Power In Privacy: How Pro Athlete Mortgage Lender, David Cline, Builds Trust and Closes Quietly

The loudest flex in sports business might be how quietly the best deals get done. We’re joined by our friend David Cline, a pro athlete mortgage lender who’s built a reputation on discretion, speed, and doing the right thing when nobody’s watching. If you’ve ever wondered how high-profile clients choose who to trust, this conversation breaks down the real signals: privacy-first behavior, disciplined execution, and a team that can handle complexity without drama. 

We get into why David prefers curated “socials” over traditional networking, how controlling the guest list changes the quality of relationships, and what “ROI” looks like when you can’t post names, photos, or closings. He shares stories from the field, including how a small detail inside an LLC can accidentally make a purchase public, and why respecting boundaries (no autographs, no clout chasing) is part of elite service in athlete mortgages and luxury real estate. 

Then we go tactical on underwriting: signing bonuses, guaranteed money, incentives, short career windows, credit challenges, trades, practice-squad movement, and why reading a contract is a core mortgage skill. We also talk NIL athletes earning serious income at 18 or 19, how predatory rates and “friends” can do real damage, and what it takes to build a personal board of directors early enough to change someone’s future. 

If this helped you think differently about privacy, credit, and building the right team, subscribe, share it with someone who works with athletes or high earners, and leave us a review. What’s the biggest money mistake you see young athletes make?

Connect with David on Instagram @proathletemortgage 

Before you go - here are three ways to continue elevating your legacy & connect:

1. Follow @ElevateCollection.co on Instagram along with your host, @alexandriareed.co & @Jordanhawkins.co
2. Subscribe to never miss an episode and get exclusive content
3. Share this trailer with three people who need to hear it

Remember: Your influence is just the beginning. Your legacy is the destination.

See you soon, where influence meets legacy.

Transcript

Welcome And Atlanta Vibes

SPEAKER_02 0:33

That's my jam right there. Shout out to Luda. I saw him in Miami not too long ago. Hey.

SPEAKER_00 0:41

Welcome back to the Elevate Collection Podcast. We are so excited today to introduce you to our great friend, David Klein. Welcome to the podcast, David.

SPEAKER_02 0:50

Let's go, Atlanta. So excited.

SPEAKER_01 0:53

Yes, we're so happy to have you. Y'all, we'll tell you a little bit about David as we get into it, but I think to set the tone for this episode, David, what's on repeat right now? Like, what do you have? What's the top of your playlist? Like, what is a song that you cannot get enough of right now?

SPEAKER_02 1:13

I think I just mentioned it, but I listen to Welcome to Atlanta all the time. I love it. I listen to it at the gym. I've got like a whole ATL uh playlist on my Spotify. It's crazy.

SPEAKER_00 1:24

Peace up, A Town Down. I have to say, like the very best thing about living in Atlanta is no matter what kind of sporting event we're at, like there's Atlanta royalties. You'll show up and it'll be TI performing or Jeezy's performing, or we haven't gotten to see Luda perform yet, but hopefully soon.

SPEAKER_02 1:43

Yeah. I mean, I grew up in that ATL music scene, you know, ever since Outcast and like CeeLo to Jeezy to Luda, you know, all of the above, but I love it. My favorite by far.

From Kentucky To Athlete Mortgages

SPEAKER_01 1:55

Well, it sets the tone here. Now that we've got that established, people can see you for who you really are, not a LinkedIn profile or anything. Y'all, David does pro-athlete mortgages. So he's one of the integral parts of an athlete team. Or I mean when we say athlete, but this is, I mean, anyone's team, but he has that specialty when it comes to athlete mortgages and plays an integral role of that financial wellness piece of it. Tell us how this Kentucky boy here got into this world.

SPEAKER_02 2:27

It's uh it's crazy. I've always kind of been a visionary. You know, you you talk to like very creative people and they've got these visions. I just feel like most people don't know how to execute their vision, and that's where people fail, the execution side. So I come up with these ideas, but I've learned to act on them. And then I've learned to kind of set my schedule out and make sure I'm doing the follow-ups. And, you know, you you send some emails, you send some texts, you make some calls, you get a bunch of no's, and all of a sudden you get a yes, and you get on the phone with a guy that's super connected, and you get momentum, right? And then that momentum builds. And so it's been a it's been a long run. You know, I've started in the mortgage industry in 2000, end of 2017. I've been at my company since 2008. So I've been in the banking and like finance world for a long time. But just recently, I've really just started marketing not only to the athlete space, but having like a separate business plan and a separate like umbrella of my day-to-day activities that focuses on the athletes, the celebrities, the entertainers in that space. Because it's really two different worlds from like the first-time home buyer. So, you know, it's two different conversations, two different circles, and it's taking a lot of words, but it all started with just a vision.

unknown 3:41

Justin.

SPEAKER_00 3:41

One place we really, really connected was events. Can you tell us like why hosting events was important to you? We've been so lucky to work together on several great events across several states. I think we've done things in Denver and Dallas and Dallas, yeah. How did you decide to include events in your marketing structure?

SPEAKER_02 4:04

I would go to events and I'd go to like happy hours or socials or whatever you want to call them, networking. Like I refuse to use the word networking on anything I attach my name to. Like I use the word social now only or something similar. I would go to these events and it was brutal. You know, it was 25 realtors and 20 mortgage guys crammed into a room and are like, it's just a lot of people in the same industry, a lot of people that don't have that vision I have, that don't have that work, you know, that work ethic that I have. They're not people that'll put in a 12-hour day if they need to. Just not like my personality. You know, I feel like being in the banking industry, there's a lot of like very cookie-cutter like personalities, and people that really like don't show who they truly are. Like we talked about on the intro, as far as like, I love rap music, but I'm also a banker, you know? And so events to me, I had to take control of the circles and the rooms I was putting myself in where I wasn't wasting my time. Only way to do it was to start having my own events and controlling the list, saying you're in, you're not, hey, yeah, you came once, it wasn't the right fit, you're not coming back. And kind of like that brutal mentality of like, this is for me, and I gotta feed my family and take care of my family. And the only way I can hit my goals is to have full control. And I know you guys understand this more than anybody because you're really good about about who you partner with and like how you kind of operate in your events. And I think that's why we've meshed so well, like on our Dallas event or Denver events, or whatever, we have that same mentality. Like, if you're not in that, if you shouldn't be in that room, we're not gonna invite you. If you fit in that room, let's get you on that list, let's get you in there and let's get those conversations going. But I just went to too many bad events, Jordan. I mean, that's really what it came down to.

Why He Hosts Curated Socials

SPEAKER_01 5:51

Well, it's so interesting to me that you say that because I think one of the big pieces when it comes to connecting with other people or socializing for the benefit of your business or enriching your circle, I think that people miss the opportunity. And I think it's why we have done what we've done as far as from a marketing perspective. I think that, or I believe that we have the ability to shape the room. It is one thing to show up in a room, it is one thing to attend an event, but it is a completely different dynamic when you are shaping the room, because you're not only shaping the room nine times out of ten, because I know that the way that you move, like yes, you mentioned you've got a family to feed, but you're shaping the room not only for your benefit, for but also for the benefit of the other people that are showing up in that space.

SPEAKER_02 6:37

It's more so about them than me, truly. You're right. And because if they won't come back, if they don't feel like they got something now, they're coming to my event. And getting like an athlete, getting a sports agent, getting a financial advisor, getting like a, you know, a guy worth five to ten million dollars, it's hard enough to get them in the room, but then when they get there, are they glad they came and will they come back? And that's when you know you're putting the right rooms together, is when you've got a doctor worth 12 million bucks in Miami and he's calling you every month saying, hey, like, when's your next event? Like, I had so much fun and I met so many good people. Or, you know, like that's the feeling you want. It's because if you make the room and everybody gets something out of it, you're it all comes back to you. It's just like being a connector. You know, you connect enough people, the right people, you connect them, and eventually they're like, Oh, David connected us. I've got to get him a I've got to get him a mortgage leader, I'm gonna connect him to this sports agent or this athlete or their circle. And curating that room is super important.

SPEAKER_00 7:35

I think when you own the room curation, you can make really intentional connections while you're there, and then that truly does add value. It's no longer a numbers play, it's not like, hey, we need to fill this room, it's like, no, we need to fill this room with the right people. And then you can make one-to-one introductions, and then to see the things that come out of that are just absolutely incredible and so rewarding and provide so much value for everyone.

SPEAKER_02 7:57

Absolutely. I just had my first event in 30A where I'm at now, calling home. And I had Louis the Thirteenth as my sponsor. Um, partnered up with some people locally. We had some NFL people, we had some home builders, and we had some entrepreneurs and restaurant owners. And, you know, I felt like here I was just trying to learn how to have events here and who I can get here because it's I don't know a lot of people in 30A yet. Um awesome turnout. Having Louis the 13th backing you up on an event is pretty cool because that gets those business owners, those executives, those NFL coaches, they're they're like, yeah, I'll come to that. Like, of course I'll show up and try a$500 ounce of Louis XIII. So um I love events. They're they're super important to me. But if it's only 10 to 15 people or even 8 to 10 people, and it's the right people, you get more out of that than getting 100 people in the room, like you said, Jordan. Like I could care less anymore about saying, oh, I had 80 people show up to my event. I want 10 good people and I want to make deep conversation, deep um connection. And at my Louis the 13 event, even with like, I think I had 22 people there, even at that event, you know, I'm trying to be the host and I'm walking around like mid-circles and kind of like, you know how you feel when you butt into a conversation? And I felt bad because my people were having such good conversations. Sometimes I would just skip the circle and go talk to somebody else and let them do what I brought them there to do and is meet other people. So when you see that and you kind of take a step back to your own event and you see that happening, it's like magic for sure.

SPEAKER_01 9:30

Magic is key. It's so powerful that you also utilize like the events that we talked about. But my next question is because you're doing pro-athlete mortgages and you know how big we are when it comes to discretion and privacy and things like that. So a lot of folks don't understand our methodology and why we invest in events when it comes to growing our business, expanding our network. How are you able to effectively demonstrate to yourself at least what that ROI is on these investments when you can't post, you know, like, hey, got this, this guy, this guy, this guy, this guy, or got this, this woman, or I was able to connect these dots when you can't show that for privacy and discretion. How are you able to illustrate that ROI?

Privacy And Discretion Prove ROI

SPEAKER_02 10:15

It's hard. And explaining that to my wife's even harder. Yeah. Why are you going to Vegas for Summer League? Why are you going to Miami? Why are you going to this event? It's it's hard. Now, in the banking industry, yeah, and and discretion is even more strict than it is, you know, for like maybe like a realtor's NDA that you might sign or have somebody sign. Because I, you know, everything we do is supposed to have discretion. It's not even like a, hey, you don't need to sign a document. It's the expectation. But I've learned to utilize the discretion piece to build my business and market around. And I think that's really helping me. So, like, to answer your question, it's really hard to get your like ROI on events. It's really just like looking back and like, I've done a few things with these people. Have I gotten any deals out of it? Really is the best way to look at it. But the discretion piece I've really grown on because if I'm talking to a sports agent, if I'm talking to an athlete, talking to his attorney and his advisor, and sometimes I've been on calls with all four of those people in one call, and you know, they're drilling. And they're like, you know, they want to see your social media. They look at your LinkedIn, they want to know, are you putting your people's information out there? I've made a living on not doing that, but more so I've even had deals where we get to the finish line and I find like loopholes in the LLCs or like the trust, and I'm like, hey, you should take a second peek at this. I had a big, big, big guy, NFL guy. LLC was created his rookie year. Nobody ever really knew he was gonna be the who he is today, just more of a like an iconic level athlete. He had this LLC created his rookie year by a sports agent. And unfortunately, that sports agent put the athlete as the registered agent on the Secretary of State website, and they've been using it, and it's a low-key thing until you want to title a house under that LLC, and that goes public. So like the LLC is cool because it's only on his tax returns, nobody really knows it unless they're paying him to that entity, which it could be like, you know, like a sports brand or like, you know, a co-partner. But when you want to title a home under that business, that gets recorded. Who's looking that up? The real deal, all these like social media marketing websites that play in the real estate space and their farm and deeds of trust. So had we closed under that LLC, and we were close to doing it, and we caught it the week before we closed. So we had to push our closing out two weeks. We went back to the client, we went to his advisor firm, we went to his attorney and recommended they make changes. They talked to the clients, they talked to the the family, and they all ended up agreeing and coming back and be like, wow, like I can't believe this got missed. Thank you for catching it. And a story like that goes more than me posting it on my in my Instagram or on my LinkedIn. Like teaching and really caring about the players, and actually, like, I mean, I could have closed that deal to my commission and not said a word. Instead, I delayed it two weeks, got it right, and got thanked for that. And I was having dinner with one of the guys recently, and he brought it up and he's like, We're so grateful, like that you guys caught that. So super cool. Distression's huge. Like, I've got I've been at like crazy closings. I was at a big NFL closing. I was a little nervous, like kind of just getting more into the space. And I'm sitting there with my client and one of the wide receivers on the team, and there's like 10 Nike shoeboxes in the room, okay? And they're stacked up. He's signing dots. He's not even looking at the paper, he's like literally signing like this, not even looking at the docs. Him and his guy are like talking about playing cards and whatnot, and they're just signing, he's just signing. And so I'm like, you know what? I'm gonna open the shoebox while they're signing dots and just see what kind of sneakers are in here. I'm at the teens practice facility in like a private room. Open the shoe box, I have my hands shake a little, all the boxes fall on the floor and the shoes fill out on the ground.

SPEAKER_03 14:14

Talk about humanizing the experience.

SPEAKER_02 14:18

Like I had a heart attack. And it was like one of those funny stories. I'm gonna look back and tell my kid and like I laugh at it and my face turns red, and it's so embarrassing, but it's like so funny. And nobody cared except for me. Like, I cared, you know. Um, like I didn't ask for an autograph at that closing. I didn't take a picture with them. I didn't do any actually we made a couple jokes about his financial advisor being a hard ass and like had a good time, and you know, we just kind of cracked it up and laughed, and then I spilt the shoes, and I think that kind of like was an icebreaker, and everybody was kind of like making fun of each other and having fun at that point. And I think that went a long way versus me going in there with a jersey or like, hey, can I take a picture or like I'm gonna put this on my wall or social media? If they want to give me something cool, I've never asked one client for an autograph, never asked them for a picture, never asked them for a jersey, nothing. And the people I'm doing business with expect that. The minute I cross that line, they probably cut me off.

SPEAKER_01 15:19

Yeah, you hit the nail on the head, and so many people don't understand that part.

SPEAKER_02 15:25

Yeah. I've got a few pictures where we were doing it, but I never posted them. They're just in my phone and like for fun. One of your clients I took a picture with because you weren't there, and we sent it to you, but it's never been put out anywhere. You know what I mean? Like that's cool. And he he appreciated that. You guys appreciated it. I flew into town because you couldn't be there to make sure he was taken care of and just sent you a picture, but it never hit your social media, never hit mine. Nobody knows who or who it is or who what he bought, right? Which is great. That's the goal.

SPEAKER_00 15:55

Don't you think that's kind of fun though? Like in the beginning, in the beginning, like in my very beginning too, uh like you kind of wanted it for clout, right? Like I there I did one closing, one of my very first athlete deals, and he was like, We're taking a picture, we're posting it everywhere. And I remember the way that felt. But then as we got deeper into privacy and discretion, like the power is in the secrecy. I love that like we are making moves, we are doing business, the numbers show, and the numbers clearly show with you too for over$400 million in loans closed across all.

SPEAKER_02 16:25

I'm about to$600 now. We gotta get that number up.

SPEAKER_00 16:29

Wait a minute, but$600 million in loans, and no one knows who you're working with. Like, there's so much power in that. There's probably there's power in privacy.

SPEAKER_02 16:38

Yeah, if you look in my social media, there's very few pictures with any of my clients, even like first-time home buyers and just people that aren't famous. Like, I'm just not about that. If they want it, if they want to take a picture with me, cool. If they're like, hey, let's post this on my social media where I'm really excited. I'm gonna enjoy that excitement with them and do it. But most of my stuff I've just learned, like my marketing and stuff, just keep it very generic and keep it private. And I mean, it's the same with the ultra-high network people. Like, you know, I've closed like a$22 million deal in Aspen recently. Okay. And nobody's ever gonna know about that deal. It's not a famous person, you know, it's not a celebrity, it's not an athlete. But those people care about discretion just as much as the athletes do. And the people that connect to you with these people are the ones that are like, they're looking for it. They're like, all right, it does this person cross the line when we refer him this big deal. Are they overdoing their marketing? Are they sharing more than they should share? And you just can't do it. Jordan, like you mentioned, now it's like you know this, but discretion is it's key. Can you talk a little bit here and there with like your trusted circles? Yeah, but you don't, you never like cross the line, you know what I mean? Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 17:47

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 17:49

You mentioned your son, and like obviously we always talk about where influence means legacy, and you've got the ability to influence these financial decisions. You have the ability to influence like how they're investing their their time, their assets, their treasures, like you are influencing that. So, as you're doing this, what type of legacy or impact do you hope that leaves onto your son?

SPEAKER_02 18:13

Great question. I love it. I love like teaching him so many different things. We have like really unique conversations between drives to school, between just like sitting at home on the couch. But the the two people that probably know about all my clients are obviously my wife and my son, because one, I work from home and they hear stuff, or you know, we just talk as a family. But we'll be watching football, and my my son's like, Dad, there's your client. That's so-and-so. I love that, and it makes me feel super cool. So, like, I get more out of him kind of like hyping up who I've worked with and seeing that on TV than I would like circling back to like Instagram or LinkedIn or something. It's so cool to have that moment with him. But I just try to like, I think I always come back to like teaching him, like, and like and telling myself, just do the right thing. Like everything we do in life, just hard decisions come up, do the right thing. If you're doing something at school and your kid, your friends are doing it, you don't have to do it because they're doing it. Teaching these moments right now are like really cool with him because he's six years old. So, like, he's just hit you know, his brain's going like crazy. He's getting exposed to so much being in school now in kindergarten. And so, like, I love being a dad. I love being like a family man and growing like and enjoying that side of my life. So it's you super unique to me. And I think that's building my legacy. I want to look back one day, and Davey and my son, like looks back and he's like, oh my gosh, like I realize now, like when I'm like 25 years old, like all these people that he's worked with and he's influenced their lives, and he's helped them make like big financial decisions of buying that house or that$10 million house or even that$20,$50 million house. And you know, hopefully he just sees how hard I work, and you know, that translates to his success down the road.

SPEAKER_00 19:58

That's so special. And what's even crazier is like he probably doesn't even know how cool you are in this moment. And 25 years from now, he's gonna be like, oh my gosh, like we joke all the time. We had to be at a client's house in the summertime, the kids were out of school, and so like the kids were swimming in their pool. And I'm like, one of these days the kids are gonna look back and be like, I was swimming in X's pool, like as a kid, and they had just absolutely no idea.

Legacy And Being Yourself In Business

SPEAKER_02 20:24

Exactly. Yeah. I mean, yesterday I was on the phone with a realtor in Texas who played for the Cowboys, and Davian and him were talking, and they were having a great time. And my buddy, uh, you might know him, his name's Darius Jackson. Um, so Darius and I have become pretty good friends over the last couple years, and him and David were talking on the phone. So David's like, he has no idea he was talking to an ex-NFL running back who's now killing it in the real estate world, you know. So that's super cool. And like, it's cool when the when the other people the person on the other side of the phone knows you're a human, you know. And a big part of my business success, I think, is just letting them know I'm a real person and I'm not like this 1-800 operator that's just sitting in a cubicle. And so I'm very open. You guys know me. I'm like, I never change for anybody. I'm just like kind of who I am, no matter what you like. I'm you know, I don't dress like the banker. I wear air forces, I wear white t-shirts.

SPEAKER_01 21:18

Like I'm just you wear black ones though, because that means you'd be outside fighting. No, you can't trust somebody with black forces because that means they fighting, or you should trust them and have them with you at all times.

SPEAKER_02 21:30

Yeah, that's the security detail. Yeah, yeah. Um, no, I'm all white Air Forces or dunks, but um, you know, like I just try to be me. And what I've found in success of just being me is people like get to know you. Like, I'm open to I meet strangers and I'm like talking to them at the gas station or at the gas pump or like at the coffee shop, and I'll talk about my family. That's where I think a lot of people are super private and they don't know how to leverage in sales or like in relationships. They don't know how to leverage like being yourself. I think people get a little nervous, they're a little scared to take that risk, make that joke, make that comment. And those uh, you know, me, I'll say whatever, and I feel like that's actually where I build my relationships because people like you know what you're getting with me. Like you're not getting like this on edge, like overnervous, kind of like weirdo feel that you sometimes get when you're meeting people or like working with like a professional on the phone. And so, like, I always try to find a way to relate. So I'm asking my clients. Do you have kids? Do you have a family? Are you single? Um, I've got a I've got an NFL guy that just moved from one state to another. That we helped him with the whole relocation process. Our mutual contact Jen. I connected her and she saved us dude like six grand on moving. In one day, she picked apart his whole moving strategy, saved him money, got him better quality services. And now this guy like loves me because I went out of the way to like not just do the mortgage, but I I got to know him. I got to talk to him. I got to understand his move. Okay, you're moving. What does that look like? What where are you struggling at in the move? A lot of realtors don't even get into this. And it's like it blows my mind sometimes. Like, and obviously I'm not talking about YouTube, but some of these realtors are just so cookie-cutter on their processes, it they refuse to adjust and adapt. And, you know, it's they don't provide the service that they should. So, like, you know, this guy now is probably gonna go to that locker room and say, not only did I get a great mortgage and a great rate, and a cool dude helped me, but he saved me like six grand overnight on moving. And then not only that, he's staying in a hotel until like OTAs are over, until we close. I got final approval on his loan yesterday in five business days. Clearly closed and final approved in five business days. We're not supposed to close till May 12th. We're gonna close on Thursday. Doesn't have to stay in a hotel. Not only did we help him with that, we helped him with storage. So not only is this stuff in good, secure, like climate-controlled storage, he's gonna get out of that hotel two weeks sooner than he thought. You know how miserable it is to be in a hotel for two weeks by yourself? Awful, you know, and so like I just feel really that's a great story. And so I like to share stuff like that because yes, I did to like I get paid for deals, like let's call it what it is, you know. So I get paid sooner, you know, but it's not about that. Like, I took the time to understand every aspect of this guy's move, saved him money, got him a great mortgage, we're closing early, and he gets to be in his house two weeks earlier than he was going to and get out of a hotel. Like, so now what is he gonna do? He's gonna go talk to another new guy on the team. They're gonna build a relationship because they're both the new guys in the locker room. He's gonna tell them about his experience and be like, yo, call this guy David. He will get you out of that hotel and get you into an affordable house. I got the realtor, they did a great job, and he's gonna sell us again to the way we partnered up and crushed this transaction.

SPEAKER_01 25:08

Well, because you care. And I think that's what is always gonna set the good from the great apart, is that like genuine, authentic, actual care for another human being and what they're experiencing. And Jordan knows this about me. Like, I always have struggled with the word relocation. Like I've just struggled with it as it relates to explaining like what we do, because what we do, I believe, is just so much more than that. It is integration. It is being the solution. It is not believing that there's a no. It is not believing that that answer that I'm given, if it's not the answer I desire for them or want or that's best for them, that okay, well, we've got to figure out a way to get another answer and really focus on the integration into new communities, into new homes, into new dynamics, because you care about them holistically. Because at the end of the day, like, wouldn't you want the same? Like, who's gonna make my life easier? Who's gonna make sure I'm taken care of? Like without conditions. Oh, do you oh, do you need a new barber? Bet. Like, I don't get anything out of that, but I know it's something that you need, and I know it's something that's gonna be important. So let me see how I can be a resource in that way too, you know?

How Athlete Contracts Affect Mortgages

SPEAKER_02 26:18

Absolutely. And I'll make like a comment around that. I deal with people nationally, I do loans nationally. I've got deals in Colorado, I've got them in Miami, I've got them in Texas, California, Tennessee. I mean, just in the last two months, I've closed deals in like all those states or have them closing coming up. And I see a lot of different personalities in real estate. And the ones that I see that are doing, I just did an event with this dude, Angel Nicholas, down in Miami last week. And the dude literally does like$200 million a year in luxury real estate in Miami. And when you surround yourself by people that are doing those type of numbers and have the teams and no ego, super humble, but they're the ones they're there because they were doing the things you're talking about. They go beyond the transaction, they take a deeper dive, they build a team. The ones that get stuck don't have resources and they get stuck doing maybe five to ten million dollars a year. And then you get to maybe that next level of like 20 to 30 million, and then if you want to take it from that to 100 million, it's obviously a whole nother business plan, right? Because you can't self-manage that. And so I've noticed that these people have really built out these incredible teams with humble, hardworking people that care. And it just starts with people like getting surrounding yourself with people that care, and we'll help you with the barber, we'll help you with the move, we'll help you with the storage, we'll help you with this and that. And those are the game changers. And I see that in you, and that's why I love you guys and surround myself with you so much. And it's cool to see, but like I see it all. I see the good, the bad, and the ugly because I work with so many different markets and so many different realtors and so many different types of clients, right? So I feel like I've got like this whole like knowledge tucked away in my brain from all these transactions I've done. And I don't know how to help people. Like, I'm trying to find a way to use some of the things I learned to influence people like you guys. Like, David, all right, you're dealing with guys doing 100 million, we did 50, and we did 90. How do we get to there? Would you what are they doing different than we're doing? And so I'm hoping to give back at some point to my contacts in the realtor space. So leverage me anytime you can. If you need whatever you need for me, you already know to make the call. But I the people that care and build the right circles and and really take the time to help people are the ones that end up really, you know, the top of the top.

SPEAKER_00 28:40

No, we appreciate you so much. I one of the things I love the most about you is just how unique you are in all of your approaches. And I think this conversation is incredibly timely with the draft happening. So I feel like we would be remiss not to discuss the complex income structures that these athletes have and how you have been so instrumental in getting mortgages for some of our clients. A lot of people don't even talk about, you know, signing bonuses and guaranteed contracts and endorsement deals and the short short career windows. Can you let the people listening know like how you can do things differently than most can? You know, we we took a call together with another lender with a financial team where we were all like, oh my gosh, this deal is not gonna close. Like you have no idea what you're doing. This deal's not gonna close.

SPEAKER_02 29:30

Yeah, I mean, I see it. It's it's my favorite subject in the athlete space is understanding the contracts, understanding the guidelines, um, and understanding like maybe sometimes maybe that guy shouldn't buy the$5 million house and he should buy the$1.1 million house, you know, and sometimes the ego side gets out of control a little bit of like I gotta be the guy that owns the the biggest house and the best cars. And the contract piece though drives everything in the mortgage world, right? So we got multiple products, we've got everybody's different, you know, you got credit scores are a huge issue in the athlete space sometimes. And so, like, you got step one is just like having a good intro call with the client, understanding checking credit early on in the process, I've learned over the years is super important. And then when you kind of know where their credit is, all right, get the contract. And I'm like, okay, are you on a three-year deal? Are you on a one or two-year deal? Are you on the practice squad? How much of your money is guaranteed? How much is incentivized for touchdowns or you know, sacks, or you know, three-pointers made, or like whatever those incentives that are now getting built into contracts look like. So it's really important to understand how to read a contract. I mean, I've gone through hundreds of these at this point, NFL and NBA contracts. Now, I mean, I know them, I know what pages to skip to. Like, you know, I'm at that point where I can like I can streamline that process, but it's super important. But in the mortgage world, I think step one, and I don't like to give all my secrets away because I don't need to be educating everybody that you know is my competition here, but you got to understand it. You know, if you're on a five-year,$500 million contract, you're obviously gonna be able to get anything you want, right? If you're on a three-year deal, you can probably qualify for any mortgage product out there if you've got three plus years, because you're showing continuance. And it doesn't matter if you're 23 or 28, if you've got three plus years, we kind of like put you into like a new category of like you're good, because you've got three years of guaranteed income. Now, if it's three-year contract and like very minimum guarantee, we might try to underwrite it on the baseline where you might not hit like incentive advisors, right? Or you might not get those sacks, or you might not get 10 touchdowns, and so you might not make that money. I'm all over the place with this because there's every contract's so different, and I've seen so many different things. I got a practice squad guy recently that I closed. He was a first-round draft pick. He got he went under contract on a new construction home. So it's like a six-month, eight-month process before by the time he signs that deal and he closes on this house, right? In that six to eight-month window, he got cut by his team that drafted him. He got picked up on another team's practice squad. And then a third team in the same window picked him up, and now he was employed by a third team. So I've had to get income and new contracts and source this money movement and his income, you know, his employment track all while he's under contract and being proactive and getting this done and not like missing closings or screwing the deal up because I don't know what I'm doing. So understanding how contracts work and how people shift and move and sign new deals is super important. And on this guy, one of the weirdest things was the second team was still paying his salary for the third team. So when we're verifying employment, we're verifying employment from the other team because they're paying them, but he's playing for a different team. So like just knowing how to like navigate like weird things like that in the athlete space, um, it goes a long way.

SPEAKER_00 33:09

Totally. It's definitely a nuanced category and a nuance process for sure. So having somebody working that process with you who understands it is incredibly important.

SPEAKER_02 33:19

Yeah, and building these guys need teams around them. You know this. Like some of these guys have great advisors, some of them have advisors that aren't as tapped in, or maybe they're not making as much, or like their setup is different. But a lot of the advisors are really good, and I partner with those guys all the time. We have great conversations, and we're talking payments and budgets, and like, hey, this guy might only play five years. Like, he's not he's not like a tier one or a grade A, you know, type of guy. So he might play four or five years. You know, the life expectancy in the NFL is like two years or less, I think, depending on the position you're playing. Then you're comparing like NBA contracts to NFL contracts, super different, right? NBA is like an MLB is like guaranteed over guaranteed over guaranteed, three years,$50 million, like the money and those leads are it's insane, right? NF NFL is the most brutal because there's so many players. You've got practice squad, you've got 50-60 guys on the team. You know, so there's more opportunity in the mortgage space for the NFL because there's more of them, but they're harder deals because you know, this guy goes and buys a million dollar house, and two years later he doesn't have a job. He's 24 years old, he's no longer playing football, he's got a million-dollar house with a$10,000 monthly payment. Is that sustainable? And so like it's it's really hard. And like I love being surrounded by people that care and think about these things long term, more than just get the deal done and like, hey, deal him the house he wants, and and then he has to deal with it later when he has no income or he didn't save enough money and he's no longer playing and trying to transition to life, right? That's super hard. And you know, you go from being on the field on TV to you know transitioning to after that, and that's hard for people, and it's hard to sustain the same income levels. I mean, it's it's hard. We know this, it's hard to make$500,000 a year out there. It's tough.

SPEAKER_00 35:09

Well, and I think one thing we don't talk about enough is when you have a$500,000 a year and then the next year you have a$100,000 a year, or you have a$500,000 a year and the next year's$250,000 a year. You're always driving. And I think you acclimate a little bit to that$500,000 lifestyle, right? Like it feels great to make$500,000. And you're you're you you get this level of confidence, you're like, oh, I'll make$500,000 for the rest of my life now, and that's just not the truth.

Underwriting Complex Wealth And K-1s

SPEAKER_02 35:37

Yeah, it's a very similar mentality, you know, as like in the real estate world or the sales world to an athlete spaces, you can come across money quick at a young age and hit success, but you don't always have control. You could get injured. In the mortgage world, rates could go to 8% like they did in like 2023, 2024, and the business just shuts down. In the real estate world, you're impacted by rates a little bit. You're impacted by the economy, the jobs, you know, and that's why all this data drives mortgage rates. And it's hard sometimes to not have full control over the industry we're in. Like the government, the Federal Reserve, you know, they have a lot of power over what we do on a day-to-day basis because let's be real, if rates are 8%, nobody's buying, nobody's refinancing, nobody's buying second homes, affordability is down. And so, like, you know, it's funny because I can nerd out all day on like complicated tax returns and contracts. And I've got a guy right now, I'm helping private equity dude. He's got 2,000 pages of K1s on his tax return every year. So I'm underwriting him. I'm dealing with like 6,000 pages of documents for his underwriting. It's insane. And he's buying like a$3 million house in South Florida and like a$4 to$5 million house in the Hamptons all this year. But and he's reinvested 99% of his money because private equity guys usually reinvest all their money back into private equity funds. And then as those funds mature and sell, they get their money back at some time. But it might be a three-year, five-year, seven-year cycle. So not only do I understand athletes and their cash flow, but I understand these ultra-high network people that got their hands in 10, 15, 20, 30, 40 different businesses. And when I get their tax returns, you know what a K1 is, is essentially it's a document that says, I've invested in this company, I own this percentage of this company, and that's for a partnership. And it shows me the ordinary income, it shows me the distributions, it shows me like the capital, it shows all this data. And we take all that data and cash flow that, especially in like the private wealth and like ultra-high network space, because we underwrite to like a friendly cash flow. It's not your normal debt to income. And this is me going down like the whole banking like mortgage, like nerding out on this stuff. But people don't see the side of me much. They only see like the fun social side. And I don't think they I really understand like how much I know and how much I can comprehend. And because I don't sit around talking about that. Like working with the guy's 6,000 pages and in financials and getting him to the closing line and moving on like a three to four week contract is you know, it's pretty impressive, but not just myself, more my team. Like, you know, my team helps me on the back end.

SPEAKER_01 38:19

So we are just so blessed in the uh truly. Just it's it's really beautiful. And there's just some key things that you've said that I hope people that listen to this share this with whomever, wherever, whatever walk of life they're in, but how important it is to have a good team. Like these these things can apply to any anyone, having a good team surround, like surrounding you for all these different decisions. Someone who's gonna go through the 6,000 pages to make sure that they're squeezing everything out, to make sure that you're able to move forward in these things, someone who's able to tell you, yo, like I hear you that you want this, but like this isn't wisdom. This isn't what would move your needle forward in life based on the goals that you've already shared with me. Those things are incredibly important. And I think it's very rare, unfortunately, it's very rare that I think people have the circle, or what I like to say, like your personal board of directors of your life. And I think that you play a beautiful role in that for so many folks, athletes, clients alike. I think it's a really beautiful thing. And for that, I am grateful for you.

SPEAKER_02 39:31

Well, thank you. Likewise, just knowing y'all. I was actually out. I met you. I was already in the athlete space, doing athlete business, but I had never marketed to it. I never really focused on it. It was just kind of something I naturally built through some of my connections when I met you. And I remember sitting down having coffee in Cherry Creek at Aviano and Aviano.

SPEAKER_03 39:53

Yeah.

Going All In On Athlete Lending

SPEAKER_02 39:53

Yeah, and I remember it and just talking and seeing kind of the way your visions aligned with what I wanted, but I never knew there was such a demand and such a need for somebody like myself in the in the pro-athlete mortgage space. And I I look back to that conversation all the time, just so you know, just to give you some love here. But I look back and like I remember just being like, there's a need for this, there's a market for this. And so that's on that day, I remember telling myself, all right, I'm going all in on here's my mortgage business that I've been doing since 2017, and here's what I'm about to do in the athlete space. And I'm gonna create these two umbrellas of my business line, right? Like, you know, I'm gonna create like a family chain here. Here's me, here's my normal business, my realtor focused, home buyer, first-time homebuyers. Here's where I'm gonna do an athlete, and separate them, but build an identity and market and go back to my contacts and say, hey, I'm doing this. Are you in to support me? And at the time I didn't know a lot of people in the space. I I had one really good contact that was feeding me a lot of deals. I knew a couple guys like Corey Crowder. I think I brought him on one of our calls as a group. Uh you know, his son Jay played like 14 years recently in the NBA. I think he's playing in Mexico this year. Um, and Corey played in the NBA as well. Going back to some of the people they connect to me to and like saying, hey, here's what I'm gonna do. Who should I be talking to? Who can you help me with? And those guys having my back and like saying, all right, well, I'll introduce you to Jay's sports agent. I'll I'll introduce you to Devin Booker's business manager, whatever these circles have happened to. Like, if you don't ask and you don't have this vision, like it just you could do it, but you won't do it where you want to get to, like where my vision is. And so it's it's looking back, like from our coffee to me going back to some of my centers of influence saying, hey, I want to have I got this vision, I want to do it. Would you support me? And them saying yes, because they trusted me. They knew I would do the right thing for their those kids, for these athletes. And looking back, it's really crazy. Like it's super cool to like look back and just say, one of the first people I was talking to about this space was Alex Reed.

SPEAKER_01 42:09

Well, the path is perfect.

SPEAKER_02 42:11

So, yeah. One, yeah, I mean, I love it. And you guys are great. Y'all have helped me so much. I love watching what you're doing. You know, you're just not, you're not normal. You're you're out there, you're not scared to put yourself out there, you're not scared to take risks. Like, I love what y'all are doing. Thanks so much.

SPEAKER_00 42:29

Well, we appreciate you so much. You are an incredible husband, father, lender, friend. We're so lucky to have you in our lives and in our worlds. He has rhythm too. We've seen him dance. He has rhythm too. You do have rhythms.

SPEAKER_02 42:47

Hey, let's go.

SPEAKER_00 42:48

What's one thing our friends and listeners and community and anyone who tunes into this, what's one thing they can do to help elevate you? Because you give so much to somebody around you?

SPEAKER_02 43:00

Well, I love the question and thank you. What I'm trying to do right now is help the people that need help. The athletes that are young, they don't want to pay an advisor, maybe they're not making enough money to pay an advisor and have attorneys and build those teams that they need to make good long-term decisions. Those are the guys I'm trying to meet at a younger age, get in front of them sooner. So whether it's a sports agent that's, you know, got a big book of business, whether it's people that are tied in the circles of pro athletes, but I'm trying to get more in front of the underserved athletes. You know, you meet a big guy, he's already got his team established. But there's a lot of people that aren't being taken care of, and I want to help those guys and take care of them. It's like the the the story I just told you about the guy the relocating athlete, NFL guy who was getting taken advantage of on moving fees. I see it all the time. I had a deal come to me. Actually, one of my NBA guys was buying like a$1.7 million house for his mom on the East Coast. He lives in Texas, and his advisor came to me and he wanted to use his friend in the mortgage space who was giving him a 12% rate. I hit the road stuff for I was at like 5.5, and we're talking about a big deal. Like that's why these people trust me. And so, like, this was his so-called friend or family member, and I see this crap all the time.

SPEAKER_03 44:26

Predatory.

Helping Underserved Athletes With NIL

Contact Details And Next Steps

SPEAKER_02 44:27

So, like, yeah, it's it's insane. And then these people are trying to make money because they don't care. They're like, these guys made so much money, I'm gonna take my shot and I'm gonna take advantage where I can. And it's an awful mentality. So I want to help guys that are athletes that are younger and they want help, that want help with banking, that want help with mortgages, that want help with building credit or fixing their credit. I want to build those teams around these guys, including with you, and set them up for long-term success. I want them to live back 20 years and be like Jordan Outz and David Klein changed my life. They got my credit fixed. They helped me buy assets. They helped me buy, you know, multifamily. They helped me reinvest. They put me in the right circles, right? Of people that are trusted. Because what happens is a lot of these guys get tied up and they hire their best friend as their business manager. That kid don't know nothing about being their business manager. They hire a financial advisor that's like their uncle. Well, that guy's probably gonna end up not being your uncle in three years because he's gonna put you in really bad situations. And just, I've got the resources. You guys have the resources to build the right teams around these people. Hard part is right now, you've got to get in front of kids that are 18 years old. I was having a conversation with somebody that's really tapped into the NIL space yesterday. They've got like 10 top D1 quarterbacks that they're managing for NIL. These guys are making two to three million dollars at 19 years old a year. They're making more than they'll make on their first four-year contract in the NFL right now. And they don't have credit. The people in that space have a history of let's buy a car, let's go rent, let's get an ATT bill and not pay it. Like, let's not pay my rent because I'm I don't have the right foundation. And I think I'd rather keep that$2,000 in my pocket this month and pay my rent. So when they do go to the NFL or they are ready to buy that house, they don't have credit. So like what you're seeing now is college kids can buy houses. They've got income. If you did a couple years of like self-employment going into that third year of college, they might buy a house. Super crazy, right? But think about a college guy buying a house. And then he could turn that house into a rental property when he leaves, hire a property manager, and rent it to the other athletes that play at his university. So like there's so many plays here, but there's so much money being made, and they need help with credit number one, then they need help with banking, and then they need help with just building their circles. And that's my ask. If you've got a guy playing high school basketball or football that's gonna go major D1 or, you know, be an NIL type paid athlete, or they're in college and they need help, and you feel like they don't have the right circle around them, I want to meet those people. Period.

SPEAKER_01 47:14

And so how can people, we'll put it in the show notes, but can you tell people how they can reach out to you?

SPEAKER_02 47:20

Yeah. Uh Pro Athlete Mortgage on Instagram, so at ProAthhleteMortgage, LinkedIn, David Klein. Um, my phone number, 786-535-8408. Call me, text me, whatever. I mean, I love helping people, I love having conversations. I'm literally going from this call to a call with an NIL agent and a college basketball coach next to help guide a 19-year-old kid that's making$500,000 this year to play college basketball with banking and just conversations of life. And so that's it. Let's get it. Like let's let's build momentum and let's help more kids.

SPEAKER_00 48:00

Let's handle it. Let's change these lives.

SPEAKER_02 48:03

I love it. Thanks for being here today, David.

SPEAKER_00 48:06

All right, so long video and we just keep growing.

SPEAKER_02 48:09

All right, I'm headed to ATL soon. I gotta come check y'all out.

SPEAKER_01 48:13

We'll text you about that too.

SPEAKER_02 48:15

Okay. Sounds good. Come to 38. Let's go. All right.

SPEAKER_03 48:19

Okay, see y'all. Bye.