You have a niche and you decided to go in that
route. What's your story behind that? My story,
I will attempt to thumbnail as best I can. In
my 20s, I followed my dream and followed my passion.
And when I was 20 years old, I turned 21 on the
set of a movie called Newsies. And I got to be
in that movie with Christian Bale and Robert
Duvall and Ann -Margret. I got to hold Ann Margaret's
butt. It was the highlight of my life back then.
I lifted her up and I followed my passion for
eight years. During that time, I threw away one
hundred and four thousand dollars in rent. I
was doing great. I was on Nickelodeon and the
Disney Channel. I hosted the kids version of
Wheel of Fortune. I was in Tiger Beat magazine,
but I was still renting because I didn't know
any better. And then I turned. my late 20s and
decided that I kind of wanted to pursue something
different in life as far as having more control
over what you do. In show business, you pretty
much get the script sent to you or you're auditioning
all the time. That's when I got into real estate.
So I started real estate investing, met a girl
and got married and we figured out that we wanted
to have a nice stable life. So I got into residential
real estate. I happened to work at Disneyland
in high school and college. So I had a lot of
friends from Disneyland, and I joined real estate
right as the market crashed. I like to say I
jumped on a Titanic right before it hit the iceberg.
And because of that, all my friends at Disneyland
finally could afford a home in Southern California
because the prices were dropping. So I became
this first -time homebuyer specialist. Fast forward
to me then getting a team and a partner and having
other people work on my team. it was about 2018
my wife just looked at me and said you know you're
only happy when you work with the disneyland
people and because i've been in the industry
for a long time i saw the first time home buyers
were the most unfortunately disrespected and
disregarded customer class in real estate they're
used as on -the -job training for new agents
and they are rarely given to experienced agents
because They'll even tell you right when you
join a brokerage, you're going to start with
first time homebuyers and then you're going to
get good and then you're going to stop working
with them. Well, that sucks for first time homebuyers,
especially where I live. When it's, you know,
back then it was 500 ,000. Now it's 700 ,000
to even enter into the market. So the real estate
system was broken. So I had a vision. What if
I educated my people? What if I empowered them
and I showed them that. with some planning they
could end up giving themselves more options and
i thought it was going to be something that i
would use that here in southern california and
just build a team that was very buyer focused
since nobody else was doing that as far as like
a complete construction of your team and then
uh i figured out the podcasts go everywhere and
suddenly people from nashville chicago atlanta
tallahassee started reaching out to me So I reached
into my Rolodex, flew all over the country, still
do it every year, and just found the best of
the best of the best to matchmake with these
people. And that's where I'm at right now. There
are a ton of people who listen to my podcast
that never reach out to me, and then they send
me a picture of them in front of their new home
and say, oh my gosh, I learned so much from your
podcast. And that makes me just as happy. And
I'm thrilled. So that's it's a vision in place,
but it's a it's kind of a little old man because,
you know, I'm almost 55 now, but this is what
I'm doing. And it's really cool to be able to
give back and see all these exciting new adventures
for people. Yeah. Yeah. I love that. I love that
because it's interesting. And of course, because
I share the same love with you. I do see how
they can be forgotten, right? Because there's
more first time home buyers. It's definitely
said immediately, you know, like I've never bought
a home. So then that's that grab and that catchphrase
that usually happens. And and then they do get
lost. And I love the fact that that's something
that you're choosing to to. focus on and getting
everyone educated so you tell me all of these
different states and all these individuals are
coming um to you when asking questions and so
do you have teams all over and they're under
how to buy a home brokerage kind of no uh that
is a wonderful vision and for somebody else um
no my but dave ramsey and a lot of the other
large you know people who've been doing this
for a long time they have like dave ramsey has
something called endorsed license providers elp
and uh unfortunately what a lot of the people
that do this is they say would you like to be
an endorsed license provider great pay me all
kinds of money and then the company makes all
kinds of money then when the person goes to this
trusted source they think they're getting a vetted
professional on the other side Instead, they're
getting somebody who pays the bills for whatever
short internet or website they went to. So I
decided a long time ago I was going to bootstrap
this, do this whole thing myself and vet my people.
And I have released more people than I have accepted
as far as the group of people that I use. They
mostly come from my coaching program. I'm almost
20 years doing this now. I've been part of a
coaching program for a long time that is based
on being very client centric and working through
what we call your sphere of influence, basically
working by referral. You know, we're not we're
not doing billboards and we're not cold calling
people saying, I think you should sell your home.
So those people out there, I just tell people
I happen to know someone great in your town,
interview them. work at a certain standard, they're
the best, the best, the best. They pretty much
usually blow everybody away. And then for me,
I feel more comfortable doing that than trying
to manage a brokerage and looking at the bottom
line. My bottom line is how many people do I
talk to today? How many people did I make incredibly
happy? That's it. Yeah. Yeah. And, and that I'm,
I'm super shocked because that helps me to understand
and, and. definitely kudos and respect to you
that money's not the matter. It's the relationship
and it's the people and thereafter, whatever
happens takes place. And I get goosebumps saying
this because I have learned and a lot of people
have learned that this is, it's all about relationships,
right? And it's all of trust is so, so, so big,
especially in the real estate business right
now. because of after the pandemic and all this
money and all these things that took place you
want to find someone to to trust and so now you
have those connections by people you actually
coach so you really just vetted them in yeah
and it's a there's a lot of pulling back the
curtain and kind of explaining things to first
-time home buyers because they've never been
through this before you know they don't realize
that the stat just came out last week 71 of real
estate agents didn't sell one home in 2024. 2024
was a very difficult time but what people don't
realize is when they find out that you're licensed
they think that means something the fact of the
matter is my 14 year old could pass the test
yes anybody could get a license i love to say
that in california To become a cosmetologist
or a barber is 3 ,000 hours, where journeyman,
apprentice, and then you work under a master.
It's about 120 hours in California. It's mostly
open book. So the license, the threshold, the
bar is just far too low, and people are confused.
Rightfully so. They should be. So opening their
eyes to that. But then mostly also focusing on,
hey, here's all the tips and tricks and the pitfalls
to avoid. That becomes something that because
I started where money wasn't the object of what
I was doing, more and more people are coming
because they're finding it credible and authentic.
And it's great. I don't care what happens with
people as long as they get on the right path.
And as long as I keep doing that to the best
of my ability, I know that the business will
grow. Absolutely, absolutely. And in regards
to home buying in general, for our audience that
is watching that is just completely intrigued,
as I am, what's the shocking truth about home
buying that most people don't know? First time
home buyers last year in 2024, the average down
payment was 8%. I read somewhere that there's
still like 38 % of the people that think you
need to put a 20 % down for a down payment. The
other shocking one is I have, I think, over 70
interviews with people that have listened to
the podcast and used some of the guidance there
and bought a home. Several of them have had student
loans, some of them $200 ,000 and $300 ,000.
So student loans holding you back, I think that's
shocking to a lot of people. They're looking
at their gross monthly debt and they're not looking
at their monthly. or they're looking at their
gross total debt. They're not looking at their
monthly debt. And probably the biggest thing,
I have six years of data now with tens of thousands
of first -time homebuyers. Of the people who
came in and said, we're 12 to 18 months off,
but fine, you convinced me. I'm going to do the
work. Because that's what I offer is hate. Call
me a year or two ahead of time and let's figure
out a simple plan for you with some simple action
steps. Of those people that checked 12 to 18
months, 72 % of them were under contract in 3
.2 months. People are far more ready than they
think they are. Yeah, yeah. And it's because
of all of those myths that are out there. And
I know with your book and with your podcast,
you are... Busting all those myths out the door
because it does help them a lot. I tell people
that buying is probably one of the emotional
roller coasters that one can go through. And
it's and it's I think, in my opinion, it's based
off the fear. with the myths. So how are you
advising and coaching those that actually help
first time home buyers to get through, help them
to get through the fear? Is it busting all the
myths, you know, or what do you suggest? I think
when you're attempting to offer your services
to someone, a lot of people are afraid to come
into it with what might be perceived as a narcissistic
attitude. You know, in real estate a lot of times
people think okay this buyer's done a lot of
research but you know i'm the expert and it's
okay to come in being the expert but if you come
in with that attitude you have to realize nobody
wants to sit down and let you hear and hear every
piece of your expertise they only want to hear
don't try to solve the problems before you know
what the problems are listen to the people And
then kind of peel back the onion and let them
discover exactly all these incredible things
that you could be doing. I mean, we've had situations
where people, you know, we had someone on the
podcast who was homeless when he was 15 years
old and their parents had never bought a home.
He got married and got a decent job at 23 years
old and had no idea if he could pull this off.
No one in their family could do it. So they reached
out to us. And instead of going, oh my God, here's
a down payment assistance program. Oh, you can
totally do it with three and a half percent down,
blah, blah, blah. We said, hey, tell me everything
you're afraid of. And they said, A, B, C, and
D. And we went through that. And one of their
big fears was their family couldn't help them.
And at one point I said, it's not always about
money. I said, how much are you paying in rent?
And they're like, $2 ,000. I said, okay, could
you maybe? for the last couple months stop paying
that two thousand dollars a rent and go move
in with your family the next thing you know 90
days became a six thousand dollar benefit to
them with nobody writing a check yeah but i wouldn't
have known that and the team wouldn't have known
that if they hadn't asked what their fears were
instead of me just saying here's my top 10 lists
of myths that you probably have And that was
very specific, too, was someone some people can't
help. You know, that's not something we would
know off the top. I often tell people to not
listen to respond, but listen to understand so
that you can respond. And it works completely
different. So with all of this knowledge, you
have the book and the podcast. What was your
most significant learning experience to having
you to do this and then to continue to do this?
My most. Well, OK, here I am six years into this
and it's pretty much been one funnel that has
had people reaching out to me and it's the podcast.
My biggest learning experience. Podcast was the
last thing I thought about when I started this
whole thing. It was YouTube, Instagram and Facebook.
You know, again, I came from where I used to
host television shows. So I thought for sure
doing a video was going to be the way I was going
to connect with people. My YouTube tanked. My
Instagram was OK. My Facebook was OK. But because
I was always learning and somebody taught me
this or all of my mentors and my coaches taught
me this along the way is just to keep learning.
I kept hearing little whispers from marketing
people talking about audio, audio, audio. So
I went, oh, okay. So I did it as a, as a kind
of a, you know, an extra throw in. Oops. That
became the thing that now, because those niche
of people, the people who are really interested
in particularly buying a home and, and mostly
really interested in getting the education. It's
something they do when they're on the treadmill,
when they're walking the dog or when they're
commuting to work. My 30 seconds short. People
who are looking at multiple 30 second shorts
aren't ready to digest a buyer consultation,
as we call it in the business. You know what
I mean? But if they're listening to a podcast.
So it was incredibly eye opening for me and made
me reshift my entire focus. Yeah, I love that
because I guess I'll say this because I'm. I'm
very aware, right? When I first came into the
business, I was told fake it till you make it.
Didn't like that. Not one bit. I tell everybody
I have honesty tattooed on me for a reason. So
I can't I'm not good at faking it. But then I've
also realized that I care about people too much.
You know, when you care about people too much,
faking it and just pulling answers out the hat
isn't the way to do things. Realizing that home
buying is probably the one one of the most expensive
purchases. someone is going to ever make and
if they're on their first or the second home
it's still going to feel like it's their first
home because of the amount that you're doing
and so i truly love that you're what you're doing
and i really like the fact that you're utilizing
podcasting to get to everyone because you're
right it's a way for people to actually listen
and do other things at the same time those multitaskers
So when it comes to I don't want to take up too
much more of your time, but I would like to know,
what are you currently exploring now? You figured
it out. You you're you're expanding and you've
done the things that no one's done. What now?
Listening. So interesting. Based on what you
were just talking about. Now that my platform
is being heard by more people. There's a saying
in social media, which is you live in the comments.
I used to be working with 100 people a year,
maybe 30, 40, 50 of them. We would actually be
going through a real estate transaction. The
rest of them would be planning for next year.
It's bigger now. It's tens of thousands. So what
I'm exploring is how can I hear more? How can
I how can I find what people want from me? And
so it's I'm trying to figure out ways to do that
through podcasts, through social media, you know,
quizzes and surveys and questions and comments.
That's probably going to be the the the next
chapter in this exciting. Giving back for me
because I came into it with a vision of this
is all the things I want to do to give back to
the people that need this. And now I'm thinking,
OK, maybe they need that. But what else do they
need or what do they really need? So and it's
a it's a difficult task because you have to get
them to respond first. Yes. So I'm working on
it. Yes. Yes. Well, that that's that's a great
idea. I know speaking to a whole bunch of entrepreneurs
that are in the IT, AI kind of thing, I'm wondering,
could that be a source of lead for you that could
help you out? And if people are living in the
comments, then maybe there's a way that AI could
take and pull all that information. I mean, hey,
I have spoken to so many people that are just
massively great in AI. But that's another story.
But I love that for you because it is what's
next, because you're only one person. And then
all the people that you're coaching, if there's
thousands coming through, you want to figure
out what is their biggest need, their next biggest
need. So that just tells me that you'll have
another book coming out if you don't already
have one. My mind is open to everything. Yes.
OK, so I'm telling you, go ahead and bring another
book out because it's. It's what now, you know,
how to buy a home. Now what? And so now you're
going to answer the now what? I love it, David.
I just want to thank you so much for choosing
to spend this moment with me. And again, being
patient with me and my technical whatever's.
Nobody knows that. They don't know. It's fine.
It was wonderful. Yes. Yes. Thank you so, so,
so much. I want to have this discussion again.
And I definitely want to hone in on being able
to utilize our platform to doing that same thing
for you. I think that's one good thing about
podcasts. You get on somebody else's podcast
and it blows up and then it just keeps going
and going. It's one of those giving and just
keeps on giving, you know. So thank you so much.
If there is nothing else. Actually, I forgot.
Please share with our audience where they can
find you and then any of your social media handles.
How to buy a home. Everything's there. On Instagram,
I had to do how to buy a home podcast because
that guy hasn't been on since 2018 and won't
let how to buy a home go. But you'll realize
it's not me when you see six posts from six years
ago. So everything's at how to buy a home and
you can go how to buy a home .com. And I really
appreciate the time. And, and I love what you're
doing. I think about Zig Ziglar who says, you
know, to get what you want, help other people
get what they want. And I think to understand
your vision really by helping other people clarify
theirs, it really will clarify your own as well.
Thank you for being here today. I'm really happy
that you tuned in to Vision Pros Live. I'm looking
forward to seeing your reactions as these episodes
continue to move forward. This is going to get
more and more fun. We'll have more and more engagement
as well. We'll invite people to participate in
the show. And thank you for giving us your time
and attention. Have an excellent time building
out your vision and becoming a vision pro yourself.