Candid Convo Ep1

In this conversation, Williston Price and Marissa Brennan discuss their backgrounds and their experiences in the mortgage and real estate industry. They talk about the challenges they faced in 2022 and 2023, including a sudden drop in business due to rising interest rates. They also mention the lack of inventory and buyers in the market, leading to a difficult time for lenders, realtors, and title insurance agents. Despite the hardships, they express hope for the future and a positive shift in the industry. So this is Candid Conversations, this is Williston Price, Industry Home Mortgage, Marissa Brennan, First American Title, and if you're looking for PC conversation, this probably isn't the place for you to be, so that is your disclaimer, that's your warning, that is the fine print, this will not be a PC conversation, you know, you've got to be a 13 year old to listen to this podcast. Or in my case, 9, because my kids hear it all the time. Awesome, awesome, so who the hell are we? Like I said, my name is Williston Price, I'm the mortgage broker, CEO, lead broker at Industry Home Mortgage, I've been in this business since 2008, this is really all I've ever known outside of college, you know, I'm from the south side of Chicago, grew up in some pretty rough situations, learned how to survive at an early age, by the grace of God, I made it out of the south side, you know, just by playing basketball, that was like my saving grace was I had a talent, it allowed me to get out, was I really that good? I was okay, I was okay enough to get a full ride scholarship, you know, and play a little bit of a small stint of pro ball, but you know, as soon as that opportunity was over, I was done and wanted to start my career and I fell into this business because it's funny enough, my soccer coach at Metro State, now in Metro State University in Denver, you know, found me walking around, you know, aimlessly trying to figure out what to do with my life and he said, my wife's been looking all over for somebody to fill this mortgage role or this lending role at Wells Fargo Bank and he saw me, he was like, you were the right person and I couldn't get a hold of you because your phone was off and you need to call her now, so I called her from his cell phone and said an interview and the rest is history, hired on the spot and got into the business right in 2008, so that's a little bit about me. You're dating yourself. Yeah, yeah, yeah, pretty much. Well, I am Marissa Brennan and I am an account executive at First American Title here locally in Colorado. My path was either owning a restaurant or getting into title, seems to be the natural course of action in my family, so I got out of college from CSU, go Rams, in 2009 and then partied and my mom kind of put the hammer down on me and said, you need to figure your life out, so registered for law school, got waitlisted and started filling in at a local title company here in town and the rest is history, kind of, you know, worked myself up throughout every role you can think of in the title insurance world and here I am, an account executive now since 2018, so I don't even know, five years? Yeah, we wanted to roll out this podcast in 2024 because frankly, 2023 and the back half of 2022 really just were trash. So this is kind of an outlet for us to let go of some of the resentment we have towards the last year and yeah, it's our version of therapy and kind of showcase our hopes for 2024 but also some doses of reality and then trash talk the shit out of 2023, so that's kind of where we're coming from on this podcast. There's going to be some trash talk for sure. There will be trash talk here, like I said, it's OPC, so shit, I mean, let's talk about it. I mean, 2022 started off amazing. I was really looking at our profit and loss and our balance sheet and it was like January blowing up, February blowing up, March, April, May and then all of a sudden June. I'm like, June, what happened? Did everybody take the month of June off? Did everybody take the month of July off? In August, September, October, November. I'm like, what? And then real panic started setting in. I'm like, okay, wait a minute. Are we going to go out of business? What the hell is happening here? And I think it caught everybody by surprise, right? It caught literally like, because lenders, in my opinion, stood first, right? We were refi city. We were just living life. We were printing money. We were just like, life was good. I'm talking real good. And then all of a sudden it was like, no more refis because rates shot up overnight from like 3% to 7%. Well, and it didn't help that we were just coming out of the lowest interest rate season we've ever seen, right? You know, I know me personally. I locked at a two and a quarter, you know, like, and there's everybody I know is probably not far off from that. So, yeah, I mean, everybody did it and then everybody stopped. And then everybody stopped. Yeah. Legitimately. Everybody stopped. And then followed, you know, real estate agents were still kind of feeling the love. They had the listings. There was still some bidding wars for contracts that was going on. And then in the meantime, lenders were just dying out. We're just like drying out over here. And then I think 2023 hit and that's when shit got really real. Because that was when, you know, as us lenders, we were getting beat up, beat up, beat up, beat up, looking for some relief and rates kept getting worse, worse, worse. And then maybe like first quarter, middle of the first quarter of 2023, I think the real estate agents started to kind of feel the pain. Yeah. Right? They started to feel like, whoa, like where's the inventory? Where's the buyers? What's going on? Because everybody in their pipeline were closing out and there was no backfill. And then that's when the panic set in. Especially like May, June of 2023. They didn't know if they would have a closing for the rest of the year. Right. Because everybody just kind of came to a screeching halt. And we have never seen anything like that. I mean, I wasn't in the industry in the 2008 to 2011-ish bubble. But I remember in the title insurance world, they were still busy because of REOs, short sales, foreclosures. I mean, definitely not great situations, but they were still deals to be had. A ton of realtors and real estate agents became short sale certified, short sale negotiators, got on our bank REO list. And so they still had deals coming through their pipeline. This, there's too much equity. The rates are too low, so no one's moving. Buyers don't want to buy and don't feel like they have to. Thanks to millennials, they don't feel like they want to grow roots. Right. Yeah. We're elder millennials. We're elder millennials. Don't worry. But it's just nothing. Dry, dry, dry, dry. And so I think that's where a lot of people's fear and resentment towards the last year kind of comes into play. Because the only people moving were people who had to, i.e., the divorce, death. Relocation. Relocation, loss of a job. The worst stressors in your life, but it can happen, causing people to move. So we all felt it. Lenders, title, realtors. Insurance agents. Insurance agents. I mean, it spanned through everyone because everybody was just cranky. If you had a deal, everybody was cranky. Everybody was cranky. It was not fun. Nothing about it was enjoyable. There were a select few that, whatever, you know, cash deals, things like that, that weren't sensitive to it. But, I mean, God, what a shit show. Yeah, cash deals. Cut the lender out to make it enjoyable. I mean, yeah. Well, that's funny because that's when I was just getting into business in 2008. In the business, bright-eyed, bushy-tailed, like, no idea what an interest rate was, no idea what was actually happening. I was just told, hey, man, make some money, hit these numbers, get a promotion, do the thing. And the one thing that's different about 2008 was in 2008, it was an actual bubble burst. Like, it was an actual real estate market, like, crash. Right? And I'm talking, you had people up in North Denver who bought houses the year before for a half million dollars, and then their equity got swallowed overnight, and their home was worth $150,000. Right? And then you had certain parts of Denver, like Littleton and Southwest Denver, that held pretty steady during that whole time. Right? And foreclosures were out the roof. People were losing their homes left and right, all because they had bad lenders and bad loans and all of these funky interest-only negative amortization loans. And it was just a whole different time. You saw a lot of lenders close their doors. A lot of lenders went out of business, et cetera, et cetera. I mean, think about Wachovia and Countrywide and all those guys. But then 22 and 23, really 23 was just different. Like you said, like, people weren't losing equity in 23. Right? People didn't have all these bad loans. Right? It wasn't going to be a real estate market crash. It was just a real estate market correction. Right? Like, it was a hard stop. Like, you know, so it's funny because, you know, it's one of those things where a lot of people who are in the business, like the old school, like real estate agents and old school lenders, it's almost like it was a, like I said, when I said it was a correction, it's almost like a lot of the, you know, sticking a sign in the front yard, not marketing it, not marketing a house, not really, like, doing anything but stick the sign in and the buyers will come, that stuff is starting to phase out a little bit. It's like, no, like, now people have so many options. Like you said, millennials, Gen Z coming in, like, they're like, they need to be convinced to buy a house. Right. Like, they just go, they see a sign and they're like, oh, the signs are there. Let's go see the homes. They're like, no, tell me why I should buy a house, why I shouldn't rent. So it's just getting a little tougher. But I feel like, I feel like, I want to feel hopeful. Right. Because, honestly, that was a major mindset shift, like, coming down that last quarter of 2023 where I was just like, you know what? Screw it. I'm like, I've been in this business forever. I'm either going to adapt or get washed out like everybody else. And the last quarter of 2023 was better than the last quarter of 2022. Yeah. Was almost equal to the last quarter of 2021. Yeah. And then flowing into 2023 now, you've got that momentum, deals are flowing, rates have gone, started going down a little bit. Lenders are feeling happy, posting a bunch of crap, but rates that they can't actually offer out in the streets to get people a little more excited. And you're feeling the love. Right. And I'm just really hoping that 2024 is just us kind of, it's like a hangover from a crazy night out. Right. Longest hangover ever. Right. Longest hangover, 12-month hangover. That's what I'm hoping for, so. I mean, I agree. But I also feel like, on the flip side, on the more positive side, 2023 did cleanse out the folks who don't want to adapt and don't want to grind and don't want to put in the effort. Yeah. So I feel like there's already been so many negative headlines surrounding the real estate industry as a whole itself. This might be the thing that we needed to really get the grinders, the ethical, the people who really just want to do the job in the best possible way they can. And maybe that'll flip the script a little bit on the industry because there is so much negative talk around it. I don't know. I mean, that's the hopeful side of me, the optimistic side of me. Because, personally, in the title world, I focus on a lot of social media, education, and business development in the marketing sense and teaching what title is. But I have a lot of people coming out of the woodworks ready to double down on their efforts. They really want to dive in now. I mean, they've been coming to my classes for a couple years, but now they're like, okay, you've been teaching this, and I have it implemented, and now I want to implement. So I feel like there are people out there ready to do it all by any means necessary and go back to the basics and sell houses the way it's meant to be done, not putting a sign in the yard, only. It's like the great reset of real estate, right? It's like we were saying. It's pushing the people out. I feel like the people who got into real estate in 2021 when everybody was making money hand over fist, they didn't realize. Because let's be real. There's no real training in real estate. You don't sign a contract, get your real estate license, then you go through this training and somebody teaches you everything. Very few companies have that, right? But then everyone else just kind of learned on their own. The same with lending, too, right? Oh, the same with lending. Absolutely. The same with lending. It's like you get into the industry, you get your license. Great. Call all your friends and family, and let's see how many deals we can get out of you before you walk away. So you're right about that. It's the great reset of real estate. It's getting rid of the people who got into the business to make a quick buck, right? They got in to make a quick buck. They got in to kind of be kind of a celebrity almost, like an Instagram star. Like selling sunsets. Yeah, exactly. It's like, oh, man. And now we're back to the ballers, to the people who have been in this business day one, grinders, when everything was crashing. So I love that. That is something that, you know, in 2023, I really came down that last quarter. Like I said, I realized the type of people I wanted to work with. I'm like, I started grinding. I started setting goals. I started doing this thing. And then with my company and my team, I was sharing everything I was doing with them. But I even let it be known to the real estate agents who I built relationships with that last quarter. I was like, hey, look, I only want to work with full-time agents. Like if I understand completely, like if for some reason, you know, this isn't your full-time gig, great, good luck. But the amount of effort, the resources, the access, the availability I'm giving to my partners that I truly work with, I'm like, I only have time for people who do this for real. Right. So it was a fun mindset shift. And like you said, like it's, you know, I've been more active on social media than I've been ever since you've ever known me. Shayna, we can talk about how me and you met, right? You're one of those you're going to implement, right? You're going to start implementing. I'm going to do my best. I mean, I feel the same, you know. And it's all about that abundance versus scarcity mindset that I know you adopt, I adopt. We're not going to seek out every deal no matter who, you know, you have to align with somebody on some sort of level to make it a good partnership. I mean, that's in any aspect of life, right? But I'm the same way. In the title insurance world, I know I have value and I know I have knowledge, and I don't just want to like give that to any and everybody, right? And I'm a feeler. Like I want to be your best friend, and I care about every single deal that you have, and I want to make sure that we're plugging in however we possibly can every deal that you have. And so, yeah, I mean, I had to do a lot of the same mindset shift. Like I am not for everybody. And the yes person in me and the people person in me really battled that. But I got to the point, you know, I've just got to know my boundaries. Boundaries and when to say no. And that's, you know, big thing for 2024 for me. I mean, you know, I'm a mom of three, and my husband and I started a company. So I really like my capacity is tapped. So I really had to dial that back. But I feel like for the most part, everybody's super receptive of that because they're in the same mindset. I think we all, 2023 made us all search on a soul level of am I doing what I'm supposed to be doing? Is this where I'm supposed to be? And how can I make it better? Because this is fucking sucked, and I don't want to live in the suck anymore. Yeah, absolutely. I agree with that 100%. There's a lot of soul searching. Yeah. It was like do I still have what it takes to even do this? Like is it even worth it? Like should I just go get a job at a bank or a big mortgage lender and just be an employee for a little bit, right? And I think everyone has hit that. And, you know, I think the thing is when it comes down, a lot of people talk about, oh, change your mindset. And it's so vague. Like they never really like kind of give you a road map on how to change. You can't just flip a switch, right? It takes like consistent everyday action like to help kind of get a rhythm going. And, like, for me, that rhythm was I don't like, like, huge goals. I was like, oh, I'm going to do 100 calls a day, and I'm going to talk to 50 people a day. For me, I was just like, look, at the end of the day, because I got, I mean, I don't have three kids. I've got three little chihuahua dogs and my wife who is my favorite person on the planet. We hang out and have a good time. But, like, for me, it was just like, look, man, if I can, at the end of every day, with as busy as I am, with all the things, with all the coaching, all the recruiting, all the stuff I'm working on, if I can just set one new appointment a day, then I can lay my head down and be nice to myself. I'm like, oh, wow, you were accomplished today. All the shit that went down, you did the one thing you said you was going to do. Congratulations. And then that momentum started building, and I started feeling good about myself. And then the one appointment a day thing, my phone started ringing a little bit more. Like, I started getting a little bit more emails, a little bit more deals. And, like, I get with you and, like, hey, can I teach one of your classes or come sponsor one of your classes? And you're like, absolutely. And then all of a sudden you look up, and like I said, Q4 of 2023 was one of the best quarters we had all year. And so it's that same thing, like, for you guys out here who are trying to, you know, still kind of in that weird space in your head trying to figure out if this is something you're still cut out to do, if this is something you still want to do. Like, I've talked to a few of you guys, and a lot of you guys have these massive goals that you want to do for yourself daily, daily, daily. How about just reduce that goal to one simple goal you want to accomplish every day where you can start building momentum about feeling good. Momentum about feeling good. Not momentum about, like, momentum in business, momentum in, like, you know, you're saying, momentum in just feeling good about yourself. Right? And committing to that is going to be the best, the biggest commitment that you make to yourself. So that was huge for me. Yeah. And, yeah, I just want to make sure to share that with people because I lived it too. Yeah. Right? Yeah. I agree. So, you know, on the data and statistics side of it, we're projecting, because we have this national economics group for First American, we're projecting 2024 is going to be flat in comparison to 2023. It's going to look very similar to what 2023 is. But I feel like the difference this year could be is that we're ready. We can mentally prepare ourselves. We can arm ourselves with what is in store for us because we just lived through it. Right? But I feel like, and I know for me personally, I went into 2024 no longer wanting to survive and react. I want to thrive and be proactive. Right? And that was my biggest goal to myself because it just spewed out into life, right, into my kids, into my husband, into our company. I just didn't want to live that way. I didn't want to chase every day anymore. I wanted to wake up and, like you said, I do little bite-sized, you know, things that I want to accomplish for the day. I'm not a big goal setter, like big, grandiose goal setter every year because usually by the end of the year, I'm like, oh, shit. A, I forgot I put that list together. And B, I checked one thing off and that's it. And then I just feel like, oh, man. Yeah, I really screwed the pooch on that one. Like, no way. So I stopped that too, like years ago because I'm like, you know what? I'm done. But I don't want to just survive anymore and I don't want to be in that head space anymore. I do love my job and I love what I get to do in a real estate community every single day. And I want to enjoy that again, you know. And so, yeah, 2024, you guys, is going to look a lot like 2023. And you just have to get in that mindset and double down and know what you're going to do every single day to make it better and to proactively get out there and not react every single day. I think that is the key and the golden ticket to being successful in 2024, right? Yeah. I mean, it's funny you say, like, don't react, right? And it's like, that's how a lot of, like, people just live their lives, like just reacting to everything. Like, oh, I got that builder pay. Oh, shit, let me get that. Like, oh, I got it. Oh, it's just like, oh, I didn't get the oil change that way. Oh, God. Like, you know, it's like, that is, that's such a hard, I mean, it's just, but that's human nature. It's like, you know, most people wait until it has to be done before they actually just get ahead of it and do it. It's like, it's one of those things that it just builds so much stress and so much, like, just constantly building in the back of our mind. Like, because, you know, we're focused on our day to day. We're doing our thing. We're working. We're showing up for people. We're taking care of the kids. Or for my sake, taking care of the dogs, taking my wife on day, whatever. And then you look up, you're like, how the hell did the check engine light come on? What do you mean low cooling? What do you mean? And then you have to take the car to send $4,000 to get it all done versus. Or us Italian ladies with dark hair, the gray hairs come in abundantly. And I was sick of going to get my hair colored every six weeks. I'm like, no, that's too much. I don't, I don't want to be high maintenance, but also I don't want to have gray hair. So, I mean, it had to stop. It had to stop. When does it end? Hey, I like my gray hair. All right. I had a guy tell me the other day, he was like, I'm guessing you're probably my age. I'm like, and I'm like, my eyebrow is like, oh, and how old is that? He's like, man, about 48. I'm like, 48. I'm like, don't get me wrong. It's not going to be a 48. But like, I'm 39, bro. Like, what are you talking about? Like, I must be about your age. I'm like, ooh. I'm like, ooh. I'm like, okay, well, maybe I need to dye my gray beard. Maybe I need to dye my hair now, like for the first time. I'm starting to get it now, like as I'm getting older. It's not like I'm easy to miss, right? For y'all that don't know, I'm 6'7", 270 pounds, black dude. So everybody's like, who did you play for? I'm like, well, nobody. Get out of here. I'll run a mortgage company. They scatter well. Yeah, they're like, no, I'm not interested in a mortgage. I'm like, I didn't ask you. You asked me what I did for a living. I don't want to know. I got my mortgage fund already. I'm like, okay, great. Just answering your question. Yeah, it's funny. But yeah, I don't know. This is fun. And like, I kind of think that like, you know, the way, I'm looking for, I'm so excited about 2024. Like, honestly, 2024 started off a little rough personally, right? Personally. And it's a lot of the work I was doing. Like, I'm a big believer in like, you know, like self-work, right? Like, that's a journey that doesn't end. Like, understanding why do I react to things the way I react to things? What caused these reactions in me to make me feel this way? Like, oh, and then I'll end up going back to when I was a little kid. I'm like, oh, when I was a little kid, that girl in school would make fun of my hands. Like, that's why I've got insecurities about my hands. She's like, oh, look at those hairy hands. And I'm like, hairy hands? So now as an adult, as a almost 40-year-old man, I'm still weird about my hands because that little girl says them. So it's like, going through those things and understanding like, my reactions to stuff has been big because I feel like that's the only way I can continue to improve my company, be a better leader, be a better friend, be a better colleague, is if I get a better understanding of who I am. And that's kind of a luxury because I don't have kids. I don't have to be like, okay, like, dinner time, everybody. Oh, shit, don't shit on the walls. Oh, my God. Like, stop. Hey, will you not pee in the vents, please? You go to the bathroom in the middle of the night. Don't shit in the floor. Like, what are you doing? Like, for me, I get to go home and get my dogs and, you know, sit in my recliner and like, you know, while I sleep. And I'm just like up just exploring the dark corners of my mind. Oh, my God. So good. So that's kind of what happened. It's like I explored some dark corners of my mind, some really deep dark corners of my mind coming in 2024, and it kind of opened up a door or something. I'm like, oh, I need to go see a therapist. I can't do this by myself. Which is not like everybody should have an outlet of some sort, whether it be therapy, us talking shit on this podcast, something. I mean, because in our industries, and I'm talking everything that has to do with real estate, right? Realtors, lenders, title, inspectors, it doesn't matter. You are constantly on the firing line. Like, you are, depending on the deal, depending on if you misstep, you evaluate a property incorrectly, you're getting berated by somebody, right? And we're constantly taking on so many different people's emotions just trying to keep a deal together and get it to the end of the table, you know, at the end and at the closing table. Like, I mean, and that's our every day, and people who aren't in those industries have no idea what that is like. And I mean, and then those of us who have outside things going on, you know, like you had a personal start to the 2024 year with some things going on. I have three kids. I mean, everybody has their stuff. You have to have some sort of outlet, and you have to give yourself a mental health day. Whatever that looks like to you is, you know, different from person to person, but to really thrive in this landscape of this market that we're in and to continue moving forward in a positive, abundant way, you've got to just be able to let go of some of those things however that looks like for you. I mean, I just feel like we can't all operate on this level another full year. We're all going to lose our damn minds, and it's going to get ugly real quick. Yeah. The insane asylum's going to be real happy. They're going to have a bang up 2024. Like, oh, look at our enrollment numbers. They all seem to be in the same profession. Yeah. It's funny, because like I said, like, genuinely, like, I'm one of those guys, like, I'm not afraid to go talk about my feelings. Like, this is weird. I'm like, yeah, I'll tell my therapist everything. And it's funny, because the therapist that they, like, assigned me to or whatever, he's like, no. I'm like, this poor guy. This poor guy. Like, oh. He has no idea what he's going to do. Yeah, he has no idea. Like, the last session, I was afraid he was going to have some guys in white suits come and pick me up, right? Like, you and Willis and Price. I'm like, oh, my gosh. I'm like, oh, shit. I just said the wrong thing, though. Like, no, but, you know, I don't know. I guess, you know, kind of looking back at everything, you know, one thing I am grateful for is, like, when I set my company up, like, when I established Industry Home Mortgage, I established it with 2008 in mind. I started in 2018. Yeah. But I was thinking back to 2008. I'm like, well, why is, why did everybody go out of business in 08, right? And it was like, oh, they got these big, large correspondent warehouse lines, right? What that is, it's this huge line of credit, million plus dollars, and what happens is they talk, because I'm a broker, so when they talk, when people talk about mortgage brokers, they think, well, oh, your loan is going to get sold immediately, and I'm like, no, that's a correspondent, like, mini correspondent lender who's got, like, this million dollar line of credit, and they basically, they give the money to the borrower from their line of credit, right? And then, before that first payment's even made, they sell that loan to another lender who buys that loan and pays off that balance on the line of credit and then gives them a pretty fat payday for it. Yeah. So it's like they're making 5, 6, 7% of the loan amount when they sell that loan. So it's like swimming in money, but for me, I'm like, no, I don't, I don't want to do that. I'm like, that is, like, I'm good with making the money I make on the deal when they close. When they close, I don't need to make any back-end money. I don't want to do it all the red tape, all that stuff. But that's when I established a business, and in 2023, shit, we ended up giving everybody raises, and even though it was a hard year for everybody, we were like, there was never, there was never truly a moment where I was like, uh, we may have to remortgage the house or we may have to take out some additional loans to make it through this. I'm just like, we're okay. We don't have debt. We don't have any of this stuff. But like, it was one of those things. Now we're like really getting comfortable and understanding that we're set as a company that coming in 2024, I don't really have to like, I'm, I'm, I'm more, I'm more, I'm even more excited knowing I've established the people I want to work with. I'm only going after dogs, like the people who are in this industry, like even real estate agents, lenders who we recruit. I'm like, let's go. Like, I'm so fired up right now. Like you said, to your point of 2024 is the year where we become proactive. It's the year where, where we understand exactly what we're getting into and whether rates go higher or rates go lower, no matter what, we're staying consistent in the things that we're doing because we've been there, done that. 2023 is old news. And man, I have to say, I am so stoked to see like what's going to happen. So I just need like a couple more weeks of therapy and then I'll be ready to roll. Hopefully you don't catch me in a straitjacket somewhere, but we'll see. If you don't hear from us again, you guys, it's because Will left the building, literally. I agree. I feel like I, I mean, for me personally, the first part of this year of 2024 was a little rough. I mean, we can address the elephant in the room generically, but you know, Mark, our company had something happen. You can just Google it. It's all over. And, you know, I personally just felt out of control just because there was nothing I could do. Like it was just something completely out of our control that, and I, you know, when it's out of my control, I'm a type A person. So I, you know, I festered over that and it was awful. So the first week of January was just kind of dealing with the fallout from that, even probably the second week a little bit. So it took me a little bit to get to that point, but I feel like this week has been the first week where I feel like, okay, we got this. You know, I've been able to establish a good client base of people that are loyal and appreciate, you know, what I do, what my teams do for them. You know, you're one of them, right? Like we, the loyalty and the, just the, you know, being able to bounce ideas back and forth, have these candid conversations, that kind of stuff. So 2024 hasn't been awful considering what happened to us at the end of the year. And I agree. I feel excited and I feel more prepared for whatever 2024 throws our way. And it could be anything. I mean, there still is a looming recession if it actually comes to fruition. There is an election on the horizon. There's just so many unknowns, but it's shit that we can't control. So you have to just ride the waves, you know, like it's just what is going to happen. I personally feel more mental clarity to be able to withstand that and rise above it. And like something I always tell my husband, I'm like, you're being a square. You need to round out your edges a little bit. And I feel like, that's kind of, right? And so I have adopted that in my, you know, like we're not a one size fits all profession. None of us are in the real estate world. It's just not how it works. Our clients aren't one size fits all. None of it. We live in the gray. And the more you can embrace that, the better off you'll be. And if you need an outlet, leave in the comments shit you want to talk about. Like we will always, we're always ready to just talk a bunch of mad shit, you know? And just let it, right? I mean, I just feel like 2024, we're all going to be better prepared for whatever is thrown our way. And you guys better believe, this is not going to be a smooth ride in 2024. It's going to be bumpy. There's just so many unknown variables out of our control that, I mean, who knows what's going to happen. But the more you're prepared for it, the better off we'll all be. That's funny. My wife was telling me the other day, this weekend actually. She was like, she was like into like astrology and like all that stuff. She was like, well, Jupiter is moving into Aquarius or something like that. I'm like, what are you talking about? Like, have you been, what time is it? Have you been drinking? What are you talking about? She's like, well, Jupiter is moving into Aquarius. Before it was in Capricorn or something like that or something. But basically what she was saying was like, when that happens, right? Then that means like the intention you set going forward is going to be like almost impossible to not, not like achieve that intention. She was like, and she was like, you know, it's funny. She was like, let's talk about it. She was like, um, the last time Jupiter made a shift, uh, was it like Capricorn or whatever it was in prior to what it took Aquarius. She was like, that was in 2008 when me and you met. And I'm like, really? And then she said, it's supposed to be a, it was a minor shift to Aquarius or something like that in March of 23. And I'm like, what happened in March of 23? We bought our dream house in March of 23. And then what she's saying is it's going to be, uh, it's going to stay in Aquarius. And then she was like, and I'm not lying. I swear. She's like, I'm, I am. Cause my wife is like the least, like, she don't care about like too much about politics, all that stuff. But she's like, and you know, it's funny. It's supposed to make a minor shift back to Capricorn or Cancer in November. So like that's election. I'm like, she's like, and from that point it shifts. And for the next 20 years, it's supposed to be like an Aquarius. I'm like, and don't get me wrong, this shit was kind of over my head, but it was kind of like creepy. I'm like, that's weird. I'm like, what are you saying? It's going to make a shift during the election time. And then it's going to be like a World War III or something. What are you saying? Like, what are you talking about here? So I don't know, but whatever, whatever 2024 brings, like you're ready. I'm just ready. I'm just like, yo, like, and the reason I'm going to be ready is because I'm just, I'm going to work on taking this day at a time. Like I'm not about to be out here talking about, well, well in March or well in, I'm like, nope, well today this is what I'm doing. And then tomorrow, I'm like, well today this is what I'm doing. And it just takes so much pressure off of yourself. Like, what was I going to say? You said we'll talk about anything in the comments. I don't know about anything. I mean, we're going to talk about like real estate, mindset, finances, entrepreneurship. All right. Don't be governing us. Because it is the election year. So you know. No relationship advice and no politics. Don't be asking us who we vote for. Don't be asking. I'm like, uh-uh. I'm like, uh-uh. I ain't getting into all that. We got businesses to run, so. Don't be asking about politics and relationships. Uh-uh. So I don't know. What else? Yeah. You know, just talking a little bit more, I just feel like, you know, we all go to these economic updates. We all go, we all watch the stats. We all watch the data. We're just so inundated with information, right? Like there's just so much information. So the biggest thing, and I'm adopting this too, is that I implore you to be cautious of all the things that you're consuming. Because it seems to be that real estate is always a hot button, right? There's always something to be said, negative or positive. And to just, for your own mental stability and, you know, mindset, to consume with caution, essentially. You know, because there are some good information and tidbits you can take from each thing that you're attending or watching or listening to. But for the sake of your own self, just consume with caution. That's the biggest thing. I mean, there's just too much information out there. And research it. Don't just take the headlines and do this. Ask your consumers to do the same thing. You know, when they come to you guys for questions like, hey, how's the market? Heard you guys are all getting screwed because NAR is president or whatever. Yeah, I don't have to pay you anything. Start, you know, asking the questions back. Understanding where they're getting this information. And then educate them. Education is going to be crucial this year because there is so much information. And most of it in negative press, right? Like there's always something to be said about our industries. And combat it. I mean, if you're not going to do it, who's going to do it for you, right? Like we have to be the frontrunners to combat the negative press and educate the consumers as to why that's not true or why only bits of that are true and explain why, right? Like, I mean, that's we have to. We just have to. Yeah, you've got to be the source of information. Right. You know, like you don't tell your consumer to go Google this. How about you find the actual article that is reputable and say, hey, here's the article that talked about what we discussed today. Like you are the resource to provide the proper information, right? Like because you have to understand, like, real estate, when you Google anything real estate, mortgage lending, real estate, whatever it may be, it's like going to WebMD when you get a headache. It's like, oh, my God, I've got a headache. That means I've got brain cancer and I've got four days to live. Right. Like when it comes to real estate, like you said, it's like we have to make sure we are the professionals with all of the sources of information. So that means that we need to get more educated on the proper sources, on what articles we should be reading, who's reputable publishers, reputable articles, reputable authors, so we can send to our clients and say, no. Yeah. Here's what you read. Here's a link to the article. And people will take that information. People won't question it. If you're just telling them this is what it is and you're not backing it up with anything, then they're going to go out and do some research. They're going to talk to their uncle or brother or sister or Google some Wikipedia article and be like, well, this is what it says. And it happens all the time. Like you said, like talking about the NAR thing. Right. That's so old news. That's so yesterday. It's like business has been booming. It's been business as usual. Yeah. Right. And it was a big concern because there was a lot of drama around it. Right. It was like, oh, the National Association of Realtors lost their lawsuit and all this whole thing. And like it's funny because I was talking to, I won't say his name, but I was talking to a guy who owns a really big real estate licensing company here locally. And he was like, what's the big deal? He was like, they basically just confirmed what the real estate commissioners always said, that, oh, yeah, real estate commissions are negotiable. And the seller doesn't have to pay. They can negotiate with the listing agent. They can do all these things. Like there was nothing new found out in that. It was just the way it was being presented by people. It's headlines. It's headlines. It's click bait. And it's also delayed. Right. Like the media is usually running like six months behind. So it's not even, like, it's not even news at the time it's being talked about. Right. It's like, and we're all, you know, we're all in it every day. So we're like, okay, you know, like tell me something like I should really care about. Right. You know, like it's just, it's so old by the time people actually find out about it that we've already moved past it. And we're like, okay, come on, people. Let's get, let's, moving on. Moving on. Right. Right. Yeah. Yeah. If people want to sell their homes, like they, I mean, the real estate agent is going to do a good job of telling them this is why you should probably do this. Right. Right. Yeah. Real time data, folks. Real time data. All right. So we're going to start wrapping this guy up. Thanks for joining us on our first ever, like ever, ever podcast. Like for both of us. Ever. I've never sat in front of a microphone like this. Yeah. Tune in for the next one. We'll put in the comments when it will be. And we'll put in the comments where you can stream all this, different platforms. And please send us topics related to real estate, investing, title, questions you have within the industry, lenders, entrepreneurship, mindset, that kind of stuff. Therapist. Therapist. Yeah, whatever. We're people connectors. We can connect you. And we'll dive into it as we can, obviously, but this is, you know, candid conversations. Any last words, Will? Any last words? Well, yeah, no, yeah, tune in, guys. Like we're super stoked. Like I said, this is our first time doing this thing, so we're rooks. It'll get better. The production value will get better. Right? But, yeah, you know, this is what it's all about. Candid conversations. Right? It's not, you know, we're not going to sugarcoat anything. We're going to talk our truth, at least. Right? And maybe we resonate with some of you guys. Maybe we don't. Right? But we're just going to do this thing and see where it goes and have fun and keep people up to date. And this is going to be, we hope for this to be the source where you get the information that you need to kind of make it through, you know, make it through the times of uncertainty. Yeah. All right. Well, thank you guys so much, and we look forward to the next one. Thanks for tuning into Candid Conversations.