Open The Gate
Breaking down Sacramento Real Estate: Our Favorite People, Places and Mindsets
Open The Gate
Ep. 16 - Liz Andersen - The Reverse Cowgirl (Yup... You Read That Right)
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Now, let's talk resilience and renewal, the kind you feel when spring rolls in or when Pink's anthems pump through your speakers. There's something about the fresh season that calls for reflection, whether it's reminiscing about cheerleading days or contemplating the transformative power of local businesses like those sprouting up in Rockland. And when it comes to upscale dining experiences in Roseville, our taste buds have tales to tell. But it's not all about the food; it's about the people behind it, like the visionary chef at that must-try Omikase spot in Lincoln.
Navigating the complexities of the real estate industry, from generational wealth to reverse mortgages, is an art—and Liz is here to demystify it. We're getting real about industry hardships, layoffs, and the pursuit of authenticity. Along the way, we ponder the delight of embodying Bob Marley or Audrey Hepburn for a day, all while emphasizing unity, compassion, and yes, a darn good party. So come for the insights, stay for the laughs, and leave feeling a little more connected and prepared to tackle life's curveballs.
Catch Up With Dan
Speaker 1Dan how you doing buddy.
Speaker 2Yes, sir, Welcome back to the shoot buddy. We missed you on the last episode.
Speaker 1I know I missed being here. For those of you who don't know, I've been kind of under a rock for like four months, just busy, busy, busy. And I kept telling Dan this day was coming. Like there's going to be a Monday soon where I have a ton off my plate and I'm finally there and I feel like amazing. So today's show could go one of two ways it could either be fire or it could just be a train wreck that people watch on YouTube down the line.
Speaker 2Well, I mean the, the, the pool service train is rolling, it's got an employee.
Speaker 1Yeah, we got an employee fleet.
Speaker 2Now we've got a fleet.
Speaker 3Um.
Speaker 2I mean, this is like legit stuff going on over here. He stopped wearing all of his branded shit on the show.
Speaker 1I know I look like a regular person today. I look like a regular, like a pool boy in Newport beach now.
Speaker 2Well, yeah, I mean, as long as my wife doesn't hire you, we're cool.
Speaker 1That's right, I actually. We're almost coming into shirtless season, so, like we do have a special package, a hundred dollars extra a month, I won't wear a shirt. So I those husbands that want to, you know, maybe a late mother's day gift. I'm there for you.
Speaker 2Is there like a um? Is there like a reimbursement, like if you fall into the pool or anything like?
Speaker 1Oh yeah, there is. Yes, it's a story for another day, but yeah, yeah, if I get wet cost three times as much.
Speaker 2We were not. I'm not going to take that bait. We could have easily gone down that road.
Speaker 1I'm going to hang out with just a lot of top-floating stuff for you today, just like little casts. Just wait, yes sir.
Speaker 2Well, I'm super stoked to have you back in the shoot with me, bud. I missed you last week.
Speaker 1Great job. By the way, my mom, who listens religiously, she goes. You know, dan just did a great job on his own.
Speaker 2Hey, between her and my sister, like I don't, I might need a bigger hat size. Like my sister says the nicest things about me and like to me and I'm like man, like Susie, thank you. So thanks for listening, suze. Yeah.
Speaker 1I mean, it's hard out there, you gotta. You gotta take it where you can get it. Speaking of which, like I know, you have kids in sports. Life is crazy expensive and I feel like COVID was an excuse for everything Customer service to go to shit. Everything got super expensive. On the way over here for lunch I had a ice cream cone, a dipped cone, which is a healthy lunch for any growing boy. But, dude, guess what it cost me for one dipped cone at Dairy Queen? Oh, probably like $7. Almost $5.79.
Speaker 1Yeah $5.79 for something that contains zero ice cream and zero chocolate.
Speaker 2It was good, well, just to piggyback on that. So my wife left for Reno a day and a half ahead of my son and I because he had a baseball game. So we had practice one night and we stopped at Carl's Jr and I had already eaten earlier. So just my 11-year-old Carl's Jr value meal $17.
Speaker 1Dude A drink, french fries and a burger Was the drink, like a double crown and Coke. It probably should have been.
Speaker 2It was a shitty version of a lemonade that I wanted to pour a bunch of vodka into after I saw the bill.
Speaker 1I don't know if I I think I've eaten at like a Carl's Jr once, but like, is there a Carl's? Is there like a regular Carl's or is there just a Carl's Jr?
Speaker 2I think it's just the Jr and then the Midwest. They got Hardee's.
Speaker 1So if you remember, Days of Thunder, yeah, with the star like the crazy dude, the villain guy. He drove for Hardee's which is like the, you know, knock, knockoff version, the knockoff, yeah, really, yeah, we're working on. You got to really get closer that mic a little technical difficulty.
Speaker 2You get down further on this thing all right, but that's enough of us, nobody listens to this thing. For us, today's guest is, uh, someone who I consider a friend for at least 12 years now yeah, you're a friend of mine former neighbor of mine, uh rodeo queen of rodeo queen.
Speaker 2We're gonna expand on that today Reverse mortgages One of the most selfless giving outgoing people that I've come across in our industry. She runs circles around the things that I do and I mean it's my sole responsibility and she actually has other work to do so yeah, I would say, out of the, the couple folks that I see consistently is in this industry, you being one of them.
Speaker 1We talked about that before in terms of consistently being places. This person would be one of the other places that I see.
Speaker 2It just about everything yeah, if she ever changes her password on her calendar and I don't know where to follow her, I will be in trouble. I have to find like out how to do this job on my own, so Well, let's play her song and let's bring her out here.
Speaker 1Let's do it.
Speaker 3I am here. I am here. I've already seen the bottom, so there's nothing to fear. I know that I'll be ready when the devil is near. I am here.
Speaker 2Yes, I am here. Yes, from a closet pink fan to a totally out publicly open pink fan, none other than the reverse mortgage lady Liz Anderson. Liz, thank you for joining us. Welcome Liz.
Speaker 3Hey guys, I feel like I want to cry every time I hear that song.
Real Estate Seasonal Reflections & Consistency
Speaker 2That was definitely more ballad than we've probably ever had as a as a walk-up song before Um but, tell us about it.
Speaker 1Why'd?
Speaker 3you pick that song.
Speaker 1Yeah, a million jillion songs on Spotify.
Speaker 3Yeah Well, um, as you guys saw yesterday when I texted you, it was like it was a toss up between um, between this one and between you, know, to get the party started. Also, pink Song, because it's like the two songs that I probably resonate with the most, I chose I Am here because I feel like it's a seasonal song. I feel like in life we go through ups and downs and seasons in life where you have to bring yourself back up, and music is really a huge part of my life and my husband. Thankfully, I found somebody that loves music and so music can change the world, it can do wonders for how you're feeling. And it's a seasonal song because we go through bad seasons, we go through good seasons and we gotta pick it up, show up. And I am here is like you know, we gotta show up for sure, yeah, for sure.
Speaker 2I think I love. I love it because spring for me is is, you know, it's that that spring forward as a, as a base, a former baseball player Like I, I just can't get enough of spring. The sun's coming out, the weather's warming up, that everything's green, like it's just it's, it's, it's uplifting, it's, it's motivating.
Speaker 3For me, it's termites go to town. Yeah, I was gonna say, let's be honest, hang out in the pool a couple more hours, sun's out big time, absolutely, absolutely.
Speaker 1You know what's crazy, though, because, like, right off the bat, we're six minutes and 50 seconds in here, and dan and I talked for about the first four.
Speaker 1So the one theme that I think that we like hit on all the time with every kind of baller that comes on here you pretty much said it, but you said in different words is like consistency, like, like you're already talking about showing up and through. Uh, you know, we're all well, we are all in in this real estate industry together, right, in different roles of vendor positions, but the truth is, you know the you know tide rises all ships and sinks them all at the same time, and so, like we're definitely been through a couple of stormy seasons here, and I, you know look at two people across the table here that, regardless of the numbers on what's on the whiteboard and what's on projections, you guys really haven't changed your activities significantly in terms of showing up, building relationships and maybe even more so, like leaning harder into those things than you ever have, and so, um, I think we're going to call it a day. We're done.
Speaker 2Yeah, well done, I'm not nervous anymore. Yeah, way to go, liz. What's, what's the b? Consistent?
Speaker 3yeah consistent I was a cheerleader in high school. Oh, now.
Speaker 2Now see, liz is no longer nervous. We've scratched through the top layer. She's. I saw, I saw, I saw the shoulders.
Speaker 3someday I'm gonna dress up like my husband's favorite cheerleader Dallas cowboy cheerleader oh wow.
Speaker 1That's probably. You know what the funny thing is, if you guys don't know, liz like she is definitely among I mean unanimously in the top couple best dressed of all time, and so that's probably the only outfit you don't own yet.
Speaker 3I do not.
Speaker 1And I'm dreading it. Well, she's a.
Speaker 3Niner fan. So that's a tough. Yeah, Hi cowboys. What is my husband thinking?
Speaker 1Well, you know the thing is about like the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders, they pretty much stand alone Like the team. It's almost like two different things.
Speaker 3The only reason my husband started following them and likes the team is because of the cheerleaders.
Speaker 2But well that is pretty much yeah.
Speaker 3My husband. No filter, Hello yeah.
Speaker 1And Dallas, you know they wouldn't have fans if they didn't know the cheerleaders. I agree. So, I think we should. They should probably look at contract negotiations down there a little bit differently, right? You don't need to be paying a quarterback that you, if cause you can have, anybody you could probably get.
Speaker 3Yeah, there you go. That's where the money's at.
Speaker 1It's all about woman power. No comment Continuing. So tell us a little bit more about you, liz. Just like the quick 30,000 foot view when are you from? How did you end up in the greater Sacramento area? And then every personal detail in between oh damn, that's a lot.
Speaker 3So I grew up in the small town of Truckee, so when I think of that I'm like that journey song right, Small town girl.
Speaker 1Yeah, is Truckee kind of the same as it was when you grew up, or not? Absolutely not. What's changed?
Speaker 3It's. There's a lot of tourists there. It's kind of like here.
Speaker 1Oh, they're trucking.
Speaker 3Well, here's the yeah, totally, it's like here.
Speaker 2It's like kind of like. I think it's wild though, because, like here, like they're not tourists, they're reload, they're transplants, right like I mean, I'm one. You had a lot of that happen up there, yeah, during covid for sure.
Speaker 3Yeah, like you could have, you could afford. Up there it was like kind of still in the middle of nowhere. It's still somewhat of a gem to live at, but when I grew up there was no stoplights.
Speaker 1That sounds really old, yeah I mean only 20, 20, only 20, 20 years ago. That's it.
Speaker 2Yeah, the nostalgia right, but like. But I'm also from a small town and like as much as we'd love to shit on the tourists and the people like we need those those small towns need their money.
Speaker 1They need them to bring that that revenue and support those small businesses, Because the fact of the matter is a little trinket shop on main street ain't gonna last in, you know, on on galleria boulevard and roseville, um, unless they got trinkets that liz likes.
Speaker 2That's true, and they might make well, unless you have trinkets like my dad had when he was a business, when he was a business owner, business owner up there. He had 300 tequilas at the restaurant are we really referring to, uh, clay pots as trinkets? I like that, yeah, it's what the tr that?
Speaker 1Yeah, it's what the trinket holds, right it is what the trinket holds.
Speaker 3I actually gave the. You were at my wedding, I gave those trinkets away for my favors with tequila in them to go See.
Speaker 1But that's the deal, right? Without tequila it's just a little clay pot, but with tequila it's a gift that says you know, go have fun and make bad decisions.
Life in Rockland and Roseville
Speaker 3Well, let's just keep that there. No, so yeah, truckee grew up in Truckee all my life. My parents are immigrants from Mexico. They met in Reno at a restaurant that my aunt and uncle owned, and then my dad worked for the railroad. And, lo and behold, when my dad was working in the railroad, he ended up working in Truckee. So, um, my parents moved there. I was four at the time, um, and went to school there all my life. So they they had one elementary school, one middle school, one high school. I graduated in a class of like 85 people that's smaller than me, which is which is amazing, because I have to it is amazing you graduated.
Speaker 1I cannot believe that?
Speaker 3yeah, tell me about it. I was least likely to. I mean seriously, I'm the black sheep in the family hey, you know what. Look at you now I keep, I don't keep telling them on that. I didn't do so bad look at me now and and I never got arrested.
Speaker 3I mean it's so interesting because I used to get really offended. I would walk in a room in our own industry and people would be like, oh, here comes trouble. And I'd be like what does that mean? Like literally, I have never gotten in trouble, I've never gotten arrested. How am I trouble Like? Trouble and fun are two different things.
Speaker 2For sure Right.
Speaker 3And so um no, so I, I went to school there all my life Again got crowned rodeo queen.
Speaker 1That's right.
Speaker 3You don't even know about snow. Fast queen, I got that too.
Speaker 1I know.
Speaker 3Under my belt, Moved here to go to Sierra College. I really never thought I'd be moving away from Truckee, but my parents were super strict and so I couldn't wait to get out and do my own thing, Went to Sac State and ended up working while I was in school as a bartender which is actually what led me into the mortgage industry.
Speaker 1I mean, honestly, I was going to say it's pretty much the same thing, right, you're talking to super emotional people trying to help them manage their money, not make bad decisions.
Speaker 3Listen to them cry. Well, kind of I was helping them make bad decisions.
Speaker 1Yeah.
Speaker 3As a bartender, it's like hard not to.
Speaker 1Well, with the time you got into mortgage, that's what everybody was doing, you know, 15 years ago in mortgage. So that's, that's good yeah.
Speaker 3It was really interesting because, uh, so I worked between that. When I was in college I worked at a bank, so finance, and then at night I bartended, and then when I was going to Sac State I'm like I really still don't know what I want to do my parents were like we're done, You're on your own, Go, do whatever you want to do.
Speaker 2Well, it's such a hard lifestyle I did so many years in restaurant and you're on your feet and you're really always on, especially in the bartending role. You're, you're, you're listening to everybody. You're listening to everybody. You're taking on all their, all their weight and let as they vent and all these things as we are in this industry.
Speaker 3A hundred percent.
Speaker 1The tips aren't as good in this industry, though.
Speaker 3Yeah, you know, you can't.
Speaker 2Yeah, probably a little bit. Well, I'll look at.
Speaker 3McDonald's these days Sometimes you're like really $20 at McDonald's.
Speaker 1Same amount of cocaine, though probably Probably about the same amount of cocaine. Probably very similar, yeah so you know who knew, I guess dude yeah.
Speaker 3We're not common in the other podcasts.
Speaker 1Maybe APM should start rolling around like Applebee's after 10 and see if they can pick up out of the bar for recruiting.
Speaker 3I gotta go to Sun City. I gotta go to Sun City places like that or like I've heard, like the restaurants in Lincoln are a good place for me to stop off at Happy Hour yeah for some networking, yeah, for some clients, yeah. Business development for sure, yeah not referral actual actual client, consumer direct. That's right for sure.
Speaker 2Okay, so you finish up at Sac State, and now and now, sacramento is home.
Speaker 3Actually, Rockland has always been home, oh wow. I moved into the dorms when I went to Sierra College.
Speaker 2Oh yeah, how do you know they had?
Speaker 3dorms. Oh they were so fun they don't have many more.
Speaker 1Yeah, they do, they do, yeah, they actually just refurbished them. Yeah, I'm re-enrolling. Oh yeah it. They do, they do.
Speaker 3Yeah, they actually just refurbished them. I'm re-enrolling. Oh yeah, it was the best time of my life. And then after that, my sister graduated and my parents were. She also came to see our college, so we what's super crazy is they got us an apartment at Chalico.
Speaker 2Yeah.
Speaker 3And look at where I live now, a straight down from Chalico. Weird, like everything came back full circle. So the apartment I lived in is like two streets, two lights up from where I currently live with my husband now. So, yeah, sierra College, sac State and Rockland has always been home besides Truckee.
Speaker 2Yeah, it's weird, that's so cool. So you've probably seen Rockland go from 20,000 people to, I mean gosh, it's almost 70,000 people now. So you've seen a ton of growth.
Speaker 1Yeah, and the way Rockland's spread out. Like I'm still a newcomer here, but the business is getting around Rockland a lot more now, For around here obviously Roseville is significantly bigger and there's a different pocket, but Rockland's really got its own, like all these own little districts that feel so different. And I just think geographically the way that you have to get around it too, it's just parceled it off into these like very unique feeling areas that kind of continue to have their own vibe. Cause if you just look at it from a map, it just kind of looks like this little thing right in the middle of the bowl of 65 and 80, but you start driving around and oh, there's my mom and mom, Um and it. It changes pretty quick.
Speaker 3What it's evolved into.
Speaker 1We still need like and I remember going to a PCAR meeting a couple years ago when Joe Gaiota was there and talking about like. Somebody asked like we need a good, cool, vibrant, you know where downtown is, and her answer was like well, the problem is like we need some like tenant, big anchor tenants to come in there Because that has so much potential still.
Speaker 2Yeah, Long Granite, the fire station there and all that um that's, that's bike distance walking.
Speaker 3I mean that's a long, a longish walk for liz, but it's doable, yeah, and how cool it would it be to turn that area and then lead it right into loomis, which loomis is so cool right?
Speaker 1now like where the brewery is you know?
Speaker 3you have that park. Back there you have reds, who can, who cannot, not know the bull. You got the bull, they got the bull you got the bull.
Speaker 1Now the bull is like uh, you know, we were just having breakfast saturday, right next to like a mug and coat right there, yeah and they've rebranded so, like good rebranding, right mug and coat, you go from ugly mug to mug and coat, like that's a pretty good glow up. My little guy, who's like two, is sitting there and he's just looking out the window at the liberal bowl which, like you, haven't seen it. The sign is it's almost. You almost don't even know it's there, right, but it has this little blue bowl on it and he just keeps going blue bowl. I want blue bowl and I was like buddy, I'll take you there someday.
Speaker 3But yeah, you got some, but we got a little time he started carding. He didn't used to card before COVID and then everybody found out it got big after COVID.
Speaker 1Yeah, I feel like every time I go in there, those and this isn't abnormal for me walking in any room, but I feel like somebody wants to fight me every time Cause I'll go in dressed like this, which is not abnormal, but I might be the only guy that lives in Placer County that doesn't own cowboy boots.
Speaker 2No, you're not.
Speaker 1I don't have cowboy boots, yeah, but you, I mean the only guy that doesn't live in Rockland, that still lives in Placer County, that doesn't have cowboy boots.
Speaker 2I would say Possibly I'm going to kick you out of 12 Bridges.
Speaker 3I don't know that I would keep my husband if he bought cowboy boots. I'd be like what?
Speaker 2So, okay, so we touched on the Liverpool. You mentioned Reds, so what are some of the other spots?
Upscale Dining and Real Estate Financing
Speaker 1Because you get around. I mean that, yeah, and we say that in the most endearing and thoughtful, kind-hearted way you are out and about, often in the public scene and we do a lot of networking and stuff, but I feel like you are somebody that I would go to and be like hey, I need to go figure out this new restaurant, or where should I take this realtor to go to something like you know. You know a lot of stuff, you are a lot of places, so what are some of your faves?
Speaker 3Sorry, right now I'm on a huge Rose Park kick.
Speaker 1Big Chipotle kick right now Sourdough and Co yeah, we yeah Sourdough and Co.
Speaker 3Yeah, we're huge on Rose Park. It's just, it's a totally different vibe that Roseville hasn't had and I think Roseville needs more of. It's kind of like a upscale, you know a little bit of bougie-ness associated with it. Great craft cocktails, food, phenomenal there's nothing that I haven't had on that menu. That's probably my favorite right now. A really cool place right now, too, is twin rocks.
Speaker 2You guys haven't been out where's that the winery I've been there oh, you have not no it is uh what city?
Speaker 3it's, uh, it's, I think it's kind of rockland because it's behind um auburn. It's on on Auburn Folsom back there. Oh okay, so maybe Granite Bay it's Granite Bay.
Speaker 2Yeah, yeah, as in San Luis, rockland doesn't extend out that far.
Speaker 3You need to do a date night, the wives need to go there, literally.
Speaker 1We were just Dan and I. Yeah, a couple of bottles of wine.
Speaker 3If you guys are pulling into this place. I drove out there for a PAL women's event and I didn't know where I was going and it was getting dark and all of a sudden I pull up to this place and I'm like am I in Napa? It was gorgeous, it's phenomenal, the location, everything about it. You don't feel like you're in Placer County. That's a really cool place, but we do like to go eat. Oh, another cool place Omikase. Have you?
Speaker 2guys been to omakase and lincoln yeah, right there in 12 bridges, that's so we've tried we've tried to go in there two or three times and you have to have a reservation. It's small obviously, but uh, chris hunt, who was on the show as well, is, uh, is a, is a foodie, big food connoisseur, um, and he, that's one of his highest recommendations in the area.
Speaker 3So it's cool and if and if you look at the story of um the chef, um behind what it's all about, it just makes you want to support that place even that much more. Yeah.
Speaker 1It's a pretty cool story. Well, probably the cool thing for you too is like if you went there and you had a little bit of a weight, you could just walk up to the Walgreens in the same parking lot and probably pick up a couple of reverse mortgages right there next to sun city. So I mean you talk about I can go into any.
Speaker 3you can go to leather bees right there, yeah exactly, sure, just like drop.
Speaker 1Yeah, tell us a little bit, because I'm a lender, obviously, but if I was to have to try to do a reverse mortgage, I will be fully honest, I wouldn't even know where to start. I know the basics, but you're the person I call for all that kind of stuff. Tell us a little bit of like 30,000 foot view, because even I bet you lenders, realtors, title escrow everybody, like nobody fully understands it, and now's a probably really good time to understand it.
Speaker 3Yeah, it is really good time and and people often ask me cause I don't like to pitch it as a sale Like. I just want to educate. Really, a reverse mortgage is an opportunity loan. It is an opportunity that people don't give it enough kudos. Um, first of all, of course, it can help people financially, but I think the biggest loss and that people don't take the time to reeducate themselves about what it is now is that there's so much wealth growth potential with it if you use it in unconventional ways. My dad and I I think you've heard this story, but I always share this story and I actually did a presentation at Portfolio Lending at Samantha Tove's office last Monday and there was a former guest.
Speaker 3Yeah.
Speaker 1Yeah, and one of your work wives in your harem. One of the other work wives but Daniel.
Speaker 3Smith. So there was a title company there who is actually who heard me speak about my, my dad's story at one of the real producer roundtable events about a year ago. And she goes can you please share your dad's success story? And I'm like, absolutely, because my dad was the person who was like when I told him I got into reverse mortgage, um, in the last worst economy recession crash of the industry is when I entered into the reverse mortgage niche. But I told my dad I was like I got a job and it's not at McDonald's. And he's like well, what is it? And so I explained to him what a reverse mortgage was and he's like what kind of shady business does not make a mortgage payment?
Speaker 1You are dead to me.
Speaker 2What kind of snake oil are you selling right now?
Speaker 3He's like you need to go to McDonald's and I was like, yeah, no, I really love this industry. I really I wanted to make it work and so, um, I stuck it out the first.
Speaker 2I mean I went what?
Speaker 3year is this. This is about 2008, 2009.
Speaker 2Yeah.
Speaker 1So, good times.
Speaker 3Worst times Right and and I will touch on this later about when you are in the worst market is probably a really good time to get in, Right we talked about that a little bit.
Speaker 3But, um, so I started and I started like pounding the pavement, I started going to all of the association meetings that you go to, and then, lo and behold, um, uh, my, my dad called me cause he's always been an investor, so he's always had a few properties, um rental properties. So he calls me one day and he's all um, I'm going to go look at some properties and I'm all don't make, don't make an offer, because the market's really hard right now to get a loan. And he's like I'm good, he's like I'm just going to go look, and that was last words, for I'm going to make a deposit on a home always.
Speaker 3And so my sister calls me like four hours later and she's like did dad tell you to put? He put a deposit on on a home. And I was like he's not even pre-approved, like worst thing ever. And so, especially that time. So he calls me and he's like, yeah, I put an offer on a house. I'm like, yeah, I heard so, um, he gives me. I said let me get all your tax returns. He was self-employed at the time. I get all his paperwork, I send it over to a traditional loan officer and they're like, yeah, no, your dad's self-employed, he writes everything off. No, no one's going to give him a loan.
Speaker 1It's like the best. Being self-employed is the best thing ever, until you go to try to buy a home and if you don't have, a lender knows what they're doing, or you have too good of an accountant and stuff.
Speaker 3Right, yeah. And so he. I said you can't get a loan. I'm like nobody's going to give you a loan, like it was so hard back then. And so he goes well, I work at the bank, I work with the bank next door. They're my bankers for my business, my personal, all this stuff. He's like I got luck with that. So he calls me two days later and he's like I can't get a loan.
Speaker 1I need some of the snake oil baby girl.
Speaker 2He didn't bring it up. And he smells like petunias.
Speaker 3He would not. He did not bring it up, Right, and so I wasn't going to bring it up, Like I'm already the back, bad sheep, black sheep in the family. I'm like, eh, not going to talk about it. So my sister calls me and she's like you talked to dad about a reverse mortgage. I'm like hell to the no, I ain't going there. So, uh, she's like let me call him. So he calls me like the next day, and he's like bring the package. We're having a family meeting. Let me hear what you got to say. I was like all right, so he owned his home outright at the time. He was able to get a reverse mortgage at the time of about $325,350, somewhere around there, and the house that he had put a deposit on was a bank-owned home. It was a huge home. It sat on the top of the hill in Reno.
Speaker 1Okay.
Speaker 3And so it's only about 35 minutes away from Truckee Just made that drive yesterday.
Speaker 3Yeah, he took $180,000 out of the reverse mortgage. Um kept the rest of the money that he was able to utilize in the line of credit and he bought that house cash. So he had no payment on his house that had the reverse mortgage on it, which was owner occupied house. He had no payment on the one that he just bought cash. He rented that out, made $2,500 a month. So you know that was income coming in during a recession and five years ago he sold the house that he bought for $180,000 for $430,000.
Speaker 1Yeah.
Speaker 3Okay, and so here's. The other thing is that his intent was always to have a traditional loan, so he kept making payments on the reverse mortgage to keep the balance down. That house was worth 675. Then it's now worth over a million. He paid off the reverse mortgage when he sold his business and he the house that he bought around the corner from us from your old street he bought that.
Speaker 3He did a 1031 exchange with the one that he sold from Reno and now my dad is like my mom and dad are like my next door neighbors. So when they retired, that's their forever home. So he's like a little mogul it was amazing what he did with that, and at some point he did call me and say thank you.
Speaker 3Yeah, the reverse mortgage not only like was able to give me this opportunity to to buy another property, but also in the recession, it was only was able to give me this opportunity to buy another property, but also in the recession, he was able to keep his business alive without the funds from the reverse mortgage. So there's so many different ways and things you can do with it that people don't even take the time to learn about.
Speaker 2Well, I think one of the things is and I think a lot of this is so jaded by the recent successes that people have had in gaining equity, and even the last 10 years. If you purchased a house in the last 10 years, there was really only a small window where you may have lost money In that way, at worst case, broken even and not if you held right so, right so anybody who holds over time.
Speaker 2I mean, I think 10 years is kind of the magic number, like it's almost impossible to lose equity over a 10-year period unless you're borrowing against the property, and that's another story for another day, atv machine right or unless you're Irish, because we lose at everything. But I think where the danger in this comes is in that because there always is the possibility of equities to slip and you can be upside down on a reverse as well. I still haven't seen that lately a lot. I just got a call this morning.
Speaker 3It's like hey, what's I want? I'm going to sell somebody who has a reverse mortgage. They'll want to list their house Like do I go on a property profile, which is not the way to go to find out the balance? But I haven't seen very many that are upside down. And even when I listened to Ryan and every now and then Ryan Lundquist, I'll ask him like, are the properties that are in foreclosure right now reverse mortgages? And no, I would. I'm surprised. So it's, it's not a bad thing.
Speaker 2So where I wanted to go is what would you say, what are the Common misconceptions? Or, and also, and then follow that with the misuses of a reverse mortgage.
Understanding Reverse Mortgages and Financial Responsibility
Speaker 3Okay, so misconceptions number one misconception is that the bank owns the home. When reverse mortgages were created years and years ago, each one was created by whatever bank was writing up whatever they wanted their guidelines to be on that.
Speaker 1So that is-. So there was no industry standard at that point, right, correct?
Speaker 3And so FHA and HUD stepped in and they fixed that. So there would be more advantages to the consumer. So that went away with that. So the bank does not own the home. Whoever's on loan is on title and vice versa, Right? So people still think to this day well, if I get a reverse mortgage, I'm stuck with it.
Speaker 2Absolutely. Is it similar to a traditional mortgage where it's going to take the first lien position?
Speaker 3Yeah, it's the first lien position and here's what happens Whatever, if you decide you get a reverse mortgage and you want to move in 10 years, you just pay off whatever interest has accrued and mortgage insurance has accrued on the loan at the time that you're going to sell the home.
Speaker 1Out of the equity, out of the proceeds, yeah. So that would be on a net like a net sheet.
Speaker 3Yeah. So if you got a reverse mortgage and you started off at a hundred thousand and then 10 years down the line it's at 300,000 and the value of the home is now 500,000. You're walking away with 200,000 in equity. Well, minus cost of sale right. But still you are not stuck with that loan. You can take the equity with you whenever you choose to, without penalty.
Speaker 1So you're not stuck with that loan or that house Correct. And then another term that gets thrown around a lot, heck them. Oh, yeah, so I know. Home equity conversion mortgage yeah, so same thing.
Speaker 3Fancy word for a reverse mortgage, because I think it was created because reverse mortgage had such a negative stigma associated with it.
Speaker 1They had to rebrand right. Mortgage had such a negative stigma associated with it, they had to rebrand right. Yeah, but that I like that term because it it is like I love what you said. It's like it is a conversion of your equity right. It gives you the opportunity to take what's in that home and utilize it for a number of things where they're like, yeah, leverage.
Speaker 1You know you want to help your grandkids out with something you want to keep a business afloat through a tough time and keep employees on payroll like. Do you have any success stories like during covid?
Speaker 3because obviously that is exactly the majority of the phone calls that I got is like I need to save my business, like everybody was trying to pivot as quickly as they could and figure out as things were happening, because they were changing daily. Gee go figure like our.
Speaker 2We're not used to that. We don't talk about COVID anymore, but literally yeah, help people save businesses.
Speaker 3I mean when they can eliminate a mortgage payment right and then put it back into their business to help figure out how they're going to navigate tough times, that was a perfect perfect. I mean I got phone calls left and right during COVID about saving their businesses and for my dad it w it was exactly what it did in the recession. Yeah, and I don't know about you guys, but I definitely feel like we've been in a recession. Our government just want doesn't want to say it.
Speaker 1So the numbers are the numbers, but the you know the rhetoric is, the spin is a little different. Right, correct, yeah.
Speaker 3So I think that we are in the number of phone calls that I get right now for people that are on fixed income, that are struggling Call it. Once you call it, we get over it quicker. Right, we get through it. And then you talked about, like, what are the ways that people can misuse Correct? Yeah, or get themselves in trouble so I think the biggest thing is people utilizing spending all the money like quick, right, like oh my god, they've never had to manage a large amount of money.
Speaker 2Yeah, just like anybody else, right and to have it well, this is why there's, this is why there's an age restriction on this product. Right like, yeah, there's an age restriction and this product right.
Speaker 3Yeah, there's an age restriction. And also a few years ago well, when I first started, they used to give them all the money if they wanted it. All right, lump sum here, take $300,000. Go manage that.
Speaker 2How very 2005.
Speaker 1Yeah, We'll give you the money at the door of Thunder Valley Casino. Yes, right, you have a job right?
Speaker 2Yeah, yeah, Nod and a wink, yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 3So they actually implemented guidelines as to how the money would be dispersed. So they don't allow you to take all of the money up front now. They disperse it between the time that you close the loan and the first year, and then they hold back a certain amount available to you after the first year the loan is in place. So that is the first thing. It's just spending the money, not knowing how to manage it. The second thing is we touched on that part spending the money. I think that's the biggest thing.
Speaker 2Those are the two big ones, yeah that's the biggest.
Speaker 3It's really just the financial responsibility.
Speaker 2I mean mean you have to understand they're not just sending you money every month or they're not just sending you a check like correct that's tied to that's tied to an asset yeah, you can.
Speaker 3You can choose that disbursement check, lump sum, um or line of credit, but you have to. The rules are this is the other thing that can get you in trouble and go into foreclosure. If you don't pay your property taxes, homeowners insurance on time, if you don't live in it as your primary residence and you think, oh, I'm going to turn it into a rental. Nope, not allowed, you have to live in it. Now you can rent out a room and you know, get income and then, of course, proper maintenance of the home.
Speaker 1Sure.
Speaker 3Keep things you know functioning. If something, if there's a hole in the roof, fix it, like stuff like that.
Speaker 1The stuff that we would say the common sense stuff. But then I realized, in this industry there's just no common sense, right Dude?
Speaker 2I, we, we did a job. Literally today my guy sent me a video. Somebody made their shower smaller. They must've needed more storage. They built a like a linen closet and they just shrunk the size of the shower. It was still all tiled. There was still a drain. It was wild, it was unbelievable.
Speaker 3They did it themselves.
Speaker 2Oh yeah, there was ab. There was no way. This was a permitted thing.
Speaker 3It was it was so bizarre, yeah, so I call it an opportunity loan, depending on what what the client is trying to achieve.
Speaker 1I think the cool thing about it and Dana and I have talked to a number of different people and I would say we're all vendors for this industry. If you're going to say that real estate agents kind of run real estate and most people are here to support the transactions that they do whether it's be financing something or helping to make sure the home is in good order or making sure the transaction goes smoothly the one constant of the folks that we have on the show, especially now in a market like this, is, I would you know, it's important for people to look at rates, it's important for people to look at reviews, but but truly like finding a referred source that you trust and that can be a realtor that can be your lender, your pest inspection, your pool guy, like whoever it is. I think more than ever especially after COVID, where service kind of sucks stuff is expensive Finding somebody that you really trust, like truly trust, is more important than ever. So now we see all these changes happening in the competition structure for realtors, more than ever.
Speaker 1Again, I want to urge you, if you are a non-industry person, listening to this is find somebody that you trust. So, again, like if I'm the son or daughter of somebody whose mom or dad is like getting somebody that you trust. So, again, like if I'm the son or daughter of somebody whose mom or dad is like getting getting mom and dad talking about getting a reverse mortgage, I think your role is extremely important as a trustworthy person. Right, because it's. It's leading somebody to an opportunity, but at a time when there's been a you know, historically, a group of people that have been exploited, financially for a lot of things and then the fear of, like, this is my primary residence.
Navigating Generational Wealth Through Real Estate
Speaker 1So like say, son and and Dan Dan is my decrepit father but he's got a beautiful home in Rockland and he wants to get a reverse mortgage. And I call you and say, liz, I don't know, like, what this reverse mortgage thing is, but you know, tell him, tell me about it. What would be the first couple of things you'd say to me as like a trusted source. You know, like I don't trust you with my father's money. This is his house. He built the house with his own new hands. Like well.
Speaker 3Well, here's. The thing is that I've always taken it Um, and I think it's just my. The empath and me is that I treat every client as if they were my own father. So when I have kids in the room and they're they're kind of like looking at me like you're going to take advantage of my parent. I will totally start with. These are the things to be aware of. Let's start with the things that are most important to you guys, because you guys are in the room and I think that most kids I'm starting to see a shift, but most of them are like okay, well, what's going to be left for me? This is my inheritance.
Speaker 3That is one of the other biggest obstacles's like you know well, there's not going to be anything for me. Well, why should there be? It's your get a job.
Speaker 2Well, and that's what I wanted to kind of tap into too, because generational wealth typically starts with home ownership. I mean, we're looking, we're seeing a lot of it now with the associations and their movement, with the dei and all that stuff, um, but I, and I don't really know it's. This is so big but, like even the moderate, the first time home buyers in today's generation, the early, the mid 20 year olds, maybe the 30 year olds, like it's different. They don't have one. 20% down on a $500,000 house is a hundred grand. They don't have which. They haven't had time.
Speaker 3Your grandparents do a reverse mortgage they don't have, yeah, which?
Speaker 1well, your grandparents do a reverse mortgage and instead of that, instead of them waiting for them to pass and pass on their inheritance pass it down without creating an obligation now and those grandparents can see those grandchildren move into a home now yeah, and I can't tell you how many people like I think there's a little bit of a misconception. Right, you look on social media in any part of your life now and it's like man, everybody's having way more fun and is more fit and better marriage and everything than me. But I think for young first-time homebuyers that are grinding, maybe the last, probably say three years, had some kind of sizable gift or some structure we'll use the word gift loosely from a family member where they were able to get into a home.
Speaker 1Now that's a huge, I cannot tell you that's a huge, huge, huge advantage. Because what you do is you go to the market with your pretty squared away. That money's already there, you can still be early in your career and not making a ton, but that kind of works for that debt to income ratio for you and you have some flexibility of like that gift money could be 20 grand more if it needs to be like there. There's some huge things there. So I would agree, as opposed to if you're a young person and you have that well, again we'll say if you're an older person and you have that well, again we'll say if you're an older person and you have that opportunity to utilize that equity, you want to think about legacy and building wealth through real estate getting somebody in and then honestly like why don't you do it while you're alive?
Speaker 3I mean, you can watch them and enjoy it and coach them. And, like you know, grandma and grandpa got some strings attached. You were part of that process. You were part of that journey and it's interesting you say that, because I just read something that said that 38% of first-time homebuyers are having a hard time getting that down payment together. And I'm like this is a way to utilize.
Speaker 3If parents don't have the money in the bank or grandparents want to contribute and don't want to create a financial obligation, you should at least look at the option. I never push anything Again. You were saying, like sitting down in front of parents okay, let's start. Let's start with I don't call them the bad things. I talk about the things that they should be aware of Like this is a long-term loan Stay in the home as long as you possibly can, because the fees with this loan have to be spread out over time to make financial sense for the person who's doing it, first and foremost. And then the other thing is like be aware that at some point, if those people that did a reverse mortgage beat the bet on the age tables and they outlive those age tables, then at some point there may not be any equity left in the home.
Speaker 1I thought they changed that law right.
Speaker 3It used to be like a death squad came in and just killed them, right it was like yeah, Well, back then I think that's probably how they felt when they hit the value of their home and they couldn't use any more equity. But now I mean I just made a phone call on Friday for a client that was not mine. A realtor said hey, they, they're afraid that they're going to like, as soon as they use all their money, they're going to be kicked out. I called they're not my client. I called them with. The servicer on the phone had permission to ask all the questions for that person.
Speaker 3This is not a deal for me. I just want to help that person that got a reverse mortgage understand that they're going to be fine in the end. Right, and that's always my purpose. I had another one that I told the other day. You know what Don't do a reverse mortgage. If you're going to move this out of state in a year, sell it and take your equity. Don't do it. There's fees associated with it. Go, it's not about. For me, it's never been a number and I think that you realize this is like it's just about doing the right thing, regardless of whether it's a deal or not. I mean that's authentically how you make it in this industry.
Speaker 1If you're going to be in this industry long-term right, I think that's what you got to do, right. You're going to lose some. I just lost one here recently and it was. It sucks, it never. It never feels good. But I think that sting gets soft when you're like I've been in the game doing this for a while. I know that this will come back to me. I still did the right thing. I think it was the right thing for the client. It would have been the wrong thing for them to say, for me to say like I need this cause, I need to get paid. But you know, if you're doing that, you're doing the right thing. You're leading with your heart, You're showing up and you're being consistent like you are, and you're continuing to grind.
Speaker 2I think the long that the one thing that lives. Just to kind of finish off on this, I think that, especially for the newer home buyers and people, I mean I'm in my, I mean we've owned my wife and I've been homeowners for almost 20 years, various properties, but it's just different, right, like it's not the same. So, like the advice that I'm going to give my kids when they go out to buy their first house, it's going to be dated. I mean maybe not because I'm in the industry and I have, you know, I keep my finger on the pulse of that but like in a different situation where someone who's on the outside looking in.
Speaker 2I always, I always use the reference because I came from the Bay area. My mom, when, when, when my wife and I bought our first house up here, the process was completely different from how they did it in the Bay area. So I was immediately kind of like was like this isn't the way we do it down here. What's going on? It was weird. And you tie that in with the Dream for All program.
Speaker 3We've talked about that a little bit on the show, the shared equity, kind of like the nightmare for all. It sounds like, and I'm not a traditional lender, I just hear it, but I'm going to tell you I'm legally obligated to say I do those mortgages I've.
Speaker 1So if you're listening to this, I'll tell you somebody else you can talk to.
Speaker 2But I also think it just represents how different things are Correct. Because we've talked about it, you'll probably start seeing a more regular occurrence of a 40-year mortgage and things like that, because the way that we do business right now is going to have to change. If fire insurance is going to cost $20,000 a year, there's going to have to be an offset somewhere there, and maybe that offset is by expanding the mortgage out over 10 more years so that we can lower the monthly payment and make that thing fit for people's affordability rates.
Speaker 3Because you guys know it as well as I do. People on two incomes like seriously it is so hard unbelievable income on paper.
Speaker 2You're like how much you make so much money.
Speaker 3Yeah, but then all of a sudden, in a year's worth of time, I remember last year we got our insurance premium up 800, and then we just got it two months ago and it went up another 1,000. I'm like, where do I have to be today, tomorrow and the next day?
Speaker 1Yeah, it's crazy, and so I don't think the the dream for homeownership is not going to change. It's certainly not. You know, like Dan said, it's not what it was 50 years ago, it's not what it was 20 or 10 years ago and it very, very likely won't be the same as what it is in 10 years.
Speaker 3It's changing so quickly too. We definitely have to stay on top of it.
Speaker 1You way? Yeah, for sure, talking about adapting, I'm gonna make, I'm gonna try to make a transition here. Um, one of the things that dan and I have enjoyed the most on the show is that we get to be in charge and so we get to have on the people that we like and we don't have to have everybody that we don't like. But in this industry sometimes we have to work with all sorts of different people, whether that be clients, other folks in the industry, um, and you know, just like everybody not everybody is your cup of tea.
Speaker 3Tequila, yeah, tequila.
Navigating Relationships and Challenges in Industry
Speaker 1Not everybody's your cup of tequila, but one of the things that, like we want to hit on for sure is um, I have kind of ebbed and flowed and doing a lot of business through Instagram and social media. Dan does a fair amount as well. You absolutely do, um, but one of the things that we've talked on here with a lot of people about is this crux, where everything kind of meets with the life that you portray on Instagram the life that you live in your networking, the life that you live at home with your husband and your family, the life that you live professionally, and then how you kind of marry all those together and interact with a bunch of other people authentically in an industry. That's pretty inauthentic. So I'm just going to dump that whole enchilada right there on you.
Speaker 3Did you say enchilada, cause I'm Mexican.
Speaker 1I did, I did, you caught that right Profile.
Speaker 2You just profile. That is dude.
Speaker 1I will say, like you know, again the other, the other title I'm going to give you now is the reverse cowgirl.
Speaker 3Cause you know, you've already exactly.
Speaker 1I know, but that's it the reverse mortgage and you're the and you're the rodeo queen, so, scott, that one's for you. Buddy, good luck with your uh here. Dallas, cowgirls, fantasies, you and your reverse cowgirl.
Speaker 2That's all right so, like I said, scott's license plate is not dirty so he doesn't go there anyway, oh oh, oh.
Speaker 3But the first license plate said mclovin and I made it take it off.
Speaker 1I'm like dude, you are married, you are not mclovin.
Speaker 3Yeah, anyways, okay, so that wasn't even a question.
Speaker 1That was just a bunch of stuff I threw at you. But yeah, it's. It's crazy industry to be authentic, be yourself, bring energy all the time, talk to people, try to keep like a little rah-rah attitude when we've been really getting our ass kicked as an industry for a couple of years. Regardless of how much money you're making, everybody's working hard. Even when it was, even when it was booming, we were making more money and everyone was exhausted Everyone's exhausted and not making as much money. So how do you keep doing what you're doing?
Speaker 3Ooh, you guys are going to like it. I think I might get a little deep here. This has been a this is something that I've been contemplating. Talking about on social media whether it be a podcast or just, you know, doing a short videos is that. You know, life is hard. No matter what season you're in, there's always things that come up, curve balls, that are thrown at you.
Speaker 3And when I got into this industry, when I got into this niche, I should say was one of the toughest times of my career and, honestly, my life. I got laid off from a title company. I had to short sell my home. My first and only other marriage was going down the drain and I remember when they laid me off title, like I said, I wanted to really stay in this industry and I went to the manager at the time, which was Chris Clark. She was my manager and I'm all listen, don't pay me, don't give me a salary, just let me bring deals in and commission me whatever amount you want to commission me, because I am not leaving like, I do not want to leave this industry. Um, I went back to bartending um during that time, part-time, and it was just. I mean, you still had to show up at clients offices like you, like you weren't losing your house, your marriage was not falling apart, you could not pay your bills. And I think those toughest times got me to a place where I'm now, where I have thick skin, I believe it or not.
Speaker 3I was a very shy person Even when I was bartending. I remember when, because I started off, every job that I've started off, I've started off at the bottom. Like you know, I started off as a hostess in the service industry. When I started off in mortgage, I started off as a receptionist. So, you know, I started from the bottom and moved all the way up to where I'm at now, but not without hardship. The way up to where I'm at now, but not without hardship. And, um, I look at where I'm at now and I look at the relationships that I've created and, um, yes, somebody said to me oh my God, you are friends with everybody. And I'm like no, that is not the case. That is not the case. Um, I the case. I know a lot of people.
Speaker 3We have a lot of relationships, but they are not always your friends. And what I have found out lately and I question other people because my niche is different so I'm not like a traditional lender where you work with your realtor and you guys are supposed to give business to each other and I see this all the time. I see like, oh, like your lender and your realtor, oh, we're besties, we're besties. Would you guys be besties if you guys weren't giving each other business? Like, who are your true friends in this industry? Are you just friends because you are strictly giving each other business? I don't have that in my circle, right I?
Speaker 1I that's not part of your role.
Speaker 3No right, it's not, because it's just not how it works in the reverse industry I can't give you a deal, because the deal you just gave me is going to probably be their last deal.
Speaker 2Yeah, you're gonna have to wait drawing that line between friendship and professional relationship and colleague and things like that is super important. Um, when I got started, it was, you know, 12 years ago and the market was upside down. It was short sales and rs and we were partying like we were. There were a lot of social, a lot of social functions, a lot of happy hours, a lot of wild things. Um, for me it was also really important because my kids were young then, like super young I mean, when we moved back to California, my son was six months old and my daughter had just was about to turn three.
Speaker 2Um, so for me it was like it was crazy, cause I was in this super social space where I'm meeting tons of people and I had to do it Like we needed it. The business development was dependent on it and and becoming, you know, you become friends with some of them, naturally. Um, others are colleagues and things like that. But then on the other side, I'm getting pulled in the direction of parents from school and social. You know, sports functions for my kids. So it's almost like now you almost have like this dual, this dual life.
Speaker 3Well, you know, I didn't have. I didn't have children of my own and so I don't have that. This has been like my baby right, that this industry has been pretty much my life. And so, not too long ago, because I started realizing not everybody in this industry is your friend and then what I also started realizing and don't take this the wrong way, I'm not trying to sound pompous or anything but I think sometimes when people perceive you, like you said on social media, and they think that your life is perfect and my life is not perfect, let me just tell you, like just a perfect wardrobe on an imperfect woman.
Speaker 3I mean I mean seriously, like I think most both of you know, like I uh I married Scott, who we have a 27 year old special needs daughter. That is a daily grind, also at home, like there's a lot of things that happens at home that you don't see, and it's like every now and then, yes, I post about her, but there's so much that comes with that, and so that part of my life is hard. And then so I started focusing too much on why people were leaving my space. And again, I understand I am not for everybody, but I put my heart and soul when people come into my life, I pour in, and then when they leave I take it super personal. So I haven't been able to establish those boundaries because I'm just a giver that way, right. So what I started realizing and, like I said, don't take this the wrong way it's almost like when you you feel like you've made it, when you actually have haters, right.
Speaker 3When people don't like you, but they haven't given you a reason as to why they don't like you. Um, I've realized that it's not always me. Yes, it can be. I get that I'm not perfect. But the other part of it is like, maybe their marriage isn't good, mary, maybe they're having a hard time with their kids? Um, you know, maybe they're financially strapped. There's so many things that I think we look at people, because I am the first one to say I'm a very insecure person. I, you guys may think I'm confident. If you talk to my husband, those are the two things that he's always telling me I need to work on. You need, you need to like. Walk the walk, liz. You are who you are, but yet, like you have, you don't have this confidence at home, you don't you? Always I'm like, always like, and I think everybody has self doubt.
Speaker 2I mean, there's always going to be a voice in the back of your head that says maybe not, maybe you're not good enough or whatever. And, um, I think, I think different people will strive to push through that, where some people's personality will maybe give into that.
Speaker 3Um, and then they take, and then they, they put it on other people. So then you're like okay, what did I do? And I and my Scott finally said you know what, liz, this is the industry you've been in for so long. You need to have friends outside of this industry, and I was like huh, I'm sounding boards.
Speaker 2Some people that that that aren't living through the same problems that you are, that can just listen and not have and not be jaded Right, Because if you come to me with an industry related frustration, I'm I'm probably having a similar frustration where I've had it before, and now we're more commiserating than me being your sounding board, right, and so you need that non-biased, almost third-party friend.
Speaker 3I do have friends outside of the industry, like, luckily, I still have a really core group of friends from high school that are actually in this area, and so we get together a lot, which is really. It's awesome that I can still have classmates that we hang out and we still do the same pull, the same shenanigans that we did back then. We haven't changed, we haven't skipped a beat, and so sometimes you have to turn to stuff like that, but it's hard. Turn to stuff like that, but it's hard. It's very hard to be in this industry, um, and not bring your everyday struggles and be on a hundred percent all the time it's it's.
Speaker 3It's honestly. It sucks sometimes because your mind can't be there. You have a. You look at your schedule and you're like I just need a personal mental day to get through the week. I think they don't have it.
Speaker 1And then I think and I'll speak for myself as you get into years, like we've had here, and I'm going to echo Katie McDiarmid's and Kaylee Cornell's and Jack Nance's, like some of some of them I mean, everyone other than Jeff Colberton has been on here pretty much you just I don't know if the guy just turns everything to gold is that you have these very there's three successful women that I've just named. They're all massive moments of insecurity, doubt Now, even even as they've done very well and like hit apexes in their industry and like forward leaders and rising stars, I haven't made it. It's going to crash it.
Speaker 3Oh my God, it's going away.
Speaker 1It was a fluke and it was a fluke year after year, and now this new role I shouldn't do. And it was a fluke year after year, and now this new role I shouldn't do. And I felt that way when I started my business. It was like what are you doing?
Speaker 2Someone's got the rug in their hands.
Speaker 3All they got to do is pull. You're always waiting for the other shoe to drop. A hundred percent.
Speaker 1And the more successful people I hang around, the more honest they are about that, and that's what I love about. Like you find your tribe One that and that's what I love about like you find your tribe I. One of the things I've loved about moving to plaster county is like I've surrounded myself, or been lucky to be surrounded by some really entrepreneurial, successful people and I have the most more authentic relationships with them than ever. Like my business looks great on the outside it is, but man, I'm grinding for my marriage.
Speaker 1I gotta hire this person. This thing is weighing me down. We had the best year on paper on instagram we've ever had yeah, man, I really paid for it in my personal health.
Speaker 3I really need to. You know, people don't talk about that. And then you feel like you can't talk about it because people are going to be like, oh, their life isn't perfect, oh, and I'm like we all struggle. And here's one thing you just brought up that I have also like I have a hard time when people say, oh, you need to surround yourself like the with the most most, like five top successful people, and for me I'm like what does that mean to you?
Speaker 1Because that means completely something different to me.
Speaker 3I don't need to hang out with the people that have the most money, because I do not resonate with that I live with a financial planner. It's always talking about money. It's the last thing I want to talk about. But here's the thing. Like for me, it's like who brings me spiritual peace? Right, that's like I need somebody who is a peacemaker in my life. I need somebody who is religious. I need somebody that's going to call me out on my shit.
Speaker 1Like I love how you paused there. Sorry, I was like shit, shit, shit. You say mierda, call me out on your shit. Mierda, yeah, for sure.
Speaker 3I need somebody that I can just vent and cry, sometimes when my husband is, because he's not an empath. He just doesn't even know what to say or do when I'm falling.
Balancing Work and Family Life
Speaker 3I mean, I need just somebody to cry on, and then you need certain pillars of your life to be filled, to be. For me, that is wealth. Money is not wealth, and I think when you're growing, getting into this industry, those are the things that people don't tell you yeah, hang around, have a mentor, have a coach, but when it comes to success, what does success mean to you?
Speaker 1Or what does a mentor mean to you? I mean, I think I've had some awesome mentors in my life, and the true like the best ones. In fact, I'll tell you this, like the mortgage company I work at now, I could probably have more tools, maybe more money. Definitely. It may be easier in some ways, some other places, but the two guys that own the company I work for are awesome dudes. They would keep the lights on and pay me before they'd ever pay themselves.
Speaker 1They're, they're, focused on balancing their, their, you know entrepreneurial enterprise with being coaches for their kids, being balanced in their marriage, being honest, telling their employees like man. We are struggling right now but we're going to make it. And here's the plan. Like, I watch these two guys be exactly what you talked about as mentors and I get calls. Actually, I got a call from APM today and I just said, you know?
Speaker 1with all due respect, you can call me anytime. We don't have to comp plan anything. Like I'm working for people, I call me anytime. We don't have to call comp planning. Like I'm working for people I really respect. I like I know they're going to do the best by me. I don't need to know all the details and in a time when the industry is f for lack of a better term and everyone's scrambling and trying to find a place to land, those are the kind of people I want to surround myself with that are like hey man, no, this is where we're at, for I know you guys are grinding right now and we need another processor or whatever.
Speaker 1It is that to me, in in the industry of bullshitters, people that are going to be honest, show you when they're struggling, tell you you're doing awesome when you are, even if the numbers don't show it, like that's what. I would call a mentor, Not not the people that are necessarily in no.
Speaker 2Well, I would say your definition of perfection should probably include some chaos or some imperfection. Otherwise it's not going to be. If there's nothing going wrong, it's too easy to just let off the gas or whatever, or stay motivated.
Speaker 3There's always something to fix.
Speaker 2We do weekly leadership meetings within our organization and it's like you know, sometimes we struggle to get things on what we call our issues list. Um, but it's like as soon as something gets on there, we can focus in on it and we're like, oh, this is, this is our focus, this is the problem that needs to be fixed in our organization and you know it'd be it's, it'd be easy for us to gloss over like everything's great yeah, there's no issues right now.
Speaker 3That's that's the instagram life that we all you know portray. But I will tell you it's so funny because I look at all people when people say I've had a couple people lately, say you're like always happy and I'm like, well, happy is part of the process of balancing both work and family life. If if we're not having fun in either realm like something's wrong, we have to fix it. But my absolutely fun is a core value of mine. It has to be if we're doing something and it's not fun, or if we look at something and put it on a calendar and I'm like if it's not, yeah, F, no like absolutely not.
Speaker 3Like it's got to fit and you just for me, for us.
Speaker 3It's just about Scott and I. Choose things that we love to do and, yes, we have so much fun. I could have not found a better partner than him, because you know, everyone always used to say before I met him you're so fun, you always like to do this, you're always there, like that's always been mean. It's the way that we were brought up in a mexican cultural family. I just remember being really young and every weekend my parents would have family over, friends over, and all I ever saw was people from the hips down because my parents would turn on the boom boom box and there'd be Budweiser's all over the coffee table.
Speaker 3And we everybody would just be dancing, you know, till midnight in our house. You know family, friends, and so that is literally. I'm like my father's daughter is just he created this person, liz's quinceanera never ended, I love what you're saying there.
Speaker 2But I I'm just prescribing, like you know, dirty laundry should be done in house. You know, I don't necessarily think, because I do. I try and be as optimistic and positive on social media and things like that, and I think that's the place for that. So I get kind of bothered. I'm like, oh, like people are like, oh, your life's so perfect. Well, I'm not going to show you the imperfections. Like, you don't need, you don't need to deal with my struggles. Yeah, you have your own. I mean, we can have a private conversation about them. Um, there's certain things I will and won't talk with about other people. Um, you know, and I try not to talk about other people in general, but, like you know, we have familial struggles.
Speaker 2Some are, some are worse than others sometimes.
Speaker 3I mean, that's life. Well, and I do feel, and I and I don't know why I'm not trying to be pessimistic, but I do feel that sometimes, when you put out those struggles, is that sometimes people will relish in that when they're not doing so well, totally Right, I think the wrong people will.
Speaker 1But here's the cool thing I think the people that really are on your level they resonate with those things I love to see, like there's nothing I love and I and I've just kind of stepped back from social media a little bit, but like there's enough stuff out there and I stopped being vulnerable because of that. Well, and that's hard, because I think it's this great opportunity, whether it's, whether it's social media or not. That's the easy one, right Cause we all have a phone and being honest and vulnerable like the right.
Speaker 1The wrong people will like yeah, fuck them. Like they're struggling but the right people will say dude either. Either, man, I am right there with you, I am. Yeah, I am struggling in my marriage, I am worried about my numbers, I am putting on weight and I have no motivation to work out and maybe I chose the wrong career and I, you know, or man, I really appreciate you sharing that. I'm not dealing with that, but the fact that you're open and honest and, like you're being real.
Speaker 1I really, really appreciate that about you, that you would value our relationship enough to throw that out there and I feel like not to rip on this industry either, but like there's enough events to fill the calendar, there's there's not enough where people are genuinely honest and I and I don't have an answer for it either. I usually like to not bitch about stuff that I don't have a great answer for, which is why I don't really talk about politics for most markets.
Speaker 1I'm not being smart enough to figure it out. But I wish we could find a way to professionally have more opportunities for people to outlet and not just air their dirty laundry necessarily, damn, but like to to talk openly and honestly. Because, I will say again, the imposter syndrome part is you show that chink in the armor and you're like all of a sudden, I'm not a qualified lender, I can't get it done, I don't have the best rates, I'm not going to get the next business.
Speaker 1They're going to go to the next person. They don't want their clients dealing with somebody going through a divorce. They don't want their clients dealing with somebody going through a divorce. They don't want their clients dealing with somebody that, like, is stressed out about being a dad right. They want, especially in these vendor partnerships where you're handing off your brand as a realtor, maybe to Dan's, my you know home inspection guy, or Blake's, my lender, or Liz is going to handle these clients and I need them to represent my brand. If they're. I always tell myself, if they see any shadow of a doubt, that I have an issue. Why would they choose?
Speaker 3me, you're right, and so again.
Speaker 1I think it comes in that trust and relationships of like, hey you know what, Dan could be having a bad day. Maybe the guy hasn't broken 90 on the golf course in a while, but that's okay. I love him and I know that he's going to still show up, even if he can't hit his driver.
Speaker 2It's tournament season, man.
Speaker 3I'm trying to get that cap up. Oh, look at the look on his face. You hit the nail on the head there.
Speaker 2You found my struggle, man.
Speaker 1But, to be honest, that's a big part of why I wanted to start this podcast. The truth is, we wanted to network with more people. We wanted to do something kind of locally here. That was a little bit different, and I really wanted to be able to come on here and talk about not like you know, this realtor fucked me on this thing and I'm pissed at him, but like, hey, this disappoints me about this industry, or I sure wish that I could see this better, or, man, I do really love my life, but maybe I'm not happy all the time.
Speaker 3I might be joyful, but I'm not happy all the time. I might relish in the grind. I might be really grateful that, even though it's hard, I've got to get up and I've got a job. I can go, do you know? And I go back. I take it back to that, to my song.
Speaker 3My entry song is like I am here, right, we're all in this space together.
Speaker 3So how you show up and when you show up, regardless of all the things that you have that you don't share on social media or you don't talk about, we've all got stuff going on and showing up is the first thing, right, um, you have to have, there has to be an outlet for, for, um, the mental space that we sometimes put ourselves in Right, and I do it all the time COVID was at first, I thought it was the best thing that ever happened, because I was, believe it or not, I was like, yeah, I can do this all day long, I can be at home and I'm good.
Speaker 3And then, out of COVID, I could not leave the house, me, the person that goes to all of the events, that can't miss a thing, that has to be there. I could not leave the house and I remember calling my boss and going I'm having a really hard time, like the anxiousness that came with all of it, and I remember him saying and it was and don't take this the wrong way, he was super right. He's like this is your job, you got to figure it out.
Speaker 2I feel like COVID taught people how to hide and unfortunately like hide from difficult conversations and hide from face-to-face Blame tech for a lot of stuff. When you say show up. I actually do believe that that belly-to-belly boots-in-the-ground business like hey, if you've got to have a difficult conversation it's not a text message. It's not an email it's hey, this conversation is going to suck and we're either going to have it face to face or we're going to have it over the phone at the very least. But we're not going to hide. I've actually learned.
Speaker 3It's so interesting you say that because after COVID I realized, first of all realize, who my true friends were, because other ones actually picked up the phone before. It was like majority text Right. And ever since then, the people that are still in my life after COVID are the ones that I have had to have the toughest conversations with about this industry and being able to separate friendship and business. It's like you know what I'm sensing something's off and I am quite all right and picking up the phone and having that hard conversation. And if you're not having hard conversations in your marriage, in your personal life, in your business, something's wrong.
Lessons From Real Estate Industry Experience
Speaker 1You're coasting. Yeah, I mean Dan and I like I respect Dan a ton because he just shows up, right, he's listed for seven habits. But I know it's not easy. I know it's not easy all the time, but like he's out there, his face is at things, he's sponsoring events, he's rubbing elbows, he's bringing a good vibe. Like rarely is it that he walks into a room and people are like, oh fuck, it's this guy right. Like you're bringing, bringing a good vibe.
Speaker 3But why do you think I hang out with him? Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 1Speaking of hanging out, you might not remember this list put pins in, but Dan probably doesn't know this. I actually gave Liz COVID. Probably you remember that we met.
Speaker 3Oh, at the coffee shop, yeah, so she's like I'm being really careful.
Speaker 1This was early in COVID I was. You know I won't get into it, but like I didn't get, COVID.
Speaker 2Fortunately, covid was very easily transmissible. So, scott, you're good the worry about it. It wasn't that way.
Speaker 3Like it was outside of the coffee shop.
Speaker 1but Liz and I were just meeting up. I was learning more about reverse, we were doing our, you know, just networking, and she was trying to be real careful.
Speaker 3She didn't want to give COVID to her parents.
Speaker 1Well, I went home and I was like man, I feel pretty shitty, I don't feel real good later in the day and then, like two days later, I was like you know, full blown COVID, the shivers, like all this stuff. And then Liz got COVID right after that and I was like I think, I should tell you, I think, I gave you COVID.
Speaker 3I needed to get over it. I was. I was that. I was that person that was fearful of everything, but no.
Speaker 1So you're welcome. I was the person that helped you get over your fears by infecting you, I won't say, you never gave me anything.
Speaker 2My 40th birthday party resulted in 10 people getting COVID Dude.
Speaker 1What'd they call the super spreader event? It Dude. What'd they call the super spreader event it's called the super spreader.
Speaker 3She had the super spreader event.
Speaker 1Literally.
Speaker 3I see the invite come out and I'm all Dan's having a party during COVID.
Speaker 1What the hell? Yeah, we're playing.
Speaker 3spin the bottle and it's just like I'm not going to that shit. I RSVP'd and I was all just kidding Not coming.
Speaker 1Well, we'll have to follow up on this too, because, like I I personally, you know I speak for myself, not damn but like I want to help people in this industry because it's a hard industry, even when it's going well, even when you get paid, even when the transaction it's hard, is it? It's a hard industry and people like more than ever this has come up even more now that you know realtors are having to combat, like this new gnar news and they're having the challenges change.
Speaker 1Yeah, the challenges change, but they're challenging. Like it looks, it looks like an industry of people that just get paid for doing nothing from the outside.
Speaker 3Oh okay, so that's, but it's not. It's not.
Speaker 2That's the oh, don't get me started we've done that to ourselves, yeah, as an industry. Why aren't people posting?
Speaker 3why aren't people posting the shitty transactions, not just the? I just sold this, I just sold that, I just did this, I just got a new car because they're afraid they do that.
Speaker 1A they're like somebody that I don't want to work with. Or B they made a mistake and I can't possibly hire someone that would ever make a mistake. Or C they're emotional and they're unhinged because they're sad, because this was super hard, because they're real, or they are, and they're completely authentic and they do that next level of business.
Speaker 2probably because of that, but I think there is a certain there's a breaking point on that Someone who's brand new in the industry. They can't show flaws.
Speaker 1But if you're under stripes, if you've been for the ride, absolutely, we're human, we are all going to For sure, that's awesome, dan, because when I was in the fire department there was a younger, newly promoted lieutenant. So in Seattle, that's kind of our first, your first step into like being an officer, and he had this really awesome way that he looked at. Discipline is exactly what you just said. He's like you know, I have a very limited amount of currency throughout the day. Like my guys are going to be disrespectful. They're not going to have their uniform on, they're going to, you know, tactically, do something that's a little off. They're going to have. They're gonna, you know, tactically, do something that's a little off. They're gonna have a interaction with the public.
Speaker 1That's not maybe my favorite. I have a very limited amount of currency. I have one dollar. I'm a brand new guy. I'm not a 30 year guy who's got 100 bucks and no matter what. Like I can drill you on every little thing and you're organically going to respond to that, because I had to pick and choose very carefully, as this newer person, who's, who's competent, who's earned. But like I got to pick and choose where I'm going to do that and I think that's probably true for, like the newer agent Like you're going to have to find your, find your own way out there and do it. But one of the things I was thinking about this weekend is, like there will never be a good replacement for hard work, and we've talked about that. Like I'm trying to really instill that with my kids and it world, like you know, like in that cycle, if I want to do better than I had and and my parents do better than them.
Speaker 1So I don't want to make it artificially hard, but like I just came to this idea, like there is no substitute for going out and doing hard work, and that at the top you know there's because we live in this life now of life, hack everything, time hack everything, insta everything, door dash everything, like make everything really easy, but the at the top, you get to the top. Everyone's working hard, everyone's working harder than everybody else.
Speaker 1Nobody's hacking their way through success, so showing up still grinding through having the shitty transaction, having the tough phone call cause you're going to have to like. I think the misnomer or the like, the misguided view sometimes is like if I'm crushing it, everything's easy, but I think it just gets harder and you just get better right, like that's sports too but it doesn't get easier. It's just like like lifting weights or something, anything athletically you just do more and it hurts just as bad, but you're more capable and you're more confident experience.
Speaker 3It's all experience and experience.
Ideas of Learning and Growth
Speaker 2All the things that you're doing are experiences to get you to where you need to be so the ogs in this industry, that would be my call out like share as much as you can, not just about how you got there, but like and I think that I think they probably do when they, when they reference their experience, like when you're, you know, when you're coaching people along in the mortgage process hey, I've seen this come up in the past Like you're admitting your flaws in the past, but you're doing it in a very tactful way. That's building confidence, saying, hey, you know what, this guy knows his stuff, he's not going to get burned by that fire again, he's going to help us navigate that. Um, I think there's a very tactful way to do it because, again, like, yeah, I mean, I wouldn't expect anybody to come out and go. You know what I fucked up.
Speaker 1Yeah.
Speaker 2Like and and here's why and here's how. Like you know, cool, um, but what'd you learn from it? Because that's what's more important is that it's not going to happen again. The whole you win or you learn thing.
Speaker 3I believe in that?
Speaker 1Yeah, totally.
Speaker 2Because losing sucks. I'd rather learn than lose.
Speaker 1And if you're going to lose, you better have learned some lessons too right 100%, otherwise you're just a loser.
Speaker 2I mean, that is it. You're just a loser. As funny as it If you don't learn the lesson from the loss, then you just lose again you went nowhere you gained nothing.
Speaker 3Failure is part of success.
Speaker 1Failure is not an option. That was a Apollo 13. Chicken or the egg.
Speaker 2Confidence or success thing. Liz, we have been bending your ear. You have been awesome. We have one last question. We ask every single guest that comes into the shoot and joins us on Open the Gate podcast If you could kill anybody that you work with.
Speaker 1Who would it be? Let's get real. Put our money where our mouth is.
Speaker 3I'm a lover? I wouldn't. I'm not a.
Speaker 1Yeah, no, Go ahead Dan.
Speaker 2I could hold back. If you could be anyone for a day, who would it be and what would you do? Oh, I like that twist.
Speaker 3Oh I like that twist when I tell you you won't, you'll know.
Speaker 2Well, this is the part we're definitely not editing.
Speaker 1Yeah, I would be Scott and I would do me?
Speaker 3That would be Scott's answer.
Speaker 1Yeah, I love that.
Speaker 2Poor Scott. We're going to have to have Scott on now.
Speaker 3Just to defend his honor. You guys would be bleeping so much if you had him on.
Speaker 1We don't have to bleep and we can get tequila. We know a gal who's got some little Mexican pots.
Speaker 3Hey, you guys should bring the podcast to our house in front of the tequila shelf Dude.
Speaker 1I love it. Live from Liz's.
Speaker 3Okay, so that was not the original question, so, but anyways, okay. So if I could be anybody for one day it would be Bob. Marley, nice, yeah, yeah, and, and you already know what I'd be doing, but um, more so, more so. So he was see, he was smarter back then, cause, look at what's happening now, Right, Um, but I think the reasons when I, when I read the question originally on the board was is because he brought music and and spiritual things together and he also was a big promoter of peace love and compassion.
Speaker 3Yeah, and so I just and I've always been a big fan of him less division, more peace in our world, especially this world that we live in, and so he embodies all of those things. And, honestly, if I could retire, if I won the lotto today, I'd probably grow some dreads. And yeah, I would definitely. Yeah, he just brings a lot of joy and a lot of peace. When I hear his music and so I always used, I always said that it's like I would, I would be more like him.
Speaker 2Well, now we know the only authentic you is going to be dreaded out with.
Dreadlocks and Authenticity Discussion
Speaker 3Uh, you know so hanging, hanging, just let it go. I'm sure it'd be good for your career, that's funny Cause when, when they first started coming out with avatars on on social, I built my avatar and I gave myself dreads and somebody laughed and made a comment and they're like your hair's, not dreads, and I'm like no, but I wish it was like yeah it is yeah, he, he's just like the, the spiritual og and the I could see you too, right, because you're gonna be the og of the herbalist or whatever.
Speaker 3I love it, but you, I could see you in right, the OG of the herbalists.
Speaker 1Herbalists, yeah, or whatever. I love it. But I could see you in dreads, but you'd be the classiest dread Like you'd still smell good, you'd have like a white pantsuit on pink high heels, You'd still have Prada shoes on and some Jimmy Choo's or something. Maybe it might be tough because some of the stigmas of like in world, like that might be a tough clientele to sell the dreads to. But you know, I think you've got to be authentic.
Speaker 3No, yeah, I was just going to say if I am the person that I show up with with my clients, then it would be all fine. But yeah, it definitely.
Speaker 1And.
Speaker 3I and I think like he was always like, had the the vibes of like bringing people together and like having a good time and, and like one of my that was weed.
Speaker 1But yeah, weed's been doing that for a lot longer than Bob Marley.
Speaker 3But I feel like one of my favorite quotes is by Audrey Hepburn, and it's life is like a party dressed like it. So that's kind of why I show up.
Speaker 1She was a stoner too. She was, I don't know, I don't know, she was classy. Well, liz, this has been awesome. Thank you so much for coming on. Thanks for having me, guys.
Speaker 2This was fun. I hope that party lets people in with white tennis shoes and athletic pants on.
Speaker 1We'll be there.
Speaker 3You're in, you're in, you guys are in. Thank you guys. This has been a lot of fun, and thanks for letting me open up a little bit.
Speaker 2Thanks for coming guys.
Speaker 3We're going to play you out.
Speaker 2I like it.
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