Guru Amber Vermeulen with FC Tucker

Announcer: 0:01

Advisors Mortgage Group is proud to present in these real estate gurus hosted by Rick Ripma and Ian Arnold, the hard working mortgage guys, please contact Rick and Ian for all of your mortgage needs at HardWorkingMortgageGuys.com That's HardWorkingMortgageGuys.com Now here's the hard working mortgage guys, Rick Ripma and Ian Arnold.

Rick Ripma: 0:24

Welcome Indy's real estate gurus. And before we get into the meat of today's show, I want to remind you that for the most up to date information on mortgages in the Indian real estate market, but a HardWorkingMortgageGuys.com That's HardWorkingMortgageGuys.com. And we are recording today from the advisors Mortgage Group studio. And I'm Rick Ripma, the hardworking mortgage guy, and I've had the honor of helping over 5200 Folks, finance a home, closing over $1 billion in mortgages, my team and I believe in custom tailored loans, not the one size fits all approach. We believe that there is a best mortgage for you, and we are the team to deliver it.

Ian Arnold: 1:04

And I'm Ian Arnold part of Rick's hard working mortgage team and I've been in the financial industry for 15 years, helping people purchase what they want and build their overall wealth or even their credit score if that's what they're looking to do.

Rick Ripma: 1:16

And we're very excited today to have a nd another India's real estate guru that I cannot pronounce their last name properly, most likely, but I'm gonna give it a shot and then you can fix it for me Amber, it's Amber for vermilion melon.

Amber Vermeulen: 1:30

Mulan. tried again for Mulan,

Rick Ripma: 1:33

Mulan.

Amber Vermeulen: 1:36

Just how it's spelled or just how it's spelt. So it's ver and then mule, and then the Lin. Ver Mulan.

Rick Ripma: 1:43

Mulan. Perfect. And you're with FC Tucker. Yep. And the Patterson collection. Yep. And then I guess the Patterson collection. There's there's three, how many? How many teams?

Amber Vermeulen: 1:56

So there's two of us now? Okay. Yep. So it's just myself and my team leader, Rachel Patterson. And we started up last year. She's in real estate a little bit longer than that. But we joined as a team last year, and we've just been going since then.

Rick Ripma: 2:10

Yeah. And it's, uh, you're one of the top producing teams at fc Tucker. Yep. And FC Tucker is one of the top producing in Indiana. Right. And it's probably not one of it, probably. Yes, it is. Yes, it is. So you're, you're on you're on a top performing team. And just, that's fantastic. And I know you. I won't read all this, but I know you're you're you coach soccer do that center grove. I do. And then there's another big piece you help organize in the fight night? Yeah. What is that?

Amber Vermeulen: 2:45

Yeah. So we actually had it when I went to high school there as well. But basically, we raised money for breast cancer fighters. And we ended up kind of giving back to the community in that way. They obviously do other organizations as well. But that's a big one that I helped kind of put together this past year. And I'm hoping that we're going to be able to get to do it again this year. But it's a huge event that we do all the girls wear pink. They have stuff that's all lined up where like the parents can pitch in to do things they can do like raffle tickets, they can donate, they can purchase things that goes towards that fund. And then at the end, we tally everything up, and either it goes to a person that could use it last year was actually myself that they ended up raising money for. And in the previous years, it goes towards the organization and then they choose, like a person that it could be going towards, or they use it to help research for breast cancer.

Rick Ripma: 3:42

Awesome. What a great project to be involved in a great charity to work with. It's pretty cool. Yeah, that's, that's awesome. And then you you went to school, I guess. At center girl,

Amber Vermeulen: 3:53

I went to high school synagogue. Yes.

Rick Ripma: 3:54

And then you went to the University of Indianapolis. I did. And then you were getting I remember you telling me and I have it written down here you went you were going to IUPUI to get your doctorate

Amber Vermeulen: 4:04

in physical therapy and physical therapy. Yeah, I

Rick Ripma: 4:07

really loved it.

Amber Vermeulen: 4:08

I did not. I did not. I loved it in the moment. And then I went and I hated it. Love the people love the professors but did not like the material and decided that's probably not what I should

Rick Ripma: 4:22

be doing. And so your found your true passion is real estate

Amber Vermeulen: 4:26

I did in a weird way. I was not necessarily looking for it. But when I was in school, Rachel, my team leader, she kept posting these things on social media. And I would DM her and I was like, what do you do? Like what is this? Can you explain it to me a little bit and she was like, Yeah, sure. So we went and got coffee. I was still in school at this time. And I was like, You are crazy. I don't know how you could live on all commission. I don't know how you could live with that much flexibility and not having structure my whole life. I've been a very structured person where like someone tells me when I needed to be at practice, when I had to be at school when we had a game, all of that. So I didn't really have that flexibility. So I was like, no, no. So I kept going in school than I had talked to. He was my fiancee at that time, but I was like, I don't think I should be in PT. School. I don't think I want to do this. I went and talked to the dean, they were like, Okay, well, you can temporarily withdraw, figure out if you want to come back or not. So I said, Okay, I took them up on that. I was drill went and worked full time at a PT clinic, loved the people, again, hated physical therapy. So reached out to Rachel again, we got coffee, again, talked things over. And I was like, I had a few questions that I honestly, like, I didn't understand how people got paid. And I didn't understand how you could continue living comfortably, but also got to do all of these things and got to see all these new people. So we kept talking, and I talked to my husband, and he was like, just just try it. And I was like, Are you sure because he's also an all commission. And I was like, That sounds terrible to people or commission to try to pay everything. And he was like, Just do it. If you are interested in it, just try it. So I bought the textbooks and decided not to go back to PT school, and started classes literally like the next week. Awesome. Yeah.

Rick Ripma: 6:29

And did you do that fast track course? Or did you it

Amber Vermeulen: 6:32

took me forever? Yes, I ended up getting diagnosed with breast cancer during trying to figure all of that out. So then I was doing my chemo while I was taking the classes. So it took way longer than it should have. I would like read a part of the material would forget chemo brain is a real thing yesterday, I literally could not remember what I was reading. So I think I would read the same page like 10 times before I would actually even process what I was reading. So it took a long time. But then when it was finished, I was very thankful because it made me remember why I did not like school again. But I so it took me I think it was honestly probably about five months, because I was in treatment for quite some time. And I napped a lot, and would read like a page a day, and then would put it away and then I'd come back to it. But through the whole process. I mean, my team leader was amazing. She was like, literally, please take care of yourself. And then when you're ready to start working, you let me know, and then we'll go from there. And that was like, okay, so it could not have came at the more perfect time for myself in everything to be able to take that step back heal, but then also continue that education to get me to the next level of working. So it was pretty cool. Yeah, but

Ian Arnold: 7:58

you say five months. If you put that in five months, it is not too long. It might have been longer than you what Yeah, but you got to think it to learn a profession or the rules of the professionals. Yeah, honest. Five months isn't too long. It just but I mean, cuz was it if you go to a vocational school for like tech, or electrician, or your 18 months to two years, so hey, just looking at net. Nice. I cut off all that time, I did want an only five minutes. Think of

Amber Vermeulen: 8:29

it like that. That is true. I'll look at that. Next time.

Rick Ripma: 8:34

What does show a lot of dedication, and obviously, you had to feel like it really was your passion to to do that through that time. I think that shows people what kind of person you are.

Amber Vermeulen: 8:46

Yeah, it was it definitely was a savior for me. But I was also coaching at that time as well. And so it gave me something to like wake up to try to accomplish that day, because most of my time, I was like sitting on the couch, I was sleeping, waiting for my husband to get home from work to talk to someone because I hadn't really seen anyone all day. And I was like How was work? How are you doing? So the poor guy he was like, very overwhelmed when he would come home. But it was nice because it gave me a purpose at that point to if I want to be successful next year, or the following year, or 10 years from now, I have to do this now, even if it takes me forever and opening that book. And that moment was the last thing I wanted to do. Because I did not want to sit and try to learn everything when in actuality I wanted to lay on the couch and watch TV. But I had a goal. And I knew that that meant that I had to finish the exams in order to reach that goal. And so it was kind of a no brainer at that point.

Ian Arnold: 9:52

So did you learn all your stuff off HGTV and then selling homes?

Amber Vermeulen: 9:57

No I'm not quite a bit of a different approach. You can tell me. No, right? I do actually really like those shows. But no.

Ian Arnold: 10:08

My five year old daughter is now we turned it on one time she sat down now she's obsessed with it. Oh, yeah, she'd rather watch that than cartoons. And I'm like, Alright, this is kind of weird, but we'll go with it. I mean, you might as

Rick Ripma: 10:19

well. You've got a real estate agent making right there.

Ian Arnold: 10:23

I mean, we'll see. All right, so. So since you're somewhat new to it, what's your favorite part? So

Amber Vermeulen: 10:33

definitely, oh, I would say a couple of things. One, my favorite part did end up being the flexibility between everything. At first I was terrified. Now, I love it. But the other part is the ability to go and have conversations with people and work with them throughout a period of time, but also allowing myself to kind of be the introvert that I am, and like, come back home and like work on my laptop for a little bit. So I like the balance of being able to go talk to people being able to work with them, help them throughout this huge, most of the time, it's, you know, the biggest decision from a financial standpoint that they're going to make until they purchase another home, essentially. And so, that's pretty cool to be able to be a part of, and to be able to walk through that whole process with them. I would say that's definitely my two favorite things about the job.

Rick Ripma: 11:28

Yeah, it's, it's, it's such a different career. And if if that doesn't excite somebody, I think it's tough for them to be really in real estate, because it is, it is a big piece of it. Yeah. And it's so fulfilling to be able to do that. So, in your opinion, what characteristics or traits should someone look for when they're interviewing a real estate agent to hire them?

Amber Vermeulen: 11:54

Well, there's so many agents now I feel like, especially when COVID happened, like everyone got their license. And so, you know, I think the biggest thing is to make an impact, like, each person knows another person, like you're not in a field where it's like, you're very particular, where it's like, you know, there's 10 of you to choose from, it's, there's tons of people to choose from. So for me, I always try to tell my clients like, do your guys's personalities fit? Like, do our personalities go together? Do you trust them? Do they put people first instead of money first? Because for me? Yes, it's nice. I mean, of course, it's nice. Everyone wants to make money, right? You need money to live. But what makes it different? And what makes an agent different is them putting the person first versus putting a deal first, like everyone is still a person. It's very emotional, whether they want to admit it or not or not. But it's it's very emotional process. And so you have to be able to look at it from their perspective as well and put them as a person first before the deal and before the paycheck. And I feel like that is huge. When you're looking for an agent.

Rick Ripma: 13:12

I think it's critical. Yeah, I think it's absolutely the most important thing. But we are coming up on break. What is the best way for somebody to contact you if they have any real estate needs?

Amber Vermeulen: 13:22

Yeah. So you can shoot me a text, a phone call or an email. All three work. I'm on my phone nonstop. So basically, any of those three work and what's the best phone number? Yeah, it's 31764056570317640056. Yep. Okay, I wrote it, right. I

Ian Arnold: 13:45

just can't read. So now let's Cedric and Rick, how would they get ahold of us?

Rick Ripma: 13:49

HardWorkingMortgageGuys.com That's HardWorkingMortgageGuys.com. And after the break, we're gonna talk more with Amber and actually find out, you know how those criteria she just talked about? Applied to her business.

Unknown: 14:03

Advisors, mortgage brokers licensed by Indiana Department of Financial Institution equal housing opportunity. NMLS 33041 Rick Ripma NMLS 664589.

Rick Ripma: 14:11

Hi, I'm Rick Ripma. With the hard work and mortgage guys and advisors Mortgage Group, where we believe delivering the best mortgage for you is why we exist and it's how we all succeed. We believe

Unknown: 14:20

honesty, kindness and hard work are how we honor each client

Ian Arnold: 14:24

and hardworking mortgage guys, we believe in custom tailored loans, not the one size fits all approach.

Unknown: 14:30

Do you believe in always presenting you with all your options? So you get the loan you want the way you want it? We believe in continually monitoring the rules, rates and market trends. So you don't have to we believe in working hard to meet your closing date so that your entire plan isn't upended. We believe in offering the same quick online process that the bookstore mortgage companies brag about whether you're refinancing or buying your first home, we believe

Rick Ripma: 14:54

there is the best mortgage for you and we believe we are the team to deliver it. Find us Online at hardworking mortgage guys.com.

Announcer: 15:06

Brought to you by advisors Mortgage Group, where we believe the more you know about financing a home, the less stressful buying and refinancing will be.

Ian Arnold: 15:20

All right, so we'll come back from the break. We do have Amber here, going through a very interesting story of how she got into the business and everything. But we do have to the question of the week we have to now it's time for questions with the gurus. The question of the week is sponsored by advisors Mortgage Group where we fit your mortgage to fit your needs. Contact us today to get your free mortgage plan at hard working mortgage guys.com. That is hard working mortgage guys.com. All right. Amber, what was your first car?

Amber Vermeulen: 16:00

It was a I can't even remember the year 2004 Chevy Malibu. And I wrecked it in the first I think maybe like two months I got it. And my I didn't hit another car. But I hit a pole. It was raining and my car slid straight off the road. hydroplaned I was actually going below the speed limit too. But my dad was like, we just got this car. You're not getting another one. So we beat down the hood. We painted it white. And then I continued driving that car until I could purchase another one. Wow. So it was very interesting.

Rick Ripma: 16:46

It was great. Now those those thing poles?

Amber Vermeulen: 16:49

I know they got in the way. Yeah, it was it was not great. You better complain

Ian Arnold: 16:53

to Senator Grove down there and be like, you need to move your polls a little further. Well,

Amber Vermeulen: 16:56

yeah, it was definitely my fault. But I learned not to hit things in that cars are expensive.

Rick Ripma: 17:06

Yeah, hitting things. It's not good. To whenever I've hit anything, it's just never been good for my car. Right? Yeah. But we've all I would say most people have hit something.

Amber Vermeulen: 17:16

Of course. I mean, you have to I feel like to be a registered driver. You had to have hit something in your career.

Rick Ripma: 17:22

And I actually think this sounds weird, but I think it kind of helps. Because until you have an accident, you don't actually realize the force involved in driving a car. Because a lot of people die when they hit a pole.

Amber Vermeulen: 17:34

Yeah, right. I got super lucky my car turned and I ended up hitting the passenger side actually went down into a hill. And the only reason I didn't hit head on is because there was another poll on the ground that my car turned and I hit the passenger side. And it hit like the side of my wheel almost. But like myself, I was fine. I was just terrified that my parents were gonna be mad at me that I wrecked the car. But that was it.

Rick Ripma: 18:01

I understand that. Yeah. I will later. First thing they care about is whether you're okay. The second thing is why the hell did you?

Amber Vermeulen: 18:08

Yes, that's exactly what happened. It was are you fine. And I was like hysterically freaking out. And I was like, Yes, I can't afford I can't afford car insurance. Our deal was like, growing up, like if you wrecked your car, you then instantly got all of your bills, and you got your car insurance, like if it was your fault. So like if you were texting and driving and doing something, are you rear ended someone you're not paying attention? Well, this when we purchased the car, they told us that we needed new tires while I was 16. I don't know anything about tires. So I kept driving it. And then it was downpouring one day and I was coming home from work and I literally just slid straight off the road. And so then it was no longer I was I literally called and I didn't even say anything. I was like I got into an accident. I can't afford my bills. I can't pay car insurance. I am too young for this. I don't make enough money for this. And my dad was like stop talking Amber, are you fine? And I was like, Oh, yes, I'm fine. But Dad, I can't pay anything. And he was like, I don't care. Are you fine? Where are you at? And I was literally like 10 minutes from our house like so close. I barely made it out of my work parking lot, actually. But he was like, were you speeding? And I was like, No, I was going 10 miles under the speed limit. And he was like, Okay, I'll be there. You were fine. And I was like, Okay, I'm so sorry. And then that was that and then he was like Well, here's your punishment. You're gonna keep driving it and that car when we went over a bump the whole car would go up would come down. You would like sag to the ground. It was very embarrassing.

Rick Ripma: 19:43

You loved it though, didn't you? Yeah,

Amber Vermeulen: 19:45

I learned a lot. Yeah, I can say that. I learned

Ian Arnold: 19:49

hey, if it was your fault, you have the issue now. Just blame it on God say yes. If it wasn't raining no been just fine.

Amber Vermeulen: 19:57

Well, what's bad is my cousin literally got I had an accident the exact same day. And so my poor grandpa was like getting stories from both sides. And he was like, alright, is everybody fine? What is happening today? He like lost it. So it was it was rough day for the parent household.

Rick Ripma: 20:14

Yeah, accident. That's yeah, it was rough. So we were talking about what somebody that should look for when they're looking to hire a real estate agent. And and you gave us the traits you were talking about. So based on that criteria, tell us about your business how your business is set up?

Amber Vermeulen: 20:27

Yes. So before I was even allowed to join the Patterson collective, I had to talk to Rachel about what my goals were and what my thoughts were on running my business and how I wanted to do it. Because for our team, there is a very high standard, there's a lot of mediocre agents in the world. And they give everyone a really bad rep. And people don't want to talk to agents, because they think they're just going to like swarm them and just like, forever be money hungry about those type of things. And so she actually has a therapy background, and I have a psychology background. And so we both kind of aligned in the fact that, yes, it is a business. But it's also a transaction. It's not necessarily that business transaction, it's an emotional transaction between you and another individual, or you and individuals, if they're, you know, a couple purchasing a home. But that was something that was actually mandatory before I was even allowed to participate in real estate on her team. And it just so happened that I already wanted to do my business that way. So I aligned perfectly, because I actually really hate sales and the fact that like, everyone tries to sell you, I don't believe that us as agents should be trying to sell other people, I think they should be trying to sell us on why this home is the best for them. So when I go to a house, I'm like, Okay, why do you like this house? Why don't you like this house? And I feel like a lot of people don't ask those questions. They're just like, Okay, so do Do you want to offer on it? And they just go straight to Okay, well, do you want to do you know, like, at one point, obviously, like, do you want to go how far above list price do you want to go? How much of a gap Do you want to bring and all of these things. And I think it's important to understand like financially where your clients are, and then have that honest conversation with them. I'm a very direct individual. That comes pros and cons a lot of times, so lots of good and bad things about that. But I set my business up around that. And I feel like most of the time, my clients do honestly respect that. Because I would rather be honest with them and be like, you know, I don't think this is a good buy, which I've actually told a client not to submit an offer on a house that they wanted to offer. Because after running comps, they were going to be in the water before they even moved in. And so I feel like that is huge. And most people would have just wrote the offer. I called him at midnight and told them I couldn't submit the offer. And I was like if you want me to I will. But my morals are telling me that you should not offer on this house. And I think that's huge. Like I think that's definitely something that most people don't look to do. And they don't want to take the extra time to be that person instead of be an agent.

Ian Arnold: 23:21

But that is what makes you want to top gurus is you're putting people first the same thing Rick and I tried to do here is look, I don't we don't care. We like you said earlier, we need money to survive. But look, we take care of people. It'll work out in the end, the money will come but you take care of people. And that's how we do our business. And that's a great business philosophy for you guys, too. Because, I mean, like you said, that one person, even if it's a, let's say a small house or whatnot. All right. Well, then they got brothers and sisters. Oh, look, they look how she helped me. Yeah, got mom and dad. It'll come just take care of people.

Amber Vermeulen: 23:58

Yeah, that's definitely how I've been trying to do my business so far. At least it's been working. So I'm going with

Rick Ripma: 24:04

it. Yep. And how did that customer react?

Amber Vermeulen: 24:08

They were very thankful in the moment I think shocked because it was midnight. Pick up my phone, because we were writing the offer and it was like 11 When we started writing the offer. But they were shocked and they asked why. And I just started explaining and I told him I was like I do work for you. So at the end of the day, I will do whatever you tell me to do. But I need to tell you what the numbers are saying and then let you make that decision. And they were super thankful they ended up getting a house ended up being a couple of weeks later but for less than that one and they absolutely love it and they ended up having their first child in it. So it was pretty cool.

Ian Arnold: 24:52

So it was your husband sitting on your shoulder going. These beats these numbers are stolen out up and you're just like you know what I think he Write

Amber Vermeulen: 25:01

that part myself. Our bills on the other hand, he looks up from those I can read a computer, so I got that part.

Rick Ripma: 25:11

But you know, what I hear you saying is, is exactly the way I believe it works. Okay. And that is you educate the people. It's not your decision, you, you realize it's not your decision, but you have to educate them so they can make the proper decision for them. Yeah. And they did make the proper decision for them. And they're probably so much happier with the house that they bought than the one that they were going to make an offer on. It's just, it makes it makes it work for everybody. I just, I think that that's the right way to do business. That's the way I do it. It's why I've done it forever. I just think it's the right way you educate you help. And then they make that decision.

Amber Vermeulen: 25:53

Yeah, education is huge in real estate, because people just, they don't understand how it works. And they just assume, like things happen. And so like, we do a buyer's consultation with everyone, before they get started. And in that moment, I think their head is gonna explode from the amount of information we gave them. But then I explain, I would rather you be stressed out now and have 10,000 questions that I can answer, versus when we go to submit an offer. And then all of a sudden, you have all these 10,000 questions, and you start panicking. Because now we already set the expectation. We explained it, I educated you, you ask questions. Of course, you still have questions throughout the process. But you're able to get that out at the beginning and you kind of lose some of those nerves. So that way, the transaction, it's smoother, it's not as stressful for them, it's more easier because they already feel like, okay, well, that weights been lifted off my shoulders, I was already able to ask all those questions. Now I know we're doing or now I've heard of that before. They might be like, Okay, I remember you saying earnest money, what was that again? Or something like that, but they've heard of it. So it kind of eliminates that additional stress and makes it so much easier?

Rick Ripma: 27:00

It helps them? For me anyway. I like to process things. So if you fill me with a bunch of information and things I don't know, that's okay. I want it early, like you're doing it because I want to be able to process the information. Because it takes me a little bit. I know, there's some people that aren't like that, they may be able to do it right up front. But for me, it helps a lot. Besides that, I'll take that information. I'll go look it up. Yeah. And it helps a lot for me to be able to do that. So it's an I think, obviously, I think it's important, but I think you have to do that. And it helps most people. And those who don't, though, tell ya, I don't need this, you know, move on. But I do see how that is extremely valuable. And I'm his way I would want to be worked with it's a way, you know, we make sure we have a consultation so that they understand, you know, for us, it's they have to understand payment. Yep, they have to understand cash to close. You know, they have to understand price and how that compares. I like to explain our team, just to give them the idea so that they understand what's going to happen. And like you said, it just makes them more comfortable. Yeah. And that's I think that's incredibly important. Yep. I do want to get to my next question. I don't

Ian Arnold: 28:21

think we're had to do that on the podcast, we will have to

Rick Ripma: 28:23

do it on the podcast because I want to find out your superpower. So on the podcast, we're gonna start with your superpower. But we are running out of time. So please join us on the podcast side. And before we go, how would they get a hold with you?

Amber Vermeulen: 28:39

So they can call text or email me and the best is probably a call or text and it's 317-640-5657

Rick Ripma: 28:48

That's for any real estate needs. Contact Amber, how do you pronounce your last name Romeo and Romeo?

Amber Vermeulen: 28:55

I don't know why I can't. It's Dutch. It's hard. It's not English.

Rick Ripma: 28:58

That's what the worst part is. I'm Dutch. Okay.

Amber Vermeulen: 29:01

Okay. Well, my husband is Dutch. So

Rick Ripma: 29:03

yeah, me too. But if you need to get hold of me in there i for any mortgage information, the hard working mortgage guys.com That's hard work at mortgage guys.com And we look forward to seeing you on the podcast side.

Announcer: 29:18

You're listening to in these real estate gurus with Rick Ripma and Ian Arnold. To hear the conclusion of this interview, go to hardworking mortgage guys.com and hit the podcast tab. Branch NMLS number 33041. Recruitment NMLS number 664589. Ian Arnold's NMLS number is 1995469 equal housing opportunity some restrictions apply.

Unknown: 29:42

Well first off thank you for joining us, Danielle. I appreciate it. And I just was curious how did you come to find out about Rick Ripma and advisors mortgage Oh, I was looking for a mortgage for myself for a brand new home that I was building and I wasn't sure the direction to go. I didn't have anybody in mind. So I kind of just spoke to whoever I could speak to, I got their number and everything seemed to be exactly what I was looking for. So I went with them. The thing I liked the most about Rick and his advisors mortgage is that I could go and upload things online. And I didn't have to always be on the phone with them or sending them documents or trying to look for certain things that I needed to get the process going, which was really great for me, I had a processor named Mark Coleman, who really helped me out in making sure I had everything I needed. Because I, I didn't know the first thing about having a mortgage. So it was awesome to have so much help. I think probably what I've benefited from the most is really just the understanding that sometimes I would get busy. And maybe I forgot to upload a document or I forgot to do a certain part of the process in a timely manner. And they would get right back with me and it wasn't like a, hey, we really need this right now. It was always, Hey, just wanted to make sure you still remember that we need this. Well, you don't get that too much. In this day and age, it seems like most people are either, you know, very demanding of something they need from you. And they need it right now. And, and I agree. I've seen that in Rick's attitude with us over over the last 10 years that he's very patient, but also helpful to get the right things he needs. So, exactly. In conclusion is Rick Ripma and advisors mortgage, somebody that you would use in the future and or tell your friends and family about? Absolutely. And I just want to thank them for all the effort they put in to help me find my dream home.

Announcer: 31:33

Ranch NMLS number 33041 Recruitment NMLS number 664589 equal housing opportunity, some restrictions apply.

Rick Ripma: 31:39

I'm Rick Ripma, you can go to HardWorkingMortgageGuys.com Hey,

Ian Arnold: 31:42

welcome back. And if you're tuning in from the radio, you chose to write chapter so congratulations. So, Amber, I'm gonna let Rick ask his famous question.

Rick Ripma: 31:53

My favorite question is what's your superpower? Or superpowers?

Amber Vermeulen: 31:58

Oh, that's a hard one. Maybe mine too, reading? Maybe

Rick Ripma: 32:11

that's a great superpower. To hire people read minds. That's phenomenal. Oh, go with

Amber Vermeulen: 32:18

that. I feel like that'd be helpful. Um,

Ian Arnold: 32:22

so what do you mean, Miss Cleo? Yeah,

Amber Vermeulen: 32:24

I mean, I think that I mean, I hope other people think so too. I feel like I do a really good job of I know who I am as a person and my personality, but depending on who I'm talking to, that does change slightly due to their personalities and the way that they're kind of presenting themselves. And having that ability to see like, okay, are they stressed out? Because they don't want to purchase a home? Or are they stressed out because the home purchase process is stressful. And so I feel like I have been doing a really good job of separating those two things, because those are two very different things. And if someone wants to get out of the deal, because they're like, Heck, no, this is not the house I want. That's one thing. But if someone's like, No, I don't want it, I don't want it because they're actually just freaking out that they're purchasing a house and they see the price point, then that's a completely different situation. And that's something that I feel like the slight part of my psychology background and undergrad has helped with is the ability to kind of read the situation on things and try to connect with individuals based on where they're at in their lives currently, or what they might emotionally need in that standpoint.

Rick Ripma: 33:45

What I'm, that's, that's phenomenal. But I also think that one of your superpowers, and I have a couple in mind just from talking with you. I think one is you care. Very true. And I probably too much sometimes. But I think that's, you know, it's like anything, are are the things that are our biggest positives also can be negatives, right? Because they overlap. So I think I think that is really important. And I think because of your story on how you got into real estate and what you went through your commitment level has to be very high. You committed to it. And I mean, you you, you went through a lot to become a real estate agent.

Amber Vermeulen: 34:28

I did. But I mean, even as a kid, like I played sports all growing up, I was very dedicated to academics and athletics. I played soccer in college, I wanted to go to grad school someone actually told me I would never get into grad school. So this is really bad. But one of the main reasons I went to grad school was because I was told I would not get in. Um, and so that is a big thing for me is you know, staying consistent and if I say I'm going to do something, then I'm dedicated to that and it's going to happen at some point. So I would agree with that as well. That's

Rick Ripma: 35:01

just what I've noticed. Yeah. So, but however, they don't compare to mind reading

Amber Vermeulen: 35:07

for fun, you know,

Ian Arnold: 35:09

we've been doing this for like 3040 episodes. This was the first mind reader

Amber Vermeulen: 35:15

first. I mean, that's pretty good.

Ian Arnold: 35:18

I mean, I fly with style out the window. And that's pretty

Rick Ripma: 35:24

good. It doesn't really unwell. But

Amber Vermeulen: 35:26

nobody asked how you land.

Ian Arnold: 35:29

That's very all and when you're a pilot? No, that is true. That is important. All right. So I do have a question. This one, Rick asked his favorite song last, my favorite. Okay. What is the most memorable deal? And the reason I asked that question or type of question is, it's kind of nice to hear the story. So for instance, Rick, and I just recently did a reverse mortgage. And this older lady was having an issue playing with cost going up this past couple of years. And so it made a dramatic impact. And we were able to walk her through that and the emotion she had afterwards. So do you have a memorable deal that stands out,

Amber Vermeulen: 36:10

I have so many memorable deals, I'm, I would say, one of them was one of my more recent ones. Actually, we close like, towards the end of the year, this past year. And it was a zillo lead, actually. So I did not know them prior. They had worked with someone previously. And when I answered the phone, she was very, like, hardcore, very direct, very specific. And she was like, I've been in the military, I expect you to show up on time, I expect you to be presentable. I expect you to know your information. And I was absolutely terrified to meet this person, in person. Because I was like, Yes, ma'am. I understand. Like, I have a lot of family members who are in the military, like, I will be there on time, don't you worry. And so I'm like, memorizing every information about this house, like before we go in, because I'm just like, so horrified that she's gonna ask me all these questions, I'm just gonna blank or I'm gonna have to check my phone. And that's going to be like, not good. So we get there, she had a really bad experience previously, because the agent just like didn't show up. And so she was very adamant upon that. They are moving here from Washington, they knew one person in the entire state of Indiana. And that was it. And so they wanted to live close to these people, which gave us like, a five mile radius to find them a house like very small. And while we were looking through everything, and like doing our search, we found a house, there were some issues, we actually ended up having to mutually release, we kept looking, they did get a little discouraged at that, because they were like, I don't understand, you know, like, this is just taking a little bit longer than we want. And I had to kind of take a step back and explain, like, we have a five mile radius, it's going to take us a little bit longer, it's not just going to, you know, come up super fast. So I did work with them for quite some time. And we ended up finding them the perfect house. But when we were looking at this last house, she actually had told me that she had just got diagnosed with cancer. And so I like took a step back. And I was like, Do you want to even keep looking for houses? Like, I mean, are you fine, like what is going on type of thing. And so she kind of was explaining a few things. And she was about to start her chemo treatment, which she had been diagnosed previously, but she never did treatment or anything. When it came to chemo, she had radiation. And so she was freaking out about having having to get a port placed and having to start chemo. And so 99% of the time, I don't tell my clients anything about my past when it comes to that, unless it's necessary in a conversation like this. Um, and she, I told her, I was like, Well, don't stress out. I was like, I know it's scary. But I'll say the port placement is the easiest thing you could possibly do. And she was like, the look on her face was like pure shock. And I was like, I actually like just got diagnosed a couple years ago. I've been working like to get through everything. She said, There's no way you're 12 years old. I'm not 12 but true. And I was like she they didn't believe me. Her and her husband were absolutely shocked. I actually showed pictures of when I was bald because there's like there she was like there's no possible way. So we went and I kind of was able to connect with them on that level of literally just getting them ready for that it wasn't even the same cancer wasn't even the same diagnosis. But the fact of like her having another person to talk to about having the surgery to get her poor placed going in for chemo like the next week. She was asking me some Symptoms that came along with it, all of these things. And when we went to go close, they did end up offering on the house, and that we did go to close. And she had really bad days. And she had really good days. And we kind of worked around those. And at the table, she was asking me all of these things as a person and not as an agent. And that was huge for me that she was able to mean, we didn't know each other prior to this. So that's huge. To be able to have that connection to someone that we're not even like, we are not the same age, we have very different experiences in life, all these things. But she felt comfortable enough in me as a person and as an agent to ask, like personal questions in regards to treatment, and I still to this day, randomly reach out and ask how she's doing. So I would definitely say that's one of my favorite ones. It was very hard. But one of my favorite from like an emotional standpoint of connecting with someone. Yeah,

Rick Ripma: 40:58

it's amazing. Because, you know, here's this person, they come from Washington. Yeah. They don't know anybody here. They know one person. And they have the exact right agent who's gone through this very similar situation that can help help her walk through it. It always amazes me how these things just happen. Yeah. And it's we wouldn't you know, it came from Zillow, which means how many agents probably did

Amber Vermeulen: 41:23

randomly didn't answer a call or something that day. Yes, yeah. And I actually stepped out of a meeting to answer the call, which I almost never do. And I was like pacing when I answered the phone, because I was just so flustered. And I was like, I was actually talking to my husband about it, because I would come home and I would like talk about lino like what we had talked about. And I was like, I just want to help. And I know I can't, which is super hard. And I had never understood that from like, the opposite side. Because when I was diagnosed, everyone, of course, was like, I want to help, I want to help. And I was like, you can't really do anything, like, thanks. And from being on the opposite side of that, I was like, This is terrible. Like, because you do want to help, and you want to make sure everything is easy for them. And it's like, clean, and it's a clean slate and all of these things. And I mean, the reality is, is you can't, and so to be able to have those conversations still and her randomly call me or text me and be like, hey, my hair's falling out. What should I do? And I'm like, Oh, I'm really sorry. I know, that sucks. And so I'm like, here, we can do this, this and this type of thing. And that doesn't even have anything to do with real estate. You know, like, you don't get paid on that. That's, that's you being a person. That's not you being an agent, which I feel like, means more than you being an agent. So

Rick Ripma: 42:40

yeah, the deal even that more because yeah, it wasn't about the money, it was about what you did for her. Right. And that's, that's really important. And it is, it's obviously one of the, you know, the diseases, we had a good friend who was diagnosed, and I'm in the things you go through with chemo, and everything can just be, it's a lot devastating. And you know, it's great to have people who can who can help with that. So what are you looking most forward to? This year? You know, as you look out into the future,

Amber Vermeulen: 43:14

yeah, this year is a growing year, for sure. Last year was I was trying to survive. I know a lot of people don't last a full year in real estate. And so I was like, I'm gonna last, I'm gonna figure out what I need to do in order to survive, I had a few goals that I wanted to hit. And that was what I was striving for. This year, instead of necessarily having like a financial goal, or a I do have a sales goal, but it's more of like a, what kind of see I'm more have a units goal of trying to reach this year and a goal of expanding in the sense of making new connections and branching out versus using just people that I know. And so it's kind of putting myself into those other situations to just slowly expand and get it out there that I do real estate and that I'm not in PT school anymore, because I feel like that was a big thing. Everyone was like, Oh, how school and I'm like, Oh, actually, I'm not in school anymore type of thing. So that's definitely this year is trying to take it one step farther and just make it more knowledgeable that this is what I do as a career. And that it's not like a side job because I feel like a lot of people do when they think oh, yeah, you're in real estate. You're like, oh, part time and I'm like, No, full time.

Ian Arnold: 44:36

So sorry, no, you're gonna so what are you trying to do differently to to get more business this year?

Amber Vermeulen: 44:44

So I sat down this year and looked at where I'm getting my business from, to see what's working and what was not working. I realized soccer's working. I still play my husband and I do a huge A huge portion of my business was from people we played with or against. And so what we've been doing slowly is we've been joining more of soccer leagues, but not necessarily just on the south side. So we go, we actually play up here on Sunday nights. We play on the west side, we play on the south side. So we've been slowly expanding. And like on the west side, I joined a team where I know absolutely nobody. It's just myself that's on the team. It's an all female team. And I randomly got a message asking me if I wanted to play have never met the person before. And I was like, Sure. So we go, I play in that we play in two teams up on the north side. One is our team with our friends. And the other one is a team that we've joined. So I've definitely have been, instead of kind of steering away from soccer, I've because my initially I was wanting to kind of branch out and I was like, I need something besides soccer, I need to kind of go away from there. But when I realized a huge portion is soccer, I was like, why would I give up where all my success is coming from. So I'm kind of leaning more into that. I worked at Chicago's pizza for a really long time as well, in high school, and in college, and a little bit after college even. And so I have my face on all the napkins in the restaurant, and I get tons of messages of people being like, I wonder if I know an agent, and they like will send me a picture. And I'm like, You're welcome. I'm just like something small like that. And all my friends, like a lot of my friends work there. Like they're huge advocates for myself and my husband. So it's like, date, we're gonna dig into that go a little bit deeper into that. I did a sponsorship for a local soccer club that's by our house. And one of the people that's on the board, there is an agent, or is a client of mine currently. So another thing I'm working to do is social media to do better at social media, because everyone's on social media. Everyone pays attention to it. I'm really bad at it. I should be good, but I am not. So kind of taking the time to actually learn, like what works in social media and what doesn't work, and how to branch out from there. I've got a lot of people who like randomly DM me on that online. So I know it works. It's just making it work, better type of thing at that point.

Ian Arnold: 47:20

So do you surround the soccer fields with your signs all around?

Amber Vermeulen: 47:23

I don't actually, we sit on the sidelines, and we just talked to people. So I am very much an introvert. My husband is the most outgoing person you've ever met, he could talk to literally a door handle and have a full conversation and that would like totally caught him doing

Ian Arnold: 47:39

that. No, but

Amber Vermeulen: 47:41

he does. You it wouldn't surprise me if I did like, super outgoing. And so Hill, he is more of the one I'm really bad about introducing myself as an agent. So that's something that I'm going to work towards doing this year. And he's very much like he digs into people when he like talks to them. And he just genuinely wants to learn more about them. But he asked specific questions that then make people ask him what he does. And so then he's like, Oh, I'm a financial advisor. So then they're like, oh, and then they dig into that. And then he'll be like, oh, and my wife like this Amber, she does real estate type of things. And he has a lot of events that his work does, they do a lot of charity events. And so we go to them, and we sit at tables with people that we've never met. And so that's another thing that we've been slowly, kind of trying to introduce ourselves even to branch out just one step farther, because that is very out of my comfort zone of things to do. And so that's on the to do list this year as well. What sounds

Rick Ripma: 48:41

like what you do, and if there's, you know, new agents out there, you know, I think it's important to hear because you're, you're you've done phenomenally well in a short period of time, is that you first it sounds like you've worked your sphere of influence. And when I say worked, you just, you just are with them. It's not. When you say work, your sphere of influence, it's really just you're there you talk your friends, it's not really you're not you're not being the MLM multi level marketing person that shows up and everybody goes, you know, get away. I don't want to hear it anymore. First, almost everybody wants to talk about real estate and have questions. And so it's, they want to hear it. But then beyond that, you've also then said, Okay, I need to, I need to increase my sphere. So you're doing the things that you love to do. You know, like, I've never played soccer in my life. So for me it's going to play soccer would not be something I would do. But the things I like to do is what you're saying, Go do those things, and get out there and meet people. Yep. Because really isn't that what it's about is meeting people. Yeah,

Amber Vermeulen: 49:45

it's all you know, because everyone knows someone. So it's all in who you know, I will say the first thing I did to reach out to people because I had no idea what to do. I deemed so many people on social media. And I was like, hey, A, I guess it was, it could have been that I had talked to them once. Now is how I like started started because I just genuinely didn't know where to start. And I was getting very overwhelmed. Like how I'm supposed to get a paycheck, and how I'm supposed to get a person if if I don't know anyone who's actively looking. So IDM so many people. And I'll say, Kay, I just want to check in with you, I hope you're having a good start to the year. I recently switched careers, and I'm now a real estate agent at fc Tucker, are you? Or do you know anyone who's looking to buy or sell in the next two years? And I got quite a few of my first clients specifically from DMing them, and I hadn't talked to them in years. And then it kind of just slowly, like kept rolling. And then I kept posting a few things every now and then I would you know, when I would see people and they're like, Oh, hey, how are you doing? I kind of would just tell them that I've switched into a different field. And then it kind of just kept moving. And then it eventually was like, Okay, I can't do this. It is possible. I see how people are getting clients now. And I was like, Okay, then we'll just kind of keep going with what was working and go from there. Yeah, it's

Rick Ripma: 51:08

amazing. I had I had a loan officer that came to me after a year and he goes, Look, I've worked with all my friends. What am I supposed to do now? It's hard. It's It's scary. Yeah, right. But just like you he flourished with that. He figured it out. Yeah. But we are running out of time. So if somebody has any real estate needs or maybe wants to talk about soccer, what's the best way to contact you?

Amber Vermeulen: 51:32

Yeah, you can call or text at 317-640-5657

Rick Ripma: 51:38

and that's Amber and Please pronounce your last name again.

Amber Vermeulen: 51:41

Remember Vermaelen reveal it

Rick Ripma: 51:44

will not come out.

Ian Arnold: 51:46

anymore. The funny thing is her last name was probably Smith begin

Amber Vermeulen: 51:50

it was Carrie It was super simple.

Rick Ripma: 51:52

That I can do you pick that up? That's really good. So and you're with the

Amber Vermeulen: 51:59

Patterson group? Yes. The Patterson collective FC Tucker

Rick Ripma: 52:03

collective. I liked that. And I'd never I don't know why probably out there a lot. But I've never heard collective but

Amber Vermeulen: 52:08

no, it's very unique.

Rick Ripma: 52:09

That's what I thought yeah,

Amber Vermeulen: 52:10

she spent a lot of time working on it to make our brand something that stands out from the rest.

Rick Ripma: 52:14

That's awesome. That's great. If you need to get a hold of Ian or i It'sHardWorkingMortgageGuys.com That's HardWorkingMortgageGuys.com. And please subscribe to our channel. We don't want you to miss any of our shows.

Ian Arnold: 52:26

Yep, and reminder. If you know any friends, family or coworkers that are looking to buy, sell or refinance, please contact any of us and we'll be more than happy to help you. All right.

Rick Ripma: 52:34

We appreciate you joining us and have a great day.