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Shaun Guardanapo - From Marines To Millions · REL Freedom Podcast

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_01: The military background and the leadership, then, you know, like you talked about law enforcement to be able to talk to people.
• 0:05
  SPEAKER_01: I also then went and got my bachelor's degree in business administration and management.
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, so the combined of all those three, it kind of put me down a really good path to make sure I knew um what I was doing when I did get into the industry.
• 0:20
  Mike Swenson: Welcome to the Real Freedom Show.
• 0:22
  Mike Swenson: We inspire you to pursue your passion to gain time and financial freedom through opportunities in real estate.
• 0:27
  Mike Swenson: I'm your host, Mike Swenson.
• 0:28
  Mike Swenson: Let's get some real freedom together.
• 0:38
  Mike Swenson: Hello, everybody.
• 0:39
  Mike Swenson: Welcome to another episode of Real Freedom where we talk about different ways that people are pursuing time and financial freedom and opportunities in real estate.
• 0:47
  Mike Swenson: I'm your host, Mike Swenson.
• 0:48
  Mike Swenson: If you want to get started on your real estate journey, check out our website, freedom throughrealestate.com.
• 0:54
  Mike Swenson: We talk about different articles, podcasts, guests.
• 0:57
  Mike Swenson: And the goal of these interviews is really to inspire you, whether you're considering a path in real estate, real estate investing, however that might look, you've got to start somewhere.
• 1:07
  Mike Swenson: And so we love sharing great stories and telling people how they took their journey and where it's led.
• 1:12
  Mike Swenson: And it takes some twists and turns.
• 1:14
  Mike Swenson: And so we're just talking about that offline, how my career's changed since I started this podcast five years ago.
• 1:19
  Mike Swenson: And other people, the longer in real estate, the more you pick up stuff or maybe decide what you like better or not and adapt.
• 1:25
  Mike Swenson: And so super excited.
• 1:26
  Mike Swenson: Today we've got Sean Guardanapo.
• 1:28
  Mike Swenson: And Sean is a Marine Corps veteran, managing broker of the agency, which is based out of boutique brokerage.
• 1:34
  Mike Swenson: He's based out of Reno, leads Northern Nevada's strongest and most respected real estate teams with over 100 million career sales, 150 transactions, and ranking in the top 1% of producers.
• 1:44
  Mike Swenson: Sean blends military precision, discipline leadership, and deep local expertise.
• 1:49
  Mike Swenson: So, Sean, we're super excited to have you on here and share your story and your journey with us.
• 1:53
  Mike Swenson: So welcome to the show.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_01: Hey, thank you.
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_01: Thanks for having me.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_01: So uh yeah, I guess Mike, you know, how I started my journey.
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, when I was in the military, I was aware of my VA benefits.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm gonna start there.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_01: Like VA and veterans kind of uh pulls up my heartstrings.
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and that's really the reason why I got into real estate.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_01: So I had purchased probably seven or eight homes moving all over the country using my VA loan.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and then I ended up coming to um Reno, Nevada, and I was in law enforcement at the time.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_01: And when I got here, um I was looking actively looking for a home, and I was, you know, looking for agents here and there.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, I've gotten a couple of referrals from other real estate agents throughout the company uh or throughout the country, and and realized like I'd contact them, I'd tell them kind of what I wanted to do, what I wanted to buy, what I wanted to see.
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_01: And I ended up firing three real estate agents um when I got to Reno, Nevada.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_01: Um they just weren't listening, they weren't understanding.
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and I realized that everybody and their mother is a real estate agent, but it really matters who you work with.
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_01: And so I kind of, you know, once I sell it on a real estate agent, he was great.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_01: And uh he and I still pop today.
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_01: He actually runs a team here in Reno.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but uh one of the things is I I just I just knew if like some of these people were real estate agents.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_01: I loved real estate so much from buying homes that maybe that was going to be a career path when I was done in law enforcement.
• 3:27
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I was getting tired of, you know, working for the government, wanted some freedom for myself, you know, like we talk about freedom.
• 3:33
  SPEAKER_01: So I wanted some freedom for myself to work for myself, to kind of have my own schedule, to travel, to spend time with family and do those kind of things.
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_01: And so that's when I shifted from law enforcement over to real estate.
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_01: So I took my real estate classes while I was um in law enforcement.
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_01: And once I finally made the decision to jump all over and jumped in, um, it was a pretty easy transaction for me.
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_01: Um I had leadership skills, so it was pretty easy.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_01: I had personal skills because of interacting in law enforcement with people all over all the time.
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_01: So it was really easy for me to trans transition over to, you know, talking to people, reading people, getting to know people, understand them, listening to them, because I've had to do it for, you know, 13 years in law enforcement.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_01: So um I made the switch and I joined a team.
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_01: We kind of talked about that offline a little bit.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_01: Um I joined a team in Nevada.
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_01: At the time I joined, there was only five or six agents.
• 4:26
  SPEAKER_01: Now I think they're in two different cities in Nevada and have over almost 200 agents.
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_01: They're a huge team in Nevada.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but I started there.
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_01: And and the re whole reason why is because one, I wanted to make sure veterans knew the benefits that they had, how to use their benefits.
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_01: And then I just realized customer service within some of these industries just wasn't where it was.
• 4:48
  SPEAKER_01: It was some of these people were looking for a quick sale.
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_01: You're just another number, you're just another name, um, you know, you're just a paycheck.
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_01: And I didn't want to do that.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_01: And so I really focused on veterans.
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_01: I joined an organization called VA Rep for a little while, learned a lot more, learned how to um learned a lot about the veteran guidelines.
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and actually became a trainer at one point.
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_01: And I have lenders that contact me asking me questions on how to do VA loans just because I was so thorough and knew how to and understood them and knew the guidelines like the back of my hand.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_01: So that's kind of what really got me started is I just knew that there was something better to be done out there.
• 5:28
  SPEAKER_01: Not every agent is the same.
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and you really it really does matter who you work with and who you choose.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_01: So that's that's kind of how my story started.
• 5:36
  Mike Swenson: I love if I could have uh like a little uh ticker sheet on the wall of how many people that I've had on the podcast where they joined real estate because they thought like they had a bad experience with an agent or were just kind of unimpressed and thought, well, if if they can do it, I can do it too, right?
• 5:51
  Mike Swenson: Like that's that's totally a great way for people to get in.
• 5:55
  Mike Swenson: And I have had a lot of people from law enforcement because you know you you can have a difficult conversation and it's not awkward because you guys had them all day long, right?
• 6:03
  Mike Swenson: And so it's less life and death when you're handling real estate, but yet you're used to stressful situations, being able to follow directions, being able to provide great service for people.
• 6:14
  Mike Swenson: And so there's so many transferable skills.
• 6:16
  Mike Swenson: And that's what I like to highlight for people considering getting into real estate is no matter where you come from, you bring great things that you can highlight and accent when you do get into real estate that will make you successful, even though you may not have.
• 6:28
  Mike Swenson: I know people think a lot of times, like, I don't have a big Rolodex or database of people to start with, but there are lots of things you're good at doing right off the bat.
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_01: And it and it's, you know, there's so many different niches in real estate, you know, commercial, you could do probate sales, you could specialize in divorces, v veterans, FHA, first-time homebuyers, relocation, investors.
• 6:53
  SPEAKER_01: You know, there's so many different niches within the real estate, you know, part that you can find a really good way that really works for you and that just talks to you.
• 7:04
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and that's what I ended up doing is just following the veterans' path uh originally, but now I work with everything.
• 7:09
  SPEAKER_01: I work with everybody, everything, you know, that kind of thing.
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_01: But but there really is a lot of different aspects to go.
• 7:15
  SPEAKER_01: So, you know, with the military background and the leadership, then, you know, like you talked about law enforcement to be able to talk to people.
• 7:21
  SPEAKER_01: I also then went and got my bachelor's degree in business administration and management.
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, so the combined of all those three, it kind of put me down a really good path to make sure I knew um what I was doing when I did get into the industry.
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_01: Because I didn't want to be one of those people that just, you know, you know, took a name, made a paycheck, move on to the next, that kind of thing.
• 7:41
  SPEAKER_01: Um, if you look at my Zillow, I mean, I've got like 50, 60 five-star reviews.
• 7:46
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I've got to send a couple more reviews out to some clients that I just closed home with in the last couple of days.
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and and and the story that just happened, like I had a really, really bad asteroid.
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_01: We extended for three weeks, and there was a huge lack of communication between I was representing the seller in Carson City, and they were trying to buy a home in Arizona.
• 8:06
  SPEAKER_01: And um, they had found an agent in Arizona to represent them as the buyers.
• 8:11
  SPEAKER_01: And there was a lot of miscommunication between me, the buyer's agent, and then that seller's agent in Arizona.
• 8:17
  SPEAKER_01: So I ended up bypassing the buyer's agent, communicating with the seller's agent out there to make sure that they didn't lose their home in Arizona.
• 8:25
  SPEAKER_01: And, you know, both that seller's agent at the end said, you know, thank you for all the communication.
• 8:30
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you for all the updates.
• 8:32
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, it really speaks volumes of, you know, the kind of person you are.
• 8:36
  SPEAKER_01: And then also my clients are like, if it wasn't for you stepping in and going that extra mile and talking to that listing agent down in Arizona, you know, and and keeping those lines open and that communication and making this work, we probably would have lost our home in Arizona.
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_01: So it really does come down to communication, understanding people, and just making sure that you're you're providing that customer service that they want.
• 9:01
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, they are paying you, or in some aspect or another, they're paying you quite a bit of money.
• 9:05
  SPEAKER_01: So you need to make sure you're earning that money.
• 9:07
  SPEAKER_01: And that's what I always want to make sure is I'm earning that money, that paycheck that I'm getting.
• 9:11
  Mike Swenson: I think about that too, like some clients that I had where I helped them move to Minnesota and then now they're, you know, moving somewhere else or, you know, moving out of the area.
• 9:20
  Mike Swenson: And it's like, I want to finish what I started with you.
• 9:23
  Mike Swenson: I want you to end your time here well, even though you, you know, probably won't ever use me in the future because, you know, unless you decide to come back or whatever that might look like, it's like you still have a responsibility, provide great service all the way through to the end.
• 9:36
  Mike Swenson: And that is certainly lacking for a lot of people.
• 9:39
  Mike Swenson: Real quick, I did I did want to touch on because I was thinking about it.
• 9:41
  Mike Swenson: It's been a while since we've talked about this on the podcast, the VA loan.
• 9:45
  Mike Swenson: So, real quick, if you wouldn't mind just kind of sharing, you know, what are some of those benefits for people and how can people really take advantage of that opportunity because it it is such a great benefit for people who you know have have the VA loan at uh their disposal.
• 9:59
  SPEAKER_01: So I would I definitely say the first step is um talking to a real estate agent and a lender that is very well knowledged in VA.
• 10:07
  SPEAKER_01: Now everybody says they know the VA, um, but the VA is actually a very, it's probably the best loan product there is out there.
• 10:15
  SPEAKER_01: Um statistics show that most veteran buyers, even though there's no down payment required by veterans, most veteran buyers actually have a higher credit score than conventional and FHA loan people.
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_01: Um and the I don't want to call them restrictions, but you know, kind of the restrictions on the VA loan have actually lightened up quite a bit.
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_01: Um, there was a recent change that just kind of affected a lot of things where one of the biggest things and why people always shied away from accepting an offer from the VA is they always thought it was so strict.
• 10:47
  SPEAKER_01: But it's really not any more strict than an FA loan or any other government loan like a USDA loan.
• 10:53
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but it's actually kind of gotten a little bit lighter.
• 10:55
  SPEAKER_01: Just recently, I think within the last month or two, um, they actually lifted one of their restrictions that any home that's built after 1978, they're no longer gonna call out peeling paint.
• 11:06
  SPEAKER_01: So one of the biggest things was peeling paint on a property.
• 11:08
  SPEAKER_01: They would call it out, people would have to go in, paint, touch up, those kind of things.
• 11:12
  SPEAKER_01: That's no longer going to be called out on some of the newer homes.
• 11:15
  SPEAKER_01: So, you know, it's a guideline that's been lifted.
• 11:18
  SPEAKER_01: Um, it's it's a great product.
• 11:19
  SPEAKER_01: You know, veterans come in with zero down.
• 11:21
  SPEAKER_01: If they have a disability, they don't have to pay the funding fee.
• 11:24
  SPEAKER_01: Um, if they're going through the process of getting a disability, it can come back to them after the close of escrow and get paid on the back end of their principal.
• 11:31
  SPEAKER_01: Um, there's there's a lot of benefits to it.
• 11:34
  SPEAKER_01: It really protects the veteran.
• 11:35
  SPEAKER_01: All they're looking for is health and safety to make sure the home is um, you know, safely sound for that veteran to live in.
• 11:42
  SPEAKER_01: That and that's all they really care about.
• 11:43
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and it's some of the easiest processes to get through.
• 11:47
  SPEAKER_01: It's some of the easiest loan products to get through.
• 11:49
  SPEAKER_01: And if you have a good lender that actually knows all the ins and outs, um, it's really easy to process.
• 11:55
  SPEAKER_01: Now, the reason I say be careful with the lender is because the VA guidelines are actually very, very minimal.
• 12:01
  SPEAKER_01: Um, it's a lot of just help and safety stuff.
• 12:03
  SPEAKER_01: There really is no credit score to be qualified for a VA loan.
• 12:07
  SPEAKER_01: They don't use debt to income, they use residual income.
• 12:10
  SPEAKER_01: You know, so there's a lot of myths out there.
• 12:12
  SPEAKER_01: If you're interested in the VA loan, I would definitely look into it.
• 12:15
  SPEAKER_01: Get a hold of a lender that understands it.
• 12:18
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and a local lender.
• 12:20
  SPEAKER_01: Don't use one of these big names that just has a name of like a veteran loan service.
• 12:25
  SPEAKER_01: Like actually go with a local lender that knows what they're doing.
• 12:28
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and the other big thing is when people say, oh, you have to have a 640 credit score for a VA.
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_01: No, no, you don't.
• 12:35
  SPEAKER_01: A lot of that is that actual mortgage companies overlay, right?
• 12:39
  SPEAKER_01: So they have a specific overlay for that company that they require as an extra protection barrier for that company, but it's not necessarily a VA guideline.
• 12:49
  SPEAKER_01: So again, it really matters who you work with, not only the real estate agent, but the lender, and make sure both of those people really understand how the VA process works.
• 12:58
  Mike Swenson: That's awesome.
• 12:58
  Mike Swenson: Because yeah, there's there's great opportunities for those loans.
• 13:01
  Mike Swenson: And yeah, to your point, uh, I think in the in the industry, sometimes they are looked at as being a little more complex or frustrating.
• 13:08
  Mike Swenson: But for somebody in your shoes, it's an awesome opportunity to take advantage of and and be rewarded for the service that you gave.
• 13:15
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 13:15
  SPEAKER_01: And I mean, like I said, there's zero money down.
• 13:17
  SPEAKER_01: I've gotten veterans into home where they actually made money, right?
• 13:20
  SPEAKER_01: Because they can get um sellers' concessions, they can get credit for uh their rate buy downs, they can get concessions for a whole bunch of things.
• 13:32
  SPEAKER_01: And, you know, they always say that it's locked in at 4%.
• 13:35
  SPEAKER_01: But when you actually look at the guidelines, you can get all your closing costs covered.
• 13:39
  SPEAKER_01: You can get usually up to two points covered, and then you can get four four percent into cut into um sellers' concessions.
• 13:46
  SPEAKER_01: So actually, you can technically get pretty close to 8% back um from seller concessions.
• 13:52
  SPEAKER_01: And so I've had veterans put$500 or$1,000 earnest money deposit, get that money back, have debt paid off, have credit cards paid off, and a whole bunch of other things through sellers' concessions to put the veteran in a much better position.
• 14:05
  SPEAKER_01: So when they walk into that home, they almost have no debt and they didn't have to put any money down.
• 14:10
  SPEAKER_01: They actually made money off of the deal getting into a home.
• 14:12
  SPEAKER_01: So I mean, it's a great product as long as you have, you know, the team behind you that actually understands how the VA VA works.
• 14:19
  Mike Swenson: Well, thank you for sharing that.
• 14:20
  Mike Swenson: Flipping a little bit back to to you and your journey, talk about your process of why you got into real estate, providing great service to clients.
• 14:28
  Mike Swenson: Talk about maybe those earlier years and and maybe some of the opportunities or the great things that have come up as a result of doing a great job, being a great agent and servicing your clients.
• 14:38
  SPEAKER_01: So uh for me, I originally immediately knew I needed to join a team.
• 14:44
  SPEAKER_01: Um, a team is always a backbone of you know a new agent.
• 14:48
  SPEAKER_01: Um, being a new agent, unless you have a huge sphere, personal sphere, and you know, a lot of things going on for you where you can reach out to different different organizations and levels, how you're gonna get your business is is the biggest thing.
• 15:01
  SPEAKER_01: Um you join a team and they usually have some sort of leads that you can work off of.
• 15:06
  SPEAKER_01: Now, you're not gonna make as much money because you have to pay certain splits to the team, certain splits to the brokerage.
• 15:12
  SPEAKER_01: So you're not gonna make as much money, but it's the amount of transactions you're closing, right?
• 15:17
  SPEAKER_01: That's where you're gonna make your money.
• 15:18
  SPEAKER_01: So, you know, the average agent, I think they say closes anywhere between three and six homes a year.
• 15:23
  SPEAKER_01: When you're on a team, you know, you're probably closing.
• 15:25
  SPEAKER_01: If you're a good, good agent on a team and you got good leads and a good team source, you're probably closing 10, 15, 20 leads a year, but you're making less money per transaction because that team has to be paid back the money that they're spending.
• 15:37
  SPEAKER_01: But it's really a great way, especially for the first couple of years, if you're a new agent to get in, is because you can build your own business off of those leads.
• 15:46
  SPEAKER_01: So later down the road, you start getting that referral business.
• 15:49
  SPEAKER_01: You get the referral business from them.
• 15:51
  SPEAKER_01: Um, they come back to you when they sell their home after you've helped them buy a home, they start spreading words to friend and family, and that's when your business starts to grow.
• 16:00
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so the best thing is to just find a really good team, a strong team that's got good reputation, closes a lot of transactions, is willing to spend some money.
• 16:09
  SPEAKER_01: You're gonna work harder to make the same amount of money, but it's definitely worth it for the experience.
• 16:16
  SPEAKER_01: And you get a lot of education.
• 16:17
  SPEAKER_01: If you're on one of these teams that are some of the bigger teams, they have a lot of education.
• 16:21
  SPEAKER_01: They they'll teach you and they'll they'll teach you the onuances of writing an offer and best practices and those kind of things.
• 16:28
  SPEAKER_01: So it really does help a new agent get started if you do start on a team.
• 16:32
  SPEAKER_01: And I would always highly recommend, like me being a broker and my brokerage, I won't hire anyone brand new out of school.
• 16:38
  SPEAKER_01: Um, they're they're gonna do they're most likely gonna fail.
• 16:41
  SPEAKER_01: And I don't want to set someone up for failure.
• 16:43
  SPEAKER_01: I will always recommend them going to a team and getting that team aspect and getting at least a year or two, maybe three years experience under a team, um, learning scripts, doing those kind of things first.
• 16:54
  SPEAKER_01: And then, you know, once they have the backbone and and the experience and the knowledge of how to handle transactions and then where to get business, um, you know, that's when it makes a good transition to go out to be an individual agent.
• 17:08
  Mike Swenson: And there's so many things in terms of what you spend your time on, you're able to focus on the right things, right?
• 17:13
  Mike Swenson: So you might have some admin support.
• 17:15
  Mike Swenson: So I think about, I mean, even now for me, having a transaction coordinator is is worth their weight in gold because 100% compliance, making sure all that everything's taken care of, and and just those little things, I can do other things because that's being taken care of.
• 17:31
  Mike Swenson: And so you can be better at the things that really are gonna matter and move the needle forward for you long term because you have that that support of a team.
• 17:38
  Mike Swenson: So I'm I'm a huge lover and believer of teams as well.
• 17:41
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and even as a um an individual agent, I do have a transaction coordinator, transaction manager that manages all my transactions because that frees me up to take more leads, to um be in the field with my clients, show more homes, show more properties, put more things under contract.
• 17:58
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm not sitting behind my computer all day long doing all the paperwork.
• 18:02
  SPEAKER_01: Um, it's worth the weight of a couple hundred dollars to pay someone to do all my paperwork for me so I can be the face of my business.
• 18:09
  SPEAKER_01: Because you know, when you're an agent, you're running your own business, right?
• 18:11
  SPEAKER_01: So I can be the face of my business, I can be there at every inspection, I can show every home I need to, I can do everything else I need to be.
• 18:20
  SPEAKER_01: Now, there are some agents that have showing agents and that have leveraged time in other ways, which is perfectly fine.
• 18:26
  SPEAKER_01: And when you get to that point, that's good too.
• 18:28
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, once you start getting 20 or 30 or 40 or 50 transactions a year, you need to start leveraging your time in other ways, like a showing agent and a partner and that kind of stuff.
• 18:37
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but in the meantime, yeah, transaction coordinator is definitely the first way to go just to leverage extra time so you can work your actual leads and be with your clients.
• 18:46
  Mike Swenson: For people starting out, just since we are kind of talking about newer agents, you mentioned starting a team or you know, focusing on working with a team as being something really important.
• 18:54
  Mike Swenson: Obviously, there's a billion options out there as far as different brokerages and things like that.
• 18:58
  Mike Swenson: What are maybe like some questions or things to consider for somebody looking at, hey, I'm I'm new into real estate, I'm looking to put my license somewhere.
• 19:08
  Mike Swenson: I want to find a broker that's a great fit for me.
• 19:10
  Mike Swenson: What are some things that they should be considering?
• 19:12
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, there's so much.
• 19:13
  SPEAKER_01: You just got to find the right fit.
• 19:14
  SPEAKER_01: Like, you know, there's so many brokerages out there, like hundreds, if not thousands of different brokerages.
• 19:21
  SPEAKER_01: You know, you've got your top five, 10, 15, or 20 brokerages, but it just really depends on what's most important for you.
• 19:27
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, there's some brokerages that have that are considered these 100% brokerages, um, where you pay a cap and then after you cap, you know, you get pretty much 100% of your commission minus maybe a couple fees.
• 19:40
  SPEAKER_01: There are some brokerages that have franchise fees, like mine, we have a franchise fee because we're a franchise.
• 19:45
  SPEAKER_01: Um, there's some brokerages that don't have caps.
• 19:48
  SPEAKER_01: But the biggest thing is, you know, figuring out what splits are, how much of that money that you're making are is actually going to you.
• 19:54
  SPEAKER_01: And it's something that you need to figure out because if you're gonna be on a team and a brokerage that has the team, obviously is gonna have splits.
• 20:01
  SPEAKER_01: They're gonna want their money back for what they've invested.
• 20:03
  SPEAKER_01: And then the brokerage has to get paid somewhere.
• 20:05
  SPEAKER_01: So you got to figure out what's what's good for you.
• 20:08
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but there's always a lot of fees.
• 20:10
  SPEAKER_01: So always talk to the broker, the recruiter, whoever you're talking to to decide where you're gonna go.
• 20:16
  SPEAKER_01: Have all the fees laid out.
• 20:18
  SPEAKER_01: What is there a startup fee?
• 20:19
  SPEAKER_01: Is there um a desk fee?
• 20:21
  SPEAKER_01: Is there an office fee?
• 20:22
  SPEAKER_01: Is there a monthly fee?
• 20:23
  SPEAKER_01: Is there a transaction fee?
• 20:25
  SPEAKER_01: Is it what are the splits?
• 20:26
  SPEAKER_01: Um, is there a cap on the splits?
• 20:29
  SPEAKER_01: You know, there's so many different things to figure out.
• 20:32
  SPEAKER_01: And it just really does take a lot of research and talking to different brokerages to find your fit.
• 20:38
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe you love marketing, and there's some brokerages, I mean, to my own horn.
• 20:42
  SPEAKER_01: I think why brokerage is has some of the best marketing, and we just rolled out um some of the top-of-line AI stuff and marketing that we have.
• 20:50
  SPEAKER_01: But marketing's huge for me because I can literally click a button, send things out, and it's done.
• 20:55
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm not spending, you know, an hour or two behind my computer creating a marketing flyer or a website.
• 21:01
  SPEAKER_01: I can do it at a click at a button because of the the implementation of AI that we just put into our systems.
• 21:06
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, so a lot of people are high on marketing, but there's a lot of brokerages that charge for marketing or charge even to print a piece of paper at the office.
• 21:16
  SPEAKER_01: So you really got to take all that into consideration when you're looking at your brokerage.
• 21:20
  SPEAKER_01: And then, you know, obviously name brand does have something to do with it.
• 21:24
  SPEAKER_01: You want to know that you're going with a name brand.
• 21:26
  SPEAKER_01: But, you know, that that also is like, for instance, my brokerage, the agency, it's huge in California, it's huge in certain areas, but no one hardly knows who it is here just because we haven't been here and we're not big.
• 21:40
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but we're a huge global brand.
• 21:42
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, we've got 140 plus offices in 15 countries.
• 21:46
  SPEAKER_01: We're a global brand.
• 21:47
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and so that's the other thing is, you know, maybe there's a local brokerage you want to go with, but if you're working with clients that are globally or have high end markets, you want to make sure that your your materials, your marketing, your your properties are getting displayed not only locally on Zillow and all those things, but maybe you need to expand, go, you know, globally, depending on on how what direction you want to go and what kind of properties you're representing.
• 22:12
  SPEAKER_01: So there's a lot to take into consideration, but fees would probably be the biggest one because you want to obviously put the most money you can into your pocket.
• 22:19
  Mike Swenson: And really, yeah, what do what are you getting for your money?
• 22:21
  Mike Swenson: You know, and you're you're paying somebody something in some way, shape, or form.
• 22:25
  Mike Swenson: And what are you getting for that money is is really important.
• 22:28
  Mike Swenson: And yeah, if you're an agent listening to this and you're you're kind of considering different brokerages, there's there's a ton of great options and reminders for agents, you still have to show up and do the work, right?
• 22:37
  Mike Swenson: There's not a there's a awesome things that enhance your business, but you still got to show up and do with the work to be successful.
• 22:44
  Mike Swenson: And so if you're looking for the magic pill, the magic pill is inside of you, you've got it you got to show up and do the work to make the money absolutely.
• 22:51
  Mike Swenson: Are you looking to get started or scale in real estate investing but don't know your next step?
• 22:55
  Mike Swenson: Or are you overwhelmed thinking about finding deals, analyzing deals, doing due diligence and managing properties on top of it?
• 23:02
  Mike Swenson: Go ahead and push the easy button and invest with us.
• 23:06
  Mike Swenson: Real estate investing is what we do full time.
• 23:08
  Mike Swenson: We've done dozens of deals with hundreds of doors.
• 23:10
  Mike Swenson: We have the knowledge and experience to hand pick the best deals that most investors can't find.
• 23:15
  Mike Swenson: We've got large off market deals all the time where you can hopefully find returns and economies of scale that you just can't find on your own.
• 23:22
  Mike Swenson: The best thing is it's 100% passive to you for less capital than you put down trying to acquire a property on your own.
• 23:29
  Mike Swenson: Don't let this year go by before you don't make the leap, add to your portfolio or you just did an analysis by paralysis.
• 23:36
  Mike Swenson: To find out more visit freedomthroughrealestate com and click on invest.
• 23:40
  Mike Swenson: You can book a call and learn more there.
• 23:42
  Mike Swenson: So get to scaling your portfolio now with us by your side that's freedomthrurealestate com and click on invest.
• 23:49
  Mike Swenson: You know I I wanted to touch on too because you mentioned um you know there's there's luxury opportunities and and you guys are a great marketing company.
• 23:57
  Mike Swenson: I think people are always a little excited to talk about some of the luxury stuff that happens but would love to hear kind of in the the Reno market for you what are some ways that you can tap into or for people maybe looking at hey I'm selling I'm I'm newer maybe I'm selling lower priced homes.
• 24:11
  Mike Swenson: How do I get into some of those higher priced homes and what are some some ways that you were able to do that and maybe some tips for others.
• 24:18
  SPEAKER_01: You know it's it's knowledge right a lot of it comes back to knowledge and a lot of it comes back to where you're looking for your business.
• 24:25
  SPEAKER_01: You can sign up for Zillow and get Zilla leads and Redfin and you know all these other places that you can get leads but if you really want to work a high end market you've got to learn how to work that high end market.
• 24:35
  SPEAKER_01: You've got to make sure you're marketing to that high end market.
• 24:38
  SPEAKER_01: You've got to make sure that you're within those groups within those organizations that represent the high end market who who are buying you got to identify who's buying and selling in those high-end markets and and leverage yourself to be inside of those spheres and circles.
• 24:53
  SPEAKER_01: You know that that's the biggest thing and then branding you know obviously the there's certain brands that represent usually a higher price point.
• 25:02
  SPEAKER_01: You know we just opened an office up at Incline Village up in Lake Tahoe and we're going to start marketing up there because like I said we are the world's largest boutique luxury brokerage.
• 25:14
  SPEAKER_01: But we're going to be new to Incline but we've got to leverage um you know what agents we bring on up there, what experience they have in those higher end markets and uh you know bring in the right agents for that for that kind of market.
• 25:28
  SPEAKER_01: Now I I don't get me wrong I love luxury and I love doing high end and my average sales price is probably significantly or a little at least a little bit higher than than the average agent in Reno.
• 25:39
  SPEAKER_01: But at the same time I'll I'll still buy I still sell or or have a buyer that will go buy a$2000 condo.
• 25:46
  SPEAKER_01: Just because that's what what we do, that doesn't mean I don't represent you know the smaller end.
• 25:51
  SPEAKER_01: And everybody gets the exact same customer service across the board whether you're buying a$2000 property or a$20 million property.
• 25:58
  SPEAKER_01: I just believe that everybody should be treated the same and have the same great customer service.
• 26:03
  SPEAKER_01: Doesn't matter what the price point is.
• 26:05
  Mike Swenson: Absolutely yeah you're not going to turn down a past client be like oh sorry your your home's not enough I'm not gonna work with you right you're always going to build relationships and and serve those people the best you can what are maybe some other things that you know are are happening right now either in in your market or just kind of real estate in general that you want to be able to to share with the listeners.
• 26:22
  SPEAKER_01: You know real estate's really weird market right now.
• 26:26
  SPEAKER_01: It probably has been for about the last I don't say two years even the rates can change three times in one day.
• 26:40
  SPEAKER_01: But you got to think interest rates change so frequently I it's actually it's it's it's a pretty equal market but it's still on the side of a buyer's market.
• 26:51
  SPEAKER_01: You can still get a good deal and you can still find some good deals out there.
• 26:54
  SPEAKER_01: Now if you're so fixated on a rate because it might be six and a half today or whatever the the average rate is today um but you're you're like I always hear all these clients well I'm gonna wait until the rate comes down I'm gonna wait till the rate comes down or I'm gonna wait till the housing bubble burst.
• 27:09
  SPEAKER_01: You know that's what it was like right after COVID and prices continued to go up and they got priced right out of the market.
• 27:16
  SPEAKER_01: So my my my words would be don't fixate on the rate.
• 27:20
  SPEAKER_01: The rate can always change the rates have changed over time significantly I mean you look back in the 80s and 90s and rates were like in their teens right teens and and and and now we're at six and a half we're like oh it's so high but in all realization it's a little bit high but we're never gonna probably go back to the two and three percent that we had post-COVID or right around COVID.
• 27:40
  SPEAKER_01: We're just not gonna get back there.
• 27:42
  SPEAKER_01: So if you're waiting for that to happen it's not gonna happen.
• 27:44
  SPEAKER_01: We have dipped into the fives once or twice this year.
• 27:47
  SPEAKER_01: Then it's gone back up because of the economy and the war in Iran everything has an effect on the rates but it'll always change um you know the saying is it's it's always a good time to buy just sometimes it's not a good time to sell.
• 28:00
  SPEAKER_01: And you just got to think about that.
• 28:02
  SPEAKER_01: Like if I buy now what are your goals?
• 28:05
  SPEAKER_01: Are you gonna sell the home in three years are you selling the home in five years are you going to stay there for a while?
• 28:09
  SPEAKER_01: Because I guarantee you your investment long term you got to look at it as a long term investment.
• 28:13
  SPEAKER_01: Some of the richest people in the world own a ton of real estate that's where all the money is right so if you're looking at an investment you're you're purchasing a property that you're hopefully staying in three to five years and you will at least get your money back and make a little bit of money after that.
• 28:28
  SPEAKER_01: Like I said I I've owned seven or eight homes and every time I made a little bit of money off of it.
• 28:33
  SPEAKER_01: Sometimes a lot of money sometimes a little bit of money it's all depending on timing.
• 28:37
  SPEAKER_01: But I've always made money on it when I went to go sell the property and so it just gives you those stepstones.
• 28:42
  SPEAKER_01: Even if you start small and you buy a$2000 condo and then in three years you step up to a$4000 home and then another three years you're up to a$600 home because your income's going to go up you're gonna build equity into that home you're gonna be able to roll that equity in so everything's a stepping stone.
• 28:57
  SPEAKER_01: Don't get fixated on interest rates they always fluctuate up to three or four times a day if you find a home you're in the buyer's market just buy a home find what you want negotiate the price there's most likely some sort of deal to be had in that and then start living your life and earning that equity into that home knowing that it's probably not your your future home or your forever home but it is a stepping stone.
• 29:19
  Mike Swenson: Great words Sean thank you so much for for coming on the show and and uh and sharing your wisdom with others for people that do want to reach out to you learn more about you learn more about the agency how can they do so?
• 29:31
  SPEAKER_01: So you can follow me on Instagram Sean Sells Nevada there's underscores in between sells and nevada um also my website is sean sellsnevada.com you could also find me on our brokerage website theagencireno.com those are some of the main places you can get a hold of me and you can always google me and my phone number um it's it's public it's not like it's a hidden anywhere um but you can always reach out to me phone phone text email whatever whatever's the easiest for you um but I would say you know my website Sean sells Nevada if you're interested in buying and selling um it's a great website I've got it set up so you can get estimates there reach out to me and I can dial it in for you.
• 30:12
  Mike Swenson: Awesome that's the thing about realtors is uh you got to be able to be found.
• 30:16
  Mike Swenson: So uh for better or worse your stuff's out there.
• 30:19
  SPEAKER_01: Oh yeah yeah I mean literally and again on Zillow you just search agents Sean Gardanapo and you'll see all my reviews and I would encourage people if you're looking for an agent look at the reviews because it does matter who you're talking who you're working with.
• 30:32
  SPEAKER_01: That's always a big thing.
• 30:33
  Mike Swenson: Awesome.
• 30:33
  Mike Swenson: Well thank you Sean so much for coming on appreciate your time and appreciate your wisdom that you shared with uh with our listeners.
• 30:38
  SPEAKER_01: All right thanks Mike I appreciate you having