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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
Resilience and Real Estate: Jon House on Overcoming Cancer, Strategic Mindsets, and Building a Thriving Business
Ever wondered how someone can transition from the high-octane world of NASCAR to battling a life-threatening illness and come out stronger on the other side? Meet Jon House, whose journey from being a NASCAR jackman to confronting stage four non-Hodgkin's lymphoma at just 20 years old is nothing short of inspiring. In this episode, Jon opens up about the emotional rollercoaster that followed his diagnosis and how the steadfast support of his wife and her parents played a pivotal role in his recovery. His story is a testament to the resilience of the human spirit and the power of community in facing life's toughest challenges.
But the conversation doesn't stop there. We also explore the mental fortitude required to maintain a positive outlook when life throws curveballs your way. Jon shares how adopting a growth mindset not only helped him through his cancer treatment but also propelled him in his new career in real estate. By focusing on what he could control and trusting the expertise of professionals around him, Jon exemplifies the importance of resilience and adaptability. Whether you're facing a personal battle or navigating the ups and downs of the real estate market, his insights offer valuable lessons on staying focused and overcoming adversity.
As we continue our deep dive, Jon and his business partner Bill reveal the secrets behind their successful real estate partnership. From the significance of a straightforward business plan to the 'swag strategy' that keeps them top-of-mind with clients, their approach is both practical and innovative. We also discuss the importance of succession planning and consistent branding, demonstrating how these strategies can ensure long-term success in the industry. By nurturing relationships and engaging with their community, Jon and Bill have built a thriving business that stands as a model for real estate professionals everywhere. Tune in for an episode packed with motivation, practical tips, and the undeniable power of a supportive community.
Welcome to Reality Podcast. I am your host, gary Scott. Today we have, for the second time, john House. John, how are you? I'm doing well, gary. How are you? It is good to see you. I joke that you're on for the second time.
Speaker 1:John and I had a great recording of this podcast a month or so ago, gosh. I think we went 58 minutes, and I had a great recording of this podcast a month or so ago, gosh. I think we went 58 minutes and I believe we could have gone another 58. We're having a great conversation about John's career in the real estate business and some things that he's gone through in his life to give us motivation and inspiration. And then, all of a sudden, a big storm hit and we lost all power. And so this is take two of Reality Podcast with John House, and I'm as excited today as I was over a month ago. John, welcome, welcome, welcome. Thank you for having me as we did. I told John as we prepared for today's recording, I said you know I'm not exactly sure it'll be like the first one, but there'll be some consistencies within it. So I am going to read a little bit from John's bio that I found on the website, because I think it speaks to a lot of the things, john, that you and I are going to spend time on today. And again I want to welcome our listeners.
Speaker 1:I want to welcome everyone to the Reality Podcast and again, john House is with us today. I want you to meet John, your dedicated real estate consultant with a background in NASCAR and a passion for serving the community. With expertise in local markets and a commitment to excellence, john and his team at Team Balotow House, partnered with Allentate Company, offer comprehensive services to assist with all of your real estate needs. I'm going to skip a little bit, because I think this is an important piece of John's story. John actively supports initiatives like Sleep in Heavenly Peace and organizes charity events like the Real Heroes Bass Fishing Tournament benefiting Purple Heart Homes. Would be remiss if I didn't provide a little infomercial for our consumer listener that John House, as well as our other 1,700 realtors, are available for all of your housing needs.
Speaker 1:John, let's get started. We're going to start. We're going to go back 2008. One of the things that inspired me prior to you and I spending some time together is kind of a life altering event, and that story is one that I think gives all of us perspective and hope, and I think in our industry today, we need perspective and some hope and we need a strategy, and I think you meld them all together. So let's get going. I'm going to stop talking and I'm going to hand this microphone off to you.
Speaker 2:Yeah, man. So again back in 2008, at that time I was pitting race cars as a 20-year-old young man and I was a jackman for the NASCAR circuit and started having some back pains. And you know, one thing led to another with testing and those kind of things, and ultimately it came down to it we were diagnosed with stage four cancer, or we weren't. I was Diagnosed with stage four cancer it's non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and, um, yeah, kind of altered my entire uh, my entire uh story. So, um, but kind of is what it is, yeah.
Speaker 1:So, john, and I want to, I want to shout out uh to uh, one of our, our leaders here at Alan Tate and she just said to me. She said did you know the story? And I didn't know the story. So prior to real estate, you were in NASCAR and then this event, this health, it's interesting. You said we and then you said I. And let's talk about that a little bit, because I think there were other things going on in your life on and around the same time that probably were taking you from I to we. Does that make sense?
Speaker 2:Exactly yeah. So I say we because it takes a, it takes a team to to kind of beat that disease. But yeah, so again, 20 years old, I had met my wife. We were dating at the time and you know, when I got the diagnosis she was going through nursing school. You know we're very tight with her family. They're Mooresville natives, I had moved down from the Northwest Ohio and very tight family. So we literally took it on as a team. You know, between the treatments and my wife going through nursing school, you know, if my wife couldn't take me to treatments, my mother-in-law and father-in-law were taking me to treatment. So it was truly a team affair.
Speaker 2:But, like I said, I did four or five rounds of chemotherapy. Like I said, I did four or five rounds of chemotherapy. Everything was going good. That was locally, here in Morrisville, and you know, fast forward, I think it was 60 days or something like that. I had a follow-up PET scan and the test came back where the masses had started to regrow and I ended up needing a stem cell transplant in the University of Chapel Hill, which is a fantastic hospital.
Speaker 2:But with my wife being in nursing school and going through that whole ordeal, obviously she couldn't go with me to Chapel Hill for three weeks or longer, however long it would take. So my mother and father-in-law stepped up and, you know, mainly my mother-in-law was with me the entire time. My father-in-law would come up to to give a break if needed. Um, obviously, we had some church people come up, um, but that's that's the whole. We thing is is the team aspect. It's just we, we all kind of spearheaded it. Um, I never went to a doctor's appointment by myself. Um, it was just, it was one of those things.
Speaker 2:So, but ultimately fast forward, before the stem cell transplant and my wife and I, like I said we were dating, got engaged and before the stem cell transplant we decided to go ahead and get married for, you know, more financial purposes than anything. And so we had a nice little small wedding here in Morrisville with our pastor, my wife's parents, me, her and her brother, and that was it. And so we ended up getting married, as I'm going through cancer treatments, went up to Chapel Hill, did the, did the stem cell transplant. I was up there for in the hospital for 21 days. I want to say I was up there for another two or three weeks post the transplant Just monitoring blood cells or blood counts and those kinds of things, and then come back to Mooresville, had some follow-up radiation treatments and those kinds of things.
Speaker 2:But we decided to have what we call a wet abrasion the following summer, which we invited all our family and friends and did a renewal of the vow of ceremony and had a big wedding, if you will, but it was. It was crazy. Not only was my wife going through, you know, college, becoming a nurse, I'm battling cancer, but we ended up throwing a wedding on top of that and all that. So it's it's. It's a unique story.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so you know it's, it's an inspirational story and, you know, one of the things that you know we try to do on our reality podcast is, you know, you know it's not just about the real estate business, right, but I think everything that happens in our lives prepares us for everything that, everything else that happens in our lives, and there was no playbook for what you went through in 2008, 2009, 2010. But what you learned about during that time about yourself and those around you probably plays into how you very quickly built a successful real estate business. So I'm going to jump around just a little bit. And when did you decide to get into the real estate business?
Speaker 2:Yeah. So I decided really there was thoughts of it in 2015, but it became more serious in 2016. 2015, but it became more serious in 2016. So I'll kind of jump back a little bit as well. So after beating cancer and my occupation was pitting race cars I didn't really have the strength to continue to do that, or the endurance or anything like that. So when we did our wet abrasion, I had went on a honeymoon cruise at that time and met a lady that was in the insurance world and she worked for Aflac Insurance. And we got to talking at dinner one night and she was telling me about a cancer plan that they had offered that would benefit folks going through what I had just went through. And I told Caroline. I said when I come back, I was like I'm going to get my insurance license. I could sell this plan all day long. People need it. I just fought insurance for 18 months going through it myself. This is a great plan. So that's what I did. I ended up coming back. That was in 2009. I came back to Mooresville and got my insurance license and went into insurance world and did that all the way up until 2015 between Aflac and State Farm and a little bit of Nationwide and that kind of thing.
Speaker 2:But 2015 comes around. It was really probably December of 2014. I got a call from an old pit crew coach that said hey, I need a jack man for the Daytona 500. And I'm like sure, let's do it. I haven't touched a jack in seven years, but let's train and see what we can do. You know, I was feeling good and I had started running some half marathons and stuff, even though I don't look like it anymore, and so I was like sure, so I started training again. Well, I pitted the Daytona 500 in 2015. And as a young man I was still fairly young I was like, oh, I can still do this. So I'm going to leave insurance, I'm going to go back into racing full time and chase the dream that I had since I was a little kid. And so that's what I did. I left a salaried position, went back into racing chasing it and again pitted the Daytona 500, which is the biggest race in NASCAR, went on and bounced around in the cup series and and on some developmental deals, and did that for another year and a half and literally the week that I was going to part-time and going into real estate school.
Speaker 2:I. I was up in Pennsylvania or Pocono, pennsylvania, and we had break failure. I got hit on pit road, unfortunately, and had a lot of brain bleeds and those kinds of things. It was lifelighted to Lehigh Valley, in in Pennsylvania there, and I was awake. I actually walked to the ambulance. I just don't remember any of it, but when I quote unquote, regain memory if you will. Uh, I called my wife. I was like I'm retired, like I'm going into real estate, like I'm done racing, whatever, so, um, so that's really when the uh.
Speaker 2:The focus switched to real estate is 2016,. Summer of 2016. Um, once I got back to Charlotte with the um from the NASCAR injury, I went to a neurosurgeon. He's like, hey, you can take the class, but you're not going to regain or retain any of the information. And as the class went on, you could start to see like I was retaining some, but the beginning stuff is just kind of left me. So I ended up taking the class a second time and got my real estate license and then I interviewed with Alan Tate and been here since 2017. So that's where we are.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so. So, john, thank you for that. I smile as you tell that story, not because of the outcome of the story, but I think it's important to share with our listeners that after our first podcast take one of Gary Scott, john House, I get a text from John and it is a video of that accident in Poconos. And you know, I think about the obstacles that come into our real estate lives. You know, I think we talk all the time. You know we think about market conditions, we think about rising interest rates, we think about low inventory, we think we still have a memory about how we all felt March of 2020 with COVID For those of us who were in it in 08, you know we have.
Speaker 1:You know we think about that financial crisis period of time. And then I think about, you know, the journey you went on and it just it hits me that nothing that this industry can throw at you that you were not prepared for. And I'm confident and I'll ask you this question, but I'm highly confident that in June of 2022, when 40-year high of inflation of 9.1 and interest rates are at 7.5, and there are other people there that might have thought that the sky was falling, and I don't know if you watched that video when those events happened, but it's all perspective. So I know that you have taken a lot of the things that you have learned, so I think that would be super interesting for you to share. You know, in those two life events Gosh 2008. Right and 2015. What are the key things that you learn from that that you have been able to stay true to?
Speaker 2:Yeah, well, I would say the number one thing and the most important thing in my opinion, is a positive mindset. You know, I attack everything in life with with a positive mindset. I have, probably even before I was diagnosed with cancer, but very much so since, you know, just control the controllables. I'm sure you've heard that, I think I've heard you say it before Mindset is, is the biggest thing. I went in literally I had a little saying when I was battling cancer is beat the masses ass. You know, you, just, you just wake up and be positive, be you know, be thankful for what you have and what you're doing, but you know, stay focused on the end goal and and have the positive mindset and you, in my opinion, you can overcome way more than you think you can.
Speaker 1:So it's, it's interesting and, and I think you know we've all we have talked about this concept of you know, being laser focused on the things we do have control of.
Speaker 1:Because I think what happens and I know Pat Riley right now is going around talking, you know, at business meetings, about the ability for all of us to stay away from the noise, ability for all of us to stay away from the noise and I think if we have a fixed mindset, not a growth mindset, we have a tendency to grab hold of the noise.
Speaker 1:And you know, when you think about you know, the ninja selling, which is something you know that I think we all believe in, whether it's officially the ninja way or how our, our, we've kind of grown up. You know that I think we all believe in, whether it's officially the ninja way or how our, our, we've kind of grown up. You know it starts with mindset, you know, and then it goes to skillset and then it goes to action. But so interesting that so many things that we read and we hear about success is about a growth mindset. So, john House, when asked this question, after beating cancer, beating a incredibly tragic accident, when asked what are the couple of things that you hold true to Mindset. So, beyond mindset, what are some of the other things that you really garnered from those experiences that you apply on a daily basis to your successful real estate business?
Speaker 2:Yeah, you've heard the term kind of roll with the punches. You know, again, it's mindset driven. But despite anything that comes your way I mean, especially when you look at it from a real estate standpoint there's really not anything that comes up in the real estate transaction that can't be overcome. It's just a matter of, you know, rolling with the punches and educating both sides like, hey, this is this is fixable or this is doable. Both sides like, hey, this is fixable or this is doable. We have the resources in place to attain your ultimate goal and educate people on how to do that with the resources that we've been given.
Speaker 2:So you know, just roll with it. I mean, not every day was butterflies and rainbows, if you will, throughout any of my life, but you know you find the positives and you know, follow the tools that are put in place by the doctors, your real estate agent, you know the medical staff, whatever it may be, and you know, just trust them and everything's going to be okay. And then, like I said, I always go back to mindset. Man, I'm just a positive guy, but I just try not to get stuck in the in the negative things, you know.
Speaker 1:So a couple of things there that I think about Number one, as you said, you have to trust the doctor's plans. Yeah, so I'm going to convert that, the doctor's plans. So I'm going to convert that, I'm going to translate that to the life of our listener, the real estate professional. So it's about number one the doctors had a plan. Let's start with that, right. So how important was your recovery to a plan which is probably no different, john, than your business? We'll talk about your partnership, bill, and whatnot, but I would venture to say and again I'll put you on the spot a little bit I bet you guys have a business plan. Is there any truth to that that John and Bill have a business plan? Touch on business plan. Then we'll touch a little bit on how you and Bill formed your, I think, incredibly successful partnership.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think you have to have a business plan. It doesn't have to be pages long or whatnot, but think you have to have a business plan. It doesn't have to be, you know, pages long or whatnot, but you both have to have. Or, as a business owner, you have to have an end goal in mind, like what are you trying to achieve? Otherwise you're just throwing darts without feathers. But you know we have. We have a business plan.
Speaker 2:We both know Bill and I are both, you know, ultimately a dollars and cents guy. Like, hey, we both want to live this lifestyle. It takes this amount of dollars and cents. What do we need to do to attain those goals? And then you just kind of work backwards from there. That's how we do it and there's, you know, some benefits to that, but that's what gets Bill and I going. There's going to be other people that have different goals and they structure different ways.
Speaker 2:But to not have a business plan at all, like I said, is you have no end goal, there's nothing to achieve there. Okay, we want to make a certain dollar amount. What do we got to do to attain that? And Ninja Selling you know the course that we did there kind of helped us with that. Honestly, because you know they have their goal contract and you do their goal contract there and you're doing the same thing. That our business plan is is you're working back and say, okay, it takes a number of relationships and number of calls and number of, you know, pop buys and all these other things that go into a successful business. What do you got to do to get to that that nut at the end? Um, but our, our business plan is not. You know 10 pages on a Microsoft word document and say, oh, this is what we do. Ours is literally like here's our end goal. What do we got to do to get there and follow these steps? And it's? You know you can attain that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so I think it's really important. You know, I think sometimes agents don't have a plan because they think it needs to be 10 pages, they think it needs to be from the Wharton School at Pennsylvania, like I think they think it needs to be. But it's about like I've seen great plans on a page.
Speaker 2:Exactly.
Speaker 1:Well, that was great first couple of years.
Speaker 2:You know I was very. I procrastinated a lot about the business plan because you know you're going through as a new agent with Allen Tate. You go through the winner's edge and everybody encourages you to have this and a marketing plan and those kinds of things. But I was intimidated by it. I was just like man, I have no idea. You know I'm brand new to this. I have no idea if this is even going to work, but you still have to have an end goal, like at the end of the day, you're still trying to achieve something. And so, like you said, even if it's chicken scratch on the back of the paper, have a goal in mind. And what are we going to do to get there? It's going to better your business. It really is. Every day you're going to wake up and you're going to be like oh, I know what I got to do today to try to get to that.
Speaker 1:Your ability or probability of achieving personal and or professional goals improves like 68% if you put that plan in writing 100%, and one of the exercises that a colleague of mine shared one day which was really quite fascinating is the question, john, was think back to a time when you had the absolute most success in your life and then think about what preceded that and what can you learn from that. You know, I did. I had great success in 2008 doing something Like what? What did I do? What did I do to ensure that moment in time happened? And then how do I duplicate that, replicate that and apply it to a real estate business, and I think that's why I really love our conversation. You know we've not really talked about a real estate strategy. We've talked about a success strategy. Now, don't think you're getting off without some real estate strategies. There you go, which one of them is, and I am going to come back to your partnership, but don't allow me to forget that you and I can see each other.
Speaker 1:Our listeners are listening, though. You and I have the good fortune of being able to have eye contact and being able to ensure that we don't talk over each other, which is always beneficial in a podcast. But I know that you and Bill are big swag gear promotion. That's part of your business plan, without question. So let's take this into two parts. Let's share with our listener how your partnership evolved with Bill, and then let's talk about your I'll call it swag strategy, for the lack of a better phrase. It's actually a phrase that I like, so we're going to just use it there. So tell everybody about your partnership with Bill, how it happened and what you've learned and really experienced from it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely so. Bill Balotow and myself. I started in real estate in 2017 with Alan Tate as somebody that had never purchased my own home, never been a part of a real estate transaction. But I had seen other folks, other real estate agents. I went to church with Stephanie Rickert, who's in our office and just seen that and, you know, kind of learned the process. But, diving into it, I kind of got going in 2017, was somewhat successful quickly. Bill saw that and just so happened that the following spring maybe I want to say it's April, may, something like that Following spring in 2018, bill was at the beach and he got a call off of a just sold card.
Speaker 2:He had sold two or $300,000 house not on the water and his just sold card just happened to hit somebody on the water who needed to sell their house. So he got a call. He was on the beach it was like Monday of a week long vacation. He said, hey, I can't meet you until the following weekend, is that okay? And they said, well, we really want somebody out here in the next day or two. So Bill called myself and another agent and said, hey, if you guys can go and secure this listing, we'll all split it. Um, I said, okay, sure, um. So we, we all did all over the phone. We did some market analysis and these kinds of things, went over to the listing appointment and ultimately was able to secure the listing you know, over a million dollars on the water, fast forward. We got through that deal.
Speaker 2:Everything went fine, fast forward. A couple of months. I was on opportunity time in the office and got a phone call and a gentleman wanted to purchase a house call, and a gentleman wanted to purchase a house but needed to move septic lines and several other things in the backyard to make this deal go through. And I was just like you want to do what you know, not having the experience. So I was just like I got a guy. So I called Bill. I said, bill, how would you like to team up on this one Kind of repay the favor, if you will? And of course he jumped on and we both want the same for the client and that sounds a little cliche, but we have that same end goal in mind Like, hey, whatever we got to do to get the client to achieve the real estate goal, that's what we want to do. So he was able to come on and we were able to work that deal.
Speaker 2:Literally, it's like a week later it seems like I had another one that wants to do something unique and I'm like Bill, I need you again. So ultimately at the end of the day it came down to hey, we work good together, we both have the same values, we want to treat clients with respect, those kind of things. It just was a good mesh. It was a good mesh. It just was a good mesh, like it was a good mesh. Uh, he has the experience needed, I feel, in this industry, uh, to get deals to the closing table.
Speaker 2:And I had the drive and ambition as a new agent, you know, trying to, you know, make a new career of this, that it just kind of worked for both of us. So we met with some, you know the RVP and that kind of stuff and you know just kind of set up a succession plan. So, as Bill's getting over he's 31 years older than I am so as he's getting older and wants to consider retirement, you know he can kind of do that, but not just lose his book of business, if you will. I use that because it's an insurance term and that's what I knew, but then also it kind of helped me starting out as I'm learning and growing and getting real estate. Real estate can have that roller coaster effect and it just really kind of streamlined our business from both sides because we split everything and we've been that way since we started. It's been a great fit and there's definitely been deals that have stayed together because Bill's experience and knowledge and there's definitely deals that have been put together because, you know, I'm not afraid to talk to anybody. I'm hitting the streets and have that go drive. So that's been great. Fast forward you know we've been a partner since 2018 now partnership, but fast forward to last year. You know, having the NASCAR background, I've always been.
Speaker 2:You got to be your own walking billboard and what better way to do that than have apparel? You know, that represents your brand. So we had an idea to get some shirts embroidered and so we both went and picked up some shirts, got them embroidered here locally and everybody loves them. You know, it's just a silly idea. We had a nice little logo made that's excuse me in the shape of a house and it's got his last initial, his last name initial, my last name initial, just Realtors on the side. And then we got the Tate logo on the sleeve, but it's just our brand.
Speaker 2:You know, everybody's everybody sees it and they're like, oh, that's a nice looking shirt. Who do you work with? And then they're just it's a conversation starter, really. Um, because they don't see the Alan Tate logo. But they see BH realtors and they're like what's that? So, honestly, um, we've gotten some business from them, so that's always a good thing. But we're big on on self branding. You know we're walking billboards out there. Not always do you have your you know your name badge on, but it's very crucial to be branded in our opinions. And I know you want a shirt. I actually picked up some shirts yesterday, so hopefully one day we'll give them out as a closing gift or something like that, if people will wear them, but right now it's just Bill and I, and I mean we really enjoy it.
Speaker 1:I think, john, during our take one of podcast, I said to you, do you give them out? And if my memory serves me, your comment was I'm not sure they would wear them. And then I think I said maybe you give them the choice. And so you know, I think, so many takeaways, as I've said many times over the three years of our podcasts, you know, if every listener can grab three things from each one of these, it's worth the time, and I think I've got four to five from that last segment. So let me start with a couple of things. Number one Bill and John were not looking to form a partnership. It happened organically. So sometimes you may not have a plan, but keep an open mind and let some you know, it's the sports phrase, you know kind of let the game come to you, which I think is what transpired with you. Number two is you learned about your compatibility in view of the real estate world, and then it became a conversation that took on another life of its own. Number three I love it.
Speaker 1:I want everybody listening today succession planning in our business, the number of agents who have been in it 25, 30, 35, 40 years, who get out of it and do not plan with someone else or someone's else, some kind of annuity pay plan over the course of time. So John just said 31 year. The younger Bill Bill is not ready to retire. Bill had the foresight this might be the biggest takeaway for experienced agents. Bill knew that at some point in time in the future I would retire. He didn't say two years, three years, five years and rather than wait he thought he would build it for a period of time and what I will tell everyone listening today is that will, to the best of our ability, ensure an effective transition.
Speaker 1:John made a mention of the insurance. Industry is about, you know, selling a book of business. The financial industry is about selling a book of business relationships that you have nurtured and cultivated over the years and years and multiple transaction and generational transactions to another person. With the understanding that everybody that I did business with during my real estate career has other friends in the business, they chose to use me, which was a blessing for me. So I think you know those are three of the things that you unpack there. Number four is I believe, john, that you and Bill do you wear your swag every day.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah Every day, unless it's at the dry cleaner.
Speaker 1:So like that. So number one, brand yourself. Number two is like when you see their logo, it is people are going to ask you a question. I know that Bill Balto. Lots of tennis, lots of pickleball. I know, I've talked to him many times. Every day he wears the shirt and every day somebody who's new to the group asks the question.
Speaker 2:Exactly, and we don't even have. It's not even just business. You know business polos, we have athletic wear and shorts and sweats too. You know pullovers, I mean fleeces, whatever you can think of. Obviously, we're real estate agents. We work all the time, so why not market yourself all the time?
Speaker 1:Well, every time I see the two of you at a VIP event or at an office, or you're wearing it, and so then we go to number five. I've given five takeaways from the last segment, and that doesn't even count the other segments that John has been so gracious in sharing. You know, his background is consistency. Consistency they wear it every day. They don't wear it once a month, once a week and again, whether it's wearing gear or whether it's just listed cards or whether it's open house strategies. Be consistent in the things you choose to do to be successful in the real estate business. I'm going to shift gears a little bit. Let's talk about some strategies. Let's talk about some of the things that you guys do consistently other than wear your gear. Let's talk about some of the ways to generate business. What are some of the keys that you and Bill have found to be successful for you in generating business, servicing business and then, probably most importantly, how to ensure repeat and referral business? That's a big question, so I apologize for that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean the biggest thing for both of us. You know, like I said, I moved down in 2005. I was an insurance agent for seven years. My wife's family's from Mooresville, bill's been back to the Carolinas for 22, 23 years. We both have a very good pipeline of people.
Speaker 2:The biggest thing that I would say that we do is understand, in real estate, the majority of your business is going to come from the people that know you already. When I was in insurance. You do a lot of cold calling and door knocking and those kind of things and, yes, you can make that. If you move here from an area and you don't have a pipeline, those are the things you have to do. But for us to be successful so quickly, it's just nurturing the relationships that we've already established over the last, you know, 18 to 23 years, whatever industry that we we may have been in, and that's really what we do, we we focus on. Obviously we do the mailings and the networks and everything else that everybody else is doing, but we really focus on our past clients and what we can do past relationships, what we can do to stay top of mind with existing people that already know us and love us. So you know we do a lot of Popeyes. That's probably the biggest thing.
Speaker 2:We got 4th of July coming up here, which we do American flags and we, you know Popeyes you usually do 10. American flags we do over 200. And that's became after five years. That has become one of the things that our clients look forward to. And I kid you not, we'll probably see out of 200, just say 200 flags, we'll probably get 50 text messages from people saying, hey, thank you for the flag again this year, hope you guys are doing well. And that's what it's all about. It's just, you know it costs us time and a few dollars per person. It's nothing fancy, but it's just letting people know, hey, we're still out here hustling and when that conversation turns to real estate, you're going to be top of mind just because you're staying in the flow of their lives as well. So we do that Again. I'm big on giving back to the community and the ways that I give back on the community. Bill's big with the school systems and those kind of things. So we're staying in the in front of people in in the neighborhoods that we live in as well and obviously networking groups and those kinds of things.
Speaker 2:But relationships. You heard it in Ninja. You'll hear it in Ninja if you haven't taken Ninja. Relationships are the number one thing I feel in real estate, the number one thing that you can do to continue to grow, to build something that you're trying to build, achieve your real estate goals as an agent. Relationships are the number one thing. I wouldn't get hung up on the one-offs like you were saying with okay, I mailed out a direct mail this month. I maybe did it for three months, but it's not working. So let me change and go to something else. That's not going to work. Just continue and build the relationships with the people that you already know is going to be the number one thing, yeah.
Speaker 1:So a couple of questions. You mentioned that Popeye's one of your big strategies. You shared the 4th of July flag, a big one. You made a comment that said typically it's 10. This one's 200. Talk a little bit about that. Do you guys do a Popeye once a month, once a week, every other week? What's your cadence of pop-by? You made it pretty clear here that that's a definitive strategy for you and Bill to stay connected to your network.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I would say our normal pop-bys is we try to hit five a week. If you think about it, there's a lot of strategies out there. They always say 10 a month. Well, 10 a month per person. There's two of us, so that's 20 a month.
Speaker 2:For us to pick up and drive around and hit 20 people seems a little daunting. Just with day in and day out business, you kind of get over one. But when you break it down to five and you say, okay, today we're hitting Huntersville, then next week we'll hit Statesville and more. So it's quite simple. You know, take an hour and a half, whatnot, put them together and drive them around. We grab lunch and just make a afternoon of it and it's a fun time and honestly the most fun we have with it. You know, running into your clients and you got this little. It means nothing. I mean there's no, there's nothing to it. That is, it is of any dollars and cents value. Um, it's just saying, hey, we were thinking of you, we hope you're doing well and oh, by the way, we love your referrals. Um, so it's fantastic. Um, but people I've actually gotten um, a neighborhood that I used to do pop buys in.
Speaker 2:I was a neighborhood I was farming and when I first started and here's something for the newer agents when I first started I didn't do the people that already knew and loved me and trusted me those kinds of things. I just did pop buys to random people. I picked one specific neighborhood and started pop buying this community and just hit a few here, hit a few here, ended up getting three transactions within, I want to say, a six-month period. And the last time I had a transaction the ladies was like I went on our neighborhood Facebook page and asked who's the guy dropping off the corny gifts? And that's how I got those three last deals in that neighborhood.
Speaker 2:So, like I said, it's just consistency. Like you said, that's the biggest thing. And then it doesn't have to be. It could be so simple. You can do it on a budget or you can put some higher end stuff together, it really doesn't matter. But people just love it and love to feel appreciated Like hey, they took the time out of their day to come in and say hello. Essentially, so it's great and the other thing you said.
Speaker 1:The other thing you just said and I think this is really critical in our business, because our business is not easy it's a lot of fun. It is. It's a lot of fun. And why is it a lot of fun? Because you get to interact with people in a way that they appreciate, and that is that mindset that you kicked off our conversation with. I'm going to continue to ask a question. I'm certainly intrigued by this. You and Bill do it together. That's an interesting question as it relates to your partnership.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we do a lot of things together. Buyers we don't really do a lot together. We have some listing strategies that usually appeal to sellers when we're both there, but that's another conversation. But as far as the marketing and pop buys and back to the branding, even this all ties together and the succession plan. We brand everything as Team Balotow house. It's usually got both of our pictures on there. I mean, we're we're really focused on that.
Speaker 2:So when we're doing these Popeyes, especially the fives you know the, the five on the weekly basis, why not? You pop in and you see a past client and you both can generate conversation with them. I may have, he may have done a deal with him 15 years ago. I may have never even had the opportunity to meet him yet. Well, hey, this is my business partner. I'm sure you've seen some of the marketing we've been sending you, john, you know, and just, I mean it's just creating relationships and so that's been fantastic. What I will say with the flags is we do try to do them on the 4th of July weekend and that gets a little much for both of us being together. So usually Bill handles the North end and I handle the South end folks with that. Unless we can get them going a few days in advance, then we'll try to do as many as we can together. But the reason why we like to do them on that weekend is everybody's off and usually if they're home they're outside, and I mean it's just a great conversation starter.
Speaker 1:John, you made a comment about popping by people you don't know in certain neighborhoods, not to put you on the spot. Do you geographic farm a strategy, yes or no?
Speaker 2:Yeah, we have a couple of neighborhoods that we focus on specifically. Yeah, excellent.
Speaker 1:Uh, a couple questions. Did um? Did bill have them prior to the partnership uh, or were they a, uh, you know, an outshoot uh of you guys coming together?
Speaker 2:I think he didn't have anything like that in place. Bill was big, you know, he was coming from the print world, he was big on the American lifestyle and he was actually doing online leads and we continue to do those for a year or so to to no prevail there. I think the the partnership really got him focused on. You know, things have changed and I think that before we even partnered I mean, if you ask Bill, his mindset of of partnering, it was, you know it's, it's a change. He was, he was coming from, you know, back in the day when you had magazines and newspaper ads and kind of you know, coming, coming full circle, if you will, and bringing on young blood to kind of do the social media aspect and the and the you know the things that work today, if you will, not being stagnant and kind of showing people that, hey, I can change with the times. I think that's crucial to the partnership from his side, if you will.
Speaker 1:Well, I think I love the generational partnership. Yeah, I think it speaks a lot because we know there's a big population of all of the generations. I think one of the other takeaways is the importance of acknowledging that and then modifying some of our strategies to make sure we're talking not just to a generation, but the multiple generations that we find today in the housing market. We are about to tie up podcast reality with Mr John House. He has been outstanding and, as I said to kick us off, john, you are the first guy to do this twice and I can tell you that the second one has been every bit as inspiring and informative. I know I appreciate your insight. Informative. I know I appreciate your insight.
Speaker 1:We're going to wrap it up with a couple of things. My favorite question is what I call the one thing as you look at the balance for our listeners. We're recording this in the month of June, probably going to come out the month of July, july kind of month one of second half 2024. What one thing, what one piece of advice do you give every single listener today, whether I'm thinking about getting a license, or I'm in winner's edge, or I had my first anniversary, or I just got my 35th anniversary card from our company. One piece of advice.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I just that's kind of loaded as well. But I would just say stick to the basics of what we know. You know, coming in, trust the process and being 35 years into it, trust the process Literally. Yesterday I was helping Bill with the Moxie present stuff. You know just, trust the process, the yesterday I was helping Bill with the Moxie present stuff. You know just trust the process that the company that we have in place here they have the tools and the know how of you know, as things change, what's the best way to move forward, especially with the things coming out in August. Just trust the process, just just trust the process.
Speaker 1:Stay consistent and you know good things will come. Yeah, Excellent. Well, and you know, I know, I know one place you want to go was you want to go back to mindset, because I know that is. That is the pillar for you and virtually everybody else that we come in contact with who has great levels of success. Yeah, They've got a mindset that's positivity, optimism, collaboration, communication, connectivity, consistency. You know it's one of abundance and not scarcity, and I think you know. The other piece I know is John House and Bill are also known to take our newer people and they will share everything we shared today and then some. I do forget one thing from our take. One of Gary Scott and John House is Are you a reader? You have a book recommendation for our audience today.
Speaker 2:There you go. Throw me under the bus again.
Speaker 1:Did I do this already? Gosh, I hate when I do that. So we can skip that last 42 seconds of our podcast. I think now I'm refreshing my memory. John is not a reader, is that correct?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I do like the podcast though, but I'm not a big reader.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I do like the podcast, though, but I'm not a big reader. So there's the other takeaway is there are some people that say you have to read to be successful. There are other people that say it's interesting. I also recently released a podcast with Jared James and you know, you would think Jared James is a reader and he came and said I don't read Like. I don't read Like. I read stuff but I don't read books. He said that's just not what I think is the best use of my time, and I think that goes back to a comment you just made, john House, and that is trust, the process, and the process is your process, and our business is an art, not a science, which makes it a spectacular field to be in. So, john House, thank you, thank you, thank you, absolutely outstanding.
Speaker 2:Yeah, thanks for having me on, man.
Speaker 1:We appreciate you To our listeners. Thank you for allowing Reality Podcast into your world, whether you're driving, walking or whether you're sitting down with a notepad taking a note or two way more than three takeaways from my good friend, john House. John, I'm waiting for some swag. Have a great day.
Speaker 2:Hi man Take care.
