West USA Weekly Podcast | Ep. 80 | Featuring Ryan Reed (12.9.24)

In this episode of the West USA Monday Morning Podcast, host Mike delves into multiple strategies to elevate your real estate business from being merely transactional to building a money-making pipeline. Special guest Ryan Reed shares his top three strategies for a successful 2025, while Todd Bernard gives a detailed market update for the Greater Phoenix Metro area. The episode also includes key announcements about upcoming events and workshops. Don't miss out on valuable tips for setting goals, managing client relationships, and continuously educating yourself to thrive in real estate.

Join our weekly podcast as we continue our commitment to bringing you the best in training, information, and technology. This is your chance to be in the know, hear from the Industry's best, and get valuable tips to help increase your business!
Visit our YouTube Playlist for the supporting PowerPoint.

Transcript

West USA Weekly - The Podcast 12.9.24

[00:00:00] 

Hi, welcome see now you got me all All messed up. All right. Good morning. West USA. Welcome to another edition of our Monday morning podcast. Appreciate everybody joining us. If you caught that a little bit earlier, Nick's a little grumpy. Got in late last night from the North pole, helping Santa get all his toys together.

So you're still on the naughty list, buddy. Sorry. Yeah. I think I was born on the naughty list. Appreciate everybody joining us today. Let's jump into a, well, what do we got coming up today? I have no idea. Todd Bernard here to give us a look at the numbers. I'm going to share three tips to building a money making pipeline out of your business.

And we got our top producer and team lead Ryan Reed in here going to talk about his top three strategies for 2025. As always, if you've got any comments or questions, please feel free to email us at podcast at westusa. com. All right, let's just jump into the announcements, and what do we got coming up today?

Tomorrow, December 10th, from 1 to 4 p. m. at the Chandler office, a special class on FHA [00:01:00] and VA loans. This is a CE class, so you get your three hours of legal education. Issues. All right. We're up here at the North Phoenix office on December 10th tomorrow between nine and two You can go ahead and scan that QR code to schedule a time, but we are giving blood So yeah, cloudy does a great job putting this together on a regular basis to help those people in need.

That's good to give blood Yeah I just don't know whether they want mine. It's got to still, well, they do pre screen Mike. Yeah, I walk into it and they give me a breathalyzer test. And so that's how we start, but anyways, that's coming up tomorrow morning between nine and two o'clock arrowhead office on Wednesday, between two and three having a vision board workshop come and bring your own magazines.

I saw that. I'm like, how many people even have, I literally just thought the same thing. I don't think I've seen a magazine. outside of a doctor's office in a long time. Yeah, you're just gonna have to print stuff, I guess, [00:02:00] off the internet. Bring your laptop and Facebook, yeah. Yeah, so that is going on on Wednesday, so time to start building your 2025 vision.

Todd's got, this is, I thought I saw, is this your final one of the year? Nope, no more. I thought I saw that. Okay. Anyways so Wednesday Todd's got a remote CE class, three hours of disclosure law. And as we always talk about All of these events are open to all agents from all companies. I don't have the bell.

Jill stole the bell. Jill, Jill, Jill, Jill. But all of these events can be found on the West USA calendar on your dashboard or just go to westusacalendar. com. All right. We're having a special goal setting and business planning training at the Mesa Naughton. And so that is Thursday from 10 to 12 PM.

All right, Todd, take it away. Wow, boy. Boom, boom, boom. That wasn't that many announcements this week. Alright everybody, well thanks for joining us. Today we're going to go over the Greater Phoenix Metro market statistics for the week ending [00:03:00] December 9. Across the board, 82 days closed on market, a 4. 52 month supply.

Absorption rate is at 22. 8. 11 average list price this past week at 758, 563. But average sale price this week jumped almost 100, 000 to 689, 006. Average list price to sale price retention at 97. 04. Our active inventory creeping down just a little bit week over week. Both weeks, in fact, about the last three weeks, we've had a decline in inventory.

21, 789 pending is at 3, 076 and closed units for the month. The date of December at 1, 243 new listings this past week, we took 1, 612 days on market brings the active inventory to 113 days and 82. 4 for closed. closed looking in the lower left hand section. A few markets had price, excuse me, had unit count reductions obviously identified in the red.

So pretty much everything over for every market [00:04:00] segment over 400, 000 took a little bit of a hit. So now zero to 600, 000 represents 66. 76 percent of the entire MLS inventory. 600 to 1 million represents 20. 15 and 1 million and up 13. 9. Take a look at our spreadsheet in the center. We have 2022 same week to the left of that 2023, same week.

And then of course, to the left of that week over week, and this gives you the opportunity. So if you saw just one set of numbers great, looks good. Thanks, Todd. But when you get to see two sets of numbers, it gives you an opportunity to compare, just like when you take your very first, go to show your very first home, that's the first one, you can't compare it to too much, but when you do your second one, you can compare it to two, and 30 years later, you do a couple of thousands, you know, really good.

But 1, 612 this past week, 1, 089, but last year we only took 1, 424, so 1, 612, although it was a boom over last week, and significantly less than what we should be taking, how did it go? [00:05:00] compare cyclically, meaning in the holiday market that we have every basically November through December. And last year we hit, we're at 1424 the year before that at 1240.

So 1612 actually is an improvement year over year and that's why it's in green. Take a look at active inventory, 21, 789 continuing to slide a little bit still enough inventory versus last year, Mike, you and I were talking just I don't know, a couple of weeks ago, maybe it was last week, you know, what was what, you know, based on the number of population people in Arizona now, what is a reasonable Metro Phoenix active number, probably somewhere closer to 36, 000 units.

So we do still have a, you know, inventory shortage. However, it's more than we had last year at 16, 341. So that's a good sign. Take a look at each of the categories. 504 of those are in the coming soon category. That was up from 423, a single family detached [00:06:00] 16, 569 new home construction, 2549, which means our non distressed inventory represents 99.

2 percent of the entire MLS at 21, 621. However, taking a look at short sales again, slides rise way over into that golden rod, middle of the page number of 23. Now go back over to this past week at 97. So to the point that you know, Mike had been talking about year over year. And I was like, yeah, you know, as long as it stays under 0.

percent of the entire MLS inventory. It's probably considered normal range but he said that this market was going to increase and he's absolutely correct. Look at the numbers. You know, lender owned. Where's my bell? Where's my bell? Yeah. That was the accolade. Mike goes over. And so now the lender.

So, you know, You know, two years ago, you were at 26 Lenderone. Now we're at 64. You know, we were at four HUD. We're now at seven. I don't really expect to see HUD change too much. But again, short sales. They're definitely in the marketplace. People are, have overspent, [00:07:00] have maxed out their credit cards.

And even though they might have a two and a half percent mortgage, or maybe they don't owe much on their mortgage, they can't. And so these are problems. So, again, take a look at that marketplace. Don't overlook it. Looking at pending, 3, 076. We had a few more people in the market, literally just a few more.

But last year we were at 2, 746 this time. So we felt After the election was over a, a little bit of a breeze coming. And you can see it over the last couple of weeks, we've been, had significantly more people in the marketplace, things are ticking up properties that had been lagging all of last year, this year in the early part of this year are now just, just popping and selling.

So the market is definitely picked up from that perspective looking at closed month of date way too early to to, to speculate on this because it's only the ninth of the month but we'll see what happens looking at the statistics. So we're in a 4. 52 months supply. Now we've been taught that under four is a, is a, you know, four months supply as a seller's market over [00:08:00] six months supply is a, but I don't, I don't remember.

It had to be in the nineties when I remember us having a six month supply. So, you know, realistically. Three to four is kind of a neutral market today over four months supply is truly back into a buyer's market in, in, in what we're experiencing obviously under three, under two and a half, you know, we end up truly in a seller's market.

But again, so, something to think about last year, we were at 4. 4 two years ago, we were at 4. 5 to this. So again, this is kind of normal. So what we're feeling as far as month supply of inventory is, is similar looking at median price, which is the bottom number in this box. This is the one we kind of want to watch.

It's nice to look at average sale price bumping from 560, 000 to 689. This is what's called an anomaly. This happened because obviously in these last few weeks, what sold have been properties in the million dollar. Plus market which has [00:09:00] been driving that median closed price up significantly higher.

So that's, that's what's happened in that particular, or the average, excuse me. The median is, is a good number because it's more lethargic, kind of like a Libra loan. If you're looking at indices median sale price at 469, 950, we're at 434. It's high, but again, it's based on what has closed, not what is active.

So it's important for us to keep that in mind. So we talked about inventory already days on market. We don't really have to, you know, talk too much about that and looked at the list price, the sale price retention 97. 8 again, 97. 04 sellers were giving up. just about 1 percent more to make their property sell over this past week is what this number is saying.

97. 8 is where it belongs. 97. 04 means that people are giving up and then take a look at where it was the week before. It's behind our webcam, so I can't see it, but but that is exactly where the marketplace 97. 25 last year, 96. 89, two years ago. So if we're looking at all these [00:10:00] numbers, Listings is still the name of the game, but there are buyers in the marketplace, you know, unusual last week.

I said, don't overlook telling don't tell sellers not to list during this period of time. Don't tell buyers not to buy during this period of time. This is a great period of time specifically for a buyer. So, market stats we will have the month end market stats later today posted to your dashboards.

So, there we go. Mike. Alrighty, I appreciate it Todd. Alright we're gonna bring in what's your name again? Hi, I'm Nick. Nice to meet you. Nick into the yeah. He's an angry elf, I'm like, gosh. Wow. See, that's me. That's just, that's just flat out me. I do it nicely. See how he does that, Todd? He makes you the bad guy.

I know, he's inflection, Mike. That's what that's about. Deflection, yeah. Alrighty, so, So, agents have been getting emails, Nick, and, and seeing posts and, and so forth. And obviously businesses have changed dramatically since the NAR settlement and the buyer broker agreements and all of, all of that stuff.

And so, so [00:11:00] with that, I, I feel like there's been a outcry from agents as a whole nationwide for a different option out there. And I think it's important to outline and emphasize this is simply an option. It's not replacing anything. And, and so, we are doing a, a class tomorrow. It's going to be a big zoom with with the big dogs at nine 30 in the morning to discuss West USA choice.

And I want to encourage before I let you talk don't, you know, for our listeners, don't, type in messages. We're not answering questions right now. A lot of questions will be answered tomorrow. Yeah. And I apologize if that was the response you received over the weekend. I do appreciate the fervor from agents.

We sent out some messages over the weekend, sent emails out and it was a lot of, a lot of clarifying questions. So the response that you probably received was, for the question. Please tune in Tuesday at nine 30. Everyone has a lot of the same questions and we want to make sure that we can, as a group at the [00:12:00] same time, answer those questions so we're not third partying third party information.

So I do apologize if you feel like you had pushed down the road a little bit, but it's tomorrow, 9 30 a. m. You can learn everything you need. And again, I do appreciate the 2024 was the year of change when it came to the real estate industry. So you guys have been hit over and over and over again this year, the Facebook forums, I would say I was.

Pretty impressed by. I think everybody was fairly calm. There wasn't a lot of pitchforks and fire this, this weekend. But again, a lot of not bad information, just incorrect information. So, tomorrow we are going to go through MLS Choice, which is a new, let's call it association, that agents can join.

That's gonna be a non agency. entity. It will still allow agents to have access to AR, MLS and forms. And then to be able to join that, you would need to join a non NAR affiliated brokerage, which would be West USA Choice. So, those are the two announcements that we're going to make tomorrow. We're going to go through, we're sure, lots and lots of questions from agents, kind of [00:13:00] set the expectation of what these two entities are going to be, provide the facts, and then allow questions You as the agent, as the real estate professional, the business owner, to make a decision of what makes most sense for your business.

You know, I, I would like to add that you are probably receiving in your inboxes and probably in Tik TOKs and wherever you may be gaining, getting information from numbers of other brokerages who are in some instances, misinterpreting they are trying to lure, it's a recruiting effort, let's face it, year end.

You don't want to pay your dues, listen to me. That's what they basically are saying. And so, I, what I want you to know is two things. Number one, we are here to provide you with everything. Accurate information, just like when we, the debate and all of the issues happened about August 17th you know, chicken little, the sky was going to fall, did it?

No. And so, but West USA was, was timely to react. We weren't the [00:14:00] first, but we were there with the correct information to help lead and guide you. And that's what this is tomorrow. So when you get these things and, and if it sounds like there's a mediasy you know, fear of missing out, Mike, right?

with with Mindy. You know, the situation here is you have plenty. of time. You have between now and forever, but you have really between now and say the end of the year before you're supposed to maybe mid January, renew your ML, your membership with your local association. So that is what I just like to say here.

So, so I think you should attend this. I think you should listen. I think you can, you should hear what the options are so that when you hear other agents incorrectly talking about what this you can appropriately advise them and help them so that they don't. Don't make a bad mistake. Cause that's what's going to happen.

You're going to get excited about what you're seeing through all these misguided listing markets and listing, listing advertising, listing advertising, I'm sorry, recruiting advertising and we don't want that to happen for you. All right, Nick, just out of [00:15:00] curiosity will this be recorded? Yeah, thanks.

I was going to say that. We are going to record this. This is important information we want to make sure that agents can tune into and we only gave you about three minutes. We did want to make sure we were in front of this as best we could. So we will have it recorded, we'll post it to the closed Facebook groups.

And the number one question that we've been getting over the last three days, and this is, you know, we want to be as helpful as we can, I've already paid my association dues for 2025 for, Another association, what do I do? And unfortunately we can't help you with that. We have no control over the other associations.

Please give your association a call if you make the decision to move. And again, we want to make sure we're very empathetic here. You need to make a decision on what you want to do with your business. So I wouldn't call and try to get your money back until you listen and learn and find out more information.

Cause there really is like 50, 50 at this point. Alrighty. So that is a tomorrow. So we're. I'm, I'm assuming this is on the calendar, so It's on the calendar, and thank you, Mikey, last thing. We have so Zoom caps are, are, are, are attendance at a thousand. And [00:16:00] we're getting close. So if you want to attend, register and make sure that you get logged in as close to 920 as you can.

WestUSARSVP. com If you've not yet signed up, it's on the calendar, it should be on the closed groups, and you all should have gotten an email and a text and an email and a text about it this weekend, so. Alright, appreciate it, and and I appreciate the honor of being selected as the new designated broker.

No, I'm just kidding. I'm kidding. No. Todd's, like, freaking out right now. Alright, we're gonna jump into the three packs, so, I wanted to talk about our event that we got going on tomorrow because this really kind of ties into our three pack of really how to build a pipeline business as opposed to simply just being transactional.

And so we have a, we have an event coming up tomorrow between 10 and 12 over there in Scottsdale. And it's everybody keeps asking me, when are we doing another real estate wealth manager academy event? So, so we've heard, we've listened. And so. We're throwing down another one. So you can go to six figure mind shift.

[00:17:00] com or scan the QR code on the screen. Just to clarify, it's, it's in Scottsdale, not the Scottsdale branch. It's a Fidelity national title. Yeah. Good call. Good call, but it's all right. You can show up to the Scottsdale office and say hi to Raquel. Well, there'll be streaming the nine 30 event tomorrow. So if you do go to the Scottsdale office, you can watch our event.

Okay, perfect. All right. So anyways building a money making pipeline is, is what I want to talk about. You know, going from. I'm simply a transactional agent to actually building a business that has built in pipelines. And what I mean by transactional versus just a strategic pipeline is we sell a home hand people the keys, give them a gift or whatever, and we do some follow up.

But we just kind of hope that they are going to remember us when it's time to transact again. And or think of us when their family and friends are thinking about doing real estate as opposed to [00:18:00] hey, this is my business when I'm having conversations with people. We're not only talking about. Our upcoming transaction, but we're also talking about future transactions instead of always having to chase so I want to kind of highlight what I I I think of a transactional agent as is Is we we typically sell real estate for personal financial gain?

I know we're in this to help people but we're in this at the end of the day We sell a house and we receive a commission and we receive some personal financial gain We're really focused a lot on just real estate sales strategies, which is nothing wrong with it. We need to learn how to sell real estate.

But when we're focused on, on real estate sales strategies, again, we're focused on the singular home, the, the, the, the here and now home. And it's very linear, linear, you know, the sole purpose is to sell the client. So as a transactional agent, this is what I see all the time, Todd, when the deal is done really, So is so is the [00:19:00] job and we do the deal and then we look for the next deal Then we look for the next deal and then what happens as time passes all of those past deals There's so much Opportunity there, but we're not focused on it and we don't realize it.

And a lot of what we do as a transactional agent, which we should, is we provide a lot of financial strategies before the close. Okay. We are closing on home number a, our emphasis is financial strategies on simply just home number a. You know, this is exactly correct because in, in our marketplace, we, we tend to create relationships around somebody giving me a lead.

For, you know, somebody to buy a home that they're going to live in, first time homebuyer or something along those lines, all of, all of the marketing or the advertising that's done is about, you know, trying to, about buying a home for your primary residence. You know, nothing is [00:20:00] really done. Post close.

It's like we wait until that particular client needs to buy another house and, and think about it again in the future. And that could be 5, 7, 10 years in today's trade cycle. So, you know, if, and I totally get it. If that's what you think, That's why you're not staying in communication with people because it's like, why do I want to put all my energy into these people?

It's better for me to put my energy into internet leads and, and incubate them for a year than it is to incubate the person I just sold for seven years, but you're missing the whole point of the relationship. You know, I mean, if you wanted a salad tonight. Nope. If you, I know Mike, yeah, with a burger.

Okay. If you, if, if you wanted. Salad on the burger. Yeah. Give me some lettuce, tomato, and onion. Yeah. So, or the, or the burger on the salad, right? So in this particular case, you'd go to the store and you're going to pay dearly for a head of lettuce. You're going to pay dearly for tomatoes, dearly for onion, dearly for cucumbers, dearly for, you know, [00:21:00] peppers, you know, whatever you're putting in your, in your salad.

Okay. Where if you took the time to go and plant seeds for those particular things, you will end up having so much so many emblements that your, your, your cup will run over. So to speak, that's the way you have to look at real estate as though the consumer and your real estate business. is the, is the farming and cultivating and planting of, of those veggies.

And, you know, you know, whatever happens to you, you plant one thing in your garden, you end up with so much of it. You start giving it to your neighbors and everybody else. And because there's just too much, well, that can happen in your business too, if you're focusing on it correctly. Well, you know, and Nick is, you know, this is just.

the transactional agent. This is how we're trained. This is this is what we learn in in real estate school and on almost just about every class that we attend. Correct. It transactional agents are those new licensees or the agents that have not been able to speak to a coach, speak to a team leader, talk to someone who's been in the industry for a while.

And even, I would say a [00:22:00] while, six months to a year, you learn really quickly that if you become transactional and that's, that's kind of the silo in which you do your business, your business is not, it's a roller coaster because it is lead based, it's internet lead based, which is not a consistent way of building a business.

You are dependent on how good or bad, how many leads are coming through in that business. Yeah. And then we talk about the, you know, the goal for every agent is to build a referral based business. You want your clients referring business to you, but you also in that you want your clients to buy again from you.

And, and, and I consider that a referral as well. So building a pipeline attitude, you know, when you're building a pipeline attitude, is opposed to the transactional agent. Now you're selling kind of wealth management for the client's financial gain. We're, we're, we're brainstorming and we're strategizing your future here.

And so now, and just out of me focused on the here and now and the commission now, I'm really focused on the client's financial gain. And when you're [00:23:00] focused on the financial client's gain, there's multiple transactions down the road because you're helping them build wealth. And it's, and it's more non linear, linear.

We're providing clients. all options to achieving real estate goals looking at every option on the table, not just the option that we're focused on right now. Non transactional, you know, the job continues indefinitely. And so when we're helping people build wealth in real estate and we're, and we're helping people really achieve whatever their financial goals are, the job, even though agency.

And I have things to talk to them about. Now I know what I'm following up because, because we're building a, we're building a long term plan, plan. And so instead of providing financial strategies before the close, now we're providing financial strategies before, during, and after the close. It just, it just keeps going.

So imagine that every individual agent your client is evaluating to hire you. And to bring you into their world. [00:24:00] And you're trying to convince them to pack up their kids, pack up their families, pack up their life, and move to another house across town. Versus the kind of person who wants to strategize with them, and your team changes, the people that you associate with.

So yes, you still have your, your home inspector. your lender and you still have your, you know, home warranty people. But in addition to that, you have a 1031 tax exchange expert. You have a person who, who finances investment properties. You have an attorney that you deal with that, or a CPA that can explain tax benefits to people to your clients, to these people.

And when you have these conversations, All of a sudden you re, you move yourself out of being just another realtor in the consumer's mindset. What you do is you, and that's really, I look at this as building a pipeline attitude. I'm not saying look in the mirror and build a pipeline attitude, which you have to do.

And that's what that's about. I'm saying put your client in a situation where they look at you as a pipeline person. That's a good point. I like that a [00:25:00] lot actually. It's so, the book that comes to mind here is Simon Sinek's The Infinite Game. You come into this thinking long term. So, long term thinking means potentially short term losses, but you get long term wins.

And that's what the focus here, that's what the goal here is. And I don't know what's what number three says, Mikey, but so far you haven't said anything. So, big kudos to you because we've talked about that on this podcast a few times. We're the only industry that calls the people that transact with us one time a past client.

No, no, they're a client now. So, financial strategies before, during, is important. And every agent should be able to do that. It's the after the close. That is what makes the money down the road. Alright, so then with this, it, it, it takes now systems. It, it's, it's Because now we're being very intentional we're being very intentional, if you're going to be very intentional and you're wanting clients to transact with you again, and that's the, I know that, it's the goal of every agent, you want every client to transact with you again, but now [00:26:00] you can put in systems and you can put in strategies to ensure.

That they are going to transact with you again. And so, building a pipeline after the closed system, we've talked about it so many times, you know, for us, we've built our 23 touch after the closed system, where we're ensured that once we hand somebody the keys over the next 12 months, we are, going to touch them 23 times.

Some of it happens automatically through our website and some of it happens with us actually picking up the phone, doing something or stopping over. But now it's, it's, this is just where all the money's left on the table. Is this the lack of followup? So, now we're providing valuable information after the close because now we're talking about long term.

Now we have something different to talk about. And I know for, for me, what I love about my business is my clients typically, we've got them trained. They call before they do anything because, not [00:27:00] because they feel any sense of loyalty to me as their agent, but because they want to know my thoughts and they want to know what, what my feelings are about the market or what, what do you think about this, Mike?

And so now I, I'm, I'm, I'm. I'm that advisor to them, and that's really the ultimate goal. And I love it because they just, they just, they, they trust us as the experts, as the source of the information. So before they would just go do anything, they want to get our thoughts. And now we know that they're thinking about transacting again.

Well, you want to. You want to them to think of you when they think of anything to do with real estate. And yet at the same time, you know, your, you want to be considered the ultimate per expert and professional in this field. If somebody needed, they're gonna go to a dentist. If they need dental work, they're gonna go to a doctor.

If they, if they, they're gonna go to their CPA. In fact, actually, let me just stop for a second and tell you right now is a fantastic time to have conversations with [00:28:00] consumers about investing because some. Some people have just been told you need a write off between now and the end of the year. And so there might be in their future, and this is maybe a little late to that game, but there may be you know, something right in the future where they need to do business with in the next three weeks and close on it with cash in the next week.

You're going to change the caliber of the clientele you're talking to. I'm not saying you end up done not with a first time home buyer, but I'm saying you're going to end up with People who have the mentality, and this is what I said in number two of wanting to invest in real estate, they just don't know how.

And if you can help bridge that gap and lead them to that, you're gonna have a whole new set of conversations with people that the average agent isn't having. Well, I would, I would just say, you used two words there. You used trained and then you used trust. They're calling you because they trust you.

You've proven that you are a trustworthy person because when they call, you give them confidence. Good sound advice, you make them feel heard and you spend the time that they need to gain that trust. All right. So with that again, our event tomorrow is really what this is focused on. And [00:29:00] I want to encourage everybody, if you're, if you're signed up for the West USA choice thing, go Attend that you know, you're, it's pretty important wink, wink.

No, I'm just kidding. But if you're not, and you're really wanting to dive into what, how we build a pipeline business as opposed to a transactional business, again, we're doing this special event tomorrow from 10 to 12 at the Fidelity national office in Scottsdale. Have you ever thought of doing this on zoom?

Yeah, but you know, I've thought about it. But not, not, not seriously. Just saying, reach, baby, reach. Well, you know, my feeling is, is Never mind. So that's tomorrow. Alright, so Alright. Alright, way to ruin the segue, Todd. Appreciate that. Alright, one of our favorite agents, Ryan Reed, who's Again, my fault, right?

One of our top producing agents, and leads a him and his partner, Kevin, run a very prolific team here called the Valley Team. Is it the Valley Team? Valley Home Team? So Far off. Valley Home Group. Valley Home [00:30:00] Group. It's okay. I got Valley, right? You did. You did. But it's not even Valley with a Y. Which is probably what you were thinking.

No, I know that. It's no Y. V A L L E. Okay, good. Yes, and Luna. Yeah. I'm glad we're on the same page then, Mike. It's perfect for me, because I mean, you guys didn't get my phone number or my email right, but that's okay, too, you know? Well, no, we Okay, listen. This is amazing. This is awesome, Mike. You're doing such a good job.

I'm so grateful. The phone number in the mirror. Okay, so the phone number in case you've ever attended A real estate new agent orientation. That's the corporate number. Oh, I know. Oh, so they're get a call and say, Hey, I need to, I need to talk to Ryan Reid. 'cause apparently that, so that, that email doesn't work anymore.

It works. Yeah. No, I'm just giving you a hard time. Okay. All right, so we are done for the day let's get to the quote of the day cause we're done talking about it. It was great See me after tomorrow's zoom for the top three. This is why we need vacations Alrighty. Well, anyways so ryan, thank you for being here today.

So I wanted to kind of jump into your top three strategies for for 2025 you guys run a an [00:31:00] incredible team and And probably my favorite part about what you guys do. And when I sit down with you guys, because you know, we, we focus on systems a lot, but you guys have got systems really dialed in and it's just, I can, I can just take a look at you guys and go part of your success is because everything's systemized.

Everything's got a system. And, and for many of us as agents go again, going back to being transactional, we just don't have a lot of systems. So just kind of go just do what. We've been told. So yeah, number two, we'll actually be talking about that. So, all right, well, let's get into number one. Educate, I love this because from the get go, you're like, ah, this is boring, but this is, we do not have.

We do, we do not work 40 hour a week, W2 jobs, or we have an employer that says you are now going to New Orleans for three days to get educated or you're required to come here. And then we kind of [00:32:00] just kind of pick and choose. And for me, educating myself is just not picking and choosing from the calendar, right?

It's really sitting down and going, what do I got to work on? Yeah, absolutely. So for me I'm on. Book number 25 for the year. And people go, Oh, okay. Yeah. You sat and read a physical book. And I Calvin and Hobbes new book, right? Oh yeah, yeah, definitely. But bottom, bottom line for me is that I don't just, I don't have a physical book.

I don't buy the physical book. I actually listen to books and because we are in vehicles. showing homes out. I try to utilize all of that time. You know, sure you could listen to music, but I would rather take that time to actually educate myself. And that has allowed me to read quite a few books this year.

And, and they helped me tremendously. And it's not just real estate books. It's, it's marketing, it's systems. Emotional intelligence is huge in what we do. And so, so that has been one of the, Even since I've been in real estate since 2020 that is something I worked really hard at doing was constantly educating myself, understanding [00:33:00] aspects of sales, marketing strategy negotiation, especially in, in it's, and I believe it's helped my business tremendously and has allowed me to be successful very quickly in the real estate business.

A lot of people might. Look at books and they say, I don't have time to write books. I read books. I have, you know, all this, you know, and, and one of the things that Nick and I and Clint have always challenged ourselves on is signing up with a company like summaries. com which provides you with leading Cliff notes on the top books that are out there.

And if you, after reading eight pages of these cliff notes, you're not encapsulated by what that conversation is or about, or there's something there you can, you know, you go to the next book or dig deeper by the book or listen to it online. I don't mind. I would much rather somebody just tell me I don't like to read books or I don't want to read books rather than just say I don't have time I don't have time is just an excuse because I can guarantee you If you sat down for the next two weeks and you journaled every [00:34:00] minute of your day of what you're doing I can find time for you to read, I, you know, so it's just, so just, just be intellectually honest.

Just say, Hey, listen, I don't want to read books. Just the excuse. I don't have time is simply an excuse. Absolutely. One of the things that we sit down with agents that want to even want to join our team is I asked them. them, Hey, so, Monday morning, what, what are you going to be doing for your real estate business?

And they usually flounder and tell me what they're going to be doing with the real estate business because they don't have a schedule and they don't have intentional time. We call it schedule blocking. And, and so I pull out a piece of paper that we have that has their Monday through Friday and we talk about schedule blocking.

And One of those for me is, is education and it's daily that I'm actually educating myself, which allows, and why that's so important is if you're struggling to handle objections, it's because you're not educated on the market. You're not educated on different things, different aspects of, of real estate for you to be able to actually have a response for your client or a person you're trying to win as a client.

I've gained so many clients from being [00:35:00] able to talk about, Something having to do with real estate. And they went, wow, how did you know that? Right. And it's because I'm educating myself. I'm trying to grow so that I can better serve my clients and truly be their advisor. I think also, I think the value of books and I love your, you know, and we do need to clarify when we say books.

To your point, Ryan, you don't have to go to Barnes and Noble and actually get the physical book. You know, you got, you got things like Audible and you can spend that time in your car listening you know, to books. I'm, I'm, for me personally, I'd rather read because I, I absorb, I take in, absorb it better actually physically reading a book.

But that's not, that's not everybody as long as you're intaking something. But I think where we have to be careful is in why books are important. Are such a great source for us Is when you take a look at and I I gotta be careful how I how I phrase this But if you took a look at over the last [00:36:00] month all Of the classes and the workshops that have been offered in just in the phoenix real estate market You know just a myriad of them.

How many times do we take a look and say and go? Okay, i'm going to consider You Just because somebody puts on a class doesn't necessarily mean that they're an authority on the subject. Validation. And, and so going outside of that, and there's nothing wrong with classes, but going outside of that, and really, you know, I mean, you know, if I'm going to read a business book, I'm always looking at the author.

And I'm always looking at, like, who is this author? What has he accomplished? And, you know, I love, I we've got this young lady in our life. She wants to, she's 20, 22 years old fresh out of college and she wants to be a life coach. And I'm like, what's your platform? You're 22 years old. You just got, you just gotta, you just got out of college.

You gotta, you gotta consider the source. Absolutely. Yeah. I [00:37:00] think it's important. And I'm not only saying books. I mean, I listened to podcasts. Yeah, I mean, I, anywhere where you could consume information, knowledge from credible sources, like you're saying for sure. And there's some people that I'm like, I'll listen to and I'll go, yeah, but it doesn't apply to me.

But the advice qualified itself. It was good advice. That person may not have done, let's say in real estate, as many transactions or the same volume, but it was, it was good advice from something maybe they heard or learned and brought it all together. I want to just jump in for a second on that and ask, if you could All of our listeners today, when you heard Nick say, there's a great book out there.

It was written by Simon Sinek. Did that. have any effect on you whatsoever. In other words, in most instances, when we speak of someone who is as successful in writing as Simon Sinek is to, usually it's like when EF Hutton talks, people listen, it kind of, you just wait a minute, I don't want to miss this.

What did he say? [00:38:00] And so sometimes, and I'm not saying just be a repeater of everything you've read, per se, to Ryan's point, you have to internalize it and adopt some of it in your life. But when you can make a point and you can address it to that issue, you could change someone's life as well. And they look at you with a higher grade of respect.

All right, real quick on this before we move on. So You said you're on your 25th book of the year. For those of us listening who who aren't really reading That's that's very intimidating. Like I would tell someone if you don't read books Do not make 2025 your goal to read 25 books Yeah But how would you tell someone to start the process and kind of making those goals a little bit smaller?

2021 I planned on reading three books So that just to give you perspective 2021. That was what that started. And it was when I stopped the mindset of that. I had to physically read it, had to physically buy it and read it instead of listening to it when I really love a book, I actually buy the [00:39:00] physical copy.

Then I go back through and physically read it and underline and take things out of it that I really want to apply. So what I would say is, is make your goal something small, achievable on a platform. Could do. There's, there's YouTube videos that you can go listen to people reading synopsis of the book, even, you know, and so, so I would say pick some books.

If, if I had to say, if there was one book you were going to read and own this year, it would be sales EQ. That one is one of one of I've, I'm on my third time listening to it. So my 25 is not counting that three times I've listened to that book three times, phenomenal for real estate and how all aspects of entrepreneurship and real estate, and it's not even a real estate book.

And that's what I love. But I would just say, you know, Pick one, one or two books that you're going to commit to this year. And then tell somebody, yeah, that's all leading into goals and accountability. Hey, look at that. It's almost like he got my notes from this morning before. Oh, your notes. That's what I was kind of laughing about.

I was like, when I saw your three, I was like, did you take your three off of what I sent you yesterday? [00:40:00] Everybody in this room can attest that they can guarantee. I did not look at your material before he doesn't prove anything that he put it up this morning as well. Right. Yeah. So, yeah, so for me, goals and accountability, I think is huge.

I mean, that has to be a strategy in real estate because as soon as you got your license and the next day you woke up you didn't have a boss telling you what to do. And so I think that you have to have goals. You have to have something that you're focused on achieving and then you have to have accountability.

And that's the thing for me, why I went. from team to solo to team was because I needed somebody else there. That's also looking at what I'm doing. There's, there has to be something that you're like, Hey, we're going to be doing these things that are going to build our business. And pipeline management the rollercoaster of real estate, knowing that The conversations you're having now are seeds you are planting for the future.

And if you're not having daily real estate conversations, which I know, Mike, you, you hit this really hard with your team is if you're not having daily, you know, real estate conversations, you are not going to have. A real [00:41:00] estate business, first off, let alone one that you can, you can provide for your family or even thrive on.

And so, so I think that's just really important that you, you're having those and you're managing your pipeline, knowing where people are at and having those tough conversations, which what I mean by that, as I tell my agents all the time where are they at? When are they thinking about buying or selling?

And you need to know where they fall in that pipeline. You need to be asking that question. Like, Hey, you know, if you get pre qualified this next week when are you thinking you want to move? Oh, well, my lease is up in March. Okay. Well now I know there's a timeline, but if we never asked that question.

those questions, we can't properly manage that that pipeline to know where transactions are going to be falling and let alone knowing when you should be falling up with them. And so that's a, it's a, an important aspect of real estate and being able to manage this, this business. And then I talk about in your business versus on your business activities.

You know, that conversations you're having, the lead gen you're doing the continually, you know, filling your pipeline is, [00:42:00] is in your business, right? On your business is, is something I'm gonna be talking about on our number number three. But that's going to be, you know, different things that you do to, let's say your systems, your followup, like you guys were discussing, you know, we don't have past clients.

These are my clients. I am their advisor. You don't have a past financial advisor after you spent money with them. And now they're, you know, helping you make money off of that money. They're not your, they're not a past advisor. I want to be your real estate agent for life. That's what I say to my clients.

And I want to be your family's real estate agent for life. And that becomes, that is becoming that advisor. visor being that source where they come to for real estate information. And, and it's awesome. I love those conversations. Like, Hey, we were thinking about this or we heard this. I love when my clients are asking me that because it makes me go, yeah, that's actually this, or, Ooh, yeah, you don't want to do that.

Or, Hey, don't listen to that. Tick tock. They're wrong. That doesn't apply here in Arizona. Well, let's talk about it. You got a lot of great stuff up here, but we haven't really got broken it down to, to being [00:43:00] practical. I mean, tell somebody, you know, how go out and have real estate conversations. Okay. What does that mean?

You know, manage your, your pipelines, you know, what, what does that mean? Like, how do I, how do I begin to manage my pipeline in your world? Yeah. So in, in our world, it's, it's that conversation of like, when are they actually buying or selling asking them the questions of here's one, if you found the right property, right?

Cause people don't think they're going to go for it. They can afford something. And if you bought, if you were you know, found that three bedroom, two bath in the neighborhood you wanted with that many as you wanted, when would you consider purchasing that home, right? That that's one aspect is asking good questions will allow you to know.

And then being honest. If you're, they're not making steps forward, like connecting when you've connected them with the lender and then not actually going to the meeting or getting on the phone call, right? Being honest with yourself and where they're at is going to help you manage that pipeline. For us, you know, we have, are they, you know, active?

that means I'm not [00:44:00] actually looking at, they're actually looking at properties. Are they you know, in the pre sign part where they maybe are getting ready to list, but they really haven't, you know, decided that yes, we're going to list it and we're going to go, they haven't signed in your paperwork. And so we have a system that we use that has different headings for different people but also CRM and, and knowing where they're at in their thoughts.

One of the things that we do is we still will constantly give them market updates based on where they want to live in the valley. So in Phoenix, Mesa, you know, Glendale, Peoria, they're going to get specific market updates with saying, yeah, listings are up in that area or listings are down in that area.

Like Todd is talking, they're going to know the median price went up in this area. Oh, no way. Look at the median price went down in that area. And so they're going to still get that drip from us. Giving them those market stats so they know for the area they want to live and what's going on with it. People aren't going to like this, but I, I don't know, I don't, I honestly, I'm not trying to be, you know, facetious here.

I don't [00:45:00] know how you do this without leveraging your CRM. Absolutely. I, I can't, I can't. I can't fathom. Okay, if I'm talking with two or three people, I can, I can manage that in my head. Okay, that's not a problem. But, you know, when you're getting five, six, ten, twenty, thirty, you know, forty, fifty people, I don't know how you can physically, intellectually manage your pipeline without leveraging your CRM.

I just don't know. I'm just not that sharp or that smart or have that large of a brain or a memory to be able to keep all of the conversations I've had and where people are at with that. And so 100%, I mean, 85 percent of our business this year came from sphere, word of mouth, referral, Only 15 percent came from marketing advertising that we did.

And so we, and we couldn't do that if we didn't manage those relationships well. And we, we leverage a CRM and even the most basic CRMs, cheap CRMs will still help you manage and leverage that. You don't have to have the most expensive ones out there. I know that what is a wise agent, wise agent, [00:46:00] like it's perfect.

If you haven't. If you don't have one, that should be your number one goal for 2025. That you should be your only strategy for 2025 is getting that and leveraging it, especially if you're a solo agent and you are tired of seeing your people that you've done business with and sold a house or helped them buy a house.

Use somebody else. Mike, you said it too earlier, which was that. your, your CRM does a lot of that heavy lifting, but you have to pick up the phone. You have to have a conversation with those people. Yeah, sure. Yeah. And the last one, real estate conversations, we look at how many conversations does it take for us to turn a person that we're talking to actually into somebody who is actively buying or selling.

Right. And so, you know, for me, I know how many conversations I have to have with new people that don't know me at all. To convert. into one actual transactions, right? And, and we go as far as it's conversations to actual you know, listing appointments or buyer consultation, consultation appointments to actually close.

It's a numbers [00:47:00] game. It's a, it's a numbers game. Yeah. All right. Well, just on that, you know, I don't, I think it's almost impossible to avoid, like when, when we get our real estate licenses, we've talked a lot this morning about being a transactional agent. It's just, it's what's ingrained in us. It's, it's, it's how we're trained.

It's what's easy. It's what's easy. It's what we know. And unfortunately, many of us just stay in that world, you know, forever. And so, I, I'm assuming when you started, you just had that normal transactional agent mindset. At what point, Did it transform because I know it transforms not only when you're getting in that the built in referrals and so forth But like you and I both shared this morning about experiences When your clients call you before they ever consider doing anything like you have you have transformed into like that pipeline mentality.

Because they trust you so much. At what point did that happen for you and what was the change in how you [00:48:00] approached it? Yeah, I think in the first year of being in real estate, so first full year was 2021. And what I realized is if I treated these transactions as just that and not as people on the other side of it.

That I would always be chasing, trying to get new people and new business. And, and going, I want to care about this person. Not the transaction, right? What is best from this buyer? What is best for this seller? And when you, when you do that, when you actually put that client's needs first, and I know that's a, you know, something that everybody says, but like actually doing it and like, what does that actually mean?

And for us, it means, you know, with a buyer I will pay for a home warranty, right? For the first year. Right. And that's, that's something that we, we do as, as a standard. And I've had the agents are like, you're, you, you pay for that. Like you credit commission. And I have some that question, they're like, Oh, I don't do that.

And I'm like, I know it's because you care about the transaction and the money that's coming from it, not actually about the client, giving them some of that peace of mind. And [00:49:00] so I think it's just a client first mentality. How do you take care of the client best? And I think also it goes back to your tracking.

If, if you start in the business, let's say your first three years and you're doing 25 deals a year, and they're pretty much all coming from open houses internet leads and so forth. If on year four, all your deals are start still coming from those same lead sources. You, yes, that's a problem because you're, look in the mirror, you need to take a look in the mirror 100%.

I, and I think that goes into our, what we're talking about is what is your client experiencing, right? Like, and I think it's really easy in the first couple sales that you do in real estate to go, oh yeah, I know what they're experiencing and you want to tell them every step and that you want to talk about it, you want to share it.

But when you, when you get to, you know. plus a year, you're starting to get, I don't want to call it jaded, but you know, you kind of got those blinders on, you know what to expect. And so I always say, hi, I'm going to [00:50:00] treat this like it's my first transaction with, because it is with that most of the time with that client, right?

Unless it's repeat, which is awesome. But like this is their first experience. And my job Educate them so they feel confident every step of the way. And so one of the things we say is, how do you manage expectations? So I first set expectations with my clients so they know what to expect from me. And then managing them throughout the whole entire transaction so that they feel confident and comfortable about the biggest investment most people make in their life.

And so, I challenge agents to go, what is your client going to experience? Start from finish. from that first phone call that they get with you to your buyer or seller consultation to the, after the close. And then the next step is now, how do you maintain a relationship with them through the rest of them owning less of their life of owning that home.

Right. And so, so we talk about that and challenge. The thought process behind the whole entire experience, let alone if you don't follow up in the first three months, I guarantee you won't [00:51:00] follow up in the first year with your client. And that's a phone call. Those are regular text messages. You build a relationship with this person, a 30 to 40 day, 45 day buyer, you know, like cycle.

And then all of a sudden you're not talking to them at all. And then when you go to call them a year later, it is awkward. And so challenging agents to Think about how and have a plan. And that's what I love about CRMs. There's a reminder. And then another reminder, another, it's not like you have to remember, Oh yeah, it's three months, it's six months, it's a year to follow up with them.

You can actually set a reminder, send you a notification, and then you're able to go, yep. Today I get to call these three people. Cause it's. that day for me. It's the schedule time I have in my schedule blocking to follow up with my clients. What do you do, what do you guys do when things don't go right?

I'm a, I'm a blame myself type person. If, if I call a client and they went and sold, bought another property with another agent, I'm not, I'm not going on Facebook and going, Oh, what was me? And I mean, it's, it's a me issue. I [00:52:00] mean, not all the time, but most of the time it's a me issue. I, somewhere in my system, something broke down or something in my presentation or, or something in my style didn't, didn't work.

And so, you know, so I, I do, I don't like it. No one, no one likes to, to lose business, but I will spend time trying to like, Replay the conversations, or take a look at the follow up and the, and the breakdown. And then, where I was leading to, and often times, sometimes, I'll just call them, and just say, Hey, just lay it on me.

I want, I want to know I want I want to get better. Just lay it on me. I think feedback's huge. You know, I think I, last time I was on here, I said feedbacks, a breakfast of champions, and I getting feedback and you don't know how that, how, what may you, what you may have said had landed on somebody absolutely.

Like in my, in my, In my buyer consultations and my listing consultations, I literally say, Hey, listen, this is an interview. I don't, just because this person referred me to you, it doesn't mean that I expect that you're using me. I want you to choose me because I am the best agent for [00:53:00] you. And that may mean I show up and you just can't stand my face and it's just the It bothers you.

And great. Let me find you another agent. That's kind of much prettier face than mine. And so I always make that joke, but I say that in all seriousness, though, like, Hey, if we don't jive, if I don't, if you don't connect with the way I do real estate and the way I run my business, then, you know, truly I want to find it.

So on the front end, I'm trying to address that. And I agree with you on percent. If they go do business with somebody else, it's because I dropped the ball. 100 percent of the time because I didn't ask those tough questions. Like, Hey, in this transaction with me was there anything that I could have done better?

That's one of the questions I ask at the end of it. You know, they've got their keys, they got their house. I asked them, Hey, I know you're really excited about this, but I would love feedback. Was there anything at any point that you felt that I didn't communicate well with you, or I could have done something better and throughout that.

And if they're like, no, it was great. It was awesome. Every step of the way. That's awesome. Hey, and that's where, here's my segue. Yeah. Hey, I'm going to send you an email with a couple of links to [00:54:00] areas where you could give reviews and recommendations because people that haven't worked with me yet need to hear what you just said, because that's what I strive to do.

Well, and sometimes The other agent was just better right or out hustled me and I'll ask like what what what did that agent do? Like what what you know, cuz I could cuz I want to know. Yeah, absolutely. There's nothing new under the Sun I say we everything you see agents doing you can use and recycle and make your own There's no new thing that real estate agents are doing that is the silver bullet to being successful All right, 2025 obviously is coming up up.

So what are your plans for your team? And what do you I didn't ask you ahead of time. Is there room on your team? And what's what's 2025 looking like as far as growth for your team? And what can agents expect? If they have a conversation with you. Yeah that's a great question. So yes we are. What would they experience?

Yeah. So we are, we are, we are interviewing agents. And I say that interviewing [00:55:00] because we had to make sure it's a good fit. And, and I would say for our team I, I, If I had to use two words, I want to say small and mighty, meaning I'm not trying to have a huge team. I produce meaning I go out and I'm showing houses, I'm listing houses, I'm working with clients.

I'm, you know, I'm an active agent and I want to see other agents succeed as well. And so I would say for us this, this year between Kevin and I and three active agents we did 58 or, or, or Possibly going to hit 60 by the end of the year, if these other couple close and we're excited about that.

We want to grow that just a little bit, but we want to make sure that our clients have the highest level experience as they can. And we want to get better at our events that we did this year. And those were big, big client magnet events and and they were super successful. And I want to it. Help agents strategize how that is part of their business.

That's my goal this year is to maybe a few more transactions. But ultimately to see the agents on my [00:56:00] team have healthy producing books of business. Well, I always tell, I always tell agents when they ask me about your team and, and about you and Kevin, I'm like, well, fantastic team. And, and, and probably one of the top teams in West USA that I, that I would But you better like accountability, because if you don't like to be, I'm just telling you, if you don't like to be held accountable, I'm just going to tell you, that team is not for you, right?

Nope, it's not, it is not, no. We track everything, it's important. Alright Ryan, appreciate it Merry Christmas, and always great to have you, leave you with the quote of the day. Yes. We need to start to play music for this. Challenges are just opportunities in disguise. Nick, adapt, pivot, and thrive.

And go out and sell a home.

Dude.