The Elite Real Estate Podcast
Are you a real estate agent looking to tackle real-world challenges and elevate your game? Look no further! The Elite Real Estate Podcast is your go-to live call-in show, connecting agents from around the globe to face problems head-on and find solutions together.
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The Elite Real Estate Podcast
Evan Bassy | Top Agent Under 30, Bassy & Co Real Estate & How Young Agents Are Taking Over
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ποΈ The Elite Real Estate Podcast | Hosted by Jimmy Nelson
Think you need decades to dominate real estate? Evan Bassy is about to change your mind. In three years, Evan went from hungry newcomer to one of the most recognized names in Oakland and Macomb County. Voted Top Agent Under 30 in Oakland County in 2024 and featured in Hour Magazine's Best of Detroit β he is not waiting his turn. He is taking it.
Broker and founder of Bassy and Co Real Estate in Rochester, MI, Evan serves first-time buyers through seasoned investors in residential and multifamily.
We get into:
π Building a top-producing career in under three years
π‘ What young agents must do to stand out right now
π‘ Rising fast without cutting corners
π Multifamily investing, most agents are missing
π Winning Top Agent Under 30 in Oakland County
Hungry, driven, ready to build? This one is for you.
π LIKE, COMMENT & SUBSCRIBE so you never miss an episode!
βΆοΈ Watch more: youtube.com/@theeliteedgenetwork
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π² Jimmy Nelson: EliteEdgeNetwork.com | @JimmyNelsonRealEstate
π² Evan Bassy: @evanbassy | evanbassy.com
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Elite Edge Network is where human intelligence meets AI. We help entrepreneurs communicate better, scale smarter, and build businesses that support their livesβnot consume them. Coaching, systems, and AI working together.
Elite Edge Network is where human intelligence meets AI. We help entrepreneurs communicate better, scale smarter, and build businesses that support their livesβnot consume them. Coaching, systems, and AI working together.
What's up everyone? And welcome back to another episode of the Elite Real Estate Podcast, where real estate meets mindset, marketing, and momentum. I'm your host, Jimmy Nelson, and today we are coming to you live from the Royal Oath Insurance Group right here in Clinton Township, Michigan. Big shout out to the entire team here. Royal Oath is more than just an insurance agent. They're your promise keepers. Whether it's auto, home, business, life, or health insurance, they're here to protect what matters to you most. You can check them out at Royal OathInsurance.com or give them a call at 586-238-3535. And of course, today's episode is brought to you in part by our friends at Connection, the CRM built for closers. If you're a real estate agent, entrepreneur, or small business owner looking to automate, follow up, and close more deals and stay top of mind, then Connection is your secret weapon. Go to yourconnection.com and take control of your pipeline today. Now, whether you're tuning in live on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Twitch or X, catching the replay on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, iHeartRadio, wherever you stream, we're glad you're here. Do me a favor, hit that like button, drop a comment, and share this with a friend, and make sure you're subscribed so you never miss an episode. All right, guys, let's get locked in. We've got a powerhouse show lined up today. And if you're in business of real estate or just building something big, this one is for you.
SPEAKER_02Good morning, good morning, good morning, everybody. Welcome into the Elite Real Estate Podcast on another fabulous Friday morning. And uh thank you guys for joining us. I see our breakfast clubbers are piling in here on the call and uh listening there, and then uh we're getting some people viewing on online. So I'm I'm excited because I got another in-house guest. Uh, you guys haven't seen this face before, but uh Evan Bassey, welcome in, my man. How are you?
SPEAKER_00Thank you, Jimmy. Good morning, man. Happy to be here.
SPEAKER_02I love it, man. I love it. And one of the things I was excited to get you on is your energy, man. Like you bring a ton of energy. Like when we did spring showdown, you rolled in with the robe and the headset on and the buffs and the whole thing. You had it all, you had it all moving, man. So it was impressive. It was impressive. How did you like Spring Showdown?
SPEAKER_00Loved it. I think it was a great great event. A lot of good people there, a lot of good energy. I mean, it doesn't matter how you know young or how long you've been in the business, you can always learn something.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_00But it was great there, man. I just enjoyed myself big time.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I love it. I love it. But yeah, man, you you brought a lot of energy, man, and and and and swag, and you had it all, brother. I appreciate that. I appreciate the effort, man. It was good.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, no, we only get one time to make a good first impression, you know. So I rolled in there with my three-piece suit, as I normally do to these listing appointments, and yeah, the Versace robe was extra, but yeah.
SPEAKER_02The Versace robe specifically was a little extra, but it went, but it worked, man. It worked.
SPEAKER_00Sure did.
SPEAKER_02But one of the things is so, so how how long have you been in the business?
SPEAKER_00I'm entering my fifth year here in real estate.
SPEAKER_02Okay. And and and how did you get into real estate?
SPEAKER_00So believe it or not, my story's a little bit different than everybody. I got in real estate because I just wanted to invest in real estate. And at the time I was going to Oakland University. You're very familiar.
SPEAKER_03Yep.
SPEAKER_00And I'm like, man, there's gotta be like there's gotta be a way where I can actually like get into investing in real estate. Looking at rental properties. So at 19, I'm like, you know what I can do? I can take on the world. I'm gonna get licensed. All these houses I'm driving by each day, I have the ability to go in and and look at these houses at 19 years of age. I thought I was the king of the world. Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. And now I look at you. Yeah. Yeah. I never have now you're 37. Yeah, no, no, no. 26.
SPEAKER_00I have no expectations, by the way, to be a big producer in real estate. Uh again, I just got my license so I could have access to the MLS and look at places. And if it like, great it. But uh we'll get into it. But you know, long story short, I'm like, wait a second, I can help people buy and sell, use that capital to go and reinvest it in real estate. Like, this is a beautiful model.
SPEAKER_02Now let me ask you this. Uh huh. That's not what was on my mind at 19. Oh. Like I kind of wish it was now. You know what I mean? Like I look back on a lot of things at 53. I look back at 19 and go, man, wow, things could have been really different. Where did that come from?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I've always been an old soul. I always think largely ahead of time, you know. And the whole reason I was at Oakland University was to get, you know, my finance and wealth management degree. I'm like, I if I can just fast forward my life 10 years, I mean, I'm not at 20, I wasn't thinking about, like you said, the things other 20 year olds are thinking about. And I just knew that if I could set my life up the way I want it, like the half of my life, I can grind really hard, and the other half I can just do what I want. But I don't know if that's really gonna happen later down the road because I love working, man. I'm a workhorse, so yeah.
SPEAKER_02Well, that's the thing. And so at Spring Showdown, you were on the phone like before the event, like talking to clients, making some moves, and doing your thing.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, same day. And I think it's just a habit of routine. You know, I like being on the phone, got me comfortable. You know, I was the youngest guy there, and you know, there's a lot of nerves going around and stuff like that, but I'm like, you know, I'm gonna come in here, normal day for me, and then I'm gonna step in this ring and showdown. And the reason I wore the headset, by the way, is because it just feels so familiar to me.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_00I wear it every day, it calmed me down, got me in the rhythm, you know.
SPEAKER_02I love that. So I love that. So you're a big dialer.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, big, big guy of prospecting crap. Yep.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. So what does that schedule look like?
SPEAKER_00Great question, Jimmy. And when I got into real estate too, like I didn't know you could buy leads, I didn't know there's online forums and all this stuff going on. All I know, and I think the beauty about me getting real estate was you know, all I had was all I didn't know what I know now. And that's a beautiful thing. It's a double-edged sword. All I knew is hey, I have a phone book and I've got the ability to talk to people. I have the gift of gab. And and my schedule is from 8 to uh 10 30 a.m. It's just all new lead gen, all new people, new conversations. I don't want to talk to anybody else. No closings, no inspections, just conversations.
SPEAKER_02Okay. And then is so are you are you specifically targeting then like FISBO's expired at that point?
SPEAKER_00Or I do a lot of it. I mean, I usually I first start off with for sale by owners. That was like every day for sale by owner. And obviously, there's so there's only so many, right? Right. Which is a good problem because after I meet them, they come they come list with me.
SPEAKER_02But unless I get them first. That's right. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00So for FISBOs expireds, we've been doing a lot of circle dialing around other listings of ours, which was really working well. Yeah. Oh my gosh, you get a record breaking sale in the subdivision, they already know you before you call. Right. So that's that's always exciting. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. Yeah. No, that I I I believe in the the just listed, just sold calling. Yeah. Right. Like I think that's one of the things that a lot of agents miss.
SPEAKER_04Right.
SPEAKER_02Is if I get a listing in a neighborhood, I it's my it's almost like my duty to call the rest of that neighborhood to get more, you know, to be to show them what I can do.
SPEAKER_00For sure. And I tell agents all the time, it's like, hey, I'm coming in with authority. I'm not just calling and saying, hey, this house sold in your neighborhood. I'm saying, listen, I sold your house in that neighborhood. Yeah. Just curious. Do you want to know your home's value? Do you want to see how we actually accomplish that? Like when you're coming in with like a level of like, you know, experience or like, hey, I've done this, it's a lot better than coming in very cold and saying, Oh, are you thinking about selling? You know what I mean? Yeah. So it's a no-brainer. No brainer. Whether it's your sale or not.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, exactly. And whether you're on the buyer list side.
SPEAKER_00Yes.
SPEAKER_02Because on the buy side, I'm selling the house. The listing agent really isn't selling the house, right? I'm selling it to my client that I'm bringing in there.
SPEAKER_04Right.
SPEAKER_02So I sold the house in that neighborhood. You know, I just was calling, I so I'll give this trade secret, but I call Fizbos and say, hey, you know, not sure if you know, but we just recently sold a home in your neighborhood. Have you or anybody else thought about selling? And they're like, My house is for sale. Like, I didn't, I'm sorry, I didn't even know your house was for I didn't see it. Yeah. I literally got it pulled up on the screen, right? Yeah, yeah. I like that though, you know. Yeah, because it throws them off. It's that pattern interrupt.
SPEAKER_00Of course. Yes, yes, and that's very important. I'm glad you brought that word up because uh I didn't know early on that that was one of my keys to my success was these pattern interrupts talking differently than everybody, interrupting the the normal conversation these guys have on a 30 to 40 time day basis. You can't sound the same, you know.
SPEAKER_02Right. And Mike Fairy scripts, right? Like everybody's got them.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_02And and they're then they work, yeah, right? Obviously, the guy's very successful, and there's a lot of successful agents built off of that. But to your point, like they all we all sound the same at some point. It's like, you know, do you want me to show you how I do things differently? That's the same thing the last guy said.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah, that's right.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_00But you get you get your own flavor, you have your own flavor, I have my own flavor, and that's what makes us different. And honestly, a lot of people, and I think another skill set you have to have, and I know you already have this, is that you gotta have the ability to read that person.
SPEAKER_01Oh, yeah.
SPEAKER_00Who am I talking to? Am I talking to an engineer who wants to see numbers? Am I talking to a guy who uh is a salesman as well, and he wants to hear, he wants to feel the emotional side of this as well. You know what I mean? Yeah.
SPEAKER_02So no, I love it, man. And where does this where does this drive come from? Like, where does this I I know you said like you know, if I work hard the first half, then I can take it easy the second half. Yeah, you're never gonna take it easier, man. That's just not in you. I don't see it. Yeah. No. It it may be, it may be expanded at some point into something different, not different than real estate, but something different inside of real estate. You know what I mean? Like but but you're never gonna I I can see it in you that it's never gonna, you're never gonna dial it down.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, no. I mean, I've always been obsessed with wanting to be the best of myself, and it sounds cliche shit, but the reality is is I've been always obsessed with finance, I've always been obsessed with real estate, I've been obsessed about what can I do to push myself further, you know, and that's all I think about on a daily basis. You know what I mean? It's I just want better for everybody, for myself, everything. And and again, those are you know private to me and things like that, but I'm just one driven person. And honestly, too, like remember, I came from a family who not not a lot of people went to school and things like that, right? And they're always like, you know, manual labor. Yeah, my dad always said, work with your head, not your hands. So this is all new to me. So if I didn't feel that like my level of accomplishment, instead of actually using my hands and stuff, it's like dang, I better be this better work for me. You know, it's like I'm driven by inspiration, but I'm also driven by that lack of or that fear of hey, what is this not gonna happen? You know, yeah. If I don't talk to, if I don't feel a level of production on a daily basis, Jimmy, I will go crazy. And that could be for different things for different people, you know. Yeah, hey, am I gonna get one listing appointment today or am I gonna talk to five people? But you have to celebrate it. You need to at the end of the day feel good about yourself, and that is something I always shy for on a daily basis. Like I have my own measures of accomplishments, yeah, but everyone's different, so yeah.
SPEAKER_02And they've they've probably morphed over the year, right? Over the years, right? Like it's it started probably with like I just talked to five people today. It's a win. Yeah, yeah, it's a win. Yeah, but I think you bring up something really important to to a lot of real estate agents that are listening now or later, is you have to celebrate those wins.
SPEAKER_00Yes, yep.
SPEAKER_02You know, and and pat yourself on the back at the end of the day.
SPEAKER_00Of course.
SPEAKER_02Because this business will beat you up.
SPEAKER_00Oh yeah. Oh yeah, quickly. Yeah, and a lot of people can't handle it, and that's why you know the statistic. I don't know, it changes every year of how many people are exiting the business and how many people aren't. But yeah, long story short, you need to celebrate those wins. I mean, it can't be like, hey, I'm gonna wake up at eight o'clock, I'm gonna, you know, email five people and I'm gonna go sit and watch soccer all day long. That that's never been me, and that's never been the high producing agents. Right. You need to have that level of continuity through the day, yeah. Different things. You can take your breaks, but you need to, I mean, to me at least, you need to always be prospecting new people, following up with your current people, and then actually delivering, you know.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Do a finder keeper.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And I I think that's the other thing too, though, is is like the just the mindset is is celebrate some of that stuff though. Right. Again, what whatever that is. Like, and I think that's where people need to find their happiness.
SPEAKER_05Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Is it maybe it is just you know talking to five people today.
SPEAKER_05Yeah.
SPEAKER_02And and you're closing, you know, two to three deals a month, or or one a month, whatever it is that makes you happy. Like, just live in that world.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Yeah. And you gotta celebrate it too. I mean, exactly. We're going back and forth, but I agree with that. I mean, you need to celebrate it. And I see so many agents, and I know you can concur, is that so many agents compare themselves to high producers.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_00And it's like, you're gonna drive yourself crazy.
SPEAKER_03Yep.
SPEAKER_00You know what I mean? It's like people coming in their first year looking at people that have been in the industry for 30 years now, and like, oh, why am I not getting referral business? Why am I not getting people calling me? Yeah, it's like you're brand new. You gotta earn this stuff, you know?
SPEAKER_02Yeah. Well, and I, you know, I worked with Mark Z a long time, and and it's a lot of people are like, Oh, I wanna, you know, I'm like, Mark's been doing this for 25 years, man. Like, this isn't something new, Jeff Glover, right? Justin Fords, like the they've been doing it for a long time, right? This isn't something new to them, right? Like, this isn't like they're just trying to break that glass ceiling. They they broke, they shattered it a long time ago. You know, and one of the things I've talked to all those guys, and one of the things they said too, it's like, yeah, I'm an overnight success. It took me 25 years to be an overnight success.
SPEAKER_05Correct, correct.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, but you're you've been announced like top 30 under 30 and all the things, man. A lot of accolades coming your way.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, no, I appreciate it. Yeah, real producers, how are Detroit? I'm very happy. Due to my constant prospecting, I actually have the largest home in Lake Orion for sale right now. And uh, it's a beautiful thing too because you know, we were just at this Breakfast of Champions, and people were talking about, oh, I'm 100% referral, I'm 100% sphere. It's like, that's great. That's great. You've been in the industry for 30 years. Yeah, but I have the mindset of, hey, if I prospect daily, as well as I am starting to get referral business now after five years, like literally last week, the first buyer I ever helped purchase a home put their house on the market. Right. So now it's full circle, right? But does that mean I should just stop prospecting for new people? No, I think the winning formula is that meeting new people, constantly prospecting, plus getting that referral business, by year 20 and 30, think about it. I'm gonna have a much larger referral network, a much larger sphere I've created over the years that I didn't stop prospecting.
SPEAKER_02Right.
SPEAKER_00And that's the mentality I have. So I love it too. I mean, you never know who you're gonna meet.
SPEAKER_02No, that's that is a big thing. But the statistic, like for to your point with the with the referral business, is like statistically speaking, looking at the NARS stats and all the stats that I have. I I I've never was a math guy, but I was always a numbers guy, if that makes sense. Like stats and statistics, and I was always a baseball basketball guy, so like numbers are always a thing. But uh they they say by year, if you if you consistently prospect, right? And meaning you don't never miss your days and you consistently prospect, by year three to five, you typically switch, you can switch into a full referral business. But that's because when people buy a house, they're in it for three to five years.
SPEAKER_04Right.
SPEAKER_02Right? So it's like you it if you sell somebody a house today, great, yay. Yeah, well, it's gonna be at least three years before they decide to move again.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, no, for sure. And that's what I'm saying. Now that I'm in year five, I'm starting to see the fruits of that labor, right?
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_00And it's like you have a whole different perspective being five years in it versus your first year. Yeah. Just like you have a lot more sex perspective than I do because of your, you know, how long you've been in the right. So it's a cool thing, it's different levels to it, and you get to reap the reward of being in you know real estate so long.
SPEAKER_02Right, right. And and it is the the sphere and referral business is great because it is yeah for sure. I mean, if you could sign up on that on day one, sign me up.
SPEAKER_06Right.
SPEAKER_02Right, but that doesn't happen a lot, right? There's the trust, there's the thing. How was it when you first got in? Was did you have a lot so this I coach a lot of agents, and so one of the questions that agents come up with a lot is like, well, I'm I'm young, right? Or I'm new. Right. Did you get that a lot when you were first in it?
SPEAKER_00You know, and that's another thing. I've always loved dressing up. I don't know what it is. I like wearing three pieces. I always like pocket squares. I think guys that wear suits without a pocket square, what's going on? Come on, get your pocket square.
SPEAKER_02The pocket squares, everybody. Get your pocket square. Very important.
SPEAKER_00Oh my gosh. Just the way you walk into a house or the way you walk into that buyer that you add on 20 years with a pocket square, okay? For you new guys in the girls out there.
SPEAKER_02And not an Apple Watch, you got a watch on.
SPEAKER_00No, no, good old fashioned watch. Yeah. It's a constant reminder. I mean, you know, like I told you in the very beginning, you only have one time to make a good first impression. And I took that very serious. So when I was a young guy meeting these these buyers for the first time, or these sellers, they're interviewing guys, triple, double my age. So how am I gonna stand out? Yeah. A, how I present myself physically, how I dress, and two, what comes out of my mouth. And you have to be careful about what you say. And then some of these sellers say, Evan, you're you're so young, but you talk like you're 50, you know? And I'm like, Well, you know, that's just that's just me though. I'm not trying to be something I'm not.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_00But at the same time, it's like uh it's very important to have a good first impression. And the line I always say at listing of presentations is hey, we have only one time to make a good first impression for your house. Let's not get it wrong. Yeah, you know. But sorry, I was being off the path. No, that's it. That's it.
SPEAKER_02That's the that's the path. It's it's that's one of the things I think is important is the good first impression, but the confidence, right? Like oh yeah. I you know, I kind of coach a lot of agents, but my thing is like you have to do the Superman pose before you get in there.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_02Like you have to come in with this confidence of you're the licensed agent. I don't care if it's your first listing appointment or your thousandth listing appointment. You have to have that same level of confidence the first time you walk in that door.
SPEAKER_00Correct. Correct. And you and you and to sellers, uh you know, to sellers, it's very clear of who's who's confident in their numbers and who's not. Yeah. And yeah, you walk in there and you there's no limits to yourself, you know what I mean? You you you walk into this house, you gotta feel like I sold every other house in this neighborhood. You know? Yeah. Really? I flipped the script. I love going to interviews before I got in real estate. I mean, I got in real estate young, but you know, during college, you go to interviews.
SPEAKER_02So say, when were you interviewing?
SPEAKER_00I would I would flip the script, you know, instead of instead of them interviewing me, I'm interviewing them.
SPEAKER_02Yes.
SPEAKER_00And I always tell people, uh, you know, the younger you know generation, I say, You're interviewing them, you know. And one of the key questions I always like to ask is, like, hey, you're trying to get the job right. I always ask the person who works there already, what's one of the worst things, what's one of the things you don't really like about working here? And that just totally changes the narrative because now I'm talking to you, not to me. And anyway, but confidence is huge, big time. Yeah, big time.
SPEAKER_02That's an important question, right? That's that you again, pattern interrupt.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, right?
SPEAKER_02You're like, Yes, no, I I can't do this, right? Right? You know, I had a buyer one time we we with the buyer's agency agreement, right? Like this getting all these signed, and I had a buyer like, oh, I don't know if I want to sign it. And he's like, Can I get out of it? And I'm like, Well, yeah, you can get out of it anytime. I'll tear it up in front of you. I don't really care, right? It doesn't matter. I just need you to sign it before we go look at houses. Right. And so he's like, Oh, he's kind of him and I go, let me ask you a question. Can I get out of it? He goes, What do you mean? I go, Well, what if I decide I don't want to work with you? Yeah, he was like, Well, why wouldn't you want to work with me? I'm like, I don't know yet. We're just starting, we're just sitting down. I don't know. I don't know if uh this is gonna go right or if you're a good fit for me or not.
SPEAKER_04Right.
SPEAKER_02And he signed it. There you go, yeah. But I was like, Pattern interrupt, that's genius, yeah.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, exactly. We always uh we always have the ability as agents to walk away from the table, just like the client does, right? Right. And he did not expect that. He probably felt more secure about it, you know.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, he was like, What do you mean? Why would you want to get out of it? I said, Well, maybe I don't want to work with you.
SPEAKER_00Right, right. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02But no, it's the takeaway, right? It's it's you know, clients are crazy.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, no, yeah, for sure.
SPEAKER_02You know, and you gotta figure out who you want to work with. But you're a big prospector. Let me you you have the the new listing you got to the video you just sent out. Yeah. The video you put out with the Lions was great. Thank you.
SPEAKER_04Great, thank you.
SPEAKER_02Great, those guys are awesome, first of all. But but no, like, where is the social media game? So you're a younger guy. Yeah, so typically you're gonna have an advantage over social media than me. Because that's the world you grew up in. You know what I mean? Like you grew up with this stuff. I'm figuring it out, like trying to figure out algorithms and everything else, and you guys are like, no, just do this. And I'm like, oh, all right.
SPEAKER_00Right. And yeah, I mean, social media is a big thing. I'm gonna tell you the biggest takeaway. I think, and this is something I struggle with. Like, I have to talk to those guys to help me post because I'm like, you know what? I don't know if this simplifies me or what you overthink it. Yeah, what happens if a seller sees this, or what happens if somebody I'm trying to get a listing from? Anyway, you can't have that worry, and it's a lot of AI stuff, but at the same time, it's helping me. But anyway, long story short, the biggest takeaway I think for social media is just a post. Just do it. And if it doesn't work out or it doesn't get the likes or comments, it doesn't matter. I only focus on the stuff I can't control. What did I mean by that? You know, here's a key takeaway. If you're a new licensed agent, document your whole day. Even if you're not, even yourself, you should document your whole day. I noticed five years ago, uh, very early on, thankfully, I always put hashtag nothing stops real estate at the top of all my stories in Instagram.
SPEAKER_03Okay. Okay.
SPEAKER_00And the reason I got that thinking was this one day. I was out, I'm like, I just had the craziest day ever. I wrote two welfare while in the car. I'm driving around from Oxford all the way down to Sterling Heights and Warren, showing homes, showing homes all day long. It was like an eight, you know, uh 13-hour day, two inspections, multiple showings writing offers, right? I'm like, nobody knows how hard I'm working because us real estate agents, we don't get to really showcase that until the deal closes. I'm like, nobody knows. And I have all these people in my database, my friends, family, all on social media, right? I'm like, you know what? I need to start documenting my day. I pull up, I start at my feet, everybody that makes fun of me, 0.5 camera mode, start at my feet, pivot up to the house, left, right, back at the house, 10 seconds, 10 12 second clip. Every single time, what am I doing? Showings in this city, hashtag nothing stops real estate. And after five years, Jimmy, I now have people coming up to me and saying, Hey, you're the nothing stops real estate guy, right?
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_00And it's great, and it's so simple. But it took me five years, like you said, for people to actually start noticing that's my brand.
SPEAKER_02Overnight success took five years.
SPEAKER_04Exactly.
SPEAKER_00But uh what I I guess the key thing I always tell agents, and maybe you can agree, is document your day, showcase people. Because I've had so many people I've had the uh privilege of working with where they had bought their house with some other agent, but because they open up Facebook and Instagram every single morning, and whose face is there? My face, top of mind share. Yeah, they call me when it when they think of real estate. Yeah, that's the reality, and I think it's great.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. No, I think it's super important, and I think documenting your day, you know, that's why everybody loved the day in the life videos, right? Like people were doing the day in the life videos for a while. And I but I but you to your point, people don't know how much we do. Correct. Right? They assume that we just sit on the off on a chair. And drink coffee and wait for people to call us. Right? They don't realize that we're instrumenting and putting this whole entire thing together, right? We're talking to mortgage. We're talking to title. We're talking to inspectors. We're talking to the city. We're talking to, you know, to put a deal together. You know what I mean? Like to put one. That doesn't matter. Now if you've got three deals going, right? Now I'm talking to three different cities. I'm talking to maybe, maybe the same inspector, maybe not, right? Different mortgage person, different title. Like I'm all over the place.
SPEAKER_04Correct.
SPEAKER_02And it's just like, how do I they don't people just don't realize how much we do? You know what I mean? Like, how many times did you eat dinner in a car?
SPEAKER_04Yeah, exactly. A lot. Yeah. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02You know, because you're driving people around because they don't work like we do because they get off at five and then you got to go do showings at six.
SPEAKER_04Right.
SPEAKER_02So it's like, you know, how many times you eat a hot dog in the car just to settle your stomach down before you go and show it another house.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Well what during my first couple of years of real this is another thing, back to where how you know how much I wanted things to get done or how motivated I was. I used to do vending machines. So it's so funny because in the back of my trunk I used to keep all these chips and drinks and all that crap, right? Because after showings, I try to restock them.
SPEAKER_03Right.
SPEAKER_00My whole my whole background is soccer, right? So at all these soccer complex fields, I've, you know, all the the kids, the kids forgot their water bottle. You know, sisters' brothers are just running around, they want a snack. Anyway, so to your point, I'm here showing homes and all this stuff. I need a quick snack, open up the trunk, get some vending machines, food, and there you go.
SPEAKER_02Back to it. So maybe maybe maybe here's the next the next thing we invent. Maybe we put this together. Yeah. Is the vending machine in a people's trunk.
SPEAKER_06Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Like, you know what I mean? Like, like we'll stock it for you, we'll swing by the office, we'll get everything in there, and then it's a monthly fee. There you go. For showing agents. For showing agents, yeah. Buying agents, yeah, for sure. Like it. Yep. Well, that's uh don't nobody can copyright that. We're gonna work on that. Yeah. But because I have a buddy that works at gym, and for a while they had a gas service. So they would just come by, fill your car up with gas while it was parked while you were working. Right. Just fill it up with gas, then you could just get a bill.
SPEAKER_00Wow, really?
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_04Wow.
SPEAKER_02I'm like, whoever thought of that was genius.
SPEAKER_04Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Because who doesn't want their car filled as soon as you get into it?
SPEAKER_04Right.
SPEAKER_02And if it's you know it's cheap, you know, whatever, they're I don't have to go to this gas station. I'm sitting at I'm working, car gets filled up, and then I just it just hits my credit card.
SPEAKER_00People pay for convenience, yeah. I know it's big in the Middle East where they come to your you know house and fill up the car, but yeah, it's fascinating.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I'm like, wow, that's a genius business idea.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_02All these ideas, uh see, this is my problem. I got too many ideas that pop in my head, and then I'm like, I gotta do they're gonna slow some of these ideas down.
SPEAKER_06Right.
SPEAKER_02But no, as far as real estate goes, what where you're at right now, where is it going to?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, so right now I'm in the process of going from being an individual agent working these 16, 15, 18 hour days to now where I don't have as much uh there's only one oven. I can't create five, unfortunately. I know you've tried that as well, creating five of yourself.
SPEAKER_02AI's helped me a little bit.
SPEAKER_00There you go. Yeah, AI is a great tool. But I've definitely started growing a team, and it's cool because I never had to recruit an agent. Everybody, you know, agents all the time. If they follow me, they see what I'm doing, like, hey, how can I get in this or how can I grow my business?
SPEAKER_02It's called attraction.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah. Yeah, exactly. And so with that, I've actually had the pleasure and privilege of onboarding agents working with me. You know, I'm teaching on my scripts, my way of getting listings, and at the same time, I'm happy to be a Zillow flex member.
SPEAKER_03Okay.
SPEAKER_00I got invited to that program, really cool program. And there it's like, hey, while while you as a new agent or non-new agent are working on building up your sphere, here's you know, here's some buyers you can you know take out.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_00So yeah, it's cool. Because in the morning I make them prospect later on the day, as you know, appointments slash showings.
SPEAKER_02Yep. Yep. That's the whole that's the whole schedule, right? Like that I I teach 90-day business planning and I I I teach scheduling and time blocking and all that. And it's my the one I've always taught, and now and I it's one I try to stick to myself even. And I've gone I've gone in different roles, right? So I've gone completely out of production as a sales director, selling a couple, you know, just that sear or whatever else, not prospecting, to back to fully prospecting. Right. Right? So it was like a whole new world. The headset went back on, like you know what I mean, like every day. But it's nine to twelve is my prospecting time. Twelve to one is my break, that's my lunch. Yep, and then that's usually when I do some social media stuff, because I kind of just kill those two birds at one time.
SPEAKER_06Yeah.
SPEAKER_02And then it's back to follow-ups, you know, what else I gotta do with clients, current clients, and then my afternoons, evenings are either showings or appointments. Yeah, like that's the that's the rinse repeat.
SPEAKER_00Right. And and it's great you say that because like you're accomplishing so much in a day with that certain schedule you follow. And a lot of agents don't have that. You know what I mean? Yeah, people think that because they're real estate agents, they can do whatever they want with their schedule. We'll see how that works out for you, you know.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, well, and then you know, we we love networking, sort of, right? We love networking, we love events, right? Real estate agents, we love events. Breakfast of champions, thanks, Tara, for having all these events and pulling us out of our production time.
SPEAKER_00But right, thank you, Tara, for making our days less productive.
SPEAKER_02She's probably watching right now, but but I think that's that's one of the things that tricks our mind, though, right? Is real estate agents think they're working at that time. And I'm like, uh you're not really working, right? Like you're in a you're having bagels and coffee and just talking to a bunch of people. Yeah, you know, now it I don't want to diminish it because it does create the relationship with agents, right? There's a reason I and you and I are sitting in this room right now, it was because of a networking event, right? Like and and then we may be across uh this on a deal at some point for sure. And so like now we have this relationship. So if I get were to write an offer on a house of yours, you'd be like, Oh, I know Jimmy's gonna get this thing closed and it's gonna be easy, it's gonna be it's gonna be breezy, right? So it's no big deal. That's what those networking events are about. So I don't want to diminish the whole thing.
SPEAKER_00No, absolutely not.
SPEAKER_02But you're not really working.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, no, and I agree. I think I think network's important networking is important. It's the cherry on top of the Sunday, you know, who you're gonna be, the conversations you're gonna have, right? And for sure. But like uh measure the agent that goes to nothing but networking events versus the agent that actually prospects and feeds her database, yeah.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah, a hundred percent. So you're now you're growing, right? Now when you when you you were just full production mode, was there a time you is there a time, did you go, did you like find an assistant? Like, did you find a transaction coordinator or did you go buyer's agent? Like that's always the oh my gosh, that's always the the decision, right? Where do I go here? Like, I'm so busy, and I've talked to a ton of agents that are in your spot where you start to grow and you're like, oh man, this is great, and I'm I'm doing a lot, but I think it's also killing me.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, no, it is, and I honestly like it. I mean, there's that feeling of busy work, but then there's a feeling of productive work, right? You have to know the difference. That's huge, right there, what I just said. Huge. But I went from single agent to transaction coordinator, okay. Even I'm like, I can still do this wrong. People are blowing my phone up. Evan, where's this addendum? Where's this? Why is it my like relax? I'm out of showing right now. Uh, but no, transaction coordinator. I've actually hired my first you know, director of ops or admin. Shout out Ashley. And that's really helps to take a lot off my plate. It really has. And again, it always comes down to, and I've always heard very successful people say, you know, focus on what you do best.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_00And that really didn't click with me until later on. It's like, why am I trying to do all these things that obviously I could, you know, leverage out or delegate out, right?
SPEAKER_02Right. And that is huge. I think that's a big piece of the pie for a lot of people is how do I, again, where do I go next? Right? Is it transaction coordinator? Is it a buyer's agent? And that it's always like the question. And I don't know that there's necessarily a wrong answer for that. I always suggest transaction coordinator first. Because again, we know what we're good at.
SPEAKER_04Right.
SPEAKER_02And typically, you may be different than this, but typically real estate agents are not good at paperwork.
SPEAKER_06Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Like I'm finding most agents, including myself, are just not because again, where's this addendum? Where's this? Where's this? I don't I don't know. I I just told you I'd get it to you. It's maybe tomorrow. Right, exactly. Like so that's the importance of a transaction coordinator to me.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, no, I agree. And that's the way I went was transaction coordinator and that. But a lot of agents find themselves we're in these growing periods, and you got to know when to step off your own foot. What I mean by that is like, oh, I've got to pay $350 a file or this or that. But really, in the long run, you know, you're servicing your clients. Clients are gonna know and get mad at you if you're not getting their stuff done, right? Yeah, and at the same time, it's gonna help you grow because you're less focused on paperwork and more focused on business.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_00And yeah, and like right now, everyone's going through different seasons. Like I am too. Now I'm going from a director of ops to like an inside sales agent, things like that, right? And it's yeah, you can't try to solve it all yourself. You need to work out with the team.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. Yeah. And uh yeah, and a mentor.
SPEAKER_00For sure. Right.
SPEAKER_02I think a mentor, mentor, coach, whatever you want to call them, I think is a very important tool because again, somebody that's had done this before, right? And I've had conversations with the top team leaders all over the place, all over the country.
SPEAKER_04Right.
SPEAKER_02And so many of them have started a team and shut it down.
SPEAKER_04Right.
SPEAKER_02Started it, shut it down. And they're usually on their third or fourth iteration of it that it works. You know what I mean? Yeah. Because you you learn from your mistakes. Like there's mistakes that are made and you learn from them and have to grow. But I think that's where a mentor or a guidance or a coach or somebody can help you limit that, right?
SPEAKER_00Right. And what you just said is so important, Jim. I mean, a lot of people don't get that. A lot of people I think have the wrong perspective about a lot of things in life until you actually do it.
SPEAKER_02True.
SPEAKER_00So building a team, I thought, oh yeah, no problem. You know, uh they they're gonna be producers like me, they're gonna have work ethic like me, they're gonna do everything incorrect, you know. And that's a lot of people, you know, man plans, God laughs, right? So that's the thing. So anyway, it's uh Oh, I love that.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, man plans, God laughs. Correct. See, I so I keep telling guests this, and I I'm gonna do it at some point. When these are all recorded and they're all in the world somewhere, but I I want to do a uh elite real estate podcast like t-shirt line, right? So I think that that could be a t-shirt.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Man la man plans, God laughs.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I got a ton of one-liners. I hear from all uh you know, people online or in person, you know, and it clicks. You think about it, and then you're like, oh wow, I can actually relate to this.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I think it's I think it's great, but I I see this growth happening in you. Like it's it's kind of it's very cool to to watch somebody who who got into this at a young age to get in what you're you're in your fifth year, you're five now, and and you've got so much time ahead of you because of you got into it so early. And I think that's key to this to this game. You know what I mean? And you're one of the first people that thought about real estate before they actually got into it. Most agents I talked to that have been on the show or that I know across the country or the world have all been like, well, I don't know, I just ended up in real estate.
SPEAKER_06Right.
SPEAKER_02Like I just ended up here. It's it seemed like I could just sell some things. You know, I was a bartender, now I'm a real estate agent. Yeah, you know what I mean?
SPEAKER_04That happens, but yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_02But I think with your finance background, I think that is a differentiator, right? Because it's like, how do you help take care of finances?
SPEAKER_00Right, for sure. Well, that's the thing too, Jimmy. I never I never finished college. Little hint hint. I uh I was in my junior year. I was never gonna graduate on time because of my credit hours, right? Yeah. So I was coaching soccer, going to Oakland University, then getting my real estate license. And it was in my junior year. I got my license, senior year of college.
SPEAKER_02I like the quotes on senior year.
SPEAKER_00Senior year, even though you know they put it Tommy Boy, super senior. I think whoever invented the University of Models is a genius. It's a genius of this. Oh man. Come on now. Yeah. Anyway, but Tommy Boy. But anyway, my senior year, I sold enough soccer enough real estate, and guess what? It was my soccer sphere. Coach Chubbin has her has his license. Oh, really? Because I was coaching travel soccer on a travel level, and a lot of the families were from Rochester, right? Okay. So, you know, they got significant houses and things like that. Well, hey, they called me after one of the one of my team managers gave me the opportunity and said, Hey, I need you to come sell my parents' you know, condo. They're moving to retirement home. I said, No problem, you know, and again, confidence. I could have been like, Oh, I don't know what I'm doing. Blah, blah, blah. Bite off more than you can shoot and then figure it out. Yeah, like that was. I love that one. Yes, yes. So sure enough, I did it. Uh, it sold. This is during the COVID uh era. So oh my gosh, real estate was flying off the shelves during COVID. And that's the perfect time to start for me. And yeah, after that, my after my senior year, I sold enough real estate where I said, you know what? I love this. I love, I love deal making, I love the hustle, I love the calling. I paid off my parents' mortgage that year, and that was a way of saying, hey guys, I'm good. Yeah, don't worry about me. And that was my biggest accomplishment. And honestly, I think it really fast forwarded my track because you know, they said they respect that, we appreciate it. You know, if you want to do real estate and drop out of school, we'll let that happen.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_00And it was a very special moment for me. Second year, bought my first duplex, and then you just kept on going, right? Yeah. But you gotta have you got to enjoy it. I mean, I know a lot of agents, you know, they're just you gotta have some North Star for me that was buying buying real estate, having fun with it. Hey, not only the people am I calling, am I gonna list the properties, but some of the people I'm calling, I can structure a deal.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_00I can buy, I've actually bought properties from the people I've called, and that's a beautiful thing.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah, me too. Yeah, me too. I went to a listing appointment and bought the house. Really? Yeah, there you go. Right there in the flipped it, yeah. Yeah, it was a flip. And I I went into the listing appointment because of totally just going there to list it. Yeah. And then I called my wife on the way home. I said, I think we this is our flip.
SPEAKER_00There you go. Hey, reminder house. Send the wire. Let me ask you this. Do you think there's a saying, and let me see if you agree with it. Do you think you're not in real estate if you're not buying real estate? What do you what would you say to that?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I I think there's something to that, right? I think there's something to to that point. Now, you don't have to be a savvy investor and own 30 rental properties, right? Of course not, no. But then I and I but I also look at it as this. We talked about coaching a little bit, right? And you you're a soccer coach. And I think one of the things that we look at is, well, if you if you haven't done this or if you only just bought one house, like how can you sell others, right? But like, let's look at the Van Gundies in basketball. Like, how much did they actually play? But they were NBA coaches, right? You know what I mean? Phil Jackson played in the NBA, so he's one of the one-offs. But for the most part, really good coaches and people who guide people aren't necessarily the the Michael Jordans, right? Like Michael Jordan's a terrible coach. I love Michael. Michael's my guy, I like, but but he could never coach because the problem is when you're that level, right? You just say, well, just do this. Right. It's like, well, I can't do that. You know what I mean? Like, now I can eventually get there, maybe, right? So I think with practice, I think so. I think agents who can build up, they I think agents should start buying real estate because that's another financial lift. But I think, you know what I mean, I think they need to get savvier with it.
SPEAKER_00Oh, yeah, no, for sure. And I agree with that. I think, you know, I I don't like the people that say, oh, if you're in real estate but you don't own a house or investments, that's wrong. But at the same time, I think that there's got to be that desire to understand real estate at the fully level. I mean, when you're operating, you know, whether it's single family or multifamily, you have a better understanding.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_00You know, people come to me like, hey, I'll buy a rental property from you because you already you can put a tenant and all that in there. Oh, you can do that. I didn't know that. Right. Yeah. Right. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Right. And the knowledge, right? That's the that's the biggest thing. So Al Abdallah said he rhyme reminds me of me when I started 30 years ago and he will be a rock star forever in the business. He said, I remember being in the the Al was the judge when you were in the ring at the show. He was.
SPEAKER_00He gave me some good feedback, Al. So I'd like to have you come in Jimmy's podcast room with me.
SPEAKER_02Sorry, he's sort of here. Oh, is he? He's watching. Oh, okay. Yeah, yeah, he's watching. He's watching live. But no, I think but to your point, I think that yes, I think they should know that. Yeah. Right. And I think that agents, as they are building their business, should either get into investing. Right. Yeah, no, for sure. Because it's I mean, let's just be honest. Real estate investing just makes sense.
SPEAKER_04Oh, yeah.
SPEAKER_02There's there's probably not a better and I know we've all been through well, you have it, man, but we all went through the crash, right? Like in in two 2006, 2008. Like, I mean, it was it was bad. Like, it was really bad. So short sales and people just moving out of this leaving their house, but taking everything with them, including the plumbing and the sink, and right just you know, you'd go into a house, it was like, well, it was just like bare walls. It was like, well, somebody left the house and they stopped paying on it, right? And and just left a bare bones house. But I I don't that I I don't see that happening again. You know what I mean? Like that's happened once in our lifetime.
SPEAKER_00Right. Yeah. And of course, of course, I was like nine years old and you know, just playing uh Xbox 360 in my parents' basement at that time.
SPEAKER_02So what was the what was the hot game at that point?
SPEAKER_00Oh my gosh, Call of Duty, Modern Warfare.
SPEAKER_02Oh, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_00The best Call of Duty ever. Are you kidding me? Yeah, and at the time, uh Call of Duty Black Ops 1 playing zombies, that was one of my favorite things. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02You know what I was a big fan of? So I because my son is 22, my oldest is 22. So I was a big fan of Guitar Hero. Oh, yeah. Guitar Hero was awesome.
SPEAKER_05The Wii. The Wii could have the Wii Hero.
SPEAKER_02I had the we had the Wii and I had the jailbroken Wii. So I what? Yeah, we had every game.
SPEAKER_00I don't know you could jailbreak those.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, we had every we had every game on that thing.
SPEAKER_00Oh, let's go back in time so I can jailbreak mine.
SPEAKER_02So I still have it. It's still at the house. Oh, there you go.
SPEAKER_00I still have my Xbox 360.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_02On a Warfare 2 edition, yeah. Do you still get it out every once in a while?
SPEAKER_00Oh yeah. Well, it's there. I don't get it out, but yeah, it's there. Yeah. It'll be worth something one day.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. You need to get you need to break it out one day and just be like, and just sit down and you know, maybe on a day like a Saturday or Sunday. You know, yeah.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Well, the the the graphics back then, I mean how did Evan's career fall apart?
SPEAKER_02Well, Jimmy told him to start playing Xbox again. Thanks, Jimmy.
SPEAKER_00You know? I'm on the Xbox 10 hours a day, not prospecting.
SPEAKER_02You're just on Twitch just filming yourself on Xbox 360.
SPEAKER_00I could play Xbox while dialing. How about that? There you go.
SPEAKER_02You could. I mean, that's possible.
SPEAKER_00Two different focuses, though, you know. Sort of. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02I mean, you know, you're taking shots. You know what I mean? There you go. That's the whole thing. Yeah. Yeah. I think, I think where do you see the our market going? You're a market savvy guy. So where do you see the market going?
SPEAKER_00Market savvy guy, but I didn't graduate.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, right.
SPEAKER_00That's okay. You don't need all those like uh you don't need the diplomas to have an opinion. Everybody's got an opinion.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. But I got another comment about that. We can't we'll say it later, but okay.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah, I know what you were going with that. But I don't know. I mean, 2008, listen, I wasn't obviously a real estate agent practicing at the time, but I I've been around enough guys, enough investors, enough Italian builders. Yeah, but no, that was a really stressful time, man. And what they have always told me was, Evan, what happened was obviously builders overbuilt. There was there was not enough demand, but so much supply. Yeah. And that's why everybody was getting loans for free. You get a loan, I get a loan. That's my understanding. I could be wrong historically, but I don't think we're in that problem. I think the problem right now, and if problem, what I see right now is that there is a lack of inventory.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_00There's a high demand. Builders will never make the same mistake again. They overbuilt back then when money was free because everybody was getting loans. Makes sense, right? If people got the money, I'm gonna go do it. Anyway, I see the opposite. I don't think it's gonna be a housing correction. I think there's a lot of stuff going on in the economy, things like that. I'm not an economist. But I think that the reason why multifamily guys and all these guys who are renting get so much rent money is because there's not enough houses. Yeah. So of course people are gonna go pay $2,500 a month for a thousand square foot uh apartment. Of course.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, that is the issue. And what I this the real squeeze, and again, we're in the Metro Detroit area, but the real squeeze is that two to four hundred, right? Two hundred to four hundred thousand. Yeah, that's where the real squeeze is right now. Yeah, like there's just not there's just not enough inventory there. No, right? And the first time home buyer is in that spot, right? That's their spot. And it's like there's not, and and I I the rates are holding people, I think, in that spot. Right. There's a hesitation of do I move now? Do I not? You know, do I upsize? Right? That's where I'm I'm seeing a lot of there's not a lot of upsizing.
SPEAKER_04Right.
SPEAKER_02It's kind of like lateral. Nobody's nobody's really going from the 400 to the 700.
SPEAKER_00Correct. Well, it's a big jump. Yeah, I mean, first off, you're talking about first-time homebuyer. Obviously, you know the stats better, but the the average first-time homebuyer age-wise, I don't know, it is in the 30s now. 30s now, yeah, yeah. Okay, so so there you go. Well, it's affordability. So by the time they actually get to accomplished buying their first house, yay, in the th two, threes, and fours. Imagine what it's going to take to actually upgrade or upsize to the next. It's just, you know, yeah, it is what it is. And a lot of young younger people complain, and of course, maybe have the right to do so, but you know, I think that just has to make you more of a savier buyer. Yeah. You have to be savier with what you're you're doing with your finances, right?
SPEAKER_02Yep. Yep. Our California listeners right now are laughing at us because we're talking about $200,000 houses.
SPEAKER_00Oh, I know. Yeah. Out in California, 1.2 starter house, $1.2.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. I'm like, man, you do it, it's to like two a year and you're good in California.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. I mean, yeah. It's unbelievable, but you know, yeah.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. But I I do see like that there is a squeeze there. And and you know, I I had I had a conversation with the builder and I said, look, why don't you guys just build a bunch of three hundred thousand dollar houses?
SPEAKER_05Right.
SPEAKER_02You guys are building seven hundred thousand dollar houses like crazy. Why don't you build a three hundred thousand dollars house? And they the the the the money's just not there. Like it doesn't make sense for them financially. Right. The margins are so thin that it they're like that we don't make we make zero money on that.
SPEAKER_04Right.
SPEAKER_02Like by the time we pay for materials and and labor and everything and cement and all the other they're like it the margins are so thin at a three hundred thousand dollar new build that it just doesn't make sense.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah, and that's the thing too, because you like right around Troy, you see all these sevens, eights, and nines. So it makes you wonder, right, who's buying these?
SPEAKER_02But just drive up Hayes, right? And go to twenty three mile, and it's right, it's seven hundred, like, and that's the base. Yeah, you know what I mean.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, it makes sense though. What was I gonna Say with that. You know, I've seen some developers too where I think it's smart. I see like in Texas, they uh they'll build a community and then they'll dictate the own interest rate because they know everyone talks about interest rates, the one thing we can't control, but everybody loves talking about, right? And uh they'll say, Hey, you buy this house and we'll give you the financing at five percent. Yeah, they're controlling the the mortgage and the house, right? So I thought that was pretty interesting. Yeah, I don't see anybody doing that around here. Yeah. Unless I just don't know about it.
SPEAKER_02Maybe that's your new idea, maybe that's your idea.
SPEAKER_00You know, I don't know.
SPEAKER_02There you go. And any builders out there, call Evan, he's got an idea.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah. I think that's smart, but you know, I don't know. But maybe there's a reason why you never know.
SPEAKER_02Right. I think one of the biggest things that we're seeing here too, and I've seen it in a few of my deals, is the is the uncapping of taxes.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Like it's crazy. Yeah. Taxes are tripling, quadrupling.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, put this on record. I think that first-time home buyers, any buyer's issue shouldn't be focused on real uh interest rates, should be focused on property tax. Everybody loves talking interest rates all day long. Nobody looks at property tax. Yeah. You're paying the same amount of property tax as your uh interest on your mortgage.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. Crazy. Or more on your taxes.
unknownFor sure.
SPEAKER_02Right? I had a guy that they they we sold it, but I was a list side, but their the the taxes went up to almost twelve thousand dollars a year.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_02I'm like, that's not that's another house payment.
SPEAKER_00Right. Right, right. And that's why we have this affordability thing going on. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_00There's people too that don't want to sell because of my two percent interest rate at my $2,300 property tax a year. Yeah. Yeah. And that kind of locks up things. So something's gotta give.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_00So it should be interesting to see what happens.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I think what Florida's doing is interesting. You know, they're trying to get rid of the property tax altogether, but they're such a they're such a destination state. Right. We're not. Correct. Right. So it doesn't fit everywhere. Right. So I think that's a a issue that we're gonna face is I don't but I there there has to be there maybe we should go to legislation. You and I maybe we should run for Congress. But I I think there has to be some sort of legislation of like what you can't just totally uncap these taxes, right? There should be a limit of how much you can add into this.
SPEAKER_04Right.
SPEAKER_02Right? I don't care if you've lived in the house for 50 years, right? And I realize when you bought it 50 years ago what the value is compared to what it is today, right? But you also can't hit me for that much money when it uncaps. Like that was the issue we had on the one house. Their taxes almost quadrupled because the guy was the original owner. Right, and that's what we built it 52 years ago.
SPEAKER_00Well, yeah, let's talk about this too. When buyers are looking on Zillow and it says, hey, your tax is only three grand a year. Yeah, they get excited, yeah. Yeah, you know, and then it's like, oh, actually, by the way, your taxes are gonna be 10 grand. Yeah. So now you don't like the house, now you can't even afford it. Yeah. So that's a big conversation right there. It's almost like, hey, you know, it's kind of like a false advertisement in a way, but uh it's you know what it is?
SPEAKER_02It's the uh it's the small print.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Right? It's the you can lease a car for $99 a month.
SPEAKER_05Yeah.
SPEAKER_02If you have all these other things.
SPEAKER_05Right.
SPEAKER_02Right. When you when you walk out of the dealership and your payment's $500, you're like, what happened to the $99 one?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, no, exactly. But yeah, I mean, I agree with you. I think property tax is a huge thing to talk about, and something needs to be done big time. And it's not even just the younger generation. No, it's even yeah, the older. I mean, it's it's unbelievable. Yeah, something's got to give.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_00So I don't come up with a solution yet. Like you said, some states are abolishing that that property tax or uncapping, things like that. But like you said, that there's so much tourists, so we have to figure it out.
SPEAKER_02I mean, you know, because I had another client that they were gonna sell downsize into a condo, they're older, downsize into a condo because their bedrooms are all upstairs. So they were they we went and looked at the con we did taxes, and she's like, Oh my god, my taxes are gonna be higher. I'm like, I I know, but you've been in your house for 50 years. You know what I mean? Like your taxes are four grand in Macomb. Like that's that's not realistic either. You know what I mean? Right. That's not realistic either. So there's gotta be some sort of a fix for it. And you know, if we need a financial guy, but it's not me.
SPEAKER_00Right, yeah. Or me, but yeah, get on with the times though. Like that makes us agents have to be more skilled set of how to handle objection. You're telling me I'm moving, I'm downsizing, but my tax bill is gonna be higher for half the square footage, half the bedroom count, etc. Yeah, you gotta know how to handle that question, you know?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, and I think that's important. And so, how do you stay in touch with all that? Like, how are you are you a reader?
SPEAKER_00I'm a reader, but I think you learn most from Mr. Experience. Experience is all. So, again, I I handle new conversations every day, new objections. But then again, what do you do with that information? You gotta address it, but you gotta educate yourself. So, yeah, reading's good. Yeah, maybe listening to uh, you know, like you said, you can really uh fast fast forward your career talking to people in the business that are experienced already. So I could come to you and say, Hey Jimmy, what do you think about this? This guy told me this. How would you answer it? Yeah, what's your knowledge on this? I think that's one of the best things to do.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah. And I I think that's I think that's a testament to what you've done. I think that's I think that's you know what's has sped you up is the I this idea of like I you do ask questions.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, right.
SPEAKER_02So many, so many agents and and entrepreneurs in general want to just do it on their own. You know what I mean? Like they get this, I'm just gonna do this. And it's like, well, that's great, and I I believe in you, but you I already made those three mistakes. You know what I mean? Like, how can I help steer you around some of those mistakes, right? And one of the things I always tell my coaching clients is that you know, like I can be your motor, but I can't be your steering wheel. Right. You know what I mean? It's like I I I I can't I and I can't force you to work harder, right? You have to do that. But I can steer you around everything. You know what I mean? Like I can still help steer you around some of the bumps that are gonna come, but I can't make you get there any faster. That's all gonna come from you.
SPEAKER_04Right.
SPEAKER_02Right. And and so that's where you're you're the testament to you is like you've you motored through it, right? And you got through it, but you ask a lot of questions.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, full steam ahead, but you always gotta learn. Asking questions, yeah, you know, is is is very important. And yeah, I d I think you just said makes a lot of sense because you know you coach people and a lot of agents think they've got to figure it out, and then reality knocks, you know. Yeah, so yeah, and again, you you can't be naive because you can I could sit here and learn three things from you and not make that same mistake, and that's a huge gain for me. It's a time collapse. I just fast forward my career. Yeah, but a lot of agents want to have to know it all mentality. You know, I'm not saying everybody, but there's some agents out there that they rather make that mistake than just learn from somebody else.
SPEAKER_02Yep, yep. And again, it it it if you think about just the the confidence that you have to ask the questions. Because I always say there's no such thing as a stupid question.
SPEAKER_05Right.
SPEAKER_02The stupid things happen when you don't ask the question.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, yeah, like that's a good one too.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, the stupid things happen when you don't ask the question because then you just if you would have just asked me first, you could have just opened the door. Right. Instead, you ran into it three times before I just said turn the handle. Right. You know what I mean? Like I could have made that a lot easier on you.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_02Because I ran into the door three times before. You know what I mean? Like I did it. So let me help you get through there.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, no, it's very important too. And there's a level of like what we talked about earlier where it's like, hey, I'm gonna bite off more than I can chew and figure it out, but also ask questions. Yeah. You can't you can't make yourself look silly. I mean, you can and you will, yeah, but try to avoid that. And yeah, I mean, listen, there's been when I first got into real estate, you know, I didn't know I wasn't certain certain of something. So I'm asking the listing agent, some of these listing agents, when I'm representing buyers, are like, what are you doing? You gotta do this and that. I'm like, listen, man, you want to make this deal happen or not? I'm new to the industry, you're gonna help me or not. But I have the level of confidence to voice that. Whereas a lot of agents like, oh, I'm so sorry. Yeah, I'm so sorry. No, you want to make this deal happen, Jimmy? Let's sit down, let's talk about it.
SPEAKER_03I love that.
SPEAKER_00And of course, I'm not, you know, you're not gonna persuade me to have your client benefit over mine. Right. But at the same time, it's like, listen, you gotta have an open hand, you know.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. Well, so much of what we do is putting deals together.
SPEAKER_00Of course.
SPEAKER_02Like that's that's the art of it, right? It's it's not all they're not all smooth. I wish they were all easy. Right. You know what I mean? But uh we I was just having a conversation with some agents last night. And so they have a they wrote a contingent offer, but the house that they wrote on, they have a contingent offer except on another one. That's a domino fact. It's a everybody's there's like three contingent offers all just hanging out there, right? And now they're gonna have to extend closing because the contingency's not they gotta that's not sold yet. So like they're gonna push. So I'm like, well, that's but that's the art of putting the deal together. Right. Right? It's just having open, transparent conversations with your clients, telling them, hey, this is what happens. So it's we're good, right? But this we have a little bit of a domino here.
SPEAKER_00Right, exactly. And dressing expectations, right? Yeah, I don't know why, but some agents have a hard time just saying what it is. Yeah what it is. You know it might not be what your client wants to hear, but you're saying what it is, and they're gonna respect you, and the transaction's gonna go so much smoother.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah. I love that. And one of the things that, and and you can probably hone in on this too, is I'll have agents say to me, Well, wow, my client's gonna be really upset about this. Like, how do you know if they're gonna be or not?
SPEAKER_06Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_02Did you talk to them yet? Well, no, but I'm like, see, you said but. So the when you tell me but, that means you don't, you're you're worried that they're gonna be upset about this. They may just be like, okay.
SPEAKER_00Right.
SPEAKER_02But until you give them the information, we don't know anything.
SPEAKER_00Correct. Yeah, and you cannot just say yes, yes, yes. My favorite word is no, no, I'm not interested in that, you know. Yeah, I trust me with my experience in this situation, you know. One of the biggest things for handling objections to me for you know, or not just you know, having to tell your client the right thing to do is like, hey, I just helped another client in the same situation you are, in the same timeline you are, and this is what we did. Yeah, and by them hearing that, it's like, wow. So not only do I want more trust for my agent, but it means he's gonna get he's gonna steer me through these things.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. Yeah. I think it's huge. And and again, the transparency, just being honest with your clients.
SPEAKER_04Yeah.
SPEAKER_02You know, and I and in in a sense, I I always say like we're like the shield for our client too. Like we're the right gladiator, like holding up the shield for our client. But at some point, like I've had to do this, like, here's here. That's right. Take a look at this. This is what I'm doing over here, right?
SPEAKER_00All these arrows coming at me. Yeah, you see what I'm doing with?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, like I've literally like forwarded an email chain, you know what I mean, to a client. Right. And they're like, oh man, I'm like, yeah, this is what I'm doing, right? Like, this is I and I I I try to shield you from this, but here is a little peek behind the curtain of what's going on, right? Like, I'm holding this deal together for you. Yeah, you know, because there's so many eight people. I'm just gonna walk away. I don't I don't want this offer. I'm like, yeah, you do, because we're not going back to market. Like, you don't want to go back on market. We're gonna put this close, it's gonna take an extra day or two.
SPEAKER_00Right.
SPEAKER_02Like, I get it, you're emotional, but let's just settle in here, relax.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and that's again, that's that's a key thing to do it. I mean, I can look back from a couple times where you know, I you listen to your client a little bit too much and the deal falls apart, and then it's like, oh wow, Ivan, I wish what you would have told me. Well, you told me this, you know. Yeah, but that's why you learn and you grow from those.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. And thinking of the AI thing too, there was just a big story, I think it was last week, that two attorneys were both using like Chat GPT and they it almost it killed both of them, like because it was telling them the opposite of what they were looking for. Yeah. You know what I mean? Like, so you have again that AI tool is great, right? But also whatever you're putting in is what's it's just giving you information.
SPEAKER_00Right.
SPEAKER_02It shouldn't be your answer.
SPEAKER_00Right. Believe it or not, Jimmy. I just had a buyer who thought, based on his Chat GPT experience, the Chat GBT degree, that he could go and buy a house, no problem. He thinks that he could go to a seller and say, hey, I'm gonna work, I'm gonna represent myself with Chat GBT, and then just wait the three percent that you would have paid a buyer's agent and give me that three percent off on the price. And this was a referral from an agent up in Traver City to me. And I'm like, oh, this is gonna be a fun conversation.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_00So what we did, we set up a time, sat down on a phone call, talked to him the whole process, give him examples, expectations, and then he's like, Oh, you know what? That makes sense.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_00You know, you really gotta explain it though. But again, it the world's ever evolving. Yeah, AI's changing people's reality of what they think, what we do versus what we actually do.
SPEAKER_02Right. Um what are you what are you doing with AI and your team right now?
SPEAKER_00AI helps me uh write emails, okay, time block my day, follow-ups, big time, just reminders, things like that. You know, you can you can use AI for for posts and things like that. Um it's also good to have your own your own voice instead of Chat GBT's voice. What else? Just a lot of data, a lot of data stuff. Yeah, helping me organize numbers, who I've hit, information is a big part of Chat GBT. Yeah, instead of me trying to do my own due diligence. You know, you gotta be careful though.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_00You can be inaccurate.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You have to double check it. Yeah. Right? Like you have to double check it. And what what are what like systems processes? What do you are are how has that changed for you over the first five years?
SPEAKER_00A lot of the small tedious stuff, I mean, especially for like my TCs and admins, like just communicating through me if with far as AI, is that what you're referring to?
SPEAKER_02Anything. Anything, any systems, right? Like whether it's CRMs, yeah.
SPEAKER_00Oh my gosh, CRM. We had to get it with Zillow with follow up offs. That's who we've been using. I was a big believer I could make a multi-million dollar business with just a Google Excel sheet for free. For free, you know. It's so funny when I gave my admin my uh list of past you know deals in Sphere, she's like, send it to me. I'm like, all right. So I downloaded it from the sheet, you've been collecting this into Google Sheets. Yeah, what's wrong with that?
SPEAKER_02Made sense to me.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, oh yeah. And I first I first started off with a whiteboard, yeah. That kind of grew out too fast, right?
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_00So yeah, using a CR very important. I didn't believe it when agents are like, hey, if you just keep track of everybody and feed that database, that's half the job.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Really?
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_00And I thought I was naive. That's something I should have listened to early on.
SPEAKER_03Right.
SPEAKER_00But I went back and I finally got all my past you know contacts and records.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, that's huge.
SPEAKER_00Oh, big time. That's huge.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. What? So you coached soccer. Are you still coaching soccer?
SPEAKER_00No, no, I stopped uh last year. You retired? Yeah, I retired. I retired. Exactly.
SPEAKER_02Did you leave your cleats at midcourt? No, no, I wish I've got solids. Yeah, yeah, whistle cleats midfield and just walk away. No, I didn't. Yeah. Yeah. What if what's how is so because now you know I coach and I'm still coaching.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_02But what has that taught you about this business?
SPEAKER_00Oh my gosh. Well, one, voicing your opinion, very extroverted, you know, my opinion, my my voice, everything. But also, you're gonna get a lot of flack. What I mean by that is you're gonna get a lot of people telling you you're in the wrong, their opinion. Yeah, it's like you said, shielding your your client. I'm shielding myself from all these stuff I'm hearing.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_00And I started off as a referee first. Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh. If you want to fast forward your life in sales, go be a referee in youth travel sports, basketball, soccer, it doesn't matter.
SPEAKER_02No, everybody's getting beat up now.
SPEAKER_00Like gosh, and I and I I give credit these younger, you know, younger refs and coaches out there. I give them credit, but I'll tell you what, I said, listen, all that you have grown adults yelling and screaming at you. This is actually a really good thing.
SPEAKER_06Yeah, it is.
SPEAKER_00And I'm like, you know why? Because you're taking all this criticism and all this critical thing. So when you're older, you're gonna have a natural shield around you for for how you feel and controlling your emotions.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_00And I give them so much credit. I think it's the best thing you can do as a young uh individual, refing or coaching a sport.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. You want to learn how to shut out the noise? Yes. Go referee a game.
SPEAKER_00Yes.
SPEAKER_02Do it. Go referee a game.
SPEAKER_00It helps me big time, keeping my composure, keeping my computer. 100%. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02100%. Well, as we're wrapping up here, what where can everybody find you?
SPEAKER_00Instagram at Bassi underscore sells, Ivanbassie.com, and uh Bassi and Co. uh is my team. So yeah, find me on there. Just search Google Ivan Bassi.
SPEAKER_02He's everywhere. He's everywhere. Well, man, I appreciate you coming on and joining us this morning. I'm look, I'm I'm creeping into your prospecting time right now. So good, man. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00This is prospecting.
SPEAKER_02But I love it, man. And I thank you for joining me this morning and coming in. Breakfast Clubbers, thanks for joining. If you're listening now or later, make sure you're liking and subscribing to the YouTube channel at uh the Elite Edge Network on YouTube or find the Elite Real Estate Podcast wherever we find podcasts. We will be back next week, guys, with a new guest, and we'll see you then. Evan, thank you, my man, for coming in. All right, guys, we'll see you next week.