Guru Cameron Harris with @properties

Announcer: 0:01

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

Rick Ripma: 0:24

Hey, everyone, before we get started, I just wanted to remind you, if you have any questions, or you need any up to date information on mortgages, or the Indian market and these housing market, just go to HardWorkingMortgageGuys.com That's HardWorkingMortgageGuys.com . I'm recruitment your hardworking mortgage guy and I've been in always says I'm all the ins and out here today. But he always says I'm old. I've been in the business for over 33 years. And I've done over a billion dollars and closed loans along with it's over 5200 loans now. And so I know I can really help you. In the process. Our whole thing is we want to make sure we get you the correct mortgage for you help you get the very best option. There's no one right mortgage. So we're going to help you do that. So if you have any questions, you want to talk about HardWorkingMortgageGuys.com . And you know, we're really, really excited today to have Cameron Harris here, Cameron is with AP properties. And I gotta read this because I don't have a good enough memory anymore. But you know, you're an Indiana native. Yes. Right. Which I think is great. Because so so am I. And you sit on to my board committees. You're on the board of is it facade grants? Yeah. That's how you pronounce Yeah, okay. Yep. l i Yeah.

Cameron Harris: 1:43

Liske. It's a it's a nonprofit, CDC. Okay. Yeah.

Rick Ripma: 1:48

Okay. And, and it's, and then you're on the board? And is your the board president for side hustle economy? That is intriguing to me. So I want to know about that, sir. Yeah. And that's, that's a nonprofit focusing on empowering small business owners and side hustlers. Correct. And there's a lot of side hustlers.

Cameron Harris: 2:08

Absolutely. Yes, that's the way. Yeah.

Rick Ripma: 2:11

You're also a fantastic Realtor with a tremendous business, that your numbers are are outstanding puts you in, you know, what we consider a indys real estate guru. And that's why you're here today. We really appreciate you joining us. No, I'm

Cameron Harris: 2:26

happy to be here. Thank you for having me.

Rick Ripma: 2:27

No, we do appreciate it. And, you know, I'd like to start with letting How would How would a listener know? How to contact you if they have any real estate questions? Yeah.

Cameron Harris: 2:40

Easiest thing for me is going to be my phone with me all the time. So reaching out via text or phone call. And I can give the number if that's okay. It's 317-250-5246. And then my social media the easiest way to get a hold of me there is my Instagram and that is cams in the house. And it's CAMSISIN T H E, H O, U S E. So cams in the house. That's me cam and I'm in the house.

Rick Ripma: 3:16

Okay. Ca Ms. I n th e HW USA. Yep. Got it. And that's Instagram.

Cameron Harris: 3:23

That's Instagram. Yep. And that's really what I do. It's linked to my Facebook as well. So if you follow me on on the Instagram, then you'll be able to get a hold of me on Facebook.

Rick Ripma: 3:33

Awesome. Awesome. So in the in the phone number, so I'll make sure I have it right. 317-250-5246? That's correct. Yeah, that's the right number. Yeah. Okay. Because I don't want to give them having calling the wrong person. Yeah, no, no, we don't want that. For sure. You don't want that? Yeah. So how did you get into real estate?

Cameron Harris: 3:53

Yeah. I feel like with a lot of real estate agents that I talk to, on a regular basis, not dissimilar, kind of fell into it. I went to IU Bloomington, and I was studying informatics and marketing. went and got my master's degree in Human Computer Interaction. Through my our, like final project for grad school, part of it was had I had to get an internship. So I did a summer internship in Chicago, doing user experience. So working on like apps and websites for different companies and stuff like that. They had to kind of ask me to stay on, and I was happy to do that. So I was living in Chicago after after grad school for a little while. And that was Everything was going according to plan, you know, college degree master's degree got the job they've, you know, promised to bring me on full time and everything around that same time. I think it's it's funny to me now but like just mindless teller vision started watching Million Dollar Listing New York. And I was just like, well, this seems kind of kind of interesting and everything. And I started learning a little bit more about just investing in trying to I'm brand new into the workforce just got out of school and everything. So I'm, you know, the only thing that's on my mind at this time is how do I make money? How do I, you know, further my career and that kind of stuff. So I had the I had the career now, so supplemental investing in that kind of stuff. So I started looking into Can I can I invest in real estate? Can I buy real estate? What can I do? I don't know what money I thought I was going to be able to invest in real estate game, but because I didn't have it at the time. But But anyway, so I was like, Well, I know, one thing I do know is I can probably save some money by not hiring somebody just kind of work for myself. So I'll walk while I'm working. I'll start my I will start my 90 hour course. And I'll at least get licensed and so Hold on No. Right. You know a little bit about what's going on. That that job that I had ended up that the department that I was in went away, kind of unexpectedly, I was like, probably two days away from like signing a lease in Chicago. So then I was kind of in between things was like, Okay, well, I'll go back to Indy for a second and kind of see some I'm living with my parents. So I'm staying with my parents at the time and, and trying to figure out what the next move is still applying for tech jobs and everything cuz that's still the industry that I'm in. But while I don't have anything going on during the day, I'm just kind of plowing through my 90 hour course. So I do that. Since I started in Chicago, they made me take the state and national exam in Illinois. So after I passed my course, I had to come back. I had to go back up to Chicago. Take the exam. Thankfully, I passed it the first time, so I didn't have to go back and forth multiple times. Yeah, exactly. So so that at that at that point. Okay, the the tech industry, this is 2017 ish. wasn't really what it is now. I mean, it was kind of getting to that point. But I was having a hard time. You know, even though I had my master's degree, I was having a hard time finding anything. But now I had this brand new real estate license. Let's see what I can do with that too, at least until something falls through with with UX and my my grad degree. So I started off in in comer I was between do I want to do commercial or do I want to do residential? I wasn't really sure both were interesting to me. So I started doing Property Management at a for a commercial company, downtown Indy, and I didn't I didn't love it. But it was a my foot in the door real estate. It's more kind of like that nine to five structure a little bit even though it was in real estate. And then I was still looking for, you know, still going on interviews for different residential brokerages and everything like that as well. And found at the time, it was Nottingham Realty Group. And then we've we've rebranded a couple of times, and now we're we've merged with App properties, which full circle, it was based out of Chicago, so it just kind of came full circle. And that's how I, you know, I, you know, came on with with that properties and, you know, really never kind of went back, I'm starting to get back into into tech a little bit which is which is fun for me. But on the real estate side. So I think it's I think it's working out the way it was supposed to. But yeah, that's how I kind of got into real estate in general.

Rick Ripma: 8:32

It's always interesting to me, I love the stories I help people get out. Yeah. And how many people didn't get in intentionally, right. It's, it's just but when you get in and, and basically they fall in love with it. Yeah, yeah. And it's like, I couldn't do anything else.

Cameron Harris: 8:49

There's a lot to fall in love with. I mean, I think most people, regardless of what their career is, most industries have some kind of human component to it, right? Even when I was doing tech, my I wasn't a developer or a coder or anything like that. I wasn't doing like the backend stuff. My degree was human computer interaction. So I'm more on how are the users using technology? And how can we make technology as intuitive for the people that are going to be using it as possible? So when I got into real estate, it's very much the same kind of principles. As far as you know, what is best for your user and technology? What is best for your client in real estate? And those are your priorities those that's your that's your your Northstar. So yeah, it was very similar.

Rick Ripma: 9:40

Yeah, it just amazes me. It's interesting, it's fun. You have a similar my, my youngest son went to Chicago, still in Chicago, and you know, out of IU, and say, you know, but he's in he's in the finance up there, but, but it's just it's just a great place. I think for somebody out of high out of College. Yeah, to go. I agree. And, and, and it's it's just, uh, you know, great life when you're young. And then, you know, he's still in Chicago, but he's way outside on the south side area and a housing in a neighborhood now and it's, you know, it's just how they loved living in downtown Chicago. Right. Yeah. But then you grow. You get older. Yes. Like, Yeah, I'm ready to move on. So But with that, you also see a whole different huge amount of different real estate.

Cameron Harris: 10:29

Yeah, up there. It's, it's, yeah, it's it is completely since I completely but it's, it's a lot different. I mean, my technically my license is, is an Illinois license still. And I just I have I'm able to practice in Indiana through reciprocity because most of our laws and most of is similar enough to where that's, that's applicable. But yeah, they do a lot of things differently in Illinois that we don't do here inspection stuff is way different. They have lawyers that are involved in every transaction, it's you know, it's it's much different than obviously the, you know, apartment, condo, that kind of stuff that are for sale and stuff like that. And, you know, we have a very, we have a little bit of that, depending on where you go. But that's that's a huge market for them. Especially downtown Chicago. Oh, yeah.

Rick Ripma: 11:11

That's downtown Chicago is like, I mean, downtown Indianapolis is nice, but it's, it's nice, partly because it's not huge. Right. Right. Yeah. Chicago is really nice. Because it is huge.

Cameron Harris: 11:22

Exactly. Yeah. So it depends on what you depends on what you like, yeah, and I always try to regardless of the size of the like, I went to a big school I you I'm, you know, a part of a growing brokerage. Now that's getting bigger and bigger. So for me, what's what's always been kind of where I go back to is you can make big places feel as small as you want them to. If you find your group, you find your niche, then you can make Yeah, I'm, I'm at a big school, I'm at a big company, you know, whatever the case may be. But if you find your people, your group, then you can make it feel smaller.

Rick Ripma: 12:00

Yeah, I used to tell people that I sold new homes. Every week, all car was way too big. I went to North Central, okay, when I graduated, we're over 1400 kids in my class. And what I've learned, and what I really learned with my kids is just what you said, a big school allows you to find the 1020 30 kids that you have a lot in common with and you can do things with. And then it also offers a lot of extracurricular activities that you can go and participate in that you don't get in a small school. So there's as as everything, there's advantages and disadvantages to those, right. Absolutely. So when you got into real estate, it takes a lot of work to get where you are today. Yeah. So what what did you focus on? So what I'm after is if there's a if there's a newer agent out there somebody struggling? What is it that you did? What did you focus on? What did you do to get to where you are today? Yeah,

Cameron Harris: 12:56

when you're when you're going through your your license corpse. And I would say, nine out of 10 times, if not even a higher percentage than that when you are with a brokerage or talking to people, the first thing that a lot of people are going to tell you is use your sphere, let people know that you're in the business now. So you're and everybody regardless of some people get into it and immediately have people that they can go to and immediately have business, other people you don't. But regardless, you still have a severe you have you have family members, you have friends, they have family members, they have friends. So trying to build that like referral pipeline early is, I think, really, really critical. And it's probably not at least in my case, it's not going to pay off immediately. Because I met when I got into real estate I was 26 years old. So a lot of my friends were also just finishing up their grad degrees or they were deciding if they were going to remain an MD or leave. Some of them were beginning families. Some of them were about to get married maybe in a year or two. So my age group when I got into it was not really I wasn't really serving them I wasn't able to because they weren't in a position to to purchase homes. But now I'm because I've focused so much on my sphere early now that's starting to pay off where I'm mostly only working with my sphere not not that I'm opposed to not working with my sphere, but it's starting to come back to the people that I was letting them know for the past two or three years. Hey, this is you know, I'm an expert in my market I you know, you we have a we have a relationship already. We already have a base level of trust, as opposed to you know, and there's nothing wrong with people that you know, are cold calling and door knocking or anything like do what you got to do to, to you know, Build your your business. But it's nice when you have a base level of trust with somebody, and you're not constantly having to prove yourself throughout the entire transaction. It's a little bit it can be a little bit draining to have to go through that. So yeah, now I'm at a point where those friends those family members, and even if it's not the friends or family members directly, but it's them referring me to somebody that they know that is in need of of buying or selling or advice. So that's, I would say that's probably number number one is yet reach out to your sphere as as often as you can. But then yeah, the other thing too, I did before we

Rick Ripma: 15:39

get into that we got we're coming up on the break. So how would somebody get a hold of you? If they had any questions on real estate wanted to talk to you about real estate? If they

Cameron Harris: 15:47

wanted to talk to me about real estate? Yeah, shoot me a text give me a call numbers 317-250-5246 Again, 317-250-5246 and then my Instagram page is cams in the house. At Tamsin the house. Yep.

Rick Ripma: 16:06

I like that. I think that helps in anything like that just helps people remember, you need to get a hold of Ian or I, it's HardWorkingMortgageGuys.com That's HardWorkingMortgageGuys.com. After the break, we're going to hear more about how cam got going in the business.

Unknown: 16:22

Advisors mortgage broker licensed by Indiana Department of Financial Institution equal housing opportunity. NMLS 33041 Rick ritmos NMLS 664589

Rick Ripma: 16:30

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

Unknown: 16:39

We believe honesty, kindness and hard work are how we honor each client and hardworking mortgage guys, we believe in custom tailored loans, not the one size fits all approach. 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,

Rick Ripma: 17:13

we believe 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: 17:26

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

Rick Ripma: 17:39

welcome back and thank you for joining us. I appreciate it very much. And we're gonna we're gonna real quick ask our question of the week. Now it's time for questions with the gurus. And it is what was your first car? What is your most memorable car that you bought?

Cameron Harris: 18:04

My first car was a 97 Chevy Blazer. Oh, okay. Yeah, that's a good one. There. It was. Yeah, it was. It was oh, it was you know, but it got me where I needed to go. I was in I think my got my license. And I was like, a sophomore year. I think in high school. Seo was, and I'm one of the I'm usually one of the older people in my friend group. So I was generally like one of the first ones. Yeah, exactly. So yeah, so that was, so that was cool. I kept the I kept it pretty clean. So yeah, it was nice.

Rick Ripma: 18:40

Yeah, that's, if you can't tell if you look around, I'm in the car. So that's why one of the reasons we asked that question, but it also is interesting, because not everybody. But a lot of people fall in love with that first car, no matter how

Cameron Harris: 18:54

bad it was. Yeah, absolutely. And we had some moments for sure. Yeah. But but But it got me out of some moments. Yeah,

Rick Ripma: 19:00

exactly. So that's why I just love I just think it's interesting. I love to hear it. So you were you were going to the second piece of what you did what somebody should do to get going. The first was they need to work on their sphere of influence. And, and obviously, that is a huge, huge piece. I'd like to talk more about that. But what is the second? The second piece for me

Cameron Harris: 19:23

and you can I guess there's one of two ways to kind of go about this. But for me it was joining a team. I am someone that I want to learn from people that are doing better than I am constantly and I'm still on a team to this day. It's a different team but I'm still on a team to this day. And that was something that was really really beneficial to me for a number of different reasons. Number one there were there were experienced agents on the team that were able to kind of guide you know what I was doing on a daily basis and give me advice. There were also newer agents on the team as well, that we were kind of like learning and growing together, which also, there's a little bit of healthy competition with that too, because we're we got into the business around the same time, and we want to kind of push each other to see if we can if we can be successful. But the team structure is not for everybody. So if you're if you are not able to or not interested in joining a team, I think what we were saying earlier, find that group of people within your brokerage that does that same thing, right. So whether it's just a small group, and you guys meet, and just kind of like, you mind meld and you meet for coffee once a week, or once a month, or whatever, and you guys are talking about things that you're doing that's that's working or not working, or I did this open house and I tried this strategy, and it worked, or this wasn't successful. Those are the things that it's it's a it's a people business, outwardly, to our to our clients, but it's also very much a people business internally as well with the other people at your brokerage. It can't. It's unhealthy, I think to be it's a competitive business. But if that's your, if that's your driving focus, you can isolate yourself. And if you're successful at it, then great, do you but I'm a team player. So I like to be a part of a team, either officially or unofficially.

Rick Ripma: 21:25

And you know, what I found is, I would say every single real estate guru, we've talked to believes in mentors. Yeah. And that's really, you know, a team is you have mentors there. Absolutely. And you have mentors that are above the vertical mentors and horizontal mentors, you know, you talked about that. Yeah, you have the people you you came into with, into it with and they can be mentors, too. Right. You know, yeah. Because they're going through the same things, right.

Cameron Harris: 21:55

They're the same thing. And they're trying different things. And you are and they have a different sphere than you are. So it's really, you know, try to go into it with and my, one of the owners of my brokerage talks about this all the time is having an abundant abundance mindset, there's more than enough business to go around your sphere is way different than my sphere. Every once in a while you sure there are going to be overlaps here and there. Because you know, if you went to the same high school, the same college, you might know some of the same people, but generally, your sphere is your sphere, you you can provide a unique experience to those people. So is there competition in terms of like volume and neighborhoods and that kind of stuff? Yeah, there is some. But if you have an abundance mindset, then you realize that one person's success is not to your detriment, you can still grow in your business and learn from them. And they can learn from you all at the same time.

Rick Ripma: 22:49

You're wise beyond your years, I'm going to tell you, because I've been in sales a long time just listening to other people that, you know, I've been in sales a long time. And the biggest detriment to most people, is the lack mentality. They they think they're if you sell a house that you took it from them, right. When they don't know that person, they've never met that person. They had no chance of that, right. Yeah. If you use it correctly, which it sounds like you do and your your team does. You, you use that to motivate you to go do the thing maybe you didn't really want to do, but you know, it might get you to the end since that person got a deal. I better go do something. Yeah, right. Absolutely. And I better than so that's how you use it. You don't use it as, Oh, I'm so mad at them because they got a deal. You should be happy. And it should be abundant. There's plenty of business out there. Yeah.

Cameron Harris: 23:40

There's Yeah. And not just in your I mean, there's, there's referrals outwardly. So I mean, just just because somebody in your sphere that's that is moving. You know, elsewhere, there's still business, there's still ways for you to be helpful. So I think the more that you put yourself in that position, and just you go into it, how can I be helpful to this person versus like, I only want you talking to me and that and that's it, then you're going to close yourself off to a lot more opportunities than you think you will.

Rick Ripma: 24:09

And that lack mentality, the real part of the big negative to that lack mentality is you can't sell with a lack mentality. It's very difficult because then you're only worried about yourself. Yeah. And the one thing that I will say is extremely consistent amongst all of the Guru's is they are more focused on the other person than they are on themselves. And it's and they don't worry about the Commission. They worry about the, their, their client, they worry about everybody else. Yeah. And because of that, they do really well. And and they don't have to because the rest of it takes care of itself, take care of others and they'll take care of you. That's what you know. It's kind of what the show is. We're just trying to help you. No, absolutely. And that's that's what you do.

Cameron Harris: 24:58

Absolutely. There's You know, there's, there's obviously you you are working with your client and you have a duty to, to represent their best needs. But unless every deal you do is a Me and Me, you need some you need other agents in the market to, for you to be successful, you're not gonna be able to do it by yourself. So yeah, taking care of the other clients needs is part of your job as well, because the goal is somebody needs a house, someone needs to get rid of a house. That's if you keep that as your Northstar, then there's a lot of stuff that can go on in between the transaction, but if but if that's the goal, we understand that, hey, there's two of us working on this transaction right now. And somebody needs a house and somebody needs to get rid of it. So if we can agree that we're going to do whatever we can do to make sure that that happens at the end of the day, then the inspection stuff, and there is there are ways to work through all of those things without getting egos and competition in the way, right. So yeah, and

Rick Ripma: 26:03

that's why it's so important. And I think what I hear you saying is, you're obviously your number one is your client, right? But every deal has you have you have a buyer, you have a seller, you probably have a listing agent, you have a selling agent and a buyer's agent, you have a title company, you have a lender, you have inspectors, you have all these people. Obviously, your number one is your client, but to get your client, everything they need, you need to worry about exactly where people's need 100%

Cameron Harris: 26:32

You know, 100%? Yeah, because they're not going to be successful if the other 10 people that are involved aren't doing the job, and they don't have the same goal. If everybody has the same goal, then, you know, most of the time you'll get there, right?

Rick Ripma: 26:45

And there is anybody who's not in real estate or hasn't bought a home or hasn't bought very many I can tell you, I've done a lot. You've done a ton. There's not very many deals, not many purchases, not many refinances. Not many any that just go through without any glitch whatsoever. Nothing ever have salutely. Right. Absolutely. There's too many moving parts. Yeah,

Cameron Harris: 27:09

way too many I was I was just working with some clients recently, and we're actually closed later on today. And the whole time we were communicating about like, wow, this has been so smooth. This has been the and they were just they were super appreciative of like you guys have made this so easy for us. And we were kind of concerned that this was going to be a difficult thing. And it's been so smooth. And we're supposed to close on Tuesday, but the HOA documents didn't get sent to the seller, which didn't get sent to the lender. By Friday, you know, Friday evening or whatever. So then we had to push close. So I mean, it's there's always going to be something even in the smooth and that's probably the smoothest transaction I've had in a long time. Even with that glitch, but there's always going to be something and trying not to make mountains out of molehills really.

Rick Ripma: 28:03

Yeah. I've just seen it and there's always the transaction that it just doesn't seem anything can go right. Yeah, you know, it's, it's not anything you do wrong, anything I do wrong. It's just like, it just I don't know why it happens. But it's like every single thing that could go wrong. goes wrong. We are ready to go to the podcast side. We're going to move from the radio side. Before we do that, how would somebody get a hold of you if they have any real estate needs? Yeah,

Cameron Harris: 28:32

if you need to get a hold of me, easiest way is going to be shoot me a text or give me a call, my number is 317 to 5052463172505246. Or you can find me on Instagram at cams in the house.

Rick Ripma: 28:47

That's That's awesome. You need to get a hold of the ian or I it's HardWorkingMortgageGuys.com That's HardWorkingMortgageGuys.com Join us on the podcast side because we are going to find out again.

Announcer: 28:59

You're listening to in these real estate gurus with Rick Ripma and Ian Arnold to hear the conclusion of this interview, go to hardworking mortgage guys.com and hit the podcast have brunch? I don't know NMLS number 33041 Recruitment NMLS number 64589. Ian Arnold's NMLS number is 1995469 equal housing opportunity, some restrictions apply?

Unknown: 29:23

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 over the last 10 years. 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: 31:14

Ranch NMLS number 33041 Rick Ripma is NMLS number 664589 equal housing opportunity, some restrictions apply.

Rick Ripma: 31:20

I'm Rick Ripma, you can go to hard working mortgage guys.com Welcome back, we appreciate you, you come in and and you're in the right place. If you come in from the radio, this is the right spot to start. And I do want to talk about your superpowers. What would you consider are your superpowers?

Cameron Harris: 31:40

I think my superpowers are generally as a person I'm a little bit more reserved. I'm very rarely the life of the party, you are the you know super outgoing, I consider myself friendly. But that's just you know that it's not me. But with that I think comes a demeanor of just like calmness, it's it's pretty difficult to get me kind of like off my square. So we were talking about transactions that it just seems like sometimes nothing can go wrong, right the whole time. And even in those I think when I've been in those situations, my clients have appreciated that. Even when things were difficult throughout the whole transaction, I was able to keep a level head and still like find a solution for them. Because there are very rare situations where there's no solution to be found. Talk to the lenders talk to the title company, there are people that have been in situations, even if it's a new situation for you, there are people at your brokerage or people that you're working with that have been in a similar situation. So that's that's what I try to bring to every client and I talked to I talked to them about that when we first when we first get going, is that yet, you know, sometimes these transactions are not the smoothest things in the world. But what you can count on from me is a level head, I'm not going to go be going back and forth with the other agent or the other client or whatever. I'm my focus is getting you to your goal, and getting that other person to their goal once we're under once we're under contract. And if I can keep a level head and not let outside factors get in the way of that, then most of the time, we can still have a successful transaction.

Rick Ripma: 33:25

I personally think it's one of the most, most needed piece in a real estate transaction, because we talked about it not everyone goes perfect, right? Even ones that go perfect. Don't always have everything go right. There's always something. And there's a tremendous amount of emotion involved in a real estate transaction. 100%. Right. And it's very personal to your buyer. And it's very personal to your seller. And if you get all excited with them. That's not good. Yeah, you are the one who needs to have the level head. And, and and make sure that everybody remembers I love the fact that you keep going back we got to remember the goal everybody has. And that's the that's kind of the key to that level head. It's always okay, I know you're very upset at the inspection. And I know you don't think that we should you should have to spend $50 To fix the outlet right? Okay. But are you really gonna not move and Suzanne, you know, over $50

Cameron Harris: 34:26

Actually, let's let's look at the bigger picture always and keep the main thing the main thing. Like you said, it's a very emotional process. We're talking about like homes, not just and I like to use the the term homes instead of just like houses. Because home I think is just as much like a mindset and like it's psychological as much as it is like the physical address. And so we're talking about the place in people's lives that they are at their most vulnerable Well, so it's a very emotional place, this is this is going to be the place where I am going to be at my most vulnerable most of the time. So for me, I want to make sure that I know that this is going to be an emotional at times, it can be emotional. And there's sometimes you have clients that are more, you know, analytical thinking. And it's more about, you know, did the numbers make sense and those kinds of things, but but some, a lot of times, they even surprised themselves with how emotional the process gets. So that's not what I think our job is, is like you said, to get emotional with them, it's to kind of absorb some of that, so that they can also let me help you clear your mind as well, because I have a clear mind, you say, Okay, well, camera's not freaking out about this. So, and he's done this before. And he's seen this before. So let me let me kind of calm down, let me listen to what the advice is. And let's see what the situation is. Sometimes the situation is something different. And sometimes the situation is more of a negative but, and I think that's why it's so good to have, it's so important to have that trust with with the person that you're working with is, camera's not going to put in put me in a position to lose, right, I'm going to be in a position where I'm better off than when I started,

Rick Ripma: 36:21

right. And I have found when you do that, even though at the time, it may not be what the person wanted to hear, when they actually get through it, and the emotions come back down. They appreciate the fact that you walk them through it. I know for me, and just the way you are, I'm guessing you're the same way is that? I don't tell somebody what they're going to do. Right, right. Yeah, I give them the options. I lay it out. I explain it, I help them understand. And I'm sure that's what you do. So they understand. This is this. Yes, I understand. It's not nobody's happy, but you're not going to be happy about this. Right? Exactly. Okay. Yeah. But what's the ultimate goal here? And this is, this is what we're dealt, right? Yeah, exactly. The buyer, the buyer didn't create the outlet needed to be fixed. Right? Right. You didn't know about it, you didn't do anything wrong, right. But it's where we're at, because the inspector,

Cameron Harris: 37:21

exactly that exact. So let's just fix it. So let's fix it, let's find whatever the solution is, there's, there has to be. And a lot of times, you know, in negotiation, the the, the way that you get forward in a negotiation is when both sides feel like they're losing a little bit. You know, that's that's kind of the win win situation is what, it can't be a win win, if one person is getting what they want, and the other person is not getting what they want. So there has to be a happy medium. So you can try to find that when you when you can, if you could find the wins, great. If you can find the ones great, you know, all the better. But yes, typically, someone both sides are giving up something. Yep. And you know, if you're if both sides are open to that going into it, then it just kind of greases the wheel to have a more successful transaction when you do run into something.

Rick Ripma: 38:16

So what is your most memorable transaction?

Cameron Harris: 38:22

Name, most memorable transaction? I would say Well, it's my most memorable is is probably my wife and I buying our first house. Awesome. So that was that was a process we were she was doing. She's an optometrist. She was doing her residency in Fort Wayne at the time, before we before we got married. And then when we did get married, she still had about six months left. So I decided that I wanted to, I didn't want to spend those first six months of marriage apart. So I was, you know, I moved in to the apartment that she was in in Fort Wayne and I was just kind of going back and forth between Fort Wayne and Indy, you know, several times a week to, you know, to do my business here. When we finally decided that, you know, we, you know, we wanted to buy and we wanted to, we were looking at neighborhoods and everything like that we decided to build or buy new construction. So that was a that was a process just coming back to Indy during the weekends and looking at all these different places. And I work a lot in downtown Indy so I'm used to older houses and stuff like that. So I was taking her to those and hey, this is a little bit under what our budget is. So we can you know, there's gonna be more equity for us, we can just fix it up and that kind of stuff. And she was having none of it. And she was, she was absolutely she's like, No, this is not going to work for me. So then the mindset had to shift a little bit to Yeah, we got to, it's gonna have to be newer. So we He started looking for, you know, newer stuff and then ultimately just decided there was a new construction like townhouse that was that was going up, and it just kind of checked all the boxes for us it was going to be ready around the time that her residency was over. So yeah, just that was that's probably the one that you know, because it was more personal that that, you know, remember for forever. Yeah,

Rick Ripma: 40:21

can't get much, much newer than brand new.

Cameron Harris: 40:23

No, no, it can't get much. No, this is I'm giving you everything that you can get. I can't get you know. Yeah.

Rick Ripma: 40:31

I'm glad you learned very early in your in your relationship that she runs it. Oh, yeah. Because, you know, I've been married a long time. And I find a lot of people don't get that. And I always laugh because they don't always understand. I

Cameron Harris: 40:43

feel like, you know, with my expertise that I might have been able to get her into something more similar to what I had in mind. But you know, frankly, when when I started looking at the new stuff, too, I was just like, wow, this is nice. So she was like, I'll give it to you. This is fine.

Rick Ripma: 41:01

Oh, you're gonna say she was right. I was about to. I was about to. Don't let her in here. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, exactly. Don't be listening to this podcast. No, not at all. So I love that. The those that memorable transact some of them are just crazy bad. Which is what a lot of people remember. Yeah, it was great to hear one that was I mean, it's really nice and personal. And it means a lot. But it also means you understand the emotion somebody goes through when they buy a house.

Cameron Harris: 41:31

Yeah. Right. Yeah, absolutely. That's, again, that emotional piece is so key. And I think it's so overlooked, not just by, by us a lot of times as, as you know, the brokers of the deal. But also, by the, you know, the clients, the buyers and the sellers, and it goes both ways to them, I think I've been speaking a lot from the perspective of the buyer, but also from the seller, I mean, depending on the circumstance, you might be moving from a place that you spent a lot of time in or that you're, you know, your kids took their first steps. And so there's an emotional piece to that as well. But again, having those situations, the brokers job there is, what's the goal, you are moving for a reason. This is not you know, and not to be harsh, but it's like this is not going to be you know your house anymore. So you take those, the good thing is those, those memories are going to be with you forever, you take them, you're going to take them to the next house with you. But this is, you know, let's the goal is you needed to sell this house, we have buyers here, it doesn't really matter what they're going to do to it afterwards, if they're going to change the paint color, if they're going to move the floors or do whatever, you know, you're going to take those memories with you and we're going to get you off to the situation that, you know, is is best for you. Because that was the decision that you guys made before you even called me, right. So,

Rick Ripma: 43:01

you know, I can relate to it. Because I've been in my house for over 30 years. And you know, we've done tons of work. And it's, it's, it's, you know, you do it for you. And that's why we did it. Everybody thought oh, you're selling the house, you're gonna remodel against no one, we're not gonna remodel and sell the house. I'm not gonna go through the remodeling process. All that pain, yeah, I'm gonna live there a while. But then when you go to sell it, you're you may not even realize it, but you're giving up control your house when you sell it. Yeah. And all those things. However, like you said, it's, it's what you're after. So let's say your your your grandkids live in a whole nother state and you're moving to that other state. Yeah, if you don't sell your house, you can't be with your grandkids, they can't go to their games, you can't do that. So you always have to remember and it's, it's important to have somebody who's level headed, who knows what's going on, understands the process, as ask the right questions, so they understand why you're doing this. So they can make sure that you understand that situation so you can make the right decision for you. Because again, you don't tell them hey, you know, you got to sell your house. No, that's not they don't have to sell their house. Exactly. But remember why you want to write? And is that still what you want to do? Maybe it's not, but that's what you have to do,

Cameron Harris: 44:20

right? Writing under the assumption that the decision is still the same. Do you want to use the example that you just mentioned? Do you want to be in the house where your grandkids took their first steps? Or do you want to be next to your grandkids? So you know, there's, you know, once you look at it from like that more like, linear logical standpoint, then yeah, the, the emotions still gonna be there, and I'm not, you know, I'm not going to sugarcoat that, you know, you're still going to have the emotion with it. So regardless of where we go from it, whether you stay here or not, the emotion is going to stay with you regardless. Because we're human. That's just you're not gonna be able to get rid of that. But Uh, going back to the goal, what's the, you know, what is the goal? So let's, let's, let's get there. Let's do that.

Rick Ripma: 45:07

Now. There's, I just have a ton of questions I want to ask, but I'm not gonna be able to get to them all. But I do want to go back because I'll get it wrong. So I want to make sure I read it correctly. I want to this the side hustle economy. Yeah. Can you talk about that a little bit? I think that's a sure fascinating.

Cameron Harris: 45:22

Yes. So the founders CEO, everything of of the side, hustle economy is a really good friend of mine, Anthony Murdock. He's just, he's doing a lot of just amazing things in the city. He is a new professor at Butler, actually. So he's teaching business at Butler now as well. But he has a vision for empowering side hustlers. And he asked me to be honored to be the board chair. And basically, the, the mission of the side hustle economy is for either people that are currently working a full time job, but they have a business idea, or they have a business that they run on the side, whether it be apparel, or catering, or whatever the case may be. That is a segment of I think our market that is that we we think is overlooked, there are resources, if you have a traditional nine to five w two job, there are resources for you, given provided to you from your job, right? If you are an entrepreneur full time, like myself, you know, 1099 employee, I'm self employed, there are resources for me, as well. But the people that are trying to either transition from one to the other, or trying to supplement one with the other, there's not as many clear cut resources for those people. So we host seminars and programs where those people can come and steal learn, how do you set up your business? How do you you know, what are the context that you need, and it's everything from, you know, starting the LLC, to If you need legal help, if you need marketing help, if there there are grants that are our participants can can apply for that we have relationships with Fifth Third Bank list and the list goes on Verizon, there are a lot of different you know, companies that are willing to help but our job is kind of being a conduit to those people that are in need of those resources to the services that provide those resources. So yeah, that's that is that's generally it and just helping people that have either side hustles or trying to transition from one to the other, grow their business supplement their income and create that that wealth for themselves and their families. Okay, so

Rick Ripma: 48:02

a side hustle is you have a full time job and you're doing something on the side you're doing fiber you're yet are you you on the side do those you know Yeah, edit for people. Yeah, whatever it happened. Absolutely.

Cameron Harris: 48:15

Yeah, society Yeah, anything outside of your, your, you know, traditional nine to five kind of kind of work. So like I said, catering is a good example. We have a lot of those and apparel businesses. If you are an artist, you know anything like that anything that would supplement your income and if you have dreams or goals to even if you don't intend to leave your your your, you know, your career. But you still want to grow something, then yeah, we have a lot of resources to help you pursue those dreams. Yeah,

Rick Ripma: 48:50

that's, that's great. And it's, it's, you're you're giving back trying to help people because, I mean, real estate's not a side hustle, but it's, it's certainly a hustle.

Cameron Harris: 49:03

Grind for sure. Yeah. It's fun,

Rick Ripma: 49:05

enjoyable, but it's still a lot of work. Now, I also wanted to get into you, your education, in your your knowledge of technology, and all of all of that. How does that help you in your in your real estate business?

Cameron Harris: 49:20

I think there's a number of ways that that it helps for one, as I mentioned before, with my specific background and technology, my master's degrees in human computer interaction. So my focus, being a user experience expert was all on the user not so much the technology but how can the technology work for the user, the person that's going to be using it on the on the at the end? So in real estate, that's that's your goal as well. What can I do if I'm I'm basically the kind of what what can I do to help the user the client get to what their their desired goal is? So those are the similarities there. But then I think, yeah, just moving forward to the industry as a whole. There's, there's really no part in our in our lives now and 2023, and moving forward where technology does not exist. So moving forward, and I think real estate historically has, we're slower adopters to technology. We're we are an industry built more so on history and tradition. And you have agents that are used to doing their running their business a certain way, right. And, and they are adverse to change because they know what works for them. Moving forward, though, because every other industry and every other facet of our lives are so ingrained in technology. And things are changing so quickly, that if real estate doesn't recognize that, we're going to miss out on opportunities to serve those clients the best way. So the example that I use for people is I have a couple of different nieces and nephews, all under all six or under. So they're all learning how to read how to write, you know, form sentences, that kind of stuff. But for at least two years, they've all been proficient in how to use the iPad, right? So you can imagine by the time that they are shopping for their first house, the expectation that they're going to have for their service providers, is going to be way different than what our consumers expect of us now. So if we don't keep up with technology, if we don't keep up with the innovation, if we don't keep up with the trends, then they're they're going to go to those other alternatives that are starting to gain a lot of traction, they're going to, you know, I know in our industry, a lot of people have mixed feelings about companies like Zillow and offer pad and these you know, and Rocket Mortgage and these things that are, you know, frankly, consumer friendly, because they are so easy. And they are just like everything else that they're used to, if I'm going to Starbucks, I'm going to place my order on the app before I even leave my house. And by the time I get there, I'm just going to pick it up and go. If I if I need groceries, I'm going to create that order before I even leave my house. And it's either going to be dropped off to me, or I'm going to pick it up and go. So if I need a mortgage, or if I need to get into a house, then I'm just going to click the button on Zillow, or I'm just going to click the button on Rocket Mortgage. And I'm going to have now we know in the industry, that's a bad idea for a lot of for a lot of reasons, right. But the expectation, using the example of my nieces and nephews, the expectation for them, when they get to that point is that they're not going to know the difference, right? In all of the other technology that they use that is so ubiquitous, and everything that they do, they're not going to know the difference that Oh, real estate's different, I have to actually have to have a relationship with somebody actually have to talk to somebody to have the best service, that's not they're not going to be able to differentiate. So it's up to us, I think, to keep up with tech, and I'm not saying that we need to be, you know, completely, you know, innovative in, in, you know, in in tech not we need to keep up with Apple and that kind of stuff. What I'm saying is we need to at least know how to interact with technology to make our clients transactions easier, make getting in communication with them easier make getting finding what they need easier, the resources being the source of the source, and all that information. So I think that's why technology is so important, even in an industry like ours, that it may not be as obvious. Yeah.

Rick Ripma: 54:08

And you know, it's getting easier to do the technology. Yeah. And I know that, you know, some some of the time, why No, this is in the mortgage industry. The the person wants to the borrower wants to, they want somebody to talk to right. So it is actually the tech, you need the technology. But even these high technology companies are realizing they need the people. Yeah. You know, and the people are people, like loan officers and real estate agents are realizing we need the technology. Absolutely. And it's it's difficult, because it's some of its, you know, you just like at six years old, they weren't even thinking about computers when I was six years old. There wasn't, you know, I mean, I think I think I don't remember when it happened, but I know the first computer was not to you I don't know when it started, but it was, you know, huge and everything else. I guess it was 1953. So I wasn't very old. I wasn't I wasn't born that yet. But, you know, I wasn't, it was not that long before I was born and thinking you could have a handheld computer. Exactly. That would I mean, it's, it's incredible. Yeah. So you have to catch up? If so what I think you're saying is, if you're a real estate agent, and you're in this industry, and you want to be here, you need to get your technology up, you need to suck it up. Yeah. And get out there and start learning because it's otherwise it's gonna pass. Yeah,

Cameron Harris: 55:34

and again, I'm not saying, you know, there's, you know, artificial intelligence and all of these, you know, there that other companies are doing for their industries. I'm not saying that real estate needs to be there, what I'm saying is, by the time that generation grows up, they're not going to know any difference. I'm, I'm at the age where I kind of had the best of both worlds, I was a little bit analog, and a little bit digital, right? I have, I'm at the age where I'm really right on the line, where I can remember, you know, phone books and landlines, and that kind of stuff. But obviously, now, I, it's, it's all, you know, it's iPhones and that kind of stuff. So, but for generations coming after us, they're not going to have any frame of reference, right. So the expectation that they're going to have for everything in their lives is going to be way different. So for those of us right now, that are practicing, you know, it's easier to have conversations with people that are buying, because everyone from this point backwards, knows, you know, has been able to toe the line, you are analog, your digital, but talking to the generation, that's going to be strictly digital, it's going to be very difficult to try to provide them only analog service. So at least being able to communicate with them, and and provide that level of service to them so that they don't make what I think would be making mistake and go with just automated services, because they're going to exist, they're not going anywhere. These are huge companies and they are going to get better, right? They're gonna get better at what they do. I don't think the real estate agent, I don't think the the loan officer, I don't think those careers are going anywhere. That's not what I'm saying. But what I'm saying is the competition between us, and these digital only companies is going to get stiffer. The differentiator is going to be the people Yes. But the people need to still be able to provide the level of service that the clients are going to expect. And that's going to have a technological base.

Rick Ripma: 57:50

You've got to have the technology and then the people and that's and they work hand in hand. We are running out of time. You're it's fascinating. I really appreciate you coming on. Cameron, how would somebody get a hold of you if you have any real estate needs

Cameron Harris: 58:02

any real estate needs easiest way to get a hold of me is shoot me a text or give me a call? My number is 3172505246317 to 505246. Or you can find me on Instagram at cams in the house.

Rick Ripma: 58:18

And if you if you have any questions on, you know, mortgages, HardWorkingMortgageGuys.com That's the best spot. And if you have any friends, family or coworkers looking to buy, sell or refinance, if you know go to HardWorkingMortgageGuys.com Let us know and you know we'll get you in touch with Cam if if that's what you're looking for. Again, we appreciate it very much. We hope you have a great day. Bye