Blake Hale: From Property Management to Real Estate Success

Summary

In this engaging conversation, Blake Hale shares his journey into real estate, discussing his motivations, the challenges he faced, and the importance of building a supportive team. 

The discussion highlights the significance of investing in oneself, the necessity of systems and processes in a successful real estate career, and the value of client relationships. 

Blake reflects on his influences, particularly his father's work ethic, and offers advice for aspiring agents, emphasizing the importance of a servant's heart and problem-solving skills.

Takeaways

Blake's journey into real estate was motivated by a desire to improve client experiences.

Investing in oneself is the best investment one can make.

Building a team is about providing opportunities for others.

Systems and processes are crucial for managing a growing real estate business.

Client relationships are built on trust and education.

Success in real estate requires a servant's heart and a problem-solving mindset.

Blake's father instilled a strong work ethic in him.

Real estate is not just about transactions; it's about helping people.

The tools available today set a higher standard for service in real estate.

Complacency can hinder success; staying uncomfortable is key to growth.

Sound Bites

"I had a terrible experience."

"I think I can do it better."

"I had $6,000 sitting in the bank."

Chapters

00:00 Introduction and Reflections on Real Estate

02:28 Blake's Real Estate Backstory and Motivation

04:35 The Importance of Exceptional Service

06:16 The Value of Education and Staying Updated

10:44 Building a Successful Real Estate Team

13:04 The Role of Mentorship in Team Success

15:35 The Significance of Active Leadership in Real Estate

22:01 Being a Hands-On Team Leader

22:52 The Value of Being a Strong Rainmaker with Leadership Qualities

24:05 Being a Problem Solver in Real Estate

25:47 The Impact of Investing in Oneself

27:37 The Power of Small Acts of Kindness

30:38 Advice for Those Considering a Career in Real Estate

43:36 R.E.A.L. Podcast Video Outro (1920 x 1080 px) (1920 x 1080 px).

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Transcript

Duane Murphy (00:01)
be 29 years old and sitting where you are in real estate from what Shane has shared and we'll get into you sharing your story and to be at 29 and doing that, like I started all my stuff in like my late 30s. Man, I wish I would have got into it 10 years earlier, 15 years earlier and that type of thing.

Blake Hale (00:20)
Hmm.

Duane Murphy (00:28)
That back when we started doing it, you know, cause now we sound like old guys. there was no, there really wasn't, there really wasn't anything. There wasn't teams. Their teams were just barely heard of. Everybody was talking about like teams are going to be the future. you know, but nobody was doing them. Like I was one of the first teams in my office and we have a mega, you know, at that time I was with, with a different firm, big mega brokerage. I was one the first damn teams. I didn't even know what the hell I was doing. I'm like, I don't.

Shane Kilby (00:33)
You are old.

Duane Murphy (00:57)
that's team thing is, but you know, let's do it.

Shane Kilby (00:59)
Dwayne, when

you started, you had a mullet in my space.

Blake Hale (01:03)
Yeah.

Duane Murphy (01:03)
I did have

a little bit of both. I did have a little bit of both. I did have a little bit of both.

Shane Kilby (01:10)
man.

Blake Hale (01:10)
I mean, then we've come

full circle now, man. You can still rock the mullet. You can get at least half of them glory days back.

Shane Kilby (01:19)
Yeah,

it's like some of the guys are getting like this is all shaved up here and then the mullet stays right here. So when the hat's on, they're still hanging out the back. That's it. That's it.

Blake Hale (01:25)
That's all I got is my hat, Yeah.

Duane Murphy (01:26)
Right.

Always

ready for the party.

Shane Kilby (01:32)
So, we are...

Duane Murphy (01:33)
All right, well, why

don't you take us through the intro and let's rock and roll.

Shane Kilby (01:39)
Yeah, so we're recording live today for the real podcast, Real Estate Agent Life podcast. Today we are with none other than Blake Hale serving North Alabama, that Huntsville area, Huntsville market. And so we're going to walk through today. We're going to just take a little walk down Blake's backstory and Blake has found great success in real estate. And we are going to pull the curtains back and see it and just kind of see how he's made.

how he's making all that work, how he's found his success, and just see what kind of real guy that Blake is. Blake, tell us a little bit about your backstory, my friend.

Blake Hale (02:18)
Well, as far as my real estate backstory, I did property management for a few years and everybody that I meet is like, hey, you you had, kind of had a background in real estate before you actually jumped into, you know, being a realtor. And I tell them, no, the only thing that property management got me was how to read contracts. And that's about it. You know, I mean, you're $12 an hour managing, you know,

couple hundred units or a little over a hundred units and you're dealing with people, but that's the only similarities. It has to real estate. But when my wife and I bought our first house, we had a terrible experience and our, we just didn't feel like we were taken care of. And at that time I was going to school for English. So I was going to school to be a teacher and

You know, so education was huge for me, it was a big, deal for me. And I just felt like through that process, we didn't know anymore after we got to the closing table than we did when we started, you know? And so after we closed on it, I walked into the four year of our house, which is the house that I'm currently sitting in. And I looked at my wife and I was like, you know what? don't, I don't know what we just did, but I think I can do it better.

And she looked at me, just kind of like, sure. You know, sure you can. I was like, no, I'm serious. I was like, I'm going to, I'm going to go get my real estate license. And I was like, I don't want to treat people the way that they need to be treated and educate people. And so my heart is with first time home buyers. But after being in this business for the last three years, I realized that the house that somebody bought 10 years ago, might've been their fifth house 10 years ago, but the market changes so much and so frequently.

that you always need that education there. And so that's what I'm huge on.

Shane Kilby (04:15)
So Blake, let me see if I hear this correctly. So you mean to tell me that you actually have poured from the heart into the clients. you were sitting there as a buyer going, this cannot be the way it is. This has to be done better. This cannot be the way that it should be for every buyer.

Is that correct? you kind of lead. That's an example of leading from the heart, right? And leading with passion.

Blake Hale (04:49)
Yeah, mean, it's,

mean, when you think about it, man, when you're buying a house or buying any kind of real estate, nine times out of 10, unless you're an investor, but nine times out of 10, if you're buying a primary residence, if you're buying a piece of land to build your dream home on, it's the most expensive purchase of your life, you know? And that dollar amount quantifies how important it is.

You know, it doesn't matter if you're a first time home buyer buying a $150 ,000 house, that $150 ,000 means more to you than anything in this world right now, because you're trying to put a roof over your family and you're tired of paying somebody else's mortgage by continuing to rent. And the same thing with a million dollar property. I mean, they're, they have worked their way up in their career in the real estate dealings, whatever it is. And at that very moment, that's their most expensive asset that they're putting their time and energy into. And who am I to mess that up for them?

Shane Kilby (05:46)
True, Prior to property management, you had to have been in sales previously. You're just too natural. We've spoken too many times and you're a natural conversationalist.

Blake Hale (05:54)
Yeah, I worked through that.

Yeah, I used to manage a store at Bridge Street. So I used to manage a clothing store and it wasn't like a commission based sales job, but you get the feel for actually listening to people here and what they want. mean, sometimes you walk in there and you're like, Hey, how are you doing today? And they're like, don't talk to me. I don't want your help. You know, and we get, we get that same thing in real estate, you know, but that for sale by owner is the, is the person that walks into the clothing store and doesn't want any help. You know what I mean?

But if you get that opportunity to kind of get your foot in the door and talk to them and let them know that, I do this every day. This is what I do every single day. Every now and then they'll let that guard down and let you help them. And they walk out a lot happier than they were when they walked in. And it's the same thing in real estate, If you're able to bridge that gap and let people know I'm a person just like you are.

I'm just trained to do this every single day of my life, you know, and, and they're not, they got other things that they're good at, whether it's, you know, engineer, whether it's, you know, manager of the clothing store, whatever it is, we're trained to do what we do and, to help see people through the process and, you know, Google or willing, we're using that knowledge to help people and not hurt them.

Duane Murphy (07:21)
Yeah, Blake, had a somewhat similar path in the beginning there, a little bit anyway. I went through a midlife crisis and was like, what am I going to do with life? I think I'll do real estate. It seems like fun.

Blake Hale (07:30)
Ha

ha ha.

Shane Kilby (07:31)
Are you saying that Blake had a midlife crisis? didn't pick that up.

Blake Hale (07:33)
Hahaha!

Duane Murphy (07:35)
No, I

was actually going this direction with it, but I had my first real estate experience, purchased a home and it was like, eh, that was pretty subpar. And then went to sell my home because I was relocating out of state. And so the real estate agent, I'll handle everything. I was out of state, right? I was in my twenties, already selling a house. Didn't know what was going on. you know, and needless to say, all kinds of stuff happened with the transaction. And, you know, I can remember.

It was like a week after closing and I'm like, damn, I haven't received a check yet. Right. And, I'm like, well, you know, like should I be getting the check? I sold a house. I sold it for way more than I bought it for. Right. At least I thought. And, then, So I called the real estate agent like, like, you know, did you mail the check? Like when's it coming? Right. And she's like, check. You don't have a check. Like, like

Blake Hale (08:11)
Two.

Duane Murphy (08:31)
I had to like lower some of my fees in order for just to break even. And I'm like, what, like, like, why, why didn't anybody tell me this? Right. And that was before the days of right. Estimated proceeds and some of those things. And I just, as a seller, right. And as a young seller and never having done it before, I never, didn't, I didn't know what to expect. I didn't know what all these other costs were. didn't know.

Blake Hale (08:36)
man.

Duane Murphy (08:57)
She's like, I took out all this money because of snow plowing and because of, that's the stuff up here that you guys don't know anything about.

Shane Kilby (09:04)
He's in

Wisconsin, Blake. So they have like snow markers on light poles and fire hydrants and all sorts of stuff.

Duane Murphy (09:10)
yeah, we

put we put we put four four foot five foot like flags on on fire hydrants It's the only way you can find them some years, but

Shane Kilby (09:19)
And that's

a flag. For all of you listeners out there, that's a flag. When he says flag, he means flag.

Blake Hale (09:19)
Me more mention.

Yeah, meanwhile me and Shane's over here and we even get forecasted snow and we're shutting the whole county down for a week.

Duane Murphy (09:31)
Exactly. You guys are shutting down for years. but, but

Shane Kilby (09:31)
yeah, we were

Duane Murphy (09:34)
yeah, I never, read it and understand that. And, so I got into the industry and just hated real estate agents, right? Hated despise them. Right. And also now I am one and there's probably still days where I maybe don't like real estate agents so much. Right. But even today, but, but right. I, kind of got that same way on it. And it was a little bit of the same mindset that you had mentioned of like, there's a, there's gotta be a better way.

Right. There's got to be a better level of service. There's got to be a, you know, more of a servant's heart, right. Of taking care of them and helping them. Right. We understand it. We do it every day. Right. We're professionals in our craft, very skilled, you know, and if we can bring that to our clientele, that's massive. So, you got into real estate. So now,

Shane Kilby (10:07)
Thank

Duane Murphy (10:27)
And I might have missed it in the beginning, catching squirrels. How long have you been in real estate now?

Blake Hale (10:36)
Three years. Let's see, May was three years.

Duane Murphy (10:39)
May is three years. now you have just to unpack a little bit. You currently have a real estate team.

Blake Hale (10:48)
Yeah, so I started the real estate team. They may have last year added one other agent. I've had an assistant for a while. you know, the whatever I can do to get myself more in front of my clients and, you know, really bridge that relationship with them. That way they know that they're being taken care of.

That's what I do. So I have my assistant and she kind of takes care of like the paperwork, the backend stuff. And, and then I added another agent to the team and then her name is Sterling Scott. So shout out to Sterling. And then Sterling had a baby. And so as soon as she went on maternity leave, I added somebody else to the team. And so as of right now, we've got three or yeah, three people and then myself. So four people on the team.

But we've only had two agents working at a time because of maternity leave and adding people on.

Duane Murphy (11:50)
Yeah. And now with, with teams, right? They're structured a thousand different ways to structure teams. Right. Now, do your team members, they working primarily with buyers or are they doing buyers and sellers? have a, you know, how do you, how do you, how do you structure that part of it?

Blake Hale (12:00)
Ahem.

Shane Kilby (12:00)
we think.

Blake Hale (12:08)
Yeah. my job was for me, kind of my reasoning for building a team was I got to the point where I was so busy that I started having people fall through the cracks and then I kind of started losing the reason why I got into this business again with, you know, and there were people that should have been taken care of that weren't being taken care of. And so I was like, okay, I got to do something. It's not all about me anymore. It's got to be about the team. And so

You know, that's why my team is not the Blake Hale real estate team is still living in North Alabama real estate team because my team is beyond me long after I'm dead and gone. I want my team to still be there, you know, moving on and stuff. And so that's why I didn't really brand it after me. But, so, but my, my big thing for going into a team, one of the things that I wanted to do was give someone else the opportunity.

that I struggled to have. Cause I mean, I spent a lot of money on marketing. I wasted a ton of money on, you know, just trying to figure out what works, you know? And so I told my team, or I told myself whenever I was starting my team, I don't want to be the person that's a mentor and you go out and find your own business. And then I'm going to take part of it for the mentorship. You know, I think that's a broker's job.

And I think the beauty of a team is being able to have kind of a, yeah. But I think the beauty of a team is being able to have a brokerage within a brokerage. so, I mean, I give my team mentorship, I give them advice, you know, but if there's anything that's over my head, I'm referring them out to the broker. But so my biggest thing was actually adding quantifiable value to my team. And so if I have a new client come in that's not

Shane Kilby (13:29)
Thanks, Blake.

Blake Hale (13:58)
one, my sphere of influence, you know, or, you know, somebody I know or a past client, something like that, then my team has the opportunity to work with that person before I ever get to know them because, you know, it's not the Blake Hale show. It's about, it's about the team and making sure our clients are being provided. If I can do that, great. If my team does that, even better.

Duane Murphy (14:17)
phenomenal. I think you nailed a couple of those qualities that just, at least what I've seen over the years, that make a real successful team leads or leaders of teams. Two things that I can tell already is that that servant's heart of where you want to see that success for your team, you want to see them succeed. You're right almost to that

to that point I can almost hear like where you almost want them to succeed and be more successful than you are. You know, and the other part of it is being able to be a rainmaker, you know, and being able to generate that, right? Because there's some, I've seen some amazing agents, amazing individuals in this industry over the years and they have every skill available. They have every potential bit of talent.

But they can't generate leads. They can't generate opportunities. without those opportunities, they end up washing out of the business. so that ability that you have, the ability that you stated of essentially being able to make it rain and make a team thrive is a great gift. Like you said, it didn't come at a zero cost.

Like all of us and, I've spent nowhere near the amount of money that Kilby has. but I spent enough. I spent myself. Yeah. I spent myself broke like 30 times, in this industry, but, over the, over the last 18 years. But, you had mentioned the same thing, Blake of how you throwing money at a lot of different things to try to see what sticks, what works, you know, and it's a constant evolution, constant, you know,

Blake Hale (15:46)
You

Shane Kilby (15:47)
Trial and error comes at a price.

Blake Hale (15:49)
It does,

Duane Murphy (16:09)
out.

Shane Kilby (16:09)
Well, you know,

and two it's, it's, know, like, first of all, you know, I commend you three years in the business. You saw that you were going to have traction. You understood that in order to continue that traction, you had to put systems and processes in place. And as an instructor, as an, as a broker, as a team leader, I've seen, know, it's, I'm embarrassed to say I've seen hundreds of agents.

have the conversation about I'm so busy right now, or I'm trying to get so busy right now that I will put systems and processes in place when they're necessary. And I'm like, please don't have that mindset because you're going to do one or two things. One, you're going to go completely off the end of the rail and crash and burn because you did not have systems and processes and accountable to those systems and processes.

Or two, you're going to create traction very quickly. And what you feel like is really, really busy is more or less chaos without the systems of processes in place. Because Blake, when you do it at the pace that you've done it, right. You, you're able to continue to grow and scale and give back, but so many agents are so missed. They, they so much misunderstand.

the value of a team structure. It's like, you know, I look back at the industry and I wish that I had, like, I went and asked other producing agents, can I shadow you? Like, I'm not the guy that you don't have to hold my hand. I just need you to be okay for me to be that creeper over here in the corner, just making notes and observing how you operate. Right. And I was turned away. I was shut down. I was like, no, no, no. Every agent that I approached that with.

Blake Hale (17:40)
and

Shane Kilby (18:06)
thought that they had a secret. I'm like, even at that point in time, like, I'm going to learn this business. I'm going to dominate my space. Like I would like to do this with you instead of across the street from you. But there's no, secret to success is, is hustle, hustle and grind. And of course systems of process is just make it that much easier. But so many agents think it's, it's two things in a team leads and team leaders getting all my money. And I'm like,

Blake Hale (18:08)
Mm

Mm -hmm.

Yeah.

Mm

Shane Kilby (18:34)
That's if that's what you think about a team then you're way off kill You're way off cue like you need to understand that that that leads are irrelevant You know until you have that leadership that intrinsic value to to lead and help others and that that the teammate the team member has to has to seek that they have to want to grow and develop because you're right like a Lot of aspects are left, you know to the broker

Duane Murphy (18:58)
Thank you.

Shane Kilby (19:03)
But there's a big gap between the broker and someone it's in a team lead position. It's like for that new agent, they really don't want that direct line to the broker because the conversation's a different level. You know what I'm saying? Someone that walks and talks it like yourself.

Blake Hale (19:09)
Mm

Yeah, I mean, especially if you have a, mean, especially, well,

you have a, and I don't know how y 'alls necessarily operates, but this is just my opinion. if I'm wrong, you tell me I'm wrong. But in my opinion, once you get so big and as a broker, you know, it's, think you're, you're doing your, your brokerage of disservice if you're not competing or if you're not not competing, you know,

Shane Kilby (19:47)
I agree totally.

Blake Hale (19:48)
And so if your broker has

been out of the business buying and selling for X amount of years, you know, it's hard to have those daily conversations with them of like, this is what I'm dealing with. And I'm not saying that, you know, that a non -competing broker will be bad at it. But there's a difference there between a team lead that is dealing with the same things that you're dealing with every single day.

Duane Murphy (20:00)
Hmm.

Blake Hale (20:17)
on the agent side and then a non -competing broker that's dealing with it on the administrative side too.

Shane Kilby (20:24)
Absolutely.

Duane Murphy (20:24)
Yeah, would, I would like,

I would agree right. That, right. Leading from the front, right. it's, it's being in the trenches. I know, you know, Shane's still involved in, in real estate quite a bit, you know, in, and with everything he's got going on and, leading the leading his companies, right. I also do the same thing, you know, so even though I have 60 plus agents, right. And, multiple businesses, I'm still in real estate, right. I now do I run around.

Blake Hale (20:52)
Mm

Duane Murphy (20:55)
12 hours a day, you know, showing homes. No, I don't. Right. Do I do still do it? Do I still do a few showings here and there? And maybe do I have a showing assistant that does the showings and then I do the contractor or do some pieces of it? Yeah, I do. Right. I still list a few homes here and there. I still have real estate of my own. I still have clients that I, that I assist and help. And, part of that is, is, you know, everyone's like, well, why are you still doing real estate? Like you got to get yourself out of production. And I get that. But at the same time,

Blake Hale (20:59)
Yeah.

Duane Murphy (21:24)
I also know what's going on in the market. I know what, what the, what some of the trials and tribulations and some of the struggles, right. That my agents are having, cause like I dealt with some of that stuff or I saw it. Right. So now when I, know, much like you, right. When you talk to your team and, and Shane and I talked to our teams or talk to our agents, right. It's like, know what's going on out there. We know what's what's the battles. know what, what, you know, the

Blake Hale (21:27)
Sure.

Duane Murphy (21:54)
you know, agents not answer their phone or, or right, or, or home inspection, you know, amendments and negotiations back and forth and right. if you. Yeah. And if you can write, if you can understand that and, and help them through that, right. That's, that's an invaluable, you know, skill and it's always changing and evolving. Right. I don't agree with you that that, right. We've got a ton of agencies, right. And they're always like, our brokers don't compete. I don't compete against anybody either.

Shane Kilby (22:02)
dodging the bullets.

Blake Hale (22:15)
always.

Shane Kilby (22:17)
Thank

Duane Murphy (22:24)
But I tell you what, know what the hell's going on in my market. Right? I know what's going on in the trenches. know what's going on with, with, with, right. What's, what's happening right now, currently not with what happened 10 years ago, 15 year goals, 20 years ago. don't need somebody to decipher a contract for me. I need somebody to give me real life today's skills. What do I need to do to compete master in Excel? Right. And dominate the market. Right. And, and,

Shane Kilby (22:26)
Hmm.

Blake Hale (22:26)
Mm

-hmm.

Mm

Duane Murphy (22:51)
And kuddles to you, right? And that's, that's something that, you know, that you had mentioned, right? You bring that to your team of being like, Hey, I'm on the damn frontline with you. Right? My sleeves are rolled up. I'm, I'm in there with you doing it. And, and that's a, that's a great, that's a, that's a great thing. I mean, so many people start a team because they want it, right? I want to sit back and take a little, I'm going to take all, you know, I'm going to take all their money and, then I'm not going to have to be up.

Shane Kilby (23:18)
I'm not gonna have to

work weekends anymore.

Duane Murphy (23:19)
I'm not going to have to

work weekends. I'm not going have to do show. I'm not going to have to list how it's like, I don't have to do anything, right? I'm going have them do it all. Right. And, man, I tell you what, those are usually right. It over all my years, those are the first teams to crash, right. And burn in there and they're burning and turning people. Cause right. They're not getting that, that direction and that help. And, and so, kudos to you for, you know, realizing that, Hey, right. We're, we've to roll up our sleeves and we're all in this and you're in the trench.

Shane Kilby (23:22)
you

Yeah.

Blake Hale (23:34)
Yeah.

Duane Murphy (23:49)
Right? And there are people are coming to you and that's huge.

Shane Kilby (23:49)
Well, I think too,

what defines a good team leader is a strong rainmaker. What defines a great team leader is a strong rainmaker that has built in leadership qualities, that has read and consumed content such as leaders eat last. They have the mindset of

You know, if there's two deals or there's one deal available, if the market's tight and times are tight, then my teammates going to get the opportunity, right? And I'm just going to eat my share, right? And Blake, I get on that soapbox about non -competing brokers on a weekly basis.

Duane Murphy (24:37)
It's such a made up thing.

It's made up by competitors that know they can't compete and like, come beyond my team. Cause you know, as a team leader, I don't compete against you. It's like, whatever. Like I'll take a Blake every day of the week. Who's going to be in the trenches with me side by side fighting the same fights that I'm fighting shoulder to shoulder every day.

Shane Kilby (24:43)
Yeah.

Blake Hale (24:53)
Hahaha

Shane Kilby (25:00)
I

yeah, I think, but I think where Blake was talking about the competition though too is the broker position. I think a team leader that's in the trenches, I think that's, they eat, sleep and breathe the problems, the fires, the hurdles, the buyer's agency agreements, the negotiating of the commissions and all these fun topics that are not really that big a deal to begin with.

Blake Hale (25:09)
Mm -hmm.

Shane Kilby (25:26)
But you know, it's like I meet with agents all the time and that's one of the conversations we have is, know, are you a competing broker? And I'm not. And it's what's funny is in times past, I've had other brokers that do compete and do use their agents splits and dollars paid into the company to leverage their own business and be their own company's top producer. when I look at a brokerage and I see the broker being the top producer,

I just get a laugh inside because I'm like, it's not about the broker. It's not about the owner. It's about leading and developing other agents to be successful in the business because that broker, that should be why they chose that path to create a brokerage is to lead others. But that's not always the case. There's some of those brokers that go, I'm going to be a broker so I can put the splits in my pocket.

Blake Hale (26:18)
Mm -hmm.

Shane Kilby (26:26)
and make 110 % of the deals that I close and let all of their efforts pay for my leads. And I'm like, that's just, that's toxic. That's toxic. Blake, let me ask you this. Not every day in business is a cakewalk, right? We know that. We know that. Sometimes we paint the picture as a cakewalk, but it's not always a cakewalk. The good outweighs the bad.

Blake Hale (26:42)
Ha!

I would

say most days in the business is not a cake walk. Yeah, yeah. We got cake on our hands, man.

Duane Murphy (26:51)
You

Shane Kilby (26:51)
And if it is, it's a messy cakewalk. Blake,

what's been your biggest success in business? I mean, and I know that there's been many milestones and I've asked this question many times. Sometimes it's helping that single mom get into home ownership and have that equity opportunity. But what's been your biggest success in business thus far?

Blake Hale (27:18)
Well, we're going to take a long journey to this. Earlier, Dwayne had mentioned, you know, the estimated net sheets or estimated closing statements is what we call them here. And it kind of made me think about how the tools that we have today are not the same tools that were in this business way before I got here. You know I mean? Like whenever Dwayne first started or whenever he started buying and selling, there was no net sheets, I guess, from what I'm gathering. And so I kind of started thinking about how

You know, we've had all these tools given to us. That's just kind of a staple and setting the bar higher and higher. But for me, what that's done is as more tools roll out, that's, that's now my baseline. So if my baseline started here and then I was given more tools here, then this is my new baseline. This is the new bar where I'm, where I got to go from there. And so, for me, the biggest success has been able to recognize that the bar never stops raising.

You know, I mean, your, I mean, your client, if I had to pick, you know, one story or one, you know, anecdote, it's, I had some clients moving from Washington and, she had a baby on the way, three kids. They came to closing. He was often, with the military. So it was all, you know, everything was in shambles and she's got four kids with her, five kids with her. And, she.

Shane Kilby (28:19)
Okay

Blake Hale (28:46)
looks at me the day of closing and she opens the door for a minivan and she shuts it real quick because they're screaming kid. I was like, y 'all okay? She was like, yeah, we just got up early this morning and they didn't have time to eat. And I was like, y 'all like Taco Bell? And they said, yeah. And so I went and got the kids a freaking quesadilla, man, and just gave them a cheese quesadilla and they were all happy. Closing was great. We had the wife there, power of attorney, signing for her and her husband. And then we had four or three or four kids there, you know, and...

Shane Kilby (29:10)
Thank

Blake Hale (29:15)
all in the closing attorney's office at one time. But everybody was sitting fat and happy because they just had talk about me. And so it wasn't, it ain't a grand story. It ain't a grand like aha moment, but it's the little things like that where I look back at that and that happened, golly, I moved them into my neighborhood. So they've been my neighbors for two and a half years. So I was just getting into the business when this story happened. But to this day, I remember it.

You know, because even though something small like that, being able to serve my clients in a capacity that would be on real estate just really meant a ton to me.

Shane Kilby (29:51)
Yeah, it's this, this, I say this every class teaching class and just, just having conversations with agents, coaching opportunities, just meetings in general, just, you know, lunch in the general it's, know, we're not in the, we're in the real estate industry, but those in the business that make the most income and create the most success. And it's not about, it's not all about the money, but with great success comes great income.

It's those who become the best problem solvers are those who control their outcomes. They control their income. They control their success in the business. It's like when all you do is look at this business as a transactional business, units, strictly units and numbers and stuff like that. Don't get me wrong. It is all about those numbers and they have to be a focal point. But at the end of the day, it's like, how do we

close more business? How do we have more raging, you know, not raging, know, raving fans? And that is becoming that next level problem solver. And when I look at students in a pre -licensed class and they're like, well, I'm, what do mean? Like, I'm, you know, I, you know, I'm like, what are you good at? It's like this, that, you know, that come from this industry. I'm like, why do you want to be in this industry? And we had that conversation and I look at them all the same. Like, it doesn't matter where you came from in life. If you are a natural born problem solver,

and you can communicate, then you'll be successful in this business. You you don't have to be a prima donna. You just have to lead with your heart and seek to solve the problems of buying and selling, right? That's what it is. At the end of the day, we're trying to help them accomplish the goal of buying or selling real estate. And sometimes you have hungry kids in the middle of that. They need a case of D. I'm like, a case of D always makes me happy. You know, I mean, I'm thinking about it right now.

Blake Hale (31:25)
That's right.

Mm -hmm, that's it.

Yeah.

Duane Murphy (31:50)
For

me, it's barbecue and bacon, but hey.

Blake Hale (31:51)
And I mean, there you go. There you go, man. But I think, that, you know, making sure that, I mean, when you're talking to like new recruits or, kids, or I say kids sometimes, I mean, I've been in when I was in pre -license, those people three times my age in there. So, you know, young prospective realtors in pre -license class, you know, I think there should be two requirements. And one of those is.

to always have a servant's heart and always be a problem solver. And the second one should be, I think that every pre -licensed class, the final requirement before you get your license is you have to take an oath. And that oath is to not let 20 years pass between your first headshots and your last headshots.

Duane Murphy (32:39)
Yeah.

Shane Kilby (32:41)
I would love to see Dwayne's first headshot and his headshot now. is. That mullet Harley -Davidson shrine.

Blake Hale (32:47)
I mean, I

see so many of them and it's the same one. The one they got 30 years ago when they went into business and the one they got now is the same headshot.

Duane Murphy (32:55)
Well,

and now, now, unfortunately, not to go down a rabbit hole, but you opened it right now. Everyone's using AI creation. I'm like, wait, like, no, that's worse than that's worse than your glamour shot. Like use your glamour shot. At least it looks more like you than that AI generated photo that shaved off 60 pounds. And it made you 20 years younger. Like what, what, what is that? Like, you know, artificial intelligence didn't do so well for you.

Shane Kilby (33:05)
Yeah.

Blake Hale (33:08)
yeah.

Yeah.

Shane Kilby (33:22)
That's a fact. That's a fact.

Blake Hale (33:22)
Yeah.

Duane Murphy (33:23)
you know,

when you can't recognize the person sitting across from you at the closing table. And we've all had those going, who is that? shoot. That's the agent I was working with. I don't look like that.

Shane Kilby (33:30)
Is this you? Right. Yeah. Why don't you

Blake Hale (33:32)
Yeah.

Shane Kilby (33:35)
look like this? you're not wearing any makeup and you didn't comb your hair and you're wearing a hoodie.

Duane Murphy (33:41)
Yeah, Blake, on a serious note, just dive in a little deeper, just a smidge.

Who is your greatest influence in life and business? Who has been that influence that has made you who you are and gotten you where you are? mean, obviously you did the work, but who influenced you? Who's been your influence on all this?

Blake Hale (34:13)
I'd say my dad, this December will be 10 years since my dad passed away and he was a really hard worker and he always told me and my brother, you know, if you're going to do something, it's worth doing it right. And something as simple and trivial as that, you know, it's taken me through my entire life and I didn't always listen to it, but

Whenever I had my own family to start taking care of and had my own roof that I had to keep over my head and everything, a lot of what my dad instilled in me or tried to instill in me as a kid just kind of came flooding back into me. And so I would have to say definitely my dad.

Duane Murphy (35:03)
I appreciate you sharing that.

Shane Kilby (35:04)
Good.

Yeah. Good advice. There's so many of those messages that resonate with us as we get older. And I guess, know, a little more mature, but you know, we've heard it from grandparents and influences throughout our life. And it's like, I get it now. I really get it. You know, the old saying, measure twice, cut once. I'm like, that I should have taken to heart a lot sooner, a lot sooner.

Blake Hale (35:29)
Mm -hmm. Yeah.

Shane Kilby (35:34)
So, so great insight, Blake, great insight. So let me ask you this. So you've been in the business three years and now, you know, just the conversations I've had with you before now and today, you know, it's like you have 10 years of all of the right wisdom in real estate. I mean, like we had this conversation before we started recording that, that, that not to, not to blow your head up, but I wish that myself, I know for example, would have had that insight.

that you've had like and that the vision that you had when you come in this business three years ago. So with that being said, you looking back out, folks will watch this, folks will listen to this, download this podcast. What's one thing that you could say to a younger self, a younger version of Blake considering getting into the business or just anyone else that's pursuing that same journey? Maybe they're in real estate.

Maybe they're not in real estate. Maybe they're just considering a second career or a career at all. What's something that you would give, a piece of advice that you'd give a younger version of yourself looking to get in this business.

Blake Hale (36:45)
The best investment that you can make is an investment in yourself.

Shane Kilby (36:51)
Deep, deep, it's so poignant.

Blake Hale (36:53)
Well, that's it, man. If I did not invest in myself

whenever, I mean, well, I guess I can tell you this story. so I'm not a cool, I'm not a, part -time kind of guy. I got it. If I'm to do something, I got to go all in on it. it's just the way my brain is wired. And so I gave my previous job two months notice, before I quit. sold them. said, Hey, I'm quitting. I'm jumping into real estate full time.

I said, you can hire somebody or you cannot, but I'm leaving in two months. I said, if you want me to train them, I'll train them. And so that's what they did. And I trained somebody else. And then I quit my job and a month into my real estate career, my wife lost her job. And at that time she was the breadwinner in our family. You know, she was making probably 75 % of our household income at that time. And a month into me quitting my job,

jumping full -time into a performance -based career where if you don't work, you don't get paid. My wife lost her job and we had $6 ,000 sitting in the bank that I had saved up just to invest in my real estate career. And I spent every dime of that money and that $6 ,000 has, I mean...

My career over the last three years has been very successful, you know, and I don't say that with an ounce of arrogance or haughtiness, but that $6 ,000 has taken us a long way. And it was because I invested it in the one thing that I knew I could control, and that was me.

Shane Kilby (38:33)
You know, they refer to that as burning the boats. We've heard it from Tony Robbins. We've heard it from many others and you know, that's a, you know, it sounds, it sounds, you know, beat your chest and you know, head out, brave heart running with spears in your hand. Like let's go, you know, but when you look around, like, all right, that's, that's a little scarier, you know, when it gets down to the real deal. Here's one thing that I do know for a fact.

Blake Hale (38:37)
Yeah.

Shane Kilby (39:03)
that the more income we make, the more complacent we get. It's natural. It shouldn't be. You would think that when we come from a place that's uncomfortable and we begin to get traction and we begin to have substantial income and we create savings and investments in these things, you would think like, okay, well, we just keep pushing forward. But it's human nature to want to take a break. And sometimes that break feels good.

Blake Hale (39:08)
Mm

Mm

Shane Kilby (39:32)
And sometimes that break leads to complacency and complacency leads to getting soft and getting soft means to not executing at the level that we did when we created that wealth and that income. So I say that to say this, that I know myself and I know Dwayne well enough and Blake, I have a pretty good relationship with you. I feel like there are times in our life as human beings where we have to be put in an uncomfortable position like.

Blake Hale (40:00)
Mm -hmm.

Shane Kilby (40:01)
We don't, you know, it's kind of like without going extreme those, you know, follower note of David Goggins, like, I mean, that guy's, you know, he's done a lot in his life and been through a lot in his life. And he has made the statement many, many times. It's like, when you're at your weakest point, when you feel beaten and battered and your back's against the wall and you're pinned in a corner, he swears that you're at 60 % of your potential.

Blake Hale (40:28)
Mm -hmm.

Shane Kilby (40:29)
You have so much more in the tank. Maybe, maybe, maybe even phrases as 40%. I'm saying 60, cause it sure as heck feels like more than 60 is out on the line. But nor here nor there, it's about being with your back against the wall and there's nowhere else to go but straight ahead and straightforward. And it's like one foot after another, getting up early, grinding late.

Blake Hale (40:39)
Yeah.

Shane Kilby (40:58)
And then all of a sudden it's like, so, and I, I, I've commended her all the time, but, Bailey Hunsberger, shout out to her. I'm going to have her on here too, sometime, but she's one of the most humble agents. Blake, you guys have a lot in common. She's one the most humble people in the world. She's coachable. She's teachable. She's a lifelong student. She's a self -driven learner. And, and she took the recipe and followed the recipe precisely and didn't close anything for six months.

walked off her job, took a leap of faith, right? And just recently married right after that and just building a house and a life together and had some things fall through the cracks. just fell apart. She did everything right. And then it hit like a fire hydrant from month six to month 24. Now she's at like 63, 64 closed transactions. And it just goes to the...

Blake Hale (41:55)
Mm

Shane Kilby (41:57)
It goes to show when you do what you need to do, when you need to do it, the rest will take care of itself. And I hate to say this, but God's got, Jesus got the will. God's got the plan at the end of the day. And not to make it a faith -based conversation, when the days are back against the wall, we have no answers. We know there's only one direction, but straight ahead, that seems to be when all of the opportunity shows up. It might've always been there. We just couldn't see it. We had blinders on. So.

Blake Hale (42:08)
That's it.

and

Shane Kilby (42:26)
Blake, we'll wrap it up with that. Brother, I appreciate your time today. You have been a blessing in disguise. Like the reason we do these podcasts, it's not about just the shot callers, the ballers, the hot shots of the industry. It is about everybody that's successful in this business has a story to tell, right? It has a story to tell. Some bigger and better than others, some tearjerkers in those conversations. But at the end of the day, we're all human and we're all in the same journey together.

Blake Hale (42:45)
and

Shane Kilby (42:56)
Blake how can anybody find your connect with you out there in the real world?

Blake Hale (43:01)
Well, can go find me on Facebook. Follow the business page for me on personal page. Just the living in North Alabama real estate team through Wicker Realtors, the space place. And then you find me on all your social media handles, know, Blake Hill real estate on Instagram, living in North AL on Twitter or X, you know, but yeah, or you can hop on the website, livinginnorthal .com.

Duane Murphy (43:29)
Awesome. Do you know what your MySpace handle is?

Shane Kilby (43:34)
He wasn't even born in my space.

Blake Hale (43:36)
I had a MySpace

and I don't even want to go back and look at my MySpace. It's probably not great at all. That was before I was a Christian. Yeah, I told you man, I lied man. What can I say? I lied.

Duane Murphy (43:40)
Hahahaha

Shane Kilby (43:44)
Blake you weren't old enough, like there was an age requirement, you were 12 when you not space was enough.

Blake, are you on TikTok? Yeah, okay.

Blake Hale (43:56)
Yeah, man, I'm on TikTok. Yeah.

Living in North Ale on TikTok.

Shane Kilby (44:01)
Listen guys, look him up online. He is very creative. Don't let him, don't let him, you know, he's very humble, but he's very hungry. He's very entertaining online. That's how we kind of connected. Blake is awesome. He's crushing the market. He's a great agent to work with. If you're an agent looking for a team to hop on like this guy, he's the real deal. He can lead you to the promised land. If you're running into the walls, you need some help, this guy can help you, right? Most definitely. Guys, that's all I've got today.

I look forward to connecting with everybody. Blake, I will send this hard copy over there to you here shortly. For everyone else out there listening to podcast land, YouTube and wherever we end up posting this on all of the platforms. Please like and share this podcast and we will see you soon on another one.

Blake Hale (44:49)
Thanks for having me.

Shane Kilby (44:50)
Thank you, brother. Take care. See ya.

Duane Murphy (44:50)
Thanks, Blake. Appreciate it. Great call.

Blake Hale (44:52)
Alright, we'll

see ya.