From Air Force to Real Estate: Renee Zunker's Inspiring Journey and Insights for Veterans

Renee Zunker, a US Air Force veteran turned real estate maven, joins us to share her inspiring journey from military life to curating a successful career in real estate. For those of you curious about mastering the transition from service to civilian success, Renee's story is a treasure trove of insights. Her dedication to assisting fellow veterans with navigating the housing market is not just career-driven but also deeply personal, as she leverages her own experiences to guide others. Alongside her professional feats, Renee offers a glimpse into her serene farm life in Texas, where she finds balance amidst her bustling career. 

We shine a light on intriguing trends and strategies in the real estate landscape, such as the emerging popularity of "van life" among Gen Z and the timeless concept of building equity through property investment. Renee generously shares her expertise on VA loans, debunking myths and outlining how veterans can utilize these benefits to secure their dream homes. Our conversation also touches on the unique challenges facing today’s real estate market, offering practical advice on how to navigate these hurdles, especially for those contemplating renting versus selling in a competitive environment. 

Beyond market mechanics, Renee opens up about personal growth journeys, sharing candid experiences with burnout and self-discipline. Her story is a powerful reminder that while the path to success is fraught with challenges, it's also paved with opportunities for self-discovery and resilience. From prioritizing mental health and productivity practices to overcoming self-doubt, this episode offers a rich mix of personal anecdotes and professional wisdom. Whether you're a veteran eyeing a new career path or simply someone seeking inspiration, Renee's insights will leave you with plenty to ponder and apply in your own life.

Key Factors Podcast is Powered by ReviewMyMortgage.com
Host: Mark Jones | Sr. Loan Officer | NMLS# 513437
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Chapters

• 0:09 Real Estate and Military Veteran Discussion
• 11:36 Van Life and Real Estate Discussion
• 16:06 Building Equity
• 24:48 Veteran Real Estate Benefits Discussion
• 31:41 Long-Term Real Estate Strategy Discussion
• 36:54 Learning Through Failure and Real Estate
• 48:32 Navigating Risk and Burnout in Business
• 52:56 Navigating Burnout and Personal Growth
• 1:01:05 Productivity Practices and Self-Improvement
• 1:07:09 Self-Discipline, Burnout, and VA Loans
• 1:15:33 Military Veterans in Real Estate Transition
• 1:19:57 Sharing Real Estate Wisdom With Renee

Transcript

Speaker 2: 0:09

oh yeah it's a channel for people like me is it just instrumentals?

Speaker 1: 0:16

it is instrumentals, but it is um, literally. I looked up what's the best music to listen to for ADD, ADHD, me, and it said listen to soundtracks of video games. And I was like what? So I found the YouTube channel and you play it and it's like wow, I sound like I'm playing Zelda or something.

Speaker 2: 0:36

Do you play video games I?

Speaker 1: 0:38

do I dabble with my son? I would love to play more, but hell, no, you know.

Speaker 2: 0:43

At some point, at some point, at some point.

Speaker 1: 0:46

I'd love to be that big nerd. Yeah, I'm somewhat of a nerd in the aspect of. I'm not too much of a consumer, I'm more of a creator. I'm behind the scenes now making tech tools. I'm the creator of LoanBot, reviewmymortgagecom. I instruct my loan officers and coach them. Guys, stop sitting on social media scrolling, be the one that's putting the content out there that kind of stuff.

Speaker 1: 1:16

But yeah, welcome back to another episode of Key Factors Podcast, real Estate AF, where the AF stands for and finance, and I'm your host, mark Jones, and we are powered by ReviewMyMortgagecom, the largest index of mortgage programs in the nation. And this being the second episode of the new year, thank goodness 2024 is over and we are on to bigger and better things, put in the past behind us, but it's been a little while since I've had a veteran-centric discussion, so I wanted to bring on a guest that not only has a passion for helping veterans but is a veteran herself. So I've got this. Thing that I do lately is I ask ChatGPT tell me about this person and use whatever you can find on the internet Let me know about this person. So I'm going to read this real quick before I introduce the guest.

Speaker 1: 2:12

So this guest is dedicated to real estate profession, based in New Braunfels, texas, affiliated with Real Brokers LLC. And also a US Air Force Security Forces veteran, she leverages her military experience to assist clients, particularly veterans, in negotiating real estate market. With over eight years of experience, she has successfully closed numerous sales, demonstrating her commitment to helping clients achieve their home ownership dreams. She is also known for her responsiveness, negotiating skills and deep understanding of the local market. Beyond real estate, she enjoys spending time outdoors on her farm in Marion Texas and is actively involved in her community. So, without further ado, I'd like to introduce Renee Zunker.

Speaker 2: 3:01

How you doing. Hey, thanks, I'm good.

Speaker 1: 3:04

Thank you for having me Not bad ChatGBT right.

Speaker 2: 3:06

Yes, thanks, chatgbt. Oh my gosh, you said that and I was like oh no.

Speaker 1: 3:10

It knows everything.

Speaker 2: 3:11

It does, which can be a problem sometimes, so that was great Thanks Chat.

Speaker 1: 3:16

Absolutely, absolutely so. Renee, on this show we have intellectual somewhat conversations with experts. Sometimes we're just shooting the shit and sometimes we're getting really deep in the weeds on some intellectual things. In this case scenario, I want our viewers, listeners, to know who I'm having this discussion with. So if you could just tell us a little bit about yourself, kind of start where'd you, where'd you come from, where'd you grow up? All that jazz?

Speaker 2: 3:44

Cool, Thanks. I grew up as a military brat. My family's all military. Mom was Army, Dad was Navy, sister was Marines and so naturally I joined the Air.

Speaker 2: 3:54

Force. I got my real estate license while I was still in and then transitioned into full-time real estate and have been doing that ever since. I really, really like it. I am just kind of one of those people that's always doing different things. So real estate, this career, especially being a real estate agent, allows me to just kind of do a bunch of different things and see what I like and I just gravitated towards. Most of my clients just ended up being the people that I was in with their referrals, other people PCSing into San Antonio, and I really enjoy working with vets, so that's how that niche came about. And then so I've been doing that for eight years outside of real estate. Like most of my realtor friends know me as like I have a bunch of chickens and so that's kind of my thing outside of real estate.

Speaker 2: 4:46

I like spending time outside with my chickens and dogs, cats.

Speaker 1: 4:50

Well, they don't talk back, so that's nice, they don't, no?

Speaker 2: 4:53

I mean they're pretty loud, yes, but yeah, so I mean that's about it. I like real estate. Real estate is my hobby too Okay Real estate. Real estate is my hobby too, so um I'm, I love it Okay.

Speaker 1: 5:06

So let me ask a little bit more pointed of of, uh, you being in the military. Was there something that you did prior to that, Something that maybe your parents did, that gave you this entrepreneurial mindset? Because real estate is definitely for entrepreneurs, uh, business owners at least, um least at a novice level at minimum, and, that being the case, it's got to stem from somewhere. I don't know any successful realtors that don't have a entrepreneurial mindset.

Speaker 2: 5:40

Yeah, I would say, you know, real estate agent. I wouldn't even classify it so much as an entrepreneur per se because there is like it's not really reinventing the wheel, but just like all of the different parts about business ownership and the different things that you can do, that is very entrepreneurial. No, I mean, both my parents were military, my dad was, he was Navy reserves but he was a law enforcement on the outside, so not entrepreneurial. My mom, she was 30 years Army. She got out, she dipped her toes into some entrepreneurial stuff, a little self-employed, but she didn't really like it that much. I think where it comes from is probably I watched my mom be a really hard worker. She worked a lot and so I kind of picked up on the hard work thing and so I knew when I was in the Air Force I was like that, you know, I worked really hard. It's kind of like my job is a lifestyle.

Speaker 2: 6:35

That's kind of how I've always been. It's like, whatever I'm doing, that's what I'm doing, that's you know the chapter of life. I'm all in on whatever that is, and in the military you can work as hard as you want.

Speaker 1: 6:46

Sure.

Speaker 2: 6:47

And security forces were six days on, three days off, 12-hour shifts that are really like 14, 15-hour days. I was working really hard, yeah, but I was getting paid the exact same as somebody else who had the same rank, who was doing a job that maybe was more like nine to five. They got weekends and holidays off and I was like can y'all curse on the show?

Speaker 1: 7:08

Hell yeah, we do, as long as you use it correctly.

Speaker 2: 7:17

That's what I always say. Yes, I was like listen, I was, I knew I wanted to get out and so I was like, well, if I'm going to be working hard and putting my all in, like what can I do? That kind of reflects that you know, cause I'm going to be doing this regardless. So I didn't want a job that I just showed up, clocked in, clocked out. I don't turn off like when I leave work, right, so I feel like I've found real estate.

Speaker 2: 7:34

I didn't really know exactly at the time how perfect that was but, I mean this is like so perfect for me, because I just never turned my brain off of real estate and I'm like, okay, the more I do it, the more I like it, the more I find out about it and then, consequently, you know the more money you make. And so that's definitely not a bad incentive, so it's kept me going.

Speaker 1: 7:55

Well, give yourself a little bit more credit than than you just mentioned, simply because, yes, real estate, you can say it's not really entrepreneurial, but those are the people that aren't getting business, those are the people that are not standing out amongst the crowd.

Speaker 1: 8:10

Those are the people that are not doing things differently to get noticed. Those are the people that have not found their demographic target audience, et cetera. You, ma'am, you've done that, you've done that, and in order to do that, you've got to have this first risk in doing this, in addition to the layer of risk that I'm going to pigeon myself into this audience of veterans. Luckily, we live in somewhat of a veteran town, you know that helps, but, yeah, give yourself a little bit more credit, because Cause I think that, uh, it's important for top realtors to understand what they're worth, and as we went through this whole um NAR lawsuit you had so, oh my goodness, I could not stand, and still can't, when I see the post about the NAR and all this stuff. It's like, guys, you know we live in Texas, right, we've had a buyer's rep for quite some time now. If you haven't been using it, then yeah, it's a surprise to you, but nothing's really changed much on our end.

Speaker 2: 9:11

Yeah, I think there's a lot of opportunity to be entrepreneurial in real estate. But I mean, if you really don't want to, you don't have to. You can follow a guide from somebody else.

Speaker 2: 9:29

There's. You know, agents love to teach other agents how to do things, so you just follow something that someone else sets up and and you can be successful doing that. You don't have to be entrepreneurial. But yeah, you're right, there is a lot of opportunity to be entrepreneurial, to develop your own anything lead sources, business style, brand, all of, yeah, all of it.

Speaker 1: 9:41

Big, important thing, yeah. So what, what? What steered you towards real estate? I mean, you didn't have a parent that was in real estate, anything like that. So what was it like? You were watching TV one day and the National Real Estate Association popped up.

Speaker 2: 9:57

Right, no, I was actually. I was on my second deployment. I was in Afghanistan and I knew I was getting out. I was going to get out at the end of my enlistment I had met my husband. We were just dating at the time, okay, but I knew that I was not going to re-enlist, so I was kind of in this venture to find what I wanted to do. I didn't know what I wanted to do when I grew up in the military, and so I started reading a bunch of investment books while I was deployed, and one of the other guys that I was with recommended Rich Dad, poor Dad.

Speaker 1: 10:27

No way.

Speaker 2: 10:27

Yeah. So it's like you know the gateway to investing, the gateway book to real estate and entrepreneurialism. So it gave me a different mindset about money. And that's when I really like the light bulb turned on of like, oh, I don't have to work for the government, okay, I can make my own money. And then I started reading all of the books that were in that book.

Speaker 1: 10:50

Which are probably all stacked right there. Probably no joke. So funny story. I'm 38 now. I probably didn't read a book cover to cover until I was Probably didn't read a book cover to cover until I was gosh, had to have been 20 and it was Rich Dad, Poor Dad.

Speaker 1: 11:11

I couldn't put it down, and you mentioned that and it was like holy cow that changed my mindset on a lot of things that I was somewhat doing but didn't really understand the whole concept of it and it put it way into perspective for me. So at that time was when I decided, okay, I'm going real estate somehow, some way.

Speaker 2: 11:32

Yeah, exactly yeah and so I mean that book is a great book to like pick up. If you kind of don't know correct much about money or you don't. You kind of are like you're interested in it or interested in like just not being stuck in that rat race of I go to work, I clock in, I get my paycheck and I spend my entire paycheck on all these bills and then now I have to go to work again. If you want to get out of that, rich Dad, poor Dad is a fantastic book to just kind of open that lane of possibilities. And so I read that book. I read all the books that were being recommended, all of these books, and they all talked about real estate. And so, like nobody ever wakes up when they're younger and they're like I want to be a real estate agent, like nobody does that.

Speaker 2: 12:15

But I was like, okay, well, I could get my license and figure stuff out. And so in the beginning I was like I'll just do commercial, I don't want to deal with families, I just want to do business and make money. And I got my license and then I think I just started going to these classes. I was like, oh no, residential is fun, it's cool. I just started learning more about it because I didn't. I mean, I bought a home with my VA loan when I was in the military, but I was like oblivious to the process. I didn't, I wasn't paying attention or anything. And I actually did when I was thinking about becoming a real estate agent. I reached out to my agent and I was like, hey, I'm thinking about becoming an agent. He's like nah, you don't want to do that Really.

Speaker 1: 12:56

Yeah, what the hell was that about?

Speaker 2: 12:58

I don't know, like looking back on it, though, like knowing what I know now now I can recognize that he wasn't a career agent, he wasn't in it because he loved it.

Speaker 1: 13:05

That's what I was going to ask. Yeah, is he still in the business? That says enough, yeah.

Speaker 2: 13:12

I don't know him. That says enough. I mean, I could look him up. I think the last time I looked him up I didn't find much about him. He's not active on social media, which doesn't equal not active in real estate, but I couldn't find anything.

Speaker 1: 13:24

I mean it equals you're not going to get business from there.

Speaker 2: 13:29

Then that's fine. I mean, there's a lot of people that I mean. He got me from a referral, so maybe that's his entire business, which is fine, you know. To each their own, I don't. I don't know what he's doing now. It was a second career for him. He retired from the military and then got out. And he just, you know it was okay, I'm assuming it was okay for him.

Speaker 1: 13:47

I wonder if I know him.

Speaker 2: 13:48

You're not talking about Andy Smith, are you? That's a very similar name, but not him. Okay.

Speaker 1: 13:52

He's a good dude, yeah, still in the game. So, okay, yeah, we went through the process of that. You bought your first home, obviously, using your VA loan At 21. At 21.

Speaker 2: 14:05

Okay, good deal, good deal.

Speaker 1: 14:07

And that in itself is something that at that age most are not even concerned with. That I know because I'm talking to them every single day.

Speaker 2: 14:16

Yeah, they want that charger. Can I afford the charger? Or the Tesla or the this or that?

Speaker 1: 14:22

It's like goodness, gracious kids, do you not get it?

Speaker 3: 14:24

You can't live in those cars.

Speaker 1: 14:26

But then you find on YouTube that they are living in their cars. Babe, come look at this. They just built this new thing and I want one.

Speaker 2: 14:34

Yeah, no, they're doing van life. Yes, I did actually just sell one of my clients. I closed, like last week, he's been living in his van on Lackland Holy cow he's been living in his van on Lackland, yeah. He's like, oh, it's just time for house. I'm like, okay, well, you got a place. He's like, yeah, I'm living in my van on Lackland. I'm like, okay, whatever, he's not like a young kid or anything, he's actually this was his third home, so he's like he's got it.

Speaker 1: 14:56

Okay. I haven't had the opportunity to talk about this at all with anyone. What are your thoughts on this wave of movement? I don't know what you want to call it, but there are a lot of Gen Zers that are 100% living out, like buying a sprinter van or buying an old school van, rehabbing it and living in their home as a home.

Speaker 2: 15:18

That's great. I think it's great. I think it is like, in the name of freedom, sure, that's fantastic. You're not in a lease, you're not paying somebody else's mortgage, you don't have this big house that you don't need or you want. If that is your lifestyle and you're a van life, and every couple of months you get an Airbnb to relax in, but you live in your van, like me and my husband, we've talked about doing van life and just like Airbnb-ing our property and doing van life to travel and rent. I, uh, doing van life and just like Airbnb in our property and doing van life to travel and rent. I think it's. I think it's great. Yeah, is it the best investment? Probably not, but life isn't just about making smart investments. Like if you live in a van and your needs are met and you can pack up and go to Colorado for the week and then come back and like your life is super free and not disrupted by it, I think that's fantastic.

Speaker 1: 16:04

I love that. It's a cool concept. It really is. Do you guys have any kids? No, okay, that's probably why you just said that yes. Yeah, I have a different perspective than a lot of my friends, because we don't have kids.

Speaker 2: 16:14

Yeah. So I mean I feel a little bit like I have probably more freedom than some of my kids, my friends that have kids you know, kids come with different responsibilities, which is great.

Speaker 1: 16:24

Yes, they do, goodness gracious, and then they start talking and thinking and eating and shitting. It's like God dang. No, you're exactly right.

Speaker 2: 16:32

You're exactly right. No, no, no, that's great. But I mean, yeah, I think I see the freedom aspect of van life and I'm like that's cool. I think that that's really cool.

Speaker 1: 16:50

Wow, it's a. It's kind of a reverse Cause. When we go on vacation, at a certain point whether it's day four or five, six, seven we're like, okay, we're ready to be home. We get to go home to our house. For them it's like a I don't know, I'm ready to be home. Let me go back to the van.

Speaker 2: 16:57

Anyway, do you mind if I ask did you grow up in like a neighborhood where you were? Were you a lifer in like one area?

Speaker 1: 17:03

Yep, yep, I actually grew up right down the street, right across the street here in Parkwood.

Speaker 3: 17:09

Oh yeah.

Speaker 1: 17:12

Up until the point I was well, it wasn't until I went to college. I left to college. My parents bought land, built a home over here in Cross Mountain. I'm like you couldn't do that while I was still living in the house Like what the hell?

Speaker 2: 17:25

No because kids come responsibility man, we just covered that.

Speaker 1: 17:28

You nailed it, that's right yeah.

Speaker 2: 17:30

No, but I mean, I grew up moving around a lot so I didn't have an attachment to a place.

Speaker 1: 17:35

Makes sense.

Speaker 2: 17:36

I could like, if I'm living in a spot and you tell me we're going to go live somewhere else, I could pack up my Tupperware bin of belongings that. I have and just go. I don't have an attachment to places, now I do. Now, this is the first time I've ever been in one spot. For this long I've lived with my husband at our property in Marion, which is the property he grew up on.

Speaker 1: 17:58

Okay, wow.

Speaker 2: 17:59

He's a lifer in this one spot. Yeah, and that comes with a lot of things right. Like he in this one spot, and that comes with a lot of things right. Like he knows, everywhere we go, he knows someone. He's like, oh, that's him. I went to kindergarten with them. I'm like are you gonna go say hi? He's like no, no, I'm not gonna say this is also an introvert, which we both are. So I'm like, yeah, let's not say hi, but yeah, you know like he'll, we'll see someone everywhere we go that he's known for 25, 30 years. And I'm like what is that? I couldn't name the first three streets of the three homes that I, I don't, I can't even say I grew up in a home. I bounced around all different places, so it's like one place like van life here, two weeks, van life there.

Speaker 1: 18:39

Now let me ask you, you, you I think you mentioned your your dad was in the military, Everyone, everybody, right. So did they at the time understand or have the opportunity to leverage the VA loan that you got to see at that point in time?

Speaker 2: 18:57

Yes, so my mom bought her first home with the VA loan. I was maybe like eight so I saw that and I was, like you know, a kid but presently conscious to oh, mom just bought this home. But I think something that was really unique about the way that I grew up is that, like these were all just normal things. So watching my single mom buy a home by herself with a VA loan while she's got two young kids, that was really cool to see, but I didn't appreciate it at the time. And then we moved down here to San Antonio and went up into shirts and she bought another home. And then she moved down to Corpus, bought another home and then she sold those homes and then I helped her buy a home and then she kicked you out.

Speaker 2: 19:40

Yeah oh no, I left as soon as I could, you know, went to college, went to the Air Force I love, but I but you know I was still around here. So I stationed at Lackland. So you know, my mom's still here and I'm watching all of these things happen. And so by the time I'm a real estate agent. I've watched her use her VA loan, you know, three or four times and I I don't really know the difference. She's also the one that she encouraged me to buy my home when I was 21. You know, I got back from my first deployment I had a couple dollars in my pocket. That's all you need, yep.

Speaker 1: 20:12

Apparently it is, apparently it is.

Speaker 2: 20:15

I had like no business buying a home. And she was like you're renting, oh, I actually. Oh, I told this story at our conference. But I love this story. How, like when I was, I just got back from my first deployment and I told my mom I'm like, oh yeah, me and my friends we're house hacking. We're house hacking. You know, I have this roommate. She bought a home and I'm living in that home and I get this home and we've got all our dogs and I've got a pool. I'm paying $600 a month. I thought I was so smart. No, I was paying $600 of her mortgage.

Speaker 1: 20:50

So my mom was like sweetie.

Speaker 2: 20:53

You are a sucker.

Speaker 1: 20:57

We're going to get you your own home Wow.

Speaker 2: 20:58

And then we did, yeah, and I mean I had no business buying a home, I was 21.

Speaker 1: 21:07

I was, you know, just not the smartest person, but you at least at some point were instilled or instructed that paying rent is for the birds. Yes, in every sense of the word Means to an end. You got to do what you got to do, but at a certain point, hey, it's time to and I don't even want to say grow roots, it's build equity. I mean super simple.

Speaker 2: 21:36

Yeah, I didn't really understand the concept of that. But once my mom was like, no, you buy your own home, I was like, okay, I bought my own home. And then I immediately brought in my own roommate and she started paying half of my mortgage for me. And then when I deployed the second time, I was dating my husband at the time we were just dating and I was like hey, listen.

Speaker 1: 21:49

I'm going to charge you rent too.

Speaker 2: 21:52

Well no, he had his own home in Marion. So I told him I was like listen, if I get back from this deployment and you asked me to move in with you, and this home sat vacant for all this time. I'm going to be pissed. So, that was my really romantic way of saying I'm going to move in with you when we get back, she's got a silver tongue.

Speaker 2: 22:09

Ladies and gentlemen, I knew what I wanted, and so when I left, I rented that home, and so that home was rented, took care of it, I lived in it for like a year and then it was rented as a rental for the next five or six years. And then, when we were me and my husband were getting ready to build our own home, I sold that home. A tenant had paid down all this equity in it and. I pocketed like 50 grand from it, absolutely.

Speaker 2: 22:32

And I'm like I don't know a bunch of I think it was like 28 or 29 at the time I'm like I don't know a bunch of my friends that have 50 grand to their name and they're able to now buy their dream home or build their dream home, also using a VA loan, and you know, there's just not a lot of 30-year-olds that can say that they've done that and that never would have happened if I didn't buy that first home.

Speaker 1: 22:53

That's fact, that is fact Wait you say you're 30?.

Speaker 2: 22:58

I'm more than 30 now.

Speaker 1: 22:59

I built my dream home when I was 30. Whoa okay.

Speaker 1: 23:02

Like you go girl, all Whoa. Okay, like you, go girl, all right, okay. So I'd like to dig into some of the veteran aspects of not only the loan side but then buying and how you've helped them, et cetera. And I've got somewhat of a video to play and I will stop it throughout because I want to play the myth buster concept, simply because I believe that there are plenty of and I can tell you are 100% genuine agents, lenders like you that truly believe in helping the veteran uh, for its pure cause of getting them into a home, building the equity, not wasting their funds, being able to leverage what they have access to and nobody else does. And then there are lenders, realtors, that, let's call it, fake the funk. They use that as a predatory way to attract customers simply by educating, because they know guidelines or what have you, and are just doing it to because it is a spigot of business that, 100%, if you do it the right way, the veterans will be attracted, if that makes sense, yeah.

Speaker 2: 24:19

It's a, it's a definite like lane, it's a path and it's you know, it's not a protected class, so you can market specifically those guys as hard as you want.

Speaker 1: 24:22

And it's a, it's a definite like lane.

Speaker 2: 24:23

It's a path, Yep, and you know it's not a protected class. So you can market specifically those guys, as hard as you want.

Speaker 1: 24:29

It's not discriminating.

Speaker 2: 24:30

But yeah, let's, that's, exactly right.

Speaker 1: 24:32

So, JC, if you could throw the reference up and shout out to all of the subscribers that continue to watch this boring mortgage real estate podcast. We're at seventeen thousand six hundred and growing, you guys. So we really appreciate it. I think we're. I was looking this morning and I was watching the video I'm about to play. I clicked on the lady's channel and scrolled to the bottom and it went like 170,000 total views and I went, oh wow, that's a lot. I checked mine because I had never done that, and we're actually at like 750,000 views. So I'm like, okay, cool, so people are watching this, but this video here and I'm going to turn this around. I'll stop it throughout to just kind of talk about it, but here we go.

Speaker 3: 25:18

Are you a veteran or no? One who might be missing out on some incredible real estate benefits? Whether you're looking for your first home or ready to downsize, these lesser-known veteran benefits are here to make owning a home easier and more affordable. Today, we're talking about the top 10 real estate benefits that most veterans don't even know they have access to. Let's jump in and unlock some savings. First up, one of the most well-known but underutilized benefits VA loans. Now, I've met a lot of hardworking veterans who think this is too good to be true, but trust me, with a VA loan, qualified veterans don't have to worry about a down payment. Zero zip, not a down payment zero zip, not a down payment.

Speaker 1: 26:09

I'm gonna pause it. I'm gonna pause it right there, because that, in essence, already right out the gates, is a misconception, in my opinion, simply because is it possible? Absolutely, is it guaranteed? Not at all. Meaning 2020. You try and throw a VA offer out there and the appraisal comes back low. Well, now your veteran is putting money down. There are many other cases don't need to go down the roads of them that, let's say, we can't get an approval automated for our underwriting system for veterans got 580 credit score, low DTI, but we're just not getting an approval. So therefore I'm going to try and have them put 5% down. Boom, all of a sudden it's approved. So now they do have to put a down payment. In that case scenario, what are your thoughts on that?

Speaker 2: 27:03

On what? Specifically? Saying that it's zero down.

Speaker 1: 27:06

Saying that zip zilch nada.

Speaker 2: 27:09

Well, I mean, it's generally, it's true.

Speaker 1: 27:12

How about inspection? How about appraisals? I'm not going to use that, because we even pay our VA appraisals.

Speaker 2: 27:26

I mean there are associated costs. Sure, sure, the loan itself is zero down. So I understand why people use that as marketing, because the loan itself is zero down. Is it zero down? Can you get out? Can you get into a home with no money out of pocket? That is really stretching the truth. But is it zero down on the loan? Yeah, so I don't have a problem with it.

Speaker 1: 27:45

Unless it's the veteran that's using bonus entitlement that now has to put 25% of the difference over their entitled amount.

Speaker 2: 27:53

Yeah, those people probably aren't watching the first time home buyer VA video. So the general, generally, someone who knows absolutely nothing about using their VA loan. If they're qualified, in most cases it's going to be zero down.

Speaker 1: 28:07

So I mean, I don't.

Speaker 2: 28:08

So, in this aspect, this video was obviously created by AI, which is fascinating to me. It's not.

Speaker 1: 28:15

It's this lady talking about. I went to the channel and everything.

Speaker 2: 28:19

I would put 50 bucks this entire video is AI generated yes. It's all B roll, it's all B roll, which, by the way, I don't want to say that is a can of a picture. Yes, I don't know this agent at all, I'm sure they're doing great.

Speaker 1: 28:33

She's not even in Texas. Yeah, she's not even in Texas.

Speaker 2: 28:35

We don't know her but one of the things that matter of fact, she's not even an agent.

Speaker 1: 28:39

This channel is based on the entire. After that we're going to check, but it should come with somewhat of a disclaimer. But, like you said, they're not protected class. So therefore, market, market, market right.

Speaker 2: 28:53

Yeah, I mean this is top of funnel marketing. There you go.

Speaker 1: 28:58

This is content created to generate more questions Yep, you got it, let's keep rolling.

Speaker 3: 29:03

We're talking thousands, maybe tens of thousands of dollars saved right off the bat. Next up is a real money saver no private mortgage insurance or PMI. Pmi is one of those hidden costs that can sneak up on you and add hundreds to your monthly payments. But here's the beauty of a VA loan you get to sidestep that PMI trap entirely. That means more money in your pocket every single month. Now let's talk about credit scores. We all know life throws curveballs. Maybe you're still building credit or you faced some financial challenges in the past. The good news is, va loans are more lenient on credit scores. So even if your credit isn't perfect, you still have a good chance of getting approved for a mortgage at a competitive rate. It's all about giving veterans a fair shot at the American dream.

Speaker 1: 29:59

So thus far, number two and three are on the money.

Speaker 3: 30:05

Here's something that'll really blow your mind. You can actually reuse your va loan benefit. That's right. It's not a one and done deal. So let's say you buy your dream home and a few years down the line, life throws you a curveball. Maybe you get a killer job offer in another state, or it's time to downsize for retirement. And speaking of selling, here's a tip that'll make your realtor smile. Va loans are assumable. If you snag an amazing interest rate on your loan, a new buyer can take over those payments without starting from scratch. Now that's what I call a win-win. It's a huge selling point that could land you a better price or a faster sale.

Speaker 1: 30:47

Let's talk about this for a moment. Have you dealt with any of those just yet?

Speaker 2: 30:51

Yes, I did. We just closed the one assumable loan that I've closed earlier this month.

Speaker 1: 30:57

Let's talk about it. How was that transaction for you?

Speaker 2: 31:01

It wasn't terrible, I'll say. There was another agent who was the buyer on the other side, and so they handled almost everything. They had a contact within the loan company who was servicing it, and so they just they were on it every day hey, what's an update? Hey, what do we need? And then the lender, you know, for some reason they just don't really want to talk to us. They would rather just talk to the client.

Speaker 2: 31:23

And so they would just kind of include us on the emails and go straight to the client with what we needed. And then I have a TC who's like keeping up on stuff. So it really wasn't that bad. It took like all of 60 days but for the buyer, who got a 2.73% interest rate it's worth it, so worth it. But it's. I mean a lot of people talk about, oh, assumable loans. It's this great thing Like it's rarely. I mean, it's hard for it to work out unless the buyer has a ton of cash.

Speaker 1: 31:54

Boom. Okay, that's the point that I wanted to hone in on.

Speaker 2: 31:56

It's the gap, absolutely yeah.

Speaker 1: 31:58

And we're in a situation right now to where the reason it's even coming up is 2020, 2021, when everybody was getting free money. And now we fast forward and it's being heavily marketed. I'm seeing it. All this is assumable. It's assumable. I understand why We've got buyers all over the country that are coming to Texas, but the one question that either is not proposed or is overlooked is that idea of filling the gap. If this seller is going to bring money to the table, chances are it's not going to work. It's the buyer that needs to bring the difference in the gap on the sales price or what have you from the loan amount.

Speaker 2: 32:47

Yeah, it depends. I feel like having your loan be assumable is just another tool that we can use, if it works.

Speaker 1: 32:54

Absolutely.

Speaker 2: 32:55

So I mean for us, the one that we closed. It was a 2020 new build that was in a community of other new builds still being built, so we were trying to sell all of this year all of 23, and the builder in the same community was offering brand new homes around the same price but with a 4% interest, and so it was really tough to compete. I don't know if we would have been able to get that home sold if it weren't for the assumable aspect of their loan.

Speaker 1: 33:22

Good point, yeah, I mean, and going down the road of the idea and I had written this down a while ago is the idea of the realtors and I can't say lately, because it's slowed down a little bit in regards to the realtors taking them directly to a new construction because that's where they're going to get the lowest payment, but overlooking the concept of how long are you going to stay in this property, concept of how long are you going to stay in this property, because what we're coming to find is the 2020, 2021 price is now being cut and everybody that bought in 2020, 2021 is now stuck in upside down in these new construction communities and, unfortunately, in Texas that rarely happens at all, if at all.

Speaker 2: 34:08

Yeah, I've had a lot of these conversations this year, because I did have it was whether they're my clients or they. Just they bought a home with a new build and now, three years later, they're ready to PCS or ready to move, or ready to move up or do something else, and they've got this low interest rate. But it's like, yeah, well, we wouldn't. I mean, you're competing with the builder, the builder.

Speaker 2: 34:30

And so you kind of have to have this conversation of hey, either you're not moving or you're renting, that's right, and a lot of people see that as a bad conversation.

Speaker 1: 34:39

And what she means is renting out that property.

Speaker 2: 34:41

Yeah, instead of selling it, renting renting that home instead of selling it. And I'm like, well, you're PCSing either way, so you're leaving. So we have to figure out what we're going to do. Well, you could waste six, eight months on the market or you could rent it. And they're like, well, I can't rent it for what my mortgage is. I'm like, okay, so we're talking about, you know, a deficit, right?

Speaker 1: 35:01

What is the deficit?

Speaker 2: 35:02

between the rent and your mortgage payment and your increased mortgage payment, because now you don't have your homestead exemption or your VA disability exemption on there, so you lose your exemptions. Your payment goes up on the house. Now you're renting it. Maybe there's a deficit of $200, $300. Sure. And so you're talking with the client about okay, you're either like what is your alternative?

Speaker 1: 35:26

That's right.

Speaker 2: 35:30

But if you're paying $200 into this property every month like think of it as a savings account You're still growing the equity. If the tenant is paying to stay in there, they're paying the vast majority of your mortgage. Your mortgage is going to continue going down over the next three, four, five years. Just think of that home now as a rental. It's, it's tied up. You know somebody else is going to be renting it. We're just going to have to shift our mindset a little bit. But it's like it's either that or like what is your alternative?

Speaker 2: 35:55

But there's a lot of agents that kind of don't really know how to have that conversation with the clients of like, yeah, real estate agents help people buy and sell homes, but we're also there as a long-term guidance, advisor, advisor, to try and help our clients find solutions to, you know, sticky situations just like this. Okay, you are PCSing and we're like selling your home is going to be really difficult. So here's some of our options and I've had that conversation a couple of times this year. It when, when clients and people just kind of shift their mindset and see it, it's less daunting, it causes less anxiety, but at the same time it's like if they don't know that there's an answer to this and they want to sell the home. And then another agent comes in and is like well, we're not going to be able to sell your home, good luck. And they just leave like or, even worse, they do sell their home for the commission and they sell it as a loss.

Speaker 1: 36:48

Convince this buyer or this seller that they have to bring their savings to the table to get out of this situation.

Speaker 2: 36:54

Yeah, that's why.

Speaker 3: 36:54

I kind of asked you that?

Speaker 1: 36:55

because there's a lot of agents that and I don't get to hear about it until after the fact, because I'm now dealing with the borrower that's buying here and they left that home back in Maine or wherever it was. And you go, goodness gracious, did your agent not have this conversation with you? Were they not able to articulate what Renee just did, which is breaking it down and putting it into perspective? You typically how much are you putting in your savings account each month? Well, about 200 something dollars. Great, what's your interest? That you're getting Nothing, exactly Awesome. So now, not only are you putting it towards something that they're going to pay the majority of the tenants, but you're also going to have this year over year equity growth, regardless if it's a new construction or not. Eventually that will catch up. It just always has. But a lot of folks are not having those conversations. So I'm glad that I asked that question and you knocked it out of the park.

Speaker 2: 37:54

Well, I think that that just kind of shows the times that we're in. Yeah, If agents got into the business in 19, 20, 21, like those were wild times and it was. I don't want to say easier because I didn't find those years easy. No, I think it was tough because there was want to say easier because I didn't find those years easy.

Speaker 1: 38:09

No, I think it was tough because there was so much business. It was more volume, that's right.

Speaker 2: 38:13

It was the volume aspect that got a lot of people excited.

Speaker 1: 38:16

Yes, ma'am.

Speaker 2: 38:16

And then, once that volume trickled down, a lot of people were kind of standing around and like, oh, this is not what I have experienced the last couple of years and they don't really know what to do in a market that, oh well, what do you mean? I just I put it up for sale and it's not sold. What do you mean? We don't have 10 offers and so it's just.

Speaker 2: 38:35

I really think 20, the end of 22, 23 and 24 have been incredible skill building markets and I really hope agents have taken some time to go and listen to agent podcasts where they're talking about this stuff and educate themselves on not just like how to shoot their next reel, but how to talk through contracts and have these difficult conversations with clients, because you can go in and tell them don't worry, it's all going to be okay, we're going to put your home on the market, it's going to sell. That's not always what they need to hear. Sometimes they need to hear it Listen, guys, y'all made a bad investment. I'm sorry I wasn't there to guide you. Maybe it was with another agent or maybe they just bought it by themselves. A lot of people go in, buy a brand new home from new home construction guys and those guys are not licensed. They do not have to advise you on anything.

Speaker 2: 39:22

They're not there for you. They are there to get the home sold for the builder. They can't have these conversations. Most of them do not understand the dynamics of real estate, how the market turns, like all the different nuances of what's going on it, and it took me a long time to get here to know that. So it you know agents. There's thousands of agents in San Antonio. Some of them are great, some of them just don't have the experience to have those conversations yet never really had an opportunity to establish the basics.

Speaker 1: 40:10

What we learned? A contract, how to read a contract, how to where it goes where, how to have those discussions with a buyer or a seller, how to turn away a transaction if the seller or buyer is not realistic Great way to put that. Yeah, there's still plenty of agents that are going yep, I'll list it for 500 and it's worth four.

Speaker 2: 40:36

And they will learn a lot. Like, listen, I've been there, yeah, I have taken listings that were never going to sell, yeah, and you learn so much, right, but like big asterisks, but like kind of a good, good, bad, double-edged sword of this industry is that the barrier to entry is so low that sometimes people just haven't learned that yet and so you have real estate agents that haven't learned that and can't speak from experience on these deals that have kicked their teeth in. You know, sometimes, sometimes that's I think that's just kind of like the nature of real estate is sometimes you just have to learn the hard way. But then you get 10, 15, 20 year agents that have learned the hard way for the last 20 years and then you talk to them and you're like, wow, you know so much.

Speaker 1: 41:21

It's like, yeah, because I learned the hard way on a lot of things, yes, so we can actually skip the rest of this, because we're having some good dialogue here and what you just talked about actually leads into a cool transition of Galear. Did I say that right? Learning through Galear.

Speaker 2: 41:41

Failure.

Speaker 1: 41:42

You put on the form Galear.

Speaker 2: 41:43

I looked it up in chat GPT. I'm also a little dyslexic.

Speaker 1: 41:46

I can't spell for shit, I can't spell my name. Oh my gosh, okay, I can't spell. For shit, I can't spell my name. Oh my gosh, okay, so funny story. Failure so funny story. I threw that in chat GPT. I'm like maybe she made up a cool ass word.

Speaker 2: 42:00

Part of my branding and literally it is.

Speaker 1: 42:03

it says that Gale year seems to be a combination of gain and failure at the same time. So this individual was creating a new word, not in the dictionary, called Gaelier Freaking. I'm not even joking, that's chat GPT. I was like what is Gaelier?

Speaker 2: 42:23

I have questions for chat.

Speaker 1: 42:25

You're not.

Speaker 2: 42:25

Listen, like it's ahead of its time, If that's possible learning through failure that learning through failure, gaining through failure.

Speaker 1: 42:34

I'm using it like you gave me this that's the only thing I write, so you didn't intend that to be the thing. How cool. Okay, that's legit. I thought that was glamorously failing either one that's all glamorously gained by failing.

Speaker 1: 42:49

Yeah, yes so let's talk about that, because we're already leading into that concept. And what the premise of this transition? This next topic is being able to go through many situations, many scenarios. I always say there's nobody that's failed more than me, because I fail every day, but I don't stop. I learn from them. We've got good days, growing days, and some days you just want to go God, but regardless, you don't stop. And simple scenario is property flipping. You can go to college and pay $40,000 a semester to get this college degree. Or you can try and flip a house. Let's say you lose 40 grand. Okay, great. How much did you learn? Yeah. Next question are you going to do it again?

Speaker 2: 43:42

Does that make sense?

Speaker 1: 43:43

Yes.

Speaker 2: 43:44

Yeah, we've started using this phrase. When you waste a lot of money but you learn something, it's not a waste of money, it's tuition.

Speaker 1: 43:53

Absolutely. That's right, that's exactly right.

Speaker 2: 43:56

So I mean yeah.

Speaker 1: 43:58

I went to college four years, almost five years, didn't graduate. Got in an argument with my law professor and said I'm out, I can do this entrepreneur thing. And all of the kids around me I say kids, we're all now adults Um, I can't say they were as successful, cause everybody has their own version of what success is, but um, are still trying to find employment or jumping from job to job, or trying to figure out what they want to be when they grow up concept yeah, meanwhile, you've got people plenty of people out there that learn through failure. Yeah, what I mean? Is it something wrong with us?

Speaker 2: 44:40

No, I think failure is the I mean, it's the right word, it's the wrong word, like the mindset around it, I don't mind failure. Like when I was in the, the military, that was drilled in our head failure is not an option. I'm like, okay, you can't fail. And so it's like how do you look at failure? Like if failure is not an option? What happens when you fuck up at like did you fail, right? No, not, until you quit did you fail. So, like you're talking to a three-time college dropout, yeah, listen, okay, what?

Speaker 3: 45:08

a stem Okay.

Speaker 1: 45:08

I know a thing or two about failing forward.

Speaker 2: 45:12

I've been like I've been fired from a team because I sucked at cold calling. And I remember like in my car driving on my way home from that, just bawling my eyes out and just calling one of my friends, like I'm so sad I got fired and I'm like thinking that like, oh well, I quit being at this other real estate brokerage because I wanted this job. And, oh my gosh, like my world's crumbling around me and I'm like the three months that I was on that team trying to cold call I learned so much.

Speaker 2: 45:43

I made absolutely no money, but I learned so much and you know I had this mentor, was the team leader and I learned so much from him in those three months. It's like how can you look back on that and say it's a failure? In the moment it feels like a failure because I have tears and snot streaming down my face and I technically have no job. Was it here in San Antonio?

Speaker 1: 46:05

Yeah, Was it Levi no?

Speaker 2: 46:07

No, it was a guy at a Keller Williams team Okay, and he's now at Real with us. That's awesome.

Speaker 1: 46:14

He's on my downline. He's actually not. I wish he was.

Speaker 2: 46:18

That's funny, but I mean, it's just like I could look at so many different times in not just my real estate career but my whole life is like you know well, something didn't go your way, but that's because you were supposed to be doing this other thing, or you had to learn something the hard way. I, the best way that I learn is through failure. Like, and that's just because I'm stubborn and hardheaded and I don't listen. Like I can be told it 10 times and I'm like, oh, I'm still going to touch the Absolutely. It seems like fun.

Speaker 1: 46:48

I talk about a story of my mom would tell me well, it was one, it happened one time Don't touch my curling iron, it's hot. I'm like, of course I'm going to touch it. Then I put my tongue on it Like just in case it is hot. Fuck, won't do that again. Fuck, won't do that again. Yeah, kind of like the finger in the light socket you gotta do it, you gotta do it. But there are plenty of people out there that, whether it's fear or, um, their alter ego that's telling them not to their better lack of better judgment, I, I don't know, lack of experience it's over analyzing and you know there's, like my husband's, the yin to my yang.

Speaker 2: 47:30

He will think about things and he will think it through and he's got a. He. I have the great ideas and he's the one to go. Renee, maybe we should think about like X, y and Z he pokes the holes, he pokes the holes. Yes, which is infuriating, but Necessary, necessary, but necessary, necessary, yeah, very necessary.

Speaker 2: 47:48

Thank you, tyler. Shout out t money. Shout out to my t money. Yes, he keeps me grounded, I, but I mean you kind of have to have that right, like real estate agents. To be a good real estate agent or entrepreneur, you have to have, like this, risk tolerance, your risk tolerance. You have to be risky, like risk it for the biscuits, and I like biscuits yes so like go out there and risk it, don like really put your family in danger of like losing your house or anything, of course.

Speaker 2: 48:13

Like set yourself up to be able to take those risks. Yeah, because like, if you're not going to take risks, okay, like go get a job, go get a government job, you don't have to risk it, just show up to work that and you'll get paid. But with this industry, I feel like the more risk tolerance you have, the more opportunity you're creating for yourself. Like some things are just going to go wrong.

Speaker 2: 48:34

Absolutely, it's going to happen, but some things are going to stick. The more things that go wrong, the more chance you have that something's going to go right. And it's not going to go right if you're just sitting on the couch going, I'm really scared that it's going to go not the way that I want it to and it's like whatever. And it will pass you by yeah, someone else will do it. That's right, and then you'll be sitting on the couch scrolling Instagram and be like I wish I did that.

Speaker 1: 48:55

Consuming consuming consuming.

Speaker 2: 48:59

Consuming the content, not doing it, and I mean to each their own. Some people are just going to be like that. They don't have the risk tolerance, that's fine. Yeah, some of us are wild and kind of dumb and, you know, just want to go out there and try it and touch the curling iron, that's right. And now we've got a story about touching a curling iron.

Speaker 1: 49:17

Absolutely, and there are plenty of folks out there that are less risk tolerant. We're seeing it a lot more in the younger generation. I don't want to generalize, but it's it's got awful. True, and it is difficult to go through the same failures as you get older than it is when you're younger. If that makes sense, would you agree? I don't know Well, for example, um, you are able to take more risks not having children, I'd agree. Me Less. I can't do what I did when I did what I did. Why? Because I've got other things that are now watching responsibilities, etc.

Speaker 2: 50:07

I would challenge you on that. Okay, you can still do the same things, you just have to prepare yourself differently.

Speaker 1: 50:13

I don't disagree with that. That's actually a good point.

Speaker 2: 50:15

Yes, you have more to consider when you're preparing for it.

Speaker 1: 50:18

For sure.

Speaker 2: 50:20

Which is kind of part of but with the lack of experience and failure.

Speaker 1: 50:23

How do you know what to consider If you've never been through this new venture?

Speaker 2: 50:33

journey et cetera so you're hoping that.

Speaker 1: 50:33

Tyler pokes some holes in this thing for us, but yet you just do your best, absolutely Do your best.

Speaker 2: 50:36

Cross your fingers, try and look at it and see what could like. What are the contingencies that could go wrong? It's like it's like closing a deal. It's like getting under contract on a house, like anything could happen. It's like closing a deal. It's like getting under contract on a house, like anything could happen. Yeah, all we can control is what we can control. All we can prepare is what we can prepare for what we foresee might happen. Let's, let's prepare a little bit and then whatever happens, like just figure it out. I don't know.

Speaker 1: 50:59

I like that. I like that, I really do.

Speaker 1: 51:04

JC how are we doing on time? 56 minutes and 30 seconds. Okay, I've got one more topic and then we can free-for-all or we can end it, but this last thing topic is somewhat about today's market. We went through 2020, 2021. Excuse my language, but balls to the wall, go, go, go. There wasn't enough time in the day to be able to do the amount of business that I'm sure you got to partake in as well. Fast forward to today and we're still running and gunning, but doing it differently than most, because most are going. Where are you getting your business from? How, I mean, should I get out of the business? I don't know, whereas you've built a successful career in doing this a a business around it. Um, when you were at one point, you were an individual agent on your own. What was it like going through managing yourself, and how were you able to, like, stay away from the burnouts, or were you not?

Speaker 2: 52:13

I was not. I was, uh, I hit burnout real um hard and fast in uh 20, 21. I really hit a wall of burnout and this is something that I mean. 24 was an amazing year for me for so many reasons not having anything to do with the transaction amount but in 24, I came back from burnout and I think I'm maybe a step ahead of some agents, because I really think there's a lot of agents hitting burnout right now. They're really feeling it and they're stuck and they feel like really spread thin and not really sure, like you said, maybe thinking about getting out of the business. And I've been there before, like not that long ago, in 23,. I remember like January of 23, all the agents in you know we had gone from from 3% mortgages to 7% mortgages in like six months.

Speaker 2: 53:07

All the agents that I was around in, like my online spaces, my Facebook groups and the people that I'm seeing, are all oh, nobody's ever going to buy a home again. I'm getting out of the business I haven't. You know, I'm never going to close a deal again. And I was spiraling Literally. There were multiple days where I couldn't get out of bed because I was so distraught at the thought that, oh no, now I have to work harder, like I've been working so hard.

Speaker 2: 53:35

And what led up to the burnout is probably a little bit different than other agents is that it was in my personal life. We had custom built our dream home on the property that my husband had grown up on, and it didn't go well. We had, we had so many issues and just there's a lot of stuff in my personal life that really threw a wrench in a lot of our plans. And then so I really just tried to bury myself in work. But and so that happened 21, I start getting real burnt out.

Speaker 2: 54:05

And then 22,. You know it was starting to get really hard. Even with low rates, it was still really hard because most of my clients were buyers and I was like, oh my gosh, how am I going to get. Like a lot of my VA clients were having such a hard time getting under contract on anything and like it was just shit was tough, right. And so in 23, I felt like I worked three times as hard for a third of the pay, a third of the profit, a third of the transactions. Like in 23, I closed 17 homes. That's shit numbers for a realtor who, like I, retired my husband in 21. I'm the sole income for our household, and so that was, and I was working so hard and I was like what is happening? I'm working, I can't work any harder than I'm already doing and I'm not make like I'm not going upward in growth. Yeah, I thought that was the plan. I was going to get better. And then you know all these forces that were outside.

Speaker 1: 55:03

I appreciate you continuing this, because I'm sure there's tons of others that are going through or absolutely continue yeah.

Speaker 2: 55:13

I mean, and I just felt so like spread thin fried. I had such brain fog like I was so stuck in this spiral that I could not figure out how to get out of it. I looked at other jobs like I thought about quitting real estate altogether because I was having such a hard time. And I talked to the mentor and I kind of told him all this stuff and he's like, no, like well, one Tyler, love Tyler. He's never going to let me get out of real estate. Right, he's working with me now, but he sees how much I really like it, I'm good at it, like this is a lifestyle. And he's like like he would. He was the one coming up and saying like listen, we got to pick you up. You're, you're knocking it out of real estate. It's okay. But at the same time he's like probably watching was like what is going on? Like there's only so much that somebody else that he can understand and help with Right.

Speaker 2: 56:03

And so I really I this was. To me it was hitting rock bottom, Like, obviously, looking at my life, it's not rock bottom.

Speaker 1: 56:10

No, but in that moment that is all that matters.

Speaker 2: 56:14

In that moment I felt like it was my rock bottom. It was I'll do anything to turn this around. And so I had. I went back to therapy in like 20, at the beginning of 23. And I I tell people they should go to therapy, like you don't have to be stuck in therapy for a decade, you can go episodically or start a podcast.

Speaker 1: 56:35

It's a lot cheaper.

Speaker 2: 56:36

And talk to yourself and your friends. But if you have a good friend that can, like give you pointed, real advice, you know, to me I felt like I couldn't. I didn't want to rely on my friends it's not their job to tell me the truth. So I found someone who it was their job to tell me the truth and she opened my eyes to hey, she showed me in my life where some of my own destructive behaviors were holding me back and I had to look at myself and be like, okay, I'm the problem, which is obviously. People say sometimes you are the problem, obviously. But she was really good at pointing out like, hey, do you think this behavior might not be serving you well?

Speaker 2: 57:16

right, I was like oh wow, and for me it was quitting.

Speaker 2: 57:20

Yeah, I would it was like self-sabotage yes, I would self-sabotage by starting something and and it would get hard and it would not be quite as fun as when I started it. And then I'd go, oh well, I'll just start this other thing. And at the time I had just helped real launch the military division and I told my therapist I was like I can't fuck this up, I'm not going to quit this. Like, if there's anything that I'm not going to quit it's going to, it's this. And you know, if I had, if I had started something like that in my name for myself, I probably would have quit when it got hard. But it got really hard and I was like I'm not going to let myself quit, I have to figure this out. And so I looked at myself and I was like, okay, I'm going to give myself 24.

Speaker 2: 58:09

I'm just, the entire year is dedicated to learning how to manage me, didn't worry about transaction count, didn't worry about anything else, no new marketing, no new stuff, just figure out how to manage myself. And so, little by little, I was like, okay, what, what's caused me stress right now? And so in the beginning it was like as simple as I have all of these little to-do tasks floating around in my head and they're waking me up in the middle of the night because I'm like, oh, I'm gonna forget to text this person back. Well, I'm gonna forget to send that document, I'm gonna forget to do this. And so I started just like okay, what could help me? Let me write this down. Okay, well, where can I make sure that anytime I have one of these thoughts, where do I know? I'm going to write it down now, and I didn't want to add something, right? No new things. What am I already doing that could help me with this?

Speaker 2: 58:55

So my Google calendar. I'm living by my Google calendar and so, step-by-step, I did okay, rolling daily task list. It's an event in my calendar every single day and it saves and rolls over to the next day. So I started just like and it's not about like using the calendar, but it was really about like looking at what was causing me stress and finding the thing that could help me alleviate that or manage it or do something about it, so that it wasn't ruining my life. So it started with the little Google daily task list. Okay, cool, I got that down. And then the next it was like okay, well, I have all these ideas and thoughts and organization was a problem for me because I didn't have it living anywhere. Yes, and so Tyler, my husband, helped me set up OneNote. Okay, onenote is like a product with Microsoft Office that it's a fantastic organizational like thought sheet or whatever, it's got a lot of similar to Trello or similar to um teams tasks from Microsoft.

Speaker 1: 59:52

Absolutely, yeah, nerd.

Speaker 2: 59:54

Well my husband is an it nerd.

Speaker 1: 59:57

He's actually my tech guy now on the.

Speaker 2: 59:59

Zunker property group. He is our, our legit tech guy and he so he's helping me set up some of this stuff Right. And then. So there was one note, and then it was, let's see, there was OneNote. And then OneNote helped a lot by just having my thoughts live somewhere. And then I'm looking at my life and at business and I'm like, okay, well, I'm doing, you know, not that many deals, but I know I need to do more. If I wanted to do more, I have to get an assistant. And so I was like, okay, well, I tried getting an assistant. Previously I failed at an assistant. I had a virtual assistant. Failed at that, I was the problem for sure. So how can I make sure that next time I'm not the problem? I gave myself months to prepare and I read books.

Speaker 1: 1:00:47

I read management books, did you happen to read Procrastinate on Purpose.

Speaker 2: 1:00:52

That sounds familiar.

Speaker 1: 1:00:52

I don't think I'm going to recommend that to you Procrastcrastinate on purpose, because what you're talking about which you probably already have solved, but it's literally talking about this specifically, it was recommended by my coach Of like preparing. It utilizes the focus funnel, because us, as top producers number one, we like to be in control. It's hard to let go. Most of the time we're ADD, adhd. So it's like start a project, move on to the next, next, next, next, and then, by the end of the day, you have 10 projects and go. Shit, let's kick it to the next day and the next and the next and next. Yeah, what it does is takes your, what your tasks are, and puts them through a funnel. What can I automate, what can I delegate? What can I eliminate? Now, this is what I have to do.

Speaker 2: 1:01:34

That's probably, and I would say, if there is a book like that and someone's going to go through it and they want to be serious, like block out an entire quarter only dedicated. That is your only skill, you're focused on that is it? Like that was something that I had to do is like simplify, stop being so shiny object syndrome. Like just stop adding all of this shit and just focus on like a couple things and stay the course. Like stop adding all this. You know shiny objects. And so I am doing that.

Speaker 2: 1:02:04

I'm living by OneNote, I'm living by Google. I'm really trying to simplify. I'm preparing for an assistant, I'm reading like management books, and I was still finding myself a little like fried, like hitting capacity in. I wanted to do more, but I felt like at the end of the day I just couldn't. My brain would fog over. And so I looked at myself and I was like, okay, what am I doing? Caffeine I I said you know, I've heard other people talk about how you know caffeine's not that great. I could maybe heard a podcast or something something put in my head.

Speaker 1: 1:02:36

It's all over.

Speaker 2: 1:02:36

Maybe I should cut down on caffeine, and so I went to. I have an espresso machine at home, so I was doing I have an espresso shot when I wake up. Then we'd go work out, and then I'd come back and have two cups of coffee as I'm getting ready, because I was like, oh, I love coffee.

Speaker 1: 1:03:01

I? Because I was like, oh, I love coffee, I'm going to have two cups of coffee and then I would have like an afternoon treatsy of like a grande mocha latte which has two shots of espresso in it. You're probably ADD ADHD also simply because amphetamines and things like that don't affect us the same way.

Speaker 2: 1:03:08

Not the same way, but let me tell you. I told myself I was going to cut that out. I went down to I'll do the espresso shot in the morning and then anything after that is decaf.

Speaker 1: 1:03:17

Okay, so you just like the taste of coffee. I just like coffee, weirdo.

Speaker 2: 1:03:24

Well, I mean, it's a military thing, like the only pleasure that we had in Afghanistan was green beans coffee. And so that was the treatsy during the day is we would leave the flight line, drive our MRAPs over to get coffee at Green Beans and then come back with a coffee order. Very cool and so, like I love coffee, like that's, I'll just go to Black Rifle Coffee and sit down and work there all day. And of course I'm a patron, I've got to buy coffee.

Speaker 1: 1:03:47

I love it.

Speaker 2: 1:03:48

And so, but I was like, ok, let me try this. And I had, within probably like two months of me deciding to stop with that and reduce my caffeine, I had two of my close friends, unprovoked, tell me, you know, you seem calmer. I was like, oh, solidified, that's it. I will keep doing this, this is working. And then the second thing that I would credit cutting out caffeine. And the second thing with huge, huge improvements in my mental clarity. The second one a lot of people aren't going to like Pot, just kidding.

Speaker 2: 1:04:23

I'm sorry, scrolling.

Speaker 1: 1:04:27

Okay, not scrolling or scrolling.

Speaker 2: 1:04:31

Getting rid of scrolling. Okay, I like that I was going to TikTok yeah, consuming as a way to un scrolling. Okay, I like that. I was going to TikTok, consuming as a way to unwind that. So your brain uses so many calories by processing information. So you are processing and while I got so addicted to it cause it's like TikTok.

Speaker 1: 1:04:50

It's literally intended for that, yep, they designed it that way and they're constantly improving it Absolutely.

Speaker 2: 1:04:56

Improving, right? Yeah, no, they're so good at it and so. But I was a consumer, any, I found myself. I would be walking to the refrigerator to to fill my cup of water and I'm standing there scrolling on TikTok.

Speaker 1: 1:05:09

Did you ever find the bottom of the page? No, no, it's elusive.

Speaker 2: 1:05:24

It's still out there. It's out there, somewhere's out there somewhere. No, it's um, but it was just. It was. I was like, oh my gosh, my brain was just. It was running 10 miles on a treadmill. Every time I'm trying to scroll and process and like try to distract myself, yeah, with scrolling social media and and it was tiktok, it was strangers. It's the Wild West, it's strangers, it's the internet. It wasn't even like Facebook. At least you're interacting with people you know in real life, absolutely.

Speaker 2: 1:05:42

Yeah, scrolling TikTok or even just Instagram reels is just the ether.

Speaker 1: 1:05:49

And it's endless and it's exactly what you want to see, exactly.

Speaker 2: 1:05:54

They're so good at it. So I recognize this in myself and I got to where okay, if I'm sitting down and I'm, if I'm not looking for something, and I catch myself and I go why am I doing this? I would tell myself you're literally choosing between IRL, real life and this screen. Choose Like you're making a decision. So I would start telling myself that I was just really hard on myself of like you are making this decision right now. And so any moment that I catch myself, just like reaching for my phone, simply to scroll, Right.

Speaker 2: 1:06:26

Not looking for something, not doing something, but if I'm going to scroll, no, I stopped doing that and it was almost, almost overnight.

Speaker 1: 1:06:36

And what that tells me and I'm no psychologist, psychiatrist, nor a certified therapist or any of that nature, but it sounds like you developed or discovered your ethos, your EQ, to be able to go okay. I know that this is an issue. I know that this is something that can be fixed. I know that I'm going to fix it.

Speaker 2: 1:07:00

Yes, and I could see stuff like that in me all my life. I've seen it. I've just been really good at just like kind of letting it slide.

Speaker 1: 1:07:08

Sure.

Speaker 2: 1:07:09

And so it really came down to the self-discipline of making that choice, telling myself I recognized that this was a problem and if I continue doing that, I'm making that choice to continue that problem. And when I put that on myself and like told myself that that there's nobody else that's going to make that decision for me, I am doing it and I see and understand the consequences.

Speaker 1: 1:07:31

Now what.

Speaker 2: 1:07:31

Now what that's?

Speaker 1: 1:07:32

right, exactly, so you get a choice.

Speaker 2: 1:07:34

Everything you do, it's self-discipline and it's a choice. And so once you see anything like that in your life, in your relationships, in anything like that, and you continue doing it, now you're the problem.

Speaker 1: 1:07:46

That's right.

Speaker 2: 1:07:46

But you're also the solution. You're the only person that holds a solution to that.

Speaker 1: 1:07:50

That's right, taste the soup. There's no spoon, aha, aha. So I got one last question for you in regards to this, and then I want to run down some veteran VA myths, so to speak, real fast, and then we'll cap this off Based on your recent episode of being burnt out and discovering yourself a little bit more and coming up with solutions, then implementing those solutions and seeing the results of them. What type of advice would you give to someone that is possibly approaching a burnout, currently in a burnout, or they got the burnout and they went. I'm out of this, Stay out, just kidding.

Speaker 2: 1:08:35

No, no, I think that do you like? What do you want? Just start paying attention. Just really take a step back. Whatever is in this, the front that is causing all of this stress and grief and burnout yeah, just take a step back, give yourself grace and give yourself time. That I think something that is very front and center with ADHD type people is that we're very impatient, we're very impulsive, very we want, if we're going to make a decision to do something, we want the immediate gratification of that change happening.

Speaker 1: 1:09:11

Real quick.

Speaker 2: 1:09:11

It's got to be right now. It's doing it Real quick yourself time and if it's important enough to change, it's important enough to go on that little Google sheet, the little. Google to-do list. If it's important enough for you to change, give yourself time to do that and just pay attention. I think that's what a lot of us do is we have this ADHD and it's so much more gratifying to pay attention to the shiny object thing, the things that give us dopamine.

Speaker 2: 1:09:56

The the cool real that kind of million views the this podcast that you know something, whatever the dopamine thing.

Speaker 1: 1:10:05

And the idea is that's, I think, one of the only, if not very few things that does not cost too much to pay attention.

Speaker 2: 1:10:17

I think it's something that a lot of people just learn at their own pace. Yeah, there will be people that listen to this too and go, yeah, whatever. And they won't learn for another 10 years until they hit their rock bottom. And once they do, hopefully they will pay attention to what got them there, pay attention to what's going to get them out, be nice to themselves and know that it's a journey. I mean, I told people in January of 24, this 24 is my year of self-management. That is it. Just give yourself a year.

Speaker 2: 1:10:49

I didn't do anything else this year. I mean, I grew the military division, I grew my business, but that was not the focus. The focus was get a hold of myself, Because if I can't, it's pouring from an empty cup thing. If I couldn't get a hold of myself, what am I doing? I'm spinning my wheels. This isn't scalable. It's not sustainable. I can't go on vacations without being super stressed out. It's not sustainable. So give yourself the year or time or whatever is reasonable for the thing that you're trying to do. Give yourself grace, give yourself time, make a plan, stick to the plan and stop getting distracted.

Speaker 1: 1:11:24

That's right. I love that. I have a previous assistant that taught me a concept years, years, years ago from his father, and it was when you see someone that you care about hasn't been a while. What have you? You're supposed to ask them how are you doing first, then how's your work, and then how is family, and in that order. And the reason for it is if you're not taking care of yourself, you can't work, and if you're not working, you can't take care of your family, and it's stuck. And it's kind of goes alongside with what you're talking about here if you're not working, you can't take care of your family, and it's stuck and it kind of goes alongside with what you're talking about here.

Speaker 2: 1:11:59

If you're not selfish enough to put yourself first, you're always going to come last and you're going to get the bottom of the barrel. Wow.

Speaker 1: 1:12:05

I don't even want to talk about the VA stuff anymore. Real quick, let me run through this stuff. Just because I have it, chatgpt gave it to me. I don't want it to go to waste.

Speaker 2: 1:12:14

Don't disrespect chat. He knows us.

Speaker 1: 1:12:16

No, he's probably listening right now. Shut your ears. So let's see here. Most of this stuff the listeners may know already, but if you don't, veterans can use their VA loan more than once. Veterans, let's see here, multiple times. Et cetera, et cetera.

Speaker 1: 1:12:32

Va loans have high interest rates. That is a myth in many cases, but what is happening in our market today, guys, is for some odd reason, investors are not wanting too many VA loans, so they are increasing the rates and reducing their appetite to purchase these loans. From the investor aspect I'm talking about I'm the mortgage banker. We originate the loans. We then sell them to the investors, the Wells Fargo's chases of the world. Their appetite is shrinking and my philosophy on that is they're aware of something that most don't know Most veterans go in with a funding fee if you're not 10% disabled or more, and therefore it adds to the balance of that mortgage. And if they're going to be caught with their pants down, they don't want to be underwater as the investor holding on to veteran-owned homes. Because, let's face it, veterans banks. We're not in the business of owning property, we're in the business of financing them, catching the interest. Va appraisals assess property value. We already know that Common mistakes to avoid utilizing VA home skipping, pre-approval before hunting. We know all that stuff.

Speaker 1: 1:13:44

Okay, there's one that I didn't. So I get this question or this pushback every other week from a listing agent that we're making an offer on our buyer side and we're asking them let's say it's $300,000 sales price. We're asking them for $20,000 in closing costs. They're like, hey, the max you can do is 4%. And I'm like, well, no, it says 4%, but you have to keep reading where it says in addition to the customary fees related to the transaction, in fact, you can actually, as a veteran, utilize seller contributions to pay off some of your own debt. I'm sure you knew that. Most out there do not. So hopefully, if you're watching this and you're one that does not know this now, you know Bottom line. Yeah, there's a little bit of a grace when it comes to veterans.

Speaker 1: 1:14:43

In regards to the loans, I do want to kick it back to Renee, because this has been an awesome discussion. Yes, thanks for having me. I've never met you before. These are my favorite when I get to put the phone away for an hour, hour and a half and just learn about somebody new in our industry and see the and hear about the trials and tribulations that they went through, how you became who you are today and where the heck you're going, and I enjoyed the conversation. A lot of great information, pretty cool, because I'm sure there's a ton of people in your shoes, not identically, but can take what you've talked about today and relate to it 100%. Is there anything else that you'd like to advice for realtors, lenders, homebuyers? Any of the above, free for all, all you.

Speaker 2: 1:15:33

I think my favorite thing to do is to watch people go from a life in the military to becoming a realtor. Realtors have an 87% failure rate because it's hard, it's really freaking hard, and veterans do so well in real estate. I have a ton of friends who watched me get out, then got their license and now they're killing it and it makes me so happy because it's like you can go from a life in the military, which is dictated every second. Where you live, what you eat, where you sleep, everything is dictated by uncle Sam, and then you can go into a career like real estate where you're. I, like 90% of my clients, are military. They're either vets or spouses or and I love working with those types of people and I love my career.

Speaker 2: 1:16:21

So, I want to see if people are interested in a career in real estate. One contact me, reach out to me Instagram, facebook, whatever, I'm an open book. I love to talk about real estate.

Speaker 1: 1:16:31

I love to talk about getting in.

Speaker 2: 1:16:36

It's sold by zunkercom, but that's more of like a a, a client facing one. But I mean, I'm public on Facebook, um, so you can go. But on my Facebook or my Instagram there's a link tree to my contact info, um. But we have a skill bridge program, uh, for military members. So if someone's within the last year of their service contract and they're thinking about becoming a realtor, reach out to us. We've got a skill bridge program for those that don't know it's. You can serve a six month internship while you're still getting paid and benefits of the military the last six months of your contract. You can come be a realtor with us and we have a training program for it. We can connect you whether you're here in San Antonio or all over the country. We have almost a thousand agents in the military division all over the country and we have a whole program set up to bring people from active duty to actively producing and like.

Speaker 1: 1:17:28

Oh cool. I mean, we talk about it quite often on many discussions here. The most, if not all, of us top producers at one point in time when we got into the business, we did a lot of learning without getting paid and the idea of this new generation of realtors. Number one they didn't get the opportunity to build their basics, um. And two, they the idea of working for free is like what are you talking about? Like I'm going to go put this on a lock is like what are you talking about? Like I'm going to go put this on a lockbox? How much are you paying me? Whoa? Yeah, you know what I mean. Yeah, and that's pretty cool that you guys have developed that. That's awesome.

Speaker 2: 1:18:03

Yeah, because it's. I mean the difference between, like, trying to figure it out on your own versus having a mentor holding your hand and then going, no, don't do that. Do it this way, or here's how I'm doing it Like just having a mentor that is invested in you doing well.

Speaker 1: 1:18:18

Yes.

Speaker 2: 1:18:18

Makes a huge difference.

Speaker 1: 1:18:20

And I'll use this reference, especially someone that's been there. I'll use this reference since it's military-ish conversation. The mentor is there to help you not step on the same landmines that they blew their leg off concept.

Speaker 2: 1:18:34

Yeah Right, it's the concept of reaching your hand back down the ladder. There's not a lot of cultures in real estate that are like that, because the incentives aren't there.

Speaker 1: 1:18:43

Correct.

Speaker 2: 1:18:44

I feel like in a. You know it's been a long time since I was in a different office, but I've spent time at other brokerages. I was at Remax, keller Williams, exp, I've been at other brokerages and just the ability to have a mentor like finding the people that you want to be around and people that do business the same as you whether that's door knocking, open houses, social media or you like to cold call, or you're an investor or you do commercial like finding a group of people that are willing to mentor you makes a huge difference in how many times you have to fail before you're learning. That's awesome.

Speaker 1: 1:19:18

Okay, yeah, no, I think that's brilliant that you guys established that and I hope it continues to grow like that. That's good stuff. I love hearing about people actually doing stuff to improve what others have opportunities to do in their lives, and not just talking about it. There's a lot of lives and not just talking about it. There's a lot of people that are just talking about it. That being said, this has been an incredible conversation. You mentioned that your husband is somewhat nerdy IT.

Speaker 1: 1:19:46

So, I'm going to create you a free loan bot, customized for you, and you guys can play around with it, use it with your customers, all that jazz, no cost for it. Hopefully you like it. Ladies, gentlemen out there, I hope that you guys got something from this conversation. I definitely did. I want to thank you for continuing to subscribe, viewing, sharing and if you did get something out of this, or if you know someone that could get something out of it maybe it's a buyer, a realtor, down and out on their situation, Maybe they've hit that burnout period Share it with them. You never know who could use this information. But I want to thank Renee again for joining me for this. Thank you for having me. Yes, ma'am, this is great. You crushed it and those of you out there really appreciate it. We will catch you on the next one.