Latest / The Realtor Who Wines / Discipline, Advocacy & Building a Real Estate Business that Lasts
Transcript
- 0:00Welcome to the Realtor Who Wines podcast.
- 0:02I'm Rashelle Newmeyer, your hostess with the mostest a student of life, a connector, a passionate wine enthusiast and your local favorite guide.
- 0:10Join me as we explore the vibrant Pacific Northwest.
- 0:14Savor the finest wines and champion the spirit of entrepreneurship.
- 0:18Each episode, I'll sit down with inspiring guests, supporting business ownership and uncovering the stories that make this community unique.
- 0:25So grab a glass of wine, settle in, and let's embark on a journey of discovery and connection together. Cheers.
- 0:32Thank you so much for being here with me today, Doctor Tony.
- 0:35I appreciate it. Cheers to you.
- 0:38Cheers.
- 0:38Thanks for having me.
- 0:39I appreciate it.
- 0:42All right, so these are plastic.
- 0:44I was expecting a plank of glass.
- 0:46I know one. I did that on purpose.
- 0:48Learning on the podcast.
- 0:49Like setting it down is loud when it's glass.
- 0:51And then the clinking.
- 0:52So. And it is a skill set to learn to drink with the mic right here.
- 0:56So when it was glass I kept hitting the mic and I was like, okay, tricks of the trade.
- 1:01I didn't know. Love it.
- 1:02All the things we learned during season one.
- 1:05Will you please introduce yourself to everybody?
- 1:07Absolutely.
- 1:08So I'm Doctor Tony Kelly, I am the 2026 president of Oregon Realtors.
- 1:13I'm also, a realtor.
- 1:15So I've been going into my 24th year in real estate.
- 1:19I'm the co-founder and co-owner of Keller Williams Realty, Portland Premier.
- 1:24And the immediate past president and the immediate past president for Portland Metropolitan Association of Realtors, where I did a two year stint and doing a two year stint right now, Oregon Realtors.
- 1:34So this is a this is a four year journey.
- 1:37I've been in for president. So I love it.
- 1:40We are going to talk a lot about real estate today, but we are drinking free wine because Tony is training for a race where you talk a little bit about your race.
- 1:48I am so, so well.
- 1:50It's interesting you say my running journey because.
- 1:53So I've been running for a long time.
- 1:54I am, for those who know me, know that I'm a daily runner.
- 1:58I call it what's actually called a streak runner, but I don't run a mile in the news.
- 2:03So. Right.
- 2:04But we have an association called the United States Running streak Association.
- 2:08And currently, as I just looked last week, I'm 119 in the world on that streak.
- 2:13So on March 17th, which is coming up next week, knock on wood, if I don't get hurt, I will hit 20 years without missing a single day of running.
- 2:21That is so impressive.
- 2:23How do you develop that kind of dedication?
- 2:26Well, discipline really discipline.
- 2:28A bigger word. Discipline.
- 2:29I would say a lot of that has to go back to my my past career in the Air Force.
- 2:34So I was active duty air Force went to the Air Force Academy.
- 2:37So discipline is just kind of, you know, par for the course.
- 2:40So discipline has never been an issue for me at all.
- 2:43I think my friends and family would actually say I'm probably a little too disciplined in some regards, like this running streak, which can be really inconvenient for family members and friends. So.
- 2:54Sure.
- 2:55Well, and what was it about wanting to, like, make that commitment to run every day?
- 3:00Like was there something that sparked that in you, or was it like, oh, I've done this ten days in a row, let's see how long I can go.
- 3:06And now you're at 20. Great question.
- 3:08It was actually an article and running I think it was Runner's World magazine.
- 3:12So at that time this is 20 years ago.
- 3:15I was doing like some daily race.
- 3:17I mean, all weekend races, just fun runs.
- 3:20I had done Hood to Coast multiple times.
- 3:23So I was reading this article about these weird people who literally run every single day, and I was like, that is quite easy.
- 3:31And I was like, these guys are just the weirdos of the running world.
- 3:34But then on reflection, I was like, I wonder if I can go 30 days in a row, you know, like that means like, no recovery days, no off days.
- 3:43So I was like, I wonder if I can do that?
- 3:44So I did it.
- 3:45And, you know, again, people who know me, they know I love a challenge as well.
- 3:49So I made it 30 days and then it's like, well, okay, I wonder if I can do six months.
- 3:55And then I made it six months. I was like, what shoes?
- 3:57You know, at this point I gotta I gotta go a year, gotta go a year.
- 4:00So I made it to the year or nine.
- 4:01That was 20 years ago, so I haven't stopped.
- 4:04That's amazing I love that.
- 4:06Is there anything about running that helps you with your business?
- 4:09Like is that give you a time to like, reflect is at a time where you just shut down and it's like a you time.
- 4:14That's what it is.
- 4:14Yeah. I mean, you nailed it.
- 4:16It's literally my, my, my, my, my time might be time.
- 4:21I just completely get to check out mentally and just not think.
- 4:25I mean, a lot of people like, oh, are you pondering this or are you planning on?
- 4:28It's like, no, I'm not thinking about anything when I'm running.
- 4:31Oh, it's just like, I just run, just go.
- 4:34And that's one of the things I love about trail race in the last like 3 or 4 years, I've really gotten into trail running.
- 4:40Partly because, you know, I'm getting old.
- 4:42And so the road is just a lot more taxing for me.
- 4:45Whereas the trail is just a little more forgiving.
- 4:48I'm not so concerned about my pace. Okay.
- 4:51I'm really concerned about like, that tree route.
- 4:53And I wanted I was just going to start falling off the side of the hill, you know, the mountain and just falling down.
- 4:59So you just you're locked in, you're focused, and you just kind of enjoy, you know, we're in Oregon, which is gorgeous to run.
- 5:07There's so many trails here.
- 5:09So yeah, it's it's a little different.
- 5:11So I'm kind of retired from the road I think. Yeah.
- 5:13So that's so funny.
- 5:14I prefer the road because I'm so clumsy.
- 5:17I'm nervous about the trail runs and I'd be like, is that a snake?
- 5:20Was that a snake like you do come across it?
- 5:23I'm sure. Yeah I'm sure. Anybody?
- 5:25Before we dive into real estate stuff, any tips or tricks or advice you would give somebody that's like thinking about getting into running or like a mile. Just seems so far to them.
- 5:35Like some getting started tips, I would say probably do the run walk technique.
- 5:40Yeah, yeah.
- 5:42Yes. Just try to try to one give yourself a lot of grace and understand that it will come pretty quickly.
- 5:49But you know, those first couple times out you're going to feel like absolute crap.
- 5:54Yeah. Don't give up.
- 5:55And if you've got to walk that's fine.
- 5:57Yeah I mean like unless you're a professional runner, nobody cares about your pace.
- 6:01Yeah that being said, stay off of like don't don't judge yourself based on social media because right now there's this whole running culture on social media where everybody's like posting their Strava times and they're like mile one and you know, they're running with their their phone mile two, and they're making it one.
- 6:18A lot of them are fake.
- 6:19You know, it's like you're not running 26 miles this morning before you go to work.
- 6:23That's just B.S.
- 6:23that's like, I'm not lying, right? Yeah.
- 6:26And especially like, they're not sweating or anything like that.
- 6:29That's perfect.
- 6:29Yeah.
- 6:29There's so many like, they're running at, like this five minute pace.
- 6:32It's like, get the hell out.
- 6:33So no one's anyone.
- 6:35Don't judge yourself by any of that stuff.
- 6:37So and I would also say the big thing is invest in a good pair of shoes.
- 6:41Oh for sure.
- 6:42Do not go with the shoes that are cute or that are on sale.
- 6:46Literally invest in a good pair of shoes.
- 6:49Yeah, well, and I think what some non runners don't know is like your feet tend to swell up a little bit.
- 6:54So actually getting like a half a size bigger.
- 6:56So as especially on the longer runs that gives you a little bit more cushion.
- 7:00And yeah and you know I would say the other thing and for those who can afford it, if you if you're really serious about running, try to do a running shoe rotation.
- 7:09And what that means is you want to have various shoes for the type of runs that you're doing.
- 7:12Yeah.
- 7:14So I have, you know, much to my wife's chagrin, I think I've got about seven shoes in my running shoe rotation that I literally like.
- 7:21If I'm doing a temple run, run, if I'm doing a threshold run, if I'm doing an easy run, a recovery run, a VO2 max run, I literally have different shoes for each of those.
- 7:30Well, I would assume you would need different shoes for trail runs too, because you need different graphs.
- 7:34Those are completely different.
- 7:35Yeah, I've got I've got several in that rotation based on what type of running I'm doing.
- 7:40If I'm doing like really technical trail or if I'm doing something that's just going to be like a really soft pack, you know, those are going to be different shoes.
- 7:48But the big thing I find this with the running shoe rotation for the roads on the road side is because, you know, I race on on the trail, but my training is still road.
- 7:57So when I say I retire from the road, I just meant that I retire from racing on the road.
- 8:01Yeah, but it just really has helped me minimize the injuries.
- 8:06All those little like nags and pains and aches that you get when you rotate your shoes.
- 8:11You don't really get those. Yeah.
- 8:13Well, now I will say to you to the run walk situation, I trained for a half marathon in 2012 and my I was a former athlete, college athlete.
- 8:24So my mind if I did not run the whole thing, I was not doing it.
- 8:27Yeah, right. Like I then I didn't even do it.
- 8:29And so I ran my first half marathon.
- 8:31I ran the whole thing.
- 8:32I barely stopped for water because I was like, I have to run.
- 8:34So I only stopped at the water breaks or whatever.
- 8:37But then the next year I ran with my mom and she does run walk.
- 8:41And I never felt better.
- 8:43I was like, when I was running, I was running faster because I was rested.
- 8:46And then at the end of the race, I was like, my joints feel great, I'm not tired.
- 8:50And I did the same mileage like my time was a little bit slower.
- 8:54But I also got to stay with my mom the whole time.
- 8:56So it's just a totally different.
- 8:56And you have fun. Yeah.
- 8:58So it wasn't like focus.
- 8:59I must have a good time again, a good time?
- 9:01No way.
- 9:01Nobody was paying you to do that, right?
- 9:03So no one cared or saw me and was like, oh, she's barely running.
- 9:08Like no one was watching me.
- 9:09It was all in my own head.
- 9:10So there's a couple different ways to do it, but I appreciate you sharing this.
- 9:14Absolutely.
- 9:15Let's talk a little bit about your real estate journey.
- 9:19What got you so from the Air Force?
- 9:21First of all, thank you very much for your service. I appreciate you, what got you to transition into real estate?
- 9:28So I went from active duty air force to.
- 9:32So take it all the back.
- 9:34I'm going to I'm going to bore your audience here. So, we're in Oregon, but I'm originally from Detroit, Michigan, so that's where that whole Detroit line and fandom comes from.
- 9:42I'm a huge diehard Lions fan.
- 9:45The Lions love my Pistons, love my Red wings love my, you know, my Tigers Michigan football go blue.
- 9:52All right. So that's my plug for the home state. Yeah.
- 9:55So anyway graduated from the graduated from high school.
- 9:58Went to the Air Force Academy, graduate from the academy.
- 10:01I was stationed in Grand Forks, North Dakota.
- 10:03I was, nuclear launch officer up for five years in North Dakota.
- 10:08During that time, the Air Force paid for me to go to grad school to get my MBA.
- 10:13And during the 90s, this is. Yeah.
- 10:16So I, I graduated from college in 1990, giving away my age.
- 10:21They paid for me to go to get my MBA during that time, the.com boom was the first.com boom was taking place.
- 10:27And so if you were a service academy grad, because we're engineers, our undergrads are in Bachelor of Science, then combine that with, master's degree.
- 10:36We were hot commodities in the tech world.
- 10:39So all of a sudden headhunters are calling and they're saying, hey, you can make three times your captain salary.
- 10:44You don't have to live in North Dakota.
- 10:46My wife was like, done, easy decision.
- 10:49So now that being said, I love the Air Force.
- 10:51I really did enjoy serving.
- 10:53But three times a captain salary was kind of an easy decision.
- 10:56Yeah. For sure.
- 10:57So then we went, I left, I went to I was working in corporate America, in the tech world.
- 11:02We were in Minneapolis, Saint Paul, okay.
- 11:05And I started, in a new division for this company I was working for there.
- 11:11Did really well in my first couple years, and to the point where one of the competitors recruited me to come and join them.
- 11:18My, my, it's like, hey, I'm only going to come if you can send me to Silicon Valley.
- 11:23It's like, I want to be ground zero for tech.
- 11:25They're like done. So moved to Sam.
- 11:27Want to go work for this company?
- 11:29Moved to San Francisco to the Bay area and did, do really well there, to the point where the company I left came back and made me an offer.
- 11:37I couldn't refuse to come back, moved us down.
- 11:41I took over a division down in San Diego, and we lived down there.
- 11:45And then that company eventually moved me up here to Oregon, which is where they're headquartered, to take over, another division.
- 11:53So that was my people always ask, how did you go from Detroit to Oregon?
- 11:58So that's how we did it.
- 11:59Yeah. So, several stops in between.
- 12:02So I was in corporate America.
- 12:04I managed the couple strategic national sales teams.
- 12:07I managed, marketing organization.
- 12:10And then my last job was, director of worldwide sales operations.
- 12:14So I was managing teams in multiple countries on the plane.
- 12:18This is before zoom and all that stuff.
- 12:20And I call it my early midlife crisis.
- 12:23Where I was, I was just burned out.
- 12:25I was burned out of traveling.
- 12:26I was burned out and planned the whole game.
- 12:30I was burned out.
- 12:30And being away from my kids, who were very young at that time, and they were, you know, just like top barely toddlers or something.
- 12:38So it was, for me, like I said, early midlife crisis.
- 12:42And I was like, you know, I'm I got to do something different.
- 12:45This is killing me.
- 12:46So it each of those stops that we had no reason I'm given all this background because there is a point.
- 12:53All the places that we live, we always bought and sold homes.
- 12:56And so we had this, right.
- 12:58We had this experience with really good realtors.
- 13:01We had the experience of bad realtors, but at that time, when I started in real estate in 2003, I was like, I think I could use leverage, my corporate experience and my tech experience, and I think I can hit the ground running pretty quickly.
- 13:15Yeah.
- 13:15So I talked my wife into joining me.
- 13:18She was a stay at home mom at the time.
- 13:19She came from education.
- 13:21So I mean, you know, she her doctor is education or master's in education.
- 13:26So she took time off to raise her kids.
- 13:28And I say, hey, honey, do this with me for five years.
- 13:32It's like, I just want to have a competitive differentiator.
- 13:34We're going to be the husband and wife team, and I really needed her, like on a disc profile.
- 13:40I'm a high D.
- 13:42And she's an s c and I needed that's she needed that balance.
- 13:46So she's like fair enough.
- 13:48I'll give you five years and you can talk to her.
- 13:51She literally to the day it was five years.
- 13:54She was like five years out of here.
- 13:56She already had a job set up.
- 13:58She went right back to teaching.
- 14:00So that's how we we did it.
- 14:02And the reason I did it again, like I said, is at that time I thought this was a profession that I could hit the ground running pretty quickly.
- 14:09So, you know, I hate to say this, and I shouldn't even say this and have it record it, but a lot of people like, oh, I just love homes.
- 14:16And I love, you know, watching HGTV, you know?
- 14:19No, that's not why I picked it. Yeah.
- 14:20So it's like no, same I we have kind of similar backgrounds.
- 14:24And the way that I came from marketing and what corporate world and I lead sales teams and I led marketing teams and kind of the same thing.
- 14:32Rylan was like three.
- 14:33And I was like, I'm so tired of like, paying so much money for somebody else to have her all day, like for daycare and then also running myself ragged to make somebody else money and then having to negotiate.
- 14:44Like Rylan has a dentist appointment.
- 14:44They're like, oh, I don't know.
- 14:47You got to be here on Thursday.
- 14:48And I'm like, but I was here Saturday, Sunday and all the evenings doesn't count, right?
- 14:53It doesn't matter.
- 14:54So I kind of had that same thing.
- 14:55I think the corporate background, well, you're already very disciplined before you were in corporate too.
- 14:59But the corporate background just give you that like you're just used to going to work every day.
- 15:03And so I think a lot of people that transition from a business background to real estate specifically do hit the ground running because they're already disciplined.
- 15:12And you go to work.
- 15:13Thinking about moving to Oregon. Don't just Google it.
- 15:16Talk to someone who loves it.
- 15:17I help people relocate smoothly and confidently.
- 15:20Reach out and let's talk about your next move and make sure it makes sense for you.
- 15:25Yeah, three day and you think you're used to the grind, used to the grind.
- 15:29Yeah. Yeah.
- 15:30And I think the some of the agents that struggle are the ones that didn't have to do self-starting a daily task or show up to an office every day.
- 15:37Those are the ones that are like, yes.
- 15:40And we see that even at our brick, at our brokerages and stuff like the agents that come in do really well and the agents that don't come in all the time don't always do that great.
- 15:48Especially if they're newer and they're.
- 15:51Yeah, if you're new, you know, any any tips I can give here as we're going through this.
- 15:56You are new to the industry.
- 15:58You need to be going in.
- 16:00Yeah, I mean period.
- 16:01It's like you have you're going to learn from other people.
- 16:05Yeah.
- 16:05And you but it's also just getting those habits, like getting into these habits.
- 16:09I want to go in at this time.
- 16:11I'm going to be making my calls.
- 16:13I've got my to do list.
- 16:13I'm checking these off.
- 16:15Like, you have to get in the habit of doing that before it becomes.
- 16:19It's kind of like that 10,000 hour principle.
- 16:21Like you become an expert after 10,000 hours or something.
- 16:24Well, get into that.
- 16:25You know, 10,000 hours of going into the office and grinding, right?
- 16:29Absolutely.
- 16:29And you do learn so much by overhearing conversations even now.
- 16:34I'm not as seasoned as you.
- 16:35I'm on year eight, but I still overhear conversations.
- 16:38I'm like, oh, I have never had that situation happen.
- 16:41That was a really interesting topic.
- 16:43And then I'll always ask the agent, like, so what they decide or how do you decide to fix it?
- 16:48Or which way that they go, but you're always learning.
- 16:50That's what's kind of cool about our business, right?
- 16:52It's constant learning.
- 16:53So after the first five years, how did you and Dwight pair up and decided to was it you enjoy it or you and Peter.
- 17:00So it was actually Peter was the first.
- 17:00So okay.
- 17:03It was so my wife and I and a couple other agents, we started this office and Keller Williams Portland from there.
- 17:11And then I think it was literally probably within like six months, we got Peter to join us.
- 17:16So when you're starting off, especially when we started this off, there was Keller.
- 17:21Nobody knew who Keller Williams was.
- 17:23I mean, they were not the largest company in the world or anything like that at that time, but there was no KW presence out here on the on the West Coast, specifically the Pacific Northwest.
- 17:35So when we started the there's a game, a playbook that KW has especially for like these new territories, you've got to find yourself, an icon agent that people are familiar with.
- 17:49Well, I mean, my wife and I have been in the business for 12 months.
- 17:53Nobody knew who the hell we were, right?
- 17:54So we were not icons or anything.
- 17:57So we recruited Peter to be that icon agent.
- 18:01So Peter, Peter Clark actually joined us pretty much.
- 18:05I think it was about six months after we we started.
- 18:08So he's pretty much.
- 18:10And he's still, you know, he was one of the, you know, he's one of the OG owners essentially.
- 18:15Yeah. Yeah.
- 18:15And then Peter, I mean then Dwight I think was about seven years later, 7 or 8 years later.
- 18:21And then what how did you make decisions together on like where to have that office or how to grow the office and things like that.
- 18:28So when you're starting a new market center, you have to declare to international, this is the market area that we're looking to put our footprint in, because you got to make sure it doesn't overlap with any other market centers that are coming in or any that are established.
- 18:45At that time, we all lived in this area.
- 18:48So I live in Lake Oswego, right.
- 18:49And you know, Peter Dwight, everybody, we all live in this, this neighborhood here.
- 18:53So it was kind of natural for us as far as the location area was like, this is our backyard.
- 18:58This is where we want to make sure that we establish our, our business and our reputation.
- 19:04So that was pretty easy there as far as finding the specific location, right?
- 19:09It was it was, you know, fortunately we had people on the team who had commercial real estate experience.
- 19:15So we're able to leverage that.
- 19:17But we didn't start in this location.
- 19:17Right.
- 19:19You know, we started actually across the drive.
- 19:21I'm pointing here for people who are online listening to the podcast, but they're literally probably about 150 yards from this location.
- 19:30We were in a much smaller office, and that's where we I think we were there for probably about ten years.
- 19:37Yeah, seven, 7 to 10 years.
- 19:38I forget what made you move down here.
- 19:40Just we just grew way too.
- 19:42We we grew way faster than we thought we were going to grow.
- 19:46So we just outgrew the space.
- 19:48So then we this area here or the room that the building that we're in right now was literally just a big, huge blank canvas.
- 19:55I think it was like a kids gymnastics center.
- 19:59Oh, fun.
- 19:59So that's, you know, we're like, this looks really cool.
- 20:03But we literally had to have this vision of like what we wanted.
- 20:06So everything you see, all these offices, everything was built out.
- 20:09This was just one big, gigantic space, open space.
- 20:13So our goal was esthetically we're like, hey, if we can create something that kind of has that downtown, like Pearl district feel.
- 20:20Yeah. And the suburbs, that was what we did.
- 20:23So that's why we went with the barn doors.
- 20:25And we want the exposed ceilings and the beams and yeah, it worked out really well though.
- 20:29Yeah.
- 20:29It's for I always like to ask, broker owners on people that have been on the industry for a while.
- 20:35So many people make decisions based off of fees, and I just disagree with that wholeheartedly, because I feel like you should choose a brokerage for lots of reasons outside of the fees, what kind of advice do you give people on what kind of questions they should ask a brokerage when they're interviewing, which brokerage they want to go with, or what things should they consider important besides just the fees?
- 20:57I so that's a really good point.
- 20:59Don't just go.
- 21:01Don't chase an office based on the fees.
- 21:03You want to chase an office based on what you think they're going to do to grow your business.
- 21:10The fees are just irrelevant if you're making money, if you're not making money, then all of a sudden that's when people start like oh geez, you know I'm not selling any houses.
- 21:20I gotta cut this expense and that expense.
- 21:22I'm going to go to this other cheap rate brokerage here that doesn't provide services.
- 21:27And then next thing you know, those individuals are like out of the business.
- 21:31I mean, the turnover in our industry is huge.
- 21:34So many people get licensed because the barriers to entry are super low.
- 21:37They're two years and they're gone.
- 21:39They're out.
- 21:40And that's because when things are tough, they're chasing those, chasing those fees so they can start cutting those expenses.
- 21:46So the things you want to look for I think is what office, what type of services do they have?
- 21:51They're going to help me actually hit the ground running quickly.
- 21:55What type of support am I going to receive once I do get a transaction or a deal or client and what type of ongoing training am I going to get?
- 22:06I mean, is it is the training just like, oh, well, you know, go is perfect example when we started in real estate, when my wife and I started in real estate, we started at Remax.
- 22:16So we are a Remax equity group.
- 22:18I started I did you. Yeah.
- 22:20So the location we're at is no longer, you know, no Longer here is over in Tualatin.
- 22:25And our I remember at the time I was like, okay, I want to take I just want to learn as much as I can.
- 22:31I'd like that's just my mentality, right? Yeah.
- 22:34And I remember going to my managing broker, I'm like, okay, what what should I be learning right now?
- 22:40What classes should I be taking?
- 22:42And she was like, well, you know, you should probably get this designation.
- 22:45And this designation is like that was essentially the training they provided at that time.
- 22:50No, this is not not knocking Remax or anything like that.
- 22:53This is 24 years ago and this is one that was how things were done.
- 22:57Yeah, right. It was very normal. Right.
- 22:59And I did so at one point I think I had every designation that any RSU everything.
- 23:04Yeah.
- 23:05And I remember when and this again this is not a plug for KW.
- 23:10But I remember when KW approached us and I said they you know, the question he asked is like, you know, what do you want to do.
- 23:18Like what type of business do you want to have?
- 23:19Do you want to do X amount of business or as far as volume, do you want to do X amount a commission?
- 23:26What how big do you want to be small?
- 23:28Do you want to be?
- 23:29And when I started asking or answering those questions, they came back and like, okay, here's the playbook for this.
- 23:35Here's the training for this, here's the training for this.
- 23:37At that time, that was a revolutionary thing.
- 23:40Like companies just didn't really do that.
- 23:42So that's and I bring that up because when you're looking for an office, no matter where it is, and it's like everybody, most of your major companies have really good training nowadays. Yes.
- 23:53But how often do the are they providing that training?
- 23:57Do they bring experts and do they have people in the office who are providing that type of training, variety of training?
- 24:03Exactly.
- 24:03How often do they have that training?
- 24:05So if you're a new agent, ask to see the training calendar.
- 24:08It's like, I want to see your training calendar for this month and next.
- 24:11For next month, I want to know what type of attrition do.
- 24:15Yeah. What's the turnover?
- 24:16It's like, okay, you recruit, you have this many agents who are coming in.
- 24:20How many are actually sticking.
- 24:21What's the retention rate. Yeah.
- 24:22You know that is a sign of what not to do.
- 24:25A lot tells you a lot.
- 24:26This tells you how effective that office is at really producing and training their agents.
- 24:32Because if you're doing well, you're going to stick around.
- 24:34Yeah.
- 24:35So those are the type of questions I would ask. Yeah.
- 24:38And I couldn't agree more.
- 24:39I really like I just cringe when someone's like, oh, I left because the fee was this.
- 24:45I'm like, that's it. That's the only what?
- 24:48The fee is not the problem.
- 24:49No business is the problem. Exactly.
- 24:51And so and a lot of times and again, we're not trying to diss anybody.
- 24:54But the lower fee brokerages tend not to have as much support training.
- 24:58There's a reason they're the lower fees.
- 25:00So if you're not doing well at a brokerage with a little bit higher fees because they provide all these things, you're not going to do well at the brokerage that doesn't have those things.
- 25:08Absolutely is more about applying what's available to you.
- 25:11That being said, as president of our 18,000 agents, I support all brokerages in the state of Oregon.
- 25:16Absolutely.
- 25:17Let's talk about your leadership journey.
- 25:19That was a good Segway. What?
- 25:22After what was your first, like, major leadership role within, like, Oregon Realtors or PMA?
- 25:28Like, is this a recent journey for you, or did you dabble a little bit along the.
- 25:32Oh, no, not at all.
- 25:33This is all very recent for me.
- 25:35The my I would so what is this?
- 25:39Like I say, this is what 23 years going on, 24 years or so, the I can honestly say the first 1718, it was just about my business and growing.
- 25:50My team and I had a pretty large team.
- 25:53We did, you know, lots of transactions.
- 25:57The that was all my focus.
- 25:59It was just about managing my team and the market center here.
- 26:03So I never knew anything about, like, what realtors were doing behind the scenes so that I could do what I was doing.
- 26:12Yeah.
- 26:12And I would say that's probably like 99% of agents out there.
- 26:16They just have no idea that you get to do what you're doing because you were this cadre of agents behind the scenes who were volunteering their time to protect your industry.
- 26:27Yeah, protect our our profession and to protect our our clients, our buyers and our sellers and the community.
- 26:34I had no idea. Yeah. And so many don't.
- 26:37So many know.
- 26:38And so I don't fault them for not knowing.
- 26:40It's like I didn't know for forever until you do.
- 26:42I was the same. I was definitely an agent.
- 26:44I was like, what are all these fees for?
- 26:46Like, why am I paying these fees?
- 26:48And now when someone says, I'm like, well, did you know?
- 26:50And I like, can say all the reasons why you're paying the fees.
- 26:53So what got you, like what caught your attention?
- 26:55So how did you get involved?
- 26:57So what got me was, is it's the classic tap on the shoulder.
- 27:01Somebody's tapping me on the shoulder.
- 27:03So what?
- 27:04When I really got involved, it was.
- 27:07It was interest me because I was working.
- 27:09You know, I tell this story, too, because it was all about timing as well.
- 27:14And I was working on my doctorate and I was taking this one particular course and I was doing some research.
- 27:19I read this one peer review study, and it talked about how African-American homeownership was at its lowest level since 1968.
- 27:26Oh, gosh.
- 27:27And I sat back and I'm like, Holy smokes, really?
- 27:291968? That is crazy.
- 27:31Now this is when the market was on fire.
- 27:34I was like, this is this is insane.
- 27:36And so then I really just some self-reflection.
- 27:40It's like, okay, this industry has been really good to me.
- 27:43I've done very well.
- 27:45It's time for me to give back and start, you know, and pay it forward so that, you know, I could do something about that particular disparity.
- 27:54So around that same time, all of a sudden I get this call from from Drew Coleman and I, you know, drew started in the business probably about a year before I did.
- 28:03So, you know, always been tracking him in New Drew.
- 28:06I didn't know him well, but I saw him pivot into the governance space.
- 28:12And then I just get this call.
- 28:13He's like, hey, Tony, we need you.
- 28:16It's time for you to like, you know, step up.
- 28:18I was like, drew, your timing could not be more perfect.
- 28:21I literally just read this article and I was just thinking to myself, like, what can I do to like, help?
- 28:27And that was really the tap that I needed to really kind of start my journey.
- 28:32So I started off at what used to be the master Circle, which is now the Circle of Excellence at PMA, and then I transitioned from that to PMA and got on the board at PMA.
- 28:44For those of you that aren't familiar with PMA, just because not everybody that's listening to industry, correct?
- 28:50It's our local association within the Portland Metro.
- 28:53Yeah.
- 28:53So the Portland Metropolitan Association of Realtors, so I got in, got involved on the board of directors there and then eventually became president of PMA.
- 29:04Yeah.
- 29:04And then once I was I was doing that simultaneously with getting involved at the state level.
- 29:10So I served on the Diversity Key committee and then moved over to the Government Affairs Key Committee, which is our advocacy arm for Oregon Realtors, which is the state association, just above, local association.
- 29:24And then through that, I started I mean, I was able to get on a national committee for Nar, and I've served on a couple of different national committees.
- 29:33So that kind of started the journey.
- 29:35And then once you once you get in with all of it, you're getting your doctorate.
- 29:39I was yeah.
- 29:40Just to add an extra level. Yeah.
- 29:42And also trying to sell homes every now and then. So yeah.
- 29:46What has been some things that have surprised you along the way with your leadership journey within the association or with Oregon Realtors in general?
- 29:56I would say the the more involvement I had at the state and national level, the more I saw how much we did for our industry and our profession and for the community.
- 30:09Yeah.
- 30:10As you start volunteering and you start meeting all these other individuals across the nation and you realize like, holy smokes, we they're, you know, they're doing this, they're doing this, are meeting with their Congress, you know, Congress, you know, representatives or senators, they're meeting with their, you know, the governors of their states.
- 30:29And then all of a sudden, you get those opportunities to do so as well.
- 30:32And you just realize we do a ton.
- 30:36Yeah, that people don't know about.
- 30:38Can you Oregon real estate is hyperlocal neighborhood to neighborhood.
- 30:41It matters if you want insider knowledge, not just guesswork.
- 30:45Please call me.
- 30:46And let's make your next smooth, smooth.
- 30:48give just a few examples of things that we've done in the last couple of years?
- 30:52Yeah, I would say the every year there's an ongoing battle and people don't realize this is for like, say the mortgage interest deduction.
- 31:00Yeah.
- 31:00Like there's always some type of effort.
- 31:02In fact, we have it going on right now at the state House where there there's legislation to get rid of.
- 31:09Mid on second homes. Right.
- 31:12And it's going to say right now that is that effort started off.
- 31:16They want to get rid of it on primary residences which will literally take thousands of dollars out of people's pockets.
- 31:23Yeah.
- 31:24At a time when the affordability is a major issue in the first place, right?
- 31:29Yeah.
- 31:30So anyway, I won't go too deep into that, but that will be an example of something that affects buyers or sell.
- 31:37I mean, owners on a national level.
- 31:39The other thing, perfect example.
- 31:41During Covid we were not we take it for granted that our state were as far as realtors, we were deemed as essential.
- 31:50And so that was not the case across the country.
- 31:53Right.
- 31:54Like there were lots of states where realtors you know, transactions stopped and realtors were just out of work.
- 32:00Yeah. During that whole Covid time.
- 32:02That is an example of the advocacy that we had on the state level to make sure that we were deemed essential workers.
- 32:08So and I don't know if your business was like, but during that time people were buying and selling homes.
- 32:14Yeah.
- 32:14Well, nothing is, a rude awakening like being stuck somewhere with your whole family.
- 32:20So before and not.
- 32:22I'm not saying that people don't like their families, but it's totally different when everyone's trying to do meetings and school work all in one space, that they've never had to do that before.
- 32:30And when everyone was stuck at home, they were like, we actually, we need a bigger house or we need a house that's set up differently.
- 32:36And so people are like, we can't do this.
- 32:38And also they were nervous about like, how long are we going to be working from home? Like, this can't be.
- 32:43We can't all be at the kitchen table, right?
- 32:45Trying to be on our laptops at the same time. This isn't working.
- 32:48So yeah, it was really busy.
- 32:50So busy that a lot of people got into the industry a ton.
- 32:54Just. Well, that's a perfect. Yeah.
- 32:56Well, you look at our numbers at that point, state wise, we were like over 20,000 agents.
- 33:01We're now we're back down to about 16, 17,000.
- 33:04So yeah, it was a lot of people jumped in during that time, but that never would have me literally like, yeah, states were shut down.
- 33:12Yeah, they were states that were completely shut down during that time.
- 33:15So that's just one example.
- 33:16As far as like legislation behind the scene.
- 33:18There's constant legislation on the permitting side when it comes down to, easing some of the restrictions that are unnecessary or adding restrictions that we think need to be in place.
- 33:30You know, those are the things that we work on as a trade organization at Nar.
- 33:34Yeah.
- 33:35When we advocate, I think, a lot of people don't realize we advocate for so much homeownership opportunities and things that will impact homeownership.
- 33:43But also just like kind of what we've talked about with covet, the ability to do our jobs or the impact like health care, we have gone to the legislation multiple times about being to 99 employees and how to provide better health care.
- 33:55So we don't have all these realtors running around with no health care or minimal health care.
- 34:00So when they fall down trying to reach a lockbox, like how are they being right and things like that.
- 34:05So we're advocating on like the industry as a whole to absolutely AB so important.
- 34:09Yeah, I mean, at the end of the day, you know, the one of the things that people don't understand and I think they're starting are especially are politicians are starting to understand on a national level, is that the number one generator of generational wealth or created creation of generational wealth is homeownership here in the United States.
- 34:30And that's what we do at NAS.
- 34:32We're protecting that particular aspect that, you know, the American dream of being an own, a home, but being to own a home so that we can create generational wealth.
- 34:41Yeah.
- 34:41And this is something, again, this is when I read that study in 19 about 1968.
- 34:47And black owned homeowner homeownership being at its lowest point, it hit me because that all of a sudden is this huge generational wealth ability that my people just were not really participating in. Yeah.
- 35:04And that was huge.
- 35:06Yeah.
- 35:06So what are some other things that have stuck out to you and in just the most recent years that you wish Realtors knew more about or would educate themselves on a little bit more?
- 35:17It really just goes back to advocacy.
- 35:19I just wish they understood the importance of constantly advocating for our profession, for our industry, and for our community.
- 35:29That, I mean, yeah, that is the biggest takeaway.
- 35:32Yeah. So same.
- 35:34Well, and you don't have to get involved as far as like run for president or be on the board, but just even coming to the annual meetings and like learning what PMI was doing and learning what Oregon Realtors doing or even nah, it's amazing to me and the Facebook groups on social media when people are like, well, when Nar screwed us in the lawsuit and I'm like, they protected you, they saved you.
- 35:57I don't think you understand the lawsuit and things like that.
- 36:00They really don't.
- 36:01And this is so here's the thing.
- 36:04I will say this. So, you know, I was talking about social media as far as on the running side.
- 36:08And don't falling don't fall prey to what you read.
- 36:12Yeah.
- 36:12And social media for those in our profession.
- 36:16So from our members of Oregon Realtors listen up doctor Tony is about to tell you.
- 36:21So please, please be careful when you're engaging in all these these Facebook groups for real estate.
- 36:29Yeah.
- 36:30Don't get sucked into a there's so much misinformation that is being shared.
- 36:36And then people just get spun up and they just get all excitable about something that they don't really know what the hell they're talking about.
- 36:44I was just to be honest.
- 36:45Yeah.
- 36:46Don't share someone else's opinion, as it's a matter of fact, because that's what's happening.
- 36:51People are stating their opinions, and some of these groups and then other agents are repeating it like, well, did you know, blah, blah blah.
- 36:57And it's like, that wasn't facts.
- 36:57That was so-and-so's opinion.
- 37:00Most of it. It's not facts. Yeah.
- 37:01So when you talked about the the settlement, like why didn't.
- 37:05Nah like, you know, fight for we lost.
- 37:09Yeah.
- 37:09This isn't a matter of hey we just like we came up with this.
- 37:13Oh we're going to do this.
- 37:15We lost the lawsuit.
- 37:16They deliberated for less than two hours.
- 37:20In other words, we got our asses handed to us.
- 37:22Yes. Yeah.
- 37:23So it's a no brainer to them.
- 37:25Yes. So there's no like.
- 37:26Oh well we subtle like.
- 37:28No we didn't subtle we lost. Yeah.
- 37:30So after we lost now we had to regroup and figure out what we're going to do.
- 37:36So I just want to make sure that people understand there's a lot of misinformation.
- 37:39They're like, well, why didn't they fight harder?
- 37:41Like, no, we lost. Yeah.
- 37:44So there's only so much you can do once a verdict is made.
- 37:47There's only so much. Exactly.
- 37:48And so then it became okay, the settlement was in the billions, not with the M, but with a B, right.
- 37:55We got that knocked down to the millions.
- 37:58Right.
- 37:59Otherwise, you know, as you know it, today probably is not here.
- 38:03Right.
- 38:04Well, and part of what they included in the suit was protecting individuals.
- 38:09So then there couldn't be all these like sub suits, all the copycats.
- 38:12So that was the other thing that we were able to negotiate is like for, for people.
- 38:17And again they just don't understand.
- 38:19This is like if we did not settle when it came down to the amount and actually being able to figure out like how to get that be removed and get it down to an m, the other thing was the following protections for all the, you know, the offices, including the mom and pop offices across the nation.
- 38:39So the settlement literally protected our industry as it is today, like you are functioning today and doing your job today because NRW made the tough decisions of settling on what the punishment essentially would be, not the verdict.
- 38:58The verdict was we got our asses kicked.
- 38:59Yeah, well, and if we're being really transparent and honest for anybody that's listening, like what lawsuit?
- 39:05What are they talking about?
- 39:07The lawsuit was really around transparency and agents not communicating properly and and are protected you after making the mistake.
- 39:16And I didn't necessarily make that mistake.
- 39:18Agents out in the field are the ones that like sparked the lawsuit because of their practices and things.
- 39:24So now we have a much more transparent form and process so that hopefully this won't be an issue going forward.
- 39:31You know, I would say, and that's a really important point, because as painful as that was to go through and it was it's like, okay, you know, I was president, I think I was president for the first time.
- 39:43Or, you know, during that time all of a sudden, trust me, my life would be upside down.
- 39:48So like, I'm dealing with things that previous presidents had not had to deal with.
- 39:52Yeah, they got to go on like all the, you know, I call it the, you know, the beauty pageant show for a year.
- 39:57It's like, no, I'm doing like, how do we save this industry?
- 40:01How do we how do we save our profession?
- 40:04How do we save the association?
- 40:05What are we going to do type of thing.
- 40:07So at the end of the day, though, as painful as that was what resulted, we came out of that.
- 40:14This is a better industry with better practices and more professionalism than it was beforehand.
- 40:21So talking to the realtors out there, especially if you were a buyer's agent, how many times did you get stood up for a showing because you got some internet? Lee.
- 40:30They call you up and you're like, oh, I want to go see this house.
- 40:33And then you like show up at the house and they're not there.
- 40:36Or you show up at the house, you show them this house and then they ghost you.
- 40:40And like a week later, you finally touch base with like, oh, yeah, we wrote an offer with like, you know, my, my mom's sisters, you know, hairdresser who just got her real estate license.
- 40:50Yeah. And so you're like, wait, what?
- 40:53Those days are gone. Yeah.
- 40:54Because of the practices that we put in place after the settlement.
- 40:58So now buyers agents, you have to have a contract with your buyers.
- 41:02Just like you do on the selling side.
- 41:02Yeah.
- 41:04Those are all good things.
- 41:06They are at the time when we're putting those in place, there's lots of gnashing of teeth and people are like, oh my God, the sky is falling.
- 41:13It's like, it's all good. It is.
- 41:16And it really goes back to can you speak to your value if you can, the buyer broker agreement should not be like troubling to you because you're just explaining the home buying process and how it works and what you're providing them, and why they should sign it with you.
- 41:31It's no different than a listing appointment.
- 41:32And I think you, myself, and those of us who came from maybe the corporate world, we were like, well, yeah, this is easy.
- 41:41Just I'm just going to this is my value.
- 41:44If I'm not selling my value, then I don't deserve to get this particular buyer right.
- 41:48So it was kind of easy for us.
- 41:50Well, and I, I don't know about you, but I had talked about it.
- 41:53I had always talked about with my clients how I get paid because that's always a question.
- 41:57Even on the buy side, I it was just not a form I was presenting.
- 42:01But I would explain that like sometimes the seller offer at that time do not call me.
- 42:05This is not the current practice.
- 42:07Don't talk about don't talk about commission, right? Yes.
- 42:09Yeah.
- 42:10I was like at that time, I would say in the listing, it may or not be listed of what the seller is offering right to pay on your behalf.
- 42:17And if in the event you find a property that doesn't offer that, then we would have a different conversation at that time.
- 42:23So it's just a totally different conversation.
- 42:25Now you just have a piece of paper that's like very crystal clear going for it, very crystal clear, and are like, hey, and everything's negotiable.
- 42:33And that's my job.
- 42:33My job is to negotiate. Right?
- 42:35So I mean, that's like I always say to like, interview a couple of agents for the non real estate professionals listening that are home buyers and sellers.
- 42:44I always recommend interview a couple agents and ask them if they'll cut their commission and if they negotiate with you like that, don't hire that.
- 42:51Don't think, don't hire that girl. Don't hire that guy.
- 42:54Because if they're not going to advocate for their own paycheck their own way, that they're providing for their family, they sure as heck aren't going to advocate for you. Absolutely not.
- 43:01They're looking for easy money. Yeah.
- 43:03Or they don't believe in their skill set enough to back up like this is why I charge x, y, z.
- 43:09Because I provide this and this and this and I run these ads or whatever if they're like, oh sure. Yeah. That percent.
- 43:14Yeah, whatever you want.
- 43:16They're not going to really do the job that you want done.
- 43:18So just something to think about.
- 43:20So you're looking to buy or sell.
- 43:20That is an excellent point.
- 43:23What about anybody that's like a little bit nervous about getting into leadership or not really.
- 43:27Sure.
- 43:29I know for me, I kind of like you.
- 43:31Someone tapped me on the shoulder for women's counsel.
- 43:34And being a part of Women's Council of Realtors is what really opened my eyes to like, oh, that's what's going on at work in Realtors.
- 43:40Oh, that's that's going on a part.
- 43:41And then you and I are both huge fans of the Oregon leadership Academy.
- 43:45Go class 24, class of 23, best of all time.
- 43:50We'll see.
- 43:51But there are other ways to get involved.
- 43:53But what are some, pieces of advice you would give an agent that's like, I want to know more, but I'm not ready to sign up.
- 44:00Absolutely.
- 44:00Well, you touched on one of them, and that is my my advice is, before you say you're not quite ready to volunteer at the local association level, I would say find an affinity group that you feel like, okay, I identify with them.
- 44:17I have a passion for what they're trying to do.
- 44:19I want to roll up my sleeves and get involved with one of my affinity groups.
- 44:23And so an affinity group would be like the Women's Council, the, NRA or the National Association of Real Estate Brokers.
- 44:31For African or for blacks.
- 44:33Now rep National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals, area for the, Asian-American real estate professionals.
- 44:43And then there's the LGBTQ plus Alliance.
- 44:45And so you have these different real estate affinity groups get involved with them, volunteer, you know, they have fun, they do community service.
- 44:54And then maybe you're like, okay, I feel like I have a passion on the advocacy side now.
- 45:01So then I would say probably get involved with your local association.
- 45:05So here in the Portland metro area, that would be p ma.
- 45:08And they have a very robust, advocacy engine over there because they're dealing with, you know, Portland politics.
- 45:15Yeah.
- 45:15And so some of the, the well, the challenges that we face on the state level are same.
- 45:23I mean, completely echoed on the Portland metropolitan side.
- 45:27Absolutely.
- 45:28Probably even more so as far as some of the challenging politics there.
- 45:33So that's a great space to actually get involved.
- 45:36If you are passionate about that.
- 45:39And then I would say, you know, don't be shy about getting involved at the state level.
- 45:43It's not like because you can join each of these associations has different committees, and you can serve on these committees without saying, oh, I want to be president of this organization.
- 45:53Just get involved.
- 45:53Just roll up your sleeves and get get involved. Yeah.
- 45:56And sometimes getting involved is just being a person at the table that helps represent your area.
- 46:01So that's what I love about the fall and spring.
- 46:03Governance is, agents from all over the state come to these meetings and we talk about things that are going on across the state, because things that are happening in Redmond might not be happening in Portland, but it's good for us to know about it, too.
- 46:15And like cross talk about it, because a lot of our decisions that we make impact everybody.
- 46:20Absolutely.
- 46:21But if you are in the Portland metro, the five affinity groups are a great way to start.
- 46:26We don't have them all across the state.
- 46:28Yeah, it is a goal for most of our affinity groups to continue to grow.
- 46:31So if you're interested and you're in a different area and you want one of these groups in your area, let me know and I'll connect you with leaders within them.
- 46:38And then also, why p n is always a good one to always forget about why p n yeah, absolutely.
- 46:43Yeah. So because I'm just so old.
- 46:46They were the young professionals, which, by the way, is 30 and under.
- 46:50I got asked to speak.
- 46:52They were like, why aren't you more involved in my piano?
- 46:54And I was like, I'm 43. And they're like, what are you?
- 46:57The podcast?
- 46:58And I was like, are you guys saying I'm cool?
- 47:00Does that mean I'm cool? Awesome.
- 47:03So I appreciate you so much.
- 47:04I know you're super busy.
- 47:06So I really appreciate you taking the time to, you know, this is this has been fun.
- 47:11I would love to have you back.
- 47:12He has quite the Scotch palate, and so I'd love to explore that next time that you're on.
- 47:17So what I want to do if, if the likes or whatever they're called for this podcast, subscribe you and follow me if they go in the positive arena and, please have me back, I'll take you down to my, to the Oregon wine reserve in Lake Oswego, and I'll, we'll do this interview, but we'll do the scotch.
- 47:34I'll give you a quick tour of Scotland, and, you'll have a good time.
- 47:38Thank you.
- 47:39I appreciate that. Cheers.
- 47:39All right. Cheers.
- 47:42Thank you, everyone, for listening and for watching.
- 47:45I'll see you next week. Cheers. Cheers.