Business Innovators Radio - From Educator to Real Estate Maven: Adriana Rodriguez’ Journey on the Agents Lounge Podcast

Starting point is 00:00:02 Welcome to the Agents Lounge podcast, where we talk all things real estate with the industry's top performers. Join us as we dive into the inspiring journeys of successful agents and uncover the secrets to their success. Whether you're a seasoned agent or just starting out, we got the tips and tricks to help you navigate the world of real estate. Brought to you by Eritectady Comfort Solutions. So grab a seat and join us in the Agents Lounge. And welcome back to another episode of the Agent's Lounge. lounge podcast. We have another exciting episode here, and I am joined as usual with my co-host, Mr. Francisco, Bermuda's Jr. Say hello. Francisco. Howdy. We've got two very special guests

Starting point is 00:00:47 joining us. The first one is our real estate agent, Ms. Adriana. I didn't get your last name. Rodriguez. Rodriguez. And she is with... Hi. I'm with United Realty Group here in Texas, San Antonio. Okay, very good. And we also have a special guest as well, Mr. Ty, the Water Guy. I think they call you that because it rhymes, Ty. Exactly. It just happened to work out. That's right. But his company is actually called the water man, right?

Starting point is 00:01:11 Correct. And so we were talking before the show, and Ty's got like this whole fleet of vehicles. He's got a big team. And they're all about cleaning up water. Yes. And so the water that comes into the house is not always, it's not always the best, right? And sometimes it's, well, we'll get into that. We'll get into that.

Starting point is 00:01:31 Yeah. Okay. Yeah, because I'm a big water guy too. I like clean water. Absolutely. I really, really like my good clean water. So, okay, but this is the agent's lounge. No disrespect in any way to you, Ty.

Starting point is 00:01:41 This is the agent's lounge. So the star of the show today is Adriana, right? And then we'll also be doing a little bit of conversating with Ty as well. Everything okay? No, just trying to get the backpack down. Oh, okay. Got you. See how real this is?

Starting point is 00:01:55 This is like, yeah, we move around and we, yeah, there's no. It is a lounge. It is truly a lounge. Yeah. And if it was up to me, this is like, yeah. me and Francisco, we'd be smoking a cigar right. But we're working on that. That'll be the next studio.

Starting point is 00:02:08 All right. Make sure you have a work already. Tell me a little bit about yourself. You guys were talking. You're from the Valley. You're from the 956. 956. Right.

Starting point is 00:02:16 Brownsville, Texas. When did you become a realtor? How long have you been a realtor? I became a realtor in 2017. But back then, I was still teaching. I was an educator for nine years. Another one? Elementary.

Starting point is 00:02:28 We've had so many teacher converts into real estate on this show. Yeah. It's a very common thing. Education is, it's a passion, and it's now nice to bring it to teaching adults now. Sure, that's right. What were you teaching? What grade levels? I did third, fourth, second, third, and fourth.

Starting point is 00:02:46 Okay, so elementary. Elementary. Elementary. You were an elementary school teacher. Yes, in Bronsville for six years and then here three more. Okay. What brought you all to San Antonio, you and your family? Yep.

Starting point is 00:02:56 The job. The job, yes. Okay, so you got a job as a teacher here. Correct. You said, let's get out of the 956, let's go to the big, city will come up to San Antonio and then what happened I'm always curious to know where was that shift for you Adriana that said I don't think I want to be a teacher anymore I think I'm being called to something else you know that is that is a great question because I I was walking

Starting point is 00:03:20 in the hallways to a classroom and we I think we just got out of a meeting or something and I said wow it's so pretty out here but I'm inside all day right and I said I need to do something else. And then plus, I was already thinking, I was a single parent here in San Antonio with my daughter. Okay. And I said, okay, as a teacher, I love teaching, but I have a cap. Like, there's no way I can make more money and give her, you know, I still have to think about college, this and that. And I started. And I started brainstorming and thinking. And real estate has always been a passion for me since I was in Bronsville. I mean, I knew all the neighborhoods. I drove all the neighborhoods. Yeah. That's where it started. That's where that was birthed. It was birthed by you feeling like you were in prison. Yes. Fortunately. looking out the little window like, wow, what's that like out there? Yes.

Starting point is 00:04:05 How come everybody's selling fun outside? Yeah, you're stuck in here. Looking out the window like, oh, I wish I was there. Exactly. The only thing you got was that little 15-minute recess. That's it. Right? Okay, well, I understand that.

Starting point is 00:04:17 Okay, that's really good stuff. Okay, now I'm going to pause right there. We're going to switch over to Ty. Got you. So, Ty, again, is the Waterman. He is all about, he's Tie the Water guy, and he's all about clean water. Give us your, if this was like, if you and I were in an elevator tie, Give me your little 30 second to one minute elevator pitch about what you do and how you do it and what you're all about.

Starting point is 00:04:38 Well, they call me Tie the Water Guy. I am a water treatment professional. My job is to fix water problems. I make bad water better. Whatever that looks like to you, we specialize in commercial, residential, well water. A lot of people are not, don't specialize in that, but we do. Okay. And we understand how important water is.

Starting point is 00:05:04 San Antonio being listed as one of the hardest water areas in the country. It is. And there are so many other things happening in our water other than the hardness that education is very important. One of my main components, because I teach classes to realtors. I have a CE course. I'm a TREC approved provider. Oh, very nice. So that's how I'm very serious about water.

Starting point is 00:05:28 Yeah, that is awesome. So, yeah, that would be probably what, you know, I like for people to know about us. And then I always close out with my elevator pitches. They call me Ty the water guy. If your skin is dry, your hair is tight. It just means your water ain't right. Oh, man. I like that one, dude.

Starting point is 00:05:46 That is worthy of an applause. Or maybe we should just do the hype thing. Yeah. Okay, that's really good stuff. Thank you, Ty. I appreciate you giving us that. We'll come back to you here in a little bit. We'll dive in a little bit deeper.

Starting point is 00:05:58 Let's go back to Adriana. Okay, so 2017, you became a realtor. Correct. Okay? Tell us a little bit about what the early years were like for you in real estate. Did you go straight into it full time? Did you just walk away from the teaching or did you start off part-time first? I was part-time and I am going to caution anybody who is thinking and making that shift or you're thinking about it.

Starting point is 00:06:23 You know, like, hey, I hear real estate is super cool. You know, you make a lot of money. That's the first impression that, you know, know, people. Everybody has. Everybody has. So I was teaching and I am really a woman of faith. I pray about everything I do. I don't take a step without, you know, put it in in God's hands. And there was that year and I studied. I did my classes online. So it took me a year to do it because I was working and I read everything. Not a fast reader, obviously. I took a year anyways. So I finished it. And then I got my license and I said, okay, this is not the time. I finished my year. It was hard

Starting point is 00:06:57 though because as a teacher you're there all day so I could only show homes in the evenings. So I would go pick up my kid. Let's go through a house. Get to McDonald's something and let's go in the car, you know, just go with me. And it was pretty hard the first time, but I had, I believe, four clients that first year. Okay. But it was not easy at all, like going home, cooking, everything. Then the second year, I prayed again, is it time? No, one more year. Okay. I took it, so it took me two years to transition to full time.

Starting point is 00:07:31 Sure. But imagine if you would have jumped straight in and then financially it didn't work out. Yeah. Right? That would have been. Yeah. So, yeah. So you really put in that work and that grind for those two years, but that's what allowed

Starting point is 00:07:42 you to eventually go full time. Well, also to understand the real estate industry, you're talking about education, you know, totally this bubble. And then you're going, you're being, you know, shifted to the world. Yes, it is. You need to understand real estate, understand the process. So it allowed me to learn as I was also like having my steady job. Sure. Sure. Yeah. What did it, so you're 2017. So then that forwards up to about 2019. So this is already coming up like right before COVID and all that stuff. How did you navigate that? Like were you really, really busy? Because there were a lot of people buying houses during that COVID period. That is very interesting. That was a very interesting period for me in my life specifically. I cannot say for every realtor. First of all, trying to. figure out if we were essential, what do you call it? Yeah, essential and all that. Can we go out or not?

Starting point is 00:08:30 Are we going to die today? Like, what's happening here? Am I going to sell a house? Nobody knew what was going on, really. Just wear a mask, wherever you're going, right? It was kind of weird. It was chaotic. But at that time, I was already learning the investment part.

Starting point is 00:08:45 So I'm also a realtor. I help clients buy their house, but I'm also an investor realtor. Which means I help clients with their investment properties, but I also invest my own money. Okay. So that is a very, that was the starting stage of my life. Sure. And at that time, I was partner with now my husband.

Starting point is 00:09:05 Yep. And we were out, honestly, that was the time where we bought the most properties because everybody was so scared to buy. The investors were not buying. And we were taking every, like, yep, that one, that one. We bought three properties in a month. Oh, nice. During COVID.

Starting point is 00:09:19 And you locked it in at that low rate. And, yeah, the house prices hadn't spiked yet. Nope. The investors were scared to buy, and they were going to keep them for a long time because they're like, buyers are not going to buy. But it was totally the opposite for us. It was amazing. That's awesome. That is so cool.

Starting point is 00:09:37 Okay, you got anything that you want to jump in on right there? We're right around that COVID time period. She's starting to do investing. Hit her with a good question. I mean, I had a question in mind. Because we're from the same area. Yep. And I'm just curious, like, I know there's always people from the valley moving to San Antonio.

Starting point is 00:10:01 How do you help there or how can you relate to them? What do you notice that it's a big difference between people coming over from the valley? The first thing, they're going to get shocked with the market. They're not used to seeing $400,000 homes like, you know, this is my $135,000. dollar home in Bronsville, you know, or the valley. And then they see that same house over here for $2.50 or so they're like, what? It's like, that's the first thing that scares them. So we have to educate them again and say, because I have family members who visit and they get

Starting point is 00:10:36 scared. And I say, lots of sticker shot. Yep. Yep. So that's the first thing. Hey, listen, this is another market. So starting from the beginning, drive them around. I drive them around a lot and say, look, listen, this is what you can.

Starting point is 00:10:48 Oh, okay. So they start getting acclimated. to it just like I did. You adjust. And if somebody's planning on moving over there, can they buy a house even though they don't live in San Antonio or what's the best way to If they want to buy a second home,

Starting point is 00:11:03 like a vacation home or investment home? Or just start a new job here and... Absolutely. I mean, obviously they have to do their research, you know, all the research, what it takes, what job they're going to take. I didn't move here until I had a for sure, yes, you're hired for this school. This is when you start and

Starting point is 00:11:18 that's the first thing. And the other one is if you're interested in investing in San Antonio, you have a house in Brunsville, you're not planning to move yet, but you have some savings that you want to put into, you know, an investment home. There's absolutely a lot of people who lend money. Those are usually called DSCR loans and you put 20% down and you, they don't even look at your tax records or they don't even look at your income. They look at the asset and that's how they figure out if they can lend you the money. I mean, at 20% if you have good sales. I mean, you can buy as many as you want. Yeah. As you want. They can be your rentals.

Starting point is 00:11:56 And the rentals are paying for that mortgage. Of course, the rental has to be higher than the mortgage so they can approve that loan. That's all they look at. But if you think about it like that, I mean, you have that money in the bank. Bring it. Buy several. Why not? And you work with a lot of, you also do some trainings for people that want to get into investing, right?

Starting point is 00:12:17 Because I've seen your Facebook post where, like, hey, I'm having this event. I'm doing this training. So can you tell us about that? Yeah. So our brokerage, United Realty Group, here in San Antonio, we have a very unique program because we, my husband and I run the RNA investment group, which is, it's a group of we teach our agents who come on board and they have experience in real estate. Of course, you have to have experience in real estate.

Starting point is 00:12:42 And then you're like, you know what, I'm ready to take it to another level. Because this is a different, even though the process is similar when the process is similar when the house purchase, the level of knowledge and things that you have to do, it's another level. So you do need to have some background in real estate. So we bring them to our team and we teach them everything of how to work with investors. What do investors look, I mean, let me ask you, as an investor, what do you care about? Do you care about how pretty the house is, about how pretty, or what is it? R-O-I.

Starting point is 00:13:12 Thank you. R-O-I. Three letters. Three letters, right? So we need to teach our agents, you know, hey, this is, how do you, how do you keep your RIs? If you're going to help them renovate the house, we have to teach you how to renovate a house, how to stay on budget. Right. You know, because it's not, I rather, I always, we practice this philosophy, my husband and I, underpromise overdeliver.

Starting point is 00:13:34 Yeah. Hey, you know what? I rather come to you as the investor and say, listen, Francisco, I made a mistake. I made you $3,000 more. Instead of saying, Francisco, we made a mistake, we lost $3,000. You know, I don't ever want to come to my investors, you know, with those news. Right. Yes, exactly.

Starting point is 00:13:53 So would you say that that's become the majority of what you guys are doing now is focusing on the investors? No, no. What's the percentage of just helping people buy a house, first time buyer, da-da-da, and, okay, we're doing investment-focused work? So two years ago, it was investments mostly. but this year we're focusing again like my husband runs most of the investment part yes we're both yeah I'm sorry my his name is Rick Rodriguez and he's a realtor with United Realty as well so we're both on the same brokerage and right now he's going to be managing the the investment part the most with me we're going to be training our agents but I am focusing on the general real estate because within the

Starting point is 00:14:34 brokerage I'm also a mentor okay so any new agents that are coming in I'm going to be helping them you know how to how to read you know work with a buyer, all that stuff. So I'm going to be mentoring those agents as well. I like that. But yes, our nature's investments because we do it ourselves as well. Yes. But I practice what you preach. Yes. Now watch this tie. I'm going to tie this whole thing in. You are doing water stuff. You work a lot of with a lot of realtors. You've been doing this for a long time. We just talked about this conversation about R-O-I. Okay. So as real estate investor, where does something like a treatment system play into that whole equation of ROI.

Starting point is 00:15:15 Does that, do you see that that, that improves the, the, the value of the home in any capacity? Like, does that, can that tie in with what you do at all? Oh, absolutely. So, you know, people who understand the value of what a water softener does for a home, um, instantly understands the value that it would have for that family because of the value or the, um, the, the hardness that we have. So protecting the plumbing, the appliances, those things.

Starting point is 00:15:44 So as an investor, if I'm an investor and I walk into a property and it has a water softener or that type of equipment, for me, that could be a plus. Okay. There's a however, but that could be a plus in my mind. If this family kept up with the maintenance and utilized the system as what it was designed for, there's a headache that I don't have to have as an investor having to strip out all the plumbing because it's, is clogged up because of especially dealing with the older homes, right? Sure. That have the copper galvanized type things in it. Yep.

Starting point is 00:16:19 Right? Well, we know without a water softener, those minerals, those mineral deposits start to seal up or close those plumbing veins up where water can't flow through it. I see. So having a functioning water softener can be a, uh, can be a, uh, actually a cost savings Sure. Over time.

Starting point is 00:16:44 If it's working, because that could be another show. Sure, sure. If it's working, it's definitely a value add. I got it. I got it. Okay, so you see the house less wearing, tear on the pipes, all of that. Mm-hmm. And the appliances, I mean, water heaters, the dishwashers,

Starting point is 00:17:00 here again, I always, you know, the maintenance of it, not everybody keeps up with it like it shit. So I'm using in the mind that... It's being used the way it's supposed to be. That has been kept maintained. Okay. If that was the case, you're going to walk into a house where you don't have, you know, you can leave the dishwasher. You don't have to change out the water heater. Those, because those are real costs. Sure. At the end of the day. So, and then the plumbing, not having to strip out, you know, the old and coming in with new, you know, so it can, there's a true value to having a good functioning water softener system in a home. Adiana, go ahead.

Starting point is 00:17:35 Something that I've seen, and I just saw it two weeks ago, a client who was considering a house for rent. Um, they're very high. Like, it has a better probability to be rented because it has a water softener. Oh. Who are familiar with San Antonio Water. I see. They're like, oh, that's the first thing when I was helping them is like, does it have a water? Oh, this one doesn't have it.

Starting point is 00:17:56 This one. They were like very adamant. So they're being attention to that now. Some buyers, the younger, like they look at that and they look, oh, this one doesn't have it. And actually there was one that requested the landlord to see if they could install it. Wow. So what you're telling me is all things being eaten. equal. If one house has it, the other one doesn't, that could be the deal taker.

Starting point is 00:18:17 Oh, absolutely. You know what I mean? It's like this one has it. I like both things, but this one doesn't. I'm going to go ahead and go with the one that does. I just saw it. That's a realistic thing. You literally saw that with your own eyes. Wow. That is incredible. Adriana, keeping with this whole investor thing, okay, how, so the markets changed a lot in the last few years. Ever since the chaos of COVID, you know, the rates went up, the house prices went up. We've got inflation. You know, the market's just different right now than it was pre-COVID, obviously. What does that look like on the investor side? Are there still a lot of properties that are available out there? Is it like, is it really difficult to get financing for those

Starting point is 00:19:01 things under these conditions? Like, can you give us a little bit of your expertise as far as somebody's watching, they haven't invested yet. They want to start investing in properties. They're looking for somebody to guide them in that process. What should they be aware of right now in this market under these conditions? Absolutely. Yes. The market is changing just like where we went through the COVID thing. I guess people were thinking the worst and it was totally the opposite. But right now, what we have noticed and then keep this in mind, number one, there are lots of lenders lending out there. That is for sure. They might have gone up a little bit on their on their interest rate because remember if you're borrowing, you might not have all the cash to buy a home because

Starting point is 00:19:45 remember, even if you find a house for $135,000, but it needs $50,000 in rehab, you know, and you don't have that money. You might have the $135, but you don't have the $50. You have to ask for a hard money loan. And those are very high interest, which is, I see it as, hey, it's the cost of doing business. Sure. You know, you're going to start somewhere. So borrow it. Without it, you don't have anything. So just pay your, you know, your interest. But they might have gone up a little bit, but they're still lending. Now, what you do need to consider is that the houses are staying longer in the market and we are seeing it. I mean, you're talking about before we used to say 120 days the max and that's like the max. But we would put a house in the market and it would be gone like

Starting point is 00:20:28 within that week, even not that day. Because it was so, so busy. Right now we're seeing. Right now, we're seeing four, five, six months. I mean, you need to be prepared to where it's like, okay, if you're asking for a loan, you need to have that interest payment, you know, that you know, if it's $1,000 a month, a $1,200, you need to have them set of sight. Sure. Do not use your say, or like, this is all dependent on, you know, to do this, don't do that. Right, right. If you can't do it by yourself, then join venture with someone and make sure you guys have that cushion to make sure to keep those payments because you don't want to lose your house because you didn't have, you know, to pay for that. But yes, they are staying longer,

Starting point is 00:21:07 but everything sells. I mean, eventually it's, it's going to sell. Are the, are the sellers a little bit less inclined to lower the rates? These, like, lower their pricing, I should say. Is that why they sit on the market for longer? Because they're like, look, I got to sell it at this amount right here and they're willing to wait. Is that why they're staying on the market for longer? Well, it depends. Because, like, if you have a regular seller that already has a house that happened to me in December. Okay. You know, had a buyer. seller had a house already under contract. They were building a custom home or something, but it was contingent to selling their house. And that was a really success story because those house in that

Starting point is 00:21:44 neighborhood are around 360,000 easily. They had it on the market for like 345, I think. But they needed to sell. Like they were willing to, hey, you know what, that's fine. We'll take less of our equity. But we need to get out of this. Sure. So they were willing to do that. Even like that, I was able to negotiate my clients $10,000 more, but because they had the money for their closing calls, they didn't have to contribute or anything.

Starting point is 00:22:11 So we were able to negotiate $10,000 less, so they got it for $333.33. Like, that was a happy story for my clients because they had instant equity. They were under budget. Their budget was $350. Wow. And they bought it for $333.

Starting point is 00:22:23 So we were able to do that. So that's one situation. Yeah, sellers like, go ahead. Just get rid of it. Let's go over there and start over. Sure. Now, in the investment part, you have your clients who are like, we're not in a rush. Whenever, you know, I'm not paying, this is my own money.

Starting point is 00:22:38 Yeah. I want to cash out the way I projected it. Sure. There's some other investors, and we've done this in some situations where it's like, thank God we've never lost in a deal ever, ever. That's awesome. Now, yes, we might have thought, okay, we're going to do $30,000 on this house. But you know what? It's taking really long.

Starting point is 00:22:56 This offer came in pretty clean. We had to reduce the price. But hey, we made 25 or 20. He's like, just let it go, start again, reinvestment. So it depends on the situation and the investor as well. Okay. And we talk about investors. I mean, a lot of our audience might think, oh, you have to be a millionaire.

Starting point is 00:23:14 You have to be 500,000 net worth. Like, who can be an investor? Look, you have, that's a really good question. Because you're right. I used to, when I started looking into investment, like, how am I going to invest? I'm a teacher. You know, I have a salary. I don't have a big savings.

Starting point is 00:23:31 How am I going to start this, right? So I started educating myself. And there's a phrase that we always say is like, people are born smart but not educated. So we have to like educate ourselves in the water. I'm a great advocate about that. You know, and I started learning about investments and how do you do it? So number one, you can join venture with someone. You have a cousin, an uncle.

Starting point is 00:23:56 You know what? They have money in the bank because they're really good savings. They don't have that drive to say they're scared because it's a whole life of savings. And then you're like, well, I don't want to lose it if I make a mistake, everything. Well, first of all, surround yourself with professionals. Get with somebody who has done it before. So you can do a joint venture. Like, for example, we have a client in Colorado.

Starting point is 00:24:23 He sends the money to purchase the house. Of course, there's a relationship already. know him everything. He sends all the money to buy the house. He sends the money for the rehab. We do all the rehab for him. He never shows up because he has his own job over there. Sure. We do all the work and we list his house because that's what we do with our clients. I like, hey, I want to be your listing agent if I do this. Right. And then we sell the house. We split the profit because he put the money, we put the work and we all win. And oh, let's go. look at another one.

Starting point is 00:24:59 Yeah. And guess what? As a realtor? These are really smart people. Yeah. Work with them. They're really smart. As a realtor, if you keep that relationship and you do that to your visitor, guess what?

Starting point is 00:25:12 I'm going to have the same client. Right. Right. Throughout the year. Because that was like a hands-off experience for him. Yeah. He didn't even really have to do anything. No.

Starting point is 00:25:19 You guys did all the hard work, right? Yeah. Brilliant. And when he comes visits, like, let's go see your projects. And we take him around and sit. But he is like, all right, just waiting for cash out. That's one way, right? You can do it.

Starting point is 00:25:31 We do that with people. But also, you can say, you can get a partner and do that. Sure. Or you can do, I have clients who like to do themselves. They're very handy. They have construction experience. So I find the deal for them. And as they're a realtor.

Starting point is 00:25:48 And then I say, okay, call me when you're ready. And of course, I'm going to list your house. But if you need anything in the middle, like I know you're doing the rehab, but if you need any trade, any, anybody. I have a team. I know people. I can, they're free you. You can use them because you're using me as your realtor so I can provide them. And I was going to tell you also that it's important for us investors like for example,

Starting point is 00:26:13 when we sell the houses, we automatically, we have to, and we also tell this to our seller clients as well. Service the ACs. Like just be, you know, somebody else is taking over the house, give them the maintenance that they need. They're going to ask for it anyways. Just take care. We always tell ourselves. What's that cat smell?

Starting point is 00:26:32 Yeah, our soapy is like, yeah, we always refer them to go get your AC service before they even ask for it. Just here's a receipt. I already did it. No, that's good advice. Very, very good advice. I'm going to transition a little bit as we're getting closer to winding down. I do also, I mean, because we get into the weeds here on the agent's lounge. We go deep with some of these nitty-gritty things.

Starting point is 00:26:57 But we also like to highlight that you guys are still people. You guys are still, y'all are still normal human beings. You have families. You know, you're doing your thing. Can you share a little bit about your personal life? How many kids do you have? Does your husband, did y'all do a Brady bunch kind of thing? No.

Starting point is 00:27:15 No, he didn't have some kids? No, he didn't have kids. Okay. So you have how many children? So I have a 17-year-old. Okay. She's a junior. And she's going the medical route.

Starting point is 00:27:25 nothing in real estate, but we are teaching. That's important also teaching our kids, you know, how to be independent and how to not have to depend on a job. Right. You know, they can have a job. They can be any professionals they want. They want to be a doctor. They want to be whatever they want to be, but for them not to depend on that, for them

Starting point is 00:27:43 to learn how to invest, for them to learn how to make money work for them. So, yes, we educate her every, I mean, every week she hears it from us. My husband, he's a realtor as well with me. and he has more experience, way more. He's been a real-term one. He's been doing the rehabs and investment for 12 years. So he's a very experienced, Rick Rodriguez. And we like to work hard, but we also like to have a lot of fun.

Starting point is 00:28:09 So you will see us on Facebook. We party a lot, but we network and we make money too. What does that look like for you guys? What y'all's favorite little getaway? Do y'all have a place that you like to go? Or, you know, what's your thing? South Padre Island. You know what?

Starting point is 00:28:27 He's a San Antonio native. Okay. And he tells me, he's like, Adrian, I always heard of South Padre Island when I grew up and everything. Everybody would go to South Carolina. I said, I'm not driving four hours, five hours when I have, you know, Port Aranis here. So I always make fun of this because this is pretty to my husband. Yeah, everybody here goes to Port, Port A. We go to South Padre.

Starting point is 00:28:51 We're in the valley. It's all about the island. Yes. But going back to your question, our day night is usually Thursdays, and there's no best thing as chicken wings and a good game. Whoever's played. Oh, yeah. Chicken wings weekly. There you go.

Starting point is 00:29:06 Yeah, no, that's my thing, too. I'm with you on that. Ty, you're a man of faith. You're very open about that. I am. And you love the Lord. You love the good Lord. What does your family life look like?

Starting point is 00:29:16 Can you share a little bit? Yes, sir. I am married. I've been married now for this August will be 30 years. 30 years. Oh, my. Congratulations. Yes. That's a big accomplishment. Yeah, man, we've been blessed. I'm originally from Detroit, right, born and raised. I've been here in Texas now, probably going on 14 years, been in the water treatment space for 13 or so years now. But before I was in the water business, I was a mortgage banker with Countrywide Home Loans many moons ago.

Starting point is 00:29:51 Oh, I remember Countrywide, yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah. So I was a sales. trainer there, but I had a lot of, um, I love, I love the real estate business. So yeah, we, we definitely have to talk. Yeah. And you've been able to kind of keep your foot in it a little, a little bit. Yeah. So, but I came here knowing nothing about, you know, when I moved here to Texas, knowing nothing about water other than we, you know, we're drinking and we shower in it. And now I have a full-fledged business with employees and I teach water. It's like, you know, it's, I say it's a guy thing because I'm not that smart, right? So he has really, you know, you know, he has really, you know,

Starting point is 00:30:24 know, bless me and the people that have surrounded me to help feed into my life to grow my business. Yes. I'm just overwhelmed. I still feel like I get to do, I feel like I don't work sometimes. Sure. Like, I feel like I get to get up every morning to just go help people. Sure.

Starting point is 00:30:45 I don't feel like I work. Yeah. Yeah. And I work, I work hard. I love what I do, right? Right. So I'm married 30 years. I have two granddaughters.

Starting point is 00:30:54 I have three children. And I'm very involved in my church in the ministry. And I'm a community guy, whatever, whatever that looks like. I want to be known. Not as a ward a guy, but the community guy. I want to be the community guy. Whatever those needs are in the community, the people I serve and work with, the real estate community, just the community at large, I love to give back.

Starting point is 00:31:21 Yeah. I'm 100% about to get back. And I've seen him when you were doing the church under the bridge downtown. I mean, I'm like, man, this guy spends a lot of time there, like giving back. Man, that is awesome. And so if you're not working, what do you typically do for some downtime? What's your de-stressor? What are you and the wife like to do to relax? I am a true homebody.

Starting point is 00:31:44 Okay, okay, got to you guys. If there's nothing going on, I don't have to make anything up. I love being at home. Yeah. I am 100% loving to be at home. My wife, she likes to travel. So if I said the money that we spend, she's a traveler. Okay.

Starting point is 00:32:00 And I get, you know, kind of by default, I just have to go. You just have to tag along. I'm okay. She makes your life interesting. Oh, very. Got to. That's fantastic. Well, that's really good stuff.

Starting point is 00:32:12 I know we have a minute. Adriana, one of the things that you do is you were part of the, you were the president of the woman's. Yes, Women's Council of Realtors? Oh, yeah. So she gets a lot back to, yeah. So you can tell us a little bit about that? Absolutely. So I'm the 2023 president of Women's Council, past president, here for the San Antonio Network.

Starting point is 00:32:34 So Women's Council is a nationwide organization. And it's a realtor association. And they focus on leadership. So they just, I mean, I am here and I can speak in front of you, like without, you know, shaking or just. doing this because of women's counsel. Awesome. You know, it's about leadership. And you know what?

Starting point is 00:32:56 Something that's amazing also, it's the network, the referral network that we have access to. I get leads from the Valley because of women's council. I get leads from North Texas because of women's council because it's such a huge network that, you know, we collaborate and we send each other referrals. So that's a big plus for us. Wow. That is awesome. Guys, this has been an amazing conversation today. Thank you both for your time.

Starting point is 00:33:24 Thank you for your knowledge. Thank you for having me, man. Adriana, Rodriguez, and Ty the Water Guy. I am. It's been a pleasure. It's been a blast. Thank you guys again. Thank you.

Starting point is 00:33:34 Have a great day. All right. That does it, guys, for another episode of the Agents Lounge. We'll catch you here next time. You've been listening to the Agents Lounge podcast, brought to you by Airtegrity Comfort Solutions. To learn more about the resources mentioned on today, show or to listen to past episodes, please visit agentsloungepodcast.com.

Business Innovators Radio - From Educator to Real Estate Maven: Adriana Rodriguez’ Journey on the Agents Lounge Podcast

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