S 2 EP 12- Avenu Real Estate: How Two Sacramento Realtors Built Avenu From Scratch

Transcript

Warm Banter And Family Updates

SPEAKER_07 0:19

Well, you know, the plan the failure to plan is a plan for failure, I was told when I was growing up. Hi, Kaylee. Yeah, it's you know the gray is really starting to Seriously it's like the more gray you get. It's not just aesthetic anymore. It's not just it's the deeply founded wisdom at this point. Well, honestly, what a what a physical manifestation of your You know, you know, if I could just manifest these wrinkles all over my, you know, my crows feet away, I'd be so happy. Uh hey, real quick, we haven't had a uh we haven't had a Rourke update, and I feel like I'm missing out.

SPEAKER_03 0:53

Are you? Okay.

SPEAKER_07 0:54

Well, I see him on social media.

SPEAKER_03 0:55

He just turned 10 months. Um he's probably the most perfect human being I've ever met, which is just disgusting to say, but it's so true. He's happy, he's he's curious, he's so interested in everything. He just got a um a little like beginner skateboard thing. Oh nice and it's his favorite thing to ride it around the house. He's getting more comfortable, he holds on with one hand. It's like he's the coolest dude I know. It's crazy. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_07 1:24

Keep him away from heights. I mean, that's just just a little bit.

SPEAKER_03 1:26

Well, he falls on his head probably three times a day.

SPEAKER_07 1:29

Uh you know.

SPEAKER_03 1:30

Maybe get him a helmet. That's where mo I know I think we do.

SPEAKER_07 1:32

I mean, it's okay.

SPEAKER_03 1:33

It's where most of his mass is, so he's real top.

SPEAKER_07 1:36

Yeah, I mean, if you're top heavy, you're top heavy. I mean, it's God given. You can only control so much.

SPEAKER_03 1:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_07 1:41

So um Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:42

So that's the update.

SPEAKER_07 1:44

Excellent. And uh is he he's not walking.

unknown 1:47

No.

SPEAKER_07 1:48

Is he climbing up things? Standing up? Yeah, yeah. Okay, so he's getting close.

SPEAKER_03 1:51

I think he's he's right there. He's just not trusting himself. He'll even stand up without holding on to anything, but then he'll immediately kind of crouch down. He's just he hasn't gotten his um confidence yet.

SPEAKER_07 2:02

He's top heavy.

SPEAKER_03 2:03

He's so top heavy.

SPEAKER_07 2:04

We've got a uh we've got a friend who who coaches uh who coaches Kaylee, good dude, brand new baby. Like I think his baby's like eight or nine months. And he was showing me videos this past weekend. Uh, we were actually on the on the same flight. And this kid's gonna quit or he's gonna like skip crawling. Yeah. He was already like climbing up, like looking out the window, pointing at things one handed. I'm like, oh dude, you're not getting you're not getting the crawling stage with that guy.

SPEAKER_03 2:28

We thought Rook was gonna skip it, but he did on the on the day he turned eight months, he decided to crawl. And I I thought for sure, because he was pulling up to stand and doing all that before he was crawling, and I was like, shit, are we gonna skip this very crucial stage? Not just for him, I hear it's good for their development, but like for me, I need pre preparation for mobile business.

SPEAKER_07 2:46

Yeah, you're running. I I I still really remember like when my kids went from crawling to walking. You look at every edge of every surface in your home so differently. Brickle on the fireplace, yeah, it's terrifying.

SPEAKER_03 2:59

It's my most terrifying area. Yeah, terrifying.

SPEAKER_07 3:01

And and you know, and like and and and we're so vain, like we're like, well, we're not gonna cover that with like a rubber bumper, it would look fucking terrible, you know. So no, we had like you wouldn't have kindred spirits, like in any of these.

SPEAKER_03 3:13

So how are the kids? How are you?

SPEAKER_07 3:14

How is recovery therapy? Getting better. Um, I think honestly, for me, this is this is actually, I was telling somebody, I think this is actually the hardest part. Like when I wasn't allowed to wait bear and I was just kind of confined to the couch and the bed and the wheelchair, like I didn't really have much choice. Yeah. Now I can stand up, I can move around, I'm getting more, you know, more mobile by the week, I would say. I don't think the daily improvements are noticeable, but uh um it's interesting. I mean, I can overdo it. Um, I'm I five to six thousand steps a day, and then I'm I'm usually pretty tired. And this past weekend we were out in salt uh out in Kansas City for a volleyball tournament and I was averaging like eight to nine thousand. So I was pretty sore, pretty tired by the end of the day. It swells it swells, yeah.

Kansas City BBQ And Travel Notes

SPEAKER_07 3:59

Yeah, and um still deal with you know still deal with pain pretty regularly. Um nothing like nothing like dire, but just enough to be annoyed. Always present. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. So um yeah, it was a good weekend. Okay, um, had a lot of fun, got ate a lot of good barbecue in Kansas City.

SPEAKER_03 4:18

Kansas City, I was about to say that's where you guys lived once.

SPEAKER_07 4:21

Yeah, both of my kids were born there. So we lived there for six years.

SPEAKER_03 4:24

Okay, so did you get to see some old friends or did get to see some friends, yeah. Favorite spots you guys have.

SPEAKER_07 4:29

Hit a couple barbecue spots that uh that are that are just unmissable.

SPEAKER_03 4:33

Okay, so I don't want to take much more time to get away from our guests, but this is a crucial question because you know how I am about food. The barbecue sauce there. Is it more vinegar-based?

SPEAKER_07 4:43

Oh god damn it, I need to go to Kansas City. Yeah, can't so Kansas City barbecue. Um, for one, their primary thing is burn-ins, which a lot of places, a lot of areas don't do.

SPEAKER_03 4:54

Underrated.

SPEAKER_07 4:55

Um, it's fantastic, yeah. I mean what they call it like meat candy. Um, but so Kansas City is kind of like a lot like Texas barbecue, except they'll use more spices. Texas is kind of salt and pepper, heavy on the pepper. My pepper. Kansas City will add um a little more like cayenne and different spices like that. So really, really fantastic. Uh best barbecue I've ever had, solidified second year in a row, Q39, um, kind of down by Westport, if you're ever in the Kansas City area. Fantastic. Absolutely fantastic. So, okay, we have been jabbering on here, and we've got people who have we actually have guests today. Who are who have time and schedules and agenda. So let's play them in and we will get it going.

SPEAKER_03 5:34

Here we go.

SPEAKER_07 6:03

I think that was the first like post Malone song that I ever listened to. That I was like, oh, this is slaps. This is this is different. Yeah, I'm on board.

SPEAKER_03 6:11

Welcome, guys.

SPEAKER_07 6:12

So welcome Austin. We've got Gary and Austin from the Avenue team, um, powered by TXP. Yep. Yep. And uh we'll kind of get into the history because uh you guys have a good one. Um so we are we are excited to have you here in the shoot and ready to open the gate.

SPEAKER_03 6:31

So

Introducing Gary And Austin Of Avenue

SPEAKER_03 6:31

tell us about Postmalone Congratulations.

SPEAKER_02 6:34

So I picked that one because my fiance actually told me that song reminded her of me. Um because it's kind of like um it coming to fruition, right? Like you when you're little and you're growing up, you have these dreams, and at some point you have to be able to kind of look and be like, you know, we are making it, we're doing it, we're doing it every day, and this journey is amazing. And say congratulations to yourself sometimes.

SPEAKER_01 7:04

I love that. Yeah, that's beautiful.

SPEAKER_03 7:06

Gary, are you on board with that?

SPEAKER_04 7:08

I was on board with it. Yeah. We were talking about last night, and I was like, oh, I'll think about that. And then you know, I knew if I didn't think about it too much, he'd come up with something like that.

SPEAKER_09 7:17

Once I got the double text from the man, I was like, all right, I got the thing too. I was like, I sign off on it.

SPEAKER_07 7:23

I was like, hey, I know this thing rolls out pretty smooth, but there's a little bit of prep work that goes in on my end, you know. So I'm like, I gotta get my ducks in a row.

SPEAKER_03 7:32

I love it. Well, I think that it's such a testament when you've created something, which you guys have. And I'm really excited to hear kind of the backstory about why you create because you created Avenue, right? Okay. Yeah.

SPEAKER_07 7:46

I tried to do my best to Dan is honestly the better internet stalker than I am, which is I actually I know I know these guys a little better than a handful of our guests. So I really didn't dig in on them. Um I I know their story and I wanted to just kind of I just wanted to kind of lean into that. So um it's a great segue into kind of our next question. We want to talk about kind of how you guys got started in real estate and then kind of the evolution from where you were to where you are. So, you know, even like how you guys came together was is awesome. So so go ahead.

SPEAKER_02 8:19

Why don't you get started? All right. So I I got started in real estate while I was still in high school, and Gary was actually my manager when I first started. That's adorable. Um, and I walked into his office, 17 years old, probably, um, long hair, like Justin Bieber type. And Gary told me what I had to do to get into real estate. So I got in there, I did it, and knowing he probably was like, What is happening? Like, um, no shot he's gonna make it. But so I did everything, got it. He was my manager, started at Lion Real Estate.

SPEAKER_03 8:57

Um What are some of the things that he told you you had to do? Um, study.

SPEAKER_02 9:01

Oh, just not up my alley.

SPEAKER_04 9:04

Know the contract.

SPEAKER_02 9:06

Learn the contract.

SPEAKER_04 9:07

Not even, you just have to pass that first test. We'll take it from there.

SPEAKER_02 9:10

He started off baby stuff, probably because I was a baby and really still am, but um, so he kind of helped me with the roadmap of how to get in real estate, right? Like how to study for the exam, how to actually put the application in, right? Like those type of things. I'm sitting there before Chat GPT, like on Google, how do you get your real estate license? Real

Why “Congratulations” And Early Ambition

SPEAKER_02 9:34

estate firms near me, right? Like, and Lion was the one that popped up, and I was able to meet with him and and really he was able to kind of help me guide.

SPEAKER_07 9:43

Well, what I mean, you said 17 still in high school. I mean, so I'm gonna guess that that your your assertion of what Gary thought when you walked in, I'm actually guessing you were wrong because Gary's like this 17-year-old kid walks into my into my office, he's still in high school.

SPEAKER_03 10:00

Long hair don't care.

SPEAKER_07 10:01

Yeah. Um I'm thinking, I'm thinking it's probably it was probably different from his side of the I'd love to see it.

SPEAKER_04 10:07

So I, you know, I think um I feel like if you're gonna embark on that kind of entrepreneurship that that we all are you know on that journey, you want to do it early. Um and to know what you want to do at that stage. If you would ask me, well, funny thing, I had a thought of being in real estate when I was in high school, but I didn't even have Google, right? So you had a you had a career counselor that you might be able to talk to, and that was about it, or you asked somebody that knows about it, right? So um, you know, it's kind of seeing somebody say, Hey, no, I know what I want to do, I know this is the direction that I want to go, um was uh, you know, you know when you see that that you know that kid uh that they're gonna they're gonna turn that into something. And you could tell by talking to Austin that that he wasn't playing around, it wasn't like, hey, I've thought about this, it sounds like it'd be fun. He he had some research behind it and stuff too. So I was excited to get him rolling on it.

SPEAKER_03 10:58

Where were you at, Gary, in your entrepreneurial journey when Austin came into that office?

SPEAKER_04 11:04

I was managing uh the Nathomas office um uh for Lion Real Estate at that time. Okay. And uh I had two offices, that one in and uh Westsack as well. And so um and I'd been doing that for a few years. And I'd been in real estate for um, I don't know, seven or eight years before that.

SPEAKER_07 11:24

So what year was what year was did you get started? Did that conversation happen? Oh 2018. 2018, okay.

SPEAKER_01 11:31

Our is still a baby.

SPEAKER_07 11:33

Yeah. Oh yeah. I mean, the market was clicking along right there. We've we've referenced like on this on this pod, like I remember December of 2019 going, okay, it's time for it's time for this cycle to turn. And you know, 2020 through 23 or 4. We're probably gonna be, you know, batting down the hatch a little bit, things are gonna be a little harder.

SPEAKER_04 11:55

And then not so much. Well, well, you know, welcome to real estate for him because you know that was uh he kicked off that that crazy COVID nonsense and and everything that happened with that, and uh finish that story because you could you couldn't get your license at 17, you had a way till you're 18. And then how'd that go from there?

SPEAKER_02 12:12

Yeah, I got my license and became obsessed like with everything that I like to do. I became obsessed with it. Um and so I really hit the ground running, did everything that I could while I was in high school. My first deal was a commercial building, wow, uh $1.5 million dentist office on Folsom Boulevard. How did you get that? And so um it was my mom's um where

Austin’s Origin: High School To First Deal

SPEAKER_02 12:39

she works. Work in the network, yeah. And so I was still in high school and I would get yelled at by my baseball coach every day because I'm trying to answer this call from and sell this $1.5 million billing.

SPEAKER_07 12:53

Shagging BP, taking phone calls, brokering $1.5 million deal. It's happening.

SPEAKER_02 13:00

And so my coach would yell at me, get out the dugout, get off your phone.

SPEAKER_10 13:03

And I'm like, all right, well, this is kind of important, I think, right? Like so I think I need to take this. I think this is more money than I've ever seen in my life.

SPEAKER_07 13:12

You're like, no offense, coach. This this one deal is gonna be more than you're making right now.

SPEAKER_02 13:16

I've kind of given up the MLB dreams, coach. I think I'm moving this way. So that's kind of how it started. And then, you know, you get your first check at 18 years old, that's over $20,000 on a $1.5 million deal, and you become obsessed with it, right? So it was kind of like a high of like, oh my gosh, this is what I want to do for the rest of my life. Right.

SPEAKER_07 13:38

And so hopefully Gary had advised you to set half of that aside for taxes. No, no.

SPEAKER_04 13:45

No direction there whatsoever. I'm like, halfway. Uh come on over, let's keep doing this. You know?

SPEAKER_02 13:51

Yeah. So uh you know, and and I feel like with my real estate career, I've always had high ambitions with where I want to go. Um, but what I can say is it's been kind of surreal how fast it's came, you know, and I know that I I tried to do everything I can to get there, but like even from starting my real estate journey to two really two and a half years after that, becoming the mentor at that office. So I was mentoring, you know, that that brokerage that I came from was more of a traditional brokerage, a little bit more older style brokerage. So very training based. Yeah. And and so I was mentoring, you know, people twice, three times my age, and and and you have a lot of lot to overcome, right? Like I'm here with acne on my face trying to here comes the imposter syndrome, right?

SPEAKER_07 14:42

You're like, Well, these guys ain't listening to me.

SPEAKER_03 14:45

Yeah, and well, it's really hard to build your credibility generally when there's an age difference and you're the younger it doesn't matter what industry you're in, but in but it's unless the numbers are on the board. Yeah, but especially when you're an entrepreneur, you know, like it's so hard for a younger person, especially when you're that young, to be taken seriously by somebody who's like twice your elder, you know. So that's really impressive.

SPEAKER_02 15:09

Yeah. So I have learned to be um very aggressive, because I feel like that's how I've had to be, right? In order to be successful in this industry. You can't get shoved around as an 18-year-old, you know, boy, right? You have to really kind of grow into that role and be aggressive and kind of um not get pushed around. And so I did that, and then two years after that, about my fifth year in real estate, is when Gary and I decided to go into this journey of Avenue, right? And and that kind of came and just landed into our our our lap of like something that I never thought would happen this fast, right?

SPEAKER_07 15:49

What were what were some of the so like so yeah, when you're 18 years old and you don't want to get pushed around, you don't want to bully, like what were some of the things that you did or did you told yourself? Like, how did you get how'd you get past that? Like, was it just like fuck it, I gotta dig in, or was it like I'm gonna try this? Like, because I mean I remember I'm thinking back when I was 18, like my parents like you disrespect an adult, like I'm gonna whoop your ass. Yeah, and now you know if I'm if I'm seeing myself in this negotiation where I gotta stand my ground, I'm thinking, oh, I gotta stand my ground, but I I got also back when discipline was still a social agreement, you know.

SPEAKER_03 16:22

Now it's like, oh, if you discipline your kid, you're gonna lose them. Like bullshit. Sorry. I can't do it. Okay, I digress. Anyway, you can tell I'm a new parent, fired out about this stuff. But that's a really great question, though.

SPEAKER_02 16:32

Yeah, that is a good question. And I think it's a lot of things. I think it's one, you know, becoming the expert, right? I think people respect the expert, the person that can teach them something, the person that, you know, the more knowledgeable you are, the more educated you are, the more value you can give to somebody, the more they're gonna respect you. And so I got obsessed again with reading real estate books, reading, you know, watching every YouTube real estate training

Mentors, Culture, And Learning Fast

SPEAKER_02 16:59

that you could and and becoming the expert in my craft. So then there was no question of, oh, do you even know what you're talking about because you're so so young? Matter of fact, I'll educate you, right? And so I kind of had to flip the script on that. And and obviously it wasn't easy. There was times where I would get screamed at from my clients because I did something wrong or or you know, I I was not perfect in any sense. You mean it's not all roses and real estate? But you know, those those those you know experiences definitely brought me to where I am in the sense of, you know, I would learn from that and and kind of grow from that. And over time, you build your confidence of of going through those situations to where now it's like, hey, you know what? Yeah, I sure I still look young, but but you see what I'm building, you see my sales volume, you see when I educate you and when I talk about real estate. There's no question if you if you there's no question if I know what I'm doing or not. It's just a matter of uh, you know, is my somebody that you want to work with? Yeah. You know, so I've kind of had to have that uh mindset my whole career and still to this day because I'm still, you know, very young running a team, and it's nice to have somebody with experience that definitely keeps me in control because if not I'm gonna go.

SPEAKER_07 18:19

And Gary, you've got you've got this 18-year-old little borderline hippie running around doing deals, you know, and you're responsible for him essentially. Like what like from your standpoint, obviously you want to give him leash, yeah, but you gotta keep a little tension on that leash because I mean the the first deal is one and a half million, like that's a lot of liability.

SPEAKER_04 18:40

Yeah. So, you know, one of the benefits of of coming into a kind of a legacy brokerage uh that he did um was there were a lot of of producers around him that you know when some of the old guard in this business see a younger agent come in and really put the time and energy in. They tend to take that agent under their wing. And so I think that um for those first few years, especially, you had a couple of really good agents in our office who really kind of helped show him the way. It wasn't just me in there uh training him. Of course, you know, I'm I'm the pre you know, break glass in case of emergency, you know. Um, but really he got a great education from a couple of really successful high volume agents that we had there um that kind of helped show him the ropes and and let him know what um you know what the lingo was and how you know how to get through uh some.

SPEAKER_07 19:30

And that office was so fantastic. I used to call on that office pretty regularly. The culture, the people, the tenure. Yep. Um they'd bring in new people and yeah. I mean, it was a fan. It was one of my favorite offices to call on, to be honest. It was it was really great. Just the they were so inviting, they were so collaborative. I remember the sales meetings where it was like, oh, I can help you, let me help you with that, or I got a deal, I got a buyer for that, or you know, it was it was incredibly collaborative. It was really cool.

SPEAKER_03 19:55

Well, it's human nature, I think, to want to help people who are helping themselves, especially in this industry. There's a lot of people who get into it, and you can tell right away the ones who are dedicated and committed, no matter how old you are, versus the ones who don't have the right reasons or the right motivation, or more importantly, the right discipline to do what it takes.

SPEAKER_04 20:17

Yeah, you know, I think I think this is something that, you know, the barrier to entry to real estate is low, right?

SPEAKER_01 20:23

It should be.

SPEAKER_04 20:23

It's all said and done.

SPEAKER_01 20:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 20:24

Uh, you know, you memorize some stuff and you go take a test and you get your license, right? So um that piece is not uh, you know, there's some there's there's in some spaces a lack of integrity in our business and a lot of agents who don't take uh their position as a profession and really practice their craft. And so when you see somebody come in who is clearly making this a career choice um more than a side gig, I think that um uh the agents who have also paved the way for them tend to take notice of that and say, hey, he's doing it the right way. I want to encourage that. I want to and and it's different

Gary’s Pivot From Hospitality To Real Estate

SPEAKER_04 21:04

from when I got in the business because when I got in the business is a little more, hey, this is what I do, don't look at my stuff, stay away from my desk, you know, figure it out. Um and I think that, you know, we flipped a switch somewhere in that decade after that, where um, you know, we we realized that, you know, my my client base is not your client base, and and we can all kind of, you know, we started working on our sphere more than we started working in the neighborhood. Um I think it allowed agents to be, like you said, yeah.

SPEAKER_07 21:32

I think there's a ripple in the generation gap as well, where you know, Gary and I are a couple years older than you two. You're and and and you know, not the same generation. Obviously, it doesn't mean we can't get along, but like your guys' generation, I think definitely more collaborative, or our generation, very competitively oriented. Yes. Mind your own fucking business, stay in your own, right? Like that kind of shit. Like you're like you said, keep your eyes off my desk. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 21:59

Type of thing.

SPEAKER_07 22:00

Hey Ted, it's Jimmy. Yeah, Ted, gotcha. Yep.

SPEAKER_03 22:05

So uh being that you had been managing for quite some time, when Austin came in, did you know right off the get that he was different?

SPEAKER_04 22:15

Yeah, but you know, I'll tell you that um recruiting is a is a a unique experience. Experience and I have so many different people, prospective agents sit in front of me and say, I'm gonna light the world on fire. In fact, quick story: once some of his friends saw uh his success, um, here they come. And and one of them in particular came and said, Whatever Austin did, I'm gonna kill it. Like, I'll blow that up two times. And you can guess where that agent went from there. But you know, so um there is really um it's a crapshoot initially because it you are starting your own business, it really is up to you. And if you're coming from a traditional job, which most of us are, um, you know, you have someone to hold you accountable there. And while that does exist in real estate, it's it's definitely your own thing. And you're either gonna do the work or you're not. And we really never know who's gonna do the work or not until they have to do the work.

SPEAKER_07 23:13

Yeah, that personal accountability piece is so, so important. Like can you show up? Yeah. Can you get your own feet on the floor and just because you no one's gonna call you and say, hey, and are you willing to do the things?

SPEAKER_03 23:26

Are you willing to pick up the phone? Are you willing to open the door? Are you willing to knock on the door? It's the tried and true stuff that has propelled this industry since its inception, but it's the stuff that everybody wants to avoid because oh, uh a digital approach is better, a text is better, whatever it is, but it's you know Well, finding what work finding what works for you, I think, is huge in that regard too.

SPEAKER_07 23:48

Like, you know, some people exclusively door knock.

SPEAKER_08 23:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_07 23:52

Other people have never door knocked a day in their life in their real estate career and ref and will not do it. Then they're, you know, it's not their jam.

SPEAKER_03 23:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_07 23:58

So it's cool because there's a lot of different ways to go about the business, right?

SPEAKER_03 24:02

Even more and more. Okay, so who came up with the idea? Like who approached who about, hey, let's do this thing together on our own?

SPEAKER_04 24:11

This is all Gary. So uh I'll tell that story. So so um I had been, you know, my intro to real estate, I'd I'd been in hotels and restaurants for 15 years. Um and so uh and I I I wasn't a a good high school student at all. And so when I made paved my way into management and stuff and in that hospitality industry, I kind of clung to that because I didn't have a degree or anything. Um, you know, if I chose to get out of that industry, I had to start from scratch somewhere else. So my move into real estate was kind of wasn't kind of, it was a huge risk. Um, and basically had to burn it all down to get into real estate. Um did you did you transition or did you cold turkey? I cold turkey did. Wow. Don't recommend it.

SPEAKER_08 24:59

No, it was lower at all.

SPEAKER_04 25:01

Um and it was 2009, it was when, you know, uh we're we're at probably what most people consider the lowest point of real estate that they've ever seen. However, to me, it was the biggest opportunity because we went from 9,000 Asians citywide to to about 4,500. So I get to jump in

The Spark To Found Avenue

SPEAKER_04 25:19

at the low point and build my career. And it was the low point. Um so I lost a lot of houses, cars, all that stuff that I had built, you know, in that first couple years.

SPEAKER_07 25:29

Um what was the what was the like what was the what was the driving force that that hotel and restaurant had had had run its course? Um I have a similar background and I'm curious.

SPEAKER_04 25:41

So I I wanted to, you know, I was this bar bus boy server bartender, all that stuff, and then I became a manager and then I became a department head, and then I got into director of food and beverage, all that, you know, really into these positions. What I realized is I was better off as the bartender than I was the director. Uh, because whatever ounce of time you may have, that business will steal from you.

SPEAKER_08 26:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 26:04

Um, and especially when you're on salary. And so I had two young ones at home, very young, and um, you know, had gone through a divorce and couldn't find the time in my one day off a week. Um, I was working 70-hour work weeks to see my kids. And so the funny thing is, is when you get into real estate and you ask people, so why are you here? What is it that's driving you to get in real estate? It's always there's no ceiling on how much money I can make, right? It's no, I can make so much money in real estate, and they've been watching the shows and everything else, of course, right?

SPEAKER_07 26:35

Also no minimum wage, right?

SPEAKER_04 26:36

Right, yeah. There's also no floor, right? Yeah, exactly. But um, but the true value, if you if you do this right, is your time. You claim your time back. Yes. And so you're able to to be at that game, you're able to um, you know, be at at whatever holiday and then have holidays off, right? It's a hotel, it's 24-7, right? So, um, and these are some of the bigger hotels chains you've seen, right? So um just being able to be normal, um, and and you know, my first year I made $13,000 uh for the year, uh, not a livable wage. My second year I made over a hundred thousand dollars as I closed 20 some odd deals, and and I realized, hey, I can replicate my income here. And it doesn't feel nearly I feel like I'm working half as much as I did in that industry. And so that that was where I kind of I got voracious with it and said, Hey, I I'm you know, I'm gonna build something here and do do my thing. So um I did that. Um and then I was offered a management spot because of a scenario that popped up in my office, and I said, Hey, I'll I'll fill in. And fill in turned into hey, I'll manage this office full time. And then it was I'll manage the second office as well. And and next thing you know, I'm back to basically a W-2. Now, nothing like, I mean, I was treated well, had my time about me. I mean, it wasn't the same, but it was kind of the same because now I'm working for someone else again. So great, great pieces to that, but also you were still you were still able to do your own deals at the same time.

SPEAKER_07 28:09

Yeah. Obviously, you don't have as much time for that.

SPEAKER_04 28:12

It was a nice hybrid position. Um, but but at some point, I think I like I said, I did around eight years or so. Um, it was kind of wake up and repeat. And um I was getting close to 50 at that point, and I said, hey, if I'm gonna do something different, I want to be doing it for this last, you know, period of my work life. Um and so I want to be in in I want to do something that I I want to have something that I own. And that could be uh uh you know a franchise, it could be a number of things. But um at that time um we were dealing with COVID. I had a large office that was mostly empty, not void of agents, but no one was physically there. And I'm looking at all this overhead that that um you know that brokerage was paying to have the space that I couldn't just I couldn't get agents back to work. And I realized, hey, maybe this is a pivot point in this industry where we start to look at things a little bit differently. And so um I looked at some of the different styles that I've seen practiced in real estate. Um I had been looking at Carmel

Building With No Safety Net

SPEAKER_04 29:24

and um Monterey areas um for some different types of expansion opportunities and things like that for agents. And I really liked the um the floor desk that's on ocean, right? When you walk down ocean in Carmel, you see these real small, not any bigger than this room. It's a desk with an agent with the door open, and you get foot traffic walking by, and it's more of a retail space. And I say, hey, if I'm gonna spend on um a concept and I'm gonna pay a lease, I'd rather have my lease out in the flow of people that I can reach out to and talk than to be tucked away in some business park somewhere, you know, where we're all, you know, held captive. So that was kind of the kickoff of my brain of like, hey, I want to do something more like this. And um, and so I was working through that in my brain and I was getting ready to get ready and and kind of going through that. My wife was kicking me in the ass pretty hard, saying, do something. Um and uh and then here comes one of my top producers in my office, hey, just so you know, I'm leaving. Um and I said, Hold up, wait a second. No, because I didn't want to say, I didn't want to say I'm no, I'm leaving, right? Um, but I I said, look, let me see managerial discretion exercised. So I say, hey, give me a minute. Uh let me let me kind of work through some ideas to keep you uh here at this office. And so um I thought it through. I I I came up with some pretty, pretty typical, beyond typical ideas, you know, as far as like incentives and things that we we may use to keep an agent in an office, just in general. And I came to him with that and uh he said, You tell me why I shouldn't leave. And being where my head was at at that time, um, I didn't have an answer. And it wasn't that where he had planned to go was so spectacular, it was more the same. In fact, in my opinion, it wasn't any, you know, it was lesser. Yeah, but in my I also prototype, right, bro? Same time I was thinking of what I wanted to do when it wasn't where I was at. And so I said, Let's sit down and let's actually have a real talk, you know. And so we actually I took him to coffee at Phil's and we sat in that uh at the ice box? Yeah, the ice box. And we sat in the little patio area, and I said, Here's what I'm thinking, and here's what I'm gonna do. I'm just gonna be honest with you, the only person that knows this. And uh I'm uh I'm gonna make a move. I I don't have a exact time frame, but soon. And I'm looking at the old, it was a 916 store. It was it was papered up, right? They had gone. And I said, that's where I want to be, right? It's the style I want to be in, and it's very similar to some of the stuff I've seen in other places. And I think we can build a really good concept here, and I think we can get it done. And but uh in hindsight, we had no business doing this. We didn't have neither of us had really the cash in hand to to make that move.

SPEAKER_07 32:33

But um he was uh I'm curious before we go on, sorry to interrupt, why were you leaving?

SPEAKER_02 32:40

Um I was leaving because I just kind of felt like real estate was going in a different way too, right? Like the more traditional approach, just I I didn't see continuing you know, real estate continuing in that direction for that long, right? Like his his vision was kind of what I was feeling, but I just didn't know how to articulate it in that way, right? Like you don't need that big office, you don't need, you know, and and a lot of the things that I was kind of frustrated with that I saw other people having or resources or you know, like tech packages and stuff like that, right? I I wanted that stuff to really try to take my business to the to the next level, right? And so that's kind of when I was like, well, I asked them, why am I paying this much money? What am I getting? Right? I I don't feel like I'm getting anything close

Brand, Culture, And Agent-Led Growth

SPEAKER_02 33:29

to you know what I'm paying.

SPEAKER_04 33:31

So um I laid it out, and by the end of the day, he said, yeah, I want to do this. And so now I had a business partner.

SPEAKER_07 33:42

So this was like the powder keg moment for both of you. Like I'm guessing that afternoon you guys are both just full steam ahead, brains are spinning, ideas are coming out, the text messages are flying back and forth, we've got all these great ideas, blah, blah, blah.

SPEAKER_04 33:58

And and here's the thing is I I didn't plan to have a business partner. I I had flirted with the idea, but ultimately I was thought I was gonna do it on my own. And in in hindsight, there's no way I would have done this on my own. I needed that extra, you know, help. And, you know, serendipitously, I was handed the right person in the right space at the right time. And, you know, when I said we had no business doing this, I think we both agree. Most people say, okay, I'm gonna save up X amount of dollars, that'll cut, that'll be my improvements on this space, we'll do this, we'll do XYZ, and we'll get this thing going. And and you know, we have this much operating expenses. So on we had a bit we had a credit card, he had a credit card. Um Oasis had all this. And uh and and I just said, hey, you know, I'm doing this. Um maybe it's stupid, but you know, I said, God's gonna open whatever door he opens, I'm just gonna walk through every door that opens.

SPEAKER_07 34:56

And so that's did Austin know like the the story of your transition where you went from having a pretty good income to making thirteen thousand dollars. Like, did he know that like you know what, Gary's gonna be able to pull through this? I mean, because like for me, that would be a huge thing. Like, if I'm in Austin, she was going, this dude's already done it once. Like, he's he knows how he knows how to not fail.

SPEAKER_04 35:21

I don't know.

SPEAKER_02 35:22

I I didn't think that specifically. I mean, when you say I mean he was 21 at the time, right? Like that's a good point, you know.

SPEAKER_10 35:29

Uh yeah, no wonder, right? Right.

SPEAKER_07 35:31

He's young and dumb. I mean, and no, no offense, but right you don't know what you don't know, and at 21, you're bulletproof, too.

SPEAKER_02 35:38

I was thinking more along the lines of this is my manager, like at Lion. So there's some validity there, I think, of like, okay, if he's managing two offices, I think there's a lot that he is able to do and and kind of lead us in the right direction and running an office, right? Because he has done that. And and in my eyes, I'm thinking, okay, well, I've been the mentor of this, you know, uh office of 70 for two, two, three years. It's kind of a good fit, right? Like it kind of works, and I think we were kind of on the same page of you know being able being willing to make some sacrifices um to get to where we are, and we kind of knew that going in. But I think also what happened was the way my personality is is very once I make that decision, I'm just gonna go full force. Put your binders on and run straight to the right. We're gonna do it. And you know, and he had that mentality too. And that's why I kind of think like there's when he says perfect business partner, it not only is it like perfect in the sense of running the business right now, but it's also perfect in the sense of both of our situations at that time. I don't think there's so many things that could have made that not happen, right?

SPEAKER_07 36:59

But we guys have very complementary skill sets and personality types as well. So, like that that really helped. I mean, obviously, me being on the outside looking in of all this happening, I was like, oh shit. Like, and then when you get like when it unfolded, I was like, Oh, that's that's a no-brainer, absolutely.

SPEAKER_04 37:15

Yeah, it as Austin said, is it is a burn the shift type of situation, and that's how I got in the business. It's like there was no going back and claiming that position at the hotel.

Part-Time To Full-Time: Designing A Path

SPEAKER_04 37:25

There was no going back and saying, I'm gonna, oh, I'm sorry, just kidding, I want to still manage this office, or or you know, or you know, I'm getting my business. Yeah, I had some production, but not enough to survive a lot of. I'm not going back to bartending, I'm not gonna do that. None of that stuff's happening. So this is gonna work. It is what it is, and you know, there is no fail. Yeah. And I think we both had that.

SPEAKER_03 37:45

Have you guys read the book Burn the Book or Burn the Boats by Matt Higgins? That was what I read when I made the jump from a W-2 into real estate too. And what I'm getting out of all this is we as humans believe that in order to make a jump and bet on ourselves, everything has to be set up and perfect. Yeah. And we waste and usually miss the opportunity spending time trying to make it look perfect. The people who are most successful just make the decision and then recalibrate as needed on the way. I understand. And they understand that success through failure is still success. But as long as you're committed to the path and and not saying there's an option B that I can fall back onto is what makes you successful no matter what you're doing.

SPEAKER_02 38:32

Yeah, and I think that's really good because we have failed over and over and over again. But we look at each other.

SPEAKER_07 38:41

They say you win or you learn. Yeah. And I and I love that. Like the first time I heard that, I was like, oh God, like I'm gonna have to pretend I'm younger and get on board with this because it was when it all costs me. But like, but but win or learn. And I mean, when you when you approach it with that mindset, here you are. I mean, you guys started with the two of you and a handful of agents maybe that were like kicking the tires, going, maybe, maybe not. You know, it probably took you a few months to get the office, and then they're like, okay, well, these guys are actually getting the job done to where you are now. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 39:13

A leader uh from our other brokers used to say, you know, the only way is through, right? And that's absolutely true. There is no, you can sit around and think about how many different, you know, or you can just ready shoot aim, take off, and do your thing. And and so that's really what we've been doing since I mean we you've seen our space, you know. We sp we were covered in you know, dust, and you know. I remember the one day I showed up.

SPEAKER_07 39:39

I don't even know if your office was fully open, but you were hanging the ropes. You're like, I almost died 12 to , which which now in like my current life has I'm like, holy shit, that dude probably could have died like that.

SPEAKER_10 39:49

Dan would have seen that now, he would have been like, off of that ladder. Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_07 39:55

Let me help you down from that ladder. Some of the dumbest. No, this is the kind of shit we pay for nowadays.

SPEAKER_10 40:02

Both of us are definitely over 200 pounds on one ladder, 11, like holding a two by four board putting rope together, like, uh are we gonna be okay?

SPEAKER_04 40:14

Oh my god. But you know, you have that momentum when you first start, and it you know, it's a labor of love. And I think, you know, we both we we had that vision. My my wife was heavily involved in in in you know, designing and helping to push us in the right direction and getting that space to look the way it did. And we're so proud of how that came out, but the blood, sweat, and tears, I mean, like literally And Kaylee, do you know Oasis, Gary's wife?

SPEAKER_03 40:40

I don't.

SPEAKER_07 40:40

She's absolutely the driving force. Just to like I can almost guarantee you, I can almost guarantee you they're both at least a little scared of Oasis.

SPEAKER_03 40:48

What is what I'm getting out of this is that you both have strong women who are kicking your ass telling you to get shit done. And that's usually the case behind every successful man, just saying.

SPEAKER_04 40:58

Yeah. I think you know, that was uh, you know, that she allowed me to to take that

Time Freedom, Consistency, And Follow-Up

SPEAKER_04 41:04

that chance, even though failure was still in, you know, in that space or could could happen. I think she um her biggest thing was why aren't you doing this sooner? And um, you know, my thing was like I have a family to support, you know, I have to time this out well enough that we, you know, I can make this transition and stuff. So there was some time where I was, you know, burning the candle at both ends, so to speak, and you know, we're probably both sleeping two, three hours a night for a few months, just you know, getting this stuff put together.

SPEAKER_02 41:32

Yeah, didn't it help when uh we started working on the building? And then the landlord goes, Hey, this is a retail space. You guys can't be working during the day. Like you gotta work from 5 p.m. to to 9 8. No way. So we're in there five o'clock at night to four in the morning on a ladder, dark outside, it's raining. We're and we weren't the smartest.

SPEAKER_03 41:53

Don't worry, OSHA doesn't listen to our podcast anymore.

SPEAKER_02 41:57

So it was it was a crazy journey. But when I look back, I'm like, it it really is like your like your baby. Like, you know, I I put the shirt on and like my fiance makes fun of me because I wear avenue every day, and I have an avenue cup that I take no matter where we go. It doesn't matter where we're at. I take that cup and she's like, you will not get rid of that cup. You won't even not use it one time.

SPEAKER_05 42:21

That's pride. Yeah. I'm like, I'm I'm proud of this. You know, of course I am.

SPEAKER_07 42:26

It's a piece of you, absolutely. He's got a lot of people. Yeah, I've wanted to say I think your guy, I think your guys' branding, your logo, all of it is is so is so it's so spot on, and it fits you guys and your business and your location of your office. Like, so good. It's modern, it's you know, it's catchy. Um, so kudos to you guys, because I thought you guys killed it with the brand and the brand new.

SPEAKER_04 42:47

I want to speak to that real quick, too, because um aesthetics is important to us, especially important to my wife, and so there's a lot of that there. Um and we both got behind that once we got our logo design and everything else. But who's built our brand is we've set kind of the standard. Our agents have taken that torture and run with it. And and like, you know, Dennis Kelly, who who does um a lot of our social media and and has kind of grown with us as as far as a position and stuff like that. Um you know, our agents are who we are. And so um, yeah, this is cute and everything looks good and and everything, but if you don't have um, like I said, somebody to to kind of forge that brand forward um and take it and run with it, then you you know, you really don't have a brand, right?

SPEAKER_07 43:35

So um and making sure that your brand and your culture and and all that align. They gotta go together. I've done I've done that a few for a few years. Like it's and it's it's it's a lot of work. It's not easy. It you know, it's not just a bunch of happy hours and stuff like that. You know, you gotta be accountable to what you say your brand is when you put it out there in the market because the market will have expectations.

SPEAKER_04 43:55

And we're and we're just the keeper of that and you know, we're protector of some of those standards and things. But you know, like uh our agents love it, they're they're attracted to that. Um and they're they're the ones that really kind of drive things as well.

SPEAKER_07 44:07

So let's so let's so so now we're we're we're where we are. You guys are in your fifth year, right? Third.

SPEAKER_04 44:14

Third year? Third, yeah. So we so it was me and him chilling uh for that first year trying to get agents to come join us. And um, you know, it was, as Colby likes to say, we were clinched, right? For that first uh, you know, clinched up pretty good for that first year. Um, but we got the finances to work and then uh year two we kind of rounded out our roster and really started to get, you know, some some agents in our in our space. And you know, now we're sitting in the city.

SPEAKER_07 44:41

Now you guys and you guys are almost primarily more part-time agents, right?

SPEAKER_02 44:47

Most a lot the the majority of your agents are kind of they're some of them are transitioning, but we definitely are getting everybody to be full time if they're not and heavily so you so you guys are leaning into that a little more now?

SPEAKER_07 45:00

I know I know a year and a half ago it was kind of like hey we've got a roster the vast majority of them have a regular 40 and they're doing this on the side.

SPEAKER_02 45:07

I think that's uh the process of building this out and and that's the way we had to build it out, right? We had to initially you know get some agents in there and some of them were part-time but we needed to to fill a roster to to be legit.

SPEAKER_07 45:21

Well I think like from where I'm sitting and where I'm hearing it it emulates Gary's journey. Sure. Right?

SPEAKER_04 45:26

Like I'm always careful

Community, Collaboration, And eXp Structure

SPEAKER_04 45:29

to not force agents to dive headfirst into this business because it can be extremely disruptive to your life and it can cause a lot of personal strife right um but that's one of the highest divorce rate in the industries. I want to see a path that I want to see you have a at least a pathway to full time right and so um we built we built Avenue to accommodate and let's not forget you know post-COVID where we're sitting right now and and when rates rose not just new agents were part time everyone's scrambling to get a second job and if your business wasn't tight yeah uh you're working a second job right and so we knew that and that was the the that was a space that we were really recruiting in. And so how could we ask an agent who just got their license to be like all right hope you saved up 30 grand ready to jump in you know let's get cracking. Not make money for six but do you have a flexible job? Yeah. You know can you can you actually you know square away three hours a day for targeted activity in your business then yeah like there's a place for you here. So we've kind of built our business around that.

SPEAKER_03 46:41

You know I want to kind of circle back to something that you said earlier but is still relevant to this and that's about time. And I think that while yeah a lot of people see a big paycheck and they get excited about this industry as you grow in life and whatever you're doing, you learn that the most valuable commodity we have is time and it's worth far more than money. And if you do this job right, you can make a lot of money, but also structure your time so that you can be present with your family. And there will be times when the pendulum swings and yeah we got to put those you know long days, long hours into the business but the return is you get to pick your kids up from school you get to go to those games you can say like I don't do showings or whatever on Sunday because that's my family day I'm still gonna work for you.

SPEAKER_07 47:30

I'll still be here communicating and if you're really learn leaning into it those those pickups, those drop-offs, those are opportunities.

SPEAKER_03 47:37

Hell yeah they are that's that's common area arena shit all the time I'm gonna be the overly involved mom and everybody's gonna know what I do. But I'm gonna be everywhere. Like I cannot wait. Bring it on.

SPEAKER_07 47:49

Don't be a secret agent right hell no this is what I do. Yeah I feed this beautiful baby of mine.

SPEAKER_03 47:55

Absolutely how so how many agents do you guys have right now?

SPEAKER_02 47:58

Uh we have about like 45.

SPEAKER_03 48:00

Wow that's impressive.

SPEAKER_02 48:02

Yeah we have to also uh when Gary was speaking he said Colby used to say I have to say you're on Colby's team right oh you're talking about Colby Colberts he has just to put it out there you have an amazing team lead. Thank you so much awesome and he has helped us through this journey a lot as well so we meet with him quite a bit and and he we kind of run our ideas through him and he tells us if they're stupid or not um and where to not waste a whole bunch of our time and maybe all of our money. So I I think it's really cool we go back to like this collaboration and and you know kind of what this business has come to. And it's one of the reasons why in two and a half years we have 45 agents is because we have the opportunity to be in this group of people that want to see us win and actually want to help us win. And it also helped them too.

SPEAKER_07 49:01

You know and it it were in full support when you guys had your grand open I remember I mean Jeff and Colby and Michael all of them like I mean I think that that's part of the abundance mindset of like we're all we really are all in this together.

SPEAKER_03 49:16

There truly is enough business for everybody and the people that want to see you win aren't threatened by you winning.

SPEAKER_07 49:24

I think when you say that there there's enough business for everybody who wants to work. Oh yeah right like if you're not willing to put in the work I I I don't fucking feel sorry for you.

SPEAKER_03 49:34

No I don't and also stop stop making the experience for the people who you are doing business with lackluster because it makes the rest of us look bad. You gotta hold them to a high when you don't know what you're doing you don't know the contract you can't educate your people that's

Sacramento Food, Place, And Identity

SPEAKER_03 49:49

a whole other tangent. But I love that Colby has been such a power for you guys because honestly the leadership is so important in this industry as you guys know and they're the reason I'm on that team. Such incredible mentorship like Jeff Colbertson I would follow him into hell like he is such an incredible he is like you like he just he's always surprised by the people who do and the people who don't because you never know. Right. But his he is fueled by helping people win and shaping people into be into the best agent that you could possibly be.

SPEAKER_04 50:22

And and and I you know I I gotta give EXP credit for the structure they've built.

SPEAKER_07 50:29

Because I I used to recruit against XP and I spent many years laughing at EXP and many years telling agents, oh I hope you like recruiting because that's all you're going over there to I think there was a period when it that's kind of all it was well they evolved too there was there was I was I was in the team meeting when Brent Gove announced that he was moving his team to expand and I remember sitting there like as a vendor who's calling on realtors who who it you know my job was a lot easier when I could just call on a brick and mortar place and him going yeah we're all gonna work remote and I was like I am so fucked yeah like I'm never gonna be able to get in front of an age a realtor like it's just gonna be impossible. And and it really was I think you're right like the exp model was was overly recruiting oriented to start but then you started seeing the EXP teams popping up with with with desks with with spots where people could collaborate and get work done and that was really a neat a neat thing to see because it was like oh they were they weren't so stubborn and stuck on their you know on I mean I remember the the virtual the virtual meeting rooms and stuff like that with the little with the little uh the the world and uh you know and I think there's still a place for that but we're not totally there like we can't we're not we're not in that virtual world is a physical place because the the camaraderie of being in the office first of all being in a professional environment that's not your own home like we've seen the psychology behind that and the productivity but also being able to talk to people about what they're doing, the challenges they're having, the deals they're getting through all of that is so crucial for success.

SPEAKER_03 52:15

People don't they I think it's so underestimated that office talk like you know the water spot talk.

SPEAKER_04 52:21

Water cooler yeah the water cooler talk it's learn through osmosis and I'm telling the agents the the more time you put in amongst your peers the quicker your learning curve will be for sure. And um for that very reason. And when I first joined Lion I was going to an office that was old. Yeah uh I looked at everyone in that office on a demographically and I was like I'm younger and uh you know I don't I don't know if this is my fit. You know I kind of was like maybe Nathomas isn't where I want to be maybe downtown is where I need to go because it seemed like a little bit of a younger crowd but I ended up in Nathomas and I couldn't have ended up in a better space because I had all of this knowledge in front of me and all of these agents who are willing to pour into me and help me and actually conversely I'm tackling short sales. No one's ever done this right at the same time. And so they're coming to me and asking me how are you doing this and how you doing that and we're sharing information and it was really one of the best intros into this business I think you could possibly have. Yeah. And so it's it always it it doesn't always look the way you want it to but you know it you can always pull something from it. For sure. And I think that you know right now it's critical that we take our you know agents that are either coming into the business or or flattering and put them in a space for success if that's you know where they're

Tech That Matters: Automation And AI

SPEAKER_04 53:34

willing to put their time and energy.

SPEAKER_03 53:35

100% couldn't agree with that.

SPEAKER_07 53:37

So if you could go back and give yourself a piece of advice in that transitionary period what was the hardest lesson that you guys learned that that maybe I mean obviously I think I think you are where you are because of what you've done. But there's there's always that one time where you stub your toe like God damn it I really wish I wouldn't have done that. Well do you guys have any any of that experience that you want to share?

SPEAKER_02 53:59

Um I mean I think it just in the business and and as a whole is you know staying consistent in this business is really hard. And I think that's why a lot of people get out of this business is because you know I remember starting my real estate career and and I feel like I've gotten pretty far in a short period of time in my career. But I still look back on my first like two years and I think gosh I would door knock for a week and then I would never hit that home again and then I would send a mailer to another group of homes a different area different address. Yeah different area neighborhood do an open house here and then never you know follow like I was so like all over the place because I didn't know what worked. And and all of those things work but they only work if you do it for a long period of time. And so that's one thing that we really drill for our agents is is I will tell you if it doesn't work. We have seen every type of prospecting either work or not work. But it's not going to work if you do it one time. It's not gonna work if you mail once for two months, right? Like you have to have this is a faith-based business and you have to have that faith that hey it might take six months. It might take a year but what other career can you really go in where in a year from now you could go from making you know $20,000 at your W-2 job to making $200,000 in your real estate career if you just continue to be consistent and follow up. And like I probably overly harass my agents about that, but I think it's so crucial because that's why everyone gets out the business. Yeah. They don't get out of the business because they don't have someone to help them with a contract most of the time. You're not harassing them you're encouraging them for you.

SPEAKER_05 55:42

I say harassing because I do I I mean it's a size 11 and a half form of encouragement. But you know it works.

SPEAKER_03 55:49

We need it though like it there's so many shiny objects to chase and it's so hard especially social media has made it even harder to look and be like that person is successful. That person's doing that. And so we want that instant success. We don't see that it took that person two years building up a presence on social media to be building a bus business that's 80% social media based, you know, or the person that's open house killer like they took three years. We don't see that. And we give up before anything really starts to stick.

SPEAKER_02 56:19

And in real estate there's a power and delusion right because you have to be delusional because you I tell my agents like if they don't answer you, I don't care you text them again in two weeks. Yeah. If if they don't answer you 20 times I don't care you continue to do it. Yeah. You follow up until they either buy or die.

SPEAKER_04 56:41

You continue to double tap no means maybe guys no means maybe exactly yeah I think it's important to realize how just how insignificant you are to your potential clients until you're the most significant person on the planet when they're buying the house. Right. All the time leading up to that you might as well be selling batteries right like whatever not even batteries they're more useful than you will be until they decide they want to buy a house or sell a house. And then all of a sudden you're the center of attention and so getting through that irrelevance um like Austin's saying and understanding that hey their life doesn't include an agent right now.

SPEAKER_08 57:20

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 57:20

But you gotta stay top of mind right because when they finally do decide it's time for an agent they better think of you. Yeah that's a very hard um you know balancing act to have without harassing the heck out of it.

SPEAKER_07 57:34

Well it's like that old saying to like everyone has a realtor. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 57:38

Yeah no they don't

Adapt Or Fade: Brokerage Trends

SPEAKER_03 57:39

you know like don't believe everybody knows some realtors they probably know five right I promise you those other ones aren't following up as much as you are my favorite line to say about our industry especially when somebody's like oh yeah well I know a realtor I'm like great there's a lot of realtors but there's not a lot of professionals there are not yeah yeah and it's true that's very true.

SPEAKER_07 58:00

So let's let's switch gears here a little bit um because we are getting a little long on time but uh I definitely want to talk you guys are both Sacramentans yeah natives what um so what are what are some of your favorite spots? What are your favorite some of your favorite things to do around town or outside of town what what do you love about Sacramento?

SPEAKER_04 58:18

I like to eat oh me too that's literally my Instagram description if you probably like to eat probably we spend so much time together during the day it's like it's never hard to tuck either of us into going to eat right so yeah and and we're downtown so there's okay favorite spots downtown there's you you guys have the best around you I'm jealous. Well we just good neighbor just open right outside our doors uh that used to be Beast and bounty okay and so um it you know they own um urban roots barbecue spot oh yeah they also and Bach uh chicken okay so Rob is the one of the Rob's own arm and uh very very good very cool vibe awesome like I recommend stuff in his it's a little uh I'd call it like Californian okay um you know a little bit you can get a steak there you can get a sandwich there you can get a pizza there you can get you know okay um but it's got a really cool he I kind of feel like this is more of his like kind of pet project it's you got a picture of his grandmother and he plays music from his childhood and stuff in that place. So very cool vibe very cool spot. I think that you know that opened in the winter here. I think when spring hits and that patio and the deck and all the other things are open I think that place can help you concept like good neighbor and tying it into something real like something authentic.

SPEAKER_03 59:34

Hey I'm a human and this is my past and this is my family and I want to be a good neighbor to you that's like I'll throw all my money at a place like that.

SPEAKER_04 59:43

But we were you know so we were in Napa this weekend took I I took Oasis to you know a Valentine's finally and Austin went to San Francisco and took you know Marissa to a Valentine's as well not finally he always does that good guy. But I gotta say that like you know have been in this industry the food food industry for for as long as I had been um there is no meal like you'll have back in Sacramento. This farm to fork thing that we we uh talk about here it is so you can taste the difference. And because of of the you know the the way that we are um ethnically integrated and all the different styles of food like the best Indian food the best Mexican food the best like wherever you whatever you want we've got it um and then and then from a high end perspective like you know the kitchen and localis and places like that are just phenomenal and where we have our I feel like I should definitely say this where we have our uh yearly avenue dinner.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:44

Oh yeah butcher and barrel.

SPEAKER_04 1:00:46

Butcher and barrel steakhouse and do butcher and barrel

Fun Wrap: Dream Day Personas

SPEAKER_04 1:00:49

my dad how much do you love it because his dad owns it well you just became a closer friend than I feel like you guys need to do a deal together we definitely do.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:02

My God.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:03

So yeah there's some great there's some great food okay well you have the stamp of approval from me as far as where you guys like to eat.

SPEAKER_07 1:01:10

Yeah everywhere I've every meal I've had there has been phenomenal as well so yeah anyone been to firehouse lately haven't been to the firehouse I took my wife there when we got engaged okay yeah um the night we got engaged uh we that was part of the plan and uh but yeah it's still it's still that's just one of those mainstays yeah it's very consistent I haven't been there in a long time I know that's I'm just thinking like when you guys start naming these kind of downtown I'm like oh man yeah Mulvaney's is like one of my go-to's I love um we ate Obey Camden Spit and larder is like it's a fun spot I don't know some it's hit or miss for some people but I love it. It's consistently amazing like Marina and I had tried to hit up Oboe when we're down solid dude their meatball Mondays a couple years ago we were at Oboe my daughter was playing soccer and it was pouring outside and like we're like we gotta get out of the rain so we go to Oboe and we're standing in line and then my son he was probably like seven or eight at the time and I just see his eyes go up and he's looking and I and I'm like you can like feel this presence I turn around and it's Vladdy plus he you know the look on the look on that on my son's face what like he was just trying to wrap his head around how large this human standing behind me was.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:30

You guys probably don't even know what that one so don't okay so some good some good local spots. Where are we at? Okay yeah you guys are plugged obviously I'm gonna be hitting you up I used to be the like knowledge base that all my friends and family would reach out to but I'm you know not living down there and there's been so many places opening there is there's a lot of new restaurants down there that keep opening a lot of great food for sure. Yeah the competition in the restaurant space um has gotten really really good yeah definitely so you guys have talked a little bit about like kind of the technology the tech package and stuff I'm curious are there any trends that you guys are following or that you really like right now?

SPEAKER_02 1:03:15

I mean obviously like AI, right, and stuff like that. And I think kind of our goal for Avenue is we sit down and we say what is our goal for our agents? Like what are we really trying to give them? And I think what we're trying to give them is we're trying to give them an ex an an experience that allows them to not do all of the heavy lifting themselves.

Closing Thanks And Sign-Off

SPEAKER_02 1:03:40

So any type of automation anything that we can do for them to have a better chance of um being more successful or having more time to be successful. Yeah. And so we're really big on you know what can we do for you that's not going to take a lot of your time. So we have you know our agent uh concierge service where you know if you have flyers or you have an Instagram template or you have something in your marketing that you want designed I think we've built a pretty good brand right let us do that for you so you don't spend four hours designing your logo or four hours designing your open house flyer right by the way it looks like shit.

SPEAKER_07 1:04:16

Yeah exactly and now it's representative representation of our brand like there's a reason why we do that too but also like that's a big part of it like and like it ties back. You guys have a solid brand it's clean it's crisp it's it's it's what you want you you you can't just give carte blanche to 45 people who are under your brand to do what they want with it.

SPEAKER_04 1:04:37

Yep exactly and get in front of your clients that's where the money's made right so like physically in front of them? Yeah like sure what a novel idea either pick up the phone or get face to face obviously face to face is preferred but like you can't do that when you when you're doing busy work right and that's not real work. It's not no one you're screwing around on camera.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:57

Exactly exactly and so that's you know that's that's one of the concepts for sure but we're also leveraging you know like Austin mentioned AI we're leveraging AI in spaces that make sense right there's a lot of AI you know um options out there and and toys and things to play with but then there's there's tools that actually help further you know your your business and so there's a lot of AI distractions and then there's a lot of AI benefits benefits that we have is you know how can this like AI assistant right that we have we call it the avenue assistant it can update your CRM right it can schedule appointments for you it can put things in your calendar it can remind you to do things it can pull neighborhood reports by just texting it it can help you with your CMAs and and all of those things that's effective that's efficient right as long as you use it. As long as you can get the challenge all of them are you a team lead yourself?

SPEAKER_07 1:05:59

I know I know human nature you gotta go old school man you got get them in that get them in the classroom and role play it man make them put their hands on it make them make them actually see how effective it is and people they're in their own habits right and you you don't know what you don't know.

SPEAKER_03 1:06:14

So I think the hardest part as a leader sometimes is getting people to Create a new habit of, hey, go from doing all this yourself to utilizing what's available to you. And also like, here's the easiest way to do that.

SPEAKER_07 1:06:28

Well, especially successful people, right? Because they love to rinse and repeat, rinse and repeat, rinse and repeat. They don't like to add new ideas and new concepts and new aspect. This is working for me. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:06:39

Yeah. And I think, you know, with that, yes, that's human nature, but I we kind of push the idea of change is good or you'll get replaced. Like if you are not changing with how things are going, I can show you, right, ever so many situations where a company didn't grow or die and now they're not relevant anymore.

SPEAKER_03 1:06:58

Well, I think that's what a lot of the traditional brokerages went through and are still going through. I mean, you see like Coldwell Banker, the whole real reology just got bought out. You know, and I think that some of us saw this a long time coming of these traditional brokerages that were like the ship trying to turn around in the canal and they just couldn't move fast enough that the technology and the agents needed them to. And that's you know, that's why we saw that. I look at it. I look at it.

SPEAKER_07 1:07:25

I think the the best analogy I ever heard from it was the blockbuster analogy when Netflix came around. And like, people are never gonna order a DVD movie to be delivered to their house and they can get three a month. This is the stupidest concept ever. Well, Netflix was already probably aware that it would be downloadable, streamable in the future, and now and Blockbuster's gone, and Netflix is a hey, there's still one left.

SPEAKER_03 1:07:47

Is it really? Yeah, Bend Oregon.

SPEAKER_02 1:07:49

Oh, and didn't Blockbuster have the opportunity to buy Netflix. 100%, right? So that's where you're gonna be able to do it.

SPEAKER_07 1:07:55

And they could and they could have bought them just to crush them when they chose not to. Yeah.

unknown 1:08:00

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 1:08:00

You have to get very like, think about being on that missed boat, you know?

SPEAKER_03 1:08:06

Ugh. That hurts me for them.

SPEAKER_07 1:08:09

That would not be a time frame that I wouldn't have would want to have executive experience on my resume with blockbusters.

SPEAKER_03 1:08:15

I just leave it off. I'd rather have a blank work history than be like, I'm the one that said no to no.

SPEAKER_07 1:08:19

That poor bastard's probably selling real estate.

SPEAKER_09 1:08:21

Yeah, he's probably selling real estate somewhere.

SPEAKER_01 1:08:25

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 1:08:25

We this has been a really amazing conversation. I feel like we could talk with you guys for hours. Um, but there's one crucial question that we need to ask you guys before we get off today.

SPEAKER_07 1:08:35

We wrap up every episode with this one. This is it's always interesting with two guests because uh we get to see a little bit inside of both of you. So if you could be anybody for a day, who would it be and what would you do?

SPEAKER_02 1:08:47

You you can go first.

SPEAKER_04 1:08:48

I don't know what really you have the whole episode. I I would want to give you a really deep answer and how I'd change the world, but you know, me being a Vikings fan, I'd probably be like Justin Jefferson and play, you know, receiver for a day. Just like one game play a game and just like feel that. You know, I can't imagine what that rush would be like. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_07 1:09:08

So see, I'm such a pessimist. You say that, I'm like, I I'm not running over the middle in the end of the day. Yeah, well, with your ankle, right? You got fresh injury. But I mean, he's like, I'm not trying to feel that.

SPEAKER_04 1:09:19

Like, but you are Justin Jefferson in that situation, right? So just go ahead and the medallions, the necklaces, all be the best agent or be the best uh receiver in football and do your thing.

SPEAKER_03 1:09:28

Okay, I love that. That's good. That's good. Your your answer is very low. No pressure.

SPEAKER_02 1:09:33

Yours is very in line with me. Maybe I should have gone first, actually. Can we can we reverse them? Mine is really bad.

SPEAKER_03 1:09:39

There's no wrong answer. I want you to know.

SPEAKER_02 1:09:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:09:41

So I'll tell you mine after we get off air. All right.

SPEAKER_02 1:09:45

So mine would be I would be a professional gambler. Oh, like okay, like blackjack? Like, it don't matter what table you put me at. Just let me be a professional gambler at something.

SPEAKER_03 1:09:58

Would you wear glasses?

SPEAKER_02 1:10:00

Nah. Okay. You'd be full face. I'm I'm thinking like more, I'm thinking more sports. Like just give me like give me a million dollars and let me just watch the teams I like to like them and make millions of dollars. I love that. Doesn't that sound pretty good?

SPEAKER_03 1:10:14

It kind of, yeah. Like I don't gamble because I hate wasting money.

SPEAKER_02 1:10:18

No, that's why I said I'm a professional. Like, I'm not, I'm not blowing money, I'm not losing. Like, I got a system. That's right. I'm making money, and all I do is I make a living off millions of dollars just off of it.

SPEAKER_03 1:10:29

And like, think of all the benefits you get walking into a casino and they know who you are, and they're like, Let me give you the penthouse suite. We're gonna give you free me. Okay, I can't.

SPEAKER_07 1:10:37

Because you're about to go in the hole.

SPEAKER_02 1:10:38

Yeah. Here's here's a suite. Here's a all you can eat at you know, all the restaurants in the casino, and just watch your game and make it. I don't think that's bad.

SPEAKER_03 1:10:46

I actually love that. I would want to do that personally.

SPEAKER_02 1:10:49

Well that makes that makes one person that thinks that's a good idea. Yeah, my business partner and my fiance don't think that's a very good idea.

SPEAKER_08 1:10:56

I can think of two people that hate that and make that answer.

SPEAKER_04 1:11:00

I had no pro I got no problem with it. I love watching sports, obviously. We both we got a a a vein of sports in our business as well. But you know, that's why we got the projector in the in the office. Yeah. Play a little Madden in the in the weekend, you know, evenings and stuff. So you know.

SPEAKER_03 1:11:15

Well, thank you guys for being here today. This has been awesome. If you're in the midtown area, make sure you stop by Avenue on the ice blocks, right?

SPEAKER_02 1:11:21

Yes, in the ice blocks. Right next between Phil's and uh good neighbor. All right. We're always got our doors open, but this was really fun.

SPEAKER_03 1:11:28

This was awesome. Dan, are you ready to play us out?

SPEAKER_02 1:11:30

We're getting there.

SPEAKER_07 1:11:32

It's coming off of it's coming off of airplane mode. Coming off of airplane mode is always uh a little bit of a challenge. Here we go. It should be playing right now, though, darn it. See, I don't know. It don't want to work. It's okay. We were there.

SPEAKER_03 1:11:45

I sang last time I'm not gonna do it again.

SPEAKER_06 1:11:48

It says that it's on, too. That sucks. Sorry, guys.

SPEAKER_02 1:11:50

We're just another Oh, we were gonna get congratulations. We were gonna get out. We're gonna get it. Congratulations.

SPEAKER_03 1:11:58

Maybe tech. Yeah, we'll do it on the back end. But thanks for being here.

SPEAKER_07 1:12:01

Really appreciate it. Gentlemen, it's been a blast. Yes, good luck, sure. Continued success.

SPEAKER_01 1:12:04

Thank you for having us. Until next time.

SPEAKER_08 1:12:06

Thank you very much.