Guru Mark Gill with Hallmark RES

Rick Ripma: 0:00

Welcome to Indy's Real Estate Gurus. We're recording today from the advisors Mortgage Group studio right here in downtown Carmel. And I'm Rick Ripma. You're hardworking mortgage guy. I've been in the mortgage business in New Home Sales for over 34 years, I've helped over 5200 folks finance their homes, my team 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 believe we are the team to deliver it.

Ian Arnold: 0:27

And I'm Ian Arnold part of Rick's hard working mortgage team. I've been in financial industry for 15 years helping customers rebuild their credit to get the best interest rates for them. I've also had a passion in helping you secure your overall future through your real estate endeavors. Contact us and we'll be more than happy to help you.

Rick Ripma: 0:46

And as we get started today, if you have any questions on mortgages or the Indies, real estate market, please go to HardWorkingMortgageGuys.com . That's HardWorkingMortgageGuys.com , or you can call 317-672-1938. That's 317-672-1938. And we're really excited today to have Mark Gill marks your big producer, you have your own team, you have your own company.

Mark Gill: 1:12

I do. I do. Hallmark that we go by the Hallmark team at Hallmark real estate services. It's me and two other agents. My wife is also on the team. So to me, Lexi and Jamie are the agents and my wife is I don't know, she's the CO CIO CFO, the boss, she's the boss. That's what we call our Yeah, she's She manages our transactions, she helps us with the books, she takes care of the database and all that good stuff. And awesome. Hagel wouldn't be here without her so awesome.

Rick Ripma: 1:40

Yep. So before real estate, but what was your What was your life like? Before real estate? Where'd you grow up,

Mark Gill: 1:47

you know, the type of things. So I grew up, I was born and raised on the east side of Indianapolis, went to Senior High School, graduated 95 played football in college for a couple of years decided that that wasn't for me. So I entered the workforce that my wife while I was managing a lumberyard. Shortly after that I got into insurance, I was in life and health insurance for a few years. And then she and I worked together at an international insurance company not far from here, actually Seven Corners. She was there for seven or for 20 years. And I was there for about 13 was in the sales side of that for 1010 or 10 years or so. And then I moved into the corporate strategy side where I really learned how a business should be run and how corporate strategy should be done. Had a couple of great mentors there. 2017 That's when our oldest or I'm sorry, our youngest, got her full ride to college, and we decided to make some transitions. My wife got her MBA and to April of 2000. And actually, yeah, about five years ago, I made the transition into real estate.

Rick Ripma: 2:50

Awesome. And, and so you got into real estate. How did you make that transition? What like, why did you make the transition? Why? Why did you decide on real estate? And then also, how did you get your business going, because that can always be a struggle.

Mark Gill: 3:06

So the reason I chose real estate, a friend of mine, who is actually my best friend, as a general contractor had been urging me to get into real estate for years. And this isn't gonna, this is gonna be I'll try to make it as short as possible. But when I decided to make the transition, I did some research to find out what I wanted to do and always told the owner of Seven Corners, if I ever left, I would never work for anyone again, I wanted to start my own thing. So I did some research into real estate and I realized that there was a gap I could fill. A lot of a lot of the agents are transactional. As a matter of fact, I found out that realtors are the fourth least structured profession in the country. Oh, really? Yeah. And I heard that in the Forbes article from about 2016. And the reason is because the National Association of REALTORS The number one complaint then was that after the transaction, clients never heard from their agent again. Well, that told me that a lot of agents were approaching this as a transactional business. And I have my passion in life is to help people improve their lives. I'm a mentor for Big Brothers and Big Sisters. I've coached football. So I'm always trying to help people get better. And you can ask my agents, that's one of the things I talk about the most is personal development. So I realized that there was a gap, I could fill there because from my opinion, we are helping people with some of the largest financial decisions that they're going to make in their life, they're going to sink six or seven figures into a single piece of real estate. And they're going to take on the largest single debt that most people incur. And I feel like we should approach this like a relationship business like a personal account, I'm sorry, a personal accountant or financial planner. And that's how I approach the business. So I'm very relationship driven, not just in real estate, but in my whole life. So that's the gap I can fill here. Instead of being transactional, I'd be relationship driven. And it's worked out well. I guess Yeah. worked out well. So that's why I chose real estate was because it fit my passion. I could do what I love to do in my community and help the people blew my community. And there was a gap that I could fill.

Rick Ripma: 5:02

Yeah, that's awesome.

Ian Arnold: 5:04

Yeah, I will definitely agree with you. The big the big difference we see between the Guru's and there's regular real estate agents is the relationship they understand that you got, it's not just about one transaction. It's basically as you call them, the car salesman, it's not sell one, alright, jump to the next person, it's alright. You can merge, keep maturing it because you never know what I think, five to 10 years, someone's gonna be looking for another house, whether it's upsizing or downsizing, or just moving for job wise, I mean, keep in touch with them, then they have family members, if you keep in touch, you will continue getting them. So when you first started, what was your biggest struggle? Do you think?

Mark Gill: 5:46

Oh, my biggest struggle, actually, my biggest struggle was probably learning the the real estate process the transaction, I had a fairly large sphere. So I had a very large, fairly large group of people to pull from, I had some knowledge about how to market myself, obviously, I'm still working on that, but I could get myself out there, that's not something that I've ever lacked, you know, I can get out and talk to people. But learning the transaction itself, once I got that down, and then I started pulling in referrals. The rest is history. I did, I did fairly well, my first and second year and and I did have, you know, building my own business plan for the first time, I built a few but for other other endeavors, building my own was, was was kind of a challenge.

Rick Ripma: 6:35

Now, did you do things, you know, when you were getting going, that you really didn't like doing but they were necessary to do that you don't necessarily have to do today.

Mark Gill: 6:43

But it's funny you asked that. Because I'm I don't know if you're from I'm not a details person. I'm an idea guy. I'm a I guess on the Strength Finders, I'm called a an influencer. So the monotony of the paperwork, the details involved in each transaction, when it comes to the title company, and I'm sorry, the lender sometimes was not my strength. Hence, in 2019, I looked at my wife who really likes the details, and it's very process driven. I said, Hey, wanna come on board and help me out. So that's what I really struggled with in the beginning was making sure that our office manager had all the paperwork she needed when the transaction was going on a closed and making sure the title company got everything they needed, and the lender had everything they needed. The details is where I needed some help.

Rick Ripma: 7:31

Yeah. And you know, there's a lot of us that need that help in that area. A lot of salespeople who, I mean, we tend to be outgoing, you know, exact people, and that's not detail. Now, you said, you're coaching football coach, and

Mark Gill: 7:47

well, I don't anymore, you got very difficult to do, the busier I got. But I coached fifth and sixth grade football at my church and activity. And I was there for I think I coached three years. And I loved it. I absolutely loved it. But I actually stepped away last year because I realized I expected my kids to be there. Every practice 100% of the time and give me 100% effort. And I found that I couldn't make that commitment. Because I might have to show a house or I might have a listing appointment. So there were practices that I was missing because of my job. And I told them on my last day I said I'm leaving because I can't give you what I expect from you. And great lesson. Yeah.

Ian Arnold: 8:27

Whoa, you could easily took them to the house. They could have been doing up downs or whatnot while you're showing a house

Mark Gill: 8:33

that don't mind the kids in your front yard. Doing listing appointment.

Rick Ripma: 8:38

Ian's a problem solver. So to call them at that tells you how to handle that problem. Right. Yeah, but I agree with you. I think you know, if you can't do it, that's what you expect. You know, you did the right thing. Now do you still do I know you were doing Big Brothers, Big Sisters. So

Mark Gill: 8:55

do that? Yes. I've been with my little four. Let's see, I he and I, he was 11 when we met and he is 17. Now, so six years. He has been he's been my little brother. And it's been fun to help him grow and develop over the years. He's going to graduate next year. So I tell people, it's probably the most fulfilling thing outside of being a parent that I've done. So I would encourage by the way they're trying to recruit there are 1400 kids out there waiting for bigs and 75% of them are guys are our boys waiting for men. So if you're interested hit me up. I'd gladly

Ian Arnold: 9:32

gladly did touch on that even when I was going to what does that consist of for people who are intrigued by it.

Mark Gill: 9:39

So you're matched. So they it's a very intense onboarding. And they match you with someone that they think that you can have the most influence with based on your personality and your background and where you came from and where they came from. And you're you're matched with essentially, underprivileged kids who need a mentor to get through life. They're either missing A Parent or Parent died or they're in a in special circumstances where they just need just need an outside mentor somebody to lean on and help develop. I don't know how much I shouldn't divulge. But some of these kids don't realize the the size of the opportunities that the world has to offer. Because they're dealing with the day to day hectic life that they live. So somebody like us, we can help them realize how much bigger their opportunities are in the world and how to get there. So that's, that's what I find fulfilling about. That's

Ian Arnold: 10:30

awesome. Yeah, I mean, we see that and a different scale. So for instance, first time homebuyers, especially ones in the first family, they don't understand all the nuances of what comes with buying a home or later on five, six years, when they see that appreciation. They're like, wait, I have technically this much equity, and they don't understand it. So it's similar. Like if somebody's not used to something, and you show them the like you were saying is with kids that have never seen the other side of a railroad tracks? All right. Well, let's show him that. I mean, same thing with first time homebuyers. We

Mark Gill: 11:06

see you're seeing you're seeing a through line with everything that I do. First time homebuyers are one of my I love first time homebuyers, especially those who never thought they could buy. And it's not just that, you'd be surprised how many people have never thought they could buy a house. And when you open their eyes to the fact that it's really not that hard. And actually, it's very advantageous. The number one indicator on whether somebody is going to be able to build wealth is whether or not they own a home. So once you show them that and show them how easy it is to own their own home, that's very fulfilling to it's all it's very similar. You're right.

Ian Arnold: 11:38

If somebody wants to get in contact with you to either talk about buying or selling a home or even the big brother program, how would they get ahold of you?

Mark Gill: 11:46

The two easiest ways are either text or phone which is 31771601373177160137. Or by email, that's m a r k dot g i l l at Hallmark. That's H A L L M AR k r e s.com.

Ian Arnold: 12:09

All right, and Rick, how would they get ahold of you? Right? To get a

Rick Ripma: 12:12

hold of us, you just go to HardWorkingMortgageGuys.com That's HardWorkingMortgageGuys.com . You can contact the Ian ro I. From there, get all our contact information, or you can call 317 C 31767 To 1933 1767 to 1938.

Ian Arnold: 12:30

Now, let's see if he can still do well, because I'm still waiting.

Rick Ripma: 12:33

Yeah, well, I forget this. So there you go. 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. While hardworking mortgage guy guys secure your best mortgage real estate gurus work hard to, they avoid problems the amateurs just don't see. They listen and 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 listen, definitely call one of Andy's real estate gurus.

Ian Arnold: 13:12

All right, Mark. So let's say I gotta take away your phone. And you can't do any work for a day. What can we find you doing?

Mark Gill: 13:21

Playing golf? Yeah, I play golf.

Ian Arnold: 13:25

So what's your favorite course around here?

Mark Gill: 13:27

I'm a member of the legends down in Franklin, Indiana. So I've played there a few 100 times.

Rick Ripma: 13:35

Yeah, oh, I would know as the hazards.

Mark Gill: 13:37

Yeah, that's my hobby.

Ian Arnold: 13:39

Okay. Are you? Are you even par or not even

Mark Gill: 13:43

close? My daughter routinely? beats my butt. So,

Rick Ripma: 13:47

but she's a collegiate golfer? You

Mark Gill: 13:48

said she is? Yes. Yeah. She actually played her last tournament this last weekend. Awesome. Yeah. Do shit. All right. It wasn't they didn't have the greatest weather. I think she finished middle of the pack. It was conference. So she finished middle of the pack. Awesome. Yeah. But that

Rick Ripma: 14:02

has to be fun for a golfer to have a daughter who's a golfer?

Mark Gill: 14:05

Yeah, it's a lot of fun. Well, I mean, when you're out there with her, and she's just beating you down. It can be a little demoralizing, but no, it's fun. It's fun playing with her. Well, that's

Ian Arnold: 14:14

most fathers give up. As soon as the kid beats them that first time they're like, Yep, I'm done walking up, but you kept going. I did. I

Mark Gill: 14:20

did. And that's something that I'll be able to do with her forever. And it's it's awesome. Yeah, yes. Yes.

Rick Ripma: 14:25

Character. Yeah, she stuck with it.

Ian Arnold: 14:28

Maybe he just likes being beat down. I don't know. We don't know that. I'm

Mark Gill: 14:31

not masochistic. I'm not masochistic?

Rick Ripma: 14:34

I don't know that answer at all.

Ian Arnold: 14:37

So I like to Rick have the question. He loves to ask. So I'm gonna have him asked

Rick Ripma: 14:43

already. You're gonna let me give me this kind of leeway. Okay, so what is your superpower or superpowers?

Mark Gill: 14:51

That's a good question. My superpower is almost certainly my ability to connect. I'm able to connect with people quickly and make them feel comfortable. with me and with the situation that goes back to the first time homebuyers thing, a lot of times they're nervous to start out with and I had just have a way of putting them at ease and and helping them understand the process and what's happening to them. And even in general, just in public in general, I can put people at ease to get to know them, and get them get to know me,

Rick Ripma: 15:28

it's kind of invaluable, is a great superpower. And it's invaluable in what we do, but it's even in life

Mark Gill: 15:33

well, and what I've found is that most people their superpower, they don't know that it's a superpower. They don't understand that they have a gift or a talent. They just think that's just who I am. And it took me a long time to realize that that was my superpower was to be able to just walk up to people and put them at ease. So yeah,

Rick Ripma: 15:52

and how does that help in real estate? For you? Well, it

Mark Gill: 15:56

helps because a lot of people expect us to be salesy type people you mentioned used car salesman, which by the way was right above where we ranked on the Forbes list.

Ian Arnold: 16:08

ourselves into this, so we at least went up.

Mark Gill: 16:11

I was I was an insurance and insurance is below Carson. So yeah, so it helps because they expect me to come in with a very salesy mentality. And I'm not, I'm a very consultative person. And I've I've actually told buyers, it's not the right time for you to buy it, and we need to work on some things. Or you're not going to be here. I've had one guy that wanted to buy, he said, I only want to own this for a year and a half, and then I'm gonna move to Hawaii. I'm like, then why are you buying? Exactly? Yeah, yeah. So yeah, so it's the ability to become consultative. And they very quickly learned that I'm not here to sell you anything, I'm here to make sure that we do the best for you.

Rick Ripma: 16:49

Because that's really what matters. That's what matters. And it's all that in order to, to have a long time in a business as a salesperson, the the the ones they show us, the salespeople they portray on TV, or movies are not the type of salespeople that I've ever seen last long term, and any high dollar type sale. Exactly. You might be able to last long term selling pens or pencils to somebody on the street by forcing them to buy it. But I've never seen it work. Especially even even in car sales, the guys who sold like they show you on TV, they'd never do that, well, no, they don't. They're never the top people. But that's what they want to protect portray salespeople, as the reality is, is the best salespeople do what you do. That's why you're one of the top you're a guru, because you understand you're there to take care of the customer, the money will take care of itself. So you never have to worry about the money, you never have to worry about what your commission is. In fact, if that's all you're worried about, you're not going to do well. So you have to be there taking care of the customer, and then everything else takes care of itself.

Mark Gill: 17:57

Absolutely. That is exactly the way I approach it. And that's where I tell my agents to approach it, don't worry about the money. If you take care of that person, it will come. As a matter of fact, I have had people where we did not execute a transaction. And I've gotten referrals from them. Because I told them either it's not the right time to buy, it's not the right time to sell for whatever reason. We did not execute a transaction. And I've gotten referrals from them, because I was honest with them. And I didn't try to push them into something that was detrimental to them. Yeah,

Rick Ripma: 18:23

I guess nothing sells better than honesty?

Mark Gill: 18:26

Absolutely. That's correct.

Rick Ripma: 18:29

Nothing sounds better than honesty. The only thing I would say different and not in a negative way is I have seen salespeople who have no conscience, I have to, and they can be very persuasive. Because they will tell you anything you want to hear. They won't be honest at all. And they will tell people, whatever they want to hear. And you believe them because they're just great liars. And I think that's what gives our industry industries and sales a bad name.

Mark Gill: 19:00

Absolutely. Yeah. And I've actually been in transactions with people like that. And I've also had clients come to me who've had that experience. And those. This is not going to sound good, but they're almost like puppies who have been beaten, and they're afraid to talk to you, because their previous experience. I can think of one recently where they were sold this house, and they were told that it was great. And they moved in and it wasn't great. Like everything on the inspection that they told them to ignore, they should not have ignored. And when I came in, to help them try to sell it. They were very suspicious of me. And I it took me a little bit longer than normal to break that barrier. And you're right, those people are very detrimental to our profession.

Rick Ripma: 19:41

I think they look at it like I look at politicians. If I'm talking to a politician I don't trust I think I'm right. Well,

Mark Gill: 19:48

you know what, interestingly, that profession wasn't on the list. It didn't even make it. Well. I didn't see I don't it wasn't on there. I don't know if they consider it a profession or not.

Ian Arnold: 19:57

Most people don't work directly with Apollo. intention. So Right. But I will say this is because when my wife and I bought our house, we went through several other houses. And it caught us off guard when we walked into one house, and we're at your walk around with us. And she goes, let's just go, you don't want this house. I was like, did you just say I don't want this house? I'm not used to this. Man, it made me ask questions. And why do you say that? So but it was nice to hear she it wasn't just about the commission. Absolutely. It was about finding us the right house for us.

Mark Gill: 20:30

Yes. And I've talked, I've talked to people out of buying houses because of structural issues, or mechanical issues, or, you know, mold I've found, and I'm not a professional, but I know it when I see it. Wet crawl spaces and like, you know, depending on their financial situation, one in particular, it was a rehab, and the rehab was done really well, the workmanship was great. But when we went in, when I went the basement, there was a crack along the north wall from corner to corner. And they had waterproof the basement. So there was paint on the wall white waterproof paint, and the paint had separated. So that wall was actively moving. They love the House wanted to make an offer. And I said do you see this problem? Probably gonna be roughly $20,000 Fix, give or take $5,000. And we walked away from it. They ended up buying a house two weeks later down the street, in the right in the area they wanted, but that house they really wanted I told him I don't that's in the market, we were in sellers not going to fix it. And you're not in a financial position to be able to fix it. So let's just go find one that doesn't have a foundation wall that's moving.

Ian Arnold: 21:32

I say even if they fell in love that house is they'll forget about it. Three or four weeks later, once they moved in and everything like that you

Mark Gill: 21:39

forget about right. Well in the house, we found them was was better anyway. So yeah, they were Yeah, it always is that was

Rick Ripma: 21:48

through that time. And I'm sure you had the same issue we'd have people and and they would, you know I kept doing new pre approval letters because you needed brand new pre approval letters you that every time to be old. You wanted them to be fresh, dated all that. And you know, the fourth or fifth or sixth or 12th time they call and they you can tell they were really, really getting aggravated with all situation. And I kept in I tell him Listen, this is like, there's a country song. And I wish I remembered who it was. And I've never been able to find it maybe in my dreams. But it's this guy. He's talking about all the girls that he dated, and thanking them for dumping him. Because without that he would have never found his wife, which was the perfect person for him. And that is the same way with the houses. You think it's the right house and then you don't get it, then you think the next one is the house they ended up getting? I have yet to have somebody say no, I wish I had gotten the other house. Maybe it happens. But the vast majority of people the house they ended up with is actually the house they should have ended up with.

Mark Gill: 22:47

Yeah. And in the last few years it was is challenging. The the biggest part, the biggest thing that comes up every time I talk about our industry, right, regardless of the market, but especially the last few years, is managing your clients expectations. When you're going into that home buying process the last few years, you have to warn them upfront, we may make a few offers and not get it we're going to learn how best to position your pre approval letter as we go, depending on the house you're looking at, et cetera. But we may not get the first three, four or five that we make an offer on and that's okay, we will find the house for you. And eventually the one we find will be the right one. Like you said it always is for some reason. Yeah.

Rick Ripma: 23:24

It's a remarkably interesting to use it to. It's just like, yeah, that's the right house. They're always happier with the house they got

Mark Gill: 23:31

right just works out. But one thing I didn't want them to do, and I talked a lot even even with me prepping them. They would be like, Yeah, this house, let's make an offer. I'm like, How do you feel about it? It'll work. That's not what I'm looking for. I'm not looking for it'll work? Is this a house that you like that you can see yourself in for as long as you want to be? And when they would say well, like, okay, they know, we can be patient here. I know the markets moving at 100,000 miles an hour, but we don't have to.

Rick Ripma: 23:56

Right? Yeah, get aggressive in the house you really want right when you find out exactly. Yeah, this is it.

Mark Gill: 24:01

Yeah. And what? And you'll know, I mean, you've been in the business too, you know, when you walk into that house, and you can see it in their eyes, you can hear it in their voices, that they're really excited about the house. And as long as it checks out structurally and mechanically, let's listen, we get aggressive,

Rick Ripma: 24:13

right? Yeah. Yeah, it's it's, it's patience. So you're, you're you're speaking my language, because I have none. So it's true. So I do understand, you know, it's, it's at times you just have to let it happen. Right? Absolutely. And I think it's a huge value. I think it may be one of your other superpowers. Because it's a huge value to somebody like me. Does somebody like you? When I'm in a process like that going, okay, it's okay. Slow down is if it's not perfect. I had an agent tell me on the show, she goes I make the the I make the buyer Sell me the house. I know that's a good way to look at it. Yeah, I don't let him just buy the house and I don't try to sell it to him. If they want the house, they need to sell me on why they

Mark Gill: 25:02

want what they want the house Exactly. And that's a good way to put it. I've never thought of it that way. But that's exactly what happens. Yeah, and yeah, it's, I wouldn't call it a, I guess it is a superpower, I could just come from, you know, 15 years of being a consultative salesperson. I can't project my clients emotions. But I also have to be able to interpret their emotions. And in that market when things were moving so fast, a lot of times their emotion was, oh my gosh, if we don't find a house, we're never going to, and you have to not project that you could get on that train and be like, Okay, let's make an offer on every house. Or you can say, I understand your anxiety. I get it. But I don't think this is the one and the any for X y&z reasons. Yeah. You said you wanted four bedrooms as well as three, you know, you said you wanted an office, this one doesn't have one. and point out the reasons why it doesn't fit. And eventually they'll come off of that anxiety train and be like, You know what, you're right. Yeah.

Rick Ripma: 25:54

Well, you have a very, like calming personality.

Ian Arnold: 26:01

Thank you. So whatever goes fine.

Rick Ripma: 26:05

I think that's extremely important in a real estate agent anyway, because there's two, there's so much emotion when you're buying or selling a house there. It's really helpful. But it's just and when you have somebody with your personality, it's just you naturally, your anxiety kind of goes away a little bit comparative to what it would be if you had an agent who was like super high strung?

Mark Gill: 26:28

Or who projected you projected your emotion. Yeah, I've seen a lot of salespeople who are really good at doing that. And the reason they're good salespeople is because they can match and mirror the emotion and personality of their clients. That doesn't necessarily make them knowledgeable. It just makes them you know, people like people who are like them, right? Yeah. So people, the salespeople who are good at mimicking, matching and mirroring their emotions, which I think is important when you're first creating a bond, but when you're actually trying to help someone with a large financial decision like this, you need to be able to separate yourself from that emotion, understand what emotions they are having, and then make sure they're making the right decision.

Ian Arnold: 27:03

Yes. All right. So how would someone get in contact with you they want to buy or sell a home.

Mark Gill: 27:10

easiest ways to give me a call or shoot me a text at 31771601377160137. Or you can send me an email at Mark dot Gil at Hallmark res.com. That's ma rk.gi l l@hallmarkres.com.

Rick Ripma: 27:31

And to get a hold of Ian or I go to HardWorkingMortgageGuys.com . That's HardWorkingMortgageGuys.com . Or you can call us at 317-672-1938 got at that time. 31767 to 1938. All right. So

Ian Arnold: 27:45

now I think we'll do question of the week. The question of the week is sponsored by Hey, Rick and I the hardworking mortgage guys, where we bill and believe in helping you and supporting you and your realtor by sending constant updates throughout the whole entire loan process. Nobody likes to be left in a black hole so we don't allow it. There are no black holes here at advisors mortgage and with the hard working mortgage guys. Alright, so here's a hard question for you. What was your first car?

Mark Gill: 28:13

It was a 1971 Mercury Montego had 60,000 actual miles. Oh, wow. Yeah.

Rick Ripma: 28:20

And today's terms that's like 180, though. Well, well, yeah. Well, that's still that's a great car.

Mark Gill: 28:26

Yeah. So it was basically a four door. GTO. Yeah. Yeah. Four door, GTO. Yeah. It was nice. What kind of Moto 351? Oh, yeah. smallblock. Was it a four barrel carburetor? Okay. It would go.

Rick Ripma: 28:41

That's a key, right? Yeah. Because they were they put some motor in there. That was plenty of torque. And

Mark Gill: 28:46

it was. It was underestimated because it wasn't a sleek looking as the two door GTO. But it still had the same engine.

Ian Arnold: 28:52

So yeah. And then he could put as many girls in the back that as you want it.

Mark Gill: 28:56

Yeah, you could you could throw a party back to the tank.

Rick Ripma: 29:00

Yeah. He probably didn't put them in the back though.

Ian Arnold: 29:04

Hey, there's multiple seats, sir. All right. So what would you consider one of your more memorable deals?

Mark Gill: 29:17

I can, I'm gonna go ahead and say it. So I had a single mother move here from California. She was referred to me by a previous client. And she was escaping a really bad situation. And the friend had talked her into calling me because she she said, you know, you make good money. You probably have good credit. You could probably afford a house and she never thought she could. Flat fast forward. We go through the process we find a solid house. And we we all cried at the closing table. It was it was an emotional experience. That was one of my favorites. I've had several kind of like that one. But whenever somebody asked me that question, she always jumps to mind because it was a dream fulfilled. That's pretty cool. And every two every time that happens, there's been more than that. But that one was probably the most emotional. There have been several emotional ones. But that one was probably my favorite,

Rick Ripma: 30:12

you know, to go along with that, where if somebody's looking to buy a house, they don't think they can buy a house. It's not rocket science.

Mark Gill: 30:20

You got me and you it's not right. But

Rick Ripma: 30:22

that's why I'm going to, that's why I want to, we look at we look at your income. So you have a job, have a good job and have been on a little while or at least had had jobs for a while. We look at your assets, do you have the downpayment or whatever monies needed for closing, total closing down payment is only a part of what you totally need for closing? And then how about credit, we got to look at the credit. That's really, I'm not saying that everything's easy, but that's the three things the major three things we're gonna look at. If you got good credit, you got a good job, and you have money for downpayment, it is highly likely you can buy a house,

Mark Gill: 30:56

it is and a lot of people overestimate how much they need for that downpayment. Yeah, you know, you can speak to that. And there's 3%, down conventional options. And 3%, you got a good job, it's not hard to come up with in a year or two. And if

Rick Ripma: 31:11

you don't have too much money, you can use Indiana housing and you can have financing, because I'll give you the 3% down, there are some requirements around that I can't talk about all that. You can, if you're out in the rural area, you can use rural housing, USDA. So there if you're a veteran, you can use 100% financing through VA absolute. So it's the best thing to do if you think you want to buy a house is to call us. Right?

Mark Gill: 31:35

either me or you. I don't care who you call first. I'd rather they call me first so I can refer them to you guys. Yeah. But yeah, the pre approval we all know, that's the first option, just first step, just see where you are, what can you afford? What are you comfortable with, because I have had clients that get pre approved for much more than they could they could afford. So find out where you are on that spectrum, and then get with your agent. And we can give you the rest of the deal. I'll walk you through the process, I always tell people that my mission is to make sure that you understand the process, you're comfortable with what's happening to you, and you're thrilled with the results. So those are the three things I want to accomplish.

Rick Ripma: 32:15

That's awesome. And I just think people because you brought it up you and I haven't we haven't really talked about it. But if you're if you're if you're don't think you can buy a house, don't decide not to without talking to somebody who can actually help you. Right? Yeah, it makes it I mean, it might be you can't, almost everybody, we can figure out a way to either to either finance them today, or get them to where we can finance them.

Mark Gill: 32:40

I've worked with someone for up to the longest is two years, I've worked with someone, the lender and I worked with him for two years to get them to where they could buy and it happened

Rick Ripma: 32:48

because you're willing to take the time because you care.

Mark Gill: 32:51

I do. Right. And I've I tell all of the people who have gone through that process with as long as you're willing to put in the work. So while I if you continue to work with Rick, or whoever it may be to get your credit where it needs to be get your downpayment saved up if you're willing to put in that work I will do I'll be right there with you. Yep,

Rick Ripma: 33:07

yep, that's

Ian Arnold: 33:08

what does it hurt? Let's be honest, the worst answer, like I tell my kids, you ask for something, the worst thing I'm gonna do is tell you no. Then I'm gonna have to if it's no, I'll tell you the reason usually why. But we can walk you through like you said the steps because if you don't know the steps, the answer is always going to be No,

Mark Gill: 33:25

exactly. So my wife hates that about me. I'm always like, well, let's ask and she's like, what if they say no, and like, then they say no.

Rick Ripma: 33:33

And you move on, and you move on? And sometimes somebody says no, and somebody else says, yeah, so you just want to make sure you're working with somebody you actually know, knows what they're talking about. It's why we think everybody should work with a guru agent, or an agent who has a guru as a mentor. Yes, you know, if you have somebody, then they can help you too, because they'll have good, like you have a team, those people they're great to work with, because they have you if there's any issues, you're there to?

Mark Gill: 34:02

Well, that's the toughest nut that I've found to crack in the industry is that you and I tend to get commoditized they don't people don't know a lot about the real estate market. And they just think any old agent will work or any loan officer will work. And that's not that's not the case. They don't, you know, sellers don't really understand how to evaluate their properties. And the you and I know that there are some online tools that throw that way out of whack, but they just don't know. And when people don't know something, they tend to commoditize it. Yes. And that's something that you and I both have to overcome and our professions,

Rick Ripma: 34:33

well your profession. So as a real estate agent, how much money does somebody lose when they call somebody on the sign and says we buy homes?

Mark Gill: 34:44

You're gonna make me say this, okay, half this. I've actually I've actually seen this. I actually did a video on this. on my Facebook page. I saw that one of those companies had purchased this house. They waited 90 days to relist it because you You know that they have to wait 90 days to be able to accept FHA offers, they didn't do a thing to it, they hadn't even cleaned it. There was there were still, there were still dried up food on the countertops and cobwebs in the corners. They hadn't touched this house. And they relisted it for 50,000. More than they bought it for $300,000 house, they bought it for 300. They listed it for 350. It's sold in three days. And in my eyes, they stole $50,000 from somebody, and people will say, well, they saved the Commission, the commission on that would have been like, 10, you lost $50,000 to save yourself 10. That doesn't make any sense to me. And I always tell people be very careful when you hear somebody say they're going to buy your house and they won't have any inspections or appraisals done. Well, who would buy a house not knowing what it's worth unless they know they're getting a deal?

Rick Ripma: 35:48

Right. And then, and I think most of them have a pretty good idea that what what kind of work needs to be done that kind of thing. So yeah, I just, I just think it's one of those. I'm sure there's a reason somebody is in a hurry. And that's, you know, but you're giving up a lot of money, because you are, you're giving up a lot of

Mark Gill: 36:05

money. Yeah, yeah. I mean, it can be it's very painted. It's a painless transaction. I guarantee you that. But I can also guarantee you're probably leaving some equity on the table.

Announcer: 36:12

Yeah, yeah. So

Rick Ripma: 36:14

what about social media? You do you do much in social media?

Mark Gill: 36:17

I do. I'm on Facebook, I'm on Instagram. I'm not on Twitter a whole lot. But Facebook and Instagram are my big ones, LinkedIn, do some on LinkedIn. We haven't had a cohesive plan social media wise yet, but we are developing that. And my agents and I, Alexi and Jamie will, and myself will be on social media more in the upcoming year. When I got in, and then things took off, it kind of fell to the backburner that we do it where you if you go to my Facebook page, you'll see me on my my personal page and my business page a lot. But it's not really a coordinated information sharing plan yet, but it's in development. Right?

Ian Arnold: 36:56

So let me ask you this. Why are you going more into social media? Is there a certain thing that you think that'll work or

Mark Gill: 37:04

just curious, by and large, social media is still a largely untapped free source of marketing for agents? All you have to do is have the courage to post something or get in front of a camera like we're doing now. And post it on the posted on Instagram or Facebook. You got to know the rules. I think there's some time limits on Instagram, but YouTube, we're gonna go on YouTube, do these kinds of things on YouTube, informational videos, interviews with people. It's free. So why not take advantage of that? Get your name out there? Show people what you know, right?

Rick Ripma: 37:37

Yeah. Yeah, I think it's amazing. You get some agents who are very successful and they do. All they do is social media. That's where they get everybody. There's other agents that are extremely successful. And they don't do any social media.

Mark Gill: 37:49

Yeah. To each their own. There. Yeah. I mean, that's one of the things I told my agents when they first got in the business. I don't know if you remember that. But it was like drinking from a firehose, there were so many different tools, you could use so many different ways to market and prospect and I do make a distinction marketing is different than prospecting. And there's, there's so many things you can do what you have to do is be able to pick up. Okay, does this fit my personality? Okay, then I'll look into this. Does this fit my personality? No, it's very easy to get distracted by shiny objects. Yes. So that's what I try to minimize.

Ian Arnold: 38:23

All right, do not wear shiny.

Rick Ripma: 38:28

You understand exactly what he's saying. Because we are bombarded with Oh, get by, get get leaves, leaves. These are great Liza this, and that's you can go off and you just spent a lot of money and you don't get anything out of most of what you're the shiny objects. Yeah.

Mark Gill: 38:43

If you don't know how to leverage something or you don't feel comfortable leveraging something, there's something else out there that you will so just put that aside and go to that go to go to what suits you. Yeah.

Rick Ripma: 38:51

So talking about your team. What is your team makeup? What does it look like?

Mark Gill: 38:55

So there's me and two other agents, Jamie Beller. She's been in the business for I think, three years now. And Lexie Sullivan, she is just over a year in the business, taught them everything they know. And then my wife, as I mentioned, she is our transaction manager. She's our COO CFO. She makes sure the wheels keep turning. And we go out there and make sure the deals keep coming in. But yeah, let's we all do this. So we're all buyers and sellers, agents, we do everything. Because I don't want to limit my agents I want I'm into just like in my real estate, just with my clients, my agents, I want to make sure that they build their businesses too, and build their presence and get because they are unique individuals. So I'm helping them build their businesses, we're probably going to hire a couple of more agents in the upcoming year or two. So

Rick Ripma: 39:43

Well, one thing we've learned, if somebody's thinking of getting into real estate or they've gotten into it and they're struggling, the number one thing they can do is get on a strong team.

Mark Gill: 39:53

A strong team.

Ian Arnold: 39:55

Yes. Number one thing

Rick Ripma: 39:57

you can do. Yeah, I don't know how many agents we've talked to Yeah, that have said, I wouldn't have made it. I was I was struggling and I got on a great team. And and that's the only reason I'm here today is because I got on a great team. And what a great team means you have a great mentor.

Mark Gill: 40:13

Ideally, yeah, no, yeah, that's absolutely true. You need somebody who is a strong team lead. I don't follow the money. Don't look at the percentages. Look at the person. What are you getting? Are you getting sales training? Are you getting personal development trading? Are you getting business, business strategy training? All of that, if it's just hey, come in, and I'll give you leads, and I'll pay you 90%. What else you're getting? Are they teaching you how to develop your business? Are they teaching you how to develop personally? Are they teaching you how have you ever been in sales before? I mean, a lot of people haven't a lot of people come into this industry never having been in sales before and I provide sales training, how to talk to people how to how to sell them without sounding like a plaid jacket, right? How to actually be a consultative salesperson, right?

Rick Ripma: 41:01

Yeah. Because that's it's critical. And I know, we've noticed there's a tremendous amount of agents that came from teaching, teaching. Yeah, here's the number one career move, move into real estate. I read that somewhere. But we'd already noticed that we knew that that was the case. And then we also noticed that most great real estate salespeople have what I call the teacher's heart, probably not the right right thing, but they want to teachers tend to be caring, and they and they listen, and they, you know, they want to explain things and get people to understand them. And that seems to make a great

Mark Gill: 41:34

real estate. That nurturing attitude is very helpful. You go yeah, you have a better word than I do. Yeah, that nurturing attitude is very helpful when you're dealing because it because it is an emotional transaction. It's cars can be two, I suppose. But not nearly as much not anywhere. Close. Yeah. So having that the ability to to, like I said earlier, having the ability to see the emotion understand it, but not projected. And that's what teachers are really good at. Yes. I mean, could you imagine if a teacher projected emotion every time a kid got upset, they just start throwing a fit to do crazy.

Rick Ripma: 42:06

Heck of a class.

Ian Arnold: 42:09

Especially for my kids. Six to eight year olds man. Yeah, those emotions.

Mark Gill: 42:13

Well, my youngest is graduating college now. But man, she was a class a tantrum thrower. She was awesome at it. She could she could slam a door better than anybody.

Ian Arnold: 42:24

So how did your name of your company come around?

Mark Gill: 42:27

That is a great question. So I was trying to think of a of a name for the company. And my wife actually came up with

Ian Arnold: 42:34

it. Was she watching the channel? No, no, she wasn't.

Mark Gill: 42:37

But I told her, I said, I want something that expresses that, what we're doing as long as authentic and that we're genuine that we genuinely care. And a lot of people when they think Hallmark think they think of the channel or they think of Hallmark Cards. But a hallmark is actually a stamp of authenticity on a metal on a silver or gold object. And that hallmark is a stamp of authenticity. And she actually came up with that. So that's why I picked Hallmark because it is a stamp of authenticity.

Ian Arnold: 43:05

I did not know that. Thank you for educating me. Yeah. I just thought about the chat. And like you said the channel and then in the cars. Yeah.

Rick Ripma: 43:13

Yeah, but Hallmark does. I mean, you know, it means something like that. You may not know exactly that. I mean, it's just you think of Hallmark means great, you know, good.

Mark Gill: 43:25

Will you be sure it used in sentences like that is the hallmark of a great, whatever. Yeah, well, hallmark is not set standard.

Rick Ripma: 43:32

Awesome. So this may be too much like the other question, but how would you describe your brand?

Mark Gill: 43:38

Oh, wow. That's a good question. We're actually working on on that right now.

Ian Arnold: 43:44

Oh, you put a business plan together and get your motto down

Mark Gill: 43:48

real estate the right way. There we go. Yeah. And I would put it that way our brand is you can you can be comfortable with us, you know, that we're we're going to take care of you and your needs and, and and hopefully meet all of your wants. It's difficult. A lot of times, sometimes the budget doesn't meet the expectation, you know, but we can help you also figure that out. So I hope that answers the question. Yeah.

Ian Arnold: 44:15

You're just doing real estate the right way. That's

Mark Gill: 44:17

what I say. Yes. Right.

Ian Arnold: 44:19

See works all out.

Rick Ripma: 44:20

Yeah. And if if somebody wanted to get a hold of you what is the best way to get a hold of you for any real estate needs?

Mark Gill: 44:26

The best way to do it is a call or text 31771601373177160137 or you can email me at Hallmark I'm sorry, Mark dot Gil at Hallmark res.com That's ma RK dot g i ll at Hallmark R e s.com.

Rick Ripma: 44:47

And that's for anybody with any real estate needs. It would also if somebody's looking at becoming they want to get into real estate.

Mark Gill: 44:53

That's right. And if you if you're looking for a team to join, I am looking to add a couple of more agents in the next year or so. So I'd be loved. I'd love to talk to you see if you're a good fit. What's your location where you were at 135 and Main Street in Greenwood at the Berkshire Hathaway office there. Okay,

Rick Ripma: 45:08

awesome. And then also if they want to become a big brother,

Mark Gill: 45:12

yeah, if they want to come become a Big Brother, give me a call to I can put you in touch with the people who can get you started with that. And, yeah, yeah,

Rick Ripma: 45:21

I think that's phenomenal. And if you need to get a hold of Ian or I, it's HardWorkingMortgageGuys.com That's HardWorkingMortgageGuys.com Or you can call 317-672-1938. That's 317-672-1938

Ian Arnold: 45:35

And remember to subscribe to India's real estate gurus. And also if you know any friends, family or coworkers looking to buy sell refinance, contact Ricker, I will be more than happy to help them

Rick Ripma: 45:45

and follow us for more Indys Real Estate Gurus

Announcer: 45:48

branch NMLS number 33041 Recruitment NMLS number 6645 819. Arnold's NMLS number is 195469 equal housing opportunity some restrictions apply