What makes a piece of digital artwork sell for $69.5 million dollars?  Scarcity, an NFT and a story.  

On this episode, Eric Forney and Michael Bounds discuss the rising emergence of NFTs, what they are, and how understanding them informs how you should be running your own business.  They discuss the scarcity fundamentals that make NFTs so valuable and so trusted and how the story behind the digital artwork is what drives up it's price.  They also explain the importance of an immutable public ledger as it pertains to creating indisputable value to certain items.  Eric introduces the idea of digital real estate and how important it will be in the future for both advertising and creating entire businesses and experiences.  They ultimately both agree that the popularity of NFTs should remind any business owner that it is their chief job to be the communicator of the story of their business.

Is it possible that the government doesn't want you to pay taxes?

Eric thinks so (with the caveat that you should talk to your CPA and not just him) and this week, he explains why he thinks so.  With over 90% of the tax code being made up of rules for credits and deductions, it seems that the tax code itself is set up to be used to decrease your tax liability.  Eric and Michael discuss the meaning of contracts, and the difference between the content of a contract and the context of a contract.  Any contract is written and then able to be interpreted in different contexts by different people, and the same approach can be applied to your taxes.  They discuss a few interpretations of the tax code that are useful to know for your own business, and how the government wants the business owner to keep more of their profit to be able to then employ others who will go use their earnings on taxable events, stimulating he GDP.  They conclude that the most honest thing you can do is understand all of the benefits of the tax code so that you can continue to make your employees' and your family's lives better.

Check out Tom Wheelwright, who Eric mentioned in the episode, to learn more about tax planning

https://tomwheelwright.com/

On this episode, Eric Forney and Michael Bounds continue the underrated or overrated series, debunking the possible lies you've been told about real estate and how to succeed in it.  This week, they break down their different opinions on how your listing sign should look, if you should be answering calls from your clients at midnight, and if you can run a successful business by texting clients (SPOILER ALERT Eric is kind of a boomer about it).

Check out the Disruptance YouTube channel to watch the full episodes, and comment if you disagree on any of their assessments of underrated or overrated. Also, leave a comment about any subjects you want Eric and Michael to cover.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTz80Sf-vkaLV0aILIUVpxg

On this episode, Eric Forney and Michael Bounds start a new series of underrated or overrated, debunking the possible lies you've been told about real estate and how to succeed in it.  In this episode, they break down their sometimes opposing opinions on wearing suits or sweatshirts, driving a granny caddy or a Viper, if cash is king or cash is trash, and if a Bitcoin offer on a listing is laughable or an exciting deal.  

Check out the Disruptance YouTube channel to watch the full episodes, and comment if you disagree on any of their assessments of underrated or overrated. Also, leave a comment about any subjects you want Eric and Michael to cover.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTz80Sf-vkaLV0aILIUVpxg 

On this episode, we learn the origin story of Eric Forney.  Who he is and how he got here.  Eric shares how his constant curiosity paid off for him in the jobs he worked before he transitioned into real estate.  He explains how he learned business on the job, by being the lowest ranked manager his first year at Sherwin Williams, before ascending to #1 the following year. one of the top-ranked leaders in the country. because his mentors were great at both sales and running the business.  He talks about learning about P&Ls when his job performance became dependent on them, and how he learned how to play the game of business through creatively working the P&L.  He discusses the transition to real estate after nearly a decade in corporate sales with Sherwin Williams.  He discusses how he became totally obsessed with becoming the best agent, and when that happened realizing he needed a new goal, which came in the form of learning how to share his knowledge and teach other people how to sell by building up a team.  He also talks about the difficulties of having and maintaining a team.

On this episode, Eric Forney asks Michael Bounds about who he is and how he grew his business to what it is today.  Michael shares a few of his previous jobs he had before he discovered real estate when he went to buy his own home.  The rep convinced him he could be good at real estate, so decided to pursue it.  Michael explains how needing to beat out the competition motivated him to always be working.  He discusses the obstacles he overcame with building a team, hiring people, leading people and creating clarity for his team.  

It's almost completely possible to run your business from your phone now, but which apps are the most useful for the entrepreneur?

On this episode, Eric Forney and Michael Bounds share the apps they use most every day and how they improve their daily life.  Eric discusses how YouTube is his source for learning anything and everything, and Michael explains how Audible helps him churn through books to gain knowledge.  Michael breaks down how committing to using Zoom well has made it so he is able to sell real estate without leaving the house, and he can pack more meetings in per day than before.  They also discuss the benefits of Slack, Click Up, Apple Notes, Google Calendar and more.   

What is the future of real estate and technology?

In this episode, Eric Forney and Michael Bounds discuss Zillow's recent acquisition of ShowingTime, not long after their acquisition of DotLoop, and the repercussions this has on the real estate industry.  They explain how the home buying process has friction in it for a reason, because it is a large, important transaction that has massive impact on the buyer and seller.  While it might soon be possible for the consumer to book a showing immediately on Zillow, what that doesn't include is the filter of someone working with an agent, where the agent has qualified this person as someone interested in buying, and it's not a random person just being easily allowed into a listed home.  They discuss how Zillow isn't innovating anything really, just acquiring companies in other service areas to real estate, and how it's so important to be at a company that owns its technology so your CRM and CRM data don't also get bought up by Zillow.  They share all the work Keller Williams has done over the last 4 years to prepare for this shift in real estate where data and tech have become the most useful and combative part of the job.

How will the solo real estate agent do in the new landscape of new technology and the on-demand nature of business?

In this episode, Eric Forney and Michael Bounds share their thoughts on how they believe the solo-preneur is about to go extinct.  They discuss how being a part of a team typically means access to the efficiency of systems and models, but sometimes the solo-preneur feels resistant to it because they want to do things their way.  They talk about the benefits of working with different people, where you may be a visionary and could benefit from an integrator.  In this climate where tech is going after all agents' market share, the individual agent is left being the one most affected, and sitting in that discomfort of that reality is the only way for the solo-preneur to realize they need to find a way out of it. 

Real Estate to the moon!

On this episode, Eric Forney and Michael Bounds discuss the unique situation that arose when a group of Redditors short squeezed Game Stop stock, and why, even though the short term gains of the stock are enticing, an investment in real estate still elicits far greater returns.  They explain how the situation arose, and how hedge funds managed to make it impossible for retail traders to continue to trade the stocks, causing a loss of trust towards the stock market.  Where stocks are income generating mainly based on speculation, and thus isn't a stable, predictable form of investment, real estate is heavily regulated and an extremely predictable investment.  Michael and Eric discuss how short of random outside variables, buying real estate consistently earns you back 3x your investment over a 30 year period.  While the allure of the possibility of making quick cash is enticing with the current stock market, there's no arguing the safety and guaranteed return on real estate.