Beyond Sales: Navigating the Emotional Landscape of Real Estate

Summary

In this conversation, Michael Gomez, a seasoned real estate broker in Nashville, shares insights into the emotional complexities of buying and selling homes. He discusses the misconceptions about realtors, the emotional attachments clients have to their homes, and the importance of navigating these feelings during transactions. Michael emphasizes the need for effective communication, negotiation strategies, and the lessons he's learned throughout his 14-year career. He also offers valuable advice for new agents entering the real estate industry.

Key Takeaways

• Realtors are not just salespeople; they guide clients through emotional decisions.
• Understanding clients' motivations is key to successful transactions.
• Emotional attachments to homes can complicate negotiations.
• Effective communication is crucial in real estate.
• Negotiation requires finding common ground between buyers and sellers.
• Real estate can be a stressful process, but it's important to stay calm.
• New agents should seek mentorship and not rush into the industry.
• Specializing in a niche can set agents apart from the competition.
• Patience and trust are essential in real estate dealings.
• Letting go of control can lead to better outcomes in negotiations.

Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction to Real Estate and Misconceptions
• 4:42 Navigating Emotional Layers in Real Estate Transactions
• 8:32 Understanding the Emotional Attachment to Homes
• 11:55 Managing Client Expectations and Conflict Resolution
• 15:51 Finding Common Ground in Negotiations
• 19:09 From Music to Real Estate: A New Journey
• 21:12 Building a Team and Investor Focus
• 23:49 Negotiation Skills and Market Insights
• 29:02 Advice for New Real Estate Agents
• 31:53 Handling Personal Conflicts with Professionalism

Transcript

Dr. Shay: 0:01

Welcome back to The Resolution Room, where we turn tension into transformation through clarity, connection, and consistency. I'm your host, Dr. Nashay Lowe, and this is a space where we explore what's really underneath the moments that challenge us and how they can lead to something more honest, more human, and more whole. So let's get into it. Buying or selling a home is one of the most emotional transactions many people will make. But what we don't often see is how much relational work realtors do behind the scenes to get the deal done and how that teaches us something deeper about tension, trust, and moving forward. In a time when everyone wants to invest, flip, or get into real estate, we're pulling back the curtain on what's really involved when you buy or sell property. This episode isn't about market trends or mortgage rates. It's about the people work. That's the negotiations, the emotional pivots, the high stakes decisions, and the moments where things nearly fall apart. Because real estate isn't just about buildings. It's about building relationships. And what it takes to do that well has lessons for all of us, no matter what we're trying to move through. Michael Gomez, can you please introduce yourself to the people?

Mike Gomez: 1:34

Michael Gomez, real estate broker here in Nashville, Tennessee, owner of Hive Nashville, father, friend, husband, imperfect human.

Dr. Shay: 1:46

So let's start here. What's one thing about being a realtor that most people don't realize?

Mike Gomez: 1:53

I think a lot of people have this idea of, I'm not going to slam the car salesman industry, but they come in with their guards up thinking that a realtor is a person that's there to sell them the most expensive house or to just make a commission, not really caring about you know, the service that they're providing and everything that is implicated with it. So I think there's a lot of misconceptions with what is it that we do? Are we needed in this industry? You know, how professional are we? I would say like in every profession, there's good and bad apples. I definitely will say there's more good than bad. But the few will stand out really big and say, hey, yeah, I got this realtor and all they care about was sending me this houses that I couldn't afford, yada, yada. I think like less and less we see We see that in an industry. But if you would ask me one thing that people might not know about industry is that we not only provide a service of helping you find a suitable home or this rental or an investment or whatever, but that we're actually, if the agent's really good, if the realtor's really good, they're helping your thought process. They're telling you like, hey, you should not buy this house. Even if you don't make a commission, it's like, hey, there's something here. Look at the future value of this. Or you have a highway here. When it comes time to sell it, this might be a difficult thing. How long are you going to be here for? We have the whole thought process. And a lot of times people realize that they start wanting one thing. And after a couple of showings and conversations with their agents, they change their minds. Like, oh, you know what? I thought that's, I thought this is what I wanted, but now that talking to you and hearing you out and knowing the community, how you know it and the areas, like, I think I want to be somewhere else or this type of other home. So it's not just the service, but we help your thought process to like determine if you're going to make a really good decision, you know,

Dr. Shay: 3:55

or a regrettable one. So, okay. So yeah, you already kind of gracefully navigated us into this, this sort of heart of the conversation. So yeah, Buying or selling a home isn't just about the property. It's often tied to identity, memories, and big life changes. So how do you help clients navigate those emotional layers while staying focused on the process?

Mike Gomez: 4:18

I always ask, and I believe all my agents, like, hey, why are you selling? Or why are you moving to this area? A lot of clients that I get are from California. And a lot of times I'll be like, hey, it might be a good idea if you want to rent for a year. And you've never even been to Nashville. What's the rush of buying? Yeah, you don't want to waste the money of rent, throw it away. But in a sense, it's more like, hey, you don't even know if you're going to like it here. I mean, I think you will. I'm sure you will. But that's how I see it.

Dr. Shay: 4:51

Yeah, yeah. Can you recall an emotional challenge that you've seen catch people off guard during a real estate deal?

Mike Gomez: 4:58

Yeah, so houses carry a lot of emotions. I don't know if you ever heard the song, The House That Built Me, that Miranda Lambert made famous. It won a Grammy that year, a few years back. It's an amazing story of a lady that's walking by. She stumbles into her old neighborhood, and she wants to go visit the house that she grew up, the house that built her. And she's asking the lady, like, hey, I know you don't know me from Adam, but those handprints in the concrete, those are mine, and my old puppy's buried in the backyard. So like houses are tied up to relationships and upbringing, sometimes good, sometimes bad. So yeah, a lot of times I have to help the client understand that, hey, like let's say we're in a transaction and we're like $10,000 apart and my client is selling the house and they're ready to sell it so they can move on with their lives. They want to move to North Carolina and they're already making some money. A lot of times I have to be like, hey, like it's, is $10,000 enough to hold you from continuing your journey? You know, and then people like sit down and marinate and sometimes like, yeah, you're right. Like I'm ready to move on. And, you know, I'm just ready. I'm making some money already here. So like, let's go. You know, but other people get really tied up. Also, a lot of sellers believe that their houses are the most beautiful houses. Of course. Oh, my house is this and has that. I'm like, yeah, well, let's look at the competition. Yeah. And then I open up, hey, look at this. Look at this hardware floors. Look at this upgrades. Not to show them that their house is a lower level, but let's get real here. Because I am known for being super, uber real. I'll be like, hey, this is a terrible time to sell a house right now. If you consider renting it and then moving on and we can give it a shot next year. I'll tell people whatever I would do.

Dr. Shay: 6:54

Yeah.

Mike Gomez: 6:54

You know, and I've sold over a thousand homes. I'm not going to say I've seen everything, but I have a lot of experience and I'm also an investor. So I own several homes myself. I've moved like 14 times, you know, before we built our house here where we live now. So it's like... Which

Dr. Shay: 7:08

is beautiful, by the way.

Mike Gomez: 7:09

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. So, yeah, there's a lot of... There's so many emotions. The other day I assisted a couple that were getting a divorce and it was... I'm going to say probably the most amicable like divorce I've ever seen. They were like joking with each other, ready to move on and no drama, no nothing. And, and they were probably going to normally, cause they were not like emotionally attached to the home. They were probably ready to move on and great. And, you know, but a lot of times there's a lot of like, and a lot of stuff in there, you

Dr. Shay: 7:43

know? I can imagine how you deal with more of the opposite of that.

Mike Gomez: 7:45

It's like the thing between a house and a home. And when does a house become a home? And the moment there has been a home, then, you know, it carries a lot of emotions. You know, those walls carry, you know, they carry stories and things, you

Dr. Shay: 7:59

know? Mm-hmm, mm-hmm. And... Have you ever had to help a client sort of like let go of either the home itself or maybe an unrealistic expectation or even just a fear of the change? And how did you?

Mike Gomez: 8:11

Yeah, yeah, yeah, totally. I've been in situations where I've been like, you know, in disagreement with the seller and pricing. And I'm always, I always have a little bit of wiggle room to say, okay, well, you know what? You think your house should be there. I believe based on data and marketing conditions and the professional that I am, that it should be over here. However, Let's give it a shot where you are. It's always easier to come down than to go up. And if, you know, that isn't the case, that is actually realistic. I've had clients, they're like a hundred thousand dollars. off. And I'm like, listen, I'm about to spend a lot of money in media. I spend a lot of money in ads and things like that. I'm not just taking pictures and putting it in MLS. So like, if I'm going to work with you, you're going to work with me. I need to make sure that I'm going to sell your house because it's going to take time. And it's time that I could be giving a client that's realistic, ready to sell. So it's like, What would you like to do? And so I've always tried to be very, very upfront with people. And I think in the beginning, when you're a new agent, you don't have that because you're hungry and you're starting and you're just happy that you got a listing. Where as you progress and you become more successful and have more experience, you start learning sometimes that not all listings are meant to be taken. Not all clients are supposed to work. I've had clients that have been rude to me. because I didn't pick up the phone while I was having dinner or something like that. And I'm like, I realized that I might not be the right fit for you. And I don't work with those clients just straight up. It's like, Hey, you don't owe me anything. And some, some have gotten mad a couple. It hasn't happened much, but like, Oh, I'm going to report you to commission. I'm like, this is the phone number. Please give them a call and tell them whatever you want to say. Like, it's just what it is. I'm not going to be intimidated if you were rude to me or, or, um, super unrealistic or I didn't get back to you within five minutes of you texting me or something like that. It's just we just might not be a good fit. You know, you might need somebody that's that is like brand new or something that's just ready to drop everything like I used to do. Something happened to me like that earlier on in my real estate career where I was supposed to have breakfast with my wife that day. And randomly, some guy called me. I don't even know how he got my number. It's like, oh, Mr. Gomez, I'm out here in front of a house and I want you to show it to me because I'm going to buy a house today. I got up and I just started getting ready. And my wife's like, what's happening? I'm like, woman, I'm going to buy a house today. You chill. I'm going to, I'm going to go bring the bacon. We're supposed to have breakfast. I know, but you know what? I got to work it. So I left her there and didn't take her to breakfast. And I went, I show, I show this, this house to this gentleman. And then I show him like five, eight, 10 other houses that day. Do you think he bought a house that day? Do you think he bought a house ever with me? No. So that day I started learning about boundaries in our profession, which, again, the hungrier you are, the less boundaries you'll have, and you're going to have to learn how most of us learn about life in general, which is through the heart, you know, heart things. But from that day on, I started being more picky. I'm like, hey, you know what? I cannot show it to you right now, but after 2 o'clock I'm fine. And you know what happens? 99.9% said, okay. I'll see you after the time. So it's like, I want to see it right now. Right now I can't, but I can see it. I can show it to you in a couple hours or let me see if I can find an agent. Nothing happens. They don't fire you. They still buy the house. Gosh,

Dr. Shay: 11:47

that's so funny. And, you know, it's funny even thinking about how this conversation came to be. So, you know, I think when most people think of real estate, they don't just think conflict, right? But when I heard of what you do, I thought, Thought of price disputes, repair negotiations, delayed financing. The conflict is baked into real estate, I imagine. And so how do you prepare clients for the reality that some tension is inevitable in this process? Because I imagine for some people, it's almost like a honeymoon phase. I'm going to go buy my dream house. I saved all my life or whatever it is. How do you ground them?

Mike Gomez: 12:22

I mean, honestly, just being extremely honest, I've had a client recently that was making low offers and he made a low offer to a place and he was like, he got really mad that he didn't get the house, like $100,000. And I was like, you know... Yeah, the market right now, you have the advantage, but not every seller is in a position that they're willing to part ways with a property. A lot of them are just willing to ride it another year and whatnot. And this guy got really, really like worked up about it. And I just kept it. I just I'm not going to match their energy. If they come stressed, I am the calm. You know, if they come worried, I am the calm. I'm always the calm. I'm always the voice of reason when there's a lot of stuff going on, a lot of people getting mad. Why are they asking for all this stuff? When we tell them that way, I'm like, they're just negotiating. That means their agent's good. That means their agent's saying, hey, I know that this was supposed to be as is, but go ahead and hit him for $2,500. Hey, it's real estate. Anything goes. Then you can decide whether you want to take it or not. You can't just take it like personal. You know where we get a lot of drama from, believe it or not? Other agents.

Dr. Shay: 13:31

Oh, really? Oh,

Mike Gomez: 13:33

my gosh. Some agents take it so personal. And I'm always reminding them. I'm like, hey, listen, we don't have to go about it this way. I'm serving my client, but I'm also serving you and serving your client. So if you come at me like yelling at me or upset because the inspection brought a lot of things or whatever, first of all, this is not your house, you know? It's not your house. We just got to keep it where it's like you're an amazing. And if they're an amazing agent, I say, you're an amazing agent. You're working so hard for your client. But there's a line that you don't have to cross. The line is like yelling at me for something that I am conveying information that my client wants me to convey. I know that you're emotional and you're the best and all that stuff, but we don't have to do it that way. So we get a lot of feedback. maybe I have 38 agents under me and every now and then an agent calls me and says, hey, I'm dealing with this situation and this agent made fun of my accent or all kinds of weird things like I hear like out there. And the weird thing is this, when the real estate market is more balanced and all the agents are making bank, like you don't see a lot of that. But when times are kind of hard, like right now, I would consider this hard times. I will tell this to an agent of mine, it's like, hey, understand that There's a lot of people stressed. There's a lot of people are making a third of their income from last year and the year before. And they might not plan themselves well to ride that wave. And then they're like edgy, you know, and they're paying it with you just like that. They're paying it with you. And I said, now don't match their energy. Keep yourself professional. And if they cross the line, tell them they crossed the line and that that is not acceptable. And, uh, you know, And most likely they'll come and apologize or they'll continue to be what they are. It's what it is. You stay focused on your transaction. And when you're done, go take a shot or go to the gym and cold plunge, whatever it is you do to like chillax.

Dr. Shay: 15:26

Right. Gosh. And when you're caught between two parties who have opposing needs, like let's say there's like a seller unwilling to budge and a buyer who feels maxed out, what's your approach to finding common ground there?

Mike Gomez: 15:41

Oh, common ground is going to be, it's not going to work. It comes to a point in mediation or whatever, if we are to help the seller understand that this is a good offer right now, that you should probably take this, where they might be thinking, yeah, you just want to get paid. You want to get your commission. Okay, I understand that. And the buyer has said, hey, this is as far as I can go. I mean, it just comes to like, hey, what do you want to do?

Dr. Shay: 16:08

The best solution that

Mike Gomez: 16:09

you can- Let's go pros and cons. You take it, you think you're leaving money on the table or you leave it and then we sit in the market a couple months, a couple more. Where are you in your life? What's your end goal? That's really where I try to focus. What is your end goal here? You're still in the house, but you're trying to move on. You're trying to close a chapter. You're trying to start writing a new one. So is this worth you closing your chapter? or not, or keeping it open. Really, I use that all the time. It's like, hey, because everybody's closing a chapter when they're closing a house, unless it's an investment property. It's less emotional or zero emotion. It's just numbers. Like, I'm not going to take that. Yeah, I like that. Let's go. Homeowners?

Dr. Shay: 16:54

Sorry, go ahead.

Mike Gomez: 16:55

I was going to say, when it's homeowners, you're going to be ready for emotions, and it's normal. 100%. And I'll tell this to clients, too. Like, hey, it's normal. Even if this goes as planned, everything goes smooth, still one of the most stressful things that you can do in your life is to buy a house. It's a big purchase. You're nervous. You're, what if something goes wrong and can I afford this payment? There's so many questions like lingering when you're buying a house. So it's like, you know.

Dr. Shay: 17:20

Yeah. At this point in, in being in Nashville, are most of your sales like for investment or are people, is it more like traditional house buying and selling?

Mike Gomez: 17:30

So I mostly serve like developers that build like entire neighborhoods. Um, So I would say I'm still more with investors, but I'm still seeing buyers every day. Like this week, we've had three buyers, one under contract, one probably under contract today, and one that's probably going to make an offer tomorrow. So those three have been regular homeowners.

Dr. Shay: 17:50

But

Mike Gomez: 17:51

I have a developer that has like 63 units that I have to pre-sell soon and things like that. So it's a good combination. It keeps me very in the, I still love, even though, again, I'm a managing broker, I still love to buy and sell properties for the people and hang out with buyers and hang out with sellers. I still love it. So I'm not just like, oh, I'm not going to do this or whatever. No, I have an agent that helps me with showings and things like that. But I'm still touching every aspect, helping negotiating and all that.

Dr. Shay: 18:21

Nice. I'm curious and thinking about like the lessons you've gained from your career over time. How long have you been doing this again? 14

Mike Gomez: 18:29

years. And

Dr. Shay: 18:30

actually, let's back up a minute. How did you even get into this?

Mike Gomez: 18:34

Well, I was a guitar player in a Christian band making a thousand bucks a month. So when my wife and I decided that we wanted to expand and have a family, have kids, I was like, man, I really want to be able to do something that I can Continue to play music and do my ministry and make more money because this is not going to be enough to provide for a family. So I went to Keller Williams office in Spring Hill and I asked the lady that was the team leader. I'm like, I got two questions. You know, one, can you do this part time and make money? And she said, there are some agents that do this part time. that make more money than the ones that do it full time. She's like, I don't know how it is. Personality thing. I'm like, okay, number two, do I have to come in and work at an office every day? She's like, again, there's some people that only come here to get their checks that make more money than the people that are here all day long. I said, okay, where do I sign up? And then I did not have $1,500 to my name. And a friend of mine who's a doctor in New York lent me $1,500 for me to get all my online classes and everything. And Of course I paid him back. And then that's how I became an agent. Then I started, I started a team not knowing what starting a team was. I was just like playing music in Nebraska and I would get an online lead for a property and I would send it to a friend of mine and say, Hey, that's an agent. I'm like, Hey, you want to make 50% of this? The guy's ready or the lady's ready. You got to go get in my house. So they said, absolutely. So, you know, I would work a few minutes and I would get paid half of that transaction at the end of the day. So I was like, this is great. All I need to do is be on the phone and then pass them on to somebody that I know they're going to take really good care of. So I slowly, I basically started a team and that's how I started getting. I started working with investors. Then I started buying investment properties and then became known for being more of an investor-driven broker. People wanted to build rental portfolios and things like that would come to me and say, hey, I want to buy my first rental or my 10th rental. Find me a good deal. And that's what I would do.

Dr. Shay: 20:32

And where do I sign up?

Mike Gomez: 20:34

Exactly. You got my number. Let's go. So

Dr. Shay: 20:39

what's one communication skill that you've taken away in real estate that you now use in your personal life?

Mike Gomez: 20:47

You have to be very upfront. You have to be like realistic. You also want to bend. When you need to bend, if I tell somebody, hey, I can sell your house for $600 and they want me to list at $650, I'm not going to back away and be like, oh, no, then find somebody. No, I'm going to be like, all right, well, let's talk about this. How about I do go $650 and what I like to do is I like to do 10 days for $650. eight showings. So if the first 10 days, we don't have 10 showings or, or, you know, just, there's just no activity. I was like, that's, we need to start coming down in price. It's just, it's not me. It's not the house. It's just, we missed the target market because we went to, I always say, Hey, I listed over there, but, but in the case that doesn't sell for that price, it's We don't want to have a super long conversation on pricing because we already had it and we're high. Oh, somebody's going to come with cash. And yeah, they could. It's true. And sometimes they do. And sometimes I'm wrong. Sometimes I'm like, there's no way that's going to sell for that. And it does sell. Most of the times, though, I'm right. It sells for more or less. Yeah. Because this is the thing, again, is you look at the current market conditions, you look at what people are selling in that particular neighborhood, and you're going to get really close and you're going to see the upgrades that that house has versus something else. You can price it maybe a little bit less than the last house that sold it was ready if you want a quick sale. So there are things that can indicate you like that, except right at this second, and this is the season that we're in right now, at least in the entire country, that you can list a house and you don't know when it's going to sell. People say, well, how quick do you sell it? I'm like, I know we're going to do everything that we can to sell it, and it'll move or the market will say we're not ready for it yet or i um our report came from bank of america and saying that 75 of home buyers are in the sidelines right now 75 so imagine imagine prices come down a little bit imagine rates come down boom buyers back in the market For you to even find a house is going to be difficult. I mean, we don't build them that fast. So the healthiest market is a balanced market where things are very even. Right now, it's very uneven. Nobody's buying. Everybody's selling.

Dr. Shay: 23:18

Right. So I picked up that you have great negotiation and compromising skills.

Mike Gomez: 23:25

Yes. That's

Dr. Shay: 23:25

what I picked up. And so you've worked in high stakes, emotionally charged environments, as we discussed. So what has real estate taught you about patience, trust, and letting go of control?

Mike Gomez: 23:37

Well, on patience, people that know me will tell you that I'm extremely patient. person. Sometimes they don't even understand it. It's just like, I think I got that from my mom, but I think that was the skill that I had before real estate. As far as trust, this business has shown me over and over that you have to be very careful on who you trust. It's very, very careful. If you're a home buyer, home seller, investor, whatever, there's still people there that are not good people. You know, they're going to make you do things or they're going to give you bad checks and they're going to like screw you. So you really have to always kind of be with your guard up, you know. As far as like between buyers and sellers in the contracts, if a seller agrees something, like there's something that I do, for example, let's say you're the buyer and I'm representing you and there's a seller and we're buying their house and there's a list of repairs. I always going to ask, I'm always going to get a quote for that list to have a money figure. And I'm always going to try to get you that money. And the reason I do that is because most of the conflicts, once you're under contract, have to do with inspection and repairs. The seller says, look at this. This fan is fixed. And you're like, that's not fixed. It's got duct tape on it. Well, it's fixed. And just for something as small as that can put a damper in an entire negotiation that had been so good. up to the point on a disagreement on something was fixed or not. Or the grout color that you used to fix the things that we never specified you didn't like. Or something like that. So I always try to see the points where I see that there could be conflicts, conflict-prone zones, and I try to mitigate those in the beginning of the transaction. Like, hey, we're just going to have them give you money and then you'll use your contractor Now you're dealing with that contractor, not with the seller. We don't have to deal with that stuff. Yeah. A lot of times too, let me tell you something else. A lot of people want to sell their house and say, hey, the furniture is for sale also. Immediately they go, this is going to be separate. Meaning we're going to sell the house. And once it's under contract, you're going to put sticky notes on all the furniture with pricing. And then those people are going to come into the inspection and then they're going to negotiate directly with you. but you're going to let moi out of that whole situation because I sell real estate, not, not furniture. So another point of contention, because before you know it, the whole deal went south because of a chair that they didn't agree.

Dr. Shay: 26:17

Right. Right.

Mike Gomez: 26:18

So I try to keep the main thing, the main thing, be like, we're talking real estate here. We're not talking a bed or a piece of like furniture. That's just too many. That's, that's points of potential points of like drama.

Dr. Shay: 26:30

And that last point on letting go of control.

Mike Gomez: 26:35

Letting go is that when something's not going to work out, which I tell sometimes people, like, it's just not going to work out. It's just, well, how can we fix it? There comes a point, oh, because I pride myself for being an amazing problem solver. This is what I do. I solve puzzles and things in real estate. There comes a point where it's like, there's no more puzzle. There's no more puzzle to solve. This is not going to work out unless you take it. as it is right there, or we move along. There's no, and it's something that I tell agents too. If I get a stress agent, I'm like, this deal is either going to work out or not. Isn't that beautiful? Only two outcomes. You're going to work out or not. It's not going to be a middle one. It's not like it's halfway going to work out. We can focus on all this noise or we can focus on making this deal work. And as long as we do our job, we're doing our job. And then we have bosses.

Dr. Shay: 27:29

Okay.

Mike Gomez: 27:29

Cause this is the thing. This is like, I will say I am self-employed. Okay. But when I pick up a listing or I have a buyer, now I have, if I have 10 buyers, I got 10 bosses. Yeah. If I have 17 listings, I have 17 bosses. They want report. They went, why is my house not selling or this or that? Or what are you doing to sell my house? It's like, you know, it's a, but as far as letting go, yeah, I've had personal deals that have fallen through that have caused me a lot of stress and, and, uh, And the way I let go is make sure that I just don't have personally something against that person that did us wrong or that didn't show up to closing or whatever. It's just like, hey, they're probably dealing with all kinds of stuff. That wasn't right. If the matter is of a matter that there was money lost, there's the law for that. And that's what it is. You don't have to take it personal. You can just, you know.

Dr. Shay: 28:25

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. I feel like real estate is one of those things that everyone wants to get into, or it's like almost a backup plan for everyone to just get into real estate. It's so easy. What advice do you have for anyone who is new to this or wants to get involved in real estate?

Mike Gomez: 28:42

Number one, don't quit your regular day job. I would say it's a great idea. Anybody that comes and says, I want to get into real estate, my immediate default answer is like, That's a great idea. You don't know if this is not going to work out for you, but it could change your life. You could become amazing. Like I didn't know I was going to do like amazing or great. I just wanted to sell a couple of houses a year, you know? So then I would say also find a mentor. Okay. Find somebody that's going to be able to get you under their wings and bring value to that mentor. Just don't be like that way. Like, Oh, teach me all your ways. Hey, teach me all your ways. What can I do for you? You have buyers that you need to follow up that you don't have time for. You have anything that you can think of, like, like I'll, I'll, I'll go for it, you know? And so on and so on. So, um, and then third, once you've done one and two and you start doing your own business, it's like finding niche, like get really good at something that would separate you from the pack. for example what separates me we go to a party and and there's five realtors there people are gonna say what do you do i'm a realtor and then people are gonna ask me what do you do i said hey i help people build rental portfolios i'm also a realtor but and now people are gonna be like oh you know what i've been thinking about buying a rental whatever i don't have to worry about like their primary or whatever now i separated myself from the pack and i offer uh different specialized service like Turnkey, where we find you the property, we analyze it for you. We find your property management and you start cashflow and making money. So I tell everybody, hey, don't be a one trick pony, but learn about all kinds of things, but also get good at a few things. Maybe it's new home buyers or land, become the land person. I saw a sign in Alabama the other day driving and the guy was just advertising and say, hey, I'll help you find, buy and sell land. He was a realtor. He didn't mention nothing about houses or residential. And I was like, that's so smart. You know, because people, realtors can do land, but this guy is saying, no, that's all I do. But that's most of what I do. So what's going to happen is people driving, it's like, I got a piece of land. I call that guy. If he had just said, buy and sell a home fast with me, yada, yada, yada, call, yada, yada, people might have been nothing. But now the guy is like cutting his piece out by saying, I'll help you buy yourself land. So those are the three things that I would say,

Dr. Shay: 31:20

yeah. Okay. And finally, if someone is facing a tent situation in their own personal lives, whether at work or at home, what advice would you give them based on your real estate experiences?

Mike Gomez: 31:37

Well, I would just say to keep the main goal Like, hey, what is the end goal here in this type of conflict or whatever? I would tell them also to stand strong in their convictions. You know, don't just fold because that's what you need to do, whatever, you know. I will say keep your authenticity strong. be very authentic. Hey, this is, this is how I do it. And, you know, we can talk about this and I'm, you know, but this is, this is it. This is me, you know, and to always be also honest and communicate and over communicate if needed. It doesn't mean it's going to work, but, but at least you are doing everything on your side to do it. Cause you're not going to change anybody else's, or you're not going to make anybody else do anything. All you can do is like, Hey, this is my side of the street. I'm taking care of it. And, um, And if you're unhappy and nothing changes, it's on you to move on. Life's too short to stay doing something that you hate.

Dr. Shay: 32:43

Indeed it is. Well, this has been amazing, Mike. Can you let everyone know where to follow you and your work?

Mike Gomez: 32:50

Oh, yes, of course. First of all, thank you so much for having me and talking about all these things. They're very fun. I have a lot of fun. This is a conversation that we could have just like one on one or having a drink and talking about life. But they can find me mostly on Instagram is where I'm most active at Michael Gomez Broker. All one word. But my company is called Hive Nashville, H-I-V-E Nashville. So you can Google me and find me. Send me a message if you want to buy investment properties or residential or land or, you know, that I can help.

Dr. Shay: 33:25

Mentorship?

Mike Gomez: 33:26

That's right. That's right. Mentorship I haven't gotten into. Like, I had a wonderful coach last year. that helped me so much. And he keeps telling me, it's like, hey, you're going to end up working here, like doing this. But I'm like, you know, I'm not saying no. I'm just saying just not yet. It's just not something that... I

Dr. Shay: 33:48

think you'd be great at it, but...

Mike Gomez: 33:50

Yeah. So, like, I need a few more years of different experiences before I feel like I can, you know, improve people's lives with, like, what I have to say or what I've gone through and things like that, you

Dr. Shay: 34:01

So humble. You're doing it right now, Mike.

Mike Gomez: 34:04

Yeah.

Dr. Shay: 34:05

Literally. Navigating conflict isn't just for big moments. Sometimes it shows up in the day-to-day when timelines don't line up, when expectations shift or emotions run high. The tools Michael shared, clear communication, emotional regulation, staying grounded, aren't just for real estate. They're for all of us trying to move through life with more clarity and care. As always, thank you for joining me today in the Resolution Room. I'm grateful you're here doing this work alongside me. If this episode spoke to you, I'd love for you to please share. And until next time, keep building in the quiet because that's what will carry you forward.