Guru Mark Coffey with Coffey Compass Group

Rick Ripma: 0:00

Welcome to Indy's Real Estate Gurus. I'm Rick Ripma, your hard working mortgage guy and I've been in real estate and mortgages for over 52 years. I'm sorry, that's only 34 years I've helped over50 financing homes. I'm glad you said you don't mind mistakes.And I believe in custom tailored loans, not a one size fits all approach. We believe there is the right mortgage for you and we are the team to deliver it and today we do not have en en cannot make it in. But we have Mark coffee and marks a with what is its Keller Williams, but it's the what is not the

Mark Coffey: 0:36

Compass Group of Keller melas. Company, okay.

Rick Ripma: 0:38

And you are the managing broker.

Mark Coffey: 0:40

I am also the owner or co owner, okay, coffee Compass Group.

Rick Ripma: 0:44

Okay, so, so and you've been doing this a long time, we're really excited to have you because we know when we talk to you have great stories,you have a lot of background,not just in real estate, but in in your life. Right. And I and that, that I think is very interesting. So thanks so much for joining me.

Mark Coffey: 1:01

Oh, it's absolutely my pleasure. Thank you so much for having me today.

Rick Ripma: 1:04

You're welcome. And let's start with before real estate, where did you grow up?What did you do?

Mark Coffey: 1:10

So I am a lifelong resident of Mooresville. Born and raised there went to school there actually graduated from Monrovia and we went there for two years. But I've been there my whole life. My dad was a mason and a custom home builder.So I kind of followed in his footsteps immediately after high school became a pipe liner in the union, always in construction, and then I was actually a HUD carrier in the union as well and then became a heavy equipment operator. So a lot of construction background,I owned my own contracting firm for a really long time and actually still own a construction company. Just kind of always been a passion of mine. And I really love it. I like to look back and see what I've done kind of thing. You know, every contractor will tell you this, when you drive down the road, it's nice to point out to your kids like I built that.And I did that right. Being in the Union allowed me some really cool projects to work on. Like we helped build the convention center and the airport and several high schools around the city. And you know, it's a lot of fun. So, but I had a pretty severe accident about 10 years ago now. Had a ditch collapse on me. I was about five foot deep when it happened. Yeah. Had umpteen number of knee surgeries. I didn't walk from us three years. So it was time to reevaluate my life choices. And my doctor told me he's like,You're never going back to construction. So my mom was in real estate and has been for 28years now. And she had always tried to get me to get into real estate. But, you know, I loved what I did. I really did. So she, you know, it was time to reevaluate. And she's like, why don't you think about real estate again? Well, I wasn't walking, so I had plenty of time to study. So I went to real estate school and got my license and hit the ground running, I guess.

Rick Ripma: 3:05

Yeah. It's just very, it's it's wild, how different how people get into real estate differently. And it's also interesting to me how,how many people have family who was in real estate, and they,they kind of avoided it. But it always seems to get them back in they eventually ended up as a real estate agent,

Mark Coffey: 3:25

I think so mine was love of houses, like I've just always loved houses, I love old houses, new houses, I've been to architecture, like that stuff's fascinating to me. So real estate was kind of a easy transition into that, because it was something I was already passionate about. So it was just natural.

Rick Ripma: 3:48

So So you got into real estate. And and obviously,part of that is because you now have, you know, the you couldn't walk so you had to you got in credit, and it has to be really valuable to have all that construction knowledge. When you're both for a buyer and a seller, is it not?

Mark Coffey: 4:11

It is it can be a deterrent if you allow it. One thing that I try to be very cognizant about is it is not my job to rebuild their house, you don't know what a buyer loves about a property. So when you walk in and start like, Well, I do this and I do that that may not be what they want. It may not be what they're looking for.So you have to know when to shut up, if that makes any sense. I think as an agent, it's really hard to stay away sometimes. And I think that's where a lot of agents fail, is they want to be the smartest person in the room.It's not my job to be the smartest person in the room.It's not my job to explain to them how much I know and what I know. It's to help them accomplish their goals. I had a I did a final walkthrough last Last night on a property for a client, and I had to ask them what they paid for the property.And she kind of looked at me and I'm like, I'm sorry, it's in my file, I could check. I said, I don't really worry about prices.And she kind of looked at me and I said, if you spent 40,000 or40 million, I don't care. My job is to provide professional service and help you get what you want. Like, don't worry about the prices, I just helped people get what they want. But when it comes to that construction knowledge, when they want it, yes, it's very valuable. But when they don't want it, get out of the way,right. Like, sometimes we just got to get out of the way.

Rick Ripma: 5:32

Yeah, yeah, it's,it's I've talked to a lot of agents who don't have it. And they feel like it's a it's a pretty big, positive, but I can see where if, like you said, you have to choose when you use it,but I would think you walk into somebody's house, maybe you're showing a house. And there's something that looks much worse than it actually is.

Mark Coffey: 5:55

I think when you don't have experience in construction, when you don't have the understanding of how things work. It's harder to realize everything's fixable.Like, there's nothing in your house that you can break that can't be fixed, right? Even if there's massive foundation damage, if you're willing to go down that road. It's all fixable. Right? So, but that again, that's where it comes down to the client,understanding what they want to do. Like when they need that expertise, it's great to give it to them. But when they don't make sure you know, people that really know what they're talking about that way, because, again,the clients are all over the board to some of them have very extensive knowledge, and some of them can't paint a room. So the people that can't paint a room,it's really hard to explain to them. That it's kind of easy to fix it. Yeah. Because to them,it's not so then it's a cost.That's where it's you got to stay out of the way a little bit. But somebody that understands construction, man, I could talk to them for hours about different things I would do and it's very natural conversation sometimes.

Rick Ripma: 7:05

So you got into real estate you'd been it had been on you're basically on your you could walk right? How did you get going? Because it's not the easiest career to get moving in.And you've done phenomenally well. So what did you do? What was your process? What? How'd you do it? Ah,

Mark Coffey: 7:25

that's probably going to be a long winded answer. So I apologize up front.So when I decided to get my license, I, I actually had lunch with my mom. She wanted me to come to work for her as a buyer's agent. I, we had lunch,we talked and my mother and I are extremely close. But I went home, I talked to my wife, I called my mom back and told her I wasn't interested. I needed to know that I could succeed on my own. So I, I went to work for the same company. My mom did.And she had always been there.So I didn't even interview like I just I walked in and told the managing broker, like here's my license, I'm licensed, where's my desk? I just like, Alright,let's get started. So, I actually, I love to talk to people, I, it's always kind of been my thing. That's why real estate I think works well for me. I get paid to talk to people. But I so I did an open house. So I had passed my state exam and my national, I got my broker's license, went to work.And I did an open house actually, the day before my license was like, approved through my board, if you will,like I was licensed, but I'm still waiting on like my board number. So I had an open house and I sold my I sold the house at the open house. Wow. It wasn't my listing. So but so I sold that. And then the next day I was in the office, a floor call came in and I was just kind of up by the front and the agent on floor was like, Hey, do you want this call is like Sure. So I listed that house

Rick Ripma: 9:06

that happy they did that work?

Mark Coffey: 9:08

I don't think they cared. I know that sounds terrible. But everyone's got a different drive to them. Right.So I had been in real estate about two days and I had a listing on a sale. And I'm like,well, this isn't so hard. But I did get into coaching really early. Tom Meyers. He was at carpenter at the time, was incredibly influential in my career, taught me a lot taught me how to talk, if that makes sense. Like I was good at talking but I had no idea what to say. Yep. So I just kind of talked a lot. Like my first listing appointment. I think I remember asking them pretty early. Like I could have a photographer here on Monday.Does that work for you? And they're like, yeah, and then I talked for two hours, and finally, the guy's like, can we just list the house? I'm like,oh, yeah, I guess I should shut up. So I really listened to the people around me going forward,I really got involved in learning scripts and dialogue and internalizing those I either smart enough or dumb enough to understand that. I don't always know what to say, but somebody does. And if I'm willing to learn, they can teach me right.So I went to several conventions, I hired a private coach pretty quickly into my career is about six months. But I, I just kind of hit the ground running, I think I did 40 or 41transactions my first year,which was kind of interesting,because I had no sphere at that point. So anybody I'd ever met,I was like, Oh, you have to use my mom, my wife worked for at the time. And I was like, Oh,they're the best, you know, you need to send your business to them. So when I got into real estate, how am I supposed to tell them not to use who I've already told them is the best.So I prospected all day long every day. So my first year, I think I probably took off less than a week. I worked seven days a week, 10 hours a day, and I prospected all day long. I don't prospect. So I got a dialer very early. And I just started calling I think I called everybody in Mooresville that year. And that was my goal was to call everybody in the Mooresville school system. I think the longest phone call I had was actually my managing brokers mother, and I talked to her for about an hour. But again, it was just if they were willing to talk, I was willing to listen. So as soon as I would hang up, even if they told me no, I would send them a thank you card, if they weren't just a complete butthead. My manager at the time, it's like, send them a thank you card. Just that. And it was real simple. It was, I really appreciate your time today. You know, I understand how valuable your time is, if there's ever anything I can do for you in the future, please give me a call. So I remember I sent one of those cards to a guy in Mooresville. And he called me back three months later, and he's like, Hey, I got your card.I kept it. He's like, I'm ready to sell my house. Now. I was like, oh, okay, I forgot who I even talked to at that point.This is nameless chap, really,really good guy. But, uh, so I go out, I list the house, do an open house on Sunday. had somebody come through that decided to list their house. And then I sold them a house and then I picked up a buyer for that house. And lo and behold that if I'm not mistaken, and I've done the math on it, that one thank you card and one phone call turned into about 13 sales that year. Wow. So it was just I think when agents get going, and if somebody's listening to this that's new or struggling, it's the little things. It's not the there's no one big thing you do that generates all of your business. I mean, everyone's going to tell you sphere as your main point of business and why that's true. It's hard to develop a sphere, right? So it's all the little things you do like I when I hire new agents,when I talk to new agents, you know, I always tell them, like,you know, there's a big bucket of tools, but they work as hard as you do, right? Everything in real estate works. You can farm you can cold call, you can call expireds just listed just sold,you can do all of that. And they all work to a degree. But you got to have a combination of that, you know, kind of back to construction analogy. When you're building a house, you don't put it in one form of a pillar, right? If you have five or six pillars, you're building a very successful business, you just got to have those five or six pillars. And there's going to be trial and error. Like there's things you're going to suck at. You're just not good at. I don't like to be told now,people that made me think that it doesn't bother me. But of course it does. It bothers everyone. Nobody likes to be told no. Right. Right. So it's easy to get caught up in the nose. But understand that you're doing it for your family, like you're creating a lifestyle that most people dream of. And it's easy to get lost in that sometimes that they're not telling you no because they hate you. They're telling you no,because that's what we're taught to do. Like when you walk into Macy's. When you walk in the first thing somebody asked you is, is there anything I can help you find and what's your first response? No, I'm

Rick Ripma: 14:37

just looking.Exactly. Everybody's Have you ever walked

Mark Coffey: 14:39

into Macy's to just look around? No. But as soon as you need to find something, you go find that guy or gal? Can you help me find this? Right? So they don't tell you to get bet when you tell them? No, they just say thanks. If you need anything, come find me and then you do right. Real Estate's kind of the same way. You don't have to get upset because they told you no Just let them know that you're an option when they're ready. Yeah, like not everyone's ready to move today. You don't have to force them. You don't need to oversell them, and you don't have to talk them into it.You just need to be there when they need you. And then once they figure out that you're there for them, they'll refer you to everybody they've ever met. Because that is really your greatest marketing anyways, is word of mouth. Yep.

Rick Ripma: 15:22

That's phenomenal. I

Mark Coffey: 15:23

know that was a long winded answer. I

Rick Ripma: 15:24

thought it was great. It was great. Because I think that one of the things that I pick up out of that, and I and it's from all the guru agents, it's you. There's not one thing that works, but you got to work. You call people,right? You cold call, which a lot of people won't do. They're scared to death of it. They think it's terrible. They won't do it. But you sucked it up, and you did it.

Mark Coffey: 15:49

And so let's be very clear. There's nothing great about it. Right. But other

Rick Ripma: 15:54

than the business,you might get off of it. That's

Mark Coffey: 15:56

exactly right. The Freedom My family has financially now was worth every no I've ever been told, right? I mean, that's the truth of it.Yes. So you just have to get over it. Yeah, you

Rick Ripma: 16:08

just do it. And that's that was that's kind of what I like to get across to people because I've worked with so many new mortgage people that come in, and they sit around and they don't do anything. And they're expecting a no real estate's the same way. They're expecting the business just to come because they happen to be there. Oh, yeah, I put a sign out front, everyone's gonna call me now doesn't work that way.You got to work. That's exactly right. If somebody would like to get into the business, or maybe they're in the business looking to make a change, or they have a house they would like to buy or sell, what is the best way to get a hold of you?

Mark Coffey: 16:43

My cell phone is probably the absolute best way to get a hold of me. That's317-400-9258. Sorry, I'll repeat that. For anybody that's writing that down. It's 317-400-9258.You can always reach me by my email, Mark, coffee ma RK co ffey@kw.com. Or you can go to the coffee compass. group.com.That's also our website.patsies, another great referral reference. That's actually my mother, you can reach her at31728134133172813413. I mean,we'd be happy to talk to anybody that's looking, even if they just need advice. You know,that's kind of what we're

Rick Ripma: 17:34

here for. Right?Yeah, that's awesome. And if you need to get a hold of Ian or I ,go to HardWorkingMortgageGuys.com That's HardWorkingMortgageGuys.com Or you can call 317-658-5240.That's not the right number three ones 767 To 1938 31767 to1938. I never do that when he ends here because thanks for listening. Then these real estate gurus, the gurus we interview share valuable insights they reveal their strengths, personalities and how they'll work for you. Well, we hardworking mortgage guys secure your best mortgage real estate gurus worked hard to, they avoid problems the amateurs don't see.They listen, they find unrealized opportunities. If you're buying or selling a home,a real estate guru is a valuable asset. If you're even thinking of buying or selling a home,keep listening, and definitely call one of Andy's real estate gurus. We're gonna make it we're gonna get off real estate just for a minute. And talk about if you had a day off a week off,okay. And you and you didn't you weren't doing any business? What would we find you doing? What do you do?

Mark Coffey: 18:42

Man, that's a hard one. Hi. I don't get a lot of time off anymore, right? Which is a good problem to have. I've got a cabin out in western Indiana that my family loves to go to even if we get a night off. I'm only gonna be there in about an hour. It's on a small lake. And we really enjoy that.My oldest son plays on a national travel team for soccer.So normally when I got some time off, I'm traveling the country.He's all over the place. I think last year alone, we were in 17or 18 states. Wow. Yeah. Yeah.And now, you know, with college visits and all that in the recruiting. It seems to take up a lot of our time, we really enjoy the beach. I think my wife enjoys mountains more, but I seem to like beaches more. So we kind of trade those off. I you know, I really enjoy spending time with my family. When I get the opportunity. That's probably my favorite thing to do. Because you don't get

Rick Ripma: 19:40

that much of it.Right. I mean, you're you're busy. And that's the goal,right? That's right. That's the goal, especially while we're built, you're building and you're building a business and that's getting bigger, bigger and bigger. And so that's exactly

Mark Coffey: 19:53

well. I you know,I've had this conversation with people. They're like, Oh, you got all this free time. No,that's not the truth. And while we've had success, I refuse to believe that we plateaued. Like,I believe that we're only at the pinnacle of it instead of the ending of it, right? So I'm all in to continuing to grow,continuing to develop, to continuing to try to find new trends, to just really continue this. My wife asked me, we were in LA on vacation about two years ago, and we're walking down the beach, you know, having a cup of coffee, just her and I.And she said, you know, how long does this last? I mean, because I work a lot. And I said, you know, I don't know. And that was a very honest answer. But like I told her, I said, I have a really unique opportunity that most people never get, like, we get to build generational wealth for our family. And most people don't even understand what that means. Like, we're not taught how to become wealthy, we're taught how to work for someone else. Right, right. So I really try to savor that opportunity as much as I can. I would like to help as many people as I can help my family help my community. And you know, that's kind of incumbent upon us to take that mantle on, because somebody before me did it. So why wouldn't I take it on? Yep.

Rick Ripma: 21:13

And isn't it with what you do? Not only are you building wealth for you and your family, you're building wealth for everybody you help?

Mark Coffey: 21:21

Oh, 100%, right.Everyone's got a different take on fear, right? Gatorade has a new commercial out where they talk about fear, and they're like, fear shouldn't deter you,it should drive you right. So when I got into real estate, it was the fear of failing, like, I couldn't let my family down. And I made pretty good money in construction. But I didn't realize that it wasn't as good as I thought, if that makes sense. Yes. And I was making a six figure income. But I had to replace that. And I had to replace it quickly. Because now I have to pay for my health insurance and my retirement and all of that stuff. And nobody tells you that, oh, that's tax deductible. Anyways, my best advice ever is go find a really good financial planner, and just listen to them. But all that stuff's tax deductible, why didn't know that. So I'm just trying to replace that income as quickly as possible. Without any thought of building wealth. Now is obviously much more structured with a plan of retirement and how I see myself in the future. But it was just that replacement value, if that makes sense. So I think that that's probably my best answer.

Rick Ripma: 22:46

Well, that's a great answer. And I think it's great advice. Financial Planner is vital. And if you're self employed, it probably really also helps to have a CPA. Oh,god, yeah, you gotta have you gotta have that. But off that,what would you say your superpower or superpowers are?

Mark Coffey: 23:06

Hmm, that's a really, really good question. I would say my superpower is getting the deal done. Maybe that seems like a bogus answer.But when you get into real estate, you quickly figure out not everyone is as passionate as you are. And not everyone is dedicated to training. As you are, right? Some are over dedicated, where they need to be the smartest person in the room,some are very under dedicated,where they're just relying on someone else to tell them what to do. But there's a lot of problems that arise. I mean,throughout the entire process,you think when we sell a house to a young buyer, we're selling that house probably seven times because we've got to sell it to them, we got to sell it to their parents, we got to sell it to the appraiser, we got to sell it to the mortgage company, we got to sell it to the inspector, we got to there's a lot of problems that arise throughout that process. And you have to understand how to navigate those waters. Because the second you show emotion, they follow your ocean, right? Like if they're upset. Your job needs to be to calm them down, not make them further upset, right. There was a reason why they wanted that house. Keep referring them back to that sometimes of and when it's no longer the right house,that's fine. But if it is the right house, again, everything's fixable. So you just work along the that path to figure out how to get the deal done. There's you know, there's a million obstacles. It's just like life,right? There's a million obstacles. You're either going to let it bring you to your knees or you're going to stand back up and you're going to march forward. Our job is to figure out how to get it to a closing table. I don't get paid to get an offer accepted. I get paid to take them to closing Right. Like that is the job So I would say if we have one superpower, it is figuring out how to get the job done. So hopefully that was the answer you were looking for.

Rick Ripma: 25:08

I'm not looking for anyone in particular, but I think it's, it's obviously,there. If somebody's not bought a house before, they may not understand the, the amount of emotion that happens through the process and the amount of Yeah,process, there actually is all the things, all the pieces that the real estate agent has to make sure it goes gets gets fitted in, right at the proper times. And with the emotion of and helping that homebuyer through the ups and downs of buying a home. It's very, very normal.

Mark Coffey: 25:43

So I, I always think about it like a Norman Rockwell painting, right? You know, the old doctor that sits there calmly with the child. The clients kind of your child at that point, right. And I've got two teenagers, so I get it. But once you like your kid when they scrape their knee, right, and I'm not sure if you have children or not, but if the youngest is 30. Okay, so but do you remember when he scraped his knee? And he'd be freaking out?Yep. You and your wife probably handled that differently, right?Like your wife, they beat him along, probably. And you were probably like, Alright, it's time you got to ride the bike again, or you're never going to ride the bike. Every household kind of has that dynamic, right?So one person is going to be freaking out one person is, you know, going the opposite direction. And you've got to get them to get back to the middle somehow. Yes. So it's not you can't pander to either one person, like you've got to navigate, how to make them believe in what they're doing,right? Like, I believe in real estate, we're selling the American dream. Everybody deserves the opportunity of homeownership. I mean, that's why, like when it comes to picking a mortgage lender, it's important on which ones you work with, because you want to make sure that the client is taken care of first and foremost,right now with the way the laws have changed, predatory lending isn't as prevalent as it used to be, but they're still predatory lending, and they're still local predatory lending. It's not just these huge national online companies. I mean, they're. And I've never mentioned the names,but I know people locally that I don't trust them with my quotes,right? Like, who represents me in the transaction matters?Like, yes, I have a team and we have marketing coordinators and transaction, but the inspector,the mortgage rep, the title company, they're all part of my team, too, right? So how they represent them matters. So like,when you're picking a mortgage company, you want to make sure that it's not just any mortgage company, it's somebody that understands what this person's gone through. It's not just about getting them into a mortgage, it's about getting them into the right mortgage for them to have financial freedom.Because homeownership is the quickest way to get to financial freedom, right? So it's, but again, that's the American dream, right? So it's, it's incumbent upon us to help those people achieve that dream. It's not about the paycheck, we take home. Like, I've had a lot of agents ask me how much money I make it, and it's gonna sound stupid. Sometimes I don't know.I don't worry about the income,the income as a result of how many people I've helped, yeah,like, if I make more money that year, I helped more people, if I make less money, I help less people. Like, we get so caught up in the outcome. Sometimes we forget about the client, the client is the most important thing that we have, right? But

Rick Ripma: 28:42

then we got nothing.

Mark Coffey: 28:44

There never been truer word spoken. But most people forget that somewhere along the line. So it's about finding your tribe, right. And I tell people this all the time,find your tribe, there are a group of people willing to follow you into a fire. Just go find those people. And typically, that's your vendors as well. Like, you've got to work with vendors that you understand that they're there for your client all the time.And there's no give on that. And the moment there is given that they're probably no longer part of your tribe, and maybe they're going through something you don't know. But you should always be looking for the best people to help your clients, not the people that just took you to lunch. It's about the people that understand the client relationship more than anything,right? If that makes sense.Yeah,

Rick Ripma: 29:33

it makes total sense because it's all about the client. Right? That's just how it is. And you got it. There's no ands ifs or buts about it,you got to take care of them.And a lot of that is communication and getting you know, getting back with people in a timely fashion and, and all that but

Mark Coffey: 29:47

the Oh communication is key, like Jeremy houses I've listed and I'm like, well, the agent listed my house and I didn't hear from him for six months. Yeah, crazy.Like how, right yeah, like we follow up with these people every seven to 10 days because As, like when you sell a lot of real estate, it's easy to get caught up and just finding the next deal. But one thing to keep in mind is when they're selling that house that is for 99% of Americans as the biggest thing they'll ever own. Yep.Understanding that helping them through that is key, like it is massive. And so many agents forget, a simple phone call will fix most of your problems,right? Like just a simple phone call when they're upset, let them be upset. It isn't your job to calm them down immediately is to fix their problem. Right?That's it. Like we fix problems.Yeah,

Rick Ripma: 30:41

the only way to do that is when they're upset or not upset is listen. So you got to call them and listen. And then you can,

Mark Coffey: 30:46

what's that old saying? God gave you two ears and one mouth. That's

Rick Ripma: 30:49

right. And that's,that's what you have to do.Because that's how you're going to figure out most people when they get done dumping everything, they feel better.And now you can actually talk it through and you can actually solve their problem.

Mark Coffey: 31:00

So one of the things I've noticed if if a client calls me, and they're freaking out, I don't call them back for an hour or two. And maybe that sounds terrible. But the reason I do that is let their emotions Calm down,because there's a logical way to move this forward. There's very little that's going to happen in that hour. Right? Right. You know, if they're calling until your house is on fire, they should be calling 911. First anyways, right? Like there's not a you might

Rick Ripma: 31:27

call them back. If they said My house is on fire.What should I Oh, God, no back right away? Oh,

Mark Coffey: 31:32

I probably call9114 first, and then I'd call them back. Get out of the house.Like there are obviously extreme circumstances where you need to call immediately. One of the things I found is answer your phone. Like when people call just answered, that means they're free right now, right?It's not just about when you're free all the time, like our job is to communicate with them. So like, Yes, I time block like,there are certain times I'm not available, like I won't answer the phone during an appointment,because I wouldn't do that to somebody else. But as soon as I get back in my vehicle, I tried to return their phone calls in a timely manner, right? So because I want to keep that open line of communication with them all the time.

Rick Ripma: 32:12

It's critically important. So if somebody would like to talk to you about buying or selling a home or maybe become a part of your team, what is the best way for them to get a hold of you?

Mark Coffey: 32:22

Probably my cell phone 317-400-9258 That's317-400-9258. I mean, I would love to talk to him. I mean,that's our job is to help agents develop.

Rick Ripma: 32:36

And to get a hold of Ian or I go to HardWorkingMortgageGuys.com.That's HardWorkingMortgageGuys.com Or you can call 317-672-1938.That's 317-672-1938. And we are going to really want to find out about you know, as we talked about how you work with the client. So this is kind of a switch. Are we always do our question of the week now. Okay,and our question of the week is,what was your first car if you can't tell him a car person?

Mark Coffey: 33:12

I am too. So I'm really into cars and I'm really into cars. I love cars. My first car was actually an 87 tornato big airplane shifter in a terrible car. Down headlights.That was my first car. So nothing to write home about. No,

Rick Ripma: 33:29

actually, that's not a bad car. Oh, no, it

Mark Coffey: 33:31

was terrible.That's terrible tape deck and it was terrible.

Rick Ripma: 33:34

What was your favorite car that you've ever had?

Mark Coffey: 33:38

Now that becomes a lot more difficult. Right now I've got a 64 Deuce with a 3d three stroke granite and a nine inch border and with a driveshaft loop and a 4500 stall convert. Okay, that's a really fun car. Yeah. But as far as favorite cars I'm gonna have to say it's a tie. I apologize up front. I so after I had the tornato I wrecked it. And then I had an ad for TransAm so I had a Gen three TransAm ground effects T tops. I was 16 Maybe I was 17but I think I was still 16 Like that was the first

Rick Ripma: 34:16

car TransAm your

Mark Coffey: 34:18

was an 84 right and my mom was so mad at my dad for letting me buy this car. But I had saved up my money I bought it and I didn't pay much for I think I paid $1,000 For is a piece of junk. I actually I tell you, I actually wound up giving the car away okay. Later like I think I put nine transmissions and I drove this thing like it was an IndyCar. Okay. And then I had a right after high school I bought a 94 F 250 lifted. single cab look like a Tonka truck, if you will was blue and silver and had the big chrome grille and 14inch wide tires on a 13 and a half. It's just fun. Yeah, like that was a really fun truck. I'd open headers on And it was, you know, you could hear 12 miles away I think

Rick Ripma: 35:03

So you went from a TransAm sitting on the ground to a truck lifted and 20 miles off the ground. Oh, I

Mark Coffey: 35:08

love every time a monster truck or a low rider.I'm probably all in. Like, I like

Rick Ripma: 35:14

him, but I don't want them anymore. I couldn't drive and I've gotten old enough where I couldn't get in the daggone thanks.

Mark Coffey: 35:22

Right you got some kind of toy? I'm sure right now.

Rick Ripma: 35:25

I don't because I don't have the space for it.I've had my favorite car was a69 427 Corvette convertible. Oh yeah, that's a nice one. But nitrous oxide on it had a Doug Nash five speed in it. And it was a great car.

Mark Coffey: 35:38

Okay, I can tell by the look on your face. You love that.

Rick Ripma: 35:41

I love that. I had it back. You know? That's, you know, that's what we did

Mark Coffey: 35:45

the truck I wish I still had Yeah, I like I just bought my son a truck. It's his first vehicle. Got a good deal on it. But you know, I he's kind of developed my love of cars because I'm constantly like,when I get an hour of free time I set out my garage, turn a race or something on and clean one of my vehicles like I just love it.But you know, I was going to do kind of the ghetto hillbilly thing that's real popular right now with the big lift in the gym at six tires, the huge negative offset. And he's like, I don't really want that, you know, that won't be popular in a year. He's like, I kind of just want to do you know, a leveling kit. You know, 30 threes on it, which is right up my alley, right. Like,I love that. So now I'm all in the building for him. So he's probably playing on my heartstrings a little bit, but he's smart enough to do that.Yeah.

Rick Ripma: 36:34

I have a friend who's is did the same thing. He yeah, there's three brothers older brothers didn't get what they wanted. But he wanted exactly what his dad wanted. So he wanted a 6069 Mustang convertible. And I mean, a, you got a 69 Mustang convertible because that's

Mark Coffey: 36:54

I tell you, I've even gotten my wife kind of into it, because now she'll be like,Hey, can we take the Nova out for a drive? But we're actually she's got like a BMW SUV, you know, kind of typical mom car I call it. We're actually getting rid of it and building her resto mod. We're doing a 58 Apache with a 6.2 liter supercharged in it. So

Rick Ripma: 37:13

that's the thing. I think restroom mods that's,that's the way I'm gonna go with

Mark Coffey: 37:17

Oh, resto mod. I think they are the coolest thing. Because you get all the style. Yes. But you don't get the problems that come with an Ozar. Like, yes, these number matching cars are cool, and they're valuable, but they're not fun. No, like, you hear all these stories. I'm sure you've heard a million of them. You know, somebody's uncle had a 69Camaro that could jump a coke can well, they're full of crap.The car had 300 horsepower.Right? It wasn't that fast. It was kind of heavy. But if you can take a 69 Camaro and put a600 horsepower LS eight in it.Right. Supercharged. Now you got a fun car. Yes. You know, not only that automatic braking,right? It starts the brakes work. Like those things matter.Yeah.

Rick Ripma: 38:01

Yeah, that's they stop now. Like you said, it's that's, as you can tell, I'm clearly into the hours as we can talk about cars all day. But we'll move on. Right, we'll move on. So what would you say your most interesting or memorable transactions been?

Mark Coffey: 38:18

My most interesting transaction. That's actually a really easy one. For me. I had been in real estate about two years. And I think two years is about the time that most agents start to either really find their way or get really burnout,right? I was kind of going the burnout path because I had worked so much the first two years. So I had this guy who didn't qualify for much. I think he bought $115,000 house, which is fine. So but I called him,you know, I call every client after their offer gets accepted and just say congratulations,you bought a house, you know,we're here to get you to the finish line. So I call him you know, congratulations, he starts bawling. I'm like, Oh, God, I'm like, are you alright man? And he's like, I was homeless a year ago. He's like, I lived under a bridge I got back from Iraq. I got chills talking about it. He lived under a bridge was homeless, got back from Iraq,you know, disabled veteran, kind of got his life, turned around,got himself a job, got himself some help. We were able to get him with a lender that did a rescore and help. It really worked with him right now. Got him approved. But that guy crying telling me how he was homeless was that was life changing. For me it was. That's when I really put together go back to what I was talking about earlier that we're helping people achieve the American dream, like this guy never had a thought of owning a home until we were able to help them. And in all honesty, I had done that for free. Right? It was just, I mean, most memorable client that that is the most easy one for me of all time. And this guy still calls me. We talk you know, he went through some hot Are times about a year ago and we talked and he just a really, really good guy that, you know, he got a little messed up during the war and got back and turned his life around. I mean, and that's awesome. Like, yeah, it wasn't even the price of the house. I mean, yeah. When you sell a million dollar house, that's cool. But that's a very different adventure, right? It's not the people you really help.Those are the people that stick out.

Rick Ripma: 40:28

Yeah. So he gave up a lot for us. Right. I mean, the

Mark Coffey: 40:32

reason we're sitting here talking about anything, right, that's our freedom as veterans.

Rick Ripma: 40:37

I agree. So what about if somebody what do you think the benefit is for people who, when they buy a home, and I mean, obviously the financial,we've talked about that, but there's a lot of a lot of benefits along with the financial What do you see those ads? And how have you seen that obviously, with this guy, you saw it, but I think

Mark Coffey: 40:59

the biggest one is pride. Right? Um, millennials,I'll use Millennials as the example. So millennials get a really bad rap. Right? So millennials now are between 25to 40 years old. Like in our minds, we still think about millennials as being teenagers.Well, I have teenagers, they're in a different generation.Right? Right. So millennials are40 to 25 years old, like I'm the very first year, millennials1982. So maybe I fit into this cross section that I've heard talked about, but whatever. So I'm not upset to be a millennial. It doesn't bother me. Right, right. It's a generation I grew up during the technology, boom, right? So but Millennials are incredibly intelligent, right? But I think what most of us forget, and I know this answer may not be where you thought we were going.So I apologize. But most of them went through the biggest economic downturn that we've ever seen, right? So I graduated high school in 2001. The economy crashed at the end of 2007. I was six years into my adulthood,right? I bought a couple houses,you know, I was flipping houses.But my wife was in real estate,I owned a construction company.I mean, when I say we had no money, I mean, we had no money.My first my eldest son was born in 2007, my youngest in 2008. So there's no money to be had. And I've got two babies. And so I went through the same thing all these people went through and we talk about sometimes how they're living in their parents basements. Well, that's probably not true. It's just easy to say,right? But in the flip side of it, there's the smartest,wealthiest generation of all time, like they are making more money than anyone's ever dreamed of. They've never developed that pride of ownership. And when you help them start to figure out that renting isn't the answer,right? Taking on these problems yourself. That is the pride factor of it, right? I think pride is the biggest thing that we instill in people by helping them buy houses, because for so many of like the millennials,homeownership became a non issue because there was nothing for them to buy, you think? Yes, in2009, there was a million houses for sale. They were all repos.But the only people that could afford them, or the people that already had money, right. So these people didn't have a chance to develop any wealth to buy these houses when they were cheap. So it's very fun. Most of them are selling those houses Buy now they're moving on to their second third house. But you know, they've developed memories and houses they own right. And I think everyone's selling stories different, you know, like, with interest rates going up, we're not seeing as many low in houses come up. When I say low in I mean, like under250. Because a lot of those people bought those houses when interest rates were two and a half and 3%. Right? They're going to add on before they sell, right? I had a client the other day, tell me she's waiting for rates to come back down to three. Well, she's probably going to wait the rest of her life and her kids like because they're never coming back down to three. Right? Right. Like,that's the truth of it. Like, if you look at historical data,they weren't even at 3% during the Civil War, right? We're closer to six, six is a normal rate. Right? I think when I looked the other day, and you'd be the best person to ask about this. They were what 6.85Yesterday, something like that.So that's actually a really good rate. Because currently, yes,yeah. Even not historically,that's a really good rate rate.Right. But it's Yeah, but people are so convinced that they're paying 900,000 more in interest when really they're not. It's just getting people to understand what this process looks like. And I think the more information we can get out about that the more we can educate people in our industry, the better we're doing for our industry. Free as a whole, but again, you know, like I go to these meetings and they have appraisers come in, which is great. But it fascinates me how many agents don't understand how appraisals even work, right?Like, how are you a real estate agent and you don't understand appraisals? Like, that's a hard one. For me. That's and I don't mean to call anybody out. But it's a very important part of what we do. Yeah. So it's just,you know, it's that learning as much as you can as quickly as you can, but don't be consumed by knowledge. And I know that sounds like a double edged sword, but you can be so consumed by knowledge, you're afraid to go help people to?Like, if that makes sense. Yeah,

Rick Ripma: 45:40

I have a customer who I was just just on the phone with her before we we started and she, she has been looking for home for four years. Okay.Wow. Okay. And so, because she has very poor agent, she keeps switching agents. But she has very specific things that she wants. And so I tried to explain if you can't find a house in four years, it's probably something in your process or something than what you want that you've got to start to look at. But, you know, the reality is, is if you look at what you could have bought a house for four years ago,

Mark Coffey: 46:16

you could have changed all that. Yes. Right.

Rick Ripma: 46:19

In the in the amount of appreciation and everything.Sometimes you

Mark Coffey: 46:23

Yes, she missed the greatest boom of appreciation ever looked back for the perfect house, right? Here's the truth.There's no perfect house, you can build a brand new house tomorrow. And in six months, I guarantee you have a dozen things you wish you'd done differently. Like that's. So I tell every client when we're going through the process, there are two things I tell every single client, mostly buyers,that I tell this to is you're never bugging me, it is my job to help you call anytime you want. Like, it's my job to help you. You're not bugging me. And buying a house is at 1010. And I apologize if you've heard this,but 80% You have to have 10% You can change a 10% you can live without figure out what those two 10% are. Like, just like this client did about four years ago, the average appreciation in the Indianapolis market is close to 30%. Over the last three years. Yeah. So if you're buying a $300,000 house, it's instantly worth 400,000. How much could have you done for $100,000?

Rick Ripma: 47:23

Exactly. You move?Yes,

Mark Coffey: 47:25

I know that you can move heaven and earth in a house for $100,000.

Rick Ripma: 47:29

Yeah, it's, it's,you know, it's just one of those things you really got to know.But if somebody is in the market for buying a home selling a home, maybe somebody's looking to get into real estate and are looking for a new team, what's the best way to get ahold of you,

Mark Coffey: 47:41

my cell phone3174009 to five, eight, that's317-400-9258. Or you can email me at Mark coffee@kw.com ma RK see offey@kw.com.

Rick Ripma: 47:58

And to get a hold of Ian or I go to HardWorkingMortgageGuys.com That's HardWorkingMortgageGuys.com Or you can call 317-672-1938.That's 317-672-1938. And follow us for more in these real estate gurus. And, Mark, thanks so much for joining us today. My pleasure. You're you've got great stories and you've got tremendous knowledge, I think.Thank you. Wonderful. Thanks so much.

Announcer: 48:25

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