Today we’d like to introduce you to Saud and Cinthia Rai.
Saud and Cinthia, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
Way back in 2003, I was managing Swensen’s Grill and Ice Cream Parlor in Coral Gables with my wife Cinthia. While it was good and I enjoyed it, I had no life. The restaurant absorbed my time and my life completely. I had no to very little time for my home and my marriage. My wife Cinthia made me realize that it was time to do something else and she casually brought up the idea of becoming a Real Estate Agent. At first, I refused it. Aside from having zero ideas about being a real estate agent, it is kinda scary letting the income security go and try something entirely new. But after a year of thinking and discussing, we both took a leap of faith and decided to leave Swensen’s in October of the year 2017. Remember, because of the restaurant we could never go anywhere more than a week and even during this week we just couldn’t disconnect so After 15 years, we took the longest and most peaceful vacation. It was the time to refresh & recharge, we were in Ecuador for a month to enjoy and get ourselves ready for a new chapter we were about to start in our career.
As soon as we got back to Miami, I registered online to take the Real Estate Course at Gold Coast School in Doral. Next week classes started. I truly loved it. I felt from day one that this is for me. I loved all aspects of the study and valuable knowledge. I am naturally good in mathematics so that helped me most definitely… lol. I remember while I was in the class, my wife waited all day in the car to support me. She never left my side throughout the entire process until I passed my school and state licensing exam on my first try.
It was time to choose the Broker. I did some research on different brokerages. I interviewed 10 Brokers in total and The Keyes Company in Homestead was the last Broker I interviewed. When I met Tony Garcia (Homestead Office’s Acting Broker Manager) of The Keyes Company, I felt he was genuine and instead of painting a fake picture he was honest with me. He told me how challenging and difficult this can be but with a relentless mindset. Anything can be achieved. During our interview, he even mentioned that he sees himself in me when he just started in real estate. Training offered sounded great and Keyes office was just five minutes from my home. (Did I mention that I was already living in Homestead since 2005?). It was no brainer. I joined The Keyes Company.
Cinthia, my beautiful wife, has always supported me in everything that I do. We knew how well we work together as a team. So of course, I had to push Cinthia to get her Real Estate license. After a few months, she got her license and we started to work together again. We were learning more and more with every transaction that we close, we learned the systems and created structure, little by little & brick by brick we kept progressing. We think because of our experience running a small business has helped us tremendously to navigate in Real Estate. Even though in Real Estate you entirely manage your own schedule and you’re not bound to 9-5 or in over case restaurant’s hours but you got to treat Real Estate as you were going to the office or opening the doors of your business every morning. We brought hardworking habits from the hospitality industry and applied it in Real Estate, woke up every morning seven days a week and started working. There is always something to do, keep prospecting and when you think you are done, prospect some more. Make a schedule and keep modifying it as you grow. Maximum Effort equals to Maximum Results! Honestly, we believe if we can do it so can you!
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Smooth road? lol, What’s that? Of course not, we have our fair share of failures and struggles. Honestly, we appreciated when we failed, it taught us a valuable lesson and made us better prepared for the future.
Real Estate is certainly challenging in the beginning it’s very competitive but it’s like everything else in life. There was a time when we were late on our mortgage payments, maxed-out our credit cards and there were days we didn’t even have a $1 to buy a coffee at La Carreta (our favorite cuban bakery and miami essential) but giving up was never an option, we needed to see this through.
Please tell us about Skywalker Group of The Keyes Company.
So when it was time to set ourselves apart and to create a unique brand/recognition, we decided to use “SKYWALKER GROUP” as our company name and kept building a more recognized brand. Can’t you see how cool it is? Seriously we are proud of it!
We were starting to build a good reputation and gaining five-star reviews in Zillow from our past clients. Same clients were giving us referrals and business so we kept growing. We decided that it’s time to hire assistant and appointment coordinator to help us in managing our schedules and transactions. I made sure that the people we chose upholds the same vision and mission that Cinthia and I have. We were able to secure a quality service and integrity in everything we do. We always put our client’s best interests in front and center of everything we do, and our main goal is to gain their trust and to live up to it. We continued meeting new people who became clients and friends eventually.
All in all, the Skywalker Group of Keyes Company specialized in Residential Real Estate. We are a highly-skilled, top producing Real Estate Team. We are known for unmatched, honest, and dependable service. We promise and deliver our tag line: “Experience Beyond Expectations”! Of course, like every business, competition is fierce when it comes to Real Estate but in reality, we don’t consider we have any competition. Why? because “UNMATCHED SERVICE.” Everything we do revolves around the simple goal of providing honest and passionate service. We always go above and beyond to make our clients happy and with that attitude, success is almost guaranteed!
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
If we could, we would love to be in Real Estate a few years earlier than we actually did, only if we could time travel… lol! On a serious note; Every day is a new challenge and there is always something new to learn. Feedback is a gift. We accept every failure and turn them into our motivation to do better. And I believe this is what makes us successful!
Contact Info:
- Address: Skywalker Group of Keyes Company
809 N Flagler Ave Homestead, FL 33030 - Website: www.skywalker-group.com
- Phone: 833-SKY-KEYS
- Email: info@skywalker-group.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/skywalker.group
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SkywalkerGroups
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/SaudRai
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/skywalker-group-of-keyes-company-homestead
- Other: https://www.zillow.com/profile/saudrai/#reviews
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