Community Spotlight: Aaron Lebovic

This month down at Enterprise Coworking Greenwood Village Brittany sits down with our member Aaron Lebovic via Zoom to talk about his career in the real estate industry as a developer and agent, how he came to Enterprise Coworking, and how he's dealing with the current pandemic, and then sheds his knowledge on Denver's real estate market durring Covid-19 and after. Enjoy!

Transcript:

Brittany: Hey everybody, this is Brittany from Enterprise Coworking here to talk with you, Aaron Lebovic for our May community spotlight. Aaron, thank you so much for taking the time to sit down with me virtually for this.

Aaron: Thanks for having me. Do you like my virtual background?

Brittany: Amazing. You couldn't even tell the difference. Got a love the view. So to just start off, Would you mind telling us a little bit about what you do and your company?

[00:00:33] Arron: Yeah, happy to do it. Thanks so I'm a professional real estate agent full time. A little bit of background. I started off as a real estate investor back in 2002, between 2002 and 2009, I bought over one hundred and thirty homes, mostly at foreclosure auctions in four different states. And then in 2009, I started a software company tracking foreclosures throughout the state of Colorado and teaching classes. I've got two great business partners in that business and it's still running today. And then in 2014, I found foreclosure filings were going down and traditional sales were going up. And I decided I can always be a foreclosure expert. I still co-own in that company that tracks foreclosures. And I offer teaching and consulting to real estate agents and investors. And also, I realized, you know, as a real estate agent, whether markets are going up or going down or in total chaos like they are right now, I can always find a way to serve my clients and be a great real estate agent.

Brittany: That's awesome. You do a lot of stuff then.

[00:01:41] Aaron: Yeah, I'm actually in the top 5 percent of real estate agents in the country. I'm actually a really active real estate agent. It doesn't seem like that at the co-working space. That's kind of one thing I like about it. If I was at a traditional brokerage, which many real estate agents are, I would be bombarded all day long from other real estate agents saying got a second and I wouldn't be able to have time to serve my clients. So I so I love being in the co-working space. It's a place that I can focus. And it's also a great place to meet other people who also need to buy and sell real estate that I can serve.

Brittany: Yeah, absolutely. You've actually received some business from working at Enterprise, right?

Aaron: I have. I've helped four people buy or sell homes as a result of folks I've met at the co-working space.

[00:02:28] Brittany: All right. Awesome. So you already touched on this. When did you get in to your foreclosure buyings, real estate investment and then realty?

Aaron: Yeah. I graduated from the University of Denver in 2002 and I had to decide what to do. And I was a mortgage broker for five minutes. It just didn't fit me well what I wanted to accomplish. And at that time, my dad called me up and said, hey, you're in. I'm buying foreclosed. I knew he was buying foreclosure auctions in Chicago, but I didn't know there was an opportunity. I really want to go back to Chicago and work with him. But he said, hey, your brother's leaving me. And he was the one that did all the work. I put up the money we partnered. And here's your opportunity if you want to take his place. And so I said, yes. But honestly, I always knew I'd be moving back to Colorado.

Brittany: Yeah, it's pretty great here. Chicago is cool. But you got to love Denver.

[00:03:27] Aaron: Right. Great place to visit. You need to live. So, yeah, that was back in 2002 that I became a real estate full time real estate investor.

Brittany: All right. Super impressive that you're in the top 5 percent as well. Incredibly. Yeah. So you've also kind of touched on this one already. But what else drew you to Enterprise Coworking?

Aaron: Yeah. What I love about it first, it's a modern space. I was at another co-working space before. And it was very closed off. Once you close the door, you're not seeing anything that's going on other than out your window if you had one. And and there was no opportunity to to really connect with other people in the space. I was told I'm not allowed to have a phone call in the lobby area. I was told there is no social events that I could plan, let alone attend. And so it's really important to me about my co-working space that I can connect with others and see how I can serve them or also work with them in the businesses that they do.

[00:04:33] Brittany: Yeah, absolutely. You're definitely a very active member. Which is I feel like the whole point of co-working, you know. Yeah. So the next question I have for you is, what are you doing to weather the storm that is covid-19? I know you're home with two small children. So how's that going?

Aaron: It's hard. It's really hard. First, props to my wife who thank God has a school, an education background. She's doing an amazing job with our one year old Abby and three year old Ben. Really, it's it's also a blessing and the opportunity for me to slow down and spend more time with my kids. So I'm definitely not complaining, but. But it's hard not being able to go on client appointments. To show homes right now, as of today, showings are not allowed before going under contract. So it's it presents a unique situation for real estate agents. Luckily, I have a lot of experience in working with out of state home buyers and home sellers anyway. And so the process is not unfamiliar to me to use technology as a tool to connect with home buyers and homes sellers from a distance anyway. And I'm also really connected with what's going on legally, what we can and can't do. So right now, in this moment, as of this recording, showings are not allowed. But once a property goes under contract, inspections are allowed. And so being you know, right now I've got five homes under contract in four homes listed on the market. I'm seeing lots of ways buyers, agents are submitting offers and getting creative. And frankly, I'm using those strategies the best of the best strategies and techniques to help my clients who are looking at buying right now while still making sure they're very well protected and they get their eyes on the property before closing.

Brittany: So the stay at home order ends on the 26th and now it's a safer-at-home-Order. How does that affect the real estate market and what you do?

[00:06:47] Aaron: Well, the real estate market is is a big question and I'm grateful for my experience on the foreclosure side of the business. And as you can imagine, I'm having I'm teaching classes and having a lot of conversations with people asking what's going to happen with the market. I I used to have a crystal ball, but it broke in two thousand eight. And there's no there's really no telling until we're a couple months into things being loosened up. But here's what I'm seeing. Right now, there were a lot of before Covid 19, There was low foreclosure filings, about 70 new foreclosure filings per week in the Denver metro area before Covid 19. What has happened is there is a total moratorium on new foreclosure filings for government backed loans, unoccupied properties, which is a majority of homes that are facing distress. The sooner we're out of this Covid19 quarantine, the better it will be for our economy. I don't know about you, Britney, but I'm looking forward to getting my hair cut professionally. Oh, yeah.

[00:08:01] Taking my wife on a date to a restaurant and being away from my kids for a little bit. And so I think that money will come into the economy and we'll be able to build back up quickly, hopefully if if Covid 19 can remain or get under control even more. But the longer it takes for us to go out and spend money, the longer people will be on unemployment, not be able to make their mortgage or or rent payments. And that could put the economy into a tailspin as it relates to real estate. One thing that's cool about Colorado specifically is that we were in a very strong seller's market just before Covid 19, and we have been in a strong seller's market, meaning sellers are in control and there's competitive offers. Homes are selling very quickly. A balanced market would be considered six months of inventory, meaning if no other homes got listed, it would take six months for properties to sell. And for our inventory to be zero. Another way, similarly to say it is on average, it takes six months to sell a home. I'm usually even today listing homes, even in this Covid 19  market and getting many of my listings under contract in the first week and still. So it's still a crazy strong seller's market because just as many sellers are deciding to hold off as there are buyers that are deciding to hold off, and that's still creating this equal Librium that we were facing of being in a seller's market previously. So I think come next week when we're able to show homes again, I think more homes are going to hit the market. I think buyers are going to come out of hibernation. And I still think we're going to be in a strong real estate market here in the Denver metro area.

[00:09:48] Brittany: Oh, that's good to hear. That makes me feel a lot better about everything that's going on now. Kind of on like a lighter note, you kind of also touched on this one. Besides getting a haircut and going out on a date. What's something that you're looking forward to doing?

Aaron: So I always reserve Saturday mornings and Sunday mornings for my family. You know, as a real estate agent, a lot of clients need to see houses on nights and weekends, and I'm totally available for that.

But the weekend mornings are for my kids and I'm really excited to take my son back to soccer, to go swimming at my grandmas, my mom's condo, their grandmother's condo building has a swimming pool. So we love doing that with grandma just getting out and and doing the activities that my kids really enjoy.

[00:10:36] Brittany: I love that. Now, how can our members get in touch with you and how can they find out more information on an Aaron Lebovic and EXP Realty?

Aaron: Thanks. Yeah. So actually, if you Google my name A.A.R.O.N. L.E.B.O.V.I.C., I'm sure it will be written somewhere here in the article. Google me and you'll find me and reviews. My cell phone number is 3 0 3 2 5 0 4 4 4 0. My business is not built through internet leads and knocking on doors, although I've certainly done that in the past. My business is solely reliant on my personal sphere and referrals from people just like you. I'll take amazing care of anyone that gets in my way a full blown service regardless of the price point. I do represent all price points, including luxury and first time home buyer price points as well. So I'd really appreciate you reaching out and trusting me with your referrals.

Brittany: All right. Awesome. I love it. Thank you, Aaron, so much for sitting down with me today, telling me a little bit about yourself and EXP Realty. Super happy that you're a part of the community and that everything is going all right with you. So if you're watching this video, be sure to reach out to Aaron through his phone number. Or just Googling him if you have any homebuying or home selling questions. All right, you guys. Thank you. Thank you so much.