Think Bigger Real Estate

Justin Stoddart  
When Aaron Heard agreed to come on the show, I knew it was going to be good. I had no idea just how good it was going to be. The topic that we discuss here is all about critical choices that you need to make during uncertain times. This gentleman, again, has done some phenomenal things, including helping sell over 1000 homes across the country in one single year. He's a coach to some of the best and top agents in the entire country. He is truly a leader's leader. And the wisdom that he shares today is going to help you do really kind of three key things. Number one, it's going to help you grow your business during uncertain times. It's going to help you grow your relationships during these uncertain times. And it's really going to help you grow your mindset. Those three things are absolutely critical for anybody wanting to be a big thinker, high achiever. And Aaron Heard absolutely delivers I can't wait for you to hear it. It's a phenomenal episode. And it's really going to change the way you see this time right now. It's going to be the opportunity of a lifetime. Can't wait for you to hear it. Enjoy.
Justin Stoddart  
All right, and I believe my friend. We are live. We'll see how many people join in this time. We're going to see the hunger of the real estate industry to get amazing content because this is when Aaron Heard is going to deliver it. Welcome everybody to The Think Bigger Real Estate Show. Bright and early. You can tell that there's not a whole lot of natural sunlight coming in. Nevertheless, ballers like Aaron Heard are up and add it and making things happen. So, Aaron Heard for those that don't know him, and kind of what maybe more importantly, we're going to get from this episode are critical choices that you need to make right now, as a business owner coming into a downturn coming into some really uncertain times, there are some things that you can be certain about, despite the uncertainty, there's some things that you can absolutely choose to do that will, that will guarantee that you're going to have a better outcome than if you don't do them. And that's the guarantee that we can have even in uncertain times. So Aaron Heard this gentleman is a MAPS coach, coaches, literally some of the top real estate professionals in the country. He's phenomenal. In addition to that, he has his own very successful team here in Portland, Oregon. And this is really cool. He was a big part of helping sell 1000 homes in less than a year, so expanded across the country. Just very much a visionary, very much somebody who understands business. I mean to do that you have to really understand business and so I'm thrilled Today, Aaron Heard, thank you for coming on to the think bigger real estate show and sharing with us some key wisdom we all need right now.

Aaron Heard  
The pleasure is absolutely mine, Justin, and you are a brave man, when you invited me to come on the show and you said, Hey, can we come on board? I said, Sure. 6am You didn't blink an eye. You got six little ones upstairs sleeping. Causing disruption in your household? Hmm. 

Justin Stoddart  
You know, absolutely. There's a, you know, there's absolutely some a little bit of risk of going live during the day. There's also a little bit of risk in going live early in the morning, right? Because it's a little less certain. Yep. And you know, and obviously, this whole topic is all about how do we gain certainty in an uncertain time and so probably actually going live at 6am is probably more certain than not. It was everyone's quiet around here. 

Aaron Heard  
All my East Coast friends are going to be joining us. What's up everybody? 

Justin Stoddart  
Yeah. Very funny, man. What Um Let's let's jump into this again for you know for for those that are again maybe just tuning in now, let me just say this what you're going to get from this episode is that you are going to walk away with some absolute certain things that you can do in uncertain times coming from a guy who again has hold sold over 1000 homes in less than a year across the country. And coaches some of the brightest of the bright so excited again to have you here, Aaron, let's go ahead jump in what are you know, what's maybe the first thing that comes to mind that you can do to make a critical choice in an uncertain time?

Aaron Heard  
Justin, I think the first thing is just simply face reality. Right? We got to identify what is really happening in our in our worlds in our businesses in our in our economies locally, nationally and understand what impact is being made for what we have to control like there's things that you just can't control. Get over it. Yesterday is yesterday. Yeah, a year ago was a year ago, you ain't getting it back. It's gone. Right? So understand. Here's your reality today and ask yourself, who do I choose to be tomorrow? Based on what I know is to be true right now, who do I choose to be and have show up in my world tomorrow or the next day, based on the decisions that I make today? You see, so many people right now are stuck in, in a quarantine mindset. You know, the reality is we are quarantined across the country, in many cities in many states, many counties, right. And we are right now we're at home. This is okay. Just pivot. Change your expectations for the day. You'll see one of the things that we're doing Justin right now is there's some key performance indicators that you can measure across any business that by hitting those numbers, you'll be able to place a bet on if that business is going to win or lose. Would you agree? 

Justin Stoddart  
Totally. 

Aaron Heard  
Almost every business breaks down to a math formula. Right? So when we look at it, we have to understand what's the math behind your, your goals. So your goal isn't just to have abundance. What does that mean? Your goal isn't to have success Well, what's your definition of success? So we have to change the reality of our identify what those numbers are. So we can change the activities that we're choosing to do to be in alignment with having those goals show up or not show up, no matter where we're at, no matter how we feel. So we're living these quarantine mindsets. When we have these. I get the luxury of coaching some of the best agents like you said, and, and some of the agents on my team are world class. And I had the opportunity to talk to them every day and sometimes it's talking them off the ledge. Like right now. It's tough man, mentally, physically, you're out of you're out of your routine. There's no clear order of chaos in our world, right Right now, everybody is adjusting and getting uncomfortable, which I'm so excited for. I mean, right now the shift, let's get really freaking uncomfortable because people get afraid. And when people are fearful people run, right? Fear is, is an amazing thing. It keeps people alive. Like, embrace the fear, though understand what changes must be met so you don't die. That's the reality here. Don't be afraid of it. So I get the luxury of coaching these people and talking to them and sometimes off the ledge, because they're faced with things that they'd never thought that they'd be faced with their spouses losing their employment, shutting down their, their stores that they've had for 15 years. I mean, these hit these things hit true, like hard, really, really fast. And so understand, like, what is it that you wanted out of your business and based on where you're at today, what are the key performance measurements or indicators that you need to be in alignment with to hit those goals based on your circumstances today? And, you know, push comes to shove Justin, in the real estate industry, which we live and breathe personally, you know, we know that it's a person to person, eyeball to eyeball business. We focus our energy right...

Justin Stoddart  
At a time when the industry and the world is really going through uncharted territory, there has never been a better time for those of us that are in sales roles and or in leadership roles to truly do just that, which is to step up and lead. However, we can't lead other people unless we're properly leading ourselves. Today's episode with Bev Blume goes into exactly that. What do we need to be doing right now on a mindset level and on a tactical level that will allow us to be the leaders that we need to be that our clients that our fellow teammates that our brokerages that our industry, that our community leaders need us to be enjoy this episode. You're gonna get a lot from it. And we're live. 

Welcome back to The Think Bigger Real Estate Show. I'm your host, Justin Stoddard. So excited to be here today with Bev Blume. Let me get back really quick about introducing her more fully because those that know her love her, see her has a highly respected leader. In our industry, so let me give you a full bio on on her here just a minute, here's what you're gonna get by listening to this episode. We are in unprecedented times economically, and our industry and industry wide. And it's now's the time for leaders to step up. Now's the time for and I'll add this that anyone and all of us are leaders. Even if you just lead your clients, you are still a leader. So I would encourage you to think through the through the kind of those years as you listen to this episode that you are a leader and we need you to step up. And that's exactly why we've had a true leaders leader step up today. Her name is Bev Blume. She actually got into the business in 2007. What an ideal time to get into the real estate industry, learn to work hard and experience success despite what was happening in the industry. She now has a very successful real estate team and also leads a brokerage of Keller Williams office out of Clackamas Oregon. So Bev, thank you so much for coming on The Think Bigger Real Estate Show I am thrilled to have you on today. 

Bev Blume  
Good morning, Justin, I am thrilled to be here this morning. And I always enjoy my conversations with you. And, you know, we are in really crazy times right now. And, you know, I'm just kind of hoping to come to people on their level. And, you know, just try to give them some hope and, you know, some, you know, go to work, and you know, just how we're gonna, you know, get through this together. So that's kind of the goal for today. 

Justin Stoddart  
You know, it's, all of us are now being forced to really work from home, aren't we? Like, we're being forced to do things very differently than what we, you know, then maybe what we're used to doing. Let's talk a little bit about keeping some normalcy, some very kind of initial tips at the beginning of this episode. How do we get it to where our life feels somewhat normal to where we can still be productive and be in the right mindset. What tips would you have for us? 

Bev Blume  
Sure, well, I feel like you know, a lot of people need to go to the office to have that need to go to work and so this is a really abrupt change to their habit, which, you know, people that are realtors, anybody, anybody in our industry, you know, gets up every day has the same routine and they've worked years on, you know, creating that schedule and perfecting it. They get up in the morning at 5 or 5:30. They go to the gym, they come home, they eat breakfast, they shower, they get ready to go to work, and they drive to the office and they arrive at eight o'clock and they go to work. Well, now that we can't go to work, and we can't, we have to go to work inside of our house. So one of the things that I hear and, you know, over the course of this week, I've just talked to a lot of people, a lot of agents a ot of leaders. I've attended a lot of live training in streaming. And what I hear a lot is that people they've lost that vibe, they've watched that habit abruptly got broken and they just can't find it inside themselves to create a new normal. And we hear that we hear that phrase a lot creating a new normal. So my biggest tip, you know for that is keep your same schedule. Get up at 5:30. Yes, you can't go to the gym. But there's plenty of, you know, apps. I see plenty of people doing short workout videos, friends that own cascade Athletic Clubs, they have livestream videos for short workouts. One of my PT friends has a short workout on her Facebook page. So you know, get your gym workout in, go take a shower, get dressed, do your hair, put your lipstick on and go to your desk and go to work. You might actually be a little more productive, but it's creating that new habit that a lot of people struggle with. But if you you know, if you set your mind to it, you know, you're kind of unstoppable.

Justin Stoddart  
You know, I love that Bev. Just because you're working at home doesn't mean you need to treat it like a Lazy Sunday. Morning, right? That you can get up early, you can get dressed work out. In fact, all of that should change and real estate agents for the most part are, are probably better than most at working from home because your job doesn't necessarily stay contained within the eight to five hours. Right. In fact, it rarely does. And so having, I would even say even if you've been accustomed to working from home in your pajamas, I might encourage you to get up and get showered. Right now we need you to be a leader, we need you to be stronger than you've ever been before. We need you to take this more seriously than probably you ever have before because more people are needing your help. And those that I believe that stand up as leaders in this environment, this economy are not only going to survive, they're going to thrive people are going to be are going to flock to you because they need your confidence to help them solve their problems and navigate these waters. And if you can show up like a professional and that may mean even doing more of a morning routine than what you've ever done before. So I really appreciate you saying that

Unknown Speaker  
Yeah, I think that's a really important piece. I mean, we're, they're trusted, you know, people, our clients already trust us and look up to us. And if we falter or, you know, kind of get in our own way, you know, that's gonna, that's gonna come through when you call them and talk to them that insecurity or, you know, telling them, Hey, I'm just, you know, I'm just hanging out sitting in my jammies and you know, being unproductive or whatever. That's that's not what they I don't think that's the message you want to give and the message they want to hear. It is it is a time of definite servant leadership. For you know, it's, it's the epitome, not the epitome, but it is the true time where coming from contribution is a perfect example of how we're, you know, we're gonna come out on the other side of this thriving

Justin Stoddart  
it's a great point. And I mean, part of what you've recommended Bev is we've discussed, you know, today's show in advance, is to be sure what's going in your mind is positive. Right? We've even talked about some of the sacrifices I know, we, we tend to think at times we get in our own our own little islands and think that, you know, we're the only like, we're the only only individuals suffering from this and of course, widespread pandemic around the world causes us to think differently about things but you look at even some of the smaller sacrifices, you know, even beyond our health care workers, etc. of people you mentioned, you know, the story of the Oregon duck, basketball women, right? kind of share that and how that ties in here.

Unknown Speaker  
Well, I like to anytime I am trying to kind of work through an issue or a strategy. It a lot of my strategies tie bac...

Justin Stoddart  
Anytime there is uncertainty, leadership is needed more than ever. Right now with the Cova 19 pandemic, running its course through our nation through our economy and throughout the world, there is a need for leaders to step up. The reality is, however, is that you as a leader won't be able to fulfill your potential and offer the help that you otherwise could. If you don't have a strong mindset, this episode is going to give you three key principles that you're going to need to embody and improve upon. In order to be that leader that we need you to be. I can't wait for you to hear this episode. It's going to be a great one for you to listen to and for you to share with others. 

All right, welcome back to The Think Bigger Real Estate Show. I'm your host Justin Stoddard. Very excited about today's episode of a very good friend of mine on and we're going to give you three tips to having a strong mindset amidst a volatile market. Let me just remind you, my mission and my passion are to do the following are to help you to wake up and recognize the potential inside of you and then to inspire you and help you to live a life in pursuit of that potential. And I can't think of anybody better today to help me inspire you and help you to live in pursuit of your potential than Trevor Hammond. Trevor, before I give a full intro of you, thanks for coming on the show today, man.

Trevor Hammond  
Good morning. Happy to be here.

Justin Stoddart  
As always, as always, I love our conversations. You know, they probably started five years ago, Trevor and I scheduled a 30 minute sit down coffee meeting, oh, two and a half hours later, and we're like, Man, this is one of my buddies, like this guy thinks like, I think we've just had a great time ever since helping build each other's businesses. It's been awesome. So thanks for all you do. For those that don't know, Trevor. He is a branch manager of the top Sierra Pacific mortgage loan officer branch in the country. Currently, they are absolutely killing it. And a lot of that I believe, is under Trevor's leadership, both in attracting great talent, and then helping that great talent really, really thrive. So he's also a mortgage coach, so he should say a coach to mortgage loan officers and IT consultant to the end consumer. So anyway, and all of that even more importantly, is the way that he dotes on his family, which I absolutely love. Yeah, that's what it's all about, right? Is it we have a quality of life. And I know you and i right now are having more time at home, much like our audience than ever before, because of the Covid19 outbreak, which, of course, is causing some of the volatility of volatility. So, to really quick, again, thank you for coming on. And I want to begin with this question. You're a dad and a husband, somebody who thrives and having a great work life balance. Give all of us a quick tip, before we get into the three tips for having a strong mindset of being productive at home. What does that look like for you?

Trevor Hammond  
You know, I think I was already fairly groomed for this. It's a great question. Everybody's trying to figure that out right now. Right? And it was forced upon a lot of us. I was one of those people that I was already more productive at home than I was at the office. You know, I think the perspective there is, and some people maybe don't have the freedom to figure that out. Right? Because You do need to be at the office. But at the office, there's a lot of, Hey, you got a minutes right at home, you don't have that or you can at least shield yourself from it more, you know, you can choose to, you know, turn turn the phone over right or silence it. And I have a home office here, you know, I just set it up the same way my office at work was months ago, and I'm upstairs and we turned the movie room into my, my home office so that I could so I could read feed this bad boy here. Just have my quiet space, you know, and then when, when the kiddos do come up now like they do because it's spring break, right. Sometimes it's a welcome interruption just to just to be here with them. 

Justin Stoddart  
And I totally agree. Like in the background, I heard a little chirping from my two year old so yeah, given strong orders to not come down during the broadcast but you never know we might have a little more fun than people expect.

Unknown Speaker  
So I was working yesterday and my my nine year old 10 year old in a few days was vacuuming around my feet. Like, last time you vacuum buddy. Like this is awesome. House has never been so clean and organized ever.

Justin Stoddart  
You know, it really is. It's interesting. I thought this would be like the least productive place in the world. I'll tell you what, just the joy and satisfaction of being around family more often. I think it's making me like, really productive. Actually, I have kind of rethinking my setup kind of moving forward after this all passes. So let's get into these three points Trevor, obviously, right now, we have a very volatile market, right? mortgage rates are in the low threes. They're close to five, like within a day. I mean, there's just some crazy stuff going on. And I know we could get into the weeds and you'd be probably more qualified anybody to kind of talk about the ins and outs of the numbers. But this episode really dedicated to helping people to have a strong mindset despite all of that. Walk us through. I think we've identified three points really you have three points, three principles by Which we can live that will help us to have that strong mindset. Would you mind going into the first for us?

Trevor Hammond  
Yeah, I loved when you pose that to me, it forced me to really stop and think about how am I keeping such a positive mindset? You know? You know, you and I are very similar in that we understand we've got to be that voice of calm when there is when there is panic everywhere, whether it's you as a parent, you as a friend, you as a leader of a team, your clients to your your business partners, everybody is responding very differently. And, and that kind of ties into the second one we'll talk about today. I know that I that I threw your way but number one is gratitude. Just being grateful, which scientifically, you know, we've studied this for a long time and it's out there but the simplest way I've always put gratitude as at the very moment you're grateful for something you cannot be fearful of something at that moment. It's impossible, right? Our brains can only think of one thing at a time. So, you know, if we think of our brains as kind of a storage shelf, there's only so much room on that shelf, right? Just like my bookshelf behind me, there's only so much room. So if I'm on the news a lot, right, which, which obviously makes money by feeding us negative news, and there's truth and there, we got to dig a little bit, I won't get into that series got their own opinions of it. We could pay whatever, you know, why not?

Unknown Speaker  
We've got to put a lot of positive stuff on there. So, you know, I think about starting my day with gratitude and amidst a really what could be considered scary times? Definitely uncertain times. Right. And that's probably the biggest problem right now is it's nobody knows right? how long this might last and what the real impacts going to be. I'm grateful that I even have a really nice home to to be stuck in. You know, I'm grateful. My family is healthy. I'm grateful for the extra time. So some people are already kind of they're like, Oh my gosh, give me out of this house. You know, we've had to turn that around. And so I'm grateful for the time with my kids. I'm grateful that we're playing games, board games we haven't played in forever. My son almost beat me in chess yesterday, you know, sitting by the fir...

Justin Stoddart  
Super excited. Welcome back everybody to The Think Bigger Real Estate Show. I am your host Justin Stoddard. And I am thrilled and honored to have a conversation today at a time where there's a lot of uncertainty, where people are wanting more than ever to know how they can help how they can serve. I think that humanity's heart is on full display today. And you know, at this time, people wanting to give back in new and bigger, better ways. So just in case you're wondering why I'm recording this in March, I'm wearing a red tie. My company Old Republic title is celebrating social distancing spirit week. And so today is Christmas in March and I didn't have the ugly sweater that my friends had. So this is what I have to show for it. So anyway, excited to be here with you and more excited even to discuss today's topic. Bring today's guest who has actually created a template in the format to which real estate agents can live the five laws of the book, The Go Giver, written by Bob Berg, which is I know, it's a classic and a favorite from almost everybody that I talked to. So, anyway, that's we're going to get into today as we get by listening today, and very excited to be here with Brian Weiss. Brian, thanks for coming on the show today.

Brian Weiss  
I appreciate you having me, Justin. Thanks a lot to privileged to be here.

Justin Stoddart  
For those who don't know, Brian, excuse me, Brian is he has actually done some really cool things. He is the VP of Sales with view, blurred design group and partner with the faces of so what that specifically is we're going to get into more detail, but it really gives a good real estate effect. Why don't I do this? Brian, tell us just in a quick nutshell, what is the Faces Of, we'll then dive into the five principles of the go give her and maybe circle back on how this all ties together.

Brian Weiss  
It was started, thank you. It was started by a real estate agent. His name Brad Abernathy back in 2015. It was inspired by the book, The Go Giver and the five laws of stratospheric success that are laid out in the book. And the reality is, as a real estate agent that depends on their local community for their livelihood, right? What can I do practically to serve my community in a meaningful way and garner the intention of an entire community as a way of creating a positive brand and building influence within the community. and so we've spent the last two years as a result of this project modeling out how to help coach, partner with a real estate agent and communities all over the country and show them how to do their very own faces of project and tell their community story and celebrate the people that live there and grow their sphere of influence in their community influence in the meantime, it's it's pretty special. It's a fun thing to be a part of for sure.

Justin Stoddart  
I love it. If you're curious and can't watch the entire episode. Be sure to go to the Faces Of.com Is that right? Is it TheFacesOf.com

Unknown Speaker  
TheFacesOf.com Yeah, that the is very important. If you go to just faces of, you'll find lots of different stuff.

Justin Stoddart  
So be sure and go take a look at that. Now let's get into again, we're gonna circle back and give you more details on that again, but it's a systematic way for real estate agents to live the five laws of the go giver. So let's talk about what are those laws of the go giver? I think anybody who's read that book, loved it, it resonated with him. In fact, especially I think real estate agents, you know, the real estate agents with whom I get the good pleasure of working and serving really have a big heart if you ask them why did you get into this business? It most often is because I really like helping people I love helping people with the biggest buying decision of their life like I get a thrill I get this gratification out of helping people make real estate moves that have a big impact upon their, upon their wealth situation like it, they have the heart to want to go give it so I think this book probably resonated more with this industry that maybe with any other and I think you know these laws, you'll see why here if you haven't read the book or haven't read it in a while. So let's talk about law number one, Brian, the lot of value. The law of value says your true worth is determined by how much more you give in value than you take in payment. I love that. What are your thoughts on that? 

Brian Weiss  
Yeah, I couldn't agree more. You know, prior to leading the charge of Veugeler I did a lot of sales consulting for years. And this was the riddle that every sales leader was trying to solve for his team is how do we go out and understand what I think's fascinating about value Justin is we don't get to decide what's valuable for the person we're talking to. The value is determined by the person we're trying to help and serve. And so we've got to understand and ask questions and get to know and, and have a disposition to want to learn and serve to really understand how value can be delivered, right. But if we're able to deliver value in the recipient seemingly is getting more than what they're paying that exchange for that individual is it's a super positive experience, right? It, it leaves them wanting to refer and endorse that experience without which enables us to blossom as salespeople, right. And so you hear a lot of people in a lot of Facebook groups talk about they, they offer the best level of service. And I just always wonder, like, Who decides that? And so I would encourage everybody to explore, be curious and really understand what the value that's necessary and whatever environment you're in and whoever you're serving, how do they determine what value is and make sure that we're meeting and exceeding those expectations, not not our own, you know, our own expectations of what we think value is for them. But if we consistently deliver on that, that value proposition that value expectation, then we'll find opportunities to grow and flourish as a salesperson are everywhere.

Justin Stoddart  
What a great way to put that right. We oftentimes have our own scoreboard but if we were to look at our customer scoreboard, how would we be rating, right? How would like how would we measure up based on on their metrics, not our made up metrics, right and hopefully the two are in alignment, you know that this lie to me again, is is powerful, because it's not. It's it's how much you give, right minus how much you take in payment. So in other words, it's the Delta that we're looking at, right? It's the it's the difference between what you give, and what you take in payment, that that determines your value. I just think there's so much power in that, that we all have to think because many times it's how much could I charge right or, and again, wise, long term thinking real estate agents don't think that way. But, but I would encourage you to consider, again, the amount that you take in commissions, how much more value are you providing to the client every time you close escrow? Right. And again, I think one thing that we got to keep in mind is that your value should not be only contained within the parameters of a transaction, right, that value is going to continue to extend for years and decades, and you'll likely get payment on future transactions. But again, I would encourage you as an agent, To think about the value that you bring long to be continuing to pour in long after the transaction is closed. And that will allow your value to go up, right, because you're not taking payment anymore, but you're only adding value. And as you implement systems that give value, it allows that to to, you know, to continue to happen. So let's go to point number two, the law of compensation, which says your income is determined by how ...

Justin Stoddart  
Welcome back to The Think Bigger Real Estate Show. I am your host Justin Stoddart, here during uncertain times to give you some certainty, I have with me a very good friend who's going to talk about what you should be seen as a real estate agent right now. Let me just begin, before I introduce this amazing friend, gentlemen, let me describe to you something very important about the purpose why I do this show. And it's really even, especially in uncertain times is to help you recognize your own potential to wake you up to that potential, and then to inspire you and help you to live in pursuit of that potential. That is my mission. That's why this show exists. And I'm thrilled to have with me today, someone who's not only a friend, but someone who's who's a very trusted mortgage advisor, this industry, David Chandler, David, you've been in business for 15 years. You've owned businesses, you've been a business consultant, you've owned marketing companies, you understand business as good as any, thank you so much for coming on the show today to share your wisdom.

David Chandler  
I appreciate it. Thanks for having me, man. And I appreciate you. You know, I don't I don't watch the show every single time you're doing it, but you know, I think every guest should should give a shout out and a pat on the back to you for what you're doing in our industry, for realtors for title companies for mortgage lenders, you are a valued voice in the Portland market for sure. And I think soon to be probably nationally. So anyway, I appreciate you my friend.

Justin Stoddart  
Yeah, you bet. You bet. I appreciate that as well. All right. Let's get into this. First of all, right now, you know, there's plenty of news telling us what's not going well, right? You can turn any time of day and we hear more illnesses. We see more economic halts, we hear more deaths. Like we're not gonna talk about that today. Because the reality is billions of people right now. Billions are not infected with Covid. You know, like most people are going about their life probably actually having a better quality of life than maybe they've had in a long time. Right. So there's tons going well, and I'm a firm believer, as I know you are as well, that what you focus on expands. And yes. If you look around at all the opportunities, if you look around about everything that's going well, you'll start to realize, hey, the sky is not falling. Yes, we need to adapt. Yes, there are some people going through some hard times. However, a lot of that is because people are buying into the media and causing this herd like frenzy. Yes, we need to take precautions. Yes, yes, yes. And yes, we need to be safe. And yes, we need to pray for those that are that are that are suffering. But I'm a firm believer that a lot of the suffering that's going on is unnecessary. Would you agree with that?

David Chandler  
Ah, I think unnecessary, necessary. I think it really comes down to a matter of perspective. And do we appreciate the fact that we still live in the greatest country on earth? Do we appreciate that the inconveniences that have been thrust upon us to a certain extent, not have our own doing, still present us with some opportunities, whether it's time to reconnect with family, whether it's time to get some yard work done, be out in nature? You know, there's, it really just comes down to, again, like you said, what you focus on is what expands. We didn't ask for this. But can we find things to take out of it that we can appreciate and learn from and grow from? I know that in our industry, I can tell you that this will force innovation, it will force change. There were already I think, at the end of this quarter, you know, Finance of America. You know, we're going to push the button on E-signing for everything except the things that have to be wet signed. So that when you come into the closing, the majority of everything's already been signed with the exception of the things that probably have to be recorded with the county and, and a few other things. So will this industry or business interruption accelerate those things? Will that force realtors to look at innovation in technology, doing Facebook live videos or video presentations, or things that maybe people have resisted that now go, you know, I think that's gonna have to be a part of my business moving forward. And the thing I was afraid of doing now is not as intimidating as it was maybe a month ago. So I think if we look at this as an opportunity to grow and expand and push ourselves out of our comfort zones, even though we're probably all sitting at home in our pajamas right now. You know, it's a good opportunity. 

Justin Stoddart  
Yeah. Great stuff, man. It's a great perspective. So let's talk about right now, when it comes to the real estate industry. Let's start off by, before we get into and I know this is why a lot of people are tuning in, is to hear like what you should be saying to buyers, what you should be saying to sellers. Before we go there, I want you to talk to us a little bit about what's going well, right now I know we talked about rates and the vericut, verification of employment to appraisals. Talk to us a little bit about kind of what you're seeing out there that's actually going really well.

Unknown Speaker  
Let me talk to you again, I'm going to cover touch on the bad stuff and get to the good stuff really quickly. So obviously, this month has been a huge disruption. And a month ago, you know, you couldn't open up Facebook without seeing a realtor or a mortgage lender, just screaming about now's the time to buy the rates to the best that they've ever been and and all that was kind of it was was really true. And then what you saw is lenders who are just we don't have the capacity. You know, in America, there's 11 trillion dollars worth of mortgages, any given year, about 2 trillion of those. We the industry does about $2 trillion in mortgages, about a million in purchase million and refi. In the month of February, there is about $2 trillion in applications, you're trying to shove a year's worth of a business into a month. So you saw rates go up, and people thought, Oh, it's a capacity issue. And then, two weeks ago, the stock market kind of craters, and that forced people who had bought stocks, institutional investors, not individuals, like you and I, that when the stock market craters, all these institutional investors who have bought stock on margin, meaning they've borrowed half the money to buy the stock, have to meet a margin call, which means they have to raise capital. So they dump all these mortgage backed securities onto the market to raise cash to pay their margin call because they don't want to sell the stock at not a 50% loss, a 75% loss if they bought it on margin. So now all of a sudden, there's excess supply of not enough demand and rates go way up. And so this thing that we experienced a couple weeks before now it doesn't exist. Well, the Fed comes in a week ago and says, Hey, we're going to backstop this and we're gonna or the stimulus package. But for a stimulus package to work, you have to raise money. Well, how do you raise money? You know, you have to sell treasury bills and mortgage backed securities. And now all of a sudden there's excess more excess supply, the market didn't react well. Interest rates last week are the most volatile I've ever seen it in 15 years. I mean, day swings of 100 to 200 basis points. So that brings us to today. So this is a two week period of time and on Sunday, so here's the good. The Fed comes out and says, kind of unlimited QE, qualitative, quantitative easing, and basically says we're just going to not be a seller of mortgage backed securities now. We're going to buy them and so instead selling them and letting them come off of our balance sheet, the ones that we've bought i...

Justin Stoddart  
Right, very good. Addison Nett. Welcome to the Think Bigger Real Estate Show. Super excited to have you here, man.

Addison Nett  
Yeah, thank you, Justin. Good morning to you.

Justin Stoddart  
Good morning, my friend. Again, this is Justin Stoddart, host of the Think Bigger Real Estate Show my mission and my passion is to do the following to wake you up to the potential that's inside of you, and then to inspire you and help you to live in pursuit of that potential. So, Addison, I'm grateful to have you here. Folks, today, we're going to be talking about three things we're talking about, first and foremost, being good outside of the value that you typically bring, okay? Secondly, we're going to be talking about technology, how it's created more time and what that means for you and your partnerships. And number three, partnership, redefined, some examples of what you can and should be doing in order to maximize your partnerships. So with that being said, Addison net, he is a Top Producing lender with Finance of America here out of Portland, Oregon, and the guy does some really fantastic things. You'll notice that his his background here, just a minute is, is pretty fantastic. It looks like he's sitting like on a canoe right now in downtown Portland. And he's a video master to take some of his partnerships the next level. So Addison want to thank you for coming on to think bigger real estate show. Super excited to have you here.

Addison Nett  
I'm excited to be here as well. Thanks so much for having me.

Justin Stoddart  
Yeah, my pleasure, man. So, um, let's get into effect. Let me ask this question. Addison since we are on the Think Bigger Real Estate Show, right over my shoulder here you see the TV. Let's talk a little bit about life outside of real estate. Right. Obviously, we do this one because we love it. But secondly, we do it because it's to fund even more important things. Talk to us a little bit about what what's super important to Addison, you've got a beautiful bride. Tell me what's your kind of favorite part about life outside of the real estate industry?

Addison Nett  
Yeah, appreciate you asking and definitely enjoy Central Oregon, all of my in laws live in Bend. One we're able we love visiting out there and just spending time in Central Oregon and that's one of my favorite parts over the last few years. When work isn't super demanding I enjoy getting out on the golf course and teeing it up. So I grew up just as a local caddy here. Oswego Lake Country Club right in Lake Oswego. So when I can tee it up. That's what I prefer doing.

Justin Stoddart  
And you're known as a guy who likes to have a lot of fun at work, and you've shared a number of videos with the world about even though you're in maybe what might consider a little bit of a steel industry, especially not this week, right? But one that's, you know, very number crunching, you seem to have a lot of fun with it. Talk a little bit about how you again, we're going off track here, but that's the beauty of being in the house. To do it. I want to talk to me a little bit about how you keep the workplace fun, and maybe even the benefit that is for you.

Unknown Speaker  
Yeah, you know, I'd say probably a year and a half ago, when we were last together meeting, I was really pushing to try to create just a culture of positive energy, which then, you know, distilled down to the customer service factor of it. At the time, we were getting really aggressive with some fun videos around the office. And that really escalated into a new skill set that was able to really help some of my agent partners develop and leverage for their own marketing and business development.

Justin Stoddart  
Awesome, man. I love that it's been inspiring to see that again that you know, even though you're in the workplace, in a number crunching industry, you can have a lot of fun so awesome stuff. Let me let me let's dive into today's topic again about partnership redefined, right. So obviously, you and I are both a proponent of maybe some of the downfalls of our industry, right? We have people in our industry who have grown a business simply by, in my industry anyway dropping off tchotchkes, right thinking that simply by having a chummy relationship with your lender, or with your realtor that, you know, showing up chopping off some notepads and some pens, some calendars, and maybe taking people to lunch, that that's going to be enough in order to secure a long term relationship and maybe in days past, that absolutely was true, right. But that's all you needed to do. I'm a strong proponent that especially with the way the industry is going and how technology is getting better and better all the time. But it's actually keeping people I should say technology starting to to advance on what people get and get paid. And it behooves I believe, people to not just have somebody who can be chummy with them and drop off tchotchkes but something that can really come in and drive real value. Just a little bit about that from your perspective about again, it's not just about being chummy. It's not even just about being good at loans. Right. I mean, you've you've taken that to the next level. But tell us a little bit about, about kind of  how you believe that that being good outside of the value you're supposed to bring, is it has been important to your practice?

Addison Nett  
Yeah, you know, and that's definitely a big topic of conversation. Just to back up a little bit, I've had the opportunity to work with quite a few loan officers and build up teams together. And one of the things I like to do is sit down and analyze some strengths and weaknesses and really decide what route is going to be best for building their business and try to get people on that route. And that experience has folded over to the agents I work with as well. So when we're sitting down, like, I want to work with people that are relationship driven for the long run, and then we talk about value add. Now every single agent every single team needs a different And sort of value add. And as a business partner, and the lender, it's our job to figure out how that tailors to the direction that they want and need to go. So it can be a different on a lot of different platforms. But right back to you, it's like, yeah, dropping off stuff all the time. It's just like anyone can do that. I want to have business relationships to where like, Hey, we're talking about the great times, and the good times, we're building out long term strategies, and we're sticking to those. And yeah, it's a different world. And then additionally, adding value right now, like, man, these are it's a really volatile market. And it's our jobs as loan officers to be there for our agents and get through these choppy waters. So you've got kind of like a business development side, but then right now at any other point, this is when the lender and the agents need to be on their best communication. They got to have the best amount of trust in each other and in my opinion, that's built through long term reallationships.

Justin Stoddart  
Yeah, I love that man. Your your perspective, I think is super profound. And I hope everybody hears that sometimes people show up into a relationship and they want to talk about, here's what we can do for you. And I think it behooves professionals to really step back and say, Tell me, like, what, where's it you're at? And where is it that you're headed? Right? Because if you can get clear, with each customer, what they're actually building and what they want to create, it changes everything, your your approach totally changes, the value you can bring them totally changes. In fact, part of that might be the fact that like, I don't think we're a fit, we're not headed in the same directi...

Justin Stoddart  
Hey, welcome back to the Think Bigger Real Estate Show. I'm your host, Justin Stoddard. Today's episode, we're gonna cover three points. Why did rates go down? Why did they spike back up? And now what can we expect with the recent fed changes of moving the rates from zero to 0.25? I have with me today an amazing individual that's going to help us with that. Here's what I want you to know is that the purpose of this show, again, is to help you to think bigger. My personal mission is to inspire you actually to wake you up to the potential that's inside of you, and then to inspire you and help you to live in pursuit of that potential. Today's guest again, his name is Mark Aalto. He's been a loan officer for over 27 years, been in the industry for over 29 years. And during that timeframe, he's done between 4,500 & 5,000 loans. Needless to say, he's been a student of the market he's been a student of patterns and what causes rates to go up what causes rates to go down, and we are happened to be in very uncertain times right now and that we are trying To figure out what the Fed is going on with rates, Mark, you, thank you for coming on. Mark, thank you for coming on the show today.

Mark Aalto  
It's my pleasure, man. It's always nice to well, you always inspire me, man. So it's good to be part of this. And I hope that I can shed some light and help a little bit with what's going on and why and all that other good stuff. You

Justin Stoddart  
know, I appreciate you mark, because you really hand selected to kind of be the spokesperson today because you're very much a kind of a giving soul. You know, you're constantly reaching out educating the marketplace, helping people to really understand, hey, here's the changes, here's what you can expect. So because of your kind of outward reach constantly educating all of us, I thought, you know, you're the, you're a perfect person to bring on to really help us understand kind of first question, which is, you know, rates dropped all the way down to 3.29%. Can you give us just an understanding as maybe what caused that and and kind of what causes rates to go down like that?

Mark Aalto  
Well, and just to kind of start this off, so uncertainty is nothing new, right. And the bond market is ultimately, what rates are tied to. So I don't know that I'm necessarily the most technical loan officer out there in terms of explaining all this stuff. But hopefully this will be in a way that folks will understand. So if you want to rewind a little bit, so we rewind back to November of 2016. So the night before, it was, a lot of people thought that Hillary was going to be elected. And this is not political on my part, I want to make sure that everybody knows that you saw the stock futures, which is how people are looking to see what the stock market's gonna do. The next day was literally way down. And so a lot of us as loan officers thought, Hey, you know, rates are going to go from three and a quarter, which is around where they were, at the time, even lower. And what ended up happening instead is that Trump got elected, which is something that the market didn't expect. That's the important piece is not so much that a person got elected. Instead, it was a person that people didn't expect to get elected. And so over the course of just three days, we had rates go up about three quarters of a percent. In other words, volatility is nothing new to this industry. And basically from that point, In November of 2016, until about November 8 2018, rates were on a gradual climb. And so as loan officers, we would just basically take an application and lock it as soon as we could, because we knew that rates were going to get worse. And so what's happened basically, since November of 2018, is rates have been gradually going down. And the reason why that's important is because it has been gradual, it's not been sudden, it's been something where, when it comes to the markets in general, they don't like a lot of volatility. And so so here's something that I think everybody should know, that can help you out. So when there are periods of times when there's volatility, people that invest in the stock market, we're talking about people that have a lot of money or even might be mutual funds, hedge funds, all that other good stuff. What they end up doing is they were looking for a safer place to put their money. They're worried that basically by investing in the stock market, it's not the right place to put their money. They're looking for something safer. The safest thing is treasuries, right. So if you're looking for something that's a guaranteed investment, treasuries are the most safe thing that there Is the next the next rung up, something that's going to pay you a little bit higher rate of return, but still is considered safe are mortgage backed securities. So that's just a very broad background and a way of saying, okay, when when the markets are crazy when there's a lot of tumultuous stuff going on, people have a flight to safety and traditionally mortgage backed securities or a flight to safety. So what you saw from November of 2018, until, you know, about two weeks ago, was that mortgage backed securities were attractive because whether it was trade chalk talks with China and all the different stuff that was going on with that, whether it was a Coronavirus, all these different things, people were looking for a safe place to put their money because they were worried about the stock market. Now, if you talk to a loan officer last Monday versus today, it would have been totally different conversation because we just had a day after day after day after day of rates improving and the mortgage backed securities doing better. So in other words, we're we track what goes on in the bond market. The bond market is what actually makes rates do what they do so. So last Monday, we actually had a situation where rates were with a lot of lenders were right around 3%, three 3% to three and a quarter percent since last Monday, we've just had so much volatility, the mortgage backed securities, the bond market has been going absolutely the opposite direction. I know this was a way more long winded answer to what your original question was, which is just basically what caused them to go down, right. So what caused them to go down was it was something gradual, there was uncertainty, people were looking for a safer place to put their money. 

Justin Stoddart  
So In short, if I could simplify that, and again, I think part of what we're doing here is that probably most real estate agents understand this, you know, to a large degree, but really what we're doing is giving them very simple language that they can then take and give to their clients, right? Because even if it makes sense in their brain, they've got clients that are totally confused as to what's going on. They're trying to give them some sort of assurance, they feel confidence to continue forward and and make the proper move for they and their family. So I'm going to simplify this you correct anything that I say? So if I were speaking to my clients, let's say that I'm a real estate agent, I'm speaking to my clients, I would say that typically the mortgage rate has an inverse relationship to the stock market, the stock market goes down, then rates tend to go down as well. Right? 

Mark Aalto  
Correct. Yes. 

Justin Stoddart  
Because people are concerned about the stock market, they're moving their money to mortgages, right? to bonds, right? Which is in causing those rates to drop, right?

Mark Aalto  
That's correct.

Justin Stoddart  
Okay. So then, again, if the stock market starts to go back up, then people have more confidence they started start to put their money in the stock market. Money leaves mortgage backed securities, causing ra...

Justin Stoddart  
Hey, welcome back to the Think Bigger Real Estate Show. I'm your host Justin Stoddart and I'm thrilled about today's episode, we're going to break down some barriers that are keeping you from getting to where you want to go. We're gonna be talking all about recruiting, how, regardless of what you do for a living, regardless of what you do in your personal life, you're always recruiting whether you know it or not. And today's episode is going to help you get better at that. I'm excited to introduce to you today's guest, but let me just remind you, that my personal mission is to wake you up, and help you realize the potential that's inside of you. So that then you can go on and I can help inspire and help you to be live in pursuit of that potential. That's my goal. That's the aim of this show. And I'm able to associate as a result of the show with amazing people like Adam Roach, so it's little bit about him. He is a master recruiter, he has recruited over 70,000 people to a specific real estate company. He's now going into other industries and is taking his expertise in recruiting to the world because the reality is the world deeply misunderstands the need for recruiting and what it really is all about. Adam, I'm thrilled to have you here on the show today. your accomplishments are huge. You're a big thinker. And I'm excited to have this conversation with you.

Adam Roach  
Thanks, Justin. Super excited to be here. I love that intro, man, waking people up, that's super strong.

Justin Stoddart  
You know, I really believe Adam that the greatest untapped natural resource in the world is human potential. And that's my mission is to wake people up to help them to see that, that they can be more, do more, have more impact more, and then to inspire and help them to live in pursuit of that. So you're an extension of that what you're going to teach us today is going to help wake people up. So thanks again for coming on. excited to have you.

Adam Roach  
let's let's let's no more snooze button. Let's get up and go.

Justin Stoddart  
Let's roll. I love it. Man. Tell us a bit about your story. You became a recruiter. When you were in kindergarten. Did you say I want to recruit people for a living? I will teach people how to recruit. How did this all begin?

Adam Roach  
That's a funny question. No, when I was in kindergarten, I want to be the fastest kid in the class. Right? Right. No, we'll catch up with where I stopped playing professional tennis, right? So I was a tennis pro in Beverly Hills, California. I played collegiate tennis and then found out real quick on the tour that I was an American, not a European was getting my butt kicked all the time. And so I got into the tennis business, and the tennis business was myself and two other guys. We owned what was called the concession rights from the city of Beverly Hills to all their public tennis courts. And so you asked it I recruit in kindergarten? No, but I will say that I watched my coaches throughout my tennis career recruit, and I loved it. I love being around certain people that they were building their teams around. And when I started running that tennis club, I realized that the fastest way for us to grow and the fastest way for us to gain new members was to have incredible tennis pros. So I went went out in the city of Los Angeles and just recruited as many tennis pros as I could. And when I left that company, we had nearly 32 tennis pros. And I think when we started we had like, five,

Justin Stoddart  
Did you have an aha at that point of like any organization out there can get a lot better by recruiting the right talent to that organization?

Adam Roach  
Yeah, that's a great question. I think at the end of the day what I realized was recruiting solves everything, right? So if you want to get more if you want to get more tennis clients, right, we had to go get more tennis pros, because again, we only have a finite amount of time. However, if you leverage yourself and there's more than one of you, if there's two of you, there's three of you, you can go get more clients that way. So I knew we had to expand that expansion was through tennis pros, to recruit I recruited from other places, it's kind of fun.

Justin Stoddart  
You know, you and I had this conversation before that not everybody has a warm fuzzy when they hear the word recruit, I was similar to you, I was an athlete growing up. And so the greatest compliment that I could have is that, like a college team was recruiting me. And it was brought to my attention by a business coach that I had if like, hey, not everybody wants to be recruited, like sometimes that like people have these sentiments of being like recruited into the military. It's somewhere where you don't want to go and it's your conversation that you don't want to have. Talk to me about maybe that paradigm shift that people need to have when it comes to not having a negative connotation when it comes to the word recruit or for recruiting.

Adam Roach  
Well, here's what a coach taught me a long time ago. And this is actually a recruiting coach. He said, not everyone wakes up and wants to be recruited by Justin, not everyone wakes up and wants to be recruited by Adam. However, what everyone does wake up and realize is that where they are isn't truly where they want to be. Right? So it's our job as question facilitators are people that come from curiosity all the time, say, Justin, I kinda think I need to be in business with you. And I just really need to know where you want to grow to, right. Not go to but grow to. And so when you listen, when you ask enough questions, when you really engage with people, in my opinion, you're going to find out that they have gaps, right? They have gaps from truly where they want to be to truly where they want to grow to. And it's our job as gap fillers or recruiters to fill that gap and then ultimately at the individual cross from you sees the value in them getting to where they ultimately want to grow to faster in you, guess what, you'll recruit them. So in my opinion, it's a question asking this question, and you better come from curiosity and you better be open honest and truthful. Right? Don't b.s. them.

Justin Stoddart  
You know, powerful distinction you just gave us there, Adam, which is recruiters are simply gap fillers and right everybody has the gap. And I would argue that if they don't have a gap, then they're probably not someone you would want your organization anyway, like they think they've got it made their comfortable. Life's good. Like, just don't touch it, leave it alone. Number one, we probably can't help it. Number two, they actually aren't growing, right. And I think you know, something else I want to point out you said there is like, like helping people not go help them, help them to grow. And that's I would imagine when you're recruiting, you're looking for people that are growth centered, you're looking for people that are that, that realize that they're never going to reach their potential in this life. But man, they're going to live trying, right, they're going to absolutely live trying.

Adam Roach  
Well, I think I think you also want to surround I think who you surround yourself with really does matter. And so again, as a recruiter, if you're building a company, it's okay to be selective in who you're recruiting number one, number two, coachable people are sure a lot more fun to be around the people who are not coachable. And there's a big distinction there. Because here's what here's what life this is, again, all my opinion here. egos are massive in every space, right? And if you can sit someone down and truly come from curiosity and ask them questions, and they can answer authentically, you can tell that their egos are either ...

Justin Stoddart  
Welcome back to The Think Bigger Real Estate Show. I'm your host Justin Stoddart, very excited about today for any of you that have aspired to be a real estate investor, and or you've aspired even to work with real estate investors. I know a lot of this audience is residential real estate agents wanting to serve people and help them not just buy and sell homes, but to really build wealth through real estate. Today's episode is going to be ideal for you because you're going to learn more about the commercial lending space from someonr that truly is an expert. Before I get into introducing him, I want to remind you that my mission is to wake you up to help you recognize the potential that's within you, and then to inspire and help you to live a life in pursuit of that potential. And I'm grateful for the guests that come on because they are hand selected because people that can help us think bigger. So again, I want to welcome today's guest Robert Barthelmess with BGI Capital. Truly an inspirational story, as well as now hehas built a small little company and brand that is helping a lot of people be real estate investors or better real estate investor. So Robert, I want to thank you for coming on to the show today. Very, very happy to have you here with us.

Robert Barthelmess  
Justin, thank you for having me on your show. I'm a huge fan of your show. And I want to start by thanking you work for everything that you do for the industry, or the material that you put out there. It's phenomenal. 

Justin Stoddart  
Awesome. Thank you, Robert. Really appreciate that. You know, Robert, I found that we have some things in common that we both have a love of family. I think that's probably true of most people, but we probably take it to the next level. Robert has five children. I have six. Robert tell us really quickly. What is your favorite part about being a dad?

Robert Barthelmess  
You know, jumping into the whole experience, right? It's a very family oriented person, otherwise I wouldn't have five kids. So it's a really the whole the whole pie. Yes. Being able to give to them to be with them to guide them to form part of their lives.

Justin Stoddart  
Powerful. You know, I'm a fan again, part of the thing, that the mission I have on the Think Bigger Real Estate Show it's not just all about business. It's about actually having business, either to an ideal life to a better life. And I think you probably feel that way as well as your career is a vehicle to help you with and serve the people that you love the most. So, you know, always fun being around people like you that all love family.

That's kind of your core value. Let's get into your story a little bit, right? You came here from Peru, and have had phenomenal success. I oftentimes, envy and please don't take this wrong, because I know that there's many, many benefits of being actually born here in the US, but it's so I'm always so impressed by people who migrate here. And they come and they have amazing success as you have had. And I think there's something about leaving a country that maybe doesn't have the same fertile soil for

a business standpoint as the US does and you come here with a different perspective. And you maybe you don't take it for granted like, you know, like maybe someone that they like myself would because I've always been that's all I've ever known right? Would you say that moving here from somewhere else puts you in a in a unique position to be able to recognize how much opportunity there is here in the US?

Robert Barthelmess  
Definitely, Justin, I am the biggest us fan that you will find. I am I consider myself an American. I moved to this country in 1982. So I am all I am everything USA one of the things that you find when when you come into this country is that it really is the greatest country in the world. Right, by different by different measures. It is the greatest country in the world for entrepreneurs. It really provides you with the with a full open platform where limitations really does exist. When you come from a country that is phenomenal. I love my I love my country as well. But when you come into the US, it's like a blank canvas. Right? Being able to start a company, you log into the internet, you open an LLC in less than 10 minutes. You know, there's there's very little regulation, there's very little limitations that keep you from being able to do what you want to do. If you're looking for financial structure, if this is the capital center or across the world, so really, you know,

when you're coming from outside from another country and you come into the US, you find that there's such an incentive to explore and do, you know, do whatever it is that you want to get done. Again, I always say that I'm the biggest fan of this country, I think that it is the land of opportunity. If you're in the US and you think of it you can create it.

Justin Stoddart  
Boy that's inspiring, Robert, just that in, in and of itself, you know, is worth, you know, having you on the show, I know, we're just getting into the value, but you have some like you come in and say someone who's who you know, who's who's lived somewhere else to, again, recognize is something as simple as opening up an LLC, something as simple as getting financing for you know, for property or for an idea. That's just not it's not the same in another country. And so I want to thank you for sharing that. Let's talk a little bit about BGI capital. Tell us a little bit about what you do. And maybe the problem that you guys solve that maybe isn't solved by some of the more traditional forms of funding.

Robert Barthelmess  
So BGI capital is a full service commercial, real estate lending. One of the greatest advantages that our company has is we manage our own funding. Right. So we're direct lender, our funds are discretionary. So decisions are made in house. So when we're dealing with a lot of investors and you know, we work with a lot of seasoned investors, as well as with first time investors, one of the greatest advantages is that we can really sit down with our clients understand what their what their business plan is, guide them into their process, and make the tailor make a product specifically for them which works phenomenal for first time investors, right, we take the time to sit down with at work working through this whole process and put something that really helps them be successful.

One of the things that we do offer Justin aside from having our own private fund, we also full service commercial mortgage brokerage operation. So for the larger transactions for the more seasoned investors we can put together cans tructure deal integration with institutional national investors as well.

Justin Stoddart  
That's really, you know, what I see as some of the value right as you guys have the ability with your own funding, as well as the ability to go get it at a larger scale when necessary when needed. Would you say that not having what you just described keeps people from either starting or succeeding at a higher level because they don't have someone who's really kind of tailor making, and really even asking the questions of like, where is it you're ultimately trying to go with this, right, I think sometimes banks just come in and say, I mean, they look at it on a project by project basis, without actually getting to know who are the people and what are the people's goals. Right. And I think there's a lesson in that for all of us that are in well paid sales profession, right, whether it be title, you know, whether it be real estate, whether it be lending. Moving into that more advisory roll, I think it's critical for us remaining at this average transaction. But again, tell me, you see that that's pretty unique in your industry. And a...