Guru Andy Rodriguez With Rodriguez Real Estate Group

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 and Ian Arnold.

Rick Ripma: 0:24

Hey, everyone. Before we get started, I just wanted to remind you that for the most up to date information on mortgages within these real estate market, go toHardWorkingMortgageGuys.com. That's HardWorkingMortgageGuys.com. I'm recruiting for the hard work of 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 know we can help guide you through the process and help you every step of the way.

Ian Arnold: 0:51

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

Rick Ripma: 1:04

And and today, I'm really excited. This is this is probably one of the most interesting stories I've heard in a long time. Andy is is a phenomenal real estate agent work and is amazing how he's worked against so many things that have come across him and his his life. And it is amazing. And working through all that he's still becoming Andy's real estate guru. Thank you for joining us, Andy.

Andy Rodriguez: 1:30

Well, thanks for having me on, guys. I really appreciate it.

Rick Ripma: 1:33

We really appreciate you being here. And you just have some great stories to tell. I guess it's Andy Rodriguez. They

Andy Rodriguez: 1:39

need to know yet. Andy Rodriguez Rodriguez, real estate, Rodriguez,

Rick Ripma: 1:43

real estate. And I just believe your stories are an inspiration and can be a real inspiration for people. You know, there's so many so many hardships people go through that. You know, sometimes when you hear somebody else's, you realize yours aren't so bad, you know that it's not as not as hard. And I'm guessing you have the same thing. I remember going to a seminar and a guy talk. He got up and he was like, he was the main speaker. And he was born with no arms and no legs. And yet, he was like you you had this great attitude. And everybody's sitting there's like, how would you even go through life that way? But you can right? It's on your attitude.

Andy Rodriguez: 2:22

It's all in your attitude. Yeah, it's amazing.

Rick Ripma: 2:25

And so if and Oh, and you also you do real estate. Not only do you have all this going on in your life, you also binds or you sell and list and real estate in Indiana in Florida.

Andy Rodriguez: 2:40

Yes, sir. That is correct. So you travel a lot. I travel a lot. Oh, perfect. love real estate.

Ian Arnold: 2:46

Whoa, whoa. So you have a choice to stay in Florida where it's nice and warm. And or be up here where it's nice and cold right now you choose up here?

Andy Rodriguez: 2:55

Yeah, unfortunately. Yes. I fortunately, yes.

Rick Ripma: 3:01

Fortunately, and unfortunately, some days, even though it's cold, like if it's sunny, like it happens to be today when we're recording. It's a beautiful day. It's not so bad right

Andy Rodriguez: 3:10

now, it's still nice Clearwater, Clearwater. I tried to look at it anyway. But it's still not clear.

Rick Ripma: 3:15

So when the hurricane came in, which would you rather be in Indiana?

Andy Rodriguez: 3:21

I'd like to do It's on my bucket list. So right out one hurricane. Oh, really?

Rick Ripma: 3:24

I pick a small one.

Andy Rodriguez: 3:27

Tropical Depression, maybe?

Rick Ripma: 3:29

Yeah, this last one was bad. Yeah, it was really that was a that was a terrible thing. But just, I just I just think it's really, really great. I'd like to find, you know, how did you get into real estate, what drove you to real estate.

Andy Rodriguez: 3:43

So I was 22 years old. And I was working at a telemarketing company. And I was in school for computer programming. And the boss of the telemarketing company got fired. And the new owners told me the night before, and they were like, We want you to be our new leader and blah, blah, blah. And I'm like, I don't really feel too comfortable about that. And he ended up going to this place that same day, because he like, needed a ride home. So I had to pick them up. And it was a mortgage company A and mortgage. And that was it. Fred, Fred Ohad was like, Have you ever thought about a career in real estate? And I said, Yeah. And I was like, That's my dream job. And he was like, nobody ever says that, like, you're You must be crazy. And this is back in the subprime days, and it was on underwriting and then we did a lot of I did a lot of flips, by himself flips so I learned the realtor side of it while I was doing the mortgage side of it when the bubble burst, state and mortgages and then fell in love with Florida, and eventually I just said, Why not go full on into being a realtor? And here we are awesome.

Rick Ripma: 4:54

And how long have you How long have you been just full on a real estate agent? 10 years, 10 years and then before that You were doing both. So how long were you doing that

Andy Rodriguez: 5:02

since I was so 45? So 23 years total, I guess. Okay, whenever Yeah.

Rick Ripma: 5:06

So you got a lot of great experience a lot of stories a lot. Yeah. A lot of stories. A lot of mileage. Yeah. Well, that's that's, I mean, it's the beauty of being in it is because of all that. You have, you've gone through most cycles. You know, this last cycle was kind of unique for us. I've been in business I was in New Home Sales and then mortgages combined in about 34 years. And it's it's just but it's it just keeps repeating itself. Just there was a little different this, you know, a little bit. Yeah,

Andy Rodriguez: 5:37

definitely. Yeah. You have your ebbs and flows, your highs and your lows. It's just like life. But

Rick Ripma: 5:43

now you were telling me when I was talking to you on the phone about some of the the difficulties you faced recently. So can you talk about those?

Andy Rodriguez: 5:51

Sure. Being that I love selling real estate, I'm addicted to it. It's kind of like a rodeo. get addicted to it, and you just keep going. I had a client. It was her and her two daughters. They lived in New Powell. And they were wanting to move to Ocala, Florida. So I drive down in January and they fly down we look at some houses in Ocala, Florida. Fast forward, it's April and the mom was like I have to make the first move because the rest of the family can't go to Lego. So we were gonna leave on a Sunday morning to drive down to Ocala. Saturday night, vandals broke the back of the window of my truck, which I didn't know till Sunday morning. Saturday afternoon, I show up to our house and I'm like, Hey, Wanda, you know, like, someone broke the window on my truck. So I got good news and bad news. She was what's the good news? I said, I gotta see heated seats on my truck and supposed to be 60 degrees the hallway down. She goes, what's the bad news? Well, they can't fix my window till we get to Ocala because no one has the glass here. And she was like, I'm gonna get the truck with you. Fine. Let's just go. And so we drove all night. No back window, and a Chevy Silverado just all the way down enjoying time just talking. We find our house within the two day period. Wow. We come back we list her house, it sells in a day. The two daughters, their husbands now have a place to stay at mom's house while in Mom took an extra month of possession here. And so now we're into April, and the end of April, beginning of May. And I drove down with again to show the the to seven loans, the houses. We ended up seeing seven houses and the two houses that we did win the bids on. There was like 13 other offers on them. Oh, wow. And I remember, I was tired. You know, and I don't think the human bodies made the drive 14 hours straight and go show a house and then sleep for two hours and try to eat dinner. So I think it was catching up to me at the time and I didn't realize it. And we closed at the end of June on one of the daughter's homes. And the other daughter the loan got moved back a little bit. And I woke up on July 1. And I had weakness on my left side. And I had a stroke in my hotel room in Ocala, Florida. Oh no. I was in the hospital for about a week ICU and regular. They were wanting to put me into an inpatient rehab there in Ocala. And I'm like, No, I want to go home. So I go back to my hotel room for the next two, three weeks on a walker. So I was door dashing every meal. The comfort in people in Ocala were special. They were there at my door helping me with anything I needed. Because I wasn't able to travel. There was just no way. My left side was swollen. My heart was at 50% capacity working. And my best friend flew down. And I met a great Uber driver. And he gave me a ride to Clearwater. So me and my best friend Jimmy, Jimmy Sims, we spent the day in Clearwater, we had dinner and we flew out the next morning and I landed I go see my family doctor. And he proceeded to tell me that there was problems with my heart. And so at a certain point where the cardiologist and the other things and physical therapy and so for a week I basically slept on my futon at my office because I couldn't make the climb up the steps. Oh, wow. A house that I live in has 37 steps to get into. And I'm so bored, tired just stall around felt like crud and August 4. I felt like well, I can still drive. I still have my right hand my right leg. I still have half my mind like I know what I can do like can and can't do. So I took a rideshare to get my truck from my nephew's house. And this is August 4, so it's about a month and three days from my stroke. And the car the driver stopped for utility workers or something. And I was rear ended from behind the seatbelt rip my hernia, rip my rib cartilage popped out a disc in my back. So now I go back to my office again because now I'm in an even more pain and not driving. Thank God had a plan to drive that day or any day and end up going to see cardiologist and physical therapy and all that. And I reached a point to where I'm plateaued as far as physical therapy goes. The cardiologists are like they found atrial fibrillation. So in November, they implanted a loop recorder in my chest November of 21. And then in January of 22, they said, at that point, they felt comfortable. Like if you think that you can do the hernia surgery, we feel comfortable, you need to have it done. And I had a stroke in recovery. So I wake up the next day, and ICU big black watches of blood because of the medicine they give you to break up the clot. After it brings all your any cuts that you have. It brings all the blood to the surface. Okay, so the way the IVs were I had blood, big black sores. I could only imagine what my stomach looked like. But I just held on to the faith that like I could freak out or I could just put it all in God's hands. And that's what I did. And I leave out of the hospital after a week trying to do physical therapy, and the hernia site started bleeding because of the medicines they gave me to pick up the clot. I guess it really wasn't the greatest for after a hernia surgery. Oh, so I literally bled for about three to four months. Oh, wow. I had a ping pong sized hole in my stomach. And a really good friend of mine, Jordan worry. She's a realtor as well. And she came every day and would put the Gaza in my stomach and change the gauze and she's a mom. So she would run it in like two minutes. Like, I'm sorry, I'm sorry to say it she's taken. She puts push it back in and I gotta go out the door just like a mob in two minutes. It's called efficiency if she's very efficient. Yes, yes, efficient mom this. And during the time wanders ex husband, the lady that I moved to Florida, her and her two daughters and their family. Her ex husband was like I really miss my family. And I would really love to be in Ocala with him. So it's February, I'm like, Oh, I can sell your house and I can find you another house. He was like, how are you gonna get there? I'll get there. Like a name airlines because it'll put me on a blacklist now. So I fly down. And I wear a couple of different shirts and a couple of pads so nobody could see like I'm leaking out of my stomach. And I fly down and I show them homes and we find a home in two days in Ocala, Florida.

Rick Ripma: 13:18

That's, that's amazing.

Ian Arnold: 13:21

I just have to say That's dedication. Because I will tell you this right now, if a client were to call me, I'd be calling a friend and be like, hey, look, can you just help me out and show this house? I've stayed at home. So for you to be going through all that and be like, Alright, let's get on play. Let's go. You have my promise. 100%.

Andy Rodriguez: 13:41

Well, thank you. I also fell in love with my Mossos I didn't know you're bleeding out in an airport.

Rick Ripma: 13:50

Kill the pain. Most of them

Andy Rodriguez: 13:52

values. I mean, forget it. You're good.

Rick Ripma: 13:56

Now that I mean, that is amazing. I know there's even more to the story, but we're gonna go to break. And once we're back from break, we're going to hear more from Andy and Andy. If that somebody needs to get a hold of you for any real estate needs in Indiana or Florida, how do they get to that?

Andy Rodriguez: 14:11

It is ambi Rodriguez with Rodriguez Real Estate Group. You can email me at a rod 649 five@gmail.com or call me at 317-242-8943 and I blamo spaniel.

Ian Arnold: 14:26

Perfect, thank you. If you need to reach rigor I you can go to hardworking mortgage guys.com I know he doesn't really care, but I do. It's hard working mortgage guys.com

Rick Ripma: 14:35

Yeah, I'm old I forget. Sorry. forgot that. So you have to the brake.

Unknown: 14:44

Advisors, mortgage brokers licensed by Indiana Department of Financial Institution equal housing opportunity. NMLS 33041 Rick Ripma NMLS 66489

Rick Ripma: 14:52

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 in It's how we all succeed. We believe

Unknown: 15:01

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

Ian Arnold: 15:05

at hard working mortgage guys, we believe in custom tailored loans, not the one size fits all approach.

Unknown: 15:11

We 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: 15:35

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: 15:47

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

Rick Ripma: 16:01

Welcome back, and thank you so much for joining us today. We appreciate it. We're gonna go to the question of the week. Now it's time for questions with the gurus.

Ian Arnold: 16:11

The question of the weekend brought to you by

Andy Rodriguez: 16:19

My first car was a 1965 Chevy Impala supersport advisors mortgage where we fit your needs in your mortgage to make it work just for you. Contact us today to get your free mortgage plan at HardWorkingMortgageGuys.com Okay, so, you probably got a lot of hard questions, but I'm gonna ask you one really hard question today. Okay, what was your first car? Oh my with no floorboards, who cares? It was great. It was the greatest thing that moto didn't have at 327 Awesome with the power light. Oh, really? Wow. navy blue. How to score that.

Rick Ripma: 16:58

That's awesome.

Andy Rodriguez: 16:59

Well, it was great at nine when my dad brought it home. But his friend was a master of Bondo and all kinds of stuff. By the time I was 16. It had sat for so many years all the bondo started coming out. But still, that's a nice, that is a very nice car.

Rick Ripma: 17:14

Yeah, that's a car any great stories from that car that you can tell on air, not on air. You got a lot of great stories, but none of those can be told now.

Andy Rodriguez: 17:23

I was actually on radio at the time to add Ben Davis so Oh, are you Yeah, so you know, you had people calling in wanting to hang out and yeah, nice car like that. Some wild stories, but

Rick Ripma: 17:33

that's that's a car as I think that might be the best car somebody had for the first car. Yeah, I think that better mine.

Ian Arnold: 17:41

I mean, we've heard Pintos and little Camrys. And but now, I think this one wins so far.

Rick Ripma: 17:46

Thanks. So too. All right. So

Ian Arnold: 17:49

before we get back into your story, I know there's a lot of people in here in Indiana that do like the snow bird, they here for the summer go down in Florida for the winter. So the good news is, you're the you're the right agent to have. Definitely. So if you are looking to do that, how would somebody get in touch with you?

Andy Rodriguez: 18:08

You can reach me via phone at 317-242-8943 Rodriguez real estate is located at 5320 West 16th street corner of 16th and Lyndhurst, right across from St. Christopher's church, and the motor capital of the world Speedway, Indiana.

Ian Arnold: 18:26

And also he is bilingual. So if you need if you need Spanish or something he is here for

Andy Rodriguez: 18:31

you. Definitely or

Rick Ripma: 18:33

something You mean like or Russian or

Ian Arnold: 18:35

sure he can.

Andy Rodriguez: 18:36

I can do anything.

Rick Ripma: 18:38

I believe it.

Ian Arnold: 18:39

Yeah, Google does quite a bit. Google will translate anybody? Yes, yes.

Rick Ripma: 18:47

I believe you. So we there's a lot of questions we love to ask, but one is, what are you known for? Or what is your superpower?

Andy Rodriguez: 19:01

That I love to make every deal get to the finish line? I'm not a realtor that likes to throw a million deals or write a million deals and close 10 If I take a deal on and I write I take it personal everything obviously from if it's flying to Florida bleeding or crawling up Astaire, we have a slide in my butt up Astaire to go show you a home and Avon. That's my goal.

Rick Ripma: 19:29

Well, I would say probably another piece is you don't give

Andy Rodriguez: 19:32

up yet. There's perseverance and no give up. Yeah, no.

Rick Ripma: 19:35

I mean, it's pretty obvious you don't give up you. They used to call me Bulldog because once I got my teeth into it, I wouldn't. I wouldn't let go and I came here. Yeah, I'm guessing you're the same way. That's, that's, that's amazing. So if somebody's looking for, to hire a realtor, what should they what should they look for? What should they ask, you know, what do you look for in a real estate agent?

Andy Rodriguez: 19:59

I guess Do you want to ask the the familiarity with the area? And in your price point, you'd be surprised at how many realtors are used to certain deals, but not other deals, just like lenders, Florida lenders are used to six and above 600,000 above, but you give them a $300,000 deal and they're just clueless. So, okay, that matters. That doesn't help. Yeah. Because like if it's, you want to check their experience and their familiar familiarity with, with what you're looking for in the area you're looking for in the price range you're looking for.

Rick Ripma: 20:35

And kind of to that if somebody's looking if they're here, and they want to move to Florida, you're obviously work in Florida and you know, that market. What's the advantage of them talking with you? Here in there, I would think there'd be some major advantages for that.

Andy Rodriguez: 20:54

Definitely major advantages. The Florida realtors are Sun drunk. And by that I mean, they're so used to the sun there. If you call someone before 1130 in Florida, it's like why are you calling so early? Oh, really? The Realtors don't call back. It's cherry picking basically. And even they may be five minutes late to a showing in their own town. I may be five minutes late to their town to show a house but I drove 1200 miles. So there's a big difference in the two. Yes.

Rick Ripma: 21:28

Well, that's and do you do all of Florida?

Andy Rodriguez: 21:32

For the most part? Yes. Okay. There's not a deal in Florida that I won't do. Well, I'm

Rick Ripma: 21:37

guessing you. I mean,

Andy Rodriguez: 21:38

I've been from Panama City all the way to Miami.

Rick Ripma: 21:41

Oh, wow.

Ian Arnold: 21:42

As long as you're not selling houses in Gainesville, we're okay.

Andy Rodriguez: 21:45

Gainesville. Yeah. No games.

Ian Arnold: 21:47

No games. Tallahassee you're just fine with the Seminole. Yeah, Tallahassee. I grew up in Florida. So before I moved up here I was near Pensacola. So beautiful area. Yeah, I grew up there. So that's the reason why I'm a Seminole fan. So long as you're not Gainesville, we're just happy.

Andy Rodriguez: 22:04

They say if the first time you fall in love with in Florida, meaning like you love this town is a town that you're always stay at. Yeah, I see that. I fell in love with Clearwater. So it was always Tampa Clearwater. And that's home to me. I'm not there. I feel like I'm not home. Like if I'm in the state, like, I'll drive to Miami to go show a home. But I drive back to the clay watercolor. Like I gotta go home.

Rick Ripma: 22:26

Because, yeah, I see that we always went to Fort Myers Beach. And so that was the same way we got we've gone other places. But it's like, that's where you feel most comfortable, right? Because that's where you always went,

Andy Rodriguez: 22:38

you know, the restaurants, you know, the beaches, you know when to go and didn't know him? Well, now that it's been all rearranged,

Rick Ripma: 22:44

has been all rearranged. It's that is gone. So what about the future? are you most excited about

Andy Rodriguez: 22:52

the future of the business or myself yourself in business, myself is to keep on enjoying every day that I'm gifted, because every day is a gift. And the future. I'm excited to see what it holds as far as like new loan programs and helping new buyers and seeing the markets, the like the market for first time homebuyers or Hispanics or the Latino population, as that evolves as well,

Ian Arnold: 23:20

that I mean, that is just awesome. I mean, I've to be honest, you're a first bilingual person, especially Spanish, so to be able to reach more is very beneficial to them. And I do know some and I that just have a trouble with the English and I've tried to talk to him and I'm literally pulling up Google, how do I say this or even type it. So that is phenomenal. So how has technology helped you specially between going from India to Florida back and forth and all that?

Andy Rodriguez: 23:54

It's helped out a lot, actually. Because I mean, you can set it at an airport. You can set your showings for Clearwater, if you're flying back from Clearwater, you can set your showings in Indianapolis. Just having that ease of getting into the app and sending the listing and setting your showings and it helps out a lot. And I think that's the big thing like with clients from the East Coast or clients from here that are moving to Florida to be able to show them that.

Rick Ripma: 24:19

Yeah. Do you work mostly with clients from Indy in Florida? Or do you get them from all over the all Oh, really? Okay.

Andy Rodriguez: 24:26

I have a lot in Connecticut. That's awesome. My very first deal in Clearwater was a $34,000 condo. Everybody's like, why would you go down for $34,000 condo? I get there and it's this little old Bosnian guy and he's real nice, real sweet. Turns out he owns the biggest Bosnian restaurant in America in New York City, Astoria. Oh, wow. And that $34,000 deals now turned into a big boon like as far as Bosnian homebuyers and Clearwater area, they always look me up. So

Rick Ripma: 25:00

I look exactly like that there isn't, I've worked with lots of loan officer wouldn't do a small loan, if we can do it, I do it. There's some things legally, that they've made made it very difficult to do small loans because of your costs and everything else. And it's, it's nothing that you can get around. And, but I always try to help because, first of all, they're usually there, those are fun to help. And secondly, you never know where they're gonna lead. And they tend to, they all tend to lead somewhere. And I think you just do what you can. And then, you know, sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, but you just keep keep it going. Right.

Andy Rodriguez: 25:36

And they're the most gracious people. Yes, that one referral will lead to 10 other referrals and 10 of the referrals until other referrals. I swear a lot of my businesses actually from from years ago, starting out in mortgages, there are some referrals that are 20 referrals deep. Yeah, that's awesome. I mean, it's it's generational business that you can keep providing, and you're never even in downturns, you still have that market that you're never gonna lose and that you're not struggling.

Ian Arnold: 26:07

That's the one thing a lot of people, especially when you first get into sales, you don't realize that every deal can mean more than what you think it does exactly. That. Let's say that first home buyer buying their house for 100,000. Well, guess what? If you keep in touch with them, if you do what you need to you don't know. Alright, when they buy their next house. Now they're buying 300,000 Oh, yeah. And they're brothers looking for help. It's taking care of those people. And it sounds like you do a lot of that in. Do you have like a CRM system that keeps up? Help keep follow up?

Andy Rodriguez: 26:40

I tried to. But yeah, we do. That's awesome.

Rick Ripma: 26:46

You have to have some way to keep track of those people. Because even people who you work with, and they really like you and you have a great time with as time goes by, they forget.

Andy Rodriguez: 26:55

Yeah, they do forget, if you don't stay in front of them, you got to stay in their mind. And a lot of them call me for everything. Hey, I just got this thing in the mail that says like, I have my deed today, and I got paid $55. Now that's a scam, you have to be their source of knowledge for everything. Yeah, insurance tax problems. Oh, by the way my cousin's looking to buy. So we do a good CRM to become

Rick Ripma: 27:18

the trusted advisor for him for for basically everything home related. It sounds like, and you're a good source for that. And you help them out. Because you care about your clients. Love them. Yeah, that's what it seems like. So what key activity would you recommend a realtor invest their time?

Announcer: 27:45

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. Bla, wrench NMLS number 33041. Recruitment NMLS. Number 664589. Ian Arnold's NMLS number is 1995469 equal housing opportunity? Some restrictions apply?

Unknown: 28:19

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 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 him ICERs 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: 30:10

Ranch NMLS number 33041, witness NMLS number 664589 equal housing opportunity, some restrictions apply. I'm Rick Ripma, you can go to hard work your mortgage guys.com

Andy Rodriguez: 30:19

marketing yourself. Seven to 10 People need to know what you're doing every day. And by knowing what you're doing, I mean, they need to know that you are a realtor. So you need to have conversations with people because so many people are looking to buy but no one has ever taken the time to explain the process to them. Such as you know, do you live around here? Oh, yeah, well, yeah. I do that a lot in Florida. And it's just asking them just marketing yourself every single day.

Rick Ripma: 30:51

And do you? Do you are one of the things I we we call that as you don't want to be the secret agent?

Andy Rodriguez: 30:57

Right? Exactly. You don't want to be undercover. They are

Rick Ripma: 31:01

their secret or undercover. They never tell anybody. We loan officers run into the same thing. You don't tell people. You know, you tend to talk to people and then you forget to tell them and there's no way you know, they know. And then they buy they buy a house from somebody else you go why didn't they buy from me? Well, because they didn't know that's what you did?

Andy Rodriguez: 31:17

Exactly. You know, family members or friends? Yes. Like, well, I didn't know you did that. I forgot you did that.

Rick Ripma: 31:23

Gotta tell them. How would somebody get a hold of you? If they if for any of their real estate needs? How would they get ahold of you?

Andy Rodriguez: 31:29

You could reach me via phone at 317-242-8943 Rodriguez real estate is located at 5320 West 16th corner of 16th and Lyndhurst across from St. Christopher's church. And email is a rod just like the baseball player. 649 five@gmail.com

Rick Ripma: 31:48

awesome. And you're Andy Rodriguez. Yes. And you own that company? Correct. All right, perfect. If you need to get a hold of ESRI, it's hard working mortgage guys.com. That's hard working mortgage guys.com.

Ian Arnold: 31:59

And if you did miss that phone number or email address, it'll be in the description of everything, so you can easily contact them.

Andy Rodriguez: 32:07

Thank you guys.

Rick Ripma: 32:09

All right. Well, now we're under the podcast.

Ian Arnold: 32:12

Oh, awesome.

Rick Ripma: 32:13

There we are. Man that didn't feel any different. No. Deja vu

Unknown: 32:21

haze.

Ian Arnold: 32:23

Okay, so I got to, you've been so successful, and you're going through all this? What is one thing you wish you had done differently when you first started?

Andy Rodriguez: 32:33

Oh, wow.

Ian Arnold: 32:35

I stumped them.

Andy Rodriguez: 32:37

I think I would have invested more time. Honestly, knowing what I know now. I feel like I would have invested more time into the business. It's easy when you're getting 567 leads a week or more. But I feel like I could have helped more people I think, invested more time. Yeah, knowing that my health would ended up the way it was.

Rick Ripma: 33:05

It's almost everybody almost says the same thing. They say it differently. All the agents we talked to it's almost all that, that, you know, it's it's about, they would have worked harder to learn the business and do the things they needed to do. Even though they become like you're very successful at what they do. They still that's what they look back on. And if they could they that's what they would change. Now, I want to go back to one of your stories, because I remember you telling me something about a delivery truck. I thought that was very interesting. So I want to hear that story.

Andy Rodriguez: 33:37

So when the pandemic started, that's when I moved started Rodriguez, real estate. So it was in 20 spring of 20. And every year we do turkeys for Thanksgiving, we do Christmas picture with Santa Ana gift for every kid and Easter baskets. So it's our third year. So this year, we're sitting there December 10. I tell my daughter leave the walker in the office. I don't want kids to think you know, Santa Clauses handicapped. And I'm sitting my little buches rocking chair that I got from Georgia and I'm just sitting there dressed as Santa and a tow truck company who shall remain nameless due to legal reasons. The semi we were talking Oh wow. Look at that semi turning with a you know, had a trailer or a tow truck with a semi in a trailer and they were like, Wow, that's amazing. And they made that short term. And right behind it was another tow truck with a box truck on it. And the next thing you know you just hear Clark Kent and he went down the road cars on 16th Street and smashed for cars. Oh my. And I'm like in the next thing I say is Oh my daughter I think goes how can you be so happy after what just happened? I'm like it can't be that bad. It can't be that bad. It was that bad. He threw my truck on the sidewalk. and destroyed the back. And we're in the process of fighting with the insurance company. Not totaling it out.

Rick Ripma: 35:07

So yeah, that's they always want to talk them out. Oh, yeah, yeah,

Andy Rodriguez: 35:10

yeah. And you're not gonna find that truck with that many miles for that price. Right so,

Rick Ripma: 35:15

so can even get I mean, our cars are still hard to get aren't they? So isn't it hard to get a truck? Or is it not? Not so hard to get one just hard to get one to replace what you

Andy Rodriguez: 35:23

have? Right? You're looking at double the price. Oh, really?

Rick Ripma: 35:27

Over what they're gonna pay? Yeah. Oh, yeah. Well, I'm sure you'll, you'll win eventually. Eventually,

Ian Arnold: 35:35

don't worry. Whatever the differences, Rick will take care of you.

Andy Rodriguez: 35:39

Well, maybe I'll get some. Yeah, Rick will help generate some business here and we can that way?

Rick Ripma: 35:47

I don't know. I don't think that's legal.

Ian Arnold: 35:53

So what would you say your favorite part of your job. Besides all the stories, you get to tell now

Andy Rodriguez: 36:04

who the favorite part of my job yeah, closing day the see the look on their faces on a family that there's no way in heck, I could ever buy a house to see the little kids picking out their rooms. And knowing that you left a legacy. I mean, pretty much, that's what you've left as a legacy. Your great grandkids could drive down the street and say My great grandfather sold this house, this house, this house, this house. And that's amazing. When I did mortgages, I always felt like the bad guy at the table, you know, because you're the guy that they're gonna get a bill for, for the next 30 years.

Ian Arnold: 36:42

Yeah, but I will say this, Rick and I both had this discussion, because we both had the same customer, that type of customers is, you wouldn't get that first person that has never owned a home in their family. And they're literally crying in the car. And not because they have to make the payment, it's that they own a home. That is amazing. That is like that, that will I'm not a very emotional person. But that starts to draw tears in the eyes there.

Andy Rodriguez: 37:09

It's, that's actually part of the reason I'm up every day was the only one of the main reasons I'm up every day. It's like I could lay in bed, like it sit there and just after surgeries, or there's million other ailments that have come from the strokes. But every day I get up because I was blessed with another day. And it was to do what I'm doing to help someone that nobody else would take the time to help whether it be a first time homebuyer or Hispanic couple or whatever. To be able to do that is amazing.

Rick Ripma: 37:37

Yeah, I'm sure with a Hispanic customers, it's even more because because there's so many of us that we don't speak Spanish, so we can't really help them. But somebody who can. And because you can, you probably have a lot of similar of your life. So you can really relate and help them see that they can buy a house because I don't it doesn't doesn't matter if Hispanic or anybody hadn't bought a house before in certain economic levels. They have no idea they can buy a house. True. I was so true. I was talking to guys over here in the in the big oil. And they were like, they were like, well, we could never buy a house. Well, why not? Well, because our credit score, I said why? We can we can fix that. You know, they're, they're like, really, I could maybe buy a house. So I can't tell you now. But yeah, I mean, there's ways we can get you to the point to be able to buy a house, they don't know. And that's good, if you can help them do that.

Andy Rodriguez: 38:35

And not a lot of people take the time out to explain how we can do that, like you guys do. And I do like that's amazing to be able to do that. Because that's somebody that they can pass on to their kids and their kids and their kids and they get out of the rental cycle. I think that's what allow where a lot of people are is in the rental cycle of I can't get a house, I haven't only make X amount of dollars, and my score is only 600 or something when you break that that's amazing.

Rick Ripma: 39:00

And, and wealth is built many times through real estate. Oh, definitely. So if they need to figure out a way to get, you know, to get a house and they you know, there I'm not saying there wouldn't be some sacrifice, there may be some things you have to you know, stop spending on so that you can save the money that you might need or there's you know, there's programs out there that you can you can not have to put a downpayment up the down payments, you know, given to you. Now, there's some requirements around all that, but there are programs, so it's not like you can't do it. It's just a matter of working with somebody like you who will help them understand it and get them down the right path and make sure they get prepared to buy a house.

Andy Rodriguez: 39:41

It's so true. And I think when I first started, like I know when I first started, I always pictured my mom and dad. My mom and dad came here in the 50s as migrant farmers. They had no one to help them. They had to figure it out on their own how to buy a home. And so I guess I look at every couple young kids blowed a couple of whatever here Miami, tampo, Clermont, Avon, whatever, like I might the same way like what if that was my parents trying to do that like, Yeah, and just explain it to them.

Rick Ripma: 40:10

It's great it crazy. If anyone one would like to get a hold of you for any of their real estate needs. How would they get ahold of you?

Andy Rodriguez: 40:17

You can reach me at 317-242-8943 or email at a rod 649 five@gmail.com And we are located at 5320 West 16th on the corner of 16th and Lyndhurst in speedway. Rodriguez real estate. Awesome.

Ian Arnold: 40:35

So do you have to close down during the 500 festival and all that stuff? No, no, no, you're all right. I didn't know if you're always like, hey, look, we can't even drive out of here.

Andy Rodriguez: 40:47

Sometimes it gets close. But race day. Yeah, race day. Definitely. They block off. Right there is right past 16 as you go towards Main Street, lock that off.

Rick Ripma: 40:59

But you can still get in and out. Yeah, yeah. It's amazing. I grew up here. Maybe you did. You grew up here in Indy. Oh, yeah. Okay. So you remember the race when it was? It was a month long? Oh, yeah. It wasn't. I mean, now it's kind of the I still call them time trials qualification. It's nowhere near what it was.

Andy Rodriguez: 41:17

Now. It used to be two weekends of two weekends of qualifications. You had the whole two weeks of practice. carb day when you're 16. We drink water.

Ian Arnold: 41:30

I'm sure you did. Stay hydrated.

Andy Rodriguez: 41:32

Yeah. Stay hydrated. That was hot. Yeah, it was high. At 16.

Rick Ripma: 41:35

That's, that's important. So what does your team look like?

Andy Rodriguez: 41:40

Well, I have two gentlemen with me. One is my nephew, Josh, who serves in the Army Reserves is an IT specialist. Awesome. So he helps out a lot. And then I have a young superstar. His name is Justice Hodges. Justice started when he was 18. And he is now 20. And the kid is a go getter. He reminds me a lot of me and I tell him, like, you're just so in the real estate, like you got to. You got to set the level. That's what I always tell the agents like, You got to set a level of like, I won't work past nine o'clock. I won't work past 10 o'clock, right? You don't I mean, I will work. Because if you don't, the job will take over. It's a passion. And he says, Well, I'm gonna be like you. I said, well, then you better have it out by the time you're 25. Because you're gonna be stroked out living on your couch. In a real estate office, you got about five more years, and you can have a kid because you're gonna need it. But

Ian Arnold: 42:38

yeah, you gotta have that work life balance. Now, I'm not saying you got to take off work all the time. But you got to ebb and flow. Average flow. Definitely. Like you hear some of the artists and stuff that would be like, Oh, they were performing. And they did all this stuff. They didn't eat for like three days straight. Alright. Yeah, you got to have somebody to say, hey, you need to take a little bit of time off. That is so

Andy Rodriguez: 43:01

true. I think that's what got me in this position. Yeah, just not. I just love what I do. Yeah, I mean, I love my daughter, my daughter's my world, and I always want to provide for her. She's 17 going on 22. She's my baby. And I always tell people, they're like, what was she gonna be in real estate? I'm like, she just sat by my side since she was five years old. So she knows everything. She's heard every term, she's seen her situation? And I'm like, No, she's going to be a nurse or something other than a realtor. Because?

Rick Ripma: 43:32

Well, I think, I think the work life balance is a very big struggle for me. Because I love what I do, too. And so I don't see, like I worked all weekend. But it was fun. It wasn't, I don't see it as work. My work is also my hobby. So, but I know, but I'm, like, if I do that for three or four weekends in a row, I'll hit a weekend where it's like, I can't work. You know it now somebody calls me I answer it, you know, that kind of thing. But for the most part, then I've hit my limit, but to try to not, you know, to spread my time even I go home at night, and I try desperately not to jump into something. But there's all these little things that come up. How do you how do you deal with that? That's a struggle for me. How do you deal with that when these little things come up when you have said I'm not working?

Andy Rodriguez: 44:29

Yes, that's why I'm single. Because I can't stop in the middle of something I got to worry about not going on a date or you know, I'm going to be late for this. It's okay, I gotta answer this inspection response or I got as a problem with a showing or something. And so I just and with my health, it's nice. Don't really sleep the best so

Ian Arnold: 44:54

so you can contact him at three o'clock in the morning. Definitely.

Andy Rodriguez: 44:58

o'clock in the morning. Well,

Rick Ripma: 44:59

I just Feeling that a person who got on a plane with their stomach leaking and all those issues is somebody who, when they need to do something, they just do it. And it's, I don't know if I do it like he does, but that's what I do if I need to do it. And I think sometimes for me, the weekend is the perfect time. Nobody's not many people are calling you at that time it gives you, it gives you time to do those things that need to be done. But you just you don't want to be interrupted during them because it makes it last 10 times longer to get that completed. And that's really what probably for me, and I need to get better at. Okay, while I'm doing this, I'm not answering any phones, I'm not looking at email, because I cannot stand that my emails get out of control. And I by sitting here, you know, for this 45 minutes to an hour, I'll end up with, you know, 3540 emails that I have to go through. And that just drives me nuts. I want to take care of them right now. Everything I want to do right now

Andy Rodriguez: 45:52

is right now. Yeah, everything. That's that's all on red. Yep.

Rick Ripma: 45:57

So you have you have two members of your team. It sounds like your daughter will not be or at least you don't think she will

Andy Rodriguez: 46:02

be at some point. Maybe not. Yeah, I bet she is. She might dabble here or there. But yeah. You also said

Rick Ripma: 46:11

you you had rental property. You still have rental property? No, no, no. But you did. I did.

Andy Rodriguez: 46:15

Yeah. At one time. I had a lot of rental property and the stories. Yeah. Oh, the stories. Well, you

Rick Ripma: 46:21

know, to me, though, I think that's important. If somebody's out there, and they and they want to start buying real estate. I think it's important that as a rental properties that they that they work with somebody who who understands and does that

Andy Rodriguez: 46:34

exactly. Because anyone can open a door for you and say this is a great rental house. This is what the property values are, this is what the prices are going for rent. They don't explain the other part of the upkeep keep so much back every month for maintenance. And these are the things that you want to look out for as far as pitfalls. The bleeding heart stories, you know, the that we all get as landlords and you gotta watch those. And that's what got me in trouble, I think was it was just such a. Okay. It's okay, I believe. Yeah, that's okay. Go ahead. Don't worry about it. This one. Yeah.

Rick Ripma: 47:11

And once they know that, didn't they take advantage of full time? Yeah, once they know that. So what do you enjoy doing most when you're not working?

Andy Rodriguez: 47:24

Spending time with my family. I've really grown. When I come from a large family. I have eight brothers and sisters. Wow. So with the last couple of years, I've grown to want to be there more. See my nieces and nephews and my sisters and my brothers. And I even you know great nieces and nephews like it's amazing to see that as you grow and spending time with my buddies that the friends that I've had since I was in seventh grade, and still have which I'm blessed to have. So

Rick Ripma: 47:56

yeah, that's awesome. So that family

Ian Arnold: 47:59

reunion must be huge. Do you rent out the whole clear water in Florida to to have all the family come in?

Andy Rodriguez: 48:05

Believe it or not, they actually won't go to Clearwater. Oh, really? No. I have one brother that lives in Panama City and a sister lives in Myrtle Beach. The rest will not go.

Rick Ripma: 48:15

They want to stay here.

Andy Rodriguez: 48:16

They want to stay here which that's I think the reason that I would never fully move from Indianapolis is because of family. Oh, yeah. I used to say all the time, like my daughter's gonna go to college at USF or Tampa University, and I'm gonna live on a boat. Now it's like, no, I want her to stay here because of my health problems. And I'm always gonna be here because of my family and my friends.

Rick Ripma: 48:36

Yeah, that makes a difference. It does. It only makes a difference. It does. We're running out of time. So how would somebody get a hold of you if they have any real estate needs?

Andy Rodriguez: 48:43

Call me at 317-242-8943 or email a rod 649 five@gmail.com and we're located at 5320 West 16th Street Rodriguez Real Estate Group.

Rick Ripma: 48:57

Awesome. And if you would like to get a hold of Ian, Ian or i It's HardWorkingMortgageGuys.com That's HardWorkingMortgageGuys.com.

Ian Arnold: 49:05

And if you are know anybody, friends, family, even co workers that are looking to buy, sell or refinance, contact any of us and all of our contact information is listed below.

Rick Ripma: 49:16

Thank you for joining us. We appreciate it. Have a great day.