz!
Step into the world of real estate with a twist as we sit down with the one and only Gladys Margarita Diaz!
From bricks and mortar to bytes and algorithms, Gladys takes us on a journey through the ever-evolving landscape of property development.
In our chat, Gladys gets real about the importance of using AI to create spaces that not only look good but feel good too. We're diving deep into the power of aesthetics and emotions in making a property truly stand out.
But that's not all! Gladys spills the beans on AI in real estate – no, it's not just robots selling houses (yet)!
She breaks down how AI-native apps are changing the game, giving buyers and pros alike a personalized experience like never before.
And let's not forget about social media – your new best friend in the world of house hunting! Gladys dishes out tips on how to use social media to showcase properties and build a real sense of community.
So, whether you're a seasoned pro or a first-time buyer, grab your headphones and join us as we explore the future of real estate with Gladys Margarita Diaz!
Today. I'm so excited to have Gladys Margarita Diaz on with us. Thank you so much for coming on.
Speaker 2:
Thank you for having me. I love seeing young women like really you know, getting out there and doing things, so I was happy to be invited and hope I can contribute.
Speaker 1:
Oh, I know you will be able to. You've done such amazing things. So Gladys is a dynamic figure in the world of real estate. So, as an expert in property development and revenue optimization, she brings her Latina passion to the realm of profit by transforming spaces and your search into emotional experiences that resonate with her buyers and enhanced communities. She was a visionary in the tiny house movement and developed a historic Coral Gables property into a collection of ADUs that are profitable, sustainable and featured on HGT. She's an architect and Cornell University alumni. She's a knowledgeable, captivating speaker and she's going to share her wealth of insight on real estate and property development and how all of that fits into technology. So if you just want to tell us a little bit about yourself, I'm super excited to hear how you got to where you are.
Speaker 2:
Well, when I fit in, I always wanted to be an architect because I love designing and I love creating spaces. And then I went to, you know, undergrad and then grad school for urban planning and urban design to create cities. So designing cities and public spaces is something that is actually a professional activity that a lot of people don't know about, and so it's a big thing. With Cornell Architecture School it's a big focus. And so when I graduated, I moved to New York City and I was working in this big public agency called the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey in their real estate development department. Like they owned a lot of in those days the, the, what used to be the Hudson Yards and so on.
Speaker 2:
The idea of taking something that had stopped being, had gone past its useful life, and making it something fabulous. That was kind of the fun thing. And I learned two words that changed my life, which were municipal bonds, which is how they paid for this stuff. Okay, I said, well, I have to learn this thing, I have to learn finance. So I started taking classes at night and I wound up working in finance After I left. I could put together funding for my own projects and also to help developers to get funding, because if I had a vision of what I wanted to create as an architect, if I didn't know how to pay for it, nobody was going to listen to me. And you have to remember, latina woman, not necessarily in the in the 2000s, this is back in the eighties.
Speaker 2:
So, I was definitely a unique entity and I made it my business to learn as much as I could. And that's the key to going through life. Because you look back at my career and I and I'm like I worked in finance for a decade in New York City, I worked on Wall Street and I took that knowledge. And then I came to Miami and I started advising the county and developers on affordable housing finance because I figured I could extrapolate that data about capital.
Speaker 1:
You talked a little bit about AI and I think a lot of people, when they think about real estate, don't think AI. So how do you think AI is going to help buyers and real estate professionals in the upcoming future?
Speaker 2:
your requirements. I think that right now, there's a lot of people running very fast to try to integrate AI into existing systems, and what we said is we said no, let's start from scratch, let's do an AI native search capability so that the realtor has the ability to work more precisely with the customer. Does that? Yeah, that does.
Speaker 1:
And you know anything you can do. To narrow down what you're doing and to save time and make it more efficient is so valuable, especially when it comes to technology, because it's ever changing and if you look at it at a wide picture, it's overwhelming. Until you narrow it down and see, you know what do I need to do and what can I use to make my life easier, instead of okay, I need to use AI and technology for everything. It's what? How can I implement it specifically?
Speaker 2:
Well, it depends on what it is you're looking to achieve.
Speaker 2:
Right, exactly you know, the app that we're creating ideally will service both sides of the equation the real estate professional and the customer. Right, Right, Because the real estate professional, if they are servicing the customer correctly, they're basically focusing on what does this person really need and want. Focusing on what does this person really need and want and how can I help them. You know, go through the journey, the customer buying journey, which is a cliche, but you really do go through a path. You know you are, you know you're taking people through an experience and my viewpoint and if you go to my, my brokerage company's website, we erase the gap between the profit and the passion, because the emotions and the numbers, because everything about real estate that you see is very hard.
Speaker 2:
It's very quantifiable how many square feet Whereas you know how, physically, what's the platting, how much do I pay, you know what are the taxes, Very numerical data. What I look at, also, what we look at as a team, my husband and I, is what is it that you feel about this property? Because, at the end of the day, no decision is made without an emotion being brought forth, Whether it's a rejection, emotion like, ooh, I don't like this house, or wow, I could see myself living here. Yes and oh. Now I have to figure out how to afford it.
Speaker 1:
Exactly.
Speaker 2:
That's where you have to erase that gap between the profit and the passion, because it is the largest investment a family is going to make. Then the goal is okay. A family is going to make, then the goal is okay. How are you going to make it so that you're always in a profitable position, you never lose money, you don't overpay, et cetera? And Just a side note, I'm a big fan of encouraging young people that are starting out for a single to not buy a house, to buy a fourplex, duplex, triplex, fourplex.
Speaker 2:
You live in one apartment, you rent out the rest and you qualify for Fannie Mae. The qualification for a single family loan is up to four units. So then, from a business perspective, you know you're going to be a landlord, you're going to have to deal with being a landlord, but eventually this is starting to create wealth, this is starting to build you up, and then the value of that property catapults you. When you have, the girlfriend becomes the wife and then you have a baby, you want to have a single family home. You can do that.
Speaker 1:
That's a great idea, yeah, and that's thinking creatively and strategically. So that kind of brings me to the next question how can we use creative strategies to positively impact real estate investment?
Speaker 2:
How do you create value?
Speaker 1:
in a property.
Speaker 2:
You make it so that people want to be there.
Speaker 1:
Okay, very simple To use those emotions.
Speaker 2:
You have to make it so that people want to walk in.
Speaker 1:
Yes.
Speaker 2:
That people want to be in that space. People will pay money to be in that space because it's pretty I hate to use the word pretty because that's so, barbie but it's really, aesthetically pleasing, a nice place to be. It gives you all the positive emotions of being in a space. I don't know if that is real to you.
Speaker 1:
No, that's so good and I think social media can actually do a good job of doing that. You know some people think social media is cold and you know it's so technological. But you know, if you use the right pictures and the right wording and you know, show that a house is not just something you live in, but it's where you create memories.
Speaker 1:
It's where you have people over that you love. It changes the way you buy or sell a house so much because, selling a house, you don't even just think of it as only profit Then you think, oh my goodness, someone else is going to come into this home that I have loved and make new memories and make new friendships. So I think I think that's social media can actually be really good at that. Hey guys, thanks for listening. Now, if you're on here, you're overwhelmed with social media. Maybe you don't know what platforms you should be on or the type of content you should create. Maybe you're worried that you're going to put so much time into this and you're not going to see anything from it. You're not going to earn more money or get more clients. I get it. I hear it all the time.
Speaker 1:
What I'm here to tell you is Digital Journey can help you with that. We have an exclusive group just for realtors and people in real estate. These are for people who are serious about growing their social media. This is, if you want to see a difference. It's an exclusive group coaching program that will teach you how to grow your social media, not just so you can have more numbers, but so you can gain more clients and make more profit. If you're interested in leveling up your social media and if you're serious about wanting to earn money through it, reach out to me. You can contact me at digital-journeynet and I'd love to help you get to where you want to be. You deserve this. Now let's get back to the episode.
Speaker 2:
And you have to think of each structure like the structure of a home is actually an envelope and it contains certain things, right? And you imbue that space with your own energy and your own creativity and using light and colors and all the design tools there are and believe me, they're, they're legion and you really apply that to your own space and create something that speaks to you. If you hire a professional to help you, 50 points for Gryffindor.
Speaker 2:
Yay, you're smart enough to know that you don't know everything, and if the professional is a good professional, they'll guide you to be able to do what you can afford, and so you know what's going to make the place feel a certain way, and those are the things that you have to keep in mind.
Speaker 1:
That's so good, and those are the things that you have to keep in mind. That's so good.
Speaker 2:
With both houses and neighborhoods. Yes, because, remember, I come to this from urban design and urban planning and different communities have different vibes.
Speaker 1:
Very true.
Speaker 2:
And capturing the vibe of a community is like that's something that has never been done. It's like how do I feel here? Let me see you know. Do I really want to live here? How do I want to live? I want to live in a place that has high rises and I take the elevator down and I go down the street and I drink coffee. That's one type of customer, another type of, because I want to live in a leafy environment. I want to be able to ride my bike. I want to to walk my dog. That's a different. I want sidewalks. Not every neighborhood has sidewalks.
Speaker 1:
I live out in the country so I know that very well A lot of neighborhoods. You go through here and you're like I'm more so surprised when I see a sidewalk. I'll be somewhere like oh my goodness, there's a sidewalk here. What's going on?
Speaker 2:
Yeah, exactly, yeah, exactly. So when the urban design, when these neighborhoods are being designed in, in certain eras, the decision was to have the suburban house, that's isolated and there's no sidewalk and it doesn't have what's called the traditional neighborhood feeling. You know, and you know what that is. If you live, live, you're in Nashville, right.
Speaker 1:
Outside of Memphis.
Speaker 2:
Outside of Memphis. Okay, you're in Tennessee. Yes, traditional neighborhoods abound in these older cities that have been around for a long time.
Speaker 1:
Right.
Speaker 2:
Because you have the hierarchy of the street, the green area or the parking sidewalk, then you have a little bit of garden, then you have the porch and then you have the house. So you have this zone between the public and the private which is called the public-private, and you can socialize in that space. That socialization is the key to making a community really become a community, is the key to making a community really become a community. And you can drive around and see people standing around and with their kids and I love seeing the young dads with the kids on their backpack.
Speaker 1:
Yes, I love that yes.
Speaker 2:
I love that and my neighborhood has a whole bunch of that. I live in a very traditional older neighborhood.
Speaker 1:
Okay.
Speaker 2:
And and yet I lived in New York city where I rode the elevator down and I walked down the street and there was the Korean deli and I could go get my fruit at one o'clock in the morning, right, right, and I love, yeah, I think I think, just realizing that people sometimes don't know what they want until they see what they don't want.
Speaker 1:
You know, you don't realize I want to live in the city till you go out in the country and realize you're going to have to drive, you know, 20 or 30 minutes to get to a local Walmart.
Speaker 1:
And so being able to even visualize the property you want versus just the house, and I think so many are like, yeah, I want a house with yards, like, yes, but what size yard, you know? Do you want a lot of trees? Like all of that is going to change as you go on and that's why, you know, promoting the visual aspects of it all can be so valuable, like showing pictures, like showing videos of not just the house and I know social media aerial shots are becoming a big thing and that is so huge because you're realizing you know when you buy a house, you're not just buying a house, you know you're buying the property also, whether that be, you know, two feet if you're living somewhere, or whether that be you know 200 acres, you know you're buying all of it and that's something that you know a lot of people don't even think about until they're there.
Speaker 2:
I think that that trend is a reflection of how aware the public is of the community. In other words, community awareness has become a big deal. Especially when we were in lockdown, we realized how much we need each other and how walking outside and saying hi, how are you, hi, how are you that makes such a difference. So in that aspect, in real estate, the aerial photo shows you what, in our field, is the drawing that you do, the landscape drawing, and then you do the master plan for where it fits into the city, the context, contextual design.
Speaker 1:
Well, you have shared so much good wisdom with us and I'm really excited to check out this app more. Where can our listeners find you if they want to reach out and hear more?
Speaker 2:
They can find me on LinkedIn GladMag. The website is there. We have astronistai. That's the profile, that's on LinkedIn and you can go visit the site and we're adding information as we go and my brokerage is wwwrealtycom and the name of the company. You know what it is, what it means.
Speaker 1:
No.
Speaker 2:
To urbanize in.
Speaker 1:
Spanish Okay.
Speaker 2:
And it's the female conjugation Ella urbaniza.
Speaker 1:
Yes.
Speaker 2:
And so that was the company that did urban planning. And then we just added the brokerage.
Speaker 1:
We'll have all of that linked down below in the description for y'all to click on it. Thank you so much for coming on today. It was a pleasure having you.