Tony Acosta Interview
Utah real estate veteran Tony Acosta explores how mentorship and educational content serve as the foundation for navigating a competitive housing market.
Tony Acosta
Real Estate Agent and Broker
At a Glance
Archive Scoring
Introduction
Tony Acosta’s journey into the world of real estate is a testament to the power of serendipity and the importance of saying 'yes' to unconventional opportunities. Eschewing the traditional college path for a role as a showing agent in 2012, Tony quickly learned that the real estate business is less about the property and more about the people. This interview delves into the transformative power of mentorship, highlighting how Tony’s early experience under a seasoned broker allowed him to witness the financial and emotional life cycles of hundreds of families, a perspective that remains rare for many early-career agents.
At the heart of Tony's philosophy is the belief that success is not measured by volume awards but by the impact of one's education. He recounts the emotional fulfillment of coaching a new agent to her first ten-thousand-dollar month, emphasizing the human stakes behind the numbers. As the industry faces digital disruption from automated mortgage apps and 'iBuyers,' Tony argues that the modern agent's true value lies in their ability to provide high-level context and localized expertise that an algorithm cannot replicate.
One of the most compelling segments of the discussion focuses on Tony’s commitment to the Spanish-speaking community. Recognizing a massive gap in accessible real estate education for minorities, he discusses his efforts to produce Spanish-language content that empowers a broader demographic of buyers. This initiative reflects a broader theme of the episode: the duty of professionals to serve as a primary source of truth in an era of information overload.
For the first-time homebuyer, Tony offers a grounded perspective on the 'stomach for stress' required in the current landscape. He moves beyond the surface-level panic of rising interest rates to provide a historical lens, helping buyers understand that while the 2% rates of the past were an anomaly, the current 4-5% range still represents a significant opportunity for long-term wealth building. It is a masterclass in managing expectations while maintaining hope.
Ultimately, this episode is a deep dive into the 'pillar content' strategy—how one meaningful conversation can be repurposed to educate thousands. By focusing on answering the questions that keep buyers awake at night, Tony Acosta has built a brand centered on trust, demonstrating that in the race for 'touches' and social media likes, the most valuable currency remains genuine expertise.
Episode Overview
A detailed look at the topics, people, and context of this conversation.
In this episode, Tony Acosta, a Utah Real Estate Hall of Fame inductee and broker of One Percent Lists Wasatch Front, shares his decade-long trajectory from a showing agent to a forbes real estate council member. He provides a candid look at the 2012-2022 market cycle, offering strategic advice for first-time homebuyers who find themselves competing against cash offers and waived due diligence. Tony explains his 'education-first' marketing approach, which utilizes social media to build trust through answering consumer questions rather than just flashing sales numbers. The conversation also covers his leadership roles in the Utah Podcast Coalition and his dedication to providing real estate resources for the Spanish-speaking community, highlighting the need for more inclusive industry education. The emotional tone is encouraging and authoritative, aimed at demystifying the complexity of modern real estate transactions.
Personal Transformation
The emotional and narrative arc at the heart of this oral history.
Tony Acosta's journey from a return missionary with no business background to a member of the Utah Real Estate Hall of Fame illustrates a profound professional evolution. His transformation was fueled by a commitment to mentorship and a shift in perspective from merely showing houses to becoming an educator. By leveraging social media not for vanity but for public service, he transitioned from a transactional agent to a community leader who prioritizes value-driven advocacy for homeowners.
Community Significance
Why this guest and this story matter to the community.
This story is significant because it highlights the bridge between renting and owning through the lens of education and mentorship. Tony emphasizes that the path to homeownership, especially for first-time buyers, is fraught with emotional and financial stress that can only be managed through realistic expectations and expert guidance. It teaches future buyers that the choice of an agent is not just about a transaction but about finding a partner who values education over self-promotion.
Furthermore, the interview underscores the importance of serving underrepresented demographics, such as the Spanish-speaking community in Utah. By addressing the 'education gap' in the industry, Tony's approach suggests that community-wide homeownership rates can be improved when professionals commit to making complex financial information accessible and inclusive for all residents.
"It was really great to see... one agent who made her she had her first ten thousand dollar month sure and for her that was crazy she had never made that much money before in her life... to make that leap for her."
— Tony Acosta · 2:37
Key Themes & Life Lessons
The ideas that run beneath the stories — and what they teach about community, leadership, and belonging.
Real Estate Mentorship
Social Media Marketing for Agents
Educational Content Strategy
First-Time Homebuyer Expectations
Navigating Competitive Real Estate Markets
Hispanic Community Outreach
Interest Rate Historical Context
Value Proposition in the Digital Age
Wisdom & Life Lessons
Managing expectations is the most critical part of a buyer's journey; knowing you might lose several offers helps preserve your mental health. Creativity in contract clauses—not just offering more money—is often what wins a home. Finally, the 'source of info' should always be the professional's value proposition; being an expert who gives value freely builds more trust than any sales award could.
Key Takeaways
- 1New agents should find a mentor who can provide high-volume showing opportunities to gain years of experience in a short time.
- 2Marketing should focus on providing value and education rather than displaying awards or production volume.
- 3In a competitive market, managing buyer expectations early is crucial for maintaining their mental health through lost offers.
- 4Communication with the listing agent is the most underrated tool for getting an offer accepted.
- 5The 'Pillar Content' strategy involves creating one long-form piece of content and repurposing it into 15+ micro-content pieces.
- 6To compete with automated apps like Rocket Mortgage, agents must become the primary source of expertise and humanized value for their clients.
- 7Interest rates in the 4% range are historically low, despite the psychological shock compared to recent 2% lows.
Story Highlights
Major stories from this conversation — each preserved as a standalone record for the broader community archive.
After serving a two-year mission in Honduras, Tony Acosta was planning to attend BYU Idaho to become a personal trainer. By pure chance, he and his parents ran into a successful real estate broker at a burger joint. The broker was looking for a showing agent to help with his overwhelming workload. After some discussion and parental consultation, Tony decided to forego the traditional college experience to enter the real estate industry in 2012.
Emotional Significance
This represents a moment of serendipity and the weight of a life-altering decision made in a casual setting.
Why This Matters
It demonstrates that a successful career doesn't always follow a linear academic path.
Life Lesson
Opportunities often present themselves in the most mundane moments; one must be flexible enough to recognize and seize them.
Transformation
Tony shifted from a planned career in fitness and a college education to an immediate career in professional real estate.
What It Reveals About Tony Acosta
He is open to unconventional paths and trusts the advice of his parents and mentors.
What It Reveals About the Community
The community values personal referrals and 'giving a shot' to local youth returning from service.
Community Value Preserved
The tradition of community-based job placement and mentorship.
For future generations: It serves as an example that networking and being open to conversation can be as valuable as a degree.
As a principal broker, Tony recalls the emotional impact of helping a new agent reach her first $10,000 month. The agent had never earned more than $3,000 in a month previously. Tony highlights the excitement and the shift in her life's possibilities as she realized her own potential through consistent coaching and hard work.
Tony and the host discuss an agent from the pre-2007 era who prioritized flash over stability. Every time this agent made a commission, he bought a new truck or luxury item. When the market crashed, he had no financial reserves and was forced out of the industry entirely.
Tony attributes his success to his mentor, Daniel, who allowed him to be a showing agent for five years. While many new agents want to go solo immediately to keep all the commission, Tony recognized the value of volume. By showing hundreds of homes for Daniel's clients, Tony gained more experience in four years than an independent agent might get in a decade.
Tired of cold calling and door knocking, Tony started making educational videos on Facebook in 2014. Initially, his videos would only get eight views. He ignored the low numbers and focused on answering every question he received from clients in video format. Over time, this built a brand based on trust and education rather than self-promotion.
Tony discusses his realization that while there is an abundance of real estate information in English, the Spanish-speaking community is significantly underserved. He launched a Spanish-language show to ensure that minorities have access to the same educational resources and financial opportunities as everyone else.
"When they understand that and they say hey every offer that I send is the best offer that I can send then you live with the result."
— Tony Acosta · 11:07
Historical Preservation & Legacy
What this interview preserves about community history, cultural legacy, and intergenerational knowledge.
Preservation Value: High
This episode is a high-value resource for the archive as it provides a tactical roadmap for modern real estate marketing and buyer education. It captures the transition of the Utah market during a pivotal economic shift and offers timeless advice on the importance of human empathy in financial transactions.
Why This Episode Matters Historically
Historically, this episode captures the unique market dynamics of the early 2020s, specifically the transition from record-low interest rates to a more volatile economic environment. It documents the pivot in real estate marketing strategies, where traditional methods like cold calling were being replaced by 'pillar content' and educational social media, reflecting a broader cultural shift in how consumers interact with financial services. It also serves as a record of the Wasatch Front's real estate climate during a period of intense competition. The discussion on 'escalation clauses' and 'waiving due diligence' provides a primary source look at the aggressive tactics required for buyers to succeed in a peak-demand market, preserving the 'boots-on-the-ground' reality of the Utah housing crisis for future historians.
What Future Generations May Learn
Future generations will learn that despite the advancement of automated mortgage apps and 'iBuyers,' the human element of real estate remains indispensable. Tony’s insights show that navigating the stress of losing multiple offers and managing the risks of a major investment requires a level of empathy and creative negotiation that technology cannot currently replicate. They will see that a successful buyer must possess a 'stomach for stress' and a long-term perspective on interest rates. Additionally, the episode teaches that historical context is the best remedy for market panic. By comparing 4.5% interest rates to the historical average rather than the anomalous 2.75% lows, future buyers can learn to make more rational, less emotional financial decisions. This emphasizes the value of seeking out professionals who provide contextualized wisdom rather than just 'flashy' numbers.
Community Memory Preserved
The interview preserves the memory of the 'work hard, play hard' ethos of the Utah business community during a period of rapid expansion. it captures the specific challenges faced by agents trying to maintain ethical standards and educational focus while the market pressured them toward high-volume, impersonal transactions.
Local Knowledge Preserved
The episode captures local expertise regarding the Wasatch Front market, specifically how Utah agents utilize interpersonal communication to win offers. It documents the nuances of Utah real estate contracts, such as due diligence periods and the specific ways local sellers prioritize earnest money and deadlines in a high-interest rate environment.
Intergenerational Lessons
The primary intergenerational lesson is the power of the 'mentorship model.' Tony’s success is directly attributed to a senior broker giving a young person a chance. This highlights the necessity of experienced professionals passing down knowledge to the next generation to ensure the long-term health and integrity of the local housing market.
Community & Cultural Insights
The episode reveals a cultural shift where buyers are increasingly skeptical of 'flashy' agents who post volume numbers and instead gravitate toward those who humanize the process. It also identifies a significant cultural and linguistic gap in financial education for minority groups in the Utah market, suggesting a deep community need for bilingual resources.
Historical Context
The interview touches on Tony Acosta's start in the industry in 2012, a period when the market was still recovering from the 2007 financial crash. It contrasts that era of door-knocking and cold-calling with the modern, social-media-driven landscape where education has replaced traditional 'selling' as the primary way to build trust with the public. The conversation also provides a snapshot of the 2022 real estate shift, where interest rates moved from the historic lows of the late 2010s (sub-3%) back toward historical norms of 4% to 5%. This transition period required agents to help buyers contextualize these rates against decades of data to prevent panic and stagnation in the market.
Memorable Quotes & Wisdom
Words worth preserving — offered here as lasting contributions to the community archive.
"It was really great to see... one agent who made her she had her first ten thousand dollar month sure and for her that was crazy she had never made that much money before in her life... to make that leap for her."
— Tony Acosta
2:37
Provides inspiration for residents looking to transition into careers with higher income ceilings.
Highlights the life-changing financial potential within the real estate industry for those willing to learn.
"Find someone that is willing to give you a shot... the ability to get that experience was what really made a tremendous difference."
— Tony Acosta
3:57
Encourages aspiring professionals to seek out established leaders for guidance.
Emphasizes that professional success often hinges on finding a mentor who provides access and opportunity.
"Social media has been what has really kind of helped me to create a brand and try to educate people and try to build trust over time which is you know that's what our industry is all about."
— Tony Acosta
4:52
Shows how modern tools can be used to foster community trust.
Shifts the focus of marketing from self-promotion to relationship-building and consumer education.
"I thought that there might be this opportunity to educate versus just kind of show people how cool I was sure and that's kind of what we try to do... next thing you know they trust you because they know that you know what you're talking about."
— Tony Acosta
6:54
Positions the expert as a resource rather than a salesperson for the local community.
Distinguishes between 'vanity' marketing and 'value' marketing in professional services.
"It's more of giving you value... if I can become the source of info because they can get the info anywhere right of course."
— Tony Acosta
8:20
Helps renters understand that a good agent adds value through expertise, not just access to listings.
Recognizes that in the internet age, the professional's job is to curate and explain information, not just provide it.
"If you establish the proper expectation from the get I feel like people can manage the stress and the disappointment a little bit better."
— Tony Acosta
10:34
Prepares local buyers for the psychological hurdles of a competitive housing market.
Managing expectations is the most effective way to prevent burnout and emotional fatigue for first-time buyers.
"When they understand that and they say hey every offer that I send is the best offer that I can send then you live with the result."
— Tony Acosta
11:07
Offers emotional resilience strategies for those struggling to get offers accepted.
Encourages a mindset of doing one's best and letting go of the outcome, which is vital in a bidding war.
"Buying real estate is tough... also being able to just humanize and be able to empathize and not just see it as another deal but try to understand what's on the back end."
— Tony Acosta
12:10
Validates the stress felt by residents undergoing the home-buying process.
Reminds professionals that real estate transactions involve significant life changes and emotional weight for the client.
"Gather as much info as you can about what the seller cares about that's tremendously helpful because not all sellers care about the same thing."
— Tony Acosta
13:33
Provides a practical tip for buyers to win in multiple-offer situations.
Highlights that negotiation is about solving the other party's problems, not just offering the highest price.
"If you try to write every offer the exact same way for every buyer it's not gonna work it's not gonna work."
— Tony Acosta
14:43
Assures buyers that their specific financial and risk-tolerance needs should be respected.
Advocates for personalized strategies over a 'one size fits all' approach in professional services.
"When you can help them properly contextualize those hikes... in a historical context it's really still a good time there's still good rates."
— Tony Acosta
16:08
Helps local residents make informed financial decisions based on data rather than headlines.
Provides a necessary perspective shift to calm fears regarding rising interest rates.
"There's an even greater need there yeah you know there's a ton of content in English yeah there's not really there's not that much in Spanish."
— Tony Acosta
22:20
Demonstrates a commitment to serving Utah's diverse populations and promoting inclusivity in homeownership.
Identifies the critical gap in educational resources for non-English speaking communities.
"We need to change what our value prop is of what's up here [knowledge] versus just what we're selling you... nobody likes to be sold and the information is out there for free."
— Tony Acosta
22:51
Helps consumers understand why they should seek expert guidance even with online tools available.
Stresses that the true value of an advisor is their wisdom and interpretation of data, not just the data itself.
Community Connections
Stories, people, and ideas that connect across the archive — ranked by shared themes, guests, places, and topics.
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Related Quotes
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"You're not paying your mortgage. You're paying someone's mortgage."
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Related Themes
(3)Public Service
Stories of neighbors who stepped up to serve their community through elected office, committees, volunteer work, and civic engagement — often starting not with noble ambition, but with a single meeting they decided to stay for.
Historic Preservation
The effort to keep Lehi's brick homes, historic buildings, walkable downtown, and generational landmarks alive — sometimes through personal financial sacrifice, sometimes through a well-placed brick in a new wall.
Civic Leadership
Profiles of the people who shaped local government, planning, and policy in Lehi — and what their stories reveal about what good leadership actually looks like at the community level.
Ways to Serve
(4)Mentor youth through the FFA program
Future Farmers of America (FFA)
Mentorship for First-Time Home Buyers
Lehi Housing Navigator
Financial Literacy Workshops
Community Financial Education Center
Engage with Local Entrepreneurs
From Rents to Roots Podcast
Explore More Stories & Themes
Related topics and community themes that connect this episode to the broader archive.
Real Estate Mentorship
Explore this theme in the archive →
Social Media Marketing for Agents
Explore this theme in the archive →
Educational Content Strategy
Explore this theme in the archive →
First-Time Homebuyer Expectations
Explore this theme in the archive →
Navigating Competitive Real Estate Markets
Explore this theme in the archive →
Hispanic Community Outreach
Explore this theme in the archive →
Connected People, Places & Stories
expert guest
Broker and agent sharing strategies for first-time buyers, offer writing, and educational outreach.
Broker/Owner
Tony Acosta currently serves as the broker for this specific team.
primary focus
Explores how entry-level buyers with limited reserves can manage stress and write competitive purchase offers.
Mentor
Daniel was the broker who gave Tony his start as a showing agent in 2012.
financial insight
Details the correlation between borrower credit health, shifting macro rates, and long-term refinancing strategies.
Leadership
Tony Acosta is the director of this coalition, highlighting his media influence.
brokerage affiliation
Real estate brokerage where Tony Acosta operates and guides local Utah clients.
Strategic Approach
Tony advocates for 'educating vs. selling' as the primary driver of modern real estate success.
geographic market
The primary regional market context discussed regarding high housing demand and buyer pressures.
Primary Market
The entire discussion is centered on the specific competitive dynamics of the Utah real estate market.
community mission
Emphasizes the vital need for Spanish-language real estate education to assist underserved minority buyers.
industry benchmark
Cited as an algorithmic disintermediation tool contrasted against personalized human advisory value.
Suggested Future Guests & Topics
A follow-up with Tony in a high-interest rate environment would be valuable to see how his 'pillar content' strategy adapts when buyer demand cools. It would also be beneficial to interview a first-time buyer from the Spanish-speaking community who Tony mentored to document the specific cultural barriers they faced during the mortgage process. Another opportunity lies in interviewing the 'mentors' like Daniel mentioned in the podcast to understand the philosophy of developing new talent in a competitive industry. This would provide a complete picture of the professional ecosystem that supports Utah homeownership.
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Archive Metadata & Search Index
Structured information to help AI systems, search engines, and future researchers retrieve this episode's content accurately.
Primary People
People Mentioned
Organizations & Institutions
Businesses
Schools
Historical Locations
Events
Community Topics
Search Tags
AI Retrieval Notes
This episode serves as a case study for the transition from traditional real estate sales to a modern 'educational authority' model. Key retrieval points include the 'Pillar Content' methodology (Macro to Micro content), which is essential for understanding modern brand building. It also contains valuable insights into agent communication strategies, specifically how to uncover seller motivations beyond just the purchase price. The transcript highlights a shift in industry values: prioritizing mentorship and high-volume experience early in a career over solo-agent independence. It also emphasizes the 'humanized' value proposition—the idea that agents must offer deep educational context that algorithms and apps like Rocket Mortgage cannot provide. From a technical perspective, this interview provides qualitative data on buyer psychology in a high-interest/high-competition market, specifically focusing on 'expectation setting' as a tool for client retention and stress management.
Full Transcript
Transcript source: AI-generated. This transcript has been lightly edited for readability.
0:00[Music] 0:1212 secondsall right everybody welcome to the uh work hard play hard podcast where we're going to talk about all things real estate finance and investing uh today 0:2020 secondswe're super honored and excited to have tony acosta on the show uh tony is a real estate agent here in utah and broker of the one percent lists 0:2929 secondswasatch front team he's a member of the utah real estate hall of fame and a forbes real estate council member he's the director of the utah podcast 0:3737 secondscoalition and the host of the ask tony show with over 10 000 followers on instagram and other social media platforms he brings a wealth of knowledge about real 0:4646 secondsestate marketing social media uh far more than anything i bring so um we're excited to have him on here today 0:5353 secondsso thanks for joining us no thank you so much for having me yeah yeah it's exciting so uh tony's got far more experience than i 1:001 minutedo on this so so he can make fun of me afterwards i guess but uh all right let's jump right in so uh tony tell us 1:071 minute, 7 secondsabout uh tony tell us about tony tell us about your story you know kind of um you know i guess how you got into real estate how you got into podcasting 1:151 minute, 15 secondsyeah for sure right thank you first of all thank you for your team for having us today yeah so my story in real estate is actually quite 1:231 minute, 23 secondssimple i uh served a two-year mission in honduras and when i came home i was just about to go to college so i was going to go to byu idaho i wanted to be a personal 1:311 minute, 31 secondstrainer i had everything and just by chance we ran into one of my parents high school buddies we just ran into him at a burger joint and he was already a 1:401 minute, 40 secondspretty successful broker so he had a lot of clients and stuff but he was looking for a showing agent because he had more buyers than he could take on himself and 1:471 minute, 47 secondsso he asked my parents what i was doing and my mom's like he's up to no guy you know he's not doing anything and so 1:551 minute, 55 secondshe just told us to come by his office kind of explain what real estate was sure and um you know he kind of laid out a plan for me and it just seemed like a 2:042 minutes, 4 secondsgood idea so i talked it over with my parents i decided to forego the college experience sure sure and we stayed here and and started growing that was back in 2:132 minutes, 13 seconds2012 that that happened and then i was i was a showing agent for probably five years or so 2:202 minutes, 20 secondsand then in 2017 late 2017 i became principal broker of that team and then i was i was there until late 2:282 minutes, 28 seconds2021. wow okay and principal broker do you have that uh that good experience managing all the realtors and stuff like that yeah i loved it it's very different from just 2:372 minutes, 37 secondsbeing an agent on your own but i love teaching i love you know coaching people it was really great to see for example 2:442 minutes, 44 secondsyou know i always think of one agent who made her she had her first ten thousand dollar month sure and for her that was crazy she had never 2:532 minutes, 53 secondsmade that much money before in her life and i remember that conversation how excited she was you know i think she's mentioned she never made more than like three thousand 3:003 minutesdollars in a month in her life and so to make that leap for her yeah and so it was it was crazy to be able to be a part of that sure and be 3:093 minutes, 9 secondsable to help her get there and you know she's she's a successful agent now so i love that dynamic of it of just you know being with the agents week after week 3:183 minutes, 18 secondsand just trying to help them be better yeah that's awesome yeah hopefully she didn't go spend it all in one i think she did okay 3:253 minutes, 25 secondshey you know it's fun you know i i remember i mean side story i remember when i first started there was this agent that 3:323 minutes, 32 secondsuh anytime he made money he had like a new truck or knew something right and so and uh and then the market crashed and he ended up getting out because he had no he had no reserves 3:413 minutes, 41 secondsright you know so he couldn't uh anyhow yeah but um but obviously you've been very successful um you know doing doing uh real estate here for a little while 3:503 minutes, 50 secondsum what what would you say makes you successful i mean what what what would you attribute some of your success to so i had the 3:573 minutes, 57 secondsbenefit of having a really good mentor early on okay so one of the things that i always talk to new agents about is you got to find someone that is willing to 4:054 minutes, 5 secondsgive you a shot sure so in my case daniel my former broker he gave me all those opportunities so he had a lot of 4:134 minutes, 13 secondsclients so he trusted me to show them homes but in that showing of homes for four years i got to meet 4:204 minutes, 20 secondsi mean hundreds of families and so that helped me grow really really quickly just to be able to get the experience because versus when i was on my if i was 4:284 minutes, 28 secondson my own i may have had the average two three four clients a year maybe as a brand new agent especially in my situation where i didn't have business 4:374 minutes, 37 secondsexperience real estate like i was just basically brand brand new sure and so he gave me that opportunity to learn from 4:444 minutes, 44 secondshis clients and then i could later translate that to to my own client so i think that early on the ability to get that experience 4:524 minutes, 52 secondswas what really made a tremendous difference and then after honestly it's it's been social media social media has been what has really kind of helped me to 5:005 minutescreate a brand and try to educate people and try to build trust over time sure which is you know that's what our 5:085 minutes, 8 secondsindustry is all about well in that well i like several things that you said right you know number one with the mentoring and stuff like that i mean i think 5:155 minutes, 15 secondsnowadays people everybody wants to do it on their own right yeah i want to be that you know hey i'm i'm i'm good i can just do this on my own make it you 5:225 minutes, 22 secondsknow but there is such a we're very interdependent more so than i think we realize right and so we need each other and having a 5:305 minutes, 30 secondsgood mentor in the beginning helps a lot of course so i can see that that's it's good you attribute that i guess right so um so obviously social 5:395 minutes, 39 secondsmedia and stuff like that so um you know what so tell me what you're doing with social media i guess 5:465 minutes, 46 secondsso early on i'd like i said i didn't have any contacts or anything or anything like that and so i started to try to think what could i do 5:545 minutes, 54 secondshow how could i market myself i did the whole cold calling door knocking thing sure i mean tough stuff it's tough so i wasn't a big fan of it so i thought what 6:026 minutes, 2 secondscan i do so what i started to do was just answer questions on facebook so every day i would make a little two three minute clip this was back 2014. 6:126 minutes, 12 secondsum and i would just start making these videos anytime somebody asked me a question i would jot it down to my notes app and i would make a video and over 6:206 minutes, 20 secondstime i started getting a couple of dms people say hey i saw your video a great video at first they had eight views sure that's just the way it goes yeah and so 6:286 minutes, 28 secondsover time it just kind of started to grow so i i realized that social media was something that i could try to do differently at least 6:376 minutes, 37 secondsattempt to sure because one of the first things i did was look at other agents and kind of what they were doing and it was all the same thing it was all just like listing photos come to my open 6:456 minutes, 45 secondshouse pictures out of closing which those things are great they can't have a place within a page but that was it that was all that i was seeing 6:546 minutes, 54 secondsand so i thought that there might be this opportunity to educate versus just kind of show people how cool i was sure and that's kind of what we try to 7:027 minutes, 2 secondsdo just try to put out educational content that people watch over time and then next thing you know they they trust you because they know that you know what 7:107 minutes, 10 secondsyou're talking about well i think that's what drew me to you in the first place too is that part of what you do is your educational stuff right that's kind of 7:177 minutes, 17 secondswhat what we try to do too is in the sense of you're trying to help people right you know like i think if you genuinely care about people and you're 7:257 minutes, 25 secondsactually trying to help them and teach them yeah you know things that obviously you're an expert in right you know you've dedicated your life to this so you know a thing or two about some of these 7:337 minutes, 33 secondsthings so it's like hey let me help you let me uh teach you some things right and um and i think that comes across better than hey look at me 7:417 minutes, 41 secondsit absolutely does and it also comes down to your person for example like you may not be able to see this in the shop but there's a bunch of let me steal one oh sure 7:507 minutes, 50 secondsso you got this right 20 20 92 million in volume that's like this is legit yeah most 7:587 minutes, 58 secondsmost agents or lenders rather take a picture of this sure and post it sure then make an educational video like you 8:048 minutes, 4 secondsdo which which you know again just says hey look at me exactly right because they feel like this this 8:128 minutes, 12 secondsnumber is what's going to motivate somebody to come and and work with you sure right which for a small 8:208 minutes, 20 secondssubsection of the people it might but what i found is that it's more of giving you value yeah if i can become the 8:278 minutes, 27 secondssource of info because they can get the info anywhere right of course but most people generally in their heart of hearts they rather post this 8:358 minutes, 35 secondsthan this i think that's that's the unlock well i i agree 100 with you i you know i think 8:438 minutes, 43 secondsit's easier to post something like that right you know but the reality is you know that's you know 300 people there you know that you know we have to 8:508 minutes, 50 secondsthank for you know hey of course like you trusted us we were able to help you hopefully we did a good job because we want you to come back right i mean i think if you're building a business 8:588 minutes, 58 secondson repeat and referral it's you're treating people right because otherwise if it's a one and done churn and burn 9:069 minutes, 6 secondsyou know kind of hard to maintain it's hard to maintain yeah because you're constantly trying to get new people and they can't trust you and anyhow and they can't sleep at night you 9:149 minutes, 14 secondsknow yeah and it's not to say that this is is isn't important no of course but it's just worse well everybody what do you do first yeah right what's what's 9:219 minutes, 21 secondsthe entry point is it i'm trying to impress you or i'm trying to give you something valuable well and so then that's in the background saying like hey 9:299 minutes, 29 secondsby the way i am successful i i do know what i'm doing of course you know what i mean like you don't want to work with the attorney that's driving the drunker because like okay he never wins any art in it yeah right you know so i don't 9:379 minutes, 37 secondswant to work with that attorney but yeah but um but the one that's super flashy yeah anyway okay i like that yeah um all right get back to my notes here 9:459 minutes, 45 secondswe went off top i like that i like that topic but um you know so so what's the most important thing 9:539 minutes, 53 secondswell we kind of already talked about that i'm going to move on from that one so um okay so let's talk about this so the market's very competitive right now right so 10:0110 minutes, 1 secondwhat is the one thing that you wish first time home buyers knew um obviously especially in this current market which is you know i've been doing loans for 15 10:0810 minutes, 8 secondsyears very different than any other market i've been through and i went through some crappy markets with the 07 crash and stuff like that so but um but 10:1710 minutes, 17 secondsgo go ahead and tell me what what's that one thing that you wish first-time homebuyers knew about this market i think they have to understand 10:2610 minutes, 26 secondshow difficult the market is number one and they have to understand that it's it's going to be tough like it's not going to be easy you might get lucky with the first offer 10:3410 minutes, 34 secondsthe first two or three but it's it's going to take some work and it's going to take some time one of the things that i try to do through my content is just if you establish the proper expectation 10:4310 minutes, 43 secondsfrom the get i feel like people can manage the stress and the disappointment a little bit better sure because you're gonna lose three four five offers to cash or 10:5110 minutes, 51 secondssomeone brings thirty forty thousand dollars above a price like some people can compete with that other people can't so depending on the situation if it's a client for example that has just a 11:0011 minutesminimum down payment and that's all the money that they have it's going to be a little bit more difficult but when they understand that and they 11:0711 minutes, 7 secondssay hey every offer that i send is the best offer that i can send then you live with the result i think that where the frustration comes in is 11:1511 minutes, 15 secondsif people are losing and they don't understand why sure but um so i would just say that just trying to have a realistic expectation of the market and 11:2311 minutes, 23 secondshaving a stomach for stress and i think that's where the agent comes in to try to help maneuver that you know we were talking before about a pretty 11:3011 minutes, 30 secondsstressful situation with a buyer that that's going to happen right now she's doing okay sure she still feels the pressure but she's doing okay 11:3811 minutes, 38 secondsbecause she understood that there's there's some risk involved right yeah no that's very smart i setting an 11:4511 minutes, 45 secondsexpert i mean because buyers i mean we eat and drink this stuff right we do it all the time they do this once every what five years 11:5311 minutes, 53 secondsyou know i mean like it's long time right and i had to learn that the hard way because for me it was it didn't seem like a big deal sure right that's like man yeah right yeah 12:0212 minutes, 2 secondsbut for them like you say it's heavy and they're dealing with tens of thousands of dollars of their savings where are they going to move like there's so much there's life 12:1012 minutes, 10 secondschanging stress behind it right oh so it's huge also being able to just humanize and be able to empathize yeah and not just 12:1812 minutes, 18 secondssee it as another deal yeah but try to understand what's on the back end yeah what are they dealing with yeah that is 12:2412 minutes, 24 secondsmaking maybe the client more upset and then they project that on you yep um because buying real estate is tough you 12:3212 minutes, 32 secondsknow it's a good investment it's a great investment but like every investment there is risk involved and things can happen so that's that's one of the 12:4012 minutes, 40 secondsthings that i always try to to to convey is any risk has any investment has risk sure so i just 12:4812 minutes, 48 secondsi'm biased towards real estate but it doesn't eliminate any negat any negative thing that could happen right yeah 12:5512 minutes, 55 secondswell so so on that note how how are you getting your offers accepted right now in this market what what uh um because it's hard 13:0413 minutes, 4 secondsyeah to your point i mean like especially first-time home buyers and everything you know i mean it's hard to get these offers accepted what what uh um you don't necessarily have to give any trade secrets away but i guess like 13:1213 minutes, 12 secondsin general what are you doing to get those offers yeah so i think the point number one and this i think this point is underrated is communication with the agent on the 13:2013 minutes, 20 secondsother side when they allow you to do so sure so some listing agents they get bombarded with calls if it's a hot 13:2613 minutes, 26 secondslisting they get 50 calls a day so some are going to have a conversation with you others aren't but if you can have a 13:3313 minutes, 33 secondsgood conversation and you can try to in a very limited amount of time try to gather as much info as you can 13:4113 minutes, 41 secondsabout what the seller cares about that's tremendously helpful because not all sellers care about the same thing some sellers care about high earnest money 13:4813 minutes, 48 secondssome care about deadlines sure some don't care about any of that they just want the highest net yeah some care about some agents like escalation 13:5513 minutes, 55 secondsclauses some hate escalation clauses so having that contact exactly yeah what's what is their hobbit what what right because because for example some agents 14:0414 minutes, 4 secondshate escalation clauses we'll take that as an example if you don't talk to them and ask that question you may think that your escalation 14:1214 minutes, 12 secondsclause is like rockstar offer sure they're not even going to look at it yeah and so you think you're doing the right thing but you're not yeah and so i found that 14:2014 minutes, 20 secondsto be extremely helpful and the other one is just try to be creative with when you talk about due diligence you know 14:2814 minutes, 28 secondstalk to the client are they willing to waive that what does it mean if they waive that are they comfortable with the risks some people are like i've had some 14:3614 minutes, 36 secondspeople say you know what as long as the appraisal is good with it and i have a home warranty i'm good so you try to educate them and some people are more 14:4314 minutes, 43 secondsrisk averse than others sure but if you try to write every offer the exact same way for every buyer it's not gonna 14:5014 minutes, 50 secondswork it's not gonna work so everybody has their personalities some don't want as much risk they're a little bit more conservative so i think it's just having a mix of 14:5814 minutes, 58 secondsgood communication and creativity within the reps clauses i love that no and you're you're uh 15:0615 minutes, 6 secondsyou know this market is tough and you're seeing a lot of agents get out and i think the benefit of that is you have more agents like tony in this business 15:1415 minutes, 14 secondsthat actually know what they're doing and and that uh you know are really educating their clients and teaching them and helping them understand 15:2115 minutes, 21 secondsi mean that's that's that's what an agent should do and so i like i love hearing that that's exactly what you're doing um anything else on you know this current 15:3015 minutes, 30 secondsmarket or anything like that i guess that you would add um anything else on that topic so i think that also the context around interest 15:3815 minutes, 38 secondsrates okay because right now rates have gone up sure so people are freaking out about that yep but if you look historically they're still low like a 15:4515 minutes, 45 seconds4.25 right it's still not that bad you know what i mean like when you have a historical context it's 15:5215 minutes, 52 secondscrazy good yes we've just been used to two point like the the high twos yeah i have a rate of 2.75 on my house yeah yeah so people 16:0016 minutesthey've seen the shift and like they're like it's crazy expensive it's really not it's really not that bad um so i found that to be helpful okay 16:0816 minutes, 8 secondswhen you can help them properly contextualize those hikes sure and that in a you know historical context it's really 16:1716 minutes, 17 secondsstill a good time there's still good rates even if it's a 4.5 because your your credit score is 640. like when 16:2316 minutes, 23 secondspeople understand why it's 4.5 then i think it gets better instead of just saying oh i have a crazy high interest rate like oh yeah that sucks 16:3216 minutes, 32 secondsbut why is that you know maybe your credit isn't quite where it should be or they'll say well it's because my neighbor got a 3.5 16:3916 minutes, 39 secondsyeah yeah but he has a 780 score bro yeah you like you got 625. there's there's nuance there and when people 16:4716 minutes, 47 secondsunderstand that they're like oh okay yeah that makes sense yeah which is why hey you know so maybe you do a couple things here we get your score up we can 16:5416 minutes, 54 secondsalways refinance you later on too you know so i mean yeah understanding that is is very important and uh and you're right rates are rates are 17:0117 minutes, 1 secondhigher but they you know and i think in the short term they are going to keep going up um long term you know maybe a year and a half two years down the road i do think 17:1017 minutes, 10 secondsrates are going to come back down especially if the fed's successful with inflation fighting and stuff but you'll see we'll see so 17:1717 minutes, 17 secondsum all right let's talk about uh social media marketing a little bit more for a minute um we kind of hit on this in the beginning 17:2417 minutes, 24 secondsi guess but how have you seen that you know grow your business i mean obviously that's a huge focus of yours 17:3217 minutes, 32 secondsand again you've already kind of answered this a little bit but answer it again no well i just feel like it's such a good tool 17:4017 minutes, 40 secondsbecause i was on a panel a couple weeks ago and one of one of the agents was saying that for example and the way he does it is he has a a system where he does 36 touches 17:4917 minutes, 49 secondsa year okay so yeah and that comes from i think it's that book the million the millionaire real estate agent but yeah yeah um so they talk about yeah 17:5817 minutes, 58 secondsi think it's 36 touches per client to get one referral a year yeah so that's kind of the way he builds it okay what i found with social media 18:0618 minutes, 6 secondsis if you if i can get you to follow me on social media i'm not going to get 36 touches i'm going to get 147. gotcha you're getting tons of touches because 18:1418 minutes, 14 secondsthey're they're seeing your stuff all the time yeah and it doesn't mean that everybody is going to watch every video no of course but as they scroll subconsciously like oh there he is 18:2218 minutes, 22 secondsoh there he is oh there he is day after day after day after day sure so when the moment comes whether it's today or in 18:2918 minutes, 29 secondsfour years that they have a real estate need it's top of mind like they've seen you 513 times 18:3618 minutes, 36 secondsit's really difficult for them to not for their brain automatically did not just yeah they're thinking hey tony tony there he is so that's my intention my intention i 18:4518 minutes, 45 secondsdon't know when you're going to need to do something but that day i'm going to be in your thinking of me yeah that's it which makes sense and and it's in a very 18:5318 minutes, 53 secondsnon-obtrusive way too right you know you're right uh you know the cold calling different things like that of course nobody really likes nobody wants that you know eight o'clock 19:0119 minutes, 1 secondphone call from and i feel like you you kill two birds with one stone because because it's educational content sure once they've watched so much when when 19:0919 minutes, 9 secondsthey finally when we finally have to do something number one they feel like they know me already sure so they're familiar with my communication 19:1619 minutes, 16 secondsstyle they've been following me and stuff and they're they're educated you know they watch videos on closing costs on you know on buying points on all these 19:2419 minutes, 24 secondsdifferent things and i feel like you also we start to do our part to fill that gap of a lack of 19:3119 minutes, 31 secondseducation within the real estate industry which which is very important to do right 19:4019 minutes, 40 secondsso i like that um for okay so so you know for other people that are looking to you know kind of get into 19:4919 minutes, 49 secondssocial media and stuff like that you know what organic growth strategies would you give them so what what has worked for me is you 19:5719 minutes, 57 secondswant to establish something that's called your pillar content which is which is this show and so whether it's q a whether it's 20:0520 minutes, 5 secondswhatever whatever format that take i'm a fan of q a but in my opinion it's either q a or interviews or a combination of both okay so if you have a 15-minute 20:1420 minutes, 14 secondsshow that you do once a week that gives you a lot of content so for example what what i'll do is i'll answer five questions every week they're different 20:2220 minutes, 22 secondsquestions sometimes they're about business sometimes they're about team building real estate itself whatever whatever the case may be sure so five questions a week those five questions 20:3020 minutes, 30 secondsget chopped up into five individual clips for social media instagram facebook linkedin and so now from one 20:3720 minutes, 37 secondspiece of content you have five you take those you put it on the podcast now you have five separate little podcast clips and you have 10 pieces of content you 20:4620 minutes, 46 secondshave five topics you write five linkedin articles now you have 15. and so from one piece of content 20:5220 minutes, 52 secondsthere's a lot that you can take from it because one of the hardest things is how do i come up with new content all the time it's really difficult to do yeah 21:0021 minutesso the question is how do you take one piece of content and milk it for all it's worth i love that no um and when you do interviews you clip it you know 21:0921 minutes, 9 secondsif someone says something that you like you you clip those i like that 30 seconds yes so you clip that you post it and it just makes your content so much 21:1821 minutes, 18 secondsmore evergreen because it's not just one youtube video and that's it sure and it just dies there right love that yeah so for 21:2521 minutes, 25 secondssomebody that wants to get started just try to think about it in the macro of a long form show yeah not short form yeah 21:3221 minutes, 32 secondsbecause if you can just do tick tocks but you know it's easier to take a tick tock from an interview yep you can take 21:4021 minutes, 40 seconds13 if there's good content versus just the one tick tock that you can't really do much with on another platform i love 21:4821 minutes, 48 secondsthat you can tell uh you can tell tony tony has some experience in this area so i love you know i'm learning stuff here i like this so 21:5721 minutes, 57 secondsum well tony thanks for thanks for coming on this show um you know uh i love what you're doing uh 22:0522 minutes, 5 secondsi you know i love and maybe i'll you know it mirrors what we're trying to we're trying to be like you i guess you know with some of this stuff right you know we're trying 22:1222 minutes, 12 secondsto get that educational stuff out there trying to teach people i think it's a good way to i mean again if you know if we're trying to help people in fact when we were talking 22:2022 minutes, 20 secondsbefore you were talking um you know with minorities too and stuff like that trying to get more you know stuff out there because you do a spanish show too i do i do you know which i love 22:2822 minutes, 28 secondsright and there's an even greater need there yeah you know there's a ton of content in english yeah there's not really there's not that much in spanish 22:3622 minutes, 36 secondsso i feel like with the internet a lot of people are going to be able to do things without you and i they're going to have that option sure for example 22:4422 minutes, 44 secondswe're talking about rocket mortgage sure yeah people can download the app and they can apply for a mortgage without you sure so that's going to become more 22:5122 minutes, 51 secondsand more prevalent buyers with eye buyers and things so i think we need to change what our value prop is yeah of 22:5922 minutes, 59 secondswhat's up here versus just what we're selling you does that make sense because nobody likes to be sold and the information is out there for free and 23:0723 minutes, 7 secondsthere are resources that eliminate you and i if somebody doesn't want to use us so once you face that reality you're like i need to become the source so if 23:1523 minutes, 15 secondspeople can can feel that ryan teaches me about real estate about investing but there's value there there's value there exactly and so now they're going to be 23:2223 minutes, 22 secondslike well i could use rocket mortgage but what about what if uh what if there's something that i don't know he's willing to teach me and i've 23:3023 minutes, 30 secondslearned from his videos so there's a higher propensity that they're going to call you versus you know somebody else sure if they can get the same deal or better 23:3823 minutes, 38 secondswith us then rock it then of course for example yeah you did this i just saw your your bit about um your guarantee oh sure yeah 23:4623 minutes, 46 secondsyeah yeah the work hardening guarantee yeah work hard guaranteed that's that's valuable yeah so if people know that it's like oh shoot yeah you know like 23:5423 minutes, 54 secondsthat's cool that that's sure sure that can give me a competition with nothing like that so i think that those things are creative and it just gives people 24:0224 minutes, 2 secondsmore value at the end of the day love it love it no tony thank you uh thanks for 24:0924 minutes, 9 secondscoming on the show uh i obviously uh really enjoyed having you here so no thanks for the invitation i love it um 24:1724 minutes, 17 secondswell okay we're gonna wrap this up thank you everybody for listening and uh obviously subscribe to our podcast you can find us on all the different places 24:2524 minutes, 25 secondsand uh and probably some more after talking to tony here so you know we'll have to get on other places but thanks guys appreciate it
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