Good morning. Welcome to another motivational Monday. My name is Matthew Hodge, executive vice president here at LPT Realty, and I'm joined by Robert Palmer, founder and CEO. Hope you guys are enjoying the music. That has been a Dave thing recently. He's been finding some pretty pretty amazing selections. But how how was your weekend, man? Oh, you're such it's you're so silly. You're so silly. No, Mike. He's doing that on purpose. I'm I'm I was just, like, moving my lips around to make Hodge look bad. Or give Dave a heart give Dave a heart attack. Yeah. Keep everybody on their toes around. Yeah. You got it today. We're having a fun morning. Yeah. And, I got something to keep you on your toes a little bit later on. That's for sure. Well, cool, man. Well, I know you had a, a fantastic weekend. Yeah. Reagan turns seven this weekend. Seven. I can't believe I have a seven year old, man. It is it's wild. Yeah. But, yeah, it was a good time, little party. Friday, took her to school, had balloons all in the car. Oh, so cute. Matt and Tracy dressed up like giant koala bears, which was really cool. It's a little bit creepy. With koalas right now. Oh. And then so, you know, so she's seven now. So we extended her bedtime from seven to seven thirty. Got a couple of things. Sick privileges. Yeah. And then and then for me, like, I I left the house this morning, and so I have not shaved since I shot the TV commercial. Yeah. And then because I'm looking a little scruffy, Jill's like, oh, let me do something different with your hair today. So it's a little messy. A little messy. So I walk in and Tracy's like, did you forget to brush your hair this morning? And I was like, oh. I was like, oh. She's like, oh, don't tell Jill I said that. I'm like, I'm telling everybody. I'm telling everybody you said that. Yeah. Alrighty. She's out of here. Yeah. Cool. Awesome. Well, look. Let's go ahead and jump right in. It's been, you know, kind of a long drought where we've had where we've been waiting for interest rates to finally move. It seems like we may have some movement this week. We've got the Fed meeting this Wednesday. And so, I know we talked about it over the last couple of weeks in terms of being in position and that, you know, the the move technically has already happened, but the headlines are gonna start hitting, and that's what the consumers are gonna react to. And so we wanna be in position, and and our real estate entrepreneurs wanna be in position so that as those headlines start to hit, then they are the they are the natural person that their their sphere thinks about. So I know that you went last week and and shot some commercials, but you kinda walk us through real quick, the move on what we expect to probably see Wednesday, and then we can maybe talk about some positioning that you are are setting up to to win. Yeah, man. So it's, you know, it's interesting. So I I think everybody knows just like so in addition to LPT, I own a very large mortgage company that only does refinances and mortgage servicing. And so we're kinda we're kinda quiet when rates are high. Yeah. So rates are coming down, so I cut some new TV commercials. The first one ran last night during Sunday night football. That's right. And I stayed up to watch that with Jill. It aired at, like, nine fifty. I'm like, alright. I'm going to bed. Because I had a I had a long weekend with my seven year old having all kind of adventures. Yeah. So the Fed meeting starts tomorrow. It's Tuesday and Wednesday. They're gonna deliberate, figure it out, and then they will announce at two o'clock on Wednesday. Then chairman Powell will hold a press conference at two thirty. And and yeah. So, Steven, I'm actually about to jump into this exact topic. So, right now, the market believes that the Fed is gonna cut fifty basis points. Mhmm. That seems to be the I mean, it's like it's kind of a coin flip. Like, treasury futures are, like, almost exactly fifty fifty between, you know, a twenty five basis point Fed cut and a fifty basis point Fed cut. And so yeah. So, we front run mortgage rates and the ten year treasury front run what the Fed actually does. What does that mean? It means we move first. Okay. Because we're you gotta think, like, we're giving someone a mortgage for thirty years. And then we know that the average thirty year mortgage only stays on the books for, like, seven or eight years, but we're still projecting, like, hey. What do we think rates are gonna be over the next seven or eight years? And so while the Fed is going to make a move on Wednesday, mortgage mortgage rates and ten year treasury start pricing that move in once it is believed it is going to happen. They're not, like, waiting for it to happen. And And so it's actually this really interesting dynamic where, like, if the Fed only cuts a quarter on Wednesday, mortgage rates could actually get a little bit worse. Right? Now nothing catastrophic, but because half of the market believes the Fed's gonna cut fifty basis points and roughly half the market believes the Fed's gonna cut twenty five basis points, if they only cut twenty five, then that fifty that the the half that believes it's gonna be fifty is going to start trading their positions, which will make ten year treasuries go up, which will make mortgage rates go up a little bit. Now that is the highly technical what's actually gonna happen. That does not matter to consumers. Right? Like and it was funny. I I told the story, I think it was last week, week before, like, I used to be the mortgage guy that was like, well, you know, it doesn't actually matter what the Fed does because rates have already priced it in. And then I woke up and said, you know, like, I'm too smart for my own good. It doesn't matter what we know here as professionals. It matters what the consumer perception is. That's right. And the consumer perception is that after Wednesday, it is going to be a better time to buy a house or to refinance a mortgage. And so even though I know from studying technical charts and everything else that that the mortgage rates actually dropped, whatever, three and a half weeks ago, the consumer does not realize that. Right? The consumer is going to react to Wednesday. Right. And we're gonna see the benefit of that. Mortgage guys like myself on the refi side, real estate CEOs like myself on the real estate side, we're all gonna see the benefit of this interest rate drop from a consumer, confidence and consumer mentality standpoint even though rates may actually get a little bit worse. Yeah. So think about, like, that's so counterintuitive. Rates may get slightly worse on Wednesday, but consumers are going to come out of the woodworks expecting better rates. And this is just this is the psychology of our consumer that we have to understand. And so, that's what's gonna happen. And so, they're gonna at least cut a quarter. I'm in the fifty basis point camp. I may be wrong, but I'm in the fifty basis point camp. I believe they're gonna cut the fifty basis points. So the reason I believe that is the market the market got really hot on the quarter cut, like, late last week. Mhmm. And then something changed. And usually, when something changes, like, over weird periods of of time during a Fed communication blackout, it's because the Fed is, like, signaling something behind the scenes. Mhmm. And so I think the fact that the market locked in so heavy on the quarter point cut for, like, forty eight hours, and then that suddenly changed with no real additional data Mhmm. To me says, like, hey. The Fed is actually trying leaning more towards fifty, but they don't want people so locked in at twenty five that then that becomes a shock. Because the Fed really doesn't like to create chaos. They they like, like, smooth and easy. Yes. But But I do believe there's gonna be deliberation. So this meeting is, like, a real thing. Like, they don't know right. Like, no one knows right now. Powell may know what he's leaning toward. A lot of the the Fed governors and chairs may know what they're leaning toward. But until they all get in a room and deliberate and make a unified decision, then they're gonna announce on Wednesday, we don't know. So I would say no one knows a hundred percent today what's going to happen. There are definitely Fed governors leaning toward fifty. There are definitely Fed governors leaning toward twenty five. They're all gonna get in a room. One of the interesting things is is they don't have to be unanimous, but chairman Powell likes for them to be unanimous. He does not like the idea of a dissenting vote. And there's really this belief right now that because this is the first cut in four years, the first cut since March of the reaction to the COVID disaster, which was the largest cut ever when they went all the way to zero overnight. The first cut since then that they don't wanna have any dissenting votes. So I think it's actually gonna be a pretty heated debate going on the next, you know, tomorrow and Wednesday, and then we all get to find out Wednesday at two. And then the other thing that can happen is even if Powell cuts say they cut the twenty five or the fifty, the market's gonna react one way at two o'clock. And then if when Powell starts speaking at two thirty, if he says something to make people believe that the future cuts are gonna be less, because I think there's something like a hundred and fifteen or a hundred and twenty basis points where the total cuts currently priced into the market, which again is already reflected in mortgage rates. So now our problem is if it starts to look like that cut's gonna be less, rates will actually get worse. And then if he hints that cuts may be more in the future, rates will get better. But, again, this concept of front running, which is very confusing, and most consumers don't understand it. We get it as industry experts, but we have to take a step back and not play to, oh, look how smart we are, but play to this is what my consumer is going to understand and believe and how they're going to feel. And they know that the Fed cutting for the first time in four years is a really big deal. So we we may walk away disappointed on Wednesday if it's only a quarter. Yep. But I promise you the general public is not going to be disappointed by the first Fed cut in four years because it is just a signal of things are changing. That's right. So, it's it's somewhat of a confusing piece because, again, you know, you think, hey. When that decision is made, then rates react. But the the the point is is that people are already pricing it in. So if it doesn't end up hitting what people have priced in, then you're saying rates could kinda go back in the other direction because people believe there's gonna be the half point versus the quarter point. So that that makes a lot of sense. So the we talked about on real estate first Friday where I was already seeing headlines of people saying, hey. This is the lowest rates we've seen since February of twenty twenty three. October may be the best time for you to buy. Like, we've already start to see those headlines start to come out. And we took some screenshots and talked about unreal estate first Friday. But that means that the messaging is going to happen. And so to your point, the consumer who's not necessarily paying as attention as as we are industry experts, they are gonna start seeing these headlines and that may spawn activity. You're You're hoping it spawns activity. And so I know that you went into the studio last week and, cut some commercial to start capitalizing on the people who may say, hey. I purchased the house within the last, you know, one or two years at a higher rate. I didn't know rates were coming down. Let me explore that. You wanna be where they where they land. I think we've got the commercial here. Oh. Yeah. This is gonna be good. Of course you do. Yes. I do. So Dave How dramatically different I look in that commercial that I shot six days ago versus sitting here in front of you today Yeah. Is probably gonna be the most entertaining part of this. Right. Alright, Dave. Let's, let's run this. It's the moment we've all been waiting for. I'm Robert Palmer, president of RP Funding, and interest rates are finally coming down. If you've been waiting to cash out your home equity, have a high interest rate second mortgage, or if you purchased your home in the last two years, the time to refinance is now. Call today to see if you qualify for one of our no closing cost refinances where I'll pay all your closing costs. Visit r p funding dot com. So I I saw in the chat someone said that they've had I saw in the chat someone said they've had friends ask them, like, how does the no closing cost work? And, so, I mean, it it's actually it's pretty simple. Right? It's math. So, if you go to most mortgage companies, the the loan officer, you know, very similar to real estate agents, is making a very nice healthy commission because they're out, you know, hunting and gathering and going and finding that deal, and they're the the rainmaker or whatever. The way I build RP funding is my loan officers are on salaries, and they make a small I mean, like, a hundred buck bonus. Like, it's very small. And so where the average mortgage company is paying, like, three thousand dollars a transaction, four thousand dollars a transaction in consumer or in, in salesperson commission, I pay, like, a hundred bucks. But my guys know that my team still makes good money because they're fed. Like, the phone rings all day long. The other big thing is I own the title company. And so if you think about, like, where what are closing costs? And this is different from state to state. In Florida, which is where we do most of our business, the closing costs for I would say for a normal refinance are maybe, like, one point three or one point four percent. Because of our scale, it's, like, one point one percent. Right? Because I'm we're getting discounts, and then I own the appraisal management company, so we get some of that money back. I own the title company, so we get that money back. I pay our loan officers a salary plus a small bonus instead of a big commission, so we save that money. And so that's it. And and so that's how we do it. You know, there there's a couple choices we could do. We could say, hey. We're gonna take all that savings, you know, and we're gonna apply it to whatever we apply it to, paying the closing cost. Because the real thing for me is that for consumers, that's the biggest barrier not to refinance. Like, when I used to look at the problem and, again, the industry says, well, you know, they could've gotten a lower rate instead of you paying their closing costs. Like, sure. Like, we're not raising the rate. But, yeah, you can take that savings and apply it to discount points and get a different rate. Like, there's a lot of different ways to cook the numbers. Right? But at the end of the day, we are building efficiencies into our model by me owning the title company, me owning the appraisal management company, and paying our salespeople, you know, a salary. Like, that's the that's the math that makes us competitive and allows us to pay the closing costs. But then beyond that, the number one reason why people don't refinance is the closing costs. Right? Because they say, hey. I'm only gonna save a half a point on my rate, but I gotta pay four thousand dollars in closing costs. Does that make sense or not? Well, if you can save a half a point in rate and there are no closing costs, or maybe you only save a quarter point in rate, but there are no closing costs, then there's no reason not to do it. And then the other psychological thing I'm trying to solve for is people will say, well, I think rates are gonna go lower. And so I don't wanna pay four thousand in closing costs today and then find out that if I'd waited another five months to refinance, I could've gotten a lower rate. But if there are no closing costs, you do both. Refinance today and don't pay any closing costs, and refinance again in six months and don't pay any closing costs. Right? So that was really the psychology behind why I built the model that way. RB Funding does not do purchase loans. Right? We did once upon a time. I got completely out of that business because I didn't want it to have any conflict with LPT. Right? And so it's refi only. A lot of mortgage servicing. And, you know, I I think the you know, Keith, to your point, the really interesting thing is that they don't need the same level of motivation to deal with refis. Right? Like, they're not solving complex problems. Someone calls, we can either save them money or we don't. They fill out their application. They submit it in, and then they send it off to another department, and they're completely out of it. And so it's a very it's it's a very different role than someone who's helping you with a purchase. Like, the purchase loan officers you guys work with have a totally different day in their mind, like, a totally different workflow. You know, they are fighting to get these deals done. They're, you know, chasing. They may be helping consumers repair their credit, all these things. And that's a big part of why we don't do purchases. Right? Like, the the the model I have built for refinances does not work well in the purchase business at all because purchase LOs need to have a lot more skin in the game. Purchase LOs, in my opinion, need to own that relationship. They need to be they need to be out there hunting and gathering just like real estate agents. Like, I totally believe in the entrepreneurial spirit of the purchase loan officer, and I totally believe in the entrepreneurial spirit of real estate agents. But then there is this this different job really for someone who's like, you know what? I just wanna I wanna take refi applications all day long and help people save money. And it's just a very different type of job. It's a very different role. It's almost like two completely different industries. Really. And while while they are both mortgage, there are very few similarities between what goes on in a a refi mortgage company like us and a purchase mortgage company. And it's why a lot of companies who I think try to do both actually fail. Like, they trip over themselves because it is so different. So one day I woke up and I said, you know what? I am a refi guy. I love being a refi guy. I like the way that my my sales team gets to work on refis. I like the the fast movement of it. You're not issuing preapproval letters that then may or may not convert, you know, four or five months later. Again, like, purchase loan officers have a much harder road similar to what you guys have as real estate agents, and I think it's why I align so much, you know, here with LPT and why we wanna put as much money as possible into our agents' pockets. And there are companies that focus on purchase that do the same thing. They wanna put as much money in the purchase LO's pocket, and I think that is the right attitude. But with refis, it's just different. It is very much just, you know, not they don't work hard. They're smart. They're talented. They make they make really good money. I mean, volume solves a lot of problems. Right. But it is a totally different job than the loan officers that you guys are used to dealing with on the purchase side who are out there in the streets trying to help you put deals together versus answer the phone, figure out the interest rate, run the calculations, little bit of follow-up, and then pass it on to the operations team and move on to the next one. You know, I've had loan officers closing fifty, sixty deals a month without an assistant, without any help. Just they're able to just knock down the volume because it is much easier per transaction on the refi side than it is on the purchase side. But, anyway, but enough about enough about me, man. But that right. But that's I think that's interesting. You're you're bringing that piece down. You're talking about the efficiencies that allow you to pass those savings along. And so, you know, as I think about that, you know, I think about where does that exist in our world, in the world that I am with inside of real estate. How can I take those same principles and that same thought process and apply it to either providing a better consumer experience or saving them some money or, you know, whatever? So I always I always like to hear about that. So Look. I I think part of that is why it's why I it's why we don't have a purchase. It's why we don't have a national lender at LPT. It's why we won't. Like, I recognize that the the purchase loan officer and the real estate agent are absolutely entrepreneurs. It's why I hate Redfin's model. Right? Like, Redfin like, what I do for refis is kinda like what Redfin does for purchases. It doesn't work in purchase. It doesn't work in purchase on mortgage. It doesn't work in purchase on real estate. Like, as much as I have this view of the world for a purely financial transaction of a mortgage refinance, it is totally different on this purchase side of the world. And it's why I think I understand and I'm so bought in to our agent first, you know, kinda ethos here because you cannot replace that. That's right. You cannot replace the entrepreneurial rainmaker at the purchase loan officer level, at the real estate agent level. Zillow has failed. Redfin has failed. There's a whole bunch of body count on the mortgage side of the house that have failed, and and I just I have a unique perspective on it because I succeeded at it in an industry where it does work. And because of that success, I think, is why I recognize so, you know, just I don't know. Like, I just I'm so diehard in recognition of why it doesn't work at Redfin. It doesn't work over here, you know, and and it doesn't work at, you know, these other companies. And it's it's why LPT is the dominant and will be the most dominant real estate company That's right. In the world. That's right. You know, and it's because we recognize the the the the entrepreneurial spirit, right, like the the function, the job, the you guys have to wear so many hats. Like, being a real estate agent, being a purchase loan officer, like, you you are everything. You are counselor. You are financial advisor. You know, you are, you know, you are, like, family marriage counselor at times. Like, you may be the the general contractor trying to coordinate. I mean, all of these different things that you have to do versus a mortgage refi is very much like, I'm going to ask you twenty two questions and then show you an amount of savings and then move it on to To the next person. Move it on to the next person. And and that that just does not work in in our world here. And, again, I think all of my experience in that world is what makes me recognize and be so good as a CEO in this world because they are so different. That's right. And and, really, I do not waiver on my commitment to what it takes to win over here because I know why all that doesn't work over here because I got twenty years of experience with it. Right. That's right. Alright. Let's move on to some brokerage updates. Let's, I think we've got some some announcements we're gonna make here. And, and then I'm gonna do something at the end here. I wanna do a little role playing with you if you're Okay. If you're down. Are you are you feeling adventurous? I'm down. Alright. Let's do it. Alright. So let's roll over to our our brokerage updates. Yeah. I think we have some slides. Yeah. We got a slide. So we we added a a an additional, state broker in Florida. That's right. Moment we've all been waiting for. Jose Vega, and he's our our first bilingual fund broker. And interest rates And he's excited. He's been fantastic. We have a lot of additional brokerage hires in the works. I'm not announcing them all today. Jose is official in in there. You'll see him enter your tickets. You'll see him posting in the Facebook group. He's around. Refinance is now lot of new call today to see if you One of our no closing costs. I think we're actually open more like fifteen states. Keeps going up. But, you know, yeah, I think we're open in more, like, fifteen states. The the video. Oh, is that what happened? Oh, audio. Gotcha. Yeah. And this I I really we're not really ready for this yet, but if you are, on the LPT plus, call later today, I've got a special guest joining me, Curtis Lucey, who's the best selling author of Appreciation Marketing. He's the founder of AM Cards, which is one of our, one of our LPT plus benefits. Him and I are gonna have a conversation. We've known each other for a long time. He's built a very successful business on this concept of appreciation. He has coached and helped so many agents increase their business by using this concept of appreciation and marketing. If you haven't read his book, I'd recommend you check it out. He's spoken a lot of great real estate conferences. So him and I are gonna have, a little thirty minute mastermind together on the LPT plus Zoom today at noon. So if you're an LPT plus member, make sure you tune in to that. You'll log in directly from the LPT plus tile inside of Connect for a a a deep dive into Curtis' vision around appreciation marketing and some of his great stories. And, again, that is one of the LPT plus benefits. And then after that, yeah, you'll have Christine and the team there to answer questions around LPT plus in general. So Alright. Fantastic. To do that every Monday immediately, you know, at noon, just after motivation Monday. So yeah. So, more states coming. We're gonna get probably next week, I'll I'll give some updated timelines on exact dates. Things are really starting to come into focus on state expansion and, like, hard dates for opening states. You know, Jose Vega joined. That's exciting. Yeah. That's right. We're having some other announcements on the corp side before the end of the year. Just a lot going on behind the scenes, guys. Like, we you know, it takes a lot for us to open up all these states and and not let it impact your quality of service. Commission concierge, I wanna give a shout out to those guys. If you think about where we were, like, you know, four or five months ago with some of the issues around single check states and some of the lack of transparency and clarity around payment times, that group is doing an absolutely fantastic job. The JPMorgan Access mobile app has been a big win. That's right. The technology updates we push to connect have been a big win, but those would be nothing without the hardworking people, behind the scenes, making sure that you guys get an excellent level of service when you're in our states where we can't pay you at the closing table. And, you know, it's just again, we we love those states, obviously, because it's very easy. You go to the closing table. You get your check made out directly to you. Life is easy. There's a lot of states where that is not allowed, supposedly not allowed. We're actually challenging this. We've got some some lawyers looking into this. Like, why is it not allowed? Like, is it actually a statute against it, or is it just because no one's ever challenged it before? But just a lot of great stuff happening across the board, so excited there. Alright. Awesome. Cool. Well, we're gonna jump into some role playing if you're down for that. Yeah, man. And we got about five minutes left. Let me do that. Yeah. What some people are scared of the word role playing, so we call it practice. We're gonna have some practice conversations. And I was just thinking about this because, as we went through the BBA marathon, you you know, I really thought about how unique it was to have the executives and, you know, the CEO physically going out there and talking to people about overcoming objections, and that's not necessarily something that you see really in the industry. And I know you've got a lot to manage and so you can't spend a lot of your time doing that. But every once in a while, every once in a while, we get a we get a couple little glimpses of, of what it would sound like for you. So My my wife is in the chat discussing my hair. I love this. The messy dude. The messy look. It's fantastic. Yes. So it looks great. So real quick. So I wanna I was thinking about this earlier as you were talking about the commercial and and kind of of that piece. So what is it like or what would you say to someone who says I'm going to whatever function you're talking about, I'm gonna help you buy this house or I'm gonna help you sell this house just for less. Like, everyone's gonna have that own number, but someone is trying to undercut you. So I'm gonna do what he's doing. I'm just gonna do it for less. Yeah. What is Alright. So I'm gonna focus on the listing side Okay. Today. Alright. So yeah. So you're you're going on a I don't know. Say you're on a listing appointment. Let's say you're on a listing appointment. Yeah. And you're you're gonna get started, but maybe it leads off with, like, hey, you know, I like you. I listened with you before, but I have this other agent I've talked to, and they're gonna do it for considerably less. Right. Is that is that what you're doing? Correct. Yeah. That's the scenario. Alright. Cool. Alright. So I I like our tools here. So, Tracy, if you could grab me a active marketing plan, a nine critical questions, and a active marketing plan summary. Perfect. Thank you. Very fantastic. That was fantastic. I have my props. Okay. Because that's why we built this stuff. Right? Right. Yeah. So I like, you have the tools. Use them. You know? So, yeah. So look. I and I think, before I jump into, like, how I would phrase it, I think the concept behind this is, like, this is a big transaction. You know, like, you want the best person in your corner. I think one of the dangerous things you can do, and I think a lot of agents do this, is try to drive the narrative just because they're charging less, then then it's gonna be subpar service. Mhmm. Because that that is not necessarily the case. Now I'm gonna show you how to get to them understanding for themselves if that's the case or not. And, again, I think some of this goes back to my history and kinda where I came from. Like, oh, well, if he's paying your closing costs, they may be they must be crappy. Right? Like, I I thought that for a very long time. Like, oh, the guy on TV, if he's gonna pay your closing costs, you're gonna get crappy service. We're very good at refis. Like, we crush it at refis. Like, we we can close a refi really fast and really smoothly. It does not work on the purchase side, and, again, we gotta all understand why. But so it's not necessarily true. Like, my refi that is cheaper is not any worse than the refi, you know, from someone else. And I think too, you think about, like, Amazon. Amazon is cheaper than a lot of local stores and but it's not it's it's same quality of product in a lot of cases. So the consumer is no longer willing to just be like, oh, well, sure. If they're cheaper, they must be worse Right. Because there have been enough examples in the broader scope of why that is not true. Now we do wanna paint that person as worse, and most likely, they don't have all the tools we have, so they are technically worse. But, yes, so here's how I would tackle it. So, you know, some of the lines of, you know, like, well, Matt, you know, I I totally understand that. And, you know, I understand that you may have met with this other agent who is offering to list your home for for less than me. And and look, I think I think one of you know, I'm applauding you for talking to multiple agents and interviewing and making that choice, but I would really encourage you not to make the choice solely around the amount of the commission. Because what we see happen a lot of times in real estate is if that agent does not market your home appropriately, And I'm not saying they're not going to. Like, I'm not saying just because they're charging less, they're not going to. But I wanna make sure you understand whether they're going to or not, because there is this concept of supply and demand in real estate that's really important. And so I would then pull out my, my active marketing plan short here, and I would oh, you guys can't zoom in. But we had a little chart here that shows the supply and demand curve, and we talk about the idea that, hey. My job as your agent is to bring more buyers to the table. And so what you really need to understand with the two of us and what you need to understand before you decide on price is which of the two agents, which of us, either myself or the other agent you talked to, who do you believe is going to bring more buyers to the table, more views to the property? Because Because at the end of the day, if we can get you in a multiple offer situation, if we can drive more demand, then price will go up. That's how supply and demand work. And if I can drive your price higher, then all of a sudden the fact that that other agent is a few percentage points less is maybe not as important. And so and actually, what I want you to do is when next time you meet with that agent, I want you to ask them these nine critical questions. Alright? So I actually prepared this for you. This is nine critical questions that you should ask an agent about how they're gonna market your home. And and look, if that agent who's gonna do it for less, if if they have the right answers for you on all of these questions, then it sounds like you're gonna get a really great deal. My gut says they probably don't because I know how much it costs to market your home prop properly and I know how much effort I have to put into that And these nine critical questions are gonna help you understand that. And so I would then give Matt this and say, look, man. So I'm gonna leave this with you. Mhmm. Alright? Mhmm. So that when you meet with that agent again, because you're gonna wanna interview them, because remember, at the end of the day, if they sell your home for less, if they don't drive as much demand, if you're sitting on the market for four or five months because they're not doing the right things to sell your home, if they're just throwing your home in the MLS and walking away, then I can tell you, you're going to leave money on the table by listing with them instead of with me. Now, if they're doing all these things, great. Then I totally understand that. I I would I respect them for being able to run their business that way. I know what it costs me to put all these things and I know what my time is worth, so that's why I charge what I charge. And then, in addition to that, you know, let me walk you through this because I do wanna show you a lot of the things that I do, you know, and and things that set me apart. Because I do believe that supply and demand are very important. That's why it's in big bold here in this magazine that I carry around with my face on it. Alright? And I believe that exposure is critical, and here's the way I'm gonna give you the most exposure for your home and this concept of repetition. And then I'm gonna bust out my sample box, and I'm gonna take them through these tools. Because at the end of the day, what you need to understand, Matt, is that the amount you pay me is irrelevant. What's most important to you is how much money you actually walk away with. Right? I mean, I mean, let's say I could sell your home for double what you think it's worth. Would would you care at all if I was a few points higher than than a competing agent? Absolutely not. Now while double is probably unrealistic, I can tell you that with all of the tools in my active marketing plan and the fact that my answer to every one of those nine questions is about getting you the most money for your home is why I'm worth every penny of what you're going to pay me. But again, I don't want you to just take my word for that. I don't want you to just believe me that I'm better than the other agent. I want you to call them and ask them those nine questions. I want you to call them and walk through the types of lead caps they're gonna use, the types of single property websites they're gonna use, the types of print collateral they're going to use, the types of digital marketing plans they're going to use. Because if they're not doing all these things and they're just going to put your home in the MLS and put a sign in the yard and walk away, we know from research that they're going to miss out on a big chunk of buyers. They're going to miss out on what we call the missing fourteen percent. K? And for those of you that have not read your active marketing plans, you should because everything you need to overcome any type of price objection on a listing appointment is literally in this magazine. And I I wrote this magazine back in the day to make sure that you can get a full commission, that you can charge the highest commission possible for your services and justify it and show the value that you bring. Because if you miss that fourteen percent, right, and so what we know from NAR is that forty four percent of agents forty four percent because forty four percent of consumers find their home from real estate websites, nine percent find it from the yard side, and thirty three percent find it from MLS or other agents. That leaves fourteen percent behind. I'm going to reach the missing fourteen percent, which is how I get you the highest price possible for your home. And if I can get that fourteen percent engaged and get you in a multiple offer situation, the fact that I cost a few percentage points more than the other agent is going to be a win for you because remember, all we care about is putting as much money as possible in your pocket. It's not about how much money goes in my pocket. It's about how much money goes in your pocket. That's right, man. That's awesome. Great job. Great job. So once I you know, you have to you have to do that a couple times for it to roll off your tongue pretty smoothly. Right? You have to know where things are inside the magazine to point to it. Yes. And you have to be ready to to answer those questions. So it does take some repetition of doing this. So if you haven't read your active marketing plan, guys, we strongly encourage you to do that and make sure you're utilizing and practicing that so that when you are putting that scenario where you're talking someone through that, it's much smoother and it's you come come across more confident. So, but great job. That was a that was an amazing job. I know you don't sell houses today, but if I I would hire you, man. I'm happy to. My vote. I appreciate that. Yeah. Awesome. Well, cool. Well, we are at time. So, what should we be thinking about going into this week? We got the Fed meeting Wednesday. What should our real estate entrepreneurs be doing? Yeah. Look. I mean, stay out there in your communities. You know, as I mentioned early on, like, the reason that that you are such a critical part of the transaction is because of who you are, because of where you live, because of your local knowledge, because of your willingness as an entrepreneur to wear those different hats. You know, that's what the big conglomerates cannot replace. It's why they will never get rid of us. You know, it's just it's they've been trying for twenty years. Yeah. You know? And and look and there was a lot of fear leading up to August seventeenth, though, this was finally gonna be the move. It's not happening. I mean, we're only I mean, what? We're three, four weeks. I guess we're getting close to a month month out from it. The sky has not fallen. Right. Buyers agents are not disappearing. We're seeing agents get a higher average commission than what they should get before because of the tools and because of the new ability to negotiate commission on the contract. You can remember, NAR did not allow that previously. You know? Yeah. You were not allowed to try to negotiate a higher commission from the seller, as a part of the contract under the old NAR rules, And now you can, and that that's great. That was a massive win, I think, for us as an industry. I think there is more transparency to the consumer now because they're able to decide upfront on that that pre touring agreement, pre showing agreement, buyer broker agreement, whatever form you're using. But, yeah, we're seeing agents win with higher commissions, which is great. And I'll tell you, the tools do help, you know, because, again, the you showing the consumer who you are, like, again, just like the fact that, like, this high quality printed magazine, like, right, why why did we invest in the perfect binding machine, which is is super expensive? Why did we invest in the AI technology to cut your to cut your face out of the background and stick it on the cover of the magazine? All these things are about positioning because you need that consumer to feel good. And if you're up against an agent who walks in there with, like, copy paper printed stuff, you know, off their, like, laser jet at home and you walk in there with, like, magazine professional quality, like, this says Robert knows what he's doing. In this case, it says Heather Bush knows what she's doing because Heather Bush is on a magazine. This says Heather Bush knows what she's doing. Like, this is a professional. This is someone who has it figured out. They didn't just roll in here with some copy paper rolling off of their home inkjet. Like Right. These things matter. And and because, look, the way you do the way you do every what is it? The way you do one thing is the way you do everything or, you know, the way you do anything is the way you do everything. Incorrect. And so if if you walk in there with a less than professional presentation, then that's the way the consumer is going to believe that you do everything. But when you walk in there with little things like this, the, you know, the the the sample box. Why is the sample box built the way it is? Right? Why did we invest in building the cutout versus throwing all that stuff in a paper sack and shipping it off to you? Like, all these things were built to show your consumer that the way you do things is at the highest level, with the highest level of professionalism, the highest level of attention to detail, the highest level of caring, and the highest level of presenting to them because that's how you need to represent them to the buyers out there. That's how you represent them to the other agents out there as you're negotiating so that they can get the absolute highest price for their home and put the most money in their pocket while also paying you a commission. Right? And and if they can pay you a higher commission and still put more money in their pocket, if that's what they believe and that's what you show them and that's what you explain to them, that's what you present to them because of the tools, because of your knowledge, because of who you are, then everybody wins. I mean, it is the absolute definition of a win win. The agent the agent puts more money in their pocket. The seller puts more money in their pocket. Like, this is how we win together. This is how professionals push it up to the absolute highest level possible. That's right. Awesome. So So, yeah, go out there and win, guys. Like, let's go out there and win. The Fed is gonna make a lot of noise for us tomorrow, which is a wonderful thing. Wednesday. I'm sorry. Wednesday well, starting tomorrow. Tomorrow and Wednesday. The Fed is gonna meet tomorrow. They're gonna announce on Wednesday. The media is then gonna make a whole bunch of noise for us. Let's be in position to catch that because there is gonna be a swell, and let's go out there and serve our clients at the highest level and keep winning. So Awesome. Keep going, guys. Keep winning.