Haute Residence continued its "Chat with Haute Residence Leaders" series with a conversation featuring Carlo Habet of 4Realty. Habet is the exclusive agent representing the Belize real estate market as a member of the Haute Residence Real Estate Network.
Carlo Habet was hosted by Haute Media Group Cofounder Seth Semilof. Watch their conversation below.
The topics included Habet’s illustrious career with credible experience stemming from his business background, his leadership across various boards, and his eventual ascendancy in the Belize real estate market.
Carlo Habet is a third-generation entrepreneur whose family has had a rich history in Belize’s development. Seeing the opportunity for synergy with Brothers Habet’s own real estate developments, he decided to further his real estate education at Champions School of Real Estate in Plano, Texas. He then founded 4Realty in 2009 and has been able to develop a niche market selling commercial and luxury investments with a full-service company that provides boutique quality care to its clients. Currently the President of the Belize National Association of Real Estate, he has been lobbying diligently for the establishment of regulatory legislation in the Belizean real estate industry. Habet is the consummate businessman broker with an unparalleled network, unmatched communication, negotiation acumen, deep national knowledge across sectors, and a long and respected reputation for getting things done.
Here are some of the questions and answers from the exclusive interview with Habet.
Seth Semilof: Tell us a little about you growing up in Belize with the family business.
Carlo Habet: I honestly got into real estate sort of rowing the boat. It was not what I had really envisioned. I do not seem like the agent type. I am not like typical agents probably because of my background in more marketing, IP, and typical business processes. I know people in real estate tend to be seen kind of like salesmen. I went into it looking at it as a want to cultivate long-term relationships. Something that I have found a lot of success in has been referrals from happy customers, so a large sum of my business is actually referral-based.
SS: Tell us how you were able to survive tough times because that, to me, is what really makes a champion top agent. Anyone can be successful in the good times, but it is the bad times too.
CH: How I survived, I think, was specifically because I played my niche. I was lucky because I have two things going at the same time, which was a steady trickle of smaller residential lots and development companies. That kept me going, but as well, allowed me to spend a lot more time on bigger deals. I have been trying to convince people that there are some deals that you are chasing behind and following up for sometimes a year, but in the end, it is worth it because it closes. I was in a position with my network that I had a couple of these deals for a year. With proper financial planning, I was able to make that happen and with time, it only grew. Every year, I was doing better and better. At a certain point, I realized I have momentum that I do not think is going to go anywhere. I got over my fear of bringing in too many agents and losing focus.
SS: Tell us a little about your company 4realty. How many agents? Do you have offices? Tell us about your empire you built in Belize.
CH: It is not necessarily an empire, but I think we have got a lot done with a pretty tight team. We have currently five agents and the office is for members, mainly administration, and one marketing focal point. From there, what has been very key has been the network that I started with. Choosing the right agent has helped me to expand the network in meaningful ways to places that I did not touch before. We are seeing other agents in other parts of the country also step up, but it is a federal market and such a strong market. There are so many people from the U.S. and from Canada. The demand greatly outstrips supply, so the prices are very strong and very stable.
SS: Where do you see your business in the next five years?
CH: Because we recently expanded again, I think we want to make sure we get the most out of this new set of agents. What we are going to look at next within the next six to 12 months is strengthening our administrative staff. Organizationally, we can improve. You have to have relationships, but what I find the most interesting about real estate is it is really like every other business in that you have a back end and you have people that are also working really hard doing things that no one really knows about. Those things are as key to the success of the company as anything else, so what we are looking at right now is to consolidate our admin, marketing, and specifically to expand marketing a little bit.
SS: If you had to give some advice to someone [getting into real estate], what advice would you give?
CH: The landscape has changed a bit, so there are more established brokerages. There is this environment where if someone wants to be an agent, they can actually try to get a job with an agency first and then learn. I would recommend that. Basically, I would advise that people get the experience under people who know. Go to a brokerage and try and get a job, first and foremost.
For more information, please contact Carlo Habet at (501) 610-4186 or carlo@4realty.bz
To watch more real estate webinars curated by Haute Residence, visit http://www.hauteresidence.com.
