This week on RealTrending Tracey interviews Kortney Wilson, an eXp real estate agent and HGTV personality. Kortney shares her journey from music to flipping houses, how HGTV impacted her career, and how she built a sustainable referral network with eXp Realty.
She also discusses using AI and automation tools for personalized client follow-up and introduces her new show, Life is Messy, which is focused on helping people declutter their homes and lives.
Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn:
Building a referral business has become a key focus for her real estate career.
Automation and technology are essential for modern real estate practices.
Understanding clients' communication styles enhances client relationships.
Social media is crucial for real estate professionals to connect with buyers and sellers and market properties.
Identifying personal strengths earlier could have accelerated her career growth.
Related to this episode:
Kortney Wilson | LinkedIn
https://www.linkedin.com/in/kortney-wilson-05b28a64/
Kortney Wilson | HGTV
https://www.hgtv.com/profiles/talent/kortney-wilson/kortney-wilson-bio
Enjoy the episode!
The RealTrending podcast features conversations with the brightest minds in real estate. Every Monday, brokerage leaders, top agents, team leaders, and industry experts join us to share their secrets to success, trends, and the lessons they’ve learned. Hosted by Tracey Velt and produced by the HousingWire Content Studio.
She also discusses using AI and automation tools for personalized client follow-up and introduces her new show, Life is Messy, which is focused on helping people declutter their homes and lives.
Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn:
Building a referral business has become a key focus for her real estate career.
Automation and technology are essential for modern real estate practices.
Understanding clients' communication styles enhances client relationships.
Social media is crucial for real estate professionals to connect with buyers and sellers and market properties.
Identifying personal strengths earlier could have accelerated her career growth.
Related to this episode:
Kortney Wilson | LinkedIn
https://www.linkedin.com/in/kortney-wilson-05b28a64/
Kortney Wilson | HGTV
https://www.hgtv.com/profiles/talent/kortney-wilson/kortney-wilson-bio
Enjoy the episode!
The RealTrending podcast features conversations with the brightest minds in real estate. Every Monday, brokerage leaders, top agents, team leaders, and industry experts join us to share their secrets to success, trends, and the lessons they’ve learned. Hosted by Tracey Velt and produced by the HousingWire Content Studio.
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NewsTranscript
00:00Have you ever dreamed of starting a referral business or building a referral business in
00:05your real estate career?
00:06Well, Courtney Wilson is with us today.
00:09She's with eXp Realty and you may know her for some of her HTV TV shows like Masters
00:16of Flip, Making it Home with Courtney and Dave and then Making it Home with Courtney
00:21and Kenny.
00:22So today she joins us for a super powered session on building a referral network and
00:29some great strategies for social media are thrown in there as well.
00:33So enjoy the podcast.
00:34Courtney, thank you so much for joining the Real Trending Podcast.
00:38Oh, thank you for having me.
00:40Yeah, so I want to start and talk a little bit about your journey into real estate.
00:46So why don't you tell our listeners a little bit about yourself and about your business?
00:52Yeah, sure.
00:53So well, first of all, my name is Courtney Wilson.
00:56I was born in Canada where I actually am right now filming a TV show.
01:02But I moved to Nashville at 18 years old to pursue a record deal and it was really all
01:10about music.
01:11Real estate was not a part of my journey until much later in life.
01:15But I ended up signing within a few days of moving to Nashville, $300 in my pocket and
01:20a dream.
01:21And I ended up signing a production deal with Reba McEntire and her producers, which
01:28led to a record deal with Disney's Country Label.
01:34So I was super excited to get started in that, but I always say that was the beginning of
01:39the end of my career in music.
01:42I did lots of really incredible things for a few years, but one of the really great things
01:49that I did is when I got my record advance, my entertainment lawyer said, go buy a house.
01:56And I was like 20 years old.
01:58And I was like, oh, a house?
01:59He's like, yeah, go take some of that money so you don't end up doing something stupid
02:02like buying a boat or a car.
02:05So that was my first foray into real estate really was at 20 years old, I bought my first
02:11condo and a couple of years later, bought my first house.
02:15And that house flooded because I lost my record deal and I was eating beans and rice,
02:22as they say.
02:23And I went home to Canada for Christmas, for the holidays.
02:28And we had listed our house and the realtor came in and because we had turned down the
02:31heat and every once in a while we have a freeze in Nashville and the house flooded from a
02:36broken pipe.
02:37And they walked into like two or three feet of water.
02:42So anyway, I took the insurance money and I started renovating it myself and with my
02:49then husband and the realtor came in and said, you have a knack for like flipping houses
02:57and design.
02:58I was like, well, that's not my background.
02:59I'm going to be a singer.
03:01And she was like, well, if you decide while you're singing to like flip a house, I'd love
03:04to like represent you.
03:05So I flipped my first house and it wasn't until like 10 years later.
03:08So about, I guess it was 2015 that I got my real estate license really to represent
03:17myself in some of these transactions.
03:21That's great.
03:22And so you also kind of got some national recognition from HDTV.
03:27So how has that kind of shaped your real estate practice?
03:33You know, it's interesting.
03:35It for sure has shaped it a little bit, but real estate, you know, HDTV is sort of on
03:42a national or international scale.
03:46My show came about it organically because I really was flipping houses.
03:52They really love people who are being authentic in what they're doing.
03:58They don't, they don't pluck people out and say, oh, you know, you have a great look.
04:02Let's have you flip houses.
04:03My husband and I were actually flipping houses at the time and I wrote a treatment for a
04:07TV show and it ended up getting picked up, but it wasn't until I was coming out of the
04:16first show of Masters of Flip.
04:18Let me actually back up.
04:20Real estate was actually easier and tends to be easier for me without TV.
04:27It's purely on time.
04:31You know, I feel like often I'm convincing people that I do real estate full time because
04:37I do, because I have a team, but when they're watching me behind the scenes on some of my
04:42social media channels, they're like, wait, you're in Toronto filming a show as I am right
04:46now.
04:47Or you're, you're, you know, you're, you know, like on set right now shooting a commercial,
04:51which is also real.
04:54But I have somehow managed to have teams in all different aspects of my life curating
05:02the things that need to happen for those businesses.
05:04And it's made me stronger and it's for sure made me a better realtor.
05:08But sometimes it's an uphill battle for me to convince people of that.
05:12And so you scaled a team.
05:15Let's talk a little bit about that.
05:17How many people do you have on your real estate team?
05:19I only have three.
05:20So like it's a very small team.
05:21I've gone up to five at different places, parts of my life, and I'm not opposed to having
05:26more, but for my local team, I keep it fairly small and tight and I'm very, very, very involved
05:33in every transaction.
05:34Now on the international level, I work with realtors all over, um, to refer people.
05:41So anybody who watches the show anywhere can say, um, I want to buy or sell.
05:47And I'll say, I'll help you find a realtor.
05:50Because we as real estate agents know that the consumer or the client doesn't have to
05:55pay me necessarily.
05:56Right.
05:57So it's, I can shoot a referral over to somebody in California or, you know, Calgary, Alberta.
06:05And what I do for them is I offer them because they see me in some of those areas where I'm,
06:09where real estate isn't the number one platform.
06:12When they think of me, they think of me as a designer or a furniture, you know, a line
06:18called court and co and it's all furnishings and home goods.
06:21So I, they see me as a designer.
06:23So what I do is I say, listen, I'm a realtor.
06:26I'm going to find you the very best of the best.
06:29Somebody who I would want to represent me in that area.
06:32By the way, it shouldn't be me.
06:34You need a local expert and I'll give you a free design consult to get your house ready
06:38so we can maximize your investment.
06:40Oh, I love that.
06:44Would you say that you are mainly referral business, um, at this point?
06:49Is that a big part of your business or it's a, it's definitely a, yeah, so the referral
06:55business is something that is actually fairly new in the last say year and a half, but it's
06:59something that I am very much focusing on, you know, as part of my future because I just
07:07joined eXp and that was one of the reasons that I joined eXp was because they have such
07:13an internationally recognized brand where I can literally, you know, pull an agent from,
07:20you know, somewhere in Africa, you know, the next day in Canada and the next day in Australia.
07:28So I've got a really good, you know, base within this company to find people.
07:34And I didn't, when I was previously with Compass, like Compass, when I joined them, I, they,
07:38I literally was told that they were going to be in Canada and they haven't yet.
07:41That was four years ago.
07:43So that was, I was struggling to roll out the referral business because I didn't have that.
07:47Okay.
07:48So, um, so yeah, I, I, but my local team, I mean, we closed two deals last week and
07:54I was on set while we did it and nobody knew on the what, the what, the wiser because of
07:58social media and because of technology.
08:00I mean, that's such a great thing now.
08:02Yeah, absolutely.
08:03So for people who maybe don't have the presence that you do on social media and TV and that,
08:10you know, referral business can be pretty lucrative, um, a part of your, part of your
08:15business.
08:16So what kind of strategies do you have for them making contacts?
08:21Um, it sounds like the network through eXp is, is one great way.
08:25So talk to me a little bit about offering some strategies for, for those realtors.
08:30Yeah.
08:31You know, I always say like flat, like, you know, when you, when you find something, somebody
08:36that's doing it better than you and you're sort of copying their practices, that's the
08:42best form of flattery, right?
08:43Like, I mean, I, I, there's no room for jealousy or any of that in this day and age.
08:49Like there's room for all of us, but I'll give you an example.
08:52You know, recent, I'm always looking to, to better my practices.
08:55And recently I was looking at buying a property in Portugal and somebody had sent me via
09:01Instagram, this guy that was, you know, like representing agents.
09:05He was an American agent that had moved to Portugal years ago and had basically a big
09:09referral business.
09:10That's all he does.
09:11I didn't realize it at the time.
09:12I thought I was hiring him, but in the same way that somebody would potentially reach
09:16out to me, it was his same practice.
09:18So I set up a thing.
09:19He was for sure using AI and automation way better than I am.
09:25Um, and so I went through a system, he, I had a 30 minute consult with him.
09:31My husband and I did via zoom, and then he passed me off to an agent who he thought would
09:35be great for me based on what we were looking for.
09:38And I got off the phone and I thought, damn, he has got this going on.
09:43I am going to steady him, you know, the way that I would steady somebody in school or
09:49steady a professor that I love because he's doing it and there's room for all of us.
09:53So I've actually started to introduce some of his practices through, through automation,
09:56like many chat, um, you know, instead of giving away all of the information on social media,
10:01I'm posting like, Hey, this is what you can get in Nashville.
10:04This is, this is a house.
10:06If you're interested, you know, uh, comments, Nashville, and everything gets automated through
10:14the process from that point forward, I used to be annoyed by it, but guess what?
10:17It works.
10:19That's really interesting.
10:21So explain that to me more.
10:22So if you say Nashville, then they automatically get sent information or texted information
10:29or how does that, how does that work?
10:31So basically, you know, if we're using AI and automation through, through an app like
10:35that, and there are many, you can set the word to be anything.
10:39So I can go into the automation app and say, okay, I want them to, uh, if they comment
10:44price for them automatically to get a message through Instagram and that gives them all
10:51of the information.
10:52And then you can also set it up to, uh, to automate like a secondary message.
10:57Hey, was this what you thought it was going to be?
10:59Was it priced too high, too low?
11:01And then you're gathering information to make you a better realtor to, to, to, um, you know,
11:07respond appropriately versus just forget about them.
11:10But let's be real in any business, no matter what you're doing, follow up is key.
11:15And a lot of people forget that step.
11:17They forget, they're like, oh, well, I guess they didn't want to do anything because they
11:20didn't contact me.
11:22So people are busy.
11:24So sure.
11:25You're always going to have that person that's not going to respond.
11:27In fact, you might have 75% of the people or 90% of the people that don't respond.
11:33But let's be real, like that's just a numbers game.
11:36So just do this with more people.
11:39And if 10% of them are responding, you got a great little business going.
11:42And what is your followup campaign look like?
11:45What, what are the, do you have it systematized?
11:48Um, tell me a little bit about how you're, how you're doing that.
11:51So I'm a little bit different than other people and perhaps may never scale to the
11:57place that other people strive to, but that's not my goal, right?
12:01I am at a place in my life where I am very much people, a people person I'm driven by,
12:06uh, by stories and by like literally getting to know somebody.
12:12So for me, I immediately, when I connect with somebody, I ask them what their communication
12:18style is.
12:19Okay.
12:20Because, you know, somebody that's 70 years old is, is going to want a completely different
12:26communication style than somebody that's 25.
12:30Right.
12:31Um, and some people love texts and some people have email and some people like, I, I, I,
12:36one of my strengths, I think, cause you should know your strengths and your weaknesses.
12:44Um, but one of my strengths is, um, really identifying early what makes somebody tick.
12:53Okay.
12:54Right.
12:55Is it funny memes or is it being really, really serious and business minded?
12:59Um, and so I typically play into that, but the followup strategy is not always the same.
13:05So we do have a thing called, we, we work with a project management system, which is
13:09actually fairly new to me in the last few months called Monday.
13:12We switched over to it.
13:13And the reason I like Monday's cause I have several businesses, so I can, I can customize
13:17it where, you know, I've got stuff going with my assistants over here for this business
13:22and this business and real estate's obviously one of them.
13:26So one of my team members, Malcolm, um, Landenberger puts an immediate transaction, uh, uh, plan
13:34in place, which is often copy and paste unless it's not right.
13:39Unless we're like, Oh wait, this is a land thing or the way we've got septic on this.
13:43And so, but in this day and age, if I've sent an email already, I should have a template
13:47for it.
13:48So we've been really good in the last year creating those templates and creating and
13:52making sure that we can, we can work more efficiently.
13:54Yeah, that makes all the difference.
13:57And you know, the communication style is so important too, because I feel like sometimes
14:02people just paint a broad brush and say, well, I like to text, so I'm going to text them
14:06everything and, um, you know, or email, a lot of people don't even read their email
14:11anymore.
14:13Um, so, so you really asking that question up front is so simple, but so important.
14:18Oh yeah.
14:19I mean, I had somebody the other day that says, I prefer text, but I'm going to be honest
14:23with you.
14:24I'm going back and forth between Paris and I was like, Oh shit.
14:28You know, like I'm really going to have to be on this so that I'm not, you know, I, I,
14:33my phone, we're always, you know, I always got a phone within reach of us and there's
14:37nothing worse than being in the middle of a sleep, especially if you like struggle to
14:41sleep and then all of a sudden your phone's dinging.
14:43So I've been really, uh, I, I acknowledge what they need.
14:48So she likes texts, but she's in Paris.
14:50So often I will go, okay, wait, it's two in the morning.
14:53So I'll email her and say, I know you'd prefer text, but I was worried that I was going to
14:59wake you up.
15:00Now, something as simple as that means they are heard, right?
15:04So, you know, this happened the other day and she messaged me and said, actually I'm
15:08in Washington.
15:09I sent her an email last night, but thank you.
15:10Right.
15:11Because like, so, because if I just sent her the email, she might go, what an idiot.
15:16I told her I like texts.
15:17So expectations are met when they're understood and make sure that, you know, we're always,
15:21I always said to my team, like follow up.
15:24Like if there's no update, that's the dang update.
15:27Yeah.
15:28Don't leave them hanging.
15:29If there are no houses that have come up on their search in the last week that, you know,
15:35fit the bill, tell them that.
15:38You know, it communicate that to your clients to say, actually there are no houses right
15:41now.
15:42I'm so sorry, but I have reached out to a few agents.
15:45Let them know you're working.
15:46Yeah.
15:47Yeah, absolutely.
15:48And so with your team and you traveling so much, you know, and having so many different
15:54projects, how do you kind of manage the team and keep the lines of communication open and
16:01really develop and empower your team to make decisions when you're not there?
16:08Yeah, I mean, like it's, it's easier said than done for sure.
16:17But also I'm not traveling as much as you think.
16:20So I'm so first and foremost, this particular show that I'm on called Life is Messy is different
16:28in that though I'm shooting this first season for this particular show in Toronto, I'm here
16:32for a condensed period of time so that I can be home for 10 of the 12 months of the year,
16:38which is an awesome thing for me.
16:39But I am not the team leader that's going to require you to come in for your Monday
16:45and Thursday meetings every week.
16:47I'm just not.
16:49I would much prefer you meet my, you know, we always have somebody on the team in this
16:55particular case.
16:57All she does is shoot brand deals and content, which is huge now.
17:02So I'd much prefer instead of meeting on Monday mornings or on Thursday mornings with me,
17:05you get to a house with her to shoot content and then we can get on a FaceTime to talk
17:12as you're shooting content.
17:13So again, efficiency is key because that works better for our team and obviously branding
17:20and social media is super important.
17:22But through the years, I've always used a system that works for whichever team member.
17:27So Todoist has been a really big one for us.
17:31And assigning tasks via Todoist has been awesome.
17:36And also I'm just kind of a bit of a crazy communicator.
17:39So like before this meeting, there was a text thread that was like, hey, happy Monday morning.
17:45Basically everybody gets to work.
17:47You know, so I do find that sometimes that is my downfall is that I'm not able to motivate
17:57in person as much as I'd like.
17:59But then when I am home, like right about the month before, we all met every day in
18:03person.
18:04Yeah.
18:05And so as a kind of celebrity agent, because you are, you're well known, how do you handle
18:13that when buyers and sellers come to your team and say, well, no, I want Courtney?
18:19Like I don't, you know, how does that work?
18:22Because I'm sure you get that.
18:24They're expecting to meet with you.
18:25Yeah.
18:26I get that on occasion.
18:28People have been really respectful and I always say my time is not the best spent opening
18:34the doors.
18:35Yeah.
18:36So if you get me for a certain period of time, my time is better spent when you are down
18:41to two houses to have me come in and give you my expertise.
18:44Now though, you know, as realtors, we have to be really careful.
18:47Like I flipped over 150 houses, but I still really shouldn't be commenting on whether
18:52or not I think, you know, the floors can be fixed.
18:56And it's a real fine line that I walk sometimes to be able to say, this is what I think.
19:02Now I can, you know, put you in touch with the professionals that can really tell you
19:05what to do.
19:06But people have been really respectful.
19:08I would say the harder thing for me has been to weed out the people that aren't really
19:17serious.
19:18Right.
19:19They just want to have a conversation.
19:22And that is for sure something I've had to navigate, especially in recent years.
19:27I did have a bit of a stalker situation and it was tough.
19:31Right.
19:32And you can Google anybody's name and number now and get to me even if I use Google voice.
19:37Yeah.
19:38Yeah.
19:39Oh, that's scary too, you know, because real estate can be, you know, especially you've
19:45got other risks that a lot of real estate agents might not, although stalkers happen
19:50no matter what.
19:51Anywhere.
19:52Yeah.
19:53Yeah.
19:54But, you know, the National Association of Realtors gave us all this app called Forewarn,
19:59which has been really awesome because we can throw anybody's number in there and it spits
20:06out, you know, some background, whether it's, you know, liens or criminal activity.
20:10And I think it's been really important for them to do that to protect us.
20:15And you know, and when there's no number, like when the number shows up, nothing like,
20:19oh, we don't, you know, this was just started a week ago.
20:23Red flag.
20:24Yeah.
20:25Right.
20:26And I always say, yeah, I'm so sorry.
20:27Have you used another number in the past?
20:28And all of a sudden they disappear.
20:30That's telling me something.
20:32Yeah.
20:33Yeah.
20:34I have heard of the Forewarn app.
20:35A lot of people love it.
20:37So.
20:38So, yeah, that's great.
20:39Yeah.
20:40Let's talk about your social media strategy because you you are very active on social
20:45media.
20:47What advice do you have for for agents really want to boost wanting to boost their presence
20:52on social?
20:53Yeah, sure.
20:54First of all, you just got to get started again.
20:58You can really overthink it.
21:00And the problem with overthinking it is by the time that you make up, make a plan, the
21:04games changed.
21:08Social media algorithms, all of that changed constantly.
21:12So my biggest advice is just get on there.
21:16So you so you're not very good at it.
21:21Who cares?
21:22Sometimes that's endearing.
21:23You know, when you get out there, when you get out there and say, listen, I really want
21:27to connect with more of you and I'm adopting these like, you know, like the social media
21:33stuff and it's really hard for me.
21:36It's OK.
21:37That's relatable.
21:38People like that.
21:39I've actually watched it work for realtors versus me getting on a little bit more polished.
21:43You might skip over it sometimes.
21:45So like sometimes you have that just being real and raw is important.
21:49It doesn't have to be shiny and glamorous to like, oh, my gosh, I was just at this house
21:53and I'm going Facebook live.
21:55Comment if you want any information.
21:58And then you turn the camera around.
22:00All you needed was 15 seconds of bravery.
22:03And now the camera's turned around the other way and you give a tour and you put some music
22:06to it.
22:07Bada bing, bada boom.
22:08You're in the game.
22:09Yeah.
22:10So for sure, utilize video.
22:12If you're not utilizing video for yourself.
22:15How do you expect your clients to market your property?
22:18How do you expect them to have faith that you are on top of it?
22:23Yeah, absolutely.
22:25And do you have so you do have a content creator, you said, as part of your team.
22:32But you do your own just authentic social as well.
22:37So how do you choose what to what to do?
22:40Yeah.
22:41Very different pieces to social media.
22:45Some of it is raw and in the moment and you need that.
22:48You need that to to connect with people.
22:52They know the difference.
22:55And then some of it needs to be formatted.
22:57Right.
22:58I always say, like, it doesn't have to look great.
23:02But if you really get into social media, figure out what your brand is first.
23:06Like are you after first time homebuyers or you after the luxury market?
23:09Are you after everything within a certain zip code?
23:13There's no right or wrong answer to that.
23:15Just identify who you are selling and helping to.
23:20And that will help you with your content.
23:23Start following people who are doing better, doing it better than you in other places.
23:27I mean, Portugal, for example, like I picked up some of his tools just by watching him.
23:34And then I think there needs to be a bit of a combination of like, you know, rawness and
23:41polish, because when we are selling a house and we are doing reels, especially in certain
23:48price points, it needs to look more polished.
23:52So your clients, if they're going to go to you, by the way, they're not likely going
23:55to your website.
23:56I mean, some of the more major teams for sure in their searches, you might go to their website.
24:01But one of the first places we all go to is social media.
24:06So I used to spend so much more money on my rep, way more money on content to post
24:11on.
24:12Nobody's going to know.
24:13I'm not going to a website.
24:14I'm going to go right to social media and see what's going on on their page, because
24:17that's where I want them to market my property.
24:20Yeah, absolutely.
24:22So let's talk about kind of looking back on your career.
24:25Is there one thing that you really kind of was your aha moment where you realized, okay,
24:33this is not where I want to be.
24:35I need to move it in a different direction.
24:38Or maybe it was a personal aha moment that you experienced.
24:42Ooh, so many personal moments.
24:47We don't have time for that one.
24:51I would say I did not focus on referrals in the beginning, and I really regret that.
25:01I feel like I lost the last five, four years with a company that it just didn't feel like
25:09it was set up to help me succeed in that way.
25:12Not that they weren't a great company.
25:14It's just that I have this platform to help people around the world find the best of the
25:24best, partner with them, hear their stories.
25:27And that's really what makes me tick.
25:29Really identifying what my strength was, I wish that I had identified that 10 years ago
25:41and created a network to do more referrals.
25:44So now it's never too late.
25:47That's what my focus is now.
25:49And again, I still have a small team, I still am selling, and I still have major goals for
25:54the Nashville market.
25:56But I love connecting people with people.
26:01That's one of my strengths, and it's one of the things that I absolutely adore, whether
26:04it's like, hey, I need an HVAC person, or hey, I need a babysitter.
26:10That's the thing that makes me tick as a person.
26:12So why wasn't I using it for real estate 10 years ago?
26:17Probably time and just not being able to identify that.
26:20Yeah.
26:21Finally, my last question is just tell me about the...
26:23I'm curious what show you're working on.
26:26What did you say?
26:27Life is Messy?
26:28Yeah.
26:29Yeah.
26:30So what is that going to be?
26:31Sure.
26:32Life is Messy was born...
26:33So I've had multiple shows between Meet the Wilsons and Masters of Flip and Making it
26:38Home, and it sort of evolved.
26:39And a few years ago, I ended up working with Drew and Jonathan Scott, the Property Brothers,
26:44who took over our show in Masters of Flip really late in...
26:48I think we went four seasons, and I think they took over the last two seasons.
26:51And they've been amazing for me.
26:53I love these guys.
26:54I think they're really good people.
26:56But basically, I went to their team about two years ago after I stopped filming Making
27:02it Home, kind of waiting for renewal.
27:04And just like any business, you got to hustle.
27:07And TV was changing, and HGTV and home networks were not picking up a lot of shows.
27:14And I was selling somebody's house, and she found me on social media, even though we were
27:18in the same community and knew multiple people.
27:20And she said, Oh, my goodness, I just went through a divorce like you did.
27:24And I've been watching your socials, and you're an inspiration to me.
27:26And I was like, Hey, girl, let's have lunch, you know, let's have coffee.
27:31When we had coffee, she said, You know, Court, I could never leave this house.
27:35I mean, look, I have so much stuff.
27:37I have so many memories.
27:38I don't even know how to let go.
27:39And I said, How about I help you let go one room at a time?
27:43And again, I love connecting with people.
27:46And so we started doing that.
27:48And within six months, we were listing her house.
27:50And she had let go of so many memories in the right way, right?
27:54Like took pictures of things that were important to her and then sold it.
27:57And then so I was sitting with the producers or the developers one day, and I was like,
28:01I really...
28:02Life is so, you know, crazy, right?
28:04My life's been messy.
28:06I really want to make a show that's more relatable to people.
28:10So it actually has a more of a real estate-esque thing, except it's not about necessarily selling
28:16your house.
28:17You know, the average person has like 300,000 items in their house.
28:21Can you believe that?
28:22We don't need 85% of it.
28:24We actually only use about 15% of the things.
28:27So the show is the most...
28:29I'm most excited about this show over any other show that I've ever worked on.
28:35It's very emotional.
28:36It is, you know, the director actually directed Intervention.
28:42We wanted somebody who had never really done directed home television.
28:47We wanted this one to stand out.
28:49We wanted it to be real and raw and tell a story.
28:51I've cried multiple times.
28:52I'm on episode four right now, filming right now.
28:55We're actually doing two reveals this week.
28:58I'm rooting for them.
29:00I find myself...
29:01So basically we go in, do I have another minute to tell you?
29:05Yeah.
29:06Yeah.
29:07Okay.
29:08So we go into their house.
29:09My co-host Kenny Brain is awesome.
29:11And we go in and we, you know, look at all the things, the things that are standing in
29:14the way of the function of the home, because everybody, you know, we go in as realtors
29:18when they are ready to sell, they tell us everything they're willing to do to the house
29:22now that they're willing, they're ready to sell so that they can maximize their investment.
29:26But they didn't do it over the last five, 10, 15, 20 years, right?
29:29So now somebody else is going to enjoy it.
29:31We make them do it.
29:32And then they're like, oh my gosh, I kind of love my house now.
29:35We want them to do it on the front end.
29:36We want them to make memories and, you know, and for the house to have systems.
29:41So the family comes in or the person comes in.
29:45We go through their story a little bit.
29:47And within an hour, like 20 people descend on their house and take everything out.
29:53And a couple of days later, we are in a massive storage center, a warehouse.
29:58And the professional organizers have organized everything in their house for them to see.
30:02So they walk in and they're like, oh my gosh.
30:05Yeah.
30:06Wait, what?
30:07That's all kitchen?
30:08Wait, oh my gosh.
30:09Those are the skates that we lost, you know?
30:13And then they have to edit it down.
30:16And the more they edit it down, the more we can do, the more systems we can bring to their
30:20home.
30:21It's like, I don't want to say light hoarders, but it's like we're all light hoarders in
30:26a way, right?
30:27We all like collect things just like over the years.
30:31And then we reveal their house to them within 10 days.
30:33So it's less about like taking bean downs.
30:36Like I said, when we were talking about doing the show, I was like, I don't want to talk
30:39about like electrical issues and freaking termites and big beams, right?
30:43I don't want to have a $200,000 renovation.
30:45I want to do something that's relatable, that somebody's inspired by.
30:48And that's what the show is.
30:49Life is messy.
30:50So I can't tell you which US network it will be on just yet.
30:54We haven't announced that, but it will be coming out either, well, I hope later this
31:00year.
31:01Okay, great.
31:02It kind of goes hand in hand with like seniors, you know, working with seniors who are transitioning
31:08to assisted living facility or something, and they don't really want to, and you know,
31:15they don't want to get rid of their stuff.
31:17And it's kind of similar, different, but similar, because they're not going to feel at home.
31:21You know, somebody said to me, it was actually, well, I won't say who it is because I don't
31:25want her to be, I don't want anybody to identify her, but she said to me, and she's working
31:31on the show.
31:32She goes, Courtney, I just went through this with my parents.
31:34And she goes, what's crazy is my parents are like alive and well, and, you know, youthful.
31:39But I realized if they pass, I have to go through this process.
31:43I'd rather they decide what's important to them so that they can, you know, live a better
31:49life in this house.
31:53Everybody that is working on the show is like, oh my God, I wish I could be on the show.
31:57I am the anti-clutterer.
31:59I am the, like, I love organization.
32:03In fact, I'm currently, you know, with my Cort & Co brand, trying to find a way to create
32:09a brand of organizational stuff.
32:12I think we are definitely lacking in that area, especially as we're doing the show.
32:16I'm like, wait, there's got to be something better than this.
32:20But I'm ridiculously excited about this show.
32:23That's great.
32:24Well, Courtney, thanks so much for joining Real Trending.
32:27We really appreciate you sharing all of your expertise and your next move on TV.
32:31So that's exciting.
32:32Tracy, thank you so much for having me.
32:34This is, it's so, it's so great, you know, to have these types of podcasts out there
32:37for people to, not just Realtors, but for people to understand what we do.
32:42Yeah, absolutely.
32:43Yeah.
32:44Well, thanks.