Episode 33 -From Barber Chair To Broker

A lot of people think real estate looks easy from the outside—until they step in. Rafael joins us to share how he went from renter to homeowner to licensed agent thanks to a timely push from an old friend, a decisive spouse, and a burst of brave action. We walk through the entire arc: finding the right place, facing a crowded showing, submitting a same-day offer, and hearing “accepted” just days later. The win wasn’t luck. It was speed, clarity, and a team that knew how New York really works.

We unpack what “accepted” actually means in New York—nothing counts until contracts are fully executed—and why fast follow‑through on attorneys and paperwork can make or break a deal. Still, moving fast never means skipping safeguards. Rafael explains why a thorough inspection saved stress and money, and we outline the real costs first‑time buyers forget: taxes, water, insurance, utilities, and repair reserves. For anyone looking to build wealth, we dig into house hacking, short‑term and long‑term rentals, and how a multifamily can drastically offset monthly payments.

On the agent side, Rafael shares his early hustle: door hangers, neighbor intros, and visible branding that most new agents shy away from. The lesson is simple—courage compounds. Add in community roots and service—turkey drives, pantries, and winter coat giveaways—and you get a blueprint for trust that ads can’t buy. If you’ve been hesitating, consider this your sign: act with speed and intention, protect yourself with inspections and solid contracts, and lean on a team that answers every question.

If this story gave you the nudge you needed, follow the show, share it with a friend who’s on the fence, and leave a quick review with your biggest takeaway. Your next step might be closer than you think.

Chapters

• 0:08 Welcome And Rafael’s New Path
• 1:06 From Barber To Broker: Alex’s Influence
• 2:25 Making The First Offer And Winning
• 6:35 Inspections, Contracts, And Speed In NY
• 10:54 Questions First-Time Buyers Ask
• 12:18 Work Ethic And Prospecting As A New Agent
• 15:45 Giving Back To The Bronx Community
• 18:20 Future Properties, Rentals, And House Hacking
• 22:19 Don’t Hesitate: Final Advice And Closing

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:08

Hey there everyone. Welcome to another episode of Suit Up With Bias. My guest today is Rafael. How are you?

SPEAKER_02: 0:16

I'm doing great. Thank you. Thank you.

SPEAKER_00: 0:19

How do you feel now that you've become a real estate agent?

SPEAKER_02: 0:23

I feel great. Not actually what I expected. Uh it's a lot, you know, it's interesting. Um, and I uh I I respect the the the real estate world. I mean, a whole lot. You know, it's it's different when you're on the outside looking in, right? Now I'm on the inside looking out. I'm like, wow, this is it's it's amazing.

SPEAKER_00: 0:41

Yeah. People think sometimes it's easy, right? But then you get to go into the inner works and you I was one of them.

SPEAKER_02: 0:48

I thought it I thought it was easy myself. I said, Oh, that's a piece of cake. No, it's not. And I'm starting to find out.

SPEAKER_00: 0:55

No, it's true. It's a learning experience. Everything is like a learning experience. You just keep at it, and you're you're always a student at the game.

SPEAKER_02: 1:02

Yes, yeah, yes. I see it. Always learning.

SPEAKER_00: 1:04

Exactly, exactly. And what got you into real estate?

SPEAKER_02: 1:07

Alex. Uh, I've known Alex many years. Alex as young as when he was uh 16. Used to he used to be my barber. He used to cut my hair. Wow. We go way back. Uh sat in the chair plenty of times with him, and he's the only one that I let touch uh cut my hair. Nobody else.

SPEAKER_00: 1:25

But who cuts your hair now?

SPEAKER_02: 1:27

Uh I had a I had to train a couple other people, though. One other young gentleman, he's uh he's in the area on uh in the Bronx. He's he's uh he's a good guy, also. Not as good as Alex was, but so yeah, I had him, you know, being in the chair, and and we always had conversations. Alex was always a quiet guy, and you know, one one thing I always saw he was always quiet, and to get him to talk was like pulling teeth. But then when we spoke, we we we established that relationship. It was great, yeah. And then you know, I I would give him advice, he would give me advice, you know, tell him what I'm currently doing, you know, my my my work. Um, he took a little interest into that, and you know, back and forth.

SPEAKER_00: 2:07

Exactly. And for anyone who doesn't know, Alex is our broker here at Buyers Real Estate. And yeah, Rafael and Alex go way back to the barber stage. I know that uh Alex was actually inspired by you to buy his condo.

SPEAKER_02: 2:25

Yeah, so it was it was strange because I mean it's been a while I haven't been in contact with Alex. I mean, you know, after he left the the barbershop world and and ventured on to other things, I was like, uh I gotta find somebody else, which is always the hard part, right? So, and then when I ran into him, I see him like, oh my god, wow, look, this is great. You know, into real estate is amazing. Wow, you know, blessings. And and up to this day, I still bless him, you know, him, his wife, his family, the business. I mean, it's come a long way. He's worked, he's worked very hard to get where he's at. Uh, and I continue to give him you know much blessings, you know. I mean, like I said, we I lived right right opposite, and he came across. And and funny story though, my mom was actually looking at that same the same complex he was looking at.

SPEAKER_00: 3:09

Oh, okay. Was it the same unit?

SPEAKER_02: 3:11

Same exact unit. She took she dragged her feet a little bit too much.

SPEAKER_00: 3:15

Yeah, Alex is one. Alex moves quick. Oh, yeah. That's one thing about Alex. If you haven't experienced uh how Alex works, he literally just like on the day off, he'll just have so many ideas and so many things. We need to play catch-up essentially, because his mind runs so fast. That's how you gotta be in a business, right? You have to kind of uh innovate and just throw yourself out there and just like work things out as they go. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02: 3:43

He puts it out, he puts it mine to thought, and then he executes, and then the next thing I know, I I seen him, I'm looking at him like, that's Alex, oh my god. I had to run down and go talk with him, and he was acting about it. And I was like, in my mind, I'm like, but my mom wanted this, but I guess not. So but it was great, it it was it was great.

SPEAKER_00: 4:01

Yeah, so you think your piece of advice for anyone looking to get a home is just uh go for it?

SPEAKER_02: 4:08

So for me, yeah, on my experience, yeah, I dragged my feet a lot, and unfortunately, yeah, Alex again crossed, and I was always complaining because I I was renting, yeah. It wasn't I wasn't owned, and it was the rental part. So I you know told Alex I said, you know, uh renting and and we just had a conversation. And I said, Well, what are you waiting for to own to own? Buy your own, buy your own. I was like, uh, let me let me wait a while. And I kept trying to duck him every time so I won't run into him. Sorry, Alex. But then he cornered me one day, you know, we were having a long conversation. And you know what, believe it or not, I said, you know what? Let's do it. Just and that was because of him, the way Alex is the type of person pushing and motivating. And I just said, you know what, let's do it. Yeah, the next day, actually, no, I'm sorry, within that week, I think it was like in a midweek that Saturday, I had an appointment with his wife took over on some numbers, everything looked great. Long behold to me that my wife was already doing her own research.

SPEAKER_00: 5:07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02: 5:08

Because while we were at the table talking with Heidi, all of a sudden my wife says, We got a place to look at it. She hands her the paper, and I'm like, Where was I? She had a place to look at it. She had everything, everything to what she wanted. Exactly. From the basement to the attic to the she had closed concept, you know. Her her style, I was like, okay, I guess I didn't have really much say in this, huh?

SPEAKER_00: 5:32

That's right. I mean, happy wife, happy life, right? That's the mono. Exactly, exactly.

SPEAKER_02: 5:37

So uh she handed a paper, and actually it was on Saturday. Sunday was the showing, and we went. I called Alex and I said, Alex, I'm I'm there. Wow. And when was the offer submitted? The same day. The same day as the showing. The same well, we had the show, and uh, you know, I told Alex what you know what our numbers was, and I said, Okay, I'll submit it. And there was a lot, I was I was nervous. There was a lot of people there. My wife, for me, that's that's my everything. You know, I anything I could do to make her happy, that's what I wanted to do. That's right. And that's what she wanted, and she was stuck with that. Yeah, and she just wanted it so bad, and I was like, you know, we'll just pray on it. You know, and Alex even said, if it's meant for you, it's meant for you.

SPEAKER_00: 6:16

That's right.

SPEAKER_02: 6:17

And I'm looking at all these families, and everybody's looking at and they're taking out the house. I'm like, let them go, let them leave, let them leave. And surprisingly, within a couple of days, Alex calls me back and goes, Congratulations. Oh, accepted.

SPEAKER_00: 6:30

I was like, wow. So it was wonderful. It was wonderful. That's right, that's right. I mean, homeownership is such a nerve-ranking experience because you don't know there's so many unknowns, right? Yes, and you're like, oh man, I just want to make sure this is like the right one. But um, it's good that your wife had already decided you know that's the one. Like, you don't need to like think too much about it. It's like she wants it, we're going for it.

SPEAKER_02: 6:57

She found the place that we were renting at. She found that place too. So she's oh, she did her own research. She needs to be headed to real estate.

SPEAKER_00: 7:06

No, absolutely. And it's good to have someone like a decision maker like that fast, right? Yeah, because I feel like the more time you give things, the more doubt that comes into your mind. Yes. And you become so undecisive, and then sometimes you can't even sleep at night because you're like thinking about these things. It's like, oh, should I do it? Should I not? There's so many things, and it's just like it bogs down your mind. It does.

SPEAKER_02: 7:30

Yeah. And then you know, then you hit you get you come up with the you know, shoulda, could've, and and you didn't, and then the house that you really wanted got sold.

SPEAKER_00: 7:39

Right. And then, you know, I mean and then you're even losing more sleep at night because you're like, Oh man, that I should have done it. Should have done it.

SPEAKER_02: 7:47

I should have done it, but I didn't. And I yeah, yeah. I mean, like I said, Alex was great, and then the the whole team, you know, him, his wife, and just you know, walked us through the whole process. I was like, Alex, this is all new to me. Don't worry about it. I would take care of it. Okay, good. Because the last thing I need is my wife to get a bite back.

SPEAKER_00: 8:06

So oh my goodness. And what were some of the surprises that came with homeownership that you didn't know prior once you became a homeowner?

SPEAKER_02: 8:13

Didn't need a lot of work. Um, but just the work that it takes. And you know, you got to get involved. Do you know, do the whole remodeling, you gotta remodelize the remodel the kitchen, you know. It was a little bit dated. Yeah, just a little bit. A little bit, yeah. Yeah, so um, I mean, but you know what? Like I said, the wife took care of everything. Exactly. All I did was have a credit card. There you go. That's so it was like, you know, she picked and I paid. So that's usually how it goes, right? Yeah, yeah. So I mean it every day is still a learning, you know, because and I stick with YouTube. Uh, you know, I learned different things in the house with YouTube, plumber.

SPEAKER_00: 8:49

You become a jack of all trades. Yeah, no, you become a unlicensed contractor.

SPEAKER_02: 8:55

Yeah, you're basically just knowing everything. Yeah, pretty much, yeah. I mean, what was great was when we had the uh the inspector come by in, you know, and and took a look at everything. So that's a plus factor, and I would encourage everyone, make sure you get that inspection done. Yeah, absolutely surprises.

SPEAKER_00: 9:13

Exactly. Like, inspection is so important. I know that the only time where I feel like we saw so many people not do an inspection and kind of wave it was at the prime of like COVID when houses were just selling left and right, and there was like a bidding war after a bidding war, and it was just like if you wanted to get your offer accepted, you had to waive so many things. That's the only time where I saw people literally just like waving inspection just so they can sign contracts right away. Wow, yeah, that's how competitive the market was. You basically like whoever could sign contracts first got the house. Because in New York, no offer is really accepted, even though they say verbally it's accepted, no offer is accepted until you have fully executed contracts, meaning that both the buyer and the seller has signed those contracts. Yeah, so if another person comes in and they get those contracts signed before you, they go with them, they go with them, right? Yeah, that's how it works in New York. I'm not sure how it works in other states, but that's a general rule in New York, yeah. So even if you have an accepted offer, you have to make sure you do everything fast, fast, fast, because someone else might come in and say, you know what, I'm ready to sign contracts today. Like blah, blah, blah. Yeah. Wow.

SPEAKER_02: 10:37

Yeah. And you get the people that just want to delay and drag your feet, like like myself. I'm not ready yet. I'm not ready yet.

SPEAKER_00: 10:45

No, it happens because you have so many questions, right? You want to make sure you're taking your time to read the contracts with your attorney and make sure that everything is good. Right, of course. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02: 10:57

And when you have the right people that's guiding you, it's a breeze. You know, you have the right team there that's gonna, you know, walk you through everything and tell you and explain everything to you, which is important. Like I said, you know, first time home buyers and and those that are just you know are are are interested, you know. Uh they're gonna have a lot of questions, you know. Oh, yeah. I I I I know I drove Alex crazy with all the with all the amount of questions I had. What were some of the questions that you think you had that you can still remember? So, I mean, getting involved, first of all, was like, you know, the amount and how much gotta be put down and and um the taxes, the water bill, you know. Or you when you flush the toilet, you get Yeah, you flush the toilet, wash your hand ones, and then you wanna, you know, so you want to make sure that you know you're ready for it, and you know, the and the you know, the the neighbors, of course. You gotta make sure you have wonderful neighbors.

SPEAKER_00: 11:50

Yeah. All that's important because you get a beautiful house and then your neighbors are a complete like mess. Yeah, then you're kind of like, oh man, it was it worth the headache now. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02: 12:02

I've been blessed. I you know, I have where I was at before, beautiful neighbors, they like family. And what I have now currently, beautiful neighbors. Oh man.

SPEAKER_00: 12:10

Just like family, so and you know what it is, you're also very humble. You're like um a type of person that anyone can get along with. I can tell. Like you thank you. You're you're the type of person you can walk in anywhere, and everyone's just gonna be like, Raphael, he he's he's a great guy. Like, you want no problems with Raphael because he really there's nothing that you can complain about, Raphael.

SPEAKER_02: 12:33

There isn't. I mean, uh I am this is me. This is this is who I am, right? And you know, I and if I can help you, I'm gonna help you. Exactly. You know, I'll take the shit off my back to help anyone, you know, and just don't do me wrong. And I think even if you do me wrong, I'm still gonna help you anyway. That's all right how I am.

SPEAKER_00: 12:48

You wear your heart on your sleeve, essentially. Yes, and it's very hard to find those type of people in this day and age because people are so jaded and stuff with like how everything is going on and stuff like that. So having someone like you is like a breath of fresh air. Thank you. Thank you.

SPEAKER_02: 13:07

No, no problem. Um this is this is you know, and it's and this, you know, obviously being, you know, maybe another chapter in my life going on with the real estate business, you know, real estate world. Yeah. Um, and and being close to Alex once again in a different aspect, right? You know, no more cutting my hair. Now we're working side by side at houses, right? Yes so you know, and and allowing me to join the team is you know, it's a big it's a big thing for me.

SPEAKER_00: 13:33

No, absolutely. And talking about that, like um, what part of the transition has challenged you the most becoming a real estate agent from just uh well to learn, you know, learning the learning the business, learning the the ins and outs, right?

SPEAKER_02: 13:46

I mean, there's like looked at it and thought it's easy. You go, you look for a house, and then that's it. Oh, there's a lot more in tail, you know. I mean, yeah, you have to get out there, you have to um interact with people, you have to um door knock, you know, phone calls, and just random people in the street. You you know, you you gotta you gotta know their vibe. Some some people are just having a bad day, and last thing they want to do is talk with somebody who's trying to shove a card in their face, right? Right. But you gotta try to feel it out sometimes. But for me, that was a bit of you know something I was like, how do I approach this? You know, this is all because it's all new. Yeah. So I'm just trying to figure out how do I how do I approach this, you know? It it's a house, okay. So I gotta look into this, I gotta try to, you know, convince this person. Um, which, you know, it's not easy.

SPEAKER_00: 14:34

Yeah, no, but I will say one thing, right? Your work ethic, amazing. Because most agents, when they come in here, they want everything handed to them.

SPEAKER_02: 14:43

Right.

SPEAKER_00: 14:43

And they don't put in the work to go out there and do things. Raphael, in his first days, he ordered a sign for his house to basically say he's a realtor. So he's already putting himself out there, making sure everyone knows. And he's going door to door, you know, just putting um uh door hangers and interacting with all the neighbors. He's throwing himself out there. People I'll tell you right now, 99% of agents, they don't do that because they're too scared. They're they're they don't want to go over there and get like you know, someone yelling at them saying, Don't do that. Like they get scared. Yeah, yeah. You do not. Nah, you're you're the type of person that if you see them, you're already wanting to make a conversation with them saying, Hey, my name is Raphael.

SPEAKER_02: 15:35

No, yeah. I mean, and funny story, because I mean I got caught with my hand in the I would say my hand in the cookie jar, you know. I I'm trying to hang a door hanging, not on the outside, on the inside, and it looks like I'm trying to break into somebody's house. And the lady's standing, can I help you? Oh, hey, by the way. Because some, you know, the gates are locked, you can't get in. I'm gonna go after it, right? If I see it, I'm gonna, I'm and I I my wife will be at the mall or something like that. I'll be right back. Call me when you're ready, got work to do.

SPEAKER_00: 16:04

Oh my goodness. Now you take it a whole step forward, and I can tell you're gonna have so many opportunities in this industry because you're putting yourself out there. You're you're gonna have more opportunities than most will ever have in their whole career because unlike a lot of the other agents, you're already doing the hardest part, you're already putting your name out there. It's just a matter of like just getting your first few clients in there, and they're gonna see how you work. And I guarantee you, they're gonna love how you work, and you're just gonna grow from there tremendously because you're the type of person who's hungry to learn as well. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02: 16:42

I mean, with a with a great team, got Alex, got you, great team, you know, showing and teaching me the ropes and you know, the do's and don'ts, and uh whatever you whatever you guys got to offer, I'm willing to take.

SPEAKER_00: 16:54

No, absolutely, and we appreciate that because you know, we're we're here to also like share everything that we have because in this brokerage, we want everyone to basically just grow as much as they can, right? Because there's a saying that says, I believe it's like a high tide raises all ships or something like that. Yeah, so you know, if one of us is succeeding, we'll try and see how we can implement that to another agent so we can all rise in the tide.

SPEAKER_02: 17:22

Yeah, and I could feel the family love, yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 17:27

And talking about family love, we're gonna be big give giving back to uh the bronze family Saturday.

SPEAKER_02: 17:32

Yes, Saturday, yeah, Saturday. Over by uh 920 Melrose, right? Correct next door, yes. Yes, it's gonna be big, it's gonna be really big.

SPEAKER_00: 17:41

Yeah, unfortunately, this video will probably go out next week, so it would have already passed. It's gonna be for tomorrow, which is the 22nd. The 22nd of November. Sorry for whoever didn't get a turkey, right? In advance, in advance, right? We will most likely have similar events in the future, and we'll try to make podcasts be a little bit more consistent with the podcast and announce those events prior so everyone can get their free stuff and also participate in the event. If you want to donate some stuff that you want to put in the event, you know, and stuff like that, and give back to the community, you're more than free to do so. All you need to do is just contact us and we'll make it happen with you. But yeah, that's gonna be an amazing event.

SPEAKER_02: 18:25

Yeah, I mean, my wife also does her her events, also, just pretty much all the same things. Like it's it's it's it's amazing. Yeah. So I mean, um, always giving back is great. You know, exactly. I I you know I volunteer on on with my wife and her her community garden. She does food pantries, she's amazing, you know. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 18:45

So um there's something about giving back that feels so good, right? It does. It's like you're already at a point in life where like you're stable, you're happy, and stuff like that, but now you want to embrace others and bring them up, their spirits.

SPEAKER_02: 18:59

Yeah, I mean you see them, you'll see them out there. There's people that are out there that are really struggling, right? So I mean, am I gonna give you the money in your pot in your hand? No, no, I will take you to the restaurant. You want something to eat? Absolutely. Take them over. I mean, one one year we drove around, I had used coats and we collected coats from the family, and we drove around the South Bronx area um and just giving away coats. And I we have made some peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and some ham and cheese sandwiches and was giving them sandwiches as well. And this was during the cold weathers, right? Yeah, people they get cold.

SPEAKER_00: 19:30

Exactly. And those people, I'm sure they appreciate like there's no amount of words to describe how much they appreciate that, especially when it's cold out there and you know it's freezing. Yeah, yeah. To have a coat given to you in a peanut butter and jelly, that's like a Christmas miracle, right? Like, this is like it restores your faith in humanity. Yeah, yes, yes, yes.

SPEAKER_02: 19:56

Sure does.

SPEAKER_00: 19:58

No, yeah, absolutely. I mean, you said that you own a property and um basically that you um you already know the things that kind of come along with with uh with the property, like maintenance and all of that stuff, right? Do you ever think of yourself owning another property in the future or just sticking with that one?

SPEAKER_02: 20:20

Probably. I gotta talk to the wife. Yes, I I mean I that's what I wanted to. I mean, originally I I you know said I want Florida, I want warm weather, but it seems like Florida's getting cold. So we gotta revamp, we gotta get back to the table and and the whole family have a discussion.

SPEAKER_00: 20:37

I think they're getting a lot of like uh tsunamis and stuff as well, right?

SPEAKER_02: 20:41

Yeah, it's getting it's getting bad. No, no, not not tsunamis, sorry. It's um the cold weather. They yeah, hurricanes. One one one point, I think it not anywhere in Florida. Um, well, it was a particular area in Florida, I don't know exactly where, but it snowed. Yeah. And I was like, no, this can't be. Global warming is real, I guess, right? No, that's right. So uh yeah, I definitely, I definitely would uh look into something, uh whether it be an investment or a vacation home, a vacation home, yeah, or maybe just I don't know, something else, I guess.

SPEAKER_00: 21:15

Yeah, I'll figure it out. Absolutely, absolutely. Or you could just like if you don't go to vacation home, you always can still take the vacations in a hotel and stuff like that. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02: 21:25

I mean, what yeah, I could do that, yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 21:27

And then usually if it's a vacation home, sometimes if you don't even want to do a vacation, you can rent it out on Airbnb. Yeah, and stuff like that. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02: 21:36

See how that works out.

SPEAKER_00: 21:37

Exactly. There's so many uh opportunities in real estate, whether it be just a second home as a rental income or a hybrid. Yeah. I think a lot of people like sometimes they they don't understand that they can um basically live in one part of the home if it's a multifamily and then rent out the other ones, yeah, and kind of like reduce the overall mortgage payments and overall payments of the home dramatically just by doing that.

SPEAKER_02: 22:02

Yeah, yeah, not a lot.

SPEAKER_00: 22:04

Yeah, it does something to consider. No, absolutely. I mean, yeah, that's that's pretty much I think everything that I wanted to discuss in this podcast. Do you have anything else that you might want to say to the viewers or anything like that?

SPEAKER_02: 22:18

Don't hesitate. Don't drag your feet. I know when people always ask, is now the right time? When is the right time? What's what you know? You just gotta take a leap of faith, you know. I mean, I dragged my feet for too many years, and I just said, you know what? Thanks to Alex, and I encourage everyone else, you know. If you feel it, if you if it's a thought in your mind, let's do it. Exactly. Give us a call, we'll help you out, we'll walk you through the process.

SPEAKER_00: 22:46

That's right. Well, thank you so much, Raphael, for coming and thank you for this week's podcast. Yes. Thank you. So thank you guys. Thank you. If you have any questions or want to contribute anything, you can leave it in the comments below. Have a great one, guys. Bye.

SPEAKER_02: 23:02

Bye bye. Bye guys.