The Moral Compass: Navigating Communication & Values with Tia Lilly

Tia Lilly: Sit down with someone you know, that knows you well, figure out what your strengths are. We all have them. We all have gifts and talents and what are those? Identify maybe some of the weaknesses that you have as well. Also more importantly, what are you passionate about? What drives you? What do you like about the business? 

Lindsay Favazza: Welcome back to another episode of the Agents Who Crush It in Real Estate. I’m your host, Lindsay Favazza. Today I am joined by someone who is not only a leader in the real estate world, but also a master at carving out her niche in one of the most competitive markets around. Joining me today is Tia Lilly, founder, broker, and owner of Property Cape Cod Real Estate. 

Tia is a water and luxury property specialist with years of experience navigating the unique high-end Cape Cod market. Her knowledge of waterfront properties and her ability to craft luxurious experiences for clients have earned her a reputation as a top-tier realtor and businesswoman. On today’s episode, we’ll dive into Tia’s journey from breaking into real estate to founding her own firm, her strategies for success, and the lessons she’s learned along the way. Whether you’re just starting out or looking to elevate your career, Tia has so much to share that will help you crush it in your own real estate business. Without further ado, welcome to the podcast today, Tia. 

Tia: Thanks, Lindsay. Thanks for having me on. Excited to be here. 

Lindsay: I’m so excited to talk to you because I feel like you have a much more unique niche that you have carved for yourself, and I want to learn about that. I want our audience to learn about that, and I think that this is going to be awesome. Thank you so much for agreeing to do this today. 

Tia: I’m so happy to be here. Thank you. 

Lindsay: Yay. Why don’t we start, like I always do, at the beginning. What got you into real estate, and what were those first days like? What were those first months look like? Take us back in the way back machine. 

Tia: Okay. We’re traveling back in time here. I love that. I was actually recruited. I was in business sales, and the agency I started with recruited me. It took a year and a half for me to finally say, okay, let’s give this a try. It was not love at first sight, if you will. Love it. 

Lindsay: It isn’t usually for anything, is it? [laughs] 

Tia: I loved what I did before, like business to business sales. I just say that for anyone listening that’s like, I don’t know, maybe they just started out and they’re like, is this really for me? You just have to find your own way. I cannot tell you every day I get up, I’m so grateful. I am so grateful to the company. I love what I do. It’s the best, but for me, it was finding the niche. That’s when I became just absolutely passionate for what I did, which was second home market, if you will. 

Lindsay: Tell me how that came to be. You were recruited, but were you recruited into this market? 

Tia: No. 

Lindsay: How did that all come about? 

Tia: Great question. Thanks. I was recruited from a great company. They have a predominant presence, especially Cape Cod. So grateful to them, family owned, but more of an entry level company. I was blessed, I’ll say, that I just fell into– I partnered up with somebody that had a website. I still have it to this day, Property Cape Cod. It just drew buyers from all over the world looking to buy second homes, and some of them were third, fourth homes, and they tend to be on or near water. That’s how I fell into that niche. 

I’m predominantly on Cape Cod, and it’s just beautiful here. It’s the beaches, the lakes, the ponds, the golfing. It’s just a resort destination, particularly in the summer. People want to own here. That’s how I just started. I built my business on buyer agency, actually, working with them to find the right home. 

Lindsay: Yes. The Cape is such a destination for people from New York, people from Massachusetts, people from all over New England, really. 

Tia: All over New England, yes. 

Lindsay: It’s just an easy place to get to, but it’s so beautiful. 

Tia: It is. We have, I work with a lot of clients, even Arizona, just all over the place. It’s just special. The Cape’s very special, I think, anyways. I grew up here, so yes. 

Lindsay: Quintessential New England. 

Tia: It really is. Yes. 

Lindsay: I love that. 

Tia: Wonderful place to vacation. That’s how I fell into it, and I just loved it because it took me to places growing up here, and still to this day, almost 20 years in the business, you go to nooks and crannies that you just don’t go unless there’s a reason. There might be only two houses on that street. It’s so much fun. I’m passionate about water and water sports, so it was a good fit for me. 

Lindsay: That’s awesome. Tell me about those early days and getting into the business, what were some of the things that you struggled with? You said that you were more focused on buyers. What were those days like working with buyers, and what were some of the issues that you ran into, and how did you overcome some of those? 

Tia: Yes. Great question. A lot of challenges getting started. A lot of challenges, especially where my niche, because for me, I was passionate about the second home market, luxury market. It’s a different sale than your regular house in a neighborhood. I learned the hard way. I learned from my clients. Grateful to them, keep in touch with them to this day, all of them. That’s really, and I’m always credited to them because it’s a very different sale. I’m sure you already know this, but the locations are different, especially Cape Cod, setbacks, what the rules are, even from village to village within a town. 

It’s really understanding your client who you’re working with, asking the right questions, what do they want to– like you asked me questions out of the gate, where do you want to see this? You’ve got to have the goals in mind, and you’ve got to understand them and know them to guide them properly. There’s a lot of more rules and regulations around conservation, flood zones, outstanding orders of conditions, orders of conditions that continue on with the property. You get educated and you want to make your client– because I hear a lot, like I’ve listened to a lot of your podcasts and you have such amazing people out there, guests that you’re interviewing and in the business. 

The common theme I hear is education, education, education, and we always have to bring value to our clients. They can see what’s on the market now. They don’t need us anymore to tell us what house is there. 

Lindsay: Open the door. 

Tia: Open the door, yes, they know. I think most of us will say our clients drive what they’re going to see for the most part. It’s just having that value. They don’t know to look for these things. They don’t do this every day. Even if they do, the location’s different. They don’t know those rules and regulations. No matter what it is, bringing that value. 

Lindsay: I love that. When did you then transition from doing your business and then transitioning more into the brokerage role, being a broker owner? How did that all happen and when? 

Tia: It ties into because you’re a marketing specialist. You can appreciate this. 

Lindsay: I can. 

Tia: I think what happened is being– the brokerage, I love having, and I guess it’s the control in the creativity. I have a marketing director myself and I give her free reigns to do how she sees fit. She comes up with amazing marketing that we can do for our clients.

Tia: It’s all about marketing and being creative so we can provide our clientele with the best possible service and to have that creativity because I found that was one of the things that drove me was, when I had people starting to sell their homes that I helped them purchase, it’s different when you’re on the sell side of how you market than when you’re buying. To be able to do a good job and I just wanted that creativity more, and also to be able to really service the client. 

I’m just going to go out and say this, but for me, my brokerage is really putting that client first and maybe we should be concerned about being sued. Maybe we should be concerned about the rules more, but all within legality, but just doing right by them, trying to answer their questions and not coming from a place of being so worried about, Oh, I don’t want this to happen because it’s a big purchase or sale. It should be about them. We just have to do it, I will say that. 

Lindsay: At the end of the day, these lawsuits and everything should be about the client and what’s best for them. Unfortunately, there’s definitely some gray area when it comes to all of this, but yes, it should be about them. It’s great that you’re putting them first, still. That’s awesome. 

Tia: Thanks. 

Lindsay: As a business owner, as a broker owner, how do you attract and retain top talent in your brokerage? How are you working to bring in awesome agents to work with you? Are you selective about that process? Are there some people that you’re like, this isn’t a great fit? 

[laughter] 

Tia: I think any brokerage, I think it’s very important for anybody out there. My path might have been different had I started with a luxury brand brokerage. I’m again, grateful to be where I’m at for me. I always think things work out for a reason. I think when you’re out there getting started, or if you’re just evaluating where you’re at, ask yourself what it is you want. The right brokerage, it’s not– that’s what’s so fun about real estate, right? There’s no right, wrong. There’s no set way. Everybody’s different, we’re unique as humans and it’s finding that right brokerage that resonates with you, and you feel this is my work family, we work close together. 

For me, I have a great team. I am very selective, but it’s not for me so much about the talent, it’s about the moral compass, I think, and the ethics and the values and are we going to put our client first, and do you want to learn? I don’t care how much we know, we can always educate ourselves more. I look for that and for just whatever drives you. For me personally, yes, I want to make money, but that’s not what drives me and that’s okay. We all have our different things, but to be driven to want to be successful, whatever that means to each individual. The moral compass is really what I look for and people that want to grow. 

Lindsay: How do you figure out in an interview or something like that, if they have that? What is that thing? Because maybe it’s someone that you’ve worked with and you now know them a little bit better and that’s someone that you want to recruit. If someone comes off a street and says, “I want to work with you,” how do you figure out if they have those strong morals or is it just a case of get them in and then if it doesn’t work out, it doesn’t work out. 

Tia: I’ve had that happen. I definitely had that. We all have, right? I think it’s just like I just recently– and it wasn’t so much interview. It was just talking to this gentleman who I’m hiring and it just felt good. It felt natural. It felt like a fit. You just give that a try. Sometimes you don’t know, but it’s good to. I have check-ins to see how this is going for them and how it’s going on this end. We work really close together as well. You can get that. 

Lindsay: I love that. Let’s switch gears for a second and talk about your niche because I think that, like I said in the very beginning, I feel like this is the thing that a lot of people are probably sitting here waiting to hear you talk about because it’s something that they would love to get into, whether they’re near water, meaning some of the lakes that are near them or anything like that. These end up being the properties that are usually more into that luxury market. A lot of agents want to break into that. Number one, what is your piece of advice on getting into this type of niche? What are the intricacies, I guess, of working with people within this niche as well? 

Tia: Great question, again. That’s probably what I love about the niche, is working with the people. They’re just down to earth, great people. It is definitely challenging to break in. I feel blessed because I had that website– well, I still have it, a website that drives, is driven by that niche. I think, again, it comes back to what we’re talking about in marketing. You have to be super detailed. It’s all in the small, intricate details. You set your mind to it. You can break in. We don’t do a lot of advertising, but what we do, it’s like, say you work with a buyer that you help them buy a waterfront home, you do a great job, learn what you can. If I can ever be of help, reach out to me, please. It’s easy to find. 

Lindsay: Point them in the right direction. 

Tia: Yes, and keep in touch with them because that’s where it all starts. It starts with them and doing right by them, just focus on that person. They have friends that want to come here, they typically do, or family. That’s where I really get most of my business, is referrals and friends and family. I don’t do a ton of advertising. 

Lindsay: That’s great. Tell me what is a typical marketing package for one of these types of listings for you guys? Then what’s maybe a home or a property that you went and did something different. We all watch some of the crazy television shows, which are not reality. They’re the reality shows that are not reality at all. I know sometimes a property requires something a little bit different, whether it’s something different in a video or something different. What is your typical marketing package for your listings? Then what’s some time that you’ve maybe done something a little bit different? 

Tia: I think each house, that’s what’s so fun. Each house is unique, right? Especially what it has to offer. That’s what it is, is capturing the emotions of that house and the personality. It could be done in so many different ways. For example, if it’s a beachfront, you want to drive that drone down the beach so they can see, they can get the feeling of being there. Sometimes it’s just little touches that you do. It’s so interesting. 

I’ll give you example. We spent, you spend money, we all do, marketing any house, for that matter with drones and professional photography. We do a lot of tweaking on the staging. We have an interior stager on our team that comes in. We put all this effort and time and in preference to the presentation. Recently, I just wrote “Summer 2024.” This was right before the summer, “Summer 2024” in the sand, our photographer took a picture of that and that got more hits and more people enjoyed that. It was just– 

Lindsay: Something so easy. 

Tia: Simple and easy. 

Lindsay: It was eye-catching and different. 

Tia: That took all of three minutes. It was just interesting how it’s sometimes in the small details. 

Lindsay: It is. It definitely is. That’s great. Overall, how do you market your business? You mentioned your website. What is special about this website? What is it that attracts people to it? Then what is it that you do to keep it up to date? What are some tips that you have there for those people? 

Tia: The website is constantly being worked on. We like to have it where it is for easy to use and that the pictures are large so that people can scroll through. Everything is that continuity to it. You’re not having small pictures, large pictures, turn this way, turn that way, and we try to get information out there that can be useful. If somebody comes on and wants to take a look at different things and tools, but we do spend quite a bit on our site. We utilize that for so many things when we’re on a listing appointment, buyers even. We do get a lot of compliments on it and how easy it is to use. 

Lindsay: Yes, it’s beautiful. It’s propertycapecod.com, by the way, for everyone listening and watching, propertycapecod.com. 

Tia: Thanks, Lindsay. 

Lindsay: Go with it and take a peek, but yes, it’s a beautiful site and it looks like you have properties and then you’re selling your buy tab and your search tab, which is all pretty typical, right? Then you also have this vacation tab. You all obviously are putting time and effort into vacation rentals as well. Is that something that your team focuses on? 

Tia: We do, and I think you see now more than ever, more so in the last few years, it’s becoming growing investment, right? Real estate is such a great investment. We have a lot of investors that want to enjoy their home for a week or two, but then they also want to have it, make some money on it. Why not? We protect the home. That’s a big part of it. We also rent it out. We do short term rentals, so vacation rentals. 

Lindsay: Yes. I love that. 

Tia: Yes, so it’s fun. It covers a wide variety. 

Lindsay: Is there anything different about the sales process when you know it’s someone who is buying it to use it as a income? What is it that you’re looking for, for a property for someone who is looking for an income-producing property. 

Tia: Absolutely. It’s so important, the location. Not every day they come up, but it’s location, location, location. It has to be something special about the property. More so now, we’ve gotten stricter and selective of what we’ll take on because it’s a lot more competitive, as you know, right? In the rental arena, especially around short-term rentals. 

Lindsay: Especially on the Cape. 

Tia: Especially on the Cape. We want to be respectful to the community. We also don’t want to be a part of renting something in a neighborhood. We don’t feel that’s right. There is a forum for it. There is a need for it on the Cape. Larger families can vacation together and have a play. We don’t have hotels or motels that can hold up 15 people in a house. There is a need for it, but there is a place for it too. I firmly believe that. 

It has to be something special that brings it into a vacation. I caution people out there working with buyers, trying to find that, we say no, more than yes. Sometimes they’re heartbroken, but if you want to buy the house because you love it and you want to be in it, go for it, but if you want to make money on it and have it rent, a lot of times we’re saying no, this is not the house you want to– 

Lindsay: Yes, you’ve got to not only appeal so broadly so that you can get as much rental as possible, it also comes down to the dollars and cents, like how much are they actually going to be able to rent it for? It comes down to, like you said, location is so important because they may want to be walking distance to some of the stores and some of them downtown area, or the beach. Yes, there’s so much to consider. That’s why I asked because it’s got to be a challenge to find just the right place for someone who’s looking to do that. 

Tia: It is a challenge, and if you can stick to it and put your client first, and I know we all want to make money, we need to make money, but you’ll win so much more business in the long run by just telling them, “No, don’t buy this house.” 

Lindsay: Yes, and if they buy the good one and they make money from it, guess what, there’s probably more income in the future. They’d probably want to buy something else. That is the benefit, is getting them into the right house so that [crosstalk] 

Tia: Into the right house, and I know your audience, are probably realtors listening that come over to the Cape to sell. I’m really happy to help out. They’ll call us and say, hey, is this a good one? How much would this rent for? What could my client rent? If you don’t have a company that you’re doing rentals with, we’re happy to– we’ll always respect the relationship and give you advice and that’s up to you how you want to handle it from there. 

Lindsay: That’s awesome. We’re getting close to the end here. One of my final questions for you, it might not be my final, but we’ll see. You’ve been in business now, how many years have you been in business? Did I read 20? 

Tia: Yes, almost 20 years. On my own for eight, though. 

Lindsay: In your 20 years of experience in this industry, what is the one thing that you wish you had known sooner? What is the one lesson that you wish you had learned sooner? What is the biggest thing that you’ve learned over those 20 years? 

Tia: Great question. So much, but I think I’ll touch on two things that I think are top. If I could go back and do it again, I would definitely be better in these two areas. It took me a while. One is communication. It’s so key. You might think you’re over-communicating. You cannot over-communicate. Just update people, keep them in the loop. Even when there’s nothing to say, say something. They just appreciate it so much. It goes a long way, and it doesn’t matter if it’s a fellow associate, realtor, whoever it is, just keep that communication. 

The other area, there’s so many tools out there right now. Even 20 years ago, there’s more so now. The follow-up, and that’s part of the communication, the follow-up is such a key. If I could go back and do it over again, I’d be so much more organized. There’s so many great systems that you can use. You talk to somebody, get them into your system, just get us some kind of communication where you’re not always having to pick up the phone. There’s just so many different ways. It makes a huge difference. It can just be another 10 sales in the year by doing that, I think. There could be more than that. Yes, just the follow-up’s key. 

Lindsay: That’s great, communication and follow-up. I can’t agree with you more about the communication. It is so important. I think agents are nervous because they think, oh, I don’t have anything to tell them. Yes, but they just want to hear from you even if you don’t have anything. I love that you said that because we talk to our agents all the time about that. It’s just make sure that you’re having a touch point. Maybe they just want to air their concerns or they just want to talk to you and be able to know that you’re still doing what you’re supposed to be doing for them. That touch point is so important. I think that’s a really great lesson. 

Tia: Yes, thanks. 

Lindsay: I guess this is now my last question is, what piece of advice would you give to agents that are out there? Obviously, you’ve just mentioned communication and follow-up, but what advice would you give to the agent who’s listening right now that really wants to take their business to the next level? What can they do to really grow in 2025? 

Tia: My advice would be to sit down with somebody that knows you really well, that you can list, what are you great at? This is what I love because I’m more of an introvert. I am not out there passing out my card. I have wonderful agents that do that. I admire them. It’s not me personally. Sit down with someone that knows you well, figure out what your strengths are. We all have them. We all have gifts and talents. What are those? Identify maybe some of the weaknesses that you have as well, so you know those. 

Also, more importantly, what are you passionate about? What drives you? What do you like about the business? I always recommend, it’s so great to have a niche. You’re not going to miss out on anything. It’s just what your specialty is. I think you can attest to that too, Lindsey, right? Isn’t that so much easier to market an agent when they have a niche? 

Lindsay: So much easier. There’s focus because you’re not going to appeal to everybody. Having that focus makes it so that you can really talk to that person and their needs. Yes, completely agree. 

Tia: You stand out, right? You’ll stand out. You’re not going to miss out on anything. This doesn’t mean no one’s going to call you. That’s just what you do. I would say that. Then to just find out, what is your communication? What are your strengths to go out there? For me, I’m an introvert. I’m not going to personally run around throwing my card out and talking. That’s okay. You can find what works for you. That’s what’s so fun about this business. It’s not one, right? There’s so many different ways to go about it. 

Lindsay: There’s so many different ways and so many different personalities. There’s been people that I’ve met that I’m like, they’re brand new to the business. I thought to myself, oh, I don’t know. This person, they seem too shy or they seem too quiet or this might be hard for them. Then all of a sudden, they’re absolutely crushing because maybe they are shy, but they’re really good at caring about the customer and putting them first. You know what I mean? You never know what kind of personality is going to do well in this business. There’s all kinds of people that are realtors, so. 

Tia: Right. That’s what I try to look for in my teams, to identify where their strengths are and guide them toward that so that they can flourish and excel. I find myself in that role more, which I also love. It’s fun. 

Lindsay: I love that. Thank you so much, Tia. This was so helpful. I want to make sure that everyone knows that if you are a realtor that’s in and around the Cape area, and you want to talk to Tia, to pick her brain, she, like we mentioned earlier, is more than welcome to do that. Here’s your- 

Tia: Thanks, Lindsay. Yes, absolutely. 

Lindsay: -Instagram and Facebook link. Feel free to reach out to her. This has been absolutely awesome, Tia. Thank you so much. I feel like we could have talked for another half an hour. 

Tia: I know. I would love to pick your brain more too. You have so much to offer. Thank you so much for having me on. It was a pleasure. 

Lindsay: Thank you. Thank you so much. Maybe I can be on your podcast when you start one and we’ll do that. 

[laughter] 

Tia: Okay. I love that. 

Lindsay: Thanks everybody for listening. We really appreciate you coming back week after week. Like Tia mentioned in the beginning, we have awesome guests. If this is the first episode that you’ve listened to, make sure to go back. We’re on season four right now. We have over 60, 70 episodes with all different people from all different parts of the business, all different parts of the country. We even have some people on there in Canada and so on. Definitely go in and listen and look at all those other episodes. Thanks for coming back each week. We really appreciate it. We’ll see you guys on the next episode of The Agents Who Crush It In Real Estate. Bye, everybody. 

Speaker: Thank you for tuning in to The Agents Who Crush It in Real Estate podcast. If you enjoyed today’s episode, share it with your friends and colleagues and leave a review on your favorite podcast platform. If you’re interested in being a guest, email us at info@crushitinre.com. Thanks for listening. Don’t forget to crush it in real estate. 

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