The Jason Theory
Jason Stratton of KlopasStratton Team, a top 20 team in the nation with over 1.2 billion sold , sits down with weekly guests to talk about becoming successful, the real estate market, and crazy stories/people we run into. Visit www.klopasstratton.com to see more!
The Jason Theory
S2 E7 - Balancing Diapers and Deals: A Tale of a Real Estate Dad
Ever wondered how to strike a perfect balance between work and family? We've got you covered in our latest episode. Jason Stratton sits down with a seasoned industry professional, Brian Pistorius, a fifth-generation broker with a rich heritage in real estate. Brian brings a unique perspective to the table, sharing his family's journey through the real estate industry that began with his great-great-grandfather and his recent experiences as a new dad. His insights into the low entry barriers in real estate and the vital role of purpose in one's life make this episode a must-listen for all.
But, that's not all! We also dive deep into the complexities of parenting - navigating stress and arranging time efficiently. Brian's wisdom, garnered from his own experiences and understanding of the challenges of raising multiple children, sheds light on practical strategies to ensure everyone feels included. He further elaborates on the art of balancing daily tasks while also prioritizing quality time with the family.
Then, we shift gears to discuss the intriguing dynamics of the real estate market, including buyer motivations, inventory levels, and interest rates. The conversation explores the implications of 'super teams' in real estate, and how the new rating system impacts brokers. Plus, Brian underscores the golden rule in business - authenticity, and the value of experience when engaging with clients. Tune in to discover, learn, and get inspired by this treasure trove of insights from one of the industry's finest!
This is probably going to be an unpopular comment for me to say, but I'm going to go ahead and say it because we're talking and sometimes we make unpopular comments. The real estate industry sorry, we're going down this tangent the real estate industry in itself is problematic because the barrier to entry is so low Okay, oh yeah, to become a broker and I think everyone knows it, and it tends to demean the value of you and me and our profession. Yeah, and the people that really perform and really care and really do their jobs. Well, because you have a lot of brokers that are inexperienced, and not from their own fault, they're just inexperienced. They don't have the right members, they don't have the right knowledge of how to do things the correct way. So the general public sees this as oh okay, anyone can sell a $1 million house and make $25,000 on it and just sit back and do nothing. All right, welcome to the Jason Theory.
Speaker 1:This is season two, episode seven, and we're sitting here with Brian. Brian, give us your stats. What kind of stats do you want? Let's see how long you've been in the business, what you do, what you love. Just a quick, all right, quick stats. Brian Pistorius, I'm a team leader of my own group at Compass.
Speaker 1:Was it Berkshire Hathaway for quite a while. Just joined Compass in February. Been a broker since 2004. Them time Fifth generation broker.
Speaker 1:My great-great-grandfathers started a real estate company Really Back in 1890. Came over from Italy, was the only one of his buddies that spoke English, helped him secure housing, started a company in 1890. That's still going today. A-siclonian Stuntz. I used to work there right out of college, during college, during my school. That's so cool. Yeah, it's mostly property management. That's why I kind of shifted. Could you have maybe started your own arm of? I did for a little bit when I worked there for a while, did some other sales jobs in between and then went back there and just kind of did the sales aspect of it. But it was hard because it was just me. Their company that basically is setting what they're doing. What they're doing, doing stuff old-fashioned. They got a great model, they do it well and they're just not looking to really delve into that sales. Where is that company kind of headquartered? Their office is on Cicero and between Peterson and Devon. Okay, so Chicago. Yeah, it's in Chicago. Most of their property management it's all northside. Oh, that's really cool. Yeah, I'm sure you've seen their signs on the buildings? Haven't noticed it, but I will now. Yeah, yeah, it's Cicconi, cicconi, s-a-c-c-o. Oh, I got it A-Sicconian, and that's so Italian.
Speaker 1:My grandfather, he's in his upper 80s. He's there six days a week. My great uncle is 97. He goes five days a week. Two of my other uncles work there. Do you know why those people are alive? Because they still work. They have a pretty work. Yeah, 100%. Yeah.
Speaker 1:My grandfather says I won't retire, he'll die. Yeah, he goes. I won't retire until my older brother retires. So I can't, but he wouldn't retire anyway. He's got nothing to do.
Speaker 1:Dude, my grandfather, like my dad, my grandfather was in his 90s and would go to my family was in the hat manufacturing business and my grandfather would go to the plant in Bellwood and first off, I mean the fact that he got a driver's license, because it was a Greek person in, like the DMV who knew him. He would not drive. My dad said he would aim and he wouldn't fucking get to work. You need to go. And he would go to the. He'd go to there every day and he's a product just to sing these people. They're also a product of the depression, so they never know when their last day of their money is going to be. So they have to work and my grandfather and nine years old would pick ribbons, so the ribbon that would go around the state trooper hat and pick ribbons off the ground, which maybe are the time that you pick up the ribbon to retrieve it is probably His time is probably worth seven fold of what the ribbon pickup is. And he'd be like, listen, he's like this is a good ribbon, you need to use this. Like he was crazy. And they all, once they retire, they all fall apart and die. Yeah, interesting.
Speaker 1:I truly believe that Everyone I know that's old just works 100%. We have so much longevity in our family on that side and they all work, they all continue to work and it's just yeah. Well, I mean, like you said, it's purpose, it's like waking up and saying, okay, this is what I'm gonna do. And people are like you're gonna work that long, like this, this, they enjoy it 100%. Like you don't have that mentality, which is totally fine, but doesn't mean that those people that have it are not happy. Like I hate vacationing, I love my house. It doesn't mean that I'm a status because I don't like to vacation, I'd rather just sit in my house and have my gym and the place to eat, like that's what makes me happy. If this doesn't mean that I'm not Like doesn't mean that I'm miserable, it just means that that's what I enjoy. But, yeah, there's nothing better than a staycation. Yeah, and just like I got my bed, I know I'm going. I'm gonna have to walk around and figure out what the hell I'm doing. I only have so much time. Yeah, like you know, let me do things that I know I'm gonna enjoy. Yeah, and I know where things are at.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so you just became a dad. Just became a dad. Five and a half months Little girl, aliana amazing. I mean, yeah, I can't explain it. It's crazy, right, it's not. Everything changes and you know what. Everyone told you that and before it happened, I'm like, yeah, okay, I get it. I understand it's gonna be different. Everybody does it all. Right, like, relax, I don't need your unsolicited advice. Now, it's just like you were right, but there's nothing. Anyone could have said that perhaps you were bringing it into the world. Yeah, absolutely not.
Speaker 1:How do you look at work now that you have a baby? I mean, do you look at it more as like, okay, I need to, and it may be something in your subconscious, like, do you start looking at real estate, as not only you know? Obviously this is how I provide for bills, this and this. But hey, listen, I need to do X, y, z, because now I have a baby, I have this. I like, do you feel a difference in your responsibilities? I've never been more stressed in my life. I actually I had this conversation. It's funny. I had this conversation with my wife this morning. It's like both of us, we've never been more stressed in our life, and it's it's not necessarily a bad thing. It's just we have different responsibilities. Yeah, like you're, you're responsible for another life and if our family girls are responsible for those lives and with real estate, you know how it is.
Speaker 1:It's a market could dry up in a second right and like, how am I going to do this? How am I going to do this? And I've never looked at this business as like I've got to make that next commission check. I don't look at it that way. Listen, I want to make money. That's why I work. But if you focus on the commission checks and you focus on the sale and if you focus on making that money, I think you're doing a disservice to your clients, because it should be about that, about their timeline. When it happens, and if you're good at what you do, you will make a move. Yeah, so I still look at it that way.
Speaker 1:It's just the stress of thinking about the market and thinking about the future and knowing the lifestyle I want to lead and provide for my family, what I need to do to do that. Looking at the numbers, it'll make you cry in your shower. You can't do that. I know that. I mean, that's still. You know I have three kids and my oldest is 15 and there are times when I have my moments in the shower and I'll be in the shower and I'll be like, all right, this is this, this is this. You know, I try to not look at my bank account. About every like two months I'll be like, okay, where am I at Right? Because all of a sudden it's like, okay, you know, all right, it's second, it's third quarter, there's nothing happening until this quarter, this quarter, I got to get this money here, this, this, this, this, and, like you said, you want to keep that focus and you don't get to where you are. You don't get to where I'm at or other top brokers are at, thinking about the money, the people that think about the money they fizzle out, right. But you cannot not think like man, I have to do X, y, z, right.
Speaker 1:The stress? I don't think and maybe just a matter of semantics. I don't think you're feeling stress. I think you're just your life's taking a direction it's never taken and then you're bringing on. It's like going to high school for the first day. It's like it's stress, but it's not. It's not a stress of like Like me with thing stresses, it's more like man, I haven't gone down this path. Each step is a new step, but I've never experienced and that I know it. Man, yeah, and that is fucking like. I guess it's stressful, but it's more of like I'm just creating a new path and I've never done this. Yeah, and man, I will tell you, it's so funny.
Speaker 1:Like Nick, when Nick and I had our first kid and we would be at each other, I would just grab her and go come with this fucking kid terrace of barb. I Be like this is their plan. Yeah, I'm like we got to step back, yeah, and we got to be like, hey, these are things that we've never done. We don't know what's going on. Right, cavemen did this With like no fire, right, and I and a piece of stick, right, I'm like we can handle this. We just got to be like pull back.
Speaker 1:And you got to have those moments, yeah, and you got to have discussions with your wife or like you sit down to be like, hey, you know, I didn't mean this. She'll probably won't say she didn't mean what she said, because that's just what they do. We have to say. You have to say that all the time. So it's like it's yeah, get used to always saying I'm sorry, oh yeah, at a different level. Yeah, it like that's different level, I'm sorry, and then. And then you're just like, okay, let's just not let us tear us apart.
Speaker 1:And then, here's the best part, when they get older, they find like my middle ones, great this. They find out they don't have favorites. Everyone's like, oh, this person's a favorite, this person's favorite, I don't know, they have favorites for certain for sit in a shoesias. So if this is the situation, again, who's my favorite? Which means who will banged, who's the bigger push? All yeah, yeah, in each situation and that's your favorite person For that day and for that moment, because I, I'm always like.
Speaker 1:I'm always like my, my my six-year-old like, just like, is attached to Nikki, unless, yeah, certain things, okay, and I'd be like oh, I thought you don't like me. Yeah, he was like no, no, of course I like you. Let me give you a kiss. He never gives me a kiss. I'm like okay, dude, I see what's going on. I'm like, I'm not that dumb. You know, you're the third one I've had at this point. I'm a veteran, better than I've been around this shit. And Then I, and then I always say that like you. Just, you can't let them divide you, especially when you get to a second.
Speaker 1:But I Predict that your business will increase by 30% next year, no matter what the market is, because you are going to become so efficient with your time. Yeah, you're gonna become a machine in terms of your effort Because of a different, of a different stress, but more, more asked. You're just gonna be like, hey, listen, these are my tasks. I know I've got baby duty here, this duty here, this, this, this. I have to be just streamlined. Yeah, well, I remember talking with you about that. This was when you were, when she was pregnant, when she yeah, when Nicole was pregnant, and we were talking about it and like man, how do you do this three? And hey, I think he just you do it. He goes.
Speaker 1:You don't have free time, so to speak, anymore. You have timed her in the day and you make the time to do things, and when you do have free time, you do what you need to do. Yeah, there's no, there's no lost time anymore. No, just kicking back and I'll do this for but you're gonna get like a machine mail, ma'am, I'm telling you, you're gonna be, you're gonna be so regimented because you have to be. Everything you do is gonna be so much better because you, you're never gonna have that moment where you're just lazy and that's probably not the right word but you're never gonna have that moment where you're just like, you know, I don't need to send out these letters, I need to do this, I need to do this. You'd be like I gotta do it because I know that I have to do this, this, this, this, and.
Speaker 1:And people say, well, now I have no free time. Like, no, you have free time, but that free time is with your time, right, right, like after this, I have a showing, I have nothing on Friday, but you know, I'm doing. I'm taking my three boys, the card convention of Rosamont shoot me right now, but that's my free time. Is they want to go? Look, right, you know they want to go to the trading cards, the big national Trading card thing. So, like that free time just gets substituted. Yeah, you know, yeah, but the interesting thing is like when they get older, then when you add another one to the mix that's one, you know, you can be a little lazy with one because it's two of you. Yeah, you know.
Speaker 1:But you're gonna be like okay, like we talked about before we started, I gotta get. I can't get up at seven, I gotta get up at 5 30. Yeah, I gotta get up at 5 15. People are like how do you get up so early? And I'm like well, if I want to do Stuff for me, right, I know the kids go to bed at 9, so if everyone's sleeping at 9, you know I can go to bed at 9 30 and wake up at 5 and get up before all those kids do and do everything I wanted. Do I'm gonna have to do my my? Yeah, my ringer rang at 5 15 this morning and I was like I just looked at it, I looked down like I'm gonna get up right now, the day is done, yeah, and you're gonna get a fish in. Yeah, it's gonna be awesome for. Yeah, it's, I'm happy for you, yeah, I'm looking forward to it, and that's, that's partly.
Speaker 1:I'm a very regimented person. At least I try to beat and during these first five and a half months, very difficult to do that with a little baby. Yeah, it's, you know, she's not on a set schedule. She knows, you know. So you got to bend right now. Yeah, I told you in common means five months, but as soon as you get to like one Year and a half or what would people say now, 16 months I mean I never was like it's a year and a half, yeah, so, yeah, once you get to that space, yeah, you'll be like okay, now, now I'm efficient and, and your and your wife will get efficient and you guys will both know, yeah, you know like I'll come home and Nikki's like I haven't been to the gym yet and she'll do what you did today, like I'll just zoom downstairs. No, alright, I got the kids, I'm here, you do your thing. Yeah, the kids are doing what they're doing. I get on CMAs or do whatever the hell I've been doing just overlooked. I mean, you're gonna get really into that system, yeah, and you just gotta make sure you make time for each other, Because that's sometimes what gets lost.
Speaker 1:That's 100% gets lost. I mean and I'm the fault for that too, because it's like, alright, you've got the baby, you've got work, and then it's Trying to put all that together and separate free time for just us. It's that gets lost in the leads, it does like we push that in the back, but that really should be, and it rears its head. I'm telling you it rears is it's like, yeah, it's a 9 pm Conversation that lasts till 11. And you're like, oh shit, I got. We haven't gone out for dinner in how many months? I know, man, it sneaks up on you. It does. It sneaks because life is spinning out of control a little bit.
Speaker 1:You get, that's the one thing I would and think of. How many people get divorced like all of a sudden, all the kids have gone to college and then there's just these divorces. I'm like, how do people get married for 25 years? I think that a fucking divorce right first up. Who wants to go back on the dating role when you're mid 50s? So there's nothing out there for me. No, I would just stand in front of traffic. He's gonna kill me, yeah, but but that happens and you know everyone says is that we lose touch during that process of the kid. You know, your life just turns into the kid and you don't, and I am definitely the, I'm definitely the fault on that side in our relationship and just like, hey, listen, you know, like we have a standing nanny, like once a week that comes at night time, yeah, and we just walked it. It's why I love bucktown, right, we just walk a restaurant. We'll go to andro's and Logan, which, like we the older, like once every two weeks. Yeah, we'll go somewhere. I just eat, even if it's just an hour and a half, and two drinks, yeah, come home, you're like, it reconnects you for sure, for sure, just getting out of the house and being together, being together. So what do you think about the market? We'll take a. You know we'll get away from parenting, from parenthood. So I, you know it's very interesting, it's.
Speaker 1:It's taken a bunch of turns recently. You know, the biggest thing that I've seen lately and you know, you tell me if you've seen this buyers are buyers, are sticking to their guns and they're not willing to play these games that Sellers wanted them to play a few months ago. The multiple offer situation it's still out there, but we're not seeing these 10, 12 offers on places when there's a highest and best In. More often than not, I'm hearing brokers say well, you know what our buyers don't want to get into this, this multiple offer situation, so they'll wait it out, we'll wait for another place. But are they waiting, thinking there's gonna be more inventory or prices are gonna decrease? Do you think that's what's on their mind? I think a lot that's on their mind is they want to move. They really really, really want to move, but they know that prices are I Don't want to say high. Prices are what they are. It's a blind based on the inventory. Yeah, so prices are what they are in their mind. Prices are high because they paid a lower price 35 years ago. Yeah, but they've also got this low interest rate that they're trying to figure out. Well, I don't know, am I gonna bid up for this place knowing that my interest rates gonna be 2.5x what it is now? I Just think they're not as motivated as they were before. I Don't know, that's that's kind of what I'm seeing live. Also, the inventory is just not there, it's guard, that's. That's the problem. So it's really interesting.
Speaker 1:While I'm running this morning I'm watching CNBC. It was and it was like an Epiphany. It was like an unbelievable like moment that I had while I was running I'm listening to CNBC and one of the guys was just like did the fit? Because Inflation came out today, year over years at four, month is at three. So like we are, inflations decelerate, yeah, and the guys like, alright, inflation is decelerating, but we have record low unemployment and we have unbelievable things going on in the business world. The Dow had 13 up days in a row, which is a record since 1897. Earnings are through the roof and the reason the Fed was raising rates was this is their direct quote right To create unemployment and to like, kind of stop growth. So Inflation went from 9% to 4%. That's gonna be in the mid threes sooner than later. They raised rates yesterday going into a 13-day Dow tear. Yeah, three weeks straight the Dow has been up and on top of it and In on on top of it, unemployment is down.
Speaker 1:So, like everything the Fed said that they were doing to tame inflation Did not happen yet inflation still fell. So here's my rant. What is what is that telling you? Tell me what they fucking did? Did nothing, yeah, other than yes, other than now. Here here's the byproduct of what the Fed did no one's moving, there's no inventory, and oh yeah, and raising interest rates was going to lower the price of homes and rents rents at an all-time high. Chicago last month hit an all-time high in pricing Yep, it did fucking nothing. Yeah, all it did was stop people from moving. Yep, and all it's done is I work for developers. Developers like I can't build at 8% overnight. Carry, so then it's stopping supply. So the only reason that inflation went down is that we stopped handing out money for free. So if you stop handing out money for free, people stop spending like mad.
Speaker 1:So everything the Fed said they were going to do to create this issue Did not work and the issue corrected itself. I mean, I was wanting and I was thinking about this. I said, fuck. So all they're doing and I've been saying this for two years yeah, you can go back and watch all my podcasts, all my tick tocks, everything, and I just get Hated on. But and on tick tock, yeah, you know, and I'm like Anyone that thinks the market is going to fail. You are wrong. The stock, the stock market's not failing. The housing market's not failing in people. Just go back, get away from politics and just go back to econ 101.
Speaker 1:If there is no supply, the prices will not fall because demand is there. Everyone's like. One guy yesterday on social media was like oh, contracts are down 25%. This is the end this, this, this. I'm like bro, yeah, contracts are down 25%, inventory is down 40. Yes, yes, so, so supplies gone from three months to a month and a half, that's still an accelerating pricing structure.
Speaker 1:Yeah, they take out these little snippets. They see these articles and they take one headline and they make a gospel. And it's so, and it's, it's ridiculous and it and it frustrates me and it's just Listen, people need a place to live. Yeah, the housing, the housing market, and all the Fed is doing is pulling supply out of the market. If they cut rates, or if rates go back down to, let's say, 5%, do you know how much supply would be the you could cut the supply out of the market? Supply would be the you could cut rates and prices would go fucking down. Yep, 100%, because you're adding supply to the market. There's no supply. They stopped building an 0809 when everything fell apart. Yeah, I just like it's.
Speaker 1:You know, and you know and listen, it's not political. Trump dropped, drop money, biden dropped money, and listen, and it's congress, like you can say that anyone, any president, can say I'm gonna give this much money to this person. This person did. It's. A bipartisan congress has to sign that goddamn bill that give that money out. The more money they give out, they are fighting what they're doing and they're continuing to give out this money. I mean these that you hear the commercials all over the ERTC yeah, they're continuing to give out the money and it's a ton of money that they're giving out to these companies that I mean companies that they don't. They don't need it. Dude, they had their best earner. Dude, earnings week is wearing the middle of earnings. I mean, they're so crushy, she and yeah, I just.
Speaker 1:It's just so funny to me that Everyone's like, yeah, the Fed did their job, this person did their job. I'm like, no, dude, it'll look what they tried to do. It did not work, right. Right, it's the exact opposite what you're doing. It just it's. It's so crazy.
Speaker 1:Which takes me to these buyers that are waiting. I don't think they're gonna get what they're they're waiting for? No, because as rates drop, dude, the market's gonna flood again because everyone is sitting in homes they don't want it to be in, right, and that's it. They don't like the home, they need to upgrade right. Well, they want to move right, right, and it's just gonna be like I tell people, I'm like, if you can find something like screw the rate and it's not like the whole thing, you marry the house and you did the rate, it's not that. But if, as rates go down, man, that that demand is gonna flush back into the market, yeah, and it's gonna take a while For supply to catch up.
Speaker 1:So let me ask you this We'll talk about that's my economic grand. No, I like it because I mean everything Curbs off of that. I mean it really is. And you go back to it it's econ 101. It's just applied demand. It's. It's.
Speaker 1:It's very simple and unless, unless you're this, you know Big, you know portfolio manager, that's looking at, you know a million different homes within your portfolio, like, listen, if you're buying a home for yourself where to live, like To speculate, all of this it's, you're not gonna win. No, you're not gonna win. If you're so well, I'll buy now because I'm gonna make money on it. You're playing that live in there for 25 years or the rest of your life. Why are we trying to speculate here? Either one a mover, you don't, yeah in it, and I know that's kind of an elementary way of looking at it. Well, it's not, because if you live if you live, I was doing the numbers, I hit my thing.
Speaker 1:I was doing the numbers on a, on a chalkboard Thing. I want to say about it about six months ago If you live in a place for five years, you need like a 20 percent correction In the market to lose money. Yeah, because there's utility, there's tax payments and you're paying down your principal. I mean you need like a huge move. So if you're waiting, it's like man, it's gonna happen, right, right, you're, you're, you're it. Just, it's just not gonna happen. Well.
Speaker 1:But here's the other thing. I always talk to my clients about this and it and it really surprises me that 90 percent of them are in awe when I say this statement. They said well, you know our place it hasn't appreciated as much as we wanted and you know so we're probably not gonna move. And you know we got to buy this next place. So I go okay, so let's say your place, you bought it for 500,000, you know? Let's. Let's say you double. You doubled your place at five years. Right, it's at a million. Oh, that would be great. We'd sell it a second. Fantastic, because they live in a fucking bubble right with one house. So, so fantastic, you made 500 grand. You're gonna want to move up, right? Oh, yeah, we'll move up and we'll buy our next place. Okay, you know what that next place is gonna cost? You Next place gonna cost you 1.5 million. So, because if you're making that much on your place, your next place is gonna be worth that much. So you're washing dollars for dollars.
Speaker 1:There's a term in trading called a zero. Um, it's a Zero. Oh, my god, I had it and I just lost it. I'm not like a senior moment. Zero, point, it's a zero, it's a zero sum game. Zero sum game. Yeah, jesus, I can't believe I forgot that. Yeah, zero sum game. I mean, it's like, it's like dude, I mean, unless you catch lightning in a bottle, it's always a zero sum game.
Speaker 1:100 and and if you live your life on that five percent that you're gonna Trade into out of something I'm gonna sell, I'm gonna sell something at the top of the market and I'm gonna grab a house which are none at the bottom of market. That's, that's illogical. That's an illogical fallacy. Good luck. Yeah, look, if you happen to do that, fantastic, if you're, you know, but if you wait for that, you just cripple yourself 100 percent.
Speaker 1:And there's just people that are just crippled off of their own thoughts. They're like man, just Do it right. Like you just have to do it Right. Is that like? Like, for instance, you had a child, right, mm-hmm, did you sit there and go when's the perfect time to have a kid? Because if you do that, you will die. I would move kids. Yeah, well, you're just it, just you. When you have that kid, that's the time exactly. And then you, you shift. Yeah, when you're ready to buy a house, just buy a house. And then you make it work Right.
Speaker 1:And people would be like, oh, it's easy for you to say that and I'm like, no, it's not right, it's. It's not easy for me to say that. That's just the reality. Right, life, make it work now if you can't afford the payments and you know it doesn't work with the powers. That's 100 different about telling people the older body, right, but if you can't afford and it's something you want to do and it's gonna like there's a value For enjoying your life.
Speaker 1:So do you think I had Ken on last week and do you think Under 40 year olds look at the value of enjoying your life in your house? Honestly, no, yeah, I don't think so. I think they're all looking at everything as, like the stock market, and that's not what it is. It's a utility, it's a home. Yep, like if I sold my and you know, being 49 years old, if I sold my house for a loss and I was in it for four or five years, like I am now, I have nothing but the fondest memories of everything I did there and I loved it. I wouldn't think of it in a second.
Speaker 1:Right, right, if you were selling your house at a loss, my guess is you're moving somewhere else and that place you're purchasing is that much less than it would be if you were selling your house at a table? Yeah, but that thought would never even I agree with you. Right, right, right. That's the guess. Yeah, I agree with you, but that thought would be like that'd be the latter of the thought. Right, it'd be like you know we loved it. It's time for us to move on.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we're going to do this or do that, right, but I would be like I have nothing, but like I look back at a house that we had in Roscoe Village and like, oh my God, that house is worth $400,000 more right now. Yeah, but I'm like it didn't work for us. No, no, and there's. I mean, it costs money to enjoy. Yes, right. So I'm like, hey, I enjoyed my house, I spent some money enjoying the house.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I just the utility of everything has just kind of gotten away from it, which is interesting. I think it's another aspect of you know social media as people being like everything is an investment, everything is an investment, which is it's just, it's not. There's enjoyment to things 100%. So do you think, to go to our next topic, kind of like 1A, do you think, with the lack of inventory, what is going to happen with groups that have like 20, 30 people? Because I've already I've had people come up to me that are like last person in a group and be like, hey, are you looking to expand? I'm like no, yeah, especially now somebody's been in the market for a year, right, and I think that this system where you've got a one team lead and 30 people underneath it and this team leads like I'm just taking little nibbles out of every person so I don't have to work, I'm going to manage this. 30 people when there's no transactions how does that work? And are people going to be able to funnel back to getting their foot on the ground and starting to sell real estate again? Yeah, this is not us too, by the way, yeah, no.
Speaker 1:When you talk about the bigger teams and the super groups and because the ratings just came out and the top 20 people were, no one had less than like 15 to 17 people and most were in the 30s. Because I know them all and I'm like, man, you got 30 or 40 people and you're doing 200 million. That's 10 million a person at the most. Oh, yeah, I mean, I'm like you know after, and people are like, oh, 10 million. Don't look at $10 million and think, oh, 2.5% of 10 million, that's a good leading, it ain't fucking that. No, no, yeah, 100%. You got 17 splits. Yeah, everyone's taking their piece, and then Uncle Sam's like I'll take 40%, exactly. So it's not that. No, no, hand stock.
Speaker 1:Well, it's tough, it's. You know, listen, if you want to run a super group, if you want to run a big team, like a different strokes for different folks, right, that's your prerogative. But you're essentially you're running a brokerage yeah, and it's. And brokerages don't make money. Right, we have our brokers told us, our big brokers, it's their call. Right, you know we don't make money. It's why the fuck you do this. Then, right, I don't, I don't get it. Someone's making money. Yeah, yeah, I don't. Doors are open. Right, you know, something's happening here. That's like the cry wolf I hear, like everyone says it, and it's not just Berkshire, it's Compass, it's J, everyone, we'll. Oh, you know what I'm doing. We can't do that for you. We're not making money. Okay, you trade it.
Speaker 1:Why I didn't tell you to open up a company? Do you want to do my job? Because we make money? Yeah, so, no, I. I don't know how it works, because you know, really, when you're the manager of the lead team, lead of all you spend a lot of time working with these younger or additional brokers on your team and there's a lot of time invested in that. Yeah, there's no deals being done, you're not getting anything out and the admin it's. I have admin. I have admin from super teams. They're like they're cutting everybody. Yeah, because one one just reached out to us you need anybody. I'm like, no, not really, but like on the top five, top five teams in the city. I've had three admins from those people reach out to us and ask if we're looking for anybody. Really, so, like they're cutting, these agents are cutting.
Speaker 1:It's just interesting if that dynamic, I, I and it was, it's been, you know, it has been the way the business has gone for the last five years and I'm always like, is this the direction you have to go? I think if you go that direction, at the end you're screwed, because there's going to be a return to normalcy, right? All the super groups opened up the first year of COVID when there was a deal every five hours, right, and everyone is going bananas, right. I'm just interested to see what happens with those levels and the amount of people. I mean, how do you have, how do you have enough food to feed three agents? Well, I could and then make money yourself, but I, I mean, I feel like those agents, they, they look at it as well. I don't really have to give you anything. So you're on my team, I can give you my mentorship or you know, you can see what I do and I can let you do some showings and some open houses on my listings.
Speaker 1:And if you produce, you produce, if you don't, you don't. It's no skin off my back, it's almost like the brokerages that. But how do you give me that business then? Doing that? Well, I mean, you work your clients in your network is as the team leader, as the, as the group leader. You do your clients and you worry about that. You have all these other Brokers that work for you. Let them work their sphere and if they produce, great. If they don't, it doesn't take away from your clients, now that's. But it takes, it eats away time, it eats away time and it it kind of eats away at your name, it's your, it crushes your brain and your brand and your credibility. So that's why I'm not only takes like one or two people to crush your brand.
Speaker 1:Right, you could spend 10 years being badass and then all of a sudden have three or four people say, right, you know, and Chicago small, right, oh yeah, oh yeah, I was small. So it's just interesting to me like how that will survive and if there will be a return to like a five or six person, yeah, and where it's manageable, well, because it's. It's one of those things. I'll use the analogy of one of those river north buildings where they have a listing and the parking's not included yeah, then the price. Right. Now you have to list the property without the parking because everyone else is doing it, otherwise.
Speaker 1:You were, you know you're off the con, you're off. You're off the kind of just going to be so skewed. Now it's they're creating these super groups and these big teams so they can get their market share. Yeah, and if you're not creating that, well, guess what? You're falling out of the rankings. Yeah, you don't look like you're valid and people look at you and you go on to a listing appointment and you know you're number 10. Dude, I'm the first person and you talk to me. I'm the first person to be like man. We went from 17 to X, like out of the top 40, because there's just super teams, right. And then you're like shit, but like, what's the cost of expanding to your brand and money that's coming to me is the same. Right, because I don't have to divvy out 7,000 different paychecks to staff and to this person or to that person and I could control a brand, right, right. It's just interesting, like when you get to that point where you can't control the brand and do you want to go that route or you don't? Well, I mean, I think it's going to start correcting itself. I think so, and it's in this. This is probably going to be an unpopular comment for me to say, but I'm going to go ahead and say it because we're talking and sometimes we make unpopular comments.
Speaker 1:The real estate industry sorry, we're going down this tangent the real estate industry in itself is problematic because the barrier to entry is so low Okay, oh yeah, to become a broker and I think everyone knows it and it tends to demean the value of you and me and our profession and the people that really perform and really care and really do their jobs well, because you have a lot of brokers that are inexperienced, and not from their own fault, they're just inexperienced. They don't have the right members, they don't have the right knowledge of how to do things the correct way. So the general public sees this as oh okay, anyone can sell a $1 million house and make $25,000 on it and just sit back and do nothing. So it demeans our value. When I see the real estate market, you know, this past year or when the inventory goes down and there's not as many deals being done. Listen, I don't wish ill will of anyone, but I do like it in a way, because there's a lot of brokers that need to get out of the business. You have to trim the sats. I don't think that's controversial. You have to. Yeah, it's like saying hey, I don't want to sell stocks in a bad environment by bonds. There's always a flight to quality, and I also think it's very interesting. I also think that's also going to lead what you're talking about right now is going to lead to the demise of these super teams too, because the fat is going to be all these teams that slowly get down to where they, which I'm excited for, because it's nice to be able to talk to somebody that's actually educated in what they're doing.
Speaker 1:I was just going to say that how many deals have you done where you work with someone on the other side who is, let's just say, they're inexperienced, right and that, and that's okay if they, if they own up to the fact that they're inexperienced and they kind of let you know rather than you know, trying to do things in a way that they know is wrong and it just makes your deal so much more difficult. It's like I'm, you're, almost like a dual agent, you're do you have to do everyone else's job? Everyone else's job? I tell my team and I hate this, but I tell my team always assume that the other person Doesn't know what they're doing. So, in the background, just kind of double check, you have to, yeah, and otherwise stuff falls. But I think that's everything in life, like when I'm driving, I assume that everyone's. Really you can't fuck dry. Well, that's also true. So, like we, the barrier entry to get your driver's license is very At per se. My grandfather, who aimed at the people Full circle, yeah, yeah. So, yeah, I, I totally, I totally agree with that. I, I just really interesting and I and I and I you know when and I'm sure you do the same thing too when I Interview people, or when people interview me, excuse me, I make sure that Before I leave I say, hey, listen, I hope you know, I hope we work together.
Speaker 1:I'm really excited about the product and you guys, I think it'd be a great team and I and they'll be like, well, we're gonna interview a couple other people. I said that's great. I said can you do me one favor? And they look at me. I said ask the agent who's showing your place. I Said that's all I gotta ask you. Yeah, I go, do me that one solid. Whoever you're talking to be like, are you doing every showing, are you at the Inspections and are you at the appraisal? Yeah, that's it. Yeah, and I said because I will be there. So just let me know that one thing, yeah, and then I.
Speaker 1:And then, and in the crazy thing is is that thing like, oh, we never thought to ask that? Yeah, I'm like we were hiring me man, right, they just did. They just assume that they assume, right? No, it's, it's not the case. And the three listings I got that we talked about before on there. So we keep names off. Yeah, that was the one thing they said to me. They're like we met with that person and we never saw them again. They're like, yeah, man, that's how that works. Let's see and that's just that's. That's how you lose credibility, that's how you lose your brand. Yeah, you know, when you do that, and it's listen, if that's the way you want to run your group and you're successful at it, that's for you. But I just, there's always, there's always going to be a demand For brokers like us, because there's always gonna be a demand for quality. Yeah, it may not come from the masses, but there's always demand and quality will always Demand a premium. Yeah, right.
Speaker 1:So people are always like well, I can't believe in this environment that all like my, my financial account, my financial advisor, can't believe that that we haven't had compression in in Commissions. Yep, he's like you know, I've had compression, every has. And I said listen, man, I said if you said to me my fees were going from one and a half to two, I wouldn't fire you, right? I said, because I know that I'm paying for quality 100% and I know that you have my best interests and to me that half a point is far greater than me losing 50% of my net worth because I went to a discount broker. Right? I said, so you're not gonna get compression for me. I'm like you're thinking about the wrong way, right? And I always tell young brokers Value yourself, yeah, ring value.
Speaker 1:And if you do, people are gonna pay you for absolutely, absolutely. And you know, if they're not willing to, that may not be the right client. No, because they don't trust in you, right, they don't. They don't value what you do like 100%. Who wants to work for someone that looks at you and says you know I could do this, you know this, this like. I have people that take me all the time.
Speaker 1:Well, you know, I I'd one person I got the listing, yeah, but a person said to me, said you know, I've sold two of my houses, and I was like that's great, I've sold 2,000. Yeah, and it's why I could you want to really compare notes, right, like what are we? What are we talking? What are we talking about here? Yeah, yeah, we go ahead and sell a third. Yeah, I'm like, yeah, dude, I'm like. I mean, I was, I was, I Mean, I was reading him and he was kind of like a hard ass, so like a really nice guy, yeah, but I was just like man, I'm just gonna come up. Yeah, it's blazing, yeah, which is always fun, it's fun being well, and you know what, when you're your authentic self, yeah, I, if you don't like me, you're not doing. If you don't like me now, well, you're gonna fucking hate me the one the next two months, 100%.
Speaker 1:I tell my clients that too, because I I can come off as a little bit of an asshole sometimes, but you know, I tell that. You don't pay me to tell you what you want to hear. You pay me to tell you are you being, is, but see yours, your subs, you're putting asshole. As for authentic and not telling lies, so yeah, which which is a shame that when you're authentic and you don't tell lies, you people are offended. You're an asshole. No, I'm just telling you the way it is, right. Right, your house is too small for this price. I know you love it. It's too small, right, and that's it. So you can think what you want about it, but that's the truth of the map, right? This is what it's worth, right, I think. I Think a lot of young brokers.
Speaker 1:What you just said is key. If anyone could take anything from everything this is a good sound bite is that you've got to be authentic from the beginning, because if you're not, the transaction is Fucked 100% from the start. I've made that mistake early in my career, where everybody does you want the business, you want the business, right, you will get a star, what a star. You want to make money, and so this is. So. That's what you're doing.
Speaker 1:Well, you know I don't usually do that, but for you, you know what? Yes, that's fine, yeah, I'll go ahead and do that. Well, we think our home is worth. You know this much. Well, yeah, let's, let's, let's try and do that, okay, and then what it turns into the client is just Hissed at you, yet tired, and then you and then here's what happens you lose the listing, yeah, and the second broker gets it for the price that you told them from the beginning. You then sells in five days, yeah, and you're like, yep, yeah, I've never experienced that, except that we lost the listing. But you know, I've heard, I've heard that that's happened.
Speaker 1:Yeah, but I think that's the biggest takeaway is you just have to be authentic in yourself. Yeah, like in anything you do, because I mean, you know, to extrapolate even more, it's like you know, meeting, you know we both met our wives. I mean, I was, I was who I was when I met my wife. She still makes fun of it. Yep, yeah, I was like yeah, I remember your floppy hat, you had green contacts, tattoos and shaved arms. I'm like, yeah, that was me at 27, this is who I was, and that's it. And you still married me, yeah, so, yeah, what's the who's the big winner.
Speaker 1:My wife met me four times before she actually met me. She's never meeting me the first three times, not cuz she was, you know, because the impression you make, yeah, she just she was busy like I. Yeah, she just didn't remember me. You're like yeah, okay, what's your name? Okay, yeah, yes, okay, all right, well, I'm gonna keep going, I'm gonna keep calling you until I get your business. Oh, you know, I'm gonna keep, I'm gonna keep going, I'm gonna keep going. I keep my life. My wife and her friends still, like they all live together on Belden Street and I Called her up, like after our first day, and I was like what are you guys doing?
Speaker 1:They're like oh, yeah, we're going, we're going to concage. It was like that Tuesday, $1 bottles, I don't even know if they still do that. And I was like and no, I think I think of now, I was always quick on my feet. Yeah, that's kind of kind of why I'm kind of good at this. You're not the podcast, but sales. Yeah, I was like, oh my god, that's amazing. We go there every Tuesday too. It's our favorite place. We'll see you, I'll see you there. Yeah, I'm like I call them. I'm like we're in the fucking cage and what are you doing tonight? Cuz we need to rally up.
Speaker 1:About six people, yeah, yeah, and I showed up and they're like, and their girlfriends like what I mean, dude, I was just like persistent, persistent, and they used to me and they used to play my voicemails and make fun of me because I, you know, I, at that point I had just come back from California, so my, my vocabulary was a little bit different than the Midwest and they would just make fun of the things I'd say. I can only imagine 27 year old Jason's childhood coming back from Cali. Just, you know, just, I'm like, of course, arms are shame. No one has hair in California, so they're from a fresh wax, leaving a nice voice. Yeah, yeah, it's, it's so crazy and this will end on this. It's so like the Seinfeld episode where they start like here and they go, oh, yeah, yeah, I was like I just need to get down here and I was like hold up, they keep, keep going up, keep going up, and then all of a sudden like I can't stop at the nipples, my lord, I. Well, this was awesome.
Speaker 1:We've been trying to do this for a while and, yeah, and obviously you've had, you know, you know a child and you you're rearing, yeah, a life. Yes, yes, I am trying to do everything I can to adding to our overpopulation. Yes, and make her not following my footsteps and following my wife, dad and this girl dude. Yeah, I'm gonna have problems when I get older, or when she gets older, I should say I'm gonna have problems saying no, are you gonna? I do, guys, we won't leave on that, we'll leave on this. What's the thoughts on a second? The plan is a second. The plan is to have more enjoy for a little bit. Yeah, but we're gonna. We're gonna get through this and figure this out and enjoy our time.
Speaker 1:I Never understood the back-to-back people like I'm back-to-back, I'm like dude, are you kidding me? Two kids and diapers I would throw my head through the wall. You know I people give me. They're unsolicited, but yeah, which is fine, which is fine all the time, and they're both great. Yeah, I.
Speaker 1:When they get older, they're really close in age, right, and they either stab each other to death or their best friend, right? If you have a boy and a girl and they're old, they they're have their. They have their own lane, yeah, but the two boys close together is raw. Yeah, from what I've seen, mine are three years apart and it's awful, yeah, when they get closer it's just like one to the hospital, like every week. That's it. Like I, because now I have friends most my friends have a lot older kids. Yeah, I mean, dude, it's like two boys are like 10 and 11, or Irish twins. Dude, it's like the sea ham.
Speaker 1:I can't imagine having another one right now, like bitches again. But it's our first. So we're still thinking you gotta enjoy it. But that was our, that was the only saving grace. Like in the hospital right after we had Aliana, it was thank God we don't have twins. Like I had three mental breakdowns in the hospital. You thought you were gonna have twins. No, no, no, no, I'm saying that that was the only safety. Seriously, you know, I'm like thank God we only have one. I think I can deal with one if we had two. No, no, I have a friend that have twins and like it was real first up it's really hard. Yeah, on the mother like really hard, like it's a terrible, terrible burning process. Yeah, like the whole process.
Speaker 1:And then Normally you know another thing that always happens when you do have twins up, they go on up like a crazy tangent. A lot of times one of them is like near death because you're once feeding on the other. Yeah, you know it's crazy is that the weakest fetus is a white male? Yeah, when you have twins and one's a male, a lot of times they don't make it because the woman, the girl, takes all the food. Huh, see, they're getting us even in the belly. They're taking us in the belly.
Speaker 1:To me, there's no escaping. I'm not commenting on that and I'm not gonna. This is gonna be aired. I'm not commenting on that one. I don't. I don't want to get more trouble, more trouble. Yeah, well, I want to thank you for your time. This is great, it was fun. Yeah, thanks for having me, and If someone wants to get ahold of you, tell them your like.
Speaker 1:Cell phone, whatever you want, website, whatever you feel more comfortable, most comfortable when people coming out to you. Yeah, you can email Brian VR. I am Dot Pistorius, pis, tor. I us at compass calm, so I should be on your social. Yeah, instagram, I'm on Instagram face saying what's your handle. I don't even know that. I don't know, man, I'm. I'm bad at social media. All right, call me on my cell phone. Text me 312343 3795. Awesome. Thank you so much for spending time with us. Like I always say, follow us. Download YouTube channel. You can find all this on Amazon, itunes there's like 7,000 different platforms and Spotify and and thanks and we will. Next week, guest is going to be first off my 15 year old son, who's been dying to be on this, and that should be interesting, and then we're also gonna be meeting with Nancy Tessone and talking about how Her and JDL keep pushing the boundaries of Of luxury real estate, because they are kind of the the gatekeepers of that. So, thanks so much and we'll talk to you soon. You.