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How A Mortgage Loan Officer Builds Trust And Referrals with Robbie Gardner · Epic Entrepreneurs

• 0:45
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to this week's episode of Epic Entrepreneurs.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_00: I am Cliff McRae with Action Coach Business Growth Partners, where we work with local business owners to turn big ideas into real scalable growth.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_00: Today I'm excited to be joined by Robbie Gardner with Atlantic Bay Mortgage Group.
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_00: Robbie, thanks for being here.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_00: How are you doing today, sir?
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_01: I'm doing well, Cliff.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_01: Thanks for having me on.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, we're very happy to have you on.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_00: So let's go ahead and jump right into things.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_00: So uh for those of you who may not know it yet, you know, who are you, Robbie?
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_00: Who's Robbie Gardner and what is Atlantic Bay Mortgage Group?
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so Atlantic Bay Mortgage Group is exactly that.
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_01: We're a company that provides mortgages to be able to fund purchases and refinance for people to buy their homes, um, stack of homes, investment properties.
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_01: I am a mortgage loan officer and I am in Northwest North Carolina, licensed in North Carolina and Virginia due to proximity.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_01: And so I've been working with Atlantic Bay for this is my sixth year and been in the financial industry for about 24 years now.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_00: And who are you personally?
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_01: Personally, I am um I live in Mountery, North Carolina.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_01: I married for um 21 years.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_01: I have a 16-year-old son and a 13-year-old daughter, and so we are in the throes of teenagers and all of their schedules and everything else that they have going on.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_00: Attitudes.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_01: You know, some days, some hours, depending on where we're at.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_01: But yes, all of the above.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, okay.
• 2:22
  unknown: All right.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_00: Well, thank you for that, Robbie.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_00: Again, we're happy to have you here.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_00: So, yeah, Robbie, let's go ahead and get right into things.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_00: You know, real talk.
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_00: What's something about running a business that people think is amazing, but it's actually complete BS?
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_01: Would you say no one's paying you to show up?
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_01: That's kind of the biggest thing that I've had to learn from previous industry working in um four banks.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_01: Um, your time, your commitment, people would pay you for your time for you to be there to be able to do a job.
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_01: When you're starting a business, you could be the smartest person in the world.
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, you can be um the industry expert, you can do all the things, but you're not getting paid or earning an income or running an actual business until people decide that they want to do business with you.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_01: And that takes um time to build up that trust and knowledge uh within the industry for people to actually feel comfortable in my industry talking to you about buying a home.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_01: And they have to be really upfront and honest with financial information, um, credit history, income, you know, their past.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_01: And so the biggest thing as far as running a business is you know, it's not a business unless you're you're making money, and you're not making money until you're actually able to be the trusted advisor within this world.
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, again, no one's paying you just to show up.
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_01: You actually have to be the one working with real estate agents, getting uh referrals for their buyers, be able to walk them through the entire process of being able to borrow a significant amount of money over a 30-year period to purchase a home for them and their family.
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, we're all trying to get to a closing date so that um that transaction can be taken care of.
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_01: And again, the biggest thing is you know, no one's really paying you for your time until that takes place.
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, no, I like that perspective.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_00: That's good.
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_00: So, what would you say is the exact moment where you realize, you know, this could either really work or completely blow up in my face?
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_01: So, in my specific example, I can kind of pinpoint it when um I came up through traditional banking channels, um, not necessarily a mortgage lender, but had lended uh loan people money as a commercial lender, as a retail lender, and decided to go out on my own.
• 4:48
  SPEAKER_01: And when I did that, it was early COVID.
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_01: It was fall of 2020, interest rates were you know, give or take, 3%.
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_01: And so there was a lot of low-hanging fruit for people to refinance, uh, friends and family.
• 5:02
  SPEAKER_01: And that got you through 2020 and then into 2021, and then as 2022 uh started, interest rates started to go up.
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_01: People weren't refinancing, people were in uncertain times.
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_01: And so at that point, you're thinking, well, I've got to be the one that people refer their business to.
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_01: I have to proactively be the one calling on real estate agents, providing value to them, getting their borrowers approved, pre-approved, and approved, and getting them to closing so that the real estate agent can actually get that transaction done.
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_01: I can actually work on getting a loan closed.
• 5:43
  SPEAKER_01: And it was a learning curve, Cliff, because again, at that point, I'd been working at a bank and refinances were pretty easy.
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_01: You can you are the hero to everyone, lowering their interest rate, lowering their monthly payment, paying off some debt, to all of a sudden now you're going from 3% rates to 6% rates, 6.5% rates, and you really actually have to sell yourself and your product and why people should do business with you and why you should be the one that they actually trust throughout this process.
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_01: And so from 2022, um, you know, that spring summer, you know, and through current day to day, because interest rates are kind of relatively the same as they were then, they weren't on that drastic um uptick as they were at that point.
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_01: But from there on out, you had to be the one that you know adds value to the transaction.
• 6:35
  SPEAKER_01: Why are real estate agents referring their buyers to you to be able to help them buy a home?
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_01: Where are you getting um where are you getting your clients from?
• 6:45
  SPEAKER_01: Where are you getting your borrowers from?
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_01: How are you marketing yourself?
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_01: And you have to, at that point, I've got to devise a plan and I've got to work it daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, so that I can be able to depend on this amount of income to depend on this amount of business to be able to come in so that I can budget appropriately.
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_01: And it was a pretty steep learning curve.
• 7:07
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but I saw to it on the other side and you know feel really good about where I'm at right now.
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_00: It was just a big uptick in the rates, and uh, you know, we people just weren't buying.
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_00: They were like, oh, we're gonna wait for it to wait for the rates to go back down.
• 7:19
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, now we're what, three years later, and the rates still haven't gone back down.
• 7:23
  SPEAKER_00: So not not down to those levels, at least, let's put it that way.
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_01: Correct.
• 7:27
  SPEAKER_01: That's yeah.
• 7:28
  SPEAKER_01: It's been a while, and but people have adapted and moved on.
• 7:32
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_00: So what would you say is the most stressful moment you've had as a business owner?
• 7:38
  SPEAKER_00: Like a, you know, how am I going to get through this type of moment?
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I'm I'll go back to that time period of all right, you know, was this uh leaving a secure position at a bank with a salary and uh benefits?
• 7:58
  SPEAKER_01: Was that a sound decision for myself and my family?
• 8:02
  SPEAKER_01: And at that point, again, you kind of just flip a switch and say, I've got to get into you know survival mode, so to speak, of I'm if I'm gonna make this work, I'm gonna give myself this time frame.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I don't want to say, you know, burn the ships, there are no plan B's.
• 8:21
  SPEAKER_01: There's always something else that can can happen.
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_01: However, I wanted this.
• 8:26
  SPEAKER_01: This is the decision that I made.
• 8:28
  SPEAKER_01: I wanted to go out on my own with a mortgage business, and I wanted to be able to add value to this process.
• 8:35
  SPEAKER_01: I wanted to be able to market myself as a leader in the industry, knowledgeable and trustworthy.
• 8:43
  SPEAKER_01: And so I gave myself X amount of time, and it was really ultimately like one year of I love the industry, I love what I'm doing.
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know that it's gonna love me back, right?
• 8:56
  SPEAKER_01: In your case, you know, you might have liked what you're doing, but you know, you weren't able to sustain that because the department was let go.
• 9:04
  SPEAKER_01: It's not anything that you did, but at that point, if you're gonna be an individual mortgage lender, you know, you have to commit to realizing that I can't sit around and think about what I had.
• 9:17
  SPEAKER_01: I can't sit around and think about what my my goals are for a year or two years down the road.
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_01: I need to figure out what I need to do today.
• 9:23
  SPEAKER_01: What do I need to do this week in order to turn the month into the month that I want, to have a quarter, to be able to get ahead.
• 9:30
  SPEAKER_01: And at that point, I just started working on a business plan and just working on day-to-day behaviors and gaining that confidence in what I'm doing, and then the outcomes just started speaking for themselves.
• 9:43
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, I like that.
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_00: I like that.
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_00: So, have you ever thought about quitting the business?
• 9:48
  SPEAKER_00: And if so, what stopped you?
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_01: Uh well, during that time period, you know, I thought about, you know, maybe this just isn't for me.
• 9:54
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe I hit it wrong.
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_01: And, you know, I I can dust the suits off, I can go back to the bank and always joked around.
• 10:03
  SPEAKER_01: Like I can, I can always go back, I'll run a teller window at the bank, or I can go do something else.
• 10:08
  SPEAKER_01: But what stopped me, Cliff, was the fact that this was what I wanted.
• 10:13
  SPEAKER_01: And I was going to see through it to the end and make sure that you know I didn't you know put myself in any grave financial danger of staying with it, but I didn't want to sustain something that wasn't going to be able to provide for me and my family down the road.
• 10:33
  SPEAKER_01: And so at that point, I just started realizing that by working my system, working with real estate agents, by staying in contact with them, making their phone calls, providing value for them, providing educational um points of contact for them, by teaching classes and things, I realized all right, I can grow this, I can scale this, I can actually perform in these circumstances.
• 10:59
  SPEAKER_01: People are still going to purchase homes.
• 11:02
  SPEAKER_01: Um, what we see on the nightly news doesn't necessarily correlate to the market that I'm in.
• 11:09
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I'm in mostly rural North Carolina, Southwest Virginia, Northwest North Carolina, and so people still need to purchase homes, still uh people still need to refinance their homes every once in a while.
• 11:20
  SPEAKER_01: People still need to or have a desire to build a home, and so you can get them a construction loan.
• 11:25
  SPEAKER_01: You just have to be the person that they think of and go to when they need that.
• 11:29
  SPEAKER_01: And so when you realize that it's still going to keep moving forward, you've just got to be you've got to be the one that people actually consider when when they need to be able to purchase, to be able to refinance or want to build their home.
• 11:47
  unknown: Yeah.
• 11:48
  unknown: Okay.
• 11:49
  SPEAKER_00: That makes sense.
• 11:50
  SPEAKER_00: So what would you say is something about you personally that had to change in order for your business to grow?
• 11:57
  SPEAKER_01: I'll go back to what I was saying earlier.
• 11:59
  SPEAKER_01: It was no one was paying me to be here.
• 12:01
  SPEAKER_01: You know, no one was no one was paying me to show up and make phone calls.
• 12:06
  SPEAKER_01: And I have a processor, a loan processor, I have an underwriter that I work with, I have a closure that I work with.
• 12:14
  SPEAKER_01: And my job is to, you know, I'm a mortgage loan originator.
• 12:19
  SPEAKER_01: And so my job is to originate loans, which means go get the business and keep filling the funnel.
• 12:24
  SPEAKER_01: And so I really you know just had to make a conscious effort of who am I reaching out to today?
• 12:31
  SPEAKER_01: What real estate agent am I reaching out to, or how many am I reaching out to today to talk to them about a new product, um, what maybe something you heard on the news, or some different plan or point of emphasis that of a program that I've got, so that I can try to get a mortgage application.
• 12:51
  SPEAKER_01: How many buyers can I get in front of to be able to send out pre-approval letters?
• 12:57
  SPEAKER_01: And again, that was a mindset shift for me of I need I'm a loan officer, I'm a loan originator.
• 13:05
  SPEAKER_01: My goal is to go get them, put the application in as clean as possible, have the conversations about budget, about credit, about their jobs and income, and all the difficult conversations so that everybody feels comfortable about what they're getting into, you know, as far as a monthly payment, how much money does that look like as far as a loan is concerned, or how much money are they going to come out of pocket from their savings?
• 13:31
  SPEAKER_01: And and that's my job.
• 13:32
  SPEAKER_01: And I get them and I bring them in, and once I get something approved, my processor works with the buyer at that point to get a few items that the underwriter may have required, you know, maybe a new pay uh bank statement, or maybe an explanation about something on a pay stub.
• 13:47
  SPEAKER_01: And I I keep moving on and try to find new deals throughout the day and throughout the week.
• 13:53
  SPEAKER_00: So, and and obviously this is a hypothetical question, but if if somebody was to shadow you for a full day, what would surprise them most about how you operate?
• 14:04
  SPEAKER_01: I think it would surprise them most about how much I'm actually on the phone talking to people throughout the day.
• 14:11
  SPEAKER_01: And I share with folks that the Lord blessed me with the ability to have difficult conversations to come to simple terms.
• 14:22
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, it's it's a big deal.
• 14:27
  SPEAKER_01: Purchasing a home, borrowing money over a 30-year period is a huge deal.
• 14:32
  SPEAKER_01: It is the most one of the biggest financial decisions anyone makes in their life.
• 14:39
  SPEAKER_01: And to be able to have that conversation, to be able to answer the questions, how nervous people may be, a first-time homebuyer, they don't know the questions to ask.
• 14:48
  SPEAKER_01: They don't know where, you know where to go to for right information.
• 14:55
  SPEAKER_01: And so I think people will um be surprised of how similar a lot of experiences are for people, and they don't know what their payment should be, they don't know what a 30-year mortgage is, they don't know what information is needed to be able to do it, but also to know that everyone's individual circumstances are very different.
• 15:17
  SPEAKER_01: You know, how do they get paid?
• 15:19
  SPEAKER_01: Are they paid a salary?
• 15:20
  SPEAKER_01: Are they paid commissions?
• 15:21
  SPEAKER_01: Do they own their own business?
• 15:24
  SPEAKER_01: How you're able to disseminate all this information from each person and put it into simple terms of, you know, Cliff, based on your information, we're able to borrow this.
• 15:35
  SPEAKER_01: That's gonna have a payment of about this.
• 15:37
  SPEAKER_01: You'll be able to shop for homes in this price range.
• 15:41
  SPEAKER_01: And you have a lot of the same conversations and you answer a lot of the same questions, but the answers are different and based on each individual.
• 15:51
  SPEAKER_01: And so, again, just a lot of conversations with folks, making them feel comfortable knowing that you know this is their monthly payment, it's going to be due every month for the next you know 360 months, and and and that's a big deal to be able to have someone to be feel comfortable for you so they understand what they're getting into, so they don't feel like, wow, I bought you know, I bought too much of a house.
• 16:13
  SPEAKER_01: I don't like this payment, I can't do anything.
• 16:16
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I'm not able to save, I'm not able to fix up the house.
• 16:20
  SPEAKER_01: But I think people would be surprised just how similar a lot of the fears are, but how different everyone's circumstances are.
• 16:31
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, no, that's a good one there.
• 16:33
  SPEAKER_00: So let's talk about numbers without getting too specific.
• 16:36
  SPEAKER_00: You know, what would you say was the turning point where things started to scale and become profitable for your business?
• 16:44
  SPEAKER_01: Well, coming out of 2022, when you kind of, you know, I forced myself to just make a realization of if I want to stay in it, this is what I need to do.
• 16:52
  SPEAKER_01: This is what the business needs to be able to provide me and my family in order to stay in it.
• 16:57
  SPEAKER_01: And just kind of work backwards in that of if I want to have this type of production, and it takes this many conversations to be able to turn into an application, and it takes this many applications to turn into a closed loan.
• 17:12
  SPEAKER_01: You can you can reverse engineer a lot of those things to give you ideas of how many conversations do I need to have during the day, how many applications do I need to take during the week to be able to not guarantee because nothing's guaranteed in this world, but at least give you a projection of where you need to be at each month, each quarter.
• 17:35
  SPEAKER_01: And during that time period, I worked with a sales coach to be able to help me with those numbers, help me with those behaviors and focus on the behaviors and not the end result.
• 17:47
  SPEAKER_01: Because if you feel like, well, if I want to do$20 million in production this year, if you start, if you just sit around day-to-day thinking about$20 million, you're going to be really disappointed because you're not close in April, right?
• 17:59
  SPEAKER_01: You're not close in January.
• 18:00
  SPEAKER_01: It's such a big number, but you know that based on that number, I need to be, you know, at this many conversations during the week, this many applications during the week, this many loan closings during the month.
• 18:13
  SPEAKER_01: And you sort of gamify a little bit on what you need to do and focus on those daily, weekly behaviors to be able to get the monthly, quarterly, yearly results.
• 18:24
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that makes sense.
• 18:26
  SPEAKER_00: So, what would you say actually moves the needle most in your business right now?
• 18:30
  SPEAKER_00: Would you say leads, conversions, pricing, or your team's performance?
• 18:33
  SPEAKER_00: And you said you got a loan processor, no underwriter.
• 18:36
  SPEAKER_01: So team's performance, you know, once you get an application in is how you're going to stand out against some competition.
• 18:43
  SPEAKER_01: But initially, it's about having confident, competent conversations with buyers.
• 18:51
  SPEAKER_01: You know, meet them where they're at, find out what their goals are, let them know that I have a product for that.
• 18:57
  SPEAKER_01: I can help with that scenario that you've got.
• 19:01
  SPEAKER_01: Letting folks know that you can take care of it.
• 19:05
  SPEAKER_01: You're confident in your ability to get that loan to closing so that they can go out and make an offer.
• 19:10
  SPEAKER_01: That's what's going to make you stand out.
• 19:12
  SPEAKER_01: Pricing is, you know, interest rates are interesting, like you're always going to find a better interest rate.
• 19:17
  SPEAKER_01: I don't care what website you go to, there's always something else to be able to provide a different interest rate.
• 19:22
  SPEAKER_01: You may always find something a little cheaper.
• 19:25
  SPEAKER_01: But at the end of the day, if people know, like, and trust you and they feel that you're going to get them to closing because ultimately that's what they want.
• 19:32
  SPEAKER_01: They want to buy a home and they want to be in a home, and that you can get them within that time frame that's outlined on the purchase contract, that's what's going to set you apart with real estate agents so that they feel comfortable referring their buyers to you to be able to help them be able to borrow the money to be able to purchase a home.
• 19:53
  SPEAKER_00: You know, what's one thing you're doing today that's giving you an unfair advantage over your competitors?
• 19:59
  SPEAKER_01: So the big big thing that I feel that gives me the advantage over my competitors is you know, accessibility, being able to speak to real estate agents and their buyers, um, being able to talk to them.
• 20:16
  SPEAKER_01: I'm not at a bank, it's not nine to five, and then no one answers the phone and no one's there on the weekends.
• 20:22
  SPEAKER_01: I realize that people go look at houses on nights and weekends when they leave their work.
• 20:26
  SPEAKER_01: And so being accessible during that time period, but also being able to add value and education moments for real estate agents, not just the buyers, because they want to be able to have conversations with their buyers to know what the market is doing, to what to expect, what are certain loan products that maybe this property could be eligible for.
• 20:49
  SPEAKER_01: And so I try to stay in contact with real estate agents with market updates at least on a weekly basis.
• 20:58
  SPEAKER_01: Sometimes it's on a daily basis, depending on how volatile the market is, but also once a month providing education moments for them to come.
• 21:06
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, this Friday I'm offering a class on construction loans, renovation loans, and land loans.
• 21:13
  SPEAKER_01: Those are not three everyday occurrences, but it's questions that real estate agents have.
• 21:17
  SPEAKER_01: So they can come uh questions that real estate agents receive from possible buyers, and so they can at least come and gain some knowledge about the market, and if they need to be able to express to a possible buyer some of the advantages of building a new home or maybe doing a renovation loan, they can at least have the input and feel confident in their conversations.
• 21:42
  SPEAKER_01: So I do feel as if that is an advantage that I have is providing these learning moments within real estate agents so that they'll be able to have confident conversations with their buyers as well.
• 21:54
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, okay.
• 21:55
  SPEAKER_00: No, I like that.
• 21:56
  SPEAKER_00: I like that.
• 21:57
  SPEAKER_00: Now, what would you say is the fastest way someone could lose their job working for you?
• 22:03
  SPEAKER_01: Um, great question.
• 22:05
  SPEAKER_01: I you know, fastest way to lose a job is you know, not keeping up, not anticipating some of the questions.
• 22:15
  SPEAKER_01: As I mentioned earlier, um how um a lot of buyers have the same questions, fears, or concerns over the process.
• 22:26
  SPEAKER_01: And so Not anticipating some of those, but ultimately just dropping the ball within communication of keeping people abreast of certain timeline hurdles.
• 22:36
  SPEAKER_01: You know, applications been received.
• 22:38
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you for filling out your application.
• 22:40
  SPEAKER_01: Here's, you know, we're going to talk to you about your loan options based on your information.
• 22:44
  SPEAKER_01: Or, you know, has the appraisal come in?
• 22:47
  SPEAKER_01: Has a loan been approved?
• 22:48
  SPEAKER_01: Stay on top of those communication touch points so that everyone stays in the loop and there's no surprises as we get to closing date.
• 22:58
  SPEAKER_01: Um, that and just flat out, you know, given wrong information, right?
• 23:06
  SPEAKER_01: Is we have a um you know a very regulated industry.
• 23:10
  SPEAKER_01: There's only so much that can be done.
• 23:13
  SPEAKER_01: However, I like to joke around that everyone's one TikTok away from getting the worst information they've ever heard in their life.
• 23:20
  SPEAKER_01: And so making sure we're up to date with knowledge of the market, knowledge of guidelines of certain programs between, you know, between like FHA or um VA loans for veterans, you know, mistakes are going to happen, but at least knowing you know the nuts and bolts of each loan product so that we can have those conversations and people can know what to expect within that process.
• 23:44
  SPEAKER_00: So have you ever had to make a tough call, you know, like letting someone go or cutting something off that ended up being the right move at the time?
• 23:52
  SPEAKER_01: Fortunately, in this industry, um, just over the past, you know, again, I'm in year six of being, you know, on my own as a originator uh within Atlantic Bay.
• 24:03
  SPEAKER_01: I haven't had to have that conversation with you know someone on my team or a coworker.
• 24:09
  SPEAKER_01: Nice.
• 24:10
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but I do uh you know express that you know, as much as we do to get business, right?
• 24:17
  SPEAKER_01: I can call on these real estate agents and I can work with these buyers that you know are possible, you know borrowers to me.
• 24:26
  SPEAKER_01: Sometimes no is an answer, right?
• 24:29
  SPEAKER_01: And a lot of times we have to, you know, we're not denying people credit, but we're having the conversation of a it's a not today, but here's the steps in order to repair your credit.
• 24:42
  SPEAKER_01: Here's what you need to do time-wise on your new job.
• 24:47
  SPEAKER_01: And so we don't really deny people the opportunity to borrow.
• 24:52
  SPEAKER_01: It's more of a not today or a not right now, but here's the steps on how to make it in the future.
• 24:59
  SPEAKER_01: Again, sometimes it's as simple as having credit counseling uh sessions with folks of paying down certain um smaller debts to be able to get a quick boost on their scores within you know a short time frame.
• 25:13
  SPEAKER_01: You know, we're talking about 10 days to less than 30 days.
• 25:17
  SPEAKER_01: They may be on the threshold of a minimum credit score, or if someone, you know, like in my case, I left a bank with a salary position and all of a sudden I go work and you know, you're 100% commissioned within your job.
• 25:32
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I'm not able to borrow money during year one or two because uh year one or year two because I don't have a track record of that income.
• 25:41
  SPEAKER_01: And so we have to have the difficult conversation with folks of it's gonna take time.
• 25:47
  SPEAKER_01: We need at least one year, we need possibly two years of income during this time period to be able to create a trend.
• 25:53
  SPEAKER_01: So again, it's a lot of not today or a not right now, but make sure that we know what the steps are.
• 25:59
  SPEAKER_01: We make sure that the people that we're given this information to know that there is an opportunity down the road.
• 26:07
  SPEAKER_01: And the reason we're saying not today is not because we just didn't like it or we don't want to do it.
• 26:14
  SPEAKER_01: We want to be able to put them in a better situation down the road to be able to make that right decision and to be able to be a buyer of a new home, to be able to refinance if they need to.
• 26:25
  SPEAKER_01: And they they've got the right information and a right game plan from day one.
• 26:31
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, okay, okay.
• 26:32
  SPEAKER_00: All right.
• 26:33
  SPEAKER_00: So, yeah, I appreciate you going through those.
• 26:35
  SPEAKER_00: So, yeah, let's go ahead and head into the quick fire round.
• 26:37
  SPEAKER_00: So, how this works is I'm gonna give you one word, and I just want you to give me the first thing that comes to your mind when you hear each word in regards to running a business, and then expand upon why you chose that.
• 26:46
  SPEAKER_00: You know, does that make sense?
• 26:47
  SPEAKER_00: Sure.
• 26:48
  SPEAKER_00: Yep, okay, perfect.
• 26:49
  SPEAKER_00: First word is success.
• 26:52
  SPEAKER_01: I I mean right right out of the gate, I think it's a relative term.
• 26:56
  SPEAKER_01: You determine what success looks like to you.
• 26:59
  SPEAKER_01: Um, one word, you know, again, it's just relativity, relativity, really where you're at, and is success a dollar amount, is it uh replacing something as far as income concern is concerned?
• 27:13
  SPEAKER_01: Is it a certain goal or number of sales that you've got during a monthly period?
• 27:19
  SPEAKER_01: But you know, I I think success, uh first thing I think of is is that's relative.
• 27:25
  SPEAKER_01: It depends, you know, you get to define whatever that is.
• 27:28
  SPEAKER_00: Failure.
• 27:30
  SPEAKER_01: Very similar um thought on that.
• 27:33
  SPEAKER_01: Failure, you know, not an option.
• 27:35
  SPEAKER_01: You're either gonna um you know, you're gonna win or you're gonna learn.
• 27:41
  SPEAKER_01: And if you're having success, I consider that winning.
• 27:46
  SPEAKER_01: You're also learning, and you know, you're gonna learn that you know, this industry isn't right for me, this process isn't right for me.
• 27:55
  SPEAKER_01: But failure is you know, it's not an option.
• 27:59
  SPEAKER_01: You're you're gonna figure out what you need to do to be able to pivot, and you you don't have time to sit around and waller in it.
• 28:06
  SPEAKER_01: You're you've got to move on and figure out what those next steps are.
• 28:09
  SPEAKER_00: Burnout.
• 28:11
  SPEAKER_01: It's real.
• 28:13
  SPEAKER_01: You have to um you have to figure out what your limits are.
• 28:17
  SPEAKER_01: You have to figure out what um what is too much.
• 28:22
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I can sit at my desk for 16 hours a day if I wanted to, but as I mentioned earlier, I've got teenagers.
• 28:29
  SPEAKER_01: I'm married, we have a life outside of work.
• 28:32
  SPEAKER_01: We have to be able to walk away from things.
• 28:36
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but burnout, it's it's real, and it can happen, and you can it could be happening and you don't even realize it yet, and and things will start suffering.
• 28:44
  SPEAKER_01: So um, you know, have um have a spouse that can kind of recognize some of that and maybe pull you away from it.
• 28:51
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe it's a weekend trip, maybe it's um just let's go for a walk today because you're burnout today.
• 28:58
  SPEAKER_01: But you know, it's it's a real thing, and you just kind of have to again know what your guardrails are and implement those and your boundaries and and stick to it.
• 29:08
  SPEAKER_00: Scaling.
• 29:11
  SPEAKER_01: One word, I mean it's it's a I'm trying to think, and I know it's a quick fire round, and I'm I'm stopping to think about it.
• 29:18
  SPEAKER_01: But scaling, you know, that that is the goal, right?
• 29:22
  SPEAKER_01: Is to be able to grow your business based on these behaviors.
• 29:25
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, what does that look like?
• 29:29
  SPEAKER_01: Is it scaling for your day-to-day business?
• 29:31
  SPEAKER_01: Is it bringing someone else on?
• 29:33
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but scaling that is that's the goal to be able to scale your business to know that I like where I'm at, I like growing at this pace, and by being able to grow at this pace, I can scale based on these behaviors, these activities, or does it mean bringing someone else on, bringing on a new salesperson, bringing on a new loan officer to be able to possibly double that business?
• 29:58
  SPEAKER_00: Competition.
• 30:00
  SPEAKER_01: Never ending.
• 30:02
  SPEAKER_01: You you can't sit around and worry about the competition.
• 30:05
  SPEAKER_01: You just have to be able to know what you what you offer, be confident in your servings, and you can't get stuck worrying about what the competition is doing.
• 30:16
  SPEAKER_01: It's good to know what they're doing, but um the more you sit around and think about them, the less you're thinking about growing your business, and they're out doing what they're supposed to do and what you're supposed to be doing, which is helping people borrow money to buy a new home.
• 30:34
  SPEAKER_00: And the last word is freedom.
• 30:38
  SPEAKER_01: Freedom, it's a it's an amazing thing.
• 30:41
  SPEAKER_01: It's it's how your mind relates to you know the opposite of what we were talking about with burnout.
• 30:51
  SPEAKER_01: Um, is it freedom financially?
• 30:53
  SPEAKER_01: Is it freedom to know that your kid has a ball game at four o'clock in the afternoon and you're able to leave the office and and check out to be able to do it?
• 31:01
  SPEAKER_01: Is it being able to travel the world because you have the the means to be able to do stuff?
• 31:06
  SPEAKER_01: But freedom, and you know, it's an it's an amazing thing to be able to know what your freedoms are, what does success look like for you is you know, I freedom to me looks like being able to do a job that I love and then live a life that I love at the same time.
• 31:26
  SPEAKER_01: And being able to see my kids off for school in the morning, to be able to see my family at home for dinner at night, to be able to attend my my kids' events after school, to be able to travel and go on the weekends or take a family trip.
• 31:45
  SPEAKER_01: You know, freedom for me right now doesn't look like walking away from a job because I've done so much.
• 31:51
  SPEAKER_01: I'm I'm still in growth mode and have um a pretty pretty uh relative life cycle ahead of me to be able to try to do some of those words we talked about, you know, to scale, to be able to grow and to avoid burnout.
• 32:07
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I like that.
• 32:08
  SPEAKER_00: I like that.
• 32:09
  SPEAKER_00: All right, perfect.
• 32:09
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so I appreciate you getting to the quick fire around there.
• 32:12
  SPEAKER_00: So where do you think your industry is going and and what are most people getting wrong about it right now?
• 32:17
  unknown: Would you say?
• 32:20
  SPEAKER_01: Technology, AI, and other things are are being put out there.
• 32:24
  SPEAKER_01: I mentioned a while ago, everyone's one TikTok away or real on Instagram or Facebook from getting just the worst information in the world.
• 32:32
  SPEAKER_01: I do feel as if we have to be able to embrace and stay available for the way this market is turning.
• 32:41
  SPEAKER_01: However, I don't think it's going to replace the ability to have conversations with folks over the phone or face-to-face and understand what their fears are, understand what they're uh what's holding them back, understanding what their um their goals are.
• 33:01
  SPEAKER_01: Because as much technology is out there, I can go on right now, I can I have it too.
• 33:06
  SPEAKER_01: I have a you know online pre-approval application, I can send you the link right now and you can work on it.
• 33:11
  SPEAKER_01: But at the end of it, I'm gonna be notified and I'm gonna pick up the phone, I'm gonna call you, and we're gonna talk about based on your information.
• 33:17
  SPEAKER_01: Here's options for you.
• 33:20
  SPEAKER_01: People talk about younger generation not wanting to talk to people.
• 33:25
  SPEAKER_01: Well, they don't want to, I won't, you know, categorize them all.
• 33:30
  SPEAKER_01: However, for the most part, they want to be able to have something that's quick and easy to be able to, you know, put on a pre-approval application, but also they need to talk to someone about what's realistic and realize you know that they're not just jumping into something or committing to something on the front end without having their questions answered.
• 33:51
  SPEAKER_01: So to kind of circle back, you know, staying with technology, there's there's something created every day to put me, um, to put real estate agents, to put attorneys, appraisers, um, home inspectors, there's something created every day to try to put us out of business.
• 34:07
  SPEAKER_01: But the ones that keep just showing up, this is what I do, this is the service I offer, this is how I help uh add value to this process, those people are still gonna be able to uh stay in business, to be able to grow, and there's always gonna be a need for that.
• 34:26
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's it's really that human touch, right?
• 34:28
  SPEAKER_01: Correct.
• 34:29
  SPEAKER_00: You're not gonna be able to get that through AI or an automated message.
• 34:32
  SPEAKER_01: No, I mean, you can put yourself out there and say, here, I want to submit this information, but when I pick up the phone and say, hey, based on what you put right now, you know, you have a budget of this, but you're looking at homes in this price range, and we need to match that up a little bit better.
• 34:51
  SPEAKER_01: Again, having that realistic conversation, um, being confident in what you're able to offer and confident and knowing what the guidelines are and where people need to be at, it goes a long way.
• 35:03
  SPEAKER_01: And at that point, you're not really competing on interest rate, you're not competing on um losing a deal because of some a fee.
• 35:11
  SPEAKER_01: You're competing on these people are clients, I'm an advisor, and I want to see to them um see that they are able to borrow the money to be able to purchase the house they want.
• 35:24
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, okay.
• 35:25
  SPEAKER_00: All right.
• 35:26
  SPEAKER_00: So, you know, and this and this is all, you know, I don't want you to be as candid as you can on the next answer to this next question, but let's say uh a small business owner was listening to the podcast episode today with you, Robbie, and let's let's just say they're they're having a bad day or a bad week, or or let's go ahead and say they're having a bad start to 2026.
• 35:43
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, we're already in the second quarter here in April, uh, you know, and they're feeling stuck or overwhelmed.
• 35:49
  SPEAKER_00: What's a piece of advice you'd want them to hear from you today?
• 35:55
  SPEAKER_01: Something that I've heard and experienced myself is I do feel that people give up too early, um, too quick.
• 36:05
  SPEAKER_01: They start something, they you know, if they're the business owner and we're, you know, in the first week of April and you're having a tough start, well, maybe we need to kind of take a step back and figure out where, you know, are we are we behind because our goals were not realistic?
• 36:24
  SPEAKER_01: Are we behind because something's taken, you know, is there a better product service available out there?
• 36:30
  SPEAKER_01: You know, where am I competing at?
• 36:32
  SPEAKER_01: But you know, if you're if you feel like you're stuck within something and you know that what you've got is going to add value to people and that people are going to love your product or service or gonna love you.
• 36:49
  SPEAKER_01: Like you have to just you have to keep showing up each day.
• 36:52
  SPEAKER_01: You have to take it, you know, each behavior and focus on the behaviors and don't focus on the end results because the behaviors are gonna drive the results.
• 37:02
  SPEAKER_01: And once your behaviors for you are there, you're gonna be able to build up a clientele, you're gonna be able to have a clientele that's gonna be rave supporters of your of you and your business.
• 37:13
  SPEAKER_01: So they're gonna be able to tell their friends and family in my world as real estate agents to be able to tell other real estate agents in their office, and then people that buy a home, they're able to tell their family members that Robbie took care of us, he knew what we needed, it wasn't easy, but we were able to get there, and I know it can take care of you.
• 37:32
  SPEAKER_01: So I do feel that people give up too early.
• 37:36
  SPEAKER_01: I do feel like um they need to have a plan.
• 37:40
  SPEAKER_01: You need to have a coach to be able to help you implement that plan, and you need to stick to it.
• 37:47
  SPEAKER_01: And whatever it is, you you need to put some again guardrails in there to be able to adjust if you need to.
• 37:55
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, is it because interest rates have gone up because of something that's going on, or are they down because of something that's positive?
• 38:04
  SPEAKER_01: Whatever that is, but you need to be able to know what that plan is, stick to it, and be able to execute it regularly, and the outcome is going to take care of itself.
• 38:14
  SPEAKER_00: Nice, nice.
• 38:15
  SPEAKER_00: All right.
• 38:15
  SPEAKER_00: So, what's next for Atlantic Bay Mortgage Group?
• 38:18
  SPEAKER_00: What should people be excited about coming up in the near future?
• 38:21
  SPEAKER_01: Well, we're in the spring and summer home buying market, and so people are out looking at houses.
• 38:28
  SPEAKER_01: Um, we have the ability to be able to um offer any most any type loan product available, whether it's construction loan or purchases, or maybe you're looking to refinance right now.
• 38:42
  SPEAKER_01: But I do feel as if um interest rates will settle down within the market.
• 38:48
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, is if the news noise quietens uh quiets a little bit as far as what goes on within the world, that there are people that are purchasing a home, people need to buy a house, and there's professionals within Atlantic Bay that can help um help you with that.
• 39:07
  SPEAKER_00: Perfect, perfect.
• 39:08
  SPEAKER_00: And finally, what's the best way for someone to connect with you or learn more about what you do?
• 39:12
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I'm available on Facebook and Instagram.
• 39:15
  SPEAKER_01: Again, my it's Robbie Gardner and mortgages with Robbie on Instagram.
• 39:20
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and then email address is Robbie Gardner at AtlanticBay.com.
• 39:25
  SPEAKER_00: All right, perfect, perfect.
• 39:27
  SPEAKER_00: All right, thank you, Robbie.
• 39:28
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, this has been fantastic.
• 39:29
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, thank you for coming on and sharing your story, your perspective, and your behind the scenes of your business.
• 39:33
  SPEAKER_00: This was a great conversation.
• 39:35
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
• 39:35
  SPEAKER_01: I appreciate you having me.
• 39:37
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, thank you very much.