SPEAKER_00 0:00

Follow up isn't as important as their experience when they were going through the transaction with you. Right? That grade A just top-tier experience. Right. They ain't gonna forget about you, dude.

SPEAKER_03 0:10

I'm pretty sure it's a Maya Angelo quote. She said, people are gonna forget what you said and they're gonna forget what you did, but they're never gonna forget how you made them feel. They may not remember why they thought I was a good agent, but if they remember that they thought I was a good agent, they're gonna say, hey, call Joe. Yeah. And that's been my whole business.

SPEAKER_02 0:28

I think it's more important to be straightforward and honest with the people and like what they're getting into with things. Even if you don't make that deal or close it, they're gonna remember that and then they're gonna come back.

SPEAKER_03 0:39

Expectation setting is important, right? Like setting that expectation. And I'll often tell people, listen, if I'm telling you something you don't want to hear, I know you don't want to hear it, but you can be confident it's true. Because I don't want to be telling you. I wouldn't want to be telling you if it weren't, but I have to. And I think that that translates, right?

SPEAKER_00 1:06

Welcome to the Studio 321 podcast, powered by Brightway, the Steve Trout agency. We're sitting down with real estate pros, insurance nerds, mortgage masterminds, and local legends who are making moves on the Space Coast. Hosted by the best insurance crew in the 321. At Studio 321, it's all about community, real connections, and sharing a few laughs along the way. Strap in, let's launch into today's episode. Welcome back to Studio 321 Podcast. Today I'm joined by my co-host, first timer, Mike Nowen. Mike is our senior insurance advisor here at the agency. He joined the team in June of 2025 and came out of the gate hot. He was the number one new producer in the entire Brightway network in his first 12 months, and he continues to rank among the very best in the whole system. We're honored to have him on the team, and today, on the show, my boy Mike. What's up, dude? What's up, Steve? Glad to be here. Dude, we are so freaking glad that we have Mike here at the agency. The guy has given us like a new kind of energy that we needed. It was like he came in and kind of proved that there's still a lot of business out there and kind of got us hungry again. And uh I don't know if I ever told you that, but like you made an impact on me of like, dude, let's take this freaking business to the next level. You know what I mean? And so um yeah, man, we're just stoked to have you. And uh thanks for being my co-host, man. I know this is a little out of it was out of my comfort zone when I started, so I'm sure it's out of yours now. But we'll uh we'll we'll make the best of it today. Aaron Powell That's right. Also, today we're joined by our guest. Today's guest is somebody Brevard County buyers and sellers need to know, Joe Friedman. Joe is a broker associate with Carpenter Kessel team at Compass Florida, and he's consistently ranked in the top 1 to 2 percent of realtors in Brevard County. He holds his full broker license, not just a sales license. He's a graduate of the Realtor Institute with his GRI designation, and he spent years mentoring new agents on the Leadership Council at Keller Williams before joining Carpenter Kessel. Around town, Joe's known by his tagline. Joe Knows Florida Homes. Joe, welcome to the studio. Thank you very much. What's up, man? It's a pleasure to be here. So when I'm looking at when I'm looking at uh production numbers and stuff, I consistently see Joe Friedman. Joe Freeman. I'm like, Mike, dude, who's this Joe guy? I've never met him. You know, and uh so we had to get you in, dude. Well thanks. So thanks for being here, man. Thanks for all the business, dude. It means a lot, you know?

SPEAKER_03 3:38

It's like I said, uh Mike's always been incredible to me. Great, I consider him a very uh valuable industry partner. So it was it was a no-brainer. I'm I'm I'm I'm with Mike. I'm on Team Mike.

SPEAKER_00 3:51

I love it, dude. Yeah, man. So let's let's go back, Joe. Let's take us back, man. How'd you get kind of where you're at today? Tell us your story, dude. Take as much time as you need, man. I heard it's a good one.

SPEAKER_03 4:00

Okay, so it is it's definitely it's a winding road, right? I mean, I I don't know a whole lot of people who were when they were 18 getting out of high school, they're like, I don't know, I'm gonna go go be a real estate professional, right? And I'm certainly not that. Yeah. Um uh I went to Florida State, um, go Knowles. Yeah. Um and uh and I re I'm I'm a huge car guy, and I love cars, trucks, boats, airplanes, anything with a motor, I'm there, right? So I actually went to Florida State thinking I was going to be an uh an automotive journalist. But it's a lot like being a, you know, saying I want to be a professional football player, right? We don't all get to do it. But I got to Florida State and I I ended up getting my degree in English literature and journalism because I already knew I was really technically savvy. I I I'm very mechanically inclined, I'm great with math, numbers, things like that. And so I was like, okay, I I had I knew in order to be an automotive journalist, you should needed to have that background and be able to write, right? So that's what I uh pursued in college. Um, but again, you you learned quickly that you don't always get to do what you want to do. Um, so I ended up uh working for the state of Florida at DBPR, which licenses real realtors, which is fine now. But um uh doing community uh press relations, public relations, things like that, just in a communications capacity. Yeah, right. And then while I was there, one of my friends who I knew, uh he was an engineer, classically trained engineer at Harris, and he's he reached out to me and said, Are you would you consider coming on to an engineering team? We need somebody who uh can distill down these complex engineering concepts and and make them palatable for at a consumer level. I was like, So you need somebody who's like not quite as smart as an engineer but can communicate like a human? I'm your guy, man. Yeah. So I came on and uh uh to to Harris and I and I referred to myself as a pretengineer because I was in the room with all these real, I mean, brilliant, brilliant people. And my job was to do kind of a business development, kind of like a customer liaison, and and I really enjoyed it, really enjoyed it. And that was about uh 20, and then that was about 2014. That somewhere in there, I could see the pipeline of business coming in to my program. And I approached my management team, and I'm like, hey, I don't see enough business, you know, to sustain our business model, right? And they said, I wouldn't worry about that. And I was like, I think I'm gonna, you know, I got a kid on the way. And I'm like, I'm like, so pretty quickly, I uh about I spent about three days trying to uh looking for a new job, you know, at all the usual suspects here in town. The guy with the English and journalism degrees trying to get a job at Grumman, right? And uh and it took about three days, and then my wife, who again, much smarter than I am, says to me, Why are you trying so hard to find a job just like the one you have and don't like? And I was like, Oh, that's good, that's a good point, right? So, you know, I'm like, Well, what do I want to do when I grew up? And she's like, Well, you've always enjoyed real estate investing, we've done well at that. Why not, you know, get your license and see if anything comes of it? Yeah. So within, so I got my license in 2014 to start representing myself on the investment side of things. And then within a year, I was making more money in real estate and having more fun in real estate, part-time than I was at my full-time job at Harris. And so when they eventually, the layoffs eventually came around for my program or you know, the relocation, they either had to re they they relocated some people and they laid off some people. They asked for volunteers. I was like, boom, I'm your guy, man. I'll take that little severance and I will run. So I uh I I I left Harris full time, which was scary.

SPEAKER_00 8:07

It's gotta be scary, right? Oh, scary as hell.

SPEAKER_03 8:09

You know, kid on the way, and um, you know, no safety net anymore, right? Losing all my benefits, all my fixed income, all that stuff. But it was uh it was a leap of faith and uh never looked back. That's it. I have loved it. I I've I've been full-time in real estate since 2015. So a little over a decade now, and uh, you know, I don't know how many transactions. Yeah, we've gotta be pushing a thousand if we're over at this point. That's fantastic. And I just love it. I love it.

SPEAKER_00 8:40

So like when you were uh getting first into real estate while you were still at Harris, were you just flipping homes yourself? Were you doing it personally, or were you actually like holding your license and helping buyers and stuff like that at that point too? You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_03 8:53

Yeah, yeah. So once I had my license, I mean I I once I got my license, I was still working at Harris full-time. And so I was doing real estate part-time. And uh fortunately, I had I had a really great network of friends and co-workers who believed in me. A lot of people when I told at Harris, a lot of people when I told them that I was going to get out of the industry and pursue real estate, they're like, brother, that's a great fit for you. And I said, Thanks. You know, it also helped give me some courage. And a lot of my earliest clients were my co-workers from Harris. Uh, one of my all-time favorite clients. He's been a repeat client uh probably four or five times at this point. And uh he was my boss's boss's boss's boss at Harris. Like this is this is a he's a big dude. And he is just and he's he he believed in me right from the start, and we kept in touch, and I've now helped him and his and his wife numerous times. I've helped two of his three sons purchase homes. They're just i i the network has been incredible. It is incredible.

SPEAKER_00 10:04

What was the hardest part for you when you were first starting out in real estate? Like you took the leap from Harris, you're getting started. I mean, it was probably a like failure's not an option, right? At that point. And it's like kind of talk about that. Like how did that form and what drove you in the beginning? You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_03 10:22

Fear is a hell of a motivator, man. The thought of just being failing, right? Um not being able to provide for my family, right? I got a now at this point, I've got a baby at home. My wife is my wife works full-time and and she also has a great job. Very, very intelligent. But you know, the you would never want all your eggs in one basket, right? And it bec and and so that was a really easy, powerful motivator when I first got into it.

SPEAKER_00 10:56

Yeah. Yeah. No, absolutely. Like, yeah, even like for us when we first started this, it was like I mean, failure wasn't an option. You woke up every day and you freaking busted your ass doing it. You weren't gonna fail at it. You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_03 11:09

I heard somebody I well something that I really leaned into is every day you're waking up unemployed. Oh, yeah. You wake up every morning, you're unemployed. In your business, that's 100% true. Trevor Burrus, Jr.: Until you meet a new client, until you meet somebody, until you connect.

SPEAKER_00 11:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 11:22

You know?

SPEAKER_00 11:23

It's a little different here. I mean, we feel employed every day, but I could see in your business, because it's like if you're not closing a transaction, you're not getting paid. Right. You know? We're building a snowball on residuals, and it's a little bit different.

SPEAKER_03 11:35

But 10 plus years in, I don't wake up every morning like, oh. It's a nice place to be, but man, when you're first when you're first starting out, you I'm sure you guys know when it's the hardest when you're first getting going. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 11:49

It is. And you're working a lot for free. That's what people don't realize. Aaron Powell, yeah. You're doing a lot. Like it takes a lot to get to that closing table, and it not every deal makes it.

SPEAKER_03 11:59

Oh, that that's exactly right.

SPEAKER_00 12:00

Yeah. No, absolutely. It takes a grind. What's your marketing strategy? And uh how do you approach you know, how do you approach your marketing?

SPEAKER_03 12:10

Aaron Powell It's really it's it it's a it's a it it's so different than what people uh uh assume. God love them. Uh one of the one of the first things a lot of agents in town, and I certainly won't be naming names, but a lot of people will be like, I've been doing this 25 years. I get it. Yeah, that's how and I'm glad I'm glad you were kicking the butt, you know, 25 years ago. But the market's different now, right? And I see a lot of people who still lean into the old stuff, and the old stuff's good. There's nothing wrong with the old stuff, but you gotta be doing the new stuff too, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Um, I I I'm really I'm really get into the weeds on a little uh so on on the sell side, for instance. Um I it's it's it's uh it used to be that you would just you know take your pictures, slap them online, and you know, write a cute little write-up and stuff, and that's fine. You people's attention is so short these days, right? These days it is critical. Something that seems as benign as or as simplistic as putting the photos online is not, right? When you're when I'm marketing a property, I've got to make sure. Let's say I've got a great listing coming up. It's on an acre, it's got a pool, really fantastic place, right? And there's a lot of unique selling features, but it's it's it's three bedrooms, two baths, and we're gonna be going to market right around 600, right? And if you want a three-bedroom, two-bath home for 600, there's a lot, right? So I need to lean into those market differentiators. And that's where things like the photos come into play, right? I I wanna I my first photo has to be by MLS standard, it has to be the front of the house, but I can make it an aerial shot because people are gonna see that and they're gonna be like, oh, it's not just a house, it's a house with a lot of land. My second shot might be the pool, right? Oh, it's got a pool, things like that. You've really got to hit those unique selling features quickly because you are gonna sell a lifestyle, the home first almost, right? Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, because you're gonna lose the buyers so fast. If they're gonna, if they just if they click their, oh okay, it's got a front door, oh, it's got a living room, you know, okay. I don't love it. And then they move on. They didn't even know that it's on an acre. They didn't know that it's got a pool. They don't know these things.

SPEAKER_01 14:20

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 14:20

Right? So you've gotta you've gotta hook the buyer quickly. And that's what so many people still they they they struggle with. And and and it's this is sort of stuff that I used to teach.

SPEAKER_00 14:30

Yeah, it's like put what what do they say, put your best foot forward. You know, put the best feature forward on that.

SPEAKER_03 14:35

All your best features forward. Because you don't have they're not gonna hang in there to the 20th photo to find out I have a pool. They've already moved on, yeah. Right? Yeah. If they stay engaged long enough to get to that narrative and they're actually gonna read the narrative, which by the way, if they're reading the narrative, they are really interested at this point. Yeah. People people get hung up on the narrative, and I'm like, get your photos right first. We eat with our eyes first, right? If you get if you get to the narrative, it also kind of drives me nuts when I see agents who they the they just don't get the little stuff. What they do is they just regurgitate a lot of like the data points. And the data points are good, but they've already seen that, if they've looked at the photos and they've looked at the data points, they know that. By the time they get to the narrative, that's when you need to hit them in the emotion, right? And you really because logic makes you think and emotion makes you act, right? And they they people uh too frequently, a lot of agents they focus on features instead of benefits, which sounds like the same thing, but it's not, right? If I say a house has a new roof, well, you guys, insurance professionals, know there's a lot of value to a new roof, right? But a lot of consumers don't. So what I'm gonna say is it's got a new roof, and that means your family's gonna be safe and dry, and you're gonna enjoy the benefits of lower insurance for uh this period of time, right? A new roof is a feature, affordable insurance, a safe family, those are benefits. That is what hits people in the fields, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. And that's that's what turns you know a shopper into a buyer.

SPEAKER_00 16:03

Yeah. And it's also something that like translates really well to a consumer of like new roof, cheaper insurance. Yeah. You know what I mean? It's not like a leap of like you gotta have to understand the nuances of insurance or anything to understand that I gotta brand new roof, I get a better club.

SPEAKER_03 16:18

Right, right.

SPEAKER_00 16:18

You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_03 16:19

Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_00 16:20

Um, I like it. And you're right. Like, even like when we chop up like this podcast, you know, we'll try to put together the best reels, you know? Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 16:29

Good. Make me sound good.

SPEAKER_02 16:31

It's gonna be good, yeah. And that listing sounds fabulous. That's coming up, by the way, too. Yeah, yeah. So I'm excited for it. I'm excited for it. And I will say too, like uh pictures and the narratives that you're talking about. The same thing. Like when we send an email, it seems like don't send one link to the email. No one's reading that. Right. Right.

SPEAKER_03 16:49

You just go to the attachment. You you've got it, you've got it, you've got it. You don't have a lot of time. You gotta catch people's attention and and run with it quickly.

SPEAKER_00 16:56

Yeah, yeah. Yeah, we're definitely in a world now, man, where it's moving fast and you only get, like you said, a few seconds to either keep them looking or they move on. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 17:06

And you gotta be bringing that value. You gotta be bringing that value all the time. Just like on the buy side, right? That was that was kind of like my my my listing strategy, a little bit of it on the on the listing side. On the buy side, you know, the the same agent who's like, I've been doing this 25 years. It's like, well, the market the the role of a buyer's agent is different now than it was 25 years ago, right? Yeah, and and I feel like so many people they struggle to bring value. And I'm like, well, you know, you I don't think none of us is really old enough to remember this, but you know, in the night or early 90s, I think maybe, you know, they used to literally print out books, and and I was the keeper of the information. If you wanted to buy a home, I I had a book next to me, and I'm like, ah ha ha. You want to see the home? Yeah, I have the home. That's not the world we live in, right? So the people who still think that with that mentality, they're not, they they struggle to bring value to their buyers, right? And I I tell everyone, like, listen, Zillow, we used to love to hate it. I still kind of hate it a little bit, but I tell everyone it's a great place to start, terrible place to finish. Yeah. But I mean, it's easy to navigate, it's got great photos, it's got a lot of information. Some of that information is even accurate, right?

SPEAKER_00 18:13

Yeah, and your buyers are definitely going to Zillow to look for houses.

SPEAKER_03 18:16

100%, right? And I tell buyers, it's not abnormal at all for you to find the house before I do, right? The value of a buyer's aid, the values that I can bring. You know, my my my dad uh was a home inspector before he retired. He has got a construction background. I grew up swinging hammers. Like I have been all through houses. I I get into the weeds on that stuff, and I really dial into that. It's kind of a joke to me that uh that that I actually make with my buyers frequently is that uh I I'm not gonna be that agent who walks in here and says, This is a kitchen, you know. If you don't know what a kitchen is, brother, you need more help than I can provide, right? So, but I'm gonna be focusing in on things that are, you know, uh what's the quality of the workmanship? What are do we see any, do we have any concerns? Oh, I but you know, looking under the sink, that looks like the original copper, right? This is this home's from 1975. That copper's on its last leg. You know, try to anticipate some of this stuff. Or how's the or you guys, how's the shape of the roof going to impact the call the price of the insurance, right? Is it gonna qualify for that hip roof discount? You know, these are the kinds of value ads that I try to bring. Yeah. But again, I'm not just opening a door.

SPEAKER_00 19:31

Like for a buyer agent to understand the importance of the wind mitigation, right? I mean, like, what would be the difference, Mike? Like if a house has opening protection and single wrap straps with the neighbor's house that's listed also, and you're looking at both of them, has toenails and and no opening protection, right? And like say it's in Cocoa Beach. I mean, you're talking what's the premium difference? Thousands. Like, I mean, probably like could be two to three hundred dollars a month on their payment.

SPEAKER_03 19:58

That's that that's yeah, you're exactly right, of course. And that's forever and ever, amen.

SPEAKER_00 20:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 20:04

Right? That that is going to significantly impact your buying power. Absolutely. It's gonna your your overall cost and total cost of ownership, yeah, it can swing greatly. And having those conversations on the front end, I think is a huge service to the buyers. They're counting on us to be the subject matter experts. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 20:22

How do you how do you stay top of mind with like past clients and stuff? Are you doing anything to make sure that they remember you and you keep in touch with you?

SPEAKER_03 20:30

You know, I I would love to pretend that I was great at it. Yeah. I'm not.

SPEAKER_00 20:34

I think we all struggle. I think it's a struggle with everyone.

SPEAKER_03 20:37

I I fortunately, I the the vast, vast majority of my business is past client referrals, word of mouth, things like that. And thank God for it, because I have the best clients. I really do. They're they they ch they champion for me and I love them infinitely. And but I I I'm pretty bad about being systematized, but I'm pretty good about the fact that I'll just be driving through a neighborhood and be like, oh yeah, you know, uh, Kevin lives there. Yeah, I haven't talked to Kevin in six months or a year in six months. I should call Kevin. Yeah, because I genuinely like most of my clients, right?

SPEAKER_01 21:10

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_03 21:10

The only thing that I am decently good about is I do client events, which again, it just kind of lends itself to my personality because I like my clients. I like seeing them. So if I get to throw a party, if I get to rent out a movie theater, invite all my past clients to come, hey, let's go, you know, have some popcorn and then we wander next door and have some ice cream, right? That's a that's a fun client event and it's a fun thing for me to do.

SPEAKER_01 21:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 21:35

Um, I do a pie giveaway every Thanksgiving. You know, pumpkin pies, apple pies, that sort of thing. And I'm really excited. Uh, I haven't done it in several years because I keep forgetting. Uh, but this year I am committing that I'm gonna do another uh beach bonfire, which is just super fun. That sounds fun. Yeah. Well, I want you guys to be there, right?

SPEAKER_00 21:55

I need the input. Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 21:57

It'll be uh I think I'll tentatively play. For the last weekend in February. You know, get the permit, get a keg of beer, whatever, man. It's so, yeah. Like we did it, uh we did a couple years back. We had an oyster roast. Maybe we can help too. Oh, we'd love that. Yeah, come on.

SPEAKER_02 22:11

Yeah, let's go. That'd be good. And that's a good time to do it, too. Weather is usually pretty chilly. Oh, yeah. So I'm not doing a bonfire in August. You'd be surprised. People do it. You know? Yeah. Um, I want to say too, like you're when you're talking about staying on top of people's minds and things, and you have these relationships, like that's um what I kind of strive for too is because when you have those relationships and you have that connection, they're going, it makes you feel good because they're gonna refer their friends and family to you. And then I mean, that's how you know Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 22:44

I mean, I would say like to piggyback on that, follow-up isn't as important as their experience when they were going through the transaction with you. Right? That grade A just top-tier experience. Right. They ain't gonna forget about you, dude.

SPEAKER_03 22:58

Right, right.

SPEAKER_00 22:59

I think um, and you were saying you struggle with it, and everything you mentioned is way more than most. So I think you're doing pretty damn good.

SPEAKER_03 23:05

Well, we can all be doing better, right? Yeah. Um it's funny. I I I always remember a uh I'm pretty sure it's a Maya Angelo quote um where she said, she said, people are gonna forget what you said and they're gonna forget what you did, but they're never gonna forget how you made them feel. Yeah. And I think I love that. I think that's huge, right? Like they may not remember why they thought I was a good agent, but if they remember that they thought I was a good agent, yeah, they're gonna call me again. They're gonna they're gonna say, hey, call Joe. Yeah. And that's been my whole business.

SPEAKER_00 23:35

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 23:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 23:37

So I know you kind of in my guest prep kind of mentioned that like social media is really just like a necessary evil for you. You don't necessarily love it. Obviously, you gotta do it because you gotta get the photos out there, you gotta present the height and all that stuff. Right. Um where are you really focusing like your your kind of online effort? I know you do really good with your reviews. So obviously you're taking care of your customers, you got a ton of reviews. Yeah, thank you.

SPEAKER_03 24:01

Um they take care of me. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 24:04

So you know, like social media for me, really up until we started this podcast, I had like zero social following. You know what I mean? Like my wife was doing all the posts, and like I, you know, she would tag me every now and then. But that was like the only thing on my page was whatever my wife did. You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_01 24:20

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 24:20

Because I just I've always been a little scared of social media. You know what I mean? Is that a little bit is there that for you, or is it more just like um I don't know where am I going with this? You just don't see it as uh valuable as like some of the other stuff you're doing. You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_03 24:36

Yeah, I absolutely do. And for first and foremost is can I hire your wife to do it for me? Right? Because it really I really it's not something that I enjoy doing. Like, look, I I I've said if I ever hit the Powerball, I'm gonna shut down all my social media and it is gonna be great. Right. But I but there is tremendous value to answer that specific question. Yeah, there is tremendous value. And I so I kinda I have to lean into it, whether I like it or not.

SPEAKER_00 25:00

I'm but I I'm not that like for me, I had to get comfortable being uncomfortable with it. You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_03 25:05

And interesting, yeah, I do. Yeah, and a lot of people like, oh, I hate the sound of my own voice. Well, don't listen to yourself, right? You know? Um I I've never had that that you know uh that fear or that discomfort, I guess.

SPEAKER_00 25:20

Um it just but I think for me, like with social, it's always was like, I don't really care to have people like going, look at Steve, look what he's doing. Or like I'm not going on there to gloat or just be like, Yeah, you know what I mean?

SPEAKER_03 25:34

It's very self-congratulatory too. And that that I really it really kind of I I I had to just kind of And we're doing that now because we're promoting the business.

SPEAKER_00 25:42

And obviously, when you're promoting the business, you want to show how awesome you are and the culture you built here and all that stuff, and we're trying to convey that, right?

SPEAKER_01 25:48

Right, right.

SPEAKER_00 25:49

Um and I did, you know, like I'm not doing the post myself. I was for a very short period of time and realized this is not for me. And I brought in a contractor that does social media stuff. So she's doing all our social media. So I mean, I built like an engine that just kind of runs itself now. Yeah. Um, but we definitely leaned into going, hey dude, you gotta overcome your freaking fear and just do it, right? Like I know we all have to drag each other. You know, we're making these like reels and these kind of funny office videos and stuff like that.

SPEAKER_02 26:20

Sometimes I'm like, why why am I doing this?

SPEAKER_00 26:25

But I mean it gets it gets it, I mean, I like I can't go anywhere and somebody say, Oh man, I saw the podcast, it looks awesome, or I saw your reels, that was a great one. Like everywhere we go, I get a comment about it.

SPEAKER_01 26:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 26:36

So I know it's reaching people and they're seeing it and they're keeping us top of mind. And I think that's really what it is. It just kind of keeps you fresh, keeps you top of mind. Yeah. Um and then even from like a recruiting standpoint, like recruiting agents and recruiting, you know, staff here, it's like we get to show behind the scenes in our culture so they can see it and they want to be a part of it, right?

SPEAKER_03 26:55

So and I think the authenticity is huge. Yeah. And that that's the part that I that I do struggle with, I think, more than anything, because I I'm a pretty, you know, I'm a pretty transparent guy. Yeah. And I feel like when I have to put on that like cliche realtor, like but honestly, that probably comes across in your social media.

SPEAKER_00 27:17

It's like you're probably having more of an impact than you know because they see like this guy isn't fluff. It's not BS. I hope you know what I mean. I hope, yeah, I appreciate it.

SPEAKER_03 27:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 27:27

Yeah. So I mean, I don't know.

SPEAKER_03 27:28

I yeah, so I'm on I'm on Facebook and I and I do videos periodically when I remember to.

SPEAKER_00 27:33

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 27:34

Right. And I uh one thing that I that I actually and this is this is something I learned from the Carpenter Castle team. Um I I do I've always done a lot of videos um for like out-of-town clients where I'll go do a house walkthrough. Right. And it's and it's just completely me unfiltered, just blah blah blabbing my way through a house. But I'm very I'm very uh honest and direct, and I found things like I'm like, hey, I I noticed this. But I put now I put those videos on YouTube because YouTube it's a search engine as much as anything else, right? So there they I had one client reach out to me. This is so interesting. Um it wasn't a client of mine. She had her own realtor and Googled the property address. My video that I made for one of for an out-of-town client. She found the video I made for that guy and said, your video was much more she gave a much more accurate, in-depth, and transparent assessment of the property, so much so that I am firing my my buyer's agent, and I want you to be my buyer's agent because I think I can trust you to give me a fair representation of what a property is. And I was like, Wow, that was cool.

SPEAKER_00 28:47

Yeah. Happy to help. Let's go. Yeah. Yeah. No, absolutely. Yeah. I mean, yeah, you see like the misrepresentation on some of these properties, like you see them in person to what you see on the photos, it's like, come on, guys. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's a little what do you think about Rafard County Real Estate right now?

SPEAKER_03 29:08

Um a lot there's a lot of perceptions, a lot of uh misconceptions about what it is and what it isn't. There's this perception that we're in a, you know, uh the sky's falling, uh, it's a buyer's market. And the reality is it's it's a balanced market. And a balanced market is so unfamiliar to us here in Brevard County that it feels like a buyer's market. Properties are staying on the market 60, it was 63 days. I checked, um, I checked uh uh it's 63 days average days on market. It was 68 days on market last month. So people will see a property on the market for 45 days and they'll be like, whoa, that's terrible. Brother, that's normal. This is a balanced market. We're just not used to it. Yeah, there's a there are as many buyers as there are sellers right now. And you know, and I should I should clarify that I'm speaking in very large, I'm speaking in Brevard County as a whole. This pocket is hotter, that pocket's cooler, the condo market's a lot softer. Yeah. Right. And so, but people are all all they're seeing is their neighbor's house is sitting on the market 70 days, and they're like, Well, uh, he didn't get three offers in the first weekend, something must be wrong with it, right? Or they'll see a price reduction, you know. And this is something that a lot of sellers struggle with, is they they they they remember what the market was like two you know, five years ago, right? When it was during COVID, where the hardest part of my job was figuring out which buyer was actually going to come through on the terms they promised. Yeah, you know, you had four four offers in hand before the sign went in the ground, right? Yeah. No, now it's like you gotta price it right. You can't be too aggressive, and you and you really have to interpret that feedback, right? How many buyers are coming through it? What's a good what's a good what's an appropriate number of buyers agents to expect to come through your house? What kind of feedback are you getting? If you're getting no feedback at all, what does that mean? You know, this is these are all these are all relevant things that need interpreting.

SPEAKER_02 31:09

Yeah. No, absolutely. I think like um for the market right now, it seems like people are are so caught up on, and maybe this is why they're referring to as like the buyer's market, oh the interest rates, right? And I think that's what's stopping the people from being wanting to buy houses, maybe. I don't know. Um but it's like those interest rates. I that was a fluke, right? The three, two, three, four percent interest rates. Like that was that's never gonna happen again. Absolutely. And uh I someone said something the other day and uh and it resonated a little bit. It's they said um marry the house, date three.

SPEAKER_03 31:47

So you'll never hear me say that. I it it's it is and there's nothing the reason I the reason I don't love that that expression is because it's it's predicated on this belief that rates are gonna go down. And if rates are gonna go down, great. Right? That's fantastic. But I don't want you to I I do want you to marry the house, but I want it to be a house that you're comfortable staying married to on these terms long term, right? I don't want you to overextend yourself and then like it never came through. I'm still now I now now I'm I I can never afford this house. I thought rates were gonna you'll never hear me say that, right? Uh not if there's anything wrong with it, you know. People have different different strategies. But I I won't say that to a buyer. I think it's too risky. Um, but but Mike, you absolutely hit that out, Steve. No, no, it's that's good. Like that that is something buyers hear, and I and I think that they need to hear the the backside of that, the the the the the the counterpoint, right? Um and but but Mike, what you said was exactly right. Uh I think that there's a lot of buyers who want to buy, they're ready, but unfortunately, the affordability is such a challenge right now. Yeah. I mean, even though interest rates are, you know, six and a half, six, seven, five, whatever they may be based on your qualifications, that is a historically normal interest rate, but it still hurts, man. This is this is a tough economy. Gas is expensive, groceries are expensive, everything's expensive right now. And to know that when interest rates are also, you know, six and a half, seven percent, the being able to afford the house you want is a big challenge.

SPEAKER_00 33:23

So I'm kind of making up a stat right now, but like looking around the MLS. I think we all do. It seems like there's more million-dollar homes than I've ever seen before. Well, like there's a lot of homes like selling right around that million-dollar mark where you're like, dude, five years. You know, I mean, the market's just gone crazy, right? Over the last 10 years. And yeah, yeah. And growing up here, it's just you got to get your mind kind of going, okay, that's the new norm. Yeah. You know what I mean? Because you're used to, you know, the house is, you know, when I was a kid, they were selling for 100 grand. Yeah. You know what I mean? Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 33:57

My first my the first house I ever bought was right about 100 grand. Um but yeah, but I mean, so you you gotta realize that the market blew up. We picked up like 30% appreciation during COVID, right? It was bananas. But that is all kind of flattened out now. So in the last two about two years, we haven't really seen much appreciation here, there, ups and downs, but it's not the market.

SPEAKER_00 34:18

I've said it a bunch on this podcast, but like I've been really surprised with the resilience of our market. I mean, I just think you know, maybe it's the jobs. We just have a really good job market here, you know, the Space Center, aerospace, and all that stuff coming to our area, um, Florida really just being like a business, pro-business state, right? Getting a lot of stuff moving here. Um, you know, Amazon and Walmart opening up their facilities in Brevard. I mean, just all kinds of stuff, right? So just bringing a lot of jobs, obviously I think that helps us. But I have still been surprised of the resilience of our market, you know, with rates up, the unaffordability, like you were saying, you know, it's really tough for people to buy right now. Like first-time homebuyers, it's got to be the toughest time in my lifetime for a first-time home buyer. I think you're right. I mean, would you say But nothing seems to be slowing it down. Sorry, Mike. I was just saying nothing seems to be slowing the market down.

SPEAKER_03 35:15

I mean it it is slower. It is definitely slower now. There are there is not the same number of transactions. People aren't the discretionary purchases aren't there like they were like they once were. But it's not I mean, I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 35:26

Maybe it's how looking in it doesn't look catastrophic. Like you'll see like the numbers come out from SCAR, you know, and it's like two percent drop in sales from this month to last month, same month last year, or whatever. Like it's so it's not like these huge dips, though. I mean, the market is still seams, and even from our perspective, I mean, we're freaking busting out the seams here. We're writing so much dang insurance on these new purchases. Right. Like yeah, it's a great problem. I mean, it's I guess we haven't really seen it on our end, like a slowdown, you know. And I don't know if it's just we're picking up more market share and growing the business and stuff, but um yeah, this I I don't know. I don't even know where I'm going with this. I just I'm I'm just surprised at the resilience of our market. There's been no real big like stop to it.

SPEAKER_03 36:09

Yeah. Well, I do think you hit the nail on the head. It's the jobs, right? Um when when I was leaving Harris, I I'm Florida born and raised. I've lived here my whole life. I call St. Augustine home. My wife at the time was working for a company remotely based out of St. Augustine. So when I was leaving real estate, leaving Harris and knowing I was going to go full-time in real estate, she and I actually talked about moving back to St. Augustine. Because I love St. Augustine. But ultimately we decided to stay here in Melbourne because of the local economy, because you know, it it's driven, it's not driven by tourism, it's driven by great jobs. We have the whole space we we're Florida's Space Coast, right? We've got we've got engineers arriving to take a six-figure job, and then they leave to take an even better job, right? That that is what I want. That kind of I think that I think those jobs have insulated Brevard County a lot, whereas some other markets have been much harder hit.

SPEAKER_00 37:03

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. And I mean, thank God for the Space Center, man. Woo! Go to Brevard. Exactly. Yeah. It's a beautiful place to live. I used to always say it's a best kept secret. Yeah, yeah. You know, we weren't South Miami with as much now, you know, it's getting there. But like as far as traffic and stuff, you know what I mean? It's still more laid back. It has a small town feel.

SPEAKER_03 37:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 37:24

You know. Um, you can still go to the grocery store and know half the ding people in there, I feel like. You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_03 37:30

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 37:31

Sometimes it's hard to go to the grocery store. You're like, I just don't want to see anybody today, you know? Like duck in the corner.

SPEAKER_03 37:36

Just need milk, man.

SPEAKER_02 37:40

But Joe, would you say I heard a realtor say um I was watching this podcasting, and he said, there's no more starter homes. Starter homes no longer exist. Uh do you think that's true?

SPEAKER_03 37:54

No. Um it's I think I think their I think the first home you get is by default a starter home, right? Yeah. But I I think their point is that that uh finding a very affordable first home is much more challenging than it used to be.

SPEAKER_00 38:09

Yeah, you can't just start at the 150 mark and get into that home and then grow into something else later.

SPEAKER_03 38:15

Yeah. The cheapest, the the least expensive, kind of like what I would refer to as a starter home these days. That that's a good quality home, safe, affordable to insure, that's gonna have low operating costs, and you're not walking into like a money pit is really like about 275 to 300. Yeah, I was gonna say 300. Yeah. Um, there's and there's some options in that space. Um, you know, you you might have to go a little further out than you want to be. But yeah, it's and go circling back, the affordability issue. That start that $300,000 house is gonna cost you a lot more now than it would have back when you could get a three percent interest rate. Yeah, but just like you said, insurance we're not seeing that again in our lifetimes. Yeah, that was that was an anomaly.

SPEAKER_02 39:00

It's gone. Yeah, I remember back when I bought my first house. Um remember home path? Yeah, uh is that even still around the home path? Uh Fannie Mae is obviously, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 39:12

Yeah, and and they have they have financing opportunity, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 39:14

Yeah, there was a I picked up my first house for like 60k. Yeah. Total remodel. I mean, that's like a starter home for me. Like that was like a starter house, but I I don't think those exist anymore ever.

SPEAKER_03 39:25

Uh I mean they're they're few and far between. And find certainly finding one that's turnkey ready to go. Well, that's not that's not it. Well, was that about like 2010? Somewhere in there? Um 2013, I want to say. 2013? Okay, yeah. Yeah, that was that was that was a good time to be buying homes like that.

SPEAKER_00 39:42

You're gonna have to get your hands dirty as a first-time homebuyer now. Oh, yeah. Probably buy something that needs a little work. Yeah. Work on it as you go. Right. That sweat equity. Yeah. Yeah. And there ain't nothing wrong with that.

SPEAKER_03 39:51

Uh I did my first several homes. You know. In fact, the the home I live in now is the only one that I didn't have to do major, major work to when I bought it. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 40:01

Is there any advice that you would give to somebody buying right now?

SPEAKER_03 40:05

Yeah. I I would. I would say, um, again, don't date the rate, Marry the House. Get you uh get yourself a good agent. I don't know. Maybe it's me.

SPEAKER_02 40:18

By the way, that quote came from a mortgage broker.

unknown 40:21

That sounds believable.

SPEAKER_02 40:22

That sounds believable.

SPEAKER_03 40:24

Um, yeah, I would say that refinance later. Yeah, and that's great. If price, if if rates go down, great, refinance. Um no, get get somebody who's gonna take care of you. Find it, make sure you're making a smart investment, and then make sure you could afford the house. If because again, if the rates go down, great. But don't assume they will. Find a house that you are happy with and meets your needs right now. Find one that's gonna have a reasonable operating cost, or if not, at least make sure your eyes are wide open about what it's gonna be. Yeah. And then do it, right? There uh people I've I've been hearing for pushing a decade now. Oh, I'm gonna wait for prices to come down. I'm gonna wait for the crash.

SPEAKER_00 41:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 41:04

Brother, you if you would have bought that house 10 years ago, it would have been a third of the way paid off.

SPEAKER_00 41:08

Oh, yeah. Right? And you're gonna be able to do that. Not even talking about the equity you built.

SPEAKER_03 41:12

Yeah, yeah. Yeah, that house now. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 41:16

I wish I'd have done everything I can to buy like five houses, ten house, you know, I would have Right. Right. You know, it's yeah, you couldn't lose in your investment in the last year. Yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_03 41:26

I wish I bought more, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 41:27

Yeah, absolutely. How important is it that like for you to have a network around you that supports the transactions, whether it's an insurance guy or a mortgage guy, or you know what I mean? Have you are you uh how do you work with your network within that, you know?

SPEAKER_03 41:42

Hugely important. I mean, that that is I think I consider that to be a non-negotiable. It's having people like Mike. It's having people like my lender partners, knowing that I have a fantastic inspectors that I can call. Like these are these are valuable resources through the process of buying the home, right? Through through the getting getting the transaction done, knowing who's gonna do great work, who's gonna take care of my people with the level of service that I take care of them, that's hugely valuable to me. And I even go one step further, and I think having a a bench of professionals I could rely on post-transaction is huge too, right? I tell all my clients, once they're in the house, if you ever need a plumber, if you need a roofer, if you need an electrician, if you want to know where the best sushi is, you know, call me. I wanna I want to help you. The transaction's done, but our relationship isn't. And I think leaning into that is really helpful.

SPEAKER_00 42:38

Yeah, and that keeps them in touch. Yeah, it's a it's another great way to stay in touch. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_03 42:42

And actually, now that we're saying this, I realize I owe somebody a uh uh uh a duct cleaning reference. So if you guys have one of those, actually, you send that my way. Because I I do need somebody I could rely on to do good.

SPEAKER_00 42:54

You think it's getting harder to find good plumbers and electricians and stuff?

SPEAKER_03 42:58

Uh not if you know the right people. Well, yeah. But yeah.

SPEAKER_00 43:02

Yeah. I mean, it just seems like the good ones they're hard to find, man. That that's that's a fact. Yeah. You know I keep telling my kids, I'm like, honestly, guys, if you just go learn a trade, start a business in that trade, you're gonna be a freaking millionaire. Oh, for sure. Like if you just have, you know, have the grit to go do that and and go learn it and just dive in.

SPEAKER_01 43:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 43:23

Like honestly, I just think trades are becoming you hear it all the time, but it's true. I mean, trades are becoming a thing of the past. Like with AI and technology and stuff like that, I just think like younger people aren't getting into those kind of businesses, you know. And if we can those aren't going away. Yeah. You know, they're not going to figure out how to replace that in in our lifetime.

SPEAKER_03 43:45

Yeah. I Steve, I think um you I think what you're describing, I think I the pendulum swung, right? It swung really far for a really long time. And you're like when I was in high school, my guy's counselor said if you don't go to college, you're basically gonna live under a bridge thruster. That was what my I was told, right? What's interesting, my kids coming up, my and my kids are young. My kids 10, uh baby. Oh, my middle just turned eight yesterday. Okay. And five. So my kids are young. You're in the thick of it. Oh yeah. Brother, don't I know it? Um the uh but I'm I'm seeing even at the public schools, there's there's a groundswell that's that's pushing back against that mentality. You know, you can make a wonderful career and have a fantastic life being an electrician, right? I mean, yeah, it is AI proof. Yeah, but I mean it's going to your it's gonna be here forever. Yeah. Yeah. So I'm actually really glad to see that society, I would just be so bold as to say society is the pendulum is swinging back, and we're we're starting to lean into these things again.

SPEAKER_01 44:50

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 44:50

Recognize that these are professionals too, and they deserve, they they have got a great life.

SPEAKER_00 44:54

Yeah, I I think it's a great way for young people to differentiate themselves from the rest of the field.

SPEAKER_01 45:00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 45:00

Because now, like you said, everyone's going to college, or it's become it became like this. Gotta do that. Yeah. No matter what you do, you gotta do that. Yeah. And I'm starting, you know, I don't want my kids to necessarily know this, but I'm starting to lean towards they don't have to. Yeah. You know what I mean? Yeah. And I mean, I'm proof of it. I didn't I didn't graduate from college.

SPEAKER_02 45:19

Yeah, I agree with you on that scene. Because just like Joe said, like that was kind of like engraved into our brains like, you need to go to college, you need to get a degree. You know, you gotta get this job. And now it's like, well, if I would have known there was other options to where oh, I could come out of school, you know, a couple of years, make six figures, yeah, doing something else. I would have done it.

SPEAKER_03 45:38

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I I went to college and I have a degree in English literature and journalism, right?

SPEAKER_00 45:44

Like I That's gotta help with your communication. You could argue. You probably put together a pretty good email. Oh, I gotta write an email. I can I can write a listing narrative.

SPEAKER_03 45:52

But you know what, frankly, AI's gonna be got a good idea. Right. It already is. Um Yeah, I refer to my diploma as the most expensive piece of art that I own. It hangs on my wall. It cost me, you know, a couple tens of thousands of dollars, and now it just looks pretty on my wall.

SPEAKER_00 46:08

So we've kind of touched on this. You said a lot of things that probably set you apart. What do you think is the reason you're consistently ranked in the top one, two percent of realtors in Brevard? Like what sets you apart when you think about successful agents versus the ones that are struggling? Like what's the one thing that you're like, this is what we all have that they don't?

SPEAKER_03 46:27

I think i i it goes back to um bringing value, right? And I and I think I know where I know how to bring value to my clients, you know. Um I'm I'm colorblind, which is fun, right? I don't see colors all that well.

SPEAKER_01 46:41

I didn't know that.

SPEAKER_03 46:41

And so yeah, yeah. So like again, I'm not gonna be the guy who's like, what do we think about this paint color? I don't care. Like I'm looking at stuff that's actually valuable to you. Yeah, like I'm gonna we're gonna talk about the fact that this house is gonna be affordable to insure for the next 20 years. You know, we're talking about making sure you really get a good value, negotiating a good price, making sure that this is where you want to be, anticipating the pitfalls to making sure we don't have to, you know, put this property under contract, get a bad inspection, cancel it, do it two more times, right? I I want to help my clients find the right property the first time. And I think that that really translates. Like, and I think that I think I think buyers really see value in that. I remember very early in my career as well. Um uh I had a I was at an inspection and it was and the inspector, uh, he's I could tell he's kind of like like you know, it's not the inspection's not going very well. And I'm like, well, lay it on me, man. If the deal needs to die, kill it. And he was like taking aback. He's like, Oh wow, I forgot you're one of the good ones. And I'm like, no, man, I I I I want to represent my clients very well, and I'm not gonna, I don't want if if this is a bad house, kill this deal because I'm gonna maintain a relationship with this lady and I don't want to live here by her in a in a in in a in a horror have a horror horrible house, right? And I think that that like really putting your clients first, I think people recognize that and it and it it it resonates.

SPEAKER_01 48:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 48:16

So I and I I think a lot of uh I think some agents don't have as much of that mentality. You know, they're they all they care about is getting their commission and move on, move on to the next one. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I think I think most people can figure that out real fast.

SPEAKER_00 48:31

Yeah, there's definitely bad eggs, man. Yeah. I mean, we see some of it, you know, where you got a realtor or mortgage person trying to shove the deal down, you know, just shove it through. And you know. Yeah. I've seen stuff where you're just like, come on, guys. Yeah, what are we doing? Yeah. And and you know, yeah. I gotta be, I don't want to be, I don't want to say too much.

SPEAKER_03 48:54

Um and it and it and it it goes back to what you're saying. Like, I'm gonna see these people at Publix. Yeah. This is a small town. Yeah. If you get the reputation as the guy who's like, ha ha, whoa, close that deal, never talking to her again, because she's sitting on an absolute mess, right?

SPEAKER_00 49:09

Yeah, our last guest actually said that same thing. He's like, I call it the Publix principle. He's like, We want to carry ourselves in a way when I see them in Publix. I'm happy to see them and I could hold my head up high. I love that. You know what I mean? Yeah. Um and so he's like, that's a good way to run your business and live your life. Yeah. You know? Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 49:26

So you know, yeah, I would say um an R side too on the insurance side, it's the I think it's more important to be straightforward and honest with the people and like what they're getting into with things. Even if you don't make that deal or close it, they're gonna remember that and then they're gonna come back.

SPEAKER_00 49:45

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 49:45

Like it's it's not always about taking care of people always wins.

SPEAKER_00 49:50

Yeah, always wins.

SPEAKER_02 49:51

Yeah, uh I'm always like, uh I'd rather be straight up honest forward with you and tell you what you're getting into instead of this guy that's full and fluff, you know, and you know, I don't know.

SPEAKER_03 50:02

Yeah, yeah. I think I think I think uh expectation setting is important, right? Like setting that expectation. And I'll often tell people uh I'll say, listen, if I'm telling you something you don't want to hear, I know you don't want to hear it, but you can be confident it's true because I don't want to be telling you. I I wouldn't want to be telling you if it weren't true, but I have to, and I think that that translates, right?

SPEAKER_00 50:30

Florida born and raised.

SPEAKER_03 50:32

Florida born and raised, yes.

SPEAKER_00 50:33

FSU.

SPEAKER_03 50:34

Yeah, St. Augustine High School, class of 2000, FSU. Uh class of 2004. I was actually born and raised in Tampa, but um moved to St. Augustine when I was 15 and called St. Augustine home. But yeah.

SPEAKER_00 50:47

What do you what do you do for fun?

SPEAKER_03 50:49

Uh raise kids mostly. Um yeah, but but uh we love we love boating. Okay. We we love anything in the water. Great place for that. Uh-huh. I'm all I'm I'm I'm probably one of the few adults you know who gets in the pool as often as the kids do. I just I love I've I love being in the water. I love diving, swimming, um, fishing, anything associated with the water, yeah, there, right? We we we my family just went scalloping again over in Crystal River. Oh, yeah. Yeah. We have a even even our dog is a water dog.

SPEAKER_00 51:27

Yeah, people haven't scalloped before. You gotta do it. It's an amazing time. And it's such a good family thing. Like the kids love it. Everybody gets involved. It's just such a good day on the water.

SPEAKER_01 51:38

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 51:39

And I know it's becoming more and more popular, and that's why places like Crystal River and Steenhatchy and all that, you know, they're becoming so popular because it's such a good scalloping ground.

SPEAKER_01 51:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 51:48

Um but yeah, if you haven't gone scalloping and you're listening to this, you need to freaking book it. Yeah. It is awesome.

SPEAKER_03 51:54

My wife refers to it as an under underwater scavenger hunt. That's it. Right. And even my five-year-old, you know, she's she's like with her mask, and she's like, Well, you know, she's getting scallops. And I the way I think it's like a gateway drug. Scalloping is the gateway drug to spear fishing. That's that's that's a long game. I want my kids diving.

SPEAKER_00 52:13

It's a ton of fun. Crystal clear water. I mean, it's it's it is, it's it's really cool. And you're just getting the groceries, man. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 52:20

You're just pulling groceries off the seafloor and you get to eat great that night.

SPEAKER_00 52:22

Yeah. It's one of the reasons. So we bought a house over in Suwannee, Florida over in the Big Bend area, and that's one of the reasons we did. Yeah. You know, because you get to go scalloping, the fishing's spectacular over there. Yeah. It's the Big Bend area of Florida, it's a totally different area. It's like you feel like you're not in Florida anymore. Yeah. You know what I mean? It really is like a kind of takes you back in time a little bit. It's a little more laid back and it's a super cool area over there. Um But here on the Space Coast, man, so like you're going out to dinner. Where are you going? What's your favorite place?

SPEAKER_03 52:53

Um my wife is from uh the San Francisco Bay Area, so she's very particular about her Asian food and very particular about her Mexican food. Uh Umami is, I mean, it's everyone's favorite uh sushi for a reason. Okay. Um I love uh I love uh Cuban food, Elambia downtown. If you guys I don't know if you've been to Elambia. Oh man.

SPEAKER_00 53:16

Is that downtown Melbourne? Downtown Melbourne, yep.

SPEAKER_03 53:18

It's on uh it's right like you could sit on the porch across from Crane Creek there. Okay. Fantastic Cuban food. Umami's in is it galley there or Umami is on uh uh uh 192 and Wickham Road. It's like it doesn't look like much.

SPEAKER_00 53:33

Yeah, I've actually never been there. I'll have to check it out.

SPEAKER_03 53:35

Oh man, yeah, you gotta go.

SPEAKER_00 53:37

Um I love Italian food. I'm more of a North Brevard guy, so I don't get South Bravard that much.

SPEAKER_02 53:42

Oh yeah, I mean so it's funny this guy puts his navigation on to drive around Melbourne.

SPEAKER_00 53:49

I I just I don't go there that much. But shit. I sometimes I put my navigation on to go freaking home just because I just want to zone out. You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_03 54:00

Yeah. Tritoria Bella, by the way, is also phenomenal Italian. It's it which looks like nothing. It's on Palm Bay Road. I am singing that place's praises forever and ever because I want it I want it to stay there. Like it is, like it looks like nothing from the road. It looks like nothing. And then you get in there and it'll knock your socks off.

SPEAKER_00 54:18

Yeah, me and my wife are always looking for a new place. We'll have to check those out for sure. And my kids are they so I I don't know if it's rare, but my kids love sushi. Yeah. If you say to our kids, hey, well, anywhere you guys want to go, they would pick a sushi restaurant every time. Really? They love it. Same with my kids. It hurts the wallet, but they they love it. They love it. How old are your kids? Uh 16, 14, and 10. Yeah. Okay. So 16-year-old just started driving. Yeah. It's like a blessing and a curtain. You know, it's like we're I'm like sitting around waiting for a phone call from them. Like, you know, a dad I just got an accident or something. Yeah. But it's awesome that I don't have to drive them everywhere. Yeah. You know? So we're enjoying that a little bit, and we get to say, hey, go pick up your brother, or you know. No, that that's nice. Yeah. So there's been some perks, but you know, it's a little nerve-wracking. I I I honestly was always the dad, like, go, you know, go like get your driver's license. Like, and then as soon as he started, I remember the first day he started driving, I was like, I was like, Man, have you heard from Cannon? You know what I mean? Like, I'm sitting around worried about him. And I'm usually not the one that's sitting around worried. That's usually my wife's job. And I was kind of sitting around worried, like, all right, we might have to put some parameters on this. You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_03 55:27

It's like you unlock the new fear.

SPEAKER_00 55:28

It's like, I'm exactly. Exactly.

SPEAKER_02 55:32

Oh, there is something I want to touch on, Joe. Um, because I think uh it's I think it'd be pretty cool for people to hear your projects that you do with Chris.

SPEAKER_03 55:40

Yeah. Um, I I have a partnership with uh Chris Paladino CMP Construction. We've done a bunch of properties together, and I mean it is it's it's a blast. It's always fun to find the project, to to have that vision, to see where it's gonna go, let Chris and his team execute on it. And then we we we take these, you know, uh homes that are that need love and uh just transform them. And it is it it's so much fun. I know, Mike, you've you've been to at least one of them.

SPEAKER_02 56:09

Yeah, I was gonna say firsthand, those houses are amazing.

SPEAKER_03 56:12

Yeah, they're we're doing yeah, we're doing things that no one else in Brevard is doing. Like uh I I I could I could you've seen it in person, but I mean a custom quartz range hood with book matched quartz. It's it's magnificent, it's beautiful. I mean, the just the attention to detail really sets it apart, which is I would love to show you guys anything like that. I I I I love these properties. I'm so proud of the final work product. They come that and it's also their own challenge, which is kind of fun. Yeah, it's a fun challenge too on the back end, because then when I do sell them, it's invariably selling for a much higher price than frankly most of the other homes in the neighborhood. It's where we don't overbuild things, but you but but you're you're now selling an ultra premium product, and now finding buyers to fall in love with it is not a challenge. Everybody falls in love with it, right? Finding the buyer who's ready, willing, and able to buy it at these prices is a bit of more of a challenge, of course. And then getting the property to appraise is another challenge because the appraisals, the appraiser's invariably looking at it saying, beautiful home. I can absolutely see why this buyer wants to pay a million and a half for it, but there's not a single comp for it. And frequently I have to go back to my own last property that we did together. And I say, look, yeah, how's this for a comp? It's the last one we did together. They sell for a premium because they should sell for a premium.

SPEAKER_02 57:37

Yeah. Yeah. There's definitely houses like it, they're hard to put into words, honestly, from what I've seen. It you gotta see it to know what it is. It's they're awesome.

SPEAKER_03 57:48

Yeah. Thank you. Thank you very much. I'm very we a Chris Chris Paladino, CMP construction C.

SPEAKER_00 57:55

I've actually known Chris for a long time. Yeah. I'm sure about that. I'm sure he remembers me. So he was in the mortgage business. Uh-huh. Shit, it's probably almost 20 years ago. Yeah. And so was I. And I was a rep for a wholesale uh mortgage lender. Yeah. My job was to go around to guys like Chris and get them to send us their loans for us to underwrite and fund.

SPEAKER_01 58:14

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 58:15

Um that was back when mortgage brokerage was more of a thing than like correspondent lending or direct lending like it is now. But um But yeah, no, I knew Chris. Chris, great guy. Yeah. Fantastic human. I love I like Chris a lot.

SPEAKER_03 58:26

Um, he's another one of those guys who's had the winding, the winding road to get where he is, right?

SPEAKER_00 58:30

He's on the short list to come in here too, because I want to get him in here, talk about barn dominiums and stuff like that. Oh, yeah. He's kind of specializing in all that. So yeah, it's great. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 58:38

So I think you're great, Joe. I mean, you're you're always straightforward, you're down to earth, which is you know a good quality to have. Um and uh I think uh anyone else wants to list a home or buy a home should definitely get in touch with you.

SPEAKER_03 58:53

Thank you. I appreciate that.

SPEAKER_02 58:55

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 58:55

It's it's it's it's nice to hear I love hearing that from people like you, especially, because I know I know you have a a lot of I know you know a lot of agents. I know you have a lot of relationships. And when somebody like you says that, that m that that carries a lot of weight because there's because you know you know good agents, you know bad agents, you know, you know what kind of what to expect, right? Like I one of one of my inspectors he called me to help list his home and help him buy a home. And that that means the world to me. I mean, this is a guy who literally has a hundred realtors in his phone, and he called me. That's huge. That that is like that that means the world. So thank you. Yeah, thanks, man. Appreciate it, Mike.

SPEAKER_00 59:35

All right. Well, let's uh let's wrap it up. Hey Joe, man, I really appreciate you, dude. I really appreciate you coming in. I appreciate um all the business, man. I I uh today was actually the first time I got to meet you. Yeah, and I could just tell you're an awesome human being, man. And so we're just blessed to have you as a referral partner and uh anything we can do ever, man, just let us know. Um again, it means the world, man. You're feeding me and Mike's families, and uh we can't thank you enough.

SPEAKER_03 59:59

So it's my pleasure. You guys take great care of my people, and that's and I uh it means the world. So thank you. Let's get out of here. Thanks.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:07

That's a wrap for this episode of the Studio 321 Podcast, powered by Brightway, the Steve Trout Agency. We can't thank you enough for being part of our journey. If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to subscribe, leave us a review, and share it with a friend. Until next time, 321, we're out.