The Powers Playbook
Your guide to Family, Wealth, and Las Vegas Real Estate. Building Wealth, Family & Financial Freedom Through Real Estate.
The Powers Playbook
Why Your “Why” Matters When Buying a Home - Guest Spot on JC Castillo's Podcast | The Powers Playbook
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
This episode of The Powers Playbook is a little different.
Aaron Powers joins JC Castillo from Equity Title for a special conversation about real estate, the Las Vegas market, building a client-first business, and what buyers and sellers should understand in today’s market.
Aaron shares how he got started in real estate, what Powers Real Estate focuses on, how his team approaches buyers and sellers, and why relationship-building has been one of the biggest keys to long-term success.
This conversation covers the current state of the market, interest rates, inventory, buyer motivation, seller strategy, real estate investing, lender communication, and why having the right team around you matters when making one of the biggest financial decisions of your life.
In This Episode
• Aaron’s 10-year journey in real estate
• What Powers Real Estate specializes in
• Why the right time to buy is often when you are personally ready
• How buyers should think about interest rates
• Why motivation matters before starting the home search
• The difference between buying a primary residence and investing
• What makes today’s Las Vegas market more balanced
• Why sellers need realistic pricing strategies
• How buyer demand can change if rates drop
• Why communication between agent, lender, title, and client matters
• How seller credits, closing costs, and rate buy-downs can help buyers
• Real-world transaction lessons from Aaron’s career
• Why education and consultation are central to the Powers Real Estate process
The Big Takeaway
Real estate is not one-size-fits-all.
Every buyer, seller, and investor has a different reason for entering the market. For some people, buying a home is about building long-term wealth for their family. For others, it may be about relocating, upgrading, downsizing, or investing.
Aaron explains why the “why” behind a purchase matters so much — and why buyers should not let headlines alone make the decision for them.
Interest rates, inventory, market conditions, and pricing all matter, but they are only pieces of the bigger picture.
Why Having the Right Team Matters
A successful real estate transaction requires communication.
Your real estate agent, lender, title team, and escrow team all play important roles in helping the deal move smoothly from contract to closing.
In this episode, Aaron explains why buyers need a team that can help them understand their options, structure the right offer, evaluate seller credits, consider rate buy-downs, and make decisions based on their personal goals.
Thinking About Buying or Selling in Las Vegas?
If you have questions about:
🏡 buying a home
📈 selling your home
💰 building wealth through real estate
📉 interest rates and affordability
🤝 seller credits and closing costs
📍 Las Vegas or Henderson real estate
reach out anytime.
📧 info@powersre.com
About The Powers Playbook
The Powers Playbook is your guide to family, wealth, and real estate.
Each episode helps buyers, sellers, homeowners, and investors better understand the real estate process through practical conversations about strategy, negotiation, market trends, client experience, and long-term financial decisions.
Subscribe for more conversations about:
🏡 Las Vegas real estate
💰 wealth building
📈 real estate strategy
🤝 buying and selling homes
👨👩👧 family-focused financial decisions
You've opened the powers playbook. Your guide to family well and real life.
SPEAKER_01Hey everybody, welcome into a different and special episode of the Powers Playbook today. We're actually going to be um airing some audio and video of when I was on another podcast. So a gentleman by the name of JC Castillo is a uh marketing title rep for equity title. Asked me to come on as a real estate professional. Um and we went over uh a lot of different things. What's going on in the market today? How did I get started? How do we operate our business? What makes us unique? Um, all of those things. So what you're about to hear and listen to is a cut-up of uh our time together where I actually went on his podcast. So kind of a cool, uh different setup, and I hope you enjoy it. Have fun.
SPEAKER_00Can the audience get your name, surname, company you work with? How long have you been in the real estate industry and which section of real estate you specialize in?
SPEAKER_01My name is Aaron Powers, and I uh I run Powers Real Estate. That's our our company. Uh, I do hang my license at a Keller Williams brokerage, Keller Williams, the marketplace. Um, how long have I been in real estate? It'll be 10 years this year. Actually, I think I yeah, it's June, so 10 years. Oh, wow. I've been in real estate for 10 years this month, so that's pretty cool. Um, and I service uh anything residential real estate related. Okay. Um so if it is commercial, I have a partner, I'll refer to. Uh but our our basis is residential real estate, buying, selling, investing.
SPEAKER_00Everyone thinks the market is horrible because that's what the news is saying. But what is your perspective as an agent? You have your roots on the ground. Are you buyers scared of buying at the moment, or is it the best moment now for them to start looking as there is a lot of inventory available?
SPEAKER_01Uh great question. So I I think a lot of times, at least for me, the right time to buy a home is when you can do it.
SPEAKER_03Okay.
SPEAKER_01I I don't think that it depends on why you're doing it, first of all.
SPEAKER_03Okay.
SPEAKER_01Right? So if I'm a buyer and I want to buy a primary residence for myself to benefit my family for the next decade, and I wanna I wanna have roots and I want Vegas to be my home, and I I want to get into the game of building equity and building wealth for my family, if I can buy a house today, I would seriously look to consider doing it.
unknownOkay.
SPEAKER_01Meaning that I'm gonna have to pay anyways, right? Like I'm gonna have to pay a payment somewhere. That could be rent, that could be to my mom and dad, it could be family, whatever the case may be. I'm already paying to live. Correct, right? If I have the ability to manage that for myself and pay down my own debt or my own mortgage, I think it's a fabulous time to buy. Because now I'm in the game, right? I I've never met anyone that 10, 20, 30 years ago said, shouldn't have bought that, shouldn't have bought a house. Right, you know what I mean? Like now, if if you're forced to get rid of it in a in a in a non-positive and you have no other option, then yes, it could not be great for you. If you have the ability to hold on to that asset over time, I've never met anyone over over a period of time that wasn't said, oh wow, okay, this has been a good decision for me to buy this house.
SPEAKER_03Right.
SPEAKER_01Now, if if you're looking at it on the other side of things of like, is it a good time for me to invest in the real estate market? That's a different question.
SPEAKER_03Right.
SPEAKER_01Right? If we're looking as like this is where I have to live anyways, then I think the market of the moment is less important for that buyer.
SPEAKER_03Okay.
SPEAKER_01I feel like that buyer needs to get into the game so that they can, like I said, build wealth for their family over time. If I'm looking at it as like, do I want to buy this property as an investor and the only thing that matters is whether it appreciates or it doesn't, I think I need to do more homework.
SPEAKER_00I love that you're bringing that up right now because there are two different mentalities. If you have an investment, you have to figure out where the market will be in a couple of years. Many people are eager to make a quick penny, but now it's a normal market. The year-to-year appreciation is what, 4% to 5%?
SPEAKER_013 to 5%.
SPEAKER_00Okay, and that's the area.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I mean, your your more popular areas could be a little bit more, but some of those are also the most dense areas, where now they also have the most increase of inventory. So they may not be appreciating as much. So I think it depends. You know, I mean, if we're gonna say all of Clark County, I'd say three to five percent in appreciation year over year, because it's kind of inflation in the same way. Um, but if you want to get really specific, that number could adjust.
SPEAKER_00So walk me through your process. You're dealing with a buyer, he comes to the Powers Real Estate and is thinking of purchasing a house. How does that conversation go?
SPEAKER_01Um, so I think my first question to most people, and we help a lot of people buy their first home, and a lot of people buy their last home. And I think that kind of says something about us. We're very family-oriented, you know, we we've just got like a level of like care about that question. My first question to most people is why? I want to buy a house, why? Right? Like, I I think there needs to be a certain level of motivation to get into the market in a serious manner. And so I'm almost gonna wonder, like, well, why don't you just keep renting?
SPEAKER_00That's a great question. If I'm just gathering information for the sake of it, without a clear reason why, then maybe I'm not quite ready to make a purchase yet. But if I come in with the right questions that shows real motivation for why I want to purchase that property, then the conversation should go smoother. Is that what you're telling us?
SPEAKER_01Yes, and I would go back to the reason being is like this isn't the market to test the market. Like this is the market where things are equal. Like you you said, real estate seems like kind of an equal playing field right now. The other interesting thing is our market, if you look at it in a large landscape, it really hasn't changed in about the last three years. Rates are gonna go down, uh inventory is gonna grow, prices are gonna change. They really have not. None of those things have have adjusted in any big way. It's it's all very similar. So I think we need to understand the reasoning behind it so that we can help you get to where you want to go. If it's just like, you know, I want to buy my house, I want to buy a house, my budget's like, you know, three to four hundred and I'll live anywhere. I'm thinking like, okay, well, we just don't have enough specifics to really help that person because if they don't know what they want, how am I gonna help them get to what they want? I've realized this over time, and and I've been married for a while now, and I'm really bad at trying to figure things out. I gotta ask questions so I can get the right answers.
SPEAKER_00A lot of people feel like real estate agents need to have all the answers. But the truth is we need to understand exactly what the buyer wants so we can help you get as close as possible to your forever home. If you can afford the interest rate, should you go ahead and make the purchase?
SPEAKER_01So I think a lot of times we hear the headlines, right? Like interest rates are high. Well, how compared to what? You know what I mean? Like if you if you want to do if you want to purchase a home, the interest rate is just a piece of the process. It's not the determining factor. There are many things that can determine. So we need to understand why we want to do it. Like you said, is it school? Is it, you know, like interestingly enough, we can come back to, but you were explaining as far as like three-bedroom, the wants and needs analysis. Okay. Like, what do they want versus what do they actually need? Now we can get closer to what they're looking for. But in your, you know, your question as far as interest rate, it's just a piece of the process. If you can get a house and you can make the payment, and your rate is six versus three or five versus seven or ten versus whatever, if you can comfortably make the payment and it's close to what you would be paying somebody else's mortgage and rent, anyways, why is it the thing that stops people? That's what I don't understand. Because if you can do it and you still get to where you ultimately want to go, if I never knew what it felt like to pay a 3% rate, why am I judging that against what it's like to pay a 5% rate?
SPEAKER_00And you're absolutely right. I know plenty of people who back when rates were at 3% and homes were around $200,000 told themselves, I'm going to wait, wait for what exactly?
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Well, no, then it was uh, well, the prices are too high. It's like, I well, I I can't buy now because the prices are too high. And and I think that if the market goes down, I can get a better price, you know, later on.
unknownRight.
SPEAKER_01And it's and I wanna, you know, I want to call those people now and say, hey, it's been five years. Do you still think the prices are too high? So it's uh that's why I think that we can always find an excuse. I'm really good at finding excuses for myself. I don't know about you. But if I need to find one, like there's a lot of things to pull from. I think that's why the motivation is so important, is because if there is a bigger reason other than rate or money or something else that some of these things we cannot control, right? Like you and I go and get a loan, we're two different borrowers, right? I'm gonna get a different rate than you. I've got different assets than you, we make different incomes, different debts, we're different people. As long as we're have a necessary reason to do the thing we want to do, I believe it's achievable for everybody. We just need to understand why, right? And if if the why is is important enough and it is for the family or the school or the job relocation, there's a way to make it work.
SPEAKER_00Um I do think that's important. A lot of people get stuck focusing on whether the interest rate is too high or how the market is being affected by overseas factors. But at the end of the day, we all need a roof over our heads. You're either paying for your own home or you're paying someone else's mortgage. And that's why it's so important to ask the right questions and get information from a true professional. You and your team have already closed nearly 47 transactions this year, while I know agents who haven't closed a single sale in the last six months. How is it that you and your team stay so busy?
SPEAKER_01Well, I appreciate it. Thank you. Um we we should have our best year this year that we've ever had in a so-called like soft or declining market. Um, and I think the the number one reason is I learned a long time ago that people always need to move. They're always gonna buy and sell houses. You know, your your clientele or where you go to find them may change over time, right? But I I've had the luxury of being very, I would say, like relationship and people focused over time. And that's always been my number one thing is how do I treat people and how do I service what they need for me. Okay. And I've always put that first. I've never put the well, what's this person worth? How much am I gonna make? What is it, what does it mean for this deal and this amount? I I think if you can come from just a natural, like, how do I help people get what they want, right? Your opportunities are are endless. Yeah. Because people don't necessarily always remember what you say, but they do remember how you make them feel. And so, like, still to this day, I have people I've been communicating with for 10 years that have never bought anything for me. Right. But they may have referred me four pieces of business.
SPEAKER_03Right.
SPEAKER_01And I also have people I've been communicating with for 10 years that have never done or referred business to me. Right. But I'm confident that my relationship will allow that to happen at some point.
SPEAKER_03Right.
SPEAKER_01So that's kind of how I look at it. I I look at I try to look at everything in a long-term perspective, which when you're building a business is really hard to do because at the beginning you have no clients, and so you need to find a way to make money. Right. And so a lot of that is is a grind, right? And you're you're meeting strangers and kind of doing everything you can to find business.
SPEAKER_03Right.
SPEAKER_01But that's really our our core principle, is is just being human and treating people with how I would want to be treated, and knowing like that they can walk away from it saying, like, you know what, they're good people, they took good care of us, they represented us the right way, and hopefully that allows us to get more referral business.
SPEAKER_00That's awesome and refreshing to hear. We do have a couple of people who are scared to make their first home purchase. They're focused on the economy, what the news is saying, interest rates, and all that white noise. Yes, we're all in this to make money, but people are the most fundamental part. Even for us, we're in the people business. We need to keep the client's happiness at the center of every transaction. Over the last 10 years, how has the real estate market changed for you?
SPEAKER_01Uh it's a great question. Because I feel like it has and it hasn't. I I think the overall essence of real estate is still the same. Okay. You're you're you have a product that you either want to buy or sell. And I don't think that has changed.
SPEAKER_03No.
SPEAKER_01The way we may build the houses or the technology we use involved in the process, I feel like, of course, will continue changing.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Um, I mean, I've helped people buy houses and never even met them in person. I doubt you could do that, you know, 20 years ago in real estate, right? So um that type of thing has changed. But the overall business of what we do really has not. There's an influx of technology. You are able to meet people in a wide variety of ways, right? You can meet them on social media and you know, like in the real world, like IRL, as the kids say, in real life. Um, so like that that has changed, but the overall essence of you know, a client wants to buy a home, a client wants to sell a home, we need to figure out a middle ground for those two to both get what they want. You know, I always say, like, at the end of a transaction, if both parties get what they want, which is one buys and one sells, all of the nuance and specifics involved in that are likely never really gonna be remembered, honestly. It's it's more about like, did you were you able to help me complete what I wanted to achieve? And so in that case, I really don't feel like the business is all that different. It just cycles and changes over time based on what the market is doing, you know, where your buyers and sellers may come from, so to speak, but I don't I don't feel like the overall business of real estate is much different.
SPEAKER_00So the essence of the real estate market hasn't really changed. We constantly hear about inventory being high or low, or whether it's a seller's market or a buyer's market. But like you said, there will always be people buying and people selling. It's a fair playing field. Can you take us through what it looks like on the buyer's side and the seller's side?
SPEAKER_01It is. It's it's probably the most fair market I've ever worked in, to be honest with you, in the 10 years that I've been in real estate. Because it leading up to this point, you always kind of said, like, okay, this party has like the power in negotiating. Correct. Right? Like, I got in in 2016, and at that point, there was more there was more homes on the market. As a buyer, you could go in and you could get good terms, you can get all your closing costs paid for by the seller. You know, I mean, like, I had people buy houses for uh home inspection, right? You know, like a thousand dollar earnest money that they could get back at the end and you know, a few hundred dollars on a home inspection, and they could buy a house. Correct. Because it was just different. Right. Then COVID happened and it was an extreme seller's market. Right. We had very low inventory. Houses would sell sometimes even before they hit the market or in a weekend for sure. I get 10 offers on a three-day weekend and now have to pick and choose which one. So this is really coming out of that and interest rates going up a little bit, is the most fair market there is. So I I always learned that a true buyers and sellers market depended upon how many homes are on the market. Basic supply and demand. If I have more than 10,000 single-family homes on the market in Las Vegas, that's probably a pretty good buyer's market, right? Meaning that there are so many homes for sale. I can just pick and choose. There's 10 in this area that I would like. So let me offer on three of them and see who I can get the best deal. Because I these three are my favorite, right? The seller's market really is well, used to be anything less than that inventory on the market, less than 10,000 homes for sale. Um, back in the crazy COVID market, there were times where we had a thousand single family homes for sale.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Or less. Yeah. Like it was, it was extreme. I'll just say that. It was the lowest inventory we've ever seen nationwide, I think. I don't even think it was just here, I think. So the interesting thing with the buyer and seller's market is it's all supply and demand. Now we do have a little bit more homes on the market, but we have slightly less buyer demand at the same time. You know, so we don't have such a little supply and an overwhelming demand where everybody wants to buy. But we also don't have a huge supply with no demand where nobody's buying. It really is right about equal. The buyers and sellers in this market too are pretty motivated. You know what I mean? So there is a way to still sell your house in seven to 14 days as a seller.
SPEAKER_03Right.
SPEAKER_01But you have to be realistic with what's going on in the market. So if I'm bringing my house to market and I want to get the best price ever in my neighborhood, I'm done. Like at the very beginning, I I've basically just taken longer to sell my house from day one.
SPEAKER_03Right.
SPEAKER_01So I think that's where we come in, like as a as a professional or as an educator of what's going on in the real estate market, is to sit there and tell that you know, Mr. and Mrs. Seller, here's what's going on. You may think your house is worth this, and yet I'm confident that the true market value is this. So, how important is it that we get it sold in X amount of time? And now I can I can deliver my strategy on how we sell the house.
SPEAKER_00Right. I do think that's important. The number one message for all aspiring or up-and-coming property agents is this you have to become an educator. You need to educate the seller on what's really happening in the market. You've been in the industry for five years. When you how many times have you seen the market shift? And on top of that, what would happen if uh interest rates moved with the current state of inventory we have right now? What would it look like if the rate dropped to five and a half percent or close to five percent?
SPEAKER_01So immediately my mind thinks everybody would want to buy.
unknownRight.
SPEAKER_01Because all of a sudden now they can lower their payment by potentially two, three, four hundred dollars a month. Okay, depending on the price of the home and the person that's shopping.
SPEAKER_03Right.
SPEAKER_01If I all of a sudden can now go that much cheaper in monthly payment, I may say, like, oh, I'm a buyer. Like I could consider this.
SPEAKER_03Right.
SPEAKER_01How about all the other people who see that drop and want to invest in real estate at the same time? So all of a sudden now you're gonna have this kind of like flood of people into the market. It doesn't mean all of them will buy, right? But all of a sudden the interest level will vastly change because now they see, oh, it's a deal. Right? So I think that would be number one. There would be a really good influx of people now competing over the current inventory immediately.
SPEAKER_03Right.
SPEAKER_01Right? The lagging part of that would be all of these people who have been saying, like, well, I can't sell my house because I have nowhere to go, would now be thinking, like, maybe I should sell my house. So I think there's like there would be a movement on both sides because it would be a pattern interrupt, you know what I mean? It would really change. It's kind of like what happened when the rates really jumped, and all of a sudden they went from three to four to five, which seems like it happened in like 60 days almost.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_01And then all of a sudden, a lot of the people who are like buying, buying, shopping, all of a sudden they got a new quote from their mortgage lender and they were like, Oh, I'm out.
SPEAKER_03Right.
SPEAKER_01So I think it would kind of be the reverse of that at the beginning. And then I think there would be almost like a push of people wanting to sell their homes. So I I I I think I think as a buyer first, if that's kind of the question you're asking, I think you would go from being able to negotiate pretty good terms on a property to now having to pay exactly what the seller wants because there's increased competition, or potentially even go back to paying potentially over list price to now get that house for the interest rate that you thought you wanted.
SPEAKER_03Right.
SPEAKER_01So for those people, I think the question is is are you a buyer that's structured on payment first? Okay, or do you have the cash to make up for an interest rate decline if the market should adjust that way? And I think if you don't have a bunch of cash on hand to purchase and you want to take advantage of the market, you would buy now. If you did have a bunch of cash on hand and you wanted to wait for that to happen, then I think waiting could make sense, but not necessarily for a primary residence because we already went over the reason to buy those, is obvious regardless of market.
SPEAKER_03Correct.
SPEAKER_01But uh me looking at buying property, I already have a primary residence, I'd look to buy one.
SPEAKER_00I do think everyone should take inspiration from that. Um, a lot of people are hoping for lower interest rates, but they don't always see the domino effect uh it can create. That said, if you have $10,000, $15,000, or even $20,000 in cash available, you gain real power to negotiate on a $400,000 home, especially when it needs a few repairs. Don't forget about closing costs and seller incentives. Because of all the charges involved, working with a professional is key. You guys have access to so many lenders. What are you seeing from your lenders when you negotiate these costs or incentives for the buyer? What are the biggest benefits of working with Powers Real Estate and your network of lenders?
SPEAKER_01You are a team of people. If there is not effective communication from all three, you're just not going to get the best deal. I mean, it is what it is, right? So what you need to have is you need to have a real estate agent and a mortgage lender who are in communication to best represent the buyer, right? And then you guys, entitled and escrow, come in once we have a contract. But it's our job to negotiate it to get it to that point, right? So what I think when I get a client is okay, let's put you through the approval process and let's see what your options are. What loan can you get? What can you not do? What can you do? Right? Are you single, married? How are you purchasing? All of these things, you know, kind of matter in how we're structuring a deal.
SPEAKER_03Right.
SPEAKER_01But what we want to know is what's the best outcome for you? Right? Do you have a a decent amount, you know, a large chunk of cash you're gonna put down on this house? Right. Okay. Now we got a we got a lot we could work with, right? Are you are do you have many? Minimum down payment, and that's all we can, you know, we we have to do it within a certain amount of time. We have minimum down payment, we need closing costs. Like, what are we starting with? So I want to know like what are what do we have at the beginning and what do we want to get to? And now how can we, how can we build that formula to make it make sense for that person? Okay, right? Because they may be better off paying a full purchase price for that property and getting costs back in return to help alleviate the fact that they don't have as much cash as the next person.
SPEAKER_03Right.
SPEAKER_01Right? Or if they have a bunch of their own cash going into it, well, they're gonna get an even better deal because now maybe we can work down on purchase price, right? Because we can pay all of our own costs, and for them, the monthly payment over time is the number one thing.
SPEAKER_03Right.
SPEAKER_01Right? Other people that may just be like, hey, you know, I can make this payment, I'm already making it over here, but I don't have a lot of savings at the end of that. I can comfortably make a high payment, but the way my lifestyle is, I need it to fit into this box. Great, okay. So let's for you, if you can make the payment, let's give the seller what they want and then ask for a good amount of help in return so we can pay down your buy down your interest rate, right? Get you, you know, availability for a home warranty going into that contract. Or maybe we get a credit for repairs somewhere in there that also is available for the lender to use. So there's it's an equation, but I feel like the number one thing is the communication between everybody understanding what is the best for the buyer. Okay. Because we're all different. Yeah. And so that matters. And then for rate buy downs, because that's a big, big topic with lenders, you know, hey, we can buy down your rate to this, that. I tell people all the time, do the math.
SPEAKER_03Right.
SPEAKER_01Right? If you're gonna spend $10,000 to buy down a rate, you know, a half a point, how how many years are you gonna have, how many months are you gonna have to make that payment in order to make up that $10,000 that you spent on buying that rate down? Right? If it's gonna take you eight years to make that money back on a monthly payment basis, are you gonna live there for eight years?
SPEAKER_03Right.
SPEAKER_01Right? So so we we we wanna try to figure out how we can best position the contract to make it make sense for the client. And so those are are the people that I like to work with the most lending-wise, is the ones that can help me solve the the equation.
SPEAKER_00That's really cool. I love how articulate you are when you explain these scenarios. People should really understand this now. They'll know exactly what to say when they come to you. I look at all these strategies and keywords. For example, a buy down might not be the right move for everyone. Maybe working with an investor is better. You work with them as well, so you must have a large network. When people approach those investors, they know they're off and buying to sell in two years or so. The question is, what approach do you take to understand their investment goals? So you know exactly how you can help that individual. What we need to understand is that when going to an investor or lender, everyone qualifies for a different amount. It's a very individual process. For the audience, I think they'd love to hear some real-world experiences. What was the most difficult transaction you've had and why?
SPEAKER_01Oh, I've had some really interesting ones. I've had some really interesting transactions. The one that comes to mind is just because it was probably the most interesting. Okay. Um, but I had a transaction where I represented a client, uh, he already owned a property. Okay, and he wanted to buy another property. So his goal was to buy the new one and live in it, and then rent out the current property that he already had.
SPEAKER_03Okay.
SPEAKER_01Right? Which is a great way to invest, by the way.
SPEAKER_03Correct.
SPEAKER_01Because if you already own a home, that might be your first investment property.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, correct.
SPEAKER_01And we can that's a whole nother episode. We can, you know, obviously go into that in a whole bigger way, but but it's a great way to invest because you've already done the hard part. So, interestingly enough, this gentleman, which I again, communication is the number one thing, right? He refinanced his current residence during the time that we were purchasing the new one.
SPEAKER_02Oh, oh.
SPEAKER_01Didn't tell me, didn't tell the loan officer.
SPEAKER_02Oh my.
SPEAKER_01So he goes, and you you cannot have two loans on two primary residences within that short of an amount of time. Again, we there are ways to to to to navigate the system the right way, the legal way. His way was not the right way. So he refinances, completes the refinance of the current property while we're under contract to buy the next one. Did a home inspection, agreed, did the appraisal. We're like getting down to the end. They go back and recheck everything, and they find out he refinanced his property, current one, as a primary residence with a different lender. So the lender calls me and says, Hey, we have to deny his loan.
SPEAKER_03Wow.
SPEAKER_01And I'm thinking, like, well, what do you mean? Like we're we're like a week away from closing. Like, what do you mean we're gonna deny his loan? You're like, yeah, he he refinanced to a residence he already had.
SPEAKER_03Wow.
SPEAKER_01And so then, of course, you know, I'm on the phone calling everybody involved, calling him, and he's like, Yeah, I you know, I was just uh he was trying to do the right thing. He he just should have asked more questions, ultimately, right? So, anyways, we we basically fell out of contract, kind of went back and forth for a couple weeks. The property he was buying was an investment property for an out-of-state investor. Right, he was done renting it, he was ready to sell it. Because it fell through, he put it back up on the market for rent. So we came up with the idea for my client to rent it from him until he was loan-worthy to purchase it.
SPEAKER_03Okay.
SPEAKER_01So what we did was is we had him undo, well, he he re-refinanced the current property into an investment property.
SPEAKER_03Right.
SPEAKER_01So now he could get a loan to make this new one a primary residence.
SPEAKER_03Right.
SPEAKER_01So he he went back, did another refinance, did it for an investment property on his current residence. We we negotiated a lease for him to rent out the property from the current owner, got back under contract for him to purchase it. He rented for about three months, got him all reapproved, and we ended up closing the transaction. He still owns both of those houses.
SPEAKER_00Then again, it just goes to show that real estate, as simple as it seems, can get messy very quickly if you're not being transparent. When you guys, as professionals, see clients going into the process and suddenly taking out a new line of credit on things that have nothing to do with the actual sale, it can become alarming. How do you communicate with the buyer that you're the consultant and that you controlling the situation is actually best for a smooth sale? At the end of the day, we all want the consumer to make the right choice.
SPEAKER_01So that's why earlier I said like educator, yeah, right? Like advisor, educator, and any any teacher. Yeah, teacher, any anything, any hat that you want to put on that goes towards that, but I believe that is our role. Um, one of the main things that we do that I have always stuck to is we do a consultation at the very beginning where we sit down with our clients. Okay. 99% of the time it's physical, meaning like they actually come to our office, they sit down in a chair, we talk just like this, and we we we f meet them where they're at. Have you bought a home before?
SPEAKER_03Right.
SPEAKER_01What do you know? What are the three biggest questions you came with today? Right? We make sure that we answer those, and in addition, I'm gonna outline the entire process for them.
SPEAKER_03Right.
SPEAKER_01Right? Because I need to know, again, how serious are they? Why do they want to do this? What will it mean to them when they do? Right? And then I get to also explain to them the whole process.
SPEAKER_03Right.
SPEAKER_01Here's today, here's where we're starting.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01Right? Are we getting pre-approved? Are we paying cash? What documents do we need? Um, you know, don't don't furnish the house before you buy it. Right, right? Don't go out and buy a new car the week before. Like all of these things are important, and here's why. And so we we have what's called like a pathway to purchase, and it's a timeline, it's a roadmap of what we're gonna go through together. Okay, and we sit down and we go over that in detail. And sometimes that appointment is 30 minutes and sometimes it's two hours. It just depends on how much information they're looking for, right? Right? The more the better, the way I look at it. And you know, I I joke and tell them, hey, there's no quiz at the end, like because I'm gonna continue to advise them along the way. But I don't want them to hear about these things for the very first time when we're in the middle of having to make a decision that day. I want to make sure that we've covered, hey, we have an earnest money deposit, here's what that looks like. We're gonna have a home inspection, here will be your choices. Like I want to lay it as much out as possible so that way when we re when we revisit it, it's not the first time they're hearing it. Right. You know what I mean? So that is a big thing for us. And that's why the reason that's important is because the things that we're talking about and the terminology we're using, there could be somebody watching this that's thinking, like, I don't know what they're talking about. Like, that's really overwhelming. I don't know what interest rates are, I don't know what equity is, I don't know what's a buyer and seller of what, right? And so that's my opportunity to just say, hey, come in, sit down, and let's like let's go over what you're looking for. And I'll do that appointment before they're approved. I'll do that appointment after they're approved.
SPEAKER_03Okay, right?
SPEAKER_01We want to meet them where they're at. In my world, if I can sit down and teach someone or educate them or advise them, even if they don't buy for a year after that meeting, chances are they're going to come back and work with us because we're the ones that taught them all of the information. And if they don't, they don't. Right. Right? But I'm willing to give the time and energy to that because I want them to be better. Right. Right? I want them to be more educated. I wish somebody did that for me. You know what I mean? So that's kind of where it comes from.
SPEAKER_03Right.
SPEAKER_01And naturally, at the at the core of what we do, we help people get what they want.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Right? So if I don't know what they want, I can't help them get what they want. So that that's why we always do that meeting. And I I tell everybody I teach home buying classes, all kinds of things. There's no cost, right? Right? Like we're we're a commissioned sales-based business. We get paid when we actually close the deal. Yeah. Right? So all of this is just for us to better the consumer. But for those, and I've had people like, oh, why do I need to come meet in person? Like, why can't you just show me the house? Why didn't it?
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Well, because when we get into the transaction and you have a question that all of a sudden I'm giving you the answer to that you don't like, I have no basis to go back and say, we had an explanation about this, here's what it means. Right. We're in the thick of it.
unknownRight.
SPEAKER_01And I've made that mistake, and it's not a good feeling. Now I feel like I'm not advising them the best way.
SPEAKER_03Right.
SPEAKER_01So to me, that's the number one thing is making sure that anybody that we associate, do business or work with, we sit down together and we go over the specifics of what they're looking to do.
SPEAKER_00Over your 10 years as a real estate professional, how many times have you had the courage to tell someone, hey, I don't think you're ready to purchase this property?
SPEAKER_01I I allow the reality to do the heavy lifting. Okay. There's very rarely a time where I tell them you're not ready to buy, because I put them through the process for them to realize that they're ready or not ready.
SPEAKER_02Oh, I like that.
SPEAKER_01Right? So I'm gonna explain to them what's necessary to purchase. Okay. Now they may say, oh, you know what? I don't have enough money saved to do that. Then I'll say, okay, great, well, here are your options. Now, if all of a sudden they go down the route of, let's say, down payment assistance or or borrowing money from a family member or whatever, they exhaust those avenues and they realize that the qualification isn't possible, the borrowing or whatever isn't possible, then we can make a plan for future. So I I don't know that I have to tell them necessarily. Okay. I think if I'm advising them the right way, it becomes apparent that they're either prepared and ready or they're not, and here's why. Right. Now, most people will self-select themselves out before I tell them.
SPEAKER_03Okay.
SPEAKER_01Right? They'll say, like, oh, I don't like the rates right now.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Well, what don't you like about them? Yeah, yeah. Right? So it's, I think it's those types of questions where we really figure out whether they're serious or not. And a lot of times it's not really the rate, it's some underlying issue that they don't want to share about their history or credit or something, they kind of don't want to admit that that is the real reason. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And so it's it's our job to try to figure that out. Right. Right? Because most people, I feel like in your life, especially from a financial aspect, they're gonna maybe judge you.
SPEAKER_00Right, exactly.
SPEAKER_01Right? Or or tell you the reasons you can or cannot. I want to get to the bottom of why. And then I feel like if we can uncover that together, it's not a no, it may just be a not yet.
SPEAKER_03Yes.
SPEAKER_01Right? And for some people, it will be a no because of the decisions they continue to make.
SPEAKER_03Correct.
SPEAKER_01But at least I've given them the opportunity of how to go about doing it.
SPEAKER_00I like that answer. Your clients need a clear roadmap and a general idea of where the road is heading. That way you can explain their current positioning, what speed they're moving at, and the bumps in the road that need to be avoided. How many clients have you had that required nurturing for five, ten months, or even a full year? I'm sure the day you hand over the keys is a huge celebration for both you and the client because your job is finally complete.
SPEAKER_01I'd say if we're talking true nurture, I'd say it's probably in the hundreds.
SPEAKER_03Okay.
SPEAKER_01I mean, honestly, because like I said, I'm willing to I'm willing to communicate with them early.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01Like I tell people all the time, I think you should start earlier than you think.
SPEAKER_03Right?
SPEAKER_01Because if you come to me and your lease is up in 60 days, everything better be ready.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_01You know what I mean? Like you better be like ready to go.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Um so in that case, I'm saying, hey, let's let's start this conversation a year early. Let's start it six months early, let's figure out where we're at. And a lot of times that uncovers something maybe they didn't know.
unknownCorrect.
SPEAKER_01And that's why I think your your relationship with who you choose to be your mortgage lender if you're getting a loan is so important because there are I I found out over my time that there are there are really two kinds of lenders.
SPEAKER_03Okay.
SPEAKER_01One that's willing to nurture the client with you, give them advice, tell them how to work on their credit, how to work on their spending, what's important to them. The other one is going to say, hey, you're not ready, call this credit repair company. I like to choose to work with the first type. Yes. Because I want them to nurture the relationship with me. Like our business really is relationships. So if I can help somebody go through something, or work on credit, or sometimes it's not even just credit.
unknownNo.
SPEAKER_01Sometimes it's payment history, sometimes it's income, job change. I own a business. Hey, me too. Right? So we're the hardest people to qualify because we're in charge of all the decisions and how much we claim and what you know, all of these things. So it's it's it's a bunch. And that's why I always say, like, it's not necessarily about what's happening now. Do they actually want to do it? Right. Yes, I want to buy a house. Okay, why? Well, I wanna I want to have security for my kids. I I want to be able to have a backyard where they can play right now and have a little courtyard. Okay, well, how important is that to you? It's it's vitally important. Okay, by when? Right now I can help them get to where they're what's holding you back? Oh, I just don't know if I can make the payment. Well, do you know what payment you can make?
SPEAKER_02Right.
SPEAKER_01Well, no, I guess I never really thought about it that way. Okay, let's start there. So, um, a bunch.
SPEAKER_00It's an honest answer. The most successful real estate agents I know, the ones closing 30 to 40 transactions a year, have often been working on those deals for almost a full year. That's the most important part. Nurturing the client through the entire process. It's about teaching them financial discipline because most institutions don't teach financial literacy as a subject. You need to make the client understand that no matter the difficulties, you're in this together until the end. How important is it to make people truly feel that you're on their side?
SPEAKER_01I think that's the big difference, like what you said earlier. Like we all have to make money.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Right? Like, like I wouldn't be doing this if I didn't get paid, obviously. I love helping people, and I also have a family, right? That I have to provide for. So, but to me, that's that's the difference. Is I think if you're if you're willing to truly help them, then it it's not on your time.
SPEAKER_03Right.
SPEAKER_01It's on theirs. And and I think what you said is true, and it's I would say it's just discipline in general. For some people, it's not financial.
SPEAKER_03Okay.
SPEAKER_01For some of them, it's just what daily decisions are they making. Yeah, right. They may have the finances in order, they just may not be choosing the correct path for what they really say they want to do. Correct. Right? Like I heard a long time ago, like, hey, the audio doesn't match the video. Yeah, right? And I think when we're when we're progressing in life on the bigger things, those things probably have to match for the most part. Right. So I I think that's the biggest thing. And I'll help people close uh, you know, buy or sell a house this year that I've probably been talking to for five years. Oh wow. Some of them might be four. Wow. Some of them might be six. Okay. You know, like there are no, I don't look at any relationships I have as like, oh, you just crossed, uh, it's been three years. Uh sorry. I mean I can't help anymore. Right. You know, so I want people to to see me as as the advisor for them for as long as they're willing to have me. You know what I mean? So that's how I look at it. Um, and I think as a true business, that's how it's built. You kind of need your core of people to build off of. Yeah. And so for anybody starting, it's just, well, we gotta go find that first. But yeah, you you've got to be there for the people. The reason that they're gonna choose to do business with you is because they have a level of trust with you. Without trust, they're just gonna go find the closest person in proximity and they'll just give them the deal because if they don't have anybody they trust, they gotta choose somebody anyways, right? So we just try to be the advisor along the way that they have some trust in. So when they do, when they are ready, they can come back to us, right? As we've been progressively checking in with them. Right. So I think I think that's the important thing is just to note that like these relationships and helping people do what they want to do or get what they want, they don't have time limits.
SPEAKER_00Yes, you're right, but I do know a lot of agents who, because there's no upfront investment, view that early work as pro bono. In the relationships you've been nurturing for three or four years, that often means they're referring you quite a bit. Word of mouth is still the best advertising, as they say. What what percentage of your business would you say comes from referrals?
SPEAKER_01Really the basis of our business. Okay. Right? So at the very beginning, uh, I built my business by doing anything I possibly could. Of course. Cold calling, door knocking, holding events, open houses, uh, talking to a person at the grocery store, like whatever I had to do. Right. Um, because I wanted I I wanted to figure out how it worked. Um I I think that's the reason I like uh teaching so much. I want to figure it out so then I can like say, hey, here's how you do it. Um so in that, I I've gotten to the point where I've built a lot of relationships organically. And our business right now is probably at least three quarters just referral-based, which is either repeat clients or people referring me other business. Right. And those are relationships across the board. Those are, you know, family, friends, clients, uh, vendor partners, like just people that I get to come in contact with where we kind of see see things the same way or see the world the same way, so to speak. And so I just I want to be be there to help them. And then our you know, our level of service hopefully is what they're looking for, and then that that repeats itself. But I I I teach my my team all the time that it's never the person you're talking to. Right? I mean, it is the person you're talking to. I should say it's never only the person you're talking to, right? They have influence over so many people in their life, right? So if you can make a difference for them or or any one thing that they can attach to that influences them in a positive way, how many, the closest hundred people to them, how many are they gonna share that with? So if I can if I can build a relationship with somebody, if they if they do business with me, awesome.
SPEAKER_03Right.
SPEAKER_01If it makes me a better person or I learn something from them, that's even better to me.
SPEAKER_03Right.
SPEAKER_01And then anybody that they can in turn introduce me to is just like extra. You know what I mean? Like, I don't think I ever go into a relationship with somebody thinking like, well, what can I get from them?
SPEAKER_03Right.
SPEAKER_01Right? Like I I kind of want to know uh what can I give to them, and then without without expecting in return, what do I naturally get, you know, out of that that ends up being a positive thing for my life or my business. Right, right. But it's it's endless, man. I I it's funny because sometimes I'll go back on the clients and I'm like, how many degrees of separation is this? Right? Like I helped them, right? They introduced me to their aunt, she introduced me to her cousin, they have a neighbor, like and it it's it's just really cool when that happens and people give your name and it's a great feeling.
SPEAKER_00That's awesome, and I congratulate you on that. I hold real estate agents in high esteem, especially for the level of transparency you bring, but ultimately the care and depth you put into your work for your clients is usually reciprocated. That leads to referrals, which in turn creates even more business opportunities. This is exactly why providing more clarity at the very beginning of the transaction through strong, actionable questions leads to a much better experience over. I have three final questions before we wrap this up. If you weren't in real estate, where would you be?
SPEAKER_01Uh I would probably be in some sort of like uh retail or food and beverage role where I would be like running um some sort of managerial uh team in some capacity. Yeah, so I I was uh I served a lot before I got my real estate license. And it's a very it's a very tr easy transition. Yeah. You're just waiting on the table for 90 days instead of three, you know, an hour. But it's very similar.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Um and I may even own my own at this point, honestly. But um I loved that dynamic. It was fast-paced, you worked with other people, you all had to work together, but man, you work a lot and you don't really have a whole lot of control. Right. But I think if I would have stayed in the more like corporate America type of job, it would have been in some sort of retail or or food and beverage. Interestingly enough, I've always enjoyed helping people get what they want. I I'm I'm not extroverted, like I'm an introvert at heart. Like I could totally sit in a room by myself and be just fine.
SPEAKER_02Okay.
SPEAKER_01Um, but I get I get more joy in seeing other people figure things out than I do for myself.
SPEAKER_00Question number two. What do you think your positioning in the real estate industry will be in the next 10 years?
SPEAKER_01Dang, good question. Um so I would I as you could probably already tell, I would love to advise more.
SPEAKER_03Right.
SPEAKER_01Um, I really want to build a team of like-minded agents who want to build their own businesses within ours. Meaning, like, I want them to know how to cultivate leads, how to um convert them, right? How to have the right conversations, how to ask the right questions. And in sales, it's not to it's not to make people do something they don't want to do.
SPEAKER_03Right.
SPEAKER_01It's to find a way to help those do the things they want to do. They just don't necessarily know how to do it. Right. And so to come from that perspective, that's really what I'd like to do. I'd like to to travel and teach and coach and and make a difference in the lives of other people.
SPEAKER_00I can totally see you doing something like that. Last question. If you could go back in time to your 10-year-old self, how would that conversation go?
SPEAKER_01You know, it's funny if I if I went back, I think I would have taken some of my younger years more seriously.
SPEAKER_03Okay.
SPEAKER_01Um I I didn't really like care that much when I was younger. Right. I was always smart enough to get by. Okay. I always got good enough grades, but never fantastic. I I did as as little as possible to get to the next thing. You know what I mean? Like I'd figure out a way to break the rules, cheat the system, like anything I could do just to get to the next, but never really understood how those years through school, like what opportunities I could have had, should I have taken it seriously and really given my all, whether that be like sports, academics. So I would have, I would have changed that. I would have gone away to college somewhere I didn't know, have more of an adventurous experience. Like, but other than that, I wouldn't change anything. Because I'd never you're never you without the other stuff, right? So yeah, but I would have taken the younger years more seriously.
SPEAKER_00Thank you so much for coming on the podcast. If people want to get hold of you, what's the best way to do that?
SPEAKER_01Absolutely. So again, my name's Aaron Powers. Uh, you could search Powers Real Estate pretty much anywhere. We we should should pop up. Uh, or my name. Uh our social handles are powers real estate LV on pretty much everything across the board. Um, we run a YouTube channel, uh, navigate that into audio for podcast as well. We do it once a week. So I'll have to have you come and and be on our show. Put you in the other seat. I would love that. Um, but yeah, we we serve the entire Las Vegas Valley, everything residential real estate.
SPEAKER_00Well, Aaron, thank you so much for participating in our podcast today. If you could follow Powers Real Estate, it would be greatly appreciated. Have a wonderful day ahead to everyone watching. Bye.
SPEAKER_01Hey, thanks for listening to the episode. Uh, we definitely had a lot of fun filming it. JC had some really good questions, and hope you're able to learn a little bit more about us, uh, why we do what we do, how we do it, and a little bit of what's going on in the Las Vegas real estate today. Uh, thank you to JC for having me. And I hope that you guys got some good information, took some notes, and we will keep informing you and educating you on real estate here in Las Vegas. Uh, please like and subscribe to our channel. Feel free to leave any comments, we'll get back to 'em uh as much as we can. Love to hear back from you guys.