Why So Many Realtors and Lenders Are Leaving the Business?

Who’s still standing in the mortgage and real estate industry? Why… This video emphasizes the power of daily "self improvement" and taking "one small step" towards your goals. It highlights the importance of consistent "motivation" and developing a strong "mindset" for "personal growth", especially for an "entrepreneur" aiming for "success habits" in a dynamic market.

In this episode of Real Estate AF, Mark Jones sits down with Alejandra Glass for a blunt conversation about what it actually takes to stay alive in today’s real estate and mortgage market.

They break down what’s really happening in San Antonio, why so many agents and lenders are struggling, how builders are changing the game, why buyers are stuck on rate instead of payment, and what separates the pros who adapt from the ones who disappear.

If you're a loan officer, Realtor, homebuyer, seller, or investor trying to make sense of this market, this episode is packed with practical insight.


Learn More:

Connect with Mark Jones:
https://MeetMarkJones
https://MortgageTalkwithMark.com
https://ithinkmtg.com


Timestamps:

00:00 Intro
2:01 Meet Alejandra Glass
8:06 From loan officer to branch leader
11:26 What lenders are seeing in today’s market
14:11 Builders, incentives, and losing deals to new construction
17:24 Why buyers focus on rate instead of payment
20:12 The personal touch that keeps clients loyal
26:16 Why getting buyers to commit is harder now
30:35 Bad mortgage advice, AI, and information overload
31:44 How agents and lenders survive this market
33:35 LOAs, systems, and evolving your business
39:09 Discipline, consistency, and daily habits
41:28 San Antonio market data and the “balanced market” debate
45:14 Why investors are still buying
49:22 Rapid fire
53:04 Final advice for buyers, sellers, and loan officers

Mark Jones
Sr. Mortgage Loan Officer | NMLS #513437
iThink Mortgage powered by Premier Mortgage Resources | NMLS #1169
Equal Housing Lender

Transcript

Daily Better Mindset And Welcome

SPEAKER_00 0:00

At the end of every day, look at yourself in the mirror and ask, did I get better today? Monday, get better. Tuesday, get better. Wednesday, get better. If you do that for five years, ten years, fifteen years, how much better will you be? Are you getting better every single day? That's the real question. And it all comes down to taking small steps. You don't have to accomplish everything in one day or even one week. Just focus on getting a little better every single day.

Mark Jones 0:32

And welcome back to another episode of Real Estate AF, where the AF stands for and finance, and I'm your host, Mark Jones, and we are powered by Lone Bot Smarter Mortgage Matching, now available on the App Store and Google Play. And stay tuned, guys, we're actually going to be adding additional tools to the family in the recent weeks to come. But regardless, we want to talk a little bit more about current events and what's going on in our market locally here in San Antonio. And I brought along another brain to share this conversation with. So without further ado, Alejandra Glass, how are you?

SPEAKER_04 1:07

Hello, I'm doing good. Thanks for having me.

Mark Jones 1:10

Absolutely. So this past weekend, I missed you at the Birdie Awards, and I really wanted to meet you. So I reached out and said, hey, jump on the podcast. Let's have a real conversation.

SPEAKER_04 1:20

I love that. I'm always open to collaborate with other lenders and talk about the market. And yes, it was a wonderful time at the Birdies Awards. Yeah. Saw a lot of familiar faces. I'm sorry I missed you. And just, you know, saw some builder friends. Perry Holmes is a great company. They were there. Uh, who else was there that we knew?

Mark Jones 1:37

Oh, goodness. There was there was quite a few. He had some serious sponsorship for that thing. That was a that was an extravagant event. Shout out, Jeff Garza. Great job doing what you're doing, man. Continue growing and continue doing what you do. Anywho, so this is about you today. And before

Alejandra Glass Mortgage Journey

Mark Jones 1:54

we kind of dive into our topics, I want to give you a little time to tell us about yourself. Who are you? Where'd you come from? Where you been, and where are you going?

SPEAKER_04 2:02

Sounds great. So my name is Alehandra. I'm with Glass Mortgage Group. We are a DBA of a larger mortgage brokerage called Coast to Coast Mortgage and Lending. And I've been in business since 2010. So I guess about 16 years in the business now. Started with processing and underwriting. Mortgage loans came in at a time that was right after a market crash. Yeah. I was processing and underwriting modifications for people that were getting foreclosed on and short-settled and all of that. Not so fun, right? Not so fun. Not fun at all. Very depressing. And, you know, learn the ropes the hard way, right? Pushing paper, like they say. Yep. Learn the guidelines really well. And then decided, you know, I'm a people person. I love, I love people, love to make friends. And, you know, lend the originating sign side, I feel like is more for me. And so came in on the lending side. I started as a marketing girl. I was the business development rep for a local brokerage, pilgrim mortgage for a little while. Yeah. And then worked my way into a credit union. And from there became a loan officer, got into management fairly quickly within my first year and a half, trained those loan officers, and now I'm here and just a manager right now for a glass mortgage group.

Mark Jones 3:11

That's awesome. So the the fact that you jumped in and did the paper pushing first, then kind of got adapted to the guidelines, then switched over to the marketing side. It's like you were, without knowing, shaping yourself into a real loan officer. And why I say that is as a a mortgage originator, it's not enough to just go out and get the deals. It's also not enough just to be able to do mortgages. You've got to do both.

unknown 3:39

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 3:39

You get what I'm saying?

Mark Jones 3:40

You've got no guidelines and you got to know how to shake band hands and kiss babies. Yeah. Not the other way around.

SPEAKER_04 3:45

Yeah. And it's true. No, no, you don't want to shake babies. On my babies. But you're right. You got to be able to do it all. I mean, I wear all the hats, and a lot of a lot of loan officers. You have two types of loan officers in our industry. And I know you can speak from experience.

Mark Jones 4:00

Only two.

SPEAKER_04 4:03

You got several kinds, but let me tell you. The main kind are the ones that rely on their business development person, you know, and and and or the ones that are the business development person. It's like, who are you? Are you actually originating or are you only the face? You like you said, you've got to be well-rounded and be able to do it all. And thank the Lord, you know, I was presented with opportunities to be able to shape me into where I'm at today.

Mark Jones 4:25

Yeah. So what led you into the mortgage business? I mean, you got in in 2010. I got in in 2012. So it was after the crash. Matter of fact, I was in banking at the time when the crash was taking place. So it didn't really affect me because I wasn't playing with mortgages. I wasn't any of that stuff. I did have a 401k, but canceled that after seeing it go away. But the idea behind what led you for me, it was my mom was in the mortgage business as a processor. I at the time was a oh goodness finance manager for Toyota Bernie here. And I was just tired of it. I was done. Wanted to switch. So I jumped in, took all of my real estate classes, got to the end and went, it's not for me. So I talked to my mom. She said, Yeah, come on in, talk to my branch manager at the time, and literally never looked back.

SPEAKER_04 5:16

That's a great place to start as a finance manager in a car sales. I mean, that is cool because you know, you're you got the finance part of it, you got the sales part of it. I can see where how you got to where you're at today. Really cool. You know, for me, it was my parents were entrepreneurs. They were also, I'm also first generation Cuban. My father is from Cuba and Cuban B. Yeah. So he's always had businesses. I mean, he was, he's had insurance, eyeglasses, restaurants, bars, all kinds of things. Wow. Yeah. And and my mother, she was always his helpmate, you know, always, what do you what are you gonna do next? Okay, I support you. You know, whatever it is. I don't know how we're gonna do this, but we're gonna do it. Yeah. So growing up, for me, college was not something that I was taught.

Mark Jones 5:59

Shame. Same here.

SPEAKER_04 6:00

Yeah. And so, you know, for me, but I still saw success.

Mark Jones 6:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 6:04

You know, my parents are very, very, they're, they're, they're, they're, I'm proud of them. That's all I can say. It's awesome. They've created a life for us.

SPEAKER_01 6:11

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 6:11

And so seeing that, I was like, okay, I'm gonna go to college. What am I gonna do? So I did go to college for a little bit and then decided I like to work.

Mark Jones 6:18

And I would even go as far as to say that your parents in raising you also didn't shield you from the world. Many entrepreneurial parents, kind of like myself and my wife, we let our kids see what we go through. We let them see the conversations we have, the ups, the downs, and how we get through them versus shielding them and making it seem like the world is all okay. Type thing.

SPEAKER_04 6:41

Yeah. And that's important because it shapes them into who they are. And they're gonna be successful because they're learning that from you and your wife. And that's all we can really hope for for our kids is like, you know, they're not, they're not handed everything that they learn how to work and get in the ditches and and you know, mess up and say, okay, that's okay. I learned from it. And and that's kind of where we're at. So, you know, I got into a was it was in college and decided, hey, I got to pay for this somehow because nobody's paying for this.

SPEAKER_01 7:07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 7:07

So I got to go to work. And I went through a staffing agency and they got me connected with Wells Fargo, and that was my foot in the door in the mortgage industry. Started on the phones.

Mark Jones 7:16

Was it the Wells Fargo over there on Wiseman?

SPEAKER_04 7:19

Yes.

Mark Jones 7:19

Okay, very good. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 7:21

And everybody started, right? Everybody did.

Mark Jones 7:23

All my friends did. That's exactly right. Yeah, I was at the bank inside of Walmart, and then I went to Chase Bank, and then I went to sell cars. But all the while, all my friends they were at what is that, World Savings, Wells Fargo, and something else that was all in that area.

SPEAKER_04 7:38

Yes, World Savings. Yeah, remember, those are the days, man. We all started somewhere. You know, humble beginnings.

Mark Jones 7:44

Amen to that. So

Building Teams Without Ego

Mark Jones 7:46

in growing your business, at what point did you decide to shift from I just want to originate loans to I want to build a branch and a team and a group and a company type concept? You know, I think it's or was it just natural progression?

SPEAKER_04 8:04

I think it's just natural progression. I think it just I just naturally, I just love to lead and I love to teach. And it just comes naturally. So it's it's not like I said, oh, I want to be, and honestly, I don't like to manage if I'm being honest.

SPEAKER_01 8:17

Same here.

SPEAKER_04 8:17

I want to be able, I want you to go and be independent on your own. And thankfully, you know, we we have a team, it's just four of us, but I love it that way, you know, and it was five of us. And, you know, my goal with my fifth individual was, hey, I'm gonna teach you the ropes of everything on the broker side. And then I want you to be able to go and open your own business. And he's doing that now. And I'm so proud of him. And that's my goal for the rest of them, too. I don't want you to just be a loan officer.

Mark Jones 8:44

Well, I will tell you, they will eventually if you do it right. Uh, because it's happened to me multiple times, and you just have to continue to tell yourself that that was the plan all along.

SPEAKER_03 8:53

Yes.

Mark Jones 8:53

No matter when it happens to happen.

SPEAKER_03 8:55

Yes.

Mark Jones 8:56

Over the years, I've grown teams, shrunk teams, shifted, grown other teams. And as of most recent, it's just me originating now with I've got a couple loan officers, but I've got my team stood up, the front, the back end, and it seems to be working really well. It's like you get that when you grow up and you say, Man, if I had a chance to go back and do it all over again, well, I'm I'm getting that chance. It started January 1st, and it's it seems to be working pretty well thus far. Yeah. Being able to focus on that without having. Now, here's a question for you. Because you're a branch manager, similar to myself, also producing, did there ever become a time in your progression, not currently, because I'm sure that's already been sorted out with the team you have now, but the idea of having to restrict your marketing, having to restrict your presence, etc., so that you're not overshadowing your loan officers.

SPEAKER_04 9:52

I think we have a pretty well-oiled engine to where, hey, if you want to host a class this day, that's I believe that now, but just through your progression of that. No.

Mark Jones 10:02

Okay. Yeah. Yeah. With me, a little different because I was out there. I had my face on trucks, truck wraps, boats, all kinds of stuff. I had to take all that kind of stuff back so that I wasn't then overshadowing them. Sure. And I would hear it like, hey, we're feeling like we're kind of having to compete with you. And I'm like, well, well, I'm not doing loans anymore.

SPEAKER_04 10:26

Well, this is recent for me because it's uh like you know, we've just been a team and a branch for about a year. Okay. So prior is recent. Yeah. Prior to this year, I was just an independent broker and it was all about me. Okay. So that makes sense. Yes.

Mark Jones 10:39

That makes sense. And and and we're on the mortgage banking side. You're on the broker side. So it's cool to be able to talk about this dynamically. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 10:47

Yeah, I love that. I mean, a lot of my banking friends are lenders that I personally work with that that have a wholesale division and we use their company. Yeah. And and they're great companies. Yeah. It's really cool. We we we need each other, honestly. Absolutely. Yeah. Absolutely.

Mark Jones 11:01

Yeah. So let's get into our discussion. Let's

New Construction Incentives And Reality

Mark Jones 11:04

see. Our first kind of prompt of this is going to be the current market and what you're actually seeing out there right now. And in being respectful of the show's MO, we want to be honest. We want to be blunt. At the end of the day, you can be upset at someone for the way they say things, but what they say, if it is the truth, is what it is. Right. Fair enough. So that being said, that kind of frames it for you guys.

SPEAKER_04 11:34

Fair enough.

Mark Jones 11:35

What are you seeing out there?

SPEAKER_04 11:37

You know, I as a lender, what I'm seeing a lot of is my agents are closing a lot more new construction deals. 1,000%. Which is competitive for me because, you know, I can say I don't really have any competitors. I'm always trying to be better than myself. You know, I mean, that's a truth. Like I have an Excel spreadsheet for 2025 or 2024 for 2023. And I'm like, hey, how much did I close last year? How much did I close the year before? Okay, how am I going to beat that girl? Because I'm not that girl anymore. Good point. Absolutely. Right. And and and, you know, when I look at other companies, I'm like, okay, cool. What are they doing? What are they doing? Okay, that's cool. But I'm not looking at it as competition. When I see the builders, I see it as competition because for me, it's like I can't just, I can't touch those incentives. Unless I have a personal builder relationship with that company, I can't touch them.

Mark Jones 12:22

Well, what one thing that I'm going to say, and hopefully it comes as something that you maybe can start incorporating when this started taking place, because I I used to be one of the biggest turndown lenders in San Antonio. We just fired up uh SavemybuilderLone.com again. And once that started taking place around 2000, March, April, it was around May of 2000 when they started saying, no outside lenders, we've got plenty of business type concept. I would tell my loan officers they're not competition. It's kind of like a borrower that goes to a credit union versus a mortgage banker or broker. Well, yes, they can get a lower rate and pay less fees. They've got their shit together. That's why they do that. Me personally, I went to a credit union to go and get my loan. So in my mind, direct competitors are mortgage bankers to mortgage brokers, mortgage banker to mortgage banker, mortgage broker to mortgage broker. But when you're playing with money that we don't have access to, it's not even an even playing field. So I see what you're saying.

SPEAKER_04 13:26

It's not a competitor because you can't even compete. Exactly. And that and I think that's what I'm trying to say.

Mark Jones 13:31

It's this, I can't touch it. Correct. Yeah. And it is frustrating. It, I mean, I will be the first to tell you. That is very frustrating. But I also lead with the concept of you can't lose something you never had. And if you didn't realize that they were going to go new construction until they went new construction, then shame on you. You probably should have had a deeper conversation day one. Right. One thing that I'm pretty sure you learn in going through this and how long you've been in the business that the new to the business loan officers have not learned is that high trust, high value conversation, day one type concept. Nobody's having those anymore. Right. So then all of a sudden they're like, well, well, they went to a new construction. Well, they probably were going to do that regardless. Did you have a conversation to get where their feelers were? If they were a rate shopper, if they needed help with this, like you got to have that conversation to pull as much out so that way you can at least frame what most realtors won't tell them, which is if you're planning on selling within the next five to eight years, chances are you're not going to make money on this deal. Chances are you're going to be competing with that builder still. Still like that? By all means, I wish you the best of luck. If they can't do it, come on back.

SPEAKER_04 14:43

Yeah. And that's the thing. Like I right now, borrowers are so rate conscious. They're with this mindset of, I don't care. I just want the rate. And it's one of those conversations where I'm, you know, I'll have the conversation with my agent and I'll ask them, hey, is your client interested in new construction homes? Are they interested in pre-existing homes? And sometimes I'll just go straight to the borrower and ask them up front because sometimes the agent won't be honest to you either with it. Yeah. It whether, you know, if we have a relationship, we work together, totally they'll be honest about it. But if it's somebody new I've never worked with, what I've found is they'll come to a broker because, you know, brokers have the wholesale rates and we shop around, check them first, and then they'll take that fee sheet to the builder because it's not what I'm noticing now. So maybe two years ago, three years ago, there's not as much as they're running out.

Mark Jones 15:27

The rates are the rates. They're running out.

SPEAKER_04 15:28

The rates are the rates, they're throwing money in their face, but they're still offering that six and a half.

Mark Jones 15:32

And the price is still inflated. So they've got room there. Absolutely. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 15:35

And so the thing is like, oh, so come in and get the lower rate. And then they go to the builder and they're like, okay, here I match it. Bye. Like, I'm sorry. I don't know. If you're gonna go to a builder and you go straight to the builder, and I don't I don't want to do their thing. I don't want to waste your time.

Mark Jones 15:46

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_04 15:47

Because I am considering of your time. I also don't want to waste my time. Right. But client first, I don't want to waste your time. So go straight to the builder. Yes. And it is what it is because we're all, you know, we're all just trying to make it happen.

Mark Jones 15:59

Yeah. No, I I I can't disagree with that at all. Super frustrating. Yeah. It it is frustrating, but we're also seeing builders open up a little bit more on their appetite of taking outside lenders. They're not turning them away to take the next one. They're turning, they're turning them away to say, hey, who else can do this? Because we got to sell this house now.

SPEAKER_04 16:19

Right. Exactly. You know what I'm saying? And thank God for for good builder partners that, you know, really see how hard we work. Because we we definitely hard work work hard. And I can honestly say, you know, I'm grateful for, you know, my Perry partners. I'm grateful for my Starlight partners. I'm grateful for, you know, all the the builders that we do know that, you know, do work with us and do offer incentives. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Because it's not everybody that does.

Mark Jones 16:42

You're right. No, you're on the money on that. Okay. That that's that's pretty solid.

SPEAKER_04 16:46

But that's where the market's at.

Mark Jones 16:47

That's right. That's right. Oh great for the new build. It is true. It is very true. And let's see here.

Buyers Misread Rates And Payments

Mark Jones 16:56

What do you think consumers are still misunderstanding about this market? Now, you mentioned something that I I don't want to, I don't really want to combat, but I want to give more to. You mentioned buyers are focused on the rate. And I have to, I don't I don't necessarily disagree, but I think that they are focused on the rate because that's what they've been indoctrinated with. That's what they've been groomed to be focusing on. They're more focused on the payment itself.

SPEAKER_04 17:27

This is true. And I think as as lenders, if we shift that to, hey, let's look at let's look at the payment, let's find you something comfortable. Then at that point, it's it's more needs. We're meeting their real needs, exactly. So let's find you a comfortable payment.

Mark Jones 17:41

Because you'll have folks that will come to you and say, Hey, Alejandra, I want to get a $300,000 house with a $1,900 payment. Oh, and by the way, I need down payment assistance. Yeah. Okay, well, guess what? That's unrealistic in the world of real life. So it's it's tough having those conversations, but they need to be had.

SPEAKER_04 18:01

Sure. And that's where I think us as professionals need to kind of step away from the mortgage, like take off your mortgage hat and and put on your real AF hat and be like, hey, Mr. Client, this is where this is your first home. This is your first home. Let's talk about your goals. Like, you know, your wife is pregnant. Okay, cool. You're gonna have a child soon. Maybe you're gonna want a bigger home the next few years. And sometimes the agents have that conversation. But I think when it comes down to finances and we see their numbers, then we have a fiduciary duty to our client to paint that bigger picture for them. Yeah. You know, and that's just the fact. But I think it's I think it's the times that we're in, the economical, the e the economy that we have right now and what's going on in the world, that everything is like this.

Mark Jones 18:43

Yeah. And I do a daily post about this stuff. Matter of fact, I did my daily post. I haven't even posted it. I will do that. Whoops.

SPEAKER_04 18:51

It's still it's still noon, noon time.

Mark Jones 18:56

But the the idea of the economy and all most laymen don't know what's going on. So what do they focus on? The headlines. Yeah. And the headlines are intended for clicks. They're not intended to give you real facts, real data, etc. They're all opinion pieces. They're all intended to sway one way or another, and that's without even going down the politics route. This is all finance. Yeah, for sure. You know, it's like, what in the heck? So, where does someone get their actual real data from? There you go. Yeah. From you. And that being said, I want to ask, are you finding yourself in this market spending more time than you would in the past with an individual borrower, individual family, etc.?

SPEAKER_04 19:44

Yes. Yes.

Mark Jones 19:44

Tell me about that.

SPEAKER_04 19:45

Yes. And and it's so interesting that you bring that up because it's on my mind was like, we're talking about this. But what's setting a loan officer apart? And we talked about starting in the banking industry. Yeah. And you and I kind of chatted on it before we did the show was a lot of loan officers are going back to the banking industry for a secure paycheck.

SPEAKER_01 20:01

Yep.

SPEAKER_04 20:02

Because the volatility of the market right now. But what's going to keep you in the game is going to be boots on the ground. You meeting with your clients one-on-one, having them come into the office, building that relationship. You know, I just took a client in their family after, you know, after closing, we all went out to eat. And it was so nice. It was just me and them. And they're like, I wasn't expecting this. You know, usually the agent will do this. Well, their agent wasn't able to make it and says, you know what? You know, she wasn't able to make it. So I want to do something nice for you.

SPEAKER_01 20:30

Yep.

SPEAKER_04 20:30

And out of that conversation, we were able to get a lead through that conversation. Just because you're you're building real life relationships and people appreciate that.

Mark Jones 20:38

1000%.

SPEAKER_04 20:39

And is it working harder? Yeah, it is working harder because when times were busier, you know, you're stuck to your desk or you're stuck out marketing and trying to find the next deal. When now you're stuck to your client. And I and I think that's how it should be. Amen.

Mark Jones 20:55

I mean, you're you're you're preaching something right now that I have is that back on? Okay. You're preaching something right now that I have adopted early in my career, which is more so the consumer direct focus, because technically they are our actual clients. Yeah. They're our fiduciary. And as we, I don't know, grew up into this industry, kind of same footsteps, we had to go entertain realtors. We had to continue to stay in front of realtors hoping that they're gonna send us business, right?

SPEAKER_04 21:35

Entertain.

Mark Jones 21:36

It's what it is. I'll be able to do anything. Yeah. And as we progress, evolve whatever we're doing right now, I'm finding that other lenders. Now, mind you, I I speak to lenders throughout the country, and everybody's trying to figure out how to do consumer direct. Why? Oh, because your realtors, they're, they're, they don't have as much business to go around right now. And they had two, three other lenders that they got to feed to. And and and and so everybody's trying to figure out that consumer direct piece, but you just said it right now. It's getting more personal with your clients, giving a heck. Yeah. Giving a heck about that. Exactly. Yeah. I would normally drop an F bomb, but I don't know why I just couldn't right there. I just couldn't do it.

SPEAKER_04 22:28

So we have children in the room. That's right.

SPEAKER_01 22:31

That's right.

SPEAKER_04 22:33

No, but it's true. And it and it's what makes a great loan officer great, you know. And and and it's also how we help our agents. Think about it. Think about it. If we're client direct, if we're direct focus, client direct focus. We're client direct focus. We're able to get leads from those clients and give them back to our agent partners and feed them and say, you know, because all the time I'll hear agents say, you know, hey, I want to work with you, but you know, I've never had a lender give me a lead. Do you give leads? It's like, you know what? Never, ever, ever have I ever paid for leads. I'm sorry. And I never will. I won't, because we need to be what they what the realtors do is what we should be doing. Yeah. The client appreciation parties, all of that.

Mark Jones 23:11

And here is my take on that, because I believe we are so aligned with that and have been for years, me personally, which is why we uh started reviewymymortgage.com to educate the consumers directly, etc. I started in this business utilizing social media to get my customers, realtors, all of it. And in today's world, there's there's a a large gap between what realtors expect from us and what the customer expects from us, and us having to please both when truly the pleasing both should be pleasing the customer.

SPEAKER_04 23:49

Right.

Mark Jones 23:50

That should take care of both.

SPEAKER_04 23:51

Yes, yes. Does that make sense? Yeah, because then they turn around and they say, Hey, you know what, Mark did a great job. And then your agent's like, you know what, he did do a great job. And then now it's a collaborative effort and everybody's happy. And and you know, that's how we've built, that's how I've built my business. And that's how we built our branch, is client focused. We also have we're also operated by military members. So my assistant is prior Navy, my my other processor is a military wife, one of our other loan officers is prior Air Force. Like we just we're built that way because we want to be able to relate to our clientele. And in San I was never military, but in San Antonio, you know, we are a military city.

SPEAKER_01 24:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 24:29

And in doing that, we're able to say, hey, you know what? We've been in your shoes. We know what you're going through. We're client focused. And that's that's honestly how loan officers are going to stay in the game right now, is they if they start getting more consumer business.

Mark Jones 24:43

That's right. The the person that wins is the person that captures the buyer.

SPEAKER_04 24:48

Yes.

Mark Jones 24:48

First. And that is truly how I grew my business so large back in 2012, 2013. I was the one handing out deals to realtors until I went, wait a minute. You guys owe me a couple. You owe me a couple, you owe me a couple. And that's truly how it went for many, many years. And how we were able to survive through this when I was truly not in it producing, if that makes sense. All referrals, all work in the book of business, continuing to stay top of mind with social media. But now in today's world, you've got to do that and then some.

SPEAKER_04 25:22

Mm-hmm. No, a little bit more. Yeah. Gonna go the extra mile.

Mark Jones 25:25

So let's see here.

Fear And Commitment In 2026

Mark Jones 25:28

What's harder right now? Oh, this is a good one. What is more difficult right now? Getting a client or keeping the client or getting the client to commit. And that that's that's almost goes hand in hand with that whole concept of in order for someone to be a buyer, they've got to be ready, willing, and able.

SPEAKER_04 25:49

I think it's getting the client to commit. Okay. And and even as again, even as a broker, somebody who shops for the client, I'm seeing even I am seeing my client shopping me. And I'm like, wait, why are you shopping me? I'm gonna shop for you. That's right. You know, that's right. But it's again, it's getting that client to commit for various reasons for the shopping, but also for I'm scared to buy right now because I don't know what's gonna happen tomorrow. Are we gonna go to war? Are we not? You know, these are real conversations. I mean, as a matter of fact, I have a client right now, and he's um visa holder. So he has purchased homes in Europe, but he has never purchased a home in the US. And for him, it's difficult for him to commit because it's like I'm not used to this process. And I when in Europe, I just buy a home and that's it. And I'm okay, but I need you to sign this document. Yes. Can you sign this document? I need to buy 5 p.m. tomorrow. And then I send a message in the morning. Hi, just checking in. Do you need help signing that document? Right. And then do you need to come to my office? I mean, it's like really just kind of hand holding.

SPEAKER_01 26:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 26:44

It's not hard to get the client if you have the agent relationships. It's not hard to keep the client. If you're truly serving the client, they're gonna, they're gonna stay with you. If you're doing all the things that we've been talking about, which is, you know, meeting with your clients and and putting them first, but it's hard to get them to commit right now.

Mark Jones 27:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 27:03

They're scared.

Mark Jones 27:04

Okay. For me, on a broader scale, it is number one. Matter of fact, the answer is not even one of these options. It's a it's easier to get the client, it's tougher to actually do their deal. Meaning, and it kind of goes hand in hand with what I've been preaching for the last, I don't know, year. The people buying right now are the ones that could not buy in 2020, 2021. Why? Because they would have.

SPEAKER_01 27:32

Yeah, yeah.

Mark Jones 27:33

It's just a simple fact of that matter. And then you've got the second thing.

SPEAKER_04 27:38

You don't you don't think that it's not a matter of they would have, it's their mentality and their mindset.

Mark Jones 27:44

Yeah, no. Yeah, nope. Only because we're we are humans, we we have humanistic traits, heard thinking. So therefore, in 2020, when rates were where they were, everybody and their mother, you know, I made the most money I ever made in my life.

SPEAKER_04 27:59

Yeah, for sure. It was a good year.

Mark Jones 28:00

On a W-2. It was a good two years. I'll say that. But the concept of of they would have done so. I mean I'd put it this way. I am the type of lender that is very transparent with my clients, very blunt with my clients. I have maybe one percent of the clients that don't like that approach, and that's fine. I mean, that's okay. Even my very, let's call it liberal analytical feely, that's three different types of clients right there, by the way, guys. They appreciate how honest the feedback is, honest the options are, etc. And I'll ask them, why didn't you buy in 2020? I'm like taking a silent poll. Oh man, because of the credit, or because of the this or because of the that. And asking guests over and over, I'm like, have you guys noticed that that deal you and realtors too? Yeah. That deal, have you ever extended contracts more than you have in the last year? Oh no, yeah, you're right. I just realized that. Yeah, like every deal requires an extension. And and it has nothing to do with the seller, right? No, it's it's always the buyer, something to buyer. I know it's like there's always something right now that's happening on the buy side that even expert, experienced lenders, they're having difficulties with. So that that is a tough part. But then the second thing to that, because they're all tough to be there out, they really are. I don't think there's a wrong answer to this. The fact that the consumer has access to so much information right now, and unfortunately, most of the time, it's inaccurate information.

SPEAKER_04 29:44

Right. That's true. They'll go to ChatGPT and ask mortgage questions, or they'll go to Google. I'm like, why didn't you call me? Because they have access to that information. It's easy.

Mark Jones 29:54

We are the experts. Right. That machine is supposedly the validator. Right. So what ends up happening is they jump on there and they get to scrolling, they go down the rabbit hole, they see some made-up program, and now they're in somebody else's pipeline.

SPEAKER_04 30:08

Yeah.

Mark Jones 30:09

That has not told them the truth about it yet. Right. But they're in their pipeline, if that makes sense.

SPEAKER_04 30:14

Oh, for sure. And that's, you know, it's it's one of those things where we were talking about innovation. We have to make sure that our mortgage company is up to speed with the AI, with everything that we are technically competing with, even though we're not, it's a computer, but it we truly are. Because again, it's quick text message, it's quick phone call. If you don't pick up when they text or call, they're going to go to Chat GPT. Right. And that's that's a fact.

Mark Jones 30:40

That's true. You're on the money. And that's actually a good transition.

Personal Touch Plus Modern Tech

Mark Jones 30:43

So now we're going to be talking about adapting to stay in business. And you mentioned technology. I don't know if I want to lead with that one. Let me see here. A lot of agents and lenders have okay. Yeah, that's this is a good one. A lot of agents and lenders have exited. In your opinion, what separates the people who survive versus the people who didn't?

SPEAKER_04 31:07

It's going to be that personal touch. That's it. Yeah. You know, it's it's especially with us being managers and hiring and and meeting with so many loan officers. You know, these newer loan officers, they're wanting to know, okay, you know, do you give leads? Or, okay, are you going to teach me how to do this? And I'm sorry, if the broker world is very different than the retail world. You know, yes, I'm going to hold your hand. Yes, I'm going to teach you all those things. But no, we don't give leads. You know, you have to be unafraid to go out and get your business. Absolutely.

Mark Jones 31:36

Yes. And even, and you know, and you can even tell them. Yeah. The reason why I'm providing your borrowers with such good rates is because my margins are thin, guys. So which one do you want? Right.

SPEAKER_04 31:48

Exactly. And that's, you know, and that's how we're going to stay in business, is just getting back to the grassroots back when they didn't have cell phones. You know, you got to show up at the door and hi Mr. Realtor, I'm here. It's true.

SPEAKER_01 31:59

It's true.

SPEAKER_04 31:59

You know, it's all under glass. I'm here. You know. So that's it. We just got to get back to that.

SPEAKER_01 32:03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 32:04

Otherwise, they're going to have to go sit at a desk at Wells Fargo and push paper and get those leads and get a steady paycheck, which is great. And that's fine. There's nothing wrong with that. Nothing wrong with that, by the way. Everybody's different.

Mark Jones 32:14

So that being said, with adaptation, evolution, so many uh industry professionals exiting or putting a pause or whatever you want to call it, what would be one or a couple of things that you have implemented or that you would advise anyone to implement in their business as let's say a non-negotiable?

SPEAKER_04 32:41

You know, I'm really blessed to have found an amazing LOA. It's it's really really difficult, I think, to find a great partner.

SPEAKER_01 32:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 32:49

That's somebody that's taken me what, 16 years now. 16 years to find the perfect person. And I always tell them, hey man, hey, Jordan, you're my right hand man. You can't do this alone, especially as a wife and a mother. And it's very different than I'm sure you can tell me if this is true. It's very different than being a male in the business. Even as a female, as a mama, most of them. Yeah, as somebody who's trying to grow your family and all of that. Um, you need help, you know, and there's nothing wrong with saying, hey, you know, you need help, you need an LOA. But even people that don't, that aren't mothers that aren't wives in this industry, men, they have LOAs. And and I highly recommend it. Whether it's an LOA to help you stay on top of your game with your phone calls or to help you gather paperwork or whatever it is, you know.

Mark Jones 33:28

That's actually a good topic for just a moment, the LOA concept. Only because in our industry, and it kind of goes hand in hand with what we're talking about here, evolution has done what it's done, and a lot of the things in our business can be automated. A lot of the now the personal touch can't do that, but reviewing documents, some of the automations that can take the place of that person to a certain extent. But then I also want to go into the fact of not everyone deserves an LOA. This is true. And I've seen it numerous times. You tell me, if you've witnessed it, let's say on another team, it's et cetera, the person gets an LOA and they do the same level of production. That shouldn't happen.

SPEAKER_04 34:16

No, no, yeah. No, for sure. I mean, and and our business model here is a little bit different. I've seen it where, you know, some companies will provide an LOA once they reach.

Mark Jones 34:25

A shared LOA concept.

SPEAKER_04 34:26

Yeah, we have more of a shared LOA concept. And it, you know, it depends on that individual LO, you know, what do you need them for? And they, you know, they're multifaceted in what they do. So yeah, but that, but then also shifting into our technology. Yeah. So aside from LOA, you know, is our technology up to date? You know, are you providing AI now? Are you using is your LOS system um up to date? Are you still using Encompass? You know, it's gotta be, yeah.

Mark Jones 34:50

We just switched off the Encompass. That's awesome.

SPEAKER_04 34:53

I mean, it's you know, yeah, we have to. And this is this is where, you know, we and we have to, and we have to be real with ourselves. Hey, that's okay. That worked for a little while, but times are changing, and now we need something better. Yeah. You know, we just changed our cheaper. And cheaper. Yeah, exactly. Thank you. Well, I'm saying, you know, now we're using Arrive, which we love. We never used a ride. I've heard good things about it. It's so great. It's so great, you know, which we love.

Mark Jones 35:14

And before this, we had LendingPad, and LendingPad was like, we're using Byte now, and I'm kind of in love with it. It's like, how did y'all come up with something that does everything we need it to do?

SPEAKER_04 35:24

Very cool.

Mark Jones 35:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 35:25

So let's check that out. But yeah, I mean, we we love a rive, it's something new, and it's been great. So just kind of keeping up with what's new to be able to help our innovate our business.

Mark Jones 35:34

I love that. And and as far as from a technology perspective, in regards to tools, you mentioned Chat GPT or AI. Do you, which whether you do or don't, you should start, start doing your own research and how to implement it in your business, and then show your realtors one-on-one. Here's what I learned. How can we apply it to your business? And the reason why I say that is we are too many times skipping over opportunities of value because we just don't realize, like, don't do the work twice. Meaning, okay, if I just did the research and now I'm implementing it in my into my business, I'm either going to record this or I'm going to use it as the next one-on-ones with my agents that I care about, and then whoever, great. But at the same time, that's a huge value add that they're not getting anywhere else.

SPEAKER_04 36:32

Oh, it's a what I'm saying. Yeah, totally. I mean, we've had Chat GPT classes. And as a matter of fact, this morning we actually we recently changed our company logo again to innovate and keep up with the times changing and all. Yeah, just to kind of keep up with things, you know? And we use Chat GPT for that. And it's money. Why wouldn't we? You know? And these are things where, you know, had we hired a graphic designer, could cost us an arm and away, or you know, you're working here, but so it would have cost you.

SPEAKER_01 36:56

You're right, a pinky.

SPEAKER_04 36:57

A pinky. But still, it's you know, it's still saving us money.

Mark Jones 37:00

Yeah, our own money on the love chat GPT, man.

SPEAKER_04 37:03

I'm not against here. But here's okay, I will say I don't like it. And I I've got a friend that does this. When they use Chat GPT and then they just copy and paste the whole thing and put it on social. And I'm like, man, that does not sound like you. At least put make it sound natural.

Mark Jones 37:17

That is a prompt. That's exactly it's all about prompting. You're dashes give it away. Yeah. Yes, yes. Matter of fact, I've already programmed mine to never put dashes, use ellipsis instead. There you go. Automatically. There you go. And for those out there that are but I don't know, seeking education in regards to chat GPT, I've got a complete playlist. It's called the Mortgage Truth, where we show realtors, lenders specifically, how to leverage that, how to prompt correctly, how to paint that picture for the infant AI that's about to do all your work for you. So, anywho, let's see here. Has

Discipline Habits That Create Deals

Mark Jones 37:55

the market rewarded discipline? Oh, yeah. What do you think about that? Has the market rewarded discipline through this last, let's say, couple of years?

SPEAKER_04 38:04

Oh, yeah. I mean, definitely. The harder you work, more business you're gonna have. You should always be working for the next couple of months.

SPEAKER_01 38:10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 38:10

You know, every day you need to have your schedule in place, your to-do list. First thing, first thing I do when I sit down is I write on, well, first thing that I do is I give thanks to God for the day.

Mark Jones 38:19

Amen.

SPEAKER_04 38:19

Yeah, definitely. It's gonna be a great day. Thank you, Lord, for everything you've given us and the opportunities that we have, because not everybody has this opportunity to do what we do. So heart of gratitude, but then sit down around my to-do list. Okay, it's number one, gotta do this today. Number two, you gotta do that today. And if you're not doing that every single day, what are you doing? You know, my my husband, he he's uh he's an engineer and he does software programming for a nuclear company. And it's interesting because his team, every single morning, they meet and they have a meeting, and I told him that what do you have a meeting every single morning?

Mark Jones 38:47

Because they're scared of getting replaced. Dude. I'm like, Matt, you know what? Like, I'm meeting once a week. Don't be mad at me for saying that, husband, Mr. Glass. Okay.

SPEAKER_04 38:57

I don't know, no. He's good. He's good. But you know, it's it's one of those things. Why do I mean it's a morning? Well, the same thing with us sitting down and writing our to-do list every single morning. It's a short five minutes, boom, boom, what are you gonna do today?

SPEAKER_01 39:06

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 39:06

Discipline is so important. If you're not disciplined, and you can tell who's disciplined by their numbers in a production. 1000%.

Mark Jones 39:12

Yes, ma'am, you are correct. Or those that are distracted, or those that are not fully in this.

SPEAKER_04 39:17

Yeah, for sure. You cannot do this part-time. Anyone that comes to me and says, Oh, I want to do this part-time or have another job. I'm sorry, this is it's not for you. It's not for you. Or maybe my team's not for you. Yeah, you can try. You can try. Yeah.

Mark Jones 39:29

But yeah, you still gotta learn how to do loans. Right. Then you gotta learn how to go get the loans. Then when you get the loans, you gotta figure out how to do the loans.

SPEAKER_04 39:35

Well, your reputation's everything. That's right. And and word gets around quick. Yeah. And the real estate community in San Antonio is very small. If you screw up a loan or something, I mean it's just gonna get around like wildfire. You cannot afford to do this part-time.

Mark Jones 39:46

That's so true. That's so scary. You're on the money. You are on the money. Yeah, let's pull up some market. How are we doing on time, JC? 43 minutes in. Told you.

SPEAKER_04 39:57

Perfect. Okay. I was like, I can talk too much.

Mark Jones 40:00

Okay. We're not even to like number four. I'm having to skip ahead. That's awesome. Okay, so I've got some market data here. I'm gonna

San Antonio Data And Investor Shift

Mark Jones 40:10

throw this up on the screen. Let's see if we can JC, if you can. Kapowie. All right, let's see if I can make it bigger without getting broken. All right, realtors. I'm gonna say something that is gonna sting a little bit. Most of you are using AI completely wrong. You're asking it to write captions, you're asking it to rewrite listing descriptions, and you're using it like a slightly smarter intern. But the agents that are quietly winning right now, they're using it for strategy, conversion, and systems. We're good.

unknown 40:47

There you go.

Mark Jones 40:47

Just kidding. Okay, so when you hear balanced market, make sure that there, there I am. When you when you hear balanced market, uh, do you think a part of the phrase hides how hard it still is for the average home buyer? Like, yeah, we're in a balanced market. And the reason why I say that is I've got this data up on the screen. And when asked Chat GPT, and like I said, mine is very trained, it only provides factual data, no fluff. San Antonio is more balanced, but not easy. Sabor's January 2026 report showed that 1,974 homes sold down 10% year over year, with 15,000 active listings up 11%, 5.49 months of inventory, and 98 days on the market, which is up 17%. The medium sold price is 292, almost 293, down 1% year over year. That is not a frozen market, but it is clearly more patient and more selective market. So when we hear, and you can kill that, when you hear on the media that God, we hear everything on the media. It's like the sky is falling, then the next war is gonna happen. This is so much of it. Yeah. And then you actually look at the data and you go, well, we're actually in a balanced market. Does it feel like it?

SPEAKER_04 42:20

It doesn't feel like it, but I think we are, honestly, which is probably not the answer most people would would expect me to say. But I think we are. Yeah, because you have, you know, prices of homes coming down, even though the rates are going up. And that in turn kind of balances everything.

Mark Jones 42:34

Yeah. You're drawing the money on that. I believe what we have is like you were mentioning earlier, a ton of borrowers that are just scared. Yeah. And have not been educated well enough to know that as long as you buy it and hold it, you're gonna be fine regardless of anything. But I think we do have a lot of the mentality from the younger generation that you've got to make money from your house because everybody did in 2020 and 2021.

SPEAKER_04 43:02

I think you have a lot of people that want to be investors because they watch HGTV or they see us on social media and think it's easy and it's not. And I think that, you know, us as lenders, when we're doing those investment property loans, teach them, hey, what's your strategy here? You know, is it gonna is are you trying to make $300 more per month? Because if you are at this interest rate, uh, maybe we need to wait. You know, maybe we need to change our mindset here. And it's a buy and hold market right now with the current interest rates, which, like you said, I mean, it'll turn around. It was we've seen both of us have been in it almost the same amount of time. We've seen over time that, you know, what goes up must come down. And it's always, in my opinion, and is I'm not saying that's because I'm a lender, okay? It's true. It's always the right time to buy.

Mark Jones 43:45

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 43:45

No, you're right. It's true.

Mark Jones 43:47

But I have I so yesterday I went to my son's baseball game. My mom is a processor for a non-QM lender, and they are slammed. Like her branch closed 38 investor loans last month. Month and have another 30, 40 in the pipeline. And I was talking to her. I'm going, man, isn't it silly how we're having to pull teeth to get these first-time home buyers to understand that it's still the right time to buy as long as the numbers line up with your budget, et cetera, and you qualify, it's still a right time. And you've got investors that are putting 20, 25%, 30% down to continue to buy homes. And we're not talking your black rock, black sheep, black, whatever. The idea is these are mom and pop folks like you and I that ran out of traditional ways. Now they're going alternative to continue to grow in their portfolios. How do you feel about that?

SPEAKER_04 44:46

So I think that, and this is a lot of the reason why we changed our logo as well. I think that there was a time where it we were heavy with business from first-time home buyers and primary residence homeowners. But given the current market and the prices of the homes coming down and the investors looking for the great deals, who was it that said when nobody else is buying, that's when you should buy?

Mark Jones 45:08

I know Warren Buffett said don't wait to buy real estate, buy real estate, then wait. But I have heard that before. So yes.

SPEAKER_04 45:15

So you've got a big pool of investors that are looking for these debt service coverage ratio loans. You've got people coming from Mexico purchasing in San Antonio, which we were at. Yeah. You've got a huge need for these investor loans, which is why your mom is so busy. And so us as lenders, we offer those products. We both do. Absolutely. And so because we offer those products, you know, everybody, okay, every lender has like their niche, right? Like you'll see like the military credit unions and military lenders are niche's VA.

Mark Jones 45:47

That's a high margin, by the way.

SPEAKER_04 45:50

Yeah, yeah. And it's the truth.

Mark Jones 45:53

Keep it real.

SPEAKER_04 45:54

But you know, sometimes you have to change your business model according to where the market's at in order for you to remain in business or to remain fruitful, right? Absolutely. Yes. That's you know, again, it goes back into our innovation topic. We're innovating, we're changing where, you know, we're adapting. Yes. We're adapting to this current market. We need to adapt to the investors in this market. They don't care that a DSCR loan interest rate is 7%.

Mark Jones 46:18

You're on the money.

SPEAKER_04 46:19

They don't care that the international DSCR, what are they called? Yeah, they're DSCR loans for international, I don't know what they're called. But those are 9%. They don't care about that because their mindset's different than the first-time home buyer.

Mark Jones 46:30

You're on the and and that mindset in itself allows that investor to go, wait a minute, there are some tax benefits to having that higher rate that I can then write off over here. But the first-time home buyer only sees the payment. Right. Exactly. Yeah. And and unfortunately, there are still too many that their vision of their first home and their payment do not align. Does that kind of make sense?

SPEAKER_04 46:59

Oh, yeah, for sure. And I would say this like if you bought a home in the last two, three years and you had a conversation with your loan officer, like, I want to build my portfolio. I'm going to come back to you. And you were very green buying your first home last year, the last two years. The home that you're sitting in right now is your first investment property. That is your first investment property.

Mark Jones 47:22

It was my first. So yes, you're on the money.

SPEAKER_04 47:24

Yes, because otherwise you're going to turn on and you're going to put 20, 25% down on your investment property. Why? You're already in it. Just buy another primary and put less down.

Mark Jones 47:31

Boom.

SPEAKER_04 47:31

Yeah. See?

Mark Jones 47:33

Weird. Is that a hack? No, that's just life. That's lending guidelines. It's just someone taught you how to do that. So you went and did it again. Right. And if nobody's taught you before, we just did right now. You know? Um. Oh my love. That was awesome. Okay, so let's wrap this up.

Rapid Fire And Final Takeaways

Mark Jones 47:53

But before we do, it's time for rapid fire. Pew, pew, pew, pew, pew, pew.

SPEAKER_04 47:58

Hit me. What's up?

Mark Jones 48:00

Okay, so in this rapid fire segment, I'm going to be asking you questions. Okay. And no explanation. It's just answer. We're moving on to the next. You don't have to explain yourself.

SPEAKER_03 48:12

Okay.

Mark Jones 48:13

Okay. Okay. So here we go. We're keeping this short. We're keeping it punchy. And buyer markets or sellers market in San Antonio right now.

SPEAKER_03 48:27

Buyer market.

Mark Jones 48:28

More important in 2026, database or social media?

SPEAKER_04 48:34

Database.

Mark Jones 48:36

Tougher clients right now, first-time homebuyers or unrealistic sellers.

SPEAKER_03 48:42

First time home buyers.

Mark Jones 48:43

I would have to agree. Better strategy for today. More leads or better conversion?

SPEAKER_03 48:49

Better conversion.

Mark Jones 48:50

All day. Bigger, which one's a bigger killer? Let's see here. Inconsistency or lack of skills?

SPEAKER_04 48:59

Inconsistency.

Mark Jones 49:01

Okay. You can you can learn skills. You can learn skills. More important rate knowledge or communication skills?

SPEAKER_04 49:08

Communication skills.

Mark Jones 49:09

I have to agree. Rates, they're published daily, guys. I mean, they are what they are. We don't affect them. Y'all do, technically. Let's see here. One mortgage myth that you wish would die.

SPEAKER_03 49:23

Oh God. I don't know.

Mark Jones 49:24

Take your time.

SPEAKER_04 49:25

One mortgage myth that I wish would die.

Mark Jones 49:30

That is a total.

SPEAKER_04 49:31

Date the rate. Or what do they say?

Mark Jones 49:32

Ooh, Marry the Home Date.

SPEAKER_04 49:33

Marry the home date the rate. I wish that died. That was mine.

Mark Jones 49:35

I wish that gets divorced. I wish they would just break up already.

SPEAKER_04 49:40

I hate that.

Mark Jones 49:42

Which one got half? Yeah. Okay, let's see here. One real estate myth that you wish would die.

SPEAKER_04 49:54

That you have to pay your buyer's agent.

Mark Jones 49:56

That's not true. Okay, very good.

SPEAKER_04 49:57

Buyer's agents are free for the buyer.

Mark Jones 50:00

One business habit that you think every loan officer or agent needs. I think you said it earlier.

SPEAKER_04 50:14

You need to every day create your to-do list and you need to make your phone calls every single day, even when you don't feel like it. Get dressed, go out there.

Mark Jones 50:21

What I'm hearing is consistency, guys. Whatever you do, consistently do it. Period. Let's see here. If the market stayed like it is right now for two more years, who wins?

SPEAKER_04 50:34

Buyers or the what do you buyers or sellers?

Mark Jones 50:37

I mean, who wins? I was waiting for you to say me.

SPEAKER_04 50:44

No, I mean, it again, it's your mindset. You know, the buyer's the investor. There he's the buyer and he's winning right now.

SPEAKER_01 50:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 50:52

The first time home buyers, it they're scared, and it's a poverty mindset.

Mark Jones 50:56

Okay. Last question. Actually, two more questions. What keeps you confident right now in this market?

SPEAKER_04 51:06

Keeps me confident is my my knowledge, honestly, my relationships that I've built.

Mark Jones 51:11

Okay. And then the last one, what's next for you?

SPEAKER_04 51:15

Next for me. Well, I'm not going anywhere. So I'm going to keep doing what I'm doing and continuing to grow, really. So you'll see a lot more of me.

Mark Jones 51:24

I love that. And hopefully this will go very far because this was a pretty insightful episode where we definitely were raw. We definitely gave the truth side of things and plenty for not only home buyers, but also other realtors and lenders out there to grab something from. That being said, Alejandra, thank you for joining. Thank you for having this conversation with another lender. Oh my God. What? Yes, it is true. We can get along. Is there anything that you'd like to tell our listeners before we hop off of here?

SPEAKER_04 51:57

Thank you so much for having me. This was a lot of fun. You guys just go out there and buy real estate. When you're scared, just do it. You know, loan officers, if you're scared right now, don't worry about it. Just keep doing what you're doing, consistency. You're gonna, the, the leads are gonna come. Just keep doing what you're doing. If you're a seller in this market right now, you've really got to make sure that you're working with a really great agent because a lot of a lot of sellers will sell their home quick. A lot of others will have their home sitting on the market. So who you work with matters.

Mark Jones 52:26

Love it. I love it. Thank you. So for you listeners out there, if you are, let's say, a loan officer, a realtor that's currently in this market feeling discouraged, sucks to suck. No, I'm just kidding. The idea behind it is you've got to first start with a hunger to want to do those things. Matter of fact, I was practicing with my son in the driveway last night after his baseball game. And the idea behind him just focusing on dribbling drills for the first five minutes was excruciating to him. And the reason being is it's boring, it's mundane. It's the things that we don't have a ton of fun at doing, but we probably know we should be doing them before we go to the next thing. So focus on those needle-moving activities back to the basic concept and consistency. After a week of doing them, no, you're not going to get results like that, guys. For those buyers out there, I kind of echo exactly what Alejandra said.

Like Subscribe And Closing Motto

Mark Jones 53:26

There's never a great time to buy, and there's never a bad time to buy. It's when you are ready, when you feel you're ready financially, when that payment aligns with what your appetite is, and doing the math, getting with an expert that will provide you all of the options, both on the real estate and financing side. So hopefully you guys are getting stuff out of this. Take a trip back to a couple of the other episodes if you haven't already. But stay tuned for each and every episode, like we do every week. On Wednesdays, they get released. Thanks for liking and subscribing. We are like almost to 50,000. So if you could, if you haven't yet, hit that like button, subscribe, all the rest of the jazz. Till the next one. We'll see ya.

SPEAKER_00 54:08

At the end of every day, look at yourself in the mirror and ask, did I get better today? Monday, get better. Tuesday, get better. Wednesday, get better. If you do that for five years, ten years, fifteen years, how much better will you be? Are you getting better every single day? That's the real question. And it all comes down to taking small steps. You don't have to accomplish everything in one day or even one week. Just focus on getting a little better.