The TC Exchange Podcast Episode 4: A TC Case Study with Elisabeth Moore
Elisabeth’s bio:
Meet Elisabeth Moore, a seasoned Real Estate Transaction Coordinator who has emerged as a true luminary in the field. With an impressive six years of dedicated service as a Transaction Coordinator, Elisabeth has honed her skills to perfection. Over the years, Elisabeth's role as a Transaction Coordinator blossomed into an impressive catalog of achievements. She has successfully handled thousands of contracts, ensuring that each one proceeded without a hitch. From the first signature to the closing deal, Elisabeth meticulously managed the paperwork, deadlines, and communications, leaving no room for error. Her ability to keep track of an incredible number of transactions simultaneously is a testament to her remarkable organizational skills. She's known to run over 100 contracts at once, a feat that sets her apart as an industry powerhouse.
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Meet Elisabeth Moore (1:00)
Hello and welcome my sweet friends to the TC Exchange Podcast. I am your host Amity Krause. I'm super excited for today's episode. Today, we are interviewing a good friend of mine, Elisabeth Hussey (Moore). We were introduced several years ago by an agent that was joining one of my real estate teams. And when I met Elisabeth, I was immediately impressed by her professionalism and her kindness. After working together, I recognize Elisabeth as a proactive problem solver, always one step ahead, making sure everything runs smoothly from contract to close. She's all about providing top-notch service to her agents so that they can focus on what they do best - selling homes.
So let's get started.
The Beginning (01:46)
Amity Krause (AK):Hello, Elisabeth. Welcome to the show. I am so excited to introduce you today to our audience. Are you ready?
Elisabeth Moore (EM):
I am ready. I'm excited to do this with you.
AK: Awesome. So, let's start by telling us a little bit about yourself. How did you get into the real estate industry? How long have you been a transaction coordinator?
EM: My name is Elizabeth. I live in Carolina Beach, North Carolina. I got into the real estate industry about seven years ago. So I started as an office administrator at a luxury real estate firm, worked my way into a transaction coordinator within a year and so I have been a transaction coordinator for six years.
AK: Yeah, that's awesome. What drew you to real estate originally?
EM: So I don't know that this answer is the best one, but that's okay. What initially got me into real estate was I was actually working at a telecommunications provider and I was in a call center environment. So one day, I just decided that this was no longer for me. I had been in that call center for 5 to 6 years. It just was not for me. It was not a healthy work environment. And I said, I'm going to do something different. I quit without a backup plan, not the smartest decision, but it happens, right? And so I was looking for jobs on Indeed, and I found one that was in the real estate industry as a real estate admin reading the description. It really enticed me and so then I started doing more research on real estate and the different roles that you could do there and I fell in love with it. So then before even starting it, I started applying to jobs that were real estate focused, but I did get one as a real estate admin. It was great.
Transitioning from a Real Estate Admin to a TC (3:48)
AK: That's awesome. So you started at a brokerage, right?
EM: I did.
AK: What did it look like for you transitioning from working as an admin to going into TC, what was that like?
EM: So going from an admin to a TC kind of happened naturally. There was an agent in that office that was looking for a TC And he did not want somebody that was necessarily super well versed in it. He was willing to train somebody how he wanted them to be. He was very particular. He's a great guy. So I communicate with him to this day and he liked the way that I worked in the office. He was like, “you're super organized. I like how you do everything. Is there any chance that you'd be willing to allow me to train you to become a transaction coordinator for me and just kind of see where it goes?” So I was helping him while also helping the office, but it transformed into me helping more of the agents there. It was really fun!
Experiences and Challenges (4:45)
AK: That's awesome. When you think about when you first started, what were some of the most memorable experiences that you had, or some of the challenges that kind of stick out from when you're first doing it, trying to figure it out?
EM: Right. So for me, one of the biggest things that I remember is I did not know a ton about real estate whenever I had first started in the industry. The firm that I was at was not very big on trainings and that kind of thing. So I spent a ton of time on my personal time studying the contract. So I would print out numerous copies and I would write on it. I would read word for word, starting with the standard offer to purchase. Then I worked my way into the other disclosures that are required in North Carolina. It took a lot of time. I did not realize how, it was a 13 page contract at the time. North Carolina now has a 17 page contract. But that still takes quite a bit of time. And so I spent a lot of time doing that. And I would also call the agent that I was working with and ask him questions. Do you know, this is what I see on the contract, can you explain this to me? In what sense does this make sense? And all that kind of thing. And so, um, I spent a ton of time working just to get the information. However, it was really rewarding to have an agent that was actually willing to talk me through that and that was willing to be a complete open book. He would send me copies of the contracts that he had and would allow me to study those even for the ones prior to me helping him as a TC. So I was very lucky to have him. Very lucky.
AK: Yeah, that's great. I think that's a really key and wonderful way to learn how a contract works because understanding the ins and outs of it really can help you get organized as a TC and and really and I know you've experienced this and working in other states because you have this. This framework that you've understood from one contract, you can take a lot of that information and apply it to, to the next state. And that helps you become more flexible and valuable as you, as you scale your business. That's awesome!
EM: It definitely does.
Brokerage Cultures (7:06)
AK: So brokerage experience: what was it like at the brokerage that you're at? What was the culture like?
EM: The first brokerage I was at, it was not a very positive experience, it was just not. It was a very negative one, because the owner of the company, he was super involved, which sounds great, however he also had a very negative attitude, and so it just kind of made things a little bit tense around there, and that's where I had started, that's where I had the agent that was talking me through everything.
I ended up leaving that brokerage and going to another where that culture was very much like training-oriented, which was great, very much helpful, all of that kind of stuff. I worked as a strictly as a TC for a team in that office. That one was definitely much better. I was at that brokerage for a few years before transitioning out of that. And, having the trainings that were available at that brokerage were one of the best things that I could have had to gain that experience.
AK: Yeah, that's awesome. I think that the strategy that you've had where you as a beginner working for a team as a TC and taking advantage of the opportunities to learn from some of what the agents are doing and the classes that the agents are attending, if they have a good team structure, that's really, that's really great to help you grow. Awesome.
Going Independent (8:35)
AK: So what was the moment when you realized that you wanted to go independent and you could, you could go to go independent and, and TC?
EM: Absolutely, so great question. I actually have left being a transaction coordinator just for a little bit. My story is not necessarily very conventional. I had actually moved from North Carolina to Utah and in doing that, I worked for the same brokerage that like the company that I had worked for in North Carolina.
However, I did a different role. I moved into a Director of Agent Services role, which was amazing! However, in that role, I wasn't very fulfilled and helping people the way that I wanted to. I was helping them, but not in the same way that a transaction coordinator does. And I did not realize that I had fallen in love with being a transaction coordinator until I was out of it.
One day I was driving home from work and one of the agents that I still work with today, Joe, he called me and he said, “I'm joining a team. And this is only going to work if you will be my transaction coordinator, but I know that you don't do that.” I said, “Okay, let me think about it. So I took a little bit to think about it, but it really excited me when I got the call from him! It excited me because I knew that I was missing it. So I was like, this is perfect. But I didn't want to tell him that right away. Don't tell him I said that. So I did not want to tell him that, but I called him back the next day and I said, “I would absolutely love this.”
And so I started as being his TC, but still working my Director of Agent Services role - so going both ways. Then I was connected with y'all and his team. And so it expanded, it just kind of naturally happened and as I started having more and more clients, I said, I can do this. I can actually do this for myself and I don't need the W-2 backup job as, you know, as a blanket security essentially. So I said, I'm doing it. And so I left. It took about, I think, 8 months of doing both roles before I transitioned into doing solely independent, but it's been the best decision I've ever made.
AK: Yeah, I love that. I love that. It's so empowering. I remember when I first started, it was very similar in that I was a Director of Operations for one team and then became a TC for another one, you know, just sort of on the side independently and you just have to grind and do the two jobs at the same time. It wasn't like it was 40 hours in this half of the week and 40 hours in this half of the week. It was like 80 hours right on top of each other.
EM: Right.
AK: But you know, but it was worth it. So worth it at the end. So awesome.
EM: Very worth it. It gets you where you want to be. You have to put in a lot of hard work, but it's worth it.
Setting Up a TC Business (11:32)
AK: Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. So, how did you go about setting up your business? Any tips for some of our listeners that are on the same path or could be on the same path?
AH: Absolutely. That's a great question. I spent a lot of time while working both roles getting my system set up. I knew the systems that I needed as a transaction coordinator because I had done it before. And I spent months getting everything into my system. Once I had gotten that first phone call from Joe, I immediately started the systems that weekend. I got an LLC set up. I got everything plugged in and perfected because I knew that he wasn't going to get a contract right away. I knew it was going to take a little bit of time. So it gave me time to actually get in my email templates. A lot of what we do is via email and a lot of that is templates that we use and they do differ state to state But I spent a lot of time getting those into my system getting those perfected the way that I wanted them to still tweaking them. They're always a work in progress, but I spent a lot of time just digging into my system.
I spent a lot of time having 80 hours plus work weeks. I also had to do it knowing that I was eventually going to pursue this full time. I had to do a lot of digging and stuff that I had not done before. So being a business owner, knowing what software to use for the financial aspect of it for bookkeeping and all of that, I never had any of that experience. I had to spend a lot of time digging into that side of it as well. I had to perfect my systems for real estate, as well as for my business. So, it was fun!
AK: Yeah, I think that's one of the hardest transitions. I think that going from working at a brokerage or working on a small team where you're a W2 to being a 1099, your mentality has to shift and change and to be like, okay, now I'm a business owner. And now I've got people that are relying on me even more. I'm not the one who's relying on them so much. They're relying on me now because that relationship is different and I'm growing something here. So that's awesome.
EM: And it's huge to have those relationships with agents and in everything we do. Really, it's all about relationships. If you don't have great relationships with the agents, which starts with your systems, then this is not going to be very successful for not only us, but for them as well. We're working for them. And so we have to make sure that all of that is set up properly.
Day to Day Life of a Transaction Coordinator (14:18)
AK: Yeah, absolutely. So how would you say that your day to day life has changed since you became independent?
EM: I love that question. It's changed a lot. So I have the task. I do all of my real estate based tasks out of my system first thing in the morning. I do my emails, my tasks - I get those knocked out. If we've got new contracts that came in, I put all of those in and get all of that rolling.
However, I spend the middle and end of my day doing more things as far as checking in with my agents again. It's all about relationships. And so, I have two days a week that I spend just checking in on agents and seeing how are they doing? What can I do to better assist? It may seem excessive to do it two times a week, but I've had situations where I haven't done it as consistently and the ball gets dropped or something gets missed. So the more that I check in, the more it's going to be top of mind for them to be looking out for anything that can be improved. So I do that.
I also have designated days where I do specifically bookkeeping. I don't hire that part of it out. So I've got a specific day of the week that I just go through the financial aspect of it and getting everything situated.
But I also have a portion of my day where I prospect for new agents. And so in some of my check in calls with my agents, not everyone, but on some of them, I do ask if they have any real estate agent friends that are needing help or anything like that, anybody that they recommend that I should reach out to. I've never in my life considered myself a salesperson, but being a business owner, that's had to change just a little bit.
So that's been really fun. So I do spend part of my day prospecting. If they give me names or anything like that, I'll reach out to them because my business has grown entirely off of word of mouth, which has been incredible. I don't want to ever forget that and forget it's all relationship based and who you got.
AK: Yeah, I love that and you're absolutely right. It is about the relationship. One of the things that I always talk about with our team is about how we are not, we're not an assistant, we're a partner and and unless we are checking in and developing a relationship and saying, this is what I'm doing and this is how I'm a partner to you. This is how I'm showing up for you. You know, that's that if you're not doing that, that's the moments where, you know, you forget to get looped in on information on the on the deal. And you're like, “Oh, closing was pushed two weeks? Neat. I didn't know.” Those kinds of things that communication and maintaining the relationship is so important. So I love that. I love that you do that. That's great.
EM: Yeah, it definitely is because it's very easy in our role to become kind of a background figure. I hate to put it that way, but it is very easy to become a background figure if you're not doing nice check-ins. So very crucial.
AK: Yeah, absolutely. I love that you put really strong systems in place so that you could automate a lot of that backend task and then give yourself the space to develop the relationships with your agents and create new opportunities for your business by doing that. That's brilliant. Brilliant!
EM: Absolutely. Thank you.
Favorite Tools and Systems (17:46)
AK: All right. So tell me, what are some of your favorite tools and systems that you use in your business?
EM: A current system that I'm actually using for my day to day tasks is a system that's called A Frame. I used to use another one. However, I heard about A Frame probably six to seven months ago. So I started digging into it and it has everything in it that I need. So it has where you can email template, you can put in clients, like potential agents that you want to work with and have a prospecting schedule on that, reminders to check in. You've got date driven, driven tasks that are in that system and I can also store all of my documents for each file individually, all in the same system. I used to have a few different systems that I would use for all of those different things. Now I just use A Frame, which is fantastic.
For my bookkeeping, I use Fresh Books, so I have to send out invoices. I have a specific day of the week that I do that as well. Everything is systematized and away with me. And I use Fresh Books to send out those invoices and to also do all of my bookkeeping. So those are my biggest platforms.
AK: Yeah. Awesome. I've heard, I haven't used A Frame myself, but I have heard some really great things about it. I'm glad to hear another good review.
EM: So it's incredible. I switched over to it six to eight months ago and I have not looked back since. I will definitely let you dig into mine if you want to.
AK: Thank you.
On the Horizon (18:20)
AK: All right, what's next for you and your business? Any exciting projects or things happening on the horizon?
EM: Yeah, actually I love that question too. I'm working on expanding into another state. So currently I am in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Utah, and I am expanding into Arkansas. I have a really good friend that lives there. She's had some real estate friends that ironically enough have asked if she knew anybody that was a transaction coordinator and has gotten me connected.
And so I've gone through over the past few weeks studying their contract, very different if you're wondering from the other states that I work in. So I've gone through studying that and within the next week I will be fully launched there. So super excited about that. I've had a lot of life changes happen in my life recently and so my big priority focus for the end of this year and going into next year is expanding and growing my business. So I'm making it a priority to sit down with agents in town and actually do coffee dates with them. Get face to face because that's the best way to get to know them. We get to choose thankfully who we work with being independent. So I do the coffee dates and see if it would be a good relationship to have.
AK: Yeah, awesome. I love it. Congratulations! That's great.
EM: Thank you.
Advice for Other TCs (20:47)
AK: What advice do you have for a TC that's considering moving to independent from working at a brokerage? What would you tell them?
EM: I'm going to say the first part is probably going to be a little contradicting, but it makes sense in my head. Take your time, but also take the leap. So, when I say take your time, actually take your time to fully understand the contracts before doing it. You need to be the expert in the field before you go fully independent, in my opinion. Because you have to have the agents trust you, and you do that by becoming an expert. So, take your time getting to know that stuff. Take your time getting your system set up. You don't want to be fumbling with your systems while you've got 20 contracts running doesn't work very well for anybody, but also do it.
If you're thinking about going independent. It's already on your mind. There's already, you've already likely weighed out the pros and the cons. Just do it! So get your systems and everything set up. If you have to do a second job on the backside to support it in the beginning. Do it.
AK: That's great advice. All right. Well, I have one last question.
Book Recommendation (22:05)
AK: What book have you read that impacted you both with your personal life and your professional life?
EM: The Gap and the Gain. I believe it's by Dan Sullivan. I love that book! It's a mindset book and it goes over, you can either stay in the gap or the game, and kind of shifting that mindset. It helped me a lot because the focus of it is looking back at where you have come from and seeing the progress that you've made instead of saying, for example, once my business reaches 25 agents, I will feel successful. That is going to give you something that can be really heavy and then make it really difficult for you to grow because the mindset is always going to be, I'm not there yet. Because once you hit 25 agents, you're going to have a bigger goal, a bigger goal, which is great. We want goals, right? However, if you're never looking at and, you know, patting yourself on the back for where you come from. It can just leave you in a really negative space. So instead of saying, once I get 25 agents, I'll be happy. You know, you can start with, I went from having a W-2 to doing this on the side, but now I'm fully independent. That is an amazing way to go. And it's all about shifting your mindset. Instead of looking after stuff that might put you in a negative space, give yourself a pat on the back. You've actually, you've done this, you've gotten here. That's helped me tremendously, just with my mindset, which helps in every aspect of life.
AK: Yeah. I love it. I love that. That's wonderful. I am so glad that Joe introduced us years ago. I am so glad to work with you and thank you so much for coming on and joining us today.
This is a ton of fun. I was excited to hear some parts of your story that I didn't know. I'm so excited for you and your future!
Contact Information (24:07)
AK: Before I let you go, if we have any listeners that wanted to reach out to you, where could they find you?
EM: The best way is going to be via email. EH@timeawaytc.com So if you have any questions, that's the absolute best way.
AK: Love it. Love it. Awesome. Thank you so much. Elizabeth. It was great talking to you.
EM: You too.
