Bailey Jordan of Navy to Navy Homes and Homes for Heroes

Hey, welcome back to The Real Estate excellence podcast with your host. Tracy Hayes, best of the best is who I bring to you, show after show, and today is not any different. The Associate Broker in the studio today is making waves in Northeast Florida. She has been recognized as a top agent, considered a one of the top 10 agents in Florida. She's a nominee for the 30 under 30 associate brokers in realtor magazine. But above all, she is a spearhead for the homes for Heroes program locally. Here, as a daughter of a naval aviator, graduated from Florida State University in 2014 go Knowles. She's an Associate Broker with Navy to Navy homes and CEO of the Jordan group jacks. Let us welcome Bailey. Jordan's show Bailey, welcome. 

Bailey Jordan  1:50  

Thank you so much, Tracy. I am so excited and so honored to be here today. Thank you. Thank you. I was so glad we could get you here pinned down because you were you were away on a little excursion. Yes, I was recently out in Arizona, I got invited as a top producer to kind of go out there with some other top producing female real estate agents to kind of mastermind, recharge, share ideas. So just got back from that about two weeks ago, and it was an awesome opportunity. 

Tracy Hayes  2:17  

Was that was something larger than Navy to Navy. 

Bailey Jordan  2:19  

Was that a, yeah, it was not. It was women from all different brokerages, which is really, really awesome, you know, to be able to share ideas, not just within kind of, you know, Navy to Navy, just, it's really sometimes hard in this industry to get people to talk if they're not on the same team, right? So it was from different ladies from all across the US and all different brokerages. 

Tracy Hayes  2:42  

Yeah, it's funny. You mentioned that, you know, when I months ago, when I started researching him and starting the podcast and so forth, I've become a podcast junkie, and I do listen to massive agent podcasts. He's out of EXP, out of Salt Lake City, and one of the things he said really puts on, because he'll have interviews, but then he also has what they call solo shows, where he he goes on his little rant, so to speak, and but he's right on a lot of times, and it's talking about a lot of realtors don't want to talk to each other because they think they're competition exactly, and it's really not. It's a team, team play. You're bringing one client to the table, they're bringing another client to table, listing, buying whatever it may be, and you got to work together. And it's not Yes, competition, because you're out there. But, you know, not everybody knows everybody

Bailey Jordan  3:28  

 exactly, you know, I can't service everyone that wants to move to Jacksonville, you know. And I think it's so important to build relationships. That's a big facet of my business is building relationships and those referral networks across the US and just being there for each other, because this industry can be very emotional at times, very draining, and so you want to have those relationships that you can lean on and say, Hey, what's working for you? Hey, what's not working. Hey, I'm struggling in this can you help me? And just have kind of, you know, those relationships to bounce off of,

Tracy Hayes  3:59  

 right? Exactly. I mean, I'm totally on board. My other guest was, was saying the same thing, and we were talking about getting involved in the different events, even if it's just a social sometimes, you know, go out and do some I have other agent friends who say, Well, there's no one there gonna buy a home for me, so I don't want to go. But exactly, you don't know who's gonna be on the other side of that transaction, right? And especially in the market right now, it's so hopefully you have a friend on that other side of that transaction. You're making that offer on top.

Bailey Jordan  4:26  

 That actually is one of the reasons why I am, you know, super involved with our local board, ne far, because I think it's important one to give back, you know, to the board that has given me so much, and to build the relationships again, you know, just here, locally as well and abroad, but it's important. It's so much more than just selling homes and how many homes just a year. I'm a huge advocate for getting involved, giving back and building, you know, a community of relationships. 

Tracy Hayes  4:52  

Game on. That's what we're doing. That's what we're doing here today. All right, so let me, let's get back to my normal routine, and let's learn a little bit about you.

Tracy Hayes  5:00  

You're a Jacksonville native reading on your bio. 

Bailey Jordan  5:03  

So I've been here since 2006 so I was originally born in the panhandle, Pensacola, Florida, and I was a military brat growing up. So moved around a couple of places, and then our last stop was here in Jacksonville, and we were able to stay here for a couple of consecutive years. And then I went off to college Florida State, and then I came back and was here and planning my wedding for about six months before we got married. And my husband is born and raised in Jacksonville. That is where went to Florida State as well. Now he's a little bit older, so we did a little bit of a long distance relationship. Made it work. I graduated early in three years and came home and have been here since, because you dove right into real estate. From what I saw in your bio, it seemed like very young what. What was your connection there? Do you have family? Sure. So I had moved home. I graduated December 2013 from FSU, and my our wedding date was in June. So I was looking for something that I could do within those six months, as actually my intent was to go on to grad school. And so I was actually actively applying to grad schools and wanted a little part time job. So I actually started at Navy to Navy as our admin assistant. And so for those six months, I was answering phones, overseeing work orders for our property management division, just doing all the admin things. And in that time, you know, I was meeting our Realtors, filing those commission checks.

Bailey Jordan  6:32  

I think I want to maybe go for this. So I was encouraged, and I started studying. I took the in person class, so I dedicated the next seven days, took out of my admin job, right? And got licensed. And I became officially licensed in June, July of 14. And I really just dove in. Got married in June, licensed in July, okay? And I really just dove into it. You know, the market was so incredibly different back then, but I just fell in love with it. I was still, I still held on to the admin role while I kind of got my feet wet. And after a while, I transitioned out of that. I actually took on a role which I still am active in, as part of our property management division, and then jumped into full time sales as well. And I started to do well, kind of fast. And so I kind of put grad school on the back burner, sure, because I was just really enjoying what I was doing. So in college, I studied psychology, Family Child sciences. I wanted to go on and open a marriage and family counseling business. And I kind of learned like, Hey, I'm actually kind of counseling these people, right? You are. You are, for sure, sometimes I really feel like a therapist, but my husband, at the time, had accepted a job at the Mayo Clinic, and so for me to go to grad school, my number one was actually in Valdosta, Georgia, so I wasn't going to commute as a newlywed to Valdosta every day, and since he had just taken on that role, we weren't going to move there. So I just was like, I'm just going to dedicate, you know, my full time to real estate. And here I am, seven years later, and have never thought about grad school, 

Tracy Hayes  8:07  

why you're why you're talking to two things just came to my mind. Literally, this happens all the time. That's when I'm talking to somebody, because this just brings some interesting stories. There's, there's two podcasts out there right now that I've come across, I hadn't listened to one of them. The one of them is that he uses a different word. But the stuff you don't learn in college, right? There's your great you've already got your grad degree and make more than probably the average one does. And then the other one was, she says she has something real estate therapist, whatever. She's a DC. I was just listening to the podcast this morning, yeah, this morning, and she was being interviewed by on a podcast, and that was what she advertised herself as, the therapist. She's the real therapist. Yeah, to talk to everyone's Yeah.

Bailey Jordan  8:58  

 We very much are a therapist, and I think too, because I studied psychology, you know, I specifically took personality classes in college, so I feel like that's kind of helped me also, because I can be like, Okay, this is like, the, you know, the vibe, and this is how I'm reading this, and this is, like, how these people like to be interacted with, because we are all so different, so many different personalities. And that even ties in back to what we were talking about in the beginning. Is building those relationships. You may have a customer and you're just not vibing with them, so maybe you want to refer them out to another agent that would work better with them instead of losing them completely, you know. But I do feel like some of my college experience has

Bailey Jordan  9:36  

really helped me, especially in today's times, because it's craziness out there, and personalities are all over the place. 

Tracy Hayes  9:42  

That was actually one of my because, wasn't it? Communications is what you studied, 

Bailey Jordan  9:46  

no psychology.

Tracy Hayes  9:48  

 Psychology. It made me think of how you you know that one of the standard questions, Joe, hey, that's what your degree was. How did you turn it into this? But as a very young person, though, getting started, because, I mean, you're.

Tracy Hayes  9:59  

Obviously out there interact with people. 2324 years old, right at this time, when you started. Did you find it a little bit of a challenge, because you haven't actually experienced those life experiences? 

Bailey Jordan  10:10  

I definitely some of you did. I know I was so nervous. I even I was having this conversation the other day. I look back at, like, one of my biggest deals I had, you know, my second full year in the business. And I was like, wow, I don't even know how I ever got that to the closing table, because they were, you know, they asked, I know, I remember them asking a lot of questions, and I've always been kind of that person that if I don't know the answer, I'm okay with saying, Hmm, that's a great question. Let me find out for you. Yeah. So I just, you know, I really just had to push through. I also am a huge advocator of education, so I'm very thankful for what our local board, ne far offers. And I made it a point each month as a new agent to be in inside the classroom, taking one class a month to just learn because I knew, like I didn't know anything. And the real estate course doesn't teach you real estate teaches you how to stay at a real estate jail,

Bailey Jordan  11:04  

not to you know where to get customers, and what if this comes up in a transaction. So I wanted to make sure, you know I was the best, you know I was giving my customers the very best that I could, 

Tracy Hayes  11:13  

sure I'm going to get back on track here. My family, well, my family, my wife sides a long history of Florida State grads. My wife's a Florida State grad, her sister, brother in law, mom, they're all nice, yeah, so I got to hear that all the time. I really wasn't a guy. Grew up in the Northeast. I wasn't, I didn't. I was more pro football and that sort of thing. 

Bailey Jordan  11:38  

But, well, at least you're not a fan of that school you know, down in Gainesville?

Tracy Hayes  11:44  

Well,

Tracy Hayes  11:46  

I am a fan of one particular person i and knowing a little, just a little bit about you and some of the things you have said, I think you have some respect for Mr. Tebow.

Bailey Jordan  11:57  

He does put out and do some great things. There's no doubt about it. 

Tracy Hayes  12:00  

Tell us about your first deal.

Bailey Jordan  12:03  

Oh, goodness. So it took me about six months to get my first deal, and ironically enough, it was actually a referral from another agent in my office. They had been working with these buyers, and they were just exhausting them. And so again, as I mentioned earlier, I was a new agent. I was hungry, and so they said, Do you want to take them on? And I said, Absolutely. And luckily, it was actually a fairly easy transit transaction. Once I got them, you know, found them a house, and, you know, it was in. So it took, it was about six months after I got licensed, but I remember I was super nervous the whole time, but there was so much joy, and I felt like it's such a great sense of accomplishment making it to that closing table in December. And then my second deal was actually a family member, and I don't remember who my third was. I should look that up.

Bailey Jordan  12:53  

I find it interesting, though, because I've never heard that before, and you've mentioned it, and you mentioned, I guess, you were introduced by this agent sending you that your first your first deal, the handoff. I bet most agents will run it into the ground or burn the bridge and not at least say, You know what? I don't think this is going to work. Let me refer them to someone I know. I'd rather them get the deal than just somebody you know, and maybe as they can get a small referral fee. I mean, that's why it's so important to build those relationships. I really think you should look at building relationships and that referral network as another source of revenue for you in the real estate business, because it can be so big. You know, whether it's a buyer or a listing that you're struggling with, you never know. You know another agent may have a different idea or concept to get that sold, and instead of that, you know, reflecting negatively on you, you connect them, and then they can, you know, pay you no doubt about I've been in sales pretty much my adult life, which is probably about how as old as you Are,

Tracy Hayes  13:56  

not almost, almost, but the to the turnover to turn them over to someone else. I remember back in my early sales days, I was probably a little bit younger, about when you started real estate, about that 2425 year old timeframe. And at that time, cellular phones were were growing. Obviously, they were giving them away, the analog phones in here, just going the digital phones and so forth. And there was areas of the country where there was no stores, so they would do whatever they could to get people out into those areas and get handsets in their hands. And so we would, we were traveling around, going to county fairs, more or less, or really any show. But the county fairs were always biggest. And I remember sitting there at just a pop up table cell phones, activating cell phones, because you would do it literally over the phone. There was no like laptop there with Wi Fi, but there would be times where you'd be sitting there talking to a customer and then trying to subtly close them, to close them, close them, and they just wouldn't butt.

Tracy Hayes  15:00  

Much. And having a buddy of mine who was part kind of we were at, we were a lot of shows together, sometimes you just step back and let that other person come in and they ask him, or they answer a question a little bit differently, or the personality, new idea, kind of someone else is telling them that, yeah, reinforcing basically what you told them, maybe to say it in a different way, and it's amazing, but it does work. There's no doubt about it, you know, especially in the years I did in the call center, and initially started getting as there's some times where, yeah, you need to someone to do a second voice. I mean, they just kind of come in and just say, you know, and go over and try to get some of those objections out of there. I have Ryan sir Hayes book here. Have you read that? I have you have read that one? Okay, so we'll keep that copy. But did you read the first one? Yes, I'm a big Ryan Sir you are right. I'm the grand Sirhan fan. I love his book because when you're reading it, you like you can hear him talking and so forth. So encouraging and motivating. Yes, very positive individual. What are you? What are some of the things that you know, as a podcast your books. Where do you get some of your energy from?

Bailey Jordan  16:07  

Podcast books? I made an appointment a couple of years ago. You know, we're in the car a lot as real estate agents. So I love a good music jam out. But I told myself, you know, when I am driving or, you know, have a full day of showings to pop on, like, encouraging or a business podcast, or even sometimes personal development, and then I always find myself on those days when I turn that on, I always feel like a different person at the end of the day. I'm like, wow. Or, you know, sometimes you learn a lesson in that and you're like, Wow, I can't wait to implement that. So podcast, I love a good book, you know on occasion, and you know also to like, if you're feeling down, I've built some incredible relationships with other realtors and just saying, hey, let's grab coffee and kind of re energizing each other.

Tracy Hayes  16:53  

 I find a lot of energy in it. I've become a podcast junkie. Now I wasn't doing it before I turned off the political talk show stuff, and I basically totally shut that off, and I went to now I'm popping between different podcasts, and can't wait till the next person puts their show in. Because amazing some of the people you're basically introduced to, and I think it actually to me, you know, when you're sitting down with people and just just talking. It's like, hey, you know, like we are here today. Oh, you know, I heard this great thing on this podcast that one of the stories I've been telling people lately, the same agent, exp agent out there, was interviewing a gentleman from Montana, and he had gone viral on a YouTube video talking about, what's it like to move to Montana. He was a real estate agent. Went from so so to now he's like Mr. Montana, the guy to call. He had a YouTube video. Go to when I looked at it, had almost 1.7 million views. So he's probably over 2 million views. But all these people from California, but it gives you something more positive, exactly

Bailey Jordan  17:55  

 I was gonna say. It adds you, or it adds a positive mindset to you when you're listening or being encouraged, or thinking, you know, sometimes you hear somebody share something, and you're like, Oh, I could do that, but put my own spin on it, right? And so then you get encouraged, and you feel you have these rush of new ideas, and it just changes your mindset so much than if you're listening to all the political stuff or the news that's so negative, right, or things like that. 

Tracy Hayes  18:12  

For sure, for sure, you went right to Navy homes. You told the story because you went over, you're looking for a little bit of work, and you started as their admin. Was there a connection there? And now you've been there seven years, which is kind of rare for an agent to you see them every couple of years, move to a different broker because of money or whatever. What is it at Navy to Navy that's you've made home? 

Bailey Jordan  18:42  

Yeah, so I was a military brat. We kind of have discussed that, and Navy to Navy was formed to give back and help the military family. Obviously, we don't only help them, you know, we help everyone, but we do have a special place in our heart for the military and really all community heroes, which we deem first responders, teachers, clergy and medical professionals. And so I really, you know, found I love that, and so I wanted to also give back because I've I've been there, I've been through PCs, moves, I've been through all of the military lifestyle. I wanted to kind of connect with people like that and give back to them. 

Tracy Hayes  19:22  

Well, it's definitely a community for that. I mean, there's no doubt. I mean, the builder we work with here, I mean, the amount of veterans, whether they're retiring, going to retire, being transferred in, is tremendous. There's a tremendous market for that. Do you find? Because I have to ask this question, because obviously the Navy, Navy does, sometimes you actually think, does that actually deter for being like a neutral name like Keller Williams? 

Bailey Jordan  19:45  

Sure, we do get that sometimes, yet, like I was doing a trade show one time, and someone's like, Why? Why not army to army,

Bailey Jordan  19:54  

you know, but, I mean, I can tell you, I've helped army people. I've helped Marine Corps, you know, Air Force, you know.

Bailey Jordan  19:59  

We obviously don't discriminate. We do get that question, but then we always end up it always kind of people laugh at it, you know, afterwards. So, I mean, I would say yes, maybe, but then once you kind of break down that barrier. 

Tracy Hayes  20:11  

Now, I was reading the realtor magazine, yes. And I had the face here, so, so it says in, I don't know if this is started homes for heroes. 

Bailey Jordan  20:21  

Yeah, so I did not start homes for hero. And

Bailey Jordan  20:24  

I've gotten that question a lot, but that is, you know, that is how they wrote it. I did not write that specifically so, but Navy to Navy, we became an affiliate, one of the first affiliates in Jacksonville, Florida, with homes for heroes. So homes for Heroes is a national organization. So if you are a Community Hero, military, like I said, military, medical, first responder, teacher, clergy, and you are looking to buy or sell anywhere in the US, not just Jacksonville, Florida, I can connect you with the homes for heroes agent. And essentially what we do with homes for Heroes is we rebate back 25% of our commission as a thank you to those heroes, whether you are buying or selling. So Navy to Navy became a part of that in 2014 I'm still going strong. Almost seven years later, we're super, super proud and humbled to be aligned with that, you know, with that process. 

Tracy Hayes  21:16  

So for those mentioned there that you serve, they want to become part of it. Can they just come to you and say, Hey, I'm a Jacksonville fireman, I want to participate in the homes for heroes, or do they need to contact home store heroes first?

Bailey Jordan  21:29  

 If they're looking to buy or sell, they just can call me, or any of the Navy to Navy agents, and we can help them. And then, if they're not in Jacksonville, we can connect you to a homes for heroes. And if you're a realtor wanting to be a part of it, I can definitely share more information and put you in contact with people higher up in homes for heroes. 

Tracy Hayes  21:45  

Okay, all right, we're going to transition a little bit here to the Jordan group. Okay, you know, here you went from admin to part time admin, doing some property management agent, and then eventually you make your graduation to where you're like, I'm just going full time agent. I've got enough deals going here. I'm I'm diving in. When do you start the vision of the Jordan group? 

Bailey Jordan  22:09  

So it came on probably after I had been a couple years. I don't remember exactly, but after I had been, you know, probably three years later, you know, they you start hearing a lot about branding and branding yourself, and so I wanted to create, you know, sort of like the team, but I knew I didn't want to go out like I wasn't looking to be this huge team leader, just not quite my style and but I knew I self managed part of it, but I got to that point Where I knew I needed help. And so I started, I brought on a transaction coordinator in I think it is 19, we've had some the typical hire fire Lego. So a couple years ago, I had to break it all down to kind of be where I am now. But I did bring on a couple of years ago, think, to a transaction coordinator, and I hired a marketing girl, she is actually a family member, to help me build my website and everything, because I really wanted to start branding myself as a realtor with Navy to Navy, but I knew I was kind of going to be growing based on the business I was getting, and so I wanted to build, kind of the Jordan group. So it started as US myself and then my TC and the marketing girl, and then in the end of eight, or really all of 18, my husband started asking, like, Hey, I think I like, want to come. What was he doing before, still at Mayo at the time, so he was still in the medical field, and he was like, you know, I feel like I like, kind of want to come and jump in this real estate thing. And I said, Absolutely not. We can be married or we can work together.

Bailey Jordan  23:44  

I don't think we can do both. And so I shot him down for a long time, and then at the end of 18, a couple of doors had closed and new things had opened. So one of actually our PMS at Navy to Navy, she was a military spouse, and she got orders to Singapore. And so the door opened. We needed a new property manager. So he was really not happy with where things were. He was in corporate America, the rat race of that. And so we were like, well, maybe this door opened for a reason. And so I said, Okay, if this is what you want to do, let's do it. So he studied, he took his exam, and he started as a pm in the fall of 18, and then his intent was to help me with some sales, because, again, I was kind of getting to that point where I was like, I don't know how much more I can handle just myself. And so he started at the end of 18 and pm and helping me. And then, actually as of this year, and then I had let go of my transaction coordinator at the time, so we haven't had one. And then I hired an actual, more formal marketing girl, and she's been with us for, I think, like, almost two years, and that's been super great, because when you're in the business, you know you don't have time to create the content that continues to get you business. And that's just not my specialty, right? Like, my specialty is building relationships and knowing.

Bailey Jordan  25:00  

About the transaction, not marketing. So I alleviated that I hired last year. Actually, in my best year ever, I did not have a TC. I finally just hired one in January, and she is amazing. I only wish I would have found her sooner. And this year, my husband had left in March the property management role. So he is now formally 100% full time sales with me and overseeing, kind of our investment side of the Jordan group. So I am really excited to where we're going to go. So you thought it might clash.

Bailey Jordan  25:36  

I thought it would, but we've actually been doing really great and it is really cool, because, you know, it's our business, it's our business, it's our goals, it's our future, for our family, and so it's not as difficult as I thought it would be. You know, it is. It's really cool, and it's a cool kind of dynamic. I mean, there are some struggles, but 

Tracy Hayes  25:54  

what are some of the things you guys kind of

Bailey Jordan  25:57  

 it can probably be viewed as a strength and a weakness, but we are both very different in our work. So, like, I'm more serious, he's more goofy. He's that most guys,

Bailey Jordan  26:07  

I'm more I'm more serious. Like, I'm more serious, you know, I'm more of the planner. Like, let's break out the spreadsheets, the goal boards, you know, things like that. Let's write it all down. He's more like, kind of go with the flow, and so I'm sure you can imagine, like, how that goes, but ultimately, you know, I think it's great strengths and weaknesses, you know, so where I'm more uptight and stressed and, you know, things can bother me, he kind of chills me out and says it's going to be okay. You know, 

Tracy Hayes  26:35  

when it comes to, like, kind of more, bigger decisions, maybe a marketing campaign or so forth. Does he just let you do Yeah, yeah. He lets you go with it. Things are working. So he doesn't Yeah,

Bailey Jordan  26:45  

 some things that you know something, and he knows, because, you know, I've been doing this for seven years, so he has, I will say he didn't come in completely blind because he had been listening to me for almost five years and hearing my, you know, phone conversations, and me do things, that has been watching me. So he didn't come in kind of cold turkey. He knew what he was, you know, getting into and a little bit about it. So he definitely knows, like, if it's bigger things or things that I don't know much about, I'm going to go ahead and leave that to you. 

Tracy Hayes  27:10  

Have, have you had one of those customers where you kind of, like, he, he's T dough to you, or you tied that customer to him? We do in a casual way, just, kind of just walk the other direction, let him go.

Bailey Jordan  27:22  

 Yeah, so, and that's kind of like, our goal of where we're going is, I like to kind of, I'm definitely more listings heavy. I still handle buyers. I love buyers, but one of our future goals is for me to kind of ship to listings, and then for him to take on some of the buyers, which he's starting to do. And now that he is really full time, he's really able, you know, to do that? 

Tracy Hayes  27:41  

Do you have aspirations to have a handful of agents?

Bailey Jordan  27:45  

 I don't know. I really do enjoy being in production, and I do love it, but I am sure in the future, once we have a family, you know, that will probably change a little bit. I wouldn't mind maybe in the future, you know, like one or two and just being able. But this is one reason too. I love Navy to Navy is we are such a close, tight knit group of people, super fam, like, I feel like we're all family, and that's what I would want you know, for those that you know, were to come on, 

Tracy Hayes  28:11  

you know, over the years, you know, 15 years of being in mortgages, and really the last four and a half or so, really being out in what they all retail out, entertaining you guys from a loan officer to an agent. And I've met agents that are obviously part of teams, almost religiously, from the standpoint of coming in like a job every day. They need that. They need to be told to come in whatever. And we're going to do this as a team. And the leaning on each other or pressure that a team can create to get people to move towards their ultimate goal. And then, obviously, agents who are just so independent, they love just going out there and getting it for themselves. They don't want to have anything right to deal with other people. Where do you see yourself? Because you're kind of like in between.

Bailey Jordan  28:57  

 Yeah, I would say I don't count your husband as one of those. Yeah. So I do. I mean, I love a good routine. I definitely thrive off of a routine. But I like to be able to do my own thing as well. So, you know, like, you will not ever find me getting it, you know, getting up and cold calling at eight or nine o'clock in the morning for two hours, right? I don't that's just not my style. And so I, like, would never want, you know, I would never enforce that, you know, on a team or something like that. I don't know. I feel like I'm kind of very in the middle, like I love a schedule, I love to follow a good checklist. I love to follow a good system. But some days, you know, you need a little more relaxation, right, right?

Tracy Hayes  29:33  

 There's no doubt. I mean, you know, I've been doing this 15 years, I probably could apply to be a manager at some places, I have too much drive myself that when someone doesn't have the drive that I have, they're not getting they're not in here at 815 in the morning, I'm like, dude, half the day's gone by, yeah.

Bailey Jordan  29:49  

And I don't want to feel like I have to be a dictator of other people. I'd rather much more just encourage and help, you know, help you get better. But I don't want to have to, like, micromanage, if that makes sense. Yeah. Exactly.

Tracy Hayes  29:59  

Exactly, exactly. So let's say we have a recent Florida State grad listening to the podcast right now. They've heard your story. They had some interest in it. What are some things that you would tell them they need to consider before jumping into this business 

Bailey Jordan  30:15  

turn into real estate? Yeah, I am a big proponent of what is your why? So people, right? Have written me all, all seven years of being in the business, you know, I'm thinking about getting into business, into real estate. And my question is always, why, you know, why do you want to get into it? And I'm very blunt about it. A lot of times, people think I'm going to get into real estate. I want those big commission checks. Right? To me, if you're driven by the money, you will not last long, 

Tracy Hayes  30:42  

which is common in a lot of things. If that's your sole motivation, it's, 

Bailey Jordan  30:45  

it's so much more than that. And so I always make sure to, like, you know, help them understand. What is your reasoning behind this? What do you want out of this business, you know? So just really dig that. You know, it's a personal question, you know. What is your the driving force behind that, and if it is a true, you know, honest motivation, I think you can take this business really far, right?

Tracy Hayes  31:08  

When do you you look at agents that are coming in the office today, the new agents, someone just getting started. They went and got their license. They've signed on with Navy to Navy.

Tracy Hayes  31:19  

What do you find? Is probably one of their biggest misconceptions of the business,

Bailey Jordan  31:26  

maybe that you can kind of just jump in. I know I was sharing this kind of, actually, at the panel last week that I spoke on is, you know, it's okay when you're new. Remember I said that in the beginning, I didn't know all of the answers. And so to me, you know, people are now seeking you for a huge purchase in their life, and if you don't know, it's okay, but make sure you take the time to learn. You know, set out days for you to take education classes, partner up with an agent where you can ask questions instead of just jumping right in and thinking that you know it all, because you don't. You'll never know everything in this business, I still learn new things every single day. 

Tracy Hayes  32:06  

You can't learn it all. I Of all the different loans. And I'm like, You, because there's always that one off, one out of 1000 2000 customers that they want, they need some certain type of loan. I'm like, yeah, let me research that. Let me call someone who's smarter than me, because I don't have the time in the day to day minutia of the 99%

Tracy Hayes  32:26  

of the loans that we're doing for that 10th of a 100th of a percent loan. I don't have time to clog my brain with that and how all the inner work 

Bailey Jordan  32:33  

and things are always changing in this industry. On the mortgages side, you know too, they're always changing the way things are done, contracts, this or that. And so I think, you know, sometimes people come in like, Oh, I'm licensed now, and they kind of have, like, this demeanor about them, you know? And like, we've, we've seen it kind of as seasoned agents. You're dealing with a new agent on the other side, and they're just kind of flat out rude act like they know it all. Don't be one of those agents,

Bailey Jordan  32:59  

you know, it's okay. But, you know, I actually admire very much the agents that on the other side are like, Hey, I'm new. Like, is this? Is this right? You know, just being upfront and honest and being open to, you know, someone that is more seasoned, critiquing you or, you know, helping you get better. 

Tracy Hayes  33:15  

I think it's you mentioned that another popular agent I was interviewing mentioned the ego part of it, and how there's just some of these people just want to tell you how much they know. And in reality, I find a lot of those people that Babylon or or so insertive that, like you were mentioning there, oh, I know how this is supposed to go. Really aren't actually productive. They really don't have the at bats, right, that, or at least recently. They may have had it 10 years ago, because I think the perception is it's that older agent that's just there. They're going to the classes, yeah, but what they did 15 years ago versus what you're doing now, which kind of leads me into you've started this, you know, process in 2014

Tracy Hayes  33:59  

15 timeframe. We haven't had, you know, there's been talk of recession and that sort of thing, but we've been solely moving along and all of a sudden, this recent, last 90 120 days, roughly, where it's just gotten crazy, yeah, and getting all these offers and so forth. What are you doing?

Tracy Hayes  34:19  

You and your husband or the Jordan group. What are you guys doing differently today that maybe you weren't doing six months ago,

Bailey Jordan  34:27  

 just as far as the business in general, right? Oh boy. Well, I will say so we've always kind of, when we first start working with buyers, we always bring them in for what we call buyer consultation. We have a huge informative buyers packet, and we go, 

Tracy Hayes  34:41  

so you don't just meet them at the house that they want to go see and call for pre qual while you're on your way home. 

Bailey Jordan  34:47  

No, not me.

Bailey Jordan  34:49  

We always like to, you know, bring them in, get to know them. And I think, too, that, you know, face to face meeting really helps build that relationship, and kind of breaks down any walls. I think it's, to me, it's just weird.

Bailey Jordan  35:00  

To just show up and say at the door, hey, I'm Bailey, you know. So bring them in really answer line by line, because there's so many facets of the real estate transaction. And I have found when you meet with your customer upfront, at least on the buying side, and you kind of go through what you know, what it looks like, the timeline, what the loan process looks like,

Tracy Hayes  35:20  

everything you find yourself not being bothered by them, like, and not that it's a bother, but like, they're not calling you every day, like, okay. Now what? Okay, now what? You know, we have a full detailed timeline and everything like that. So bringing them in and really going through that process now, we 100% still do that, and that day, that after we meet, that day, is when we send them home with some homework, and the homework and the homework is the prequel, so, but now we bring them in, and one thing we add is just going to keep it real for you don't get too attached to any home, and it's going to take probably five to six offers before you know you get one accepted in this market. So setting that expectation up front is so huge right now in this market, because if you don't, they're going to think it's you, and that's not really the case. We all know. You know, if you do work with buyers out there right now, it is tough, and so setting that expectation to your customer, you know that it's not them, it's not you, it's the market, you know? I mean, I guess essentially, it's kind of, it is them, depending upon what they're offering, but setting expectations up front, because this is, I mean, imagine in your in your business, is so frustrating, and agents are doing this on a daily basis, because that's why you're doing what you're doing. You're doing your homework up front, taking that hour whatever, over a cup of coffee and talk about their needs and wants and timeline and so forth. Where you go out there and they, they, they say, Hey, I saw this home. Take me over to see it. So you think that's what they want. And so if they don't make an offer on that home, maybe you find a home that's similar to that. Say, Well, this one's similar. And then you get there and you're like, okay, all right, we ready to, let's make an offer. Let's make an offer. Like, well, we don't like it because it's on a preserve or whatever, the reason is right, or the color is wrong, something's not right. It's not close enough to the school that they want to go to, or it's too far from the grocery store they want to be able to ride their golf cart to it right? And it's like, oh my goodness, I just wasted hours upon hours looking for homes. I found a home I thought they would like, but because I didn't take the time up front to find out that they wanted to be in a community, it had to happen where they had to have a three car garage, or whatever it is, and they didn't take the time that that was a must have versus, you know, an additional type of thing. It can be extremely frustrating you're primarily dealing, obviously, with a lot of veterans, whether they're active duty or a veteran, from that standpoint and discussion we have. And actually the my show, it's coming out this Friday. Unfortunately, after your show is not gonna be out by Friday, but, but we talk about the buyers, the listing agents, and having a veteran knowing they're getting a VA loan, whether it's 100% or maybe they are putting a little bit of money down. And do you find my belief is the older agents have a negative attitude. There's a lot of myths, and people have a lot of untruths about the VA loan in their mind. So it is very difficult right now for VA to compete, because one, I mean, we're seeing a lot of cash offers. So a lot of people from California, New York, you know, real estate is more expensive there, so they're selling, if they own homes, they're coming down and they have, you know, they get here like, wow, I can buy a 3000 square foot home for 400k you know, obviously depending upon the area, and that was like a third of the penthouse that they just sold in New York, right? And so they're putting cash, or I'm also seeing a lot of people putting down a significant amount. Like, recently I had a listing it was like for 230 and the buyer put down like 120 and then just to leverage the use of a loan, they, you know, did that. So a lot of times, sometimes when you do put a lot of money down, it can waive the appraisal. So sellers are like, wow, and it also shows they have money. They're probably highly qualified. It's going to be an easy process, right? So it is very hard for VAs to obviously compete with that. But I also spoke about this at the panel last week is, there are, you know, other facets to the offer that in the right now is, as agents, you need to educate yourself on the VA and really know kind of where, you know what can circumvent. You know that checkbox of a VA, you know whether it's additional binder or heavy binder up front, additional binder after the inspection, depending upon the age of the home, maybe the buyer, buying it as is, with the right to inspect only mandating, you know, repairs that the lender can mandate for, you know, like WDO and things like that. If they have cash, you know, put that down, offsetting maybe paying, you know, we're.

Bailey Jordan  40:00  

This kind of more and more frequently, the buyer taking on some of the sellers, closing costs, title search, title insurance, those are two popular ones we're seeing. So you know, they just have to get creative. They have to get creative with what they're offering and how to kind of overcome if they are putting zero down to make themselves still look strong. We can definitely talk about this. I definitely would like to have one of our days where we do just talk about loans. Have you back in on that perspective? But the one, the one question, which is one of those old wives tales, is the VA appraisal,

Tracy Hayes  40:38  

they say is tougher, yeah, because the veteran, the VA appraiser is looking for those things, water damage and that sort of thing that they the VA loan does not like to have, versus someone putting money down on a conventional loan, they can say, well, you putting enough money. Not a big deal. It's only a few $1,000 but the actual value from a VA versus, have you experienced any difference? I have not, to be completely honest, I think that is just some myth that got started somewhere. I mean, I've not, you know, I've not been in the business 30 years. I'm only on year seven. I have had probably less than five appraisals in my career. Below for VA, and I know one specifically. I knew it was so wrong, we fought it. And I actually it was low by about 25,000 and I got over 25,000 back on my appeal. Again, knowing your information, being educated, being able to come back and say this is just not accurate, and showing you know proof in the data, even recently with you know the way prices are going up. Knock on wood. I have not. I have not seen a huge issue with low I've actually experienced several situations. I had a loan the other day came in $20,000 higher than the asking price. I had one over in Clay County. Same thing, they didn't think it was I think it was a the listing agent price was in the 240s they actually over over, paid for it by 15,000 the appraisal actually came in about four or $5,000 higher than Yeah, so they actually bought it under value. So now those weren't VA appraisals, but I personally, too, I wanted you to just say it on the record, because I have never experienced where I could say, oh, that VA appraiser gave a lower value than a conventional appraiser would have. I've never seen such a thing. And then I hear also, you know, oh, they take too long to close. You know, one of the lenders I work with often, he can get a VA loan closed. And right now it's a little harder, because everyone is so appraisals, but appraisal time turn around, time from getting start to finish, back, I would say pre 2020, we, I mean, he closed a VA loan for me in 23 days. Yeah, so it's people have been fed misinformation. Big time. There's no and I've said it on my shows before when we talked about it as a lender, not now, because I, when I first started, we didn't have to do VA loans quick. I started quick and loans the first three years before the collapse of away, didn't even offer VA and FHA loans. But when someone is a veteran, and the only thing I'm worried about is the credit score, and then, of course, obviously, do they make enough money to support them? But the one thing great about the VA, it's the most forgiving loan. They allow. The higher debt ratios. Someone's had a boo boo in their credit they're the most forgiving. It's an awesome loan program. Yeah. So what I'd rather the VA client, personally thing. And I think also, as an agent, you probably agree with me, don't assume just because they're a veteran, they're not going to put any money down, right? You know, because there are incentives for them to put a little bit of money down, they save quite a bit. So they haven't been to funding fee. You know, for that standpoint, absolutely, I've already asked you all about, oh, here's my big here's my here's my big question. Okay, you talked about ne far, yeah, okay, if you were ne far called you over, maybe they're having a big event, and said, Bailey, we want you to speak as a young, successful agent and a young successful agent with experience. I mean, because you started so young, a lot younger than the I wonder what the average agent is probably like 3540, you already got 10 years on that person before they even started or plus in the industry. Ne far invites you over. Says, We want you to speak on the trials and tribulations that you've had as an agent coming through and looking back 20. You know, 2020, reverse. What are some things you would have done differently? Sure, so I would probably one thing that I have consistently, and I still need to be even better about in my business, I think in this industry, is follow up. So I know in the beginning, like I said earlier, I was really hungry, and then I kind of started, I kind of picture myself as a tumbleweed. So I started going, going, and then it just kind of tumble weeded. And so I will say, you know, I was like, meeting people. I was doing open houses for other agents. That's how I got a lot of my business is, if I didn't have listings, I would say, Hey, can I do open house to get buyers? Maybe the nosy neighbor came over and they're like, I'm thinking about selling. I mean, seriously, right? But I tell new agents now.

Bailey Jordan  45:00  

Is, you know, there's so many ways to get business out there, but, and so I would meet people, and I'd get names, and then, you know, as one person back then, I'd get busy. And I remember the time where, I think, where, right before kind of Jordan group was born, I had, at the time, about seven to eight deals going, and I was like, wow. Like, I'm so people I had recently met or had reached out to me, you know, sadly, I was letting them fall through the cracks, because at that time, I was just at capacity of what I could do as a newer agent, right? So following up, kind of systems, you know, creating better systems and earlier. So what are you doing differently today? Because you didn't do that earlier. What are you doing today? Well, I've created systems that, you know, are, you know, help me with follow up. You know, I've built, you know, I've gotten into, like my CRM, you know, I've created schedules for follow up with customers, you know, because my business is fully sphere referral and past customers now. So I'm very big into reaching out, staying in touch, sending handwritten notes, doing Popeyes, just really staying in front of my past customers so that they always know when they think of real estate, they think of Bailey Jordan, and then getting, you know, referrals from that. But back then, you know, I mean, it is what it is. I'm just excited to have business, so I'm not really thinking about, you know, this week I'm following up with these people, because I'm just stuck in the thick of, like, helping the people that I have. I would also probably say is not to get discouraged. This business can be discouraging sometimes, you know, if you a deal falls apart, you lose a customer, they decide not to buy. They're just going to run after you worked with them for five months. You know, listing doesn't sell. You know, back then, the market again is very different than it is now. And I remember I used to kind of, I take a lot of things personal, because I am a people person, so I like to please everyone. I want everyone to be happy. And so if something didn't work out with the deal, I would take it very personal. So, you know, just keep going. Kind of, they always say, like, fail forward, so don't let the nose or the disappointments get you down. I think about just a person who cares. You care and you're disappointed. I mean, there's no doubt I feel the same way. If you you know you ultimately care, you may, you know, not be best friends with these people. You're just you're representing them, but when you are representing them, and you are you, and you care about that, you're you want to get that ball to the goal line, and when it doesn't get there, it's discouraging. And then you have to review, what did I do? Something wrong, everything you have, and all this time, energy, effort, you know, helping them. And then they're like, Oh, we're gonna go a different direction, or, Oh, I think we're just like, you know, gonna rent instead of this. You're like, all this, all this time, like, Did I do something, you know, was I not serving you the best I could. So, you know, again, that goes back to personalities and things, and don't let you know that negative. You know,

Tracy Hayes  47:48  

I totally, I totally agree with you from the standpoint that I have now with you know, I'll be 51 next week, and I look back and my wife's a little bit younger, and I say, don't, you can't get all wound up about it. There's some things you can and, you know, yell at the wall, whatever. Okay, it's over. Move on. Things happen for a reason, but how many times can we I can look back in my life where you mentioned you use the analogy, one door closed, another door opens. And it happens all the time, all of a sudden, because you did treat those people with great respect, and now they want to rent all of a sudden, who knows? Three months later, three years later, all sudden, they referred you to somebody, right? You know? So it gets back to you, because you give you will, you will get all right, I'm gonna wrap this up. I'm a football official. So I call these My Two Minute Warnings. These are just off the wall type questions. Just to finish up, here, is it more important who you know or what you know?

Bailey Jordan  48:56  

I have to say at this point in my business, it's who you know, and you're a big person on education, getting to know what you know. I do. I do think that is a that is a very 5050, question, in my opinion. Because I think even if you have great connections, and you get referrals from great connections, if you don't know what the crap you're doing, they're going to fall they're going to go to someone else. They're going to, you know, if you can't service them well, or know what you're doing, you're not going to be able to carry but it's who you know gets you to the to the batter's box. Now it's time for you right to show yeah, you mentioned a little bit. You've leaned more to the listing side, but you're still doing both. If you had a choice today for the rest of your real estate career, you want to list, or do you want to buy? And that's the only thing you could do. What would you choose? You would list? I think it's I call it setting traps. You set out all the all the traps, and then you sit back and wait for people. I will, I will add. The reason I'm listing heavy now is too is because I'm harvesting the seeds that I planted years ago. So when I first got started, it's easier. I set an open houses. Got a lot of buyers. They bought.

Bailey Jordan  50:00  

Now they've had kids, they're upsizing, they're downsizing. So I'm harvesting those seeds, you know, but I'm, I'm not above fires at all. I love them, but that is why I the last couple years, I've been listing heavy you're going out on the town for the evening, just for some fun jumbo shrimp or Jaguars. Game, Jaguar game, yeah. Okay, where you What do you think of the new quarterback? What do we what do you think of Tim Tebow? I'm excited. I prefer College, just because I think there's more camaraderie, and it's kind of exciting to root for your you know, school or alumni, but I do enjoy NFL since I live in Jacksonville, go Jags, die hard fan. But I am excited. I mean, hopefully maybe this will be your year. All right, I don't know about the Reddit, so someone just says, give me two or three years. Yeah, we don't have quite all the horses yet, but hopefully it will be anything better than last year. Yeah, it'll be exciting. There'll be more, some more people in the seats. For sure. What's on the Jordan's Buck travel bucket list? Well, we went to Greece a couple years ago. We've been dying to go back to Greece. There's all the many places it's so Finch, we all want to do that, right? We go someplace. We have such a good time. There's millions of other places we could go. We all want to go back to the place where you've already been. Portugal is on our list as well. I really go to Lisbon, Portugal? Yeah, I do. I'd love to go to the Swiss Alps. And I really want to go hang out in a pub in Ireland. Oh, okay, so a lot of Europe there, if you had a dream career,

Bailey Jordan  51:28  

I don't know. I mean, I really do enjoy and love what I'm doing now. We'll let you think about that. Travel all the time.

Tracy Hayes  51:36  

So those listening to the show, I know my man, Daniel here, is put up your Facebook and Instagram stuff, because I pre loaded that on there, so it's been on the screen, but someone just wants to reach out to you. What is the best way to get to hold you? Probably my direct cell phone number is 678-447-1829,

Tracy Hayes  51:56  

I am also obviously very active on Instagram, so shoot me a message. I do have a personal page and a business page, which they're both linked on each other. So if you look up either one of them, you can find either one, and I'm very active on both, so I will get your message. So the audio version of the podcast will be going out here in the next couple of weeks. Obviously, we got Facebook Live today. Please Like and comment below let us know there's something different. Is there something else? I should have asked Bailey the next time she's here, we've got on, because I definitely would love to have her come on, especially when we talk about the veteran VA loans and so forth, and really dig deep, because I think we need to put out a positive energy about it and defeat these people with these the I call them old wives tales, is my phrase on it, so from that standpoint, but please Like and Share below. Subscribe to the podcast. They're gonna try to have a show every Tuesday and Thursday, you're gonna have the best of the best. And on Friday, I have my team in here with talking about loans, more of in a circle event with three or four of us, and you're just talking about loans in general, what's going on. And obviously VA has always brought up from that standpoint, because it is one of our favorite and we live in Jacksonville, there's just a ton of veterans and active duty coming in and out, so it's a big part of our business. So Bailey, appreciate you coming on the show today. Thank you so much. Thank you excellent.