Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Stephen Burchard. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Stephen, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Have you ever experienced an industry-wide U-Turn? Tell us about it?

When Covid hit in early 2020, I had already begun my journey of creating and posting real estate content on YouTube. Covid escalated these efforts since I had ample time to create a record content. This content led to a dramatic increase in business I was receiving from YouTube, and other online search engines.

Of course the real estate industry was seriously affected due to the Covid lockdowns in early 2020. Business starting to pick back up around July of that year. Thanks to my YouTube and other social media marketing, I was getting a good amount of business from these efforts.

Because I am highly technical, I was already doing video tours for clients as well as other live video showings for clients. This was a very easy pivot for me because for most of the rest of the year this is how Realtors showed properties. Many of my colleagues were challenged with how to make this happen and be effective at it.

The increase in buying activity in my market from late 2020 to mid 2022, I call the Covid Rush, created a significant amount of competition for homes since most properties listed where receiving multiple offers. Due to my previous experience in real estate in the San Francisco Bay area, this type of a market was not strange to me at all. I simply had to pivot and start marketing my clients as buyers as well as sellers similar to how I marketed them in the Bay Area.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Getting into Real Estate:

Back in the early 2000s, I was working in an IT job I absolutely loved! Unfortunately, around that same time the bottom dropped out of that industry and I found myself unemployed with no career prospects since the dot.bomb of that time eviscerated my segment of the IT industry.

So like most people, I was searching, not just for a job, but for a meaning or a purpose to my life. I felt I had lost that. Unfortunately, I had my whole identity wrapped up in my IT career. When that went away, I lost my sense of identity. I no longer knew who I was or what I wanted.

After getting booted I tried to obtain another IT job because that shit paid real good and I was damn good at it. I was unsuccessful and my headhunter suggested I find other work since the prospects in the IT industry had fallen away and it would be some time before it recovered.

Before getting laid off, I was studying to obtain my RE Broker’s license. My partner at the time worked for his brother, a mortgage broker, and was surrendering 50% of his commissions. Not good, especially because the broker did very little to earn that 50%.

It was suggested to me that I could get my broker’s license and open up my own company so my partner, or should I say we, could keep 100% of his commissions.

It was an interesting proposition that I had agreed to and I thought it would be no big deal since I’d just graduated with a MA. I was smart, right?!

Ha! Boy I was naive…

Ironically, I went to work for my partner’s brother and helped him with his books and negotiating with creditors on behalf of the brokerage. Not an interesting part of the story, but this skill, negotiating, came in strong later.

I studied and studied. Back then, there was very little online for studying or reading. So, I had to read 7 different books/topics to qualify for prep exams.

Then, I had to pass these prep exams as part of my preparation for taking the state exam.

Once I’d passed those exams I achieved my education requirements to take the state exam.

I was able to bypass taking the salesperson and take the broker exam because of my education. This is important because the salesperson exam passing threshold was 65%.

Yes, you heard me, 65%. Can you say LOW, that’s a freakin D y’all!

The broker exam threshold was 80%. That didn’t seem like a big deal at the time…

Boy was I, and my ego, about to learn, BIGTIME.

So, I scheduled and paid for my exam. The wait was about 8 weeks at that time, and I had to send in a freaking form. This was pre-internet access. I could see the schedule, but I had to fill out a form and mail it in. Ugh!

I did my best to prepare by cramming on the sample exam the program gave me. Cram, cram, cram up to the day before I had to take the exam.

Went to the exam and completed it. Yay, hurdle straddled.

I had to wait about 3-4 weeks to hear back….

And….And…and…

I failed!

OMG, I was so pissed and rejected. I thought for sure I was gonna pass considering my level of education and ability to absorb knowledge. This was a considerable blow to my ego and my self-confidence.

It took me about a week or so to get over it and to pick up my bootstraps and keep marching.

So, I scheduled and applied for the second exam. Easy peezy, right?!

This time I took my studying a little bit more seriously and would take an hour or two out of my day to study and prepare for this exam.

I took time off of work and worked with the practice exams in the coursework damn near daily until my exam several weeks later.

I was confident I was prepared and ready to pass this time.

I took the exam successfully, then waited that dreadful 3-4 weeks.

And, again, I bombed. I fucking failed it AGAIN.

Again, I was pissed and bewildered. I thought for sure I was gonna pass considering the preparation I took this time.

Lord, this was yet, another dramatic blow to my ego and my self-confidence.

What was I to do now? I was frustrated, angry and at this point scared to take it again.

I KNEW I needed something better and way outside my realm of “knowing”. I needed to pull out the big guns now.

I found a company that held a live, two-day prep course. I was game for anything at this point.

I did exactly as they suggested before scheduling the prep course. I signed up for my 3rd State exam cycle. Eek!

They had suggested I schedule my exam, then take the course as close to my exam date as I could.

It was a GREAT experience. They walked us through everything needed to pass, but, more importantly, they taught me HOW to take the exam. They said it was a READING test as much as a knowledge test.

I had to be clear of the question prior to choosing the MOST correct answer. They use, not, except, nor, and other negations in the exam questions which completely changed the question’s meaning. GREAT insight.

After the prep course I booked a hotel for the night prior to the exam. This way I could study in peace and keep myself in the right mindset for this next exam.

The exam experience this time was completely different. I felt calm, confident and like I knew what I was doing.

3 to 4 weeks later when I got my results, I was very happy to know that I passed this time. I was now an official California real estate broker.

What I learned during this long laborious process is that I don’t always know the best way and may need to ask or perform some research to find out the best way to go about doing something. My ego had gotten in the way twice and slowed down the process of getting my broker’s license by six months.

The rest of the story is history because 21 years later I’m still in the business. What I love most about this business is it’s about connecting and building trust with clients, Realtors and then negotiating and communicating. Those are all things I’m good at and enjoy.

I thought when I was getting into real estate that it was all about sales. That is not necessarily the truth.

Birth of my Brand:

Back in 2016, after getting back into active real estate in the Greater Palm Springs region, I was starting the creative work on Branding myself.

I needed a strong Brand ID and I wanted it to be more then STEPHEN BURCHARD Real Estate. I wanted something that would click, be catchy and encapsulate my vision and values.

That is no small feat as you can imagine.

I loved dressing up a tad for my work with clients and in the industry. Professionals out here tend to dress REAL business casual. I’ve always love dressing nice and being stylish. How could I do that without being too stuffy or burn up in the desert heat?

Conundrum #2

At this time I was usually wearing a nice pair of slacks and a dressy polo. It was just okay. It wasn’t me, but I was committed to finding my style.

A buddy of mine showed up at a meeting wearing a bowtie that looked stunning against his very nerdy features and mannerisms.

Hmmmmmmmm, I think I like that!

I thought, with my nerdy glasses, mannerisms and IT background, the nerd look would be epic. I loved the idea and immediately set about looking for bowties on a budget.

Luckily, Burlington, Ross and TJ Max had a few self-tie bowties, so I felt I had hit pay dirt. Yay!

Several years later I discovered a crap ton of bowties on Amazon – go figure!

Now, learning how to tie a bowtie is no small feat. At first it wan’t NOT easy at all.

It took many tries, iterations, and watching YouTube vids to finally have it click for me. It’s the same knot as tying my shoes, just on my neck.

I was so proud of myself I created my own “how to tie a bowtie” vid. (Reference vid link in description)

Don’t believe me still? Well, let me show you.

(Tie bowtie and describe process)

Ta daaaa

Wearing this outfit most of the year was a breeze. Dress shirt, slacks, jacket and my bowtie. I started to make a statement in my circles since I was dressing up so nice.

It’s dressy, but not too much thanks to the bowtie. Also, people usually smile and comment when they see a bowtie. It’s awesome!

Now that covers about 8 months in the desert. There are still about 4 months when slacks and a jacket are way too much clothing due to the heat.

I found dressy shorts and short sleeves so I could wear this dressy combo year round. Double awesomeness.

So, now I had the look, but how can I create a tagline that was part of my brand. Hmmmmm

(put logo behind me as the background for about 5 seconds)
I had come up with my logo that included the bowtie, but I wasn’t referencing the bowtie in my marketing messages.

How can they be tied together to make it a complete package?

Well, at that time, I worked for HomeSmart. I was borrowing HomeSmart’s catchy tagline, “making real estate fun & easy.”

I liked it but it still wasn’t mine and, more importantly, it didn’t tie in the bowtie,

pardon the pun.

About the same time I was adopting the bowtie into my work attire, I attended a course on Commercial Real Estate. I was there with about 20 other Real Estate professionals.

The instructor had a tagline-ish slogan as part of his listing presentation, “I’ll sell your property for the most amount of money possible, in the least amount of time with the least amount of hassle.” Something like that anyway.

I was speaking with one of my classmate and inquiring with him about how to marry HomeSmart’s tagline with my bowtie.

He looked at me with a grin and a twinkle in his eyes while he simply state, “dude, that’s easy, you take the knots out of real estate”

Ta daaaaaa

The heavens parted and white angelic light streamed down upon us as I smiled with him.

Well, no, it didn’t really happen that way, but it sure felt like it.

My tagline was finally born, I’m STEPHEN BURCHARD, The Desert Bowtie Realtor, Taking the (k)nots out of Real Estate.

I loved it and better yet, it caught on like wildfire. People remember both the bowtie and the tagline, when they think of me.

Branding mission accomplished. It was all tied together…

Ha ha, I did it again. Pardon the pun….

I learned that branding is an iterative journey and an evolution. It isn’t a destination that is fixed. It’s a process that is hopefully evolving over time.

It took me the better part of 6-12 months from adopting the bowtie into my attire, to the birth of my tagline.

This process caused me to fully embrace that some of the best ideas are born from a collaboration.

From my buddy wearing the bowtie that morning and my colleague pointing out that I take the knots out of real estate, it was all prompted in collaboration with others, whether on purpose or not, it was a collaboration.

Bottom line? I need others in order to succeed and to exceed expectations.

And the bowtie? Well, it’s become ubiquitous with Stephen Burchard Real Estate, my brand and my mission and values.

Specialities:

I specialize in digital marketing, video content curation & production, networking, and building meaningful and beneficial connections through these media.

I am deeply involved in the local business community and real estate community locally and statewide as a volunteer leader.

I enjoy being of service and making a contribution that ultimately benefits consumers and protects private property rights.

Where do you think you get most of your clients from?

Business and Sphere networking and YouTube.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

Business Networking, consistent contact, and industry/civic leadership in my market.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://stephenburchard.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/palmspringsrealtor/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PalmSpringsBowtieRealtor
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephenrburchard/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/PSPRealtor
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/palmspringsrealestate
• Other: Google my Business as “Bowtie Real Estate Coaching & Consulting”