Katie Benza: Educator to Top Producing Real Estate Agent

Tracy Hayes  0:53  
Hey folks, welcome back to The Real Estate excellence podcast with your host. Tracy Hayes, today, I have a superstar of superstars. She is the best of one of the best teams in Northeast Florida with just six years into her real estate career, I am very interested in how this former educator has changed her family's trajectory in life. She clearly has surrounded herself with the best on the Welch team of Keller Williams, and in 2021 she was the best. So let's welcome the leader of the pack, the Benz of the Welch team. Katie Benza, to the show. Thanks for having me. Thank you. I came up with that Benz line. I hope your Welch team friends catch on. Mercedes Benz fell into my head when I was just saying your name, and I'm like, Oh, that would go good.

Katie Benza  1:37  
It goes well with my hashtag. Buy with Benza.

Tracy Hayes  1:41  
Yeah, perfectly. So, Katie, I appreciate you coming on. And when I saw, you know, because obviously, Christina's created such a reputation, you know, were you using her name to really name the team? Because that's the Welch team, right? And, you know, putting you guys together, and you've been with her, you know, has it been, it's been six years, four for me on the team four on the team, that's what I thought. Because if I remember sitting down with you, I was looking at the dates, I'm like, No, I didn't sit down. You were in a summer transition, because you were teaching and doing and starting to get into real estate at the same time.

Katie Benza  2:14  
Yes, and then I joined another brokerage for maybe about a year and a half, and it was hard at first, everybody kept saying, you can't do real estate part time, and they're very accurate. I mean, if you want to do it, well, that's for sure. Know what you're doing with education. You know, I came here, I was a special education teacher for 12 years in Cincinnati, and I thought that's the path I wanted to carve out here, right? But I was kind of feeling, to be honest, a little a little burnt out and not I didn't feel like I was giving my kids enough time at the end of the day. And so I thought that it might be a nice change to go into real estate.

Tracy Hayes  2:53  
Yeah, yeah. When we're going to dig deeper, Next, I want to really dig into how, you know, basically, you know, your lifestyle has probably changed. I mean, obviously we know teachers don't make a lot of money, and now you're doing so well. And how that's changed. You know your address if you want to say your zip code, as they say often. But let's start. Let's start. You're from Cincinnati, yes, right, yeah. So, born and raised there. When did you leave Cincinnati and come south, or where there's any in between. Gosh, when was that? Well, you went to Miami University? Yeah, of Ohio, Ohio, yeah. I knew that. I know I've been, I've been there. Yeah, I went to a wedding years ago, and they were using, like, one of the halls there on the campus when a friend of mine's cousin or something was getting married. He's like, man, come on to the wedding. And we went there. And so I knew there is a Miami University of Ohio.

Katie Benza  3:44  
Oh, yeah. And we named our dog Miami. So everybody down here is very confused thinking, Oh, it must be, you know, either the city down here or the college. That's where my husband and I kind of reconnected and got married after

Tracy Hayes  3:58  
that. Oh, okay, so, so what? So what? You graduate, you obviously have an education degree. What? When did you come to Florida?

Katie Benza  4:06  
I think it was 2014 we came originally for dual reasons. Actually, my husband's job, he was in it at the time, and there was a hub down in Jacksonville, so that was a huge driving force. But also my son, he gets these terrible migraines. And his, actually, his neurologist had kind of indicated, if we were near a coastline without the strong barometric pressure, that it could help him. And it has interesting. So that was a that was another huge driving force for us. Oh,

Tracy Hayes  4:38  
wow, yeah, for sure. Wow, that that's, that's, that's interesting. So you come here, you were you working with St Johns County, or where did you

Katie Benza  4:45  
so I did at the time zoom and all that was not very big, but, you know, I was in Cincinnati, so I did a Skype interview, and St Johns County was, you could not access it. That's where we wanted to be, because that's where we were moving to. Right, but so I got my foot in the door in Duval at a school for just kids with dyslexia, which I thought was a kind of pretty interesting concept I had not, we don't have anything like that in Cincinnati, but pay was a huge, huge problem. It was a drastic difference from Cincinnati, for sure. And my husband, in our 20s, when we were in college, you know, partying like normal college kids do, he had sold his first car to purchase a home and and renovate it and flip it so he when we moved down here, he kind of wanted to get back to that and out of it. And we had this conversation one night, and he's like, you know, you're burnt out with teaching. You're not making a lot of money. I want to get back into renovating. Why don't you go ahead and, you know, sell real estate, and you can sell and purchase the homes for me. And that's kind of how it all

Tracy Hayes  5:54  
started, sure. So you were, you're, you still are teaching a little bit right at the beginning, yeah. So how long did you overlap? Maybe about

Katie Benza  6:03  
four months. I interviewed, not long at all. No, I kind of knew I was gonna do it, and which was scary, because you know you're you're really taking your whole savings, you're going out on your own, and you're just draining through your savings as you try to make a name for yourself, right? Which is hard, yes, when you have no sphere of influence in Jacksonville or St Augustine, it's intense. There was a point where I thought, I'm quitting. I'm going back to teaching. I

Tracy Hayes  6:29  
remember, I remember sitting down with you at lunch. You were talking to Christine at the time, and I think I recommend everybody. I mean, if that's the atmosphere, Christine is one of the best, if not the best in the business, and what she's doing her, you know, obviously, you know, because you're there every day. But whatever she's doing over there, you know, and George and Kelly, amongst others, have added to the team over the years, but they're doing the right things. Things are happening, you know. And I felt you could not fail. There is what, basically what I when I remember having a conversation, yo, go there. I mean, I tell you my video, you go there and you learn which you know some people do, and they go and they move to another brokerage, or you don't want to do it on their own, or whatever. You've obviously stuck to the program and and are reaping the benefits today. Would you agree absolutely?

Katie Benza  7:17  
I mean, it was when we went sat down for lunch that was great advice you had given me, because I was toying with the idea. I was with another brokerage. I i Maybe sold in my first six months to a year, there four houses, if that. And that's when I was it was a turning point like this. We can't go on like this. Christina actually over for dinner one night, and I had told her, I think I'm just gonna quit, go back to teaching, and there was a lot involved with that. Like with real estate, there's an element of confidence. And I was at the top of my game with teaching. I was coaching other teachers in my district back home, so when I came down here, and then I'm starting to learn all over with real estate in your your newbie, that's That's intense, and it is a little it depletes your confidence, right? So I mentioned to Christina, I'm just, yeah, I'm done with real estate. I tried, and she had said, You know what, come over to our team. Give it a chance. And if, then, if you don't like it, go back to teaching, right? And I will tell you something that separates their team, apart from any other brokerage, in my opinion, is they do this, when they onboard, they do this training, and it's hard. I mean, it weeds out agents in a minute for sure. Oh, is that right? Interesting? Oh, absolutely. You are getting a an enormous amount of education, how to do cold calls, learning scripts. They're really preparing you before you go out and start selling houses. And there is an element for a few months where you're not selling, so you got to hang in there. You got to learn it. It's hard, and that's, that's why people usually fall out. You You know, most people need a paycheck,

Tracy Hayes  8:52  
so because, really, she's getting down, you know, because everyone have some creative ways. I was, I was talking to a well known real estate agent. She's actually on the state board, and she said she's never cold called before. You know, she was at a different time and built up her business a different way. And ultimately, you can get creative, you know, do things to acquire business. But what, what I've seen some of Christina is, what I've been in her office, is she's really, like you said, weeding some of them out, but saying, you know you it's time you hook yourself to that phone. You get on it. There's no you're trying. You need to get your business up. So you can't take time, not take time waiting for your business to get

Katie Benza  9:29  
up. Yes, and many people, including myself, at the time or you're afraid of the phones. You're afraid of rejection, of people hanging up on you, and you got to get over that hump. And that's hard for a lot of people,

Tracy Hayes  9:41  
no no doubt in the world, you know, I have to go to some motivational videos sometimes on YouTube and stuff. And you look at some of these guys like, I mean, how many times is Sylvester Stallone, you know, basically told his Rocky movie wasn't gonna work, right? I mean, and stories like that, that just, that's what gives me let me take. Another No, give me another hit. As he says, it's now not how hard you hit, but how you know how hard you get hit and still get up, right? Yeah, that no is a hit in the face emotionally, right? Yes, yes. And I think you down

Katie Benza  10:11  
absolutely, yeah. And I think for you know, those that stick it out and are able to a little part of that is your drive and motivation, and that even, even if you're down, you're going to get back up and you're going to keep going and you will do better.

Tracy Hayes  10:27  
I've talked to several people about coaches. I know a couple months ago you guys had Angie bell in and she is a great coach. But I almost feel just, you know, listening to you talk about this, I can see Christina and George and Kelly. This, you know, more senior people that been through this boot camp you're talking about, you know, sometimes giving you, they're giving you a little pep talk. And, you know, pull your bootstraps up and it's tight. Let's

Katie Benza  10:53  
go. Oh yeah, I would say, you know, last year I sold, what, 58 homes. And still, you go into the new year, and this market, as you know, is intense, yes. And I still go to George, and I'll say, what if I never sell another house again? Yeah, you know. And then he'll give me my little pep talk, and then, like, Okay, I got this

Tracy Hayes  11:15  
right? So she like, you, you've sold off. You're like, oh, you know what? I only got one more closing on my calendar right now. I actually need to, you know, get some more. Am I going to get number two in line? You know, what's going to happen next month? Or, hey, in February, in April, or I only got, like, one closing right now. I got to start working on my April business. Yeah, oh no, we go through the same thing.

Katie Benza  11:39  
The cool thing about our team, and I'm sure you guys do this too, is goal setting is huge for our team and for me personally, and I'm always, you know, trying to achieve a certain number and and that helps me, I think, reach my goal by the end of the year.

Tracy Hayes  11:53  
Well, that's an interesting thing, especially for those listening. We're just talking about making cold calls, and when you are, you know, the podcast I listen to, and not that this is information only from them, but it is a numbers game, from a standpoint that you know, if you make 100 calls, that you're hopefully going to get in touch or have a conversation with so many people, and out of those conversations, you know, if your skill level is up, you should be able to turn those into a listing or buyer opportunity and so forth. And sometimes you have to, you know, if you're in that situation, like you said, you're worried, what am I going to have in April? Right now I don't have anything scheduled soon as those closings in March happen. What I need to start getting something in process is that you got to get down and make those phone calls and create that

Katie Benza  12:42  
yes, especially the first few years,

Tracy Hayes  12:45  
it could be door knocking. It doesn't matter whatever you're doing. I did a presentation last week, and I called it 10x I'd be surprised how many people in the room have not read grant cardones 10x but point I got from Grant was whatever you're doing, if it's cold calling, if it's knocking on doors, whatever it is, 10x on it, put all your energy into it, yeah, and it will bear fruit and and then pick up that momentum, which I assume you're at right now. 58 clients. You got all these past customers now, hopefully are referring people to you. It's starting to roll.

Katie Benza  13:17  
You hit the nail on the head, because the first probably two years of being on the team, they kept saying, you know, referral past customer referrals, they're going to come, they're going to come. Yeah, no, they're not. And oh my gosh, like, by probably year two, all of a sudden, you know, people start calling, and I'm like, wow, this really works.

Tracy Hayes  13:38  
I asked the last guest I had on. I mean, when you do get that referral, I mean, how do you personally feel when someone refers somebody on or someone just calls you and says, Hey, so and so that you closed last year? You may not even really have a personal relationship with them, but you just, you know, the experience they had, they're like, You got to call Katie, and then you get that call. How does that make you feel?

Katie Benza  13:58  
Oh my gosh. Well, a it's a huge confidence booster from where I was at when I first started. And that's actually an area that I really strive to do well in, is follow up. So that way I do get those customer referrals, but it's about them building a relationship. So then as soon as I, you know, get that call and I'm feeling kind of warm and fuzzy and excited that they reached out, then it's getting in front of them so that, you know, we can build a relationship,

Tracy Hayes  14:22  
right? Because we work so hard, you know, what's real estate? I mean, in sales in general, where you're really having to go out and capture an audience, we work hard to make those initial relationships that when one of those relationships had a great experience with you, or whatever it was, and they and they're referring to you, when we're looking into those next months, it's like you're working hard. You got two over here that you worked totally organically, you know, was all you, and all of a sudden you get two referrals on top of that. And just, really, just, you can breathe a little easier,

Katie Benza  14:53  
absolutely. Then, you know, your business is really flowing, and you're doing the right thing, right, right?

Tracy Hayes  14:59  
So we. We were touching a little bit on your start. So you're in, well, let's say, when you initially start, before you even went to the Welch team, what was like? I mean, it was just like, Oh, here's your license. Go out and do, are you really getting any even though you were teaching at the time, getting any side instruction or coaching or anything.

Katie Benza  15:17  
So initially, the other brokerage I joined, they do have a great training for newer agents. But where I was feeling I was personally struggling, is there was no real follow up after that, you were kind of on your own, and you could just ask people in the office for help if you needed it, not that they wouldn't give it. But you know, I'm coming from a teaching background. I have a structure of people, yeah, and I realized about myself that I was missing a team. You know, I'm used to even with teaching, you have a team. You bounce ideas off each other, and real estate, things change every day, and there's always a new problem that you kind of have to tackle. And it's nice to have people that maybe have been through it, or, you know, can offer a suggestion.

Tracy Hayes  16:01  
Well, there's no that we know some people who can go out on their own and are comfortable with that, yeah, and in your situation, you thrive in the environment, obviously, that you're in now with that support. I know, you know, I think Christina, from an outside perspective, or the Welch team, I should say again, to cover several people there, you've they've created a structure. I don't know if it's like you're going to work, but like you're having a sales meeting, they expect you to

Katie Benza  16:27  
be there absolutely. Yeah, and I think that's why it sets our team a little bit apart, because we're expected to be there for educational trainings, and that makes you better and helps you problem solve. And there's so many agents out there that just don't get that educational training.

Tracy Hayes  16:43  
I will put that as a note. I was, when I was doing my presentation last week, I had a slide. I was talking about podcast, and everyone that I've the 50 people that I'd interviewed before. And, you know, there's several points, but you just tipped on one of the, you know, probably four things. It's a common theme of the all, every successful real estate agent I've had on the show is getting that education and getting as much of it, not just showing up, just to get just enough CE credits, but actually taking those other courses, or the other things that your broker is providing in the office to get every nugget.

Katie Benza  17:18  
Because, you know, things are changing with loans every day. You can't be on top of it all with title. It's just nice because I know personally about me. If I were a single agent, I maybe might not go. I like kind of the kick in, you know, tail accountability, exactly. Thank you. That's the exact word. Yeah. I love that about my team, because it, you know, and then it's already set on my calendar, and I know what to expect for the week

Tracy Hayes  17:42  
well, as a new agent, you know, looking through this time, and obviously you're still doing it today in 58 homes. I mean, so, you know, looking back, did the education? Because another word you used earlier was confidence. Does the education not give you confidence?

Katie Benza  17:57  
Oh my gosh, tremendously. And you're, you know, sometimes you're role playing when you're in those trainings and you're just doing things to practice and be better. And I do love, I love that aspect.

Tracy Hayes  18:08  
I think the other asset just listening you send to the role playing this because you're surrounding yourself, also, because there's a lot of great real estate agents on the Welch team. So if you're having an internal training, you are surrounding yourself. You think about of you know, five people that are as great or better than you, and you're you're feeding off of them,

Katie Benza  18:26  
yeah, and that's another example of, I think, why it's so important that they like you in the office, especially the first few years. Because not only are you practicing with others, but you're hearing, yes, you know, the Georges and the Kelly's and the Christina's, you know, maybe on the phones, or whatever it is they're doing, and you're you may not realize it, but you're internalizing and processing that, and you may be outputting that later.

Tracy Hayes  18:48  
There's been a couple of new loan officers in the course of me being in the business now 16 plus years, and I told them, I said, I come to the office I worked for many years from home. You lose the edge when you're there, because you're not hearing the creativity of the others and putting it into your tool. Yeah, yeah. And I tell the new loan officers, unfortunately, the new millennials, maybe they don't want to hang out with the 52 year old dude, but I don't decide to just stand, just sit outside my door, and you will hear we were just talking on a sales meeting Monday, or actually, was yesterday. I think it was yesterday. Yesterday was Wednesday. Wednesday is our sales meeting. We changed it from Monday to Wednesday anyway. But they were just talking about, like, how to overcome this objection of a situation with, you know, clients, you know, talking about, obviously, in our world, they want to shop or whatever, and why, you know, we work with a builder. We pay all the costs. It's not going to be beat. They may, might be able to match it, maybe, but they're not going to beat us. And it's there. It's designed that way. Now I say that to the clients just like I just said it. I say it every time. When it's brought up, I don't bring it up unless they bring right, obviously. But you have to hear that repetition. You have to hear some. One else saying it, saying it with confidence, to understand what you're saying is is correct and accurate. How you're saying it with a little bit of passion, and in that case, because you're trying to, like, express, hey, I'm telling you as a friend, this is the way it is, yeah, but you have to hear that from other people around you to give you that confidence. Definitely, yeah, for sure,

Katie Benza  20:20  
we do a lot of shadowing too, which I think is important because, again, you're, you're watching someone in action that does it every day.

Tracy Hayes  20:27  
I think a lot of well, I thought, and it's not just in the real estate industry, again, just in sales, just to watch someone else do it. You might, there might be 10 things that they do. Maybe you kind of take one thing and do it exactly the way they do it. You take some of their other things and tweak it into your style, but you're constantly growing. You're constantly adding that to you,

Katie Benza  20:48  
yeah, even when, since I'm a buyer's agent, and then we have, you know, listing agents on the team when we go on appointments with them, or vice versa. I love that, because I hear the listing agents in action, and I'm hearing these little nuggets that they're saying, and I'm like, Oh, I never knew that before. That's exactly what you're saying. You're growing and learning the more you can get out there and in the field,

Tracy Hayes  21:09  
the way your team is structured, because you know you're you're out there doing the face to face with the buyer's agent as a buyer's agent, and then your transaction coordinator to that they're saying or using the same phrases or terminology that you're using too also builds confidence in the buyer, subliminally to make absolutely so you're not someone you're not talking like an Ohioan, and they're talking like a Texan over here. I'm saying it just gives them confidence that you're all are on the same page throughout the process. So what are some things that mean you were in education, so obviously, you know, you're pro reader, I would assume. But what do you do to kind of stay just again, keep your sword sharp. I mean, what are you do? Are you podcasters or you like reading books or audio books? What do you do?

Katie Benza  21:58  
I like reading books. The one thing always resonated with me that Gary Keller wrote, because I know that I sometimes take on too much into multitasking, and that's really helped me to focus on one thing. And it's it's interesting, because a lot of agents right now don't have to pick up that one thing that they want to work on. Right now, the leads are just flowing to them, and they have no idea what it's like when the leads are not just easily coming and knocking on their door. So reading is definitely one way. But then again, like I said, the team makes it so easy because there's so many you know, resources, yeah, yeah, that help you stay

Tracy Hayes  22:38  
fresh. And I find, personally, you know, I like reading, reading a book. Obviously, this past year, I've kind of turned over to podcasting, because I'm not only hearing the stories which are positive, give you energy, you know, put you in the right frame of mind. Whatever that story is, most of them are positive, at least the ones I listen to from the body. I'm listening for ideas because I am. I actually transitioned. When I first started listening, I was listening to real estate agent type podcast, massive agent podcast out of an exp agent out in Utah. I just went back and actually just checked up on him what he was doing. But recently I've been I changed over to actually loan officer. More slanted podcast, talking about what those but getting the energy out of those people and the stories behind them. You know, if you're listening to it on the way to work, putting positive thoughts into your head. I like hearing other people being successful, and then say, well, you know, I might want to do that in my business. So I get a lot of energy from the personal I call it all personal development, because it to me, it's I'm taking stuff and getting hopefully getting

Katie Benza  23:44  
better. I think that you are doing the right thing, because video is huge, and I that I love that that's the easiest way. I sit down after dinner, I scroll through social media, and you do have to weed through some of the you know what? Maybe not. Might not be accurate on social media, but I love videos that, and everybody loves videos because they're quick, easy way to get to the point, but it that keeps you fresh too, because you hear other realtors and lenders talking about what's going on currently. Yeah,

Tracy Hayes  24:13  
and I was kind of actually sad. This is a sad part of my story here today I was doing this presentation, I was amazed by how many of my fellow law officers are not doing video. When you listen to these podcasts, of these people who are making things happen, it's not necessarily the guy in the podcast seat, but who they're interviewing, obviously, is a producer in one way, shape or form. Otherwise they wouldn't be on the show. They have to have some credibility. And they're telling you, get on there and fumble through it. I mean, there's a lot of people in our area. I mean, I actually stole with Knight and steal it because I asked her for permission to use it. CC Underwood, with Keller Williams, she did this video. She's driving in the car. And she said, Yeah, I just shot a bunch of videos, and you just got to do it. And, you know, I fumble through some of them. And, you know, sometimes I have. It's scripted. Sometimes I don't, and I just, you know, go and do it, and it's really the top of mind, and that your friends and family, it's really, although it shouldn't replace the thank you cards that you send them or Christmas cards and remind them what you do. But really it is because, like you said, you're on there. Oh, yeah, so and so still doing that, because you're always talking about, you know, we're not always talking about it, because they tell you don't always start, but you're whether you're putting a listing up or, Hey, this is what I'm doing today. I've got a, you know, appointment with a buyer, whatever it is, reminding your friends and family in that circle that Facebook has created amongst the other social medias that that's what you do. All right, yeah, that's why, I think this is the simplest concept from that, if you are not just putting your face out there on the social media just to remind friends of it, because, I mean, isn't it heartbreaking when a when a friend, like, uses someone else, and you're like, Oh, I didn't know you were still doing that. I mean, talk about, like, totally bursting your bubble. Those are rough. You have to go and take a couple deep breaths,

Katie Benza  26:05  
thick skin. Yeah, that's hard at the beginning, especially,

Tracy Hayes  26:09  
yeah, and you chalk it up as a learning lesson. So let's dig into Katie the realtor a little bit here. So we're change up pace a little bit in six years now you've been in the business, is there anything you would have done differently?

Katie Benza  26:24  
Actually, that it's funny. You say that because a lot of clients, or maybe even friends I have now come to me and, you know, ask what the best path is to start in real estate, and what should they do? And typically, what I tell them is they should interview those brokerages. And really, if you have, if you don't have a sphere, you need to be asking your brokerage, well, what are you going to be doing? For me, that sounds crazy, because there's so many Realtors right now, right? But at the end of the day, I struggled at because I didn't have friends or family here. I was fresh to, you know, St Augustine area,

Tracy Hayes  26:59  
and you lived in a neighborhood at the time where every other house was real.

Katie Benza  27:03  
Yes, it seemed that way, you know. And at the time, floor duty was still a thing when I was in that brokerage. And here I am sitting there the whole time like, well, everybody can just find these on, you know, online. So I don't know what I'm doing here, but I always recommend that they ask if they're going to join a team, if their team will be providing leads for them. It's huge when you're starting out, huge. And Chris need some

Tracy Hayes  27:28  
at bats. You need, you need to actually do it. And it's your maybe you have a friend or friend that like will accept your not perfectness, yeah. But you need, you need to have some some practice to start sharpening your skill at a

Katie Benza  27:45  
exact price, exactly. And I've seen so many new agents where, if they didn't have that pipeline, or even if they did, after you run through those then what if you don't, you know, have the education and the training to convert leads, right? Because that was a mistake I made. I wish I would have asked that from the beginning of the brokerage I was at, you know, how are you going to help me as a new agent, other than the training,

Tracy Hayes  28:07  
so making sure you're having a thorough interview with what you know, brokerages, they're all calling you as soon as you get your license. Anyway, right? Watson provides a class just to have that in house. I mean to be calling you, but to sit down and really interview, because there are some people that have felt fallen into some brokerages and been successful because they just fell into the right one. Yeah, but just as many have spent numerous years before figuring out maybe that style is not good and gone to another thing. But we don't know how many, oh, kind of do. How many actually get their license and never, never really even sell a home, right? And technically, it expired. Their license expires at the end of the year, or whenever the anniversary is, and they never renew

Katie Benza  28:50  
exactly, well. And so the second mistake I made was when I was on my own, I paid for Zillow at the time to be in, you know, zip codes, and that was a waste of time, because if you don't know how to handle yourself on the phone and convert leads, then you just, you're wasting a lot of money. Yeah, you become a door opener who's throwing your money, you know, away.

Tracy Hayes  29:11  
That just gave me a thought. I was thinking, you know, in 2005 when I started Quicken Loans, and they were hiring about 120 people a month to go go in there. And, you know, we were doing some role play. You went through a training for 30 days, and in the evenings, yeah, you they'd let you go, and you could go up to the floor, because you everyone was assigned a team, and you knew where you were going eventually, when you actually got out of the out of the training, but they could afford to throw you a bunch of leads knowing that you're there because they knew they needed to get you up so you're throwing these stuff at you so you could sharpen your sword. Yeah, it's a lot more expensive on your end, right? Versus those guys out there with lower my bills, calm or Zillow, all those, all those lead generation sites where someone's clicking and it's going to that mortgage company you're paying. A lot of money. It's really coming out of your pocket in this case. So Zillow leads are not

Katie Benza  30:03  
cheap, right? My savings is just dwindling. That first probably cost 10 times as

Tracy Hayes  30:07  
much as they did when you started six years ago. Now, I would imagine, Yeah, same lead, yeah. But you need that practice, you, and some of that practice is, yeah, like, role play, absolutely.

Katie Benza  30:16  
I mean, I was coming from an educational background, not a sales background, so, you know, I'm just, I'm looking at it like, what doesn't everybody want to work with the person they call, you know, kind of living in my nice bubble where everybody's honest and, and, and that's not to say that that some aren't, but some are definitely taking advantage of you. They just want you to open the door right? And there are just a lot of best practices that you can be doing. So you're not a door opener.

Tracy Hayes  30:41  
I think one of the biggest things is actually, I mean, the script is good because it gets someone new who doesn't really have a flow or practice. It gives you something to work with. But really that, would you agree the most important when you, especially when you're on the phone with somebody, is actually learning to listen to what they're saying and how they're saying it, to pick out what's important.

Katie Benza  31:04  
Yes, it's funny, because even you know, when I'm at my office, I can hear sometimes I'm sure I do it, and then hearing others on our team do it, you know, like they're talking and they're interjecting, and you're like, oh, take a breath. Yes. And it reminds me, I need to take a breath. Just listen. Listen to their needs and wants

Tracy Hayes  31:21  
in the call centers that work is the first 12 years we're in call centers and and you can, you know, just go on, especially new, they learn to just learn all the stuff, and they're excited, right? And then now they want to, they got somebody on the phone who's actually, like, interested in a mortgage, but they're just getting the garbage of the mouth because they just want to spill out all the stuff they learned. And it's probably half, 90% of it's right now, even relevant to that person? Yeah? Because if you just listen, they're going to tell you what they want, and then you just, you know, need to fill those wants and needs that they have, right and when someone, shape or form or another, who would you say? Now, you got several people, but, I mean, who would you assuming some of them are listening right now? Who would you or maybe they're not even in the office, maybe you're gonna tell me someone I don't even know. Even know who is, who is your go to person? I mean, when you really when stuff hits the fan, so to speak. But who do you Who do you really rely on, on a day to day basis, as that mentor or resource?

Katie Benza  32:16  
This is gonna sound crazy. I have two, but one of I would say the driving force that I think really helped with my career actually was my husband. He helped open up Keller Williams in Cincinnati with his dad and stepmom a long time ago. He's grown up in the industry, with his dad being in commercial and his stepmom, at the time, being a real estate agent. So he knows the ins and outs, and he loves law, so he's kind of been my go to, especially with law, because that's not an area I was always strong in. And I'll kind of go for him for advice

Tracy Hayes  32:48  
from the contracts, yeah, how to, how to word some of the you know, things in that area, where you can kind of hand write anything in there,

Katie Benza  32:57  
absolutely, absolutely and and part of being setting yourself apart, I think, from other realtors, is knowing the contract and the language, and how can you explain it, you know, to your buyer, so they can understand it without getting into you know, I'm not an attorney, but you want them to understand what they're signing, right? So, yeah, he's been a huge driving force. Still is. I have problems every day, and he'll be, it'll be 10 o'clock, and I'm still working on one, he'll go, I think we should put this dress.

Tracy Hayes  33:23  
Nothing's gonna happen between now and 6am exactly.

Katie Benza  33:27  
But then my number two on our team always is George. I mean, even now, I caught him a lot at the beginning, but even now, I'll have problems or or if it's a situation that maybe happens with our own personal renovation properties, sometimes I need to call him and say, Okay, I need to separate myself emotionally from this transaction, right? Can you just shoot it straight? You know, just the facts, right? And he'll be like, he's very great at just, you know, there's no emotional response. He can give you great suggestions and advice.

Tracy Hayes  33:56  
How does it feel when your husband's been in the business. So obviously, you guys talk shop all the time, my parents and and obviously he was the one who kind of said, you know, once you get into real estate, I mean, what kind of confidence does that give you that obviously your number one person in your life is just totally behind you?

Katie Benza  34:17  
You know, I have heard other marriages, I won't say who or what, but where. One is the realtor, and one doesn't understand real estate at all, but it does. If you love it and it's your passion, it consumes you. It does. I, you know, I like talking about it a lot of the day, right? And if he weren't in it too and enjoyed it, I'm sure he would never get to a point. I've heard other spouses say, where they're just, can we not talk about that? Right? So it could put a strain on your marriage, you know? Yeah. I mean, you know,

Tracy Hayes  34:49  
our strain is, why? Why are you guys asking for all this paperwork? Because she's on your end, and I'm on my end. I'm like, welcome to our world. That's what I say. Welcome. Welcome to the lending world today. Okay, you got a self employed client. Yeah, they're trying to close in 30 days. And we got, you know, the pedal to the metal. But there are people that are processing and underwriting these loans, and you know, they're doing the best they can, and they have a process that they need to stick to, because that's how they're able to process and underwrite as many loans they do, because they have systems in play, and and, you know, sometimes, you know, sometimes that document goes out and I'm explaining all this to her, you know, as I sometimes we ask for a document, and all of a sudden that document comes back. And also that that document says something on it that says, we need some more of this other document. Yeah, and those things go on in our world, and as strict as that's, that's kind of our battle. And she knows when she gets she gets on me that, you know, I told her the other day, I said, Okay, all right, I'm gonna break you getting fired, but I'm gonna go and light a fire under someone's tail to get this done, because it's not something I do, right? Yeah? Oh no, no. Don't do that. Don't do that. Because, you know, I will, I don't, I don't. I have a low threshold for, you know, someone saying they can't do something, yeah, without, you know, a solution, or like, Hey, I can't do it, but I think someone so can, or something, like, you're just finding those things. I hate when someone says I can't do something, I just drives me nuts. I'm like, trust me, you can, yeah, you know people, trust me, if you think deep enough, you know people that can either help you, or if you're not, the person that actually can get it done, you know a name, or someone that does know who can get it done. That's another subject. But yeah, we bought from a realtor to loan officer, battle back and forth. You got to understand our world. It doesn't. It's not as easy as, yeah, he does make a lot of money, trust me, but we have to get the documents. So we looked back on, what would you do differently? Where would you say right now would be the area that you need the most improvement on? What would George tell me you need the most improvement

Katie Benza  36:57  
on? Oh, I know what he would tell me. So the team was pushing me, in the past year to go to the next level and get an assistant. You know, that's hard, because you go through a, you're relinquishing control, and B, you are giving some of your, you know, your money to someone else, right? But I would say, I struggle. I know my kids, my family would say it, I like control. I like, you know, you and I just spoke

Tracy Hayes  37:22  
about how your wife likes, yeah, we're talking for a show, yeah.

Katie Benza  37:26  
And so it is very difficult. I feel like I'm gonna do it the best, yes, you know. And I have found an assistant who is fantastic, but I've learned about myself. It's hard for me to, you know, just ask her to do things. I feel like I'll just do them myself. Yes, so pushing me to the next level, she'll actually be going, I'm so proud of her. She's going to be an agent this spring. She's learned a lot, I think, from our team. But so I'll be looking for someone else, and I know that when I do that, I need to be better at managing my time, really utilizing them, I struggle with nights and weekends like every realtor, and I need to find a little more balance so I can be with my family.

Tracy Hayes  38:08  
There's so many things that we do in this industry, and I'm not dealing I'm sure others do, but that we take away from our family's time doing some mediocre task. Not to say it's not important, but obviously we do it because we think it's important, and it's just not the you know, meeting with that buyer is obviously on the top of the list, or doing your lead generation stuff, whatever they that may do on a hands to handle where you need to be the face of it, yeah, but there's so much back end stuff that we need someone who likes doing that to do some of those hourly tasks. And, you know, maybe they grow up and be an agent. They want to some people like just doing it, and that's they like their nine to five and go home. That's their personality, yeah, yeah. They like to guarantee, right? So to break away and say, This is important. This is the money making. This is where I make my $500 an hour, right? This is where they can get their 20, $25 an hour, whatever you know you're paying them over here, they can do that. Let's give them a full schedule, and they go and then, then, because I think the one thing that I battle with, and Jennifer would agree with this 100% is I battle with I want to provide for my kids above and beyond. I love what I doing do, from the podcast to writing loans. And you know, it's exciting when you're doing the things and people are calling you, referring you right? And you're like, you get in this role, and then you're like, okay, my family, when am I gonna take that time? So, yeah, that is my battle to try to move as much of those, those tasks that someone else can actually do. So it actually relieves me up. So, you know, you can have dinner Absolutely, or go to ball game or whatever.

Katie Benza  39:55  
Yeah, I would say. So when you mentioned, you know, what would George say you need to work on? It would be. He would say, he said it to me that I'm a people pleaser. And part of you know, my battle with not having good balance is I can't put my phone down. So if a customer asked me a question, I want to so many times nowadays, people want an immediate response, and I feel like I have to give it to them. Yes, and we I thrive on, you know, positive feedback. And that's something that clients say to me all the time is, you, I've never had a realtor that responds in such a timely manner. Yeah. It makes you feel good, yeah, yeah. So then you keep doing it's

Tracy Hayes  40:33  
honestly time to where I was listening to podcasts, and it's something I want to implement into my business here in the next 9120 days, is they don't actually need the answer from you, your assistant. A lot of times can give them the answer that they just want someone to answer it, and the fact that it's answered in a timely manner doesn't necessarily mean it has to come from you and to where there's a very successful agent in town, she tells me all if you call her in the middle of the day, it will go to her assistant if you want to communicate with her during the day, text her, because otherwise that phone's forwarded, and her assistant is going to answer that call during the day. And I'm like, That's brilliant. Wow, she's out doing the things that are the $500 an hour tasks. Yeah, it's gonna get the best. What would would George say you're the best at

Katie Benza  41:21  
I would say, and it may not have been George at the time, because we had a different like a human resource coach on our team at the time, but she used to say, I wish I could mold you into all the agents, because I'd like to think I'm close to compliment. Yeah, it was really nice. She had said, you're very coachable. You sometimes, sometimes I want to get defensive if, if Christina or George or Kelly will say something that I did wrong and and I always will process it, think about it that night, and then the next morning, I'll come back to him. You were right. I know you were right. You know, change the way I'm doing things.

Tracy Hayes  41:54  
That's human nature. I think a lot of people are like that. They don't want to think they we know we did something wrong. We don't need someone to tell us. That's why I do try to tell Jennifer's you don't have to keep telling me that I already know and I already feel bad. I'm not crying about it, but I already feel bad

Katie Benza  42:11  
about it, right? I think what makes us, you know, sets us apart in our worlds, are that we want to do better. So you learn from your mistakes, even if you're annoyed, but we know do better next time.

Tracy Hayes  42:26  
Yes, exactly. All right, so you got the new agent. We were talking Christine's actively always, you know, you know, recruiting for quality people. If you sat down, do you any? Do you ever interview some of the new people yourself? Do you think they bring you into, kind of

Katie Benza  42:41  
the assistants, yes, because obviously they're working with me, but the new ones, know, sometimes they'll come to me after the first week and they'll say, you know, what do you think

Tracy Hayes  42:50  
of selling? So you just had this banner year. So I'm assuming a lot of them are probably actually, you know, either watching what you're doing or asking you what you're what you're doing, or maybe they can take on to their game. What three things would you tell you know that new agent in their first six months a year, whatever that's that's trying to get going, gaining traction? What are three foundational things that you would

Katie Benza  43:13  
tell them to do that's tough, I think number one, which I've already spoken to some of the newer agents about, on our team, loyalty agreement, in a world where, you know, we want this immediate gratification there, you know, and Zillow is out there, or whatever the platform is, you're able to go see a home, you know, in an hour, if you want. And when we get in front of the client, we're asking for the loyalty agreement, you know, asking them to commit to us and us to them, that you're going to represent them. Yeah, yeah. And I don't think a lot of agents actually, honestly do that. I've done it from day one, and I 100% would tell the newer agents that needs to be done right that way, if they go work with someone else, you can at least get, you

Tracy Hayes  43:52  
know, commissioned. I imagine you probably practice how you present that. Yeah. So, because initially you're not like, they may just tell me to get lost, right,

Katie Benza  44:01  
right, right? Well, and I try to fold it into how I can add value when I meet the customer and we're building the relationship, and I will do a whole buyers consultation with them. You know, a lot of people, even ones that have bought 10 years ago, they don't know the process anymore. So I'm going over the whole process. We like. We're actually sitting down and going over contract to close, what to expect and what to expect on our team. And usually at the end of that, they are willing to sign the loyalty agreement because they I've heard clients, you spent

Tracy Hayes  44:29  
time with them, you educated them, you you added you gave yourself value to them, yeah.

Katie Benza  44:34  
And usually they'll respond, Wow, I've never, I've I've never heard all of that before. So that's key out. And I would tell the new regions to always pick up the phone. Don't be afraid to pick up the phone. It's, you know, it's okay to fail and follow up. Those are huge following

Tracy Hayes  44:51  
up. Don't be afraid to fail and follow up. Two and three. There's no doubt, if you watch a lot of motivational videos, I was putting some in my presentation last week, and. Um, there's so many that are just afraid whether I don't, I don't know if it's, you know, we talked about video earlier, right? Yeah, well, what are someone's going to think? Who cares? What they think? Yeah, to that point, the reality is, the people who think negatively of you, trust me, there's somebody out there that does who cares? They're out there. You may not know they're out there. You may think everyone loves you. They don't trust me. There's someone that doesn't like you, and some more than others. But just go and do it. You have to do what you think is right. So put the video out there. Look Like a Fool. Be honest with you, the more foolish the video, the more chance it's going to go viral anyway,

Katie Benza  45:41  
absolutely, and I got to commend you for the podcast, because you got, you got out there. You've been doing this a while now, and that's what keeps you fresh and in your game. Yes, is, you know, looking to the future. And what you know, what is going what are the millennials, or whomever the young you know, the new people coming in, or even the people that are the older generation, you know, some people are going to hold on to these new things. You don't want to be stuck in your old ways.

Tracy Hayes  46:05  
I utilize it for a couple different ways. But tag, I want you to thank you for the compliment, the amazing stuff you have said some things here today, and when you why you're saying it, I'm going, Ah, yes, that's what you like. Your consultation, yeah, some people might. I don't want to go sit for a habit. They're already ready to make an offer on this house. I don't. I don't need go sit with them for, you know, whatever amount of time that takes. Let's just get, get the contract to be done, and I'll move on to the next one, right? But the reality is, because you spent that 30 minutes, which or whatever, how long does it normally take? 30 minutes. Good enough. Yeah, so is going to pay you dividends on the back end. Now, got you to sign the loyalty agreement, which is your goal, right after doing that, and you had time to build a relationship. You probably exchanged some wants and needs, so allowed you to present the house or the houses that they want you're building, but you're building that relationship. And the reality is that 30 minutes is the time that you are uncovering the rock of that buyer, and now you create a relationship that rock could be exposing you to many more clients. You don't know how many people they know. I mean in our area. I mean, how often is it you know the neighborhoods that you used to live in our neighborhood, and then you moved across the road, and then now you're part of you. Did you move again? You're not, yeah. But how many people are calling their friends and family and they're coming in? I'm working with the builder and working so I'm working a lot in these subdivisions, like, oh yeah, my friend, you know, he's buying you know, in the neighborhood, they're coming from New York, and their friends are telling them, come. Why not spend 30 minutes with them? Because you don't know that could be five more clients this year. Never know. You never

Katie Benza  47:42  
know. And I will say I did watch Christina Welch very closely when we lived in your neighborhood, because we would have these events, and she looked like she like moms, nights and different things. You know that Jen,

Tracy Hayes  47:55  
she's a tactician. Christina is a tactic. Oh my gosh.

Katie Benza  47:59  
I would watch her, and she looks natural. And some people have social anxiety, and I would, especially when I got into real estate, I would talk to her afterwards like that. It's almost like work, you know, she's very good at what she does. And she would say, Well, you have to build relationships, especially in your community. And it may not always be fun, but you know, the best way to do that is getting out and and meeting people and having, you know, just conversations. So I have held on to that probably since I met her and moved here. Yeah, and some that's probably something Christina would say, I've, I think I've done well in the last several years, is I commit to doing lunches and different, you know, we went on a Halloween, which is bike ride in Nancy, right? Things to get out in your community. And although internally, I may be like, I do have my own so you never know

Tracy Hayes  48:45  
who you're gonna meet. Yeah, someone might be your next best friend, yeah? But now, but everyone, oh, I know who Katie is. Oh yeah, she's a realtor, you know? And we like to think everyone knows realtors, but there's a lot of new people moving in, and they don't, and some of them go right to the builders and never actually meet a ruler. Yeah, you don't know who you know is the refer. You just don't know. And that's one great about our business. You don't know what that rock will uncover. And that's kind of the exciting kind of lottery of it all that next client could refer you so much business because you just do the right

Katie Benza  49:14  
things, definitely. Yeah. And I think too, with that being said, it builds expectations for the buyer too. They know what they're getting into, because I can remember when I was newer and I didn't tell them what to expect for the binder or how much the appraisal potentially could cost. So all these out of pocket expenses, you know, if you're a first time homebuyer and you don't have a lot of money, those are important things to discuss. How much is the inspection? You know,

Tracy Hayes  49:38  
we do it so often, especially, I mean, here, you know, you're going to have those same questions over and over again, and you can get short with it, because you're just tired of that, you know, I've already, I've had three people today ask me a question, yeah, you know. And it's the first time for them, for many, for many of them, or second time. And you know how many you are, they haven't done it in years. Actually, have. It. We had a client. My wife was on me, and I was like, he was so, oh, this process, the paperwork, I said, Honey, the last time he probably bought was probably more than 15 years ago. Lending guidelines were not as much, and he probably went down to his local credit union, where his business does all and they know how much every each month he's depositing, and they probably just did that. Oh, yeah, whatever you want to do, sir, you're approved. And barely act because they already had his documentation. But today is different, and this is how this sounds. Gonna show, you know, answering those questions, or yeah, this is how the process works today. It's a great way to build relationship. So the I'm gonna finish up with this, because you went from education we talked, obviously you took a pay cut, coming to Florida from Ohio, and what you were getting there, which kind of, kind of gave you a little fork to, Hey, maybe I need to get into real estate, because you saw the income potential. Now you've been doing it six years. You just had the greatest year of your career. It's moved you to Naka T I assume, is probably one of the motivators there. But how are things different than they were, say, seven years ago. For you guys,

Katie Benza  51:03  
oh gosh, I would say customer referrals are seeing that come in is huge. But just for us as a family, it's been giving us more we can actually go on vacation. When we first moved here, we took all of our savings from the house. We sold because I was a teacher, you know, I didn't make a lot of money, and then was a teacher again, and struggling. So it's nice now to be enjoy, you know, enjoy little things like going on vacation with your family, or even out to dinner, all things that you

Tracy Hayes  51:33  
don't even really you're not thinking about anymore, like you're not going well, I need to budget for six months because we're gonna go to Disney World. We know that's gonna cross an arm and a leg. Yeah? Now you could just go, Hey, let's go dizzy for the weekend and go, Yeah,

Katie Benza  51:45  
even, even when I was a new teacher back home and got paid, well, I would, I would get to the counter at the grocery store and I would be stressed out, like, sweating, like, am I going to be able to afford to pay for our groceries, right? And I can remember feeling like, I never, I never want to be like this again, right? I would say that is a huge driving factor for me, wanting to build, you know, it's part of, I know where it comes from, that motivation to want to keep performing and doing well. I don't want my family to how

Tracy Hayes  52:13  
exciting is it? Basically, the only thing really stopping you from making more income is time and you isn't it really come down to that? It's an unlimited income potential, and that's the only thing slowing you down is what you can you can do. Maybe you get assistance, but that takes you to do that. You've got to do separate those things, and obviously, time we can't do anything about that. Right to me that that's the exciting thing. But sometimes that does keep you up late at night. I'm trying to clear my I want to clear out everything now, because I know in the morning when I go in, there's gonna be something new, and I gotta jump on that and get right on it, because I want to make that I want to be that person. Make that compliment like you mentioned before. Oh, you respond so quickly.

Katie Benza  52:53  
Yeah, and I silly. But we have, again, coming from a teacher background. We teachers love to have positive reinforcement. And Christina has these plaques when you walk into her office, and one is for every year, for most valuable player, and one is for top producer, and she'll put your name on the plaque. So of course, George and Kelly are like all that a goal for just a silly little goal that I had was to make it onto that plaque for top producer. So I did it in 2020 and then in 2021 it's funny because Fergus on our team and George on our team put post its on the plaque for 2021 and so I wrote on there, like, Oh, you guys are, it's, I'm giving you run for your money. And it was cool because I got on there again, right?

Tracy Hayes  53:41  
And just made George shave his head or something for that, and that would have been great.

Katie Benza  53:46  
Well, it's cool, because he's adapted into a new role. Now. You know he's like the lead, the team lead for the buyers, agents, and I think that he is phenomenal, such a great coach and positive all the time. But what has when you asked me some things that are different, it's pretty cool to be in our office, and the newer agents ask me questions, and I'm like, Finally, just like with teaching, right? You know,

Tracy Hayes  54:11  
it's a measure of your well, your influence by your success, and they're obviously, they look up to you, and everyone likes to be looked

Katie Benza  54:19  
up to. Absolutely, we're gonna swing at that,

Tracy Hayes  54:22  
because we're coming up on an hour, so we're gonna go to my final things. Katie, is it more important who you know or what you know?

Katie Benza  54:28  
I think at the end of the day, it's what you know, that's what sets you apart. You think so I do. I mean, I mean, in a way, yes, it was fantastic. I met Christina Welch. She's taken my career to a whole new height. You know, she

Tracy Hayes  54:41  
didn't want to change your answer. Now, I know,

Katie Benza  54:44  
but I guess I feel like once you do start to build success with real estate, you get caught up in the who you knows, and a lot of that networking, and, you know, I hung out with this person, or I used this lender, whatever it may be, and it's not about you. The prize at the end, it's to me,

Tracy Hayes  55:01  
Well, you can hang out with them, but you got to learn something from them, exactly,

Katie Benza  55:05  
learn and grow and be better.

Tracy Hayes  55:08  
Yes, at the end of the day, what's on your guys travel bucket list?

Katie Benza  55:11  
It's nothing crazy. We're going to Destin with all of our Cincinnati friends, oh, cool from college, and their kids are the same age as my kids, so it's going to be one big, crazy house party. I'm sure

Tracy Hayes  55:24  
that sounds fun. Yeah, that's great. You can organize something like that. Everyone's lives going different directions.

Katie Benza  55:31  
Yeah, it's a good way to, like, reconnect, since we don't see them all. Yeah, I was gonna say I'm I'm also turning 40 this June, and I keep after my husband, like, what are you gonna do? Yeah? Surprise or anything. And you know he's very much, he likes to say no until the end, I'm not doing anything, and then trick you on the last

Tracy Hayes  55:48  
I'm not allowed to bring surprises. Trust me, I like to plan. Oh no, no. Trust me, if I surprised her. Oh god, dude,

Speaker 2  55:59  
control thing with us again, yes, yes. So this

Tracy Hayes  56:02  
is a new question. I've changed this question up because a podcast I listen about loan officers, actually, I'm going to a training here in a couple of weeks, over in Orlando, again, I'm following this group, a coaching group that I for. Loan officers are successful people then, you know, have large, you know, branches around the country anyway, but they talk about the most important things a real estate agent wants from a loan officer. So this is my loan officer question, and this is for my teammates here and so forth. And because I was talking last week, and one of the, you know, I was telling you, I was taking some of the key things from the different interviews, you know, the common themes in here. So I want to throw through the same when you're working with a loan officer or someone approaches you, you know, Christina has it down pat, because, you know, I know who you guys work with over there. What is the most important thing though you want from that loan officer? So

Katie Benza  56:55  
I'm going to spin this a little bit. Well, number one, I love communication. As you know, I told you, I answer my phone way too much. So you know, being able to do a pre approval on the weekends when you can being able to respond if I have a question or the buyer does in a timely manner of some sort, is very key for me, but I'm sending it back on you because I say that only because I'm I'm very in tune with my buyer's personalities. Are they analytical? Are they the warm and fuzzy type,

Tracy Hayes  57:25  
right? Are they the engineer that wants a spreadsheet? Yes, yes.

Katie Benza  57:29  
So I'm I'm trying to figure out what my buyer is and who they would be best paired with, right? So I'm gonna say to you, what would your niche be? What do you think you're best at?

Tracy Hayes  57:38  
Loan Officers are problem solvers. And I mean, not everyone, not everyone is got an 800 credit score. You know, they can, they can afford multiple homes because they just make somebody here's my w2 I'm putting 20% down. Great. Here's your pre qual. Send me the contract. There's really not much to do. There basic paperwork in the loan clothes. Unfortunately, not everyone's like that. Actually, you know, for the most part, there is other things involved. But like you said, yeah, when you're working with that engineer, I've learned because in the call center environment, having done so much volume for 12 years, because that's a volume situation versus the retail world. Now, obviously, I work with a large builder, so there's a volume from that I'm used to dealing with that volume because I was in the call center, so juggling, from that standpoint, what the thing that I would say, working with those situations, having done so many loans and gotten feedback from agents as well and and loan officers, is, I can, I can smell that that loan has a life. But those challenge the more challenged loans. Not saying I want them all the time, because, trust me, they are energy suckers, 10 times harder I can look at someone's situation in evaluate where I think a lot of newbies, so to speak, haven't done a lot of loans, would probably be like, No, you, you don't qualify. I know I've seen that loan get through before. That's cool. I like that. Yeah. So that's one of the things I when I'm talking to real estate agents, I tell them all the time the call working at Quicken Loans and loan depot in a call center environment where the volume, I've pulled 10s of 1000s of more credit reports than anyone that's just been out on the street for 16 years. They don't get the volume now. Granted, they're probably better at me, at the relationship building, which I'm working on, but when it comes to, you know, evaluating that credit report and doing those things in that methodical process that the call centers require, yeah, I've done it so many times. I've swung the bat so many times it's, you know, I'll give you a quick example to top off what I'm saying we were talking about pre qualifying clients. I have the site agents or agents calling in on the weekends, right? They want that quick pre qual. And trust me, sometimes sitting in here, if I'm working on a weekend in the busy times to do 10 of them in a day, can happen with especially in the new construction world. And I can pull the clients credit, I can put in there. Income quickly look at it. I know that loans good. I don't need to go in and put all the closing costs in there, and do they have enough money to and then run the system that takes a lot of time. Many people think I'm crazy, but it's because you haven't written enough loans. If you've written enough loans, my loans don't fail. I don't don't my loans don't fall out, because I know they can qualify, and if someone tells me they can't, I push through, and then they end up closing it's a good answer take no from the person. So I appreciate you coming on today. Thanks for having me. I think it was a great conversation. I hope the waltz team enjoyed it and puts us. Put this on your social media. I'm sure they will. Thanks.

Podcast Intro  1:00:40  
Katie, thank you. Bye, Tracy. This may be it for today's episode of Real Estate excellence, but we both know your pursuit of excellence doesn't stop here, to connect with the best of the best and really take your skills to the next level. Join our community by visiting Tracy Hayes podcast.com, where you'll meet more like minded individuals looking to expand their inner circle and their personal experience that's available at Tracy Hayes podcast.com,