.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
Striking a Work-Life Balance: Jared James on Strategic Communication and Real Estate Success
Can you really achieve a perfect work-life balance, or is it all about the hustle? Join us as we sit down with Jared James, who shares his unique "hustleined" mantra. Jared's take on balance isn't about a perfect 50-50 split but rather a dynamic approach to give and take based on contributions at different times. His insights offer a fresh perspective on navigating the complexities of both family and professional life, revealing how small adjustments can lead to more meaningful interactions and greater harmony.
Words matter more than you think, especially in sales and client interactions. Discover how the right language can elevate your game with practical examples from Jared James. Learn the transformative power of replacing "but" with "and" and how respectful, strategic communication can enhance client trust and turn potential confrontations into productive discussions. We also delve into the importance of expertise in an era rife with misinformation, distinguishing true professionals who practice to perfection from amateurs who settle for occasional success.
Want to turn open houses and existing buyers into your secret weapon for attracting sellers? Jared shares innovative strategies to navigate new real estate regulations and leverage relationship-building for success. With a focus on consistency, authenticity, and proactive engagement, Jared offers actionable advice to help real estate professionals adapt and thrive amid market fluctuations. Tune in for insights on strategic focus, the value of real-world experiences, and practical tips for securing local inventory listings, ensuring you stay ahead in the ever-changing landscape of real estate.
Welcome to Reality Podcast, gary Scott and special special guest and good friend, jared James. Jared, how are you?
Speaker 2:I'm good man. I'm glad to be on here now. This will be a good time, so it's always a good day when I get to chat with you, man.
Speaker 1:Well, we appreciate you making and taking time for us. You know I didn't hit the record button and you and I were talking about what we did Memorial Day weekend and you said we should be talking about that. So before we get into some of the news and things that are happening in our crazy business, let's just take a minute and find out what Jared James did over the holiday weekend. I think that's really going to be quite interesting.
Speaker 2:The burning questions, right? Uh, you asked me if I was a boat guy, cause you asked me where I was, if this was a zoom background. Um, which it is not. Um, I live on a Lake, so it's a nice little 75 and sunny today. Um, but I'm not a boat guy, I'm a friend with a boat guy, meaning, um, I love having friends with a boat, and so we went and did that. We not even like a long boat weekend, we literally just like, took the boat 15 minutes to a restaurant, docked and went on there's. I'll tell you what you've never felt better about yourself than when you're coming to the restaurant from the back door after you just docked the boat. It's. It's a different feeling that I didn't get a lot as a kid. So, um, we had a great weekend. Uh, my fiance was here. We.
Speaker 2:Honestly, I did soccer tournaments this weekend, like my. So so my son had a soccer tournament in Boston, which is about two and a half hours, and so every morning we we would have normally stayed there, but every game was in the morning we wanted to come home, so we drove up early, went to the game, drove two and a half hours back next day, same thing next day and as and as, uh, as painstaking that is from the perspective that my back is all cramped up from being in the car that long and whatever else. Uh, if you want to know what I actually love doing, it's that there's nothing I love more than being on the sideline just watching. And you know cause? I one of the parents said the other day we have to go to Orlando for an international tournament. And uh, and they're like, oh my god, we got to go to that tournament again. And I'm like, no, we get to go to that tournament. Like 10 years from now we're gonna be wishing that we had a tournament to go to or had a.
Speaker 1:You know, that's the stuff I love doing well, I think I've told you this before my friend, friend, savior, every moment of it. Mine are 31 and 33. My boys, who were very active, I you know, summer lacrosse, tennis, football, baseball, and you know I would give anything I mean anything for like one more game watching both of them play. And I tell every, every parent, like, don't wish the next phase, because you better take in this phase. It's interesting you say that, jared. I did a little recon on Jared James, albeit I think I know you well and it's so interesting I did not realize your mantra. Hashtag hustleined oh yeah, and as I read about that, you make it very clear about balance and so, uh, let's start. Can we start there? Because I think that's really important today.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so I think it's funny, like, so I actually okay. So, uh, I fully believe in that, in that hashtag, that that way of life. Uh, I fully believe in that, in that hashtag, that that way of life, and I'll explain what I what that means in a second. But I also don't believe there's a such thing as balance. Um, you know, uh, you know, think about what balances. Balance equals 50, 50. Right, and it's like, uh, you know, I just shot a podcast, uh, with my fiance. That'll come out, I think today, actually today or tomorrow. By the time people hear this, it'll be out.
Speaker 2:And one of the questions she always writes these questions down, and so she asked me this question on the podcast and she said how do you feel about 50, 50 partnerships? How do you feel about relationships being 50, 50? How do you feel? And I said, well, first off the business side, I don't necessarily believe in a 50-50 business partnership in the sense that you can't have two heads. That's called a monster.
Speaker 2:Somebody has to make decisions and, from a relationship standpoint, relationships are very rarely 50-50. Although that equals 100, to be able to pick the perfect time. It's like the eclipse of when you're both giving 50 to that relationship. Yeah Right, you know, sometimes she needs 72 for me because all she has is 28, you know, and sometimes I need 59 from her because all I can give is 41 right now. And so that you know we would call that, oh, that's a partnership, that's a whatever, but it's not really a 50 50. It's different times, it's a different thing. And so when you know we would call that, oh, that's a partnership, that's a whatever, but it's not really a 50-50. It's different times, it's a different thing.
Speaker 2:And so when you look at, when you look at balance, balance has this idea of like two people standing on a plank and it's like OK, well, we're both equal. Or we're on a teeter totter, so we're balanced, right? Or you know the old saying a scale is balanced at zero. You know who's looking for zero, right? The truth is is that there's almost nothing that we do. Equal amount of time. I mean, look, a factory worker is not balanced, if that's the definition, meaning they go into work at 7am, they get out at 5pm, 4pm, whatever it is, by the time the kids get home, behind the dinners there, by the time, every time everybody goes to bed, they spend way more hours in the factory than they do with their kids. So technically they're not balanced.
Speaker 2:And if you look at our work schedules, if you look at how much we pour into those things, it is a mathematical impossibility to be balanced. Like if you look at the average real estate agent, the amount of time they put into their job, the amount of time they go and show homes, the amount of time when their kids are out of school and everything else that they're going and doing open houses it's a mathematical impossibility, okay. And so that idea of balance we first have to define like what does that even mean? Right? And? And what I've found in my life personally, you know, and I think the older you get, the more you go through things, the more you start to um, you start to figure things out that you thought you had figured out before, and I think that's a part of wisdom and everything else as well is that you start to realize that it's not so much about 50-50, like in a relationship, but when it comes to a life perspective, it's much more about being present where you are, because I know the audience that's listening to this is real estate people. We need to understand that. It's not that you need to have equal time with your kids that you have at your work. That's mathematically impossible. What they want is that when you are with them, you're not checking your phone all the time and you're not actually with them. You know that that's really what's going to matter, and so for me, what that hustle redefined meant was look, I, I hustle.
Speaker 2:People think they know me because they follow me online and, like you don't see 99% of it. I don't put hardly anything on there, okay, and so if anybody really saw the life, they'd be like, oh God, like that's, that's ridiculous, like that's whatever. But I'm built different, like I'm a different animal, just like most real estate people. They're just different. But what I was, what I've always been conscious of, especially when it comes to my kids, is like, hey, I'll go do a less than four-hour trip in Portugal with a red eye, where you fly in, do a thing and fly right back and you're not even in that country long enough to whatever. And it's good for your kids to see that hustle, because it shows them that success doesn't come easy. But I need my kids to also see me red-eye home land at 8 am and go straight to the game and see them hustle just as much for the things that matter to them that you are in these other areas.
Speaker 2:And so my whole point of that whole thing, with the whole hashtag hustle redefined, was the idea to stop telling these people that matter so much to us family first, you guys family first, or you guys come first, and yet all they ever see is that that's not the case. You know, because, oh, this one might happen, I could get an offer, I might get a. Well, let me tell you what you're mighting and could have being and all this other kind of stuff. You are 100% neglecting these people and and they noticed that, and, as I told a friend recently and I'm not going to name any names because he may listen to this or whatever else he gave me a situation and I was walking through an airport, talking to him, and he was going to be moving his family to this other area of the country after he just moved them to a certain area of the country, and he's somebody who just has a lot of you know, I want to grow, I want to go to the next thing, I want to go to the next thing, I want to go to the next thing and I, very specifically, I said so what do you girls think about this?
Speaker 2:And he got kind of quiet and he's like you know, it's taken some convincing and it's. You know, we went through this whole dialogue and I just said, look man, I'm not saying it's not a good business opportunity, but but if I'm really being honest with you right now, this sounds like a recipe for resentment. And he got really quiet and he's like oh crap, like that's not really what I wanted to hear. And I was just like it's just you know, uh, what does it matter? You know you're going to take that bigger job, you're going to do that. They don't care.
Speaker 2:You know, like a lot of times we'll go back to people like our children and we'll say I did this for you and they'll turn around and go. I didn't ask you to, you know. And so for me, the hustle redefined thing is just always the one thing I will say. It's not balanced because that doesn't exist, but it is keeping in balance. When you start to look at how you make decisions, the people that actually matter, you know, and just kind of going. You know I am going to balance the idea of they need to see hustle. They need to see a sacrifice. They need to see these things to know that those are a part of success. But they also need to see that you're hustling just as much for them and the things that matter to them, that you are for the things that you're saying you're doing for them, and that's what really matters.
Speaker 1:Yeah, interesting story, and I've shared this a couple of times, I don't think on this podcast. You know this, this concept, my father I grew up in the real estate business, jared, so you know I tell this story. I began playing low leg sports, probably in third grade, whether it was t ball or whatever. And, you know, at the end of my athletic career, I look back and my father, jared, while running and building his company from third grade to graduating college, missed two games, yeah, two games Like, and I now. The irony is I remember those two games. That's the irony of it.
Speaker 1:But you know, and to just think about the, he kept it in balance, yeah, and I think for our listeners, you know we talk about balanced living and I just got, I wouldn't say corrected, but I got a different viewpoint from Jared. It's about keeping it in balance and being totally present when you're supposed to be totally present, and I think that's about navigating. You know, this crazy world that you and I live in. I'm going to shift gears just a little bit. I was scrolling through some of your social media and one of the things that we've been trying to really, really focus on as an organization is this whole concept of words matter and I pulled up here is Jared James the words you use in sales matter. There's a difference between I love you and I like you. Let's spend some time on why they matter, and I know that when we were at Hanacon, Jared, I thoroughly enjoyed your session because you shared with the audience. These are the words you probably need to think about using. Go forward as the new approach to our industry becomes a reality.
Speaker 2:Yeah, man, I mean, god there's. That could be a whole podcast on its own. When we talk about words matter, you're right. I use the example and I said if you don't think words matter, then you know next time your spouse says I love, you, say I like you too, and you will figure out just how much it matters.
Speaker 2:You know, I've used other examples at times when we talk about words and phrases and context and all these things mattering, because the reason why I'm saying this is because we're in an industry where we've been overtaken by the idea that I'm not in sales, I'm a matchmaker. You know I'm not in sales. Like we run away from this idea that we're in sales, know I'm not in sales. Like we run away from this idea that we're in sales and I don't think we need to do that. Like I think sales is important and understanding sales is important, especially if you think you're the best option. Like you are doing a disservice to your client if you're not good at sales because less of them are going to use you. So if you think that you're the best option but you also don't think you need to be good at sales, then that means you're allowing people to use someone that you think is not as good as you during the third most stressful time in their life, during the largest purchase they're ever going to make, during the. So how is that a good thing? You know, and and it applies to everything, like words, context, like you know, you wouldn't walk into a bar as a young college guy and say so, we doing this, you know, to something like what, like that, you're a rapist, you're not a. You're not a. You know you're not. You're not a talk to a woman, you don't know how to. You know, and it's the same thing as we progress throughout our lives when it comes to talking to clients and what we say. And it's the same thing as we progress throughout our lives when it comes to talking to clients and what we say. And you know we don't. We don't say to people things like what can you afford? You know, what can you? Because it makes people feel less than when they give you that it feels like you're challenging them. You know it's hey, when, where do you feel comfortable? You know, and there's just different things to do.
Speaker 2:I think at the conference I did with you guys, I said stop using the word, but when you're talking to people. You know like, you know when, when, when you're talking to a client, especially in the world we live in today, where there's so much information and there's so much out there, people think that they're educating themselves because they're reading and watching the headlines, and so they will talk to an agent and they'll tell you what they know. Well, I know it's not a good time to buy right now, because I know because of, and they'll talk about the headlines. The last thing you want to do is take that person and say yeah, but, because when you say, but what you just did is that is, that is a confrontational word, that's an adversarial word. It means whatever you just said doesn't matter. Here's the truth. And when you put a client in a situation like that and you create that adversarial relationship, there is no win for you, because you either win this argument and they don't want to work with you because you just beat them in an argument, or you don't win this argument and they don't want to work with you because they know more than you and you're supposed to be the pro, and so we put ourselves, we paint ourselves, into those corners because we haven't learned the proper words Right. And so, instead of using words like, but, you use words like and or also, and you add to the conversation. You don't have to disagree with what they said in order to add to the conversation All sorts of words. There's a lot of places we could go with that right now, especially when it comes to talking to a seller, talking to a buyer.
Speaker 2:Right now, you know words that matter, words to use, phrases, to use those kinds of things, but we need to get better as a, as a profession, to be professionals. You know, because our consumers deserve it. We're going to make money according to how well we do. You know we're going to have a restricting of our market, a restricting of the options that are available to consumers, and the only question is going to be are you on the right side of that restriction or the other side of that restriction? And your level of professionalism is going to.
Speaker 2:And when I say professionalism, I don't mean you have to show up everywhere in a bow tie and a whatever. I just mean that you understand the industry, you understand how to talk to a client. You understand that, as I said, they're buying and selling the largest asset they're ever going to own and they want to feel like you've got a certain level of expertise, because everything you do is a demonstration of what they can expect when they make the right decision to work with you. And so if you don't know how to talk to them in the beginning, in their head they're going well. You don't know how to talk to somebody looking to buy my house. You don't know how. If you can't negotiate with me, you can't negotiate with somebody trying to buy If you can't. And so all of it starts to play out in their head, whether they recognize it or not.
Speaker 1:Hey, jared, one of the things that you've shared. I've heard you a couple of times this kind of differential between the pro and the amateur and I think it's really compelling when you walk through. You did this for us a year ago, prior to the NAR lawsuit settlement, and boy it really resonated. So just share with our audience today a little bit about. You just talked about professionalism. You talked about how I think we all believe the outcome of this will be a higher level of professionalism in our industry and, to your point, not to be restrictive to the things, but talk about that. You know that conflict, if you will, between the pro and the amateur and your perspective on it in our business.
Speaker 2:Well, I think it's shifted a little bit too. And here's what I mean when I talked about it's so funny. Well, I think it's shifted a little bit too. And and what? Here's what I mean when, when I talked about it's so funny, man, because so many things I've talked about the last three to five years, like, um, they're happening now. And it's not because I'm Nostradamus, it's because I was just paying attention. You know, uh, I've always talked about don't be too busy, to be productive, like my job is to see what's happening and watch it. You know, you should be able to say what's going to happen if you're just paying attention. And so for years I talked about pro versus amateur.
Speaker 2:But the way that I talked about it and it shifted a little bit was that the difference between a pro versus an amateur is that an amateur practices enough to get something right. A pro practices so much they can't get it wrong something right. A pro practices so much they can't get it wrong. Those are two different things. You know, when my son was practicing to pass his test for his license, if you were to ask him any of those questions now he has no idea, but when he was in the middle of it, he could ring off the answer Go have the average realtor, go take the real estate exam now, probably not going to go. Well, you know they don't remember there's 43,560 square feet in an acre, but in that moment. But a pro does something so much they don't even know how to get it wrong, it just comes out. It's like doing a podcast no matter what question you ask me, it's like filtering through which one, because this's just there's, there's just this. Is what you do all the time. But there's been a little bit of a shift. The difference between a pro and an amateur now is everything we just talked about.
Speaker 2:But but now you have a, you have a consumer, you have a public who's getting a lot of misinformation. And there's two sides to this. You know, on one hand we tend to believe that you know they, that they understand, they know they're hearing all this info. But then there's this other side also, where some of the public doesn't know anything. We're in this bubble and we live it every day and we're thinking about it and we're ticked off about it. And then you go talk to the majority of the public and they're like huh, they have no idea. Like, huh, they have no idea, like one of the most powerful questions you can ask somebody when they say to you you know, well, I heard you know blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. I heard I don't got to pay a buyer. I heard I don't have to. I heard you know whatever. What did you hear? Just stop and say that it's almost like a political disagreement where, like, people will throw out headlines they watched on CNN or Fox News or whatever.
Speaker 2:If you actually get into the meat, most people don't know anything. And so if you just say, well, what did you hear, then you'll start to hear I'm not really sure. I just saw Good Morning America and I thought and now you have a chance to educate, right? So the difference now is that an amateur will make everything going on right now. They'll make it an issue for people who don't even know about it. So, in an effort to show someone how much they know K-N-O-W, they will actually make people say no, n-o, okay, because they just I need to show you, I'm an amateur, so I need to show you how much I know.
Speaker 2:It's like a liar. Liars will overtell. You'll ask them how was the grocery store? And they give you every detail of the right turn, left turn, who they ran into, what the conversation was and it's like okay, there's clearly something going on here. I'm just asking how was the grocery store?
Speaker 2:A pro right now makes it a non-issue for those who do know about it because of their ability to educate. So an amateur right now will make it an issue for those that don't even care about it, and a pro makes it a non-issue for those who do know about it. You know, and that all comes down to your level of expertise, your level of knowledge, understanding what's happening, and there really needs to be. When you talk about balance, here's where balance comes in. There needs to be a balance right now between our level of education and understanding and and our level of still getting the job done.
Speaker 2:You know, it's like some agents have become so focused on this and the DOJ and the settlement and the whatever that they're not even selling a freaking house. You know, let's, let's instead of getting obsessed with the idea of whether who's paying, the commission and what's happening here and whatever, let's put ourselves in a real situation and actually deal with it. You know, like that, that, that that's where the balance needs to come in. You need to understand that the greatest way to understand is to actually get out there and do it. But that's the biggest difference between a pro and an amateur right now. Is that amateurs making an issue for those that don't even care, pros making a non-issue for people who do know about it?
Speaker 1:I love it and I think the other thing is is the pro asks a lot of questions. Right, pro is seeking to really understand you all. You just threw it back the minute someone makes something about the lawsuit and I just think that as, uh, as we navigate this new approach to our business, you know, I think that we've just got to be far more curious, ask more questions and really get inside the knowledge and the motivation of our client differently.
Speaker 2:So you positioned you to be a pro because you don't know what they know or they don't know. So that curiosity, it's like what makes a great podcast host Right, it's like curiosity. Curiosity, it's like what makes a great podcast host right. It's like curiosity, like wait, what have you heard? But wait, instead of just being so lit up that we're like well, let me tell you something you know. It's like we're all you know, hulk.
Speaker 2:Hogan, all of a sudden, you know let me tell you something, brother, and we're all just, you know, and it's just like, relax, relax. You know, again, I've been saying for years when everyone goes crazy, make sure you don't. You know your clients need an adult in the room right now. And so, while all this is going on and there's all this nonsense and all this misinformation and all of this stuff we don't like and we don't agree with and whatever, take a breath, Like your people are already stressed. They need an adult in the room, you know, and so we really need to live our Instagram quotes. You know we need to stop, you know, just loving our Instagram quotes so we can put them on our story. You know, and realize that there comes a time and a place when you have to actually live them and we should celebrate the times when we get to live them, because they separate us.
Speaker 1:We get to live them because they separate us. Let's perfect segue into you know, what unique opportunities does Jared James feel is going to come out of this at the end of the day and the end of the day can be defined, Jared is six months, nine months, 18 months, depending on who you talk to. Everyone said it's going to look like this for a period of time and then it's all going to do something at some point in time. What are the unique opportunities that you see for sales professional in our industry? How do I take advantage of this moment in time?
Speaker 2:Yeah. So there's not to be repetitive that we could do a whole podcast just on that. You know, like you know, and just so you all know, usually whenever anybody says that it's because they have nothing to say, no-transcript rule changes, you don't have to, you don't have to agree with them in order to benefit from them. But you know, when you look at the fact that they just made you know, buyer agency, not by, that's not true. That's what people have been saying but that's not true. When you look at the idea that a signed agreement before touring is now going to be the rule in all 50 states I'm aware that was already the rule in 18 states that doesn't mean everybody was following it. You know, we can all act like it's the case. But come on, guys, let's be real here. Like everybody wasn't doing it right, or they'd wait until they had the you know they actually made an offer or they'd wait till whatever. Let's all just okay, great, you're perfect. But like not everybody was doing it. But now that that's going to be the between the agent and the buyer, and you know, now you're gonna have to have conversations that not everybody was having to have all along. And the good news is is that everybody has to have those conversations. So it's not just you, it's another. It's another situation where a pro is going to be elevated, where you know that level of conversation can actually help you now because everybody's got to do it. But when you look at that friction, that creates opportunity, because the one place where the signed agreement before you go into a home is now not going to be required is an open house. And um, and I know this to be true and I'm on the emails from NAR because they wanted me to help promote their message and everything and I said no, by the way, not because I disagree or I dislike NAR, but because I'm a spokesperson for our industry, not for NAR, and I support and I want NAR to do well and I applaud them when they do, but I need to be able to say when they don't. And that email that came out basically was a Q&A and it was like is it true that you know that? You know, according to the settlement, the signed agreement that is required before going into any home is not required for open houses. And it says yes, that is true, you do not need it for open houses. So what does that mean. That means that buyers are also going to get tired of being told by agents they've never met before that they have to sign something to see a house, or that they have to commit for six months before they've ever even you know whatever. And so what are they going to do? They're also like water, going to figure out path of least resistance. Where can we see homes without having a signed agreement?
Speaker 2:Open houses, and so agents that are smart right now they're going to be marketing their open houses like never before. They're going to change the way they do their open houses. It's going to become an education center. It's going to become almost like how a real estate team has different people who do different functions. Smart agents are going to start to look at their open houses the epicenter of where they're going to be picking people up, because they're going to have people who are greeters. They're going to have people who are, who are going to be the ones who are walking them around. They're going to have people who are answering questions. They're going to have people like. They're going to look at it Like this is our opportunity to build rapport. They're going to have other houses up on the monitors, up on the TVs for anybody who's not doing this.
Speaker 2:One. If you want to see that home, I can you know. Let you know about that. One this into the epicenter of where you are now able to create relationship, which is still what our business is about. There's pivots that are happening, there's changes that are happening, but it's still about the same thing. It's still about relationship, and so the number one opportunity I see for agents right now that too many people just aren't understanding yet is it's going to be open houses, and we need to understand that.
Speaker 2:With everything that's gone on here, what hasn't changed is is is A to B. That hasn't changed. We are still going from here to there, but just like when you open up your navigation, just like when I was coming back from my son's tournament and you know I would hit that, I'd get on Waze or I'd get on you know wherever, because I want to know what's the easiest way from A to B with no traffic right, which highway am I taking? The A to the B didn't change. Well, most of you don't realize that when you plug that into your navigation, there's three options. Now we never even look at two and three. We just go easiest, least number one and we just click it. With these new rules that have come in, they've kind of eliminated number one and we're having to take a more difficult path with more friction. Option two or three but it doesn't change the fact that you're still going from A to B and that you are a part of that process. You are still driving the car, and so the number one option, to me, the number one opportunity right now, is going to be open houses, because you're going to have people flocking to open houses Like I don't know if we've seen in decades, because buyers are going to figure out it's the path of least resistance, it's the one that doesn't require them to sign anything, and even if that's something they have to sign, it's just a.
Speaker 2:Everybody got all up in arms about this Zillow touring agreement. This is part of pivots guys. Whether it's a Zillow touring agreement, I applaud them for trying something. I don't think it's their role. I think it's the broker's role to be doing those kinds of things. But regardless, that's where change comes from. It's never the first thing that's given.
Speaker 2:Then things start to change off of that change, and so, whether you're brokerage, whether you guys start doing some kind of a touring agreement. It doesn't have to be a buyer agency, you don't have to sign for six months. Whatever that looks like moving forward regardless, they're going to have to sign something. And that just makes people a little like, well, I just want to see the house Like what do you mean? I got to sign something. The one place where that's not going to happen is open houses, and so the agents that are smart are going to start getting ready for that and stop making these excuses like oh, you know, it's just nosy neighbors and whatever, and they're going to start realizing that, like, you want to meet people, that's where it's going to be.
Speaker 1:A couple of things I love A to B meet people. That's where it's going to be. A couple of things I love A to B, love the analogy of the three different paths and there's going to be more traffic going forward. So a couple of things.
Speaker 1:You know we talk always, jared, about the more things change, the more things stay the same and I get thinking about I got in the business in 1986 and my number one way of generating business was open houses. And now Jared James, who is a spokesperson for this great industry, talking about opportunity, is open houses. And then the other thing that comes from that is this whole concept of if I control the listings, I control my life, control my life, and so I think you just now, clearly I can do an open house of somebody else's listing Correct. I really want to take advantage, be the greatest listing agent you can be and leverage open houses. Let's take a minute and have you share with everyone you know, as you're evaluating strategies for agents, what are some of the strategies that you can recommend to get listings? Not just to get listings, but to create them. Let's not be an index to listings being up or down. Let's outperform whatever the market's doing? What are some of your key strategies for getting listings in this continued low inventory environment?
Speaker 2:Okay, so another one we could do a whole show on. So when you start to look at the industry and everybody's focused on what's going to change again I did a video on this the other day. Like you know, everybody's so focused on what's going to change Again I did a video on this the other day. Like you know, everybody's so focused on what's going to change. What's going to change and I said, hey, you know we need to really go deep on is what's not going to change. And the one thing that I would like to say to your audience and just real estate people overall, is that the one thing that really needs to change is that a lot of the strategies and the tactics and the things that guys like me have been talking about for years that you kind of just listened to, said that's awesome and then went about your, your life, what needs to change is that you need to actually do it.
Speaker 2:So when, when we talk about some of the strategies that work today, guess what? They're the same ones that worked six months ago. They're the same ones that worked six months ago. They're the same ones that worked. What it takes visibility trumps ability, right. What it takes to get in front of someone has not changed. Now I'll give you one of my favorites, and then I'm going to give you something that maybe we haven't talked about too much.
Speaker 2:But when you look at the greatest opportunity to get a seller today, what you need to look at is what does a seller want? A seller wants a buyer, so what does that mean? That means your greatest opportunity to get a seller is actually found within your buyers, which is the thing that most people try to stay away from. They don't want to, and yet it is the cheese that catches the mice the buyers if you market them correctly. And that's where a lot of us have gone wrong in this industry is that we think about hey, we get a listing, let's market that listing, let's get that. And we never think about hey, we got a buyer, let's market this buyer to get what it is that actually will pull people to us, which is sellers.
Speaker 2:And so I'm going to give you kind of a strategy I talk about all the time, but then I'm going to go one level further too. Every buyer you get, you should be marketing them, just like you market a listing. Okay, so every buyer you get should get a video, should get a social post, should get a message out to your database, should get a, an ad that's created. Should get a letter that goes out to a neighborhood. Go old school. Should get a. Like all of them.
Speaker 2:And the basic premise is this If I'm shooting the video, I'm going to take those buyers, their real world information, not their names. Obviously you can't share that kind of stuff, but I'm going to say hey, everybody in the so-and-so area, I've got a buyer looking for a three to four bedroom, one to two bath, 1,500 to 2,000 square foot home in the so-and-so school district, due to low inventory but unable to find anything. But I'm fully committed to doing whatever it takes to do that. Can you do me a favor? If you or anyone you know is even considering selling in that area, can you let me know right away? I may be able to sell your home without it ever hitting the market. Shoot me a DM comment below. Can't wait to hear from you. Talk to you soon so I take that video.
Speaker 2:Okay, that video needs to go on my social channels, needs to be promoted. Put a budget behind it 10, 20, 50, a hundred, whatever, like. If it starts giving returns, why would you ever stop playing that slot machine Right. Promoted Facebook, instagram, youtube shorts, like put it in these places so that it shows up in front of people who don't know you, who have never heard of you, that all of a sudden they're like my God, my mom's been thinking of selling. Let me go shoot him a DM and see, like, what's their price point? What's their notice? I didn't use that information. Okay, those are called disqualifying factors. So I'm not telling them price point. I'm not. I'm making them reach out to me to ask me, cause if it's not in the price point now them Reach out to me to ask me, because if it's not in the price point now, I'm still talking to them. You can do that through a video. We have a letter.
Speaker 2:We use a marketing campaign that actually goes out to an area. It says hey, here's what we're looking for, here's what they're looking for. Do you know anybody, anyone, who's even considering selling? Please let me know. I may be able to. It's one of the quickest and easiest ways. Let's talk a non, like something we don't generally talk about, right?
Speaker 2:What about when you go to a listing appointment and you don't get the listing? Now, I have taught strategies for years around the idea of when you have a listing or when someone in your brokerage has a listing. We know that within 30 days, another listing comes up in that area. We know within six months, another two to three more come up. So why would we not be reaching out to that area?
Speaker 2:Okay, what about when you don't get the listing? What about when you lose the listing? Do you pick up your ball and go home? Do you get ticked off? Well, here's the question If you lose a listing, you now know about a listing in the area that nobody else knows about. And what's about to happen after that gets listed within 30 days about and what's about to happen after that gets listed within 30 days, another listing's going to come up, another. You know whatever.
Speaker 2:You can't say what house it is, you can't say any of that stuff, but you sure as heck can reach out to the neighborhood. You can walk in it. Hey, just want to let you know there's a property going to come up here. Nobody sells the neighborhood like the neighbors. If you know anybody who's been trying to get in the neighborhood, I'd love to talk to potential buyers. By the way, I'm not sure if you're aware, but your neighbor's property being listed may have changed the value of yours. That's called communication 101. It's not what I say that matters, it's what they hear. Your neighbor's property, which is about to be listed, may change the value of yours. Would you like to know how yours is going to change? Change? I didn't say up or down. They heard up or down. Okay, and now I'm leveraging the idea that this listing is about to come up in that neighborhood in a way that I'm the only one that knows this. I can't give the address, I can't do whatever, but I know there's another listing coming up in this area. So instead of just taking the L and going I lost the listing go hit the neighborhood, go call the neighborhood, go do that.
Speaker 2:In real estate, every action deserves a reaction, and that's the part that we're missing in this industry. Is we just sit back and wait? When's someone going to come to me? When is somebody going to? Every action deserves a reaction, and our job in this business is to figure out what reaction belongs to every action and that way, every time it happens, the opposite thing does happen. Then what do we do to then leverage that? What do we do to leverage that? That's the kind of systems that we're missing in this industry is that kind of stuff.
Speaker 1:Interesting Agent of ours in Asheville Mountain, a gentleman named Steve Dozier. He's done an analysis, been in the business 30 years and his findings are when a property is listed in a community, within three weeks or four weeks multiple additional listings show up. Just the way it works. So when a listing comes up, whether he's had a chance at it or not, he sends a letter to everybody and he has such great success with converting someone who just happened to be thinking, because he's you made a comment earlier.
Speaker 2:That's probably on the letter. By the way, I dealt with you guys years and years ago. Like that's our strategy, Like that that's what works.
Speaker 1:But he paid attention. It's what you said earlier. He paid attention. He was paying attention to what happened in a market. Historically, when a listing comes up, more listings come up and he paid attention to it. And then he decided I can take advantage of that opportunity and he's leveraged it to a great level of success.
Speaker 2:On that same point. We work with one of the top individual agents in the country who's only. He was just number two in the whole country. He's been in the business four years. All we have him doing is exactly that strategy. And what we do is we have him set up a search as if he's a buyer and so in every neighborhood he wants a listing. So now, just like a buyer would find out here's the areas I want listings. But they would want to buy. But he's looking at it as when are these coming up? And every time one of those properties comes up in neighborhoods where he wants listings, he knows what's going to happen within 30 days, another listing. But what it does is we have it go to his virtual assistant, who's not even with, not even near his office, not even whatever. That virtual assistant he has set up on a system with that exact letter that we use. It's called new listing, prospecting campaign. That virtual assistant, without him doing a thing, automatically gets those properties when they come on. Every time it happens, the moment it does, they take that letter. They pull up the nearest 100 or 200 houses through USPScom, united States Postal Service, the beacon of efficiency that they are. They have a thing called EDDM every door direct mail where they send out to mailing routes instead of actual postage. So it's so much cheaper. And every time a property comes up in an area that he wants a listing in, that letter goes out from him, goes out to the nearest 100 or 200 houses, automatically, like clockwork. He doesn't do a thing and it doesn't say I listed the property. It says your neighbor's property just came up over at blank Thought you might want more information.
Speaker 2:You can't find online. That's a key line to say because they're all like, I can just get it online. Key line to say because they're all like, I can just get it online. But if I want some information you can't find online, let me know if you do. You know, blah, blah, blah, whatever. By the way, your neighbor's property being listed over here may have changed the value of yours. Would you like to know how it may have changed? Give me a call back or text me or email me at blank, blank, blank, whatever it is, it happens like clockwork.
Speaker 1:You could make a living just on taking systems like that, following them like clockwork. You'd never hurt for listings again. So, as Jared said, every question that we've talked about today deserves an hour podcast. So we are cramming probably hours of conversation, Jared, into kind of 50 minutes to an hour. So I do appreciate that Every single question. We could keep going on and on and on. But I think the other thing one of my favorite quotes that you've shared, that I have shared many times and, just for the record, I give you all the credit. So I never claim that it's me and you just referenced it and that is like clockwork. Yeah, just referenced it and that is like clockwork. Consistency is undefeated. Let's talk a little bit about that, because probably never been more important than to be consistent in what I do. So just talk to our audience a little bit about how darn critical being consistent in every single aspect of our business is today, but maybe even going to be more important to go forward.
Speaker 2:It's important in every area of our life. Like consistency, by the way, is not people's issue. Consistently doing the right things is people's issue. So, when someone is severely overweight, they're consistent. They consistently say yes to donuts. They consistently skip the gym. They consistently sleep late. Like they consistent, consistency is not their issue, okay, so so that's a misnomer. You know I'll have people come up to me and they'll go. You're right, I need to be more consistent. That's a misnomer. You know I'll have people come up to me and go you're right, I need to be more consistent. And I'm like no baby, you're consistent. You see what I'm saying. Oh, yes, sir, I'm saying this with a smile on my face, but it's.
Speaker 2:You know, when someone is broke, oh, you're consistent. You know, when someone is continual without business, you're consistent. You consistently do the same things. You consistently skip the same things, okay, and so the first thing we need to do is change our mentality around that consistency is not the issue, okay, consistency is an issue in the sense that, um, we all need to be consistent doing the right things, okay, and so, um, when you look at someone's business, when you look at someone's life, you have to look at it, and here's how I look at it. I look at it like like a recipe. And when you look at a recipe you can't pick and choose what parts, what ingredients you agree with or don't agree with. Okay, if I say I'm going to make bread, and then I go and I look up the recipe, the ingredients for bread, I can't all of a sudden go I'm just not really into flour today and then grab everything else, throw it in the oven and expect bread to come out, because something's going to come out, but it's not going to be bread, because something's going to come out, but it's not going to be bread, okay. And so when you start to look at what makes up um, consistent, top performing, top producers, when you look at people who are generally, overall, just more satisfied with their life, when you look at people who are there are ingredients that make those things up and you don't get to pick and choose what they are and you don't get to just do them. Sometimes, okay, like my, my fiance was just in town and uh, she actually said to me this was like off record. Whatever, um she goes, I don't think people understand how clockwork you are like, how, like you know very much, uh, the snacks I'm having are the same when I do. Things are the same when I because I really believe that.
Speaker 2:I believe that, that that 99% of the people who sit in an audience at an event I'm at want to do better. You know, I believe that, um, I believe that they, they know that there's more. I believe that they believe that they, they know that there's more. I believe that they, um, you know, I believe all of that Right. And then they'll say things like how do you stay motivated? And that is where we miss it.
Speaker 2:Motivation comes and goes, but at some point you have to tell yourself I'm an adult, I don't rely on motivation. You know, when I was making a lunch for my son yesterday for school, I didn't feel like doing it. He didn't wait till lunch today to see if there was a lunch there or not, based on whether dad felt motivated. And at the same time, when you start to look at your real estate business, your real estate business has an amazing ability to provide for you, provide for your family, provide for your life, provide security, provide a lot of different things. And so I believe people when they say that they want to have very successful businesses, but then they say to me well, how do I stay motivated? How do you stay motivated? And the answer to that is simple it's not motivation, it's not feeling.
Speaker 2:I'm an adult, so what I do is I figure out what it's going to take to go from here to here. I figure out what those ingredients are, I commit to them. I commit to those for myself, for my family, for the people around me, and then every single day, whether I feel like it or not, I do it. Period. And that is the mentality that many of us in this industry need to start to understand. I'm an adult, so I don't just sign up for a coach and then not show up for calls because I don't want to do what it is they're telling me to do. I don't go to conferences and go, I'm going to start doing that and, and you know, five days later I've already changed pattern.
Speaker 2:Like, consistency is undefeated, but what we need to understand is that it is undefeated both ways. So it is undefeated on the good side, and it's also undefeated when you follow the wrong patterns, okay, and so I think that's a misnomer that a lot of people think they're always like oh he's, I need to be more consistent. No, no, we're all consistent. You know. We need to figure out what that pattern looks like and get consistent on that and just commit to it. Forget about motivation, forget about you know all of that. Look, when you get motivated, do more.
Speaker 2:I was at the gym today. I did not feel like doing it, but I'm an adult, it's what I committed to. And tomorrow I may feel like doing it, but I'm an adult. It's what I committed to, and tomorrow I may feel like doing it. I may be fully motivated. I'm going to do even more, but I don't wait for motivation to see whether I'm going to stick to what it is that I said I was going to do Um, because the people around me deserve better. I deserve better Um, and consistency is undefeated, but both ways.
Speaker 1:Really good perspective and it's interesting. What are the ingredients that are necessary for each of us as an individual from go to point A to point B? And I think the ingredients are going to be different. And I think but it's about, as you said, do the right things consistently versus we do the wrong things consistently. Do the right things consistently versus we do the wrong things consistently, and that will flow. I always say it will cascade down. Let's talk. I've been reading, you've been reading. I laugh when I talk about pundits and experts because I'm shocked at what anoints them right, because their projections of 12 months ago may or may not be true, but you know there is a belief that this change Jared. I've read up to as high as 50% of the realtors that we know today are not going to be here and I've asked this question around.
Speaker 1:I've got my own perspective, which is certainly simply that it's my perspective. What does Jared James think as it relates to this agent count dynamic that some people are claiming could really impact us dramatically? Any thoughts from your perspective?
Speaker 2:I have some thoughts. I don't spend a lot of time thinking about this, to be honest. Let's just say we lose 50%. Were those 50% of people that we were dealing with to begin with. You know what I mean. Like when you look at the percentage of our industry that um actually does business. When you look at the percentage of our industry that actually matters, when you look at the percentage of it, are those the ones leaving? You know, um? So I don't spend a lot of time. Do you know what's weird? You know what's crazy.
Speaker 2:Last month we had an uptick in the number of agents, which was strange, and I think that shocked a lot of people. I, honestly, everybody always wants you to. I don't do a lot of speculating and, like you know, it's going to be this and it's going to be. I will talk about where I think things are going and what we need from a, from a strategy standpoint, like where we need to be focused in our business, because, whether I'm right or wrong, that that doesn't change. If that makes sense to you, like it's like that, I'll focus on Right. But from the perspective of you know, hey, let me, let me again play Nostradamus and we're going to have 37% less aid.
Speaker 2:What's it matter? You know, like, like, at the end of the day, look, we just had an uptick and it shocked everybody, to me, to me, those kinds of projections are like when people go on shark tank and they tell you how much they've sold the last few years and we're projecting this much next year. Why don't we just switch project with guess or hoping, because that's all it is? So will there be a 50% drop in agents? I actually don't think it's going to happen like that. But it doesn't matter whether I'm right or wrong.
Speaker 2:That's what's important. It doesn't matter. At the end of the day, the people who actually do business, they're not affected by that. Maybe there's one extra house you didn't lose to somebody's grandkid who had their license on the side, okay, so I guess that affects it on some level. But in the scope of things, when we zoom out from the film role, so to say, and we watch the overall career, the overall of your life, it just doesn't matter. What matters is what you do, what matters is what strategy you're following. What matters is like that. That's not even how my head thinks.
Speaker 1:So I love that response. We think back to 05, went on 1,000,004, went to 900,000, went to 1.750,000. And it all comes down to existing home sale, like there's data that is there right and so I think that is. I love the common theme today and that is do the right thing, be strategic in your approach to business and all this other stuff is noise, and a good friend of mine who coaches a football team, he talks about going into these big stadiums and he says the key is to have poise in the noise. And I love and that's no different than us today. We've got to have poise and composure with all of the noise that goes on around us. A couple of final thoughts as we put a bow around Jared James in our podcast. Jared, any books or podcasts that you recommend kind of must read or must listen to for our audience as they kind of prepare for summer reading and our business.
Speaker 2:Oh man, I'm terrible with this stuff. Here's why Breaking news I don't read a lot of books. I learn, probably more than anyone, you know, but I'm not a book reader and some people are and that's awesome. Go for it Like that's your thing. I don't buy into the whole. Readers are leaders type of thing. I think leaders are learners. Um, you know, and and so there's many different ways to learn. You know when that, when that quote came out, there was, you know, probably, only books with a, you know, a little feather ink pen and a, you know whatever. Now we have so many different, like you mentioned, podcasts and all these other things.
Speaker 2:I will tell you that what I do, um, uh, the only time you'll see me reading a book is like on vacation and such. I enjoy, uh, like, having a physical book and it's just any kind of biography. Uh, they generally don't write biographies about losers, you know. So I always loved um, one of my favorite biographies there, you know so I always loved um. One of my favorite biographies. There was one on reggie white. I loved. There was another one on ted turner. I loved um from the perspective of building, you know, uh, tbs and cnn and owning the braves and just like, just people who have done stuff like I just love that kind of stuff, you know, um, so I would tell you, find someone you really, you really, you know, uh, idolize or emulate or whatever, and, like you know, I'm into biographies. When it comes to the God, the self-help books and everything, it stinks because technically I write them. My publisher has been pushing me for the last 10 years to write another book, you know, on the how to's of things and such. But you know, look guys, they all say the same thing. You know you can only control what you control. Focus on the things you can control. You know, be grateful for the. You know gratitude trumps happiness. I mean, they all say the same thing we get it, we get it. I don't need to read 99 more Podcasts. Oh my God, again. I mean I have one today with Jared James.
Speaker 2:You probably want to listen to it if you're looking for, like, real estate specific stuff. You know there's a lot of them out there like that. I probably, again, don't listen to things that everyone here cares about. You know, I listen to the Diary of a CEO, I listen to Rogan, I listen to comedians like a ton of the comedians that have podcasts. I love their podcasts. I I like to laugh and learn, and just, I'm more I learned from watching people successful people than I do from them giving me their principle, um, if that makes any sense. So, um, I enjoy the people that go on those.
Speaker 2:The diary of a CEO, I feel like, is a really good podcast. Uh, great questions. Uh, depending on the episode, I love the Rogan. Uh, depending on the episode, I love the Rogan podcast. Depending on the episode, depending on who's on and such Um, there's just such a quantity of them that it's like, after a while, you've got somebody on there. You want to hear from Um, but I don't, I'm probably not like what, what, what a lot of people think of when they um, you know, I'm reading a book a week.
Speaker 2:Like I think that's a waste, like I think that's just filling your head with way too many things than you could ever actually do. And I also try I'm in a little bit of a different position because I try not to listen to a whole lot of my counterparts in the industry. I'm friends with a lot of them but I don't listen to them because I don't want it filtering into. It's like a comedian, like comedians, will tell you that in the beginning of their careers they sound like the comedian, they, they emulate like that, they that they idolize, that they, you know. And so I've always had this focus of trying to be a very distinct voice in our industry and doing it with my personality. Distinct voice in our industry and doing it with my personality. You know so, if you, if you watch my stuff on on social and Instagram and all these different places, I say things in a way that is very much my personality and I probably say things that most people in my position who have a coaching program and a speaking thing or whatever one wouldn't say cause you're supposed to be way more professional and never, you know.
Speaker 2:Yesterday I put out a video and I said our industry is about to become modern day dating. And like, what am I talking about? I'm talking about how we don't know whether the you know, is the buyer paying the commission? Is the seller paying the commission? Is this a split thing? Is this a? And I'm like our industry is about to become modern day dating. Like, is this traditional date? The guy's paying? Are you paying? Are we going Dutch? Are we going like? You know, whatever, I'm not technically supposed to say that kind of stuff, cause I'm supposed to be sitting back here and just being very professional and, like you know, saying that things that everybody else is saying and just keeping it clean. You know, whatever, it's just not my personality, it's not who I am, and so I don't really listen to a lot of in the industry people because I don't want them to infiltrate my thoughts. I want what I say to be unique. So I'm probably a terrible person to ask that question too, but it's just so I think.
Speaker 1:Jared, there's a ton to unpack in there. Right, leaders are learners and we're all going to learn differently. You know, I think, a couple of common themes today pay attention to your surroundings, you know, be, be, observe, have an awareness Uh, you know, it's interesting, you, you share that, like I, pay no attention to real estate pundits, uh, in terms of people that do what I do, to real estate pundits in terms of people that do what I do, yeah, I listen to you and others, like I follow predominantly sports, head coaches in sports. Yeah, that's my thing.
Speaker 2:Because you're thinking from a leadership perspective. You're thinking of a right.
Speaker 1:I'm just. I watch press conferences and you know I've been dying to give this. I picked this up this weekend. I was watching John Harbaugh from the Baltimore Ravens, who's one of my favorites, and he and his father and his brother started the HarbaughCoachingAcademyorg and on there they have 500 videos, not about football, yes, but about leadership for young coaches, because of the void of leadership of young people, like really, yeah, phenomenal, all free, all free. I love it. And so I'm very similar to you. Now I do a lot of reading, but I call it I graze, I graze, I graze, the. You know I like to look at chapter titles and then I like to. You know I'm a grazer, but but you know your mind goes right. Like I have. I have pages of notes from the Realtor Summit that you came to and I talk about pro and amateur and I talk about a lot of things that you talk about because it resonates in such a high way. We are running out of time. I got one final question here before you go to the final question.
Speaker 2:I got to say this one thing I'm out of time because we're good, but what you just said is so important, right? So, like you have to look at, when you look at various ways of learning, they're like languages of love, you know, and it's like your spouse may be physical touch and your gifts and, like you know, you could buy them everything all day long, but if you don't touch them, they don't feel loved, right? It's the same thing when it comes to learning. Like, we all learn in different ways. I learn with my headphones in while I'm at the gym, you know, while I'm listening in the car, like whatever. Like I'm just like that's how I do it. Other people do it reading, other people go to live events, other people go to. You know, there's all these different ways to do this, but you mentioned and I and I love this, and I was kind of alluding to this as well I think one of the reasons why I'm not as much into the books is because and I know this cause I've done this when you write a book and I know this because I've done this when you write a book, on one hand, you're giving your perspective.
Speaker 2:On the other hand, you're like filtering it through the idea of what I'm supposed to say here, what this is supposed to look like, or so many people are going to read this and so many people, and you're not getting like the. If you ever wrote a, in every very successful person's life there's a little bit of crazy that doesn't go in the book. That just would not make a chapter because it doesn't sound right. It doesn't sound. You know what's fit all of the books from the past. So the reason why I like to just watch people or read biographies and like pay attention to the person or just like when I'm around people and watch them and whatever, is because I see what they weren't willing to write.
Speaker 2:You know, I see what, what their filter didn't turn down, you know, and that is way more powerful to me Like I'm like okay, wait a second, I'm looking for the little things I'm looking for. You know, where a book there's such a filtering process that it becomes this like watered down version that fits the mold of the genre. You know, it's like every rom-com there's some that are better than others. They're all still rom-com. The theme is the same If you look at how it goes and when they break up and how they come back together and how they books are the same thing, whether you recognize that or not. And so for me, I'm not interested in the rom-com, I'm not. I just want to see, you know, and so that's why I'm not as much of a read, a book guy as I am. Some of the other ways of learning.
Speaker 1:Well, I love leaders, or learners and, uh, you know, I think so many things that have been said over the years can be either proven or disproved. And I think the beauty is, as we know, leadership is an art, it's not a science. Like there's not a one way Before, we wrap up.
Speaker 1:everyone's different and everyone has a different journey that they've taken which provides that perspective. I think you used the term earlier wisdom right. It's about the wisdom that I either gain through my experiences or that I need to gain through additional experiences To our listeners. Jared James, super happy to have you on today. Thank you for taking time to share a lot of insight about a lot of things. One final piece of advice what's your one thing?
Speaker 2:One thing. I mean look God, a lot of things to say there, but I would just tell you this, just just because of the time we're in right now uh, everyone right now wants to know what's the solution to this, what's the solution to that, what's the how's this going to pan out? You know, how is you know what's it going to look like in five years? How's it going to? I would tell you, right now, the greatest solution to everything is just get a listing. You know, like, like, you don't need to worry about what's going to happen in five years if you're not going to be here in five years because you were worried about five years from now, today. You know, get a listing. It solves a lot, you know. And and so, um, is it going to solve the world's problems? No, is it going to. Is it going to? You know, clarify everything in the settlement for you? No, but neither is sitting there and drowning yourself in all the different. You know how this is going to happen.
Speaker 2:You know, whatever, the greatest solution to everything happening right now is just dominate the local inventory, like that's it. You know, and then you can start figuring out all these other things and debate them. And. But you come from a position of strength. You know, like, like. At the end of the day, that's the position you want to come from. So a lot of things we could say there. Just win a listing. It solves a lot.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I love it. If you get a sale, you get a listing. You have a closing, you get a repeat referral business, you get yeah, do your business. You mentioned it multiple times today Too many people are spending too much time thinking about things that are. If they spend too much time on it, it's going to adversely impact my ability to be successful.
Speaker 2:today we're arguing in theory, we're over here going. You know well, Jared, I heard that you know your advice if a seller says well, I heard I don't have to pay a buyer. I heard that you told them that, if that happens, they're going to be at a competitive disadvantage, because there's buyers who have to now pay their agent if you're not paying them, and so it's going to eliminate the buyer pool, and isn't that steering? And you know whatever? Well, wait a second though, but then there's a fiduciary responsibility where you have to tell these people anything that's going to impact their price or their terms or anything, Otherwise they could sue you for not fulfilling your, and we can go back and forth all day long about all these things. Right At the end of the day, win the listing, Get into it in the real world.
Speaker 2:Let's start having real conversations with sellers, let's start having real conversations with buyers who come in, and let's have you guys in the field dealing with the issue in the real world and not just the theoretical debate of people like me and other people and you know that dominate the airwaves. You guys are. You guys are out there. You know you're not. You're not making a movie about World War II Like you're out there in the field, Like, let's, let's go out and get some real data on on what's really being said and what's really happening and what, and I think what a lot of us are going to find when we look back on this two years from now and I'm not one of these people like nothing changed.
Speaker 2:But I think we're going to find that not as much change as we thought it did. You know, because because when, when we sit here and go, well, now they don't have to pay a buyer's agent they didn't have to five years ago, you know uh, well, now they're going to lower their. Their commissions were negotiable all along, you know, at some point there comes a point where it's in their best interest to incentivize on the other side Okay, and if they don't, they don't get the same. That's how it works, Right. So I think some of us need to get out of our heads on the theory and we need to just get out there and eliminate a lot of that uncertainty, because that's where it comes from.
Speaker 2:A lot of people's fear right now, a lot of people's anxiety, a lot of that, uh, uncertainty, because that's where it comes from. A lot of people's fear right now a lot of people's anxiety, a lot of they're reaching out to me and wondering what's gonna? It's just uncertainty, and so how do you, how do you solve uncertainty? You make it certain by doing that's it right, you know?
Speaker 1:well, uh, our special guest today, uh, j James. Jared, thanks so much for joining us. I'm sure our team is going to enjoy a little more, jared James, and we appreciate you taking time to be with Reality Podcast, and good luck to your children. The soccer player how many children do you have?
Speaker 2:Two kids I have, a 17 and a 15 year old, uh, who are both bigger than me.
Speaker 1:Now, yeah, I don't know when that happened, I think, yeah, I think I told you, jared, my, my, I have a 15 year old grandson who's six foot three. So uh, yeah, uh, welcome to the world. Uh, real quick, where in Connecticut are you?
Speaker 2:Uh, so we are in Milford, connecticut, which is about nobody knows Milford. We're like 15 minutes South of new Haven, which we're nothing like new Haven, but we're 15 minutes South of there. We're about an hour outside of New York city. Most people know New York. We're about an hour outside of there. I live in a. I live in a great area, man, where it's like, uh, we're near everything highways, major restaurants, all that stuff but you know, I live back on a lake, you know farm town, but I'm an hour to New York City. So it's like direct flights everywhere I go. It's really, other than the fact you know it's Connecticut, taxes and winter. Outside of that, outside of that, I love it. But yeah, I mean, it's a, it's a, it's a beautiful, it's a beautiful place.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so I fly. I fly into Hartford. Yeah, grandson goes to a boarding school in Hardwick, massachusetts, so I fly into Hartford. Drive to.
Speaker 2:Sturbridge. What's that? Bradley BDL the airport, Bradley, Bradley Airport.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so I go there and I go to Sturbridge, then I go to Hardwick. So I get up your way a couple times a year. Jared James, have a great day, my friend.
Speaker 2:Thank you so much. Thanks, man, so much fun. Love you guys Always love working with you guys. Seriously, it's been like, I think, over a decade. So love you all.
