In this episode Mark Jones, discusses the continued need for humor in the mortgage and real estate industry with his 2 guests.
Matt Mazzacco - Loan Officer from EZ Loans
Matt has been originating loans for the last 12 years and he shares his tips and tricks regarding the use of humor on social media, presentations with customers, and he also shares his experience of being in the capital building on January 6th from his perspective.
Eric Delgado - Loan Officer from Guardian Mortgage
Eric has been an inspirational funny guy in the mortgage space for the last 7 years. He illustrates his passion for making people laugh and smile, and also discusses how he leverages this skill to gain business.
This is all things Mortgage & Real Estate, Education with Mark Jones, Producing, Branch Manager, in San Antonio TX.
On this Channel you will find
- Key Factors Podcast - Live Experience - Weekly Discussions with Industry Experts
- Mortgage & Real Estate Tips, Tricks, and Update
Mark Jones
TX-NMLS# 513437
Founder of https://reviewmymortgage.com/
President | iTHINK Mortgage
Mann Mortgage LLC, DBA iTHINK Mortgage
Equal Housing Lender - NMLS# 2550
Top Producing Sr. Loan Officer
https://ithinkmortgage.com.com/
Weekly Industry Topic Discussions | https://www.keyfactorspodcast.com/
Listen to Full Podcast Audio
https://keyfactorspodcast.buzzsprout.com/share
Apple — https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1592939728
Spotify — https://open.spotify.com/show/45ARRkoWX1VXJq2BWG8fDm
Instagram — https://www.instagram.com/KeyFactorsPodcast/
Facebook — https://www.facebook.com/KeyFactorsPodcast
Key Factors Podcast is Powered by ReviewMyMortgage.com
Host: Mark Jones | Sr. Loan Officer | NMLS# 513437
If you would like to work with Mark on your next home purchase or as a partner visit iThink Mortgage.
Imagine laughter echoing through the corridors of the mortgage industry—seems unlikely, right? Yet, that's precisely the atmosphere Eric Delgado from Easy Home Loans and Matt Mazako of Guardian Mortgage bring to our conversation on how humor can shatter the monotonous façade of mortgages. Together, we share a cornucopia of stories about our transitions from different professional backgrounds into the finance realm, and dissect the way humor can not only ease client interactions but also deepen those all-important business relationships.
Let's face it, social media can make even the bravest of us break out in a cold sweat. But fear not! We tackle those insecurities head-on, discussing the transformative power of social media for business growth and the magic of reaching a broad audience with just a few clicks. From the necessity of diverse outreach strategies to the challenges real estate professionals face—like legal pressures and public misconceptions—our banter sheds light on the oft-overlooked aspects of the industry, all while navigating the sensitive aftermath of the January 6th Capitol riots and its impact on one of our own.
Finally, we wrap things up with a heart-to-heart on the art of building an authentic social media presence. Here's where you'll get the inside scoop on creating content that resonates, using nothing more than your smartphone and a dash of creativity. Whether you're rebranding, marketing, or just trying to share your story, we emphasize the power of staying true to your voi
Key Factors Podcast is Powered by ReviewMyMortgage.com
Host: Mark Jones | Sr. Loan Officer | NMLS# 513437
If you would like to work with Mark on your next home purchase or as a partner visit iThink Mortgage.
In this episode Mark Jones, discusses the continued need for humor in the mortgage and real estate industry with his 2 guests.
Matt Mazzacco - Loan Officer from EZ Loans
Matt has been originating loans for the last 12 years and he shares his tips and tricks regarding the use of humor on social media, presentations with customers, and he also shares his experience of being in the capital building on January 6th from his perspective.
Eric Delgado - Loan Officer from Guardian Mortgage
Eric has been an inspirational funny guy in the mortgage space for the last 7 years. He illustrates his passion for making people laugh and smile, and also discusses how he leverages this skill to gain business.
This is all things Mortgage & Real Estate, Education with Mark Jones, Producing, Branch Manager, in San Antonio TX.
On this Channel you will find
- Key Factors Podcast - Live Experience - Weekly Discussions with Industry Experts
- Mortgage & Real Estate Tips, Tricks, and Update
Mark Jones
TX-NMLS# 513437
Founder of https://reviewmymortgage.com/
President | iTHINK Mortgage
Mann Mortgage LLC, DBA iTHINK Mortgage
Equal Housing Lender - NMLS# 2550
Top Producing Sr. Loan Officer
https://ithinkmortgage.com.com/
Weekly Industry Topic Discussions | https://www.keyfactorspodcast.com/
Listen to Full Podcast Audio
https://keyfactorspodcast.buzzsprout.com/share
Apple — https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1592939728
Spotify — https://open.spotify.com/show/45ARRkoWX1VXJq2BWG8fDm
Instagram — https://www.instagram.com/KeyFactorsPodcast/
Facebook — https://www.facebook.com/KeyFactorsPodcast
Key Factors Podcast is Powered by ReviewMyMortgage.com
Host: Mark Jones | Sr. Loan Officer | NMLS# 513437
If you would like to work with Mark on your next home purchase or as a partner visit iThink Mortgage.
Imagine laughter echoing through the corridors of the mortgage industry—seems unlikely, right? Yet, that's precisely the atmosphere Eric Delgado from Easy Home Loans and Matt Mazako of Guardian Mortgage bring to our conversation on how humor can shatter the monotonous façade of mortgages. Together, we share a cornucopia of stories about our transitions from different professional backgrounds into the finance realm, and dissect the way humor can not only ease client interactions but also deepen those all-important business relationships.
Let's face it, social media can make even the bravest of us break out in a cold sweat. But fear not! We tackle those insecurities head-on, discussing the transformative power of social media for business growth and the magic of reaching a broad audience with just a few clicks. From the necessity of diverse outreach strategies to the challenges real estate professionals face—like legal pressures and public misconceptions—our banter sheds light on the oft-overlooked aspects of the industry, all while navigating the sensitive aftermath of the January 6th Capitol riots and its impact on one of our own.
Finally, we wrap things up with a heart-to-heart on the art of building an authentic social media presence. Here's where you'll get the inside scoop on creating content that resonates, using nothing more than your smartphone and a dash of creativity. Whether you're rebranding, marketing, or just trying to share your story, we emphasize the power of staying true to your voi
Key Factors Podcast is Powered by ReviewMyMortgage.com
Host: Mark Jones | Sr. Loan Officer | NMLS# 513437
If you would like to work with Mark on your next home purchase or as a partner visit iThink Mortgage.
Welcome back to another episode of Key Factors Podcast. I'm your host, mark Jones, and we are sponsored by ReviewMyMortgagecom, the largest index of mortgage programs in the nation, and I wanted to take a break from the usual informative yet insightful discussions that we've had lately and add some humor. We're going to sprinkle a little humor on this episode with two of the most humorous mortgage professionals that I know in our local area. So, without further ado, I want to introduce my guests. I have Eric Delgado, first what up, and then I also have Matt Mazuko. Matt, how are you, brother?
Speaker 2:I'm doing well, it's Mazako.
Speaker 1:Mazako, Mazako.
Speaker 2:Well, I answered anything.
Speaker 1:There we go. So at this time I want to give you guys a moment to just kind of tell our audience who you are, how long you've been in the industry, what you specialize, all that jazz. Who wants to go first?
Speaker 3:Go for it.
Speaker 2:So I've been doing mortgages for gosh, 13 years now came from the health and fitness industry and just accidentally jumped into mortgages and found my way to it, and I've been doing it for 13 years now I am on the broker side, like we were talking about earlier. I've been doing that for about four years now and I've really enjoyed the transition over to this side of the world, so it's been a lot of fun. Lifelong San Antonio residents for 40 years.
Speaker 1:So what company are you with right now? Easy Home Lungs, ok, good deal, eric. What up, dude? Good to see you. Who the hell are you, brother?
Speaker 3:The last time I was at Crosswalk Table for me, you took all my money in poker, so I'm a little nervous.
Speaker 1:You got to bring up memories. It still hurts. Those wounds are still open.
Speaker 3:Yeah, eric Delgado, I've been in the industry for about seven years now and I started in health care and before the mortgage industry I was in roofing of all things. I didn't actually do the roofing work, I'm afraid of heights. So my buddy, our friend, actually, benito Solis yeah, he was the one who said, hey, I was at Chase at the time. He's like I think you'd be pretty good at this, blah, blah, blah, or he was at Chase at the time and that's how I got in. And now I'm at Guardian Mortgage. I took a little two month hiatus, so I'm back and I'm excited.
Speaker 1:I love it, and it's good to have you back, man, because we missed some of your content. To be honest, I was just building it all up again.
Speaker 3:There you go, it was a refill.
Speaker 1:What is that? Blue balls for content creation, that's exactly what I was thinking.
Speaker 1:Well, guys, I can tell you, first off, there are not going to be any sensors in this episode. We're going to uncover and talk about some tricks. We're going to talk about some things that you may be able to implement in your business, but the first kind of topic that I want to get into is the content and using social media to generate business for yourselves. I know both of you have been doing that for many years, just like myself, and it's something that I don't think gets discussed as often as it should, or at least brought to life as often as it should. So, in using content, how have you seen it benefit your business? Who is this question for both of you, actually?
Speaker 2:I mean, social media has opened up so many pathways to lead generation, connecting with individuals that you don't have proximity with and really just kind of gives you a vast network of people to try to reach. And knowing me for long enough For me, humor is my angle and it's just a natural part of my personality. I've always found that what we do is very heavy. We deal with real serious, deep into their lives type topics, and especially when things get challenging. It's a big responsibility and there's really nothing sexy about mortgages. We don't have the appeal of the homes.
Speaker 2:Well, we make up for our lack of sexy, but there's really. You know you have to. At the end of the day, we're the quintessential end and beginning of the transaction because we're the ones financing it on the finance deals, and so we're a necessary element. But they're not excited to talk to us, they're not excited to get their credit pulled, they're not excited to have a. You know me snapping my glove.
Speaker 1:I got big old hands you know, when I snap it, they kind of Pucker up.
Speaker 2:And so I found that you can't be too funny with them because then they'll start to think you're not taking the transaction in the process seriously. But when things start to get a little difficult, that well time joke can really be the difference between somebody being on the ledge when you're done with your conversation, whatever it may be, and then like okay.
Speaker 2:Yeah, dropping that guard, I feel okay now I'm, you know, because it's a human element, and a lot of people I've had tell me they were intimidated to meet with a mortgage loan officer because they felt like they need to be dressed up. They felt like, oh God, this person's going to really be picking me apart, like I need to impress them, and when you bring that kind of humor and just that human element into it, they feel a lot more comfortable and I've found that it personally leads to better interactions, which leads to Legion eventually.
Speaker 1:Absolutely. I agree with that, Eric. You got anything to add to that?
Speaker 3:Yeah, I mean it definitely. Like you said, it opened up a lot of avenues. It was, you know, humor-wise, like I remember like posting stuff and like informative, and then I started doing a little comedy and I got a lot of engagement out of that. And then I was, a lot of the times, the stuff I would post, I was like I think this is funny, I'm not getting enough engagement on what's going on. Maybe I'm not that funny, Maybe it's just my mom that thinks I am.
Speaker 3:So I was like, and then I figured it out real quick. I needed to find my demographic, which were real estate agents. Right, my friends started on following me my personal page because, like, we're not an in-store, we're not in real estate, we don't know what you're talking about, Right, right. But yeah, it opened up a lot of things and, just like you said, you know about, you know being taken too seriously or what not. That's what I kind of had to learn the hard way. I was like you know, I was like a little too comedic, so but it's one of those things Like, once you get your foot in the door, if you can, you know with or for a furl source, I learned real quick that if you, you could be the funniest loan officer. Or you think you can be the funniest loan, but you have to close the loan in time or you're not that funny anymore.
Speaker 1:I have to agree with that, and it's almost so. I pulled up a stat before you guys got here and it was showing which is more stressful in life events, so to speak. And divorce, obviously number one at 57%, buying a home at 43%, and then it drops down to 34%. Buying a car and, for some odd reason, buying a home, oh okay. So buying a home versus buying a car, oh God, that makes more sense now. So going through divorce is just a tiny bit more stressful than buying a home, but buying a home is way more stressful than buying a car.
Speaker 1:These things we would think are obvious, and we would also think that more loan officers should pick up on this and not be so stuffy within their presentation. And what I mean by presentation is when you are meeting with your customer. Hopefully, all of you out there are actually meeting with your customer still, whether it be in person or zoom. So it's not only just an icebreaker but also shows your personality, that you're a human being, that you can be humorous, especially in the largest purchase of their life, and, matt, as you were saying, it helps them bring their guard down. So we're talking about two separate things here, which is one is the content creation on social media, things of that nature. And then we're also talking about the humor that you bring to the interaction with the customers. I can even go third leg, the humor that you bring to your office and your peers, because I don't know any underwriter in the world thus far that doesn't like a good laugh Absolutely.
Speaker 3:They're human too.
Speaker 1:They're not robots Absolutely, and from what I've seen lately, let's call it the past, let's say five years. Humor has been attacked quite a bit. I'm being honest. Oh yeah, and I feel like it's making a comeback. I feel like the bigger comedians are saying to hell with what everybody else thinks.
Speaker 1:If you don't like it. Don't watch the same concept as what you guys are doing on social media. If you don't like it, tune out. You're not the kind of people that I want to do business with, because, no, I'm not 100% a joke, but I am going to bring humor to the equation just about every time.
Speaker 2:We're going to have fun, whether you like it or not.
Speaker 1:There, you go.
Speaker 3:Sorry, yeah, and just on that note, like people have attacked me, calling me like a troll, calling me like a troll and whatnot, this dude is just trying to get attention. I was like and you just gave it, you damn right, thank you Don't forget to like it on the way out.
Speaker 1:That's right it goes back to the concept of when I had all those truck wraps and stuff like that. People would ask me all the time does this work? And my response every time was you just asked me about it.
Speaker 1:I mean, if you asked me about it. We're now on that talking point that allows me to explain, et cetera, et cetera, but at least we're talking about me now, not some BS over here, and I think that's what it helps you guys both do in social media in showing that additional side. Do you know how to do loans? Absolutely, but not only do I know how to do loans. I can make you laugh in the most stressfulest process that you're ever going to go through, right? And that being the case, how have you seen social media, in particular, help your business?
Speaker 3:For me personally, it was just that audience, I mean, as opposed to like you know nothing against an open house or door knocking or anything like that. Still do that, do whatever you can, but when you have a platform where you could reach 500,000, 5,000 people, I mean you use that to your advantage and it's just. It's crazy to me, like how people don't do it Right and they're like oh well, even real estate agents. They're like no, I got to do it more. I know I'm kind of slacking. I'm like how you just literally have this massive audience right in front of you but I mean that's. I mean I just realized quickly that I had to utilize that.
Speaker 1:Right, and now I guess question. That being said, do you? Because I firmly believe that we as salespeople still salespeople have to have multiple spickets. At any given time that spickets going to flow out. So social media is one of the spickets. You mentioned open houses. I myself still do open houses. Just did one this past weekend, matt. You and I were talking. You still do open houses. What additional things do you do to parlay with your social media so that it's not just this facade of who you can be? I've got to think about that.
Speaker 3:Yeah, me too, but just constantly anybody that I meet and letting them know what I do. Getting you know. Getting someone's phone number looks like randomly, yeah, h-e-b or the bar. Maybe I've been a couple of those, but I mean I mean one of my buddies, terry G. He's actually one of the best at that. Like every time, he wears his little name tag everywhere.
Speaker 3:Like I'm talking to weddings, events, like he just wears it and he never hesitates to tell him who he is. Yeah, Like he's an agent, like it's nonstop. And I think one time he was buying he bought those, those magnets for his car and his boys were stealing them and putting them in their car and driving around and he said he was a little mad at first and he was like wait a second, this is like free market.
Speaker 1:He bought more. Yes, so yeah, and then they're going to start charging him. But, news Flash, we can't pay referrals guys.
Speaker 1:We just can't pay referrals. So, that being the case, I want to leave the consumer not the consumer, the listeners with a couple of tidbits of advice when it comes to that, because we've seen, I've given presentations, I have had one-on-ones with realtors and it's always the same, and I think you mentioned it it's like I need to do that. Yeah, I need to do that Fast forward. I still need to do that. What is holding them back? What do you think that is holding them back, matt? What do you think?
Speaker 2:I think it's probably for the individual. It's a number of different reasons, but I think insecurity and fear of exposure. You know, we're all human beings. You know, even though I make this stuff look perfect, I make mistakes, I have flaws, I have things, and I think we really know the most about our flaws. I can tell you what's wrong with me for the most part, and I've got my wife for the rest of the day.
Speaker 1:But just kidding, sweetheart.
Speaker 2:But on social media in particular, it's such a platform of illusion I guess you could call it because we're not going to highlight everything, I'm not going to tell you about every loss that I had, I'm not going to tell you about my insecurities, I'm not going to tell you about the things that keep me up at night, necessarily, and so nobody wants to put themselves out there in a vulnerable way where it's like, oh, there might be someone out there that's going to say something negative about me, or I may stutter too much, or I may say, uh, too much.
Speaker 2:There's a lot of, because I used to do a YouTube channel and getting comfortable in front of the camera was really tough, and this was before I was putting it out there and I was just doing it for myself. And man, you're sitting there looking at yourself, talking to yourself. You start to dissect how I don't like, how my hair is puffed out to the side and, oh, my mole on my face. Should I look to the left? You know just all these little stupid things that you're thinking about, when the reality is, the end user doesn't give two shits about those things.
Speaker 2:They're not looking at your little imperfections. They're not looking at what you're wearing, unless you have something like really like standing out.
Speaker 1:And it's and it's intended to be, but then at that point you're accentuating something.
Speaker 3:I want you to look right here.
Speaker 2:And so it's. They're just not comfortable, and I think that they're not comfortable with themselves in a lot of ways because they feel like they can't perform well. I'm not an actor, I'm not a thespian, I'm not meant for the stage, right, you know and so, and maybe some of them aren't, you know, maybe some people just don't have that personality and perhaps a different avenue would be the more successful way to market themselves. But, like what you said, I can't think of a better way to get in front of a large group of people with minimal effort, and I learned years into the business before I figured out that I can't force my way into success and I can't force people to buy and I all the things that I used to be able to do in a previous world where I sold.
Speaker 2:You know, mark, I'd like to talk to you about this bottle of water and how to help hydrate your body and all of the benefits to you buying this from me. That doesn't exist, no man, we are in a relationship business. That is what we are selling is, mark? I want to be your friend, I want to be your colleague, I want to be somebody that's a trusted referral partner, and you can't force that.
Speaker 1:No, I think that's great advice. A matter of fact, to your point about the vulnerability, I think that most incredible comedians use that. They make fun of themselves. They feel comfortable enough to be able to crack jokes about their looks their way. They talk how fat they are whatever the case. And it works. Why? Because it shows more so that they're human.
Speaker 2:Well, and you can't make fun of me for being fat after I just got done cracking some fire. Joke about being fat. You know, like what power do you have now? You can't use that against me. Now. I've taken ownership for this. Whatever you want to call that, insecurity or whatever it is you, as we'll discuss more you know you take power by owning it and being real and transparent with people.
Speaker 3:I agree, Just like you said. Like you have to be able to make fun of yourself and I learned that pretty quick. I mean, my nickname in grade school and high school was head, Because where is this going?
Speaker 1:I wear a size eight.
Speaker 3:How many people wear a size eight? I mean, that's pretty crazy.
Speaker 1:Oh, so you have a big head.
Speaker 3:I see, and I just started to go along with it. I was like, all right, fine, we're going to do this, we're going to do this, let's go. But like, it's one of those things too, in regards to what you're talking about, like how people like don't are a little hesitant yeah, I mean, it all has to do, obviously, their personality and whatnot but you just got to start somewhere. Like you got to just make the first, your first joke, your first reel. They're not. It's going to take a while. Like I can only imagine how you were your first podcast. And now, here you are. You're amazing. I think you've got it locked down. Thanks, yeah, thanks, and but yeah, you just got to, just got to get it out there, to start, just start.
Speaker 1:And you know what? To your point, I don't think there's anybody that goes back to my first podcast to critique me on anything Matter of fact. It's poof gone. It's experience that I get to have and I don't care who saw it, because I got to go through the motions of acquiring all the skills and screw ups that I went through to get to this point, same as you guys and creating your content. You shoot a meme out there. It doesn't hit a well, let's shoot another one. You know what? Maybe this one will.
Speaker 3:You just got to say screw it Like that's it. You just get to get out there and just keep trying regardless. Even if it does suck or it's terrible, you're still getting your name out there. That's true. That's true.
Speaker 1:And there's a lot of folks that don't want to do any kind of content. But they more than likely can break that ice with something funny and then it will allow them to get comfortable to give actual content like advice, statistics, data, things of that nature to then be foreseen as the expert. But somebody gave advice once, I don't remember who it was, but they said just hit record. Just hit record, man. And it took me back because, like you were saying earlier, when I started podcasting, it was just by myself and I tell you you are not lying when you say it's hard to just sit in front of a camera and talk. Having guests is so much easier.
Speaker 1:Matter of fact, I don't even like doing it just me, one on one, unless I have to, unless there's some good content that I need to get out there. That hats off to anybody that can do that and is attempting to do it. The goal just keep going. That being the case, I want to talk about consistency. I believe that consistency is one of the things that we, as humans, are shitty at.
Speaker 1:We are just horrible at being consistent with anything. The relationships.
Speaker 3:Oh, we're talking about mortgage, got it.
Speaker 1:So, that being the case, what allows you, or what enables you guys, to be consistent with your content? I mean, I see at least two posts a day from you. One may be funny, one may not be, one may be intended to be funny but it wasn't, etc. But at least you're still going. What allows you to be consistent, for?
Speaker 3:me, I don't know. It's kind of weird to explain this without sounding like cocky or whatever. Do it?
Speaker 1:There's a reason why you're on this show, brother, and it's so true. I only have experts here.
Speaker 3:Well, I do. It is because I feel like the world needs me. You are the hero we needed. You know they're going through a hard day. I've had people DM me like I had the worst day, but I saw that shit and I was just cracking up it actually made me feel great.
Speaker 2:I was like you know what?
Speaker 3:I was kind of having a bad day too. Now we're good, yeah, so that's kind of how I stay consistent. So if I don't do it, I'd take a break for a week or two.
Speaker 2:I don't know if that's long for anybody. It's a long time. In social media it's so immediate. Yeah, you're consistent, it's dead.
Speaker 3:I start getting questions and I'm like, oh, my goodness. So yeah, that's what drives me. I just feel like I've got to entertain the people.
Speaker 2:Yeah, Same. Yeah, I think a lot of it is for me. I enjoy doing it. I was thinking about the topic of earlier today, when I was in the shower and I was just like you were thinking of me in the shower.
Speaker 2:I was thinking about you in the shower, mark, I was, I was, but I was thinking about humor and how it's enveloped in such a huge way in the psychology of sales, and why people make decisions and why they move in the directions that they move, and how humor can really shift all of that. Sure, and for me, I enjoy the challenge of taking something that's not funny and finding something funny about it, absolutely. Because it's like a mental workout.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:It's your mentally lift in your wit weight.
Speaker 1:Mental gymnastics yes.
Speaker 2:So to be able to find some humor in something is, in my opinion, it's, an intellectual practice. It is. And so it's fun, and there's even studies that have been done that show that people that are highly sarcastic, swear often and are real quick-witted and quick on the draw to come at you with fire are just highly intelligent individuals that have a high emotional quotient and a high intelligence level to the IQ as well.
Speaker 1:You can be quick-witted or you can be quick-witted.
Speaker 3:Yeah, that's right. I hope my brother heard it. You can be quick-witted with your quick wit. You got to be quick-witted. I hope my brother heard it all. There you go, I like it, I like it. You hear that, brother, you heard that.
Speaker 2:That's how it happens.
Speaker 1:Yeah, now, one thing that I don't believe, that most see often is what happens beyond the surface level and, eric, you mentioned it a moment ago is the DMs that you receive, and I myself receive that kind of love, support, whatever you want to call it motivation. When they don't put it in the comments, they'll message you directly, and for me that's more impactful than in the comments, because it's intended to be heard.
Speaker 2:They want to discuss it with you individually and not broadcast it. It's important to me that you know this.
Speaker 3:Absolutely, absolutely, and thus starts a relationship.
Speaker 1:There you go, and I think that that concept of this being a relationship business starts with personality, because you're not going to have a relationship with somebody that you can't mesh well with. I mean, it's just, if you do, you're kind of going against the grain and you're fake, to be honest.
Speaker 2:Well and that relationship will ultimately fall apart throughout time. Because if your personalities don't mesh up well, if you're a 4AMer and your partner is a 10AMer, you know you guys may both be fantastic at what you do, but it's not going to work out scheduling wise because the 4AMer is going to hate you because by the time you're waking up they're already done with their day and they're ready to go to the fun side of their day and you're just getting out of bed, getting started and not to knock either one of them. Personally, myself, I'm not a 4AMer. I will never be in the 4AM club. It's just not for me.
Speaker 2:I'll stay up till 4AM sometimes but I'm only waking up to go fishing or hunting if I'm going to be up at 4AM.
Speaker 1:There's not many things I'll wake up for and I might sleep in the blind.
Speaker 2:Who knows, I'll probably have someone else drive so I can take a little nap on the way there and that's true, the relationships wise.
Speaker 3:You kind of want to be compatible and you're going to learn that really quick. You know mortgage wise on your first loan. You're going to figure out what kind of agent you're dealing with, the calling nonstop or the little more chill, like that's the good thing, it's not going to take very long to find out.
Speaker 1:Absolutely so. I want to bring some serious stuff to the table. In previous discussions we've talked about the realtor lawsuits. I want to get y'all's opinion on that kind of stuff. We have a topic about the trigger leads that are happening and we're tired of it. So senators are doing some stuff about it. But first I would like to get into that concept of Realtors being under attack. Do you think that they currently are? If so, how and should they be?
Speaker 3:I absolutely think they're being attacked and I feel bad for them too, especially the ones that hustle as much as they do.
Speaker 3:Because you know, on our side we're obviously, you know, commission based and we could do so much work for, you know, this loan for a month, two months, working for you know, down the road when they're still looking, just get it all ready to go, and then they decided to go with a builder or they decided to go with somebody else and you're just like, wow, I spent all the time and I didn't get anything. So that's, you know it sucks, but you know you hope they ultimately made the right decision, even if it wasn't with you. But also like the agents, like they don't, these people that are attacking them or whatever. You know they put a lot of effort in them. They're driving around even just as gas and time and marketing material and you know the house, you know they don't, I believe, because it's so far view between right now in the market, like they need that. I mean, that's their bread and butter, like you know, food on the table. So I feel like I feel really bad for them. I do.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think the general public it really doesn't understand what all being a realtor entails. You know, I mean I think back on me when I was a kid I think I was like 22 years old and we were going looking at apartments and or not apartments, but houses, and we were looking for rental houses. And you know, this realtor got bless her heart. Man, like poor thing, like we didn't know, we had no clue. We had this lady show us like 25 rental properties. She's driving all over town just and for me I didn't feel bad about it at all. Sure, I'm thinking like, oh, she's that's her job.
Speaker 3:She gets paid.
Speaker 2:You know like she's getting paid for all of this, and so in my head I'm thinking like cool, cool, like you know, and I'm starting to notice she's getting a little annoyed by like the third or fourth day. Yeah. And it's like, and then I found out and I was like, oh yeah, like I wanted to like send her a freaking gift card or something. You know like I'm so sorry because we ended up not going like we didn't use her.
Speaker 1:Oh, wow.
Speaker 2:My my partner at the time found a place and we ended up buying it. Yeah, so it worked itself out. But I didn't know that, and so I still didn't even know that getting into the business man like to be honest with you. When I got in the business, I didn't even know what title insurance was. Sure.
Speaker 2:I didn't know why we needed it, Sure, and I didn't know really zero about it. And so I have come from a place of not knowing anything to where. Now this is all like second nature, like I've forgotten what I didn't know back then, and so many people just don't realize the actual blood, sweat and tears that real estate agents put into it, the amount of time I mean. You know. On our side it's a little bit different, you know, because we don't have as much of a in-person exposure where we're actually physically leaving our homes or our offices to go and visit a site and to you know cart a family of people around with her nephew
Speaker 2:and her mother, sure, and an uncle and all the kids in tow and everything, and so it's. They don't realize the amount of sweat equity that real estate agents put into each transaction and the fact that when those transactions don't close, that sweat equity that's still capital expense to that real estate agent, regardless of perception. And so I think this whole thing is kind of. This lawsuit is a little bit kind of silly in my opinion, because the sellers agreed to the compensation. Everybody you know I didn't.
Speaker 2:I have always fully expected to pay a commission when selling my home because I can't do it on my own. If I could do it on my own, I wouldn't hire a real estate broker, I wouldn't need agents to market my properties, I would. I would just park a sign in my front yard if it was that easy and I'd just be like, hey, I'll figure out who I'm going to sell my home to and life is good and it's so much more than that. But the public, just they don't know that. And so a big part of what I'm doing in 24 is going to be face or focusing my marketing efforts, especially social media wise, to small shorts with big educational bites.
Speaker 2:Oh, I get this, and so I'm going to be putting out big pieces of and of course it's going to be a grab for more time, Obviously the content that I'm going to be putting out there in short form is designed to do.
Speaker 2:Absolutely Designed to get you to come into it to me and ask me more questions, but I want to hit you with this nugget real quick, boom yeah. And if this nugget isn't what's going to do it for you, here's 25 other nuggets Correct. My goal in that is to help to be a better partner for my real estate agents that I'm working with and to be a better trusted resource for my sphere of influence and the people that I know personally in my walk, to be able to be like hey, this is the guy you got to turn to. He's always pumping out good stuff. Like, just come on, you got to go talk to him, you know.
Speaker 1:I get it. I didn't know that I had two point dexters on the episode this time, so now let's play some devil's advocate. Do you guys think that the real estate commission structure should be updated and I'm going to say updated instead of changed, because us, as mortgage professionals, went through a cleansing already of updating None of us matter of fact, none of us were in the industry when they were making massive margins on the front and the back, etc. Etc.
Speaker 3:Everybody getting approved.
Speaker 1:That's right. We did not go through that. In addition, our industry has seen huge margin margin compression in the past year to where it's like OK, yeah, I can offer you this rate, but I've got to charge you a point, point and a half to just lock it in. Now we're starting to seek things, come back and get a little bit normalized. We'll say but we've already gone through that. We as mortgage lenders, don't make 3% on a deal. We don't have the option to do those things. And and I refer back to a point that I had made before, which was back when the real estate commissions were enacted or agreed upon, they were hand signing contracts. They were going to hand deliver and negotiate on that property. Nowadays, everything is dot, loop the doc, you sign zoom call, I'm going to FaceTime you as I walk through this house, etc.
Speaker 1:I feel like technology, in addition to evolution, is changing our industry and how we do business. For our side, yes, it's a little bit more simple to adjust and adapt. Why? Because we sit in an office. We meet with our customers in zoom not a big deal where everything that we need to go over is on a screen, whereas the realtors, they're selling something tangible. That is the sexy part of what we do, right? Kind of like selling cars Everybody wants to buy a car, but you never want to talk to the finance guy, right? So, that being the case, do you think that there should be a cleanse or an adjustment to real estate commissions? And the reason why I ask that is out of 100 agents, there's probably going to be 20 that are top notch right, and there's going to be 80% of those since we're using 100 as the number that are part time, that are just going through the motions, and, in my opinion, I think they're doing their customers a disservice. So what could help in getting those folks out of our industry?
Speaker 2:I said it Just keep it difficult, don't be chicken shit, keep it difficult, like it is right now for another six months and they'll naturally just go away, because if you're not making money, you're not going to stick it out.
Speaker 3:Yeah, you'll get weeded out.
Speaker 2:I've been for probably the last 10 years saying I think that there, at some point in our careers in the near distant future, we're going to see a purge. And if 2020 and 21, and even parts of 22, taught me anything, it was that we had a lot of folks on all sides of the transaction mortgage, title insurance, real estate agents who I'm cautious to say don't belong because you can say it if there are some that don't belong.
Speaker 2:I don't know that that's actually what it is that I'm really truly feeling. I just think that perhaps some of these folks needed more help, guidance, assistance and resources than what was available to them, and because of that they were doing things that just probably weren't for the benefit of their clients, even if it wasn't their intention. And so I agree, and then I'll just say we go through our learning.
Speaker 2:Some people just don't belong because some folks just aren't cut to make what they need to do happen in this business. It requires a very unique personality type to be able to fully facilitate what you need to do in these transactions to keep all parties from jumping off a cliff.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, that's well put. John Hudson shout out had posted something yesterday, December 18th, and it had to do with our side of the tracks and it is basically Matter of fact. I can throw it up on the screen, but I'd rather just tell you so from 2023 to 2024, there were 60. And I think this has to do with just Texas, if I'm not mistaken. If I am wrong, oh well, these are real stats 66,000 loan officers in 2023. The renewable licenses is now at 55,000. So there's already 11,000 that they cannot renew at this point. Then, out of those, we've got 31,000 that have completed their renewals by December 18th and there are 36,000 of the total 55,000 that have not completed their renewals. Wow, Is that not a lot? Yeah, that's a daunting number. I don't have the statistics on the real estate side and I would think that it would take a little bit longer for that cleanse to happen, because when you close one deal, that's like a month's worth of salary.
Speaker 2:Well, and even in a bad market you can still pick up a listing. There's more opportunity on the real estate side because you can represent a sale or a buy. I think they have a little bit of a benefit there in some ways. But listing doesn't do you any good until it closes.
Speaker 1:Till it sells. That's exactly correct.
Speaker 3:And that's the thing. A lot has to do with that person's situation, that real estate agent situation, like, do they have a spouse with a high salary? Yeah, maybe they're not so worried about getting a sale here or there. But that's why you feel bad for those single parents that are hustling as much as they do and going back and forth to showings and their kids, the recitals and stuff, right, and if they don't get the sale, that's a big deal, absolutely. I mean, maybe they've been trying so hard for two or three months and people are like, wow, you make so much at 3% out of the six or whatever. It's like wow. And it's also like, on another note, a lot of people like what they don't talk about is how some real estate agents give people the idea social media-wise with their obviously their cars and what their meals and everything. So these people are seeing this project. They're like, wow, they're making too much money. That's not like.
Speaker 2:And you don't realize that guy's probably broke. Yeah, probably broke right now.
Speaker 3:I was like let me see that built.
Speaker 1:Well, I think it goes to the concept of fake it till you make it. But once you've done that, I don't think you can go backwards to fake it again. I think you just need to be honest and transparent with people and honesty will lead to more success, because people love honesty. They respect honesty, in my opinion, even if it's bad news, whatever the case may be. But you said it and I think that that is why this lawsuit, all of these things that are coming out against realtors, mortgage professionals included, is because for the last five, six, seven, eight, nine, who knows ten years, we've been flaunting what we've gained by helping customers, and I guess it goes hand in hand with this discussion. You guys don't do that. You don't do that at all.
Speaker 3:I actually make fun of myself for what I eat. Yes, I mean I just posted right now like rates better drop, because I'm getting tired of eating these gas station hot dogs.
Speaker 2:I like to make fun of my friends, gasoline dogs. These rates better come down, because I don't have the ankles for the streets.
Speaker 1:I love it. Yes, I mean, was that you on the corner of I-10? Yeah, I do what I gotta do. I freaking knew it, I knew it. So, leading back to what we were discussing before, given that, all of this stuff under attack, realtors, all this jazz, wouldn't you think it being advantageous for realtors to take that and use it and find some humor in it to create content around it? Oh yeah, oh yeah, we don't see it.
Speaker 2:It's all doom and gloom, right now, well, and that that is a big thing that I've every single Like, if you are a real estate agent and we talk we're going to talk about this at some point in time you know, our role in this transaction is like a parental role in a lot of ways the realtor and the loan officer minus the spanking, the only yes. It just depends on the relationships you never know.
Speaker 2:You know the realtor and the loan officer being the parents in the transaction with the title, company, insurance and all the other third parties being like cousins, you know. But the buyer is our child and so many times people don't realize that you know how you handle your child is going to dictate how that child grows up, how they become and what happens, and so how they view the world in general.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and that's why I think that relationship between the real estate agent and the loan officer is one of those really special relationships, because we are ultimately in charge of our children's well-being and, as such, you know, I'm sure you and your wife don't sit down and scare your children with all the fears and concerns that you have with all the things of the world that they, that you know about, that they don't, and so but I will tell you, we don't censor our children too.
Speaker 1:Too much at all.
Speaker 2:No, no, no, no. You want to be transparent, Absolutely but.
Speaker 1:I was raised that way, so it was just one of those things that, kristen, do you agree? Yeah, ok, let's yes. Yes To a certain extent.
Speaker 2:If you're, if, if there's something that's troubling going on on a file, but you think there's a resolution to it and you maybe don't need to bring it to the public forefront right away, right, you talk about it with your partners and you say, hey, here's the parental challenge that we're facing right now, here's the potential outcomes and here's what I think is the right course of action. Sometimes your children don't need to hear about those conversations. In regards to how you're making those decisions, but also the same as how we have that responsibility to protect our children, we also have the ability to inform and educate our clients and explain to them that, like I'm not trying to BS you like, right now, buying a house today is not as awesome as it would have been three years ago. Right, you missed the boat on that. Yeah, shits over though. Yeah, those days are done, they're over with. Unless you've got a time machine and you can take us back to that place and point in time, it doesn't matter, it's not relevant, it doesn't matter what the rates were in the 70s, it doesn't matter what your parents bought their first house for.
Speaker 2:Those, to me, like when I see those posts, like, bless their hearts for putting them out there and I'm not knocking anyone for putting that out there, but I don't like those because it's not an accurate comparison and what it does is it creates, in my opinion, a diminishing response from the end user, because now they're thinking about rate. Now they're thinking about rate. Ask someone what the rate is on their credit card. They won't be able to tell you. Ask them what their rate is on their vehicle they won't be able to tell you. They'll be able to tell you what their monthly minimum payment on their credit card is. They'll be able to tell you how much they pay for their truck. Yep, you know, these are things that they'll know.
Speaker 2:So we make our vehicle purchases centered around that monthly payment and whether we can afford to drive it out the door or not. And normally when I tell the sales guy that my hard number is 500, it's really more like 800. So people aren't thinking about that, and so what I've been really really driving home to folks is our clients are going to have the same fears and concerns as us. They're going to have the same happy experiences as us. We really do get to decide what we expose people to. I'm personally not spending a lot of time talking to someone about where the rates are right now. We're talking about monthly payments. Yeah, can you afford to take this home? Can you afford this home? Is this something that, if the rate never changes, you're okay with? Would you be okay?
Speaker 2:You know if you can see yourself paying this monthly payment for the next 10 years, then right now is a fantastic time to buy a home, because, again, everyone is using this now, but I said it like forever ago, before I knew it would be a thing you marry the home and you date the rate.
Speaker 1:Yeah. You know, the home is the place of permanence, whether that's a five-year, and in that case scenario, you can actually do them at the same time. That's the thing.
Speaker 2:And blown and you know. But so many people right now like. I bought my house in 2000. It was either 18 or 19. I think it was 19 because my daughter was in limbo. So on her way. And I mean dude, I bought equity.
Speaker 3:Yeah, same year. No, I didn't know what I was buying.
Speaker 2:but I purchased my home and the value of my home has gone up by almost $150,000. Now I don't tell my prospective buyers to be anticipating that because I think that you know, between COVID and the way that everything happened, as a result of all that it created some artificial circumstances that led to where we are right now. But I think that, and I pray they don't drop rates too quickly, even though I want them to back down.
Speaker 1:I'm right there with you. Yes, I think We'll talk about that next. If they do do that, it's going to he said do, do, do, do Do do.
Speaker 2:But if they do do, that is going to create a great circumstance for the people that have already purchased, because now home values are going to start going back up again. There's the possibility that we may see, you know, the influx of cash buyers showing back up again, purchasing in over cash value. Sure, I would not want to be in that situation where I waited today and then purchase again, because I know a lot of people that were in like 21, 22 were just kind of like I don't know. I think I'm going to wait for the market to chill out. I'm going to wait for prices to come down. I'm going to wait for rates to drop.
Speaker 2:And now today, you know, the guy that was balking at an 8% rate, you know, a couple months ago, is like Matt, matt, can you get me in? I saw the rates are down. I saw the rates are down. It's like they're freaking fiends now for it because they've seen how bad it could be. And that's where, again, I circle right back to that point that, as professionals, we should be focusing on affordability long term. Is this affordable? Long term Like? If you never refinance this, if you never get yourself out of this note, will you be okay in five years?
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:If the answer to that is yes, the rate really becomes irrelevant outside of a pain point.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's all it is.
Speaker 2:It's like, oh, I fucked up. I should have done this five years ago. You know you're that's like me thinking about any mistake I've made in the past and then letting that sour my experience now.
Speaker 1:Absolutely.
Speaker 2:It's like if I'm shopping for $100,000 house and I go and look at $500,000 house.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you're never going to land on something that it is. Yeah, you're right. Now there was something that and I think I could put it on the screen here. I was matter of fact. Now I'm going to end up creating some content around this over the weekend, but I was looking up a property in the county appraisal and I was researching the new tax laws that Texas passed right Proposition for something like that to where we are now getting a massive amount of discount in our property taxes and I went to verify. My tax rate went from 2.2 to 1.85. Saved me thousands of dollars, right. So when I went to bcadorg just to see other properties to see if they compared, I was surprised with something else and I want to see if you guys noticed this. I'm going to go right here and, for the folks that are listening or tuning in, I'll probably put a little blurp over here on the side. I'm pulling up the county appraisal district website and I'm just going to type in a zip code. Give me a zip code 7-8258.
Speaker 1:7-8258. That's mine Random zip code. I'm putting it in and let's see here what do you guys notice? That's just in the one little thing, but it's substantial in this too. Are you talking about the LLCs? I'm talking about the LLCs. Is that not crazy that I just typed in a random zip code? So I went down this rabbit hole, y'all. I went down this rabbit hole enough to determine that, holy cow, there are a ton of institutions or businesses or investors that are buying properties and they don't give two shits about what the interest rate is.
Speaker 3:They probably didn't even see the properties, they just saw it online.
Speaker 1:We'll take it, which is further telling me that if you are a consumer that's renting right now, from us mortgage professionals perspective, it's showing us that someone else is going to convert this world to a renter's world. You may be a forever renter, and it's not even all institutions that are doing this. I'll be honest, the last several purchases that I've done were for folks that did not sell their home. They kept their home. We found a way to qualify with the property because they were converting it to an investment property and buying another one with zero fear at all, and what I'm seeing in that is these folks are going to be left behind. I mean, if you look at historic values in San Antonio, we don't go backwards. We haven't gone backwards. So the idea that if rates go down, I can now get in to a property, it's I don't know, it's kind of fugazi.
Speaker 3:It's just going to make it more competitive. That's all. It's all it's going to do, right.
Speaker 2:Well, there's no way of really truly knowing what's going to happen right now. So it's you either gamble that you're going to remain a renter at 100% interest, plus penalties and fees when you leave that property and accelerating monthly payments, or you could head your bets at right now mid sixes and be okay with life and hey. If things get better, awesome. And if home values do spike, cool Benefit. And if they remain the same but rates come down, there's still multiple avenues for a good purchase to occur in a market like this right now.
Speaker 1:Absolutely.
Speaker 2:Now someone like me. I'm all right. You know I got a two and a half rate on my house, right?
Speaker 1:now You're not going anywhere.
Speaker 2:I'm not going anywhere.
Speaker 1:Or at least you're not selling that home.
Speaker 2:Correct. No, this I mean everything that I purchased in the past was always designed with that intention of hey, you know, this house is going to be a rental house. When I decided to vacate this home, I'm just going to convert it and do that. So I mean that was already a part of my plan regardless. But there's a big category of people who bought in that timeframe who really the only reason why they would move in a market in a climate like this would be geographical necessity. You know, job is relocating me somewhere else where it's no longer feasible to drive the distance or close that gap. Or someone that wants to buy an investment property. Sure, you know, because right now the investment market, it doesn't really matter what the rates are as long as the PITI can be obtained through the renter and you know you might not be able to make as much profit, as you did before, don't forget the third one.
Speaker 1:The third one procreation. We tend to continue to do that.
Speaker 2:We do keep on doing that, you know, and so there's, you know, household sizes do increase, but I could even see a household size not necessarily being a humongous compelling factor in that situation where someone who bought their house for you know $300,000 in 2019 would now have to spend $450,000 to obtain that exact same home with a higher monthly mortgage payment, before we even consider the option of upgrading and going into the next category of home.
Speaker 2:So I mean, we're talking pretty big payment shock, in my opinion, for a relatively minor upgrade in home product you know, and so I think that as rates come down, we'll see lesser of that and less people being, you know, landlocked is what I call it.
Speaker 3:Absolutely.
Speaker 2:I'm locked to my house by my rate right now, and I mean the money's free. Why am I going to?
Speaker 1:go Good point, Good point.
Speaker 2:I can't like I don't have any avenues that will pay me the dividends that I've made off of my home purchase, and I really never even viewed it as an investment at first. But having obtained that knowledge now that's how I'm centering my conversations with my clients is like. Here's some personal experience that I've had in the very recent years here. It's very likely that the people that are purchasing a home right now will be saying the same things that we're talking about right now in four or five years to the tune of a higher sales price and a higher rate on the house, but the same circumstances occurring where they inherited all this extra equity because of when they entered into the market. I have to agree with that. I really do.
Speaker 1:Well, let's talk about some funny shit now. So we've got a CRM company that is promoting their memes. They're saying that it's absolutely imperative that we start using memes and social media content. 78% of salespeople who use mortgage or mortgage social media market outperform their peers. That's a good reason for loan officers to get involved. Some tried and true strategies remain consistent when implemented. Building social media brand may be easier than you expect. Do you think it's easy to build a brand behind what you guys are doing? And for me, giving my two cents, I don't think it's easy. No, I don't. I think it's easy once you've already done it to look back and go.
Speaker 1:Man, that was easy, but through the process of it, I think it is. I'm not going to say it's daunting or it's something that you can't obtain. I just think us as humans are back to inconsistency. And then the idea of where do I get the content from? So this company here is giving you content to be able to post. Let me see if I can get back to that. I probably stole some of my shit.
Speaker 2:That's what I'm thinking too. I bet you I'll find some of my crap memes on here.
Speaker 1:So I'm thinking what did you steal?
Speaker 2:Let's see.
Speaker 1:Although half my memes are stolen.
Speaker 2:I just improved on it.
Speaker 1:That's all it is. Let's see if I can get to that Boom.
Speaker 2:We're good recyclers.
Speaker 3:Yeah, exactly, I call it a real estate remix Rebirth.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah. So that being the case. So this company here has got a ton of memes that you can use pretty canned stuff.
Speaker 2:And some of it's. I used that like eight years ago. I was a little kid one and I was a player to close meme.
Speaker 1:So when I was going, through this before I was going. Man, this is stuff that we use, like when I first got into the business and I was trying to introduce myself to the jokes and that kind of stuff, and what you guys do is very creative, original, that kind of stuff.
Speaker 3:Yeah, this is, Would you agree? I agreed Like. Well, for my background and I don't know if even you knew this I knew I used to write commercials.
Speaker 1:I didn't know that you can say it again yeah, no, because. So when I say when I see a picture I did vitamin water.
Speaker 3:Let's see you ever smash burger there's.
Speaker 1:Yes.
Speaker 3:I wrote Smash burgers very first national commercial. That was actually that was. We got invited to Colorado to speak to the marketing people.
Speaker 1:Sure.
Speaker 3:And we had to pitch them.
Speaker 1:And were they all stiff and no humor.
Speaker 3:It was just my cousin and myself and we're like that was our first time doing an actual pitch. There actually used to be a show called the pitch, like okay, yeah, I was awesome.
Speaker 3:I remember and I was like, oh my God, this is so weird. And we were going up against companies like in LA and New York like actual ad agencies, and it's just my cousin and I were like, but we ended up getting it Like because you know, they gave you a creative brief and whatnot. So when I see like a picture, I'm like, okay, I can kind of figure this out pretty quick.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 3:Right, you know write a couple of words and whatnot, so it's one of those things like this could actually be helpful for someone who is hesitant Absolutely. To at least start somewhere, cause I guarantee when I started I would actually start to use these. But I also realized that a lot of the stuff was just recycled. Like say everybody goes in the same shit, same shit. And I was like you know what? I'm just going to make my own crap, but I don't care who likes it or who doesn't, but we'll see how it goes.
Speaker 1:And now that that leads me to the next point or topic on this discussion, which has a lot to do with imitation. When you see someone and I've seen it, I know you guys have seen it Somebody uses your content, calls it their own. Oh yeah, you forgot to put your at your tag name or what have you on it, and even still they've got technology to take it off anyway. Yeah, is that imitation or do you see it as flattery?
Speaker 2:I'm flattery all day long. All day long, Like, steal my shit. Like steal my shit, make it yours. You don't need to give me credit, I don't care Like. If it's something original, if it's a concept I came up with, I don't care Like it doesn't matter, because that person's target audience is not my target audience. We may share target audiences. It may be a colleague of mine or somebody that you know we're after the same relationship. I embrace that because I have a best man wins philosophy.
Speaker 2:You know, whoever's supposed to win is gonna win, and one of the things that I've learned in the real estate business is the most successful cats in this game will always take a meeting with you. They will sit down and they will give you their detailed plan. They'll tell you here's how I do it, here's everything that I do, here's why I do this, and they do that with the knowledge that 99% of the people that they share that with are not going to execute on even a 10th of what they're sharing with them. That's correct. So the way I look at it is you know that piece of information that I put out there was not for me, it was for somebody else. You know, when you're an artist or when you're a meme Smith like myself, you know you're doing that I'm doing this for you, I'm not doing this for me.
Speaker 2:Like I do get a little bit of the endorphins and the gratification of a viral post or something like that. You know it's fun and all, but I did not make that meme or I did not record that video, or I didn't see a video and then put that caption together because I felt like it's me and it's Matt Zoccos and I'm branding it and this is mine and I'm going to put a watermark on it so that everybody knows who came up with this awesome idea.
Speaker 1:It's like I would rather see my content out there. What is the big point as to why? I know that it's flattering and all that good stuff, but I also know that there's a specific answer to this that both of you can probably agree to, and I'm not going to tell you why. Do you think it is?
Speaker 2:Why you don't care, why you actually see this flattery, because I'm not threatened by the person who's recycling and using a content whatsoever. I feel like I know what I bring to the table and it's sufficient. Competition isn't going to take that away.
Speaker 1:I was talking and I completed. I think it's because you guys are not done in the slightest and you've got more content coming.
Speaker 3:Oh yeah.
Speaker 1:That makes sense. It's not the one thing that made you successful. It's not the one post that put you on the map. It's the fact that that's what you do.
Speaker 3:Oh yeah, and as far as like even like this is for, like, real estate agents and ULOs who are a little hesitant If you come up with, you start creating content and you come up with an idea. If you don't have the time to do it, write it down real quick.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, oh God, my iPhone is the same thing.
Speaker 3:Take a note my iPhone is full of notes, Literally yeah. That's why I constantly have material.
Speaker 2:There she goes. Stop listening to me, never mind.
Speaker 3:I constantly have material Cause I know like maybe if I don't have something right on the gate that day, I can go to my notes, pick something up and not even that, Like if you posted something in the past, say like two years ago, and you don't have anything.
Speaker 2:You know that day.
Speaker 1:Recycle yourself. Recycle it If it worked.
Speaker 3:the first time. Why not? You got it?
Speaker 1:already pretty good, absolutely. I have been doing that for quite some time and you know what? Nobody's called me out on it why? Cause they probably didn't see it the first time.
Speaker 2:Yeah, exactly Well, and a lot of content creators won't get upset about it. Like I've actually reached out to multiple mortgage folks and told them like, hey, I wish I had jumped on the ball, I wish I had thought to get that video out there before you did. Now I kind of feel like I shouldn't do it, cause literally I'm going to say the same thing that you did, maybe a little better, but you know, but I've been reluctant to do that and you know, every time I've asked them they're like yeah.
Speaker 2:I found that from somebody else, like someone else was talking about it. I just had the idea, and that again, you're a creator man, you're creating your own thing.
Speaker 1:Your own version of the same thing Cause.
Speaker 2:I didn't make the FHA mortgage insurance premium change. But just because you may have done a video on it doesn't mean that I can't do it Right. And it doesn't mean that I won't be able to bang the drum with a different sound than how you bang your drum, and I'm going to find my tribe, you're going to find your tribe, and everybody's going to freaking play in symphony with one another.
Speaker 1:And.
Speaker 2:I think that's the other reason. Why is because a viral video that's probably why people are so hesitant to start is because they recognize that their trip from here to a viral video is unknown.
Speaker 1:They don't know whether it's how long it takes One, two, three or four, and you know what.
Speaker 2:And we're so instant gratification minded that if you don't get, it on the first couple of things you know, it's like when I first started going to open houses, for example you know I was just walking down and I'm like God, it's going to be all brand new agents Like, oh, they're not going to have anything for me, they're.
Speaker 2:You know, there's all these things in my head and while there's some of that dynamic that occurs, I ran into some really high caliber people that I have relationships with now in what I considered to be an unlikely place, and so to anyone that's not making content right now, I would say it doesn't matter whether you whip your phone out right now and do a 15 second video. Do it, yeah, just do it, and it doesn't matter if it sucks Like, yes, the internet is forever, it will be there forever. But you know what? People aren't going to go and seek out your mistakes. You know, it's just like with cold calling. I used to put on classes for people and I'm like why do you care what the person on the other side of the phone thinks about you? Who cares? I will purposely call, I'm going to purposely screw up this phone call and then I'm going to call them next week and I promise you they will not remember talking to me and I will do like ridiculously embarrassing blunders to illustrate the fact that these people just don't care.
Speaker 1:To drive that point home. What?
Speaker 2:you think is an insecurity, what you think is something that is so embarrassing? Is something that everyone is probably going to just breeze over and not even notice.
Speaker 1:Yeah, no, you're right.
Speaker 2:Like everyone thinks that their little insecurities or their little flaws are like this big piece of spinach just stuck in your teeth and you gone, like this.
Speaker 1:Next time put an arrow pointing to it in your video.
Speaker 2:But seriously, if you happen to be recording some content and you notice that you freaking got salad in your teeth after you got done editing and putting the subtitles and everything, you freaking stop the video. Put a big ass circle around it and be like boing. This was when I realized that I had spinach in my teeth.
Speaker 3:And you'll see that too. They're like the bloopers, yeah.
Speaker 2:Well, and so many people like so many content creators that I see they do that, they'll like do like you know when. I had my YouTube channel.
Speaker 2:I would always like go through and I would find some of my biggest goof up and they were like little Easter eggs I'd actually drop like a little like oh sling of a bitch when I get up and slam something down, or I'm just I can't believe I did that, and so at the end of my video it would be me doing that, and then you know now back to your point accentuating your flaws.
Speaker 1:Yeah, why? Because it leads to more human behavior. It shows that you are just like them. It happens, you know. That doesn't mean that the content is unusable. It almost makes the content better. Yeah.
Speaker 3:That's how Kim Kardashian was. All as well.
Speaker 2:Ok, I'm talking about something else I'm talking about.
Speaker 3:By the way, but it's always been organic from her.
Speaker 1:And she's one of her, true of her fans and they appreciate that and next topic is Pamela Anderson. And the Tommy oh my gosh, we could cut up all day. Yeah. So that being the case, I've seen throughout the years of the concept of converting haters to fans. Do you guys have anything to talk about regarding that topic, because I'm sure that you've seen it and it's not something that you call them out on, it's just something that you go all right, almost motivation, in my opinion. I just can't.
Speaker 3:Well, I never could. As soon as they're a hater, I consider them a fan immediately. Yeah, like, I'm just like OK, you're following me, like, you know what I mean.
Speaker 2:You may not like me, but you're a fan of mine, that's right.
Speaker 3:Already. So it's one of those things where it's going to happen and no matter how terrible or how great your content is, they're already going to have this image of like, whether they're just jealous or they hate or they don't like you for some reason. So I've always dealt with that. So I mean it doesn't bother me, I'm just going to keep doing it.
Speaker 1:So does that mean that I'm a fan of CNN? Because I just like to see how the other side thinks. Man, you got to be careful going down that route.
Speaker 3:Oh man, like after three or four hours this like little black thing starts spinning in the middle and all of a sudden, All of a sudden. I'm starting getting truck comments in your windows. Yeah, they come.
Speaker 1:So before we wrap up, we've got one more topic to talk about, but I want to give you guys the platform to be able to give any kind of tips in regards to social media content, where you get your inspiration from for your content, and maybe some tips that realtors, lenders anybody out there. Because, like you mentioned, this show is intended to have great discussions with experts in the field and to be transparent because, like you said, if you do speak to somebody that is successful, they're more than willing to tell you how they did it and how they're doing it and what their plan is to move forward. Why? Because they're making it so damn hard. I dare you to try and attempt it, but not only is it a dare, but here's the playbook, right? What would you guys give in way of advice for that? I would just say that you've got to if you're not doing it already just got to start somewhere.
Speaker 3:There's a lot of people that are going to be like there's also. You know, and do a little research too. I mean not only that. Go to these big meme accounts, go look at what they're, what they're what they're posting and what's working. Yeah, you'll see that Maybe you can switch it up, put your own voice in there. Something about the industry, and I've already you got some content right there, Right? But like I said, you just you just got to start somewhere. I don't know how to say this. Don't be hesitant.
Speaker 2:Yeah Well then don't do it. Try and to think that you're going to become this overnight success and don't compare yourself to other creators that are out there in this moment, right now, because, like I look at a guy, austin Elder, for example- Sure, he's awesome man Like his content is fire.
Speaker 2:His short game is just I agree, Magic, and he's actually one of the people that I reached out to when I was thinking about like OK, I'm going to do some rebranding and I'll be able to answer your question regarding is branding hard by the end of next year, because that's literally the focus of my 24 marketing objectives rebranding and putting that right here.
Speaker 1:We're going to putting rebranding, yeah, and so it's.
Speaker 2:You know that's a that's a big thing. I'm I'm relatively confident I'll be able to handle it with ease because I have a very specific plan in place and this doesn't scare me. I don't love being in the public does not scare me. You put me in front of 5,000 people, I'll get up there and I'll razzle, dazzle. I love it. I don't. I'm not afraid of people, because I'm not. I'm being honest with the people. You know, like that's the thing, like we're all humans, we're all flawed, we're all going to make mistakes. You know your video may not be a banger. You know you may not get five billion views on it, but not every one of them is, and every single viral big shot content creator. If you go to like their Facebook page, for example, where you can see all the reels, sure, well, you'll see one that has like a million views and then you'll see 500 that have less than 50 views, absolutely.
Speaker 2:You know, there's just you, just it's, and that's where going back to what you talked about is, consistency is, in my opinion, equally, if not more important than content.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Because you could do an amazing job inconsistently and it's never going to resonate. Or you could do a mediocre job consistently and you're going to be known. You're going to have that presence. You may not be well known for being the best or being right or being that, but you're known and so you got to just start.
Speaker 3:Yeah, you know, that's that was my biggest.
Speaker 2:My biggest point of struggle was oh God, I see all these people. They're doing way these big, big things, you know. And how am I going to start off? I only got a phone, I don't know. You know, even just looking at your studio here, for example, like if I wasn't who I was, I could potentially be intimidated by this. Like God, how could I ever get to the point where I've got three cameras and I've got multiple mic setups and I've got a guy that's doing this and I'm? It can be intimidating.
Speaker 1:You fail a shit ton really fast, yeah, well, and that's really that's the thing and that's where. I mean matter of fact, eric was on one of the podcast episodes when I was first starting and we were using cell phones as our cameras.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I didn't care, it mattered. But that's the thing, is that start with what you got and improve upon it along the way.
Speaker 1:You know, don't think that that's a great point. Don't think that you have to have all the fancy shit to get started. You don't.
Speaker 2:All you need is yourself, your drive, your vision and your mission Like.
Speaker 3:those are the things that will take you there and your phone yeah.
Speaker 2:I mean literally, if you have an iPhone or an Android that's post 2020, you've got a professional, high quality, high definition recording device here, and I don't care what anybody says. I've seen people take listing photographs with an iPhone.
Speaker 1:that are freaking that. I would pay for Matter of fact that house that we did an open house for last weekend. I went around and took pictures of the property and they're now using them for the. Mls photos, because it did. I mean the cameras. Great job, the cameras are fantastic.
Speaker 2:Think about, but I mean like think about these cameras that are posted up here and how far along that tech is. Sure, you know like in our, in our pockets, we hold a camera system that is more sophisticated than a $10,000 camera would have been You're exactly right. It's the same thing that we do in the 90s, so is it the same level of awesomeness that a $10,000?
Speaker 1:camera today is going to perform?
Speaker 2:Probably not. No, but it's going to be. I mean, I've seen multiple corporate videos that have been shot with iPhones.
Speaker 1:Like even the iPhone's commercials, where they do these fantastic shots.
Speaker 2:With an iPhone, you have what it takes. You may not have the funding to be able to buy all the stuff that you want to do, but the content is what gets you out there Right. And then, as you do it, you get better at it. And this would be advice Don't fake it till you make it. Don't. Don't fake it till you make it. Be real, be honest, be sincere, like I've found that faking it till I make it made me very transactional.
Speaker 2:And it was very difficult for me to procure the relationships necessary for longevity in this industry. And when I finally stopped doing that and I just started to admit and be sincere and honest, all of a sudden the relationships kind of just, they really actually happened.
Speaker 2:You know it was no longer a transition. It was a transactional situation where I'm trying to impress somebody or I'm trying to not let them know where I may be at. In my particular walk it was like hey, listen, mark, thank you, that was a great question. I don't know the correct answer to that, but give me an hour, give me two hours.
Speaker 2:Let me go do my homework and make sure that I get you the right answer, because, while I would love to tell you that I'm expert enough to have the answer to that question off the top of my head, I want to make sure I get you the right answer.
Speaker 1:No I love that.
Speaker 2:Here's the correct.
Speaker 3:give me time to properly do that, instead of just misinforming you and feeling better about myself and feeding my own ego and most people can see right out of the gate if they're like, if you're full of shit or not, well, that's the worst part, that's the worst part, because then you do have spinach in your teeth and nobody's telling you about it.
Speaker 2:Everyone's like walk around all freaking goofy, smiley luck.
Speaker 3:So it's like they can tell like just with real estate agents, and you're like, come on, there's no, no, even with our buyers. So like, let me see that fee sheet bullshit. So you're not.
Speaker 1:You're not following me, it's exactly correct and I think that one of the things that stands out the most in what you're saying there is that honesty piece of setting those expectations. And if you reach out to me for an answer, I'm not gonna lie to you. If I don't know, I'm gonna let you know that I don't know, but I will tell you I've got resources so I can find the right answer and then I'll set the expectation to get back to you by X time and then you just make good on it.
Speaker 1:Correct, that's right. And then the other thing that I think you're basically saying, both of you, and it's something that someone once told me I don't remember when, but he mentioned it. I said, hey, that was a good post, do you mind if I use it? And he said hey, if you stole it for me, you stole it twice, meaning he had already lifted it from someone else.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I just, I just mix it up a little bit. Yeah, well, that's the thing.
Speaker 2:Like, unless you're actually plagiarizing someone's stuff, like I talked to Austin about that Cause I was like man, you've done a couple of videos that I was like pissed off when I saw it yeah, cause I wanted to touch on that. I wanted to be the one that broke that. And he's like, well, why don't you just do it Right? Yeah, You'd be cool with that man.
Speaker 1:He's like dude.
Speaker 2:Yeah, our audiences are different.
Speaker 1:He's like I won't even see it bro.
Speaker 2:Well, but that's the thing I mean. We're all. I think it's. You know, as lenders, we start to think like, oh, you know, I gotta find this, I gotta find more.
Speaker 2:I gotta find more, and you know another shout out to Megan Cloud, who's someone who has. We've actually had that situation where Megan, you know, flattered me by sharing something that I had put out there, and when I was younger in the business I was a little bit more on the competitive side, so I was like, oh, look at that, she's biting my shit, you know, and I put like a like a, just like a little jabbing kind of post on social media and said don't get it clouded.
Speaker 1:And, but Megan took it, she didn't block you?
Speaker 2:No, she took it and she ran with it bro, and she made it a.
Speaker 3:thing.
Speaker 2:And her realtors were making fun of me posting the hashtag. Don't get it clouded.
Speaker 1:She blocked me, man. No kidding, same concept happened. She blocked me. No, I'm still friends with her entire team and when I see her in person. Matter of fact, I ran into her recently at the masterminds in February, march of this year in Vegas. We had good time. So, and there's actually one last question, and it's a super quick question, before we get into this last topic that I'm sure people are dying to fucking hear. What is too far? What do you believe? Cause there's always that line of what's too funny not funny enough to this to that.
Speaker 1:What's that line?
Speaker 3:For me personally. I've been known to force that line.
Speaker 3:Maybe once or twice I kind of honestly I stay away from. Well, I can't say I stay away from religion, cause I use Jesus and some of my stuff, but politics are my best to stay out of. Yeah, but it almost doesn't matter. Sometimes you're going to post something. I mean, I made jokes about androids and I was like I think I said you're not a bad real estate agent. Your client just had an Android and, oh my God, people, it just created this huge debate on that big real estate mastermind group. I think I've made a meme one time of and this is politics. Yeah, when Biden was running, when he was first running, I put if you're not, what did I put? Oh, I can't even think of it. If you're renting right now, let me know when you're ready to Biden. So I had a picture of him right and I posted that. Oh my God, it was bad.
Speaker 1:I couldn't believe it. One reason why I stay away from politics when I post especially funny is for some odd reason, I feel like it gets suppressed.
Speaker 2:to be honest, I thought it was genius, I posted something.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I posted something super genius not too long ago when I was watching the presidential address and he said the folks woke up dead.
Speaker 2:Oh, I thought that was good, I liked it.
Speaker 3:I instantly remembered like okay, that's like the Biden in there From scary movie when he said how are you gonna wake up dead? I was cracking up on that one.
Speaker 1:I posted on Facebook. Nothing. Youtube blew up. Oh yeah, that's good. So I don't know some folks for different strokes or something like that backwards. But yeah, I mean I think that staying away from politics is a pretty good idea, but we're gonna go down that road for a moment.
Speaker 2:Let's do it.
Speaker 1:So folks out there, I know you are probably wondering what happened, what took place? I'll be honest, I haven't even talked to Matt about it.
Speaker 3:I haven't talked to either one of y'all.
Speaker 1:Asked if I could bring it up, he said hell yeah, let's talk about it. I'm a transparent guy. At the end of the day, it is what it is and what it was. So, matt, tell us about your experience. And for those that don't know what the hell I'm about to talk about, january 6th, I believe, was the day, and there were a lot of folks that were apprehended by the law. We won't get into details of what you think and why and all that BS. I don't wanna go down those roads. I'd rather say surface level informing the folks of your experience personally, because that's all you can give at this point, right?
Speaker 2:So I attended the protests at the United States Capitol on January 6th and I was one of the people that ended up making my way inside there. While I was inside the building, I was recorded stopping someone from ripping stuff off of the wall and discouraging another individual that I saw that was like stealing stuff and so got caught up in the whirlwind of the day and the emotions and everything. It wasn't necessarily the best judgment that I'd applied in my life, but I went standing up for something that I believe in and it is what it is. My choices that day unfortunately did lead to some consequences, so I was arrested, I had my house raided and all that good stuff. The hardest part about the whole thing was that and it's an interesting topic that we're having here because so much of it plays into it, especially in regards to the haters and the fans.
Speaker 1:Absolutely. And then the rebranding piece.
Speaker 2:I love it Correct. And so after the circumstance, it was kind of weird, because when you sit down and you see a piece of paper that says the United States government versus and then it's your name right there, it's a surreal feeling. And so going through all of that, there was a lot of anxiety, a lot of stress, a lot of just it was tough. Man.
Speaker 2:I'm not gonna sugarcoat it and pretend like I'm some Billy badass that just took it like how Trump's taking what he's doing right now and his demeanor is just maybe it's the billions of dollars that he knows like, hey, this isn't gonna financially ruin me, this isn't gonna destroy me, but I might potentially go to jail for the rest of my life. But the uncertainty of not knowing what was gonna happen, because, even though my actions that day were vastly different than some of the other folks that were there that actually got some more serious charges, the charges that they had levied against me were significant. There were four federal misdemeanors, and facing that down was probably one of the scariest things I've ever done in my life.
Speaker 1:I can only imagine.
Speaker 2:And not knowing. Are they going to pursue accelerated charges against me and try to charge me with some felony level stuff that would now prevent me from sitting at this table having this conversation with you guys? Absolutely, and so that was difficult. And then obviously, going to jail wasn't fun. I mean, it's not meant to be a good time, folks, I promise you Right.
Speaker 2:And the thing that kind of, I guess, irks me about some folks is that, yes, I did make a mistake that day and I had to face my actions. I had to face the penalties and the consequences for them. I had to do what I was ordered to by the courts and by the systems, and now I am out of free man. I've satisfied all the requirements of me, I have done what is necessary, but there's a lot of folks out there that hate me. There's a lot of folks out there that are gonna watch this video, that are gonna have their blood boiling by seeing my face here.
Speaker 1:Well, you're speaking. That's exactly right.
Speaker 2:And to them I say let that blood boil. I hope my existence and my persistence drives you insane. I hope that you lose sleep at night because I'm still here and I'm still smiling. I hope that you really just. I hope that it irritates you Like I want to be that irritant in your life because, first of all, all the people that hate me for my decisions that day don't know me. I don't know what was in my heart. They don't know why I went. They don't even know what I did while I was there Absolutely so all they know is that they have taken information that they have received from media, and the media is just awful.
Speaker 2:These days, you can find more truth and independent journalism in a podcast like this than you could on any of the major media outlets, fox News included. They're all garbage, and so it's been tough because I am a genuinely pretty well-natured person. If you would ever call me and ask me for help if I had the capacity to do it, I'm likely to respond hey, yeah, let me help you out. And so, having people say such mean and hurtful things, especially industry colleagues and everything else, it's like I had friends of mine that are real estate agents, title and all different people reaching out to me. Like man, you should just see the things that people are saying about you and I was like, well, that's theirs to say and that's their opinion. They're free to their opinions and I think it's really unfortunate that our climate has become so just absolutely devastated by. If you don't think exactly like me, then I wanna see you burn.
Speaker 2:Like it's not even I wanna see you canceled.
Speaker 2:I don't wanna hear it, I'm just tuning out as an option. I wanna see you die because of your disagreement with me, and I think that that's indicative of a society who has become so misinformed. Yet they think that they are informed because of the ease of access to information. I agree that there's no tolerance for anybody that differs in behavioral modalities or thoughts or principles, and I think that's really unfortunate, because one of the things that I think makes us and our collaboration together in the human species so awesome is our differences.
Speaker 2:If everyone thought the same way. It would just be so boring.
Speaker 1:I agree.
Speaker 2:There would be no joy, there would be no fun, we wouldn't have the anger and there would be some solution in that. But I think that overall we're meant to be different so that we can really truly find that hidden spice in life.
Speaker 1:Yeah, learn and grow. I'm a huge advocate for conflict being a good thing when you find resolution, and I've mentioned this maybe once every other show. But the concept is you're growing, you're learning, you're finding differences and seeing how we both can learn from each other. Not a single one of us are the same in what we do, but yet we kind of do the same thing.
Speaker 2:Yeah, does that make sense? Yeah, I mean, it's a similar dance, but we all have different moves, absolutely, and you can mimic moves to some extent, but we are who we are. Unfortunately, people have lost sight of that and I've recently redeveloped my faith in God and that's really been a big part of me feeling comfortable and confident, coming out and just discussing things in a transparent manner, because that's a really important relationship, and I recognize that the closer you get to God, the more the devil is going to come for you. That's true. It's taken a lot of faith for me to just say, hey, god, look, man, whatever it is that you have planned for me, please help me walk as best as I can in this path. Help me to come back from some of these misperceptions Because, again, I wish I could say I didn't care. But I do care, bro.
Speaker 3:Absolutely, when someone says something about me that's not true.
Speaker 2:It sucks.
Speaker 3:It hurts.
Speaker 2:It does hurt and I can try and pretend like it doesn't. It's funny because after I watched JJ Guerrero on your show a couple weeks ago, I reached out to him and we had a conversation very similar to this and I was sharing with him. I was just like man. I wish I could be the person that they're saying that I am because then, I wouldn't care and it wouldn't matter.
Speaker 2:But regardless of that, life will throw you things, and sometimes it's your fault, sometimes it's not. But my motivation moving forward is to show people that, no matter how bad life gets, you can still get back up and get back on course.
Speaker 1:It also goes to show that the good Lord does not give you more than you can handle.
Speaker 2:Without a doubt.
Speaker 1:That shows you your limits. And even when you get to those limits, he'll throw more on you to help you grow past that limit.
Speaker 2:Well, when he's doing that too, it's because you didn't listen to what he was trying to tell you before? Probably so. He's like look, I will allow you to persist what they say whenever the student is ready, the teacher will appear and it's because the teacher was always there. You just weren't ready to listen to what the teacher had to say.
Speaker 1:That's probably why Eric Delgado got stabbed by his ex-girlfriend.
Speaker 3:He had some drama to him too.
Speaker 2:Are we like? We will compare scars now no way.
Speaker 1:No way, you don't even have to add to that?
Speaker 3:No, I won't. But when you brought up January 6th earlier and I was like what the hell? It's January 6th, because that's how I know. We haven't talked about this yet I was like January 6th. I was like is the Fed meeting early? What is going on January?
Speaker 1:6th. That's funny.
Speaker 1:Well guys, I want to thank you for coming on the show and being transparent, showing your true selves. As much as people believe that that facade that they see is a fake thing, You're real people and you are. Both of you have great intentions in what you do. It's obvious after speaking with you. But if you have an onlooker that is a hater at a certain level, they're only going to see that surface level and, in my opinion, those are just folks that aren't intended to do business with us Absolutely. At the end of the day, you can't do business with everybody anyway. So why not find your tribe and be you. Be you to the extreme that you can be, because I promise you there are others out there that are looking for that and you're going to draw those folks to you and then turn it into something amazing and then you're going to fast forward and then you're going to look back and go damn, OK, it feels good to be against her.
Speaker 3:Absolutely.
Speaker 1:But yeah, anything else you guys want to add before we close it out.
Speaker 2:I am not a crook.
Speaker 1:Matt, I think that that I hope that that feels good, getting that stuff off your chest. This is going to go out to a lot of folks and hopefully that will help with your rebranding, because I've always respected you and I will continue to, even more so after having this conversation and getting to kind of peel back some of that, some of the layers.
Speaker 2:Well, I'm happy to talk. I mean, I've always told people I'm a human being. I make mistakes from time to time, and if you can't take ownership for your mistakes, you're never going to become the best version of yourself that you can become. So sometimes you just put your hand on the stove and deal with the scar that comes with it.
Speaker 1:You know well me as a mentor, leader in my position folks that are not learning from their mistakes. I call them stupid, to be honest, because at the end of the day, we're going to make mistakes. I am every day. I fail multiple times in a day, but if I'm not learning from those mistakes, then I myself am stupid, and that's just one of those things that we all have the capability of doing it. If that is your intent, if you're just going through this world, bad out of hell, wheels loose. Hey man, that's on you, good luck, good luck. That's exactly right. So everything that I believe that you guys do is very intentional, very consistent. Keep it up, because this business, being as, as you saw, stressful, almost as a divorce, needs humor in it. It definitely does. Let's continue to break the ice. Let's continue to add the humanity to what we do as professionals.
Speaker 3:And don't just take anybody's opinions and like you're like oh, maybe I should stop doing this, Maybe I don't like it. My family says this no, keep being you, Absolutely.
Speaker 2:Be you and be the version of you you want to be, there's nothing wrong with taking feedback from other people.
Speaker 3:Never.
Speaker 2:That's a very powerful thing, but at the end of the day you've got to decide where your line is and what you're willing to do, because in my opinion, some of the best comedians in the world set some pretty.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah.
Speaker 3:Absolutely.
Speaker 2:And my opinion towards comedy is like the more offensive the better, I don't care what the topic is. I am a go as dark as you can possibly try to within me when it comes to humor. Not everyone is cut for that, though, man, especially today in this modern society. In fact, one of those shower thoughts that I was having is are we at risk for seeing humor go away, for seeing humor be made illegal, correct, for seeing humor be something that? Because really, I mean it's getting to the point to where people are walking on eggshells for a plethora of topics and it's like the world has become just victimized. Everyone is a victim and everyone is competing for this. I'm the most victimized status, and so it's like is it going to get to a point to where we can't be funny anymore and like guys like you and me, or the three of us, are going to end up like in a in a?
Speaker 3:freaking concentration camp. Somewhere you made fun of the gut emperor.
Speaker 1:How dare you we're?
Speaker 2:going to have humor settings like in inner circle, seriously, like they're going to come and like inject something in your neck, like, turn it down to like 60% there, buddy.
Speaker 3:And I told even my newer agents and whatnot, who are asking me hey, what do you think? This is good, this is good, but I'm like, just do it and if you start, people started hating on you for some reason, just let them hate while you create. That's what I always am, absolutely.
Speaker 1:So I will cap this off with the following message I believe that summing up this episode is something that is not going to be difficult at all. I believe that we, as professionals whether you're on the real estate side, the mortgage side of things you've got to continue to find ways to get yourself out there, and one of the best ways to do it most efficient ways, least amount of money, least amount of effort is to pick up your phone, hit record and give some content. Whether that content is kind of funny, super funny or it just completely bombs, doesn't matter. Keep it consistent.
Speaker 1:I believe that it is okay to use other people's content as long as you're mixing your own into it. I definitely believe that it's okay to ask for feedback, but it's super important that you understand whose feedback matters and whose doesn't. The best thing I can tell you is at first, don't worry about what people think. If you're able to display the humor that you have and what you think is funny, that's the best way to find your tribe. I don't think there's much else that I could say other than thank you guys for being on this episode, thank you for having us.
Speaker 1:The transparency. We're looking forward to continuing to see the content that keeps us going in this industry, because it's not always easy what we do. So that being the case, guys, we will catch you on the next one.