Guru Scott White with Bought with Scott Real Estate

Rick Ripma: 0:00

Welcome to Indys Real Estate Gurus we're recording today from the advisors Mortgage Group studios right here in downtown Carmel.And I'm Rick Ripma, the hard working mortgage guy. I've been in mortgages and real estate for over 34 years, I've helped over5200 folks finance their homes,my team and I believe in custom tailored loans, not the one size fits all approach, we believe there is a right mortgage for you. And we believe we are the team to deliver it.

Ian Arnold: 0:23

And now I'm Ian Arnold part of Rick's hard work and mortgage team. I've been in the financial industry for 15years helping customers rebuild their credit to get the best possible financing rates. I've also have a passion in helping you secure your real estate dreams and hopefully secure your wealth for generations.

Rick Ripma: 0:39

And for the most up to date information on the end real estate market or mortgages,please go to HardWorkingMortgageGuys.com That's HardWorkingMortgageGuys.com. Or you can call 317-672-1938.That's 31767 to 1938. And today,we've got Scott White with App properties. And you have a big team. I do you call your your team is Rhys indie team.Correct. And thanks so much for joining us, we really appreciate it. Well, thanks

Scott White: 1:09

for having me recognize and appreciate it.

Rick Ripma: 1:11

It's it's great to have you, you know, we everybody knows we only have gurus on so your guru real estate agent doing great volume, you know,your end, you know, I guess really maybe even more than than volume. Although it's important for our show, it's the quality of the person we like, you know,and you're a high quality person. And, you know, I think that's more important than than anything else. So we appreciate that. We appreciate you. And we really do appreciate you joining us. If somebody did want to get a hold of you, how would they do that? What's the best way?

Scott White: 1:43

Yeah, the best way is on my cell phone, which is317-345-0573. Or you can shoot me an email at bot with scott@gmail.com. I like

Rick Ripma: 1:54

that bot was God as easy. And also I like your name because I did not mess it up.And I mess most of them.

Scott White: 2:00

So that was really pretty simple for Yeah,

Rick Ripma: 2:03

that was, you know,it just it really does help. So before real estate, can you kind of tell us, you know what your life was like what you did?

Scott White: 2:11

Yeah, so I grew up just north of the road here in Westfield. So born and raised there and went to Westfield High School Sports was everything to me growing up. So I actually had a passion for broadcasting so sitting behind the mic here is comfortable for me right now but I wanted to get into sports broadcasting and I literally growing up would play video games and I would like broadcast over the video game myself. So that's that's kind of how I got into doing that I would huge pacer fan, so I'd always listen to select Leonard and Mark Boyle. I would literally watch it on TV, turn off the TV volume and listen to the radio as I'm watching the Pacer. So, so yeah,I went to DePaul University in Greencastle to study broadcasting. And I had a great experience there learned a lot and ended up doing a couple internships. While I was at DePaul one with ESPN Radio, the the fan downtown. At the time,it was Eddie white, and Bob Kravitz. They had a show and Dan Dockage as well. So in turn for both of them. Great experience learned a lot a lot of fun. And then the following year I interned at WT HR with Dave Calabro, and some of those guys.Great experience glad I did it,because it did kind of teach me that like, Hey, I like this. I think I like it more as a hobby than a profession. So after that, when I graduated, I was like, man, what am I going to do now? And my dad is a real estate developer. He's had his real estate license kind of briefly has dabbled in the residential side. But 99% of his business is development. And he's like, Hey,Scott, you know, I would encourage you to get your real estate license, even if you don't do it as a career. Could be a great side gig. You're doing homes for your fraternity brothers or what have been. And so I did like so right out of college, I got licensed. And then ironically, my first job was as a loan officer. So it was a in your guys's shoes for a couple of years at first Internet bank, over in Fishers.And given a great learning experience, just being able to lend in all 50 states and learning all of those different regulations and whatnot was a challenge. But I had a great learning experience there. And then after that, I jumped into ministry, and worked at traders point Christian Church, ran their sports ministry there. And so when I made that transition from being a loan officer to ministry, that's when I really activated my real estate license and got going with that. So eventually, my business grew to a point where I couldn't do both and had to make a decision and and chose full time real estate and that was about already almost six years ago. So you been doing it ever since and been loving it

Rick Ripma: 5:02

done really well.

Ian Arnold: 5:03

So why did you go to the dark side? You were with us.And then you went to the dark side become a realtor, you could have came back.

Scott White: 5:13

Yeah, it's funny.My, I've got a friend that I partner with a lot. And at the time, we were obviously he was a real estate agent, and I was a loan officer. Now we're both I think in our calling. So, yeah,I like to consider myself with the lights.

Rick Ripma: 5:31

Like both. You know,if you're, again, if you're great people, and you do the right thing. So sides work?Well, absolutely. And both sides have to work together.Absolutely. It's a team effort.It is a team. And it's not just the loan officer and the real estate agent. It's the whole everything. Absolutely. Both agents. Everybody's on that team. So So you got into real estate, how did you get going?As I know, that's a big a tough start for a lot of people. So what did you do? What kind of processes did you have to get your business off the ground to get to where you are today?

Scott White: 6:04

Sure. I think it was, you know, one, I was blessed to have a full time job while I was starting real estate. And I know, you know,you're gonna have some differing opinions in the industry about what that looks like. For me, it was a great fallback, hey, I know I've got a salaried position, you know, because getting started in real estate,you're not going to see that paycheck from day one.Sometimes, you know, you could see it in month one, but sometimes it can be eight to 12months down the road, along with, you know, there are some some fees to get going in the business, right. So I think that helps to kind of have the confidence knowing, hey, I don't have to completely throw all my eggs in one basket, I can kind of take my time learning the ropes. And what I really kind of contribute. My early success in was just kind of learning the business the right way, building relationships, working your sphere of influence. And that was through a program called Peak producers, which is ran by Brian Buffini. He's a well known real estate trainer. He's out in San Diego, California, but former real estate agent who just really kind of built his business through that model. And I'm really glad that I got got that foundation and said hey,spinning your wheels chasing Zillow leads or or whatever it may be, it was like, hey, just really concentrate on taking care of your people, having genuine conversations, build relationships with people that you care about, and letting them know, Hey, I'm a real estate agent that can help you out. And here's how and really just being an advisor and an educator, I think that's really kind of set a good foundation for my business.

Rick Ripma: 7:46

Yeah, and I would guess, that having the foundation of, of working at the church and getting to know all those people and, and growing up here, you had a good sphere of influence to start with, I would get

Scott White: 7:59

absolutely, ya know, you're hitting it spot on.I think having grown up in Westfield kind of been in a tight radius, you know, pretty much my whole life even you know, an hour away at DePaul just still having a tight nucleus of, of a sphere and then yeah, the church really enabled me because of the role I was in I was leading our sports ministry and you know, ran a youth youth sports program that had you know, over 300 kids in and um, you know, leading volunteers of coaches and just building a lot of different relationships through that realm while running alongside my real estate business that was very helpful to kind of Springboard my business

Ian Arnold: 8:40

Oh, I was going to ask so when you when you started your business and everything and then you started the company rise ending what what came over the name? How'd you how'd you come up with rise? Indie?

Scott White: 8:50

Yeah, so great question. So the company before so was called meant to sell Realty. So my business partner John Bell, and actually was his dad started the company back in2010. He was with Keller Williams and was kind of doing real estate on the side almost,he was a full time employee at AT and T and and, but at that point, he had a relationship with a lender that was feeding him a lot of REO business. So he was like me, why am I I'm bringing in a lot of this business myself, you know, not really getting a lot from this brokerage. Why don't I just start my own thing and I'm gonna make great money, right and kind of have no red tape to kind of go through. So he started that company, basically as kind of a family business, then with his son in law, and then eventually with his son, John when he graduated, so I knew John through the church and got connected to him that way, but we then when his dad got out of the business and 2019 is when we kind of rebranded to rise, we brought some other partners in and really we're we're concentrating on growing the company at that point. And so we felt like It was time to kind of make it our own meant to sell was kind of was kind of John's dad's thing. And we wanted to really kind of make our own type of company, but it rise at that,you know, it definitely has some Christian undertones to it. But also, you know, we had an acronym to that of, you know,being in great relationship with people doing business with integrity, providing great service, and then having great experience across the board with with our agents. So kind of a play on words a little bit and an acronym there. But also, you know, we want it to be kind of clean and simple. And so that's kind of how we, we came up with rice. That's awesome.

Rick Ripma: 10:37

It's an interesting.It's just, you know, it's a great name, especially once you explain what Rhys means. But even without that, it still makes a lot of sense to me. You read it, and you go, Okay, this makes this makes sense. So you,how much would you say, it matters to have a mentor when you're when you're in the business or getting in the business? Is that important?Absolutely.

Scott White: 11:03

That that was another big thing to catapult me and my business. And it was with John John had, is a great businessman, great leader, and really does a great job one on one taking somebody under his wing and and sharing experience.And again, like, no, no one's business is the same across the board. Everybody kind of does things differently. But he did a great job of being able to kind of be a soundboard for me, not only from the real estate perspective, but from a business owner perspective. And, you know, that's another thing I think that is key, you know, in this business is to kind of have that business owner mentality,you do own your own business,you're not, yes, you may be part of a big brokerage or whatnot,and feel almost like an employee, but at the end of the day, you are a business owner of XYZ real estate, right? So I think, kind of having that mentality from the get go him kind of instilling that into me.I don't know if I'd be where I'm at today without kind of having that entrepreneurial mindset and ownership of my own real estate business. Yeah,

Rick Ripma: 12:12

you're not a W two employee? No, yeah.

Scott White: 12:15

It's a common misconception of those getting into the business, you know, you know, especially coming from a previous job that might be w tude, or, you know, you're you've got a boss, or have three or four boxes in line, right?It's, it's a very different business to step into, and kind of get into that right mindset.

Rick Ripma: 12:31

Yeah, how would somebody know it's the, you know, how should they make that decision? If they think, you know, maybe I want to be a real estate agent. I think there's so many misconceptions, what, what would you what should they look at? What should they think about?

Scott White: 12:43

Agreed? I think there are a lot of misconceptions with real estate,especially here within the past couple of years, right. Like,you know, admittedly, the the market over the past couple of years has been very strong for agents. And, you know, I think that there's been some ability to get into the business without really knowing what it takes in a quote, unquote, normal market to make it as as an agent. And I think the key is kind of that mentality of like, Hey, I am a business owner. And that doesn't look like I'm in the office from nine to five, and then I check out and clock out for the day is not, hey, I'm relying on other people to kind of tell me what to do. You have to be a go getter, you have to be one that is able to communicate well with people, you have to be one that is that is hungry for the business, eager to learn because we are in an ever adapting market. It I mean, that's I think what I love personally about real estate is no transaction is the same. Every year, there seems to be 234 new challenges to kind of adapt to and educate your clients about.And if you're not willing to kind of put in that extra work be via learner. That's just one thing that I kind of put on my daily task is like, hey, what what's going on in the market,always being aware of properties that are out there in specific areas that I serve, researching?What are local statistics,looking at what are national statistics looking like and just wanting to be kind of owning that knowledge of the market so that you can educate your clients the best. So I think those are some of the key things to keep in mind when thinking about getting in the business.And if you're kind of one of those that's not wanting to start your own business. I think that stick with the W two job.It's not for the faint of heart.

Ian Arnold: 14:35

And Scott, if somebody's want one to buy or sell with you, how would they get ahold of you?

Scott White: 14:40

Cell phone is the best way 31734 or 50573 or they can email me at bot with scott@gmail.com

Rick Ripma: 14:49

All right, and get all our unions and mine information that HardWorkingMortgageGuys.com That's HardWorkingMortgageGuys.com You can find everything to contact us or you can call 317-672-1938That's 317-672-1938 And thank you for listening to indies real estate gurus the gurus we interview share valuable insights they reveal their strengths, personalities and how they work for you. While heart while the hard working mortgage guys secure your best mortgage real estate gurus work hard to they avoid problems the amateurs don't see. They listen and they find unrealized opportunities.If you're buying or selling a home, a real estate agent is a valuable asset, especially a guru real estate agent. If you're even thinking of buying or selling a home, keep listening and definitely call one of India's real estate gurus.

Ian Arnold: 15:40

All right, so let's take a little sidestep. Let's say I take away your phone. You can't you cannot work for 24hours. What would we catch you out there doing?

Scott White: 15:49

Yelling for at some golfers? Yeah, huge golfer that's kind of my escape, to kind of refuel is to get on the golf course and kind of disconnect for a little bit. So that that would be number one spot and then and to spending time with my family. I've got three kiddos young kiddos and wife so they're, they're the world to me. So just being able to either take my kids out on the golf course themselves or,you know, go to a park or just take a walk with my wife. Yeah,that would be my ideal disconnect, for sure.

Ian Arnold: 16:25

Where do you like to play it?

Scott White: 16:27

So I'm a member at Yulin just joined that's up in Lebanon. So just join there in the fall. But also cut all over.I live in Whitestone. So we've got Golf Club of Indiana there,the trophy clubs a great course.I think it's kind of a hidden gem in Indianapolis. And then my parents are still in Westfield at Bridgewater so I get spoiled to get out there every now and again. So he's got lots of

Ian Arnold: 16:51

choices. Yeah, it is. No, no, that's a lot of spots for clients to go hey,let's go golfing together. Yeah,they need to retract

Scott White: 16:59

that statement.

Rick Ripma: 17:04

I have never been a golf while I used to when I was young. I golf a little bit. But I don't know how anybody enjoys it, because it's just frustrating.

Scott White: 17:13

Yeah, I had to kind of turn off the switch. I'm a very competitive person. So I've been I've had my dad put a club in my hand since I was five years old. So I've that that is been my key to play the game.Well, but yeah, I think right out of college is when I kind of learned Scott, you just kind of turn off that competitive switch and just enjoy it. And that's when I started really enjoying golf, you know? So

Rick Ripma: 17:35

if you're not going to if you're not going to play all the time and practice and all that. You shouldn't expect to be a great golfer.Absolutely.

Scott White: 17:42

Right. I think it's one of those sports that you just have to continually be practicing and have a club in your hand at all times. Like I feel like there's other sports you can kind of pick up here and there and being a decent amateur at but also one of those that like if you're not in it every day. Yeah, yeah, it's gonna turn into trouble.

Ian Arnold: 17:59

Is this the reason why we see a lot of reviews of you sitting in the back? Why the people walking through the house and you're swinging a golf club is exactly your spot on. All right, there were no reviews like that people just

Rick Ripma: 18:11

video Yeah, that's so what would you say your superpower superpowers are?

Scott White: 18:21

Great question. I think just the ability to have fun with people. I think real estate can be a stressful experience. And and sometimes that is kind of the lead for people. You know, obviously,it's a big investment. It's a one of the biggest investments you're gonna make in your life.Moving is a stressful experience. And even in this market, finding the right house,that can be a stressful experience. So I think for me superpower is just being able to kind of set expectations with people and in those expectations, I say, hey, my goal is to make this as stress free as as an experience as possible. But also just to have fun with it. Like looking at houses buying real estate, that should be a fun experience. And I think sometimes everybody that's involved in the transaction can sometimes overcomplicated and forget that this should be a fun experience.And so I think I tried to take that approach with my clients to you know, get around with their kids. You know, input a little sarcasm into things you know,one of my go to things is when we get an accepted offer is I tell the client Hey, we got some good news. We got some bad news.Which one do you want? First? Of course, they always want the bad news. The bad news is you gotta write a big check. Good news is you got the house right so the checks real earnest money so I was just kind of just keep it keep it light, keep it fun to really kind of make people feel at ease through through the process.

Rick Ripma: 19:50

Yeah, it's and it is probably one of the most stressful process. Not that's a process but it's it's very stressful. time when you're buying a house. And you know,getting a mortgage is stressful because you, you know, even great credit perfect people,they worry about it, you know,because you never know, right?Right, you don't know what's gonna pop up. So there's always that that stress and having somebody with a calm personality, somebody who can walk you through it is, I think vital to make sure that it is a smooth and easy transition and your, your stress levels lower because of that correct. And that makes a huge difference, it does absolutely makes a huge difference. So what do you what's something you're most proud of, within your business,

Scott White: 20:38

I think just kind of where we have come from, you know, coming from a small company that we kind of developed and built, you know,somewhat from the ground up. And then where we are today, you kind of the last half of that that story of where Rhys came from and the end of 2021, we ended up merging companies, and franchising underneath at properties. So that is our brokerage and I'm one of the partners of and so just kind of seeing where we have come from to where we are currently without losing that, like family culture that we established. So now, with App properties, we're up to about 175 agents. And you know, always the concern that you get when you become a bigger company like that is what is the culture like, you know, when you start it at five people, and now you're at 175, obviously, that five is very tight knit, right,you have each other's backs. And I think that's the one really cool part that we have really instilled in why we partnered with who we did is because those values are aligned there. So the culture of where we're at is super healthy. It's very collaborative, and not competitive, which I think in this industry a lot, you can be super competitive. I think there's some healthy things to that, but also not competitive with each other in an unhealthy way, you know, are very collaborative about our business, not saying, hey,because I'm a whole high volume producer, you as a brand new agent can't come to me and ask questions. You know, I was new,at some point, asking an agent that did a lot of volume, those same questions, I want to be able to give that back. So one thing I do right now for our brokerage is lead a training program. We're I helped train agents that are not brand brand new, but you know, maybe a year or two in the business and are kind of looking to catapult their business to the next level. And that's kind of where we feel like our strength is and one thing I really love doing is kind of sharing my experience and how I learned and hopefully impacting others with it.

Rick Ripma: 22:45

Yeah. Have you found that? Because you said culture was so important? Have you found that more difficult since people don't come into the office as often? Or do people come into the office? It is?

Scott White: 22:56

Yeah, you know,you're exactly right, it is more difficult to try and establish that. I think, obviously,technology has taken over the real estate industry quite a bit. You know, as an agent, when we go to recruit it's, it's one of the hot topics that you talk about, but also from you know,what happened through the pandemic, and and just the nature of office culture in general across the board. And just the the general tendency of where kind of real estate being in the office was trending towards? Yeah, it's it is difficult, but I think as long as, as you are kind of instilling that through your DNA through modes of communication,through you know, having virtual meetings and whatnot, still maintaining that same kind of bonus, even if it is virtual, is important. So yeah, to answer your question, I think yes, it's a little bit more difficult to do and we've been trying to encourage more and more people to get back in the office. We you know, I think the nice thing about us is we have five different offices actually now six, we added West Lafayette here last last month as an office to our brokerage so, you know, we have plenty of options for people kind of around the city to come to, but you know,it is more and more of a virtual world that we're in so yeah,

Ian Arnold: 24:12

so since you do you train people and everything and the nice thing is you said usually a year or two in is little you Alright, so what do you need to do to change your business? So what if somebody is struggling and they're been in the business for a couple years?What would a good advice would you give them?

Scott White: 24:29

Yeah, I think it's to truly just concentrate on your sphere of people in and one common pushback I get on that as well. My sphere is not very big,you know, could be someone that just moved here isn't very familiar with the area. It could be someone that again, just started getting into the business could be a stay at home mom that stayed at home for 1015years and now is you know, the kids are full time school. I want to get into real estate.What does that look like? Where is my sphere? So it's really really kind of sitting down with him and and digesting that and kind of walking through what does your sphere look like? What what what do you like to see your day to day to look like?And then to combat that, you know, push back is like, how can you expand that sphere? Okay,yeah, your sphere may be small,but we're what opportunities are out there for you to be involved in to rub shoulders with people so that they, they get to know you develop a relationship with you, and then eventually know,okay, hey, what do you do for a living, I'm a real estate agent.And I love helping people. And you know, that just develops a gnat, a natural organic relationship. Instead of I think, you know, a lot of people, their default is to go to, well, I, I just need leads,I need someone to hit me leads,which again, I there's many different ways to run a business. And there's been many successful real estate agents that have built their business on leads, I have found success in not spinning your wheels with leads, being able just to concentrate on your people that you care about. And naturally to they they have your back, you know, normally people that you're working with on a normal basis that you have a great relationship with already are going to treat you well make that experience even more enjoyable for you, rather than someone that you're meeting for the first time don't have an emotional connection with and kind of spinning your wheels to try to get something done.

Rick Ripma: 26:17

Now, do you find that most or many people who say they don't have a very big sphere, is they're actually limiting the, there's, they have a much bigger sphere than they actually think they absolutely,

Scott White: 26:30

I think getting them to think through and be confident. I think that's,that's one thing that I'm seeing a lot of right now is just the lack of confidence. Because,again, the the 2020 2021, and the first quarter of 22, those are anomaly years for real estate, you know, again, I think we got spoiled as agents to be able to, you could walk into a house, take iPhone photos, stick your sign in the yard, and throw a price up, and you're going to sell it that anybody can do that, right. But in now, coming into a market where you're, you actually have to do your job,you got to be strategic, you got to know what you're doing. I think a lot of people who got into the industry thought oh my gosh, this is easy, you know,and now it's we're truly showing who are the ones that are really, truly putting forth the effort to market the property will truly care about about the buyer seller in front of you. So that confidence has kind of waned back a little bit. So just again, not that those agents can't do their job. It's like,okay, we got to almost start from from a new foundation out,right, we're gonna start start over from scratch. And that's painful. It's a painful thing to do, but it's necessary in order to have a sustainable business for the long term.

Ian Arnold: 27:47

Yep. And if somebody's wanting to work with you and looking to buy or sell their home, how would they get ahold of you?

Scott White: 27:53

Yeah, cell phones the best way that's317-345-0573. Or you can email me at thought with scott@gmail.com.

Rick Ripma: 28:01

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

Ian Arnold: 28:15

All right. So let's get into the question of the week. And the question of the week is sponsored by Hey, Rick and I the hard work in mortgage guys, where we believe in helping and supporting you and your realtor by sending constant updates in the loan process.Nobody likes to live in a black hole. So we do not allow it here. If you do like the black hole, I'm sorry. We are not the people for you. But Alright, so here's the question. What was your first car?

Scott White: 28:39

Oh, first car was a2002 Nissan Altima. It was like the right one they had transitioned into having that like CVT transmission. I thought that was the coolest thing. It was like one of the first cars I saw that had the push button start the whole shebang. I was I was spoiled. It was a great car,unfortunately. And it see would have been two years after I got it. I totaled it. So yeah, you know, the typical the high school story there.

Ian Arnold: 29:10

There was all the what I call the fake paddle shifters

Scott White: 29:13

now, not on that one my next car I did though,yes. It's interesting

Ian Arnold: 29:18

people like to play with. Yeah, I

Scott White: 29:21

have them on my cord currently. And yeah, it's,it's fun, like 10 years ago. I was. That's all I did. I was I was paddleshift and the whole entire time and now I'm like, I don't even know if I've used it once.

Rick Ripma: 29:36

I don't use mine. I I hit it by mistake. That's why I don't like him. I hit it by mistake. It's like I can't get it out of this. I don't ever use it. Like how do I get it out of the stupid gear? Yep, back into automatic. Yeah, exactly. What about if I was back in my younger days? I love Oh, yeah, I don't anymore. That's not for me.

Ian Arnold: 29:56

The funny thing is,is I've always said Rick and I both came from the car industry.We get people go, oh yeah, I can drive a manual. You just hit the battleship. Like, that's not a

Rick Ripma: 30:09

stick of in the manual say okay drive this.

Scott White: 30:12

I admittedly would be in trouble if I had a manual in front of me.

Rick Ripma: 30:16

They said it's a great way to keep people from stealing your car.

Scott White: 30:18

Well, maybe I need to maybe I need to learn that

Ian Arnold: 30:22

car being sold. No,no, thankfully.

Rick Ripma: 30:26

Yeah, I don't know.You know that. But I have read that when people get in a car.Like try to with a car jacket.Normally not in Indianapolis,you know, harder, but they can't drive it.

Ian Arnold: 30:41

You just get out.Yeah, yeah, go ahead and steal.Yeah. All right, I'll leave now.

Rick Ripma: 30:47

That would not be good.

Ian Arnold: 30:48

So what would you consider one of your most memorable deals

Scott White: 30:54

I'm gonna stick with a good memorable, memorable deals, the best one, I think,was able to help a family buy their first house, they had let's see for four kids at the time, and she was pregnant with their fifth and they were living in like a 900 square foot apartment. I'm like, Oh, my goodness. And they had worked really, really hard. Just like you had mentioned earlier credit repair, that was something that they were working really hard on, we worked with them for about six to eight months to get them into a spot where they could buy. And this was at the kind of the onset of where when,when we were starting to see multiple offers on properties,especially kind of not first time homebuyer price range. So finding them a house was difficult. But when we when we found it, it was like that just ultimate feeling of like, oh,this is the right fit. Plenty of space for the kids, you know,basically doubled their square footage. And I just remember closing day just like at like,as they're signing the papers,just seeing their their emotion,seeing the tears come of just that obviously happy tears that,hey, we've worked really hard for this. You know, it was, it was one that was very difficult and hard to get to the closing table, but worth every single bit of effort to kind of see,see that emotion and see the family being able to realize a homeownership dream, and that that that for me was kind of like a click like, Ah, this is why I'm in it. This is why I'm doing it. So that's

Rick Ripma: 32:22

it's fantastic feeling when you help somebody like that. Yep. That's wonderful. So you have a large team? Are you are you still looking for people? Or are you still looking to grow?

Scott White: 32:34

We are at from a brokerage perspective, always looking to grow from a team perspective, we're a little bit more strategic with with who's in our tight knit group. You know, we are always looking if it's the right fit. You know, I think, again, our number one thing is protecting that culture of what we've established, and that is the number one priority.And then, you know, attracting someone that is willing to learn and willing to be coached, you know, again, like I said, we're there's many, many different ways to do the real estate business. And we strongly believe in what we're doing and how we're conducting our business and teaching our agents currently. So yeah, always looking for people and those that are wanting to be part of a healthy culture and really want to work their sphere of people and also want to have a healthy work life balance. I think that's one thing that really gets missed in the real estate industry across the board. Is that, yes, we work odd hours sometimes. And yet, you have to kind of put in that effort nights and weekends. But yes,I've got to take time for yourself, you know, your clients aren't get going to get the best version of you or your very best if you're not taking care of yourself. I've had to learn that the hard way. You know, a few years ago, definitely got caught up in oh my gosh, I am just spinning my wheels here. And Business is great. But I was probably mentally and physically the most unhealthy. I've been in my life, you know, so my clients weren't getting 100% of me. So I think just kind of teaching that coaching that the right way that like, Hey, you got to take care of yourself, take care of your family. And that's your first priority and enable to enable you to be the best real estate agent can be

Rick Ripma: 34:10

how'd you fix that?So what was your process? And how do you teach people to because this is one of the biggest things we hear from a lot of agents that are doing very well. It's it's very difficult in their their time is not their time, even though most people coming into the business think that's one of the beauties of real estate. Yeah. How do you How did you fix it? Or how do you teach people to do that?

Scott White: 34:31

Yeah, so how I fixed it was it was probably an untraditional way I just really had to scale back I had to say no to some people, I had to pass off some business to get into a healthy spot to where I could say, Okay, I'm ready to gear up and ready to go again. But with that is just setting boundaries.I think what one thing that we really miss in the industry as agents is communicating clearly and well with our clients. But more importantly on top of that,It is really setting expectations well, so that initial buyer constant consultation meeting or that listing appointment that you're on, you know, not only are you presenting what you're going to do to market the property, or what you're going to do to get them in the house, but also like, what this process looks like, and what it looks like,for me, hey, I've got a family,I've got three kids, you know,just like you may have a family,and they're my first priority.So, you know, there are going to be certain nights that are off limits, and just setting that kind of boundary upfront. But also, you know, obviously,you're not going to have this when you're brand new into the business, but having a team to fall back on to say, hey, you know, I might not be able to show it to you this evening. But I've got Amanda back in our office, that's, that's part of my team that, you know, breeds the same type of DNA that we that I do, she's going to be able to show you that property tonight. And so having that kind of fallback plan. So I think just setting expectations,setting boundaries and being okay with that, like, you know,someone, I think it's difficult,especially being newer,especially not having a ton of business is to be okay with someone walking away. If it's not the right fit, you know,you're gonna get more mentally and physically drained by someone that's not respecting those boundaries. That if you know, you just set them clearly,and someone respects it, you're gonna have a great experience with it. Yeah.

Ian Arnold: 36:20

So what is, uh, I know, your days always change? I mean, but what is a typical day look like for you as a real estate agent?

Scott White: 36:28

Man, you're gonna say yeah, but is it typical day does not exist. You know, that's one thing that I've I've worked on, I did a, what's called a ninja selling. It's a training program. An agent developed out of belief, Oregon, or Washington somewhere on the west coast. But basically, it's very similar,like, hey, again, working your sphere of people. But also,there's a huge like, mindset aspect to that than like, you are setting your day, not not letting the market set your day.So really try to plan out your week. So Sunday evenings, I try to sit down and really plan out my week, okay, I've got these meetings here that are already booked, I've got that blocked off, hey, I need to block off time to call my my current clients and update them on what what things have been looking like over the past week, I've got time blocked off to call potential clients and prospects,I've got time for myself to either go play that round of golf or go workout or read or whatever it may be to kind of refuel, but really trying to plan that out. So I've been trying to do that a little bit more and more here over the past couple of months. So typical day you know, again, you know,wearing a few different hats with being a partner in the brokerage running a team training. So there are a few different hats that I that have to wear. So you know being able to try to block those times off for those specific things while also concentrating on my personal business it's been a difficult task to try and keep it all straight and keep it in a window where I can still balance the work at home and but yeah typical day get up try to work out keyword try get into the office early and kind of get started off on the right foot you know I usually a tendency is to try to jump straight into the emails but I usually try to keep that for you know late morning early afternoon and really concentrate on okay what is today look like call call my clients update them and then you know kind of dividing up the day of one thing that I've really believe in is you know working in your business to working on your business you know that looks completely separate have a what is my current business right now look like? What are the inspection responses I need to get out what I need to get in touch with the lender on this you know working in it and then working on is you know prospecting and developing those relationships. So usually during the week I try to schedule at least one or two coffees or lunch with either a previous client or prospect client to again try to build that relationship deeper and have more of a connection.

Ian Arnold: 39:19

I mean Rick and I will tell you from the foremost time blocking is is a must huge because you don't realize what you're missing out on because like we do phone calls and we do this and it was like no during these couple hours we cannot be disturbed we cannot be now if you leave a voicemail we will get back to you do not but it was time blocks I mean you can get so much done when you time block because if not anything and everything jumps in there

Scott White: 39:45

correct well and everything that does jump in there seems like it's an urgent thing to get you right and when you have that email pop in and that's that's another thing during that time block is still I am not I've got my email closed. I've got my phone on Do Not Disturb or just out of reach, you know, to say the the tasks that I have time blocked for that is got 100% of my attention because I've got, you know, I think everybody in this industry has a little bit of a add, you see, you have that you have that email come in here that day is like squirrel, Okay,gotta get to that right. And,but not not everything is urgent has to be taken care of in this moment. And you're exactly right time blocking I have learned is huge to being able to have a productive day.

Rick Ripma: 40:27

And that helps me a lot. But I will tell you, I am one of those people who I really can't not do I have to I have to get my every half hour I have to look at and I just can't do it.And my coach, he was saying, you know, you gotta go this is two hours, you got to block that time off, you can't do it. And I said, Listen, I can't do that. I just I, he goes, you'll be able to later I still can't do it.I've been doing it for a long time. Yeah. But you know, I still get the other stuff done.But I it's not that I handled the emails, but I gotta look and make sure that if I if there's an emergency, I take care of it.And it's not. It's a personal problem mine. Okay, I can't I just can't, I have this super high sense of urgency here. And I can't I just, I have no way to get around it. So I think I think time blocking is the best thing done one of the best things I've done for business.But I also, you know, sometimes you got to do things that work within your personality. So for me, I can't do that, too. I just cannot sit there for two hours and make calls. I'll sit there I'd rather sit there for two hours and two and a half hours or three hours. Yet every 15 to30 minutes. I'm looking at my email just to make sure there isn't anything there. I gotta share. Sure. I agree. It's it's the most valuable thing you can do. And then I think for your your team and all that it really helps them if they have somebody who

Scott White: 41:57

teaches the correct Yeah, yeah. I mean, I didn't really get that modeled until over the past like 12 months really that that now that I've adopted it, I've definitely seen some fruit from that where,gosh, I you know, I'd spend a day and be like, where did the day just go? And I feel like I didn't get anything done. But now that I'm kind of time blocking and creating that I feel so much more productive while also having the energy to come home and you know, have capacity.

Rick Ripma: 42:22

Yeah. And you got more done during the day?Because Absolutely. And I don't know about you. But before I did it, I would there would be things I meant to do. But when when I had a few extra minutes,I couldn't remember what they were, you know, it wasn't in my schedule, right. And now, now for sure if it's not my schedule, it doesn't get done.Yeah. Yeah, I told my assistant,you, if you if you don't schedule it, if you just give give me a note saying this is what I gotta do. It's never gonna get done. You have to put it in my schedule. Yeah.

Scott White: 42:51

I understand that I hear you.

Rick Ripma: 42:54

It's I think that's vitally important. So obviously,there's always, you know,roadblocks and things that are business issues we have to overcome. How do you? What's your process for overcoming, you know, problems or issues,roadblocks that you come into?

Scott White: 43:12

Sure. I think tackling them head on, you know,when it when a problem does come up an issue with a transaction,you know, just just coming at it straight on and having the honest conversation and saying,Hey, here's what's what's going on. Here's how we're going to overcome this. Again, and I think the key to that, and being successful when when things do happen is is setting expectations up front really,really well. So that the client is aware, like, hey, you know,one of one of my just pet peeves about the industry is like, we just have so many hands in the pot during the transaction,you've got your real estate agent, you've got listing side by side, you've got a title company, you've got inspectors,you got appraisers, you've got loan officers, you got loan officers who have a team behind the meter, there's just so many hands in the pie. And if one thing falls, that that puzzle piece has to be put back together somehow. And who are the customer service people handling that? That's that's me.And that's that's you as a loan officer at Renault. We're the customer facing people that, you know, let's say someone else on the title side of things drops the ball. Well, that comes back on us, right, and we have to communicate clearly that hey,here's here's what's happened.And here's how we're going to correct it. And here's kind of the timetable on when to expect that. So I think in the industry, I think we have a just noteworthy for not communicating. Well, it just amazes me still, you know, I'll get offers on a listing of mine from an agent that hasn't picked up the phone and called me to say, hey, you mate, did you get that? Okay? I had one specifically a buyer a couple years ago, I sent an offer in and somehow ended up in the listing agents spam, and the deadline was within a couple hours. I immediately called him and was like, Hey, just wanted to make sure you got our offer.Okay, he's like I don't see it anywhere. I'm like We'll check your spam folder just in case and it was sitting in there had I not picked up the phone to call that person, my client would not have that house. Plain and simple. So I think just communication is key in this business to overcome those issues, tackle them head on. And just be honest and transparent with with what's going on. You know, your clients appreciate just even if it's something that you dropped the ball on own it.We're human, we make mistakes,and we're going to work hard to correct it and make sure it doesn't happen again. Oh, you

Rick Ripma: 45:29

fix it. Yeah, it's really Yes. We don't have a lot of time. But I want to ask this one last question. This came from an agent we had on and I thought was a great question.But he asked us this question.It was off air and I think it's great. Well, what's the funniest or most embarrassing moment you've had in business?

Scott White: 45:47

Funniest or most embarrassing moment in business?See, I don't get embarrassed.He's anything that's

Rick Ripma: 45:55

I'm okay with finances. Okay.

Scott White: 45:56

I'm okay with being embarrassed. I I did at one point walk in on on a couple that did not leave the house when they were supposed to. And I was going to show the house and they had the bedroom locked.I'll just leave it at that. So yeah, that's, that's, that's that's one that that has stuck with me. That was about four or five years ago. And I was like,What do I do here? What's,where's the handbook on this?

Ian Arnold: 46:31

Are you telling me that's not in a handbook to get to that object?

Scott White: 46:37

So I just step outside call the listing agent say, Hey, I think your clients are still here. And let's, let's I'll give them a few moments to get out of the house.

Rick Ripma: 46:47

They know people are coming. Yeah. So what is the best way for somebody looking to buy or sell a home or maybe, you know, looking to get on a team?What would be the best way for them to get a hold of you

Scott White: 46:57

Sure. Cell phone is the best way 31734 Or 50573? Or they can shoot me an email at bot with scott@gmail.com

Rick Ripma: 47:07

and to get a hold of Ian or I go to HardWorkingMortgageGuys.com That's HardWorkingMortgageGuys.com. And for more in these real estate gurus, please follow us.

Ian Arnold: 47:18

Yep. And reminder if you have any friends, family or coworkers looking to buy sell or refinance contact records and we'll be more than happy to help them.

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