Top Agent and Foster Parent: Lance Barnett

[00:00:00] Lance Barnett: , nobody wants to be average in life. But I think specifically in a business like real estate where the barrier to entry is so low, the average is, is going to be low as well.

So the average agent you know, sells six homes a year. And the average agent is broke. And the average agent Their customers don't want to use them again and the average agent isn't helping people. They're usually, you know, causing chaos in the transaction. Yeah, we all see it all the time.

So, we don't want to be average. We want to go out of our way to serve people and make sure that their needs are met. 

[00:01:05] Tracy Hayes: I have a special guest today. This young man, I've been following him for a while now. He's been in the business a little over three years with eXp Realty. His second brokerage, we'll talk about that. He's been a great success and I look forward to hearing from him some tips and tricks, some of the trials and tribulations that he's gone through.

He did enter the world of politics initially, so that's going to be very interesting and what led him to real estate. So, I want to welcome the very successful. Lance Barnett to the show. 

[00:01:33] Lance Barnett: Thanks so much for having me. 

[00:01:34] Tracy Hayes: Thanks, lance. I appreciate you coming by. We've been watching you for a while. I know we had coffee probably has it been a year?

Oh yeah. It's flashed by. Of course I did take a little bit time off. So this is the first in person interview I've had in a while too. So I've been doing a lot of virtual stuff, but Lance, I want to kick off the show. I want people to really get to know you. You know, whether, you know, it's the agents out there.

I know you're doing your productivity coaches, what you have on your LinkedIn as well as doing your real estate. So those who may be, you know, looking for someone to be mentored maybe customers out there just want to getting to know you and that's what this is all about. So tell us a little bit about young Lance, what led you to Liberty University?

[00:02:13] Lance Barnett: Sure. I grew up in central Pennsylvania actually on a dairy farm. So, five generations of hard work. My dad is fond of saying that after dairy farming, everything else in life is easy. 

[00:02:25] Tracy Hayes: Is that like getting up at four or five o'clock in the morning? 

[00:02:30] Lance Barnett: Yeah, 4 a. m. and it doesn't slow down all day.

So, grew up and went to Liberty University. Was really happy with that choice. Met a lot of great people there and then right out of college had the opportunity to come down to Florida and work in politics. I was already kind of involved in... Campaigns and different political avenues there and had the opportunity to take on a role here in Florida and really enjoyed it.

And 

[00:02:57] Tracy Hayes: is that something that we're, I mean, just a, an interest you had and you reached out or were they reaching out to, to look for recruits? I mean, how, how did you, how do you make that connection? 

[00:03:06] Lance Barnett: Yeah. Politics is kind of a lot like real estate in some ways and any sales role because it's a, Grind.

It's very difficult. And if you stick around long enough, you know, they'll, they'll give you a job. So, you know, they started out paying in pizza and then pretty soon they're paying for your hotel and your flight. And pretty soon they're like, man, you know, you've been around the longest. You want to run this?

[00:03:26] Tracy Hayes: So when you said that made me think of just the analogy of if you're willing to go out and knock on doors for a campaign and, and, you know, I guess you might know kind of what the political, of angle is of some neighborhoods, you know, some cities and so forth. But imagine you're knocking on doors. You, you know, you don't know who's going to answer and what they're, you know, you say somebody's name and they may go ballistic, right? Especially today in this world. And if you're willing to do that, yeah, real estate probably does go 

[00:03:53] Lance Barnett: a lot of phone calls and a lot of doors knocked. And that was my bread and butter and you know, started out doing that and then managing people that were doing that. And doing it myself and definitely the worst someone can say to you when you're knocking doors for real estate is, Hey, I'm not interested in buyer selling.

Have a great day. Right. But when you mentioned the wrong candidate at a door you'll, you'll know it. Yeah. That's for sure. Yeah. 

[00:04:17] Tracy Hayes: The expression on their face really, right? Yeah. I didn't think about, you know, I was going through the notes and going through your LinkedIn and I really didn't put that together.

But when you said that, I'm like, man, that, that is like working on the dairy farm, getting up at 4 a. m. Is it, you know, here we get before I am, cause it's cooler out when the sun comes out in Pennsylvania. It ain't like that. 

It's a zero degrees and a hard to feel the fingers at 4 a. m. When you're working.

[00:04:41] Lance Barnett: That's for sure. 

[00:04:42] Tracy Hayes: Yeah, I bet. So, You worked some campaigns, you ended up in Tallahassee, if I saw the LinkedIn correctly. So, you're basically the spring of 19 when I saw your transition, what leads you away to join this brokerage, which you had as listed in Orlando? What goes on there in your life that takes you away? Get you into real estate?

[00:05:04] Lance Barnett: Yeah, absolutely. So a lot of different campaigns. And then also worked on the legislative side. Mm-Hmm. , running bills, trying to build legislation and laws. And then in the spring, summer of 19 transitioned out of politics, full-time and into real estate. And a very good friend of mine hunter Wilkins Karen Wilkins.

It actually runs a successful brokerage in Orlando and I was able to transition and kind of try it out. And I was actually afraid I was like wasn't sure if I was going to have that motivation that I had previously. And I really enjoyed it and was able to start helping families pretty quickly and experience a lot of success.

[00:05:43] Tracy Hayes: Was this gentleman, this person, a friend of yours and kind of led you? 

[00:05:49] Lance Barnett: Yeah, so a good friend of mine from politics his mom, Karen Wilkins, actually runs a small independent brokerage there, very successful on the east side of Orlando and across central Florida. And so it was kind of a thing where I could dip my toes in the water and try it out and I really enjoyed it and was able to.

[00:06:06] Tracy Hayes: Did you see quick success using some of the, maybe tactics or just having the mindset that you were using from the politics side? 

[00:06:13] Lance Barnett: Yes and no. I would say there were about three months there where I was not having success and in the end, I had to kind of come to the point where I understood that, Even if I wasn't going to be in it a year from now, I had to go all out for the next 30, 60, 90 days.

And once I was able to get kind of over that mindset, I think that had a lot to do with my success. And within the first six months there, maybe August 2019 through January, I was able to string together 12 or 15 deals. And for a lot of folks 

[00:06:43] Tracy Hayes: that got you excited 

[00:06:44] Lance Barnett: getting into the business, they don't see that success in the first year or, or even 

more, right?

[00:06:50] Tracy Hayes: I didn't want to interrupt you there, but my thought was, so you had this way of doing knocking on doors, making phone calls, doing all the political campaign type stuff. And then you go over to real estate and Miss Wilkerson probably had, some proven tactics, some proven network, whatever marketing ideas, how did you start to, or did you find how to mesh what you like to do with what she was doing and do it, make it your own. And then did you see your success change in that? 

[00:07:25] Lance Barnett: Yeah, to some extent for sure. I would say the past experiences and the confidence to do the work played a big role in it. But I owe. It all to mentors and people in my life who have shown me the ropes. Karen Wilkins being one of them and having systems and processes where it's kind of plug and play, you know, do X, Y, and Z and ABC will happen.

And so I was really grateful for that. And I still am. And being able to step in and just kind of not make it your own, but just focus on the inputs that you can actually control and you will see that those results, and we'll talk about that more, but I'm a huge fan of the team model and how that can really build young agents and take them from is the deal one to deal one hundred, right?

[00:08:13] Tracy Hayes: Well, I mean, a very common discussion we have on a, on a lot of podcasts where I'm interviewing real estate agents like yourself and that initial thing, you know, I, you, a lot of agents I think, well, in your case you were kind of led to this brokerage, which turned out to be success.

You'd actually got with a great mentor, but that doesn't happen for every realtor. And if you've listened enough of my episodes, they'll tell you that, you know, some of them wanted to obviously quit, maybe some of them did quit, but can't got back in it. Cause someone else encouraged them to go try, you know, be kind of follow someone else.

How important is, you know, someone who might be looking to get into real estate right now, which they kind of would be a little crazy, but you know, if they are whenever they're listening to this episode today or three years from now, how important is it to take some time and due diligence and search out and actually in you interview.

the broker or maybe there is a a someone's mom who's been in the business a while, who's willing to mentor. She's just a senior agent, that type of thing. How important is the find that type of person to when you first get in? 

[00:09:14] Lance Barnett: It's incredibly important. And so I would say there's two things. On one side you have to have that person that you can trust and they really do have you know, you guys are tied at the hip, you know, when you make money, they make money.

And, and I, Would definitely recommend, you know, of course the financial incentive But also they want to see you succeed and make sure that you you know, have Both of you on the same page there and then on the other side Where I am now on the Florida coastal team. I'll just speak to that For new agents coming on the team.

We have a 90 days so they can see up front what the first 90 days of their real estate career looks like and also on the backside, what the expectations of success will be. So, these are the actions that will be done, X, Y, and Z. And these are the results that will happen, A, B, and C. Not because we make outlandish promises.

We can just point to the last ten people that went through the program successfully. This is what happens.

[00:10:11] Tracy Hayes: How important is it especially early and you may still be like this I think you are, to have a regimen that yeah Yeah, you are self employed and if you want to sleep in today you can but to get up You know have your routine whatever it is work out have breakfast and you're in the office by 8 9 o'clock Whatever your regimen is how important is that in success, especially for a new agent who?

May not really Fully understand everything involved in real estate. Maybe they didn't have 20 years of corporate experience You know I know some agents that have had some project management type experience and can structure their own thing and have had success But as a new agent coming in like yourself you were only what 25 25 coming in to really stick to that regimen and that way you have a measurable Thing to say this was successful. This wasn't. 

[00:11:01] Lance Barnett: Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Incredibly important. They say the P. D. S. The perfect daily schedule. You have to live by it. And you know, of course, every coach and guru out there has their version of it. But I think you know, getting into the office and timely manner and crushing out the most difficult part of your

 And you know, all those things that people coach on and just getting your work out of the way. And then honestly you know, that your rest of your day can be for appointments. So between seven and eight, I'm in the office and getting my outbound you know, prospecting out of the way and then putting out flyers and writing contracts and, and then it's straight to appointments pretty much in the afternoon.

[00:11:40] Tracy Hayes: Right. And, you know, in your three plus years now you've been in it were over in Orlando working at that brokerage and actually that one of the questions that I think about you moving over, you moved over here to Jacksonville in the middle of COVID. You had listed May 2020 is when you joined the Florida coastal team with the EXP.

Yeah. What happened there? Cause I know a lot of people are like, what were you, you know, what were you doing? Cause March, everything started to shut down. And then you come over to a whole nother different region of Florida to restart your business. 

[00:12:08] Lance Barnett: So, the timeline so I basically had six months of success and learning the ropes in Orlando.

And then luck would have it, a couple of things coincided. I moved to Jacksonville to get married the best reason, right? Move for love. Right. And moved in January of 2020 and in March 8th of 2020 got married. And as we all know, March 14th the very next wedding to be booked at that venue did not happen.

And then, you know, so you move, you get married, a worldwide pandemic, and then you switch brokerages all in the middle of you know, maybe a 30 day period or 60 days. So, that was definitely a lot to, to pile on there. And that definitely changed my production level and things like that.

I had a period where I was kind of like, loosely being coached and stuff, but I wasn't really on a team here in Jacksonville and did not experience a ton of success there. And then was able to find the Florida Coastal team and 

all the credit to you know, the great team leaders out there.

Specifically mine, Chris Snow you know, has the systems and the ability to really train agents. 

[00:13:17] Tracy Hayes: Chris is very focused. Obviously, he's been on the podcast and, you know, I talked to him numerous times. At least, you know, I'm, I've never been in the office. Like obviously you are every day with him, but just talking to him, he knows his stuff he has a successful path and he just keeps pounding that path of success.

In your experience, You know, I think there's a lot of agents out there who you know, there's some brokerages. I don't think Chris's is a regiment is a couple that I can think of that you and I know of, but they're very successful brokerages because they are, Hey, you're, you're going to be in the office from nine in the noon.

This is, this is what you're going to do. And like you just We're coached that you've seen success in that, so that's what you do. And you keep doing it and you keep spinning off deals because that regiment. there's a lot of people or I don't say a lot of people just, there's a lot of people that just can't quite fit in that Whole, you know, they just I think I think personally it's the perception of real estate That they're gonna be footloose and fancy free and there are some people that were successful doing that because they already had a network of People but like you said you moved over to Jackson The only person you probably knew is your wife and your in laws, right? And how do you restart your business and you've already been in the business a year yet? 

[00:14:29] Lance Barnett: I had the opportunity to do it twice. So twice in 12 months once in Orlando and then again, almost a year later in Jacksonville. And I would say it's all about providing value to those that you meet. And it is easy, you know, if you have you know, uncles in town that are investing in real estate great, good for you.

Didn't really have that opportunity, but being again, back to aligning yourself with someone who has those opportunities and just needs someone to capitalize on them. That makes all the difference. Right. And, and it really helped me in Orlando and then the same story up here in Jacksonville.

You know, getting into, I really started with the Florida coastal team at the end of 2020. So 21 started a full year and was able to surpass my goal was the first full year. And actually diving into the database and going to work with a good team around me. 

[00:15:18] Tracy Hayes: If you were let's say you didn't even start. You just, you came to Jacksonville, we'll look for something to do. And you said, Hey, real estate. Sure. Looking back on what you know now, you know, if you were, you know, Well, you were telling your friend that lived in Oshkosh, but gosh, you know, what would be the things that you would do to try to find a brokerage or not, well, EXP, but a team like the Florida coastal team, what, what kind of advice would you give that person? What kind of due diligence do they need to do to I think it's important for people to really dig deep and find that team that they're going to match up so they don't waste a lot of time, let alone be out of the business in three months because they didn't sell anything. 

[00:15:57] Lance Barnett: Absolutely. I'd say look for a team leader or a group leader who has a personal record of success and then also a record of success of leading people from where you are to where you want to go.

And seeing that is super important. And then the other side of that is. A good leader is going to be able to show you what your next 90, 180 days are going to look like. These are the metrics we're going to be looking for. If you can hit them, these are the metrics that we expect. And it's the old lead versus lag metrics, right?

You make 100 dials, you get one deal. Whatever that, you know, ratio is. And a good leader is going to know those metrics and have the skills to, to basically wind you up and, and let you go and, work at it. 

[00:16:41] Tracy Hayes: Coming from your political campaigning knocking on doors phone calls and all that kind of stuff because there's a lot of statistics in that As well, it's why they it's why people still do it today.

They still do knock on doors You know, they have the leverage of social media as well, but there's still people out there still doing the grassroots types campaigning when you sat down with Chris and Chris has explained to you, this is how I do things. This is what you're going to do. 90, 180 days, blah, blah, blah.

did it click with you because of you knew this routine that you had with the plot politics that he knew if you knocked on so many doors, you know, I guess, you know, How many people are you going to influence? How many people, you know, I imagine they have statistics of how many people they could possibly sway their vote, you know, or encourage them to vote for them by just knocking on the door. Did it click with you because of that background? 

[00:17:28] Lance Barnett: Yeah, some of that knowing what the probability is in politics it was you knock a hundred doors these people are this likely to vote for your candidate and so if every hundred doors you hit, you're a gain of five votes, 10 votes, whatever that is.

And then the same thing and then in real estate and then also comparing it to my previous good experience with the Wilkins Way in Orlando where it was a good team environment. Everybody was pulling in the same direction and there were real metrics and you know, data points along the way of this is what we're going to go after. And if you hit X, Y, Z goals you're going to be successful. 

[00:18:05] Tracy Hayes: Give us a, if you can, well, this is a good, this is a, like a job interview question. Okay. Give us something maybe you, that you still do today. what karen taught you there? that you still use today? 

[00:18:21] Lance Barnett: I would say maybe an overall theme. We could get more technical, but an overall theme is serving. So they their slogan is to serve intentionally. And I've had moments, I think many good agents have, but myself, you know, I've had moments where 8 a. m. on closing day and I'm shoveling out the garage of the cellar.

And We've all had those moments where something needs cleaned, something needs moved, something needs fixed. You have to get it done in the end. It doesn't matter whose fault it was or, or where the blame may lie. If you went the correct route and tried to get it fixed on someone else's dime or someone else's effort it comes down on your shoulders to make sure that your customers have an incredible experience.

And Selfishly, I'd love for them to work with me again. But to serve intentionally means to put them first. And, and their needs first. And that's what it's all about. And definitely have taken that with me. 

[00:19:15] Tracy Hayes: Having that mindset of serving. You know, maybe you have to go out there an hour before the final walkthrough and, you know, make sure that, you know, there's some cobwebs taken out or whatever it is.

I know my wife had one recently where they actually said in the review, even after the contract was signed up to closing, she was still pulling the weeds out of the house that unfortunately the person had passed away and the family took over. So weeds were growing up and everything. So we had to go out there and clean it up and that's what you had to do.

[00:19:43] Lance Barnett: And that's what it comes down to going the extra mile and serving your clients intentionally and making sure your customers are put first. And definitely have carried that with me and I hope you know, every single one of my customers could tell you that. 

[00:19:56] Tracy Hayes: Yeah. Yeah. The mindset, I, I put that under a mindset. She created a mindset for you there, but I obviously, I think it, you know, fed into your personality already, your ideology, the, what I think a lot of agents agree or disagree with me. They don't understand that what you were doing right there actually is like putting under your marketing budget Because you're putting that little extra effort.

You don't know if you don't know what will wow that customer They may not thought of anything and all of a sudden there, you know, he's out here Cleaning the stuff out the seller may have even noticed it Oh my god, the buyers agent showed up and helped me clean out the thing. You don't know who they're going to tell So next, when you wow them like that, they're going to be like, Oh, you can't believe this guy, Lance.

He showed up and cleaned out the garage and I couldn't, I couldn't get it done in time. And where that story may lead to and what other referrals. So it's no different than marketing a bunch of postcards out there and hoping someone calls on it. Well, you don't know what your, that little thing and who, how far that person will take it.

Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. And, and obviously. I'm sure you've seen success. You know, maybe you could give us a little story of just, I mean, in three years where you have wowed your clients and, and they've given you multiple referrals. The blue sometimes when you're like, man, I don't even have a deal going on right now.

And all of a sudden the phone rings and it's Sally referring you another one. 

[00:21:21] Lance Barnett: Yeah. Definitely a couple of different situations like that. I have a lot of great customers who have referred me many, many people. But two specific instances popped in mind. One was a previous, a former agent who was impressed with our listing presentation and what we had to offer and just the value we were willing to provide up front.

And she ended up actually not selling and not, not moving, but she was so thrilled with it. She was like, can I give you a review, whatever you know, trying to help my business down the road in, in spite of, you know, it wasn't the right fit for her but was able to go. out of her way to help me in my business just based off of the value she was seeing us you know, lead with and leading with values is what it's all about.

[00:22:03] Tracy Hayes: In value. I mean, what's, what's one person sees as value versus another person is completely different too. But I think the, like you said, that mindset of serving, you go out there, you're, you just do the right, you do what you believe is the right thing to do with passion and, and, and a smile and and you just don't, you know, and, and hopefully it comes to you.

That's the only, I mean, in our world of commission based you know, referral partners and so forth, you can never have enough advocates out there. 

[00:22:32] Lance Barnett: Absolutely.

[00:22:32] Tracy Hayes: Someone that hopefully you can turn. A few minutes ago, you mentioned team, you're on the Florida coastal team here. You mentioned Karen and her team in Orlando there as a young person you know, at 25, I imagine that you, you, when you got in the business, you didn't own your own home at the time.

You're getting started. How important do you feel you know, that similar people in New York, because I think what I've seen in, you know, two years, two and a half years of doing this podcast, I've had a lot of sub 30 year olds in here doing extremely well, which is just amazing, which back when I was growing up, when I was sub 30, you didn't see, I don't think there was not that I was looking for them, but most of the agents, the stereotypical agent was You know, in the fifties or older, right?

And a young person here. You've made it a career at 25 You've changed into real estate, but the the team concept. What do you personally? got from Karen's team. What do you get from Chris's Florida coastal team? As the ideology of the team and coming into the office, what do you draw from that? 

[00:23:37] Lance Barnett: So definitely too many things to list, but I always say real estate is lonely on a good day So, you know, even when things are going right, you know, it's still know you against the world it can seem like Everyone else in the transaction is working against you and you are you know, struggling to get it done.

So definitely can, can seem that way. But having the team mentality. A lot of times brokerages, depending on how they're structured the truth is, most brokerages are just a place to hang your license. And there are definitely different value you know, adds to different brokerages. And there are a lot of good ones out there.

But For a team, for those of you who don't know, you know, you're financially aligned basically at the hip. And depending on how it goes, if you're not making money, they're not making money. And so, they have every incentive in the world to help you be as productive as possible. And to help you reach you know, as wild of success as you can.

And so, 

having a good one that has the skills and the database, the spend all those things can go into it. And and also the experience because the truth is you know, I'm calling my sales manager and team leader pretty much every day saying, what about this? What about this? Here's, you know, is this the correct way to do it?

[00:24:51] Tracy Hayes: Right. So, cause I mean, Any small business you go out there talking anyone who started their any any business whatever it may be from scratch real estate agents included We've gone out there and blown a lot of money in marketing Whatever it may it could be time to time but time is money as well and blown a little thing and to have You know a senior like Chris that That is proven success.

And I think you mentioned how important it is to find that person's actually been successful themselves. Cause there's a lot of brokerages, uh, brokers out there right now not saying all brokers in this category that I'm going to describe are successful or not successful, but a lot of them actually haven't sold anything recently.

They actually haven't done, you know, social media. They didn't really do social media like, like they, you know, the.

aNd to get coaching from them, you know, it's one thing if they're coaching you and obviously you're getting success, but there's others out there that are in those positions and they're not rolling with you. 

[00:25:55] Lance Barnett: Yeah, absolutely. Having someone who's done it previously and then also has continued to build a team and coach others to see really incredible success in real time.

So when our sales manager and our team leader say you know, X, Y, Z works, we know because it's working right now for other people in the office. Right. and I am. I'm blessed to have a leadership role on the team as well as a productivity coach. So for all of our newer agents I get to be in the trenches with them working on their goals and helping them reach them as well. 

[00:26:28] Tracy Hayes: You know, I'm glad you brought that up 'cause it is on my list here, the productivity coach. You know, a lot of, I think there's a phrase and if I might misquote it wrongly, if you wanna learn it, teach it. Right. And have you seen some, like, some of the things you've seen, some of the struggles that some of these new reagents whatever it may be, maybe they don't necessarily.

in the structure as much or, or they're not as good on the phone, whatever it may be, but you're, how has being that coach and analyzing them and their strengths and weaknesses and how you can improve them improved yourself? 

[00:27:02] Lance Barnett: Yeah, it's huge. So whenever you teach something, you're really teaching yourself and reminding yourself of those things.

So, whether it's a certain technique or you know, skills based lesson or more like technology side, you're reminding yourself of those skills and that information. And it's definitely true. If you want to learn something you know, teach it and, and you'll learn it better than you ever could have been taught.

And so I, I've seen that in my own business. And the other side of it is when you help people. You're rewarded. We all know, you know, no matter where you come from we all know how life works, you know, what you put in is what you get out. And there's a million ways to say that. But real estate has been great for me, but it's never been more rewarding when I'm helping other people than when I'm helping other people achieve their goals.

[00:27:50] Tracy Hayes: And seeing their success. You get that little adrenaline rush when they close that deal or whatever you have. Yeah. would you, I'm going to start with the success, what is, and let's kind of focus maybe on three distinct things. I'm sure again, your list could be long, but you personally in your trials and tribulations and three plus years in the business, what are, what do you think are three vitally important things that you, you know, religiously do, whether it's, you know, it's a daily routine, a weekly routine or monthly routine that you think any, any agent right now to be successful in your opinion, you know, what three things really are moving the needle for you and your business? 

[00:28:31] Lance Barnett: Yeah. So three is a lot to think about, so I'll start with one.

[00:28:35] Tracy Hayes: Start with one. I'll, I'll help you with the other two. 

[00:28:37] Lance Barnett: Okay. Just remind me. But, the number one thing, I think almost every single agent that I see struggle in their business, and don't get me wrong, we've all struggled in our business, no matter where we are and no matter how successful people are don't let anyone tell you, it's always been like that but the thing that I see coming back time and time again is people who struggle they, they really are not talking to enough people you can't overestimate the power of providing value and interacting, with more people.

So, whether that's a lead on the phone or a lead at the door or an open house or a past customer or just stopping by in your own neighborhood and meeting your neighbors and trying to help them out with their real estate needs all of those things are interacting with folks who, Buy, sell, and invest in real estate.

And I see that time and time again where when an agent is struggling, you look at their numbers and how many people did we actually try and help this week? How many people did we talk to? How many people did we interact with? And, and really... You know, how many people had even had the option to choose you as their real estate agent.

[00:29:41] Tracy Hayes: this is a really great topic. And I remember something Jordan Feria said to me when I asked her something similar to that. And she's like, you go, she's got three young boys and they're all playing like little league baseball and stuff. And she would, she said she would just wear a t shirt saying something about real estate on it or I'm a realtor, whatever.

What are some things that are you coaching? You may be expanding the horizons of the people you're coaching or some of the things that you just do, like you're, you're on your way home or, you know, you're here at the podcast. Did I talk to enough people today? What are some of the little things that you do to You know, cause obviously, you know, one day you may only talk to 10 cause you got busy.

Something went haywire. You had to go clean out a garage, but you're like, Hey, I only talked to 10 people today. So I need to talk to 50 tomorrow to make up, get me to where my average is wherever that number of contacts a day. So what are some of the little things that you do that maybe the average person is not even thinking about that you do to, to let people know you're in real estate and you're here to help.

[00:30:44] Lance Barnett: Yeah. So one our team is great about supplying us with great leads both hot ones that are coming in right now. But as they say, the old is in the, or the gold is in the old. 

[00:30:54] Tracy Hayes: So I've also heard that one gold is in the old. Okay. 

[00:30:57] Lance Barnett: So, go back and talk to folks who thought about selling 12 months ago and the time wasn't right and, or thought about selling.

You know, 24 months ago and their kid hadn't graduated high school. So all those things you know, for us being on a good team, you have unlimited supply of people to talk to whenever you want. On the flip side I've had leads, you know, come from the most random of places connecting with people and having them recognize you as a reputable source of real estate information.

I have reached out to sellers on Facebook marketplace who have been selling a. yOu know, a watch, a car, whatever, and connected with them and ended up helping them with real estate. So, 

you know, was that the initial plan or you were actually, we're just, you're not going to disclose that.

Not at all. It would be a while if I was going through just looking for people who might be in the real estate mood, but and then also I'll just give a shout out to a great agent on our team. His name is Gary Lawrence. And he can be a prospecting machine when he wants, but what he prefers to do is meet people in his local Publix or meet people at the golf club or, or what have you. And he's great at meeting people where they're at and really helping them with their situation. 

[00:32:06] Tracy Hayes: He kind of has that attitude. They come within six feet of him that he's either going to, he's going to let them know he's in real estate. 

[00:32:11] Lance Barnett: Well, you know, that's the Publix rule. You know, if you work at Publix, if they're within six feet for two seconds or whatever, you have to greet them.

He uses that to great success. I think he sold more houses out of the pub sub line than anywhere else. So, he's in line at the deli counter. 

[00:32:24] Tracy Hayes: The subject of real estate it's not a controversial thing. I mean, I guess maybe someone might be upset because they unfortunately couldn't buy a home that, but, but for the most part, people want to know what the value of their home is, you know, that type of, so, alright, so you, you, you had one, one Topic there was a number of people you talk to that that's a, that's a key right there, wherever you can grab, touch someone as a personal goal, or as it may be, as maybe the team kind of sets their, well, how many contacts a day? Do you kind of. 

[00:32:57] Lance Barnett: Yeah. So if I was starting you know, absolutely cold, I, I would shoot for the moon and, and go as many as possible. And that's actual conversations. But really a realistic number of conversations about real estate I believe is 20. You can obviously go up and expect to see those results faster and go down.

And it will probably take a little while longer. And then if you have a considerable amount in the pipeline some of those are warmer touches, so you don't need quite as many every single day. 

[00:33:23] Tracy Hayes: You might do some 10 in the 10 new ones versus in 10 old ones. 

[00:33:26] Lance Barnett: Yeah, exactly. Like you're moving people down the pipeline with 10 conversations and then maybe you have 10 new conversations.

And, and I, I see that being a pretty good number. But Brian Buffini has some great material as well., he did it when it was way more difficult. You know, you're calling out of a real Rolodex instead of a CRM or something like that. And then just actually having genuine conversations.

In our CRM, which is called follow up boss. They give points assigned 10 points for a conversation. But 100 points if that conversation goes over the two minute mark. So they recognize that actually getting, you know, to the point where you're talking about something more than And that 122nd minute mark, 

[00:34:09] Tracy Hayes: where you can actually dive in and be like, okay I realized you're not a telemarketer. I realized we're just having a conversation about what my real estate needs are. I think I could tell you, I really could share that I'm looking for that fifth bedroom in the pool. Things like that.

So someone listening to this may say, well, geez, Lance, that sounds really great. 20 conversations. But if you've listened to past podcasts, that's a number that some of the, the top brokerages focus on. You're having those conversations like you're talking about. So Lance is right, you know, he's honed in on, on success.

That person may say, well, I'm a, you know, I'm actually very bashful. actually, when I'm in publics, I, you know, I'll, I'll look at people when they walk by me, say hi. But for me to say that's, that takes a lot in my personality to come out. Now, after we start talking, I can say, Yes, Darren, we could talk about whatever, right?

I'll tell them a life story. Sometimes it's too much information, but what are some, just some basic things that you do when you, you get on that phone that, that opened them up that, that initial 10, 

15 seconds. 

[00:35:15] Lance Barnett: Yeah. I, I love to greet people depending on what kind of a lead or hand raised there was maybe they reached out about 123 main street and I can say, would you like some more information on that property or were you just browsing?

Just browsing? Okay. No worries. Are you thinking about buying in the next year or holding off? Okay, you know, and take it from there. But also you know, for folks that are either colder or, or farther down the road, it's okay to, to just reach out and say, Hey, I'm, your local realtor just checking in to see if you are planning a real estate move this year.

No No? worries Are you really enjoying where you're at now? Renting, owning what makes the place so great? Is there any house that you would move for? You know, having those things that people love to talk about and we're blessed to work in an industry where everyone loves to talk about real estate.

I have some good friends who work in the insurance side and I. tell them all the time I don't know how you do it. Even people who need insurance that day don't want to talk about insurance. But, on the flip side with real estate, people who are ten years away from Making a real estate move. They'll talk to you for 30 minutes about real estate.

[00:36:18] Tracy Hayes: Yeah, so I had patty catch him on Couple episodes ago a couple weeks ago go back to listen. She says, you know, everyone wants to sleep under a roof, you know No, what's the sleep? They're gonna talk to you about that about real estate Which now because I brought the head of Red South tell that story lost my train of thought Chris talks about this He talks about he, that way to basically disarm, you know, because they're like, Oh, what do you, what do you call me for?

You know, well, I know you're not ready to move forward on anything right now, but I just wanted to see, you know, put myself and is someone joining someone coming to the team or signing up under you under eXp, you're recruiting them type of thing. That team and I imagine you guys are probably doing some role playing.

Right, especially with the newer people, because not, no, I don't know anyone, I was at Quicken Loans for eight and a half years in a call center environment. We were still getting coached and listening to calls and that kind of thing, always trying to get it better our responses. Or, you know, and obviously it's great when you do listen to a call because you, sometimes you don't necessarily hear what the customer is saying.

You know, they're saying. But you're not actually hearing, hearing it, how they're saying it when you start to step back and start to slow things down. Then you start to get even better and better at listening to someone, what they're actually telling you and then what your response may be. Is that something that moves?

The team has really helped you out and really getting those at bats and how to handle them. conversations that take 

different ways? 

[00:37:44] Lance Barnett: Yeah. Role playing and practicing connecting with people definitely plays a role in it and it's something you can always practice more of. We do a ton of it on the team and I think all the good teams out there do.

Anytime you're trying to connect with folks, it's good, a good idea to practice. 

[00:38:00] Tracy Hayes: Well, I was thinking, you know, there's some people obviously, like anything, they pick up things faster than others. And in your, and I was just thinking about when you were answering that question, the amount of time that you spend on the phone. How important is it to really, you'll constantly be fine tuning that because you are spending a lot of time, so you only, you only have ears, not like you and I here face to face, I can see your facial expressions and everything, you're only hearing, so you don't know, you know, what's going on around them, you don't know what their facial expressions are, are they standing there, do they have clothes on or not, you don't know, and you have to be focused in, and it really takes practice, and, um, but you don't have to be, okay.

Go out there and say it with you know a hundred years of experience But if each day each phone call you're working on Getting a little bit better and having that coach or mentor listening to your call and then go well, you know We could have done this we could have responded differently we could have twisted this a different way and maybe got them to react Because the amount of time you spent how important is that in really?

Ramping your business up because you spend so much time on the phone. 

[00:39:11] Lance Barnett: Yeah I think it's super important you know, Alex Hormozy and a lot of other good influencers in that space of personal development and business growth say you have to invest in yourself and because you, you are your biggest asset you are, what generates the business.

And so, building those skills and you know, whatever that may be, if it helps you get one more deal next month, it's been a great investment. And, then also, you know, it's just human nature when, when you say a sentence I probably hear one thing and that might not be what you said at all.

And so, repeating it back to folks and really making sure that you're connecting on a deeper level and what they really need is what it's all about. 

[00:39:49] Tracy Hayes: That's a real important. You're repeating it back to more. Hey, am I hearing you saying this? Is this what you're saying to when you're building that relationship?

And to be honest with you, that's one of the tangible benefits of doing a podcast because I have to turn off my phone and take the focus off. We're not sitting there, you know, doing as we, you know, do with our wives. So we should get dinner or whatever. We're at a restaurant waiting for the dinner to come out 

[00:40:11] Lance Barnett: when you get in trouble.

[00:40:12] Tracy Hayes: And it makes me practice on obviously listening to you, but the other thing is like, don't interrupt them, right? Let them come out, because there's thoughts that go through my head, and there's many times if you've listened to my podcast where I'll actually, because I don't want to interrupt you, that thought pops in your head, you're like, no, no, no, stay over here, I've got to focus on what Lance is saying.

And how important it is in, improving your phone skills. It's like, you don't have to be a superstar at it, but if you're improving every day, you're going to see improvement in your, in your success you know, as an agent and building those relationships, which then hopefully turn into the deals.

[00:40:48] Lance Barnett: Yeah. Yeah. That means a lot. And definitely connecting and hearing what people actually need and asking why. Right. So when someone says well, we need a yard with a fence. Okay. Why is that? Well, we want to be safe. Why is that? Well, we have three kids. Okay. Wow. what are their ages?

And really getting to the reason behind why did they click on that home? Right. There's a lot of steps down the road that you can go, right? 

[00:41:13] Tracy Hayes: And that's so important. You know, the, the, why they have kids, maybe they, they're one of these people want, they like pit bulls, but they know they need to be. You know, maybe they got a great Dane, you don't know, years ago.

I was looking at looking at pets and I was like, Oh, you know, it would be really cool to adopt these service dogs. Right. But you have to have a 10 foot fence because those dogs can. You know, I was like, okay, where am I going to find a house in the subdivision in northeast Florida with a, that you can put a 10 foot fence because they were trained to go over there. Exactly. You got to ask those questions and, and the fact that the reality is, would you agree? The average agent is going to ask those questions. 

[00:41:52] Lance Barnett: Yeah, absolutely. The average agent, you know, we say it all the time. You know, nobody wants to be average in life. But I think specifically in a business like real estate where the barrier to entry is so low, the average is, is going to be low as well.

So the average agent you know, sells six homes a year. And the average agent is broke. And the average agent Their customers don't want to use them again and the average agent isn't helping people. They're usually, you know, causing chaos in the transaction. Yeah, we all see it all the time.

So, we don't want to be average. We want to go out of our way to serve people and make sure that their needs are met.

[00:42:28] Tracy Hayes: know you've had, because you just mentioned you've had these transactions with some of these agents on the other end that may have been in business 10 years. You know, but they just seem to not get out of your way if you if an agent right now Has been in the business for a while And I think right now with the marketplace, we're seeing that challenge We know mortgage people are rolling out real estate agents We're gonna see as the year turns who's renewed and who hasn't who's done their continuing ed and you know Continuing their license and they're rolling out What what would you recommend?

You know Because I know there's probably some agents on the other end, you're like, you know, you're a really nice person, but you have no idea what you're doing. Come join me and let me, let me help you, you know, what are some of those things that you would recommend to some of these users who feel like they're flatline?

Maybe they're thinking about getting out of the business right now that, that you would recommend, you know, Hey, maybe the Florida coastal team and come and hang out with Lance for awhile. Can, can move your business. What kind of recommendations would you give them? 

[00:43:28] Lance Barnett: yeah, I would say it's not too late. You know, we've all been there where we've had a couple months in the road in a row where we haven't done the type of business that we want and maybe it's several months in a row and it's not too late to make a change.

So align yourself with people that are successful and that are still experiencing success in this market. There are some of them out there. There are some of us out there and It really can make a huge difference. It's made all the difference for me. One of my big, you know, changes, I didn't detail this, but I had such a great experience in Orlando, being on a great team, knowing, you know, what I was going to do every single day and how I was going to do it, and that when I moved up to Jacksonville, I didn't realize that every single place was not like that.

And so, just kind of doing the single agent thing on my own. was not successful for me at that time, but I realized I needed to go back to what I knew and what I had success with previously. And I don't think I mentioned those last two things when you listed three things, I do have two more things.

And I would say after just not communicating with enough people every day most agents get out of the business because they don't know what to do. Or they don't know how to do it. And I think those two things if you don't wake up every day and have that to do list in your mind, if I do X, Y, Z, I will be successful, then you're in the wrong place.

And you know, maybe that's a brokerage, maybe that's a mindset, maybe that's you know, just a lack of opportunity. And all of those things can be solved with the right team. So, for me that was what made all the difference. 

[00:45:03] Tracy Hayes: Matching up with the right. 

[00:45:05] Lance Barnett: Yep. With the right people and those that have actually have the opportunities and the right team, the good teams right now are desperate for people who, who want to see success.

You know, on our team currently we are actively looking for agents who want to help more people and want to grow a business and see success. Right. And. that's kind of where we're at right now. 

[00:45:25] Tracy Hayes: No, I, I know, I know Chris because we talked about it on the podcast. Those who want to go back to Chris Snow's podcast and listen to it and follow up with Lance's here.

He has, he has a way of generating leads and he's been doing it a long time and he's tweaked it like anyone would do. We, we, we make it better. We see what we failed over there. Now, you know, he's done it long enough that I'm sure he wouldn't say it's perfect, but it's generating the leads. And if you're in a, you're not getting that leadership and you may be someone who needs leads.

I mean, a lot of people join teams. Keller Williams is big at that. The teams of Keller Williams, because they, So, you're, you're, you're already been in the business three plus years now your success. You're rolling with it. Whereas time goes on another little fish brand. So calling for a Florida coastal team is important.

If you're listening to this right now and you're stagnant, you need to call, excuse me, sit down with Lance, sit down with Chris and talk about what they're doing there. aS you grow. Have you started to look forward, you know, Hey, what, you know, what, in three years now, you know, where am I going to need Chris as much, you know, am I just, you know, hopefully you've got enough referral business, you know, that time to take on the lead flow that he has coming in.

Have you foreshadowed that in any way and what, where, what do you, where do you see yourself? Do you, do you want to go open your own brokerage? Or is that not even a thought right now? 

[00:46:45] Lance Barnett: Yeah so a couple different parts there and I've had a lot of younger agents ask me like, why would you be on a team?

And I think a lot of times those are the agents who haven't done their first transaction or haven't done their 10th transaction because they really don't understand how much support and help come from the right team. I think a lot of folks join a team because they think leads are the answer.

And then after they do their first 10 deals, they realize leads are just the beginning of your problems. And so you need the team to do those deals. A lot of times you know, the support like this afternoon I have agents showing houses, I have all sorts of things going on. And so great support staff and a great system in place in the right team can really make a difference.

And so, a lot of folks, I think, just want the leads, but then after they start doing deals, they realize, wow, to, to run a productive business, there's a million things that go into it. And the truth is, you can spend all your time doing everything but the actual selling of real estate. And so, having a team that supports me lets me just do my DPAs, my dollar-producing activities every day. And I get to kind of hand off all the other stuff.

[00:47:56] Tracy Hayes: Right. That's, oh, that, what a great, the dollar producing activities cause we can get distracted by a lot of the other things. Now there's some things that we need to do. We create our social media, whatever, but as you start to get busier, you need to start kind of handing those things off and, or, you know, hiring, whether it's sharing somebody in the office, whether it's going on Fiverr and having someone, you know, create some of that artwork for you, whatever How important was it when you got, you started to get busy like that, to have someone senior like Chris or Karen and say, Hey you're getting away from your dollar producing activities. You could go hand that off and spend that, spend 200 over there. But now sell another home because you spent 200 this month on having someone else create that artwork while you went and spent another whatever hours and got one more deal this month.

[00:48:45] Lance Barnett: Yeah. We've all seen that happen. It's incredibly important. After your first five deals, I think the next five are almost the hardest because you're spending all your time on the first five, trying to keep them together, that you're not working for the next five. Right. So, incredibly important to keep those dollar producing activities on the forefront of your mind every day.

Get them done first, and then maybe you do go play golf in the afternoon. More than likely, if you've done them correctly, you have appointments in the afternoon. And you're going out and actually helping those people in person. Right. And, and all those other things, I think a lot of folks enjoy them.

But just because you enjoy them, I mean, if that's totally your passion, to do paperwork and, and manage a file. More power to you. I have a great transaction coordinator and, you know, she saves my life every day, but for most people for most agents that file work and all those other things, bookings and showings and all those things are actually going to hinder you from helping more people.

And if your goal is in the end to build a business based on serving people, then doing all that busy work is just holding you back. 

[00:49:45] Tracy Hayes: How long did it take you? Because I imagine you're busy enough now and had some you know, you've seen what works for you It doesn't work for you that sort of thing to really hone in on the things that You know, you enjoy doing, obviously you enjoy the business because you're in the office before eight o'clock in the morning, you start right away, you eat the frog, you're doing those, doing those things.

So you focused in and taking advice from some great people and it's producing for you. But how important is for that agent to find the things, especially in the marketing area or networking area where you love doing it. Now, some people love. Get on the phone. And there's some people good. Some people love to knock on the doors.

What are some of the things that you just love doing that moves the needle for you and that you. You realize there's these those other things that you just shove off. What are, what are some of the things that you just love about this business and you love doing? 

[00:50:40] Lance Barnett: So, the easy answer is I love helping people. When I worked in politics, I was passionate about it for sure. But I, I liken that to waking up every day and it is a knife fight in a phone booth and you know, it's us or them. That in addition to being bad for your you know, heart and soul can just, just wear on you. And so, even on the difficult days when you are feeling burnt out in this you know, kind of salesy type business you can focus in and remind yourself, re center yourself on.

I'm going out to help people every single day today. I'm gonna look for that one person who needs my help and I can wake up and legitimately say every single day here in northeast florida. There's at least one person who needs my advice and in today's market, that's more true than ever. There, there were times whether that was 12 months ago or 12 years ago when you could kind of fall into a deal and make it through and fall into a good deal.

Right now there is a desperate need for a solid real estate advice and navigation in today's market. 

[00:51:42] Tracy Hayes: Well, I think you realize, I mean, you kind of started I mean the, the, you know, 2019 and 2020, you're getting started. You saw the early success, but it wasn't, you just fumbled into it. It wasn't 'cause your uncle knew all these people and they were, it was, it was giving you, you actually had to do some work.

But what are you seeing the difference? 'cause the, the the exercise, the, that you did. Pretty much from the get go and learning from these people. These disciplines are coming in early, making the phone calls, eating the frog, all those types of things. And now the market has changed. it's tough out there.

Interest rates are high. You're trying to convince people. Hey, you know, property prices are not dropping because we're in high demand here. We're not seeing the I call them the, the local moves where we're, I think when the interest rates were low, people were like, Oh, I live in Naukati. You know what?

I don't like Naukati anymore. Let me move over here. Vice versa. Or I live, I live in Jacksonville. I'm just going to move in. I want to move over to Naukati. It was no big deal because the interest rates were so low, like money's so cheap, you know, even though the value of the home grew up, the payment was still reasonable.

Now, you're not seeing that local moves going on in the, but. The repetitions that you put in the discipline, you know, you, you've put in the, the practice so to speak you put in the reps. How is that, you know, not only helping you now, but obviously keeping a good attitude. 'cause because your, I think a lot of people right now, their, their attitudes can be quickly turned, you know, because of the market situation.

[00:53:12] Lance Barnett: Yeah, so a coach I like to follow is Jeff Glover, and the coach that coaches all his coaches her name is Kate, and she's an incredible leader, and she posted maybe today or yesterday, That if you're hanging out with people that are complaining about the market and that's their reason why their business is down you're hanging out with the wrong people.

And and don't get me wrong, the market is difficult. But it, it is all that mentality, right? If that's your reason, then you know, what does that say about your mindset? What does that say about your business practices? And, you know, we all have that tendency. We all have to fight that off. And you know, go against the grain.

And then also there are certain positives about the market today. Everybody wants to talk about interest rates. Well, two, two big positives that I've seen is, one Prices have actually continued to go up and so people are sitting on a ton of equity frequently they can actually sell their house Take that equity move into a bigger nicer and more expensive house and keep almost the same payment because they're down Unloading all that equity.

They're rolling with 40 50 percent down Or maybe it's just 20 and it's still making a big difference from what they originally were and then the other thing is I'm helping a lot of folks right now first time homebuyers , and others, but specifically get their dream homes where you know, if the house was 500, 000 two years ago, there were going to be 10 offers and it was going to be 50 K over ask and Oh, you're FHA.

You don't stand a chance. You're VA. Forget about it. Now they can go in, negotiate, get their closing costs covered get a great deal on the house and the seller still walks away happy because they had all the equity. Right. And so, they can actually get that house that it was in their original price range and it can be a win for a lot of folks.

[00:54:52] Tracy Hayes: Going into your listing appointments right now, there's a little more strategy involved than it was, like you're saying, back, you know, a year and a half ago. sUmmer 2020 when you were getting 50, 000 over asking price in some of these areas and so forth. Now you're going in and talking to the sellers and you need to have a little more of a conversation because it isn't just, Hey, yeah, no problem.

Let me stick the sign in the yard and I'll field the phone calls for you because that, that, that's, I think probably the greatest selling point at that point is an agent who answered the phone. Cause we, you and I know there were agents that were listing houses and like selectively answering the phone, you know, where, yeah, we, where there were houses that had 20 or 30 offers and how are you dealing with that?

And I remember having conversations on the podcast about how do you deal with that? You know, now it's the, there's a strategy. You have to be a listers last, right? That's the whole thing. But what is your mindset? What is Chris talking about right now? As far as you guys, as a team going into a listing appointment, how are you?

You're obviously spending a little more time with them. I would imagine. What is your kind of mindset and strategy going into a listing appointment to make sure when you list that house the first time, you're not having to go back and drop that. Price 20 grand three weeks from now. 

[00:56:10] Lance Barnett: Yeah. Now more than ever being priced correctly matters. And then also now more than ever actually hiring an agent that has a marketing budget. You know, our marketing budget is hundreds of times larger than some others. And you know, the average agent spends something to the tune of 200 a month on marketing a home.

And so, you know, if you're going to hire that person, you might as well throw it on. Zillow and hope someone clicks on it but one to actually get an offer in this market and two to get the best offer or to get multiple offers and have them working against each other instead of you know, you trying to pull them to where it's even feasible.

To have that, you're really hiring someone with a great marketing budget and the skills in place to make it happen. 

[00:56:57] Tracy Hayes: Are you coaching? Are you going in with a mindset? I know we, we talked about this at breakfast when Eileen was here, you know, because you know, there's a lot of talk of the buy downs, whether it's permanent buy down or you know, the two, one buy down, whether it's, you know, the rates low just to market that home more aggressively because you didn't have to do that.

Obviously when rates were three percent you didn't have to do that now, you know seven something percent We hit eight percent not too long ago. Lucky. We're down off of that How important is it to understand how to, you know, to practice that presentation, but obviously present it to your customer so they understand it and obviously take your advice on how to properly list that house.

[00:57:36] Lance Barnett: Yeah. And so for some folks it makes a lot of sense for others you know, they're just looking at the total cost and they just want to get in for the lowest amount possible or, or what have you. But it definitely makes sense for a lot of folks and we're reviewing that. Either on the selling side as like this is an opportunity to, to net the most where we can help a seller out maybe for the next or a buyer out for the next 30 years maybe, but it's going to help us out the most right now.

And then on the buy side, making sure I think a lot of folks just read a headline about interest rates and assume either they can't afford the home or they can't afford the home they want. And we're helping folks get those homes every single day. Right, 

right.

[00:58:13] Tracy Hayes: Anything you want to add? I mean, I really think my, one of my goals is podcasts is, you know, and I have had agents call me and tell me, Hey, I've had customers listen to my podcast and call me because they heard my story.

Is there something about Lance that we want people to know? I guess when a customer who knows how randomly, maybe someone gets referred to you just randomly just, Hey, Lance is a great guy. Call him. What do you want them to know about you? 

[00:58:37] Lance Barnett: Oh, man. So. I would say first of all, I love my family. And my wife and I are foster parents. That's a cause that's near and dear to our hearts. So, right here in Duval County, there are opportunities to make an impact on children's lives. And really help them in some of their most difficult times.

So, If someone was ever interested in talking about foster care, or how you can make an impact in that world even if you didn't want to be a foster parent, but wanted to help other foster families, and serve that way that's a big opportunity. The, the truth is, you know, you know, we all do something to pay the bills, but it's about the impact that you leave on others, and and that's really close to us.

[00:59:18] Tracy Hayes: Give us some details, because, you know, obviously someone who's not actually looking to foster children, or, or anything, but the statistics that's out there, and you, you fostered two local children, you didn't go to China or something, you did, they're local. what are some of the statistical numbers they need to know and where, what are areas that someone who wants to foster a child, what areas are in great need?

You know, obviously everyone wants infants which you were lucky to have, but they're not always available. Sometimes there's kids that are whatever age, right? And then someone who's maybe not necessarily in a position to foster children or already have children, but want to. Help like you're talking about.

[01:00:00] Lance Barnett: Yeah. So there, there is a huge need across age and area. So my wife and I have had the opportunity to foster children from all across North Florida and all across the age range, I would say. Right now we have you know, younger children, but we've had older ones as well. Okay. And The opportunities are really endless.

There are several different organizations, including One More Child and the Isaiah 117 House. Daniel kids. Those are just three that come to mind that make an impact on a daily basis. And all of them would be more than happy to take a donation either monetarily or toys or clothes or you know, of your, your time.

Maybe that's the most valuable right for for most of us. But if you were ever looking to serve in any capacity and just have an impact on and you know, be you know, a kind voice to kids who some of them have never heard that. 

[01:00:54] Tracy Hayes: I know a lot of people in the real estate area, you know, especially the women's shelters. There are very popular charity or, you know, things I'd like to support, and the things that they need. You know, I know, I know my good friends the two men in the truck, they're very much into the the battered women's shelters type things. frOm the foster kids that are in, you know, not necessarily at home with you, but are in these Daniel's place that you mentioned and so forth, what are some of the things that they need on a daily basis that donating would be? Huge, let alone cash, obviously. 

[01:01:25] Lance Barnett: Yeah another shout out to my friend and, and fellow agent on the Florida Coastal Team, Gary Lawrence. We were just able to do a toy and supply drive for the Daniel kids foundation and some of the things that we were able to gather up, obviously things like clothes, diapers, toothpaste all the essentials, but also, you know, things like toys and learning supplies, so, whether that's you know, writing utensils and notebooks backpacks you know, a lot of times kids that are displaced for whatever reason end up, you know, showing up at their next home with a Walmart bag full of whatever they could grab.

Right. And it's, it's really tough, you know? Right. So, even just having... A cool backpack that makes sense for their age and gender can be super 

impactful. 

[01:02:10] Tracy Hayes: I mean, cause I think we see a lot of the, the, the book back drives in August and so forth, you know, for the schools and stuff. And we have to realize that yeah, that's getting to some of the kids, but there's still more out there. Am I right? 

[01:02:23] Lance Barnett: Yeah. And obviously there are a lot of kids that are with their biological parents that need back to school supplies no doubt. But right now, you know, we've had the opportunity and a shout out to our church the Church of 1122 in the last 12 months rolling out a new focus on foster care over 119 families have said yes to foster care.

[01:02:42] Tracy Hayes: Wow. And that's really cool. 

[01:02:44] Lance Barnett: Yeah, it's huge. Yeah. Mm-Hmm. . and those are just the folks that have actually signed up to take children into their home. They're countless more who have actually signed up to support them. whether that's you know, food or groceries or errands run things like that.

[01:02:57] Tracy Hayes: You know, what I'd like, like to do because it is we're at that time of the year and, and you know, it, I'm gonna, I'm an emotional person, so bear with me. The kids are going to Christmas and maybe there's kids in their class that are, you know, they're getting whatever they want, right? They're getting a new PlayStation, they're getting that stuff.

Then there's that kid that doesn't know if he's going to get anything, you know? we go live, we don't, not make it, we don't need to make it a dated podcast, but to put it out, a lot of people do go to my real estate excellence podcast, Facebook page, a lot of the agents, maybe if you have the information or you and we get somebody else and we can do it virtually and just for, 20 30 minutes talk about these are the areas that we need, you know, Daniel's house.

They have a lot of kids right now We don't you know, we're they're trying to put a Christmas together for them that kind of stuff and you know Just here in the next week or so. Can we put something together like that? Yeah, we absolutely can put it out and then we could share it on Facebook because I think I think you know There's so many different things out there You know, I said the better women's shelters and you'll hear that but we personally don't hear a lot about The foster children and I, and you know, I don't wanna say they're neglected, but they are in a way that they're, I don't know if it's just not a popular thing, you know, we hear best buddies and that sort of thing.

Those are all important things too. But these kids are literally kids with like nothing. Yeah. And right now, this time of the year to put a little, you know, smile on their face you know, whether it's for an hour or a day or a week is, is really important. Yeah. 

[01:04:30] Lance Barnett: I really appreciate that. Obviously near and dear to our hearts. So, thank you for that offer and I'd love to help in any way possible. There are a couple different organizations that I mentioned and one or two more come to mind that we could definitely make sure it's just one of their spokespersons on that knows all the statistics that can really give solid information to anyone watching and we could share it around you know, see if we can drum something up.That would be fantastic. 

[01:04:53] Tracy Hayes: Excellent. I'm good. Awesome. I appreciate the conversation. I appreciate you coming by today. Thanks so much for having me on. Thank you. 

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 tracyhayspodcast. com where you'll meet more like minded individuals looking to expand their inner circle and their personal experience. That's available at tracyhayspodcast. com