Business Innovators Radio - Uncovering the Journey from Accounting to Real Estate: A Conversation with Sharon Ames

Episode Date: July 21, 2023

In this episode of the Agents Lounge Podcast, host Nathan Gaylor, along with his co-host Francisco Bermudez Jr., sit down with special guest Sharon Ames, a realtor with Caldwell Banker. The conversation revolves around Sharon’s unique journey from a 25-year career in accounting to pursuing her passion for real estate.Sharon shares her motivation for making the career switch, explaining how she wanted to escape the confines of a cubicle and yearned for more interaction with people. After deciding to move to San Antonio to be closer to her sons, Sharon took the leap and enrolled in real estate school. Although she paced herself over nine months to complete the courses, she quickly realized that becoming a successful real estate agent would require much more than just obtaining a license.The hosts delve into the challenges Sharon faced when she started her real estate career, particularly highlighting the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Despite the difficulties, Sharon emphasizes the importance of perseverance and building relationships with clients. She shares her strategies for networking, such as engaging with people at Starbucks and offering to buy them coffee to discuss real estate.Throughout the episode, the hosts and Sharon explore the role of technology in the real estate industry, with Sharon revealing her recent experience with Chat GPT to enhance her listing descriptions. The conversation also touches on the ever-changing housing market and mortgage industry, with Sharon encouraging prospective homebuyers to take advantage of the current interest rates and not wait for the market to shift.Additionally, Sharon and Javier Alonso, another guest on the podcast and owner of Floor Coverings International, discuss their involvement in community initiatives. Sharon participates in monthly volunteer work at the New Braunfels Food Bank, while Javier’s franchise supports organizations like the Ronald McDonald House and Habitat for Humanity.Overall, this episode offers listeners valuable insights into the world of real estate and the personal experiences and advice of a seasoned professional like Sharon Ames. Whether you’re considering a career change or looking to navigate the housing market, this engaging conversation provides inspiration and practical tips for success.About Sharon Ames:Sharon Ames, a hardworking professional from Dallas, made a life-changing decision to move to San Antonio to be closer to her two sons. Encouraged by their persistent pleas, Sharon surprised them by announcing her plans to relocate within a year. Determined to establish a successful career in her new city, Sharon sold her house in Dallas and began attending real estate school while continuing to work full-time. Despite the demanding schedule, Sharon diligently completed one real estate course every month, totaling nine courses in nine months, instead of the typical nine-week timeframe. Her unwavering commitment and dedication paid off as she successfully graduated and embarked on her promising career in the real estate industry in San Antonio.https://www.cbharper.com/agent/5996/sharon-amesAbout The Show Sponsor:The Agents Lounge Podcast is proudly sponsored by Airtegrity Comfort Solutions, your trusted HVAC experts in San Antonio, TX. With a commitment to exceptional service and top-notch comfort, Airtegrity is dedicated to keeping your home or business cool in the scorching Texas heat.Visit their website at (https://airtegritycs.com/) to discover the range of services they offer. From professional air conditioning installations to reliable repairs and maintenance, Airtegrity has you covered. Their team of skilled technicians is equipped with the knowledge and expertise to handle all your HVAC needs efficiently and effectively.Whether you’re looking for a new system installation, need repairs, or want to schedule routine maintenance to ensure your HVAC system is running smoothly, Airtegrity Comfort Solutions is just a phone call away. Reach out to them at 210-446-0105, and their friendly staff will be ready to assist you.Experience the comfort and peace of mind that comes with Airtegrity’s exceptional HVAC solutions. Trust their reliable service and enjoy the benefits of a well-functioning heating and cooling system. Visit their website or call them today to schedule your next HVAC service. Airtegrity Comfort Solutions, your go-to HVAC experts in San Antonio, TX.Agents Lounge Podcasthttps://businessinnovatorsradio.com/turbopassusa-podcast/Source: https://businessinnovatorsradio.com/uncovering-the-journey-from-accounting-to-real-estate-a-conversation-with-sharon-ames

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've got the tips and tricks to help you navigate the world of real estate. Brought to you by Eritory Comfort Solutions. So grab a seat and join us in the Agents Lounge. All right, welcome back to episode seven of the Agents Lounge podcast. I'm your host, Nathan Gaylor, with my co-host, Francisco Bureudos Jr. Hello, everyone.

And we have a guest today, Javier Alonzo, the owner of Four Coverings International. It will rise. And the focus of today's episode, Sharon Ames, a realtor, was called the Love Makers. Hello? So before we start, what is the most sporadic thing you've ever done? Real estate. Yeah, really. Yeah.

Okay. That's a good segue. It comes and goes. It comes and goes? It comes and goes. Yeah. So what were you doing before you got in Turillas? You know, I was in a counten for 25 years.

That's all I knew. Sitting in a little cubicle and punching my little computer and doing numbers and that sort of thing. Yeah. And I didn't realize how much I hated it until I got out. Well, okay, when made you make that jump then? Well, because I was working in Dallas, and I have two sons that lived down here in San Antonio, and they kept asking me, when are you moving down here, when are you moving down here? So I surprised him one day, and I said, I'm moving down there within the year.

I'm selling the house, and I'll be down there in a year. And he said, great, sold the house, and within that year, because I had to still work full time, I went to real estate school. I had to think about what I wanted to do whenever I got down there. So I took a real estate course one every month because there's like, I think there's nine forces, if I remember correctly. And I took one every month. So it took me nine months to graduate, but normal people it takes about living weeks. Yeah. So I, you kind of paste it out? I pasted out. Yeah. Yeah. Plus I'd been out of school for a long time. It's like, I'm going to learn.

But this stuff, I've watched into the sense. It's not kind of crazy. Like, I have experience the same thing. Like, I went back and tried to just read an old book, an old text book for, like, international stuff. I mean, we've talked about it before. And I'm, like, on my reading level, as we didn't so drastically doubt. Like, I had to read the same thing twice, and three times maybe.

So, yeah, I can relate to that. Yeah, I went and got the manual that I was taking, of course, with the next month, I would go and get my book, which is about 300 pages long. And I would sit there at Starbucks and I'd drink coffee and I'd read and I'd highlight and I'd do all this stuff. I'd get through the manual before you can start the class. And the class only last in four days. So, yeah, you've had to learn it. That's interesting. It's something no one has brought up yet. So that's, no, we have yet to touch and the preparation of actually taking the real estate to get a license. It is.

Yeah. Yeah, and then the test. So were you like well prepared for it? Is there anything that Clyde O'Card while you were doing, though? I don't think anybody's prepared for it. Yeah. But, I mean, I thought people were kidding me. When you walk in to take the exam and there are certain institutions that will

give that exam and they when you take the exam you walk into this building along with other oh i would have to say 15 or 20 students and you have to unload all your belongings you can take nothing in all your hair has to be loose no hair pins no nothing because they don't want you to cheat oh man i'm telling me he's like put up and done i know i know so you go in there and you work off of the computer and they just tell you waiting you pass or fail. But however the lady at the end, she said, she whispered what my score was. So I was quite pleased with it. Yeah. So you went from divotene and predicting accounts. So how did you end up in real estate? Why real estate is? I just wanted to be out in the public. I wanted to talk to people, not be roped into a cubicle.

Yeah. Okay. Did you have anyone that helped you get started? Did you have like an introduction or you just like, if you looked it up and me like, yeah, I'm going to do this. Yeah, that was pretty much it. Really? Well, I hadn't had, you know, had hoped that I can get into real estate later on in life. It was something I kind of really wanted to do. Yeah. But as we get further into this podcast, it, you just don't go to school and immediately make money.

But okay. Yeah, no, that's right. that kind of makes me want to ask you. So like, it's, I would imagine hard for people not to have connections starting a new venture. So you've been real estate, you have four coverings in a nutshell over here. You came here. So can you tell us a little bit of your background just for the people's listening? But I want to make a pause and say that I don't think you were the right fit to do accounting.

Because we've talked for five minutes. And you don't come off as an account, and I said, meaning you belong out there, right? It's just you're super open and it's super cool that people find their true calling, even though they have done something different before. And I have had people tell me that, and I'd look at them and I'm thinking, they must be crazy. Well, I've met with a lot of bookkeepers and stuff, and you are way more extrovert than so.

It's some second miles. Yeah, also, you know, now that you bring that up, a lot of bookkeepers, Not talking any trash stuff, but actually they're more intricate, right? Yeah, exactly. They're more timid and shout out. Yeah, they can't concentrate on their work and not too much of social waterflies and stuff. But I'm very, very, very happy that you found. I talked to a lot, whenever I was in accounting, I talked to a lot, I was in hotel accounting,

so I talked to General Manendurian stuff like that at hotels. And sometimes my supervisor would say, you shouldn't tell them that. Don't talk so much. So I hear you like. Yep. But so I can relate 100% right? So you came from Dallas and started a new career, right? I did.

I did come in the same with just a longer drive. I came from South America. And Aragas. Yeah, Caracas, Venezuela, right? So we moved here in 2015 in December and started a business in mid-March of 2016 and it's been a blessing. It's been hard, right? Because we, when you own a small business, and I would say anybody that works in real estate has a small business, right? We do. You lead with customers. You need to acquire leads. It's kind of the same thing, right?

Different by size. But its connections are everything. That is everything. And if you are good at being social and being able to talk to people, it's a easier pathway, right? So I've been called that I have no shame. So I'm sorry, guys. Oh, I was being on your phone. So it's all about being out there and talking to new people and trying to connect, right? So it was a little hard because I moved a six-month-old baby on the way, right?

It was that baby, my oldest daughter, Allah. we were here with about 11 suitcases and we started a business. We were a little crazy, but if well, you're still here. Yeah. Wow. I'm impressed. Don't be that impressive. I'm being the law of us that's speaking.

As part of the process. Conn Faddy backing off what you said. What are some of the bigger challenges that you face since you started real estate coming here from Dallas? Maybe in the beginning, or it would have you... Well, in the first. beginning, I was a real estate agent in Dallas, but I really didn't practice it in Dallas. I didn't need it

until I got down here in the time to start practicing it. So once I started it, the following year, I joined late, let's see, 2020, and then 21 was COVID, right?

Like, no, 20 was COVID, yeah, 20 and so it was 19. Okay, so it was 19. At the end of 2019, I got with Carlwell Banker, D.N. Harper Realtors. And then in 2020, you know, I have no customers. COVID here. We all have to sit at home now. And, you know, I just, I didn't do that much.

I did a lot of home rentals. But as far as not any listings or any selling or anything like that. Yeah. It was hard. And I just feel like I've only gotten started for two years now. Yeah. It was like 20 and 20. was definitely hard on everyone, but like following that, the market just went bananas.

I was, like, 21, what is crazy. I remember I tried to buy it my first house on 21, and it was impossible. Yes. And I was, like, offering a little bit over, but not too much, and then there would be literally immediately somebody else going 20, 30 grand about me. Yeah. And then I was like, there was literally nothing I can do. That is true.

Right. But, yeah. So COVID was hard for, I mean, I would say a lot of businesses. It was. It was hard for a lot of businesses. Not as our... It's not for... No, you're not in the other than to ever... Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. People were actually in their houses, right? Yeah, they were actually in their houses. They were looking at what they had in their houses and what would replace it, right? Yeah, cool. Yeah. I usually think about my question beforehand, but do you use any new technology

as far as just like improving your reach? I guess maybe obviously the social media is an obvious one, but like AI maybe is like a huge topic now. Do you use AI all for like maybe? Like chat? Yeah, like chat GBT for example. I've just got to. I'm starting into chat to PT.

Yeah. And let me tell you, it is with real estate agents, it really helps come up with ideas to describe a house. Yeah. I'm not going to take their wording because it's all, they don't know the help like I do. Yeah. But it really helps to make a fantastic description help so that you can put it in the real estate MLS system. Yeah. And put the message out there.

Yeah, I think it can be used in any sector. It can't, right? Like, I mean, kids are using it for their papers and stuff. And have you had any experience with this out of here? No, but this is awesome. Like, I have never thought that you would use CHAPT to describe a home, but I mean, you would pretend to live it. Well, that is awesome.

We own a franchise, right? So most of my content is managed by our franchise sort. so I don't have that creativity that I can put out there. But I do see, you know, Cass is definitely using it. Right. He likes too much. But Cass is what are our business developers? As a me is just like you, a social borderfly, he knows out there,

talks to everybody, knows everybody. So it's, I can definitely see that tool working, right? Yeah. But it's something to look at. I think it's got to change a whole bunch of stuff in the next few years. right? Yeah, it's kind of dangerous, I think, because I've used it to respond to difficult emails or text before. And, I mean, that literally, like, kind of just turns off that part of your brain and does the critical thinking, in my opinion. It does it. I agree with that. Yeah, it's an extension of what Google was for us, like, I mean, five years ago. And now have an extension, which does more, it's more detailed and those things personally. Like, it's pretty intense. It is. But I also think it needs to be controlled.

Yeah, that's going to be a future discussion. It's already an discussion. Not. You know, corporations and government and stuff like that, right? Uh-huh. But all hardest it back in frame, do you have anything you want to that? No. I mean, I just say in it as well.

Come. It helps put my thoughts in writing. Yeah. You just put a bunch of random words. So they... Almost like a scrabble, but random words. So you're like... It's right.

Yeah. Well, I see the use, like, from other companies that I've talked to, right, all of these customer service part, right, where you'll have automated chat box that talk to your customer when you're not there, right? Yeah. For your website and staff, they have a question about the own and even tech, right? We get a lead and we respond to it, right? We're a small company. But some other companies that I've seen out there, they have a. those reads that come in through text or through the website.

A.I. has helped them reach or answer those questions and get better reach to their customer. So it eliminates, we call it slippage, but it's where you have somebody interested and you can't get to it and you slip through your file and you can get it to an opportunity. Yeah. They, I've seen it in this company, they use AI to respond with. Because we're not always, sometimes we're on a podcast.

Yeah. Can answer. Here you're talking about. thing again. But yeah, it's, it can, has the ability to be more specialized. And so just being like that generic kind of stuff that we're used to. Now it's, it's, it's changing. It's pretty crazy. Um, so what is your go-to or building relationships with clients? Well, I, I know that one of right first moved to San Antonio, I'm a big Starbucks fan. So I went into Starbucks every day, and I met these people there, and they asked me to join them at the B. And so I went over, and you just start

talking to people. And there are some days, I have a little note thing on my iPad, and I go in there and read, and I'll just, you know, have a note hanging on the back of it. If you want to talk to real estate, I'll buy you a cup of coffee. A few people have done that. You just wear a shirt with your logo on it. Yeah. You meet them everywhere. And talk to them while you're in a long line, a long line at Sam's, wherever.

Yeah. You take opportunities everywhere. Yes. And even on get back to Starbucks, you buy the coffee behind you. Their coffee. No, yeah. So that starts a conversation while you're waiting for coffee. Yeah.

That's awesome. Yeah, so do a little notebook. Yeah. I don't know. That's not a bag over there. Yeah. And just, you go, everybody needs to know what you do, right? The ways for all business grows.

Yeah. What about you? You have been allowed. Well, we acquire leads in a sense. We have the aggregators that we buy. Most famous one is Holder Bizer, for example. Yeah. Well, I just list.

We do GPC. and some website stuff, but we are very active on making connections with people, right? So on the personal level, I'm very out there whenever I go, wherever I go to a party, and people do know that I do floors. They might not need floors,

but they will know they're metaphoring it, right? Yeah. Happens everywhere, right? But on the business side, we do a lot of visiting businesses, right? So we would go to your office. We've been there before. You that?

And we just bring in a whole bunch of baked goods, right? That's our style. We bring sweets. Yeah. With our logo, I just kind of, in a sense, we solicit. Right. Yeah. In a good sense, right?

We solicit trying to establish a grid. And if you use a leg show out of the door. Well, yes. But remember, I told you, my dad is from Galicia. So Galicians, Spanish, from there, are known to be very stubborn. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. My kids say, too, that's a pro.

But I go back, right? It's the job of the cakekeeper to keep the people there. But it's the same as you. Everybody needs to know that I do floors. Everybody needs to know that you do real estate. Yes, I give out business cards. I give out pens. I give out anything I have in my purse, you know.

So you have a goodie bag, always on my purse. I have a lot of magnetic business cards. Really? Yeah. I tell people, like yesterday I did an open house at a place in Ciplo, and I gave them bottles of water with some magnetic business cards with a water flavor in there. And I said, yeah, the business card is magnetic. So you'll be able to see my face every day if you put it up on your refrigerator.

Hickick. I don't know. Mostly good responses. That's not going to be down. So a question that I'm pretty furious was, how do you stay informed about the ever-changing markets and

regulations, maybe? Well, I'm very fortunate to work for a brokerage company that we do training all the time. I think that's very important. We have in-classroom trainings. We had about what new laws are, how to fill out a contract.

I think everything, what the latest sales stats are. Yeah. It deals with a lot. Yeah. Are we talking weekly here? Well, we have them. Well, our regular training meetings, it's not regular. You just sign up for the course and it will be in your office.

If you want to go, you can go. But we do have weekly sales meetings, yes, which are knowledgeable. Yeah. So we have some money here, two people are from EXP. So there's a difference here as in. There is. What would you say is a good pro for having a broker like Hold on? Well, because we really, I know.

EXP has a lot of training. They do have it available. That's for the type of people or person, real estate agent. They like listening to online training versus going in person to training. It's whichever you prefer, really. So I'm not going to say theirs is bad, and they're probably not going to say I are so bad. It's just what you prefer. Yeah.

And it's good to give somebody that is an outsider from the NCP to actually, like, analyze it a little bit. I hope. Personal reflection here, like, I could never pass an online, strictly online course. I feel like I would have to have an office. I like the interactions. I like the team building. I do, too. And that's, I went to classes while I got my real estate license.

You could do it online, but I wanted to go in person. I think you learn more from the, you know. questions from others. Yes. Something more tangible. Yeah, exactly. So what's some advice or maybe just one piece of advice that you give someone who is maybe considering starting to maybe want to jump into the real estate industry?

Well, you really want to start on a full-time basis because you've got to spend time building your business. I think that's one of the biggest trainings that you need to have for yourself. work with the good brokerage that will help you with the trainings and know what you're doing. Because when you go to take the courses to become a real estate agent, you're only learning a law. It's not teaching you to become one. Yeah. So once you become one, you've got to be out there in the public.

But however, it's not an instant money-making business. You've got to learn to get those clients. and I'm sure you have met up with that. I'm there. And you've got to go out there and build up your clientele, which means you've got to have either savings to live on. You can get that clientele built up or a husband or a partner to lean on. You've just got to, it's got to take time to build.

Right. And come across, definitely since I started doing this, a lot of people do start up part time. And that's also another interesting. perspective from you. I think to say you just got to like try to do a candid jump head first into it instead of like easing your way into it. I mean like you did it for instance. You're like, he's out to your account job. You're like, I'm going to this. Yeah. Yeah. It was very difficult. I went into our office. I don't go into the office every day now. I work a lot from home. Yeah. But I would go into the office just to

hear the experienced real estate agents and find out what they are doing and how they did. And how they did it. And learn ain't a lot there. Yeah. That's awesome. Yeah. So my favorite question to ask is basically like do you have a memorable bad experience for the client? And like how did you work through it? What did you do to appease? Did you? Maybe you can take moments here because that outside an easy one. I'm speechless. I have not been headed. I have you have anything. I have good customers. Well, we work on the improvement, right? Yeah, of course.

And I guess anybody that works with people, right? Yeah. Moments where there are discrepancies into the opinion of everybody involved, right? No. I, just like you guys at work in AC, right, flooring is something vital for the old. And I would say there are too many locations where we make mistakes. And we don't manage it. Right.

And I'm talking about not only the industry, but I want to make a conscious look at what we do, right? And in our case, we get measured away by Google, right? When you go Google reviews and stuff like that. Yeah. If you go to Google reviews, you'll see 4.7. It used to be 4.8. I'll tell you that story in a minute.

But he will say we're not 100% perfect, right? Yeah. When you were 4.8 with 100-something reviews, it means you have made somebody feel not great. And the way we manage that is the way you build a long-lasting relationship with holdwaters, right? So kind of the same thing in real estate, right? We all make mistakes.

We might do something that we miss something, and the other way you manage it is how it goes. But back to that story, right? We're 4.8 with 136 reviews, and then I get a review on a Sunday morning. I mean, 4 of 1. And I look at the name of the person that gives you that review. And I don't know.

I mean, we've drawn, but I technically know everybody that we do business with, right? Yeah. So I go into my CRM and try to find who that person is, and I can't find them. So then I actually read the review. And she's complaining about a competitor. So, I mean, I got a review on my Google page that's talking about loves. and they hired somebody to do their floors. It wasn't us.

It was lows and it stayed there and we've tried to take it down. It's still there. And we've tried to talk to the person. With the dad, it's still there. But I actually feel it's a good thing because that actually shows, and I was going to relate to this at a moment, that you've got to do this 100%. If you want to succeed in something,

you've got to count burn the bridges. and do it all all in, right? And the information you get from being next to people that are successful, right? Success typically leaves nuggets behind, right? So if you are part-time and you're not going into the office every day, even all in the part-of-time, you get to miss experiences that will prevent you from having something very, very bad happened to you and become one of these stories about screw-ups or weird.

situations, right? But I don't, I don't think, I think the podcast is PG, right? So I can't give you some of those. We had a get into a lot of life. No, it's, it's a, it's edited before it goes out. I don't know. The other one, no, it likes the character. Yeah, it's a, home to the book, but everything is, it's weird, right? But I'll tell you, I'll tell you, I'll show up all right. I'll tell you, it's a simple one, right? I went to a house in Castro, when I was starting, and the, the, the homeowner. I had a cat, but the cat thought he was a dog. Oh, really?

And I opened the door, and the cat was on a leash, and he wasn't getting close to me. I did my thing, kind of went, talked to them, see what they wanted, and went out to the car to grab my samples. We're doing all shopping. So you bring the samples into the whole lot. And I opened the door without knocking. And the whole lot of houses probably doing the dishes. So about 40 feet away from me in Castro, that cat thought he was, protecting the home and he started running on a lavinet floor you can see it slipping but he was getting

tractor and I'm big and slow and a bit of a wuss so I was scared like I didn't want to hit the cat with my samples but I was trying to protect me right and the homeowner was like in a slow motion going so I got I got bit and scratched by a cat for about 10 minutes before the home owner could take it off me right but who is the back from the home so wow yeah I are sorry but it's what we get when we go and out? Do you ever see cats somewhere near this? Oh, yeah. They don't ever seem not to me. Yeah. They do go to the field.

Like, you're not knowing in the field. Yeah. But it gives you a whole bunch of stories. I don't know if it happens to you. When you go meet people, you go back home and you talk to your spouse and into your frass and you got a ton of stories that are enriching to your, let's say, to how interesting you are, right? You get to tell this story about this cat. Yeah. I did a consultation once, 8.30 at night on a Friday.

We pitched on the kitchen table, so we talked to all corners on the kitchen table, and we do a small presentation. They had about a 2-180-pound pit bull. Oh, dear. And the pit bull showed up under the table and put his face probably this big on my lap, and he was grabbing. What I was trying to pitch, right, and we have a laptop. and I'm like shaking, right? And I go like, well, we are part of this company. He'll want to find out that I'm nervous because I'm hearing.

Right, man. And he says, don't worry, sir. He's just infatuated with English cheddar. There's a bowl in the kitchen table. Grab one and feed him. And we can talk all that long. He won't get pissed. I was feeding him cheese.

Pit bull was eating cheese off of my lap. I can tell you he never touched my fingers he was so delicate right but he just wanted cheese so kind of crazy stories about all me too but I did I don't think I meant that story before if I um you know there are some

you know you meet people with their pets and their dogs and stuff like dad but I've never met an aggressive head so far just a cat in my opinion just a cat the dog wasn't aggressive he just wanted cheese he just wanted to come

a dog who'll park at you A cat, you'll never see it coming. This is true. They'll come through a sign and then I said your eyes like you're really getting scratched. And the top would always kind of warn you. Yeah. They're trying to protect, right? Both of them, I guess. Right? They're just minding their territory in time.

You're a stranger, right? Dogs are more mellow, right? They tend to. Yeah, cats. Cats are a little weird. Oh, all you guess. The cats are like little assassins. Like, you can't drink.

rank I say. But I never encountered that. I like an aggressive cat. I've encountered so many dogs that will be kind of aggressive, but never a cat. Mostly Chi-wa was, I guess, on the dog. Definitely not be da, the ankle butters. Part of what we do, we go to a house and you find that they have exactly the same, I guess, feelings and goals and aspirations I don't know I tend to hear that we're so different but we all go into houses right

so when you open the door we're the same it's just everybody's charity it's beds they love their own they work hard it's almost the same it's repeatable but also reassuring that when you're going somewhere that you don't know the person at that place it is reassuring well when you just say

they're just like you but they are. And Sharon, I have a question for you. I feel like the real estate environment has changed so much. I bought a whole 2016, I think. I mean, bidding on Bill and wars on every phone that we went out to bid. And then we had. Was that last year?

Well, that was in 2016. Okay. And then I feel like this year, there's so many issues with the mortgage. and stuff like that it's it I feel like the mortgage industry is changing a lot. What do you advise somebody that that's on the fence or was to buy a whole what would be the biggest thing is to overcome right now? Yeah, I feel like a common one. Sorry, I'm not trying to interrupt. No. A lot of people I feel like they have a mindset of trying to wait until the interest surge come down or maybe there's a housing market. And you're noticing on my thing

about they didn't stray. You can how many down a little. I think. You know, a lot of people are really bothered by the fact that interest rates are anywhere from 65 to 7%, may get a little bit higher than 7%. But before COVID, I mean, I guess we went into that thing where interest rates got really, really low. Actually, 650 to 7% is a normal interest rate. That's normal. What's abnormal is when it went down to three and four percent. That was, where if I bought my first house in Dallas, I paid seven and a half percent interest on it. It was normal. And so a lot of people are thrown by the fact, oh, my God, it's so high.

It's normal. And what I also tell them, if you like this house and you want to buy it, buy it now, and if the rates come down, refinance it. Yeah. refinance it. What about, do you have any, like, all the fortune about the future of housing prices? Do you think they're going to stand me?

Do you think they're going to stay in it? I have a client that lives out of San Antonio area, and him and his wife want to move to New Bromville's. So they come up there and they've lifted houses and new houses and stuff like that. And he said, well, I'm going to wait until the prices come down. I want a new house to be

come down $100,000 before I'll buy it. Oh, boy. It's not going to happen. I mentioned that that probably wouldn't happen, but I don't push it on it. He said, well, I look at the internet every day. Okay.

I hope you find something. Just call and let me know. And I do call him. Yeah. And he's waiting for that $100,000 drop. Is that advice you're giving related to where we're geographically located just because the, so I chose San Antonio because the economy tends to be a little more stable than other markets. Is that like Vegas, you got Vegas, some Florida, some Maryland or Virginia properties, right,

that they fluctuates too much. So Antoine tends to be more stable. It's stable. It's stable and it's steady, but as far as going down, it will come down some, but not a great deal. It's not going to happen. That's a good observation, probably here. So I remember my parents bought a home in South Florida probably in, well, probably 95. And I've had this dream about buying it back, right?

They sold it when we just all got married and stuff, right? It was a summer place to go from Venezuela. We spent summers in Florida. And I had this dream about buy it again. I think they paid $129,000 for a floor, sorry, a floor plan of four bedroom, three-bath, two-story in Doral, Florida. If you look at that house today, it's in this three-year-old, 300, $380,000. Yeah. Oh, yeah.

And it's, that's after the 2008, whatever. meltdown that we had on real estate. So I would say I'm with you. We got a, we got to, when it's time for you to purchase a home, purchase it, because price it all tend to go down. No. No. It could be a fluctuation, but yeah, it just. I just suggest to people, if you really want the home and want to own a home, go ahead and pay the six and a half, seven percent interest rate. Stay in it for a few years. Interest rate will come down, not a lot, but you can always refinance.

And even get a few extra bucks to do recoveries. Things happen, right? Do we see? Hell yeah. Thank you for that. Last question, we ran a little longer than we usually go, which is fine because it's been great conversation for both at you all. Do you all do anything?

as far as community involvement goes? I do. Yeah. I do. I do work with the new bra. Every month, New Brothal's food bait. Nice.

We go up there, a lot of my other realtors. We go up there and we work for five hours. Okay. Please. We are by contract and a franchise tied to the Robert dollhouse and also on, And Shaw has this great program when we sell carpet cushion.

So that carpet cushion, the profits, some of the profits go to San Jutes, right? And every year we are either gold or platinum on, because we, and this is, I don't know if this is good or about for my business, but you will be in a consultation with us, and we will push those paths to you because we believe it, right? Yeah. We have kids, so it's kind of very important. important for us that San Juanju, what San Jose does. But globally, we work with Habitat for humanity. Right. Yeah. And we help. We used to know the, he's not there anymore, but he used to be the head of habitat for a few years. And we've helped build some houses. And it's the least we can say, at least for me being an immigrant, right? That's fantastic. I'm happy to be here and I'll help

anybody that I can't. Well, you know. Any last remarks, Frank? Do you have questions? No, thank you. Javier, Sharon. Thank you all for coming in, taking time how do it else have will to be with us.

I will do it for episode 7 of the Agents Lounge Podcast. Thank you all for listening. Thank you. Thank you. You've been listening to the Agents Lounge podcast, brought to you by Eritory Comfort Solutions.

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