How to Market Your Niche with Stephanie Kroll of MidModern Dream Homes

Brokerage Insider

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There are riches in the niches - particularly when it comes to real estate sales. By finding and more importantly focusing on her niche, Realtor Stephanie Kroll has built a following for her speciality MidCentury Modern Homes in Denver.

Transcription:

Welcome to brokerage insider the podcast where we interview the leaders in real estate and technology. I'm your host Britt Chester Director of Marketing Success at TRIBUS, one of the largest independent prop tech companies in real estate and provider of custom brokerage technology to medium and large brokerages today on the show we have Stephanie Kroll, a broker associate with Mile High Modern Denver's definitive resource for modern architectural property. New developments in classical collection homes, Stephanie's expertise and Denver's real estate market is remarkable.

I'm excited for this discussion, Stephanie, how are you doing today? I'm great. How are you doing well? Thank you. Thank you so much for joining us on brokerage insider. Oh, of course. I'm happy to be here. Thank you for inviting me. I, I think I was able to provide a little bit of an introduction, but, uh, if you would, for our listeners, just kind of talk about, uh, talk about who you are and where you're at and what your kind of specialty is right now.

Yeah. So I am a real estate broker with Mile High Modern. I started in the real estate business a few years ago after a very tumultuous first-time home buying experience of my own on a personal level. and I'm also a Denver native. My family has owned properties in the Denver area since the 1970s. And. we've, you know, everybody is here in different pockets of the Denver Metro.

You know, and we've been here for multiple generations now. So I like to think that I'm an expert in the Denver Metro area, because we've lived here for so long , but yeah, I, I really focus on most of my energy on properties of architectural merit, specifically mid century modern homes. I've found a lot of success in.

Niching out within that particular architecture type. especially because our market just has a lot of them. but also because I have a passion for the design itself and yeah. Does that answer your question? That's perfect. Let's talk about how you got into real estate and kind of what you were doing before and your journey into this as a career choice.

I know a little bit of it, but I'd love to hear it from you. Yeah. So, okay. Well, I mean, I did a bunch of different things. you know, within my entire professional career, but I, my background is in marketing. I got a business marketing degree from CU Boulder and my first like big time job was out in LA.

I worked for Hulu for a few years, in marketing and an ad operations. And, my experience in Los Angeles was great, but I was like, I could only handle it for so long and I really miss Denver. So I ended up coming back about two years later. And when I did that, I was kind of like getting my hands into some other marketing jobs.

And I specifically took on a job working for, a string of different event venues and marketing or sorry, music. Sorry. Wow. Music venues in the golden triangle. And, just, I was the marketing director for them was pretty much tasked with really revamping the entire marketing department there because what I had walked into, I didn't have a whole lot to work with and they really didn't have a lot of like preexisting systems or anything like that.

And so I kind of had to build a team to support all of their venues. And in doing that, I was, not only exposed to a lot of the different partners on the golden triangle board of directors, like the Denver art muse and sort of Cerner Conservancy, but then also, one of the venues that we worked with was the church.

And I just was like, so fascinated by, as I was doing all this historic research on the building. I mean, it's this amazing, incredible church, on the corner. Of things like 12th and chairman or 12th and Lincoln, that has just like stood the test of time. It's been converted into a music venue, but it was just a really special space to me.

And as I was doing more research, I like learning about what you had to do to preserve the building. And there was just a lot that came like. With the documentation of that building. And as I was doing more research on it for basically just like marketing material. So I became like infatuated with like the concept of preserving historic buildings.

And that really translated. I mean, that was kind of a piece of it. Right. But the mid-century thing also stemmed from. My time living in Los Angeles, it was very much a big deal. They're very much a part of the culture. There's like amazing vintage stores all over central Los Angeles. And of course it's like the Mecca of mid century modern architecture.

And then when I was working with SoCo, I also bought my first home in Harvey park, which is also like a Mecca of mid-century the modern designer architecture. and it's like, I was just like blown away. Like the cliff may homes where I was obsessed with them. I like, and even like the Carrie holiday homes, like all of them were just so cool to me.

And I was like, I don't know. I was just hooked. Like I would, I was already pretty into it, but I was like, just seeing how much architecture we have here and how many homes we had to work with here that were of that design. really like blew my mind. And as I started doing more. For historical research, it was just like incredible to see what presence we have here and how many, we got really lucky with some incredible, architects that were, you know, they traveled here after world war two and they were in Boulder and the Denver Metro, and they just designed some incredibly unique properties.

And so. I just became fascinated by that and I feel sick visits around, which is crazy. Let's talk, let's talk about that. You had mentioned that first time home buying experience. not, not being, I wouldn't want to say ideal, uh, first off, when did you buy it? So I bought my house in 2018. I've actually synced sold it actually too, because some homes are lessons they're not meant to be enjoyed, but, I had it for probably about a year and a half.

I. So, I mean, and I think that this story will resonate with a lot of people who are purchasing now, because I think that the market conditions are similar, if not more intense, right. Especially on the buy side. So I think that's like why I'm actually really, I mean, I'm good on both sides of the business, but I w I think I've been a particularly strong buyer's agent for my clients and finding the deal and making sure they get what they need because of my own experience and like, Just making sure that they're guided properly.

Right. Because I don't know that I necessarily was. there's so the tricky part about my situation was that my dad was my real estate broker. It's just like hardworking and family and real estate in general. It doesn't really matter how that works, whether you're like your family's a client or whatever.

Like it's always tricky. Right? Like the whole dynamic was tricky and I looked at homes for over a year and a half. pretty consistently actually, and I looked at over 150 properties, which was a lot. Wow. Yeah. All over Denver or, I mean, how are you, how did you kind of, what was your first time buying process?

Like, did you have a list of wants and, and list of needs or what was that kind of like. I mean, it wasn't really guided to do that. I do that now with my clients, I have them come up with a top three wants, needs and deal breakers list. Every single time I have like an initial conversation, but, I didn't have that.

So I was just kind of like, at that point, I just was like, I just want a house. Right. And I was like, ended up in some random things and I'm like, so glad that didn't work out. I fell in love with this amazing home in like a different neighborhood where again, I wouldn't have like, had the path that I. I'm on now had I like ended up in some of these different neighborhoods, but there was an incredible deal and I missed out on it.

And now the house is worth like literally three times what it is. I was looking at it. Right. Or like, just like random neighborhoods. Like I almost wonder to contract a house in like Lowery, which is so like now I'm like, I'm never on the East side would have been like terrible for my lifestyle. Like, I'm so glad that none of these things worked out because my criteria was just like, I just think I was like, so desperate to get into a house that they didn't really have.

Like, this is like awful to say, but I just was like wanting to get in the game. Like, I didn't really have like high standards. I was like, okay, well, if it looks okay, I'm in, like, I'll just write an offer. I kind of like it. And truthfully, a lot of the stuff that I was seeing was just like, so rough, like major structural problems, you know, like.

It was a bit scary. Like this is a really rough neighborhood or like, I saw so many homes and it became basically like a part-time job for me. Over such a long period of time. And I was like, I could totally do this as a business, you know? so then when I found, I mean, I looked at so many houses I put in over 25 offers and I was, I was just tired.

It's back in 2018 too, which is nothing like even the market is now, but it was still pretty hot, you know, three years ago, wires are still submitting some times in this market, like 10 offers. And I mean, like, I'm sure people feel similarly, right? Like don't you just have to like. Keep playing the game until you get into the house.

Right. So I was kind of in a similar position and I kind of found this house, that in that market, I mean, still things were going like wildfire. And I found this place that had like, it was off market, had been under contract, like once or twice and then got back on. And I was like, well, maybe there's just, I just needed like an opportunity, like someone who was going to like hear out my case and just be like, all right, Sweet.

Like, because I just like lost out so many times. and like, you know, again, I think I can attribute some of that to just like the team I had around me for, I mean, it was really important on the buy-side side to have like a really strong lender or a really strong broker, a really strong inspector and like across the board, like, I really didn't feel like I had any of them.

Well, I had a great, I had to fire my first lender and get another lender like across the board. I really ha I, when I started the process, I did not have. Any of those things, you know, and it's important to have like an ATM all the time. So again, that's another thing I like to bring into my buy-side process.

But so when I found this house, it seems like a major opportunity to me. So I was like, all right, we're just going to go for it. Like, whatever. Right. So I write an offer, they counter me and I like negotiate it down in like a crazy market. So.

And even the counter was like below asking. And so I was like, sweet. I got an office, an awesome opportunity here. And so we went under contracts and I thought it was really weird because they didn't change the status and MLS for like four or five days. I was like, Oh, okay. Like we're under contract. Right.

Like I don't really know. And they kept it on the market through the weekend, basically. Technically they did. Cause they didn't change the status. So. They need to feel more offers maybe. Yeah, I think that was the point, but they, I mean, it was totally like sketch, like the whole thing was not everything about this whole situation with sketch from the beginning.

I should have seen it as a RIS, but anyway, so, we go into contract, they, they must've gotten a ton of backup offers above asking cause. All of a sudden on Monday, they're like we have to submit earnest money and like the tune kind of changes a little bit. Right. And so they're like, Oh, Hey, just so you know, there's a lien on the title and we didn't pay a contractor because the house had been like flipping before I bought it.

Well, we'll put it that way. Yeah, for sure. And they were like, yeah, like there's a lien on the title. You can't actually buy this house. And so. I was like kind of calling a bluff. I was like, I don't believe you because you've been under contract twice. You almost close twice. People would have seen this before.

I don't know why this would've come up right now. And like, it just seems like a ploy to kind of get me to terminate and. I was like, well, I'm just going to wait for the title work to come through and just see what's on the title work. And I had all of this writing. I mean, technically I probably had some sort of grounds to like legally go after the seller at this point.

But like, because what happened was the title where it came back clean. Right. So I was right called their bluff. And at the time also my inspection deadline for like very fast. And the advice that was given to me was don't pay for an inspection. If the title work isn't going to come back clean anyways.

So I don't get an inspection in time and I missed my inspection. Objection, deadline. And it doesn't get moved out. I'm a first time home buyer. I have no idea what this is about. Like, I, I I'm like, I don't think this is the right thing to do, but like, Okay. I trust you. You're my dad. Right? basically the tower comes back clean and so I'm like, well, I need to get in spectral on his house.

Right. And I do, and it's really, really, really rough, right? Like pretty bad. Like it was everything that had been done to the house was all cosmetic. It needed a new roof. It needed. There were like a bunch of extra furnaces, just like old furnaces and the crawlspace that needed to be like cut into little pieces and taken out.

My inspector also missed a ton of stuff. There were like galvanized steel pipes, corroded water. That was a raccoon living in the fireplace. There was like, it was like, seriously, like your worst nightmare, but inspection. It was like my inspection, like nature system, like needed to be replaced. But at this point I'd missed my inspection, termination deadline.

So you can't terminate. Cause like, then you're not acting in good faith and you lose your earnest money. Right. Right. So I'm like, okay, well I guess I have to like move forward with buying this house. I don't really have much of a choice. Right. Sounds like an absolute nightmare scenario, but a great starting point.

Right? It's only, it only can go get, get better from here. It was just crazy. Like the whole thing was crazy. Anyways, I buy the house. The first week is a total trip. It was like so hard to live in that place. They put all this money into it right away to just start fixing all these issues. Cause it was like just so rough.

And then my neighbor even like committed suicide a week into me living in the house. Sorry to hear that it was crazy, like crazy things happened in that house. And I'm just glad. Yeah. So were you, were you working, were you still working with those, the venues? while you're kind of going through this process, I get the whole process and I was like, no buyer should go through this process.

And have to experience the things that I experienced. Like it should never be this bad. The seller was rough. The listing agent was rough. The buyer's agent didn't like properly represent me. And I was like, this was a train wreck. And I had just seen so many agents like do bad things in my process that I was like, There.

I know there's other good ones out there. And I've seen that now, of course. Right. But at the time I was like, this sucks. Like there needs to be better representation for people out there. And I truly believe that I'm the person to do it. And at this time I'm also like trying to figure it out. I want to do a career change.

I'm like, maybe I'll be a therapist. I love psychology and like h an behavior. And of course, I mean, What is basically more like therapy than real estate. It's like, you see every single person's personality. Right. And like, you really see their true colors come out in the middle of the most stressful transaction of their lives.

Right. Or like, not even stressful, just expensive. So, yeah. Yeah. So I felt truly called to be like a leader. Sure. And like do this differently and do right by the people who were my clients. And, I mean, I think sometimes from pain comes a lot of like joy, right? Like you have to go through some really hard things too.

I ended up in a really good place sometimes. And that just so happened to be my situation. But, yeah, it's kind of what, like filled me to get into the business, but I just was like, I just like hit the ground running from there. I was so excited and I loved the whole industry and I had so much passion behind it.

And like the design for me was just like all of the creativity that goes into like interiors and. Especially the mid-century thing. I just think it's so cool. Like I'm like fascinated by modernism. And so it just really like fueled me in so many different ways to like want to help other people, you know?

So when did you get, when did you get your license? I technically got my license in 2019. So, I mean, I'm still like relatively newer to the business kind of, but like, I don't really feel that way. Like I feel like you've been through so many transactions at this point. You know what I mean? I've done everything from like dealing with mountain property that has like Wells and like septic tanks, which is like a whole different type of offer.

Right. To like, I mean, I've, I've truly did everything like new construction condos, like you name it. Like I've, it's, it's interesting, right? Because I niche out in mid century modern and a lot of people will come. Through the mid-March door, be like really interested in that. Right. And then it's very fascinating to see how people sometimes pivot.

It's like, we'll be starting to look at mid-century modern. And sometimes they just only care about good designs. Then we're looking at like tutors in park Hill. Like it's a totally people sometimes pivot and that's fine. And I want them to know that like, I will work with them regardless of what they end up in.

Like, I don't really care. I just like. I do think that I have an eye for good design. And so if a client wants to work with me, Typically, I like to think that I can usually find them the most beautiful home regardless of the style, but there are a lot of people too, who work with me who like want to be in specific neighborhoods.

And I do everything I can to get them into that neighborhood. Even if there's no inventory, I'm pretty connected in the mid century, modern neighborhoods at this point. And I have eyes and ears on the ground from Littleton to Arapahoe acres in Inglewood to Harvey park, see Virginia village, like you name it.

I like kind of have people in all sorts of different pockets. And they'll tell me about. Stuff going on in their neighborhood and what they're seeing. And so it's really great. Cause I have, I have a lot of Intel that I think a lot of other people don't have access to. Yeah. Insider knowledge. Yeah. I felt really grateful for that.

And I think I attribute that to the fact that like when you meet people, it's really important to me and to develop like an authentic and real relationship with them, if they're like a client