Know Your People

Know Your People - Tony's Story - The Bridge Between Bartending and Business

• Bob Kelley • Season 1 • Episode 4

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Episode 04: The Bridge Between Bartending and Business

In this episode of Know Your People, host Bob Kelley sits down with Tony White to discuss his journey from the service industry to real estate success. Tony shares how years of bartending provided the perfect training ground for the "people business," teaching him how to manage different personalities and keep a level head in fast-paced environments. The conversation dives into the importance of service to clients and how that carries over from any industry.

Chapters

[00:00] The Restaurant Roots Tony discusses his background in the hospitality industry and how seeing family members in real estate sparked his initial interest in the field.

[04:00] The Transition: The reality of the "hustle": how Tony balanced full-time bartending with his first few years as a licensed agent before making the leap to full-time real estate.

[09:00] Tony’s Tips for Buyers A couple tips to help in your home buying process

[12:39] Tony Talks Sellers Tony reflects on a very recent transaction and overall tips for sellers.

[16:45] The Importance of Pricing Why pricing your home right from the start can help you get the best terms

[21:00] Advice for agents Tony discusses his experience and what he would tell agents who are just getting started in the business.

[26:25] The Evolution of our Team Tony shares his perspective on the growth of our team over the years..

[35:00] Life Outside the Sale A personal look at what Tony does to recharge and some of his favorite local spots.

[39:00] Final Thoughts: Tony is a great resource for any questions for real estate 

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Follow Tony White:

  • Phone: 267-664-9120
  • Email: anthonyw@bobkelleyteam.com

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/etihwynot/

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SPEAKER_00

Joining me today is one of the most laid-back guys you'll meet, but don't let it fool you. Tony brings a calm confidence, strong communication, and serious problem-solving skills to every deal. He's great at connecting with people and handling pressure if things get a little crazy, which in the real estate industry happens more often than you think. Before getting into the business, he spent years behind the bar. So he knows how to read people, keep things running smoothly. When he's not working with clients, he'll probably find them outdoors. He's fishing, he's hunting, he's on the golf course. Let's welcome one of our OG agents, my nephew, Tony White. All right, we're sitting down with Tony White. He is my nephew, most importantly, great agent, been with the team for 12 years, and uh one of one of the first guys to join us. So, Tony, thanks for making the time to jump on and uh let's hop into it, dude. Yeah, happy to be here. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Awesome, awesome. So we start with everyone the same thing. Origin story. Why don't you share a little bit how you got started in in real estate, what you were doing beforehand, what drew you to it, and uh and a little bit about your story.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Um, so you mentioned, you know, I had a family member who was pretty involved in it. Very handsome family member. Yeah, handsome family member. Um, so that's kind of where it started. Um, I was bartending for years, uh, working in restaurants. Um, you know, even when I when I first got licensed, I still bartended, you know, full time for the first couple years. Um then eventually got to the point where I was down to three nights a week and then two nights a week, and then eventually just was done with it.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. Yeah. And you you talked about bartending a little bit, and we have a lot of people on the team that have a background in service industry, bartending, a couple different things. Laura, Liz, Devin, yourself. Can you share a little bit about some of the things that kind of helped you from like, I guess, more so like customer service, looking out for the customer, dealing with tough co-ops, helped you kind of transitioning from that world into this world and like what some of the carryovers were, especially from your skills?

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, sure. Um, I think like the biggest thing is especially bartending, and I'm I'm sure you know, Lara and Liz, Devin will tell you the same thing. You're in front of people. Like you're you're almost on a stage, right? You know, you're surrounded by people, you have a million people that are focused on you. Um and that's and it's tough. But also it's great to you know develop like those people skills. If you're talking to people from all over the world and you know, all different walks of life, and you know, not everybody's the same, but you get you get the chance to be in front of different people and have different experiences um with those people. Um and I think that's you know, that relates to real estate as well, right? You know, it could be any walk of life that you're on the phone with or you know, that that comes through at any time. So I think that that's the biggest thing is like the the people skills. I also like, and I know again, the other the other people who worked in in the restaurants were probably saying the same thing. A lot of my business comes from either people that I worked with over the years or people that I worked or that were customers or regulars, clients uh have me turned into clients over here.

SPEAKER_00

So um your regulars at at that at that that job kind of follow you in into this job. And I know we have a million, million people since you've been on the team that you've helped out, you know, former co-workers and and whatnot, helping with that transition, buying a house. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So thinking about all the all those all those people, can you think about like, you know, maybe some maybe it's someone from that pool, maybe it's a past uh client there or a past co-worker there, like a big win, something you're proud of, where you really help someone, whether it was like sell a home for a number they needed or a time they need they really needed something in their life, or buy or get get a home that they were really hoping for, stuff like that. Anything you could share about a big win that you had?

SPEAKER_01

For sure. I mean, um, I mean, one of the biggest transactions I ever had was a was a client from uh who was a bar regular for years.

SPEAKER_02

Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Um and um you remember right? And yeah, ended up buying like um $900,000 house in skip back. It's a beautiful home. Um, I worked with him and his his family for probably three years on and off looking for homes before we finally found the right one. Um and you know, that was a guy that I would see like when I was bartending, I would see him. His wife's hope his wife's not watching, but I would see him four or five days a week. Or just once a week if she's watching. Yeah, if she is watching, yes. Yeah, once every other week or so. Um but but yeah, I mean, um I think that just says a lot, you know, about I mean, it says a lot about like the trust that he put into me, right? Because I'm not pouring him beers, right? Right. Um he's purchasing it. It's the biggest investment of his life, right? Yep. Nearly a million dollars he's putting into a home and his family's got to be there for years. And you know, that that is very um makes me feel good that that somebody would put their put their trust into me uh with having that background, you know.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, yeah, yeah. All it's all that rapport building, relationship building, it's built over look, and and we're we're of the same ilk. So, you know, I'll sit down and share a beer with almost anyone on the planet, whether we agree on something or not, you know, you can have a you can have a good chat. So I think I think if you have that, if you have that in you, like those those skills are are like a huge, huge carryover. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's good. That's good. How about how about a how about like a tough a tough deal? Anything, you know, recently in the past couple years, we've had something that's been really challenging. Not a challenging client. We don't ever have challenging clients on our team, but but either a co-op or just something with a property or they've all been easygoing and super easy to buy its own real estate, it's not stressful.

SPEAKER_01

Nothing crazy. Um can't really think of anything specific, but like I know you mentioned co-ops, and like you know, that is one thing. That's like one thing in real estate that we can't really control, right? You can't control who is going to be on the other side of the transaction. Um and you know, sometimes you run into somebody that you can't get a hold of or doesn't pick up the phone or says, you know, text me to get a quicker response, and then you don't hear from them. Yeah. So like that's like one of the things we can't really control. Um they're they're they're the tougher experiences.

SPEAKER_02

Uh yeah.

SPEAKER_01

And that's you that's typically it look, clients can be tough too, but I think um not our clients. Not ours. Um but I think that you know one of the one of the bigger challenges is that the agency work. There's so many agents, we say it all the time, right? There's so many agents that they can't all be great, right? Yeah.

unknown

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

It's impossible. Um, but I think that's the biggest challenge to overcome on most transactions.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. Do you wish, not that we want to turn it into a wine fest for us, but do you wish more buyers and sellers kind of knew that going in? It's kind of hard to start a relationship with somebody and say, hey, we may be dealing with a jerk on the other side, or we may be dealing with someone who's not like doesn't take this job seriously.

SPEAKER_01

Like, yeah, I I I think that's yes, but I also think like there's ways that you can get out in front of it too, right? Like you can kind of set the standard before you ever even meet the client at the at at the property, right? You can you can call the aid the listing agent. If you're working with buyers, you can call the listing agents and say, Hey, I'm so-and-so, and I'm gonna be showing uh client your house and just try to get some bad uh feedback. And you just establish that relationship with them and just kind of feel them out before you ever even meet the client at the house. And then you sets my expectations for them, and then also allows me to set expectations for for my clients to say, Hey, I had a conversation with this guy and he was great, or tried calling this guy four or five times before we we got here and I didn't I didn't get an answer. Um so you get an idea of who you're working with before you know we ever get there.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, yeah. It's a great it's it's a great tip, and it's and it's a fine dance because you want to be we always want to be truthful and upfront with with our clients, but we also don't want to bash the other side because you know it could be anything because there's something going on in your life, whatever, but it is you know, that's a communication business, right? You gotta be available, you gotta pick up the phone, you gotta read your email, things like that, text messages, whatever. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, yeah, awesome. All right, so you talked a little bit about buyers. You know, I do this with all the agents on our team. Like if you were to sit down and think about hey, you're meeting a new buyer right now, and they say, Hey, Tony, give me give me three things, or as Phil Leotardo would say, let me tell you a couple of three things. Give me three, give me three things. Give me three things that that you would tell a buyer who's just getting started out in the process.

SPEAKER_01

So the the one thing I would focus on early on is establishing a relationship with a lender, right? Um, you know, talk to more than one, first of all, right? Try to try to shop around and get the best rate, but it's not just about that either. Like find somebody that you know is gonna answer the phone on the weekends, or if you need like a closing cost worksheet worked up or you know, the fee sheet worked up in an hour or two because you have a deadline to meet, you need to make an offer, find somebody that you know is gonna be available to do that for you. Um that's super important, establishing a relationship with uh with the lender. Um and then also like on the in that on that same note, like run different scenarios past them, right? Because if you're looking in different areas and there's different taxes, or this one has an hoa, but this one doesn't, make sure you've walked through all those scenarios before you even start looking so that you understand what the difference in cost is going to be and what the living expectations are gonna be when you get moved in. Um that's a big one uh for buyers. Um then the other thing is like I try to tell people not to focus on like when we're walking through a place, like the paint looks terrible, like that's we're painting the house anyway, right? Or you know, carpet needs to be replaced, or the floor is like all that stuff is if if the house is in the right place and and it's where you want to be, um, and you can see yourself being there, like none of that stuff matters. Like it's a a little bit of a cost up front, but you know, don't let that make or break the situation because cosmetic stuff can always be changed.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, well, golden rule, man. Location, location, location. I like I like you said about establish a relationship with a lender, not just get a pre-approval, right? The pre-approval kind of sets the stage, shows us, you know, you have to put that information in the agreement of sales, show shows the seller that you're you're pre-qualified with somebody, but the relationship with the lender, and you know, we have we have we have the best people, right? We have great, we have great people, so we can we can always refer any anyone out, but um getting through that, and and I like to say, you know, banks are great for your accounts, checking account, saving account, things like things like that. But when you're in this process, and especially in in the market that we're in, right? It's springtime here, things are moving so fast. If you just go to the guy, you know, the 1-800 number, or you click on a button on the portal for your bank, forget about it if you need an answer over the weekend or that guy's doing it for a job, like the there are guys that are doing it for living. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, yeah. There's a there's a big difference there.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, it's it's it's really it's really, really important. And also, I mean, just to dig a little deeper on on the you know, after you establish a relationship, stay in communication as you're shopping around, because a lot of buyers will shop around. Some it's like, hey, I just need to be in this school district or this town or this zip code, but we started with a lot of people where the search starts really wide, and you know, having that relationship as as the property taxes change. If there's a HOA fee or a condo fee or something like that that comes up, it changes your mortgage profile a little bit. I think that's really, really important to go through. Yeah, that's good. That's good stuff. How about the flip side, man? How about when when you're meeting with a new seller? I know you just had a listing this past weekend that we had eight billion showings on and a bunch of offers and and did all the things. Like when you're walking through with them for the first time, you're sitting down with them for the first time, other than explaining the paperwork and what our relationship looks like, what are some of the things you're you're kind of telling them?

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, so with the that's actually a good example because with them, they reached out to me last year um and they they gave me a heads up that they were gonna be moving out of state. So I went out there probably eight months ago. Um and I just walked through and I said, you know, there's a few things that that you can do here. Um and it's like typical, like it's like deep clean stuff, right? And it's hard, like they they have two young kids, so like with them, it's like hard to keep a house clean. Um but like your like baseboards and like chipped paint and like caulking in the bathroom around spots where it's like got stained, it's become stained or your grout's become stained, like that stuff is like things that most people can do, right? Um so like don't let that stuff get in the way of putting you know the best product on the market because it's small stuff. I mean, I could like for a little bit of elbow grease in a weekend and you can clean a place up really nice. Um but yeah, that's that's probably like what I'd say for for that. As far as other tips for for sellers, like interview multiple agents, right? Like find somebody that you want to work with. Um find somebody that's not just gonna tell you what you want to hear, right? I think that's like uh that's a that's a big thing, um, especially when it comes to pricing a place. Um because a lot of the stuff you see, like like pricing when you're selling your home and listing your home for sale, pricing is everything. Um you know what we see some places sitting around on the market for you know 20, 30 days, like they're overpriced. Like that's that's the reason they're still there. Unless there's something crazy going on behind the scenes, right? But like that's tip that's typically the case, is that they're they're overpriced. Um you see when it's priced right, like we had this weekend, um, you know, it goes and you have multiple offers and you're able to control the terms and get exactly the offer that you want. It's not just about getting the highest number or testing the market out at a higher number because you start doing that and then you're sitting around two weeks later and it's like, all right, well, the showing stopped, and where's everybody at?

SPEAKER_00

Right. Right.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00

I think I think that's good. And I think you you hit on it. And also like each seller's different, right? So each house is different, but control the controllables, you can control the condition, you can control the price, can't control the interest rates, can't control um you know other inventory that's out there. If you you list your house and five people in your neighborhood list at the same weekend, that's just kind of bad luck, right? Unless you know bad neighborhood. But uh, but if they if they knew that you were leaving, maybe they would stay. Um but I think I think if you control those things, it's good. And you know, you touched on not just interviewing agents and not just going with somebody who's telling you what you want to hear, especially when it comes to price. How about like a little a little bit deep, a little bit deeper on that? Like not just the price, but to condition about, you know, for for me, like a thing I think that we rely on a lot, especially newer agents who join our team, is the experience. I mean, we're we're masters of this process. And whether you have uh a condo in Lansdale or you know, a $2 million house somewhere else, or a little something here, like we've kind of we've done all of those things and they're all sort of different playbooks, but and and it matters that matters, but what all what matters to the client is what we're doing for them in their particular house. Like you dive a little bit deeper on like some of those questions, like when you're going through pricing and and like kind of what you're telling sellers, especially if they want to push it too much, or or if you've had the reverse where they're like they're they're just off and they're they're a lot lower than the market.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, well, everybody wants to price price it higher, right? Like that is that that's an initial human greed aspect, right? Yeah, it's what it's really what it is. Um but like what they don't realize is that you know, if you price it a little bit lower or you price it where it's supposed to be, that the more important stuff throughout the transaction is the stuff that you can then control, right? So if we test the market, so to speak, right? And we we we price a house that's going to be sold at $350 either way, we price it at $375 or $400,000 to test the market. By the time two weeks rolls around, we're sitting there, there's no like I said, there's no more showings coming in, and then we have to go back and have that conversation to lower the price, and then we lower the price, and people start to assume, well, there's something wrong with this place.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

And then you have a situation where if as if you would have priced it right originally, you would have could have had multiple uh offers or multiple people interested in it, and you can control this you know, inspections and appraisal stuff, settlement date. Like you're you're more in control, right? And when it when it starts to sit for a few weeks, we just talked about like this, like you know, control what you can control, right? One of the things that we can control is the price. So if somebody comes in and you're they're saying you're you know, you're saying I want to list it at 400 and I'm telling you it's not worth 400, and then somebody else comes in and they say, Yeah, let's listen to 400, they're not doing you any favors, like by by lying to you, right? Essentially what they're doing. They just want the business.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. Um buying the listing, buying the listing.

SPEAKER_01

Exactly. Exactly.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. I just had a I just had an uh a scenario with that where I went on a listing appointment. Great, great, great client. She interviewed a bunch of agents, so I was I was competing, and um uh I don't know who the third agent was, but the second second agent I think came down to between the two of us, and um thank God she didn't hire based on looks, I would have had no shot. But the the price I had was a little higher than her price, it wasn't crazy higher, it was a little bit higher than their price. Um so she called to tell the agent, we signed with our team. Great. The agent calls her back. Calls her back, knows she's under contract with somebody else, calls her back three days later and says, Yeah, I looked at the comps. I actually think I could sell your house for even more than what that guy said. Yeah. What the hell were you doing on the first appointment then? I think you should bring up an ethics charge. Anyway, but I do think like you you brought up like testing the market, and that's a that there's a lot of you know, it's becoming in vogue the test the market, the the high delete, the the the listing and secrecy and try to sell it to less people, and you're an agent, you're you're you're running around like an asshole, like it's 1988, calling all your agent friends to say house on the market, just put the house in the market anyway. Doing yourself a disservice, yeah. You're you're you're most of the time you're doing yourself a disservice. So, but I think the thing that like sellers who are in that position, because sometimes you're in that position where, like, hey, I would only sell at this number, all of us have an avenue for that, right? The the make me move number. But for the other people where you want to test the market, you want to test the market or do you want to sell the house is really the question to have. And then if you want to sell the house, let's figure out a way to price it as high as possible to get people through the door, but still make sure we get enough action to get multiple bidders, and that's when you get the best terms to come out of it.

unknown

Right.

SPEAKER_01

Typically you get them bidding against themselves, which is which is equally important to the price, right? If the price is within a few thousand dollars, yeah, I mean, what are what are we doing?

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, same. Yeah, if you have a buyer who's paying cash, sometimes you'll take take a little a little bit less because you don't have to worry about the mortgage process. God forbid somebody loses their job or something during it. Right. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's that's that's real, that's really good. That's really good stuff. So as we go through this, you know, we talked about buyers, we talked about sellers, we talked a little bit about your start, your transition from you know, can I start off more part-time than the full-time, you're you're in over a decade, and you've had you've seen agents, you know, join our team over the years. You you were you were you were first or 1A, 1B, you and Anthony Phillips, you're both both there. Let's you you can take ownership. I would say you're first. Um when when you see those agents, like, and we've all had ups and downs in our career, like any advice for like brand new agents and then maybe agents that are just like struggling a little bit.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, I think um from my experience, like my experience was I had one foot in the door like for like five years. And it was like I said, I went from four nights a week to three nights a week and then down to two nights a week. And even when I was doing two nights a week, I had I was successful with real estate. I had like moments where I would would do great like make a living. But there was stuff that I missed out on because I didn't jump, you know, 10 toes in and I wasn't fully invested in it because I had something else going on. I'm working Monday night and Saturday night, so Tuesday morning's gone and then Sunday morning's gone and then you're not losing two days, you're losing four days. So for me, like the the biggest difference and the in and the the biggest jump for me was just stopping that, cutting it off completely. And yeah, I know that's to like it's tough, right? You can go months without getting paid doing real estate. Yeah. Um hopefully that doesn't keep happening. But but like it can happen. It's part of especially when you're starting out. Um so it's it's good to have that safety net and to fall back on it, but you can't be can't be a full-time agent without being a full-time agent, is the the way I would say it. And you pushed me for years to get out of the way. Not hard enough, right? Not not hard enough, not hard enough, but you you know, you were you were constantly in my air. Um and it's tough to give up, right? Because like it's uh it's a lot of it's cash and it's yeah, money and it's there. But eventually I got to a point where I had a few deals sacked up, you know, real estate wise, and I was able to walk away from that and fully invest myself. And I think that's the biggest thing for anybody. Like I had a couple people reach out to me recently, both who I've worked worked with in restaurants, uh and asked me, Hey, do you think I'd be a good agent? And I first question I asked was Are you doing it part-time or are you going to do it? And they're like, Well, I have a full-time job, but I would like want to do it on the side. It's like, well, could you do it? Yeah. Are you gonna be like super successful? Probably not. Like you're you're in an office for uh for eight hours a day, and then are you gonna want to come home and work? Like, yeah, like that, like that's what it is. Um so for me, I would say if you if you want to wanna be like full-time and do it as a career, that's the only way to do it full-time.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I listen, I I started part-time as well when I first started. You know, I worked for the the Enqu Inquirer and Daily News, and I started part-time, and right after I bought my first house, and um, and the market was scorching hot. It was 2004. So if you could fog a mirror and you weren't super offensive, you'd you'd make a living. And like I bang, I meet those metrics, can't stop me. So um, I I I was doing pretty well out of the shoot, but you know, just kind of like more lucky than good early on, right? And um, you know, and and and going through that and then realizing, like, hey man, I I at some point too, you have to take ownership of the experience for the client. Like, are you able to give this client a good experience in in what is for most people stressful? They're moving their family, they're spending a lot of money. So you know, hey, we got to get the kids in this school. Oh my God, our are relationships falling apart. Are these life events that impact? And then they can't get a hold of you because you're trying to get the perfect poor on a Guinness. Right, right, right. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So it's it's you know, that's that's a you know, that's that's part of it. So you gotta, you know, you have to care. And it is far, you know, we talk about this all the time on our team, it's far too easy for people to get the real estate license and it's a huge disservice to the public because they kind of view us all as a commodity, which it's fine because we we we we kind of let let those people easily get their license. But I do think you make good points. Like you do have to, you know, at some point be committed and and watch Net Transition for you, where you were like committed, committed to both, and then it was like, I'm I'm dying because I'm doing both. That's like you can only hold on to that part for so long, and then and then and then making the switch. And like you said, like you're gonna it that's that's the nature of the business, right? We're gonna have ups and downs, but like our job is to maintain the relationship with clients, and then the transactions happen when they happen. Like that's almost it's the most important thing, but it's almost secondary to the relationship. So right, not almost, but it's secondary, yeah. Yeah, I think that's good. And those agents, those former bartenders, look, man, we're we got the blueprint here. So call call Tony and then you know I'll give you my.

SPEAKER_01

We got it all figured out, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00

We got it all figured out. Um, all right, talk a little bit. Why don't you give, I think you and Anthony have the I mean everyone on the team that's been with us for a while, but you and Anthony Phillips for sure have the best perspective. Um like talk a little bit about sort of the evolution of our team, kind of what it's like to be on a team. I know you haven't been anywhere else, but can you can you just talk a little bit about that, like what you've seen over the past decade plus?

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, I mean, real estate as a whole is I mean the whole world's changed since then. But um, I mean, when we started, we were in like some bullshit office in Lansdale in the basement. No, no, no offense. But like playing backgatment and cards open the phone ring over the phone rings. Yeah. Um and then we um, you know, not to tell the whole Bob Kelly team story, but tell it. We bounced around a little bit.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

We've been we've had we've found success no matter where we went, but yeah, we went from you know, three agents to five agents and up to what 18 agents or seven yeah we were 18 at one point.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, I think we're 14 now. Yeah, 15 now.

SPEAKER_01

Um so but uh so much has changed in real estate over those years too, and you know that that's like the one thing um that says a lot about uh us and you is um you go through all of that stuff and the weaker agents don't make it through that, right? The market changes, uh you have people you know getting 30 offers on a house through the middle of COVID, and then before that people seem to forget seem to forget that people would like houses would be listed for months sometimes before they sell. That was like normal. So like there's different evolving and to to what's around you being a chameleon and and be being able to um to fit into all these different uh you know markets and different the technology's getting crazy, but being able to fit into that that stuff and make the changes and and adapt. No, it's important. It says a lot about our team. Uh no, we're still here.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, yeah, we're still here, we're not going anywhere. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Do you do you have you found it helpful? Because you've played both roles, right? Like you you were on the team, you were part-time, and then we had some other agents come in, like when Iris joined the team. For example, she had already been an agent elsewhere and been pretty successful in her own right. Like, like for me, like a fun thing to watch from from a team leader perspective is is when an agent goes from and I I need some help with that, and and like being confident enough to ask for help. Like you on our team, you can always ask for help. Like the joke I have is there's no stupid questions, just stupid people. I I don't really mean that though. Um, but like hey, I need some help to like then you you are like the resource, like somebody else has for help, like, well, wait a minute, I got you, dog. I can I can Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_01

And like that is that that's the biggest benefit of of what we have, like what we what we've built. It's you know, um, people have families, people have lives outside outside of work. So like if I can't be somewhere, I can count on somebody else from the team almost every single time to to show up at help. Yeah, there's been very few instances where somebody's reached out in our group chat and said, Hey, I need help showing a place, even on short notice in a couple hours, there's been very few instances that it doesn't they don't find coverage uh one way or another. You know? Um that's the biggest benefit of of being on an uh such a large team. Um but it's the people that matter, right? Yeah, like if they weren't willing to willing to to do that stuff and willing to help out, we wouldn't be we wouldn't be the same.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, yeah, yeah. And it's and it goes up and down the board, whether you know we have Hims who's newer to the team, you know, a few few months ago, and he he I mean he stepped in right away. Like he'll he'll show anything anywhere. Um, you know, Abiat, same same way. She's a newer agent, still still out showing people houses here and there when she fits it into her schedule. So and and it doesn't matter for me, production matter. We do a lot of business, like I said all the time. Like our our team gets recognized, and and you know, it's our team, that's my my team name, so I I get the recognition, but it's because of all the all the people on the team, right? It's like I'm not doing all the deals. We kind of manage it and we have processes to save some time and make a little bit more money, but it's it's a collective, it's all of us. And to me, seeing all those people help each other out and and it and we have a long enough relationship with everyone where whether they are having an up year or a down year for their own personal business, they're still there for each other. Like that, that that shit means the world to me.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, I think another thing that I don't know if we even really talk about it enough is this kind of just happened by accident, I would think, right? We're all spread out, like like the the Philadelphia suburbs are massive, right? I mean, John lives, what, in Langhorn? Yep. And I'm in Collegeville. We like we're like an hour apart.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

So if I have somebody or he has somebody that's looking in Collegville, or I have somebody that's looking in Langhorn, like do I do I really I mean I'll do it, but like do you really want to drive you know out an hour to show somebody 30, 40 places over months? Like when you just we can just do it together, or handle it, you know, figure some figure another thing out.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Um, but yeah, not not just us, like we're really like we're pretty spread out.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, yeah, but that but listen, I I will share that that was by design. Like that was by design. When I started, I'll I'll never forget this. I've told this story a million times. So as soon as I start telling it, I know you've heard it before, but when we were at our first company, and it was, I think, like my first full year in real estate. So I think it's 2005. I had a client that I got through Friends Mine. Like when you when you first start, right? Like without your friends and family, you're you you kind of are like fighting uphill whenever you have any kind of small business. And and certainly I would be nowhere without without all those guys that helped me out, you know, earlier in my career. And I had someone who was a connection to one of my best friends growing up. We're at like a work happy hour hanging out and they're looking for a house. And um, you know, the process is the same. You know, there's some nuances between the towns. And when we need someone, like we're we're the first one to say, hey, we will represent you. We're we're great at getting through the transaction and all the steps, but we're gonna also tie in someone local to make sure we're just not missing anything. We're always gonna look out for the client first, right? But I'm so old that the first office that you mentioned earlier that had a map above the resource computers. And when you would sell a house, you'd put a pin and a map. And I sold a place and it was down in Delaware County, and an old an older guy in the office said, Who the hell drove down here? And I'm like, Ah, it's a guy I see all the time. I hang out with. Him and his wife are looking to buy a house. Like, what do you what are you talking about? Why wouldn't I do it?

SPEAKER_01

Right.

SPEAKER_00

And he's like, Nah you don't, you don't do that. Now, look, he's also right, you can make a living and just be like a neighborhood expert or a city expert. Yeah, of course. It's a great thing about our business. There's it's like a cereal aisle, there's whatever kind you want. You want lucky charms or you want the healthy stuff, right? I like lucky charms. So anyway, I told him, dude, what are you talking about? This is my this is my contact. I'm just gonna like refer them out and leave them high and dry. Like they trust me. And we and we did the deal. And I thought I discovered fire. I was like a caveman. I'm like, holy shit, you're not gonna drive 30 minutes to go make money if you work in any other industry. I mean, it my neighborhood, there's probably 30 people here driving to center city every day for work. That's their job. So what? That's your job. So, like that whole notion to me was like willing to do that, wild. Like, God, go go go be a service to your people, represent them in the transaction. And you know, at that at that point, I mean, I didn't have kids yet, but I remember a couple years later, like, you know, my son was you know two years old. I'm like, he could um he had an iPod touch, like he could look it up on his iPod where the grocery store is. So yeah, yeah, yeah. It's a wild, wild business. Lots of ways to to to earn a living and build your business.

SPEAKER_02

Definitely.

SPEAKER_00

But but for us, yeah, I mean, we we are we are spread out by by design, Philly, the burbs, and down to the Jersey shore. So yeah, we're we're good. We're good. All right, that's good. That's good, good stuff about the team and and and uh and some highlights there. Share a little bit about about yourself. I mean, obviously I know you and I love you, but for the people, like what are some things that you're that you're into outside of real estate?

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, so um golfing, fishing, um, hunting, all that, all that outdoor stuff. So the stuff that I enjoy outside of work.

SPEAKER_00

Um where are some of your favorite places to do that? Like locally, where do you go fishing and the hunting I know you drive?

SPEAKER_01

Locally, there's like uh I can't really tell you where I go. You can go you can't share your spots. Yeah, but uh locally, like, you know, um I'll go out and I'll I'll fish in Evansburg uh State Park. And yeah, you know, I live in Collegville, but yeah. So there's plenty of places to do it.

SPEAKER_00

Not a lot of fish left, but there's plenty of places to do it.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, yeah, not right, exactly. Don't catch anything, but yeah, get out there. Um and then golf-wise, I mean, like there we have some of the best golf courses in the c in the country that are that are really close. Yeah. Um I haven't played a lot the last couple years, but I'm looking to get out there this year and play a lot more.

SPEAKER_00

Um and hunting, you go far, far, right? You're off the grid.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, so do some stuff locally, but mostly north like further north. Um like north central PA.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah.

unknown

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Cool.

SPEAKER_00

And then what about so like you live in Collegesville, you grew up in Lansdale, in the city and in Lansdale, right? You moved around a little bit. Like, how about a couple of your favorite local places to Collegville, and then maybe more regionally, whether it's uh somewhere to grab a bite to eat, a bar, or you know, place to hang out.

SPEAKER_01

You already know what I'm gonna say about Collegeville. Uh the Italian Collegville Italian bakery is like a number one. It's yeah, it's the best, the best around. I I look like this for a reason.

SPEAKER_00

The team the team uh calendar won't be coming out anytime. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Collegeville Italian Bakery is seriously like my it's my favorite restaurant. Yeah, yeah. They're they're the best, people are the best there. Um, Steve, I know, you know. Yeah, great guy. Great guy. Um so that that like soup, that's like super local to me. Um as far as like spreading out, um getting down to some other places, like in the city, like uh saloon is awesome. I know we went there with the hotel and a couple of our guys at Spray Spot. Uh you know, there's um there's a bunch, man. Angelo's is awesome in the city. Angelo's awesome, yeah. There's a bunch, but yeah, I always come back to uh the bakery being my my 1A.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, it's right there. Yeah, man, it's right, it's right, it's right there. How about breweries? You're you you've known so many people from your time, you know. You worked at Iron Hill for years, so from your time there and and your other connections along the way is like everyone's spread out. Like, do you have any good good spots?

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. Um, so Von C is awesome. They're like right in Arstown. Um I go there often. I have a buddy who plays live music and he plays there pretty frequently. Um, I was actually just there this past weekend. Um, Von C is great, great beer, great atmosphere. They don't have their own food, but they usually have like a food truck there, or you can order pizza or order from anywhere, bring your own stuff, whatever you want to do.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Um, but but that's a great spot. Um, yeah, I worked I worked in a brewery obviously for years. I worked at Iron Hill Brewery forever. Um they're actually getting ready to make a comeback too.

SPEAKER_00

So yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Excited to see what they do.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, yeah. Tony's busy, guys. He's not available. All right, well, we'll we'll button it up in a minute, but anything else that you would want to share, anyone who's like looking at it, looking to to maybe get to know an agent about you and sort of your style. And then lastly, any agents who um are interested in like switching teams, brokerages, joining a team, anything that you would you would share with them as well.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. I mean, um start with following if you have my number and you know me and you you have that situation and you it can be between us. You can give me a call, and I I I won't uh you know, secret safe here. But if if you're if you have questions or anything like that, you you can text or call me whenever you want. And that that goes for really any agents.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. And then how how about for clients? Anything to know just about your style, like how you like to deal with people, yeah, um, going up if they're if they're if they're out there looking for an agent.

SPEAKER_01

Right. So uh with me, I I try to like be really laid back and not pushy about things, um, which come sometimes is uh a fault for me, right? Um, but I'm I'm not gonna be super like in your face and salesy and pushy and stuff like that. And even if you just have a question or you see a place that you're curious about in your neighborhood that you want to go check out, like give me a call. Let's let's go check it out.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, yeah, yeah. You you yeah, Tony's good to use as a resource, doesn't have commission breath, not gonna jump down your throat. Yeah, okay. Yeah, he's good. Awesome, man. Well, listen, you you know I love you. You're you're a great part of the team. Everybody on the team loves you, and I know all the clients love you too. So that thanks for taking time to do this. And you know, hey, just thanks, thanks for being here, dude. Oh, appreciate it, man.

SPEAKER_01

I appreciate you having me here.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. All right. Thanks for checking out. Know your people. If you enjoyed this episode, do us a favor. Follow or subscribe on your favorite platform, leave a quick rating and tell a friend to check us out. You can find us on social media at Bob KellyTeam across all platforms. And if you want to connect with our team or today's guests, the info is in the description below. Go show some love.