Holiday Season Strategies for Real Estate Success and Balance

But also talk about some rumblings in the real estate market , but specifically around motivation , and I know this is all about chasing financial freedom . But the piece that's really sticks out to me is a lot of people are shutting down and just saying I'm mailing it in for the rest of the year , and I just don't get that .

Now's the time that you get to make a difference in your 2024 . And that could either be through marketing or connecting with people in your database , looking for another job , doing something different in your household , changing your habits , something to that extent that will change the direction of your 2024 .

And for the next three weeks we probably it's probably been a week already , so let's call it . Let's call it three weeks , but we've been at it for a week already since we just passed Thanksgiving is . We're going hard on our marketing for our real estate , for our project on Bayard Park . I'm going hard on lending . I'm going hard on our nonprofit .

I want to set us up and it's paying off . But it's taken a lot of persistence to get to that point . You don't start seeing success overnight , unless I don't even know if there's an , unless you just don't see success overnight .

You have to put in the time and effort and more and more people I'm talking to in the real estate space , yes , I'm talking to other lenders , I'm talking to realtors , talking to some investors little less than in , I would say investors are still going full tilt . There's more of them going full tilt than realtors and lenders .

It just seems , as the market has gone sour , we've slowed down . We're going to do , we're on pace to do less than four million transactions this year , which is less than what we did in the last great recession in 2008 . It was 4.3 million nationwide . But there are people out there saying it and I believe it every single day there's closings happening .

So why aren't you out there getting some of your closings done ? I don't get it Sitting on the sideline and saying what was me Just doesn't work . And when it boils , when everything boils down , it really comes down to being persistent .

And then , once you get the persistency going , you get consistent and then you're very consistent with what you're putting out every single day . On marketing , we're putting four to six pieces out every single day across all of our channels . We're connecting with like-minded people through Facebook and LinkedIn and Instagram and YouTube .

Remember , guys , I've struggled with YouTube for the longest time . I've got a virtual assistant that is out interacting with people , helping us get to a better place . Are we growing by leaps and bounds ? No , but from the time she started , I had about 250 followers . We're close to approaching 700 . That's in 90 days , a little over . That . Is that a big deal ?

No , is it progress ? Yes , but we're consistent every single day . We put out two videos on YouTube every single day , across the podcasts and also my personal platform . I just started a personal YouTube channel and I think I have 18 or 19 followers . It's coming along a lot quicker than the podcast because it started from scratch . We're doing shorts .

We're doing some mid-term sorry , some mid-real videos where they're like two to five minutes , and then we've done some longer ones , where I do a true talk video twice a week , on Mondays and Wednesdays , to where it could be five to seven minutes , maybe a little bit longer , just depending on what's on my mind .

It's the change that I'm starting to see and feel and experience is from the consistency I've been putting out for weeks . Let me give you guys an example . If I haven't spoken about it , I don't think I have .

Every Saturday I put out a video a short , less than a minute out to realtors to saying , hey , I'm here if you need an approval over the weekend , when your lender's out sipping my ties and not taking your phone calls and you're waiting to Monday to try to get an approval . I'm here Saturday and Sunday .

Probably the first several weeks I did those videos nothing , crickets , absolutely zero . Really didn't get any traction , didn't get any likes , didn't get any views . Then , all of a sudden , the last probably three to four weeks , I'm averaging anywhere between two to four calls every single weekend where realtors are testing me to see if I pick up my phone .

I do . Sometimes I can't . I'm on the phone with somebody else and I text them and say , hey , are you inquiring about needing a loan ? They say , yes , I'm a realtor . Okay , great , I'll call you back . I'm on the other line . They say thank you . Then I follow up with them . Is it going to lead to a deal every single time ?

No , is it creating a connection . Yes , that's what I'm doing , which means then I can then have that person engage with me on social as I put more content out that's relevant to them , to where I get the engagement back and start getting feedback , whether it's positive or negative . Guys , I'm not looking for that .

I'm looking for the engagement piece , to where they're seeing my information , they're working with what I'm putting out there , and then they contact me Whether they agree with what I'm putting out there or not . Who knows ? I can't tell you that , but all I can tell you is more and more realtors are calling , which I'm like . Then why can't I add a layer ?

This past weekend , we had an open house on our Bayard Park . Not a lot of foot traffic . I said we need to do something different .

I'm going to start putting out a weekly video on Bayard Park to where it's talking to renters , time home buyers , people that are sitting on the side of the market because they think their home that they're looking for today is going to be cheaper tomorrow , which , in all case , I've never and by all means , guys , I'm all about finding deals .

I'm a real investor . Excuse me , but how are you going to time it ? I guess the question is , if you're able to time the market , you're going to be one of the very few people that can or actually want to probably the only person that can and at that case you're going to become a billionaire . And I'm not trying to be sarcastic .

There's just no way to time the market . You have to take what the market gives you today and then you figure out yes or no , and if you're , if it's no , then you continue to wait . But even if you look at where we're at on interest rates , housing prices are still steady where they're at Now .

There are some markets that didn't have that COVID launch that are actually still appreciating and going up in value . But some of those markets that saw a huge COVID launch are coming back down to earth , which those would be great to go after , but again , they were at all time highs .

So there needs to be some type of correction because at this time of the year every year , if you go look at the data , sales go down , prices go down on real estate because it's the slow time of year . No one wants to move during the holidays .

But you will see , in January you start seeing an uptick in contracts and you will start seeing transactions jumping up in February from those contracts . So when do most of those people start looking ? Probably in December . I actually was able to help a client get preapproved over this weekend and they're going to go out shopping .

They got preapproved for more than what they thought they could afford and it's still healthy ratios . They still have enough money . It's not stretching them , but I explained to them now's the time to get a house under contract , because no one wants to move during the holidays .

And if you can find a deal that works for your budget and for that seller , there's some concessions that could be had , whether it be seller concessions towards a buy down on your interest rate . Maybe it's seller concessions for closing costs . Maybe you assume the loan .

Maybe it's an FHA , usda or VA loan that you can assume , where you can assume that low interest rate . But you're going to have to come in with some cash to tidy up the seller . There's just different ways to really play this market right now , but most people don't see it that way .

They see it as they don't want to jump in because they don't think it's right , which is fine , but they're going to continue to wait and wait , and they're the type of people that don't take action unless everything lines up and then , once that happens , they're too late .

When the sentiment of the majority of people that are in these housing data surveys when they're telling you it's a horrible time to buy , that means it's a great time to buy . When they tell you it's a wonderful time to buy , it's time to pull back . What's the old saying ? When there's blood in the street , you need to take advantage of it .

I'm sure that's wrong , but that's the gist of the actual saying . But we don't seem to want to go against the grain . We tend to lean towards being a herd mentality , a sheet mentality , and that's sad because it's okay to be a free thinker and to be able to do something different than others without worrying about everybody else's opinion .

That's where I'm at with social media guys . I don't worry about other people's opinion . There's a guy that put some comments on a short that I put out the other day and he basically said did you ever graduate high school ? You're full of crap of all the stuff you put out . I try not to work . I live off of two investments that are giving me 30% return .

I said that's great . If you're so smart , why don't you share that with all of us so we can actually do the same thing ? Crickets , it's just BS , it's just some scam , but at that time I don't care . I'll respond to them , but I don't put any effort into what they're saying , because they're just full of crap .

If they have so much knowledge and so much experience , why aren't they sharing it ? Are they afraid that everybody else will get it and there won't be enough for them ? No , they're just scammers .

The big scam that's going around right now is Bitcoin and cryptocurrency , to where all these people are paying off hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt through cryptocurrency . Go look at some of the posts . They're just , they're spammy , and God , I hope people are not falling for them because they're going to lose a lot of money .

I'm not saying cryptocurrency can't be invested in . I don't know enough about it . So I'm not saying yes or no Doesn't mean you can't research it , but these posts that are going up , they're spammy and I'm hoping people don't fall for them . And I probably get now thinking about it .

Two to three of those a week across social media platforms maybe more of those spammy people that want to be friends , especially on Facebook , and all you got to do is just look at their page and you can tell that it's totally spammy and it's just stupid . So , guys , being able to put your foot on the gas pedal for the next three weeks is huge .

To change your business , to change your life , to change your . Maybe you want to get a new job , I don't know . But packing up and sending it on its merry way and saying I'm done for the year is crazy .

And I remember when I worked in corporate America I had saved up so much vacation time PTO pay time off that I could take off most of the month of December . And when I did that , I came home and worked , even though I was still managing my business , since I had a large group that I was managing .

I could do emails during the morning , get those all situated . The rest of the day I was working on my side hustle . At the time , my business and I was probably working 50 , 60 hours . And there's a downside to that . I wasn't recharging my batteries enough and I learned that in a short period of time of just burnout , you do have to take time off .

Today I'm working seven days a week , but on Saturday and Sundays I typically only put three or four hours in , maybe five , on the outside , and I rest the rest of the day , spend time with family , with Moose , try to go out and do something to be able to recharge the battery . I still get up early , it's just a habit . Am I getting up at 4.30 ?

No , I'm probably getting up around 5 or 5.30 most days on the weekends , even going out and doing what needs to be done . But I like to have consistency in that because it makes it very easy so I don't slack off on the weekend and get up at 8 or 9 o'clock and then it's oh my God , how do I get up on Monday morning ? I don't have that problem .

I can get up Monday morning and go , and Mondays are not bad for me . They're great days , they truly are , and I feel very blessed that I can have a life that I'm creating . My family's healthy , moose is healthy and happy and I'm building multiple businesses . Has it been a struggle ? Yes , it's still a struggle .

Slow time of the year we're trying to get houses sold . So we've got to find creative ways to get houses sold , got to get creative ways to close loans , creative ways to raise donations for true community .

It's just part of the grind , but that grind evolves and changes because , as I can find out , the who in this process as in who can do a lot of this . For me , it's getting better , it's getting easier and I'm working less in the business and more on the business .

I'm the face of the business , but I'm also really the backbone of the business right now , and that's tough . I'm doing it all and by doing it all it wears you out and it's not effective . You can't do it all .

I think if I was just a social media person and I was running social channels and I didn't have any , I guess , real world businesses to worry about and I say that guys , I'm not trying to downplay it how about physical businesses to run ? I think it would be a lot easier because I wouldn't have to worry about that .

But also , at the same time , being able to balance both of them out is a blessing because it allows me to turn one off and walk away from it and refresh my mind and then get on to another project , get it finished and I can bounce back and forth . It keeps my day . Interesting is what I'm trying to get at .

I'm not doing the same thing over and over again . And now being able to layer in and being a loan officer with Nexa has been great .

I've had to reinvent myself from a marketing perspective , which has been a challenge in itself , but it's been fun because I'm able to find different ways to engage but also get a message out there that still resonates with me inside of me , and I'm finding my tribe on social media to connect with those people that are looking for a loan officer that understands

both sides of the equation , not just the loan but also the acquisition piece . Maybe there's construction involved , maybe there's rehab work involved . All those things I do and I've done and I've had failures with and I've had successes with . But what can this all lead to ?

I really think it's going to lead to another growing inflection point for myself , for the businesses , but also I'm going to attract the who's or I should say the whom into the businesses , to where I can further pull myself out of the weeds on a daily basis and really focus on the 30,000 foot view and being the face of the businesses , to where I'm out glad

handing and doing those social connections . More in person we can always make . If you do real in-person stuff , who stops you from recording video . All those can get translated into social media posts , to shorts , to social media interactions . It's just a matter of doing them .

But if you're not putting yourself out there , guys , and you're mailing it in , how are you supposed to change your trajectory of life , whether it be personal , professional or both ? How do you change it if you're just mailing it in for the rest of the year saying , hey , I'm done , I'm packing it up ?

Why would you pack it up now , january 1st , you start all over again . Are you one of those type of people that say , say , january 1st , I've got all my goals and then , two or three weeks later , they're done ? Maybe that's not working . Maybe you need to find a better way to go about what you're trying to accomplish . I don't know .

I can't tell you this . If you're willing to put it out there and start working on yourself , life starts changing very quickly . You start becoming not lucky , but skillful . Maybe there's some luck in there too , because you're putting the word out there . Maybe it's a both . You're getting from your leads , your marketing .

You're getting leads and you're also getting luck because people are seeing what you put out there . And once you start putting it out there , it changes . But I can tell you this it doesn't happen overnight . You can't expect to put out a post and then be a sensation overnight . Boy , get that out three times , ryan .

That's tough , it takes time and effort and I think we've not think I know we've lost some of that . That's work ethic . The internet and social media , unfortunately , are double-edged swords . They're great because now you've got this huge population of people that you get exposure to .

The bad side of it is you have unrealistic expectations because you see all these other people posting their life is so beautiful and they're so perfect , they're living in this great house and they've got all these cars and they got all this money . Most of it's bullshit , guys . It really is .

It's just BS and you just have to be real and I think that's part of where I've struggled in this process is I'm just being real with who I am and I don't think people like that and that's fine . But that's just who I want to be .

I want to be real , I want to be honest to myself , but I also want to share real things with you guys so you guys can have some insight and then , but also some value . I want to share value with you guys and be heartfelt from what we're doing , how things are going , and when I screw up , I tell you guys I screw up .

But at some point all the effort that you put in pays off . But you have to be consistent and persistent with it and I'll leave you guys with this . If you don't know your why , you've got to go find it . Why are you doing what you're doing today ? Mine is to support my family , give them a better life , give myself a better life .

I do have financial freedom and part of the financial freedom is to be able to help others , impact others through my financial freedom . That means giving back to others . I'm not just talking about time , I'm also talking about money . That's rewarding . To fill somebody else's cup up is the best feeling I get by all means .

Earning a million bucks in a deal great . But now take a hundred thousand dollars of that million bucks and go put it to use . Go help others that are less fortunate than you are and give them a helping hand up and let them succeed and then pass it on Once they are on their feet and they're moving . Have them pass that on .

And now look at the impact that you're starting to create . That's one of the biggest things that it's not the biggest , it's not one of the biggest thing . It is the biggest thing that we're focusing on . True community is impacting a hundred thousand people . It may sound small , but it's a starting point .

Once we can elevate and get past the hundred thousand , I'd like to go to half a million With the 250 , let's go to half a million and let's go . But how do you do that ? Being persistent and consistent and messaging , being out in front of people , talking to people , connecting . By all means , guys , I'm not telling you not to recharge your battery .

You have to do that . But if you're going to mail in the rest of the year , that's not recharging your battery , that's giving up and that's not where we're at . That's not where I want to be and I know that's not where you want to be . But in the end you have to be okay with it and if you're not okay with it , now's the time to change .

You got three weeks before the next holiday . Push as hard as you can , make those phone calls , put out those social media posts , send emails . Do the things that you're uncomfortable with to push your business forward . Do those things that you're uncomfortable with in your personal life , to get you in a better place mindset-wise .

Do those things that you're not comfortable with , to get your house in order so you can start 2024 off right . But it all boils down to you . You've got to do the work . Surround yourself with like-minded people and you will succeed . All right , guys . I hope you guys have a great week . I'll see you guys on the other side . Stay safe , stay healthy .