Hey guys , hope you're doing well . You guys got me on the podcast today , wanted to give you a little bit of an update of what's going on and then just talk about some mindset but also anxiety challenges I'm having . So let's get right into it . The last several weeks we've been pushing to get as much done as we possibly can on our projects .
It's a struggle . Everyone seems to be going back to school and it's slow pickings . We've only had two or three showings in the last several weeks and the people that like it can't qualify . So we're trying to figure out other ways around that . We also have some potentially new development opportunities outside of Evansville and that'll be really good for us .
Got to go through a whole process with him to figure out what we can and can't do . But the cool thing about it is we found some housing funds which could be grants that we can get through True Community , our nonprofit , to where we could subsidize portions of the actual development with these funds and not have to pay them back .
So that's really cool and looking forward to working on . And then the other thing lending side is starting to pick up . We all know that rates are fluctuating down . I still think there's going to be some challenges in this market . Market .
The Fed has somewhat come out and signaled that they are going to do some rate cuts , but I also think there's going to be some headwinds from that because , one , we don't have enough inventory . Two , we potentially could have a bunch of people flood the market , which would then , three , inflate housing prices more than what they are today .
Now , if we start having a jobs recession , like we got announced last week , 818,000 jobs lost over the last 12 months excuse me , from March 2023 to March of 2024 , that's a problem , because then that tells me that the market is very weak and we have consumer demand is down , and now we have employers saying we're not going to be hiring and we're going to
start laying people off . I think we're already .
We've been in a recession because we've been in the late stage recession of one , the government has been doing majority of the hiring and two , healthcare and teachers or public schooling have been doing most of that hiring during this time , which is a signal , a portion thereof , telling you that we're in a late stage recession or we've been in one .
Prices continue to stay high at the grocery store . We all are feeling it . We're feeling it at the gas pump . We're feeling it in our utilities . I know , here in Arizona last year my highest bill for air conditioning was roughly about $185 . And I'm running the air conditioning warmer this year at 80 degrees during the day and my bill was $256 this year .
The highest point this next month , ending out August , should be right around 200 bucks . So it's come down a little bit because we've had some cool off , but $256 , it's more than my car payment on a monthly basis . That's crazy .
And lastly , guys , on updates , is there seems to be a shift in the market when it comes to realtors , mortgage brokers , lenders and so forth . There's a lot of moving pieces . There's updates with the buyer and the seller commissions for realtors .
There's people asking and I say people , realtors , brokers asking for a loan officer like myself to compensate them , which we can't do , it's against the law . There just seems to be a lot of moving pieces and I'm not all up to date on the buyer representation and how that's going to be paid , because I know from our listings we're still co-opting .
We're going to pay the buyer and the seller . We're not trying to make it difficult . So there seems to be some fluctuation to be able to get things done and a lot of people are providing feedback , at least the people I'm speaking to .
Some of them are just not moving houses and they're not closing and they're getting out of the industry , and some are like I want to stick through it , we'll see where it goes , but in the end there's movement and we'll see how it plays out . I mean , that's all I can do is keep on adjusting to change . All right , guys .
Last two topics I wanted to talk about . One is anxiety . There's just a lot of that going around , at least for me . I'm just talking me personally and I know the only way to be able to fight through anxiety is to be able to tune out the outside world and really focus on the things that need to be done for the business , but also having quiet time .
I've been working seven days , a effort to take time off on the weekend , only work till noon on Saturday and I took all of Sunday off . Feels good . I feel , you know , a little bit of I'm , I'm have a little more step in , you know , a little pep in my step type of a thing , but it's still tiresome .
There's a lot going on and what I wanted to talk about this .
What I wanted to discuss on this topic is if you don't have a full tank , how are you supposed to anything that you've got If you're running on empty and I know it's an old saying , I know it's a problem , but at the end of the day you've got to be able to fill your tank up first , before you've you try to fill somebody else's up , because that's just
going to suck the life out of you . And I know that . I've been running on empty for a while and it's been problematic and sleep has been a very sparse thing happening and I'm starting to get into a better sleep pattern , so that's helping . I need to do better for myself because I'll do better for my family .
But if I don't put myself first and be able to focus on the things that I need , I am not going to be surviving very long at this pace . You can grind it out , say that you're a hard worker working 80 hours a week , but at some point you need a break and you need a break that allows you to just disconnect . And I'm going to do that this weekend .
It's Labor Day weekend . I'm going to try to leave , you know , half day on Friday , not work Saturday not work Sunday , not work Monday and try to get three days of just downtime to where I can reconnect with myself , have quiet time , get myself together and fill my tank up , because otherwise I'm useless and I feel like I'm just dragging everything .
It's a disappointment and if I don't do this , how am I going to turn everything around and keep everything going with everything I have on my plate ? I won't be able to . It's just a loss .
So , guys , if you're there , got some anxiety , you're tired , take the time to recharge your batteries , do things that get you back on the other side and fill those batteries back up so you can help others . And lastly , guys , mindset-wise . I've noticed , while I'm struggling with keeping my batteries charged , my mindset is not always positive .
It's somewhat I don't want to call it negative , but it's kind of like in a gray zone , it's kind of in the middle and it just doesn't work . You need to be positive and pushing forward and I know it's not easy . Guys , this when I start my day quiet , I read some Bible verses , I actually journal , I take my dog out , moose for a walk .
It gets my head right , but it also gets me right in the game so I can actually move forward with my day and I'm not as worried or anxious , I should say , as in when I don't do that in the morning . Believe me , there's things that weigh on me that I really want to be done and over with , but I know I'm done .
But if I don't start my day out right by reading a devotional and also making sure that I'm writing down know , writing down my thoughts , that's gets it on paper , because when I get it on paper it feels like I get it out and I can move forward . Whatever that looks like for you guys , start your day quiet .
Don't immediately turn over and pick up your phone and you're ready to . You know , rock and roll with your phone Cause then anxiety just goes straight up here and I don't know how else to say this , guys , if , if your mindset is anything and I know social media has really put a pinch on this to make sure that you know we're perfect .
But none of us are perfect , Only the man upstairs is perfect and we're all imperfect and we need to embrace that and then figure out what to do to get better every single day . But you have to find things that make it work for you but also allows you to fuel your passion .
Whatever that is , how are you going to continue to push forward if you're not doing that ?