Good morning, and welcome to another motivational Monday. My name is Matthew Hodge, executive vice president here at LPT Realty. And real quick, if you could hear us okay, if you could just give me a quick thumbs up and, Arpi, if you could talk to I hear you loud and clear, man. Yeah. I know you do. Alright. We got the thumbs up. Fantastic. Okay. I joined by Robert Palmer, founder and CEO of LPT Realty. Each Monday, we come to you guys interpreting what's happening in the market, giving you thoughts to think about to get your week started, and hopefully, actionable items that are gonna help you grow your business. So with that being said, I know you've had a long weekend. How was your, Dude, very eventful. A lot of big stuff going on, you know, potential c suite executive, bunch of agents moving to LPT in current and new states. I was entertain it was just it was long. It was. It was a lot of entertaining this the last four or five days, but it's it's been good, man. And then so a little bit of housekeeping. So one, we are going to have Motivation Monday, twice next Monday. Hopefully, twice. We'll we'll see. So, we're gonna be doing Motivation Monday at a special time next week. We're gonna have a nine AM edition because we have to fly to Vegas because I'm on stage for an event, and there's no real good way to get Motivation Monday done. So we're gonna have a nine AM Motivation Monday, next Monday, and then we're gonna try to do our regular eleven time from the jet. But what I have learned about aviation Wi Fi is, like, if we're over mountains or in a bad spot because it bounces a cellular signal signal, like, down to the ground. If we're in a bad spot in the air, we can't do it. So if we fail to reemerge in a good place on the plane to do motivation Monday at eleven, we will replay the nine AM for anyone who was not on at nine AM. Otherwise, we will have a a live one again at eleven AM from the air on our way into Vegas, because we do not miss Motivation Monday no matter what. That's right. No matter what. Two years straight, we have not missed the Motivation Monday no matter what, and so that will carry on. So, if you want to set your alarm, join us at nine AM eastern time and eleven AM eastern time next Monday, as we travel to Las Vegas. And, potentially, the eleven AM will be live from the jet as we fly to Vegas. So that's gonna be exciting. Doing a a buyer broker, presentation on how we created our buyer broker box, basically to teach agents how to build their own, or they could just join LPT and get ours. But we're gonna teach agents how to build their own if they would like to do so, live in Vegas next Monday. Lot of stuff going on there. Bill Pipes has an event in Vegas next Monday, and Zillow unlock, which is used to be FubCon, is now FubCon unlock is going on as well. So a lot of stuff going on in Vegas, next week. So we will be there. Exciting stuff. Yeah. I think I mean, it was crazy. I looked at the list, and there's, like, seventy OPT agents on on Coach Pipes list or whatever. So we're we're showing up in style. We're gonna be all over Vegas next week. So if you're out there, come find us. We'll we'll be doing cool stuff all around the city. So that's Vegas. Yep. That's the special time for Motivation Monday. Another thing I wanna cover is, so we, we are here in Orlando, and this is where LPTU started and was born. And so, the Orlando Regional Realtor Association is the association where we have the absolute most LPT agents. I think we have over a thousand over a thousand LPT agents in this one, realtor board. Let me get some shout out from my Aura members in the chat. So, if you are an Orlando Regional Realtor Association member, which is about ten percent of our LPT family, two of our agents are running for the board of directors this week, and so we want to support them. Davey, if you can throw that up. So Aura members, you ready on that one, David? Yep. Alright. Cool. So Mike McGraw and Yvette Jimenez are both running for Aura board of directors. We wanna support our LPT family. So if you are an Aura agent, again, which about ten percent of you are, make sure you get in there and vote. And, again, we'd love for you to support our fellow LPT agents, Mike McGraw, who was last year's president of Florida Realtors, and Yvette Jimenez, who's been on a lot of committees and very involved, in Aura and at the state level as well. So excited for you guys. And, again, always here always here to support our agents doing cool things. If you got something like that going on and it's a realtor board where we have a significant presence, we would be happy to shout that out here on motivation Monday. That's right. And, we have some graphic. We have some realtor boards. We have, like, five members, and then you have, like, Aura where we have over a thousand. So it's, it's it's pretty interesting. We are continuing to grow. One day, we're gonna have thousands of members at every realtor board across the country. That's right. Awesome. Cool. Alright. So we've got that. I know that we've also got some events. David, I don't know if that video loaded for you or not. That work? Well, we'll come back to that. So we we threw out some stuff at him in the last minute. But today also The intro music is loading and Hodges, like, air dropping a last minute video. That's why I hit my laptop. That's how we do it here on the. He loves it. He loves the last minute. Let's talk about mortgage rates. Yeah. So this is this is interesting, man. So, you know, last Monday, I, you know, went on and we talked about mortgage rates, and we talked about the Fed and how most of the, you know, the mortgage market had already reacted to what the Fed was doing. I thought we're gonna see a half point cut, which we did see, which was exciting. And so the really interesting thing though is we got our half point cut and and the market rallied, which meant mortgage rates got better for, like, a minute. And then I would say within hours, they actually started getting a little bit worse. And so, again, we like to keep you guys up to date on what's going on. And so here is the crazy reaction from enough people in the market that we actually saw mortgage rates get a little worse even though the Fed cut the full half. Right? So we expected if the Fed cut a quarter, that mortgage rates would get a little worse because a lot of traders had the half already baked in. But what happened is when the Fed cut the half, some of the traders who are betting on the quarter then decided that because the Fed cut by a half, that inflation may show back up. And so, alright, inflation is the enemy of good mortgage rates long term. So the the current talking points kinda floating around bond futures traders and the people who really really are in the weeds on this stuff is that the half point cut from the Fed could cause inflation to heat back up. And if inflation heats back up, then mortgage rates will obviously go higher. Right. And so mortgage rates actually crept up a little bit on this theory that the half point cut from the Fed could spur inflation. I'm not in that camp. I think I think this is some people just kinda maneuvering in the market. The people who bet on the half point cut were wrong or, like, a little bit of sour grapes and so they're trying to run this new narrative to make their money back. But it's it's the reality of what we saw. Right. So mortgage rates are actually a little bit higher right now than they were before the Fed cut. But the thing that was most important to us, which was the headlines and the media and the consumer reacting, that all happened. Right? So we saw, like, quadruple the number of inquiries we're getting for refis, like, people popped up out of nowhere. The headlines did what the headlines needed to do. Hopefully, a lot of you are feeling that in your business, and because, really, that's what that's most important. Right? Mortgage rates are absolutely better than they were a month ago. That's right. Two months ago. Right? So mortgage rates are better. So that is not a false narrative. Right? So for you to tell your clients, hey, mortgage rates have come down, as I went on TV and did, that is absolutely true. Mortgage rates have come down. Alright? They just didn't come down directly because of the Fed rate cut on on Tuesday or Wednesday. They came down a month because everyone knew the Fed was gonna cut rates. But the the rates have come down and, more importantly, consumers are reacting to the headlines of the Fed cutting. And so that's that's what we were ready for. That's what we needed. Lot of great activity. We saw it across the board. Hopefully, you all saw it in your businesses as well. Keep planting those seeds. In a way, this is probably good because if rates had just, like, plummeted, you know, we maybe would have gotten too busy. I mean, not quite in position, and then maybe there would have been a bigger correction back. So I'm actually kinda happy as I digest this where we are. We're at a we're at a reasonable place for mortgage rates, compared to where we were. And now we're kinda steady, which means we'll get another set of headlines when the Fed cuts again, which is good because that'll that'll create more more activity. Yeah. And, you know, I've also heard the narrative that some people would say, if it was bigger than that, then people may think that something was, you know, a deeper issue going on and that it may actually spook the market. So it seemed like that that half point was was perfect, you know, for for keeping things in balance and, like, bringing rates down, but also not not spooking everyone wondering what's happening or maybe not putting that immediate concern back on the, you know, inflation bucket, which as you know, can heat the economy back up. So Yeah. So that's good. Okay. Cool. Well we got a little bit of that even at the half. I mean, if they had cut more, it would have been I mean, who knows where we'd be sitting right now. But yeah. Yeah. I saw in the chat someone said, I had twenty three parties at my open house, and, it was raining buckets. So, I mean, I love that. That means it's exactly what we talked about, which is being in position to be visible, to be a resource during this period of time. So that has someone comes comes across these headlines. They see these, you know, shifts in the market. You are the resource that they may ask questions. Hey. What's going on with rates or so and so? And it gives you that opportunity to have that conversation. So being in position in anticipation of that type of conversation is always is always really useful. So happy to see that's already heat up. I know that we also saw quite a few inquiries as well too and people that we have been working with feeling more motivated to get back out there. So continue to reach out to your sphere and people who you're currently working with to ensure that they understand. If they haven't heard about it, that's a great way to to start the conversation. I don't know if you've heard, but rates are coming down. I know that you're looking for x y z. Let's see if we're, you know, any homes on currently on the market fit your needs. And so that's a great so I hope that you guys are experiencing experiencing that. Alright. Ready. Okay. Cool. So, couple couple more announcements today. So one, today is Michael Valdez, our amazing CEO of LPT International's birthday. That's right. Happy birthday, brother. To Michael Valdez. If you get a chance, you can shout him out either on my Facebook or his Facebook. I shared his post. Give him a share. Give him a like. Give him a love. Give him a clap. Big part of the LPT family here, having an amazing birthday. Today is his two month anniversary with LPT Yeah. And his birthday. So pretty cool day. And then, he's also gonna be in Texas, doing an event next week with Bill Pipes. So we've got a pretty cool video for that we're gonna we're gonna play. They're having this Dash event, which will be featuring Michael Valdez, Bill Pipes, and Mike Lafito. So if we can, if we can get that video rolling, Davey, we wanna make sure everybody knows about, what's going on in Texas. Texas, are you ready? The dash tour is coming to Dallas, Austin, San Antonio, and Houston. Join the ultimate real estate mastermind with industry legends, coach Bill Pipes and Michael Valdez. Bill Pipes, the world's most experienced real estate coach, will help you unlock next level strategies to grow your team. Michael Valdez, a visionary behind LPT International, will reveal the secrets to global expansion and scaling your business. Plus, earn luxury certification with Michael Lafito, the industry's top luxury specialist. Don't miss out. Space is limited. Secure your spot today for the Texas Dash Tour. Get ready to elevate your game. This is your moment. Register now. I like it. I like it. Yeah. That that the way the Texas draw said Valdez. Yeah. Now because, like, have I been saying it wrong the whole time? No. No. The the Texan in the ten gallon hat said it incorrectly. Valdez. But yeah. Valdez. That's so good. Good stuff. Oh, happy birthday, brother, man. Happy birthday. Alright. So we're gonna Happy birthday to Michael. We got the Dash event coming up next week. Yeah. Which, again, I think you're gonna see a lot more again, as we're continue to grow, you're gonna see a lot more LPT participation in big events like this where we're getting out there. We're mobilizing. Obviously, as a part of Ascend, I'm committed to a thousand events next year. So we're gonna be mobilizing a lot of great speakers and a lot of great folks all around the country. And so it's it's great, man. Yeah. We're in such a good spot. You know, we continue to win in light of what is a tough market, you know. And, look, I'm hoping it turns the corner. I am hoping that the activity we saw around mortgage rates with with the fed cut, you know, is gonna be the tipping point for us. But, again, it's not like overnight everything's just gonna change. You know, we're just gonna be it's gonna be a slog, but the the hope is that we're in a good spot for kind of February, March, April of next year as activity naturally picks up. All of you continue to do the right things. You know, use your buyer power packs. We're almost caught up on getting buyer power packs out. I know we we actually bought it. We did break down. I bought a new, piece of equipment for the print shop. We got a new printer that got installed today. So we're gonna have a little more capacity, which will be nice going forward. But it's just yeah. I think we've done a lot of crazy stuff in the last couple of months. Yeah. We've been doing between the buyer broker marathon launching the the online buyer portal, launching the buyer broker box, which, again, you guys absolutely flooded the print shop. I mean, we we printed two years worth of three years worth of buyer broker boxes in, like, three weeks. You know, we probably won't see another order for, like, a year because everybody has them now. But we're getting those final out. So if you're still waiting, we've been doing some, you know, expedited shipping and stuff, and the print the print shop crew has been working so hard. Because remember, we we're gonna continue to prioritize our property products. Right? If you have a listing, we're gonna get that out in our normal, committed time frames, and so we are finally almost through the backlog. I would say by the end of this week, we should be totally caught up on the buyer broker boxes. The new printer is definitely gonna help with that. And, just a lot of exciting stuff. But the key is you guys have to have to continue to do the work. Right? That's what makes all this that's what makes all this this this go. Yeah. We can create all the coolest tools in the world. We can make great buyer broker, you know, magazines, and we can create all this technology, and we can put on tours. But But at the end of the day, if you all don't get out there and do what you do in your communities and do what you do for your customers, then none of it matters. And and I am so proud of the work you all continue to do out there in your communities, being resources for your clients, you know, taking advantage of things like the knowledge around the Fed, the knowledge around the BBA. You know, it's it's amazing that, you know, we pour into you all and then you all pour into your clients, and it's just such a beautiful way for information to flow. It's such a beautiful way for consumers to be better positioned to to survive and take advantage of what has been a tough housing market. You know, there's a lot of people that need to move right now. You know, they they wanna move up. They wanna move down. They're they're looking to upsize, downsize, move somewhere else, whatever it is, and a lot of them feel trapped. They feel trapped because the the interest rate they have on their prior home. They feel trapped because of the higher interest rate they would be looking at on a new home they purchased. You know, they may feel trapped because home prices have continued to accelerate through this entire window of time, and you are their you are their guiding hope. You are their beacon. You know? You are the one who can help them navigate those decisions and make the best and most informed decision for themselves and their families because it's getting harder and harder for people to hold on and wait. You know? A lot there there are people now that have they need to move twelve months ago, you know, and they they haven't been able to do so because they feel locked and trapped. And so just continue to be there for your clients. Continue to be that that guiding beacon for them. Continue to be that shoulder to lean on. Continue to educate them. Continue to provide them with the best resources possible. Don't give up on yourself. I know that's tough. You know, we've talked about this a lot. We are in such a delayed gratification business, and it is particularly tough right now. You know, the work we're doing right now may not turn into a sale until January, February, or March of next year, and that is a long way away. But the key is you have to stay committed right now. You know, you have to continue to push forward. You know, the the the the Fed meeting was a reason for people to delay. We got through that. The election is a peep reason for people to delay. We're gonna get through that. The New Year is a reason for people to delay. We're gonna get through that. At the end of the day, you just have to keep doing the right things and keep putting in the work. Right? And keep again, keep putting the educational material, keep putting the knowledge, keep putting yourself as a resource in front of your clients, in front of your sphere because that is the thing that no one else can replace. That is the thing no one can do but you. And when those consumers are ready, and they will hit a they will hit a breaking point, they will hit a point where they can no longer delay, they can no longer put it off. When they're ready, you are there to help. And I think that's really the big thing we have to stay focused on, and I get that's hard. Right? Because we we don't get paid for being that resource. We get paid when a transaction closes. And so you have to be a a resource today, and you have to pay it forward, and you have to invest your time, and you have to give freely to your potential clients, and know that when the time comes, you will reap the reward of those efforts, you know. And I'm I'm a big pay it forward guy. I've always been you know, I've always believed heavily in, like, giving without any expectation of receipt. And if you can if you can live your life that way and you can show up every day and you can take care of your clients, we know the end result. We know that on the other side of things, we know that when the market starts to turn around, you will be the choice for them. They will reach out to you. They will appreciate, all of the things you did to get them through that tough period of time and to be there as a resource, but you've gotta stay the course, and you gotta be committed, and you gotta be there when things do start to change and things do start to heat back up. Because for every month that people are pushing forward, when the market does finally shift back and then that's coming, the shift back is absolutely coming, then then we get this, like, compounding effect because all of the consumers who have been delaying, delaying, delaying start to take action, plus the consumers who normally would take action then take action, and plus, you may even see some people move their decision tree forward, and that can create a really big pop. You know, I was having some conversations this weekend about kinda where I think existing home sales are gonna go, and I think it's too early to predict right now for next year. There's just so many things that need to fall in place for us. Look, if inflation does tick back up and rates turn back around, which is a possibility. I don't think it's a strong one. I think it's very unlikely, but it could happen. Like, all of these things would have such an impact on where we're gonna land. But at some point in the near future, there is going to be a year where we see five point three, five point four, five point five million existing home sales happen, and that's going to feel like an absolute boom coming off of of the sub four million dollar level that we've been at. And so it's, again, it's just it's about being in position and being coiled and, you know, like, Matt Levy and I have this conversation about how we're we're like a coiled spring, and we are waiting collectively as a as a brokerage, as a family here at LPT because we have not we have not been able to take advantage of a boom. Right? LPT has not existed during a big sales period. Right? Like, we've we've only existed during these sub four million, low four million, home sales environments. And I cannot wait to see what this group of amazing agents and this leadership team and this brokerage do together when this thing finally uncoils and this spring releases, and we get back north of five million existing home sales. I mean, they've everybody better watch out. Like, the the amount of impact we're having on the industry in what is a terrible time, you know, is one thing. Watch out when the spring uncoils and LPT and our amazing family of agents goes goes to town winning in a a a market that's north of five million home sales. It's I mean, it it it's gonna be amazing. I'm excited for it. I cannot wait. And and I think that is what maybe gets through some of the hard times. Right? It gets us through those months when it feels tough, when a closing falls through, when we don't get that customer we thought we were gonna get or that customer decides to put it on hold and wait for after the Fed or wait for after the election or wait till the New Year. All those things are happening. The re the way I get through that and the way you should get through that is know that when this bus turns into a boom, LPT is going to be the firecracker at the center of that boom and that explosion. That's great. That is great to to think about it that way. And, you know, I think about it from the stamp of, like, we are not in a place where we are really going to change someone's mind on when they're gonna purchase, but we can sometimes get them over the hump of things that we know are not really going to play out. So I think about, like, the the fitness industry. They have the best same product, but the best messaging every time per year. Right? You get into the holiday season, and they're like, hey. Lose those extra pounds right now that you put on. You get to the New Year's. They're like, hey. Get in shape for the New Year. You get to summertime. They're like, get your beach. Like, they always have that reason why you should act now. And that's something that I think that we could really learn from as an industry because, again, we're not really it's not our job to try to influence the timing of when it makes sense for them. But it is a portion of our job to help them understand, like, realistically, the things that you're delaying are not gonna be towards your benefit. Right? A lot of times, it's better to purchase today than it is tomorrow, for the all the benefits that we know. And so that's one thing that I would encourage you to think about. How can you get that fitness level messaging into your into your business right now and soften the downtime. Right? Like, we know we're gonna be we're still below sub four, and that is what it is. But take your market share while you can. And then as things start to go the other direction as as Robert talked about, you're gonna be extra poised to be, you know, at the absolute top of the of the food chain there. So just just wanna throw that out there. Yeah. I I like it. I it's, you know, it's interesting you talk about that, man, because, you know, in my marketing, I've always looked at other industries. Like, really good ideas come from other industries. And I think I think a lot of us make the mistake of we we copy bad marketing from our own industry. Like, there's a lot of bad marketing in our industry. There's a lot of bad marketing in every industry. And I think there's, like, this misconception where people are like, hey. They're doing it. It must be working. Like, no. No. Just because someone continues to market poorly over and over again does not mean it's working. Right. And and so I've always really focused on how do I go look at other industries. What's the car industry doing? What is like, Subway, once upon a time, had really, really successful advertising campaigns and their call to actions and, you know, five dollar foot longs and this kind of stuff. Right? Like, you know, the fitness industry is another one. Like, really, really good marketers because they have to take advantage of that. Because, you know, Because, you know, what happens is you you you get all these people in the gym January first, and then the gym is empty, like, three you know, like, ninety days later. And so they gotta get back into action. You know, there there are some industries, like, in our industry, you can actually be very successful. You're not very you can be successful enough without being a good marketer. Right. And I think that is kinda what leads to the misconception where and there are other industries, like, if you're you got a car dealership and you're not marketing effectively or you own a gym and you're not marketing effectively, you are losing. Yep. You know, where in our industry, there is a lot of sphere of influence. There's a lot of taking care of the people you know, but you throw marketing on top of that and you win. So, god, I love it. I love the analogies. I love looking into other industries and and looking for motivations, looking for marketing strategies, looking for business strategies, because you can take the best of those other industries. Because we we are a slow mover industry. Like, real estate is usually on the lagging end of technology, marketing prowess. Like, you look at all and I I think LBT is gonna change that. I mean, that's one of the interesting things, like, you relook at this our entire industry a decade from now, and I bet the whole thing is moving faster because we're gonna force people to move faster to keep up with us. Where in the past, there really hasn't been someone pushing forward from a marketing and a technology standpoint. A lot of people claim to do it, but the the stuff that people have gotten excited about in in the real estate industry is usually, like, ten years behind, stuff that financial services is doing, you know, stuff that, health care is doing, other types of industries. So I'm really excited about that. But looking at other industries is a great place to find motivation, marketing ideas, and, again, just overall business strategies. That's right. That's right. Well, we are just about at time. So as we head into this week, we know that we just the Fed meeting last week. Those headlines are starting to be out there. What should our entrepreneurs be thinking about to try to continue to gain momentum off of the the headlines? Man, I'd say, sometimes I feel like a broken record, but it's just necessary. We have to just continue to do the work. Right? Stay in your communities. Stay in your spheres, ears. Pick up your cell phone. Go through your contact list. Make the calls. Make sure everyone you are connected to in any way is aware of what's going on, is aware that the Fed stance is changing, that we're now going to be in a a declining interest rate environment, which is, again, for a lot of people, that is the tipping point they needed to buy the house. Just check on your people. You know? Yeah. Continue to check on your people through this. It is how business gets done. It is how transactions surface in our industry. Check on your people. Have authentic communication. Stay in touch. Alright? Do not get distracted. Do not get discouraged. Just keep doing the things. Look, because we are going into the slow time of year. You know, usually, I don't start talking this way until, like, mid October, but I just I think the summer was bad enough that that we're gonna see it. We're gonna feel it more from now till the end of the year, And then I think March next year is gonna feel like, again, that that spring uncoiling, that firecracker exploding, but I'm asking you to stay committed and work hard for four or five months without really reaping the rewards. And I get that as a big ask, but I feel that's my that's my job. Right? Stay committed because that is how you win. That is how we all win together, but most importantly, that is how you win. You've gotta stay the course through what is going to be, hopefully, the last really tough quarter that we see in this this two year slowdown in our industry. So keep doing the right things. Right? Take advantage of your buyer broker boxes. Take advantage of your active marketing plans. Take advantage of those listing power packs. Empty the box. Stay in your neighborhoods. Stay top of mind with your consumers, and you will continue to win. And even as bad as the market is, I hear so many success stories. I love when agents reach out to me, and I get it all the time. Like, I I hear probably every day of a success story of someone winning with a power pack, someone winning now with the buyer broker agreement, and it it it really makes me happy. Right? Because that's why we did all this. It's why we built all this stuff, and it's why we went from being a tech company where we had to charge you for all this extra stuff to being a brokerage. We can give it to you, for free on all your listings. Like, all of that is just working so well. You gotta stay committed. You gotta stay the course, and share those wins. Because, look, somebody else on the chat, somebody else on our Facebook group, we got connect two point o coming next month. Somebody else in this family may not be feeling those wins, and you may be their inspiration. You know, when you share that picture emptying the box, the empty the box hashtag, when you share a win with the buyer broker agreement, you may be the exact inspiration that one of your other family members here at LPT needs to hang on through this last dark quarter. And so be that. Be that beacon. Be that shining light. I know you're it for your customers, but be it for your fellow LPT agents as well and share those wins and share those successes. And with that, I want you to have a great week, and we'll see you again nine AM next Monday and, again, at eleven if we can get Wi Fi, working correctly in the jet for a special motivation Monday, double up next week, and, continue to go out there and win in your communities. And if you are an Aura member, make sure you jump in there and vote for our two amazing LPT agents who are running for board of directors at the Orlando Regional Realtor Association. Make it a great week. We'll see you back here next Monday.