The Principals

Hosted by Ashley Baillio

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122

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Jun 2026

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About the show

House it going? Welcome to The Principals, a Real Estate podcast. Success in Real Estate is simple, but not always easy! I’m Ashley Baillio and I believe Real Estate is an evolving art, with constant opportunities to refine and improve how I serve the principals and my fellow professionals. Join me and many of my favorite people, as we share our experience and the lessons learned to help prepare you for another exciting day selling Real Estate! Follow along on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or anywhere else you listen to your shows.

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June 16, 202643 min

Ep. 113 - AI vs. Realtors: What Technology Still Can't Replace

Artificial intelligence is everywhere—but is it really coming for real estate agents?In this episode of The Principles Podcast, Ashley Ballio and Lauren McDermott dive into a recent Florida Realtor article exploring whether AI can replace real estate professionals. What starts as a conversation about ChatGPT quickly turns into a candid discussion about the skills technology still can't replicate.From negotiating emotional transactions and interpreting complex contracts to understanding local communities, reading people, building relationships, and delivering hard truths, Ashley and Lauren break down the real value agents bring to buyers and sellers. They also put AI to the test live during the episode, uncovering both its strengths and some surprisingly dangerous limitations.Whether you're a real estate professional, a buyer, a seller, or simply curious about how AI is changing industries, this conversation offers a practical and entertaining look at where technology helps—and where human expertise remains irreplaceable.Plus, the hosts announce a summer break and share what's coming next for the podcast.

June 9, 202643 min

Ep. 112 - Part 3: The ABCs of Real Estate – R through Z

We're back to wrap up our three-part ABC series on the stories that sell real estate — the sticky, hard-learned lessons you won't find in any textbook. In this final installment, we're finishing out the alphabet with some of our wildest, most educational, and occasionally traumatizing stories from the field.In this episode, we cover:R – Get Rejections in Writing — Lauren breaks down a multiple offer situation where her escalation clause should have won, and why requesting a formal rejection could protect your buyers (and your sanity).S – Sewer Scopes & Short-Term Rentals — Why you should never skip a sewer scope (yes, even on new construction), what a baseball in a vent stack looks like, and why short-term rental permits are more complicated than sellers want to admit.T – Tax Roll & Termites — Always be the source of the source. How pulling directly from the tax roll saved a $5M deal from falling apart, plus why Florida's most active termite season on record means you can't afford to skip your pest plan.U & V – Unicorn Properties & Vague vs. Specific — Why buyers chasing the perfect home are setting themselves up for failure, and how lazy listing descriptions are costing sellers real money.W – Wind Mitigation — Are you telling your clients to re-shop their insurance every year? If not, you're leaving money on the table.X – Hide Your Stuff — Two unforgettable stories about why sellers need to secure their belongings before inspections. No further explanation needed.Y – Year Built — How a six-month difference in construction date led to $3,000 in annual insurance savings between two nearly identical homes.Z – Zero Lot Lines & Zoning — The window trick that tells you everything about a zero lot line property, and how identifying the right buyer for a rezoning opportunity added $100K to a sale.Whether you're a buyer, seller, or real estate professional, this episode is packed with real-world lessons that only come from doing the work — and occasionally getting a little traumatized along the way.

May 26, 202649 min

Ep. 111 - All things moving!

Ismael Moussignac Ismael@allthingsmovingfl.com 954-774-3194

May 19, 202642 min

Ep. 110 - Structuring Competitive Offers for Your Buyer

The hottest listings in South Florida aren't waiting around — and neither should your offer. In this episode, Ashley and Tanya flip the script from last week to tackle one of the most high-stakes scenarios in real estate: how buyers can structure a truly competitive offer when a property is getting serious attention.Tanya breaks down what actually moves the needle — from escrow strategy and contract framing to closing timelines and inspection periods — and what can quietly kill your chances even when your numbers look good (yes, asking for the couch can cost you the deal). The conversation gets into the nuances of escalation clauses, writing financed offers as cash, post-occupancy risks, and why "cash is king" might be a more complicated phrase than you think.They also get into the harder stuff: what to do when you suspect a listing agent is double-siding a deal, why a signed offer rejection might be the most underused tool in a buyer's agent toolkit, and the one question you should always ask a listing agent that gets answers without crossing any lines.Whether you're a buyer, a buyer's agent, or just someone trying to understand why the best homes keep slipping away — this one's for you.

May 12, 202645 min

Ep. 109 - Sell it before they hate you…

The market is sending mixed signals, and your sellers are starting to feel it. In this two-part episode, Ashley and Tanya tackle one of the most psychologically demanding situations in real estate: what to do when your listing sits.From setting expectations at the listing appointment to structuring your weekly communication cadence, the girls break down exactly how to stay unfireable — even when the market isn't cooperating. They get real about price reductions (why the "slow bleed" works, when it doesn't, and what it actually signals to other agents), the difference between a pricing problem and a property condition problem, and why no showings is the loudest feedback you'll ever get.They also go beyond the basics — diving into split-testing ad incentives on social media, the truth about assumable mortgages, why Zillow Showcase might be selling you to neighbors rather than selling your listing, and some genuinely creative event marketing ideas that could change how you think about a stale property entirely.If you've ever wanted to fire yourself from a listing before your seller could, this one's for you.

April 28, 202646 min