The Alimond Show
Samantha Tunador - Loan Officer at Atlantic Coast Mortgage
Have you ever felt the ground shift beneath you as you leaped from one career to another? That's exactly what our guest did, trading the glitz of fashion for the adrenaline rush of finance, and she's here to share her exhilarating journey with us. From the tremors of becoming an empty nester to the unexpected joys found in divorce, our conversation weaves through the deeply personal and the professional, including the nuanced dance of working alongside a spouse and the smart integration of social media to skyrocket a career in real estate.
Imagine sending a video message that not only brightens someone's day but cements a business relationship—this is the future of marketing that our guest champions. The episode peels back the curtain on crafting a commanding online presence where authenticity trumps automation, and every Facebook post or birthday video message could lead to your next big break. We're not just talking about the tools of the trade; we dive into the art of building genuine links that resonate in a digital-forward world, where even holographic networking is on the horizon.
Wrapping things up, we turn to the pressing topic of real estate affordability and strategies to make homeownership a reality despite market fluctuations. Through our own experiences and the power of storytelling, we highlight the importance of nurturing connections, whether for seamless business referrals or simply to uplift friends in their ventures. Our parting thoughts emphasize the timeless value of sincerity and kindness in a rapidly evolving world, extending an invitation to join our community—because it's the shared moments and advice that truly enrich our lives.
Have you ever felt the ground shift beneath you as you leaped from one career to another? That's exactly what our guest did, trading the glitz of fashion for the adrenaline rush of finance, and she's here to share her exhilarating journey with us. From the tremors of becoming an empty nester to the unexpected joys found in divorce, our conversation weaves through the deeply personal and the professional, including the nuanced dance of working alongside a spouse and the smart integration of social media to skyrocket a career in real estate.
Imagine sending a video message that not only brightens someone's day but cements a business relationship—this is the future of marketing that our guest champions. The episode peels back the curtain on crafting a commanding online presence where authenticity trumps automation, and every Facebook post or birthday video message could lead to your next big break. We're not just talking about the tools of the trade; we dive into the art of building genuine links that resonate in a digital-forward world, where even holographic networking is on the horizon.
Wrapping things up, we turn to the pressing topic of real estate affordability and strategies to make homeownership a reality despite market fluctuations. Through our own experiences and the power of storytelling, we highlight the importance of nurturing connections, whether for seamless business referrals or simply to uplift friends in their ventures. Our parting thoughts emphasize the timeless value of sincerity and kindness in a rapidly evolving world, extending an invitation to join our community—because it's the shared moments and advice that truly enrich our lives.
So tell me a little bit about what you've been doing.
Speaker 2:The past year I made a transition from fashion to finance, so being an empty nester and just moving my circle into a different, a whole, entirely different industry, social media kind of made that possible. Yeah, but I've been working with my husband for the past year. You work with your husband also, right?
Speaker 1:I am divorced. I didn't do that. Yes, I used to.
Speaker 2:OK, I used to All right. Well, it's interesting to be able to work with a spouse right, so it's been a good, dynamic, overall Good.
Speaker 1:It was very good for us.
Speaker 2:Yeah right, most people are like wait what, how do you do this?
Speaker 1:And it's turned out OK. Any personalities and then dynamics need and conversations need to happen where it's like this is your bucket, this is my bucket. Different strengths. Yeah, and that's hard it was really hard for us, being married and trying to do the business thing Right so you can get home all the time. We didn't make it work, but Well that's all right, I'm an advocate of divorce.
Speaker 2:I'm a huge advocate of divorce, which I think people are usually surprised to hear that, yeah, no, it's actually going to be very good. Yeah, so I hope it is for you. It was a good experience, for sure, but how old are your kids now Eight, 12, and 16.
Speaker 1:So they're still fairly young.
Speaker 2:It's such a busy stage for you, though it is.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's very. I'm the taxi driver, uber driver at this point, taking everybody to all the different places they need to go. All the hats? Yes, well, trying to. I have an amazing team, which I was over it before, trying to balance all the business stuff. So you're doing a lot with social media. I am Tell me about that. Are we interviewing right now? We sure are. Oh, yeah, it's a conversation.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, yeah, I love it. Ok, I am doing a lot with social media. I've spent a past dozen plus years kind of moving business around social media and understanding it and learning it, from social selling to influencer marketing. And when I stepped into finance, into the loan industry, our main client is typically a real estate agent who has clients that need loans. And as I started talking to the real estate community, they needed help with social media, which, when I really dug in deeper, they were using social media to lead, generate, to build their business and trying to figure out that, how to put all those pieces together in an already busy schedule and to make it feel real and authentic. And I'm like, oh, I think I can help with that. So, having done it all along the way and I grew up in real estate I spent over a dozen years in the new home industry. We owned a real estate company.
Speaker 2:My husband switched to mortgage 10 plus years ago and so, having been married to that side of it, when I stepped in just over a year ago, we had empty nested, the house was quiet, like we'd done the kitchen renovation and the puppy was no longer a puppy and my days were long waiting for him to not be busy, and he was just always busy. So we kind of had a conversation. He's like well, what you're doing in social media, influencing, that's really working. Just do more of it. I'm like I don't really know that there's more to do at this point. It was kind of working on its own and I was like I just need something to fill my day, something to look forward to.
Speaker 2:And we thought about going into real estate. And then I thought well, if you're on the mortgage side, I don't want to be in competition with all of the hands that feed your business. And his thought was well, why don't you consider mortgage? Could you make up for three loans a month that we're losing because refinances have gone away? I go, I actually think I could. So you have to get licensed, which is not the easiest thing. But I took people along on social media of going through the classes and how mind-bendingly difficult it can be. So that was kind of interesting. I talked to a lot of people who were like this is really fascinating to see kind of that midlife transition Like what do you do when the kids are gone.
Speaker 2:What's my next step? And for me it was actually kind of natural, being having grown up in real estate and worked around the industry and married to it and working as a husband and wife team, he really didn't want to get out from the social standpoint and he was honestly too busy too. He's behind a computer running the numbers and getting loans locked and he's busy enough that he has work to do and I honestly didn't want to sit behind the computer. I wanted to get out each day. I wanted a reason to get dressed and get out and about in the community. So we have found it's been a nice compliment to each other's business and helping him grow. And some people think, well, wait, should we give the business to you or to your husband? And we're kind of one. It's either. Start wherever you're most comfortable and we'll help move people through.
Speaker 1:So basically what I'm hearing is you said, if I can't beat it, aka you're like I want to spend more time with him. But he was like busy working a lot. He said I'm just going to go ahead and join in.
Speaker 2:We've been married 25 years and it's really interesting. He would want me to start as a cycling and I'm like I like to go on a bike ride around town with the kids and with a loaf of bread hanging out of the basket. I don't want to go fast, I'm going to ride the brakes. But we were trying to find things in common and real estate was still one of them. But at the end of the day, when you're no longer worried about the day-to-day life of multiple other people, it's like what do you have to bond and you either grow closer each day or more distant, right, and either can be healthy. It's really I just kind of try to add up the days to are there more better days than worse days? And it was just getting really quiet. So it's been nice to have this connection and bond, although I have to say at the end of the day we're really tired and don't really want to talk about it further.
Speaker 1:So you have to find another hobby that you guys could do together after a ride Almost right, yes.
Speaker 2:So he's a pretty good sport about it all. But I want him to download and tell me about his day, and vice versa, I want him to ask me about mine, but we're both kind of like I don't think I can talk about this more because we started at 7.30, 8.00 am and kind of going 12 hours, so it's busy.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I don't know what it's going to be like without kids, because you're right, it's like a lot of your life is focused on these little humans that become big humans and their problems are your problems, and then, when all of that goes away, you're like Changes.
Speaker 2:Well, and when my kids were growing I had managed to find things that kind of filled my cup and were fun and created more community and girlfriends. And I remember my son once when my daughter was just coming at me as a teen, probably in your kid's age range and I remember him just kind of putting his hand down on the table and saying to his sister Mom has a life. And it was one of my proudest moments that he said that. I'm like I'm so glad he recognizes that that on the same hand I got to the point where I didn't want to leave my house so I would sit in a corner chair in the family room where I could see the front door and I could see the kitchen.
Speaker 2:Because as they got to the age where they were driving and they were on the go, I thought I just want to be here to see them and it felt like celebrity sightings, like I had a hard time leaving the house because I wanted to be there in the moments when they were there. So it was really nice having an online business that could keep me somewhat busy and I remember a friend saying how did you know to do this? I started it when they were younger and built it over time and it kind of fit in and out of our life. But it got to the point where it just wasn't filling my day anymore because so many things had gone online versus in person. So it was really nice to have in the past year or something that could keep me healthy busy.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and you're not going to look back and regret and be like, oh, I wish I would have spent more time with my kids because you made it work so that you could do both.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's been a very good balance and even now, as you transition out of the kids needing you, you transition into the older people in your family needing you Right, and I thought about going back and getting a job and that felt uncomfortable, not having control of my calendar and my schedule when other people might still need me. So it's really nice that when the kids say let's go do this, I can still say yes, especially when they invite you along or when our parents need us, we're able to help, and having that flexibility, I think, is still really important in anyone's life.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's the best thing about being a business owner. All right, so tell me a little bit about some tips, or like what is it that you find yourself saying to real estate agents again and again, and again?
Speaker 2:Well, I think the most important thing an agent can do is lead generate. And here I am as a loan officer typically a loan officer the analytical numbers brain would be like do you want to know the loan program? And most of us are like no, I just want to know if I can afford it. Right, so I don't tend to act like a loan officer on social media or even in person. And the tip I would give to a real estate agent is this is still a relationship business, right? If you lead first with a relationship, the business will follow.
Speaker 2:So we know we want to look at building leads and trying to figure out marketing today. Like what does it look like? And it's very, in the end, you have to be very omnipresent, right. So, creating your brand, whether it's how you look in photos, what your logo is, it's really your overall presence and what are people saying about you when you're not in the room? Are you getting people to talk about you when you're not there? Right, how are you amplifying your voice?
Speaker 2:And video is so powerful and I think our industry has real estate world has said get on video, do reels and you'll get a lot of business. And like well, reels are going to give you visibility, which ideally builds familiarity, builds credibility, but are you getting the connection, the connections, what's going to convert the business? So I'm always encouraging people to how visible can you be? Are you sending a video text instead of a text? Are you doing a FaceTime instead of a phone call? Are you creating a video about what you're doing and where you're going, like, take them along throughout your day? Right, and you still need professional video for the landing sites and, for examples, from a marketing standpoint. But the more visible you are allows that familiarity.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Right, and then that little math just keeps happening, where you build that credibility and then you convert more business. So the relationship get back to the relationship. If you can get belly to belly with someone, that's best. The next best thing would be video.
Speaker 2:Right, if it's a personal message, I am most of this year I've not been good in December, but most of this year I've sent birthday video messages and I've tried to do it to everyone in my sphere which are kind of collected in Facebook.
Speaker 2:Right, we have a lot of our friends there and Facebook is wonderful because it tells us who has a birthday today. And if I can send them a video message, you're just saying Happy birthday, tell me what you're doing. They respond back with this is the nicest message I've received all day and I just think it's so much more sincere than an automated system mailing out a birthday card with a stamped signature that if you ran into them in person you wouldn't know it was a birthday. Yeah, right, like that, having that real connection, and then it makes them happy, it makes you happy, it's just a good way to start your day. And then we all cyber stalk each other a bit so they come back and they say oh, you're a mortgage loan officer, my parents need your help. Yeah, right, so they will figure out who you are if you care more about who they are first.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so basically I don't, as I was going to say. That's actually the best advice ever, because that's such a small change, Cheek. You don't have to go out and spend a thousand dollars on a program, or you're not even saying go buy some software or do anything. It's going to take time and thoughtfulness 17 seconds right?
Speaker 2:Yes, for each person, if you do a quick little video, but you no longer have to spend a dollar on a card and 70 some cents on a stamp and you know, you can get to everyone at least that's raised their hand and said I have a birthday.
Speaker 1:Right, and they don't even have to raise their hand. Facebook does it for you.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and then what happens in that situation is you get into, you know correspondence going back and forth, you open up conversation. Now the algorithm thinks you're friends.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so your stuff you're sharing to them.
Speaker 2:Right, you're building that relationship. No relationship stands still. They either move forward or they move back. Yeah, you're building on a relationship. And the gentleman who said I need you to talk to my parents we went to high school together, which, in that situation, you're friends on Facebook, right, but we didn't talk in high school. We haven't talked in 30 years post high school, but that one little reach out made his day and then made a connection and created business. So you just never know those little things.
Speaker 1:That's such an easy way to start something. 2024.
Speaker 2:Yes, yeah, it was my husband's idea. He had heard it out of training. He went to that I couldn't make it to. He brought it back, and I love just take action, even if it's imperfect action. And when he said that I'm like that's just brilliant. I'm someone who hides my birthday. I don't find value in people posting on my wall. I worry that it will hide my good content, right. So I even said like 500.
Speaker 1:Yes, and then you have to respond to every. It's so overwhelming right.
Speaker 2:So when he gave me this idea that he'd heard at a training, I just like I can do that. It was my 50th birthday year and I thought it was kind of a nice way to celebrate other people first. And I still have my birthday hidden, it's not?
Speaker 1:Actually I'm going to go hide my birthday.
Speaker 2:I know right, Nobody wants all those messages on the wall.
Speaker 1:You're really not, unless they're real. I do like the real, like well, even a birthday card, unless there's a real birthday message in it.
Speaker 2:Yeah Right, it's just. The video is so powerful, it's just such a simple way to do it. Yeah Right, but and I do like I have some friends who are so good about saying happy birthday on everyone person's wall and it makes me happy to see that but the personal being able to personalize things a little bit more. So I had said, you know, get person to person or do video. I think the next best option is audio. It's so easy to send an audio message now.
Speaker 1:Do you think some people get uncomfortable though, like whether or not they have to respond back in audio?
Speaker 2:Yeah, yes, for sure, and certainly with video or uncomfortable our generation is uncomfortable being on video. But before we know it, you're going to have this studio where you're holographing people's entire bodies into their living room.
Speaker 2:Right, so it's time to get comfortable with it. I would have what would you say to your teen daughter if they were uncomfortable on video? Yeah, right. So I think, especially as women, we just need to get comfortable. I mean, we look like this in real life. It's we're so imperfect, but that's what makes us perfect. Yeah, so, and I think if people get to know you like I send my videos with my glasses on in my robe, I want them to feel like they're in my living room, not even my living room. I want them to feel like they're in my family room. I'm not going for perfection.
Speaker 1:Yeah, no, and I love all this. I used to actually do specific trainings just for real estate agents. I actually had a whole program called OmniPresent.
Speaker 2:Agent I love that.
Speaker 1:So when you use the word omnipresent, I was like, ah, maybe you should bring that back. I saw the bag so I used to yeah, for like before video was a popular thing. So I've been doing video for like 12, 13 years. So before it really blew up, in the last five, six years I used to do trainings here. Bring in, I packed this. That's why I opened up Sterling Studio is because it got so full. You needed more room Classes for real estate agents teaching them how to use video. The whole birthday messages was a technique that I was like that's such an easy, simple thing that you can do. You just have to block out 30 minutes every day and just go through if you have a nice-sized list of Facebook people. And I used to get pushed back like hostile pushed back from women.
Speaker 1:So it's funny when you said that it like, brought me back to it, where they would get angry and not a lot.
Speaker 2:I'm not going to do it she's got.
Speaker 1:I'm not going to do it and not even just I'm not going to do it. But how dare you for telling me that I'm insecure, in which I never said you're insecure Like I don't need to. It was just such a physical reaction to.
Speaker 2:And that's why is it. Audio is the next best option, because if they can hear your voice, that matters.
Speaker 1:That's the security.
Speaker 2:Right, because texting is not. 80% of people don't understand a text based on how you punctuate it, or caps or not.
Speaker 1:Do you read text messages in the positive or in the negative? Positive, ok.
Speaker 2:But that's just my personality, is, I think, I assume, the best always, and it's not that I don't have that little negative voice, but I hear it and I put it away.
Speaker 1:Have you tried to do both though? I've read a text message in a positive and somebody else is like that's not what they meant here. Let me read it, and they'll read it in a completely different tone. I was like oh, now I'm offended. You know, they were the same words, yeah.
Speaker 2:And I know we all have that different perception, but we're in business and we're here to help serve other people and if it's just little things like making them feel a little bit better, I think that moves us all forward, especially in a relationship business. I do think we keep hearing a lot of buzz about blogging, or emails are coming back. I'm like maybe they're on the increase, but why is that? People are maybe searching for just better content, non-salesy content maybe, but in the end I think Was it a marketer that was saying that yes, right.
Speaker 2:Probably selling an email list or this or that, and certainly from a business standpoint, I can quickly glance at my emails and I know which ones I need to open.
Speaker 2:But when I have a girlfriend who, for example, maybe sells wine or color services and they send out these really thoughtful newsletters like I know they've spent a half a day or a day and many business people do and then that readership rate is 3%, I see that email and it makes me smile to see their name. So they've done what they needed to do. They've made me think about them from a business standpoint. The chances of me opening that email, no matter how good that email signature is, are really slim, because I already know what it says and I know how to find them and I'm already seeing them in another area of my life Instagram or wherever it might be, hopefully in person and I think if they were to send me an important email, I probably wouldn't get it. I probably wouldn't open it, like I hope they would call or video message me or FaceTime me if there was an important message, something important happening. Because I'm not opening the emails, especially the more regular they are.
Speaker 1:I used to do text message marketing, but I don't anymore because that would piss people off.
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 1:Stop, yeah, stop. I'm like okay, well, I'm not automated. But okay. And so I stopped doing that, unless it was a very specific. They told me hey, next time you're personally photographing me in sessions, you make sure you reach out to me personally.
Speaker 2:And I think we've gotten so offended by all the texts that are coming through right, and it was great after Black Friday.
Speaker 2:They were all lined right up, so I went and did stop on all of them, but if it feels at all salesy, we're not interested.
Speaker 2:We know that switch and we want to turn it off, whether it's the three buttons unfollow, see less of and I have definitely sent messages where they have responded back with stop and I've had to do the same. I'm so sorry. This is a personal message and we, especially working with my husband, we're having to navigate. You know, both of us being on a team and having different jobs and trying to keep it as one. So I think we really lead with video, whether it's an email or on social. But we are working towards, you know, improving our systems to make sure that if he's working with a client and I send them a video, that they still know who I am and that they're not blocking the way that they are turned off by it, and so I think it's going to be simple things like going right back to an earlier conversation of how do you prefer to communicate? Are you open to receiving a text from us? Yeah, and then making it as personal and as delightful of an experience as possible.
Speaker 1:I like that word Right.
Speaker 2:So well and and I still feel like that, like that high touch, like as loan officers, people just think we're a bank, we're not friends, and that's just not in my personality, Like we're going to be friends, Like it or not, Right.
Speaker 1:You and I.
Speaker 2:We're besties now, yeah, and and I think we get to the point where we almost say I don't have room for more friends. Yeah, but we do in different areas of our life and you don't need different capacities. So we're really working on, like, what do our systems look like that? If we're already good at those areas, how do we make it so we blow their mind? Right? How do we increase that experience? Like, clearly, we have a client who's getting a loan, but they also had a real estate agent and then there was a real estate agent who said yes to them and ratified the contract. Like we immediately have three touches in there that we could be doing a better job with. And you know, if I'm getting my photos taken or if I'm buying a house, I'm talking to that with other, about those things with other people, right? So how are we becoming the person or the, the company or the brand that they're talking about when, when we're not in the room, and hopefully in the most positive way?
Speaker 1:So we're really working on some fun things for 2024 to be more connected and and what's one thing so, besides the birthday message, looking at a 2024 that you feel like other agents could easily, because if it gets complicated they like tap out.
Speaker 2:Well, what another thing that they could easily do in 2024 to help especially with like specifically systems things where it's not necessarily them having to go in and like prospect or Well, the industry says, you know, doorknock or cold call, and and the reality is is what it's saying is you have to lead generate and it's really, quite honestly, outdated the systems they have. It's what has worked over the years. There's definitely some success stories and we can grab ahold of them and but if you don't like your approach, you're not going to keep doing it. Yeah, and I have been working on a system something that I've just always done in my entire career in any company I've worked with in the way of connecting with people, that takes. Now, because of modern tools, I can do it. Where I'm reaching out to 10 people a day and starting conversations, whether it's birthdays or business related, I can do it in under 15 minutes and because I've become so systematic about it, I can actually do it in seven minutes. So even on vacation, I can keep that lead generation going. So, while I do recommend the birthday reachouts as a relationship touch, I think what most people leave out, because you know humility is opening themselves up for business.
Speaker 2:And you're a past neighbor of mine, right, I knew clearly what you did because you were really visible on social media, 100%. You're like I was talking about someone with you this morning. Really, she's still doing this networking meetings. It was always very clear what you were doing, but meanwhile I have five other direct neighbors beside, across and behind me, diagonal, and I've lived next to most of them for 20 plus years. You know dinner on Sunday nights or New Year's Eve together.
Speaker 2:But if you were to say what do they do and how can you help them, I don't know. Yeah, right, so it's a constant conversation with the people that are immediately around me, but yet I don't really know what they do. And it's our job as a real estate loan officer. Anyone in this industry is to make sure others know what we do so that when it's something that they need or someone that they know needs, they can confidently recommend us. Yeah, I, while I always try to lead with value and it's about you, not about me like how can I help you be better at what you do the clear thing to me is most people just don't know about their real estate agent, or they have an idea of where they work or how they do it, and we see their neighbors list a house not with them or their family member.
Speaker 1:They get so mad and they get so mad.
Speaker 2:It's the worst feeling in the world. I'm like was it really clear what you do and that you value their business? So the other, along with doing the birthday messages, I do another video message and I whether it's Facebook contacts, my phone contact list, you know a CRM wherever your people are, I do five reach outs minimum per day. They each take me 22 seconds. I do a video reach out where I would reach out and I would say via video, I would just push the little button on my text messenger, facebook messenger, linkedin or wherever the people are, whoever I'm talking to, and I would message out and I would say Lauren, I'm actually reaching out for business reasons. What you might not know is I work in the mortgage industry and what that means to you is that friends and family that are making moves really appreciate a connection to someone like me who can help them with the financing. I'd love to be the person you think of when that conversation presents. May I send you my virtual business card? I fire off that quick little video. They're 22 seconds each. You have that sucker memorized.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I don't say how are you? Because that's distracting, right? I ask for a very small ask. May I send my digital business card? This works in any industry, by the way. And, of course, they say yes. It would be weird if they said no, although I've tracked 250 people, and I did get three calls from the business. One said, sam, I'm good, I have a real estate agent and a lender, right. I'm like, yes, I wanted the other 249 people to say the same thing, but the other 249, well, one person said no, my husband's a loan officer. I'm like, oh, what can we do to recruit him. And another person's just said no, and that really hurt. I was like, oh, I'm just going to kill her with kindness. Yeah.
Speaker 2:Right why did that hurt? Well, because I wanted her to say yes, of course. But then, when I reflect on it, I'm like if I hadn't reached out to the other 249 people, I wouldn't have all those yeses, and I can't let the one no stop me from moving forward. I don't know what was going on in her life.
Speaker 1:You didn't respond back and be like are we not besties?
Speaker 2:She might not like me, and that's OK too. Not everyone's going to like me, and that's OK, but at least I know where I am and I don't have to. You know, I love hope, right, but I know where I am there. Can I do something better? Sure, but the other 247 people who received that video that said yes, they made my day each and every day. They gave me the confidence to keep moving forward. They responded back, you know, with that, yes, I sent them off a photo of my business card, literally just a photo of my business card, and then it allowed me to follow up further with by the way, how are you, what are you doing? What can I help you with? Yeah Right, it grew that conversation and that relationship, and there have been people that I'm like I don't even know how we're friends, I don't know how we're connected.
Speaker 1:Let's figure this out. Do you like, can? Do you start a relationship with them or you're talking to them? Because if not.
Speaker 2:Why wouldn't I just hand them to another loan officer, or to another you know? Why wouldn't you just hand them to another photographer, right? If they need to know that you're in business and you can help people. If they don't know how to, why wouldn't they go use somebody else? So I just if my friend's a dog walker, I want to help them, right. So if they're, you know, a brain surgeon, I want to know so I can help get by. You know, connect other people with what they might need. That's kind of what.
Speaker 1:I do on podcasts, yeah, and like rather than just have one-to-one conversations with all these amazing business owners that I like and respect and other people will nominate. So there's somebody out there that really, really likes them. I was like I'm going to film it, create a podcast out of it, do a video and then blast it off to my people.
Speaker 2:You're amplifying what you're doing, you're amplifying that person, and I think we have so much power to be able to do that Exactly, so it's pretty special.
Speaker 1:Thank you, thank you for doing it. Yeah, yeah, no, no, no. But I agree with all that because I'm like that's pretty much why I'm doing this is I just want to like spread the love and get in front of so many more people. So, in terms of the industry, it's always such a great question. It's also right now when are you, you're crystal ball, where are things kind of headed from all the data points that you could see? I ask this question to agents all the time and it's really outside of you know what I mean. Like it's the lending world that really influences whether people are going to be buying or selling homes Right.
Speaker 1:What are you saying?
Speaker 2:Well, I think affordability is just hard right now. Right, food is more expensive, fuel is more expensive and we just get hit everywhere.
Speaker 1:Grocery store. Yeah, it's like 300 for me, at least with the kids, and I'm like what did I?
Speaker 2:get. Here's the hard truth. That's not going to get better and if it does, we have a whole nother problem. Yeah, right, so we did have record low interest rates over the past couple of years and I just think, why would we want that back? Would we want another pandemic? Would we want those big problems again?
Speaker 2:I think the rates right now are so fair, because if you had millions of dollars to lend to some random person, would you lend it to them at two or 3%? No, right, 7% is really fair. And I think we opt into credit cards or buying a car and we're just like what's a payment? Is it affordable? Can I manage it? And the industry is so responsible right now to make sure that you actually can afford it.
Speaker 2:Now, whether it's the price of homes being higher because there's limited supply, how do we fix that? Create more supply? That's not an immediate fix. The rates are really fair. So how do you figure out how you can afford a home? And I don't think it's much different than our grandparents or our parents, and they made concessions in their life, right, maybe they had one car versus two, maybe they rented out a room, maybe somebody went to work. We have to figure out how to make more money or find areas we can cut our budget so we can afford more, but the prices of homes are going to continue to go up and we kind of want them to.
Speaker 2:Interest rates are really fair right now. We're just going to get comfortable with them. A year ago, people were like 6% is going to stop people from buying. Now, today we're like 6% will make people buy. So we've gotten used to it, I guess, and we just have to navigate affordability now, and I love things like the whole economy we can create at home. People are growing lavender and selling it on Facebook Marketplace for $7 to $12 a bunch. It's free to grow lavender. That's fabulous that people are getting creative to increase affordability in everything Gas, groceries, things that are important. So trading.
Speaker 1:Going back to the trading world where it's like I grow lavender. You have eggs, let's say it could happen.
Speaker 2:What's our utopia? So I think we're just going to get comfortable with it and we're going to figure it out. We're going to figure out how we can afford that home and right now, affordability looks like going a little further out. I had an agent I was working with who was the same house in Aldi. Virginia is $1.2 million, but you can get it in Charlestown, west Virginia, for $4.2, $420,000. It's $800,000 less. I'm like that's 27 minutes from Leesburg. That's fabulous.
Speaker 1:And do you work from home? Do you have to Right Right?
Speaker 2:We no longer like location used to be distance to work. It's now quality of life when you get home, when you're at home, so it's your amenities there. And I know from a lending standpoint in West Virginia. The programs are amazing. We can lend at almost 1% lower rate. It's fabulous what you can do there and the grants and the programs, and I think the industry is going to get better. You're going to have associations that are advocating for our industry to make sure there are grant funds and money to help make it more affordable For local politics.
Speaker 2:We have to figure out how do we get more houses available, more housing right, and whether that's being more flexible and somebody adding a unit to their property. I think Airbnb investors are crazy not to sell right now. They've made a great profit. They didn't want to be in the experience business, right, so it's a great time to bring more inventory into the marketplace where they no longer have to be the hotel experience. Instead, they can take that nice profit and run. So I think it's a lot of little things that will happen, but most of it is just us becoming more comfortable with a general affordability. Okay, I used to it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I used to it. Yeah, so just to kind of wrap things up, if you had one piece of advice to share with the world, what would that piece of advice?
Speaker 2:be oh gosh, let's talk, let's become friends. It's more important that it's something that is for you than it's something that's for me. We each have a little bit different needs, so I love connecting with people and learning about them and how I can then help them. I want to be talking about them when they're not in the room, right, because they're that amazing. So I don't know, I guess treat people a bit better each and every time. Grow a relationship versus drink one.
Speaker 1:I don't know that I have one piece of advice Okay, I have plenty, I have people that are going to hold you.
Speaker 2:Oh, I am readily available. My last name Tuneador. There's only one, Samantha Tuneador. So a quick search. You won't necessarily find me on Facebook. I'm a little bit blocked in my circle, Like I don't just want everyone there. But when I invite you in, but on Instagram or the home lender for you, you can always video text me or text me. Will you put my contact information in the show notes? Yes, I will.
Speaker 1:Yay, thank you so much for being here and being a part of this show. Absolutely.
Speaker 2:Thank you for having me that was easy.
Speaker 1:This is our first time actually in this space. Okay, that's why I was like wait all the lights. Is this going to be originally in the back room, which is really?