Why Relationship-First Mortgage Advisors Win in Any Market with Guest Justin Padron

In an industry obsessed with leads, rates, and automation, Justin Padron proves there’s a better — and more profitable — way to build a mortgage business.

In this episode of The Way, Dino sits down with Justin Padron of Neo Home Loans, a relationship-driven mortgage advisor producing nearly $70 million annually by focusing on community, collaboration, and long-term trust — not transactional shortcuts.

Justin breaks down how treating clients like family, building deep local relationships, and partnering strategically with real estate agents and financial planners creates a sustainable, referral-driven business — even in challenging markets.

This episode is a masterclass in old-school fundamentals executed at an elite level.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode

• How Justin built a $70M mortgage business without chasing leads
• Why community presence beats national reach for long-term growth
• The exact team structure that allows Justin to scale without burnout
• How mortgage advisors can collaborate with financial planners and CPAs
• Why asking for introductions is more powerful than asking for referrals
• How to turn refinance savings into generational wealth conversations
• The biggest mistake loan officers make when trying to “do it all”
• How to hire your first team member (even if money feels tight)
• Why outbound phone calls still outperform modern lead strategies
• How to balance family, health, and business without sacrificing production

Thanks for listening to "The Way With Dino Katsiametis"
For full show notes, links, and extra episode resources, visit dinokatsiametis.com.
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instagram.com/dinokatsiametis | linkedin.com/in/dinokatsiametis
Learn more about Ethos Lending at ethoslending.com.

Transcript

[00:00:00] 

Dino Interview with Justin: All right, here we are, Justin Padron from Neo Home Loans, and I'm super stoked because Justin's the man over here. He has done not just a ton of volume, but he does it with class, at least. Justin, I, I mean, you, you just, you appear like this classy dude to me. Um, I saw you up on stage. I'm gonna follow you on social media and I really loved how you presented yourself and what you believed in.

So that's why I wanted you on the podcast. And, and first welcome. Thank you for coming on.

Justin Raw: Thank you, Dina. I appreciate it, man. Um, appreciate the compliment, the kind words. Um, always have had to, I've always tried to, um, kind of have that, you know, humility with anything, whether it was sports related or business related or, um, whatever. Always wanna try to be, you know, very grounded and um, really just appreciative of everybody that's a fan and along the way.

Um, but thanks for having me on, man. I appreciate that. It means a lot.

Dino Interview with Justin: Yeah. And in our industry that's [00:01:00] a big deal. There's, there's not a lot of humility and, and I love seeing the higher level guys, you know, expressing how they are and leading the way with how business should be done. Right. I, it's interesting 'cause in your bio, um, you have, um, you're here to empower and equip, uh, let's see, what is it?

Uh, hold on, I'm gonna find it here. Oh, here it is. Uh, simple. Yep. Powerful to educate and empower families to make confident, um, well-informed mortgage decisions that support their long-term financial goals and our mission statement that, so I'm not, I'm not producing anymore, so mine was like that when I was producing.

But now that I'm trying to grow the company and I'm, I'm trying to do it through hiring mortgage advisors. My mission is to empower, educate, and equip mortgage advisors the way lending should be done. Because I figure if I can do that, then it'll multiply to how it gets out into the general public. [00:02:00] And, and that's really what we should do.

We, we need to be treating our clients like family, like the way we would treat our family. Right. So I'm really excited to get into it with you 'cause I know you do that. Um, so let's just start, man, if you don't mind, let's just jump right in. First and foremost, who are you today, both personally and professionally?

Justin Raw: I'm, uh, I'm a husband, number one. Dad, number two. Um, I'd say coach number three. Um, sports is extremely important to me. My kids are busy. Uh, football and baseball. Just got done wrapping up fall seasons, and I coached three out of my kids', four team. So, um, Monday through Thursday this year, man, in the fall, it was every, every day, Monday through Thursday from five to seven.

It was on the practice field. Um, but I love it. I wouldn't trade that for the world. Um, and then fourth, um, man, I'm a mortgage advisor that cares about families and cares about people, um, accomplishing what they want to from, from a, a, a home standpoint where they live. Um, it's extremely important to me. Um, and that's, it's not just, you know.[00:03:00] 

Talk. It's, it's, I can back that up. Yesterday, we just housed or, or held, um, our big Christmas party that we do every year and we actually invite people to our home, um, clients that we've worked with. And man, we had about 350 people to our house yesterday to take pic. You know, Christmas pictures with Santa and, um, all the, the looks on these little guys' faces just walking up like, you know, Santa.

And it's like, yeah, I do. Um, he's right there. I invited him 'cause I wanted him to meet you. Right? And getting to build those relationships and those connections with those kids, um, I'm sure hasn't happened yet, but I'm sure 20 years from now, 25 years from now, I'm gonna be helping them buy a home too.

Dino Interview with Justin: How old are you, man?

Justin Raw: I am 37.

Dino Interview with Justin: All right, so, so you got 20 years left.

Justin Raw: Easy, easy. I better knock on wood, but, um, I, I better have 20.

Dino Interview with Justin: All right, so, so here's what comes to mind when you said that. Um, obviously in today's world, virtual is a thing. We can do business from anywhere. Uh, we don't have to be tied to our [00:04:00] community, but for you to have 300 people at your house, that means you have a real community presence. Is the majority of your business within arms reach or do you do business everywhere?

Justin Raw: Great, great question. Majority right now, um, is all right here locally in the DFW. Every now and then we'll go down to San Antonio or Houston or Austin, you know, if a client's getting relocated or, uh, moving, had a client reach out this past weekend and they weren't able to make the party, but they're moving from Austin and going to, uh, Las Vegas, and they were like, Hey, can you help us there?

And it was like, yeah, we can. Um, so we can do loans wherever, uh, we're licensed in, I think probably eight or nine different states, but within, inside the organization, um, we have kind of an internal lending group, if you will, um, where we don't really, you know, discuss rate and, and all that stuff, but we'll kind of stay there to kind of help hold hands and, and move people through the process.

But, um, yeah, we can lend anywhere and, um, majority of my business is right here in my backyard, here in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

Dino Interview with Justin: Nice. I, I think it's important, you know. When I was producing, it's [00:05:00] funny when everybody wanted to do loans in all these other states and all they cared about was what states were approved in all that. And, and I was like, man, why do you care? There's more money within arms length than where you stand at all times.

The the, the community that you can build by, by being nearby the relationships, I think they're more powerful than anything else. I get being able to do loans everywhere else, and I get all that, but I think there's gold. Right, right around the corner.

Justin Raw: I'm with you on that. I, I think there's two, two kind of trains of thought on that, right? And, and I don't, I wouldn't say one's right, one's wrong, one's better than the other. That's not the case. It's, um, it's independent to the originator. I think, you know, if you wanted to be kind of an average loan officer in 50 states and you do two, three deals a year in those states.

It's a hundred, 150 deals. You, you can make good money doing that. Um, for me, I love the relationship aspect of this. Um, this is such a, it, it's a unique investment that people are buying. Um, it's a very large investment that they're making and I feel like when people come to us, a [00:06:00] lot of times they don't understand what that means.

And so that's where we get to really step in. Especially if you think about kind of the last two or three years, there's been a lot of confusion, a lot of chaos, a lot of misunderstanding. Um, and it's not the client's fault, but that's where the opportunity is for us as an industry, as mortgage advisors to really step into that role and be the guide that families need.

And so, um, for me, this business isn't a, a numbers game, a money game. It's really how impactful can we be, how impactful can the conversations we have with families. Can we change the, the trajectory, the course of that family's life with the guidance and advice that we're giving. And so, um, that's how I look at it.

I didn't always do that. I didn't always start that way, you know, when I very first got into the business, it was because as an originator, you can make doctor and lawyer money straight up. That's why I got into the business. But as I've learned, as I've grown, as I've developed, as I've listened and studied and watched, you know, your, your top producers, that's not the [00:07:00] approach that they had.

It wasn't the money part of it, it was more I wanna be the most impactful person in this guy's life or this family's life, uh, especially in terms of finance and real estate. And so anytime those, you know, objects come up, my goal is hopefully the families that I've gotten to work with, they remember me and think about us when we do things like that.

Dino Interview with Justin: Outta curiosity, you just said something that, that, I've never asked this question, but I think I'm gonna start asking it more often. Uh, how long have you been in the business?

Justin Raw: Eight years.

Dino Interview with Justin: Eight years. And who have been your biggest mentors in the business?

Justin Raw: Ryan Grant, number one. Um, first and foremost, he's, uh, a tremendous human. Love him to death. Um, I'm not in the position that I'm in as an originator without him. Um, Chris Ledley, number two, um, Jonathan dod Ridge, Jonathan, um, is a,

Dino Interview with Justin: Is he at Neo as well?

Justin Raw: he's not Jonathan, um, was one of my first branch managers that I worked for, and he's one of my best friends still to this day.

Um, [00:08:00] consider him a big brother. Anytime I have questions, he's somebody that I would definitely pick up the phone and call. Super, super, super bright, very knowledgeable. Um. I just, you know, the reason why I left his branch is I wanted to go out and run my own. And, and Jonathan was one of those guys that slapped me on the back and said, you're gonna be successful.

Go do it. Um, and so always be thankful for him. Um, Shayla Gifford, another one of my favorites that I've loved to listen to over the years. Uh, and then Jeremy Forer, you know, a lot of the, a lot of the names that most people know, um, I'm lucky in that I've actually had to, you know, an opportunity to build relationships with those folks.

And, um, they've taken an interest in me and in helping me and, um, super appreciative of that.

Dino Interview with Justin: Yeah. Yeah. Ryan, uh, I, I interviewed Ryan, I, and he was in my backyard for a long time. I made a little bit more money after he decided to leave, which was cool. The, the dude was a total animal. I mean, my gosh,

Justin Raw: Total animal. That guy is fearless, not afraid to [00:09:00] go anywhere, do anything, talk about what he does. Um, and his approach is, is one that I've really tried to adopt in into my business. Um, I remember sitting back in 22 when I was at a, a different company and, um, I got that inevitable phone call on a Saturday.

Somebody wants to get pre-approved, and I know this has happened at multiple originators in our, in our country. But, um, fully pre-approved 'em, help 'em get their offer accepted. And then Monday, you know, you get the phone call of, Hey, we love you. Thanks for all you did, but my bank is an eighth of a point cheaper and we're going that direction, right?

Um, and I just, I remember that feeling of like, man, am I a commodity? I hate this feeling. Um, there's gotta be a better way and a different way to do this. And, um, that's when I went down the rabbit hole, started searching, started learning, saw a video that Ryan had posted that I really resonated with and reached out to him.

And, um, the rest is history. You know, that was kind of a April of 22 and then August of 22 I joined Neo. Um, and been there ever since.

Dino Interview with Justin: [00:10:00] So I'm kind of curious, um, you saw it in April, 2022 and what took so long for you to go over there?

Justin Raw: So, great question. This is, uh, something that always makes people laugh. I interviewed probably 25 to 30 different companies.

Dino Interview with Justin: Wow.

Justin Raw: I felt like this next move for me, I was tired of moving. Um, you know, I'd been in the industry, got in, in kind of the latter part of 2017. Um, I was a broker to start. I went to another company.

Was there, um. They didn't feel like I was ready to become a branch manager. And I disagreed and I said, you know, basically watch, I'm gonna bet on myself. Um, and so I, I did, and now when I got that commodity type feeling at the next shop, it was like, I wanna look and see if there's something different out there.

And I just, I just don't like moving companies. Um, and so I really felt like, you know, with this next move, I really wanted to be certain that it was the right one. Um, and after talking to everybody, you know, [00:11:00] 22 of the 25 companies or whatever sounded the exact same three were a little bit different. And Neo was one of those.

Um, and then my wife and I, we took a neo day, we flew out to California, met with the guys. Um, and then I remember getting back to the hotel, she looked at me and she's like, you're coming to work here. Like, you don't have another choice. Um, and so I, I had kind of felt that way too, um, with just the, you know, the way I got along with those guys, the way that we spoke it, it felt like a natural fit for me.

Dino Interview with Justin: Yeah. That's awesome. So dude, how much do you do in business right now?

Justin Raw: We're, we're gonna be just shy of 70 this year. Um, 70 million. Um, we'll probably do a hundred thirty five, a hundred and forty, a hundred forty two, something like that. Transactions this year. Um, some of that's refi. I would say we're probably 85, 15, purchased to refi right now. Um, but refi's are coming back,

Dino Interview with Justin: and what does your team look like?

Justin Raw: so I've got a upfront loan partner.

Her name is Reese. Reese helps me with kind of calendar management, um, scheduling appointments, um, managing email, [00:12:00] communicating back and forth, handling text messages, and, um, kind of doing the front end of things, getting applications in the door. She always picks up the phone and calls. I don't ever send a link out for people to fill out an app.

Um, I feel like that's a way where we can kind of differentiate ourselves and she does an excellent job upfront. Um, I've got a credit analyst, her name is Tricia. She's out of Houston. Um, she's been one of. The, the key cogs of what we've been able to do. She's extremely talented, um, and super grateful to, to have her on the team.

But she essentially, you know, when the, the file comes in, make sure all the documents are in, make sure the file is fully pre-approved. Um, and she does it extremely well. Um, I've got a loan coordinator, essentially a processor, um, her name is Lisa and, and Lisa's, she's been with us I think for probably nine months or so.

She's done an excellent job taking things from contract to close. And then I've got a customer success manager at the end. Her name is Jamie Ferrell. Um, Jamie's, you know, responsible for making [00:13:00] sure that post-closing happens, you know, set up for first payment, any tax or insurance issues with escrow accounts, any servicing, transfers, um, making sure that we can kind of fulfill that commitment that we have to our families that they're never gonna overpay on their loan.

Uh, excuse me. And then. She'll also connect, um, families with CPAs, estate planners, financial planners, um, as something that we offer, not necessarily in-house right, but just making sure we kind of build that family office around each family that we're getting the opportunity to help.

Dino Interview with Justin: Okay, so let, let's break this down a little bit. Um,

Justin Raw: Yep,

Dino Interview with Justin: old school, right? How I, it's been 28 years for me, and, and that's how I grew my business was Todd Duncan's circle of cash flow, right? You get the, the attorneys, the CPAs, the financial planners, everybody, right? And this whole like wheel. And I always believed in, figure out how to make them money, how to get them business.

And through the theory of reciprocity, [00:14:00] they're going to turn around and, you know, give you business back. And, and when I first started, I really like took that to heart and I started. Pushing hard at trying to find out who has what and what do they need or what can I, you know, pull from what they already have to offer somewhere else.

And, and it's always, it's always talked about, it sounds like a wonderful thing, but very few people actually ever do it. So how, and I don't know how to make this, uh, do you guys actually do that like aggressively or is that just a thing you guys say and then only if somebody asks for it.

Justin Raw: No, a hundred percent. It's, I, I can show you my calendar. I mean, we are kind of how many introductions, you know, our team's able to make to ancillary kind of business partners. Um, that's a big focus for us. It's kind of go back to, you know, you think about an originator. Originator in my opinion, has the ability to be the quarterback of all of it.

They see the asset [00:15:00] side, they see the liability side. They, you know, we see the tax returns, we see the savings account, we see the 401k, we see the checking in

Dino Interview with Justin: All of it. Yeah.

Justin Raw: the brokerage, right? There's not another professional who does. And so my background was financial planning. I held a series 7 66, 50, 31.

I can talk that talk, I can speak that lingo. The reason why I got out of that industry is Aaron and I, my wife, we, we were trying to start a family and I was on the road 50, 60,000 miles a year in a car and I was never home. Um, and so, you know, it's hard to, to build a family when I'm at a hotel in Houston and she's in San Antonio or wherever she was.

Um, it was hard to do that. And so my wife is a title attorney by trade. She was, and I, I was mentioning my team. I didn't even add this. My wife is actually on my team now, um, as our business development person, and she's probably the best, most important hire I could have ever hired. Um, she's really great at a lot of things that I'm not great at.

And so having her is a huge up level for us. Um,

Dino Interview with Justin: Are you, so you're the quarterback though, right?

Justin Raw: I'm the quarterback of it. [00:16:00] Oh yeah. So like those initial.

Dino Interview with Justin: owner? Is she the franchise owner?

Justin Raw: Oh, she's for sure the franchise owner. Uh, very first day she came in, she was like, all right, we're making this change, this change, this change. Like Erin's skillset, it, it compliments what I don't do very well.

Like all the systems and processes and operation part of things. That is her unique genius zone. I, I can give direction on like how I think it should look or how I think it should go, but the execution of it, I want no part of. Like, I'm not a, that's not my forte at all. Put me in front of people and let me talk to people and, uh, we'll grow.

But the more I'm on the back end doing that type of stuff, like I'm, I'm gonna be the roadblock for, for everything.

Dino Interview with Justin: Okay. So let, so let's explore it a little bit more. 'cause I, I think it's a, a lost art that a lot of people haven't done. Uh, and, and there's so much lead gen these days, but the, the true old school advisor, right, like you and I, um, we have to go out and we have to make relationships so that we can grow multiple relationships.

[00:17:00] And, you know, you, you actively do this and you even have a person that does it, which I thought I think is fantastic. Who is responsible for going out and making the relationships come to life? Right? Because it's like, how do you even meet these people? What's the, the

Justin Raw: question. So that, that would be my job. Um, and it will be Aaron's job, my wife as, as biz dev, right? Um, I'm ultimately the, the closer of those meetings though, um, that's where I shine. That's where I excel. That's where I get to show the true benefit and value. But that a simple place for people to start is go through your database.

And if you never ask the question of, Hey, are you working with a financial planner? Currently? Ask that question and then depending on what they tell you, yes, great. Hey, Dino, how, how would you rate that individual? Would you, you know, would, would they be an 8, 10, 9? Where are they at? And, and you're looking for people that are eight and higher.

And if they tell you, oh yeah, this person's a 10. [00:18:00] Like, I love this person. This next question is the most critical question. Do you think it would be a good idea for me to connect with that individual and then pause and they're gonna write back or say back? Yes. As soon as they do, there's your opportunity to pick up the phone and call.

Hey Dino, we're, you know, I was, I'm the mortgage advisor that was working with Johnny who bought at 1, 2, 3 Main Street. He thought it would be a great idea for you and I to connect. Um, I'm just reaching out at his recommendation. What do the next couple weeks look like for you, for us to grab coffee or me come by your office?

Dino Interview with Justin: Yeah,

Justin Raw: It's as

Dino Interview with Justin: know,

Justin Raw: as that.

Dino Interview with Justin: you know what I used to do? Um, I'll start with when a client ever called or a realtor ever called and said, I got a referral for you. I would never allow them to just say, here's who it is. I would always force 'em to do an introduction 'cause it's, it's more powerful. So

Justin Raw: gave more powerful.

Dino Interview with Justin: as financial planners, can you please introduce me and, and then I'll take over from [00:19:00] there.

So I think it's a, a, a really simple way to go for advisors listening right now that want to expand how they do business and, and get into this, you know, self gen type of, and I always, and, and I hate acting like this, but self gen to me is a career lead gen is a job, right? So,

Justin Raw: Hundred

Dino Interview with Justin: it's a really easy way, like you said, we have access to everything in a client's loan application.

Use it to your advantage. Right. And ask for the introduction.

Justin Raw: Look at the tax return. They have a CPA on there, they have

Dino Interview with Justin: Yeah. And, and ask them are they happy with their CPA, right? That was my thing. First is, are you happy? And if you are, then can I have an introduction? Right?

Justin Raw: Exactly. Yep. Totally agree with that. Another way that they can do it, um, especially right now with refis, I feel like this is where a lot of advisors miss is clients saving $700 a month. Now

Dino Interview with Justin: mm-hmm.

Justin Raw: that's all they focus on is, Hey, you're saving $700 a month.

How about we take it another step and say, what's your plan for [00:20:00] that 700? Are you, are you planning on reinvesting it back into the mortgage to shorten your term? If so, this is what you're costing yourself an opportunity cost by not placing that money with your advisor. Have you thought about placing it with your advisor?

Do we have a 5 29 plan set up for your kiddos? Do we have an UTMA account? Like we need to be the ones that help quarterback what that decision's going to look like. And maybe you pick up the phone and call their advisor and say, Hey Dino, I just helped Johnny and his family save $700 a month. Now might be an opportune time for you to reach out to them to let them know what your plan is with that money.

What financial planner is not going to love that phone call. You're helping them uncover new assets without taking on new clients, and you're helping that that client grow their generational wealth. I mean, that's a win for everybody.

Dino Interview with Justin: I think come. It's, I I can, I can kind of hear in the back of my ear right now, somebody listening, saying, yeah, but you used to be a financial planner. It's easy for you to talk like that. And, [00:21:00] and, and I'll say, okay, you're right. He, you have more experience. Right. I didn't necessarily have the experience, but over the years I gained it.

And all I can say to anybody asking that question right now is well go out there and learn. Go out there and, and learn their language and learn how to talk like that so that you can jump in and, and do that. It's not that hard. And you don't have to be the financial planner. That's not your job.

Justin Raw: no, I'm not quarterbacking the investments at all.

Dino Interview with Justin: That's right. And and our job, right? Everybody listening now, our job is to reduce debt. Their job is to increase wealth. Let's work together because you can increase wealth so much faster when you don't have debt. Right.

Justin Raw: And here's the other.

Dino Interview with Justin: If you're listening, that's, that's the mentality you gotta have just.

Realize that you're the debt reducer, somebody else is the wealth increaser. Right? So it's not hard.

Justin Raw: And it's, it, it can be intimidating, right? [00:22:00] Don't put them on a pedestal, don't like, that's a mistake. If you're doing that, you're knowledgeable just as well in what you do and what your craft is. Believe in that, because they don't, even though they're financial advisors, they handle assets, they don't handle liabilities.

They're not a debt advisor. They don't know what, what the appropriate strategy is. You, you'll find, now I've had some financial planners tell their client they need to pay cash for their house. And I look at the, the client and I'm like, why?

Dino Interview with Justin: Yeah.

Justin Raw: then we'll go through it. And at, at the end of the day, it's like, man, even with rates at 6%, right?

If, if you're in that 25, 35, 40% tax bracket. There's massive opportunity cost by not writing off that mortgage interest. And so when I show those numbers, it's like your effective tax or your, your effective interest rate is really closer to four point a half or four point a quarter percent. Mr. Advisor, can you out earn four point a quarter percent if you say no to that?

Well, I'm telling the client to leave and go to a new advisor, number one, but they should be able to out earn that. And then, you know, [00:23:00] for, for anybody that's wanting to go prospect financial planners, I think you need to have a case study or two, you know, 30 versus 15, um, what you're doing with a refi scenario, how you're reinvesting those monies when you can actually put that on paper and you can record a video and send that to the financial planner.

I would put a subject line like, Hey, is is your client, um, I'm trying to think how to explain this. Is your, is your client, what's the opportunity cost of your client prepaying their mortgage. Every advisor is going to open that video and watch it and then show the case study. What is the opportunity cost of the family?

Dino Interview with Justin: Yeah. I'm gonna tell a quick little story, then I'm gonna back into what we're talking about. Years and years and years ago, there's a guy named Joe Stump, and he ran a, a coaching program called Buy Roof Roll only. And, and he said something, this is really early on in my career, but he said something that resonated with me. he was trying to teach [00:24:00] us all that we need to be professionals, that we need to be at that same level as an attorney or a financial planner or anybody you're putting up on a pedestal, right? Like you have to be at that same level. If you start degrading yourself down to this level, you'll never, you'll never make it.

But he said, Hey. Very first thing you gotta do is like, get rid of that whole, I'm open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. Like, that's ridiculous. You ever see an attorney advertisement that they're open all the time? You ever see a CP or kind? No. And you know what? Here's the one thing that nobody ever does.

What? Those professionals, nobody ever wastes their time. They don't. But you got up on a Saturday pre-qual somebody, and then they left you. It happened, taught you a valuable lesson, and you became a better person because of it. But if you don't

Justin Raw: that commitment.

Dino Interview with Justin: of it, you know, because of it, then, then you failed.

So here's my advice to [00:25:00] everybody is right now is elevate yourself to the same level as these people. But you gotta, you gotta act like it too. Don't, don't say you're open seven days a week and don't start working on, on Sundays just because, right? You'll never get respected the same way. But, but with that said, now I'm gonna back into all this. Loan officers, mortgage advisors, whatever you want to call them. There's one thing that they do a piss poor job with collaborating. They don't collaborate. Financial planners collaborate with CPAs, financial planners collaborate with attorneys, tax attorneys, estate attorneys, you name it, right? They, they form a group and they collaborate because that's the right way to do it.

But yet for whatever reason, a mortgage advisor does not collaborate and he's, he's missing out on opportunities because of it. Get yourself that same level as these professionals and then collaborate with them on every single deal. A financial planner grabs a new client. What does he [00:26:00] do? He says, you don't have a trust.

You don't have a will. We gotta get you set up for that. You got three ex-wives, four businesses, and five properties. Okay? We're gonna put you with this attorney. You, you got one house and the same wife and one job. We're gonna put you with this attorney. Well, you don't have to pay that much money, right?

That's something you should be quarterbacking, right? Not waiting for the financial advisor to do it. 'cause just like Justin said here, you got, you got the insight first. Get on it. Collaborate.

Justin Raw: I love what you said there. Um, one of the best parts about working with financial planners is they don't work weekends and typically they don't know a ton of mortgage advisors, so they're referring one. Right? It's a stronger referral, especially when you show time and time again that they can trust you.

Once those doors open, it's very, very, very difficult for anybody to step in, um, because they just don't run in the same circle. They don't know as many mortgage people. Um, and then the other part is they don't work on weekends, so, um, that's why I [00:27:00] like financial planners quite a bit, right? Um, my weekends are important to me, young family, three little kids, seven, five, and three.

And, um, I don't wanna give up those times like that. That to me is too important.

Dino Interview with Justin: Yeah. It's awesome, man. You know, if I could take one thing back, it would be. My imbalance of work life for way too long. I, I do believe there's times in a person's career there has to be a little imbalance. There's no way around it. Or when interest rates are under 3%, you just gotta work your ass off. Like you take advantage of opportunities like that little bit of, uh, you know, imbalance is, is is game changing for life after that, right?

So, so there's times, but my one big regret is that I did it for too long. So I, I really try now to, when I get a chance to coach anybody or mentor anybody, it's, it's, you know, you build systems that [00:28:00] will guardrail you against imbalance. Build systems that'll help you to explode. And I, I learned this a long time ago.

Again, Todd Duncan, it was one of his, uh, sales Mastery seminars. It was, um, it was slowed down to speed up and it was one of my first ones that I went to for him. And I remember sitting there, I was like, what is this dude talking about? I'm not here to slow down. I'm here to speed up. Like I gimme what it takes to go faster.

And, and then after like two days I was finally getting it. I need to slow down, build the systems so I can speed up. 'cause without him, all I'm doing is working more hours. It doesn't work.

Justin Raw: No trading time for money, um, trading time for money. I, I, I learned that this year. Um, I, in November, not this past one, but a year ago, um, I went on a L 360 retreat with Tim Braheem, and it was me and 11 [00:29:00] other individuals went down to Costa Rica. And man, I was so excited to go to this because Tim is a master originator.

Very, very, very successful. The thing I got out of that program wasn't business related. It was personal. It was, what am I doing to take care of myself? Um, I was so focused early in my career on money and numbers and what's my loan volume at, if I'm not at a certain level, like I'm not as good of a person, but I, I let myself go, man.

Like, I, I wasn't exercising, I wasn't sleeping, I was working around the clock during 20 20, 20 21. I didn't have a team. So all that stuff was on me. Um. But what I learned in, in that experience, the L 360, um, experience, it, it, it wasn't business for me, it was more personal and how I can take care of myself and I have to take care of myself to show up and take care of my family, my referral partners, my clients.

And if I'm not doing that, it, it's [00:30:00] gonna, it's gonna go away at some point. Um, and so for me, it just kinda really shifted and changed my perspective. Um, I was stuck at the office man till seven o'clock, six 30 most nights. And I, my wife was sending me text messages every day. It's that dreaded text message.

What time are you gonna be home? It's like, I have no idea. I have so much work to do. Um, now, man, I leave the office at four o'clock, four 30, go pick up my kids, go to the baseball field, go throw the ball around, go hit. Um, and I wouldn't trade it for the world. And the other cool part of it is business has continued to grow.

We haven't taken a step back because of that.

Dino Interview with Justin: Yeah. Okay. But I'm gonna play devil's advocate. Okay? And you're gonna, you're gonna coach somebody through this because once again, I can hear back some listener right now saying, yeah, you got a team of four people. I can't afford that. What do I do?

Justin Raw: start small. You don't need a team of four. Have a team of one.

Dino Interview with Justin: So what's the most important [00:31:00] person out of that four?

Justin Raw: Ooh, this is tricky. My wife's on my team, Dino. Um, the, the position that I feel like is the most important is somebody that can get you out of pre-approving loans, looking at documents, chasing documents. If, if you can get out of that and you can trust somebody to take care of that, um. I don't know if that's kind of a blended production partner, two lp, two processor type.

Um, I think somebody taking things from contract to close is also super important. So I'd kind of say one of those two. And if, if they can do both, great. The, the caveat to that would be what, not even caveat, but what I would caution somebody with that is there's gonna come a point where that person has to pick what's most important.

Is it pre-approving this loan file or is it submitting this loan file, getting the appraisal, getting the title ordered, and all of that stuff. So I think if you could [00:32:00] combine the position and the person that's in that role has the priorities right. About what's most important. Great. I think if you can spread that amongst two people, even better.

'cause now they don't have to pick.

Dino Interview with Justin: So I've been in the IMB world, but I've been in the broker world for a heck of a lot longer. Um, and I'll, I'll, I'll give my take on it as well. Uh. I have a, a team of two. I don't, again, I don't originate anymore, so they do all of it now, but, but even when we were producing at big Numbers, it was just, it was three of us at 1.4.

But, um, including me though, so all I did my genius zone was talking to people. If I ever got out of that, I was failing. And quite honestly, if you wanna talk about bottleneck, put a file in front of me and ask me to put it together, I, I will be the bottleneck. Right? And I'll probably screw her up. And, and that's fine.

Like I, that's where you need to [00:33:00] get as an originator. That's where you need to get to the point where you're not the one doing the files. So maybe, and, and, you know, everybody's structure's a little bit different, but in my, in my world, what you can do, I think a super really important one is I call them production partner.

Um, LOA, let's just call 'em an LOA for simple terms. Somebody that can take the handoff. You talk. You take your notes, you send it to your LOA, this is my structure personally. The LOA sends out the email, this is the needs list, the link, um, the download button, everything, right? Like they get the file back.

And in my world, just, just how I work, we didn't work on anything until some, until a client actually became a client, right? They were just a prospect. The second they sent in their documents and, and, and it sounds terrible, at the second they sent in their talking documents, they were worthy of us spending more time working for them, right?

And, and on their file. So we wouldn't touch it anymore than me doing a a [00:34:00] 20 to 30 minute phone call. The email going out, a little follow up, but you're not a client to us until you've demonstrated that you want to be our client. From there, the LOA puts everything together. If you don't have money, I'll give you a little hack.

There's contract processors out there that do a great job and they don't get paid unless the deal closes. You can hire a great contract processor. I've had several over the years, and, and it doesn't cost you a penny unless it closes. Now that's, that's being effective and not having to commit. But I'll tell you one more thing. Throughout the, the years, right? Every time I committed to hiring somebody new, it's like magic. business grows

Justin Raw: Yep.

Dino Interview with Justin: unless you suck at whatever it is you do. Okay? But my dad told me this another little story. 'cause it, it just falls right in line. My dad told me one day he is like son, [00:35:00] because he was, I was always like an entrepreneur.

I always wanted, and he's like, sunless. He goes, I'll give you, I'll give you some really simple advice. You wanna make more money? He said, get married. You're, he goes, I know who you are as a man. When you get married, you're gonna find yourself making a lot more money. And he goes, you want to have, you wanna make more money?

He goes, have a baby. You wanna make more money? Have another baby.

Justin Raw: Yep.

Dino Interview with Justin: And so on and so on, right? So same thing. If we take that same exact scenario, you know, and you, you want to make more money, get married, treat this like a real relationship,

Justin Raw: Mm-hmm.

Dino Interview with Justin: a real career. It's not just a job. And then you wanna make more money, have a baby hire somebody.

You wanna make more money, hire somebody else. Look at Justin, man. He's, he is been having babies after babies that, that's why his business keeps growing. And in a time that everybody else is complaining about their business. So don't be afraid of it, but I get it, money can be tight for a lot of [00:36:00] people.

It's, it's scary to hire a lot of people. So you can start small, just like Justin said. Hire the person that. I, I think the best way to say it's hire the person that fills your biggest weakness,

Justin Raw: Yeah, totally agree. The, the person that's gonna give you more of your time back, um, I think is the most critical. So I would. Maybe, you know, go through a week, write down what you're doing every 30 minutes you're doing the, the green kind of moneymaking activities or your activities red, like where are you spending your time?

Um, I love what you said about the contract processor. You know, if you're, if you're not able to do that and maybe you're in the IMB world, I don't know, um, join, join forces with another branch. See if you can have a dedicated person and both of you guys can pay them, or three of you can pay them, um, what that person needs.

That's another way that you can do it. Um, my customer success manager, she's not solely mine. We don't have enough business to kind of keep her to where she's just mine, right? She's an enterprise. Um, but she's on [00:37:00] my team and she handles all the post-closing stuff for me. But it's not necessarily a hit or a cost to the p and l.

Um. I think when you get to probably five loans, you should hire your first, and that's gonna help you go to 10. And then when you get to 10, hire the second. Or maybe, you know, eight loans get to the second. Um, but that's how you're gonna grow. It. It if you don't, and, and there's no problem with this, but if you don't do that, you're gonna, you're gonna stay stuck.

There's only a certain number of loans that I can do, that you can do, that everybody could do, um, on our own. And, and so I've always been in the mindset that if we truly feel like we're the most valuable originator to families, why would we want not want to help more? And I think it's selfish to sit there and say, no, I'm only gonna do five because I'm terrified to hire somebody when that person's What's gonna free you up to allow you to help more families.

Dino Interview with Justin: Yeah. You know, I, I'll say too, when I was doing 30 million, I was working my [00:38:00] ass off. When I was doing 50 million, I was working my tail off and, and then I sought coaching and, and I, I didn't seek coaching to learn how to do loans better. I seek coaching to learn how to manage systems and people better, and I, I still remember probably the most powerful thing I've ever done to grow my business is not go through my email. Soon as I, I relinquished this e this, this, this beast called email. Soon as I relinquished that, all of a sudden, man, I had all this free time to actually work on things that mattered. Things that make me money now is probably the number one thing, right? So get rid of the time sucks. Your job is to move the big boulders.

Other people can move the rest of the stuff, but step out of your business. Step out of it and, and ask yourself, how can I restructure things? [00:39:00] And I can almost, almost for certain guarantee that every single person can restructure something. 'cause times have changed a lot. So don't ever get stuck doing the same thing the exact same way forever. Things change. Always step outta your business every so often and ask yourself, Hey, if I had to restart this business right now, what would it look like? How would I structure it? And then start making changes. So that, that's number one. And, and number two, these systems that we're talking about, you know, seek mentorship.

Seek coaching. 'cause we don't just inherently know all the systems. You can get a lot of free advice by podcasts like this. Dave Savage has a great one too, and he's constantly asking top producers how they do it, details of how they do their business. You can learn an awful lot from that. And, and don't be afraid, I can't tell you how many times I've actually just randomly called top producers over the years, said, Hey, you know, I, I'd love to learn from you.

Do you [00:40:00] have a little time? Right. And I'll tell a quick story here just 'cause he's from, uh, from Neo Josh, Josh Metal at one time, the only time I've worked in, uh, at an IMB, uh, we worked at the same company and Josh was. If he was always the top producer, right? Always. Usually number one. Every once in a while he got to number two or three, but always in the top.

And, and I was like, Hmm. Not only does this guy do killer business, but he is good looking. He's got a great, you know, set of hair on him. And, and, and he is got like a six pack. I'm like, what the hell does this guy do? Like, what, how? Right. Like, how, and, and one day I remember just calling him and asking him, Hey, can you, you know, and I had met him at this point, right?

I knew him, but I said, can we set a little time aside? Lemme just pick your brain. And, and he went through his entire day. Right. I'll tell you this, most top producers are more than willing to help somebody that seeks help.

Justin Raw: Thousand percent. A thousand [00:41:00] percent.

Dino Interview with Justin: Yeah.

Justin Raw: Did the same thing with Jeremy Forer did the same thing with Ryan, called him outta the blue. He was like, Hey, I love what

Dino Interview with Justin: thing you ever did,

Justin Raw: on this video. Like, can I get time on your calendar? They're all receptive to it every single

Dino Interview with Justin: of 'em.

Justin Raw: Yep.

Dino Interview with Justin: And so I'm gonna finish this story with Josh. 'cause it was great. It was, it was, it was worth thousands of dollars to me. He went through his day. I'm like, I do that, I do that, I do that. But I'm, I'm thinking to myself, he must do it better. 'cause 'cause he is doing a lot more business than I am.

Right. But then he got to this one piece that I didn't do every day for two hours. He said he'd put his phone in the drawer, close the door, and everybody knew you don't bother him unless there's a fire. What do you do during that time? I make phone calls, outbound phone calls, and that's it. like, outbound phone calls.

I mean, I do that throughout the day, all day long. Right? But it's not intentional. And I think there's something powerful about [00:42:00] doing things that are intentional. So I'm not gonna deny it sounds simple, but it's not. Whatever it is that's in here. Prevents you most of the time for doing things. Even the simple things like calling people you already know.

So anyways, I had to clear out my email so I wouldn't have distraction. I had to create an email list. I had to create a, a call list, uh, one for clients. I had to create another call like two weeks later, I finally got around to doing this, right? And, and on the first day I was like, all right, who am I gonna call first, right?

So I start, I called the client and lo and behold, this was a good call. It was really nice. The person was happy to hear from me. We had a great conversation, like, who am I gonna call next? And I realized, I'm not gonna call another client, I'm now gonna call the referring agent. 'cause all of my business was referral.

So I called the referring agent, Hey, just wanna let you know I spoke to this guy. Um, he said to say hi. Just wanted to give you a quick update. [00:43:00] He's had another kid, he got a job, you know, doing this or whatever it might be, right? But I had a, a, a nice interaction with a past client and then I had a purposeful phone call with a referral partner to fill him in.

Is that valuable to the referral partner? Yes. Does that show that you're a team player? Yeah, it does. In two hours. I made $20,000 that I wouldn't have made. I wouldn't have made One of the realtors even said, uh, and this, keep in mind, this is some a little, not too long after 2008 where most people were outta business, one of the realtors even said, oh, I wasn't sure if you were even doing loans or not.

I mean, nobody else is, didn't even know I was doing loans. I mean, felt like a complete failure that somebody didn't know that I do loans. Anyway, it didn't take much, man, two hours, $20,000. No wonder he was doing so much more business than I was. He was doing this every single day.

Justin Raw: Yeah.

Dino Interview with Justin: It doesn't take much guys, but [00:44:00] get outta your head, whatever it is that's causing you to not do things.

Seek mentorship, create systems, and get after it.

Justin Raw: I totally agree with everything you just said, and I, I would add to, um, the mental part of it, I've had roadblocks with picking up the phone. Um, what I will say that helps is affirmations. It's one of the first things that I do in the morning. Um, I even have my, my seven-year-old and my five-year-old, they have affirmations in their bedroom and we, we read 'em before they go to school.

We read 'em before they go to bed. Um, and it's all about being kind to yourself, right? Like I. I've had those moments where I'm like, gosh, that was, why did I do that? What? Like, what, what an idiot. Why would I say that? Whatever. Um, I've also had those roadblocks where it's, Hey, I don't really want to call this top agent 'cause they've got this business partner that they've been with for five years.

And you know, that guy's a whale of a producer. Why? Like, what are they gonna want to talk to me for? [00:45:00] Pick up the phone and start being nice to yourself. Start being kind to yourself. Tell yourself how valuable you are to agent partners. That's why they need to work with you. And if they're not open to it, cool.

Not yet. Not yet. But there's plenty of other people you can call.

Dino Interview with Justin: but you know, you said something earlier, you were talking about financial planners and you said, do yourself a favor and, and do a, a, a couple case studies. You're not just randomly calling somebody without having something to say

Justin Raw: Mm-hmm. Not at all.

Dino Interview with Justin: First of all, I would say start, and you said this too actually earlier on, start with everybody, you know.

I mean, you, you've already done loans for people, call them. You've already. Partnered with some realtors, or even by mistake, like they came along with the deal, so you still worked with them. Whatever that situation might be, you have a connection, make it, reaffirm it. Right. Get after it. And then if you're gonna go true old school and, and cold call, I loved what you said about that.

Do a couple case studies, put together a [00:46:00] formula of something that they're gonna want to learn from. Right? And, and then go. Don't just randomly call, hi, my name's Dino. I do loans. You got great service, we got great rates. I'm always available. Right? Like, that's the stupid stuff that that you're gonna get hung up on.

Justin Raw: I saw somebody put out a flyer the other day and, and it said, available twenty four seven with the phone number underneath it. And I just was like, oh, that's not a value prop. Um, availability means you don't have any business, right? Like, you don't pick up the phone and automatically get your doctor on the phone.

You have to talk to the nurse, you have to schedule an appointment. Why are we any different? Um, I don't feel like we are. And then, um, you had mentioned, what was it that you just said? Um, I was gonna respond to it. Gosh. Um, I'm trying to

Dino Interview with Justin: systems or, yeah.

Justin Raw: It was, um, about the financial planners. Oh. Starting with people that, you know.

So here's one thing is how many people do you know that live in a home that you did not help [00:47:00] buy that home? More than likely they worked with a real estate agent. Hey, Dino, we've been friends for a couple years, man. I, I know you own your home. Did y'all use a real estate agent that helped you buy that home?

Great. Hey, who was that? Do, do you, do you have a, you know, did you have a fond experience? What was your experience like? Get that information and then ask the simple question again. Do you think it'd be a good idea for her and I to connect? Or he and I to connect? Yes. Great. Now it's no longer a cold call.

Now it's pick up the phone call. Hey, Dino told me you were great. He thought it would be a great idea for us to connect and meet. What does your calendar look like? They're not going to say no to you because they feel like they owe it to Dino to meet with you.

Dino Interview with Justin: Yeah. And if they do, what do you do? You move on. Go to the

Justin Raw: Yeah. If they say no, you ask him why. Like, Dino thought it'd be a great idea for us to meet. Why don't you wanna meet

Dino Interview with Justin: I, I got a, I got a quick question to ask you. Uh, we will see if my theory comes together. How long have you been [00:48:00] married

Justin Raw: almost 11 years?

Dino Interview with Justin: and how did you meet your wife?

Justin Raw: Um, she was the prettiest school at school. Um, on campus. She was a soccer player. I was playing baseball at the time. Um, we were friends for quite a while and she was dating somebody else. They had broken up. Um, and man, it was about 18 months before, um, we started dating.

Dino Interview with Justin: All right, so how many realtors already have a lender that they work with? Quite a few.

Justin Raw: They all say they do

Dino Interview with Justin: And how many of them break up

Justin Raw: pretty frequently.

Dino Interview with Justin: pretty frequently? of them stay married for a long time. Some of them stay married forever. Right. And, and I cannot res, I can respect that and I can even appreciate and love it and say, congrats.

But if you're gonna break up with your lender, I'm gonna pounce, I'm gonna be on it.

Justin Raw: I'm gonna be ready.

Dino Interview with Justin: in, in today's world, I, I was, I was doing a training for a bunch of [00:49:00] realtors. Um, it was all on Zoom and they were all younger and they were all brand new. And, and I was sitting there talking to 'em, and I, and I could just see like this blank stare in their eyes.

They were all guys. So I tried to relate to them, and I'm like, all right, let's pretend you were at a bar trying to pick up a girl. And I go into this whole thing, man, that stare, that blank just got even worse. They had no idea. Nobody knows how to hunt anymore.

Justin Raw: That's the thing. That's the thing. Um, you gotta be a hunter. You got to, you gotta be able to put yourself out there and let it be known. Like, I don't think there's any problem with picking up the phone, calling a top agent and say, Hey, I have a coach. His name's Dino. Dino is pushing me to grow my business by 50%.

That's a big jump. You're an agent who has a very successful business. You and I have not yet met. I wanted to reach out because X, y, Z agent over here told me you're an incredible person and that you're somebody I should meet. Oh, I already have a lender, Dino. I'm not even [00:50:00] talking about a partnership yet.

Before I even decide to work with a real estate agent, um, I have to meet them first. I gotta make sure that their values align with what I do and how I do it. And if it, if it does, great. If it doesn't, hey, well at least we know each other. I'm sure you're gonna get a pre-approval letter with my name on it at some point, and we'll have a connection in the industry.

Dino Interview with Justin: Yeah. Yeah. And that goes back to what I said, the very beginning. If you remember, I said, even when somebody wants to refer me a client, I never just accept it that way. I always make them introduce me.

Justin Raw: Yes. Thousand percent. We do the same thing. All of our agents do, um, an email, um, you know, put us on a, on an email chain together. And the reason for that is I don't manage my email, but my team does and they'll be a lot quicker. 'cause I'm typically. In conversion meetings, in Zoom meetings, trying to have prepurchase consultations or dreams and goals, calls with families.

Um, but when that lead comes in, my loan partner knows there's, there's a five minute response time, like, she's on [00:51:00] it.

Dino Interview with Justin: All right. I got two more questions. And the second one, the last one is my favorite. First one's easy. What's your favorite book?

Justin Raw: Ooh, favorite book?

Dino Interview with Justin: Or, or a couple, if that's what you, what you have. If you can't decide.

Justin Raw: So, I, I don't know if this is gonna be my favorite, um, but I just started Science of Scaling Bill Hart. I saw him at, uh, momentum Builder, and he was like, you have to read this book. So far it's been great. Um,

Dino Interview with Justin: I thought it started off a little slow

Justin Raw: did you,

Dino Interview with Justin: Yeah.

Justin Raw: I I'm not all the way through, so give gimme a little bit on that one. Um, seven levels

Dino Interview with Justin: But, but it, but it turned out, it turned out to be good. Um, but it started out slow for me. And I don't know if it's just the mindset I was in or, or what, but, but it did turn out to be good, so I was still recommended to everybody.

Justin Raw: Okay. Um, seven Levels of Communication is a great one. Um, [00:52:00] trying to think of the name of this book. It was written by Jose, um, oh, I'm trying to think of the name of this book. The, the Four Agreements.

Dino Interview with Justin: Oh yeah.

Justin Raw: super, super, super great book.

Dino Interview with Justin: All right. My favorite question.

Justin Raw: Okay. Ready?

Dino Interview with Justin: You have three kids and a great wife, but I'm gonna pick you up out of Texas. I'm gonna go drop you off in some other state and I'm gonna let you talk to your family, but you're not gonna be able to see them again until you make a million dollars closing loans. You don't know anybody where I'm taking you. You don't have a lot of money. You have just enough so that you can comfortably live without being, you know, broke and not having any money to do anything. But you don't have a lot. So you can't just go spend a bunch of money meeting people and doing stuff, right? How are you going to [00:53:00] make a million bucks?

Justin Raw: So not what state am I going to, but how am I going to make a million bucks?

Dino Interview with Justin: I, I'm just, it doesn't really matter what state. I'm just gonna pick you up and put you somewhere where you don't know anybody.

Justin Raw: Okay. Um, I am gonna go to open houses. Do I have redder? Can I use redder?

Dino Interview with Justin: You got, you got a little bit of money, so if that's worth it to you,

Justin Raw: Redders gonna be a place where I can go and and figure out who's who. Um, I'm definitely gonna go into open houses. Um. I'm gonna try and meet people face to face. I'm gonna go to, um, financial advisor's office. Edward Jones I think would be a great one.

You know, RIAs, um,

Dino Interview with Justin: in or whatcha gonna do?

Justin Raw: just gonna walk in, go introduce myself, bring something all typically with like a, with a financial planner, I think like a playbook makes a lot of sense, right? Um, give them kind of your resume. Who are you? Let 'em know. Like for me, having a series 7 60, 6 50 and a 31 and being able to talk [00:54:00] that language, um, super important for that advisor to know I'm not just, you know, for lack of a better word, some schmuck off the side of the street, right?

Like, I actually know finance. Um, and then the other thing I try to put in there is a PLP Perfect loan process. So they can see step by step what families will go through. And then the case studies, um, I think you, you present that to, you know, a hundred different financial planners offices. You're gonna get some deals outta that.

You're gonna get some opportunities to go in and present and teach CE classes and build relationships with those guys. Um. What else would I do? Um, do I have my database with me?

Dino Interview with Justin: Nope.

Justin Raw: I don't have my database

Dino Interview with Justin: everybody. Brand new man. You're brand new in the business. That's what I'm getting at with this. Right? You're brand new. What somebody's watching right now, whether they're brand new or, or a couple years in, I want them to get something out of this. 'cause it's easy for you and I who has a database now, we've already put all that time in.

It's easy for us to say, we're gonna go make all these phone calls to everybody we've [00:55:00] done loans for. And I made 20 grand, this is over a decade ago, but I made, I made over 10 grand just in two hours. 'cause I already had a database. I'm, I'm, I'm not lucky. I worked hard for it. But somebody's brand new. What are we teaching them right now?

Like, how are they gonna go do it?

Justin Raw: I get that. Okay, so

Dino Interview with Justin: said open houses, right? So what does your open house game look like?

Justin Raw: So going in and, and kind of doing a recording right of the house and putting that on your social media and, um, kind of making a, like an A versus B, like, Hey, do you like this house? Or do you like this house? Right? Um, trying to get some communication going there, but making sure that you tag that agent.

Um, I think that's one really great strategy. A lot of times you'll, you'll find that, you know, going into the open house is a little bit intimidating. There, there doesn't need to be an an, you know, you don't need to be intimidated by it. A lot of times originators aren't there. Um, and especially if you can take something that's valuable and help kind of.

Put that property on the map, help get it sold quicker. The agent's gonna [00:56:00] remember that you came by. Um, and so I would say don't be fearful of going into open houses. You need to get belly to belly and face to face with people. Um, realtors are no different. Um, that's one strategy that I would go with the, the financial pla, the, the financial planner strategy.

Like if I could start my business over, that's probably where I would've started first is getting connections there. Because if they have 200 families that they're helping, 10% of those are gonna move every year, right? Like, there's 20 people that you could get a warm introduction to, um, that aren't gonna be referred out to two or three other lenders.

Um, they're just not, that's not what financial planners do When they make an introduction, when they make a referral, they make a very strong introduction, a very strong referral. Um, second piece is when you get your first deal with real estate agent, whatever, right? Um. I would make sure that when you are talking to the client, you ask them a question that is going to generate referrals for that realtor partner.

And, and it's very simple. It's, [00:57:00] Hey Dino, um, my goal with all of this, a lot of times people come to me and they ask, what can I get Susie for, you know, a closing gift? Because she's a great agent and I want to thank her. Um, you know, what I can tell you is those agents, they don't want wine, they don't want cheese, they want introductions to your network.

And so what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna mail you a card to your house. It's gonna have a name, it's gonna have an email, and it's gonna have a phone number throughout this transaction. If you can help me put three names on this card and three phone numbers and three emails, and then hand deliver that to your agent at the closing table, I don't think there's a better gift that you could give her. So asking for those introductions for your referral partners, um, I think is something that's super, super critical. Um. next thing that I would do is I would focus on pain points of, of customers. You know, they're worried about interest rates, they're worried about recessions, they're worried about home prices crashing. [00:58:00] Be able to debunk those, be able to provide confidence. And you know, when you go to the open house, go in and talk to the agent and ask the agent who in the last 12 months has told you that they wanna wait for rates to come down. They're worried about home prices and they're, they're, you know, they're worried about a recession or a housing crash.

Who in the last 12 months has told you that Because they've talked to somebody. If they're an agent and they're still in the game, they've talked to somebody in the last 12 months that's told them that, that's when you make the big ask and say, Hey, let me show you how valuable I can be for your business.

Would you mind making an introduction to that family for me and let me show you what we can do. I did that during 23, man. I was going after an agent. Um, he's a nice guy. We kind of ran in the same circles, but we didn't work together and so I just asked him that question. He sent me three people and all three of those people closed within 90 days.

He doesn't work with anybody

Dino Interview with Justin: great. That's great. You know what else I found was interesting was that your mind didn't go straight to the consumer. Your mind went [00:59:00] straight to the referral partner.

Justin Raw: That's the client.

Dino Interview with Justin: That's the long-term vision. That's, that's why you're successful today. Whoever goes directly after the consumer, it's not that they're, they can't be successful and all that, but, but it's not the long term. Unless you have a super strong game with your, your, there's before, during, and after. When your after is is strong and your game is your playbook and you're constantly going after 'em to grow your database, great. But what I found is most people that are really good at just going direct to consumer, don't have a good game on the backend.

Gotta develop the entire game.

Justin Raw: it's not their forte. They just care about the deal and the transaction getting done right? Like, uh, it's kind of what we talked about at the top of the hour. It was, it's not a right or a wrong way, it's what you want. And for me, I'm not transactional, I'm relational. I want the relationship driven, you know, to what, what, what's the word?

Um, ti time and [01:00:00] tested or, you know, some, something like that. I can't remember the, the acronym or, or the, the phrase for that. But, um. That's just my approach to the business. It's, it's very relational. It's not transactional. It's when somebody thinks about real estate and finance, I wanna be the first person they think of.

Dino Interview with Justin: Yeah. Yeah. Well, dude, listen, I really appreciate you coming on. That was awesome, man. I, I think, uh, you gave a lot of listeners something to think about, so that's great.

Justin Raw: I appreciate that, man. Thanks for the questions. Thanks for having me on. Um, enjoy getting to meet you and connect and, um, man, we'll do it again anytime you want.

Dino Interview with Justin: And hey, if somebody wants to seek you out for mentorship, just ask a few questions. What's the best way for somebody to, to find you?

Justin Raw: In Instagram is the best. Um, Padron Loans is my handle. Um, I think that's what it's called. I'm 37, man. I'm not with the Instagram game. Um, but Padron Loans is where I'm at on Instagram. Reach out there, send me a dm. Follow I'll follow you back. Um, and happy to help. I've [01:01:00] had several people in the speaking things that I've been able to do over the last couple months.

A lot of people have reached out and it's been fun. Like, it's been fun for me to kind of look back and say, okay. I, I remember being in that seat. I remember having that same feeling. Man, this is what I did to get out of it. I don't know if it's gonna work for you, but try it. Like, try it. I, I love getting to share that.

So, um, yeah.

Dino Interview with Justin: And guys, we're gonna have all of Justin's information on our website as well. It's just my full name. Dino kasu mattis.com. Uh, you'll see all our podcasts there. We're all over social media, so check us out. Remember, we're here to empower, equip, and educate you the way lending should be done.

And there is a should be, right. There is a, a better way of doing it. It's not always about how to do loans better. It's about the systems, it's about the, the business side of it, how you do business matters and the integrity you have when you do it. So I hope you guys enjoyed it. If you do, please let us know.

Let let the world know, share it, and, uh, like it and comment and everything else. [01:02:00] So appreciate it. We'll see you guys next time.