Business Innovators Radio - Risk and Courage: Entering the World of Real Estate with Vanessa Alysse Maldonado

Episode Date: May 15, 2023

The latest episode of the Agents Lounge podcast features Vanessa Maldonado, a top-performing real estate professional with EXP Realty. In this episode, Vanessa shares her journey to becoming a successful real estate agent, her unique point of view on the real estate market, and her predictions for the future.Before entering residential real estate, Vanessa worked in the multifamily industry for twelve years. She started off leasing apartment homes and eventually became a manager, overseeing the leasing of 365 units. However, she felt there was a ceiling in the industry and decided to break it by transitioning into residential real estate.Vanessa talks about the challenges she faced when she first started in the industry, including the difficulty of building a client base from scratch. She also shares her strategies for overcoming those challenges, such as networking and building relationships with other professionals in the industry.One of the most interesting parts of the interview is when Vanessa shares her unique point of view on the real estate market. She believes that the market is currently in a state of flux, with many buyers and sellers unsure of what to do. However, she also sees this as an opportunity for real estate professionals to step in and provide guidance and support to their clients.Vanessa also shares her predictions for the future of the real estate market. She believes that technology will continue to play a big role in the industry, and that real estate professionals who embrace new technologies will have a competitive advantage. She also predicts that the market will continue to be strong, despite the current uncertainty.This episode of the Agents Lounge podcast is a must-listen for anyone interested in real estate. Vanessa Maldonado is a dynamic and engaging guest, and her insights into the industry are invaluable. Whether you are a seasoned real estate professional or just starting out, you are sure to learn something from this episode.https://sa.exprealty.com/agents/210486/Vanessa+Maldonadohttps://www.realtor.com/realestateagents/5c7e9338b05f40001240f40fhttps://www.facebook.com/VanDigzRealEstate/Agents Lounge Podcasthttps://businessinnovatorsradio.com/turbopassusa-podcast/Source: https://businessinnovatorsradio.com/risk-and-courage-entering-the-world-of-real-estate-with-vanessa-alysse-maldonado

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. Welcome back to the Agents Lounge. a podcast where we sit down with successful real estate professionals to hear their stories, learn their strategies, and gain insights into this dynamic industry.

I am your host, Marco Salinas, and joining me today, I've got a couple of really awesome co-hosts. First and foremost, we have Mr. Francisco Bermuda's Jr. say hello, Francisco. Hey, everyone. Welcome back. Francisco is the owner of Eritory Comfort Solutions. We also have his operations manager, Mr. Nathan Gaylor. Say hello, Nathan. Hello. And it looks like everybody's mics are working, so that's awesome. That's even better. So I'm excited to introduce our guest for today's episode. Our special guest is Ms. Vanessa Maldonado.

Hello. She is with EXP, Realty. She is with EXP Realty and a top performing real estate professional. And so she is our special guest today. Welcome Vanessa to the Agents Lounge podcast. Thanks for having me, y'all. Absolutely. We already love your energy. So I think you're going to make this very fun and easy for us. So we are really excited to talk with you. As I was mentioning earlier, we just want to have a fun conversation.

We want to get to know you a little bit better. We want to know a little bit about your background and obviously kind of like your journey, right, as a real estate professional. As well, we want to hear a little bit about kind of your unique point of view and, you know, what you feel like the real estate market. is looking like right now, what it's going to look like in the future. So none of us have a crystal ball, but we still like to talk and we like to ask those questions. So are you ready to dive in? Let's do it. Okay. Very, very good. The very first question I have for you, Vanessa, is let's start with this. Tell me a little bit about your journey to becoming a successful real estate professional. Tell me a little bit about your background, what you did before and how you

transitioned into becoming a real estate agent? All right. So before residential real estate, I was in the multifamily industry. Okay. So I started off leasing apartment homes, and then I was a manager. So managed apartment homes. We did a lot of new construction. So, you know, 365 units, leasing them up, company would sell them, and then we'd move on to

the next. So, gosh, I think I did that for about 12 years. Never really thought about getting into new home sales. I was kind of ignorant to that. But I knew that there was a ceiling. Sure. And so I wanted to break that. So I thought, well, you know, why don't I move into residential real estate?

Yes. It was just a thought that it's been brewing forever. And I finally decided, okay, I'm going to go to school. I'm going to get my license. Went all in, got the license, put in my two weeks, and came home, told my husband, And I was like, hey, I'm quitting my job. Wow. That abrupt, really?

Yeah. Wow. Okay. So I have to ask, the next question has to be, what kind of a response did you get from your husband or from also like other family and friends when you announced that? So husband was a little taken back because, you know, we had kind of talked about it, but I didn't tell him when I was going to do it. Yeah. He wanted to, you know, make sure we saved and had a nest egg and, you know, all the responsible things. and I'm just not the person.

I'm like, all in, we'll figure it out. Sure, right. Yeah, exactly, exactly. Yeah, I think there's two different types of people, those that do all that planning, and then those that just like take that leap. Yeah, go with the wind, right? Yes, exactly.

And I think I can tell which one you are. Yeah. And so your husband's, obviously, the, let's play it safe. And you're like, no, let's just go. And we'll adjust. You know what? I laugh about it because he's always like plan B, C, and D. and I'm like there's no other plan but A, because everything else distracts, you know?

I love that. I love that. That is so awesome. What about your extended family? What did they think? Did they feel like that was a good fit for you knowing your personality? Or did they just really just be like, you do you. You just do your own thing.

We'll watch. Kind of, kind of. Yeah. They didn't really have an opinion on it, to be honest. What I thought was funny, though, is when I had put in my two weeks notice, everybody there was kind of like, okay, well, you know, we'll welcome you when it doesn't work. out. Ouch. Man.

Yeah. See, I mean, and that's the thing, right? It's like, especially if you're doing something that's taking a bit of a risk or a little bit of a leap of faith like that, there's always going to be a lot of those type of comments like that. It's like, you know, it's like people, you would hope that they would root for you, but it kind of feels like they're almost hoping that you don't do well, you know? Because I think deep down, most people, they're in their comfort zone, right?

And coming out of your comfort zone, it takes a lot of courage. And that's the thing about real estate. And that's kind of what we like to talk about on the show. We like to talk about things that maybe, let's just say there's a new realtor that's listening and they're interested in entering into this world. Is it what they see on TV? Oh, gosh. Or is it like, you know, is it behind the scenes? Is there a lot of work, a lot of stress?

Again, a lot of risk, right? Because you went from a job, and I'm assuming that was like a 9 to 5, right? Like that was a salary. And then switching over to real estate, it's completely. mission only. Right? And so you're, you get paid well, but you have to generate your own business. You have to generate your own leads. Now, let me kind of transition that direction and start going into some of the, a little bit, some of the nitty gritty, I guess you could say. How do you approach finding clients? Are yours just strictly referrals? Do you have kind of a lead generation

system in place? Like, what does that look like for you, for Vanessa? Well, now being in my fifth year, referrals are definitely happening now, just because I've kind of built it right. And so, and I've, but in the beginning it was, you know, SOI, and honestly, I just, I didn't have much of it. Or my SOI, they weren't ready to buy or they need a lot of credit work. So honestly, my first year, I thought I was going to be the rental realtor forever. I was like, this is so hard. But I always really enjoyed being on video and making content.

So I kind of just ran with social media. I tried all the, you know, the basic stuff, the door knocking, the cold calls, things like, that, but it just wasn't something that I enjoyed. And I feel like there's a lot of pressure to, those are the things you have to do. At least when I first started, I feel like social media now has really come on up and a lot more agents are using social media to help do that. But I always say that your business is as good as your relationships. 100%.

100%. Yeah. So, yeah, I'm sorry. Go ahead. Nathan. what was like the biggest obstacle and that would probably be like the first year like just building up like a client base or trying to get yourself out there right or yeah i mean geez so we did whatever it took so my husband kept his job right to kind of float the boat but

really it was just basically just you know paying the bills if that um there was a lot of behind the scenes where we know we were doing payment arrangements and you know we couldn't buy our kid like presents for christmas which i know that's you know that's you know know, it's just material, but going from two incomes and being able to live a certain lifestyle to taking a chance on yourself to hopefully build something bigger was huge. And I knew I needed to do more than just the real estate to try to contribute. So I actually beer tended at night for a whole year at Alamo Brewery. Oh, wow.

I did that for a whole year. So I was selling real estate during the day and beer tending at night. Do what you got to do. Yeah. Made it work? Yeah. Yeah. I, gosh, I love to hear stories about that because that's the stuff that people don't like to talk about.

People just want to talk about the wins, right? They don't want to talk about all the suffering or sacrifice or, you know, like for parents not being able to buy gifts, that, you know, that can really get to you, right? But it takes being able to zoom out and see the bigger picture of those kind of things, right? Because there are people that may want to make a comment about stuff like that. and it's like, well, but are we just living for this moment right now, or are we looking at tomorrow as well? So even when you were a beer-tending, that's a sacrifice that you had to make because that takes

your nights out from your family. Oh, yeah. Dude. It's time-consuming. Yeah, like my little one was like, you know, wondering why I wasn't tucking him in at night because I was out there doing that. I'll never forget there was this one moment where I was, you know, cleaning, like, the bathroom and I was like cleaning the toilet and this woman walked in.

I think she was a little, you know, she was. Gypsy. But she walked in and she was just like, God, that must be the best part of your job. And it was just so crazy because I knew why I was there. And in that moment, I was just like so angry. But at the same time, it was more fuel to the fire that, you know, I'm doing this for a bigger purpose. Right. Right. Exactly. No, that's awesome. I really commend you for making those big sacrifices. And then being very transparent about that. That, again, a lot of people are like, no, I can't talk about those. I can't talk about those moments. I can only show like, you know, the front facing stuff. What we call. call the facade. Yeah, right? The highlight rail. Because a lot of it is, a lot of it is a facade. That's what we see a lot on social media. Let's be honest, right? It doesn't, it doesn't always show all the, you know, all the, all the real things that are happening. We just kind of put on there what are, you know, what we want people to see and know. So thank you, Vanessa, for, for being transparent and open about that. Now, let me ask you this. So you've been a realtor for about five years? Yes. Okay. So over the last five years,

you've probably encountered a wide variety of types of different circumstances, types of different clients, probably some things you see over and over again. Other things, it's like, man, I learn something new every day in this industry, right? But have you had anything that really stood out to you, any memorable moments? And I'm going to take a page from Nathan here because he likes to ask, he likes to know the bad stuff. He's like, tell me like the worst situation that you ever had. And I kind of like to also hear, tell me like a very memorable thing where the client was just like, oh my gosh, what an amazing experience because of what you did. Can you, do you have like maybe one of each that you could share one good, one bad?

Yeah, do you want to hear the bad or the good? Let's go bad first. Yeah, bad. Let's go bad first. And we'll end on a happy ending with the positive. I know, right. Well, so the bad kind of did turn into a good, but it was my first year. I had a client that they, you know, they, they, they, they, they, they, they, they, we.

weren't the strongest buyers. So that made it challenging, right? We went into a home. I was still learning a lot about the different loans. And the house they were purchasing, they were purchasing it in an FHA. So there's certain things that the house has to have, right, in order for them to close on the loan. We ran into a lot of foundation issues. It was supposed to close in 45 days. And I think it took like 70 days to close. And the person that was selling it was trying to buy another home. So it was like one of those triple kind of transactions, right? So I was trying to keep it together, you know, with the agent that was helping the seller and then the other agent that was helping the immediate, it was a mess. I thought I was doing everything I could for the client, but I never forget that day. I just

broke down in tears because the wife understood that I was trying everything I could to keep it together. The husband was so frustrated because they were doing everything they were supposed to with the loan or they ended up, I think, buying something on the credit card and then it set them back. And it was like, oh, it was just a mess. And so anyways, he let me have it, right? Because it was all my fault. Nothing was anyone else's fault.

And I remember hanging up that call and I was just like, is this for me? Yeah. Questioning all your life's choices at that point. Oh, my gosh. I was like, this is brutal, you know? but it ended up working out. They closed on the home. It was a happy story, you know, and we're still good friends to this day, which is really cool.

Oh, that's awesome. But it was really a blow. It was like one of those moments you just second guess yourself. Yeah. Was that pretty early on in your career? Oh, yeah. It was like the first year. And so I was still learning everything.

Oh, that's tough. And I was a solo agent, you know what I mean? So I really was just on my own. I had good support, but. Yeah. Well, I'm going to say that you basically took his question. in mind and you made them one into one question. So that's perfect. Yeah. Because that was like a horror story and a big win all in the same. So I don't think it gets any better than that. Now with that in

mind, Vanessa, what do you think like if there is maybe somebody that's considering entering into real estate, obviously those are the kind of things that that's real life, right? That's the kind of, they don't cover that in, you know, at HDTV. They don't cover at HGTV. They don't cover that at real estate school. Right. You know what I mean? Those things, it happens when you actually, when the rubber hits the road, right? So what advice would you have for somebody that's just starting out in real estate based on now your five years of experience and wisdom in the game? Jeez. Which, what kind of advice? There's so many, depending on the situation, right? So, I mean, I think what helped me is finding the right mentors, right? Obviously, you're going to go

through the deal on your own and you're really going to figure it out on your own. But to be able to have that support and be able to ask questions. I think that was really important. A lot of people just try to go through it completely on their own. Too scared to ask for help. Don't be scared. Yeah. To ask for help. For sure. That's definitely one piece of advice. You know, utilize your resources for sure. No, that's awesome. Now, there's, I think we're at that point in this episode where I have to do something. We have to do this every episode, which is we have to make sure that Francisco is still with us. Do you have any thoughts or anything that you can share at this middle point of our, of our podcast.

Yeah, I mean, knowing her, well, I've never met her. Okay. But she used our company to service her AC and help her customers. And she loves quality work. Okay. Okay. So when she hires those, she's like, hey, as long as it's done right, I want my customers to be happy.

There you go. I want them to be able to enjoy the home. I want them to be happy there. And she wants the AC to work. Yeah. Yeah. And that's important. I guess an agent, I feel like if she values her customers, her clients,

and she wants them to not only enjoy the home, but also not have to worry about sweating, things breaking or things having to come out of pocket, no surprises. That's right. I feel that that's one of her strong points, that she cares so much that not only does she want to love the home, but they want a quality. Yes, man. You see why we call on him? Because when he does speak, he says really great stuff.

I know. But he wants to be real quiet and humble over there in the corner. And so we have to pull him out of his comfort zone. We have to do this every now and then to wake him up. No, but I love that you said that because I do feel like there's a difference between caring about the person and then just wanting the transaction, right? So transaction-based versus relationship-based. And when you care about the client, it just comes back full circle. For sure, exactly.

Now, you had mentioned some things about what the first. year was like for you you were having to work basically a second job and you were doing real estate during the day and you were basically bartending right at night essentially beer attending i tried bartending totally flopped okay got you beer attending and there is a difference yeah serving beer is easy making cocktails no totally whole different whole different animal right yeah yeah now now in the earlier years you should probably have an expectation that you won't have a a whole lot of work life balance because you're building this thing up. It's like having your own business. You know, you have to, you have to put in that work, right, because there is no salary. But now a few years in, I'm curious,

how do you kind of balance career, family time, you know, that, because that's always a challenge for real estate ages because really the reality is that you guys are kind of always on the clock, so to speak, right? You always have your phone. It's, you know, if something, you know, Something goes down, you have to pretty much make yourself available. And I know, like, it's kind of a joke with realtors. Like, they're at the beach, but they're like, you know, they're taking calls. And the crazy thing is a lot of them actually like that. Like, they enjoy it.

But sometimes I think we need to be mindful that maybe we're okay with it, but maybe our kids are not. Or maybe our spouse is like, I wish I could get half the attention that, you know, her real estate clients get, you know, and that sort of thing. And so how do you balance those things out, Vanessa, now that you've been doing this for a while? and you put in the work, do you have any tips or strategies for doing that? Or are you just like, sorry guys, too bad. I'm working and get over it. No, I mean, I honestly, I don't think you're ever going to find like a true balance. I think it's just finding some type of like harmony with it all.

Sometimes you're going to be really, you know, nose to the ground and other times you're going to be able to, you know, kind of coast a little bit. Sure. I think the biggest thing is just like anything is fitting it into your lifestyle, right? making sure you're taking care of you. Setting boundaries is the biggest thing. In the very beginning, people would call me and I was answering it. It didn't matter what I was doing if I had just put a spoonful of food in my mouth. It didn't matter.

And now it's phone goes away. We eat dinner. Like nothing is such an emergency that I can't have like an hour with a family. There you go. So just setting those boundaries now and setting that expectation with the clients, they respect that. In the beginning, I was so afraid to do that. But now it's, this is the time that I allocate. Right.

Right. And the crazy thing is, Vanessa, is people pick up on whether we want to do it on purpose or not. We can be almost like sharks with the blood in the water, right? And so when somebody can sense any little hint of desperation, they're going to take advantage of that, right? And so if they can tell that you just are always available all the time, they're probably thinking, this person's kind of desperate, you know, and I'm going to take advantage of that. Whereas if you're like telling the person, I'm not answering, I'm going to call you back. And if you have a problem with it, that's okay because I got several people lined up. That changes the whole dynamic of that whole thing, right? And it's not that you're trying to be rude.

It's just you use the word boundaries. And I think that that is important because if you don't set those, then you're at the mercy of their boundaries, the other person's boundaries, right, which the client. And sometimes people can take advantage of that. Yeah, you teach them how to treat you basically. That's right. Yeah. So I love that.

I really do love that. Can you speak to any community involvement? Are you doing anything? Or maybe you can also tell me about your podcast at this moment in time. I'm so glad you asked that. So we recently, my husband and I, we started putting on community events in our neighborhood. So I just hit a point to where I was thinking, you know, it can't be all about us and our business and me, me, me, me, me. It's like, how are we giving back?

Of course we help people sell or buy the biggest asset, but what can we really do for the community? So we got really involved in donation drives. So, you know, we put on a food drive for the San Antonio Food Bank and raised 400 pounds of food. And then we did a donation drive for the San Antonio Humane Society. And we filled up four full bins of just material. And then we recently brought Fiesta to our community to support small business owners. So I got all the small business owners together who wanted to partake in the event and they, you know, put up their booth and they sold their items. and we got a margarita truck, food truck, face painter bounce house.

Like a fiesta happened in the community. Love that. It was amazing. And we're continuing to do that every single month. A new donation drive giving back somehow. That is amazing. I think that's a very important value to give back to the community. Huge.

That's one of the things that we're trying to focus this year is like you've got to get back. It's supposed to be in your soul to want to give back. So I'm happy that you all are. are doing that. And I mean, just the fitting, you feel happy. You see people smiling. I didn't realize how much I cared until I started doing it. I'm like, oh, my gosh, now that I want to do more.

Right. It is in giving that we receive. Yes. Yeah. And I mean, those words are very true, right? I mean, it's just, and it's, we feel that already with our loved ones, but like even when you go further out with the community, there's a real sense of just satisfaction and accomplishment.

Yeah. I just have a quick question. this Fiesta thing that you did, was that like a block party and why wasn't I invited? I'm curious. Margarita truck? Get out of here. Was there an integrity booth there? Yeah, where it was.

I know. What's going on? Next year. Next year. Yeah. Well, I want to turn it into something that we can do monthly, like maybe like a pop-up every month for our small business owners and grow it to be something really big. Sure. Okay.

Yeah, we'll definitely invite you to the next. All right. Yeah, please. You can't remember what you asked for. You need a for work. Yeah, right. I'll bring the airtegrity booth and the DJ booth. There we go.

Dude, yes. Perfect. And we could do a little pop-up podcast. Yeah, let's do it. That would be a lot of fun. That would be a lot of fun. Okay, so we've got about 10 minutes left. I want to start winding it down.

But before we do that, I got one more kind of nitty-gritty type question. And that is kind of the elephant in the room. The market that we're in right now is a little crazy. It's a little hectic, and it's very different from what we've seen, obviously, the last couple of years. The interest rates are a little higher. The inventory, you know, I don't know where that's at right now, but last that I heard, it was kind of on the lower side, right? So where do you think things are going? I know nobody has a crystal ball, but this is just more of kind of like what you've seen from your own personal perspective.

I don't think anybody has the answer, right? but it's like each person can bring a unique perspective to this question right here. So that's why I love to hear the feedback of real estate agents that are actually out there and doing things and boots on the ground and meeting with clients face to face. So where do you think things are going? And if I was in the market for a home right now, but I'm kind of on the fence, I don't like the rates, are there new programs that are available to help me out? Are there, you know, down payment assistance?

Are there help with credit? is that all still out there and is that, you know, readily available today? What are your thoughts on that whole thing, Vanessa? Okay. So first and foremost, the interest rates. Like, they're still historically low. Like, they just are. I think everybody was super spoiled with the 2.0.

For sure. Like, that's not coming back. Like, I don't even know if ever. If ever, yeah. It's very possible that it's not. And even then, even though you were getting that great rate, you were paying, I mean, 5 to 10% over asking price. So it just evens itself out. So now you have the higher rate, but the beautiful thing about it is, is if you can qualify for that rate, I know everyone says it, but there's a possibility to

refinance. If you can fit it into your lifestyle and into your budget and you qualify for it, then I say take advantage of the price improvements, take advantage of the incentives. Sure. But it's different, depending if you're going pre-owned or new builds. So new builds, they are still buying rates down for the buyers, which is great. So if you absolutely need to get the better rate, I mean, we're seeing them in high, fours, low fives. Okay. With new builds, closing costs covered.

Wow. Yeah, so it's a great option for people who don't want to go the pre-owned route. Yeah. So that's one option on it. But we're at 3.2 months worth of inventory right now, so we still are very much in a seller's market. Okay. So inventory is still low, but now it's the busy season.

It's picking up. We're seeing multiple offers again, nothing like before. But depending on the price point, I mean, you know, people need to buy a home. Right. And San Antonio is desirable here in Texas because go to Austin, you're not going to get the same home. Yeah. Dallas, Houston. So I feel like we're very much stable here and we're going to continue to appreciate.

And people are going to continue to buy. Definitely, yeah. I think you guys could probably agree, right? Is that like when the market shifts like it has, the good news, the silver lining is that a lot of the builders especially, they start bringing out some really cool incentives. They start, you know, taking care of this and including that. And, you know, stuff that they weren't really caring about when the houses were just flying off the shelves, right? And so you can, you can still walk away with some really cool packages and some really cool deals.

And then, again, like you said, you can always refi later. So I think that's definitely worth mentioning. And I really appreciate your feedback on that. It's going to get more competitive. I feel like the city is growing so much. I mean, we got Nathan imported from Virginia. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah, and I mean, there's people just moving here all the time. Every hour, it's crazy. Austin, San Antonio. Oh, yeah. Yeah, we've grown quite a bit. No question. So I just had one thing, if I can word it correctly. So there is going to be less available money that's being lent it out.

How is that going to affect buyers getting qualified? Do you think? Or like, is it have a lot to do like with how great their credit score is or if they have, you know, their first time, I guess, right? Or is there going to be anything that's changing as far as being able to qualify for getting a home? I think the biggest thing is keeping your debt to income low, keeping your credit high. You know what I mean? And once you can figure out the credit, like, that's a game in my. my opinion. Once you figure it out, you're on track. And I think a lot of people have a lot of

different information. They don't know where to go to figure out, okay, how do we improve credit? How do we get our debt lower? I always tell everybody, it's always a good time to talk to a lender. A lender that cares about you that's going to put you on the right plan, get you where you need to be. And then they can set you up for success and let you know, hey, if you do X, Y, and Z, this is where you'll qualify. Right. So definitely lean heavy onto a good lender and reach out to a real stay professional you can trust. Absolutely. We're going to transition to more personal questions here for the last couple before we wrap up. The first one is, what does Vanessa do when she's not at work? And what are your hobbies? What are your interests? And of course, who do you spend your time with?

I would imagine your husband and your kids. Kid or kids? Just one. Just one. Okay. So your son, right? Yeah. So obviously you're hanging out with them and what are you guys doing? What does that look like when you finally do get some relaxation time. What do we love to do? I mean, we love to be outdoors, so we're huge on, you know, hiking, and we love the travel. And what's the nice thing about real estate is we've been able to do that. When I was working, you know, the 9 to 5, I just, we never did. So that has completely changed my life, that flexibility.

And then the community events have actually taken up a lot of my time now, too, which is great, because I do find a lot of joy in it, doing the podcast that we have. We have a podcast called More Than Real Estate. We talk about wellness, wealth, mindset, family. Yeah. So that takes up time, too. I love doing that. But, you know, I like to work out.

That helps mentally. Sure. And I like to journal. I like to read a good book. And sometimes I like to Netflix and chill, you know. There's room for all of it. Yeah, that was going to be my follow-up question. You know, like when your phone goes on, do not disturb,

and you have to get away from the kid and husband. Like, yeah, so you already answered it, but like Jim and, you know. Yeah. And reading a book. Yeah, yeah. I try to just to keep everything sharp and go in, you know, because you're a little stale when you're just. 100%. No, I hear you loud and clear.

What about this? What is your, what would be your favorite place to vacation? Oh. So we recently got back from San Diego, which was really beautiful. Like, I had never been to California. And so that was amazing. It's the second time I've heard that this week, San Diego specifically. It was so nice.

Nice. But the real estate out there, gosh, I just couldn't pay that much. For sure. But it's beautiful to go visit. Right, exactly. I still haven't been to Hawaii, so that's definitely on the list. Like, can we get there? I want to go there.

Like, in the States, it should be super easy to get you. Right? Yeah, you would think, but it can be pricey. That's for sure. Yeah. I got one last one. This is a wild card, okay? if you could have dinner with any celebrity or musician, any kind of artist like that, alive. Got to be somebody alive.

Who would it be and why? Oh, maybe you should have prepped me for that one. I don't know. We got you on one question. I, for real. Oh, we stumped you. But I do love live concerts. We're going to go see red hot chili peppers this month.

Okay. Oh, that's the element. Yeah. Yeah. So maybe you'd like to hang out with with, with, Anthony, yeah. Flea? I know.

Yeah. Those guys are old now. Dude, I know. Oh, I just got back from seeing Incubis. Brandon Boyd. Stop. This is my diehard. I literally, like, their drummer and Brandon Boy, too.

Like, I have a signed drum head in my car from Jose Pesias, which is the drummer. Yeah. Wow. Like, three times. Dude, they were so legit live. Like, it was amazing. I get, like, getting chills thinking about it. I love them.

Love them. I know, I'm sorry. About you. Not about me. Enough with the fan girlie. I know. I know. But we're all.

We were like up close and center. It was amazing. Wow. They were a really good life, though. It sounds like we're all kind of in a similar age group because, you know, these are definitely, not everybody would even know who incubus is, depending on which, you know, who was in the room. None of the newbies knew. Right.

No, you're not that much younger. I'm sorry. I grew up listening to Spanish music. That's what it was. Yeah. Your radio. There. There.

I would love to be her. Okay, there we go. We'll make an exception and we'll say dead or alive. So there you go. Anything for Salinas? Yes. That's awesome. Vanessa, thank you so much for joining us today.

This was a lot of fun. You brought an amazing energy and you made this super easy for us. And we really appreciate your time and all the valuable information that you shared. And most of all, we really appreciate that you've been working with. working with integrity, you know, in the past and putting your trust in Francisco and his team.

That means fist bump, Francisco. And so, yeah, we're getting him out of the shyness and all that. We're helping him. Each episode, he comes out. He comes out more. He has great stuff to say.

Yes, he sure does. He absolutely does. I'd rather listen to you all than talk. All right, guys. Any parting, final parting words for Vanessa before we close out? Incubis. Give her a call.

I mean, she's an amazing person, amazing realtor, so connect with her. Yeah, definitely, definitely. And we'll put all your contact information in the show notes and everything like that. So that'll all be there in case anybody wants to reach out to you about Incubis or about real estate. Okay. Thanks for having me. Thank you. And that does it, guys, for another episode of the Agents Lounge.

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