Caleb: Welcome to Real Estate Insights, where I sit down with top real estate pros across Utah and Idaho. I'm Caleb Adams, your host. My guest today is Jocelyn Ocampo with Realty Path here in Cache Valley. We met Jocelyn Ocampo: Yeah. Caleb: at the Women's Council golf tournament earlier this year, and she's bilingual. She's got a great presence on Instagram and will be the president of the Women's Council here in Cache Valley. Jocelyn, welcome. Jocelyn Ocampo: Thank you so much for having me on, Caleb. I appreciate it. Caleb: Yeah, of course. to kick things off, can you tell us little bit about how you got into real estate and where you are now? Jocelyn Ocampo: Yeah, so it actually started when my own parents were buying their first home. I was about fifteen years old when we kinda went through the process and our realtor was really nice and I just kinda saw how she worked. I didn't really know what real estate was at fifteen years old and so I watched podcasts, did my research on social media and I was actually back and forth between pursuing the medical field. So I was thinking about becoming a nurse. And then I just really sat with my thoughts, I guess. And I was like, you know what? I think I really like business. I like the idea of being an entrepreneur. And then I fell back into real estate and the thought about that. And so that's kind of how I started. I got my license, sophomore year of college. So I been going at it ever since. Caleb: That's awesome. Well, nurse and real estate, both people professions helping people also. Sounds like you enjoy helping people. Jocelyn Ocampo: yeah. I love it and I love to just meet new people, just making relationships with new people is really fulfilling and I love what I do, so Caleb: Sure, that's awesome. And so you started it as a sophomore in college. What was that like? Did you ease your way in or did you just go all in at once? Jocelyn Ocampo: I just went all in. it was crazy 'cause I was juggling a part time job at T J Max and I was a full time student and then I was doing part time at Bridger Learn technical college. So when I was not working or going to school I would go to Bridgerland in the evenings and just do the classes in person 'cause I like to learn in person. I can't do an online course and so I need to ask my questions and just kinda really get all the knowledge. I it was Caleb: Wow, you were busy. You were busy already. Jocelyn Ocampo: Yeah. But I like it. Sometimes I put a little pressure on myself and kind of I just challenge myself, see what I can do. And yeah. Yeah. Caleb: Hey, healthy pressure is good. You know, it helps us stretch ourselves, to see what we can do. I'm curious, in the decision process when you were in college, what pushed you to go all in where you went from? Maybe I should do that too. I'm all in. Jocelyn Ocampo: You know what? That's a good question so Chelsea Funk was my mentor and her dad, Dennis Perry, I was hosting an open house for him one day and nobody came through and I was kind of sad. I was disappointed. and I was really bummed because the traction wasn't there yet and I was feeling really discouraged and he actually came through the open house. He was the only person who went. And it was his listing. and we were just kind of talking and I had like my little setup, like my muffins and everything. And he was like, I'm so sorry nobody came through. But then he just kind of started asking questions and he was like, So I know you're in college, I know you're also working. how much do you make at TJ Max? how much time do you go to school? Like What are your hours? And then he made me realize that I can't like spread myself out so much. I need to focus on a particular something, which is like real estate at that point and college. And so he was like, I think you should quit your job. He was like, I think you should quit your job at TJ Maxx and just go all in on real estate, do it full time. You're gonna see results and it it'll go good for for you. And I was really hesitant at first and I talked to my parents. I talked to a lot of people to see what their thoughts were. And he told me that I believe it was a weekend on a Saturday and I quit on Monday. So I was like, Okay, I'm done at T J Max and then ever since I've just kind of been doing it full time. it was full time real estate and not full time college. But that was easier than Caleb: Wow. So Saturday open house, talk to family Sunday. You're done Monday. TJ Maxx. Jocelyn Ocampo: yeah. Yeah, my bosses were were like, Are you sure? Like do you wanna stay a little bit longer? And I was like, No. I was like, I need to get out of here. Caleb: Yeah, I made my decision. And so let's see, how long ago was that? How long have you been doing real estate? Jocelyn Ocampo: I've actually been doing real estate for about two years, so it wasn't wasn't that long ago. Probably like Caleb: Amazing. Wow. Yeah. Two years worth. And looking back on the decision, how do you feel? Are you glad that you quit T J Maxx? Jocelyn Ocampo: yeah. T was it was fun but I feel like it was just really repetitive. Like I was the cashier and I just kind of stood there for like five hours and I was like, you know what, I need to be moving, I need to be talking to clients, I just need to be doing something else. Caleb: Well it's nice to keep moving, you know, it's interesting to have something new every day. And nothing against T J Maxx. They're great. But yeah, finding something Jocelyn Ocampo: Yeah, we love TJ Max Caleb: that fit your your goals and where you wanted to Jocelyn Ocampo: Right. Caleb: be. I think I think that's great. What's something you wish you would have known two years ago when you started? Jocelyn Ocampo: I started. I would say I obviously knew that real estate was a people business and it was about relationships. But I think I was really scared to put myself out there. On social media, I did put myself out there, like here and there, I would post probably like twice a month. just dipping my toes in, right? But if I was just a little bit more confident and just kinda threw myself a little bit more or just went to more events, I would have met the people I know maybe sooner or probably have been a little bit more confident. Yeah. Caleb: Believed in yourself more. I mean, hindsight's twenty twenty, but yeah, looking back you're like, you know you're gonna kill it. So just go all in. Well that's awesome. what a cool story. And let's talk a little bit about the the market or I guess clients that you work with. yeah, what type of clients do you find yourself working with? Buyers, sellers, both? Jocelyn Ocampo: Yeah, so right now I do a lot of first time homebuyers. so I specialize more towards buyers than sellers. I really want to get into sellers at one point, but right now I love working with first time homebuyers. I do help a lot of Latino clients. I do speak Spanish and English and so I feel like have a connection with them and help them through the whole process. So that's kind of what I do right now and who my clientele is. Caleb: Yeah, that's awesome. And being bilingual, do you feel like that's opened up a lot of doors or how has that shaped how you serve people? Jocelyn Ocampo: yeah. so I grew up speaking Spanish, but I didn't grow up speaking real estate Spanish. I really Caleb: That's the truth. Jocelyn Ocampo: I really had to learn like the terminology and the lingo because it went over my head. When my lenders would talk to me in Spanish, I would be like, I I do not know what you're saying right now. But I've obviously learned a lot through every transaction 'cause every client is so different, different personalities. And so I was able to learn. I'm still learning, but I think we're better now. Caleb: Yeah, and to be fair, even in English, like the words escrow and contingency and some of these weird words we don't use in daily conversation, even in English. So Jocelyn Ocampo: Yeah, yeah. And even those words I feel like they're way confusing in Spanish and so I just use a different word so my clients can understand. Caleb: Yeah. That's awesome. and so you do a lot of first time home buyer classes, it sounds like and you work with a lot of first time buyers. What are some common concerns or what are you seeing with first time buyers as you're doing these classes? Jocelyn Ocampo: I see a lot of concern with credit. A lot of people think they need like an eight hundred credit score to purchase a home, but reality for first time home buyers some of the programs are as low as six twenty. so it's really about just getting educated and I love sitting down with my clients and really informing them about like everything, what documents they're signing, comparing like the different homes on market, just teaching what is happening in the market. market, the cost of buying a home. I'm really like an open book and I want my clients to understand from when we first meet to closing day. Even after closing day, I'm really involved with my clients, but I think that's kind of like a misconception is credit needs to be really high. also like employment sometimes they think they need to have a really long employment history and it's not true either. Caleb: Yeah. doesn't have to be perfect Jocelyn Ocampo: Doesn't have to be perfect because you lenders can work around it. 'cause sometimes I'm like, that's a good question. Let's talk to a lender because they can work around it sometimes. So yeah. Caleb: Yeah, it can definitely be a bit of a team effort with Jocelyn Ocampo: yeah. Caleb: with some of those. And I'm curious too, just that you're doing these classes. What do you feel like's working right now? in person or are you getting a good turnout to these classes? I hear a lot of realtors who are wanting to do classes. but the people who want to do them versus the people who are actually doing them, there's a divide there. Jocelyn Ocampo: I think it's a lot of just marketing the classes for people to actually show up and know what's going on. I usually just post it on Instagram and Facebook and do a little ad so it could like run for a week or something. Caleb: Yeah. Jocelyn Ocampo: Yeah. I also do radio ad with Juan So my ad for the homebuyer class is kind of going for three weeks or something like that. So I get some calls there. Caleb: That's amazing. That's so cool. So you do the radio ads, maybe some ads online and organic posting and people show up. Jocelyn Ocampo: Yeah. Caleb: that's that's so cool. with first time buyers, are there any areas in Cache Valley that you're excited about? Jocelyn Ocampo: new builders are so fun to me. Kartchner is a really fun builder who built in Smithfield, Hiram. They have a lot of different locations. And now the new one is Troy Allen and they have a new subdivision in Logan that I find that a lot of first time homebuyers are really interested in because it's kind of right in the middle. It used to be Nibbly but now it's Logan. and a lot of rural areas too, Smithfield, Hiram, that I see a lot of first time home buyers wanna move a little bit in the outskirts 'cause they want more space is what I'm seeing with my clients. They want a backyard and so Logan is popular but not as popular as I thought. So Caleb: Yeah, people are branching out from Jocelyn Ocampo: Yeah. Caleb: from the hub. Well, it gets a little cheaper if you get further out, it seems like, and obviously affordability Jocelyn Ocampo: yeah. Caleb: is a hot topic with everyone, but especially when you're trying to get into your first house, so yeah, that makes Jocelyn Ocampo: Mm. Caleb: a lot of sense. Well, sweet. I'd love to talk a little bit more about the clients What experience do you hope each client has when they work with you? Jocelyn Ocampo: I want all of my clients to feel like supported and I want them to feel confident and I always tell them that we're like besties, they can tell me anything, they can call me whenever they have a question. I don't want them to have any doubts throughout the whole process. And I really try to be personable with my clients. I try to find out what their interests are, what are they nervous about. I try to get to really know my clients and I try to be an open book and just be, nice and talk to them as like they're my family, right? 'Cause at the end of the day, for a buyer to really trust me with the home buying process is really personable to me because my family went through it and so I really care and so I want my clients to know that I really care and yeah, we're family. Yeah. Caleb: Yeah, totally. No, and I've actually seen I think some stuff on Instagram. You do some pretty cool stuff for like closing gifts and celebrations, right? Jocelyn Ocampo: Yes, yeah. it's funny because before I got my license I stalked a few like realtors who were like from Texas or Arizona and I always saw like their big like closing day like celebrations with the red carpet and a nice closing gift and a key and I kinda noticed that nobody in Cash Valley was doing that yet. And so when I got my license I was like I wanna be one of the first to do this big thing right because they deserve it. They bought a house. That's a really big financial decision. And so slowly I started getting a red carpet and a key and like the nice little gold poles and having them pick a closing gift to make it really personalized. as well as I asked what their favorite color is. And so if it's pink make it pink. So I try to make it really like on theme and on whatever the client likes. Caleb: Yeah, man, literal red carpet treatment. Jocelyn Ocampo: Yeah, they deserve it. Caleb: I mean, that's fair. This is probably the biggest financial decision they've made or will make and so it's a celebration when it's over. The stress of Jocelyn Ocampo: yeah. Caleb: it all. Jocelyn Ocampo: Yeah, yeah, because sometimes it can be stressful. I try to make it as stress free as as possible, try to make it as smooth, but sometimes it doesn't go that way and at the end of the day I want them to know how much I appreciate them and how like they brought a house and it needs to be celebrated, right? Caleb: Yeah, well I'm sure it helps too. Like when people hear about it, they're like, You gotta work with Jocelyn because look at closing day. It was so cool. Jocelyn Ocampo: Hopefully, Caleb: on the Instagram side of things and social media, do you feel like you're getting a good amount of business from that? Or yeah, how's how's social media worked out for you with with working with clients? Jocelyn Ocampo: Yeah, I think it's been great 'cause some of my most recent clients have found me through social media or through Facebook. I'm really not into Facebook that much. I actually created an account when I started real estate. I just had Instagram before but my dad was like, You need to get on Facebook and I was like fine Caleb: Yeah. Jocelyn Ocampo: was like, I'll create it. I mean, he was right 'cause some of my clients found me through Facebook and Same thing with Instagram. I think I'm a little bit more active on Instagram. Caleb: And it must be working 'cause yeah, you said you got some people from from that. Jocelyn Ocampo: Yeah. so Caleb: for anyone for like agents listening that might be nervous to post or be on social media, do you have any tips or tricks for them to be more active on social media? Jocelyn Ocampo: I think I was actually talking to a realtor about this, because he was wondering kinda how I did it and I just kinda said I post what I would wanna see if that makes sense. Like if I was a client and I saw a realtor posting like a specific content that I would be interested in 'cause I really wanna target people who are like me, so that way Caleb: Yeah, people like similarities or people like the same things. Jocelyn Ocampo: Yeah. So you know, I wanna vibe with my clients. I wanna have like some of the same interests and and stuff like that. I work with a lot of younger people, which I love, it's so fun. I like I like working with everybody, right? But one of my most recent clients were twenty two and twenty four. So we're like the same age. And so it was a really fun transaction. they were awesome. They were so sweet. But I think just kind of finding what you like to see and posting it and be really intentional about who you're marketing towards. for me I market towards, first time home buyers to the Hispanic community, so that's kind of my niche and I don't post just real estate, I try to post some personal stuff on there too, like maybe my dog or like my religion or Just little bits here and there. person. Caleb: Make you feel a little more human, Jocelyn Ocampo: Yeah, yeah. Exactly, Caleb: not just a realtor. Jocelyn Ocampo: yeah. So just try to be a little bit more personable and make connections online too with businesses and make friends online. Caleb: Yeah, that's awesome. I think that's great advice. well I want to talk a little bit about women's council just since you're gonna be the president here in twenty twenty eight. how exciting. so tell me, how did this come about? How did you get involved with women's council? how did you get to this point? I'd love to hear about Jocelyn Ocampo: Yeah. Caleb: it. Jocelyn Ocampo: So it's actually crazy because Chelsea Funk who works at Realty Path with me and was my mentor, like I mentioned. She has always said that women's council realtors was a thing that started her business, she's always had good things to say about women's council realtors and she's always advocated for them and how we should join and I was actually thinking about joining but I just never joined for some reason. But then I got a call from Lyssa and I actually missed it because I was swimming. And so I returned her call, right? And she was like, Hey Jocelyn Kelsey Karchner reached out to me and we're looking for a social media person to do the marketing for WCR. she said that you would be a really good fit because you're really active on social media and we would love to have you on WCR. And so I was like, okay that that sounds fun. So if it wasn't for Kelsey's recommendation, I don't know if I would have been in WCR right now. But that's how I joined was Yeah Caleb: They twisted your arm with social media. They're like, Come help us. Jocelyn Ocampo: so yeah, I'm the marketing director for this year, twenty twenty six. And it's been really fun. The ladies are so nice, so wonderful. Everybody helps each other out. I've made a lot of new connections, like you. Caleb: Yeah, it's true. that's so cool. So for people who don't know what it is, are you guys meeting weekly, monthly? Are there any meetings at all? What does involvement look like with WCR? Jocelyn Ocampo: Yeah, so we have events every month. Our biggest one is the golf tournament, which is like in May and you went to and it's for, local realtors to come out and network, get to know WCR a little bit and we have meetings like once a month and we just kind of chat and work on the future events or different opportunities that we can get WCR into. Caleb: Yeah, it sounds like a pretty tight knit group. It's fun to have community. Being an entrepreneur, Jocelyn Ocampo: yeah. yeah. Caleb: you can feel like it's a lonely road sometimes. So it's nice to have those opportunities to network. Jocelyn Ocampo: yeah, 'cause we lift each other up, it's like one of the feeling down, we're like, you got this like yeah, it's a vibe, it's a community. Caleb: Yeah, yeah, that's awesome. one question I like to ask every realtor, are there any common mistakes you're seeing your clients make right now? Could be buyers or sellers. Jocelyn Ocampo: Probably like financing things that they shouldn't be financing when we're under contract or quitting their jobs. I had one client quit their job when we were under contract and that was really stressful. Caleb: No. Jocelyn Ocampo: Yeah. Well he found another job in like three days. So I I was really surprised. But probably just like financing, getting into debt, and yeah, quitting jobs or sometimes not filing taxes. They should be filing under tax. So I think those are some of the the mistakes I've seen. But my lender partners and I we guide them through it, we prepare them and so when they're ready we can start the search and yeah, there's no problem. Caleb: That's awesome. Well, I super appreciate having you on and it was really insightful to get to learn more about you and how you got into real estate and how can people get in contact with you when they want to work with you? Jocelyn Ocampo: people can call me or text me at four three five nine nine four fifty eight ten. I'm a really big texter, so I'll probably respond a little bit faster than a call, but I'm really on my phone all the time, so I shouldn't be missing a call. But people can also find me on Facebook at Jocelyn Ocampo or on Instagram, Utah Real Estate Jocelyn. and that's how we can get in touch. Caleb: So awesome. So anyone that speaks Spanish or is a first time buyer or any real estate needs, reach out to Jocelyn. She's awesome. She's Jocelyn Ocampo: Yeah. Caleb: gonna take good care of you. So thanks so much, Jocelyn, for joining. Jocelyn Ocampo: Thank you, Caleb. Caleb: That's a wrap on this episode of Real Estate Insights. A huge thank you to my guest for sharing their time and playbook. If you're a top agent in Utah or Idaho and you'd like to be featured on the show, I'd love to have you. Reach out anytime. I'm Caleb Adams, mortgage broker here in Utah and Idaho, who loves connecting great agents with great people who need them. We'll see you next time.