.jpg)
REality
Welcome to the REality podcast--the best podcast for real estate agents. Join us each episode as we talk with industry experts and top producing real estate agents to peel back the curtain and reveal what it takes to make it in today's ultra competitive real estate business. This is real life, in real time, sharing real experiences of industry professionals to help both new and seasoned agents achieve their goals and realize their potential. Are you ready to take your real estate business to the next level? Let's get started now. Sign up for Gary's weekly FOCUS newsletter, delivered right to your inbox each Monday morning: https://mailchi.mp/e3771e6a2516/focus-email
REality
Embracing Challenges and Dreams: Brian Cagle on Leadership and Real Estate Success
What if your mindset could make or break your success in real estate? Join us as we engage with Brian Cagle, Regional Vice President from the Asheville Mountain region, who shares his unique journey from ministry and music to leading in the real estate industry. Brian's multifaceted background brings a refreshing perspective to leadership, deeply rooted in his connection to North Carolina’s mountains and his dedication to quality growth and development in the region.
Discover the secrets to thriving in real estate despite industry shifts and market challenges. Brian highlights the power of a positive outlook and emphasizes the advantage fresh perspectives newcomers bring to the table. We delve into the practical strategies essential for navigating the 2024 real estate landscape, including adapting to low inventory and higher interest rates. His insights on trust, professionalism, and the evolving nature of business practices are invaluable for anyone looking to succeed in this competitive field.
Welcome to Reality Podcast. I'm your host, Gary Scott. Today, from the Asheville Mountain region, we have Regional Vice President Brian Cagle. Good morning, Brian. How are you today?
Speaker 2:Good morning, Gary. I'm doing great.
Speaker 1:Thanks for being with me. I always get a chuckle out of saying good morning because our listeners, as you know, could be listening at any time, but I've started to share with our listeners. As you know, could be listening at any time, but I've started to share with our listeners when we record. So this is our first, I think, professional event, Brian, after a beautiful Memorial Day weekend. So I hope you and your family had a great weekend and you were able to spend time with them and hopefully you got to recharge your battery a little bit. Did you have a great weekend? You were able to spend time with them and hopefully you got to recharge your battery a little bit. Did you have a great weekend?
Speaker 2:Yeah. I had a great weekend Spent the weekend at our lake place and had some beautiful weather and had some really crazy weather. Had a big rain event yesterday, but it was all good.
Speaker 1:Great to be there. Yeah Well, memorial Day is certainly one of the holidays that really. I don't know if it impacts me, but I certainly spend a lot of time thinking about how fortunate we are to be able to do what we do. Interestingly enough, brian, in our jobs we help people with the American dream. But interestingly enough, brian, in our jobs we help people with the American dream. And yesterday we remembered those who gave their life for us to enjoy these incredible freedoms. And so, while it certainly represents the official start of summer, it is far more than that. So I know those things are important to Brian Cagle too.
Speaker 2:Yes, absolutely. It's hard to fathom really when you think about it the depth of that. We think sacrifice is doing something maybe a little emotionally hard sometimes. You've got thousands of people who've given their lives for it so thankful. You've got thousands of people who've given their lives for it so so thankful.
Speaker 1:Yep for sure. So you know what I told Brian as we prepped for this. I said one of the things that I've been I've been doing is reading a bit of the bio. I don't want to read it all, cause that takes up some of our Q and a, but I've grabbed this paragraph from Brian's bio that I think will help everyone get to know Brian a little bit better, because that is certainly what we want to do today. We're going to talk about the real estate business. We're going to talk about what we believe is important in 2024 and beyond. I think what's going to be really interesting is we're going to talk a lot about Brian's journey in our industry and his journey before the real estate business, which I'm confident everyone will find inspiring.
Speaker 1:So let me take a moment before we jump into Q&A with Regional Vice President from the Asheville Mountain Region, brian Kegel. Brian has held various leadership roles in business, social and church venues social and church venues. Aside from being an accomplished musician, brian is an avid trout fisherman and roams the mountains and coasts of the beautiful state of North Carolina. This familiarity with the region provides Brian with a unique perspective. Insight with a unique perspective, insight and appreciation for the mountains and a desire to see quality growth and development. Brian, does that sound like that comes right off of your bio page?
Speaker 2:It sure does. It sure does, and I'll have to say, gary, it reminds me of my dad, because I think my dad, who's passed now, helped me craft some of those words, so it feels good.
Speaker 1:Well, we'll talk a little bit later about mentors and people that made a difference in your life and helped you know kind of you know craft you into the leader that you are. So let's go real quick. The real estate business when did you get started in the real estate business, brian?
Speaker 2:Gary, I got started in the real estate business in 2005. Worked for a little company, I kind of got into it. I was doing some flips myself. I was flipping some property and buying and selling some land. It was easy to do. In those days, as you probably recall, everybody was a developer and everybody was flipping stuff and I thought, well, you know, might as well get my license as well. So I did that and went to work for a guy that had a little small mom and pop shop I think there were four of us and was there for about a year is all I can take it. Great guy, but it was so slow. I was the first one there and the last one to leave. I was like man, there is not much going on here, and was fortunate enough to have an opportunity with Beverly Hanks to join them shortly after that.
Speaker 1:Excellent, excellent. So you know interesting, brian, you got into the real estate business. You made mention in 2005,. A former colleague of mine used to call that time in our industry the hip hop years in the real estate business. So you did get into it in the hip hop years in the real estate business. So you did get into it in the hip hop years. I think one of the things when you and I had a chance to sit down and talk about your opportunity to move from the branch leader at the Waynesville office into the RVP is you shared with me at length, you know, what you did prior to real estate and I think it's really it's certainly super interesting to me and I'm confident that our listeners are going to find it interesting. And then I can't wait to talk about kind of how what you did and what you learned there has translated here. So why don't you share what you did prior to the real estate business, brian?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so prior to that I had been involved in Christian ministry in various venues, got started in the music piece of that. I was kind of love music as a teenager, like most of us do, and got drawn into Christian music and I started writing songs and all that kind of thing and I got real involved in our church and before I knew it I was involved in all kinds of leadership in the church, ended up being on staff. We had a little bitty church at that time. That grew exponentially over time and one day the pastor of our church kind of tapped me and said let's go to lunch. So he asked me to go to lunch with him and we were sitting there having lunch and he said I think you ought to help us plant a church. And I said I'm sorry, who else is in the room? Who are you talking to? So he tapped me to do that and we went and planted a church over in a community west of here, silva, north Carolina, and I was there seven years as a pastor and somehow I survived and most of the people survived.
Speaker 2:Some serious lessons in leadership right there. You know 100%. Volunteers, you know 100% volunteers. You know 100%. If you can lead volunteers. You can lead about anybody, that's for sure.
Speaker 1:So I love that you planted a church that in the seven years under your leadership you know it grew exponentially and that the lessons in leadership during that seven year period I can only imagine grew exponentially as well as the congregation did. I do get a little chuckle thinking about your love of music because I want to share that. It was about a year ago I went to an event what was that place? Called the Orange Orange Peel the Orange Orange Peel. I went to the Orange Peel in Asheville, north Carolina, and there was a Tom Petty tribute.
Speaker 1:If you remember any of our listeners from Asheville Mountain, the Tom Petty tribute starred our own Gaia Goldman's husband and shortly into, I think, the fourth set. I look up and Brian Cagle is making it happen up on stage, and Brian Kegel is making it happen up on stage. So his love of music spans beyond Christian music to Tom Petty, and I'm sure it goes on and on and on. So, before we get into some important parts of the real estate business, what is your music today that you enjoy the most, brian?
Speaker 2:Oh man, you know I'm kind of a. I probably would flip over to the 70s and 80s. You know, I mean that's kind of what most of us do at this age, I imagine. But you know, music's interesting. It's kind of magic. It kind of transcends. It transcends some things which I think is a leadership thing all itself, gary. It's like it sets the atmosphere which I think a leader has to do. A leader has got to set the tone and the atmosphere for where they are. You can't wait for it to happen.
Speaker 1:You've got to make it happen. So interesting. You mentioned the impact, and I'll call it the influence of music. As you know, on a weekly basis I write a I don't know what you call it a blog or a newsletter, and one of the themes I've always wanted to do. I'm a big country music fan and I listen to. My two music Brian would be country music and Christian music. Those are the two things I listen to and I don't need to tell you. You know and we talk about it all the time in our business I'm going to talk about a little bit later that words matter and the words that we use and the tone that we set, you know, does help kind of dictate the kind of leader that we are and or are becoming, and I've always wanted to include like 12 or 15 lyrics that are super impactful when you read them and you listen to them.
Speaker 1:And you know I know that I've got five or six go-tos that when I need that lift, I play them and you listen to them. And you know, I know that I've got five or six go-tos that when I need that lift, I play them. And you know, from time to time certainly, window shut, nobody listening, but I might sing them, but it does. It sets your own tone and then, therefore, so your love of music. We'll come back to it a little bit.
Speaker 1:So let's get into the real estate business. We'll come back to it a little bit. So let's get into the real estate business. Let's get into halftime 2024. And let's talk a little bit about what you think today for our listener and we have to remind ourselves that our listeners can be in it 20, 25 years, brian, they can be in it 20, 25 days. They can be thinking about getting into it. The beautiful thing about the listeners of the Reality Podcast, real life, real time, the reality podcast, real life, real time, real experiences and I think that you know the keys to success will be the same for all of our audiences, I think in 2024, but certainly interested in you know, kind of, if you've assessed the landscape, what do you think the keys are for a real estate professional, trusted advisor, today in our business?
Speaker 2:Number one you got to get your head in the right place. Your mindset's got to be straight. Your mindset is so important because it affects the way you perceive reality. It affects the way you perceive reality and, you know, you kind of create your own reality with your mindset, whether you see, you know, positive things, whether you see opportunity, or whether you, you know, become a victim and you see everything's against you. And that's the number one key to success in almost anything, gary. So that doesn't change. You know, the challenges change, the challenges change, they're going to keep changing, but the way we perceive them and the way we adapt to them is critical. So I think somebody coming into the business new right now may have an advantage, gary, because they don't have a lot of baggage to unpack, right, they just go. Hey, I got to learn, I got to figure this out, I got to adapt. Whereas somebody that's been in for a while they're like, oh my gosh, you know I already figured this out one time, I got to figure it out again. Yeah, you got to figure it out again, you got to figure it out again. And so those that can adapt are going to win. They're going to win, they're going to be successful.
Speaker 2:So the challenges you know that we have today we've got a settlement NAR settlement which is going to impact some of our business practices, some of the way we interact with customers. But you know, that's all something we can do. It's all something we can do, it's fine. It's going to thin out some of the herd, which is a good thing in my view. Some folks have just been skating along on the wave of a crazy market, post-covid market. So you know, I think those are a couple of things. The other thing I was thinking about is that I would would this may sound self-serving a little bit, but I would want to be with people that I trust and I know, that have my back and that care about me, and I think that's just critical to go through life but work with as well, and so I mean, I think those are some keys right now.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so I love the way you melded when you talk about mindset. We talk about it a lot, kind of following the ninja practice, and we talk and Pat's always been mindset, mechanics, momentum, and they're the same right. But you've added a twist which is what we know is our perception, is our reality, and our mindset determines our perception. I think that's really again, no pun intended that's really perceptive and I think it's a whole different view of this mindset. You know there's a fixed mindset and a growth mindset. I think. The other thing you pointed out, which you're now the second straight guest that I've had on the podcast last week I had the good fortune of interviewing Matthew Ferrara and Matthew was talking go ahead, I'm in good company with him. Well, I'm not going to put any pressure on you, but in about four hours I got.
Speaker 2:Jared James coming on.
Speaker 1:So you know, we've got, we have an all star cast. We've got Matthew Ferrara, brian Kegel and Jared James and, but you know, what's interesting is those guys. Clearly they do what they do. But I love this conversation simply because I think that our listeners are going to be able to embrace the conversation that we have today. And you, piggybacked off of something that Brian or, excuse me, that Matthew said, which was he believes the new to the business are really going to be well qualified and they're going to be so well prepared for the new approach to our business that inevitably is going to follow some of these changes. Right, and you know? The other thing that you said, brian, which I think really resonated with me, is you know people that have been in our business 20, 25, 30 years and you remember the incredible, infamous quote from your very own, ann Skoglund like we've experienced not one, two, three, we've experienced seven or eight really dynamic changes in our industry and at each turn, great agents and great companies thrived as they responded and adapted to the new approach. So, very, very well said, I think you also have a really interesting approach.
Speaker 1:2005, 2006,. Real estate professional, trusted advisor, moved into leadership of the Waynesville office and, I think a year ago or so, moved to the RVP regional vice president. Why don't you just share today that role and responsibility includes? Why don't you share our listeners? What does that include? Number of offices, number of agents, number of employees. And then what I want to talk about a little bit is your experience in each of those three professional buckets the commonalities and maybe some of the unique differences. So let's start with sharing a little bit about current role and responsibility and span of control.
Speaker 2:Yeah, sure. So about a year ago I took the role of the RVP. We have to date 22 locations here in the Asheville Mountain region, in the Highlands, Cashers Plateau, 475 agents.
Speaker 2:I guess we have maybe 35, 40 staff that support all that. It's a great team, wonderful human beings, fortunate to be here. As far as the differences in the roles, kind of over time they're quite different. I was noodling on that a little bit last night. I think the thing about being an agent that I missed the most for a long time and if I thought about it too hard I'd probably still miss it is the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat. It's like you're living it. You're living that moment of a deal. I put it under contract, close the deal, put the people in the house. You're sitting there at the closing table with a young couple and pregnant wife and they burst into tears hugging you. Thank you so much. I mean, there's some moments like that. There's some really beautiful moments and there's some pretty painful ones too, when you've had three deals fall through on one day. So there's that part of that business that's different.
Speaker 2:Moving into the branch leader role, you know the beautiful part of that role is you get to see people grow. You have longer time with period. You know when you're an agent you've got this. I don't know. You know we'll say you're even with somebody six months. That's a big deal. You're their best friend and suddenly you start over. You know, with with agents. You're with them for years, years and years and to watch them grow, watch them start to believe they can do more, be more, dream more and to see them do it, I mean that's pretty magic stuff. You know, it's incredible. It's incredible. Certainly, some of the parts you don't like about it is you're sitting in your office waiting for the next crisis to happen and you clean that one up and if you're lucky, you get time for coffee. You know to go pour a cup of coffee before the next one hits. But all that's just part of the journey.
Speaker 1:You know the RVP role, gary, ask me in about five years role Gary, ask me in about five years I was going to ask about. Well, we'll come back to the RVP role because you do have a moderate sample of 12 or 13 months. But I love your analysis. When we list and sell, there's a rush. It is a mad rush, it's an adrenaline rush. I've shared this story a thousand times.
Speaker 1:Most of my speeding tickets came after I ratified a contract and I was all juiced up and I'm driving and I'm going through a small town in Wilmington, delaware, with a 35 mile, I'm going 60, and the cop pulls me over and I said, dude, I just ratified a contract for a first time home buyer, and the guy's like I really don't care, and he gave me the ticket. But that is that feeling and when you lead a branch which I did as well it's a I'll call it more of a slow drip. You know where the other is an injection of this energy and this passion and this enthusiasm. Where this is to your point, you get to really watch people grow, excel, achieve financial rewards and benefits that many of the people that we work with probably never dreamed of and it's one of the beautiful things about our business dreamed of. And it's one of the beautiful things about our business. As you know, I grew up in the real estate business and my father used to call it the last bastion of free enterprise, and he always used to say at the end of the year you looked in the mirror and if you made a lot of money, you could thank yourself. If you didn't make a lot of money, you got to kick yourself in the tail because you probably didn't do what you had to do, right? You had some control of your financial destiny and then you and I, as leaders, have a responsibility to help people achieve goals and objectives that they've established for themselves.
Speaker 1:I do want to go to the RVP role, so a year ago. A fundamental belief that I have is that when we embark on anything new, it's never what we think. It's better, it's not as good, it's certainly different. No matter what we've done in our life, whatever we think we're doing new job, new city, go to college, start a new sport it's never what you think. And so just share with our listeners kind of a year in review. First year RVP. You know I love your thrill of victory, agony of defeat. That's 1972, wide world of sports, which you and I we can see the guy on the ski doing a flip. So share some of that first year experience with our audience today.
Speaker 2:Sure, when to start. It's been a lot. I think part of the uniqueness to the role this year has been, you know, uniqueness to the role this year has been, you know, we've been aligning with Howard Hanna, alan Tate. There's been a lot of what we've been working through this last year in so many ways. You know, being involved with the leadership team at Alan Tate has been amazing. I have enjoyed it so much. At Allentate has been amazing. I have enjoyed it so much.
Speaker 2:Just, you've got seasoned leaders looking at challenges, debating ideas and making decisions that affect a lot of people. So that has been very inspiring to me and it's just been. It's been a great opportunity working closer with Neil. You know I've worked with Neil for 18 years now but never like now, never like now, and so you know, just watching his decision making process, being a part of his decision making process, making decisions together, has been really inspiring and I've really appreciated how much thought goes into decisions and how much heart goes into making a call that's going to affect our team. It's a big deal. So you know that's been a new thing for me. It's been a new thing for me and it's an opportunity. It's a huge responsibility as well, it's been a new thing for me and it's an opportunity. It's a huge responsibility as well. I mean, it's a big deal.
Speaker 1:Well, I appreciate you talking about Neil. Clearly, I've had the chance to work with Neil Hanks. I've known him for 30 years, had a chance to work closely with him for almost gosh coming on two years now, from the planning to the coming together in August of 2022. And you know, really a thoughtful leader, you know you bring up. You just shared a word that I think is really important when we think about leadership and certainly with your pre-real estate career and experiences, you know the ability to lead with your heart and you know, I think that sometimes young leaders and maybe I'm talking about myself 30 years ago, you know I was leading with my head, thinking that it was about being smart, it was about knowing things, it was about being able to get things done, it was about maybe, you know, just proving one's self, and I think what happens is when we transition from leading with the heart or leading with the head to leading from the heart, everything changes dramatically and I think that I think it's really an important lesson. You know, one of the things that we share often is you know, leadership is not a title. You know leadership is everybody that's listening today. Leadership is everybody listening today and everybody they know. You know, leadership is how we interact with people. It's about our attitude, it's about our beliefs, it's about the decisions we make. It's about the choices we make. It's about how we treat people. It's about how we treat people who can't do anything for us. And I think leadership I've simplified this overcomplicated society, brian, that we live in, which is, I think it's all about leadership Like, I think it's all about leadership. I think that when you get to work with great leaders, everything is better, performance is better, culture is better, morale is better, attitude is better. So I love that you shared today about your experiences and interactions with Neil. I'll call it thought leadership from the heart.
Speaker 1:Let's shift gears a little bit. We talked about some of the things that are important, I'll say, at 30,000 feet, moving forward in 2024. But there are some real things out there. There's low inventory, there's higher interest rates than we had before. There is, in about three months, the introduction of the new approach to our business. You know, just share with our listeners some strategies that you've been sharing with your team on how to leverage these things to your advantage not to your disadvantage and to your point. It all starts with your mindset, your ability to adapt and adjust and perception reality, but there are also some strategies and tactics that are fundamental to our business. So just share with our listeners some of the things that you've seen your team do, that you recommend and encourage listeners to put into practice as part of their plan for the balance of this year.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so there's two or three issues you mentioned there. I'll start with the settlement NAR lawsuit settlement. So I've been fortunate enough to be involved with Canopy MLS and Canopy the board for years and years. The director there, ann Marie, whom you know well, also Gary saw this coming years ago maybe five, six years ago and said this is going to happen and I half believed her at the time, but I thought let's make some contingency plans. So I started talking to the team in Waynesville which I managed at the time about their value proposition as a buyer's agent and how the time would probably come when they're going to have to be able to earn their keep. They're going to have to think like a business person. They're going to have to approach this like a business person.
Speaker 2:And I'll never forget the first time I did a sales meeting on how you know how to make sure you get your what's your ode in as working as a buyer's agent. I prepared a handouts page and a half and had some language about how to how to talk this through and it was probably six years ago and I think you could. It was like it went over like a lead balloon. Everybody thought this guy is nuts. What planet is Brian on? What did he eat last night? And so you know, and I think that you could take that situation and talk about it in most any case, I mean most of the offices have been talking about that. You know for a think that you could take that situation and talk about it in most any case, I mean most of the offices have been talking about that, you know, for a long, long time, but it's been all theory, it's been all theory, right, it's like, oh yeah, maybe, maybe, maybe. So it's time now for you, for you to get serious about it.
Speaker 2:You know, I recall, as a seller's agent, you know we're, we've done a pretty good job here in the mountains of, you know, holding our fee and that didn't happen accidentally, it happens because you practiced, you got comfortable with it, you owned it, you were willing to walk away from business Right, some business you're willing to walk away from and I think that's where we got to get on the buy side. I know it is that's where we got to get on the buy side. I know it is that's where we got to get on the buy side and we can do it. We can do it. It's not that big a deal, you can do it. I was thinking about a.
Speaker 2:I actually had lunch with a developer today, a little bit later. I've known this guy most of my life. I might have ridden the school bus with this guy that long Early in my marriage. We bought a piece of property and was going to punch a little drive in, and so I called two or three people he was one of them Came out, looked at it, he gave me a price and his price was about three times about three times the guy I ended up going with.
Speaker 2:I went with the cheap bid. Well, I didn't get a real good job, gary, and the guy that did the work for me I don't know where he's at, he's not in business anymore, but the guy that gave me the bid that I should have went with right. He's a highly successful developer in the mountains now and I think that's the part of being a business person that some I worry that some people as we move through this transition where there's going to be more flexibility for agents to make decisions about what their fee is, we've kind of been the backup plan for them. They said oh well, you know, this is what our company does. They're going to have to think like a business person and think long-term, and those that do will be successful. Those that skate to the cheapest bid may be working at McDonald's this time next year, maybe that's okay.
Speaker 1:So a couple of things. Uh, I I wrote down I I love to take notes during, during these uh interviews. Uh, you know, I'm just so lucky that, as part of kind of this role, I get a chance to interview some really, really great, uh great individuals like brian kegel you are listening to reality podcast with a special guest today, brian Kegel, from Asheville Mountain Region, regional Vice President. I wrote down practice and I think that we've all been in conferences or with motivational speakers that say, when you're about to give a speech, you got to practice in front of the mirror, practice in front of your spouse, practice in front of a colleague, and I think we all hear that. And then we either do or we don't, and you know I kind of have P squared.
Speaker 1:Practice and preparation is critical as we get ready for the new approach. I think the other thing is not just know your value and believe in your value, brian, but be confident in your expression of that value. I can always say I know my value, I believe in it, but am I confident in my expression? And the more confident I am, probably as a result of being better prepared and making sure I lean in on resources around me to help me gain that confidence that, I think, is probably, if not the key to navigating the change. It certainly is.
Speaker 1:One of the top three is just be confident, and I know that I find myself talking to business leaders. You know they always ask the question and I'm just supremely confident that this will be a benefit to our industry's level of professionalism from A to Z. I think this is a unique opportunity for our profession to elevate itself to a place that I know would make you and I very proud. So really, really good stuff. You want to add something to that? It looked like you were about to share something, brian.
Speaker 2:No, I think I finished that thought that's fine.
Speaker 1:I'm going to flip back to this listing challenge that we have. How are you coaching your leaders and your team on, I like to say, creating a market, because what we don't want to do is become an index to the market market. We've got to be more proactive in terms of educating sellers on why it's a great time to sell. What are some of the strategies that you're seeing being deployed in the market? Because we know that when you list, when they say you list the last, I think that will always be true, probably more true go forward. What are some of the strategies that you and your team are deploying to make that work?
Speaker 2:So I think one of the ways right now.
Speaker 2:There are several, I'll try to mention, but one of the ways right now is to listen to your buyers. Listen to your buyers, listen to what they're looking for and then go find it. Go find it. So I had this coolest story. This coolest thing happened last weekend.
Speaker 2:We have a little community at the lake. We all are houseboaters, and a friend of mine, a few boats away, is from Atlanta and we were talking and he said yeah, yeah, I sold my house. I said, oh really. I said, you know, tell me about that. He said well, he said this realtor we got came to me and said look, I've got somebody that wants to buy your house. And they knocked on my door. I've known him for a while, but they knocked on my door and said I've got somebody that wants to buy your house. You know, you're like well, I don't know, I'm not sure. And she said just give me a number. So he did so. He gave her a number. Well, you know what happens she sells his house.
Speaker 2:So he doesn't have a house right now. He's homeless. But he's going to build a house, right, that's his game plan. They, that's his game plan. They're going to kind of build their dream house. But you know, I want to meet this realtor. They're doing the stuff. That's being a realtor, right, it's not? Oh, I hope something happens. I'm waiting on somebody to call me. No, there's plenty of opportunity. Why? Because there's plenty of buyers. There's plenty of buyers and people are afraid to list their house because they're not sure about the next step or all these kinds of things. But obviously this guy overcame it. He's like you know, I'm going to build a house at some point. He had a backup plan, and most people do. I mean, he's enjoying life living on a lake right now. That's not too bad, right, with a lot of money in his pocket.
Speaker 1:You know it's interesting. I think that sometimes we try, we have a tendency to complicate things Right, and you know, what I just heard Brian say is you know ask. You know be a great listener, you know ask your buyer and then don't wait for the house to come up for sale that matches their need, Go find it. A house to come up for sale that matches their need, go find it. If somebody says I want to be in this neighborhood and I want a ranch house, I just had a scenario that I heard about where someone came into town, transferred in from another marketplace, wanted a ranch house, two ranch houses in a certain neighborhood in a really incredible I call it that sweet spot price where you just know it's going to be an aggressive bidding scenario, and the buyer came in guns loaded, did all the right things, from DD, high due diligence to did everything.
Speaker 1:Did everything that one might do when there's nine or 10 offers and didn't get it. And so I think about that, I think about OK, there's another one, and while they were negotiating this one, that one went under contract. Well, there is a neighborhood that has 87 of these homes. So I think to myself maybe back in the day I would have or I wouldn't have, I'm not sure. But if I were for Brian Kegel, I would have. But there's the opportunity. Don't wait for a coming soon or a firm exclusive. Go make it happen, go mail into the community, go knock on doors, go ask thoughtful questions. And I do think that when we talk to our successful, trusted advisors, they're all doing those things. Now, maybe not that thing, but they're doing the things that others aren't doing, which is truly the separator.
Speaker 2:Gary. I'll add one other thing to that. I think that's really critical, or it will be effective if you do it, if you will work your database the right way. When I say work your database, it sounds very mechanical. If you will take care of your people. You need to have an annual consult with everybody you've sold a house to Talk to them about the value of their home, talk to them about their life.
Speaker 2:It's just like, as a leader, we'd work with an agent. Talk to them about their dreams. How does this work? It's not that complicated. What's the next place for you? Maybe the right thing for your customers to stay exactly where they are.
Speaker 2:Maybe they just can't figure out how to get to the next place they want to go, and I think that's where a lot of sellers are right now. They just can't figure it out. It's too complicated, it's I don't know how to do this. They just can't figure it out. It's too complicated, it's I don't know how to do this. We're not going to how many.
Speaker 2:I got all this stuff now accumulated, right? Do you love the phrase? You've spent the first third of your life wishing you had stuff, the second third getting stuff. In the last third trying to figure out how to get rid of the stuff we just need. And there's so many people in that, moving into that, moving into that last stage, that they need your help and your help. They can't imagine how they can get to the next step.
Speaker 2:And so having an annual consult with folks whether you want to call it home, physical or whatever you want to call it, just do it, call them. Call them on the day they bought their house 10 years ago and say can you believe it's been 10 years since you've been in your house? How in the world are you doing? Tell me about your family. I've got some news for you your house is worth a whole lot more than it was 10 years ago. I've got something I want to send you. Can we get a cup of coffee? You know those are great conversations. Those conversations will kick up business. They will kick it up whether it's with them or their friend, and you're just being there to help people move through the process, versus waiting on some phone to ring something to happen.
Speaker 1:Well, I think a huge takeaway is you can't wait, right? Our good friend Mike Staver always says hope is not a strategy, which you mentioned earlier today. I love annual consultation, home physical real estate review, equity assessment, there's all kinds of things. And here's the other advice I'm gonna give our listeners. There might be some listeners who haven't been quite as disciplined or diligent or consistent in staying in touch, and so if they've gone a year or two or three you made a mention the anniversary of their closing 10 years ago. I have experienced in my lengthy career that when people get out of touch, they're embarrassed to get back in touch.
Speaker 2:Right.
Speaker 1:And I'm going to tell, I'm going to tell, I'm going to highly encourage and recommend is probably a better approach, that it's okay to get back in touch when you've lost touch and they will appreciate the reconnect just as much as had you stayed connected. And then I have to share this Brian and his team really focused, consistent in ninja selling strategies and I had a chance to be with Brian and the rest of our leadership team. We had a great event down at Clemson as a result of our partnership with Clemson athletics and we had a gentleman named Eric Zimmerman really share some insight. And as you were talking, you use the word dreams and I wrote down Ford, not a car. You use the word dreams and I wrote down Ford, not a car. When we talk to our past clients Endor Spear, if we talk about the things that are important to them and you know this, brian, I'm just finally committing it to my memory talk about their family, their occupation, their recreation and their dreams, and that's about the relationship piece of our business. And what we know is that we moved away from that very unintentionally during the fury of the COVID housing market. We moved into transactional because we had to. We moved into transactional because we had to Right and I do think, brian, some people have been challenged by reengaging in the relationship piece of the journey, and so just something for us to think about. You are with Brian Cagle today. Something I wanted to just share, brian, is your commitment to the industry and to the community. I'm going to share a couple of things that you've done in your career because I also think that, as we share with our listeners the industry and some of the strategies and tactics, but it's also about giving back industry, community and that makes such a difference in the lives of the people where we do our business. So let me just share this with you.
Speaker 1:In addition to his position, alan Tate, beverly Hanks, director for Canopy MLS, north Carolina Association of Realtors, national Association of Realtors and the Canopy Housing Foundation. Was president of the Haywood Board of Realtors two terms. Haywood County MLS. Western North Carolina Mountains MLS two terms. Founding chair of the Western Region Canopy Foundation Committee and currently holds chair of the Waynesville Housing Authority. And currently holds chair of the Waynesville Housing Authority. That's about leadership. That's about making a difference in people's lives, not just helping them buy and sell real estate, but committing your time, energy, effort and your talent into the community to make the community in which you live, play, pray, work and shop a better community for all people that are in it. So, brian, we all thank you for that.
Speaker 1:But before we wrap up, we talk a lot about balanced living. My friend, how do we stay balanced? How do we stay recharged? I would be so remiss if I didn't share with our audience today that every time I see Brian now he pulls out his phone and he shows me this incredible picture. And I'll get it wrong, but I think this young child is five months old and it warms my heart and I know that it is the apple of this man's eye. So let's get to know Brian Kegg a little bit. Tell us a little bit about your family. But I also want to know what you do to keep that motor and that energy recharged, because you do bring it each and every day.
Speaker 2:Well, thank you, gary. Yeah, the picture you're referring to is my granddaughter, ivy J, and she is our first grandchild and she is actually at three months. Three months, it's gone quick, but three months old. They were with us last week, which was wonderful. It's amazing, gary, I have to tell you she's the most beautiful child that's ever been born.
Speaker 2:It's just staggering how fortunate I am. My wife and I, sean, have been married 33 years, which is hard to get your head around. I don't hardly feel 33 years old, but 33 years have been married and she has endured all of my journeys. So she's a wonderful woman. Two kids, lydia and my son Luke Wonderful family. I'm just so fortunate and we always have loved the outdoors. I think everybody has to recharge. You got to find your own thing right. Some people it's going shopping. I mean, it's just different stuff for different people, but for me, being outside, being in the outdoors, is just so wonderful and I'm so fortunate to have been able to figure out a way to make a living and stay in the most beautiful place in the world, or one of the most beautiful places in the world, here in the mountains. I also love the water. You know you mentioned earlier. I'm a, you know, love to be in the streams, love to be fishing on a lake.
Speaker 2:It's just you know it's very invigorating to me to unhook for a little bit and do that, so that's what keeps me going. You've got to find your own thing, though it's important.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you know, I think it's. You know you talked as we kicked off this episode of Reality Podcast. You talked about mindset. You talked about perception and reality, the ability to adapt, and I know I shared this when we were together on May 16th with our entire team.
Speaker 1:I also don't think there's ever been a more important time that we take care of ourselves. There's never been a more important time where we don't really figure out how to recharge, never been a more important time to put the phone away, turn the TV off and just get ourselves to be our best self. We can be off and just get ourselves to be our best self we can be. You know, I just I think about it often, brian, as you know, probably as I get a little bit older. But just, you know, be so. We talk.
Speaker 1:We've talked ninja a couple of times.
Speaker 1:You know this concept of just consistent gratitude and for the for the good fortune and the blessings and the things we have, and not necessarily the things we don't have.
Speaker 1:And I just know that when we surround ourselves by positivity and great attitudes and passion and optimism, combined with some realistic I call it realistic optimism, right, you don't want to be this utopia that doesn't exist, but it makes a difference in the lives of the people we connect with, and I am so confident that our listeners today have absolutely enjoyed the opportunity to meet Brian Kegel.
Speaker 1:I can tell you that our company became a better company on August 2nd. You know, I can tell you that our company became a better company on August 2nd 2022, when we joined forces with Beverly Hanks now Allentate, beverly Hanks in the Astral Mountain region and a year ago, when Brian stepped into an expanded leadership role and has worked tirelessly on alignment and culture and integration. You know what they say is a little cliche, but we are stronger together and I do think that we have this incredible opportunity to appreciate opposing views on things and to debate and to talk about how we can become better tomorrow. So I'm going to wrap up with one final question for Brian to leave us with the one piece of advice that you give everyone listening today what is the one solid, can't miss piece of advice that you want to share?
Speaker 2:Don't live your life accidentally. Don't live your life accidentally. Don't live your life accidentally, and what I mean by that is make sure, take the time. Take the time to be intentional about your life and don't be afraid to think much larger than you're comfortable with.
Speaker 1:Awesome. Live with intention, dream big, chase that dream and the limits do not exist. If you have that belief and passion, big shout out. Brian Cagle, thanks for joining us today. Really appreciate the opportunity. And, as always, brian Cagle, thanks for joining us today, really appreciate the opportunity. And as always to our listeners, we thank you for being part of Reality Podcast no-transcript.
