Episode #77: Be Honest, Laugh Often, and Help Others with Lisa Murphy

[00:00:00] True story, you know, when I first got into real estate like 15 years ago, I really looked up to you because I would drive around this neighborhood, no lie folks, and like every other block had a Lisa Murphy either sale or rental sign on it. And I was just like, what? How does she do it? I'm like, this woman like owns this neighborhood. Like maybe looking at it as any real estate agent would like more of a competitive nature. How do I get my

[00:00:27] sign on that street? Like, how do I do that? I really was just asking people questions. Like, you know, it was never about like, oh yeah, well Lisa, she's never going to return your call. Like that's never how I looked at it. And there's plenty of people in our business who do things that way. But everyone I ever asked was like, oh, she was awesome. I appreciate that. And then we did transactions together. I was like, you know what? She's so good at what she does. I have to say she's awesome too because she's beat me here. She's beat me there

[00:00:55] on the negotiation. I'm like, damn it. Lisa strikes again. Welcome to the podcast dedicated to real estate insurance and building your business. Join us as we take you along our own business building journeys with additional wisdom from our network of local and national experts. Welcome to Bricks and Risk.

[00:01:25] This episode is brought to you by Property Management Redefined. PMR is not just managing properties. We're creating partnerships that build long-term success for property owners. John and his team can be reached at manage at gopmr.com or by phone 267-753-6005. Tim? Yes, Sean. Who's a good client for PMR?

[00:01:53] Property Management Redefined is looking for property owners who value three things. Accountability, reliability, and a results-driven approach. You want to maximize returns, but still provide client and tenant satisfaction. There's a lot of property managers out there. Yes, there are. What does PMR do really well? Biggest thing is they're seamless and they're worry-free. So with that approach in mind, it allows the property owner to put their trust in PMR

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[00:02:54] Hey, everyone. Welcome to another episode of Bricks and Risk. I'm Tim Garrity. And I'm Tim's co-host, Sean Mooney. What's up, Sean? Hey. How you doing? We have an amazing guest today. We have Lisa Murphy, team leader from the Lisa Murphy team. How you doing today, Lisa? I'm good. How you doing? Welcome on in. Thank you for being here. So a little background on Lisa.

[00:03:21] Lisa grew up and was raised, excuse me, Lisa grew up and raised her family in the Roxborough section of Philadelphia, a community that will always be close to her heart. She's been active in the neighborhood for years, building connections and dedicating her time to helping others. Lisa's background in customer service, shaped by years of experience with Acme Markets, has been invaluable to her buyer, seller, landlord, and tenant clients. For Lisa, real estate is more than just a transaction.

[00:03:50] It's about providing exceptional service and guiding people through one of life's most important decisions. Her passion is to make every client feel supported and confident, whether they're stepping into their first home or selling a cherished family property. Lisa is a mother and a grandmother. How many children? I have three daughters and 13 brands and three great brands. Oh, that's awesome.

[00:04:19] I love it. I know. Unbelievable. That's great. Start it young. What's Christmas like? Man. Right. It's really fun. That's probably the funnest part. Yeah. That's great. Lisa loves spending time at the shore, traveling, and exploring new places. So you started out at Acme Markets. I know it well. There's a couple around here in the Roxborough area. Acme. How long were you there? And what were your roles at Acme?

[00:04:48] I was there about 23 years. I started when I was 16 at the Norberth Acme as a bagger. No way. Mm-hmm. I had an inn. My dad was a business agent for the union, so he got me a job very young. Then I went and worked at the Andor Acme, and I was there for a long time. I'm not sure exactly when I left there. And I was a cashier there, and also a floral clerk, took care of all the plants. And then I went to the Roxborough Acme.

[00:05:18] The one right in the center of town on Rich? Okay. Right near Gerhart. Yep. And I was customer service manager there. That was the promotion reason why I left Andorra. So I was there for quite a while, and then I got transferred to the Ballot-Kimwood Acme. And I was a head cashier there, which is a really nice job. You take care of bouncing the store, doing payroll, and just taking care of everything, basically.

[00:05:44] And then I was offered an opportunity to go into management. So I started working out of the Malvern office. I was in charge of 52 stores. Wow. Their customer service rep. It was only a short time because right around then, Albertsons bought Acme. Oh, yeah, yeah. It's an Albertsons company now, right? Yeah. And they downsized. So I was the last person in. So I went back into the stores. And in the meantime, I was always going to school, didn't know what I wanted to be when I grew

[00:06:13] up and bought a shore house in 2001. Wow. And said to my husband when we were there, hey, I think I would like doing that. I mean, literally, the girl came off the beach, put a sarong on. Right. You're like, I like this. Just made a ton of money. And why not? So he's like, try it. You go to school for everything else, you might as well. So that's how it all started.

[00:06:38] I went to school and then in 2002, September of 2002, I was finished school and I needed to find a place to go. So I went to, I talked to Tony Stiepe. He was at Prudential or yeah, it was Prudential at the time. Then I met John Krause at Century 21 Home Team. And we just clicked. John was like, you know, because my question was how much do you think I'll make part

[00:07:08] time? Right. Because I still worked at the Acme, getting into real estate and he's like, the sky's the limit. And that's, that just urged me on. Really? Yes. And then. You're like, so I can buy all the sarongs I want. Yeah, right. I can sit on any beach I want. Well, I'm not licensed at the shore yet. It's always been a goal, but I've just been taking care of business here. So this is probably right around like 2002. Yes. So that's how you got in. And was it really like, was it that moment buying that shore house, seeing that agent?

[00:07:38] Like was the agent, here's a good question. The agent that helped you purchase the shore house, was she good or? Okay. No. I mean, she was very nice. Yeah. But. We're all very nice, right? She was, she was very nice, but I can't even remember her name, honestly. But she got our monthly payment wrong. So we just, we just signed a contract and I didn't know anything about real estate then.

[00:08:07] It's not that I was like, didn't, I just didn't have a clue. She got our payment wrong and we're driving home and we're like, wait, that doesn't make sense. So sure enough, it was like $500 off. And you know, money, we were both working full time and my parents went in on the shore house with us and we were all thinking, okay, it's going to be X amount a month. We can all afford this. And then, so it was kind of like, should we, we had that three day New Jersey rule or whatever it was.

[00:08:35] So we're like, should we, yeah, should we get out of this? But we just, we did it. And it was the best thing we ever did. That's awesome. Yeah. All right. So, so you talked to John, you're getting a real estate part-time. How long, like, how long did you do part-time before you started to realize, I'm sorry, Acme, I have to say goodbye because this is what I'm going to do. Three months. Wow. What? So you took to it right away. Yeah. What a, all right. So.

[00:09:03] Was it like deals you were like, was it like just clicking where people were like, oh, you do this? Can you help me? Or was it something else? So my family, I have a big family from both sides and my family really needed help. And they were probably my first couple clients. I did have one floor time call. He was my first deal. That was Jamestown street. It was funny enough, my accountant's house, his parents' house. And I went to high school with them as well.

[00:09:33] So yeah. That's cool. Yeah. All right. So you, you transitioned to full time and then you obviously have to get, you own a shore house now. So you have to get your family on board. Like, what was that like? Did you say like, I just know I'm going to do really well with this thing. You're like, just give me some time. Like, give me like two years. If not, I'll go back to Acme. Like, how did that go down? Oh no. We had already bought the shore house in 2001. Yeah.

[00:09:58] So, uh, real estate school didn't start until that like spring of 2002. Wow. Okay. So I was already, I was already in the shore house was already. Yeah. Done. Bought. Yeah. Yeah. So. So how, all right. So was John like a mentor to you? John was great. So you just kind of started learning through John. What kind of things was he teaching you to do? Like in the beginning to like get business, to get going. Um, business. Call her family. Yeah. Right.

[00:10:29] You know. Look at all these people. Business. I knew a lot of people from working at the Acme. I mean, I was in the neighborhood for years. You have this built in like ecosystem. I don't really think, I don't really recall there being a way that he taught me. Um, I think it, business just kind of came to me. I was kind of blessed. Yeah. Yeah. I still am. It's still, it's still fabulous. Well, I think to put it a different way was to think of it this way is you were really

[00:10:58] building your Rolodex for all those years at Acme. Absolutely. You know what I mean? So it's not like, I don't want it to come off like, oh, I just decided to go into real estate one day and oh, it naturally just happened for me. Like you have to have relationships with those people in order for them to trust you. With their real estate, especially when you're new. And so no like and trust, which is what we always talk about. You were building that for years. And didn't realize it.

[00:11:28] It didn't realize it just being you. Yep. And then getting with John and that just became the tool, the opportunity for you to just lean into it and really start making money from, from all of that work, building that. Yep. Yep. So you, uh, you grew up in the neighborhood? I grew up on Valley Avenue. Okay. I'm a Valley girl. Were you ever, were you ever, uh, I know the Valley. Were you ever like a true Yunker?

[00:11:55] Did you spend any time living in Maniunk or were you always in Roxborough? Uh, the closest to Maniunk was Crams Avenue where we were, we were there for 23 years. Okay, cool. Nice. All right. So I know the whole parking situation. Warring factions like I was going to say that. The Roxborough, uh, folk against the Maniunk folk. Was it like tension there? When high school, well, I have a very protective father. Yeah.

[00:12:25] Um, and in high school, I remember him being a little concerned about me dating Mani Yunkman. Yeah. No way. We're talking way back. Stay away from those Yunkers. Yeah. 1970s. Well, it's funny, uh, talking to Dawn growing up, my buddy who grew up in East Falls, it was like a different planet over it. Like it wasn't, it's literally two minutes away, but like. Yeah. Mani Yunk when she was real young to get to her grandmother's house over like in Havertown

[00:12:55] from Abington, which is where I grew up. And she said she used to ride through Mani Yunk in a car with her parents and she would close her eyes like this because Mani Yunk was so rough. Like it was boarded up. Really? You know? Well. You know, I remember a lot of the factory jobs went away and my mom, uh, bless her. She's almost 75 or sorry, she is 75. So this is a while ago. And then I guess maybe you can tell me better.

[00:13:21] Was it like somewhere around like the eighties or so where people started reinvesting in Main Street, like buying buildings? I would say probably mid to end of the 1980s. My mother-in-law had a little shop down on Main Street, like a little country shop. Yeah. And it didn't take off real well. But I think right after that, things started to get, you know, more productive down there. People were buying properties. If only I knew. Yeah. Right. If only I knew. It was like, you could buy row homes for like nothing. Yeah.

[00:13:51] Like 10, 20 grand probably. Yeah. That's crazy. All right. So you're growing up in Roxborough, no Yunkers. Nah, there were Yunkers. Yeah. Yeah. You just might not have known about it. They're in there. Sorry, dad. So what is it about this community? So you grew up here. You've lived here. You do a lot of your work here. Like, what is it about Roxborough for you? Roxborough Mounting, let's call it, that's always worked. It's worked for me. Just like, yeah.

[00:14:20] Living here, working here, like having friends and family. Well, I love the neighborhood. I mean, it's a great part of the city to grow up in. You know, I think all neighborhoods go through some changes, good and bad. Yeah. But I still think the people here are very community oriented. There's a lot of events, a lot of things to do. Everybody knows everybody.

[00:14:46] It's more like, you know, it could be a little gossipy at times or whatever, but it's all good. It's like, in each other's business kind of thing. Well, maybe. Enough. But it's that close-knit, you know, community that really works for you living here, having your family here, and then business too. Yeah. So I recently moved to Bluebell, the section of Bluebell that's close to Plymouth meeting. So literally, it takes me 10, 15 minutes to get to Roxbury. I'm here every day.

[00:15:16] My parents still live on Valley. My daughter lives on Lawn. My brother moved back to Rector Street. No way. Yeah. I mean, my whole family is still in Roxbury. So wait, did they like boo you out? Like, well, you were like, I'm moving to Bluebell. Did you get like a stink eye? Like, what? Bluebell? Well, they do make it sound like it's so far away. Yeah. It's really not at all. You can't walk there, you know. It's like. Well, maybe you can, but. All right. So we talked about like, you know, Main Street. Your mom had the shop. You know, you're. My mother-in-law.

[00:15:46] I'm sorry. Your mother-in-law had the shop. You know, like, let's call it mid to late 80s. And then from what I hear, because I moved to the area. I moved to Maniunk officially when it was 2002. So that's when I moved here. And it only left like three years ago. So I was here for 20 years. When I first moved here to Maniunk, you know, Maniunk was pretty happy. Like there were lots of bars.

[00:16:12] It was very, it was like a younger population that was like moving in and kind of like taking over Main Street a little bit. And I remember I bought my first house in Roxbury when I was 24 in Green Tree Run. I remember that. Yep. And I would go up to Ridge and I'm like, wow, Ridge is kind of, it's kind of tough. But then I meet people from the neighborhood. They're like, no, like back in like the 70s and 80s, Ridge was like happening. I hope it gets there again.

[00:16:40] Ridge was, everybody, I mean, you can go on Facebook and see. Ridge had like, I love this one store, Rayfield's Honeybee. It was like the teenage type of clothes. Philosopher's Stone. Loved Philosopher's Stone. Always got my genes there. Yeah. You know, Bobman's, Army Navy store. Yeah. Woolworth's. There was just so many memories of great stores. It was like the small businesses. And then there were like restaurants. And so then, all right, so we'll go to 2002.

[00:17:09] And I hate to say it, the only reason I would go up to Ridge Avenue was like to go to the liquor store. Right. Right at like Leverington, I guess. Is that Leverington? Yeah. It was right there. You wouldn't step into Peckmiller's? I would not. I mean, I went to a few local bars. You know, we did the Crescent Inn back in the day. Yeah. That's a good spot. Leo's. The Leo's. So we went into some places, but all right. So. Peckmiller's wasn't that bad. I mean, I like playing shuffleboard and they had a shuffle.

[00:17:38] I think a lot of the places, if you're from around the neighborhood, are fine. You know? And they recognize you like, come on in, you know, have a couple of beers. We'll keep our eye on you. I think if you're like an outsider or something. Yeah. And you walk in there and just might be like. Maybe. First. As long as you're. Yeah. Maybe. But then like, you know, the second time in, it's like, oh. Oh, I know him. He's cool. Yeah. Right. So.

[00:18:05] So Ridge Ave is definitely changed a lot from what I can see from 2002 to now. The biggest thing that I see going on a Ridge Ave are all these apartments. It's like these massive, these massive buildings. Cause you know, Ridge Ave, if you're unfamiliar in Roxborough, in the Roxborough section of Philadelphia, there's a lot of big lots up there. Like a lot of deep lots. You know, some people just had like grass. They had parking back there. They had nothing.

[00:18:32] And then the zoning is very friendly to the building up, you know, CMX 2.5 in a lot of spots. Wait, can we talk about Lisa's reaction there? Yeah. Yeah. Let's go over that. I. It's terrible. I hate it. Right. It's terrible. I hate it. I just don't. I don't understand how this happened. Yeah. I mean, I, I understand cause you know, but how. Is it because the, is it be. There's just way too many. Yeah. There's. There's a saturation point.

[00:19:02] There's hundreds of apartments in each of these buildings. Like, it's not like there's 20. Yeah. There's lots. Too much. So all the traffic we're going to have, all just, all the, just, it's just sad. It's just really sad. Is there a point where they can like slow it down? Like, are you, you're able to see anything where it's like. I. Or does it just keep going? I don't know. I, I don't know if they can slow it down or not. I mean, if it's done legally, I don't think they can. I don't know. They've always had the apartments like back off of Henry.

[00:19:32] There's a couple like of those bigger buildings. Like Henry on the park. Henry on the park. Well, they are. Summit Park. Yeah. And that's fine. Like there, there's, they're fine like in certain things, but when you put it right on Ridge, it, it kind of like the fabric of the community is Ridge and you have those mom and pop stores and you have those local businesses and you take them away to put apartment buildings. You're losing a lot of the character of the. Yeah. You are. Of the community. One thing I will say though.

[00:20:01] So outside looking in, not growing up here and not being, let's call it unbiased because I didn't grow up here with an understanding of the neighborhood or had roots here. I mean, my grandmother grew up here. Um, but being unbiased outside looking in, I think Ridge Avenue is doing better from a business standpoint today than it was when I had initially moved here and you can take that any, which way you want.

[00:20:29] Um, so I think the reinvestment has helped, but to your point, like, does it need to be the reinvestment in the way it's happening? Like, is, is it too much? Um, or is it, is this just the natural progression of Roxborough? Like, is it going to just build up due to the fact it's got a super convenient location? It's got the park right there. Got 76 right there. It's got three train lines. It's got great bus system. So I don't know.

[00:20:57] Like, it's hard to say if that's a good thing or a bad thing, but. Yeah. But what are you giving up? Let's go. To your point is. Yeah. You're, you're kind of saying that like, oh, this is the way that a community kind of matures. Right. Well here, Mr. Mooney here is always glass half empty. So I'm glass half full. He always takes the negative and tries to put a spin on it. Eternal pessimist, Lisa. Which is, which is what makes the show really good.

[00:21:23] Um, so from like a development standpoint, do you think kind of what's going on right now? Do you think it's, it's good for businesses or bad? Are you just looking at it from like a congestion standpoint? It's just too much. I think it's the congestion standpoint. I think it will be good for businesses if we allow them to have a spot, you know, don't take all their spots away. And I think that we need the business.

[00:21:47] And I think that Roxborough will be back better than ever, despite some of those apartments. What would it take to get Roxborough there? Do you think? Like if you're saying you really hope that, you know, it can return to that time of. Investors need to invest. They need to open, open those restaurants, open those stores, you know, have, have the little boutique, you know, do a little bit of what Main Street has going on. Like small business. Up on rock and take, you know, they're taking a risk.

[00:22:16] But since we have to deal with the apartments, because they're already here, we might as well get some people to invest in, you know, buy some things on the Avenue. Well, don't they have the brewery, right? The Ridge Brewery? Yeah. So New Ridge, shout out to New Ridge. New Ridge. You know, there's been a lot. There's been Santucci's, New Ridge, you know, White Yak. Like, you know, there's been a bunch of places that have opened up. But to your point, like, it's not there yet. You know, I think it takes a while.

[00:22:45] I think Ridge Avenue has really only started to, like, come into its own with the new development in the last 10 years. So it's still early on. Again, you know, if you look at it down here, like mid-80s to mid-90s, like, where was it? But look at Mani on Main Street today. It's just, it naturally progressed into the spot where, hey, they've built a ton on Venice Island. Like, all the old factories have been converting to, like, business uses or lofts. And Main Street just acclimates to whatever's going on.

[00:23:15] Like, one time there was probably too many restaurants. Too many bars. Like, it was a big bar scene when I first moved here. And that's kind of gone away a little bit. So now there are a lot of not only, like, boutiques, kind of like your mother-in-law had. There still are bars and restaurants. But there's a lot of people who do business in Mani on the studio that we're doing business out of. It's like, you know, this used to be an old, like, textile mill. And then it was a super fun party bar downstairs for decades.

[00:23:44] And now, you know, it's been transformed into, like, a haunted house downstairs and professional spaces upstairs. So things do change over time with the neighborhood. So I could see Roxborough and Ridge Ave going the same way, some way, shape, or form. I'm with you. Lisa, let's talk about your business. Ooh. What do you mean ooh? Not ooh. Like, okay. Business is good, right? I like the combat we were doing, though. Yeah. Let's talk more about Roxborough. Right. No, I'm kidding.

[00:24:13] What's the best street to live on in Roxborough? That is your business. The best street. What's your favorite street? There's a good one. This has to do with real estate. I always liked Gate Street. Yes. In between, like, Henry and Ridge? Yes. Oh, what a nice stretch. But, you know, I also like, I like that one street. Hermitage, where the library is. Yep. That one block there. There's a lot of streets. Yeah. Best pizza? I'm an Alex's girl. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[00:24:42] What'd you think about the takeover? Has it been good for, did they keep the recipe? I think it's great. I get it. They do like strombolies now. Extra cheese, mushrooms, well done. Very nice. I only lived around the corner from Alex's. And I remember, like, Friday nights in Lent, like, oh my God, two hour wait. Oh, yeah. Get out of here. Yeah, I'm not kidding. Wow. I'm not kidding. I used to shop at the Salvation Army. Do you believe that? I did, too. Yeah. Can you tell? I did, too. I might be wearing some. I love it. Hey, everyone.

[00:25:12] This is Tim, your favorite bricks and risk co-host. But don't tell Sean. I hope you're enjoying this episode, and I'll get right back to it in a moment. Our audience grows through word of mouth. So if you would please take a moment of your time and give us a review on the platform you're on, that would be fantastic. Please also help spread the BNR word by sharing your favorite episode with a friend. We greatly appreciate your time and trust. Now, back to the show.

[00:25:45] All right. So let me, we'll shift it a little bit to where Mooney's trying to go. So customer service, again, this is what you did at Acme. Like, you did it for a job. But again, even the people coming in for their groceries and just helping them locate something or like, hey, where do I return that? Like, you're just, you're constantly have this helpful nature. Then you get into real estate, which in my opinion, as well as yours, as we'll get to, is kind of the cornerstone of doing well in real estate, like treating people right.

[00:26:15] Like being honest. Like they're like, do you think I should do this? Because I feel like this is going to cost a lot of money. And you just say, if you don't have the money and you're not comfortable, don't do it. Like, I've talked people out of buying houses. I, I'll walk in some. Because of the house or their financial position or what? Both. Yeah. You know, I've walked into houses sometimes and been like, no way. Like if I, I look at it as I wouldn't let my kids buy this house. Yes. I'm going to at least give you my opinion.

[00:26:45] Yeah. You know, you're not supposed to really like. Yeah. Talk steer or whatever they call it. One way or another, but. You have to though, right? You can advise. My reputation is more important to me than any amount of money. Yeah. And that's, that's what it's all about. And that's what we, you know, we've talked about this on the show too, is I, and stay wise, we talked about it is doing, doing things, right?

[00:27:10] So we talked about insurance particular for me in my, you know, my industry was I do tell people and steer them in a direction that is not beneficial to me. Right. Because I look at it kind of like the same exact way you're set up is that you wouldn't do it if your kid, if you don't want your kid buying it is like, I always say like,

[00:27:36] I always talk to people in a way and I steer them or consult them that it's like my mother, right? Like, would I tell my mother to do this? Absolutely. Right. Because to your point is I've always liked it. It's not a transaction. Like I'm never going to try to just get the deal because that, because long-term you're never going to be ahead. Right. So on this show, we've talked about it is always trying to.

[00:28:04] To consult, work with clients and really put them in the best position possible. Always. When you do the right thing, it comes back to you tenfold. A hundred percent. Always. Yeah. You're always going to be ahead if you're always doing the right thing. Yep. And I've put it in a way too, and I know you can relate to this, is that, you know, let's say you're helping buyer clients you've never worked with before. They're first time home buyers and they go to look at a house and a big problem comes

[00:28:32] up and they're like, I don't know if we want to do this. And if you don't want to do it, then that's what your inspection contingency is for. Let's cut bait. Let's get your deposit back and let's go find another one. And I've had buyer clients in my career that I think it took at least three to four homes under contract through inspections to finally get to the last one that says, thank God we

[00:28:57] cut bait on the last three or four because this is the home that works for us. So sometimes we meet people we don't know. We look at three houses on a Saturday. They pick one. They're done in 45 days. We're like, whoa, that was awesome. Sometimes we have clients, especially like family or close friends. It takes two years. You know, you're out every other weekend, every month, you know, you've multiple offer situations in this market.

[00:29:26] We've lost out on 10, but the 11th work. So what's what I find great about the customer service aspect, like going back to the original question, if you believe in customer service and treating people right, eventually they're going to get to where they want to go, like through your advice. Like the way you were saying it, steering is the wrong word because you're advising. You're asking, well, what do you want to do? And they're like, I don't want to do it. Well, if you don't want to do it, then what are we talking about? I don't think we should do it.

[00:29:54] Or they'll say, hey, Sean, you know, this is where things are at. What do you think? Like, hey, if it were my mother, I wouldn't tell her to do it, but you're welcome to do whatever you want. I'm just letting you know, like how I look at it. And then people are still going to make their own decisions, but your job is to at least put it in a way that they understand, like how you truly feel about it because they're relying on you. Yeah. Like you meet these clients. I'm sure you've been through this many times. They're like, Lisa, what do you think?

[00:30:24] And it's like, what do we say? You really want to know what I think? Right. That's a great way to put it. I can tell you what I think. Yeah. And that's really what happens. All right. So here's another one. So one of the questions we ask is, what do you love most about what you do? And you said, in quotes, I love, love, love helping people. Why do you love helping people so much? It just feels so good. Yeah.

[00:30:52] You know, when you're at a closing with someone that, like, one of my very first closings, I was with Century 21. Mortgage guy was Eric Batinger. Probably now I'm from years ago. I was a dual agent, too, which is kind of hard to do. But I met a woman who was just coming out. She was in a bad relationship, coming through a divorce.

[00:31:18] Didn't think she could afford a house and had an autistic child. And we didn't think we could get her a mortgage. Eric pulled it off. At closing, she said, you guys are my angels. Wow. Me and Eric crying. Yeah. I mean, it was probably the least money I ever made. Yep. But the best. Although, like, it just. But the most rewarding. It just. Yeah. And that feeling is just. Yeah.

[00:31:48] I love it. You can't put a price on that. You can't. I love that story. Yeah. That's awesome. Still remember. I'm not going to say her name, but still remember her. And that was like at the very beginning. That's cool. And how does knowing the neighborhood and growing up in the neighborhood, aside from knowing people and everything, how does that help you with doing real estate when it's kind of like so close by? You mean like knowing like a street. Yeah. Like parking on one side.

[00:32:17] I guess like being hyper local, local expert. Do people come to you because, oh, it's Lisa and she's been in this neighborhood forever. Yeah. And knows all the streets, knows all the, you know. Is there kind of like where you're the kind of person that's the go-to? I mean, I get those calls that, you know, I'm an expert in this area and I feel like I am. You are. But I'm also an expert in selling, in customer service. I just happen to sell real estate. That's really the. Yeah.

[00:32:47] And I think that's why they call. I mean. Yeah. Well, true story. You know, when I first got into real estate like 15 years ago, I really looked up to you. Because I would drive around this neighborhood, no lie folks. And like every other block had a Lisa Murphy either sale or rental sign on it. And I was just like, what? How does she do that? What is she doing?

[00:33:11] Like, it was almost like I got in and I'm 30 years old, you know, and I'm like working on my master's degree and I got this corporate experience. I'm like, this woman like owns this neighborhood. Like, what is she doing? I would even like, I would show one of your houses and I'm just going to say, I would show one of your houses and the seller would be there. I'm with a buyer client. I'm like, why did you decide to list with Lisa Murphy? And they're like, I got postcards. I met her. I loved her.

[00:33:40] And it's been great. And then I would like, we would do transactions together. And then I, or I'd meet like a friend in the neighborhood because I lived here for so long. They're like, oh, I work with Lisa Murphy. I was like, how'd you like working with Lisa Murphy? And they're like, she was awesome. So like, the reason I say that is because like, when I got in, like maybe looking at it as any real estate agent would like more of a competitive nature. How do I get my sign on that street? Like, how do I do that? I really was just asking people questions.

[00:34:09] Like, you know, it was never about like, oh yeah, well, Lisa, she's never going to return your call. Like, that's never how I looked at it. And there's plenty of people in our business who do things that way. But everyone I ever asked was like, oh, she was awesome. I appreciate that. Yeah. And then we did transactions together. I was like, you know what? She's so good at what she does. I have to say she's awesome too, because she's beat me here. She's beat me there on the negotiation. I'm like, damn it. Lisa strikes again. All right.

[00:34:38] So let's talk about biggest struggle. This is one of, you know, this is more glass half empty, Mr. Mooney. Right up my alley. Okay. Let's go. All right. So one of your current struggles, biggest struggle right now is a lack of inventory and multiple offers. Why has that been such a struggle for you in this market? Because there's lack of inventory. Multiple offers I'm usually pretty good at.

[00:35:03] You know, if I have a really good buyer or even sometimes if they're not really good with being in the business so long and having such a network of cooperating with other brokers. You know the other agent. Yeah. I know the other agent. A lot of times that agent, we've had deals in the past. They know that I cross my T's. I dot my I's. We're getting to the table. Like there's no, there's no fail. Nothing's going to go wrong here. I mean, unless it's a horrible inspection or something like that.

[00:35:32] But so they kind of respect my offer, I think, when I put it in. And, you know, multiple offers is a little easier. So your offer would hold more weight than another, than another agent. I don't know if it, if it's more weight. Not more weight, but so like if you're a real, you know. There's more credibility to it, I should say. Yeah. They know you. They know that you're a professional.

[00:36:00] That like you said, I'm going to see this thing through even if it gets, the waters get rough, like we'll be fine. Now again, if someone finds a house and like the roof needs to be replaced for $25,000 and they have no money, you're like, you're not going to buy it. Right. But if it's like a normal scenario, getting through inspections, getting through an appraisal issue, something like that, they're like, yeah, at least they'll do it. But I mean more so like, you know, when they're looking at the credibility of the person that's putting the offer in, right?

[00:36:27] They're looking at different characteristics, right? What's the deposit amount, right? You know, what's the close date window? Price. Price. Skipped over the most important one. Inspection and all of that. But with yours, because they've done transactions with you, I've got to believe that they know that when working with you, it's a serious buyer that will get the deal done. Yeah. Paperworks completed properly.

[00:36:57] Like I said, all my T's crossed, I's dotted. Like I, when I present an offer, it's everything. If they want to see proof of funds, if they want, you know, I give them everything up front. Um, if they have, if they have a home sale contingency, which, um, I try and work something out so that they're feeling comfortable that, well, most recently there was one, um, with

[00:37:24] an agent that I knew and we put our offer in and she said to me, both of these offers have a home sale contingency. She said, but I know you and I know you're going to get it done. All things equal. Yep. Yep. She said, so, you know, we're going to go with yours because we know you're going to get that house sold and I'm not going to have to worry. And I could tell my sellers that because they didn't want to take a home sale contingency for either of us really. But if it's only, if they're the only two offers, they're going to do. Yeah. You got a little bit of leverage there. Yeah.

[00:37:54] Awesome. Appreciate you sharing that. All right. We asked like one other thing is like pick one out of the three topic topics and you picked hiring and staffing. Uh, and you had made, you had made the example, like sometimes implementation can be tough. And again, when you're hiring people for any kind of role, whether it's transaction coordinator, marketing operations, you know, buyer agent, leasing agent, like they're all hard roles to hire for.

[00:38:24] Why did you choose hiring and staffing? Is that something that you've done well with or struggle with a little bit? Um, well it depends. So hiring agents, um, I think I've done well with, um, I don't want to be a manager. I mean, I know I'm the team lead, but I don't want to have to like tell people what to do. I think I'm trying to hire people that I can train and then they'll, you know, take the ball and run with it.

[00:38:48] I think when I answered that question, it was mostly about staffing with assistants, virtual assistants, you know, which way do you go? I've always struggled with that. Um, either because I trained someone and they're really good and then they become agents. Right. And they're like, later. Can they leave me? And I just spent all that time. Been there, done that. Um, I even at one point hired a consulting company to find someone.

[00:39:17] Um, I feel like my best assistants came from friends of a friend. Yeah. That might not even have had any experience, but yet I was able to train and they worked out well. That's basically the struggle. And after COVID, everyone wants to walk at work at home. Everybody wants to be at home. I don't want somebody at home. I need somebody making flyers. I need somebody, you know, maybe running something to someone's house for me. Like I need an assistant that's going to. You need boots on the ground. I need boots on the ground. Interesting. Yeah. Okay.

[00:39:47] So what's happening with this market right now in 2025? Where are you, what have you been experiencing, um, in the last year? And what's it look like going forward, you know, 12 months out? So I'm pretty busy. Yeah. Um, I had a decent year last year. Um, of course they weren't, you know, COVID years the year after and whatever, but, uh, the interest rates kind of staying around the same. And I think people are okay with that.

[00:40:16] I mean, they all, well, it's never going to be 2.5. I mean, I shouldn't say never, never say never. Right. 99% chance it will never go back to 2%. But, um, I think a lot of people that have bought don't want to move because they got the low interest rate. Right. Um, they might want to rent, but they're not, they're not moving. Um, I just think that when you get a buyer, you know, there's not that much to find them out there or. Are you doing anything now?

[00:40:44] So if it's a slower market, are you doing anything within your business to try to get more, uh, leads and stuff? So I don't pay for leads anymore. Okay. Um, I just joined Compass again. Yep. Um, I'm back there and they have a really good program that, um, is going to help hopefully with that whole buying leads and getting, maybe getting some more buyers from it.

[00:41:11] So no, I'm not, not doing anything additional. Anything additional. It's basically social media. Yep. It's friend of a friend. It's past referrals. It's relationships. I am always tapping into my database. Um, they're the people that already know me. They've already worked with me. They will give their, you know, they'll call their brother or sister and say, call me, you know, so that's where a lot of our business, I mean, that's probably where mostly everything. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:41:40] So if mostly everything comes from your network, let's say like past, you know, past people you've worked with, like family, friends, neighbors, whoever, like, what do you do for the people you know? Do you, uh, do you send things in the mail? Do you do things in person? Do you do email marketing? Like, what are some of the things you do for your people? So just recently, St. Patty's day, I sent out scratch offs. Nice. Not to everybody, you know, because I don't have an assistant yet and I had to do it myself. So I didn't get one. I know.

[00:42:08] Like we're going to, we're going to put a job posting. I was hoping for a pot of gold scratch off and I got zilch. I know. Well, maybe next year. Maybe I'll have somebody else doing it for me, but I got a lot of responses from that. I won five bucks. I won 10 bucks. That's awesome. But the letter that I wrote to them was what, you know, was pretty cool. Awesome. So it was more like a letter catching up with people. You just happened to throw the little scratch off in there and then you got a response from it. Like people said, this is awesome. People will remember you if you keep in touch with them.

[00:42:37] If you don't keep in touch, they're not going to remember you. And that's where you'll get your business from. Do you get 10% on the scratch? Yeah. No. If they win five bucks, do they drop 50 cents in your mail slot? I was thinking next time we have like the multi, multi millions. Yeah. A hundred million or something. Yeah. I'm going to buy a bunch of them. I mean, I have the chances of them winning, but still I'm going to buy a bunch of them instead of them out because then they'll be buying some great properties, right? They got to do something with that money.

[00:43:07] That's right. Love it. All right. So the quote you gave us, I thought was fantastic. So a couple sentences. So just bear with me. So to laugh often and much, to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children, to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends, to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others, to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition.

[00:43:35] To know even one life has breathed easier because you lived. This is to have succeeded by Ralph Waldo Emerson. Super powerful. Why was that the one you chose? I've loved that for years. Yeah. As I'm getting older, I'm appreciating it a lot more. Yeah. And don't make me cry. Yeah, we won't. No. Um, just, you know, a couple things in there. The, the false friends. I'm struggling with that.

[00:44:04] You know, I'll, I'll always have that struggle because, you know, betrayal of a false friend is, it hits you hard sometimes. Um. Sometimes harder than anything. Yeah. Yeah. Um, I love children. So, and laughter. I, I mean, I don't go a day without laughing at something. I'll be driving in my car sometimes and some radio guy will say something stupid or what, I'll just bust out laughing and I'm like, oh yeah, you look at the person next to you at the red line. They're probably like, this lady's crazy. Mooney never laughs. This lady's crazy.

[00:44:33] Um, but I laugh a lot and I, and it feels good when I laugh. Well, a lot of that quote too, goes back to your, your story that you told about, um, the woman who was buying the house, the autistice. Yeah. Like the ability to like make an impact and change people's lives. I think that that's why real estate fits you like so well because you have that customer service that, that servant, you know, mindset of trying to serve people and make their lives better.

[00:45:01] I think for you, it's just perfectly suited that way. Yeah. Even the honest critic part in there kind of pertains a little bit to real estate too, because a lot of times I'll be representing like say a buyer and there's an investor who's the seller. And maybe that investor thought I was kind of like, she, you know, she's a little hard to deal with here. She's a little really getting things done for her buyer and I don't like it. Yeah. And, but then they're the ones sometimes that call me back because they want me to be that

[00:45:30] pit bull for them getting their deal done. So that honest critic thing can kind of fit in there. And then even the, um, about that one person has, uh, breathe, breathe easier because you have lived. Yeah. You know, a lot of times, I mean, in the last few years we've had some deaths in the family and, um, I think about like one of my family members just a couple of years ago passed away

[00:45:57] and we took care of him for nine months and it was a gift. It really was a gift from God to be able to, to do that and have that experience. And it makes me feel good because I feel like he was happy, you know, and that me, that whole thing, like just that whole, if you take each line apart, there's something in there that just affects your life. And as you grow older, it, you can really see it. And that's, that's why that stuck with me for years. Phenomenal conversation.

[00:46:27] So before we shut this one down, why don't you, why don't you tell our watchers and our listeners more about you, like where they can learn about what you got going on online, anywhere they can find you. Social media, online website, phone number. Yeah. So, um, Lisa Murphy team. I have my own little team office that we work out of. It's in Lafayette Hill. We service Roxburgh, Manionk, East Falls, our heart, of course, all of us have either grown up here or live here currently.

[00:46:56] We also do the suburbs, um, Montgomery, Delaware, Chester, Bucks. Um, my email address. Sure. Sold in the city at Yahoo is an easy one to get me at. Um, I, uh, cell number six, one, oh, three, two, two, one, five, zero, two. My website is lisamurphyhomes.com. Social media, Instagram, Facebook. I am on Instagram and Facebook, but I am not very good at it. I mean, you know, I play around when it's time to time. You can find me.

[00:47:26] We'll tag you. So, um, Lisa Murphy Realtor. I got Lisa Ferrante Murphy, which is my personal one. And that's the one I use all the time. And then what's my Instagram handle? I think it is Lisa Murphy Realtor or Lisa Murphy Homes, I think. Okay. Cool. Yeah. Cool. Awesome. All right. Well, that's all we have for this one, folks. Thank you for tuning in again to another episode of Bricks and Risk. See you soon. Thanks, guys. Thank you, Lisa.

[00:47:56] Thank you for joining us on another episode of Bricks and Risk. Our goal is that you walk away with one or two valuable nuggets. And we greatly appreciate you sharing your time with us today. You can find all BNR episodes on Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, and anywhere else you get your podcast content. Until next time, keep learning and keep growing.