Hello. Happy Friday. Happy Friday. Welcome to another Real Estate First Friday, guys. My name is Matthew Hodge, executive vice president. I'm joined by my co VP, Louis Fuhrman, who's also, a real estate attorney. A lot of people don't know that. People who probably subscribe to, Real Estate First Friday and the Motivational Mondays know that. But if you're new, you now know that he's got this additional layer of expertise. And so, each Friday, we come to you guys thinking about, you know, as we're out speaking with agents throughout the week, we're listening to people's successes, we're listening to people's obstacles, and we are kind of formulating that and aggregating that into, like, a easy digestible conversation. That's what really makes up real estate first Fridays. We try not to do, any state specific topics because, you know, we've got a lot of states joining. And so we really go into conceptual level, like, hey. Let's talk about roadblocks inside of your business. Let's talk about, you know, actionable items that you can do to jump start things inside of your business. And let's figure out how to analyze our business so that we can spot the holes and figure out then how do we make it a more efficient machine, so that you can use that benefit however you want, either working less hours or making more money or, you know, whatever your version of success is. But today, we're gonna kinda start off with mindset, and then we're gonna talk about some actionable items. And so I always like to to start it there because, whatever you're thinking about, whatever you believe is possible, whatever you think is not possible is ultimately gonna decide the decision making process. So when you're formulating your plan, you're you're doing it through that context of what you're comfortable doing, what you wanna do, what you think is gonna work. You know, like, that's how you're formulating your business plan. And so that kinda comes from your mindset. And we spend a lot of time helping people adopt different mindsets so that they have different paths of thinking. They they see bigger opportunities. And that's something that we have talked about a lot and experienced a lot as we've been on this journey, with, with LPT Realty. But today well, actually, I'll let you kinda jump in and then we'll we'll jump into today's topic. I know. I love this. And and starting off with mindset is so important because we are in a line of work where mindset is key. You know, there's other professions and other skill sets where it's a lot of, like, physical activities. Right? Like, if you're in sports and you're and you're an athlete. Right? If if you need to practice and rehearse something, what do you do? You hit the batting cages, you hit the free throw line, you start practicing your shot, your passes, etcetera. We are in a line of work where it's what I would call less physical and more mentally. You know, you were very caught up with how do you communicate talking points to your customers and how do you effectively communicate and and and how do you use choice of words, etcetera, to be able to progress in your business practices. So that makes it where mindset becomes that much more important. Yeah. And there's obviously always gonna be obstacles that are gonna derail you from your mindset. But, you know, using this time every each and every week to kinda talk through strategies is, you know, something where hopefully we can take a nugget out of it. Right? You know, if we are feeling derailed, if we are feeling like we are not heading in the appropriate direction, you know, how can we get back on track to ensure that we're achieving those goals that we're setting out for ourselves in real estate? That's right. That's right. Okay. So let's go ahead and jump in, with today's topic. And so, I I spoke about this on morning coffee, one of the morning coffees this week, but I'll kind of regurgitate that again here now, which is thinking about, you know, what obstacles do you allow to to to slow you down? Which obstacles do you say, I either cannot pass that or I choose not to do that? And so, I I I call out this because Ray Earl Jones, who, passed this week at ninety three, was a great inspiration because I I knew his story for a long time. And, but he actually grew up with a massive speech impediment. He had he had a really bad stutter. And, he was teased throughout his schooling and eventually went through speech therapy and stuff. But, anyways, fast forward to his career where he ends up being one of the most iconic voices in media history, you know, the entertainment history. So to think about where you started of saying, like, hey. I actually have a speech impediment. Right? I stutter to being like the voice of the Lion King and and Darth Vader. To me, it just shows that you choose which obstacles will you will allow to to to slow you down. And so, that's the same thing as entrepreneurs. Right? We we do that in in micro doses. Right? So we're we're scanning out and and looking at the macro version of his life and saying, okay. Well, this is obviously the progression of years and years. But your success is built on the habits that you do daily. Right? And so we get to this place where you feel like, man, I wish I had the confidence to go do this thing. Like, you think it's like something that like, the the confidence exists before the action. And really, it's like the action of, hey, going and approaching something that you're not sure how to do it or approaching something that you are not sure if you're going to actually be able to accomplish it and then doing it or failing and trying again, like, that's what builds the confidence. It's not the way in reverse. It's not you're gonna know feel confident to go do do things you've never done before. That's not how it works. And so, again, this is all just kinda setting this the the frame of of the mindset on into the next topic that we'll talk about. But, kinda what are your thoughts there as you as you hear me talk about this? What an incredible, you know, story and and what a journey he had to go through. He imagined he had a dream. He had a goal. He had what he wanted to accomplish, but he had this inherent, you know, obstacle that he had to face to pursue that dream. And through, perseverance and resilience, he was able to persevere and achieve that goal and and achieve that dream that he ultimately wanted and become that household name in in in media for for many voices that we are all, you know, very much aware of of of those voices. Yeah. And in our business, we come across those obstacles day in and day out. It's not just the initial inception. Right? As you mentioned, that initial confidence of how do I go to my very first listing presentation? How do I go to my very first now buyer audition? Or how do I handle my very first contract? Throughout our line of work, we we will be reminded time and time again that of of things that may derail us. Right? Something may happen in our journey that may make us feel like we're gonna lose that confidence. You know, we can be in a rhythm where we're successfully going to listening presentations. It's working. It's working. It's working. And then we get into a lull. Right? We get into a period of time in which we are failing, like, time and time again. Like, it's and it just makes you feel so defeated, But we gotta do things to be resilient in those circumstances. We gotta do things to be able to overcome those things to get back on track because we don't wanna go down that path. We can do it. You've proven you can do it. You've done it before. You've overcome those issues time and time again. And just because you are in a rhythm in which you are not going, you know, perfectly down that road map, doesn't mean that maybe that circumstance was presented because it's a learning curve now. Right? Something that you have to overcome and a skill that you have to ultimately perfect. So, you know, I like to look at it as every time that we experience these bumps in the roads, it is a moment for us to really re reflect and understand, well, how can I perfect what I am doing? You know, sometimes we get very comfortable with our habits. We get very comfortable with the ways that we approach circumstances. And we go on autopilot. Right? And we go on autopilot for a period of time and we're not retweaking. And we tend to fall into maybe bad habits during those circumstances. And sometimes we need that reminder. We need that reminder where, hey. Listen. You know, we can't just stay in autopilot. If we're looking to break through that glass ceiling, we gotta figure out how to recalibrate. We gotta figure out how to reflect and be able to sharpen those tools to really appropriately handle it the next time around. Yeah. That's right. That's right. Okay. So let's walk into, some of the actionable items that you can you can do now. So, on probably about forty five days ago or so, on motivational Monday, we talked about the first signs that we use as indicators to see kind of what's happening in the market. And while we don't have a crystal ball, we have some indicators that could potentially be accurate if, you know, if things play out. And so what I'm referring to is that, we we originally saw some stocks do what's called a rotation, meaning that stocks that do better in high interest rate environments started to be sold off and stocks that do better in lower interest rate environments started to be purchased. And so they call that a rotation. Right? And so we're watching that and we're saying, like, hey. This means that people or investors on Wall Street are thinking that there could be some potential change in interest rates in the future. Now it doesn't necessarily mean that it's always comes to fruition, but it means that people are there's enough signals that those group of investors start to say, hey. I'm gonna start to position myself to catch that wave. In the event that this thesis plays out, I'm gonna be in position to to to be ahead of the curve. And then you guys saw on motivational Monday early this week, we also talked about the same exact thing. Hey, guys. Just so you know, this is confirmed. It looks like you know, Robert talked about the the ten year in the bond market and what he uses as indicators and says, hey, guys. This actually looks like a real move. And so, in the next week or so, you're gonna start seeing headlines. The consumer is gonna start seeing headlines that interest rates are coming down. The mainstream media is gonna pick it up. Like, that is what the consumer is gonna start to hear. So as a real estate professional, we have to think, okay. I'm looking at this. I'm I'm educating myself on kind of like the cycles and the things that make the industry move. Right? I know that this headline's coming to be talking to the consumer. How do I then catch my own wave? Right? The investors did it forty five days ago. How do I put myself in position to start winning, win that conversation, when that narrative changes? And so we challenge you guys to think about that. We challenge you to say, hey. We'll put an email blast together that says, you know, hey. Do have you heard that interest rates are coming down? Reach out to your current clients or anyone who you're currently working with that maybe you have an IDX strip set up on, and you're saying, hey, I wanna use this as a to pay the sense of urgency. Like, we asked you to do actionable items to put yourself in position. So, David, if you could kind of pull up, I'm gonna I I took some screenshots just this morning, that we received that I got from the Florida Association of Realtors. Obviously, we're in Florida, and so that's where our our, feed comes from. But, David, if you could, go sorry. He's he's working it out for me. But yeah. So this headline right here and I'm gonna it disappeared. This headline, I'm gonna look at it on my phone so I can I can see a little bit better, is it says long term rates at the lowest level since February twenty twenty three? This was published just this morning, September thirteenth. We're letting Dave take a moment to get it up on screen. And while we're waiting for that, I'll just kinda read through it. It says, the average rate of a thirty year mortgage fell to six point two o from six point three five last week. A year ago, it was seven point one eight. Rates are on fifteen year mortgages fell from five point two seven, fell to five point two seven from five four seven. So, this is a headline that is out. Right? Like, we we told you that this is gonna be the type of information that's coming out. You see the next one. October, this year's best time to buy. Right? Who's receiving this? Okay. Let's go to the the next screenshot. Then it says, housing payments more affordable. Right? Falling mortgage rates have have pushed the median US housing payment down near its lowest level since January. Right? Everyone's gonna be coming up with these headlines as to what the consumer is gonna be seeing. Right? In the industry, we're talking about it. We're thinking about it. We're discussing it on a regular basis, but the regular consumer is not tapped in that way. And so now that this headline is out, right, someone is going to take action. Some consumer is going to read that and say, oh, well, I wanna do something. Who is gonna win that Yeah. That that piece? Yeah. I mean, this is this is a prime example of making sure that you don't let the rocket ship take off without you. That's right. Right? You know, these are things that are happening in our industry that create opportunities for us as agents. Right? You know, these are things where if we look at it as that opportunity, we now can have a certain level of conversation with our customers that did not exist a month ago. That's right. But you have to do it now. You have to do it while the iron's hot. You have to do it while the opportunity exists today. Because if we let time go by and we say, hey. I'm gonna take a month to try to figure this out. The shit may leave. Right? And and you may lose that opportunity because somebody else is going to extract that opportunity. Mhmm. But as entrepreneurs, we have to understand that we are in a line of work and in an industry that is ever changing, ever adapting. There are things that are going to be happening time and time again. And we have to be positioned and organized in a way that when these things happen, we are ready to capitalize on those opportunities. You know, we are not in a stagnant industry. You know, we have things like interest rates that affect, you know, the purchase and sale of homes. We have other economic dynamics that affect the purchase of sale of homes. And it sounds very basic. It sounds very much like, well, yeah, we know that. But if you really look back at your business, like, what do you do when those things happen? Correct. Like, what is it that you're really doing besides just thinking about it? Right. And besides just Like, what are you implementing in your business to communicate to your audience who is ultimately your customer? Right. And how are you there and how are you being a resource for that person? And that is the piece that we oftentimes neglect. We get so caught up with just thinking about it, thinking about the opportunity. Yes, it's happening. Yes, I'm excited things are gonna change. But we are not physically or actively doing anything to extract that opportunity. So then what tends to happen is, you'll have someone else who is actively pursuing that opportunity. And then they're taking up the market share. They're taking up the business that that's out there in existence as being created through these economic dynamics. It's funny because right before real estate first, you also showed me a text message you received from from your banking institution that said, hey. Rates are at an all time low. Text this number, and we'll get you figured out. Like Right. It's it's happening in real time, guys. And at LPT, one of the commitments from us to you guys is we're gonna watch your backs. And as these things are happening or as we start recognizing these things happening, we're gonna bring them to your attention as quickly as possible. You know, Robert's been talking about this for the last few weeks. Mhmm. You know, and I challenge you guys, like, you know, what plan has been created now that it's happening. Right? Like, have you created that plan? And if not, it's okay. Like, let's get to the drawing board. Let's prepare something. Like, let's let's not lose this as an opportunity to be able to communicate to your databases and to your customers, but also use it going back to that learning curve and that learning experience. You know, you wanna be ahead of the eight ball. You don't wanna be scrambling to try to figure it out after the fact. That's right. If the visibility was there and the horizon was out there, like, start positioning yourself as soon as you understand that it's happening. Right? That's right. Because it's gonna make it that much easier. It's gonna allow you to practice. It's gonna allow you to rehearse. So that way you can have conversations at a different degree. But, yeah, I mean, don't don't miss out on this opportunity, guys. Like, it's so important for you to extract every moment when the when the economy, you know, allows it or affords it, when the industry creates these types of scenarios, we wanna be there to extract that opportunity because it it it could change it on the other side of the equation. That's right. That's right. And this is just one example of an opportunity. Right? It's something that everyone can be affected by. Right? Because we're all in the same industry. There's a lot of people who will see that and have a call to action, based on that, right, that affects us all. But think about what happens in your local market when a new community comes up. Right? And there's going to be people who buy these new construction homes. What do you do to make sure that you are selling some of them or that someone who's looking for new construction thinks about you? And, you know, again, that's where we go back to the initial piece of, like, the confidence. Like, you wish that you had the confidence to go do these things that you maybe have not done or or not done well in the past, and you wish that it felt good. You wish it wasn't scary, but that's just not the reality of it. Right? Like, that that is the confidence is the is the fruit of going through, I guess, you could say that pain, going through that uncertainty of whether it's gonna work or not or building your skill set. But like I said, if a new community pops up and you go there and you're maybe not great at social media, you don't feel comfortable, maybe it's not something, but you don't necessarily have the funds to go out there and advertise a whole lot, that's a great way to say, hey. Look. If I don't got the funds, I gotta get the information out some way. Social media technically is free. I I don't feel comfortable doing it or I don't feel very good at it, but I have to use that as my avenue if I'm going to jump over this obstacle. And you go out there and you talk about that community and you go maybe and you tour the the home and maybe you don't have the best video, like, it it doesn't really matter. Right? You're top of mind to people and that is the action that you're talking about. That happens over and over over again in your business. And we are using interest rates again as this example because it's something that we all know it's a big headline, but this happens over and over again. And so it's really starting to identify that process in your business is what makes a difference. And the the best way to notice whether something is a distraction or not is to focus on something. Yeah. Right? When I focus on getting in shape, then I recognize when I drink a lot of milkshakes, it, you know, works against my my goal of getting in shape. Right? And so that clarity happens as you start to focus on something. And so it's the same thing with inside of your business. Think about how do I start taking action items? How do I start using the environment to create actionable items to grow my business? And when you do that, it will start to become clearer and clearer, and it will the the murkiness and the the, you know, will start to fade away. The confidence will start to grow, but it takes those that first step. Yeah. And, you know, confidence I would say confidence starts with a purposeful and organized approach. Because as you're saying, right, you have to be able to focus on it. You have to have a plan. If you drink too many milkshakes, you know, it's gonna destroy your health and your fitness goals. And it's so so you know what your goal is. I got you some milkshakes. We love you some milkshakes and some chicken wings. But, you know, you know, if if we understand what the goal is, we have to create what that road map looks like to get to that goal. And what does that mean is we have to have a purposeful and organized approach. So we understand that, you know, hey, we wanna grow our business. We wanna, you know, have more closings. We wanna be able to have more files under contracts. Well, where does the journey begin? The journey begins with your initial conversation with your customer, right? Like, what does that initial conversation look like? Whether it's a buyer or a seller, what is your purposeful and organized approach when you're having that initial conversation? And you can even break down that roadmap a step further and make subcategories, right? Like, I see your initial conversation as having to accomplish three elements. You know, element number one is your introduction. Like, what are you looking to accomplish at the introductory level? You know, the second is the how to. How am I going to help you as a realtor achieve your goal? And then number three is, how do I set up and conclude that conversation with the follow-up? What is the follow-up game plan? What is the follow-up course of action? So let's start with the introduction. Like, as you're sketching this out and as you're outlining the conversation, this this initial conversation, what is it that you're looking to accomplish in your introduction? That's your first opportunity to start building rapport. Mhmm. Like, I remember when I used to go to listing presentations or or interacting with customers for the first time, I would I would be very focused on trying to figure out who this person is because I wanna try to relate to this person at a personal level that, that's outside of business per se. So if I walk to a house in a listening presentation, I'll look around. You know, what decorations do they have? Do I see sports memorabilia lying around? Do I see things that, you know, maybe I have some knowledge about? You know, do I see that they have children or whatever the case may be because now, it gives me nuggets for me to be able to communicate to this person that's outside of work, that's outside of business. I can start relating to them. You know, I remember times where I met up with a family at at at the very first showing and the kids came out the car, they were wearing soccer jerseys and I was able to relate to them as with children, you know, extracurricular activities, whatever the case may be. And you open them up to conversation before you start rolling up your sleeves and getting into the how to. Right. And then it gets to the second level. Right? You feel like you've built a rapport. You've asked your open ended questions. You're understanding what the goals of of your customers are. You're understanding what their personality traits are. Like, that's the biggest thing. Right? It's so funny because, generally, when you interact with the customer for the first time, one of the most important things you can do is ask the open and the question of, like, what are your goals or, like, what are you looking to accomplish or walk me through your journey or whatever the case may be and just let them start talking. Yeah. And as they're talking, you're able to extract what they're looking to accomplish. Maybe what some of the challenges that they're currently facing. You're able to start painting what personality trait they are. Because obviously, certain ways of communication work more effectively with certain personality traits over the other. Like, you are painting that picture of your customer and that ends up being probably one of the most important questions you can ask in the entire interaction because that's setting the stage for what everything else looks like. So then you do get to that second stage. Right? You get to the how to. And on the listing side, you know, you're gonna tour the house. That's where you're gonna understand, you know, how many bedrooms, how many baths, how you're gonna ultimately help them achieve their goal of selling the house. On the buyer side, you wanna understand what type of homes they're looking for, etcetera. How are you gonna help them achieve the goal of home ownership? All while you're still building rapport, you're finding opportunities in which you can interject your personality into it. So that way, you are setting yourself up uniquely. And then the final step is setting up the follow-up. You know, we often times, you know, wrap up our touring schedules and we get in the car and we'll say, hey, call me when you're ready. Call me when you find more properties and I'm happy to help you. Like, create a purposeful approach for what that follow-up looks like. You set the expectations. You set the tone. You know, we talk about this where, you know, you set up the next comp you you set up the next meeting. It's like, hey, today's Friday. You know, between now and Monday, we're gonna schedule homes. And on Monday, I'm gonna reach out to you. And Tuesday, we're gonna earmark the a day that we're gonna retour. Yes. We don't have houses figured out today, but that's what the meeting on Monday is gonna be about to finalize the schedule or Sunday or whatever the time frame is to afford you with enough time to do so. But all of that to say is, you know, we know what the ultimate goal is. The ultimate goal is, I wanna increase my business. I wanna have closings. I wanna help customers. Well, how do you get there? You know, then there's different roadblocks. There's going under contract and that has its own subcategories. There's touring that has its own subcategories. But today, we're talking about the very beginning. The initial interaction with your customer and that has its subcategories as you're organizing this approach. It has its introductions. It has its rapport building. It has its how to's. It has its follow-up. Like, do you have a plan to accomplish what you're looking to accomplish in each and every one of those categories? And if you don't, sketch it out. And what that does is now when you are reflecting on your business, you're able to understand, well, I was missing this category or I kinda didn't extract what I needed here. Like, you have something to work with. Like, even if you messed up, you can understand where did I mess up because you had a plan that can tell you where you messed up at. Yep. And if you don't have that, it's hard to go back there and really perfect something that doesn't exist. That's right. Alright. So it looks like we're just about at time, but just kinda wanna leave you with with some final thoughts. So one, it's not too late. It is not too late for you to go out there and take action. The headlines are just starting to hit. Right? We are gonna continue to see, more and more headlines of the interest rates coming down. That's been a big focal point for, you know, our our industry and consumers who are in the market, sellers and buyers alike. And, you know, utilize that to to gain some traction. So even example, like, you know, we've got a listing on our team that the market is not it it's it's not selling at its current price. Right? The market is letting us know that it is above market value. And so the conversation with the seller can now be, hey, guys. Listen. Interest rates are starting to come down. Buyer activity is going to pick up. I wanna make sure that you are in position to capture the same thing. Right? To capture this new wave of buyers who are now gonna come off the sidelines and we have to be in line. Now the seller may say, well, maybe the new buyer is gonna wanna pay my price. Maybe that's I gotta be prepared for that. But at the end of the day, you're starting you're utilizing this environment to have the conversations, you you know, and to create these to create these, actionable items that you can do, and use it towards your benefit. So think about where in your business can you u utilize this right now? Is it sending out an email blast? Is it going on social media and educating people that rates are coming down and that's, you know, creating that that sense of urgency to to act now? Is it people that you're already touring with and saying, hey, guys. Listen. As competition starts to heat up, the houses that you're looking at that you may be a little bit picky on because things are moving kinda slow. When those start to go, we're gonna have less options. Let's get ahead of those curves. You know, there's all these things that you can do to utilize that as a way to grow your business. The last thing, you know, there's a question that's asked all the time, which is why not me? Like like, hey. Why why why can't I be the one who has that success? Right? Like, if I wanna sell a hundred million dollar houses, why not me? Why is it this guy and not me? You know? Like, and that's usually connected to a a self limiting belief. Like, anyone can do it. But if you truthfully dissect that question and say, well, the reason why not me is because I'm not really putting in the work or I don't really know what to do or I don't know anybody who owns a hundred million dollar house. Then that starts to give you the answer of things that you need to do so that it is you. So ask yourself, why are you not getting the success that you that your version of success. Right? Why are you not achieving that today? And if it's something that you don't know, well, that's an easy answer. Go figure out. There's plenty of information out there for you to figure out what that piece is. Or if it's, hey, I'm not committed enough, then maybe that's really not your, you know, your focus or your passion. Maybe you need to re relook at that. Or if it's that, hey, I don't know anyone who has this thing that I want to accomplish. Well, then how do you go find the person? Right? Like, it creates the roadmap of the things that you can do so that you say, why not me to be like, yes. Why me? I this is why me. It's not luck, guys. It it your version of success is not luck. It is you refining your habits on a consistent basis every day until you get to your goal. So with that being said, I will leave it right there for you guys. We're excited to see you on Motivational Monday. We'll be talking through, the market on, Monday. We'll give you some updates there. Robert just shot his commercial for his refi, so maybe we'll have an opportunity to play that on Motivational Monday. And, we've got some events going on next week. So definitely looking forward to seeing you guys. I hope this is useful. Continue to to to plug in, guys. This is the time that makes a difference. We've been waiting for this moment for rates to come down. This is the time. Be prepared. Do not let this, opportunity pass you by. And with that being said, have a blessed and prosperous weekend.