Guru Andy Liechty 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 Annie and for all of your mortgage needs at HardWorkingMortgageGuys.com That's HardWorkingMortgageGuys.com. Now, here's the hard working mortgage guys, Rick Ripma, me and Arnold.

Rick Ripma: 0:24

Everyone. Before we get started, I just wanted to remind you that for the most up to date information on mortgages and real estate market, go to HardWorkingMortgageGuys.com. That's HardWorkingMortgageGuys.com. I'm Rick Ripma, your hard working mortgage guy and I've had the honor of working with over 5200 mortgage borrowers helping each one find their best mortgage option. As a certified mortgage planner, I know my team and I can guide you through the process and help you every step of the way.

Ian Arnold: 0:49

And I'm Ian Arnold Rick's hard working mortgage team. I've been in the financial industry for 15 years, and helping people purchase what they want and help them build their credit if they need to, or even build their overall wealth.

Rick Ripma: 1:02

And today, we're really fortunate and lucky to have a true Indy's real estate guru. Andy, I think it's lychee. But I need you to pronounce it.

Andy Leichty: 1:12

Right. I'm happy to help with doing that my whole life when people were saying, I bet you're better at it than me. Just a little bit maybe but not much. So actually all the time. So it is leaked D so lady and then t just like that leaked to Andy leaked.

Ian Arnold: 1:26

I think we're getting a phone call. And I think it's your mom's saying you pronounce it wrong.

Rick Ripma: 1:32

You know, I looked up, I always look online to see what's the best thing you know, how can I introduce somebody and get people to know who they are. And I found a couple reviews, I thought were really would really help people understand who you are. Okay, I think that's sometimes the best way they really get a whole, you know, understand somebody. This one comes from Zach from Carmel. And he said Andy provides the type of service that everyone promises but few deliver. I was impressed by his knowledge and attention to detail. I couldn't imagine a better person to have on your side. And then Ryan and and from Noblesville had this to say he went above our expectations of a real tour had our best interest in mind, he would listen to our needs, and provide feedback and suggestions how something should be a fun experience for everyone. And Andy made it that way. Andy, thanks for joining us. I appreciate it. I think those are phenomenal reviews. How would somebody get a hold of you if they needed to?

Andy Leichty: 2:28

Yeah, you know, there's a lot of ways they can get a hold of us. We're obviously on Facebook and YouTube and LinkedIn a lot. But just when wants to call us directly, they can reach out and and hit me up directly on my cell phone. And that number is 317-340-2056. And once again, that number is 317-340-2056. Awesome.

Ian Arnold: 2:53

So I always like to start because this is always an important, but let's be honest, it all starts with a family. So tell us a little bit about your family.

Andy Leichty: 3:03

Yeah, well, you know, how much time do you got? Right? Because, because I got a lot of family to talk about. Right. So. So I am, you know, like you mentioned the in, you know, I think family is the center of the center of all of us do. It's certainly the center when I do and I am blessed with an unbelievable wife Holly that I've been married to for over 16 years now. And we we have seven children. So did you just say I said seven. It's it's a perfect number. It's the prime it's a prime number so that your seven is a great number. We have ages 13 down to 11 months. So we've been in diapers for 13 years.

Ian Arnold: 3:40

Now you didn't you didn't name all your kids after the seven doors?

Andy Leichty: 3:43

We did now. We definitely have. We have reasons for the names of all our kids. We have four boys, three girls, Gabriel, Raphael, and Michael, which are Archangels are three of our boys. And then our newest baby, his name is Sebastian. And then our three daughters are Elizabeth, Mary and grace. So those are our seven kids. And, you know, I tell people all the time in the two immutable truths in our household is, is number one, we're never bored as you can imagine. And number two, we're always tired, right? So so we just accept that as a reality reality around our household and I tell what we're loving every minute I'm and that's for sure. It's a blessing.

Rick Ripma: 4:21

You know, it's it's funny, because my kids are considerably older than they're more your age. And it's when they went to college when the last one went to college, and I only had three Sure, right, sure, only three. But when the last one went to college, you know, my wife and I were looking at each other, like, what are we going to do now? Yeah, and it didn't we didn't even think about it until it actually happened or because you spent all your time running them around to go into their games. Absolutely. Going to school doing all that stuff, which at the time sometimes feels like a chore. Yep. But man, do you miss it?

Andy Leichty: 4:54

It will you know I appreciate you saying that wreck and I need to hear that right because people say all the time the days are long, but the years are short. Right. And I know you can attest to that with your kids. And, you know, that's something we're just enter entering the phase, our two oldest are 13 and 12. So kind of ended up running around stage, and especially, you know, juggling some some kids that aren't in school. Right, right, with some that are. But it's just one of those things that, you know, my wife and I, you know, highly, we just look back all the time. And we're like, you know, we know that this is the prime of our life. These are, these are blessed days that we have. And you know, and we try to keep that perspective in mind Absolutely. As much as we can. But yeah, it's certainly one of the great things about kids, I say, all the time, as, you know, kids force you to be a better person, right, and a lot of ways, right. And so, and my kids, they're just a blessing to me in terms of trying to help help me fulfill who I'm supposed to be right in there kind of reach my potential. So it really it's a gift, and we're really blessed for so

Rick Ripma: 5:50

and it's it's not just, it's not just all that it's they improve your life 100% Your life is a lot more full and better. When you have children, in my opinion. Absolutely.

Andy Leichty: 6:01

You know, that's something that people, you know, if they see us in the grocery store all the time, or, you know, they see just a large brood of us coming along, you'll come along shooter ever, we get comments a lot when you have a larger family and a lot, a lot of times people people would say, Wow, your hands are really full. And really our responses, you know, better full than empty. Right. And so, you know, it really is something that we're just really thankful for the opportunity to that we've been entrusted to raise our children. So it's it keeps us on our toes. That's for sure.

Rick Ripma: 6:30

One of the big benefits is you can take up the entire queue.

Andy Leichty: 6:34

Oh, it's well, it's one of the benefits. If you're on time, if you're not on time. It's kind of a problem, right? Sure, you're always on time. That's why I can't tell a lie. I'm on the radio right now. So I'm gonna say that.

Ian Arnold: 6:51

All right, so what got you into being into real estate?

Andy Leichty: 6:55

Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. And so, so I've been in the business for over 18 years now, I was actually a teacher at Hamilton, southeastern from 2000 to 2004. And, you know, really, what really happened was, I just got in touch with some information. I really, I love teaching, I loved every bit of it. You know, a lot of times when you change careers, the assumption that people make is you weren't happy where you were at. And one of the things that I've told people over the years is you I taught for four great years at Hamlin southeastern, and I can count on two hands, the number of bad days I had in four years, the kids were great, the teachers were gray just had a lot of respect for everybody, everybody that I worked with, but came across some information about investing in real estate at the time, I was 25. And single, and you know, and I really always kind of had a heart, you know, long term plan or a long term thinker. That's kind of how I'm wired up. And, you know, I was like, you know, what, I want to learn how to be that I can build some, some wealth for my family, right? So I really started studying about investing in real estate, learning what that would be, that was about in 2000, to 2003 actually bought my first rental property in 2004. Or excuse me in 2002, excuse, excuse me in 2002. And, and then really, from there, it just kind of sparked this interest. And by 2004, I got into selling real estate then. And my first year I just kind of I kind of had a setup with him on southeastern where I might think about coming back after the first year, but I had a pretty solid first year and was just like, hey, I'm not coming back. But if you're looking to buy or sell a house, I'd love to help them. Right.

Rick Ripma: 8:29

So what did you how did you get going? What, what, what, what was the process? What kind of things did you do? Yeah,

Andy Leichty: 8:35

I mean, it's, you know, you know, I know, we touched on this little bit of Wheatstone, we're chatting, but you know, I'm a big believer and really designing and plotting kind of your life out to really build the life you want. And a lot of people make knee jerk reactions to getting in and getting out of things. And I knew you I knew number one, investing in real estate ahead of time was kind of a value add that I had, but also to I think a lot of people, I believe in the concept of a low risk idea. And I knew that, you know, coming transitioning from teaching to real estate 100% Commission, you know, you have bills that you have to pay, I knew I'm like, How can I reduce my expenses to be able to kind of learn the craft of selling real estate properly. And so what I did is actually the last day of the last day of teaching, I actually was able to close on a duplex, lived in one side, rented out the other had a roommate, and I was living for $80 a month. That's what it was costing me to live. And what I tell people, the blessing of that was was it allowed me then to really focus on honing my craft, building, building my business the right way, not worrying about making sales, but really worrying about really focusing on building relationships, right. And that's been my focus for 18 years. Obviously, I have the heart of a teacher not that I was a teacher. So it allowed me to really be congruent and transparent with what I was trying to build long term and And really, it's it's turned out to, you know, not just be a great way to build a business. It's a great way to build a life. Right, right.

Rick Ripma: 10:05

Yeah. You know, it's interesting because number one, we see a lot of teachers in real estate. It's it is a, it is a big move. But you know, one thing I wanted to ask so you $80 A month is what you had to live on. They always say to have six months reserves. Yeah, you have six months reserves just

Andy Leichty: 10:21

a little bit. So it was your I worked really hard and was able to scrape up about what maybe like 500 bucks, right? So I mean, it was, it was so yeah, and truthfully, I'm a big, we've done this before the show, I'm a big Dave Ramsey guy, right. And so, um, you know, just, it really enabled me to kind of think creatively, to to lit to enjoy the fruits of those blessings today, right. 18 years later, so. So it really is I think about and it's one of my favorite things about selling real estate is one, there's the teaching aspect, and the building the relationships, but like, I love how my job is really to connect people with opportunities, right? That's really my job and to be a consultant with that. And so I think when you can do it in a congruent way, and it's not just about making the sale, it's about working on behalf of that client and the clients best interest people, people people can pick on, pick up on, if that's authentic or not. Right. So and if you have your house in order, and that way, it's a lot better, it's a lot easier to be authentic, and trying to do what's right by people.

Ian Arnold: 11:24

All right, so what what company do you actually work for?

Andy Leichty: 11:28

Yeah, absolutely. So I've been with FC Tucker, really, since the start. And it's a great company. It's been great to me over the years. We also have have a team, I have an assistant, Robin Hardin, that's been with me for gosh, 11, almost 12 years now. And then I also have another team member, one of my best friends that sells with me as well. His name is Steve farmer, and don't call him. I tell you why he's a great guy, though, too. So so he knows how to treat people, right, as well. So. So you know, we're just really blessed. I'm blessed to have good people that helped me and support me, both within Tucker broad, but also on my team as well. That really helped me do what I do best. Right, which again, which is to connect people with opportunities. I

Ian Arnold: 12:11

know we're coming up close to the bridge. So let's go ahead and get what's the best way to contact? Yeah, absolutely.

Andy Leichty: 12:16

So you know, I appreciate that, you know, I'm one I'm all over social media. I'm Andy Lee and Associates on Facebook. I'm also on LinkedIn, and YouTube as well too. If you want to get some, just a lot of good educational resources, but if you want to talk to me directly, you want to text me directly as well to be I would love that as well. The best summer reach me out there as 317-340-2056 And once again, that's 317340 to 056.

Ian Arnold: 12:46

And then to get a hold of Rick or I go to HardWorkingMortgageGuys.com That is HardWorkingMortgageGuys.com. And after the break, we'll find out what he details as the best information when hiring a new teen.

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Rick Ripma: 13:12

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Ian Arnold: 13:26

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Rick Ripma: 13:55

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Ian Arnold: 14:21

all right. Hey, welcome back from the break. And so we're here with Andy is telling us one his hands are fully he knows how to juggle so a lot of stuff he will teach you how to juggle with seven kids doing real estate one of the top gurus Oh, this guy can juggle. So but it is now time for question of the week.

Unknown: 14:42

Now it's time for questions with the gurus.

Ian Arnold: 14:51

The question of the week is sponsored by advisors Mortgage Group where we fit your mortgage to fit your needs. Contact us today. Get your free mortgage plan at HardWorkingMortgageGuys.com Alright Andy, what not not what bus Do you drive today?

Andy Leichty: 15:05

We drive the trial passenger for transit. Anybody? I get that question all the time.

Ian Arnold: 15:10

What was your first card? Oh, wow,

Andy Leichty: 15:13

my first car. Man, you're you're dating me now here and I'm going way back here. My first car I tell why it may have been my sister's little Toyota truck stick shift that she had, I think that was maybe passed down to us. Before we wrecked it. I say we actually have an identical twin brother that lives in Seattle. So that's a whole other story as well, too. But direct did not you probably recognize that. That's exactly right. So so that's, um, it was probably ces as old little yellow Toyota truck that we loved that thing. We had so many stories on that thing. So I'm going with that one. But my memories a little fuzzy.

Ian Arnold: 15:51

So sorry, right. So we were talking about it. So what what do you look for when you're hiring a team?

Andy Leichty: 15:59

Yeah, it's Well, I tell you, I've been blessed candidly that I haven't had to do that a whole lot of my career. I never really wanted to initially start a team. But I had people kind of come to me. But what I do believe is in terms of what team members, number one, I think, you know, you're hiring, the personality and the character of the person is really first and foremost. And then I think from there, you kind of look and see what your needs are in the business, whether it's administrative, whether it's sales, whether it's marketing, and you find people that want have the character of a to have those skill sets, and you and you try to match those up as best as possible. And then I also really believe and, you know, if it's a referral, you know, a lot of almost all my businesses referral myself, and I believe, you know, good people, no good people. And I think that that gets you into that you're into that type of character person that you're looking for, as well, too. So I think those are kind of the critical factors. And I would say for me over the years has made the biggest difference with the two great team members that I have.

Rick Ripma: 17:01

Yeah, well, you're obviously good at it, because they've been with you for a long time that, you know, that's one of the biggest things you want. Sure you want somebody and I agree 100% It's about the person not they're not absolutely teach them what they absolutely. But you can't you can't teach them character. Yep,

Andy Leichty: 17:17

absolutely. And in both of them, Robin and Steve, I trust them implicitly. I have some some other people that I work with, with the my investment side, right, I have some other partners that I have, and the common denominator with all of them are they are people that I know, and that I trust, and they trust me. And you know, that's that's the way that business is supposed to be right. And when you can do that, it just sets the table for everyone to benefit from and then that that opportunity to grow. Right.

Rick Ripma: 17:43

Yeah, I think I think it's vital that you do that. So if somebody was out looking to hire a real estate agent, what characteristics or traits should they look for? Yeah,

Andy Leichty: 17:54

I think it's, you know, one, there's a lot of good realtors out there. And, you know, I like to think I'm in that course with those good Realtors as well, too. But, you know, I think I think number one, number one, what are we talking about? Same with hiring a team member? Right? I think somebody that that that is able to demonstrate their character and their trust, I think that's first and foremost. Because it really comes down to two things, its character and its competence. Right? So and I think from the competence standpoint, you know, people may have different philosophies, you know, one of the things that I always subscribe to is, is that, you know, with sellers, one of things that I tell sellers is selling the home is two things, it's a price war and a beauty contest. That's the essence of selling a home, right. And so I think being able to have somebody that knows how to position you with that, and then also knows how to identify who your most opportune buyer is, and to target market those people. To me, I think those are real critical components of a really good list agent, because one of the things is, you know, really a good realtor, especially on the left side is a great marketer, I think at its essence. And so and and one of the things that I say on the buy side, then, you know, the buy side, I think is both of them are very educational processes. But I think a lot of times with the buy side, you know, one of the one of the things that I tell people all the time is buying a home. It's not it's not a process of selection. It's a process of elimination, right? There's no perfect home out there, I've sold, I've sold $10,000 meth lab trailers almost almost in the past, and I've sold over a million dollar plus houses as well. And the common denominator between all those clients is they were all making compromises and making making making choices based on what was out there. Right, and how they could how that opportunity worked for them. Right. And so, so. So to me, you know, I think it's one of those things that having somebody that can walk you through how to approach the process of selling a home how to approach the process of buying a home, understanding the proper approach that sets that sets the trajectory for the whole experience as far as I'm concerned and have

Rick Ripma: 19:58

you set up your business to provide that, that exactly what you're

Andy Leichty: 20:03

absolutely so. So well, you know, I think in the age that we're living in right now, I think one of the things that I really believe in is leading with value leading with education, right. And so, so whether it's whether it's my, my clients that I've had over the years where they hear from me consistently, but I also do a lot of stuff on social media on YouTube, on Facebook, we were doing a lot of just education of, you know, I just did a couple of videos this week, one of them for for buyers, which was about, hey, what are some some builders in Central Indiana here? What are some of the incentives that they're offering right now just to educate people on what that looks like, I also did another video for sellers this week that talked about, hey, you know, target marketing, the value of that is that helps you find a buyer that loves your home as much as you love your home. And if you can find that most opportune buyer, that's your best chance to maximize the value of your home. And so I really believe again, it's my teacher heart coming out, leading with education, leading with value, helping them understand the process. And then you know, you kind of got to hold it with an open hand rack, right? I mean, like, like, people are going to make the decisions that are best for them. But if I'm leading with value, I'm helping them get clarity on what their options are. I'm doing my job as their agent. So

Rick Ripma: 21:17

we agree 100%. That's, my thought has always been and it's the way I do it, is you give you give people the proper information, and you educate them with the proper information in a way that they can understand it. And if they can't, then you have to help them. I think one of the things I'm good at is I help people under I can take a complicated situation and make it easier to understand. But you have to educate them. Because ultimately, as you said, it's their decision. Yep, absolutely. But they have to be educated to make a good decision for them. Because it's it's not what you think or what I

Andy Leichty: 21:54

absolutely, it's what they think, yep, they have to be educated. Absolutely. And it's amazing. The longer you do this, and I'm sure you guys would say this, as well to on the on the mortgage side, you can almost anticipate what is going to be the best decision. But one of the things that I've learned is, is that they have to come to that themselves what my job is to set the table. And if you need to give a little nudge sometimes to make sure they have clarity on the options, that's gray. But it is vital that they come to that decision themselves. And by the way, and if it takes a turn another direction. It's that's their right to do that. And you know, and that's one of the things that's one of the things that I tell my clients over the years, you know, I'm here to give you give you advice and give you education, but at the end of the day, I'm not making your mortgage payment. I'm not the one living in the house. And so you you have to clarify that through that. And there's and we're blessed. We're blessed where we live here in Indianapolis, so many great opportunities where a lot of times you're choosing between good, good, good and good, right. There's a lot of great options in the real estate market right now, whether you're buying or selling. And I think it's just understanding, getting them to distinguish and delineate between those, that's just gonna make the experience I think most successful.

Ian Arnold: 23:02

Yeah. So you had had a good mentor, though, the way you handle customers the way you're able to break it down. Sure. So who was a good mentor that helped you through this?

Andy Leichty: 23:14

Wow, you know, I'm, I read a lot of self improvement books self help. Books are I did when I did have so many kids right now I just practice it every day, right? Dr. Seuss, a lot of Dr. Seuss out is That's exactly right. That's exactly right. So, um, but um, you know, I do believe in lifelong learning, I've been a part of I know, you guys know who Brian Buffini is. I've been a part of his coaching program really, for 18 years, really, since I started. I mentioned when I got into real estate, I got him from the investing side. And I've never wanted to be a realtor. I mean, I literally when, when one of my best friends Aaron Starr, great guy who brought me into the business. When you know when he said, Hey, I think you I think you'd be a good realtor. I did not know how Realtors got paid. And my whole thing was I was like, I don't want to be in somebody's house on Sunday gonna be watching football, like and so how do you do this. And then when I went to a Brian Buffini seminar, it would have been probably in October of 2004. I, it was so, so congruent and so transparent. I told him after the first, the first section of the seminar, I said, if I can sell like this, I'm in, I'm totally in because it really matched my values as teaching and providing value. So um, so you know, I've been a Dave Ramsey, Big Dave Ramsey fan over the years. And I've had a lot of other mentors on the marketing side of it as my business has kind of grown and evolved, but I really believe in that lifelong learning and it really is about what you value. My parents. I mean, my dad's a farmer, and northeast Indiana, been a farmer for years and really taught me the value of hard work treating people with with honesty and care and integrity and attention. So it really, you know, we're all a product of the of the influences and the environment and the people that are around us, right. And I've been really, really fortunate to just have host a people that have supported me over the years and, you know, hopefully Lord willing, you know, I'm able to give back and the best is yet to come. Now,

Ian Arnold: 25:07

the funny thing is he never mentioned his twin brothers. I know, which was the good and the bad one here

Andy Leichty: 25:13

was, I tell you what it was, we were two peas in a pod growing up, and he was and let's just say we got into some trouble. That's what brothers do. That's exactly.

Rick Ripma: 25:24

Twin brothers more than

Andy Leichty: 25:25

most brother a little bit more. Yeah, yeah, I have some crazy stories on that. But that's not suitable for this podcast. Right.

Rick Ripma: 25:34

It is interesting, though, how your family in always influence? Absolutely. But those others influence you, Dave Ramsey, obviously is influenced a lot of Be sure very, very strong there. And it's just that that to me, mentorship came very, it was very foreign to me, my son actually taught it. Oh, wow. My youngest, when he went to IU, he got into a business fraternity and they and they mentor each other. And then they have mentors, and they, and he's a mentor to many kids, and the kids were mentored to him. And so it's, it's, it's meant a ton that changed his life. Absolutely what it did,

Andy Leichty: 26:13

absolutely. Well, I mean, you're able to talk to people that have been in your shoes, or you're able to, to model your that whole thing is apparent, more is caught than taught, right. And I think when you have somebody that can pour into you, and even if you can just emulate that a little bit, that means so much dry. And, um, yeah, mentorship is, it's not just true for business, it's can be true for marriage, it can be true for parenting, it can be true for finances, it can be true for all of those health, it can be true for all those things that really help produce a good life, right? So it's just an incredibly vital all of us are, all of us are in this together, right. And when we find people that are walking in front of us on the path, and they're able to kind of lend their air and give back and then we can continue to do that. That's how we make all this a better place at the end of the day.

Rick Ripma: 27:00

And to that point, it was very interesting. I'd never thought of it this way. But I was talking to my son. And he said, Dad, there's two different types of mentors. There's vertical and there's horizontal men. I like that. Yeah, I like that. And I never thought of that. But you do your your your same group of people that are the same level of you, as you can be met mentors. And then those above you can be men. Sure, but it's different types of medicine. Your friends can be great mentors, your brother can be a great seller. But So can somebody who's who's been there before? Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. Which I think is a big, big piece of, you know, if if you're hiring a real estate agent, what you want to make sure of as either they have tremendous experience and knowledge, or that they're smart enough to work with people who are mentors to them, who will make sure that they've got

Andy Leichty: 27:50

absolutely both right. Yeah. Well, what and that's one of these I say over the years and not just in business, but it certainly applies here. That true wisdom is learning from other people's mistakes, right. And it's an and when you have a mentor, again, whether you mentioned that horizontal that vertical I love, I love that concept. Correct. But like, you know, that enables you not only to see their successes, but to see some of the challenges that they've had. And it can be kind of a detour sign for you. Right. And it's if you're wise enough and humble enough to heed that. Sorry, I

Ian Arnold: 28:22

hate to cut you off. Because yeah, we're getting close to sorry, into the radio, but how would they get a hold of you?

Andy Leichty: 28:26

Yeah, absolutely. So yeah. So once again, I'm Andy Lee and associates with FC Tucker, we have a ton of stuff on Facebook, YouTube, on LinkedIn, as well. So that's if they want to get a lot of educational pieces, see, really get agitated. But also, if you want to contact me directly, the best phone number to reach me out would be my cell phone. And that is 317-340-2056. And once again, that's 317-340-2056

Rick Ripma: 28:54

so as Andy lychee leaked T close,

Andy Leichty: 28:57

it's okay. I'll be your I'll be your I'll be your vertical mentor on this. Okay.

Rick Ripma: 29:02

But how do they spell that?

Andy Leichty: 29:05

Yes. l i e CHTY. Perfect.

Rick Ripma: 29:11

Because that's gonna matter. Yes. And then that's, they just look that name up. Yeah,

Ian Arnold: 29:16

just put real under real estate

Andy Leichty: 29:17

agent, and it'll pop up Google and they'll see a bunch of stuff that comes up. That's exactly right. Yeah. End leak D. Li ECHTY.

Rick Ripma: 29:27

Perfect. And there's we're going to talk more with Andy on the podcast, but the radio show is unfortunately, over so please come to our podcast.

Announcer: 29:36

You're listening to India's 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: 30:00

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? Well, 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 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: 31:51

Ranch NMLS number 33041 Ric witness NMLS number 664589 equal housing opportunity. Some restrictions apply.

Rick Ripma: 31:58

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

Ian Arnold: 32:01

Welcome back. And if you're from the radio you picked up at the right spot. So I do have one good question. Iowa. All right, what is your most memorable deal?

Andy Leichty: 32:11

Wow, that there's been a lot. Well, that's good, hopefully for the good reasons. Yeah, absolutely. So so man, they all they all run together. And I can tell this from the investment side, right, because we've had a lot of rental properties and flipped a lot of homes over the years. Or I could tell this from the retail side. Which one? Which one would you like

Ian Arnold: 32:33

your choice? Here do retail do

Andy Leichty: 32:37

that? Awesome. Awesome. Okay. Yeah, that's, that's fine. So I tell you why I'm, you know, I'll couch this in a lesson because this was one of my dear friends and I used to teach with Eric Brian, if you're out there listening, buddy, I love you. So, but he but uh, so when when they bought their most recent home, which is about eight or nine years ago now, this talks about the importance of doing a final walkthrough, that's kind of the lesson where I'm going here with this, right? So I still remember, you know, we were kind of in a rush to get to the closing, I reached out to him, I'm like, I'm like, Hey, buddy. You want to do a walk? final walkthrough? He's like, Nah, let's not I'm like, Nah, let's just, let's just check. And you know, on these final walkthroughs, 99% of the time, it's a formality you're in, you're out. And this home was a vacant house anyway, so hey, what's really going to change? And so so I'm like that, let's let's just pop our head in, it'll take five minutes, and we'll be on our way. So, and there had been a decent amount of rain, I think it was maybe like a or something like that, but a decent amount of rain. And, and we go down to the basement. And there were some cracks in the basement before, but there was water seeping through some of these cracks in the basement. And so and obviously, we saw it and were stunted. And it was, you know, it's something that just happened, right? It wasn't anybody's fault. But one of the things obviously, I called the agent, he was a real pro with a certainly the seller was frustrated. And I understand that you it was a surprise, genuine surprise for everybody. But it was one of the things that you know that you know, Eric and I kind of talked about to that lesson, and we just want to walk on walked closing and sign stuff. And he and he would have found that after the fact, that would have been his problem. So I

Ian Arnold: 34:13

don't see a problem,

Andy Leichty: 34:15

indoor pool, and don't really even have to pay for it. So that's a value add, I guess, on some level, so so. So it was one of those things that and I think back then was probably three to 4000 bucks for the seller to kind of fix that stuff that you know, that would have fallen on my buyer, if we if we would have taken a little extra time to make sure the i's are dotted and the T's are crossed. And I think that's really important to not just not just assume, right that's really important to sticks out.

Ian Arnold: 34:43

I think that's actually incredible because I bought my first home and my only home. I looked at it the time that we walked around the house to see a Yeah, we were like put an offer. Then we have the home inspected. I drove around a couple of times because my realtor was like hey look, drive around you Make sure that's the area you want to live in. And I'm like, Okay, I never looked at the house again. Yeah, until I walked back in. Yeah. So it's actually kind of new info. And I'm like, wow, I should have walked back in and like, right before closing. Yeah, I didn't even think about something.

Andy Leichty: 35:14

Yeah, I mean, again, you know, most of the time, it's a formality, right? But but it's just one of those things. It's our job to kind of go the extra mile for the clients. Or at the very least, I have some clients that choose not to do that. And like we were talking before, that's their choice, they have the option. But I've gotten a lot of mileage out of that story over the years in terms of just what the experience of that and in the near miss right on on that. So so really, really thankful how it turned out. And it was a good lesson for everybody.

Rick Ripma: 35:43

Yeah, it's so important. And it's it's an easy thing, because 99% of the time, it's not a problem. Absolutely thing to think, and why I don't know why it is. But it tends to be if there is going to be a problem. It's going to be on the one house you don't want.

Andy Leichty: 35:56

Yeah, that's exactly right. That's exactly right. How it

Rick Ripma: 35:59

happens. So what would you consider your superpower, one of your superpowers? Or, you know, maybe multiple superpowers? Yeah,

Andy Leichty: 36:07

well, I tell you what the superhero on my house is my wife. So I definitely take a backseat to her in terms of any kind of superpowers. But I guess if you're asking me when it comes to my business, again, I would say really connecting people with opportunities, and having that teaching approach to arrive. And I think one of the things we've been able to really improve over over the years as well as it's really important to for me to be consistent and systematic with how we care for our clients through the process, you know, and that's one of those things that you know, if you go on your some of our social media platforms, you'll see we have about 150 testimonials from clients. Um, you know, I have, you know, one of the things five star professional not not to, not to bloviate on this stuff, but just just to give you,

Ian Arnold: 36:50

you're just telling what I mean. Absolutely.

Andy Leichty: 36:53

I have absolutely absolutely no problem with that, but But five star professional. So what it is, it's a research group out of Minneapolis, Minnesota. And what they do is they they are multiple markets across the country research group, they can, they can do mortgages, insurance, things like that. And for realtors, that's another group they survey, they serve a recent home buyers that have bought a home in the last 24 months and a market. And they and they just ask them their experience with their agent. So And on average, about 2% of people get that annually in any market and Indianapolis, it's about 2% 1.9%. So I have received that for 12 consecutive years, from 2011 to 2022. There's 46, realtors in all of Metro, any area that can can set lay claim to that. So I just say that from the perspective, not to impress, but just to impress upon somebody that you know, being able to deliver consistent high level service. That is important. And I think you do that by being systematic and being automated in what you're doing.

Ian Arnold: 37:59

So you must sell quite a few houses. If 2% of people who buy a house get the survey, and you've been part of this for over 12 years. That's you get you're getting a lot your name out there quite a bit. Well, it's

Andy Leichty: 38:11

been it's I tell we've been we've been fortunate over the years, and it's actually two personal realtors that received the award. I'm not exactly sure how many buyers are being interviewed with it.

Rick Ripma: 38:20

He's a little slow.

Andy Leichty: 38:21

That's okay. I'm sorry. Okay. I mean, he's probably sleep deprived, right? Yeah, he's got two kids lightweight. Just busting your chops. But, um, but ya know, you know, I think it's just one of those things that having that consistent. You know, you know, when, when people will enjoy the experience that they have, they like, they tell other people, right. And so I've been really blessed. I mean, I work with a lot of great people, a lot of great clients, or friends, right? You because and our goal is to really invest in the poor people and the poor in our clients lives. One of the things that I tell my clients as I come with the house right now, I don't I won't slip my, my seven kids on, um, you know, or anything like that, to kind of come on over and cramp their style. But I tell them, Listen, if something comes up and you get a piece of mail, that's real estate related that you're not sure about, if you need a handyman, if you if you need a plumber, we do different client events to be able to just just give back to our clients, right? Because they're the ones that make all this go and we're really grateful for him. And and we always want to make sure that they know that.

Ian Arnold: 39:27

Yeah, I will tell you this right now. You do the same thing we do. Yeah, you're gonna get mail. Yeah, in there in your mailbox after you complete this. Just call us before you do anything. That's exactly because somehow solicitors get information. Yeah. And it'll look just like our branding. That's not us. That's exactly

Andy Leichty: 39:44

right. And again, that goes back to the level of service, right and things that I think sometimes when we're in the service industries, as salespeople we take for granted, oh, everybody knows that. But they don't. It's normal to us, but it may not be normal to them, and so not making us options, right not and letting them know, yo, hey, you can put your guard down because we're here to help. Whatever you have small question, big question. It doesn't matter. We're here to serve. I think that is the essence that's the essence of selling. Right?

Rick Ripma: 40:14

You gotta be accessible. You gotta gotta be accessible. Absolutely.

Andy Leichty: 40:17

Absolutely. And it is a juggling act with with the seven kids for you to be accessible. But we weren't we I have my wife just does an amazing job of holding the fort down. And we're I'm able to focus when I'm when it's working time to be focused and totally on on investing in our clients.

Rick Ripma: 40:31

Well, it sounds like your superpower is your number one superpower is your wife.

Andy Leichty: 40:34

Yeah, yeah. The best cell ever made with getting my wife to marry. Right. That's the sales I made? And yes, yes. Select selecting? Well, I guess that's a superpower I have. So

Rick Ripma: 40:46

that's awesome. So what are two resources that you have? That you think, man, if I didn't have these two resources? I wouldn't be here today.

Andy Leichty: 40:54

Yeah, absolutely. And you know, I will actually kind of harken back to two things that we've talked about before as well to actually wrote some notes down on this one, you know, number one, and I don't say this with any hyperbole at all. But number one is my wife, I was just telling people in a networking group that I'm involved in yesterday, I was telling them, my number one asset in my business is my wife. One because she is the most caring, authentic, giving person that I know, but also to the way that she she mans, the Florida at home, it enables me I have so much confidence and so much peace, and her capabilities that it allows me to focus on, on working hard for my family, my kids know, every day, when I walk out the door every day, I say, hey, Daddy's going to work hard for the family today. Right? And it's and it's one of those things that like, it provides focus, it provides clarity, and if my wife was not there, or if we didn't have our, our situation the way it is, and everybody's different, and I respect that totally. But it enables me to focus on giving my best to my profession, which in turn helps my family. So my wife has my number one asset, my number one resource, but that, but the other thing that we were talking about, it's mentors, right? I mean, whether it's local mentors that I've had, whether it's broader mentors, I paid for coaching for 18 years, right. And so I think being able to be that lifelong learner, being able to be humble enough to ask for help, understanding, you know, one of these, my wife, I talk about all the time, in business and our family, it's it's delete delegate, or double down, write, delete stuff that you don't need to do delegate stuff that you need to do, but maybe other people are better at it, and then double down on what you do well, so and I think when you can kind of have that kind of connected philosophy in life that pours down into your business, and everybody, everybody benefits from that, right?

Rick Ripma: 42:45

Yeah, it's a, it's amazing how much everybody benefits is a lot of what you do, benefits you, but it also benefits everybody. And most people, I can tell you this way, you're really doing it so that you can benefit others. Absolutely. That's the number one thing and you put, you know, it's gonna benefit you Sure. But of course, it is. Yeah, absolutely. I'm more you give, the more you get.

Andy Leichty: 43:07

And that's, and that's really philosophy that, you know, we try to live by and that we believe, and that's, that's, that's something that I think, you know, when your values are clear, your decisions are easy, right? I think when you have those clear values of what you want to do in terms of giving back and in terms of how you serve people, how you care for people, you know, what manifests itself is good things. It's that intentional life, those intentional decisions, building your business building your life by design, I think it's, I think it is the key that unlocks that unlocks a lot of doors.

Rick Ripma: 43:40

Yeah. How about what would you say is a common reason or some common reasons that new folks getting into real estate fail?

Andy Leichty: 43:49

Absolutely. And you know, what I love about these questions, Rick is a lot of these kind of circle back to a lot of the stuff we're talking about, right? And that's because like Truth is truth, right? And so, to me, there's two reasons why people fail, not just in real estate, but really in almost anything you choose to do in life. And number one is not a strong enough. Why, right? And there's, you know, you know, one of the things I mentioned earlier in the show, you know, one of the many, many blessings of children is they force you to be a better person, right? Like one of the reasons why I sell so much real estate is because I support nine people me my wife and my seven kids, right? It's a great motivator. It's a fantastic I highly recommend it highly recommend it for motivation. Yeah, but

Ian Arnold: 44:30

you what you're really getting into is they're getting more kids getting into teenage years, they eat a lot.

Andy Leichty: 44:36

They and so guess what, he gets old and he has to step up his game. And that's the beautiful thing that you can do that I think when I think when your why is strong enough, that drives everything, but then to the next part, we talked about the mentors, I think, not having a sense of direction, and I think people are way too passive and just they'll take in information but they won't implement one because they don't Have a clear plan, but also there has to be, you get the plan, and you have to act on it. So I really think, you know, the people that don't succeed, that's not a strong enough why, and there's not a clear direction with that, that they can make their own. You know, I mean, it's, there are principles to success and anything. And when you follow those you prosper. And when you don't you struggle.

Rick Ripma: 45:20

Yeah. And I'll add one more. Yeah. Because you have to do those two things. But you have to do the third. And that is you actually have to put forth effort. Absolutely. Uh huh. And you have to do it. And it's amazing. Most people know what to do, or at least can find somebody who will tell them what to do. And show them what to do. It just will they do it? Yep.

Andy Leichty: 45:44

That's exactly right. That's I tell you what that goes to your why. There was a story that I heard once, and I am not a golfer. But I heard the story and it resonated with me. I believe that was Lee Trevino, I might be wrong about that. But I think was Lee Trevino. And he told a story one time that he was he was putting, I think he was working at this country club, he was putting, and he was going going somewhere else. On like, the last grain, they were in the, and they bought a certain amount of money. And he and and he did not have the money in his pocket. And so and you know, and the whole thing he said was he, you know, I played like, I had the money in my pocket. And I think one of the things that what we don't do enough sometimes and not to go off on a tangent too much. We're so addicted to comfort and ease. A lot of times, we don't put ourselves behind the eight ball to put pressure on us to perform again, in my life with my I have, I have seven reasons to have pressure to perform every day, right? Whether I feel good when I don't feel good, whether I want to make a phone call, whether I don't you know, and that's putting ourselves in situations where we can stretch and grow. That leads to stronger why that leads the direction, which then leads to the action like you're talking about. And I think that we're all better when we're stretched a little bit. Right. And I just think that that's kind of a missing ingredient that like we don't like that. But we need that right. All of us do. Myself included. Yeah.

Rick Ripma: 47:12

I've taught you know, we talked to top performing real estate agents, Guru real estate agents all the time in the last couple of weeks. I don't know how many times it's been mentioned. Yeah. That it's I, their goal for the year is to get more comfortable being uncomfortable. salutely. And that's what that that's what that saying. But he and I we have a friend who unfortunately passed away, but we had a friend who he worked for me. And he wasn't married at the time. And he didn't do very well. Right. He had he had no why. Yeah, yeah. He got married, ended up working part time and starting and then went on the road working in drilling. Yeah, okay. Okay. And when he came back, because he couldn't, couldn't stand being away from family, he had two kids, a wife, and he came back. His Why change? Yep. And his performance changed tremendously. Because his Why change

Andy Leichty: 48:06

the drive? Yeah, well, and again, going back to I said this before, when your values are clear, yes, your decisions are easy, right? And it's the I love that story yet, because we all have so much more in us than what than what we allow to come out a lot, right. But a lot of times, that has to be that has to be pressured out of us right in some kind of way. And we need to be smart with the pressure we don't need to be make foolish decisions to create the pressure. But you know, you know, one of the things and this goes back to again, not to get off on a tangent, but like, you know, love doesn't divide love multiplies, right. And a lot of people mathematically and before I had kids, this was hard to understand this as well to well, being kids are a big cost and kids are and there is that element. And there is there is a hard cost, right? There's, there's not and same with running a business business or whatever. But love multiplies. If you if you love what you're doing, if your family is inspiring you that's gonna multiply that's not gonna, that's gonna multiply Right. And, and the growth of that far exceeds the cost. If you're if you really love what you do, if you really love who you're doing it with. And again, it's it's a great way to build a business, right? But it's a great way to build a life. You know, it's really what it is. Your life

Rick Ripma: 49:20

improves. Yep. The reality is that push that. That's growth. Yep, that's exactly right. Being comfortable, you know, trying to get more comfortable in uncomfortable situations means that you're doing things that are out of your comfort zone for sure. And that is how you grow. You don't grow staying in your comfort zone. Absolutely. You know, it's just like, start, you know, when I started the podcast and radio show, it's just I didn't know what I was doing. Sure. Some people say, I still don't know what

Ian Arnold: 49:48

when you see all the mistakes

Rick Ripma: 49:52

you just, you just do it. Yeah. That's exactly right. And you may never you know may not be one of your best skill sets, whatever it is, but if you really push it, you'll get good at

Andy Leichty: 50:04

it. Absolutely. Absolutely. And, and as you get more successful, successful as well to like, maybe you can pay somebody to delegate to do that as well, too. Yeah, you want I mean, so it really is, I think building a business, I think what's been so fun for me for 18 years. And, and this one is I tell people, you know, over, you know, over time, so I'm 45 years old, with 18 years of experience, I think the average Road in America is about 5554 years old. And so what I tell people is, you know, I'm young, but I have experienced, right, so like, my best days there in front of me, I mean, I sincerely believe that right? And it's, and, and, and just being able to have that optimism that comes from knowing that, hey, I'm in a business every day, and I get to be the captain of my ship, I get to chart my course, I get to serve in a way that I want to serve. And it's just a it's just, we're very fortunate in so many ways in this country, but to be able to, to choose to live a life like that is a real blessing. Yeah. And

Ian Arnold: 51:05

then the other thing to really think about go back on what you were saying about having to adapt and everything. Yeah, the real estate market, just like our market is always changing. Absolutely. So for instance, if you go pre COVID, I mean, houses were still selling decently fast here. I mean, even when I bought mine in 2015. I mean, I watch houses go for five days, they're gone. Yeah. So you didn't have let me wait till the weekend or the next weekend. Yeah, that doesn't work for good houses. But then went to COVID. Houses are selling within hours, you're getting 50 offers. And then after COVID 10. Now is slowed down a little bit more. A little bit. Yeah. But well, you're not getting, you're not getting as many offers correct. So. But what I'm saying is, you have to change your business. Even Rick and I six months ago had to change ours. Yep, that's exactly right. And we had to say, alright, what are we doing? How do we change it? Yep. So if you're not willing to go against the grain, yet something, you're not going to make it very long actually make it a year or two? Yeah, but then you're going to find something's gonna hit the fan.

Andy Leichty: 52:09

Absolutely. So and that's where to, you know, I say all the time, controls and illusion, right? It doesn't exist. And we, and when we try to control things, or if we, in our pride, we choose not to see things how they are right, not just as we want them to be, you're slower to adapt. And if you're slower to adapt, you're not getting better. And here's the thing, like, you know, the market, the market is very fair, I really do believe that. And I think that like if you're, if you're not adapting and growing and providing value to what the market needs, you should get left behind. And I don't mean that to be disparage anybody. But like, that's the way that it works. And I think when we accept that, that's the game that we're in, and the game is to provide more value to as many people as possible. That's, that's all that matters, my opinion of the market, what's going on in the market. It's about me interpreting that and getting out in front of that to help my my clients when right at the end of the day.

Ian Arnold: 53:07

So I know we're coming up on the end of that. But one more question. I'll allow it time.

Rick Ripma: 53:14

What are your business goals for this year?

Andy Leichty: 53:16

Oh, wow. It's, it's, it's, you know, for me, I want to be able to sell, it's about 70. And it comes to 72 homes. And really kind of, you know, we want to be over that 25 million mark for the year. We think that that's very doable. And, but really even more than just the raw numbers themselves. You know, it's about how we're investing back in clients. So um, you know, we actually have specific goals we have for the money, we're willing to market and invest. You know, one of the things I met you guys before the show, you know, I bought 50 tickets to Dave Ramsey event coming up in a couple of weeks here in Northeast church in Carmel, that we're just giving away to friends and clients and people that you always want to do good on people, right. I'm also involved in a TV show that just premiered called selling Indianapolis, it kind of airs every other month where we just highlight local businesses around around to be fishers Carmel, we highlighted hub and spoke a couple of months ago and fishers recently will be highlighting No, no label at the table and Kula logistics and caramel here. So really just wanting to give back more so that so that, you know, a rising tide raises all ships. And so how we can all succeed as as we go into 2023 and beyond. I mean, and that's where we are in this together, we all provide value, we're going to be able to to accomplish more than we all ever thought possible is the reality of it.

Ian Arnold: 54:42

All right. So how would they get ahold of you?

Andy Leichty: 54:44

Absolutely. Again, I'll say it again. Number one, you can find a lot of information about us and who we are on Facebook, on YouTube on LinkedIn. We're all over there on those places. Andy liechty and Associates, li e ch T why? I know that's hard to spell and harder to pronounce but but also if you want to call me directly that phone number or text me, that phone number is 317-340-2056. Once again, that's 317-340-2056.

Rick Ripma: 55:18

And if you need to go get a hold of Ian or I, it's HardWorkingMortgageGuys.com It's HardWorkingMortgageGuys.com and reminder

Ian Arnold: 55:25

if you know any friends, family or coworkers looking to buy, sell, or refinance, contact any of us and we'll be more than happy to help you out. And if you did miss any of our contact information is down in the description below.

Rick Ripma: 55:36

Thanks so much for joining us. Have a great day. Thanks for having me, guys. You're welcome.