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23
The Agent Seat Ep. 7: Be the Pro in the Room with Brett Williford
Brett Williford has been selling real estate in the Miami Valley since 1995. He has watched the MLS move from printed books rolling around in the back of a car to the AI tools agents use today. On this episode of The Agent Seat, the REALTOR® and manager of Irongate's Beavercreek and Kettering offices sits down with host Jaime Herzog to talk about what it really takes to be the pro in the room, from county reevaluations and military relocations to rental scams, historic homes and the communities that make this region home.
Business Gets Easier When People Already Know Your Name
Brett spent 22 years at another brokerage before joining Irongate, and he is candid about what changed. "But what I found when I got here was that for me, business got easier." When he walks into a home, the brokerage name has already done part of the introduction, so his time goes to the client instead of explaining who he works for. For newer agents, that foundation matters. It lets you spend your energy on the client's needs from the first conversation.
Every Client Is a Lifelong Relationship
A closing is not the finish line. Brett described how past clients still call him for contractor recommendations, help with property tax questions, or advice years after they move in. "We recognize the future value of every client that we work with." He also walked through Ohio's triennial reevaluation, when county values are reassessed and homeowners can challenge them, and why so many people turn to their REALTOR® for comparables and guidance when that letter arrives.
Knowing the Numbers Behind Military Moves
With Wright-Patterson Air Force Base nearby, the Miami Valley sees a steady stream of buyers who expect to move again in a few years. Brett shared a recent example where a seller's VA loan, with all expenses rolled in, left them owing more than they paid two years later. For his own buyer, also active duty, a local portfolio loan with no money down and no mortgage insurance turned out to be the better fit. His approach was simple: "let's look at the top, let's look at the bottom, and let's see, in two years which is gonna put you in a better position."
Spotting the Rental Scam Before It Costs Someone
Brett explained a scam spreading on social media this year. Fraudsters copy a home that is listed for sale, repost it as a rental at an unrealistically low price, and ask for a deposit by payment app before disappearing. He recently helped a woman who nearly sent money for a home near her kids. His advice for the public is clear: "But, again, just from a public perspective, too good to be true, ask the question." Any Irongate office can help confirm whether a listing is legitimate.
Training That Sticks Because It Is Hands-On
Brett helps lead Irongate's on-site trainings, where groups of agents walk through real homes, role play listing appointments, and learn to tell a heat pump from a gas furnace or a casement window from a double hung. "We're very in tune with wanting our people, to be the pro in the room, regardless of the room that they're standing in." He calls it edutainment, because "if you're having fun, you're going to be engaged." The recent Grafton Hill walking tour took the same idea outdoors, and Brett described homes with craftsmanship "that we just don't put into new construction these days."
AI as a Tool for Better Service
Brett remembers the arrival of the first office computers and sees the AI era as the next big shift. "AI will never replace what the agent can do for somebody." He uses it to give clients more knowledge and a better experience, and he summed up the mindset in one line: "it's not about doing less, it's about using it to do better."
Fall in Love With Your Own Backyard
The conversation closes with Brett's love for the Miami Valley, from the Second Street arts district and First Fridays in Xenia, Troy and Tipp City to community theaters and small shops in Waynesville. His challenge to listeners: "I'm only going to seek out locally owned mom and pop shop restaurants, and I'm gonna have a better deal, a better meal, and I'm gonna support our community."
About Brett Williford
Brett Williford is a REALTOR® and manager with Irongate Inc., REALTORS®, leading the Beavercreek and Kettering offices. He has been in real estate since 1995, is still active in the market, and helps lead the company's hands-on agent trainings.
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New episodes of The Agent Seat are released the first and third Wednesdays of every month. Thinking about a career in real estate? Talk to us. irongaterealtors.com
Irongate Inc., REALTORS® is a locally owned Miami Valley brokerage for more than 50 years, with offices across the region.
19
What a Home Inspection Covers in an Older Miami Valley Home
Drive through the older sections of Oakwood or the tree-lined streets near Kettering's Fairmont neighborhood and you'll pass brick colonials and cape cods that have stood since the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s. That housing stock is a big part of what gives these communities their character, and it's also why home inspections here tend to turn up a specific set of issues that buyers touring newer construction in Springboro rarely encounter. At Irongate Inc., REALTORS®, our agents walk buyers through these inspections regularly, and knowing what to expect ahead of time makes the process far less stressful.
Older Homes Carry a Different Set of Inspection Points
A home built in the 1920s through the 1970s was constructed to the standards and materials of its era, which means an inspector is looking at different things than they would in a house built last year. Knob-and-tube or early aluminum wiring, original cast iron or galvanized steel plumbing, and older furnace syste...
12
Selling in the Fourth Quarter: Why Miami Valley Homes Still Move This Fall
The maple trees along Stroop Road are already turning, and for a lot of homeowners in Kettering and Centerville, that first hint of fall is usually the moment they decide to wait until spring to sell. At Irongate Inc., REALTORS®, our agents hear this every October: the assumption that nobody buys a house once the leaves come down. The reality in the Miami Valley tells a different story, and homeowners who list well in the fourth quarter often do better than they expect.
Fourth-Quarter Listings Still Attract Serious Buyers
Buyers who are house hunting in October and November tend to be motivated. They're relocating for a job that starts at the new year, they're closing out a lease, or they've finally found the time after a busy summer to get serious about a purchase. Fewer people are browsing casually, which means the buyers who do walk through a listing in Oakwood or Washington Township this time of year are typically ready to make a decision.
Dayton REALT...
8
The Agent Seat Ep. 6: Six Tests, One License with Noraly Gonzalez
Most people would have quit after the second failed exam. Noraly Gonzalez took it six times. She paid for the course on a payment plan, got ghosted by a recruiter after asking to retest, watched her state license expire before she could pass the national, and still showed up again. One year into real estate, with her first closing behind her and a Spanish-speaking sphere growing out of her family's restaurant regulars, she sat down with host Jaime Herzog for Episode 6 of The Agent Seat.
If you are a newer agent, or thinking about getting licensed, this one is for you.
She took the test six times, and that is the whole point
Noraly's path to a license was anything but clean. She tested with one brokerage, failed, passed the state portion, and then could not get a reply when she asked to try the national again. She moved to another brokerage, missed by a single point, then by two. By the time she finally passed both portions, her original state score had expired and she had to retake everything.
"I have way too much invested in this now. I'm just not giving up."
Looking back, she is honest about what went wrong early on.
"I just thought I didn't need to study."
Her advice to anyone studying now is simple: use the exam prep program, put in the hours, and expect it to take real effort. And when the rejection comes, which it did for her more than once, keep going.
"I think I was just too hard on myself."
The family restaurant taught her the job before she had the job
Noraly grew up working in her family's restaurants, starting around age ten. Real estate was, in her words, a curveball. Nobody in her family had done it. But running a restaurant floor turned out to be surprisingly good training: managing people, handling stress, and solving whatever problem walks in the door. Those are the same muscles an agent uses every day.
Her dad, the entrepreneur of the family, had always pushed his kids to build something of their own. When real estate came up, that mindset made the leap easier. She still works at the restaurants, and that is where her sphere started: regulars, coworkers, and the friends from high school who are now graduating and landing their first jobs.
Why she left two brokerages and stayed at Irongate
Before Irongate, Noraly had been at two other brokerages. At one, the training was mostly videos you checked off a list. She is a hands-on learner, and it was not working. She also felt like the youngest person in every room, to the point that people asked if she was old enough to be there.
When she found Irongate's in-person training with Todd, it clicked. She told herself this was the last move.
"If I pick one, I'm staying at one. I'm not moving."
What surprised her most was how the offices actually work. Agents compete, but they also answer each other's questions, share open house tips in the group chat, and point you to whoever can help.
"And it wasn't like one individual person, everyone knew how to help you."
The 11 PM phone call
Noraly's first sale was a friend's parents' house. Something came up late one night and she panicked. She called Brett, her office manager, and he picked up.
"I was like, 'No, Brett. I'm freaking out.' And he's like, 'Okay. It's okay.'"
That call is the kind of thing she now tells other new agents about. The fear of messing up a transaction is real, especially when you are new and the stakes are someone's home. Knowing there is a person on the other end of the line at any hour changes how you work.
"I've never seen companies put so much for their agents."
Just let them
Near the end of the episode, Jaime asked what advice Noraly would give her younger self. Her answer was to not get discouraged. She was embarrassed about failing the exam for a long time and did not want anyone to know. Now she shares it openly, because the embarrassment never helped and the story does.
"And you will get rejected."
"Just let them and keep going."
Her closing thought for new agents: there is enough business for everyone.
"The competition is there, but you will get your own clients."
About Noraly Gonzalez
Noraly Gonzalez is an agent in the Beavercreek office of Irongate Inc., REALTORS®. She has been licensed for about a year, closed her first sale in May, and still works in her family's restaurant business. She has lived in the area for about ten years and speaks Spanish, which she sees as a way to serve more buyers and sellers in the Miami Valley.
Listen to Episode 6
New episodes of The Agent Seat drop the first and third Wednesdays of every month.
Thinking about a career in real estate? Talk to us. irongaterealtors.com
Irongate Inc., REALTORS®, a locally owned Miami Valley brokerage for more than 50 years.
5
Seller Concessions Are Back: What Miami Valley Buyers Should Know
Walk into an open house in Kettering or Beavercreek this fall and you'll notice something that wasn't happening much a year ago: sellers are willing to talk. Buyers touring homes along Far Hills Avenue or through Beavercreek's newer subdivisions are hearing agents mention closing-cost credits and rate buydowns almost as often as square footage and finished basements. At Irongate Inc., REALTORS®, our agents have watched the Miami Valley market shift from the frantic pace of a few years ago into something steadier, and that shift is opening the door for buyers to ask for help again.
Seller Concessions Are Showing Up Across the Region
Nationally, seller concessions appeared in 44.7 percent of home sales in August 2026, a sign that sellers everywhere are adjusting their expectations. The Miami Valley is feeling that same shift, even as local home values keep climbing. Dayton REALTORS® Multiple Listing Service data for August 2026 shows the average sale price in the r...