Thinking OTB | Thinking Outside the Box with Steve Valentine and Bernie Espinosa

There's a tendency as entrepreneurs to isolate ourselves when we're working or even when we're considering how to expand our business. It's hard to talk about business ups and downs with our non-business friends and family who mean well but might not understand what we're going through. To be among others sharing our experiences who might also become valued business relationships would be an invaluable opportunity, and that's what my friend Kyle Depiesse and I are talking about on this episode of Thinking OTB.   Kyle heads up Guys Trip, which specializes in taking guys out of their comfort zone and put them into situations where they can grow professionally, personally, and spiritually. Connecting guys in an accepting environment, maybe at different points in their careers and lives, but similarly at a place in their lives where connection with other people as motivated to better their lives professionally and personally, it is truly a fantastic event. We have a great conversation about what the experience is like, and what it can do for people to build relationships that can last well beyond the trip, it can really be a life changing experience.   You can find Kyle and information about the Guys Trip at https://www.guystrip.co/ You can find Kyle on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/kyle_depiesse/   Hey you! You're a long-time listener, time to be a first-time caller! Have a question or topic you'd like to hear covered? Or are you interested in a Discovery call with Steve? Drop a line in the DM's at: Steve's NEW Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iamstevedvalentine/   You can find us on all the major Podcast apps: Apple Podcasts, Google, Spotify, Stitcher, and more! Subscribe to be notified when new episodes are live and leave us a review and 5-star rating to help the show grow!

This week on Thinking OTB, Andrew Karam from Edge Home Finance is here to talk about what opportunities there are in today's market. He shared how agents who can look past the chicken little view of the world can find success and wealth where others might fail. Frankly, there's far too much talk out there about how rising rates are cooling down the market, making it harder to be successful. If you can look past rates and monthly payments, you'll realize that the housing market is exactly how it always is: no matter what the rates look like, value is staying the same and that's where the opportunity lies for creative solutions.   The secret to the market is that home buyers tend to buy houses based off of what kind of payments they're going to see, while the seller is motivated by the actual value of the home. While the market might be doing some wide swings and rates slowly tick up, the value of owning a home has remained stable. Agents need to be having better conversations and working hard to understand all the complexities of the market and what kind of solutions are available to build wealth and legacy for themselves and their clients.   Hey you! You're a long-time listener, time to be a first-time caller! Have a question or topic you'd like to hear covered? Or are you interested in a Discovery call with Steve? Drop a line in the DM's at: Steve's NEW Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iamstevedvalentine/   You can find us on all the major Podcast apps: Apple Podcasts, Google, Spotify, Stitcher, and more! Subscribe to be notified when new episodes are live and leave us a review and 5-star rating to help the show grow!  

If you are like me, you aren't sitting on a huge line of personal credit when you're just starting out. So how can you get the funds you need to start buying those properties and start your investment portfolio? On this episode of Thinking OTB, we're talking about the different sources you can use to get the funds you need to get started.   We've talked about “hard money” on a previous episode, but what does that look like with interest rates and terms in today's market? What is relationship capital, and how can I sell myself to create a steady line of credit that benefits all parties? We're hitting the basics, but this is a great subject and exactly an outside-the-box solution that you can add to your toolbelt.   Hey you! You're a long-time listener, time to be a first-time caller! Have a question or topic you'd like to hear covered? Or are you interested in a Discovery call with Steve? Drop a line in the DM's at: Steve's NEW Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iamstevedvalentine/   You can find us on all the major Podcast apps: Apple Podcasts, Google, Spotify, Stitcher, and more! Subscribe to be notified when new episodes are live and leave us a review and 5-star rating to help the show grow!

With interest rates increasing and home prices going down, some people are insisting that the sky is falling in the Real Estate industry. So many people are still spooked from what happened in 2008 that they're missing the true story of what's happening and the opportunities that are still out there to create wealth and legacy through real estate. The truth is that we're coming out of an over-inflated market where homes were going for way over what they were worth, and interest rates were so low that they could expect to sell those houses for those inflated prices. Now that things are stabilizing, of course prices are coming down! What this all means is that there is so much opportunity out there to think outside the box and create situations where everybody comes out on top. It's a sneak peak to what the market can do for you if you have the Limitless mindset!   Hey you! You're a long-time listener, time to be a first-time caller! Have a question or topic you'd like to hear covered? Or are you interested in a Discovery call with Steve? Drop a line in the DM's at: Steve's NEW Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iamstevedvalentine/   You can find us on all the major Podcast apps: Apple Podcasts, Google, Spotify, Stitcher, and more! Subscribe to be notified when new episodes are live and leave us a review and 5-star rating to help the show grow!

There are all kinds of property that you might come across as an agent whose true value might not be immediately apparent on first glance. Today we have a story for you about just such a property, which could have been an easy fix and flip, but turned out to be the solution to another client's unique problem that worked out in everyone's favor. That's really the point of it all, working together with other agents and clients to find solutions to their unique problems that work out in everyone's favor. We're no longer in a market where it's everyone for themselves; the market is large enough and with enough opportunity that cooperation, not competition, is the secret to finding lasting success as a Real Estate entrepreneur.   Hey you! You're a long-time listener, time to be a first-time caller! Have a question or topic you'd like to hear covered? Or are you interested in a Discovery call with Steve? Drop a line in the DM's at: Steve's NEW Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iamstevedvalentine/   You can find us on all the major Podcast apps: Apple Podcasts, Google, Spotify, Stitcher, and more! Subscribe to be notified when new episodes are live and leave us a review and 5-star rating to help the show grow!

On this episode of Thinking OTB, Steve has a story from his days of investing in foreclosed houses. There is always an opportunity to think outside of the box to increase the value of the investments you focus on, even when it's full of all kinds of unexpected things. The point is: you never know what you're going to find when taking on a house that was foreclosed on recently, so always make sure when you're entering the building, be aware of your surroundings, assess any potential threats including toxic waste, squatters, or vermin, because as the story on today's episode shows, literally anything can happen and it's best to be prepared.   Hey you! You're a long-time listener, time to be a first-time caller! Have a question or topic you'd like to hear covered? Drop a line to our DM's at: Steve's NEW Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iamstevedvalentine/   You can find us on all the major Podcast apps: Apple Podcasts, Google, Spotify, Stitcher, and more! Subscribe to be notified when new episodes are live and leave us a review and 5-star rating to help the show grow!

We're always talking about how much the market has changed from the days of Steve's Dad and the old school way of doing business. One of the truly great things about being a real estate entrepreneur is the opportunity to do things your own way, being your true self, and letting your talent speak for you. Our guest on today's pod is exactly that, so much so that he's become a local celebrity: Justin Mercer from the Call Tattoo Real Estate Group is in the studio with us to talk about his story getting into the business and how his approach to marketing himself has brought him wild success.   If you've seen his billboards around town, or watch his commercials, or even seen his logo on one of his cars driving around, you might be surprised to know that Justin has only been in the business for two years. Two years! He really has an incredible story creating a place for himself in the Phoenix market by creating solutions as a true outside of the box thinker. Most of all, it just goes to show that putting in that hard work and taking in all the creative ways to do business in real estate is a path to success for everyone, you just have to take the leap!   You can follow Justin and Call Tattoo by smashing that follow button at: https://www.instagram.com/calltattoo/   Hey you! You're a long-time listener, time to be a first-time caller! Have a question or topic you'd like us to cover? Drop a line to our DM's at: Steve's NEW Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iamstevedvalentine/   You can find us on all the major Podcast apps: Apple Podcasts, Google, Spotify, Stitcher, and more! Subscribe to be notified when new episodes are live and leave us a review and 5-star rating to help the show grow!

As agents, we work hard to help our clients find the right kind of house that will fit their needs. The commission we make off of that purchase is a huge motivator to put in all that work. Working toward that commission tends to give us tunnel vision on what we as agents can do for our clients. The reality of our business is that the bigger the problems you can solve for your clients with those outside the box solutions, the more your income will be and the more net worth you'll accumulate. On today's episode of Thinking OTB, I'm going to bring back the story of the cow house, an oldie but goodie story of mine about how creative solutions for unique problems helped both me and my client come out on top. All this and a story of a cow in a pool; what more can you ask for?   Hey you! You're a long-time listener, time to be a first-time caller! Have a question or topic you'd like us to cover? Drop a line to our DM's at: Steve's NEW Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iamstevedvalentine/   You can find us on all the major Podcast apps: Apple Podcasts, Google, Spotify, Stitcher, and more! Subscribe to be notified when new episodes are live and leave us a review and 5-star rating to help the show grow!

There's so much to consider when thinking of taking on a business coach. Unfortunately, for those of us who have never had one before, the market for a coach can be overwhelming. How do you choose the type of coach that will best fit where you're at with your business? What kind of criteria should be considered before spending the considerable amount of money coaching requires? This is a subject near and dear to our hearts, and something we have quite a bit of knowledge about, so we're breaking it all down in our best OTB fashion.   The truth is no matter what you choose for your coaching option, it is going to represent a significant business investment. When you're first starting out, those coaching price tags can come with some sticker shock, so you'll want to make sure you've thought through your expectations for your coach and what kind of results you'll be expecting. There is an element of pressure sales that come with coaching plans as well, or FOMO (fear of missing out) after a conference that gets you excited about the prospect. We have some great information for you in this episode, so break out that pen and paper and take some notes and reach out to us if you have follow up question or you'd like to hear more on this subject!   Hey you! You're a long-time listener, time to be a first-time caller! Have a question or topic you'd like us to cover? Drop a line to our DM's at: Steve's NEW Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iamstevedvalentine/ Bernie's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bernzpix/   You can find us on all the major Podcast apps: Apple Podcasts, Google, Spotify, Stitcher, and more! Subscribe to be notified when new episodes are live and leave us a review and 5-star rating to help the show grow!  

As real estate agents, we tend to wear many different hats in our business. We're the CEO, accountant, saleperson, marketer, and so much more. As we are wearing all of these hats and heaing up all these roles, we tend to think we need to be all of these people in our business in order for it to be successful. But here's the secret: unless we're some kind of genius with endless amounts of time and energy, most likely we're not going to be the best person for each of those roles. It's that age old balance of how much are we investing into our business as we're working for our business which really boils down to the questions: how hard do we want to work, and what is it that we desire for our business?   It's the idea of spending money to make money. We tend to see that working a strategy for our business is going to take a level of success, or funds, or size, which can limit how efficiently we're able to run our business. But the reality is, as the owners of our own businesses, the more time you're spending on the back end of your business, the less time that you have being in front of clients. It's less time actually making the money that we need to grow! On today's episode, we're talking about that balance and what it all looks like to be successful and what we feel comfortable doing and what we're actually good at when structuring the different hats of our business.   Hey you! You're a long-time listener, time to be a first-time caller! Have a question or topic you'd like us to cover? Drop a line to our DM's at: Steve's NEW Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iamstevedvalentine/ Bernie's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bernzpix/   You can find us on all the major Podcast apps: Apple Podcasts, Google, Spotify, Stitcher, and more! Subscribe to be notified when new episodes are live and leave us a review and 5-star rating to help the show grow!

There are many reasons for why the market moves the way it does, and not least of these reasons are in the winds of political fortune. It's on each of us to keep up with what's going on and make sure that we're prepared for shifts in the market. What the past decade has shown us in stark detail is that anything can happen, no matter how stable the market seems or how volatile it might be. This isn't to say that if you're new to being an agent that this is a bad time to start, but it does mean that preparation is going to be key to your success. This is just a short conversation about this subject, but if you'd like to hear more about this or any other questions, send us a message and let us know!   “Market realists recognize that there's going to be another cycle that comes, and it's going to be in my favor or not in my favor. So, what are the risks in the investment strategy that's under consideration? What's the exit strategy?” – Bernie   “There's going to be a lot of opportunities over the next 12 to 18 months where the rates are if you can find something at 30, or 40%, discounted and having the connection, either with private capital, or with a partner or something. Those are the opportunities I'd be looking for.” – Steve   “You have to have reserves and then you need to have a strategy about how much money you need to make and how much money you want to make and understanding and planning for that gap.” – Bernie   Hey you! You're a long-time listener, time to be a first-time caller! Have a question or topic you'd like us to cover? Drop a line to our DM's: Steve's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stevedvalentine/ Bernie's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bernzpix/   You can find us on all the major Podcast apps: Apple Podcasts, Google, Spotify, Stitcher, and more! Subscribe to be notified when new episodes are live and leave us a review and 5-star rating to help the show grow!

Times are getting weird out there. With interest rates going up and the market normalizing, in order to be successful, it's time to be creative. Creative financing, that is! Unfortunately, this is not something you're going to learn in real estate school. To get the best information about what kind of options are out there, agents are going to have to seek out that education. The reality is that in this market, agents are going to have to invest in themselves to stay ahead of the curve and OTB is here to help!   Hey you! You're a long-time listener, time to be a first-time caller! Have a question or topic you'd like us to cover? Drop a line to our DM's at: Steve's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stevedvalentine/ Bernie's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bernzpix/   You can find us on all the major Podcast apps: Apple Podcasts, Google, Spotify, Stitcher, and more! Subscribe to be notified when new episodes are live and leave us a review and 5-star rating to help the show grow!  

We're going to say it again, and louder for those in the back: today's market will be won by those who have good, well-developed fundamentals. It means getting back to basics and taking care of those clients that you've won, staying in contact with those clients you are nurturing, and reaching out to potential clients. All of this can be accomplished by effectively marketing yourself through social media, through client checkups, and having engaged, meaningful conversations. It might be tempting to resort to the old way of doing things, but this isn't a basics course for real estate agents, this is Thinking OTB! Reaching out, contacting clients is all about finding those pain points and priorities that clients might have and offering solutions through real estate. Building wealth, paying for school, creating legacy, or even just addressing questions and concerns about what this market means for your clients are all parts of being an asset and keeping your name top of mind to your community.   “What back to basics means is that everything revolves around the relationships that you are creating and maintaining in this business. There are so many great ways to maintain those relationships through text messages, through email, through phone calls, and truly digging into the relationships and guiding people to where they want to go.” – Steve “The biggest piece for agents right now is that the length of time going from originating a relationship to actually creating some sort of experience or transaction. But a transaction can only be accomplished when two like-minded parties decide to work together, and the reality is, as strategic as you can be in this business, it can also be very emotional.” – Bernie Hey you! You're a long-time listener, time to be a first-time caller! Have a question or topic you'd like us to cover? Drop a line to our DM's at: Steve's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iamstevedvalentine/  Bernie's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bernzpix/   You can find us on all the major Podcast apps: Apple Podcasts, Google, Spotify, Stitcher, and more! Subscribe to be notified when new episodes are live and leave us a review and 5-star rating to help the show grow!  

The subject on everyone's mind right now is all the different ways the real estate market has been changing. Not to beat a dead horse, but we're moving from a bullish market where sales and transactions moved at an extremely high pace, to one that aligns more with what we might call a normal market. We've talked about it before, and until things settle down, we'll keep talking you through it. On this episode, we're talking about going back to the Hard Things, but don't let the name scare you! It's really best practices that might have fallen to the side while things were moving so quickly.   So what are the hard things? We're going through them bit by bit, and both Steve and Bernie have some perspectives that they've found over the course of their careers. Things like open houses, nourishing your client base, improving your marketing, these are those practices that are those necessary things agents will need to get used to again in a cooling market. But things are shifting and advancing, and there are outside of the box ideas to make these “hard things” work for you.   “The chaos wasn't really chaos, the chaos was that we didn't have to work very hard to bring a consumer into our game; they were joining our circle on their own. Now we're in an environment where you need to bring some skills to the conversation, you need to have conversations that are emotionally intelligent and connect with your clients to help them.” – Bernie   “Most of our listeners are probably 10 years or less in the business, and there's a lot of things that you've never seen put in place in a market that is a shifting market. We need to be more educated  and practice using that education.” – Steve   “Are you having elevated conversations? How are you having purposeful and intentional conversations? What's the one consistent thing that you do in your business? Everybody that is listening right now, I would ask you to take out a piece of paper and write down one thing you do every single day in your business.” – Bernie   “I think right now the only way to gauge your success is in your consistency. Having good conversations, staying consistent on your social media to gain audience acquisition, consistent on your stories where you're adding good value to people's day to day lives, doing those things over the next 90 days will be the absolute most valuable thing that you can do.” – Steve   Hey you! You're a long-time listener, time to be a first-time caller! Have a question or topic you'd like us to cover? Drop a line to our DM's at: Steve's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iamstevedvalentine/  Bernie's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bernzpix/   You can find us on all the major Podcast apps: Apple Podcasts, Google, Spotify, Stitcher, and more! Subscribe to be notified when new episodes are live and leave us a review and 5-star rating to help the show grow!

Thinking of starting a podcast? This week we're talking about what we've learned since becoming The Thinking OTB podcast! If you've been thinking about starting a podcast, now is a great time to start. The truth is, anyone can get started whenever they feel like they're ready. All you need is some kind of recording device and a will to share your knowledge with the people. But what it takes to be a successful podcast, well, that's what we're talking about on this episode. Part of our success is also having a Podcast Strategy and Production team that we work with to help us with production, which we'll link to below. It's a quick episode this week, but one full of information, so get out your notebook and get some inspiration to start your own podcast!   You can reach out to Sarah for a free Podcast Strategy session at https://www.instagram.com/sarahkheeter/     You can find us on all the major Podcast apps: Apple Podcasts, Google, Spotify, Stitcher, and more! Subscribe to be notified when new episodes are live and leave us a review and 5-star rating to help the show grow!

You may have noticed us talking about being on a nutrients drip for the past few weeks while doing the podcast. We've had Nurse Becca from Rejuvenetics Global in the studio to administer what's called a NAD+ IV drip. This is something to think about if you're feeling stressed out by your work or life, maybe you wish you had a little more energy to keep up the pace that you've set for yourself. It's something that we've been trying out ourselves to give us that extra boost of nutrients, and so far we've had a positive experience! Of course, you'll want to check it out to make sure it's a treatment that would agree with you and your health needs.   You can reach Nurse Rebecca for a consultation at https://www.rejuvenetixglobal.com/    Hey you! You're a long-time listener, time to be a first-time caller! Have a question or topic you'd like us to cover? Drop a line to our DM's at:   Steve's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stevedvalentine/   Bernie's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bernzpix/   You can find us on all the major Podcast apps: Apple Podcasts, Google, Spotify, Stitcher, and more! Subscribe to be notified when new episodes are live and leave us a review and 5-star rating to help the show grow!

This week we're very excited to have Mike and Courtney Weaver from the Weaver Sales Academy as guests of the podcast! The Weavers are longtime entrepreneurs who have run multiple businesses, mainly in insurance, and now have transitioned into training others with a comprehensive sales academy. While they do focus mostly on insurance sales, our conversation shows that there is so much that can be gained from sales training in methods and practices. So much has changed in the last few years in the expectations of clients and customers on what they expect from the sales experience, so much so that shooting from the hip or just relying on luck to get some of those sales just doesn't cut it anymore. We have a great conversation about what we've experienced working with customers today and what agents can get out bettering themselves through training and support.   We also ran through the Weavers area of expertise in insurance sales. We've talked about it before in some of our previous episodes but having the right kind of coverage for the period of live you're living, or what you hope to accomplish in the future is so crucial. The unfortunate truth is that more often than not people don't give insurance much thought past what policy is the cheapest. As business owners, we all need to be having those good conversations with our agents to make sure we're covered against those experiences that could potentially wipe us out financially. It was great having a conversation with experts like the Weavers about the importance for everyone to be as well covered as we can be.   “The difference between an amateur (salesperson) and a professional is that an amateur feels like they have to tell to sell, they always have to be talking. Whereas if you really understand what sales is about, the psychology of sales and humans, it's a lot of asking questions, listening, and digging deep into those questions.” – Mike Weaver   “Every business owner out there wants referrals, but to do that you have to be referable! So, what are you doing to be referable? The number one referral process I teach is getting in front of your people and get them to know you, like you, and trust you so they want to send their friends to you.” – Mike Weaver   “Many people look at their insurance agent as just an auto or homeowners insurance agent, when they actually have the ability to help you create a financial plan. If they're a true professional, they should be having a holistic conversation with you around your entire financial plan, what your goal is, and how they can help you get there.” – Mike Weaver        You can find the Weaver Sales Academy at https://www.weaversa.com/ and the Insurance buzz podcast at https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-insurance-buzz/id1606064185 Michael Weaver: https://www.instagram.com/_michaelweaver_/ Courtney Weaver: https://www.instagram.com/courtneyvie/   Hey you! You're a long-time listener, time to be a first-time caller! Have a question or topic you'd like us to cover? Drop a line to our DM's at: Steve's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stevedvalentine/ Bernie's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bernzpix/   You can find us on all the major Podcast apps: Apple Podcasts, Google, Spotify, Stitcher, and more! Subscribe to be notified when new episodes are live and leave us a review and 5-star rating to help the show grow!  

In today's real estate market, you have to ask yourself: are you a pessimist, an optimist, or a realist? The honest answer is that we all are one or the other at any point in time, but the key is inhabiting those roles at the right time to seize on success. In today's market, so many people are pessimists about where the market is rather than being realists. The reality is that there is still opportunity in the market for those who are thinking long term. Interest rates are going up, but they're still at historic lows compared to the markets of the past. Understanding this reality, educating yourself and staying up to date on the ebbs and flows of the market is what is going to separate those who will be successful from the rest of the pack.   Agents need to remember the fundamentals of sales as the market starts to cool down. Keeping in contact with your clients and showing them options that they might not have thought of through that creative, outside the box thinking, that's what's going to keep you in business. It's easier than ever to communicate with your clients, so make sure you're taking advantage of every way that you can to do so. We're moving toward a long game market and the agents who can foster those relationships are going to see the best results. This week's podcast is all about keeping the right perspective and staying real about today's real estate market.   “If you're a pessimist right now, your fear is leading to a lack of action, and if you're overly optimistic you need to be careful and make sure it's calibrated correctly. That's where realism comes into play, where you have to be real about what's happening in the market and get right with your business.” – Bernie   “This is the greatest opportunity. Everybody is looking at prices going down while inventory and rates are going up. However, if you have enough in your war chest to weather the storm, you could get a really good deal on the most motivated people in the market right now, and maybe have $100-150K less debt than you would have in 2020 or 2021 and have a higher interest rate. But can you weather the storm?” – Steve   “So many people should stay in their houses, but there are also other real estate opportunities because of that house that they own. Being able to ask the right questions and getting to the root of what motivates them, that takes emotional intelligence to help those people achieve a positive result that supersedes status or income.” – Bernie   “Don't be afraid to shift, and have some fun with what you're doing, and figure out what is the next thing. There's more wealth built in down markets than there is in up markets, but you have to have the mindset to really look to see that there's a flood of opportunities coming to help people create wealth.” - Steve   Hey you! You're a long-time listener, time to be a first-time caller! Have a question or topic you'd like us to cover? Drop a line to our DM's at: Steve's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stevedvalentine/ Bernie's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bernzpix/   You can find us on all the major Podcast apps: Apple Podcasts, Google, Spotify, Stitcher, and more! Subscribe to be notified when new episodes are live and leave us a review and 5-star rating to help the show grow!

We're doing things a little differently for this week's podcast, with an episode focusing on Bernie asking Steve some questions about how he's doing as an agent in today's market. The truth is that things aren't always sunshine and rainbows, even for someone who's had success in the market like Steve, but even when times are hard, there is still opportunity to be made if you have the right perspective on things. The reality is that so much of the real estate market revolves around the perspective you have on things: are you playing by the rules as they're set by other people, or are you on the lookout for those outside the box solutions that are going to make you a winner?   The hard truth is that things aren't always going to work out the way that you want them to. Even Steve has been pinched by the changes to the market. As an agent, we need to get out of the mindset that we can predict the future because as we've seen in the last few years, things can change on a dime, sometimes to our benefit, sometimes in harsh ways. Keeping an eye on how things are changing can help to keep a clear head when they do change and maintaining that long term perspective on surviving in the market can help you find those outside the box moves that can keep you floating while everyone around you is convinced that they're sinking.   “Nobody's perfect, and if somebody tells you they've done all these things and they've never lost money, that's all bullshit.” – Steve   “There are some agents out there that are setting real expectations for the sellers by leveraging data and information, and then there are the agents that are still over-promising like it's a fire sale and are desperate calling people to try and make a deal.” – Bernie   “2008 compared to today is completely different. Back then it was greed and all the stuff being buried, and all the bets against the market.” – Steve   “Today's market is much more positive knowing that yes, there are some shifts and things are happening, but the goal is that we need to have more conversations and more guidance and giving people the things that they need. As real estate agents, we have the ability to be either the grim reaper or a hope dealer.” – Steve   Hey you! You're a long-time listener, time to be a first-time caller! Have a question or topic you'd like us to cover? Drop a line to our DM's at: Steve's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stevedvalentine/ Bernie's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bernzpix/   You can find us on all the major Podcast apps: Apple Podcasts, Google, Spotify, Stitcher, and more! Subscribe to be notified when new episodes are live and leave us a review and 5-star rating to help the show grow!  

Are you presenting yourself professionally as a resource or as a salesperson to your potential clients? This week we have with us in the OTB studio Kacia and Seena, good friends of the show who recently had their own unique set of circumstances that made finding the right real estate professional a huge priority. This continues what we were talking about last week with Bernie's story of finding a new home: building a professional relationship of trust with your clients is so important to building your professional reputation.   The No-Sale Sale   You never know what kind of situation potential clients might be coming to you with when you first interact with them. They could just be looking for a new home, or they might be dealing with property that they have no idea what to do with. More often than not, it will be some of the biggest purchases or sales that they've ever dealt with, and so need someone who can help them navigate all the ins and outs of the real estate market. Every interaction is an opportunity to showcase that outside the box thinking that will keep them coming back to you when they need that specialized help.   Sometimes this kind of client care can take the shape of giving advice that might lead the client away from your services. This is about building that trust between you and the client by always giving them the advice that would best benefit them, no matter where that might lead them. Ultimately, this is an industry about people and relationships, and establishing yourself as a leader in the market by always looking out for a client's best interests will help establish you as one.   “I think it's super important that you have a closer that not only possesses the technical knowledge but actually has people skills. I've been in this for 18 years now, and I've seen these escrow officers go from transactional to today where the expectation really has to be a little bit more hands on and personal. And finally, I think that you need to talk to escrow officers that are just as invested in getting something closed as you are.” – Bernie   “We don't get paid unless you get paid. So, we have every vested interest in making sure that this transaction closes. And not only does it close on time, but that you had a pleasant experience.” – Bernie   “The thing that I'm really hoping to change, I think about this in the long term, is that if you know how to build wealth, and you're starting off on this path with me and understanding how many more people can you impact and change their lives?” – Steve   “I see a lot of people in our industry where they were phenomenal successful producers 10 years ago, and now they're coaches and they're just using theory from 10 years ago. I've been working through chaotic problems this week, you know, they're good problems working with agents to try and solve problems. But I can only do it because I'm still in it.” - Steve   ​​You can find Kacia at: https://www.instagram.com/shegoes.company/?hl=en   You can find Seena at: https://www.instagram.com/seena.ghetmiri/?hl=en     We're ready to hear from you! Have a question or topic you'd like us to cover? Send us a message at: Steve's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stevedvalentine/ Bernie's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bernzpix/   You can find us on all the major Podcast apps: Apple Podcasts, Google, Spotify, Stitcher, and more! Subscribe to be notified when new episodes are live and leave us a review and 5-star rating to help the show grow!

We're back talking a bit more about Emotional Intelligence and what agents today can expect from a cooling market and how that can affect our professional outlook. It's no secret that the market we've been seeing has been bananas and even if it moves back to a more normal equilibrium that has more basis in history, it's going to seem like a huge slowdown to most agents who don't know any different. That's not a bad thing! It's just that success isn't going to be the low hanging fruit that it's been for the past few years, and it's going to take a bit more work to get there. But what we want to stress and what we here at OTB still believe with our whole hearts, opportunity is still there, and Real Estate is still the best way to build wealth and create legacy. You just have to put the work in.   In a cooling market like this, knowing who you are and what is happening around you will be key. It's about getting the best information you can to keep yourself well informed and being ready to implement those outside the box ideas when those opportunities present themselves. We have a list of our all-time favorite books, but like we say in the episode, don't just make them a goal to get through, but really internalize the information that they have. It's about being as well informed as you can be to be the best you can be for yourself and your clients that can bring you the success you're looking for.   Steve's and Bernie's Book List (In order of mentions): The Road Less Stupid by Keith J. Cunningham https://amzn.to/3nzK2xM   The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho https://amzn.to/3uptFrA   The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren https://amzn.to/3OJolXV   The Secret of Closing the Sale by Zig Ziglar https://amzn.to/3Rai8G8   Unf*ck Yourself: Get Out of Your Head and Into Your Life by Gary John Bishop https://amzn.to/3yeQtv7   Wins, Losses, and Lessons by Lou Holtz https://amzn.to/3nUUi45   Winning: The Unforgiving Race to Greatness by Tim Grover https://amzn.to/3yB8k0F   The Founders Mentality by Chris Zook https://amzn.to/3NIrx4K   How the Mighty Fall by Jim Collins https://amzn.to/3ybQXCo   Hey you! You're a long-time listener, time to be a first-time caller! Have a question or topic you'd like us to cover? Drop a line to our DM's at: Steve's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stevedvalentine/ Bernie's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bernzpix/   You can find us on all the major Podcast apps: Apple Podcasts, Google, Spotify, Stitcher, and more! Subscribe to be notified when new episodes are live and leave us a review and 5-star rating to help the show grow!  

What is Emotional Intelligence? That's the subject of this week's episode, and it's a subject that Bernie is very passionate about. So, what is it, and how does it relate to our business of Real Estate? It's the ability to perceive, reason, understand, and manage emotions of others in our day to day lives. For agents, being emotionally intelligent can mean the difference between working with clients on a purely transactional basis or understanding what they're looking for on an emotional level and coming up with those outside the box solutions that working in everyone's interests.   We are in a people focused industry, and the types of transactions we deal with as real estate agents can be very emotionally charged. When speaking with our clients about what our clients are looking for in a forever home, we can get any kind of response ranging from cold logic to emotional milestones. Being emotionally intelligent means more than identifying with a person's feelings in the moment, it's about understanding what's behind the way a client responds to our questions. There are times to empathize with stories of our own, or solutions to the problems brought up, and then there are times when listening is the best course. Being able to build the trust with your clients that you are working in their best interests and working to find solutions to the problems they may or may not have vocalized can be important to your success as an agent.   “Emotional intelligence is the ability to understand what's happening with your feelings at a given moment in time and not acting in them but leveraging that to really understand what's happening within whoever you're interacting with.” -  Bernie   “When we get into our business right there, that's where a lot of people come up short. They're not listening to the full conversation because they're too busy trying to regurgitate their next response, rather than taking a pause to give themselves some time to truly respond.” – Steve   “That's how you connect with other humans is to recognize that just below the surface, there could be things that are going on there that may or may not represent what they're sharing with you. It takes time to build a rapport, to get them to share even more and to be empathetic.” – Bernie   “One thing that I've learned is learning to sit back and be patient and listen and let people talk. Too many times in the sales world that we both live in, we're self absorbed, right? So, we tend to ask some questions, they might give a small response and then we go back into what we're going to do for them and try to fit them into that, rather than answering a question with a question and getting them to move in that direction organically.” – Steve   Hey you! You're a long-time listener, time to be a first-time caller! Have a question or topic you'd like us to cover? Drop a line to our DM's at: Steve's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stevedvalentine/ Bernie's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bernzpix/   You can find us on all the major Podcast apps: Apple Podcasts, Google, Spotify, Stitcher, and more! Subscribe to be notified when new episodes are live and leave us a review and 5-star rating to help the show grow!  

Each week, Steve Valentine shares mindset tips and actionable strategies to help build wealth and impact families through your real estate business. Want more of this? Check out the Steve D. Valentine mentoring program: https://stevedvalentine.mykajabi.com/

Each week, Steve Valentine shares mindset tips and actionable strategies to help build wealth and impact families through your real estate business. Want more of this? Check out the Steve D. Valentine mentoring program: https://stevedvalentine.mykajabi.com/

Each week, Steve Valentine shares mindset tips and actionable strategies to help build wealth and impact families through your real estate business. Want more of this? Check out the Steve D. Valentine mentoring program: https://stevedvalentine.mykajabi.com/

One of the things that we like to think keeps people coming back and listening to us week after week is not just our ‘outside the box' ideas, but our appeal as people in the business. We feel very strongly that the greatest strength of a successful real estate agent is the ability to network and be personalities people love to listen to and do business with. Building community by helping people get into communities is key to making it in this business, and that's what our guest Frankie Gerola is great at. He's not only a great agent and entrepreneur, he's also a great person who's motivated to do what's best for his clients and community.   Frankie G is one of those agents that it's easy to just drop right into a warm and meaningful conversation with about what it means to be in the business and how he's been able to find success in his own way. It all comes back to doing our best to build community and be ready to try new things to find that success and build legacy for ourselves and our clients. Frankie is a masterclass in listening to his clients and doing his best to find solutions that match what his clients are trying to tell him. The hardest part of our conversation was limiting it to a reasonable time!   “It's a partnership, you know, your success depends on his success and vice versa. That's what I think is a true partnership. One of the questions I've always asked, and I will always continue to ask is: what can we do together, and how can I help you?” – Frankie   “I've always had the mindset that you either win or you learn. If you can keep that in mind, you never lose.” – Frankie   “I'm a firm believer in going back and doing what's hard, which in our business is cold calling. I love cold calling, give me a phone and a headset!” – Frankie   “I firmly believe that the consumer holds all the cards and I think agents are going to have to step outside the box and provide a service to be successful. If we're being honest with ourselves, we as real estate agents are not even really finding the houses for the clients anymore. They're not finding on our portals; they're finding them all on the other third party websites!” - Frankie      You can connect with Frankie G at https://www.instagram.com/gilbertnow/ or frankgerola@gmail.com        Hey you! You're a long-time listener, time to be a first-time caller! Have a question or topic you'd like us to cover? Drop a line to our DM's at: Steve's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stevedvalentine/ Bernie's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bernzpix/   You can find us on all the major Podcast apps: Apple Podcasts, Google, Spotify, Stitcher, and more! Subscribe to be notified when new episodes are live and leave us a review and 5-star rating to help the show grow!  

In the studio this week we have one of the best partnerships in the business, two individuals who like Steve have made a huge name for themselves since the old days of crazy markets: Kevin Kauffman and Fred Weaver of Group 46:10 and Next Level Agents! We have a wealth of knowledge and shared stories that we're going over this week, and how that experience of coming up in the short sale market that gives us a fresh perspective on where today's market is heading. Bottom line: don't fear the reaper.   Aside from our discussion about the market and the way it's not like the short sale days of 2009, we also have a chance to talk about their long running business partnership. They're the exception to the rule of the eventual partnership break up, still going strong after all these years, and they have some words of advice on how to make it work. You're getting all this and more on this episode of the podcast, movers, shakers, and some outside the box thinkers.   “I think there's just a lot of uncertainty, and when people are uncertain, they try to predict what they think is going to happen. The reality is like none of us truly know. We know what's happening right now, I know what's happened over the last 30 days, we know rates have gone up, we know the inventories going up in the Phoenix market and many other markets across the country. I think the thing that we've been talking about is people are getting really challenged right now and have to truly believe in homeownership and selling real estate because it's a lot easier to sell real estate when everything goes up.” – Fred   “I forget the guy who said it, but the quote is, effectively, ‘Chaos creates opportunity.' When people start freaking out, from a purely strategic standpoint, from a business standpoint, chaos is good.” – Kevin   We've always been committed to the idea of learning and being mentored and taught by others. I think that's something that hasn't changed no matter what. We're always making sure that when we start a relationship or in a conversation with somebody, that somebody is someone that can help us with our business or our mindset.” – Kevin   “The thing I kick myself for is earlier in life, not putting a certain percentage of my income aside just for investments. Even if I didn't know what I was going to invest in, but to just grow in some account. It's just that simple and it's something I will teach other people, and someday teach my kid.” - Fred   You can find Kevin and Fred at their website https://www.group4610.com/ and on their Podcast The Kevin and Fred Show: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-kevin-and-fred-show-next-level-agents/id1438457876   Hey you! You're a long-time listener, time to be a first-time caller! Have a question or topic you'd like us to cover? Drop a line to our DM's at: Steve's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stevedvalentine/ Bernie's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bernzpix/   You can find us on all the major Podcast apps: Apple Podcasts, Google, Spotify, Stitcher, and more! Subscribe to be notified when new episodes are live and leave us a review and 5-star rating to help the show grow!  

It's the culture club episode! Today we're talking about culture and leadership in your organization and what works and what absolutely doesn't. A huge blind spot that was exposed by the pandemic and the great resignation is that for many people in many professions, corporate and work culture had become a source for burnout for workers because there has been such a disconnect between the average worker and the people who they work for. When it comes to building a team that sticks around and works to the best of their abilities, it goes beyond a few perks and grinding day in and day out. It's about collaboration and giving the people on your team the knowledge that they matter, and their ideas are going to be heard, as well as knowing the people they work for have their best interests in mind.   When you're looking for a team to be a part of, how that team conducts business and balances work and life is just as important as how much success they have. We're entering a whole new world where team members are looking for more than just a paycheck, they're looking for a workplace where they feel they matter. If you're a leader of a team, or a manager in a bigger organization, knowing what your workers are looking for in engagement and what they might need professionally is key to existing in this evolving market.   “We've had the Great Resignation, and now it's time for the Great Reimagination.” – Bernie   “I think people will ultimately give up certain things for quality of life and a great place to work that's flexible.” – Steve   “A healthy culture will reverse engineer into productivity. If you have a workplace that people don't want to show up to, you're not going to have production.” – Bernie   “Bonuses and raises are great and necessary, but there's things in between that you can do to show your appreciation so that those people feel that connectedness they want.” – Steve   Hey you! You're a long-time listener, time to be a first-time caller! Have a question or topic you'd like us to cover? Drop a line to our DM's at: Steve's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stevedvalentine/ Bernie's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bernzpix/   You can find us on all the major Podcast apps: Apple Podcasts, Google, Spotify, Stitcher, and more! Subscribe to be notified when new episodes are live and leave us a review and 5-star rating to help the show grow!  

You may have heard that interest rates are going up and that it's a sign that the sky is falling and it's 2008 all over again. Is it time to panic? We here at Thinking OTB are giving you a warm blanket, some tea, and telling you it's all going to be ok. The market is changing, but that doesn't mean it's all doom and gloom. We haven't been silent about the differences between 2008's market and today and how there is still opportunity for some real outside the box thinking to still make a huge difference for yourself and your clients in the near future.   As agents, it's our job to know all the details of what the market is doing and understanding the history of the market and doing our best to be as realistic as possible about where we go from here. The truth that remains is that home buying continues to be one of the best ways to build wealth and legacy, even with rates going up and the market slightly slowing. This is the time that is going to test us as professionals because patience and attention is going to be the best qualities you as an agent can have to help your clients navigate the market and make good decisions about the future.   “We're not done yet, unfortunately. The feds are trying to slow inflation down, and it's going to slow down the demand here. But the bigger thing is that we're seeing contracts come in and still competitive, and we're still seeing multiple offers. So, with that being the case, I think the prices are going to continue to rise here and they're going to stabilize.” – Steve   “If you want to buy a house, you have to get on it. There's going to always be these variables to buying a house or any kind of investment that are going to fluctuate. Right now, the prices are not going to drop. Prices are not going down. They might not rise as fast, but they're not going down.” – Bernie   “I think that the agents that are listening need to immerse themselves and understand the data that's happening so that they can have intelligent conversations with their clients. Have some patience because this is not a quick market. This is going to be a market of your understanding and your ability to educate and to nurture and nourish relationships. You have to understand what's happening with interest rates and what's happening with inventory, and with that you have to understand the different programs that are out there to take advantage of.” – Bernie   “Part of our jobs as real estate agents is to be a guide to people through all things, not just when we sell them a house, or sell their house, but to help them navigate the waters and put them in touch with the best people to help them accomplish what they need to accomplish.” – Steve   Hey you! You're a long-time listener, time to be a first-time caller! Have a question or topic you'd like us to cover? Drop a line to our DM's at: Steve's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stevedvalentine/ Bernie's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bernzpix/   You can find us on all the major Podcast apps: Apple Podcasts, Google, Spotify, Stitcher, and more! Subscribe to be notified when new episodes are live and leave us a review and 5-star rating to help the show grow!

We're back in town after traveling to New York to attend Inman Connect and let's just say that we have a few notes. But first, shout out to all of the speakers and the city for having us! It's always a treat to take a trip to the Big Apple, and to be among so many of our colleagues from around the country is an experience that doesn't happen every day. We heard about some new technologies that are intersecting with Real Estate, and what the digital landscape has in store for life as we know it. We truly live in interesting times.   One thing that we did notice about the event, however, was the lack of something near and dear to us: Outside the Box Thinking. We're all about finding solutions that are unique to our client's needs and finding new ways to build wealth and legacy through our professional interactions. What we ended up seeing at the conference is an adherence to the old way of doing things, a low-energy way of approaching a rapidly changing market landscape.   Even still, events like Inman Connect are great venues to network with so many professionals from across the country. But like any professional event, know what you want to get out of it and understand what it is when you attend. Investing in yourself by getting out of your comfort zone, meeting new people, and making lasting connections is a great way to push yourself both personally and professionally.   “I think the industry needs some refresh when it comes down to these types of events. It's not just bringing in real estate agents, it's about bringing in amazing people from all different walks of life. Real estate communities need to start bringing in people to inspire and motivate agents in ways that will add to their business.” – Steve   “I always thought that if I was a realtor and I went to Inman, my whole goal besides meeting and networking with people would be to come away with some feathers in my cap that I didn't have before. I'm looking for resources to become aware of and educated on, so that when I meet with a prospective client, I'm much more educated and an authority on the industry.” – Bernie   “If you go to these events to pull a bunch of information, that's great but it's just a quarter of what you're really there for. Go and meet different people and hear their stories, get motivated and inspired, but make those connections from all over the country and make some referral partners.” – Steve   “I would say, go into an event with a mindset of number one: I'm going to come out of this with at least three new ideas, number two: I'm going to leave here having met and connected with 10 new people, and number three: I'm going to evaluate how I can apply all of this to my business.” – Bernie   Hey you! You're a long-time listener, time to be a first-time caller! Have a question or topic you'd like us to cover? Drop a line to our DM's at: Steve's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stevedvalentine/ Bernie's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bernzpix/   You can find us on all the major Podcast apps: Apple Podcasts, Google, Spotify, Stitcher, and more! Subscribe to be notified when new episodes are live and leave us a review and 5-star rating to help the show grow!

Each week, Steve Valentine shares mindset tips and actionable strategies to help build wealth and impact families through your real estate business. Want more of this? Check out the Steve D. Valentine mentoring program: https://stevedvalentine.mykajabi.com/

Look, it's no secret: this podcast is all about showing real estate agents in today's market that using outside the box thinking to help they and their clients build wealth and legacy. It's pretty much our whole thing, so when we have the opportunity to talk to a kindred soul, we're going to be all over it. This week on the pod we're interviewing Derek Jarr of Stay Frank to talk about their philosophy on providing solutions to their client's situations, the direction today's market is taking, and how things have changed over the course of his career in real estate.   Our conversation is a great example of agents working together and sharing their experiences of what has worked for them in finding success and building wealth in today's market. We've said so many times before that when you're working in real estate, it's not your fellow agents that you're competing against. We're all trying to make our way in this crazy market, and some are going to have more success than others. It's the solutions that we create for our clients that set us apart from one another, separating the casual person with a real estate license from the professionals working toward success.   “There's always new stuff happening and so the one constant is change. You got humans and you got financial markets. And we have lots of crazy stuff happening in this country right now in financial markets. So, I just figured out there's an opportunity, there's a need, and we've come up with a solution that is not a fit for everyone, but for a lot of people who have some financial need right now.” – Derek   “As an agent, you should be a portal to the information itself. It's almost like a responsibility of understanding and learning about all the different programs that are out there. So, you can make those connections and you will know that something's available based on somebody that you meet or talk to. If it's not fundamentally a connection, at least you're educated to be able to share with people that these concepts exist.” – Bernie   “I'm trying to get agents to understand that there are so many other ways that you can help somebody besides just charging a commission. If you're willing to ask the questions and get to what the end goal is, just because somebody says they want to sell their house, doesn't mean that's the only thing they can do. Sometimes they don't know what they don't know. So, unless you're willing to help them understand it, you're not really helping them.” – Steve   Catch up with Derek Jarr and Stay Frank. at https://www.stayfrank.com/    Hey you! You're a long-time listener, time to be a first-time caller! Have a question or topic you'd like us to cover? Drop a line to our DM's at: Steve's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stevedvalentine/ Bernie's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bernzpix/   You can find us on all the major Podcast apps: Apple Podcasts, Google, Spotify, Stitcher, and more! Subscribe to be notified when new episodes are live and leave us a review and 5-star rating to help the show grow!

A lot of people don't want to own rental properties because they hear all the negative chatter about it. We're digging into it on this week's bonus short.

This week on Thinking OTB we're bringing things a little closer to home to give you a little peek behind the Valentine Group curtain. Nicole Porter, one of our Rockstar agents is joining us on the podcast to talk about her life before joining up with Steve and how thinking outside the box and realizing her limitless potential has changed the way she views herself and her career as a real estate agent.   The truth is her story before joining up with Steve is unfortunately not a unique one. It's been a hard couple of years for everyone. For some of us, it's been difficult to recover the flow we might have had professionally before, and it's been a game of catch-up ever since. Nicole found herself in that very same situation, having moved from Michigan to Arizona and working two jobs and trying to make her real estate career work for her. Sometimes the goals we set for ourselves take hard work and learning from what isn't working so that we can keep finding those solutions to keep your momentum going.   “I think your story represents what a lot of people listening go through in that you haven't reached the end goal yet. Like maybe you know that you have this momentum and that you're growing, and it wasn't just success just falling out of the sky for you. You had perseverance, you had conviction, and you had a gut instinct of what you needed to do, and I think that that is super, super important.” – Bernie   There are two great takeaways from Nicole's story. And no, one of them is not finding a way to work with Steve and Bernie, we could all only be so lucky! The first takeaway is that it's not always easy starting something new. Sometimes it can be the hardest thing you've ever done. It takes hard work and dedication to make those changes, and if the goal is true and right for you, the work is worth it. The second takeaway goes with the first, that if you're ready to work toward something you need to have the humility to know when you need help.   “The bigger moment, though, was her mental shift of whatever it takes to put me in a place that I can succeed. How do I be around somebody that I can learn from?” – Steve   Working in this industry as a real estate agent has great potential to help agents build wealth and strong professional roots so that they can help others achieve their legacy goals as well. It's not always easy, but if you keep working at it, if you keep growing and developing those outside the box ideas, it can take you places you never dreamed you would go.   “It's about finding the right team in the right place and being willing to do the work. It's not always just about the split conversations and who's getting what. Everybody wants to know, well, what about all that? And I would tell them, look, I've sacrificed so much, and even with the sacrifice I made, I still made almost double my income from prior years.” – Nicole   You can find Nicole at her Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nicoleporteraz/   Hey you! You're a long-time listener, time to be a first-time caller! Have a question or topic you'd like us to cover? Drop a line to our DM's at: Steve's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stevedvalentine/ Bernie's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bernzpix/   You can find us on all the major Podcast apps: Apple Podcasts, Google, Spotify, Stitcher, and more! Subscribe to be notified when new episodes are live and leave us a review and 5-star rating to help the show grow!

So many Real Estate Agents are trying to learn to be salespeople instead of problem solvers. This week's bonus episode is all about getting your head in the game.

This episode is part 2 of our talk with our guy in the financial industry, Michael Velasco. This week we're diving deep into 1031 Exchanges, which if you're not in the know yet, get out your notebook for this conversation. When you're talking with your clients about investment properties, the 1031 Exchange is a super-tool to increase wealth and build your portfolio while deferring tax payments down the line. Let's get into it.   “The IRS said, ‘We're going to give you the greatest benefit ever.' Congress always gives motivation through tax deferment for people to do things. They're incentivizing us to invest in America through stocks and through long-term capital gains, which is much lower than short-term capital gains, as we know. And then, they give us this beautiful little thing called depreciation and a 1031 exchange.” - Michael   First, what is a 1031 Exchange? As Michael states, “Being able to exchange property for another one of equal or greater value and avoid tax consequences. That's at the heart of a 1031 exchange. That's what it is.” Basically, if you're using the money you would gain from selling one property and using that money to buy another property of equal or greater value, you can defer the taxes that you would have incurred on that sale.   As with any kind of program like this, there are many other exemptions, caveats, and small details that are part of the program, so even this explanation is a bit simplistic. That's why we have Michael on to help us navigate the harder to explain bits and get more knowledgeable as agents about this fantastic tax tool.   “As a real estate agent, you're the pro, so you need to know this, right? Through your continuing education and through the studies that you're doing, you should really know this before you sit down and list a property. These are some questions: How long have you owned the property? Is this an investment or a primary residence? And then you say, here are the exemptions for primary residence, here's the macro level look at a 1031 exchange. You don't have to be an expert, but you do have to know that it exists.” – Michael   You can find Michael Velasco at https://www.instagram.com/provident_accounting/    Hey you! You're a long-time listener, time to be a first-time caller! Have a question or topic you'd like us to cover? Drop a line to our DM's at: Steve's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stevedvalentine/ Bernie's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bernzpix/   You can find us on all the major Podcast apps: Apple Podcasts, Google, Spotify, Stitcher, and more! Subscribe to be notified when new episodes are live and leave us a review and 5-star rating to help the show grow!  

The heartbeat of Steve's business is "turning people into homeowners and homeowners into investors." Learn more about why this is the center of his business model and how investing in home ownership creates generational wealth in today's bonus episode.

Social media is one of the best ways to reach out to potential clients but learning how to use it effectively can be a challenge. This week our guest Chelsea Peitz is here to show us the light about what we all can do to be more effective with our profiles and our posts. She is a grand master of using social media to market your brand and business, and she was gracious enough to come to the OTB studios and share with us some great tips and tricks for building an effective social media strategy.   Plain and simple, one of the biggest reasons holding people back from using social media is fear. We don't think we're interesting enough, or that the content we come up with is not good enough. Chelsea is here to say that it's not about getting likes, it's about getting yourself out there, so if anxiety has you frozen find a way around it.   “I personally love (Instagram) stories because there's no metrics, and for somebody who has content anxiety, I don't have to worry about looking at likes or people aren't going to see the posts. I like that there's no metrics because it reduces the stress, I don't have to think of hashtags, or copy, or editing, maybe slight little edits here and there, but it's fast. But it's supposed to feel unedited.” - Chelsea   Why is this relevant? She goes on to explain:   “The fact is that the majority of stories are ‘face to camera.' So, as we're seeing your face again and again, we're sort of in this exclusive behind the scenes club, and we're hardwired to love other people's faces. …But we just start to have this like know, trust, relatability, familiarity. It really deepens and accelerates the trust process. And I think a big part of that has to do with how we as human beings develop relatability and empathy.” – Chelsea   Real estate isn't a fast-paced sales market. Potential clients could be years away from an actual purchase. But when the time comes that they're ready to purchase and they're looking for an agent to represent them, they're going to want someone they trust to help them through the process. Social Media is that marketing pipeline to help you show off your expertise while building that trust with your followers.     Running a successful social media strategy isn't about being active on all platforms at all times. Unless you have a team helping you out, you have to be careful of overextending yourself and burnout. Focusing your attention on one platform, one that you can really dedicate your time to, will be far more effective in the long run.   “Do I think you should be on all (social media platforms)? Not if you're beginning, no. I think you need to pick one and really, really focus on that one. …I know that my burnout starts to turn on the minute I start going the same level on all of them and I can't. I can't do it. Now if I had a team and they were editing all the things maybe. For me, I'm picking Instagram, and that's where I'm doubling down. And you know, it's not like I never show up on the other places, but it's just not my focus.” – Chelsea   We had a great conversation with Chelsea about these topics and so much more social media on this week's podcast. You can find Chelsea on all the platforms, but the best place to catch her is on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/chelsea.peitz/   Hey you! You're a long-time listener, time to be a first-time caller! Have a question or topic you'd like us to cover? Drop a line to our DM's at: Steve's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stevedvalentine/ Bernie's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bernzpix/   You can find us on all the major Podcast apps: Apple Podcasts, Google, Spotify, Stitcher, and more! Subscribe to be notified when new episodes are live and leave us a review and 5-star rating to help the show grow!

So many of the big-name financial advice coaches out there claim we need to live on rice and beans for 10 years and get completely out of debt before we can invest in real estate. But in today's bonus Limitless episode, Steve explains why investing is a wealth-building strategy that actually helps with leverage. For more information, check out the Steve D. Valentine mentoring program: https://stevedvalentine.mykajabi.com/

We're going practical and tactical this week on Thinking OTB with our guest Michael Velasco from Provident Accounting and talking about something that should be on the front of every entrepreneur's mind: properly managing your taxes. It's one of those messy subjects where there's so much to know that it can be paralyzing to know where even to start, but if you wait too long that has its own pitfalls too. Well, that's where the tactical part comes in because Michael is just the agent to get the ball rolling on what you need to know as a business owner.   If you're just starting out, you're probably more focused on getting those early successes that will be the foundation of your business moving forward. You've got your license and your're ready to take the market by storm if you can. We hear you! Success is the best motivation no matter where you're at in your business. But you also want to be set up properly, so those successes aren't working against you when it comes to taxes.   “I think that's probably the biggest mistake, right? Real estate agents say, ‘I want to get a real estate license and be an entrepreneur,' but they forget that it's a small business and never set up an entity. They start commingling their real estate commissions and business expenses with their personal account, and then it's a massive liability.” – Michael Velasco   “If you're good at real estate, focus on real estate and let somebody else do the accounting. I see this a lot where people just don't budget for any type of accounting for their business, and they don't want to spend the money and then it ends up costing them.” – Michael   Our conversation with Michael is all about getting to know what you don't know about setting up your business for long term success. The truth is that you're expected to be a subject matter expert in your field, but you're not expected to be an expert in all things. That's what having a good CPA is all about. Investing in people you can partner with to help guide your business is one of those nitty gritty realities of working for yourself. That's why we have guests like Michael on, to show that there are people out there ready to help you be the best agent you can be.   “I think I get a lot of great joy in helping people. At the end of the day, it's like, ‘Hey, I've been there before.' We're human beings, and we're just flawed creatures to begin with. The question is, how can we try to make everyone's lives a little bit better?” – Michael   You can find Michael Velasco at https://www.instagram.com/provident_accounting/    Hey you! You're a long-time listener, time to be a first-time caller! Have a question or topic you'd like us to cover? Drop a line to our DM's at: Steve's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stevedvalentine/ Bernie's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bernzpix/   You can find us on all the major Podcast apps: Apple Podcasts, Google, Spotify, Stitcher, and more! Subscribe to be notified when new episodes are live and leave us a review and 5-star rating to help the show grow!

Today, we're talking about the strategy for leasing to own. For more information, check out the Steve D. Valentine mentoring program: https://stevedvalentine.mykajabi.com/

If you follow Steve, you know he loves his car collection... but you might not know that some of his cars have come from real estate transactions. Say WHAT? Check out today's bonus Limitless Real Estate Strategies episode to learn more.

Wondering how we help clients move assets around to create wealth? This week's bonus episode explains the process.

In this bonus Limitless Real Estate Strategy episode, Steve's sharing an experience and lessons learned flipping a house in his own neighborhood. 

In this week's Limitless Real Estate Strategies bonus episode, Steve explains what Limitless means to him and his family and how he incorporates that mindset into real estate strategies... and how you can, too!

Are you having effective conversations with your clients? To say that the Arizona real estate market has been evolving over the last few years would be an understatement. For agents, it's a huge part of our job just keeping up with the trends and changes that are happening on a sometimes-weekly basis. If things are that difficult for those of us inside the business, how difficult must it be for our clients, who might be getting bad information to begin with?   It's our job to be experts in the real estate market and in turn to be having the necessary conversations with our clients about their best options moving forward. Our clients are coming to us with the hopes of getting into a new home that's going to meet all their expectations, and sometimes this will be an easy task. But most of the time compromises will need to be met depending on their price, location, etc., and that is where we as their representatives can do the best service for them as real estate experts.   “I think that the business right now should change into conversations with your clients on helping them strategize and really understanding the long term.” – Steve   Anyone who is looking to get into a new home, whether it be through renting or buying, is investing in the market. The difference between the two right now is whether you're investing in your own future through buying or helping to invest in somebody else's future by renting. We're in the business of helping people invest in their future, to help them create legacy and build wealth.   “A different way to look at it is if you had two different parties, one decided to wait (and rent) and one decided to buy, the person who decided buy has earned over $100,000 in equity in a year on that property and the other person is renting and continues to make somebody else that money.” – Bernie   When we best serve our clients, we do good by ourselves both professionally and personally. Having those conversations with our clients about what is in their best interests given how the market is behaving is the necessary step to being the best possible representative for our client's future.   “If you can plant that seed and say, ‘This is what it would look like if we follow this plan. You want $5,000 A month in passive income? Well, here's the steps we need to take to get there, and here's how we're going to refinance it, here's how we're going to utilize it.' There's so many variables to the plan, but those are the conversations that are going to bring you to the surface, and they're also going to create more referrals, more business because you didn't just go in for the sale.” – Steve   “It's so important not to underestimate our consumers today. Don't underestimate them, don't make assumptions about what they do and don't know, right? And really, truly try to understand what matters to them.” – Bernie   Hey you! You're a long-time listener, time to be a first-time caller! Have a question or topic you'd like us to cover? Drop a line in our DM's at: Steve's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stevedvalentine/ Bernie's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bernzpix/   You can find us on all the major Podcast apps: Apple Podcasts, Google, Spotify, Stitcher, and more! Subscribe to be notified when new episodes are live and leave us a review and 5-star rating to help the show grow!  

One of the questions Steve gets asked all the time is "Would you pull equity out of your home to invest in real estate?" The answer is yes!  Join us for the first-ever Limitless Real Estate Strategies bonus episode of Thinking OTB to learn more.

Life can be strange sometimes. The path that you envision for yourself one year might take an entirely different direction, depending on the decisions that you end up making. Our guest this week is Paige Callahan, a former employee of Steve's and current real estate investor with multiple properties in her folder, and all accomplished by her 30th birthday.   Our conversation about Paige and her history graduating college, getting her first job and moving on to working for Steve, brought up an interesting way of looking at life planning. We come into the job market with big ideas for how we're going to live our lives, and sometimes it works out the way it's planned, but sometimes it doesn't. That doesn't mean that we're talking about failure, but that sometimes life has a way of throwing opportunities at you that you may not have anticipated.   The truth is that it's scary to make big changes. But that fear of making changes can keep us trapped in a zone of complacency that is sapping us of our creativity and our drive for success. Like Steve says, “I think sometimes it helps when we add that pressure, right? If we don't have the pressure, we tend to get complacent.”   When life offers you those opportunities that are outside your comfort zone but more in line with your plan for achieving success, we need to be ready to make change. It's not always going to be the easiest decision but keeping a clear head and being ready to jump on those outside the box ideas you might end up finding the path that fits you better and has more potential for success.   You can find Paige at: https://www.instagram.com/paigetonz/   We're ready to hear from you! Have a question or topic you'd like us to cover? Send us a message at: Steve's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stevedvalentine/ Bernie's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bernzpix/   You can find us on all the major Podcast apps: Apple Podcasts, Google, Spotify, Stitcher, and more! Subscribe to be notified when new episodes are live and leave us a review and 5-star rating to help the show grow!

This week's episode is part 2 of our conversation with industry veteran Sharane Dorrah. Last week we talked about Sharane's past, this week we're looking toward her present and future. Specifically, we're talking about what she's seen as someone who knows the market but is approaching it with a fresh perspective. It's the kind of outside of the box thinking that we're all about!   Sometimes approaching your comfort zone from a fresh angle requires you to be honest with yourself. For Sharane, when she came back, doing the same old sales and transactions didn't hold the same appeal as before. In her search for a new way of doing things, she realized there was opportunity in the creation of legacy in real estate transactions. If this sounds familiar, that's exactly our wheelhouse!   “There's a massive disconnect, still, in the traditional realtor business where that world and the investor world operate independently. There's very little trust between the two worlds, and there's very little respect between the two worlds. Some of it merited, some of it not. And I thought, what if I could put on a hat and be a liaison between the two?” – Sharane   There is so much potential in thinking of ourselves as problem solvers. The market is going to shift and fluctuate in ways that might seem a mystery to our clients. Of course, you need to be an expert in where the market is, but you also need to be an expert in all the different options that might be available out there. Exploring options where you can or knowing who to contact to elevate our services is crucial to best serving our clients.   “What if I could go out and find a platform and start teaching the agents? How to ask the right questions, how to better serve their clients, how to think about things, and either take those deals for themselves and build wealth for themselves while serving their clients.” - Sharane   Sharane is a huge advocate for expanding the opportunities for agents to become problem solvers, particularly for women in the industry. It's a new world out there, and we need to be able to move with it. She's got a great message to start the year off right, and we intend to hit the ground running!   “Real estate changes all the time, and you're going to have to pivot within that space. Be willing to recreate yourself.” - Sharane   You can find Sharane at: https://www.instagram.com/sharanedorrah/   We're ready to hear from you! Have a question or topic you'd like us to cover? Send us a message at: Steve's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stevedvalentine/ Bernie's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bernzpix/   You can find us on all the major Podcast apps: Apple Podcasts, Google, Spotify, Stitcher, and more! Subscribe to be notified when new episodes are live and leave us a review and 5-star rating to help the show grow!  

It's a brand-new year and we're ready to hit the ground running here at the Thinking OTB studios. After some much-needed R&R, we've come back together with our guest this week, Sharane Dorrah to talk about how important it is to give yourself some grace. Sharane is a veteran of the business who stepped away for health reasons but is back in business and ready for some outside the box thinking to get back on her feet.   To say that Sharane has been through some tough times would be putting it much too lightly. There is a mindset in real estate that in order to be successful, you must be ready to work at the drop of a hat. We tend to interpret this as prioritizing work over things like family and our own mental and physical health.   Look, we all need to make that money, and the work isn't going to do itself. But each and every one of us is only human, and there's only so far that we can push ourselves before we reach our breaking point.   “Well, we've talked about this. It is an industry wide cultural thing to go hard, grind, sleep when you're dead, chase the deal, you know, speed to lead. It is not an industry that values health.” – Sharane   The industry isn't going to keep you healthy, especially one which has upturns and downturns. Knowing when to take time out for yourself when you need it is important to achieving real success, because without your health what exactly are you working for?   “I would say now in my hierarchy of priorities, health is number one. Number one. Even now, as I'm building and things are a little chaotic, and the days are crazy, my health is my North Star. I have to get enough sleep, I have to eat right, I've got to do things for my stress.” -  Sharane   This week is part one of our conversation with Sharane about heath and so much more. Part two is coming next week!   You can find Sharane at: https://www.instagram.com/sharanedorrah/   We're ready to hear from you! Have a question or topic you'd like us to cover? Send us a message at: Steve's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stevedvalentine/ Bernie's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bernzpix/   You can find us on all the major Podcast apps: Apple Podcasts, Google, Spotify, Stitcher, and more! Subscribe to be notified when new episodes are live and leave us a review and 5-star rating to help the show grow!

Are you presenting yourself professionally as a resource or as a salesperson to your potential clients? This week we have with us in the OTB studio Kacia and Seena, good friends of the show who recently had their own unique set of circumstances that made finding the right real estate professional a huge priority. This continues what we were talking about last week with Bernie's story of finding a new home: building a professional relationship of trust with your clients is so important to building your professional reputation.   The No-Sale Sale   You never know what kind of situation potential clients might be coming to you with when you first interact with them. They could just be looking for a new home, or they might be dealing with property that they have no idea what to do with. More often than not, it will be some of the biggest purchases or sales that they've ever dealt with, and so need someone who can help them navigate all the ins and outs of the real estate market. Every interaction is an opportunity to showcase that outside the box thinking that will keep them coming back to you when they need that specialized help.   Sometimes this kind of client care can take the shape of giving advice that might lead the client away from your services. This is about building that trust between you and the client by always giving them the advice that would best benefit them, no matter where that might lead them. Ultimately, this is an industry about people and relationships, and establishing yourself as a leader in the market by always looking out for a client's best interests will help establish you as one.   “I think it's super important that you have a closer that not only possesses the technical knowledge but actually has people skills. I've been in this for 18 years now, and I've seen these escrow officers go from transactional to today where the expectation really has to be a little bit more hands on and personal. And finally, I think that you need to talk to escrow officers that are just as invested in getting something closed as you are.” – Bernie   “We don't get paid unless you get paid. So, we have every vested interest in making sure that this transaction closes. And not only does it close on time, but that you had a pleasant experience.” – Bernie   “The thing that I'm really hoping to change, I think about this in the long term, is that if you know how to build wealth, and you're starting off on this path with me and understanding how many more people can you impact and change their lives?” – Steve   “I see a lot of people in our industry where they were phenomenal successful producers 10 years ago, and now they're coaches and they're just using theory from 10 years ago. I've been working through chaotic problems this week, you know, they're good problems working with agents to try and solve problems. But I can only do it because I'm still in it.” - Steve   ​​You can find Kacia at: https://www.instagram.com/shegoes.company/?hl=en   You can find Seena at: https://www.instagram.com/seena.ghetmiri/?hl=en     We're ready to hear from you! Have a question or topic you'd like us to cover? Send us a message at: Steve's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stevedvalentine/ Bernie's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bernzpix/   You can find us on all the major Podcast apps: Apple Podcasts, Google, Spotify, Stitcher, and more! Subscribe to be notified when new episodes are live and leave us a review and 5-star rating to help the show grow!