Latest / The Connect Practice Track & Grow Podcast / Ep023: Meet Rachael Schwalenberg - Investor Specialist Columbus, Ohio

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Ep023: Meet Rachael Schwalenberg - Investor Specialist Columbus, Ohio · The Connect Practice Track & Grow Podcast

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to the Connect Practice Track and Grow Podcast.
• 0:04
  SPEAKER_00: Habits, routines, motivations, and mindsets from some of the most successful real estate professionals among us.
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_00: Check out the show notes at Connect Practice Track Grow.com.
• 0:15
  SPEAKER_00: This show is brought to you by the Strategic Resource for Real Estate Professionals, creating and coaching business opportunities and strategies that support and add value to the lives of real estate professionals at thestrategicresource.com.
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_00: And by Roost Real Estate Company.
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_00: Today's real estate agent doesn't follow old rules.
• 0:35
  SPEAKER_00: She makes new ones.
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_00: Learn more at CareerWithroost.com.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_01: Hi, y'all, Chris McAllister here with the Connect Practice Track and Grow Podcast.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_01: And today, the Landlord Profitability Playbook Podcast, where it's my job to make your business better and your life easier.
• 0:53
  SPEAKER_01: I'd like to introduce Rachel Schwallenberg to the dual podcast today.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_01: Last summer I was listening to uh the Evernest real estate investor podcast while I was on the bike path.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_01: And the guest that day was Rachel of Columbus, Ohio.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_01: Now, I listened to a ton of podcasts, and I am not easily impressed, but I have to tell you, Rachel was absolutely amazing.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_01: She clearly knew the Columbus market inside and out.
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_01: And what I liked about it, it wasn't a rah-rah perspective either.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_01: It was nuanced, it was thoughtful, and in my opinion, absolutely accurate.
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_01: So as soon as I got home, I got on the Google machine and tracked her down and sent her an email.
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_01: And since then, we've become friends and referral partners.
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_01: So Rachel's years of experience in the Columbus market as a realtor, a property manager, a broker owner, entrepreneur, investor, you name it, it just makes her an invaluable resource to our listeners on both podcasts.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_01: So I guarantee that you're going to find some inspiration, some lessons, some actionable tips, habits, and mindsets you can use in your business to generate more leads, book more appointments, write more contracts, close more deals.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_01: Well, you know the drills.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_01: So without further ado, I bring you my interview with Rachel Schwallenberg.
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_01: Good morning.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_02: Good morning.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_01: I'm okay.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_02: Nice to talk to you this morning.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_01: Same to you.
• 2:15
  SPEAKER_01: So you've done so much and you've been so active in the Columbus market and you've helped so many people.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_01: If it's okay, why don't you just uh tell us all about yourself and how you got started and all that good stuff?
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_02: Sure.
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, for those of you who don't know me, I have a background in property management.
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_02: I started uh a very long time ago.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_02: I won't put a year to it and age myself, but a very long time ago, just doing property management, leasing, you know, large apartment complexes.
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_02: And I kind of worked my way through that corporate system, um, ending up in a regional position, running lots of different REITs, working with large owners, um, and kind of burnt myself out.
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_02: So at some point I had gotten my real estate license in 2008.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_02: It was during, you know, the downfall, but there was lots of opportunity for first-time homebuyers, the$8,000 tax credit, and I found a niche.
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_02: I built a business network.
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_02: And since I had decided to leave the corporate world, I took my broker's test in 14 and opened my own brokerage.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_02: I had done some investing on my own.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_02: I had built, you know, a lot of good communications and different, you know, connections.
• 3:34
  SPEAKER_02: So I was lucky enough to start my own business in 2014 and grew that through networking, small investors, and you know, lots of sales at that point, and uh just kind of took off from there.
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_02: So between property management, sales, investing, I've just kind of touched every level of uh real estate that I could.
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_02: And that's the quick dump down version.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_02: But you know, I I've got a lot of history and I try and use that in my everyday business.
• 4:05
  SPEAKER_01: Specialized work in working with investors primarily, correct?
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, have you Yeah, my brokerage, although I like to do uh some residential, my brokerage, like the bread and butter of what I do is working with investors on a daily basis.
• 4:19
  SPEAKER_02: We help them identify properties, um, we'll help them sell their properties and reinvest.
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_02: I'll work performance with them.
• 4:26
  SPEAKER_02: We look at the property from a renovation standpoint, anything that we can do to get those dollars uh and their revenue.
• 4:33
  SPEAKER_02: But yeah, we pretty much just work with investors on a daily basis.
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_02: That's what everybody, Rachel does.
• 4:41
  SPEAKER_01: She does math.
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_02: Do what?
• 4:43
  SPEAKER_01: She does math.
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_02: I don't like she does math.
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_02: Don't like math.
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_02: I I like using programs and spreadsheets that do it for me because if I do that by brain, you're probably not going to be very profitable.
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, it's amazing that you do it all and you do it well.
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, you know, you're closing 20, 30 plus units every year, and you've got, I know you've got clients from all over the country.
• 5:03
  SPEAKER_01: You're managing property for people, you're running your office, and and you've still got kids at home.
• 5:07
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm not quite sure how you pull all that off, but you know, you make it look easier.
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_02: We've stayed pretty small in retrospect.
• 5:15
  SPEAKER_02: We we don't take on anything with it we can't, you know, keep our hands on.
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_02: I like to pride myself on the fact that I can really pick up the phone anytime an investor needs me.
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_02: I think that our business could have been a whole lot bigger, but we've kind of chosen to stay relative and available.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_02: I think that's important.
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_02: You and I have done a great job of being referral partners too, because that's important.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_01: Do you have some long-term clients, people that you've worked with over the years?
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I've got some people that I've had since I opened the brokerage.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_02: And like you said, I've got people from all over.
• 5:53
  SPEAKER_02: I've had clients in Japan.
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_02: A lot of my clients are in California, Seattle.
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_02: But yeah, I've had some people that started out with me in 2014, 2015, and I still help them buy and sell their properties and manage their properties.
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_02: We've developed really long-term trust.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_02: And essentially we can do a deal just by being over the phone.
• 6:17
  SPEAKER_02: And it's great because we just have like an unspoken trust in each other where um they know that I'm gonna make sure I get the best deal for them.
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_01: Well, that's fantastic.
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_01: So grant agents connect, right?
• 6:29
  SPEAKER_01: So the uh podcast is Connect Practice Track and Grow.
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_01: But again, you do so much with investors.
• 6:34
  SPEAKER_01: We're gonna run this on both podcasts.
• 6:35
  SPEAKER_01: But so you've sort of started this, but in a typical year, then where does your business come from?
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_02: The majority of my business is actually referral-based.
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_02: A lot of investors talk to other investors and the word spreads.
• 6:47
  SPEAKER_02: A lot of business comes from these podcasts, different YouTube videos.
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_02: People like to educate themselves and word kind of spreads that way.
• 6:56
  SPEAKER_02: I do work with a lot of other agents, agents that are more residential agents that don't do a lot of investments and they will refer business to me.
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_02: But I'd say the majority of it is word of mouth and and investor referral.
• 7:10
  SPEAKER_01: So, you to me, you know, you you light up a room in a good way, you know.
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm uh I don't want to say I'm envious of that, but I'm kind of envious of that.
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_01: Like, you know, you you invited me to a networking event you recently did at Brew Dog.
• 7:23
  SPEAKER_01: Why don't you tell us about that?
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_01: How did that come about?
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_01: And is that something that you do on a regular basis?
• 7:27
  SPEAKER_02: Or yeah, so I don't usually hold a lot of them, as you know, but I like to attend them.
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_02: I'm a very social person.
• 7:35
  SPEAKER_02: I'm not afraid to talk to a stranger.
• 7:37
  SPEAKER_02: But the whole point of that was to try and get more investors to come out, meet our hard money lender.
• 7:43
  SPEAKER_02: A lot of a lot more people are going to hard money now.
• 7:46
  SPEAKER_02: It's just a little easier with the interest rates and whatnot.
• 7:49
  SPEAKER_02: So we really wanted to bring that lender out, have people meet them, um, meet our title agency, meet me.
• 7:55
  SPEAKER_02: I, you know, I want to be able to help more investors grow that word of mouth.
• 7:59
  SPEAKER_02: But yeah, I mean, networking is so easy to do.
• 8:01
  SPEAKER_02: You can get people to refer you, you can get people to sponsor your event.
• 8:06
  SPEAKER_02: It's just a very easy way to get your name and your face out there.
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm not a shy person by any means.
• 8:12
  SPEAKER_02: So I love being able to attend those to hold them is even more fun.
• 8:17
  SPEAKER_02: So yeah, I just think it's a great way for people, especially agents, to be able to kind of build their book of business.
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_02: But I had one recently and it was a lot of fun.
• 8:27
  SPEAKER_02: We had a good time.
• 8:28
  SPEAKER_01: How do you keep track of all your relationships that you've built up since 2008 and probably before that?
• 8:33
  SPEAKER_02: I'm very lucky to have a fantastic memory and I live off of my phone.
• 8:38
  SPEAKER_02: So, you know, my phone has names in it with addresses attached, and you know, it's just use the tools that you've got.
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_02: I have reports and I send Christmas cards every year to all of my clients, and it's just keeping track with whatever works best for you.
• 8:55
  SPEAKER_02: But yeah, I've got a lot of different ways that I kind of remember everyone.
• 8:59
  SPEAKER_02: So, and then there's always the clients that you I remember.
• 9:02
  SPEAKER_01: Clearly, your entire business is built on relationships.
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, I think you and I take that for granted, but it always s strikes me as crazy when other agents are out there, you know, fighting, fighting, and and they're just going for the next transaction.
• 9:18
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, what why do you think there's so many agents out there that don't look at the business the way that you do?
• 9:23
  SPEAKER_01: What do you think is is I can't figure out another way to do it, but there's obviously other ways to do it.
• 9:27
  SPEAKER_01: Why do you think other people don't take your approach?
• 9:30
  SPEAKER_02: I think everybody's out there just for the dollar, um, especially newer.
• 9:34
  SPEAKER_02: Um when talking to a newer agent, especially, I told them it doesn't happen overnight.
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_02: You know, you've got to definitely work your network.
• 9:43
  SPEAKER_02: You've got to plan on having a few years where maybe it's gonna be a struggle.
• 9:47
  SPEAKER_02: You've got to really be creative.
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_02: It it's it's a hard business to get into.
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_02: You can't just make a buck quickly and expect to be, you know, expect to be rich.
• 9:58
  SPEAKER_02: You've got to really use your personality, you've got to use your tools, you've got to use your relationships and then build upon those relationships.
• 10:06
  SPEAKER_02: You can't be a fly by night agent.
• 10:09
  SPEAKER_02: You've got to, you've got to do the nitty-gritty and the hard work.
• 10:13
  SPEAKER_02: If somebody wants you to see 90 houses, you're gonna have to show them 90 houses.
• 10:19
  SPEAKER_02: And as much as that's gonna suck, they're gonna remember you showed them 90 houses when they go to sell and look for another house.
• 10:27
  SPEAKER_02: That's just how it works.
• 10:29
  SPEAKER_02: And you've got to be the good stand-up person to do that.
• 10:32
  SPEAKER_02: My clients remember the things that I've done that went above and beyond, and that's why they keep calling.
• 10:37
  SPEAKER_02: And that's just, I don't spend money on marketing.
• 10:40
  SPEAKER_02: I do not have a marketing budget.
• 10:42
  SPEAKER_02: I have spent my time with my clients, doing everything I can for them within my fiduciary duty, going above and beyond, and building my book of business.
• 10:52
  SPEAKER_02: It's not easy, but that's what you've got to do in order to earn people's trust and be, you know, a respected agent.
• 10:59
  SPEAKER_02: Put yourself out there, go to networking events, do all of those things that maybe you're not comfortable doing.
• 11:05
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 11:06
  SPEAKER_01: I I think what you say is absolute gospel, quite frankly.
• 11:09
  SPEAKER_01: There were so many people who got into the business to make a quick buck, you know, just after we knew we all all weren't going to die of COVID in 21, 22.
• 11:18
  SPEAKER_01: And I think those people have really, so many of them have just damaged the business because their motivation, I mean, I don't want to sound sanctimonious, but their motivation wasn't pure.
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I don't know that they were in it to build it.
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_01: They weren't in it to build a profession.
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_01: They weren't trying to build a, you know, a practice, a personal practice or a business that was going to take care of them for the long term.
• 11:38
  SPEAKER_01: And the fact is, you've got to look at this as a long-term commitment.
• 11:43
  SPEAKER_01: And yeah, we can teach people, you know, how to work by referral.
• 11:47
  SPEAKER_01: And, you know, when we have agents come aboard, we, you know, everybody has to go through, you know, 100 days to greatness, that puppini and company training.
• 11:56
  SPEAKER_01: And every single time somebody comes on and actually does the work, they do get that that first transaction in the first hundred days, and and usually they have something else under contract.
• 12:04
  SPEAKER_01: So there are ways to get the ball rolling, you know, when you're focused on relationships and working by referral.
• 12:11
  SPEAKER_01: But when you get into the business in 21-22 and you didn't have to do anything, or you got sloppy sticking aside in the yard and just waited for the you know, somebody else to sell it for you.
• 12:19
  SPEAKER_01: It's uh it's a thing.
• 12:21
  SPEAKER_02: But I think Yeah, here's the deal.
• 12:23
  SPEAKER_02: In in 2022, people were making money without even trying.
• 12:28
  SPEAKER_02: Deals were just being handed to them.
• 12:30
  SPEAKER_02: They made a ton of money and they thought it was that easy.
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_02: 2023, the second half, third and fourth quarters changed that.
• 12:39
  SPEAKER_02: And those agents are now looking at getting jobs, they're struggling, they don't understand why they're not making money.
• 12:46
  SPEAKER_02: And the end result of that is you've got to try a little harder.
• 12:50
  SPEAKER_02: Now it's back to the norm of you've got to go out there and find your business.
• 12:55
  SPEAKER_02: And sometimes that also means you've got a little, you've got to spend a little money to make money.
• 13:00
  SPEAKER_02: I've resorted before to using Zillow leads or reloader.com leads.
• 13:06
  SPEAKER_02: Those are not dead end leads if you work them appropriately.
• 13:10
  SPEAKER_02: You also need a broker that's going to support you and be available to you and answer questions.
• 13:16
  SPEAKER_02: That's incredibly important.
• 13:19
  SPEAKER_02: There's a lot of brokers that are just there to hang their license.
• 13:22
  SPEAKER_02: If you have somebody that's going to push you, and you know, Chris, I know you've got a whole program that you use.
• 13:28
  SPEAKER_02: Somebody like that is going to be very valuable to an agent that maybe doesn't quite understand what they need to be doing.
• 13:35
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, well, I'd like to think so.
• 13:37
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, no, it is.
• 13:39
  SPEAKER_01: And it's funny, you know, it's like you were talking about, you know, you know, connect is practical, connect practice, track, and grow.
• 13:44
  SPEAKER_01: You know, when we talk about practice, you know, what you just said, you know, what some of my question always is, what do you want, you know, your future clients to know about you?
• 13:55
  SPEAKER_01: And you basically just said it, right?
• 13:58
  SPEAKER_01: You know, you do work hard, you are focused.
• 14:01
  SPEAKER_01: And I think one of the things that sets you apart is you're present in the moment, right?
• 14:07
  SPEAKER_01: You know, it when you're with a client, I think you're absolutely with the client.
• 14:12
  SPEAKER_01: And you're not afraid to work, you're not afraid to do what you say you're gonna do, you show up, you know, you've gotten a tremendous you know, it's one of those things where we meet so many agents, you know, not just new agents, but they've got 20 years of business.
• 14:25
  SPEAKER_01: The problem is it's the same year 20 times.
• 14:27
  SPEAKER_01: You know, you're one of those unique individuals that learn something every year, you build on it, you know, and you get better.
• 14:34
  SPEAKER_02: So yeah, I mean, there's there's so many examples of agents that I think struggle, especially newer agents.
• 14:41
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and they don't want to put the work in.
• 14:43
  SPEAKER_02: And I can tell you it's hard.
• 14:45
  SPEAKER_02: I had an agent recently that was a newer agent and struggled because they didn't want to do the extra work and said, you know, it's just it's too much.
• 14:54
  SPEAKER_02: I don't want to spend my evenings doing this, and I don't want to, you know.
• 14:58
  SPEAKER_02: And I think my thing was, you know, none of us really want to do that.
• 15:03
  SPEAKER_02: You know, I was up last night late writing a contract and dealing with a sick child.
• 15:07
  SPEAKER_02: If you're gonna post this video, I look tired, you know.
• 15:10
  SPEAKER_02: But these are the things that we have to do.
• 15:13
  SPEAKER_02: And, you know, my thing was we don't necessarily want to do it, but we know that it's in the best interest of our client.
• 15:20
  SPEAKER_02: We've got to get those things done.
• 15:22
  SPEAKER_02: And sometimes there's easy days and there's hard days, and you got to do them both.
• 15:26
  SPEAKER_02: You can't pick and choose.
• 15:28
  SPEAKER_02: So if you want to be successful, that's what you got to do.
• 15:31
  SPEAKER_01: What else sets your practice apart from the competition?
• 15:33
  SPEAKER_01: You've seen your agents come and go for years now.
• 15:36
  SPEAKER_01: What else sets you apart?
• 15:37
  SPEAKER_01: What makes your practice, especially when you're working with that with investors, what makes you special?
• 15:41
  SPEAKER_02: You know, I don't think we do anything particularly special.
• 15:45
  SPEAKER_02: It's that I don't take on any more work that I can't handle.
• 15:49
  SPEAKER_02: And I think a lot of brokerages and a lot of agents will take on anything and everything that comes through their door.
• 15:56
  SPEAKER_02: And it's very important to me that I want the work.
• 16:00
  SPEAKER_02: I respect every person that comes to me and appreciate it.
• 16:04
  SPEAKER_02: But if I can't give you a hundred percent of my time and attention, then I know I'm not gonna be the right person for you.
• 16:11
  SPEAKER_02: I don't want to take on things that I'm not gonna be able to, you know, run to the property quickly to look at it, um, take all of your phone calls.
• 16:20
  SPEAKER_02: You know, I can only handle so much.
• 16:22
  SPEAKER_02: I'm a I'm a person.
• 16:24
  SPEAKER_02: I have other obligations and I want to make sure that I can give you all of the time and attention that I can.
• 16:29
  SPEAKER_02: I think that sets us apart if you respectfully understand that I can send you to somebody that has the time.
• 16:37
  SPEAKER_02: I can refer you to another property management company.
• 16:40
  SPEAKER_02: We've been doing a lot of business back and forth, you and I.
• 16:43
  SPEAKER_02: It's knowing your limitations.
• 16:47
  SPEAKER_01: I agree with you, but I would also say, you know, and as you know, we came off a really tough year last year.
• 16:53
  SPEAKER_01: And part of the reason was, you know, we were we let COVID, you know, COVID got to us too, right?
• 17:00
  SPEAKER_01: You know, we thought during those couple of boom years that we were just God's gift of real estate.
• 17:04
  SPEAKER_01: And then when the tide came out and suddenly people didn't have all that extra cash in their pocket to pay the rent, they started moving again.
• 17:10
  SPEAKER_01: Oh my God, we had the toughest year and a half, you know, we've ever had.
• 17:14
  SPEAKER_01: But one of the things that I realized was, and I think you said this, is you have to be able to fully commit, you know, to the business you're going to take.
• 17:23
  SPEAKER_01: But I the other thing I think is critical is that you're very discerning about the business you choose to accept.
• 17:30
  SPEAKER_01: And one of the things that, you know, we found last year was we signed up a lot of owners that had no business buying properties, you know, respect us, didn't know what they were doing, didn't want to learn, didn't want to listen.
• 17:44
  SPEAKER_01: And quite frankly, had we just not taken everything that came through the front door there for a while, we wouldn't have had the same issues we had last year.
• 17:50
  SPEAKER_01: So, you know, I always say we don't work with assholes.
• 17:53
  SPEAKER_01: You know, sometimes you make a mistake, but you've got to be willing to let some people go and hold on to the people that about you and you care most about and build those relationships.
• 18:02
  SPEAKER_01: But you know, you're gonna commit to them, but you also need to expect, and I know your clients commit to you as well.
• 18:07
  SPEAKER_01: And and it goes both ways.
• 18:09
  SPEAKER_02: Absolutely.
• 18:09
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, absolutely.
• 18:10
  SPEAKER_02: It does go both ways.
• 18:11
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm not afraid to turn around and fire a client.
• 18:16
  SPEAKER_02: I need that client to understand that I'm very good at what I do.
• 18:20
  SPEAKER_02: I respect your opinion and I definitely want to listen to it and I'll even give it a try.
• 18:25
  SPEAKER_02: But when it's not working, you know, we need to do what's tried and true.
• 18:29
  SPEAKER_02: And I can help you the best way I know how.
• 18:32
  SPEAKER_02: And, you know, I need you to respect that and know that I can make you successful.
• 18:38
  SPEAKER_02: But when that's not working and you're not listening yet, there's definitely a communication issue.
• 18:42
  SPEAKER_02: And I've fired many clients, you know, it's just knowing when to say when and throw them in the towel.
• 18:48
  SPEAKER_02: We all want to be productive and and respectful of everyone's time.
• 18:52
  SPEAKER_02: So, yeah, there's definitely those people that are maybe just not investing in the appropriate ways.
• 18:57
  unknown: Yeah.
• 18:58
  SPEAKER_01: Well, you know, my goal, you know, like yours is I want to make sure our owners have the best representation and counsel that they can have, period.
• 19:05
  SPEAKER_01: And that means they've got to, they've we've got to add more and more value to their lives and their businesses from a management perspective, but we also need to be able to help them, you know, expand their empire.
• 19:18
  SPEAKER_01: And that's why, you know, I used to talk about manage with Roost all the time, and we're sort of transitioning to invest with Roost.
• 19:25
  SPEAKER_01: And what's been great about working with you is, you know, I really feel like Gretchen and the team have the management piece down, but we don't have anybody, you know, at my company in Columbus at this point at all who is as immersed in the local investor market as you are.
• 19:41
  SPEAKER_01: And the last thing I ever want to do is let any of our owners down.
• 19:44
  SPEAKER_01: And that's why, you know, quite frankly, you're the only person that, you know, I'm referring any of our investors to go out and, you know, start looking for new properties to buy because it's just not something I feel like we're equipped to do and do well.
• 19:57
  SPEAKER_01: And, you know, thank God I met you.
• 20:00
  SPEAKER_02: Well, so far we've done a couple of really good things.
• 20:02
  SPEAKER_02: I've been able to save owners from uh continuing and some poor investments.
• 20:07
  SPEAKER_02: We've sold a couple properties and we're going to be able to reinvest a few things.
• 20:10
  SPEAKER_02: You know, I've sent some management in your way that I wasn't able to keep myself.
• 20:14
  SPEAKER_02: So I think it's been a really great partnership.
• 20:16
  SPEAKER_02: And I think agents need to remember that they can't save the whole world.
• 20:22
  SPEAKER_02: There's a lot of people that are like us that really want to make their, you know, real estate career a success, but it is knowing your limitations and being able to really just focus on, you know, what you're good at and the clients that you can really help one at a time.
• 20:37
  SPEAKER_01: So, what's next for your practice?
• 20:38
  SPEAKER_01: What do you, what does the next level look like for your clients?
• 20:41
  SPEAKER_01: What are you hoping to, I guess, focus on here?
• 20:44
  SPEAKER_02: I haven't quite figured out the next level yet.
• 20:47
  SPEAKER_02: You know, I really enjoy what I do, you know, trying to scale, uh, you know, partnering, merging, things like that.
• 20:55
  SPEAKER_02: I, you know, I want to be able to scale with, you know, my my clients.
• 20:59
  SPEAKER_02: And, you know, looking at the market, I think that it's going to open up more opportunity for more investing.
• 21:07
  SPEAKER_02: So I'm really hoping that we can just take on some more investors here in the future, maybe some more agents, and really thinking maybe that we can grow Roost in a different way and build some agents there.
• 21:17
  SPEAKER_02: And, you know, maybe it's not that I'm going to be growing.
• 21:20
  SPEAKER_02: Maybe it's going to be I'm going to be growing Roost a little bit.
• 21:23
  SPEAKER_01: Well, that'd be okay with me too, but it's a two-way street.
• 21:26
  SPEAKER_02: So yeah.
• 21:27
  SPEAKER_02: And you know what?
• 21:28
  SPEAKER_02: We'll we'll just see where it takes us because I'm only one person.
• 21:32
  SPEAKER_02: And I think that growing some of my clients' portfolios is going to be the most important for me.
• 21:37
  SPEAKER_02: I think so too.
• 21:38
  SPEAKER_02: You know, I do my own investing, and it, you know, personal investing is always really important to me, but growing some of my clients' portfolios is going to be really important over the next few years with the things that I think are coming in Columbus.
• 21:50
  SPEAKER_01: So tell me about what you think is coming in Columbus.
• 21:52
  SPEAKER_01: So, what's your take on the Columbus market now?
• 21:54
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe a quick review of 2023 and what you see happening in 2024.
• 21:58
  SPEAKER_01: What do you think?
• 21:58
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 21:59
  SPEAKER_02: So I think 23 is kind of our alert that we're going to be heading back to what I call the norm.
• 22:09
  SPEAKER_02: You know, 2020 was outrageous.
• 22:12
  SPEAKER_02: 2023 is kind of starting to head us back to what the reality of real estate is.
• 22:18
  SPEAKER_02: And I think 2024 is going to be probably a little bit of a plateau.
• 22:24
  SPEAKER_02: Maybe not going back to the normal prices, but really starting to, you know, level out.
• 22:32
  SPEAKER_02: We're not seeing highest and best on a lot of properties anymore, unless they're just really priced aggressively.
• 22:37
  SPEAKER_02: We're not seeing taking properties as is anymore.
• 22:40
  SPEAKER_02: We're going back to what you know normal standards are.
• 22:44
  SPEAKER_02: And I think as do what?
• 22:46
  SPEAKER_01: I think a healthier market, quite frankly.
• 22:49
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 22:49
  SPEAKER_02: And I think as 2024 continues, we're going to start to see more properties coming on the market that are bank owned, more properties that are probates, more properties that are going to be at a much healthier price point.
• 23:02
  SPEAKER_02: And that's going to continue for a while because we're going to start seeing more of a normal real estate.
• 23:08
  SPEAKER_02: People are going to start buying heavily again, as far as investors are concerned.
• 23:13
  SPEAKER_02: And I just think it's going to be more reasonable.
• 23:16
  SPEAKER_02: And that's what I call, you know, the norm.
• 23:18
  SPEAKER_02: That's what we were doing for years.
• 23:20
  SPEAKER_02: You know, the market before was just completely, you know, completely saturated.
• 23:26
  SPEAKER_02: And although we've got a ton of growth in Columbus, I think we're going to start to kind of level out as far as high pricing is concerned.
• 23:34
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I don't think we're going to have the same continuous monthly increases.
• 23:38
  SPEAKER_01: I think that's going to level out.
• 23:39
  SPEAKER_01: I think days of markets already started.
• 23:41
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it's definitely plateaued.
• 23:43
  SPEAKER_02: But with that being said, everything in Columbus has not.
• 23:47
  SPEAKER_02: Columbus is continuing to grow.
• 23:50
  SPEAKER_02: The development around Columbus is growing.
• 23:52
  SPEAKER_02: The things that are happening in Columbus, it we're projecting to be still a great and major city.
• 23:59
  SPEAKER_02: So as far as investing, I think it's a fantastic time to do so.
• 24:04
  SPEAKER_02: Things with Intel that are happening, everybody knows Intel is coming.
• 24:09
  SPEAKER_02: The truth about Intel is that, you know, we don't see the real result of that for five to 10 years.
• 24:15
  SPEAKER_02: So buying real estate here is still a fantastic time.
• 24:19
  SPEAKER_02: Columbus is a huge buy and hold market.
• 24:22
  SPEAKER_02: I think buying now, you're going to see massive results in five to 10 years.
• 24:27
  SPEAKER_02: What investors need to know is that you're not going to have maybe a huge cash flow right now.
• 24:33
  SPEAKER_02: You're going to break even, have a little bit of cash to put away, not much, but you've got to look at your five and 10 year projections.
• 24:40
  SPEAKER_02: Don't let it scare you off from buying because you're going to have five and 10-year projections, 20-year projections that are going to be you can't beat it when looking at other other markets.
• 24:52
  SPEAKER_02: So I think there's just a lot of opportunity to buy here over the next 12, 24 months and have some really solid, valuable property.
• 25:02
  SPEAKER_01: Um Columbus has always been interesting because you know, Ohio State University is not going anywhere.
• 25:07
  SPEAKER_01: The state capital is not going anywhere, you know, and now you've got Intel coming and billions of dollars in investment.
• 25:13
  SPEAKER_01: But I I think people sometimes think that, oh, Intel's coming.
• 25:16
  SPEAKER_01: I need to go invest someplace.
• 25:17
  SPEAKER_01: And it's not so much like that.
• 25:19
  SPEAKER_01: I I think you're right.
• 25:20
  SPEAKER_01: I think it's making Columbus that much stronger and that more unique of a it's the fallout of what happens from Intel.
• 25:28
  SPEAKER_02: It's the population growth that happens.
• 25:31
  SPEAKER_01: Exactly.
• 25:32
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 25:32
  SPEAKER_02: It's if you look at other cities that Intel has come into and you look at the studies that have been done, because I've really researched this, it's five to ten years out that those cities are so much stronger with their infrastructure and their growth, that values are higher.
• 25:49
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, it's just it's everything that happens after that happens.
• 25:54
  SPEAKER_02: Amazon is coming in here.
• 25:55
  SPEAKER_02: We've got two huge Amazon uh call centers being built.
• 25:59
  SPEAKER_02: Nationwide Children's is still growing.
• 26:01
  SPEAKER_02: We have huge things happening that although it's happening right now, it's the projections from that are really going to give us, you know, that great investment opportunity.
• 26:14
  SPEAKER_02: So, you know, for those investors that might be newer, they are a little afraid because they're not seeing, you know, 100 or 2, you know, in revenue every month.
• 26:24
  SPEAKER_02: But don't let that scare you because you're going to see a huge cash flow, you know, down the road.
• 26:29
  SPEAKER_02: And I think that's what everybody really needs to consider is that you're looking at having multiple properties, retirement, all of those things.
• 26:37
  SPEAKER_02: And Columbus is going to give you that because our infrastructure is going to be huge in the future.
• 26:43
  SPEAKER_01: And that's the beautiful thing about Columbus is, you know, there's years that, especially when you buy a new property the first couple of years, cash flow, you know, isn't fabulous.
• 26:51
  SPEAKER_01: And God forbid you may be a little negative, you know, even in the first couple of years, but the appreciation never stops.
• 26:58
  SPEAKER_01: So you're right.
• 26:59
  SPEAKER_01: I think for the whole market, we come, we wake up five, 10 years, 15 years, my gosh, we're all going to be thrilled.
• 27:05
  SPEAKER_01: And again, it goes back to taking the long view and you know, making that commitment that, you know, this is what we do as professionals.
• 27:12
  SPEAKER_01: And, you know, we've seen it happen before, and it's going to happen again.
• 27:14
  SPEAKER_01: And, you know, we're thrilled to be here.
• 27:16
  SPEAKER_02: I had a client, we closed on it just two weeks ago.
• 27:19
  SPEAKER_02: He bought a fantastic little house, but he bought it knowing that he was negative starting out$211 a month.
• 27:27
  SPEAKER_02: But we pulled all of his numbers, we looked at everything, we did worst-case scenarios, and we pulled his projections.
• 27:34
  SPEAKER_02: And I think it was like year eight, he was going to be making about$750 a month, and so on and so forth.
• 27:42
  SPEAKER_02: So he was willing to take that short-term loss in order to get to the point where he was going to be making, you know, he was going to be making up for it within two years, you know, and then three years and four years, all those things.
• 27:55
  SPEAKER_02: He saw the long-term potential.
• 27:57
  SPEAKER_02: So it's just, I guess the message is 2024 is, you know, it's going to really start to turn around.
• 28:02
  SPEAKER_02: And I think, you know, 2020, um, just remember you're going to start making money.
• 28:07
  SPEAKER_02: And it's, you know, buy now, don't wait.
• 28:09
  SPEAKER_02: I think that's your properties, right?
• 28:12
  SPEAKER_01: Fabulous message.
• 28:13
  SPEAKER_01: And the fact that you know your numbers like you do is just a such a refreshing thing.
• 28:17
  SPEAKER_01: And that's why I want every one of our owners and and future owners and investor clients to to listen to this podcast because you're the person they need to be working with.
• 28:27
  SPEAKER_01: It's just the way it is.
• 28:28
  SPEAKER_01: So anything else you'd like to add before we close out today?
• 28:32
  SPEAKER_01: This has been great.
• 28:33
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you very much.
• 28:34
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, I could talk for like hours.
• 28:35
  SPEAKER_02: I'm just doing again.
• 28:37
  SPEAKER_02: Um, well, yeah, I mean, let's talk again, but there's just so much that I could say.
• 28:42
  SPEAKER_02: Uh to agents, I would say, you know, hang in there, it's gonna get better.
• 28:47
  SPEAKER_02: There's so many people out there struggling, but use your network, especially other agents, because there's so many people that can give you tips and tricks and people like Chris that you know can support you.
• 28:59
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm always available too.
• 29:00
  SPEAKER_02: I love to meet and talk and and help.
• 29:03
  SPEAKER_02: And to investors, don't be afraid to spend a dollar and you know, hang in there too.
• 29:09
  SPEAKER_02: And I think that there's just lots of opportunity here.
• 29:13
  SPEAKER_01: Um and trust your gut.
• 29:15
  SPEAKER_01: The yes, and the plus side is because you know, I want them to know that you know, we're gonna take care of you on the on the buy process.
• 29:23
  SPEAKER_01: You know, Rachel's got that covered, and she's gonna treat that like she was buying her own property, and we're gonna help you make money on the management side and treat that asset as if it were our own.
• 29:32
  SPEAKER_01: So I think together we can help a lot of people here.
• 29:35
  SPEAKER_02: Always like we were gonna live in it and own it ourselves.
• 29:38
  SPEAKER_02: So if there's ever something that you don't feel good about, trust your gut.
• 29:41
  SPEAKER_02: Your gut is never wrong.
• 29:43
  SPEAKER_02: If you have a bad gut feeling about an agent, if you ever have a bad gut feeling about a contractor, a bad gut feeling about a property, trust your gut, and you'll be happy you did.
• 29:53
  SPEAKER_01: Well, thank you so much.
• 29:54
  SPEAKER_01: This was fabulous, and we'll do it again real soon.
• 29:57
  SPEAKER_02: Look forward to it.
• 29:59
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you, Rachel.
• 30:00
  SPEAKER_02: Bye, guys.
• 30:02
  SPEAKER_01: And there we have it.
• 30:03
  SPEAKER_01: Thanks for listening in.
• 30:05
  SPEAKER_01: If you want to continue the conversation, go to www.connectpractice trackgrow.com.
• 30:12
  SPEAKER_01: That's connect practicetrackgrow.com, where we have additional information about the podcast, archived episodes, and an option you can select to be a guest on the show.
• 30:23
  SPEAKER_01: We'd love to hear from you.
• 30:24
  SPEAKER_01: So that's it.
• 30:25
  SPEAKER_01: We'll be back next time with another episode of the Connect Practice Track and Grow Podcast.