The Realtor Rundown Ft. Jimmy

"Where everything is up for discussion"

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:06

What's up, y'all?

SPEAKER_00 0:07

It's your girl Black's Genesis here with you for another episode of Podcast 1001, episode 7. And we have a friend in the building. Ladies and gentlemen, your favorite realtor, Jimmy.

SPEAKER_04 0:20

Hey, what's up? What's up? Thank you for having me.

SPEAKER_00 0:23

I'm happy to have you here.

SPEAKER_04 0:24

I'm excited. Thank you.

SPEAKER_00 0:25

Um, so I wanted to have this conversation with you because uh you're I think you're the only realtor that I know close. You know what I mean. Not super close, but you know what I mean.

SPEAKER_04 0:37

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 0:38

Within arm's reach, where I can say, hey, you know, get, you know, get my questions answered or whatever. Um there is a whole lot of mysticism behind being a realtor, a whole lot of false, you know, uh ideas about what the job entails, what goes on, the reality of the financial aspect. That part. And I think um people are just, you know, misguided about what it really, what really goes down in your profession. So I wanted to talk to someone of color who knows the business, and we're just gonna jump right into it.

SPEAKER_04 1:16

So I love it because there are a lot of myths out there. Yeah, there's a lot of things that that the consumer thinks that's some may be true, some maybe not. So yeah, yeah, let's break it down.

SPEAKER_00 1:27

Um, what drew you into real estate and just because I'm nosy, I want to know what was you doing before.

SPEAKER_04 1:32

Ah, wow. Okay, okay. What was I doing before? Uh so I what I was doing before is I was in security.

SPEAKER_00 1:42

Get out of here.

SPEAKER_04 1:43

Yes, I was a security professional, and I still take pride in ownership of being security because I remember when I first moved out here to LA, it was the only job that I can get.

SPEAKER_00 1:53

Where are you from?

SPEAKER_04 1:54

I'm originally from Boston. Boston, Massachusetts. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Absolutely. Specifically Barockton Time, because you know, Boston people are like, You ain't from the city, if you're from outside.

SPEAKER_00 2:05

I have heard that. I have a friend. His name is Carlton. He owns a uh uh T Tech school. Um he's from Boston and he's he's he says that. And he's like, there's not a lot of black people in Boston, but there's a lot of black people in Boston if you know where to go. If you know where to go.

SPEAKER_04 2:20

You know, and he's like, We're not that Boston, but we're I say all the time I'm from the Bobby Brown of Boston, okay? I'm not from the Wahlberg and the car, I'm part of the car, all that stuff.

SPEAKER_00 2:32

Okay, so you came out here, you was doing security, and he was like, This shit ain't making no money.

SPEAKER_04 2:37

You know, it's it's like it was the only job that I can land and get because I knew for sure was hey, I need something to pay the bills. Yeah. And then while on my my security gig, one of my mentors, uh, who's my older brother, he was like, hey, you should get your real estate license. And I've now thinking back at that time, the market was heating up and it was really starting to gain. So he's like, hey, you doing your security gig while you do that, go ahead and start to get your license. And that's what I I actually started to do.

SPEAKER_00 3:14

Did you have any interest in it prior to him even mentioning it?

SPEAKER_04 3:18

You know what? I always wanted to get into business in some capacity, in some way. Uh, I can't say at that time I understood what type of business that I wanted to get in. But what made me want to get my license, and I think this is a a great story to start off, is my introduction into it. Okay, which was through my older brother. At the time he started to purchase properties, but like I mentioned, when I moved from Boston to LA, our primary home back in Boston was sitting vacant at the time. And we ended up putting a childhood friend in there to simply watch the home. Right? Because we were like, we don't want nobody to go inside there, mess it up. So we just made an agreement and said, hey, you can stay there. You know, it was it was a single family crib, just pay us like $500 a month. And he was like, okay, cool. Right?

SPEAKER_00 4:19

What a come up.

SPEAKER_04 4:20

So for real. What a come up. And I'll tell you exactly why it was a come-up. Because uh he was there l living, had a girlfriend at the time, you know, just moved out from mom's crib. So hey, he's he's got his own crib now, you know, doing the thing. And then my brother hit me. He's like, hey, I know we're renting out the property back home. Do you know how much it can actually rent out for? I'm like, hey, we getting 500 bucks a month. What you mean? Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 4:49

And extra income is extra income.

SPEAKER_04 4:50

Extra until you realize the value. The value.

SPEAKER_00 4:54

You go, wait a minute.

SPEAKER_04 4:55

Right. Yeah. And I was like, bro, we getting 500 a month at school. He's like, no, let's actually do the research, the rental markets to see what it can be rented out for. So, you know, he sent me a few things and he's like, long story short, if we were to fix it up, because it wasn't in the best condition.

SPEAKER_00 5:15

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 5:15

He said, we could get about $2,300 for it. I was like, $2,300? Yeah. He's like, yeah, but there's work that we gotta do. And that is really the introductory to the real estate space. So from that point on, we spoke with my friend back home and said, hey, we're gonna fix up the home and ultimately try to rent it out for a higher price.

SPEAKER_02 5:42

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 5:42

And he was like, you know, I actually wanted to start to move out because him and his girl, I think they were starting to have some issues or something. But he said, okay, perfectly fine. So at that point, he ended up leaving the house. I went to Boston to start to look at the home and understand what fixes that we had to do. Because when we first left it initially, we were some bad kids. All right. So like we put holes in the walls, like it it simply wouldn't rent out for the price that we wanted to if we kept it in that condition.

SPEAKER_02 6:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 6:24

So we made a list of, you know, eight, ten, twelve things. Okay. We started to reach out to handymen, started to reach out to contractors, started to reach out to different vendors so they can do their job in emptying out the home.

SPEAKER_00 6:40

Using your own money?

SPEAKER_04 6:42

Using our own money.

SPEAKER_00 6:43

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 6:44

Fixing up the home for it to ultimately be market ready.

SPEAKER_00 6:47

Okay. I like that. So it was money.

SPEAKER_04 6:53

You were money mo motivated to get into I would say, but to be honest with you, I think it's recogni recognizing the opportunity that we had. Yeah. And I I don't think we're anything special.

SPEAKER_02 7:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 7:08

I just think, you know, luckily my brother one day woke up and said, we're leaving m money on the table.

SPEAKER_02 7:16

Right.

SPEAKER_04 7:16

Which is what I always say is like anybody, if they have a family property and one, if it's sitting empty, if it's sitting vacant, that's an opportunity there.

SPEAKER_02 7:30

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 7:30

Or if you're renting out your space and you haven't done the research to understand what it can really rent out for, if you did some fixes to it, that's an opportunity there as well. You know, there's there's a term that we always say in uh real estate, value add, right? What's the value add opportunity that you can do to a property to either make it be valued more or you can rent it out for a higher price?

SPEAKER_00 8:00

I tell you one thing, if I ever get into being a realtor, I money motivated.

SPEAKER_04 8:04

I don't get a damn money out. I remember you actually mentioned that before that.

SPEAKER_00 8:08

The ideal is if you have a selling capability, why not sell the priciest product there is? You know?

SPEAKER_04 8:20

I think I I think that's a great thought.

SPEAKER_00 8:23

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 8:23

Now, different.

SPEAKER_00 8:25

I hope I don't sound like I'm just in it for the money, but I don't want to lie and say that I want to I I do want to do it for the money, you know?

SPEAKER_04 8:31

So uh what I've learned, and you can certainly be in it for the money because it's a lucrative business.

SPEAKER_02 8:38

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 8:39

What I've learned, different price points come with different responsibilities and obligations.

SPEAKER_02 8:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 8:45

Also, too, by the time you get paid on that certain price point, it's completely different from a lower price point. For example, a lot of people go in the business and they're like, I want to sell multi-million dollars off the rip. Yeah. Right?

SPEAKER_02 8:59

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 9:00

So let's say a $10 million home, I'm just, you know, we're in Los Angeles. Right. Right?

SPEAKER_02 9:05

Right.

SPEAKER_04 9:05

A $10 million home, it takes maybe six to 18 months to actually sell.

SPEAKER_01 9:12

Oh.

SPEAKER_04 9:13

Right? So do you have the bandwidth? Do you have the reserves? Do you have enough money to hold you over for let's say it takes 18 months for that $10 million property to sell? Yeah. Do you have enough to pay your bills until your your payday comes?

SPEAKER_00 9:31

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 9:32

Versus if you this sounds crazy, but we're in LA, if you look at a million-dollar home, that, hey, if we price this right, it can sell within seven days.

SPEAKER_00 9:44

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 9:45

So then now instead of trying to get the big fish, I'm gonna just focus on a smaller fish in order to hold myself over until I can ultimately work to get that smart fish.

SPEAKER_00 9:57

Um at what point did you realize this could be a longtime career instead of a job? Because I I'm guessing when you got into uh when you got into what's what is what is the I'm I'm what is the so you're a realtor, but when you get into the business, what's the business?

SPEAKER_04 10:14

It's real estate. Real estate. Yeah, why was I No no no there's real estate sales.

SPEAKER_00 10:20

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 10:21

When I got into it, it was more of property manager, right? For my own home.

SPEAKER_00 10:26

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 10:27

Essentially. Because I fixed it up and then I put a tenant in there and I was a property manager.

SPEAKER_02 10:33

Right.

SPEAKER_04 10:33

So that was the specific area of real estate I first got into. Okay. And then I got my license, which put me into real estate sales.

SPEAKER_00 10:45

Is it difficult to get your license? Like, do you have is it like No, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 10:49

What? License is the easy part. Really? Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 10:53

Well, I thought that they make you like study because you gotta take some crazy tests.

SPEAKER_04 10:56

They do, but what you have to study for and the and the test that you take is nothing of the actual business.

SPEAKER_00 11:04

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_04 11:06

And trust me, you speak to any realtor, getting the license is the easy part. And I think that's just one of the things that separates people that are serious about it and others that don't, right? Because for some reason, you know, I get DMs all the time, hey Jimmy, I want to get into real estate. What do I gotta do? I'm like, hey, this is the school I took, this is the uh the classes and stuff. Simply do this, you'll get your license, and they don't do it. And I think it's the uh I it's the time commitment that it takes. You know, it does take three to six months, right? That's not bad. It's it's really not bad, and then you gotta pass the test. Okay. But what I've learned at this point, when you pass the test, that's when real estate actually starts. Got it. Because it's so much more than simply just getting a license and saying, hey, I can sell properties now. There's a whole different m mindset that you literally have to go through as an entrepreneur to say, I'm gonna do this as a career, much like you said earlier, versus just a job, or just somebody that says, I've got my license, but I haven't sold the property in five years or something.

SPEAKER_00 12:22

When you get your license, do you reckon would you recommend being like a freelance realtor, or should someone go straight into like a company and then be a realtor for that company?

SPEAKER_04 12:33

That's a great question. Yeah. So I definitely think, and by the way, I've been in the business now for six years.

SPEAKER_00 12:41

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 12:41

And what I recommend is you wanna go to a brokerage that you like, because the process simply is once you get your license, now think of it as you're like a free agent now. You know, you got the Lakers, you got the Celtics, you got the Clippers, the Spurs, you got all these different organizations that you can join, which are the different brokerages, right? So there's Keller Williams, there's Caldwell Banker, there's Compass, there's EXP, there's Real, there's all these different organizations that you can now join because they always want agents, right? There's a whole different business model specifically about recruiting agents. But for you, if you just got your license, yes, join a brokerage that you feel aligned with, that you feel they'll give you the training, the resources. Because there's brokerages that will just sign you and say, okay, go figure it out. And at that point, you're so new, you're gonna sink. Right. What I suggest, and what I did was I joined a brokerage, specifically Keller W Williams. Yeah. It's it's actually known as one of the best training programs. And you see, I see them everywhere.

SPEAKER_00 14:00

When you you named all of those, and I I recognize their name because you see them everywhere. They're the blue and white uh sign, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 14:07

And that goes into they've got the one of the largest market shares nationwide and almost globally as well. Just because they've been in the business going on since the 80s. You know what I mean? So Keller Williams is one of the long flagship brokerages out there. So I joined them, and then what I would recommend is definitely joining a team. Because I know the mindset of, you know, especially if you're filled with, I'm I will I've always been somewhat of a confident person, but this is business, right? This is different from personal. I can be swaggy, I can be, but if you don't know how to operate business-wise, once again, you'll sink.

SPEAKER_02 14:53

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 14:53

So I suggest joining a team, well, interviewing a few different teams and figuring out, okay, what do they need, and do you feel this is a place that I can really learn the business?

SPEAKER_00 15:07

Okay. I'm pondering because as we're talking, I'm like, I'm I kid you not, I am like the queen of ooh, that's interesting. I'm gonna do that, and I will take the course and I will do the class and I will get the certificate. And then I'll be like, ooh, that's interesting over there. Let me do it.

SPEAKER_04 15:29

Yeah, yeah. You know, and I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 15:31

Yeah, but you know, I wouldn't mind being a realtor. And it seems interesting. And like, and I and I like what you're um saying about it's a business, so go in and get your training. I'm all for training. I'm all for teach me the game because I don't want to fall flat on my face. I don't mind a few mistakes, but I'm not gonna go out there thinking I'm the big shot. Even though I know I have the personality, I have the charisma, I have the you I just have the stamina for it all.

SPEAKER_04 15:57

Sure.

SPEAKER_00 15:57

Damn it. I want to be with a winning squad. You know what I mean? And I want to do things um like I'm like okay with doing like the slow pace, and then to get to anywho, we can talk after. But anywho, okay, yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 16:12

Um then you said something that I just want to touch on, right? Oh man, there's this one saying that, you know, one of my I feel like at this point, I've had so many mentors, not that they knew they were my mentor, but just constant coaching. Because we always need constant coaching. One thing he always says is fail fast. And at first I didn't understand what that meant. I'm like, fail, why do you want me to fail?

SPEAKER_01 16:42

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 16:42

But just in real estate itself, which I feel like is like life as well, the faster you fail, the faster you understand why. And a lot of times we don't know what we're doing wrong.

SPEAKER_02 16:55

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 16:55

And you have to fail in order to now analyze what did I do wrong for that deal not to go through or not to happen. So I don't make the mistake again.

SPEAKER_00 17:05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 17:06

But a lot of us are very hesitant, we're scared, we don't want to fail and look stupid.

SPEAKER_01 17:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 17:12

So then we don't make the mistakes, right? We just want to play it cool. No, I got it all figured out because I've been that guy. And at the end of the day, you're only stopping your own growth.

SPEAKER_00 17:25

Right.

SPEAKER_04 17:26

But it's in those failures that you start to learn and you start to get better.

SPEAKER_00 17:30

Yeah. Biggest struggle your first year of being a realtor.

SPEAKER_04 17:36

Oh man, just me making making contacts. Making calls. Because real estate is a contact sport.

SPEAKER_02 17:45

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 17:45

What I mean is there's a term getting belly to belly, which is just in front of you.

SPEAKER_02 17:51

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_04 17:51

Right? My first year, I was so hesitant of I don't know what I don't know. I don't want to get in front of somebody, and they ask me a question and I can't answer it. Where the truth of the matter is they didn't know what I didn't know.

SPEAKER_02 18:07

Right.

SPEAKER_04 18:07

So I was putting myself out the game from jump versus showing up, trying my best, making sure I come prepared, whether if it's for a buyer consultation, making sure I understand the questions that I'm going to ask, whether it's for a listing presentation, I know everything that I can about the house. I've done my research so I can be the expert and just come believing in myself as best as I can.

SPEAKER_00 18:38

I have a saying. Um, I've been saying this since I was a pup. I don't know if I got this from somebody or if I just made this shit up my own. Assume people know what you know and assume they don't know what you don't know. Always approach, you know, don't approach the conversation like, well, did you know that? Assume they know what you're talking about. And then the things that you don't know, assume they don't know it either.

SPEAKER_04 19:02

You know what I mean? Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 19:03

It's like an even playing field.

SPEAKER_04 19:05

I like it.

SPEAKER_00 19:06

Um, so it leaves room for you to teach them, it leaves room for them to teach you.

SPEAKER_04 19:09

Absolutely, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 19:13

Uh okay, so you said you had a mentor. Um, it was your brother, you had other mentors. What strategies helped you to grow your client base once you got to going? You got it going.

SPEAKER_04 19:24

Yeah, I mean, so there's so you you kind of mentioned it earlier, there's shiny objects out there, right? Because there's so many different ways to get business.

SPEAKER_02 19:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 19:35

Real estate is simple. Get in front of a person. So now how do you get in front of a person? And what we call it in the business is lead generation, right? Which means, okay, how are we gonna acquire the business? We can cold call, stay on the phone, we can knock on doors, we can post on social media, we can do flyers, we can do events, we can do um open open houses. There's lit there's literally like 10 to 15. And uh the goal is when when you're first starting out, you should just pick like two or three.

SPEAKER_02 20:14

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 20:15

Because you can't one's not enough.

SPEAKER_02 20:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 20:18

Right? And I think for me, I was like, I'm gonna do social media. You know, I like social media, I'm gonna show up on social media, I'm gonna, I'm gonna do it. What I learned from that is my my messaging wasn't correct, what I was putting out there, right?

SPEAKER_02 20:34

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 20:35

If I wanna attract sellers to list their home, I should be talking about listing your home.

SPEAKER_02 20:41

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 20:42

Versus if I'm talking about, hey, you need XYZ to buy a home, now I'm talking to buyers. So I'm talking to a different audience that I actually want to talk to. So understanding your target audience is key if you're if you're specifically gonna do social media. But to answer your question is figuring out what are the three or four strategies that I'm gonna go about to get business.

SPEAKER_00 21:10

What's the one? So you you you mentioned um social media as one avenue of meeting clients. What's the one avenue that people kind of sleep on that's that'll get you some clients? That'll get you the conversation starters, the people that Ooh, I'll can I share my first deal? Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 21:29

How I got my first deal. Yeah. Your boy was hurting. Okay. I'm not gonna act like I had it all figured out, right? I got in the business, I closed some leases when I first got in, which is kind of standard. The leases, you know, is pretty simple to get. But selling my first home, I think I I it took me a year.

SPEAKER_02 21:53

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 21:54

Right. And then trust me, there's agents out there that'll say, Oh, I sold my first home in $45. Well, good for you. That was not my story. And the strategy that we did was it's two things. One is called driving for dollars, which is simple. Anybody can do this. Anybody. And you don't need you maybe need 10 or 15 bucks, but I'll tell you why, right? Driving for dollars is simply getting in your car, driving around, and looking at homes that look like what's called a fixer. So a fixer is a home that looks like it needs work. Yeah. Like I can't explain it any more easier than that. Some signs are the grass hasn't been mowed. You see paint peeling on the exterior. Yeah. Yeah. You see windows boarded up. Right. Simple signs, all right? I just gave you off three signs.

unknown 22:53

Right.

SPEAKER_04 22:53

You drive around, take your phone out, open up your notepad, and you copy down the address. So me and you, we're driving. Hey, let's vibe, you know, turn on some POC or like, you know, whatever, whatever the case. You know what I mean? East Coast vibe, uh pocket right there, right? Right? We vibing, chilling. I'm like, yo, chill, chill, chill, wait, wait, wait. Look at that house, yeah. Grass, one, two, three Main Street, right? Do that for two hours or how much time you got in the day, right? But the goal should be to by the end of your session have at least 15 to 20 addresses.

SPEAKER_02 23:34

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 23:35

Okay. Now you have these addresses. Now you can simply do what's called a golden letter, right? So the first strategy is driving for dollars, riding around, collecting addresses to the golden letter. What this letter, when I got my first deal, it specifically said, hey, I was driving around the neighborhood with my client. They took an interest in your property. They are hoping to transact in the next 90 days. Would you be open to selling your home? Right? Now there's all these AI, you can simply type it in on chat GBT per perplexity, whatever. What's a golden letter that I can send a homeowner? And I'm sure that they'll give you a template, right? But okay, boom. You got your addresses. You now have your golden letter. Now take five, five bucks, go buy envelopes. Now, some people out there they say, hey, the envelopes have to be black, or the envelopes have to be pink, or the envelopes have to be green or white. It's such a psychology thing because you want the homeowner to open up your letter.

SPEAKER_02 24:51

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 24:51

Right? So, you know, there's different colors out there, but just to get the job done, I'd say go out and buy some envelopes and print out 20 letters, get 20 envelopes, take another 10 bucks to buy the stamps. Okay. I said 15 bucks to start, right? Envelopes and stamps, print out the letters. So now you have your addresses. This is the work that people don't want to do. Even realtors out there, right? They hear all these steps and it's like, I don't want to do all that, but this is the work.

SPEAKER_00 25:28

Yeah. And I'm sorry, but this seems pretty simple. If your ass is driving anyway, you probably pass it a bunch of golden letter home, fix it up for you anyway.

SPEAKER_04 25:40

It's like that idea of let's say you're like, oh, I want to go buy a red car. You'll start to see red cars on the road. It's the same thing. You'll start to see homes, and you're like, oh, damn, that that home needs work. Stop the car. Take out your notes. If you don't see the address on the house, go to Google Maps. You know, book, book, boom. Got it, right? Okay, boom. So now, addresses, envelopes, letters, stamps. Sit your ass down for an hour, stuff them. Do, do, do, do, do. By the time you got 20 letters, obviously on the letter, make sure to put your contact information because the homeowner has to be able to reach out. All right. Send those bad boys off. So my first deal, I I was so tired of not doing deals. I I drove around for dollars four times a week. And by week two, the phone rang. And at this time, I was with one of my mentors because he we hopped in his car, drove around, he taught me the same thing I'm I'm teaching you. Drove around, got the things, sent them out. One day he calls me, he said, Hey, somebody just called us. I was like, What? No joke. He's he was like, Yeah, the addresses, blah, blah, blah. Hopped on my laptop because I kept a record of every letter I sent out. Right? Because at the time I was operating on a team. And he was telling all of us to do this. But not everybody did it, but I did. So I looked at my notes. He said the addresses, you know, one, two, three, mainstream. I was like, oh, that's mine. That's mine. And he's like, hey, we have we've got an appointment tomorrow at one o'clock. Be there. I'm like, okay, bet, cool. And that's how we got the listing appointment. Got the property under contract, and we ultimately sold it. We sold it twice, which is crazy.

SPEAKER_00 27:45

What do you mean you sold it twice? How the fuck you sold it twice?

SPEAKER_04 27:49

Right? Okay.

SPEAKER_00 27:50

Wait a minute.

SPEAKER_04 27:51

Right. This is where a mind shift for me changed in the game, okay? Because keep in mind it was a fixer property. Now, the strategy with fixer properties is similar to how I told you how I fixed up my house. The whole strategy is, hey, I found a property that if you put 50k into it, we can sell it for this amount of money.

SPEAKER_00 28:18

Right.

SPEAKER_04 28:18

Right. Plain and simple. So for this this specific deal, I'll say we got it under contract for a million a million dollars. Right? It sounds wild, but this is LA, right?

SPEAKER_02 28:33

Right.

SPEAKER_04 28:34

For the specific neighborhood.

SPEAKER_02 28:35

Right.

SPEAKER_04 28:36

So the seller said, hey, I'll sell my home for a million dollars. And it was trash, horrible. You would walk into it. I literally said, who would pay a million dollars for this? Like, are people crazy? Here's the crazy part. When I put it on the market, we had five offers for a million dollars, a million dollars, right? Ended up selling it one time for a million dollars. So we had that client. So after the transaction's done, shook hands with the seller, it was great w working with you. Now we told the buyer, we said, hey, this is mid-COVID, market was going crazy. We said, hey, um, because we got five offers on this, if you put this back on the market as it is, you could probably sell it for more. And he said, You think so? We said, Yeah. He said, Okay, let's do it. So he bought it for a million. We put it back on the market at a million two fifty. We end up getting three more offers, sold it for 1.3.

SPEAKER_00 29:55

Question, how y'all just gonna sell this man's house? So if the first buyer buys the house, then you put it back on the market, it's already his house. So how can you sell his house?

SPEAKER_04 30:06

Be because he said, let's see. Because his goal for that house is I'm gonna fix it up and then sell it, right?

SPEAKER_00 30:14

So he Oh, so the the the first buyer's goal was to fix it up.

SPEAKER_04 30:19

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 30:19

So he bought it as is for a thousand four million. Yes. He fixed it up.

SPEAKER_04 30:25

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 30:26

And then, but you guys eat off both deals.

SPEAKER_04 30:29

Yes. Mind shift blown.

SPEAKER_00 30:32

Get out of here.

SPEAKER_04 30:34

I was like, hey yo. For me, I was like, okay, I'm I start to understand real estate now in a different space. You know what? What I'll do, I'll show you the actual property so you know I'm not lying over here like you think, oh, this man coming on a podcast and telling lies, right?

SPEAKER_00 30:56

No, I'm my wills are turning because that makes so much sense.

SPEAKER_04 31:00

Talk about it.

SPEAKER_00 31:01

As to why you would do it like that.

SPEAKER_04 31:03

Talk about it.

SPEAKER_00 31:04

And the person, if I'm the person who buys the house for a million dollars, yeah, then that means that I have the million dollars to buy it.

SPEAKER_02 31:12

That's right.

SPEAKER_00 31:13

So if I have the million dollars to buy it, I see the potential in it. I fix it up, utilize my own money, and make more money. So my profit, I never I never lost a million. I just gained what did they gain, the 250.

SPEAKER_04 31:29

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 31:31

So you gotta.

SPEAKER_04 31:33

Our client 250 in like 15 days.

SPEAKER_00 31:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 31:37

It blew my mind. I was like, what? I will it it was a game changer for me because I hadn't experienced that yet in real estate. So when I saw that, that's when I'm like, oh, I see why real estate is such a crazy lucrative business. It can move fast, but at the same time, it can move slow too.

SPEAKER_00 32:03

You want the seller and the buyer. As a realtor, you want the seller and the buyer. Oh, who do you want?

SPEAKER_04 32:07

Sure. So for me as a realtor, I want l listings. Because listings is market share, and listings bring buyers.

SPEAKER_00 32:19

Right.

SPEAKER_04 32:20

So having the listing is the golden key.

SPEAKER_00 32:24

Right.

SPEAKER_04 32:24

Okay. Now, getting listings is a different skill set than getting buyers.

SPEAKER_00 32:31

Because buyers are buyers are in need, right?

SPEAKER_04 32:34

Yes, but not. Or sellers are in need. They're both in need. Okay. Yeah. Our business is, I know people say, oh, you you you guys sell houses. We solve problems. We're problem solvers. We just happen to be transferring a house into ownership, but we're solving a problem for the seller, right? If if a seller w w wants to sell, something is going on.

SPEAKER_00 33:00

Yeah, that's what I meant. So the seller is more inclined to really get their sale because but you know, opposed to the, and I'm not saying this is always, but the buyer, the buyer at any time could pull out.

SPEAKER_04 33:12

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 33:13

But the seller, by the time you get to the point of realizing you want to sell, putting on you, you're done at that point. I want to sell this. But the buyer is, so I'm thinking, like, do you really want the buyer or do you really want the seller?

SPEAKER_04 33:23

Well, once again, you always want the seller, in my opinion. Now, in the transaction, being the realtor, you owe your client a fiduciary, a fiduciary responsibility. I hate that word. But simply I got viewers like who for who it simply means I'm gonna guide you to a successful transaction the best that I can, right? Now, if you're representing the buyer, you owe that to the buyer. Yeah. But there's something called dual representation where I can represent both.

SPEAKER_00 34:00

Oh, right, right, right.

SPEAKER_04 34:01

I've got the seller and I've got the buyer. So now you're writing a tough line because I need to hold down the seller and I need to hold down the buyer.

SPEAKER_00 34:11

And you gotta make them both happy.

SPEAKER_04 34:13

Yeah. So I've I've done a dual transaction, and luckily both sides were fine. Also, too, you need to let them know there's a uh there's a specific disclosure and say, hey, just so you you know, we're also representing the buyer. And then, hey, just so you know, excuse me, we're also representing the seller. So each side knows, right? But to answer your question, you want listings, but there are transactions where you also represent both. You just have to make sure you're full and up, you disclose everything up front. So either side doesn't feel that, oh, they got played or something, you know. Real quick, I just want to show you that. What's that say at the bottom? What's the first number? It says sold?

SPEAKER_00 35:00

A million.

SPEAKER_04 35:01

And then what what's the date?

SPEAKER_00 35:04

June 25th, 2021.

SPEAKER_04 35:06

Wow. Oh, okay. And then what's it say after that? So June what, 5th, 2021 is June 25th. Okay, June 25th, 2021, sold for a million. What's the number after that?

SPEAKER_00 35:19

Oh, wow. Okay, so a couple days later, five, uh, uh, six, seven, ten days later, July 3rd.

SPEAKER_04 35:28

Listed it on the market for how much?

SPEAKER_00 35:30

A million two uh hundred fifty thousand.

SPEAKER_04 35:34

And then what oh, wait a minute, damn! What happened after that?

SPEAKER_00 35:40

Then how did I get to 13?

SPEAKER_04 35:42

Yeah, so we listed we listed it for a million two fifty. Okay. We had three offers. We negotiated to bring up the price. So one three.

SPEAKER_00 35:56

I don't know, y'all. Y'all might lose a pot. Y'all might lose a host.

SPEAKER_04 36:01

But this is, it should be a part of everybody's business. Do you want to sell this house? That part.

SPEAKER_00 36:10

Um Damn. How do you stand out in such a competitive market? What is some of the juice that you got that you like that's what keep me in the game?

SPEAKER_04 36:21

Nah, that's a great question. I said uh, and it's something that I'm I'm always working on. Staying authentic to who you are.

SPEAKER_02 36:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 36:29

That's how you ultimately stand out. Um I'm I'm over wanting to get a client that doesn't resonate with me. You know, I think especially as a black professional, you know, I might have, you know, dumbed, not I don't want to say dumbed down, but I might have toned down my approach, you know, my energy, you know, my authentic self. But w where I'm at now is I want to work with people that want to work with me.

SPEAKER_00 37:02

I feel like you said a whole lot without saying a whole lot. But on this show, we get to it. What you mean by that? Do you feel like black realtors have to tone down their blackness in order to seem more professional to their higher uh what am I trying to say? To the people that got money. And I'm not just saying white, I'm saying anybody who got a little bit of money on them and they come into you and they're like, hey, I want to sell my 10 million, 10 million dollar home. Um, do you feel like you have to approach them with a certain, you know what I mean?

SPEAKER_04 37:35

Yeah, I think it's autom I think it's automatic that whenever we walk into rooms, we all ready stand out. That's number one, right? So then at that point, it's okay, I need to be able to convey that I know what I'm doing and I can get the job done regardless of my skin color. Now, the question is how many opportunities are the 10 million dollar homeowners giving the opportunity to even interview a person of color to sell their home, right? I don't know what that stats I don't know what that statistic is out there, but I know it's not a lot. So when, or I'll say early on, you know, to say I'm tired of, you know, stuh not showing up in my authentic self, I would, I would be much more reserved, you know. I would tone down my energy when really I'm like, hey, what's poppin'? It's your man Jimmy V. You know what I mean? This is what I can do for you. This is why you want to work with me. You know, I would tone that down. But now I'm like, hey, they're gonna choose who they want to choose at the end of the day. Why not show up as best as I can as me? Right. So at the end of the day, walking out that door, I can say I stuck to who I was. And hey, if I get it, great. If not, they weren't meant for me.

SPEAKER_00 39:08

I know that's right. Ever wanted to quit being a realtor?

SPEAKER_04 39:13

Every single day. Oh my god. Yeah, I think real estate is is, I feel like it's the new SoundCloud rapper. Uh uh. Do not, okay? It's the new SoundCloud rapper. Reason why you will go on Instagram now, and like it's so funny. Within the business, there's like this joke of you'll see, you know, woman realtors with like BBLs on, and they're like, let me show you the property, and they're like running around with their cheeks and stuff. They think it's just that easy. Yeah. They think it's just that simple.

SPEAKER_00 39:46

And not gonna hold you, Jimmy. The sad part about it is, I mean, I I'm I mean, I'm no realtor. I know it's not that easy. I know the logistics behind it is pretty much but you got some people out here, men and women, who will see the ass and be like, yeah, I want to go with that. And that's fucked up because people who out here really putting in their time and stuff. And this is no shade to the people who got body, you know, they they're putting it in.

SPEAKER_04 40:11

Hey, hey, do your thing.

SPEAKER_00 40:12

I'm just saying sometimes people will use men and women, their looks to get a sale and stuff like that. And the it's just like, damn, what about the people that's you know, really putting in the work?

SPEAKER_04 40:27

Really putting in work. And you know, and the crazy part is, right? Let's say a homeowner falls for that trap of the BBL, whatever, and they entrust that agent to sell their home, and their home sits on the market for six months. Yeah, and the home doesn't sell. Yeah. Now that homeowner is mad at the real estate industry, like realtors, you guys don't do your your job, blah, blah, blah. When the truth of the matter was you fell for the BBL realtor who fell for the ass. Fell for the ass.

SPEAKER_00 41:00

Not actually about to get your money.

SPEAKER_04 41:02

Where you really should have interviewed a professional that can really get the job done. Once again, this is no shade to the BBL realtors. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 41:18

How do you handle slow seasons and what is the financial reality about downtime in real estate?

SPEAKER_04 41:25

Uh, that's such a good question. I think now just understanding when the slow seasons are, so being able to either. So you can anticipate them. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 41:32

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 41:32

I can tell you now it's the fourth quarter, so holiday season. You know, ain't nobody thinking of buying really, but I'll tell you the strategy. But the slow season is holiday season and the first quarter. Uh, so January to April. Well, March now. So right now we just entered the spring season, so it starts to uh pick up more. Um how to how to deal with the slow seasons. Make sure you strategize your finances beforehand. You know, don't go spending more thinking, hey, I got a deal uh round the corner when transactions slow down um during those slow seasons. But the str but the strategy, which is uh a gem here, is the strategy for a buyer is if you want a good deal, the end of the year is when you can get a good deal. Because if there's a homeowner that has their home on the market in December, they want to sell. There's something they want to sell.

SPEAKER_00 42:40

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 42:41

So what a buyer, the the buyer's opportunity is, okay, well, I can come under asking price. Just because there's not a lot of competition. And when there's not a lot of competition, the buyer has leverage. But when there's a lot of competition, the seller has leverage. So now we come to talking about negotiating. We come to talk about, okay, I can ask to waive w w waive inspe inspections if there's a a lot of competition. Yeah. Versus if there's not a lot of competition, I c I can ask the seller to pay for my closing costs. So it all depends on what's the what's going on at that time? Is there a lot of demand?

SPEAKER_00 43:32

Walk me through a day of being a realtor. You wake up in the morning, what's the first thing you do?

SPEAKER_04 43:37

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 43:37

Like what like what what is the reality of like Absolutely.

SPEAKER_04 43:41

It and it took me a minute to figure out my schedule. But my schedule, I wake up anywhere uh between five thirty and six thirty. Uh sit down with wifey. We journal and we do our spiritual uh uh pray and we've got this. devotional app that uh that we read every morning and then we go for our m morning walk so we do that up until m m maybe 7 38. um at that point my first thing is I look at my pipeline which means what deals am I work working on any sellers any buyers any tenants looking for leases uh so I usually do that up until 8 30 or 9 o'clock after that nine o'clock hop on the phones I like to start with birthdays birthdays are pretty simple help it helps me warm up talking to people hey sorry it was your birthday happy birthday how's everything going just a simple conversation and these are people you know these are people that I know okay whether they're inside my phone whether their Facebook is the reminder uh uh thing because Facebook is gonna remind you yeah hey yeah there's 15 people's birthdays today so I'll either write something on their wall or if I know them like that and I got their number yo what's up man happy birthday how's everything going just get into the flow of conversation that's all I'm doing getting in the flow of conversation because I know after talking of talking to people's birthdays I need to talk to homeowners that may not want to be speaking to me in the first place. So I'm warming myself up so when I'm so from 930 to 11 or 930 to 12 now I'm calling people in my phone in my database there's something called expired which are homes that were on the market and they just came off the market. Okay so for me as a realtor I know you tried to sell your property but it didn't sell. I can help you sell the but here's the thing I'm not the only one that's calling right there's a thousand other realtors blowing up their phone and actually I I was just talking to one of my other colleagues who he's he kills the game he he told me man realtors are starting to call at 6 30 in the morning I'm like wait what they're calling homeowners at 6 30 we're not supposed to call until 8 by the by the way it's a law oh I didn't know that yeah I was thinking maybe it's just considered it to wait. Right yeah well you you would think so yeah but we're technically not supposed to start to call until 8. Okay but realtors are starting at 6 30 that's tacky so now I know tacky right now I know my competition they're on the phone at 6 30 what am I doing at 6 30 I'm I'm I'm talking to Jesus and I'm journaling.

SPEAKER_00 46:52

You know that's my decision that the cool part about it is the people who are getting the calls don't even know that it's illegal to get calls that early.

SPEAKER_04 46:58

They don't right now they do they could complain and choose and you know take it to a whole nother level but that's if they want to do that. So making my calls until about 1130 12 I take lunch at 12 to 1 and then from 1 to 4 I dedicate that to appointments or going to open houses to go see homes, learn the in inventory my perfect day I want an appointment whether it's a Zoom with a new buyer soon or whether it's I'm stopping by a homeowner's house to talk to them about selling their home. So my goal is to always have at least one to two appointments a day minimum one and then I do that until about four and then from four to five I kind of unwind review my day and then by five I try to mentally clock out what advice would you give to someone who's trying to get into real estate today get used to rejection because it's a rejection game number one but two you know know you know your stuff you know know the forms and you need to be a problem solver because that's what it is at the end of the day. The consumer or well a buyer's never bought a a home so you you need to guide them to go through the process from start to finish and make sure the transaction ultimately closes. So that means knowing everything from uh finance options when you ultimately search for further home understanding the inventory understanding if the listing agent overpriced the home or not understanding what's the value add if they do buy right let's not only think about now let's think about hey if you sell this property that we bought in 2026 if you sell it in 2030 while you're there if you update the bathroom if you update the kitchen you'll help it appreciate in value so now when you sell it in 2030 it's worth more than what you bought it for. So now it's also a good investment that you made money on right? Best place to buy a home which in the States oh are we talking for primary living or are we talking for investing both so for I mean for primary living I hate to say Los Angeles really because it's beautiful out here. Yeah everybody wants to be in Los Angeles I hate that no the the world wants to be in Los Angeles that is so true. So that is so true so many different industries out here there's so much to do on a day. The tough thing about the Los Angeles market is the entry point to get a home is so high. Okay now to answer the best place to invest in my strategy when I'm talking to investors is you want to be in a landlord friendly state because if you have any issues with your tenant you want to be able to get them out as soon as you can so there's landlord friendly states out there that you can simply Google give me a list of landlord friendly states that you will have that list. Yeah and then at that point it's a matter of identifying what asset makes sense whether it's a single family multi-unit a condo in order to invest in for it to ultimately get cash flow to put money in your pocket where do you see yourself as a realtor in five to ten years give me the gimme the the most ridiculous because I'm a manifester and a Jesus believer okay and a worshiper.

SPEAKER_00 51:17

Let's talk about it and I say sometimes I do this thing with my husband sometimes I'll call him he's at work and I'll be like he'll ask me oh what you doing over there with the kids well I just went into my backyard and I pulled up some of those onions and that and I mean I'll go through the whole bit now I'm in the kitchen uh you know the kitchen that I uh that we have with the island top and I'm just like you know mind you I don't have none of that yet.

SPEAKER_04 51:49

Yeah yeah yeah but it's coming of course it's coming.

SPEAKER_00 51:52

It's coming and I like to I guess play that game of speaking of things that are not now um and bringing them to me um and we do that a lot and it helps to shift my mind and it helps to prepare me to get you know ready for the things that God has in store for me. So right now craziest thing that you can imagine in 10 years what is Jimmy doing as a realtor where is he at in the business?

SPEAKER_04 52:22

I want to be developing real estate you're not you're no you don't want to be developing I will you will be will be in 10 years developing real estate specifically ground up multifamily that's an asset class that you get crazy tax advantages you're providing housing for people and the cash flow that you get from those units is pretty good so my my goal which I will be doing is developing multi-units will it be in LA not exactly sure okay but it will be in a market where the numbers make sense for sure so what is 2026 so we talking in 2036 do you have kids in 2036?

SPEAKER_00 53:15

Yes I do minimum two I definitely have two yeah little babies running around that'll be exciting you gotta boy or a girl or a boy and a girl or two girls two boys boy first girl second I don't know what's your wife's name Claria Claria Claria that's pretty I was expecting that precious stone and she always reminds Get Outta here shout out to our girl Claria shout out shout out to Whitey shout out Claria yeah this was fun I hope so um I learned a lot what's one thing that you took away to um start off behind a team get as much training as you can fail fast build your confidence don't be afraid to do the groundwork the footwork if you gotta go knock on the doors I'm an artist and in a and a and a performer so in my head I'm thinking okay by the time I get into real being a realtor I'll be going to events hey you know I'm a realtor here's my car I'll be doing shit like that.

SPEAKER_02 54:24

Okay. You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_00 54:25

Um and just knowing that um it what you put in is what you'll get out.

SPEAKER_04 54:37

That's a bar.

SPEAKER_00 54:38

What you put in is what you'll get out and um I think that rings true specifically for real estate.

SPEAKER_04 54:45

I mean it rings true in other areas but I think in this game what you put in is what you put out how many hours you put in is what you're gonna see um your results and to not give up um to print out them gold letters let's go yeah yeah I've and to save my money live below my means so that I can actually keep my money yeah yeah because we spend we do we like to spend and I've done it I've listened I am a spender I'm not gonna lie my husband's a serial saver I am not so I know I need to get a handle on that okay y'all got that balance good good yeah yeah wifey's a serial spender spender I'm the saver now um but I've never gotten a deal without some type of work being put in I tell you that much it's the we it's the universe you know some say it's it's uh real estate gods I don't like to say that I believe there is God and God rewards you from they call it the real estate gods yeah but you you will be rewarded by the work that you put in you don't know where it's gonna come from like that driving around four days sending out phone phone rang but I sent out a hundred a hundred and fifty for one yeah you know versus another way is being on on the phone for four five six hours yeah a lot of people gonna tell you hey F off you know don't ever call me again you know you you guys are losers and then but somebody will say you know what damn I've been waiting on y'all to call I've been waiting still as multiple need help and then it's like okay I just there's a saying uh your X amount of no's from your next yes and that I that that rings true that rings true well this was episode seven with your favorite realtor Jimmy it's podcast one thousand and one we're gonna see y'all next week peace y'all never play ain't got time for the games after the paint here in LA where you come at