The Human Side of Real Estate with Gretchen Schmidt

This is Real Talk with Leigh Thomas Brown, and today I've got a very interesting guest all the way from the other side of the country in the Pacific Northwest. I've got Gretchen Schmidt today, and yes, we'll talk a couple of crazy stories in real estate. We're also going to talk a little bit about living life a little more interestingly when you've got a dad who will ride from Washington to Michigan on his bicycle. So enjoy this conversation and I'll see you on the other side. All right, so Gretchen, You got to tell the world who is Gretchen Schmidt, where are you located with this beautiful office? Give them a little bit of a thumbnail so they know who I'm talking to today.

So my name is Gretchen Schmidt. I grew up here in the Pacific Northwest, which to those of you who don't know, the Pacific Northwest is the northwest corner of the United States in Washington. And I work in Seattle-Bellevue area, which is one of the bigger metropolitan areas in the state.

So I have so many friends in the Seattle King County area. I have to ask, do you know Joseph and Randy Brayson? They've been in the business forever, but I think they're more out on the island now. What's it called? Belling— is it Bellingham?

No, Bellingham is a little bit north, but Bainbridge Island.

Bainbridge, that's it. Do you know them? They've been around forever.

I think I've seen their names from a while back, but I haven't worked with them lately.

And then how about, let's see, well, Sam DeBoard is from that area, but he's Mr. Fancy now because he's president of the Real Estate Standards Institute. So he's doing more of the nerd herd stuff in the MLS world. Do you know Sam?

I do not know Sam.

And let's see who else is there. Well, actually, I don't even remember because one of my good friends moved to Portland. The other one's in Vancouver. Dale Chumley's in Vancouver now, but he was president of the Washington Realtors. We love Dale all to pieces. And overall, you just live in a really great area. But to be fair, the better side of Washington is over on the Columbia River.

We have a lot of beauty in our area.

Like, I love the Columbia River area.

Easy. Yeah, this is— so I'm a big bike rider, and, um, Yeah, and my partner and my family were big cyclists. My dad is 89 and he's still riding his bike. Shut up! Yep.

That's awesome.

Yep. So he's still riding his bike. He rode his bicycle from Washington to Michigan for his 50th class reunion.

Are you serious? How do you do that and not die along the way? Motorists are crazy. How did he survive that?

He just does. He is a He is watched by a guardian angel because I like, I ride with him a lot and there are some times when like he's riding in front of me and he'll like swerve to avoid a traffic cone or something and like he did not look behind him to see if there was a car in the road.

So I mean, I guess though if you're 89, your care level is probably slightly diminished and yay him for keeping going. That's a, that's Man, that's inspiring.

I love that. Yeah, it's definitely inspiring because I didn't— I did not beat him up a hill until he was 70.

I mean, you know, you got to have goals, girl. So now are your kids going to take you out? Because I hope so.

I, I have every hope that my kids will beat me up a hill.

So how did y'all start becoming bike people? Was it because you live somewhere where the outdoors is just so jaw-droppingly beautiful, or is this a lifetime thing, or you picked it up because you wanted exercise? I, I want to know a little more about my dad.

It was all my dad. So he, like, in the set, like, when he was 39 years old, he had never done a single lick of, like, physical fitness, anything, like, completely nothing. And 39, it was like the '70s when Jim Fixx was, like, getting jogging big in the United States. And his— so he started jogging, and he literally started jogging around our house like around the, like in our yard, just in circles, like around the foundation.

Okay.

Yeah. He like created a little path, you know, how like kind of your, your pets sometimes have little paths that they beat into the grass because they go along it so much. Well, he had that around the house and finally thought, well, maybe I should jog around the block. So then he jogged around the block and then he jogged further. And then he, um, decided he was going to do a marathon, like not in an official state, he was going to run 26 miles. So he did. And he sort of quickly wrecked his knee. So then he was like, well, now what do I do? I can't run. So he said, well, I'll ride a bike. So he started riding his bike. And, um, and then he just kind of got all of us into it.

So the question is, did your mother kill him for making a path around her house? Because he had to have shrub here and there.

I'm pretty sure she's the one that said, go run around the block. Like, You don't need to run around the house. First of all, you look ridiculous. You're wrecking our grass. And, you know, there's this perfectly good street out there. Just go run.

I mean, that's hilariously cute. And it's every bit of a Modern Family episode. And I could, I feel like the writers of that show would make this an episode.

Could totally see Phil doing that.

100%. Because, you know, he's, he's slightly buffoonish, which is why I don't like that he's in real estate because I don't think that the average realtor is a buffoon. I think we are very good people, but maybe just disconnected enough to run circles around a house. That's the cutest visual I will ever have. Then he gets on his bike and rides to Michigan for a high school reunion. Okay, so Gretchen, how did you get into real estate? Was your dad also in real estate? Did you follow him from biking to real estate or did you live on the edge and go fresh?

No, I absolutely came into real estate through the back door. Like, I'm an accountant and finance person by trade. That's, that's what my degree is in. That's what I like doing. And, um, my, my ex, who was my partner, you know, my partner at the time, very entrepreneurial, great salesperson. Like we, we went to college together in the same, you know, college business club. And, you know, when you have to sell things to, you know, make money for your club, like he was great and I was terrible. Anyway, so he had this entrepreneurial bug and he would come home from his corporate job. We just bought our first house. He'd come home from his corporate job and he'd be like, I found this, uh, car wash for sale. We should buy a car wash. We should, we should buy a rubber stamp making machine. We should do like— he had all these crazy ideas. And me being the accountant, I was like, all right, 80% of small businesses fail. I do not want to lose our house. I gotta— like, he's not gonna stop until he has some kind of business that is his. I'm like, what is a low capital business that he could get into and not destroy the family and not destroy the family house. So I was having lunch with one of my girlfriends and she said, oh yeah, my husband does something real estate. I was like, that's it, real estate. Like all you got to buy is some business cards and a couple of signs.

It's true.

And, and, but I was smart enough to know that we wouldn't have any income for like 6 months. So I said, you know, like I said, hey, you know, Why don't you go have lunch with Todd and, you know, ask him about his job in real estate? Maybe that's a good fit. So he goes and has lunch with Todd and he comes home and he says, that's it, I'm going to be in real estate. And so, you know, we made a plan. You know, he quit his job, he took the classes. But, you know, he's very good at selling, meeting people, all this stuff, not so good at organizational stuff. So like he'd come home with piles of like business cards or whatever. This was back in the day when it was business cards. And, um, so I was like, well, we need a database. So I did the database. And then I said, you know, we need a newsletter. So I did the newsletter. And then I was like, we need to keep the contracts like going in an orderly manner and like the dates be on everything. So I did that. And, um, so, you know, we worked together for years. I, and, um, and then eventually our marriage broke up. And I thought, well, you know, I've been doing capital projects for our school district and I've been doing this, like, what do I want to do full-time? And I thought, you know, I can do the back end, maybe I can do the front end. And we have obviously totally different styles because I'm not a salesperson. And I know the reason I couldn't sell anything at our business club is because I didn't believe in what I was selling.

Right.

And I didn't believe that I was trying to convince people to do something they didn't want to do. Whereas in real estate, I am helping people do something they really want to do. I'm protecting them.

Yes.

And I am helping them like do something that they really want to do and, and do it right and be educated and understand what's happening. So it's a completely, for, for me, I'm the realtor that walks in and says, there's only one outlet that's in this room. We need to check the electrical and this siding is going to be terrible to maintain. Like, you're going to have to paint this every 3 years. Like, I am not the person going, oh, look at this, it's so great. I am the realtor who's just like pointing out all the bad things and, you know, maybe highlighting the good stuff that they don't recognize. So, you know, like, maybe this vinyl siding isn't the cutest, most fabulous thing, but I'm telling you, all you're going to have to do is pressure wash it every couple of years, and it is a whole lot cheaper than painting all the time. So maybe not your style choice, but from a maintenance standpoint and a cost standpoint, it's really good. So anyways, that's how I got into real estate. I really love it. I know that I am helping future generations. Everybody that I get into a house, that's it. I am helping them fund their kids' college. I am helping them start a business. I am, I am creating— I'm helping them create generational wealth that will change their lives and their family's lives forever.

I mean, they're on the ladder. I, I've talked to so many people about it, like, I don't know when to get in, I don't know how to get in, I should have done it in the past, I'm waiting for this, waiting for that. And I'm like, I hear you on all of that, but you have to get in, get on the first rung of the ladder so that you can then continue to make more choices and I get all the pushback. I don't like this, don't like that, but it's, it's so much bigger than that. And I love that you focus on the bigger aspect of real estate, which is what it gives you the freedom to do in the future based on this one asset class, which is also the asset you get to live in. I mean, it's going to be able to do big things for you, but in the meantime, you're not paying rent to somebody else. But I especially love that you are of that very unique group in real estate that is organized and can manage.

Hyper organized because naturally I, I, I'm super ADHD. Like, like I can barely walk from one room to the next without forgetting what I was supposed to do. So everyone's like, oh my gosh, you're so organized. I'm like, I am organized as a coping skill because I'm completely nonfunctional if I don't have everything on the calendar, every listed out, you know, alarms ringing saying, go put that sign up. Like I have to be organized because naturally. I don't have the skills or ability to remember.

Well, it's a discipline. You are choosing to discipline yourself through all of those organizational tools to overcome a huge lack of focus, which I think most people have now. I blame the device life that we have that is constantly pinging and dragging us off course. But when you speak about how you're not organically wired to be the outgoing, charismatic, caricature of a salesperson and you explain that what you're doing for people is not for you, it is for them. I hope that anybody listening to this is sharing this with that person in your life who is an engineer or an accountant who does crave some human interaction, but they're not wired like they think they're supposed to be wired because I believe we need more realtors like you who understand that it's not about the flash, it's about the substance. And the way that you bring it forward helps people figure out, well, can I stay in this house when insurance is going haywire, when taxes are nuts, and I'm trying to understand the principal and interest at the same time? An accountant mindset really helps people think through that. So I'm so glad that you're positioning this in a way that reminds you, you are in sales. It's just a different approach.

I can say I'm a facilitator. I'm not a salesperson. And I've had some, like, I know this used to be called Crazy Shit in Real Estate, which is, uh, I love it.

I found it because I love that name, but I mean, it's the theory of it, but you know, there are sponsors out there that want my language to be cleaner and I'm like, that's not even really a cuss word. It's a noun, but okay.

Yeah, exactly. But I mean, I had some funny stuff happen at the beginning of my career.

Oh, well, please bring us the story from the Pacific Northwest, my sister. We need a story.

Oh, man. So at the beginning of my career, I got these referrals for these clients. And so I went over to their house and I knock on the door and the door's open and this woman has a parrot on her shoulder. And I said, oh, hello, you know, and she said, and I can't remember the parrot's name, this was a while ago, and she said, oh yes, you know, this is our parrot, you know, such and such, and, and the parrot's just flying around the house while we're talking and, and her toddler's wandering around and as I look around, I realize that there's parrot poop everywhere. I mean, and I said, oh, you know, so does your parrot, you know, just fly free? Oh yeah, he sleeps in the cage at night, but he, you know, he's in and And like, there was 2 years of parrot poop all over the floor, everywhere, all over the house. And these people had a child, like a toddler. And I was just thinking, oh my gosh, this kid's immune system must be incredible because they're learning to crawl on this floor. Anyways, and they had a very strange art collection, like the equivalent of shrunken heads, kind of. Art collection.

Oh, so not like your average nudies. We had, um, creepier stuff.

Oh yeah, creepier stuff. Like stuff that you just kind of— not welcoming. And so, you know, I'm trying to be really tactful. And, um, and so at that time I, I had— I was working with, um, an agent who was also an interior decorator. So we would collaborate and I would say, well, I'm bringing in my interior decorator to come in and do a staging consultation and she'll give us, you know, like what we should do. So then she got to be the bad guy and say, you know, well, this needs to go, that needs to go, whatever. And she's also very sweet. So she said, now I can see by your highly curated art collection that this is all very special to you. And they said, oh yes, you know, this is, you know, this, you know, I did it or my friend did it. Like, you know, it's very special. And she said, now, you know, there will be a lot of people coming through your home when you sell your home. So I— we should probably wrap these up and set them aside just to keep them safe so that, you know, nothing happens to them. They said, oh yeah, that's a good idea. So wrapped up all the shrunken heads and put them away. And I was like, oh great. And I said, now, and your parrot, you know, let's just say it's Frida. Frida is going to have to be in a cage. Well, why? And I said, well, some buyers are afraid of birds. And they said, afraid of birds? Who would be afraid of birds? And I said, well, you know, people have phobias, you know, that maybe they're rational or irrational, but, you know, we need to make sure people, all buyers feel, you know, safe in your home. So Frida's going to have to be in the cage.

They said, all right.

And, and, and I knew that I couldn't tell them like, I, I could tell them to clean their house, but they've lived in this house for a long time. This is probably what they consider clean. So I said, and I'll have some cleaners come in and clean your house. And, and they said, oh, that's great, you know. So they packed away the shrunken heads, put Frida in a cage, and I hired some industrial cleaners to come and clean this house. And they, they, they looked at it and they said $800. Now this was 20 years ago, so $800 for cleaning of a small house.

This is a small house.

This is only like a 3-bedroom, maybe 1,300, 1,400 square foot house.

What's that, $3,000 in today's dollars? $2,500, $3,000?

Yeah, a lot. And so, I mean, and these cleaners were down on the floor with putty knives scraping petrified poop off everything. And I came to check on them while they were working it and they said, we did not charge you enough. Too late, too late.

You signed the contract.

That's exactly right. So they clean the house and we get the shrunken heads and the bird and the turtle also away. And, um, and so now I'm kind of doing the staging. So I bring in, I have like this cute little wine rack and I bring my wine rack in and I stuff it full of a case of Two Buck Chuck. You know, trade, this is two, at the time it was $2 wine from Trader Joe's. You could get a case for $24. So. You know, fill the wine rack with the wine and, you know, put the house on the market. First open house, all the neighbors came by.

I bet they did.

All the neighbors came by. I mean, I think I might have sent out a thing saying neighbors only, like, for the first hour and then public for the next hour. And all the neighbors came and they walked in and they were like, this is a miracle. Like, they all knew them and they knew what the house looked like. And they were like, you're a miracle worker. Like, this looks amazing. And so they, they, they loved it. They came in and, um, and, you know, at the time houses weren't selling in 3 days, you know, it took a, it took a little while. So every couple of days I'd come by and check on things. And I looked at the wine rack and I was like, oh, that's funny. I thought I brought a case. And, um, and I was like, well, you know, maybe I didn't make, you know, whatever. So next time I came by, a couple more bottles were gone.

It was Frida. Frida was drinking the wine to save the case.

And so, you know, I'm like taking garbage out or doing something and I go put stuff in the garbage can and I realized like there's where all the wine bottles are and she's been drinking the wine. I mean, and she was so anxious. I just was like, should I say anything? I thought, you know, it was $24. It still looks okay. And I was like, if that's what it takes to get her through this, I was like, you know what, no big deal. So by the time we sold the house, the entire case was gone.

I mean, I think that was a wise investment on your part, Gretchen.

Yeah, I do. I think so too. And it all worked out great. The people who bought it started the, like, this really great community coffee shop in the neighborhood. Twin baby boys. And now their baby boys are in college and it's all very sweet.

See, and that's the cool thing of looking back at your real estate life. You realize you went through all of those pieces. And now your community has benefited this much from the next generation of homeowner as entrepreneur.

Well, and those, that couple that bought that house probably used that house to help them start their business.

Entirely possible. But the thing I'm taking away is you called that art not welcoming and your designer called it, what'd she say?

Highly curated.

Highly curated. I'm totally stealing that phraseology because Yeah. So true and beautifully said to not belittle her for having strange taste, but helping her succeed. Yeah. That's the power of thoughtful words. I love that so much. This is not welcoming. I freaking love that.

Yeah. And I totally use that all the time. And again, very close at the beginning of my career, my neighbors were selling their house and and they had very, very garish taste. Like, they were lovely people and it totally matched their very warm, welcoming personality. So they had orange velour curtains.

Velour?

Oh yeah, baby.

Yeah, orange velour curtains. And they had painted their entire kitchen fire engine red. And when I mean the entire kitchen, I mean, like, I think they painted the countertops, they painted the tiles, they painted the cabinets, they painted cabinet knobs, they painted the electrical plates, like, they painted That's a bold choice. Yeah. And so we went over it. I said, now, do you know when you sell your home, anything that's, you know, requires a screwdriver to be removed has to stay with the house. So that includes window coverings. So curtain, the rod screwed in. And I said, now, I'm assuming that you love these curtains and you are probably going to want to have these in your next home. And they said, Oh yes, we definitely want those in the next home. And I said, well, we should probably take them down because, you know, if people see the house, they're going to want them and they're going to be entitled to them unless we make a special concession. So let's just make sure they never even see these beautiful curtains. And they said, yeah, that's a good idea. We'll put those away.

It was great. Christian, I'm so glad you got out of accounting because you're helping people with your very kind and thoughtful way of putting things because Those are, those are custom orange velour curtains. I think you missed the custom part. You probably forgot to mention that.

I forgot to say highly curated.

They were welcoming to somebody. Just, yeah, yeah, they were.

Yeah, they were the, the loveliest neighbors, and I'm so disappointed they're gone because, uh, you know, but, but they needed to move closer to their kids. It makes sense.

I mean, this is— it is actually hard when we lose neighbors that we love and It's actually emotionally hard to have to go into somebody that you really enjoy and tell them, we need to make some changes here because the buyers aren't going to like you. And I do love you and I love your house, but the buyers won't. It looks like we're deflecting, but we're trying to help them get their goal accomplished.

Yeah.

If there's anything I wish the public would take away from this part of the conversation, it's that we don't like being the one who has to tell you to change things. We tell you for your best benefit, if indeed moving is what you want to do. And if you don't want to move, that's a good time to say, well, then I'll just stay here because I don't want to change anything. And we're okay with that too. Absolutely. We might enjoy you.

Yeah, exactly. It's a fun job. And I always kind of think of myself as a transitions counselor, you know, because whenever you're buying or selling real estate, it's a big life transition.

Huge.

Transitions are hard, whether like, you know, it's great, you're moving into a bigger house, you're buying your first house, or if it's sad because your spouse has passed away or, you know, you are getting a divorce. Like, there's lots of reasons for buying and selling, some good, some bad. And, you know, part of our job is just to really be counselors and help people make this transition as smoothly as possible with as few hiccups as possible.

So speaking of transitions, before I let you go, I have to ask you a geographically specific question about your area. You're of course known for being cloudy, gray, gloomy, rainy so much of the year. What is— Every—

all the time. It's terrible all the time. You don't need to move here.

What is the best Gretchen advice for the people who do move there from somewhere like sunny Southern California? They're not used to it. How do you help people lift themselves up because the gray days obviously cause all of us to want to lay on the couch. It's just human nature. How do you get people to adjust to it?

Well, my biggest advice is get a happy light and plan a vacation in November and February because by about February, I want to slit my wrist if I haven't gone somewhere sunny. But, but the best thing that helped me, because I am very affected by it, is getting one of those full spectrum lights. I call it the happy light. And, um, once the— once it starts getting dark, I just have it in the bathroom. I get up in the morning, I turn it on, and, uh, you know, brush my teeth, get ready. And then I also have one downstairs in the kitchen. So I'm making my coffee, like, I have to get a dose of bright light or, um, I have a hard time.

So those things actually work? They're not just a really sale thing?

Oh, they really work. I mean, I just remember one day in particular, like, I was, I was driving to work and I pulled out of the house and I was going down the alley and there was a garbage can in the alley blowing around and, and I just lost it. I was so irate that I had to get out of the car and move this, this can. And like, and I was like, the real me was hovering above the angry me going, what are you doing? Like, it's a garbage can. Like, stop. This is a, this is a, an unbalanced reaction. And I got to work and I said, I don't know what's wrong with me. Like, I'm just, just like so angry about something that shouldn't make me so angry. And one of my colleagues said, well, you know, you could be affected by seasonal affective. And she just said, you know, do you wanna borrow my happy light for the day? And I was like, yeah, right, whatever. Sure. And she stuck it on my desk, turned it on, and I'm telling you, by the end of the day, I was feeling completely different. I said, all right, I'll give it a whirl. And it works.

So then, I know part of the seasonal affect that really does affect people has to do with vitamin D deficiency. So, how do you get additional vitamin D when the sun is hiding from you? Do you do multivitamins or are the happy lights able to increase vitamin D? How does—

I take a lot of vitamin D. I take a lot of vitamin D in the winter.

And this is a note to everybody listening or watching this, we're not crazy. Vitamin D will change your life. So, please check and wherever you live, don't hide from the sun. Don't hide from good things.

Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Yeah. So that's how I cope. And I highly recommend— my brother luckily lives in LA, so, you know, going down to visit him for a weekend is a very easy prospect. And now it's just go down for a nice weekend, get a dose of sun, and then I feel good for another month or two.

You can come back to the beauty of where you can bike on the Columbia River Gorge and I guess follow your dad to Michigan because—

Yep.

What?

Oh, that's what I was going to say about the state. Like my, so my dad got me, like he's always done this club ride every year in the summer. It's called Ride Around Washington. And every year they do a different route around Washington. He always invited me to go and, you know, my kids were little and I only had, you know, a little bit of vacation. So I was always like, you know, I don't know if I want to like do a vacation without my kids. And so I didn't do it. And then finally, you know, it was time when I was like, you know, He might not be doing this that much longer. I better do it. So I went on the ride and they had this, um, it was a 4-year cycle. So one, one, the first year we went across like one side of the state and then the next year we started where we ended and did the next side of the state.

Okay.

So, so we got to do, got to go around the whole state and like I hadn't been to every part of my state. And it's just so stunningly beautiful. And in one day, like, we started in Astoria, actually Oregon, which is the bottom, uh, west corner of Washington, and we rode across the Columbia River, like, along the Columbia River back and forth. Oregon is— and, and in one day we went from, like, the coast through, like, you know, mountain forests and then rolling wheat fields. Like, I mean, It's just so widely varied and gorgeous.

It makes you love where you live just a little bit more when you get out and see it.

Yep.

Yep.

And I'm sure North Carolina is exactly the same where you've got hugely diverse regions that are—

Yeah, mountains to coast, just like you do, except you're hood to coast, we're Mount Mitchell to coast.

Mm-hmm. That's right. Well, yeah, East Coast mountains are not the same as West Coast mountains.

No, ours are older, a little more worn down, but that's all right. We love them very well.

Yeah, they're beautiful.

All right. So if anybody wants to reach you and ask questions about the Pacific Northwest, if they want advice on managing a dad who's riding a bike at 89, or they want to learn anything from you about your history in real estate, what is the best way for them to find Gretchen Schmidt?

Well, luckily it's very easy and my website is gretchen-schmidt.com. Gretchen_schmidt.com. And my version of Schmidt is S-C-H-M-I-D-T, which is of course the right way.

I mean, people spell my name wrong, so I feel you on that.

Yeah. And my Instagram is Gretchen_Schmidt_Is_Here. So underscores on all those.

Gretchen is here. I like that. That's so happy.

I originally had something about my brokerage, but then my brokerage changed and I was like, maybe that wasn't so smart. Oh, I just hear it as like, um, you notice people.

So it's kind of a happy, happy sound. Must have been the day that you bought your Happy Light you came up with that handle.

Mm-hmm. Exactly, because I'm much happier with the Happy Light.

All right, guys, all of Gretchen's information, of course, is in the show notes for this episode. Say something nice about her down here in the comments, or maybe share a memory with your own parent, or encourage her as she enjoys every day she has with hers. And most importantly, Gretchen, thank you for coming on the show and giving us a little bit of insights into your real estate story.

Thanks.

Bye, Leigh.

All right, guys, hit the bell to subscribe. We'll see you next time.

Well, friends, if that episode made you laugh, think, or shout, "Opashtay!" go ahead and smash that like button, hit subscribe, and turn on that little tiny bell so you don't miss the next round of Real Talk with Leigh Brown. You can also find me on your favorite podcast app. So whether you're in the car, at the gym, or dodging your inbox, I've got you covered. And hey, if you've got a story too wild to keep to yourself, send me a message because you just might be the perfect next guest. Thanks for hanging out with me. I'll see you next time, right here where real estate gets real.