Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign.
[00:00:13] Speaker B: Welcome to Battle Ready, the show that helps you navigate life's toughest transitions and professional challenges with any help you can get. I'm the host, Ricky Chavez. Today I'm joined by Mark Woodruff for the CEO of Better Homes and Gardens, Gary Green. It is the largest brokerage within the city and also it's the number one Better Homes and Gardens brokerage within the network in the United States. Mark, welcome.
[00:00:38] Speaker A: Thank you. Thank you, Ricky. Thanks for having me.
[00:00:40] Speaker B: No, I appreciate you taking the time. I know you're pretty busy, especially what do you have now, 11, 12 offices?
[00:00:46] Speaker A: Yeah, well, probably 15, but you know, but you know, we've got 850, you know, sales associates running around. And of course part of what we also do is our mortgage title and insurance business, which Gibraltar under the Gibraltar Group. So Gibraltar Mortgage, Gibraltar Insurance and our title. So all of that together keeps me alert.
[00:01:11] Speaker B: Pretty engaged, huh?
But the one thing good is that you definitely have a platform to help anybody navigate the house buying journey. Right, Right.
[00:01:24] Speaker A: And that's really the goal of what we're trying to do with, is provide what used to be kind of called a one stop shopping. But not everyone needs what on any given transaction, everything we do, but it's available.
And so if we have new homeowners or purchasers in particular, they're probably going to need more help than somebody that this is their fifth home, you know, in terms of navigating the transaction because it's complicated and as you would well know, I mean, it gets more complicated all the time. So, you know, we're our purpose for being around is to make a difference in the lives and businesses of our agents and other team members.
[00:02:11] Speaker B: Well, I know one thing that's always pretty amazing, you know, being retired military, I was a USA born, bred, just all about USA forever and ever.
But then I went through the Gibraltar Insurance and they were able to give me much better deals. So I guess one of the things that you do offer, even if a person comes to you saying, well, I already have a lender, I have a title company, I prefer whatever. I always tell them, why don't you shop? Why don't you at least have somebody to compete with?
[00:02:41] Speaker A: And that's really a great point, thanks for bringing it up, is that, you know, look, these markets are volatile, so whether it's the mortgage market, insurance markets, for sure, you know, title is state regulated pricing.
But with respect to, you know, mortgage rates at different times, different companies can be more competitive for different products because, you know, you want to get the right Product for the right person in the right situation.
You take, you know, homeowners insurance in which we can, you know, fix them up with, you know, homeowners, auto, you know, umbrella coverage. I mean, the, like boats, you know, you name it, you know, those carriers and you read about it all the time, these guys are going in and out of the market. I mean, they'll just decide. Big companies, you know, hey, we're just not writing anymore insurance in your zip code because they manage it at that level. And God forbid you're trying to buy property in a, you know, on coastal or, you know, that sort of thing because I say God forbid. I mean, those are beautiful places but, you know, you're going to pay for the, you know, the insurance. But different carriers have different products and you know, so we have 40 some odd different carriers. So as an independent agent, we can help you shop for the right one. We're not, we just don't sell one product.
[00:04:12] Speaker B: And I know that's always amazing to have choices and provide a person with all the tools to make a good educated decision.
[00:04:22] Speaker A: Right, exactly.
[00:04:24] Speaker B: So we've talked a little bit about this, kind of ahead of ourselves, but let's talk about you a little bit. So You've been the CEO and owner of Better Homes and Gardens for about 25 years now, right?
[00:04:33] Speaker A: That's right.
[00:04:33] Speaker B: And prior to that, what did you do?
[00:04:35] Speaker A: Well, I've actually been in the industry for.
Right. At 40 years. A little over 40 years.
[00:04:41] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:04:42] Speaker A: And when I got out of college more years ago and graduate school more years ago than I want to remember at this time. But I started off in the oil industry and on finance accounting side and. Yeah, on the finance and accounting side and, you know, ran into one of the first big merger situations which was Chevron buying Gulf Oil.
And so that was earth shattering to me at the time because in those days that kind of thing just didn't happen.
So it was either move to California and maybe have a job or do something different. So I, you know, in those days I pulled out the want ads and every Sunday, you know, my wife Ann and I were going through and circling ads and I'm calling people and sending resumes and well, it turns out that I got an interview and ultimately got hired by this company called Coa Banker, which honestly, when I went to the interview, I wasn't sure what they did and because you in those days, you just didn't jump on the Internet and pull up all this info.
[00:05:52] Speaker B: Sure.
[00:05:53] Speaker A: So anyway, that got me into the real estate industry, but I Was on the, you know, I came on as an analyst, financial analyst, and then we moved to Atlanta and back and I progressed up through that situation and then was there eight years I think, and ultimately decided to move on from there.
And you know, of course we have kids, they were growing up the whole thing during that time period.
And then, you know, moved to a actually era, which was the franchiser still around good company and learned the franchise side of the business and, and then a lot more consolidation. I was, you know, the, the beneficiary or victim and that's all depending on how you look at it, of oil company mergers, real estate company, you know, acquisition mergers and because in every case coal banker, Sears sold, cobalt banker and ERA got sold. And then I was like, I'm done with this. My kids are teenagers and I'm going to go to work for a local company where I'm not on the road all the time and you know, I'm not having to worry about that. So that's where I interviewed with at the time, the owners, Bill McIlwain, Brad Fleming and Maryland island was the general manager. And I had known them through other industry type activities so ended up going to work for them doing business development work, which was different.
And it just was one of those things where three years later, roughly four years later, Bill and Brad decided that they wanted to retire, sell the company.
And Marilyn and I, because you don't know what you don't know, were like, hey, we're up for this, you know, and we, with the help of Prudential Real Estate at the time, were able to acquire the, you know, the company in on leap day of all days of the year 2000.
So that's, you know, how we got here.
And actually that had been a goal of mine early on I decided, you know, I really want to be, have my own thing, you know, and just like a whole lot of our realtors are in the business because they want something they can control. And you and I were talking earlier.
[00:08:37] Speaker B: Yeah, we were.
[00:08:37] Speaker A: It's, you know, it's about being able to see the results of your efforts, you know, and not have to depend on, you know, somebody else saying, oh, you get a raise or you don't or you're this, that and the other, you know, I mean, hey, you get out of it what you put into it.
[00:08:54] Speaker B: I think that's 100% right. I think, you know, I think we mentioned this outside. Your success is a direct result of your effort and there's nothing anybody else can say. It's not looked at by somebody else, but it's looked at by direct deposit into the bank based on your efforts.
And I know we were talking earlier about, you know, high pressure situations and, you know, as the number one leader for the Better Homes and Gardens, Gary Green Brand here in the Houston area, I mean, I'm sure you get an opportunity to talk to a lot of the individuals and even helped a lot of the, not only the office manager, but some of the big teams on navigating situations. Can you tell me a story when somebody really got stressed out and you were trying to coach them to that situation?
[00:09:47] Speaker A: Well, yeah, and there's actually, I knew that question was coming, so I started sort of thinking about it and I was having trouble figuring out which one was the best.
But I will tell you probably, and this is, you know, first off, when somebody is in the middle of what they feel like is a crisis, it's a crisis.
And it doesn't really matter what, you know, you. How you evaluate the situation because, you know, I mean, it's their crisis.
[00:10:22] Speaker B: Exactly.
[00:10:23] Speaker A: So, you know, the first thing is you have to, you know, be objective and not get pulled into the, to the extent possible, into the drama of whatever is happening right now. That's not to say you're not empathetic and you're not, you know, supportive and all, but you have to go after the, you know, the root cause, you know, and, you know, and typically what you're hearing early on are the symptoms.
Okay, People are telling you this, that, this, that, and then this happened and they did that, and then they didn't do this, and that could be a client, that could be, you know, another person in the company or whatever.
And so it's down to you got to ask good questions. And that's the hardest thing as a leader is thinking. So what is the right question to ask here to really get to the heart of what the issue might be and then try to resolve it. Because oftentimes the problem is more solvable by somebody that can come in as an objective, you know, sort of observer, because it's already blown out of proportion by the individual.
[00:11:39] Speaker B: Sure.
[00:11:39] Speaker A: And, you know, sometimes you can solve those. Most of the time, you know, in the business side of it, you can solve it.
And generally people will appreciate that, you know, the biggest. But if you're talking about big, high pressure, you know, broader things, that would have been when we all heard about the COVID shutdown and all that kind of thing.
[00:12:01] Speaker B: And man, that was crazy.
[00:12:02] Speaker A: And everybody. And everybody in every business and every walk of life were impacted sadly by that. But that was one where you're really going.
Take a deep breath. Okay. You know, you know, this is going to be fine.
You know, just give me minutes. I'm going to figure it out. But, you know, you know, you have to demonstrate that sort of stability because.
[00:12:29] Speaker B: So no, we'll get back to that in a few minutes right after this commercial. I know you were dealing with a lot at the COVID time, guys. We'll be right back with Battle Ready.
Welcome back to Battle Ready. If you love what you're watching, the don't miss a moment of Battle Ready on any of your favorite NOW Media TV shows, live on demand, anytime, anywhere. You can Download the free Now Media TV app, or you can go to Roku ISO and enjoy instant access to our full line of bilingual programming in both English and Spanish. If you prefer to listen on your app, you can catch them on Roku, iHeartRadio and Apple TV.
Now. Welcome back. We're with Mark Woodruff, the CEO of Bed Homes and Gardens, Gary Green. Mark, welcome back.
[00:13:19] Speaker A: Thank you.
[00:13:21] Speaker B: So we were talking before the break about stress. And I know that one of the things everybody faced. Oh, my God. Was, you know, when y' all found out Covid was coming down and everything that you guys were, all the information you are pulling in from all the medias and everybody else, and what was. And how was that going to affect the business and the individuals out there trying to work.
[00:13:43] Speaker A: Yeah. And so that was the biggie in my 25 years before that, I was like, oh, yeah, we've been through, you know, hurricanes, oil bust, oil booms, you know, you name it, economic crises. But that one, just because the whole world had so much uncertainty. But you know, what I decided and thought, have always thought during that time, I'm like, look, ultimately, now, I had no idea that we would see the boom demand that we saw six weeks after.
But what I did have a belief in is like, you know, I think it's maslow or somebody talks about, well, what are basic human needs? Well, there's air, food and shelter or three of them anyway. And we're in the shelter business.
And so ultimately, you know, assuming this gets worked out somehow, you know, as far as the situation, you know, we're going to be, we're right where, you know, we could be a grocery store and be great. We could be, you know, in our business because there's going to be demand. People are going to need. Still need housing.
[00:14:52] Speaker B: Sure.
[00:14:53] Speaker A: Now, what none of us recognized was that, okay, it would. With the lockdowns and all that, that we would have such so many people and people working from home that there would be so much demand for, oh, I need a bigger house, or, hey, I'm going to move to the country, because now I can work remotely and, you know, all these sort of nuances.
[00:15:20] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:15:20] Speaker A: And so.
And once we got on that, got through that six weeks. But hey, that. That six weeks we're talking about. I mean, you know, everyone's bit was shut down. Now, fortunately, we lived in Houston, Texas, great state of Texas, where we had much less restrictive, you know, laws or whatever they were calling them at the time around, you know, being able to move around and go places, you know, so, you know, but that was a moment where what I decided and it was, we need to be talking as often as we can to our folks. So that's when we started doing our town hall meetings, you know, and it was like. Because, hey, we don't know all the answers, but here's what we do know. And I think that demonstrates. Hey, that we're. And I used to use the example, hey, we're not curled up in a fetal position over here in the corner, you know, we're gonna fight the good fight here, you know, and we got this thing, you know.
[00:16:20] Speaker B: Sure.
[00:16:20] Speaker A: And I think when you're in those kind of situations, I think people are looking for leadership, you know, I mean, I don't think they'd want to hear from me, you know, something. We're in deep trouble here, and I don't know if we're going to make it. And I don't, you know, that's not what people want to hear.
[00:16:38] Speaker B: No. I think lack of communication causes people to make up their own stories.
[00:16:43] Speaker A: Well, that's right. They fill the void. Right. With.
Provided somebody fills the void.
[00:16:49] Speaker B: I know the one thing that we definitely appreciated is our town halls where you came out and you told us, hey, this is what's going on. This is kind of the situation as we know it right now. These are some of the suggestions we've got because of everything that's going on and all the feedback you've got from everybody else. And it kind of. I don't want to say relaxed people, but it did relax folks with even knowing the fact that Covid's out there.
[00:17:14] Speaker A: Which was a terrible thing, and people were being impacted by that in terrible ways.
But, yeah, so I think that's the important thing in those situations from a leadership perspective. And then, you know, there's just countless examples of where, like when we do a big merger with a company.
So, you know, I try to meet with as many of the salespeople as possible because, you know, they want to know they're in a very stressful situation.
They don't know what is going to come next and is the world going to change and all that. And it's like, no, here's what's going to happen. We're real people, we're here in Houston. Here's my cell number, whatever.
Just give this a chance. And that's what I'm like. Just don't overreact. You know, we think we'll be the right option for you. But hey, guess What?
Give it 90 days, 180 days, and then make a decision when you're not so stressed out. Stressed out.
[00:18:23] Speaker B: I think one of the things that you mentioned just a minute ago was, you know, everybody's going through the transition and the stress and a lot of things are coming at them. They don't know, you know, fear of the unknown. Right.
[00:18:32] Speaker A: So.
[00:18:33] Speaker B: And I think that's also. Even now, Covid's over. You know, people are still getting Covid, but, you know, it's kind of over. But I think you guys use that with your reload program because you got one of the best reload programs in the city, right?
[00:18:44] Speaker A: Yeah, we do. As far as.
As far as I know. And I think this is pretty undisputable.
You know, we do the. More the most corporate relocation business of any brokerage in town here in Houston, Texas. And you know, we do that through a variety of third party providers. And that is good on a lot of levels, but from the agent standpoint, that's good business, you know, and more importantly, those are people that they can make relationships with that then become their clients. So when these folks.
[00:19:24] Speaker B: Ongoing relationship. Sure.
[00:19:25] Speaker A: Yeah. So. So yeah, that. And that's a big part of our business. We have, I don't know, half dozen people devoted to that. We're our folks. It's a, you know, we win. We're the number one or number two on every preferred major relocation company's provider list. And that's where you want to be.
[00:19:46] Speaker B: No, and I know this. You know, as you know, I was in the army for 20 years and we moved a lot. So. So, you know, not only the move, but the new job, the transition. So I think one of the things that I really appreciate about the reload program at Better Homes and Gardens, Gary Greene, is you guys afford them the opportunity to help them take care of their home so that they can be more productive at work.
[00:20:09] Speaker A: Well, that's a great point.
You know, they're, you know, on the listing side of it, you know, the idea typically and meaning that talk about people that are under stress, you know, you've moved, I've moved a family and that's stressful.
I mean, you know, because typically it's always going to be not at your timing of choice necessarily. Kids are whatever in school years and so there's all this bridging of things. And so our agents become very, very much involved in the counseling of, you know, not just what do we need to do here to move your home along in a sale, but other items. Right. And then of course there's people are, if they're moving, they're going to be a buyer somewhere. Typically then, you know, they're with an agent that helps them do that on the other side.
And you know, sure, the Internet makes it different than it has been in the past, but when you hit the ground in a brand new location and you don't know anybody and you don't know infrastructure, doctors, schools, I mean you need somebody to help.
[00:21:23] Speaker B: Definitely subject matter expert. Right. And I know that, I know when I've had people that I know are moving to other states, I think one of the great things is I get to go through our program where we actually are setting them up to interview a few agents on the other side that are have proven track records that know the area that are successful. And it's not like you're just Google because I mean everybody has a degree in Google now. Right?
[00:21:49] Speaker A: Oh yeah. You know, they're law degrees.
[00:21:52] Speaker B: Exactly, exactly. So they get on Google and Google this person up there and, and I know that one time there was an agent that was like the number one agent in real estate in Houston social media and hadn't really sold anything, but they were there in social media. Right. So I think that the beauty of the Better Homes and Gardens Gary Greene real program is that that people can call you, you can take care of their, their home here and help them link up with somebody on the other side so that it's, it's less stressful.
[00:22:23] Speaker A: Yeah, no, and that's, I mean, you know, and I talk to our teams about this all the time.
You know, what, what it's really all about at the agent business level is making a difference in people's lives.
[00:22:38] Speaker B: Right.
[00:22:38] Speaker A: And making a difference in communities that you're involved with or in organizations. Like you do a lot with the veterans.
[00:22:45] Speaker B: Right.
[00:22:47] Speaker A: And so, you know, if you focus on helping people make a difference for them somehow in their lives, your business is going to be there. If you're just focused on somehow getting the next transaction, that's not building a business. You know, you build a business by, you know, becoming, creating relationships, trust, you know, respect for your knowledge. Of course, you know, but.
And that's, and that's what we say. That's the difference, you know, between how we work with our sales team is to say, look, we're not transactional. We're helping people build businesses by helping other people improve their lives. Right.
[00:23:31] Speaker B: 100%. I think that I love that thought process because I always tell my team, you know, don't chase money, take care of people.
[00:23:39] Speaker A: Same thing.
[00:23:40] Speaker B: And that is exactly right. Because you take care of people, they're going to know, they're going to be appreciative of it. And that in itself will help you build your business.
[00:23:49] Speaker A: Sure. No, it's, you know, and it's the hardest work. Right.
[00:23:54] Speaker B: Oh, my gosh.
[00:23:55] Speaker A: But if you love it and you have passion, which are people like you, you're a passionate guy.
[00:24:00] Speaker B: Yeah, sure.
[00:24:01] Speaker A: And it doesn't feel like work in the same way. Right. Because you're doing things that you also get pleasure out of. But that's, you know, that's it. And, you know, hey, you know, 80% of the people that come into this business don't make it right. You know, and I say that a lot, makes a lot of people nervous. But, you know, particularly when I say it to a group of maybe new agents or something, Right. It's kind of like, look to your right, look to your left, you know, kind of, kind of thing.
[00:24:32] Speaker B: Who's going to be there?
[00:24:32] Speaker A: Yeah, who's going to be there? But the reality of it is it's. It's not easy work. It's tough work, as you well know, when you get into actually doing the business. And people I've had agents, typically newer, say, well, does all this stuff work?
And my answer always is, it does if you do.
[00:24:56] Speaker B: So we're going to come back after the next commercial and talk a little bit more about the self discipline out here in the real estate world.
See you all right back.
We're continuing our powerful conversation with Mark Rudolph, an accomplished CEO of Better Homes and Gardens, Gary Greene. And we've talked a lot about, you know, the COVID how he handled Covid with his big organization. We talked also about the stress of handling transition and moving.
Now, before we start back here, Mark, welcome back.
[00:25:30] Speaker A: Thank you.
[00:25:30] Speaker B: Thank you so how can an aspiring realtor get a hold of you or your team?
[00:25:35] Speaker A: Well, what they can do is I'm always. I'm email at Markarry Green with an E dot com.
And of course, my. My office number is 713-465-6644.
If you ever want to, you know, call, ask for me or somebody on our team, you know, we'll. We'll be happy to talk to you about real estate or anything else that's on your mind. So insurance, you know, mortgages, you know, whatever you need. You know, hey, whatever you need.
[00:26:10] Speaker B: Perfect. No, perfect. We're looking at the website right here. You know, I know that it's really interesting. I've been. I haven't been in real estate that long, but I'm still learning every day. But I'm actually writing a book about six chapters in. It's going to be, as I'm going to call it, doomsday. It's like between graduation and picking your brokerage, you know, like no man's land. Right.
So you were talking earlier that when you talk to classes of new realtors and even some, you know, aspiring realtors that are transitioning over, you tell them, take a look to the left and take a look to the right, because about 80% of the people are not going to be there.
Why do you feel that is?
[00:26:50] Speaker A: I think it's because there is a narrative perhaps, you know, that we've created somehow ourselves about how glamorous this business might be.
[00:27:02] Speaker B: Right.
[00:27:02] Speaker A: You know, you look at beautiful houses all the time, drive around in a nice car, whatever the narrative is.
[00:27:09] Speaker B: Sure.
[00:27:10] Speaker A: And okay, that's true, but on the other hand.
Or can be true, but on the other hand, it's like a lot of work and the things you have to know.
But more importantly, it's this expectation, not that, hey, I'm going into a really tough sales job. Meaning sales in the sense that you've got to put yourself into it. You've got to create databases and all this kind of stuff, and then you've got to show up and work. A lot of people just think business is going to come to them and follow up.
They're like, I'm ready to go. And it's like, you are. Well, no, you'll know you're ready to go when your email fires or your text fires or phone comes and somebody says, I need help.
So anyway, I think that's an industry thing. It's certainly that way. In the city of Houston as well.
We had 35,000 realtors pre Covid, we've got still almost 50,000. Really? Now, you know, you tell me, I mean, do we really need that many people to come in?
[00:28:23] Speaker B: So what percentage I was hearing at one time, and you got to correct me on this, that over 45% of the realtors in Har didn't sell a house last year.
[00:28:32] Speaker A: That's right.
[00:28:33] Speaker B: So they're paying all these fees and not really selling anything. I know. The one thing I always tell everybody is being a realtor is the hardest leadership challenge you'll ever face. Leading people, you can tell them what to do, you can follow up, and you can make sure things happen.
[00:28:51] Speaker A: But leading yourself, that's the key. The key is the other part is a lot of people that come into the business, maybe most have come from a type of career job that. Where, you know their structure, they get.
[00:29:09] Speaker B: Told what to do.
[00:29:09] Speaker A: Yeah, there's a lot of structure.
[00:29:10] Speaker B: Sure.
[00:29:12] Speaker A: And then, you know, and then every two weeks or whatever, a paycheck shows up.
[00:29:17] Speaker B: Right, right.
[00:29:18] Speaker A: Well, I think the hard part is, is like, well, people will say, and you know, when they come in, oh, I want to. I like the flexibility. You know, they say three things. I love the flexibility.
I love people and I love looking at houses. And I sometimes will quip, and I probably shouldn't say it here on this thing, but I will.
[00:29:37] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:29:38] Speaker A: You know, I say, well, guess what? In 90 days, you won't like any of those three. Okay.
Okay. You know, because it's not that easy, you know. But, you know, seriously, the lack of structure is the big one.
[00:29:52] Speaker B: Oh, yeah.
[00:29:53] Speaker A: Because as you well know, you know, you have to treat this thing like a job. And so what we say to people, I do anyway, is I say, look, what hours did you work in your, quote, real job, whatever? Eight to five. Well, then every morning you'd be showered up and you'd be sitting at your desk at home or in the office at 8 o'. Clock.
Because if you're not in the mindset and you're not ready to go, then you're not at work.
[00:30:23] Speaker B: I know. That's my wife. So my wife, for like night and day, my wife has to get up and go into the office physically in the office, and that's where she's the most productive. And, you know, myself, I'm at home and I can work at home, but I was a military recruiter, so we hustled all the time.
[00:30:40] Speaker A: Well, you.
Most people that come in, they don't have that sort of, you know, discipline, structure.
[00:30:49] Speaker B: I hear all the Time is, well, I want to stay at home. I want to do this. But then I walk by the laundry room. I need to get this load of laundry.
[00:30:56] Speaker A: Well, yeah, I mean, and hey, I could work at home a lot, certainly with zoom and everything.
But, you know, the fact of the matter is I do the same thing. I get distracted now if I'm. But I'm also the type that if I'm in the office and I can get the energy from people being there. And of course, you just. With realtors in particular, what they don't realize is that other realtors may have somebody call that they can't handle. And if they're sitting there 100%, you know, and so you've just missed it. If you're sitting home going, well, wait a minute, I got to take a shower, and I got it, you know, oh, my gosh.
[00:31:34] Speaker B: And yes, like, I speak Spanish, so there's not a lot of Spanish speakers, like, hey, who speaks Spanish here? I am.
[00:31:40] Speaker A: Yeah, right.
[00:31:40] Speaker B: But before we go forward, Mark, how does. How does somebody get ahold of you again? One more time? I know we talked about it earlier.
[00:31:46] Speaker A: Markarygreen with an E on the end of green.com 713-465-6644 so what is the.
[00:31:56] Speaker B: Biggest challenge you feel for the realtor today?
[00:32:03] Speaker A: You know, I think that it's recognizing and accepting, frankly, change.
[00:32:12] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:32:12] Speaker A: You know, because I say this often, too. Not everybody cheers it, but I say, as a industry, and certainly we're a subset of that, we have more people that resist change than embrace it a lot.
[00:32:29] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:32:30] Speaker A: And then I say, well, let me ask you a question.
Does it strike you as odd that for an industry and for professionals that make their living helping other people change, that we can sit here and say, when it's about us, we don't want to change?
I mean, that to me is totally incongruent, you know.
[00:32:52] Speaker B: Sure.
[00:32:52] Speaker A: But I will tell you that the people that are the 90, 85, 90% of the people that do that much of the business, you know, well, the 10% that do 90% of the business, they understand. Check.
[00:33:06] Speaker B: Sure.
[00:33:07] Speaker A: You know, and because, hey, nobody had to tell them that, hey, the Internet, it's a thing now, or, you know, or, hey, you know, texting or, you know, social media, I mean, go down the list, you know, I mean, they didn't come, you know, kicking and screaming. They saw the opportunity and ran, too. And so that's probably the big. You talk about why so many people are challenged with, you know, I mean, if they do get it past the 80%, then they tend to want to just keep doing what they're doing. But, you know, in any business and in life, and you said it earlier, to me, it's all about, you got to be a lifetime learner.
[00:33:47] Speaker B: Right. Which is my wife, not me. I'm trying.
[00:33:50] Speaker A: Well, you know, but the thing is, I heard a quote, actually a video from a college basketball coach, girls basketball team there in the championship this past year. And their coach was saying they were doing a halftime talk. And the talk was like, well, we just wish it wasn't so hard. And the coach says something I thought, and I've said this to all of our people, don't wish it's easier.
Wish you were better.
[00:34:18] Speaker B: Nice.
[00:34:19] Speaker A: Get better. Because, you know it's not going to get easier. And the other thing is, if it was easy, everybody would be doing well at it, you know.
[00:34:28] Speaker B: So, you know, I heard one of the other things I heard, and there's so many statistics here now that I heard that the real estate license is the second most attained license in the state of Texas other than the driver's license. Is that right?
[00:34:41] Speaker A: Well, I don't know. But I can tell you there's 238,000 licensees in the state of Texas. In the state of Texas, I can tell you 200,000 of those are probably realtors. The others aren't.
But I will also tell you that while during 2019, excuse me, 20, 20, 21 and 22, those numbers grew 30% just kind of like happened in the Houston area. I will tell you that the new license applicants today has been down double digits for the last three years now. The renewal rate is still about 79 or 80%.
[00:35:19] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:35:20] Speaker A: But the number of people that have raised their hand and said, oh, I want to get into this business, it's definitely coming down. And so over a period of time, that'll be the case. And also the level of practice is the bar's been raised. Right.
So you've got a decision to make, even if you've been in it a long time, as you well know. I mean, hey, you know, you're just not going to be able to walk away from some of these changes. Right. Because it's.
[00:35:47] Speaker B: No, not at all.
[00:35:47] Speaker A: It's the law. So there's. Those decisions are being made. But you know, I think that in the main, the better, the best people are doing more because they learn that, you know, they're more aggressive and they're learning and they're hungry. Right. It's like you got to stay hungry.
[00:36:07] Speaker B: It's an amazing I mean, it's the funnest thing I've ever did. I have no idea why I didn't do it earlier on in my life. But, you know, I kind of get to do my own thing. But I do see a lot of struggles. And when I see thing, I tell them hope is not a solution. Right. They got to go after it.
[00:36:22] Speaker A: I use that. What I say is, you know, hope is not a strategy.
[00:36:27] Speaker B: Right.
[00:36:27] Speaker A: You know, I say that to our leadership. Sure. And we hope the market's going to get better. Well, hope's not a strategy. And you've heard me say this on these town halls. I'm like, we live in the, you know, there's going to be over 200,000 transaction sites here in Houston. It's one of the best markets in the country and has been through all of this.
And so just get a bigger piece of the pie.
[00:36:50] Speaker B: Exactly.
We'll get back with Mark Woodruff in a minute after this next commercial. Thank you for being with us in Battle Ready.
Welcome back to Battle Ready. If you're loving what you're watching, don't miss a moment of Battle Ready or any of the NOW Media TV shows, live or on demand, anytime, anywhere. You can download the free NOW Media TV app on Roku ICS and apply instant access to our full lineup of bilingual programming in both English and Spanish. If you prefer to listen to them on the go, you can also get them on NOW Media, which is the website, and have it in your phone or you can do it as one of the podcasts. So now we're still here with Mark Woodruff, the CEO of Better Homes and Gardens, Gary Greene. You know, we had a direction. We were supposed to go on this show. But naturally Mark's very, very passionate about real estate. And I think it's always good for me to have somebody at his level out here talking to our audience about real estate. Now we talk about the market, but something that's near and dear to my heart is helping the new person that thinks they want to be a Realtor make that decision.
So what would you say to that new real estate class of freshly highly motivated young people that are into the real estate market? What would you guidance would you give them?
[00:38:14] Speaker A: Well, I go around the room and I ask them, you know, usually there's 20 or 25 or something new for new folks in there, and I'll just say, you know, 30, 10 seconds. What'd you do before real estate? And why did you decide to get involved.
And, you know, it's interesting because the one sort of knockout factor is when they say, I just thought I'd try it, and I immediately kind of go.
And then I have, of course, acute response to that is no real estate will try you, you know, next person. But when people say, you know, something, I'm passionate about helping people, I'm like, ooh. And a lot of times that comes from someone that was a teacher or a nurse or somehow in the military or, you know, that sort of thing.
And then the other person that typically does very well is. Is the. The other person that does very well would be the somebody comes out of professional sales that has the structure we were talking about, right. Because they've been trained and they understand, you know, get up, suit up, contact your people, talk. You know, sales, it's a profession. It's not, you know, people think you inherit it. But no, you know, yeah, people have personalities. But if you're going to be successful in sales, you have to have the skills, too. And those people are typically successful because they're going into it eyes wide open.
And, you know, in our company, we're a partnership, and we talk about that a lot, which is different, in that no one at Gary Greene, certainly not Mark, not anybody else, is going to make any money if you don't, because we, you know, we're a partner with you, right? We only get paid when you get paid. And therefore, guess what? I want you to do every last thing you can do, meaning opportunity, take advantage of that.
You know, I want that for you every year. And I want you to grow your business.
We spend a lot of time and energy, money, of course, having the best, you know, support system in the business that's right here for agents.
And so, you know, that's it. It's like, hey, we're gonna be right there with you.
[00:40:42] Speaker B: And I know one thing is you provide the resources. And I'm not just talking about the marketing side, but a lot of the realtors that I've seen come out here have never sold anything in their life.
Don't understand the process of selling. When I mean selling. I'm not telling. We don't sell houses. We make matches and we try to help them find the house. But. But I'm talking about going through the process of connecting with somebody, determining their needs and interests, providing them the benefits of what a place would be, and then help them through the process.
So you have. You spend a lot of time and resources on the coaching side, right?
[00:41:20] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:41:21] Speaker B: You have a trainer Everything.
[00:41:22] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, we do. And you know, to the point about helping people, a lot of folks have trouble with one seemingly simple thing, which is listen, ask the right questions and then listen.
Don't get into just what you want to say, because a lot of us do that. I'll do that sometimes. I mean, it's natural. You're saying, hey, this, this, this, this and this and this and. But you know, it's the needs analysis, assessment, what is it you need? Right. And then being able to hear that. And then if you're finding a house, working with a buyer, finding something that.
[00:42:01] Speaker B: Fits those needs, matches that.
[00:42:02] Speaker A: And it's not just the house. And that's the thing that, yeah. People can figure out. They can see houses on the Internet, but what's around that, what's the infrastructure, what's the neighborhoods, what's the. All the things that are very difficult to know until they talk to an expert there.
[00:42:19] Speaker B: And while we're talking about that, I'm gonna talk about new construction.
So many people go to new construction sites and deal with new home counselors without a realtor. What are your thoughts on that?
[00:42:34] Speaker A: Well, I think again, there's a thought which is really not accurate in my view that I'm going as a buyer, I'm going to go to the new home counselor on site and somehow I'm gonna make a better deal.
I think that's it. Right, sure. And what they mistake is that they don't have representation that person. And there's great new home council. Right.
But they work for the builder, not for you, although they're very engaging and that sort of thing.
And the reality of it is that you're not going to save money.
You're not, because that's how it works.
And if they're honest with you, when you talk to people, they know what they're going to get for this house.
And the fees are built in, marketing fees and all that.
So the idea you're not going to pay a realtor. Okay, you know, that's not true on the economics. The other side of it is, is that the realtor is going to ask the questions you don't think to ask.
[00:43:53] Speaker B: You said it earlier, right. You don't know what you don't know.
[00:43:55] Speaker A: You don't know what you don't know.
And then, you know, like things like inspections. You know, most people would, oh, it's a brand new house. I don't need an inspection. Well, yeah, you do.
[00:44:05] Speaker B: Homes are made by man. Man makes mistake. Man has good days, bad days.
Yeah. Sure.
[00:44:11] Speaker A: And then evaluating every step of that and then of course, getting it to closing, you know, and that's something because, you know, the average, you know, buyer or seller only goes through the process nowadays probably once every nine years. Used to be seven or something. But so it isn't like something, you know, 100%. Yeah. So I mean, again, I look at it like, well, you know, you're going to get a return and it's not going to cost you more money to have that person helping you and they're on your side. Not that I want to, you know, position it as a battle, but.
[00:44:51] Speaker B: Sure. No, no, no.
[00:44:52] Speaker A: But hey, you know, it's like, you know, do you do your own legal work? Do you do your own financial work?
[00:44:59] Speaker B: Medical, whatever.
[00:45:00] Speaker A: Medical, I mean, you know, and commercial realtors are the ones that will tell you this because a lot of times in the past they've wanted to do it and by the time they get done they're like, I don't know what I was thinking. And in fact, they'll never do it again. They always hire a resident because they appreciate it.
[00:45:17] Speaker B: Well, I'll say this, I know just recently I went out to a new home site with some clients that reached out to me and I mean, before we ended up leaving, we had washer, dryer, refrigerator, blinds. They're like, I didn't know we could ask for that.
[00:45:34] Speaker A: There you go. That's a great example.
[00:45:36] Speaker B: You know, you don't know what you don't know. Right. But don't ever go unrepresented. I think most of the builders provide for the compensation of the realtors, which is now they're paying for somebody to represent you.
[00:45:52] Speaker A: So I think it's in their price. It's not an add on.
[00:45:57] Speaker B: I needed to send that in there because the last, I don't know, three or four opportunities I had, we went to the builders and they didn't know. The other thing is veterans, you know, veterans with disability ratings.
I'm a veteran and I have a disability rating and our buying power is much different, much more. So it's always good that when you meet with one of our agents, our agents are very educated in dealing with veterans. Right.
So that's a good thing.
What is something you'll say to the mid level agent that maybe is looking for another brand or maybe is kind of hit a wall, what are your thoughts to them?
[00:46:39] Speaker A: I say the same. I say this often. I say it to myself every morning when I get up, I look in the mirror and I say, if it's gonna be. It's up to me.
[00:46:46] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:46:47] Speaker A: And then I ask myself the second question, which is, would I work for you?
Would I work for you or work with you?
[00:46:57] Speaker B: Sure.
[00:46:57] Speaker A: And I think what tends to happen sometimes is people.
They get to. Whether it's a sophomore jinx or they kind of hit a wall, and usually it's because people stop doing the things that got them to where they are.
[00:47:15] Speaker B: Exactly.
[00:47:16] Speaker A: And it's like, well, I don't have to do that anymore. No, you're gonna have to. It's like working out. You know what I worked out for, you know, a year. I'm good, right? No, you're not. You're gonna have to keep working out. And it's the same thing with their business. It's like, well, because when you have these. Excuse me. Coaching session. All right, well, what did you do that you're so successful your first five years? Well, I did this, this, this, and this. Okay. You still doing all those things? Well, no, you know, not as much. You know, 90% of the time. And it's like. And then they'll say things like, well, you know, maybe I just need a change. It's like, no, you need to change your. Well, yes, maybe you need to change your mindset. But, you know, I mean, the answer is right here. And, you know, and we can help you do more things, but you have to do them.
[00:48:03] Speaker B: Go back to basics. Right.
[00:48:04] Speaker A: Back to basics.
[00:48:05] Speaker B: Well, Mark, we're coming to the end of our show. One last thing, one last push to. To everybody out there in today's market. Real quick, tell me about the market.
[00:48:15] Speaker A: Market's fabulous. And, And. And particularly in Houston, you're hearing, you know, the. The narrative around, you know, the sky's fallen as per normal from a lot of the, you know, media pundits, but that's not the case. And there's, you know. You know, it's. Yeah, it's coming back into what I'd call normal market.
It's 2019 as far as inventory goes. It's, you know, I mean, it's balanced.
[00:48:44] Speaker B: People buying. Right. They have to go back to get somewhere.
[00:48:46] Speaker A: People are buying and. Yeah, so. And guess what? Our best people are having some of their best years ever.
[00:48:52] Speaker B: Well, Mark, thanks so much for taking the time to be with me today and talking about real estate in the Houston market.
Guys, thanks for joining us in battle Ready and we'll talk to you soon.
[00:49:05] Speaker A: Appreciate it, man.
[00:49:05] Speaker B: No, thanks so much.
