Guru Shelly Walters with Shelly Walters Realty Group

Announcer: 0:01

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

Ian Arnold: 0:24

Rick Ripma. And I'm Ian Arnold. And we're both the hard working mortgage guys with Advisors Mortgage.

Rick Ripma: 0:29

And today we're very excited to have Shelley Walters here with us today. She's a tremendous real estate agent, one of the top in the industry. You've been in the business for quite some time if you're not

Shelly Walters: 0:40

we've been in the business since 2008. September, so very perfect timing. It was perfect timing. I didn't know any different.

Rick Ripma: 0:48

How did you how did you navigate that time?

Shelly Walters: 0:51

I didn't know anything different. Right. So it was really interesting, I would be in the office all the time. You know, in today's world, a lot of agents are sitting at home, I really don't agree with that. I think everybody should be in the office learning at all times. Even if you're, you know, been in business for 10 years, you can still learn from each other. So I made sure I was in the office every day, I sat around what I called the water cooler, which was the printer of the day. And I would always hear agents coming in and telling me or telling each other the stories they were dealing with what was happening in their closings issues. And one of the interesting things that always stood out to me was a lot of the agents were going my phone's not ringing. And you know, in 2000, a before that was 2000 567. And they were all just used to the phone ringing kind of like our last two years and saying it's not ringing. What do I do? And I'm thinking, that just sounded weird to me, because I'm going out and doing stuff and my phone's ringing. But I was my whole thing. My first year I was Rookie of the Year for our office. I was then also Rookie of the Year for the southeast region. All I did was what I thought I needed to do was meet people talk to people tell them what I was doing. I took a lot of classes if it was online or within the office itself. I just kept learning but I just kept talking to people and and working towards it. And I think what happened is and maybe it can correlate to the past two years of just agents were so used to having everything come to them or more easily. I think it was the best time for me to start because I learned a lot that first year of how to get business.

Rick Ripma: 2:21

Yeah. You just worked. You know, that's the thing. We we'd say that. You know if the phone's not ringing, pick it up.

Shelly Walters: 2:29

Yes, exactly. Make it ring on the other end, right. Exactly. Yeah.

Rick Ripma: 2:35

Not that hard. Right. Perfect. Because you like it? Yeah. It's all about contacts. It's all about talking to people. Right. And it sounds like you did a phenomenal job. Now are you from? I think you went to Purdue University. If

Shelly Walters: 2:45

I'm correct. I did. I went to Purdue University. I grew up in Zionsville. I ended up graduating from North Central. So

Ian Arnold: 2:51

Whoa, whoa, whoa, we got three North Central graduates. Yeah, we did. Yeah, we all graduated from

Shelly Walters: 2:57

Yeah, that's where I went to high school where I graduated.

Rick Ripma: 3:01

That's, it was a good school. It was it was it was a good school, but you grew up in Zionsville. So you must have moved from Zionsville to be in.

Shelly Walters: 3:08

My freshman year, at the end of my freshman year, I moved to North Central, you talk about a huge difference in what from a class of 90 to a class of 1200. You know, overnight, that's awesome. And then you went to Purdue, I went to Purdue University with telecommunications in psychology. And boy does that psychology degree help.

Rick Ripma: 3:25

That sets you up doesn't really help you extremely helpful. Yes. Yeah. Because there's so many things you do as a real estate agent that are that are what people actually see. They see they see oh, you sell a house right? But there's so many more things that you do

Shelly Walters: 3:40

is a people business yes. And um, you know, we we have a tagline, let our family help your family because we're a family business. But I always my, our mission, our whole team's mission is to help people through real estate. And that's in so many avenues. It doesn't have to do with just the sale of the house at the end of the you know, when you go to closing, right? There's so much in between. And if you don't have feelings and caring for people, you look at it as a transaction. And I one of the things I really learned that was very interesting to me is I do not feel like real estate, selling houses or buying a house is always a happy time. And I really felt that I kind of started to learn that 70% of the time. It was not a happy time. It was a sad time. And you really have to be caring with the people you're working with slow down here and listen to what they're dealing with, what their what their goals are, what they're, you know, upset about what they're sad about. Because, you know, a lot of times you're selling a home, it's an estate somebody has passed away or going through a divorce. Or even when somebody's downsizing you know, they raised their family in that house and it's really hard to leave and shut the door the last time. It's hard for the kids to have their parents sell the house. So there's a lot of emotions going on there. There's just so many reasons why you sell but it's not on purpose.

Ian Arnold: 4:55

And only it's also very stressful. Extremely. I mean, because All right, did they accept the offer? Do they not accept the offer? All right now I sent a home inspection. Now, what does that come back to look like? All right now, what's their appraisal going? I mean, it's so stressful. Now, at the end, after everything's done, you see, you see the, the happiness excuse explode out of people?

Shelly Walters: 5:16

Well, yeah, and especially if they're buying the first home, there's a happy time, you know, just stuff like that. The other one of them is people who relocate and we have a lot of people relocate to our area, from out of state out of the country, that's very stressful time. And many times the wife has moved before the husband, you know, the families are separated, and she's dealing with a lot, or vice versa, the wife was the one that was relocated. So what I find is just being able to sit and listen and just kind of set expectations of what is going to happen. Because if you don't sit down with them in the beginning, and just tell them, here's what's going to be happening, what to expect throughout the entire process. When the inspection period comes, you're like, wait a minute, I thought we were done. Like, no, this is a whole nother negotiation page, you know, and then oh, appraisal, don't you stage the house, don't start packing up, we're still we're still trying to sell the house. And like what I thought we got an offer no, you know, just trying to explain to everybody what to expect. So the stress level can come down, I just did a listing with a lady who was moving out of state. And she could not even think straight through the, what she thought was coming in front of her, she just, and I just, you know, made a chart for her. Step one, step two, here's a person to call for this. And I'm like, do not go to four until you're done with one through three. And I would just call in every day and go, Okay, how did that go. And I just had to slow her down because she thought she was going to you know, go into this with what I do. And I'm that's what I'm for right now to help you. I've been through it 100,000 times, you know, I'm not gonna make you just do this on your own. That's what I'm for.

Rick Ripma: 6:43

Is that is that worse today are more prevalent today, because of the shows on TV that it looks like you just go you pick out a house, you buy it, you close on it, everything goes smooth, and there's no big deal. Well,

Shelly Walters: 6:57

and we always talk about that is HGTV or arch nemesis of telling everybody that you know the world. One of the things about it is if you try to look at a show that was made for 30 minutes or an hour, they they filmed it for, you know, all week, whatever. There's a lot that goes into it that people don't see us in the beat behind the scenes. And I say that as part of to keep your stress level down. You don't want to know the 700 phone calls I've been making and finding out that things are not going well behind because I want to wait and see what the final answer is going to be, then I will call you right. But I'm not going to call and bring up all the things that are going on in the background. Because first of all, you don't you know, as a seller or buyer, you have no control over it. I do or hopefully I try to write. But if you don't, there is no reason to continually tell everybody what's going on. So a lot of people think, Oh, you got paid that commission, you didn't really do anything, you know, and it's hard to I don't want to explain what I do every day. And I don't want to explain how I got you to the table. Because I don't think that's important. What is important is I got you to the table the way you wanted to right? You made it easy. I tried to make it as easy as possible, as stress free as possible. Because I think, you know, everybody's like, why did you get into real estate and at first, it was one reason. But now I'm staying in real estate because I really want to help people through real estate want to help them through the process. It's not easy. It's their biggest financial asset. And if they are going to have somebody who really cares, I think that it will help them immensely. And then of course, it was always nice when they tell somebody else about us. Because when we get that referral that said that we help them and they give us you know, their son or their best friend, you know, that's really rewarding to us that know that they trusted us and they trusted us now with somebody

Rick Ripma: 8:32

else, it really says something about you and you people honor you with a referral. Yeah. And we're

Shelly Walters: 8:36

basically referral, we need to like just really don't work with a lot of people. You know, we do get a lot of calls through Google, because we have a high Google placement, but we just get a lot of phone calls from past clients and their friends. Yeah,

Rick Ripma: 8:47

that's, that's because you do a phenomenal job. And you've done a phenomenal job for a long time. So your name gets out there. And people refer people they trust,

Shelly Walters: 8:54

yeah. And you got to trust somebody in the real estate business. You know, like I constantly say, it's your biggest financial asset. You know, $10,000 can make or break a difference in you. And so we try to make sure that they get the best deal. Negotiations through inspections is very, you know, very important. I do flip home. So I understand the process of building and what repairs need to be done what and how repairs are done. Walking through a house with a buyer and pointing out issues I already know we're going to have setting those expectations again, that if you do make an offer on this house, just just stuff like that just having a well rounded ability in the real estate business not just knowing how to you know, click the button and put the listing live or we're opening doors. You know, I'm not a chauffeur into the house and I'm not a person who just throws the switch on and you're listening as live.

Rick Ripma: 9:41

That's that's the the basics and even then it might not even be the basics you do the things that make a difference. You can always tell the top agents it's so funny when you talk to different agents, the top agents, the things that they do compared to the the agents that are newer and they haven't learned all the things they need to do. And some of them will, some of them won't. Because it's a lot of work? Well,

Shelly Walters: 10:06

it's just, there's a whole dynamic to the set process. And you cannot be one avenue or one, you know, just one sided or one sided, I should say, because there's just so many things that go into it. I used to say, also, when I first started was, you know, you asked me a mortgage question, I'm just gonna say right out loud, you know, that's something I can pass off to the lender that can help you better. I've decided that's not the best answer right now, the best answer is, here's what I know. Because I have done a lot of research, the two one buy down for one thing is learning that is a new thing today that we have to know. Just knowing how that works, starting that process and understanding how you might be able to help your buyer purchase a home or help your seller, make an offer, you know, a concession, understanding those kinds of things, at least the basics, so that you can use it and help your clients better, but then turning it over. So I used to, you know, pretend like that's out of my lane. But I think we need to be in all lanes the best we can and learn as much as we can.

Ian Arnold: 11:04

Yeah, I mean, this is what Rick and I get into and we've had this conversation numerous times is, there's a difference between working with somebody who's done 1000s of transactions, but then somebody who's done 10. I mean, if you only done 10, you only seen 10 situations, right? If you've done 1000s, there's a lot of situations that you have seen that you know how to overcome, and stuff like that, just like you're saying, Look, I don't have to tell the buyer or the seller, every little thing going on, guess what? Same thing with remodeling, like if you go walk into your remodeling your kitchen, Rick just did this, you walk into the middle of it, you're like, oh, my gosh, what I get myself into, what's this? What's this? It's overhead, but the professionals know what they're doing. They're gonna hire the right people if you hire the right people. So that's the same type of thing. And when you were saying that I'm like, that's what my vision goes straight. Yep, remodel, like when you walk in, you're like, Oh, this is not looking good. Wait until it's finished.

Shelly Walters: 12:02

There's step one, two, and three, we're only in three, we've got 56789, to go.

Rick Ripma: 12:07

And that's the background things that you talked about that like somebody says, I'm going to sell my house on my own. They don't realize all of the pieces that are put together. And I'm sorry, but they're, in my opinion, they are always better off getting with a professional real estate agent. Always. I've seen under sell their house. Absolutely. I've seen them have issues where they have inspections, and they don't know what to do. And it's just so many things. How do you prepare? I know, you said you do? How do you prepare? Or what are the most important things that you make sure, a buyer or a seller that you're working with knows before they they start in this process?

Shelly Walters: 12:47

Sellers? For sure. Is this to sit down with them, like I said, and explain the whole process of First of all, you're selling your house, right? So what do we need to do room by room by room to get it ready, because I absolutely think that your house needs to be the shiny Penny when it goes on the market. And that was all the way through the last few years and net right now as well. So you've never, never want to just throw it up on the market. And one of the things you can say is I don't practice the, you know, three p's and place it on the, you know, place it on my board, put a sign in the yard and pray it sells, there's so much more into it. So getting them ready making them understand the process that they need to get the house ready, you know, decluttering or whatever. And we have vendors that can help with all that kind of stuff. If you need to do some repairs right off the front, we actually do very strongly having them do or say that they should do an inspection, have two listings right now that thank goodness, we did an inspection beforehand, it made us get an AAS offer and go straight to closing. It just takes that stress level away of not knowing, you know, because one of the things I say we as property owners, we don't get in our crawlspace we don't get in our attics, and those are some of the places we find some major major issues that can kill a deal. So if you can get that out of the, you know, out of the way, do those kinds of repairs, as well or also disclose them to the buyers and let them understand what they're walking into right off the bat. So you don't have a negotiation for two weeks after you get the offer and then fall apart. Yeah. So there's many, many things to do to get them set up and ready to go buyers as the other thing is just, you know, setting them down with the lender that can help them and explain what they need to understand. One of the things of obviously, we get our pre approvals handed to us and it says, okay, they can afford a $350,000 house? Well, the question is to them, as I see the payment that they've given you, are you comfortable with the payment, you know, you may not want to have that payment. So what you can afford is different than what you approved or approved for just a little conversations like that. Because I think one of the things is not to just grab a client and go let's go right, you know, and it's it. There's so much preparation before that. That offer is written you have to do that to make them comfortable, and do the best you think that there's going to be best for them and what they're looking for in the question is always what are you what are your goals? What are you trying to attain here? And remember those goals throughout the entire process?

Rick Ripma: 14:55

And if somebody would like to get a hold of you how what's the best way for somebody who's listening to get a hold of you?

Shelly Walters: 15:00

You can reach me on my cell phone at 317-201-2601. Or you can also email me at Shelly, Shelly

Rick Ripma: 15:06

walters.com. Perfect. And after the break, we are going to continue to talk with Shelley and find out more. One of the big questions we're going to have is you know, what is it? What are you a rockstar at? You know, what is your what are you known for? I'd love to hear

Unknown: 15:26

advisors, mortgage brokers licensed by Indiana Department of Financial Institution equal housing opportunity. NMLS 33041 Rick ritmos NMLS 664589 Hi, I'm

Rick Ripma: 15:35

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

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

Ian Arnold: 15:48

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

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We believe in always presenting you with all your options. So you get the loan you want the way you want it. We believe in continually monitoring the rules, rates and market trends. So you don't have to we believe in working hard to meet your closing date so that your entire plan isn't upended. We believe in offering the same quick online process that the bookstore mortgage companies brag about whether you're refinancing or buying your first home,

Rick Ripma: 16:18

we believe there is the best mortgage for you and we believe we are the team to deliver it find us online at hardworking mortgage guys.com.

Announcer: 16:30

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

Rick Ripma: 16:43

Welcome back and thank you again for joining us. I'm

Ian Arnold: 16:45

Rick Ripma. And I'm Ian Arnold. And we are the hard working mortgage guys with advisors Mortgage Group.

Rick Ripma: 16:50

And if you'd like to get a hold of us go to hard working mortgage guys.com That's hardworking mortgage guys.com. And we're here with Shelly Walters. And Shelly, again, how what's the best way for somebody to get a hold of you,

Shelly Walters: 17:01

they can reach around myself easily or you can text me or call me 317 to 012601

Ian Arnold: 17:06

Perfect. All right, and now it is time for question of the week.

Unknown: 17:10

Now it's time for questions with the gurus.

Ian Arnold: 17:13

So the question of the week is brought to you by advisors Mortgage Group where we fit your mortgage needs to fit you. Contact us today get your free mortgage plan, go to HardWorkingMortgageGuys.com That is HardWorkingMortgageGuys.com. Okay, so here's the hardest question you'll be asked. Alright. What was your first car?

Shelly Walters: 17:37

It was a VW Beetle was green. Oh, and I had to roll the windows down in the winter so the heat would work.

Rick Ripma: 17:46

Okay, yeah, to roll the windows down so the heat would work. That's an interesting thing to have happened to a car but beetles were known for their quirkiness. That's why I loved them.

Shelly Walters: 17:55

Yeah. Then the last time I drove it, it was on my way to my grandma's farm and I pulled off to the side of the road and walk to the house the rest of the way it just died. And left it there. I did. I never know what happened. I was like 17 Back in the day. I didn't know you really shouldn't do that. But I was out in the country and I just was like, Okay, it's dead. But yeah, that was really funny. It was always so hard to get the heat to work, but I rolled the window down one day I'm like, oh, that made it work long time ago,

Rick Ripma: 18:24

but it's funny how we learned the quirks of things like that. Even today even the computer programs that things we still learn the quirks of them and that's that's fine.

Shelly Walters: 18:30

We keep trying and figuring out how to make it work.

Rick Ripma: 18:32

Yeah, that was a that was a great car to have for your first car. I mean, really into cars and that's I'm into the high performance cars but a beetle my sister had one I mean I know tons of people and they still sell well there. Oh yeah. People love

Shelly Walters: 18:46

them. Yeah, mine was a 68 which I still had Yeah, but you do yes. Absolutely. I

Ian Arnold: 18:50

think it sold so well. They discontinued it for a while and then they brought it back remade it and then it sold humongously again

Shelly Walters: 18:57

Yeah, but it wasn't as cute as the old no no.

Rick Ripma: 19:00

I think it was the I think it actually out did they model A for the number one car yeah, because they they built even though we weren't getting it that was being sold in other countries. And that's somewhere I read that model A was forever and I believe the beetle outdid the model.

Shelly Walters: 19:15

Can I tell you my second car that I should still have a 1968 baby blue Camaro Oh, yeah.

Rick Ripma: 19:22

Which model do you remember? I

Shelly Walters: 19:23

don't remember but

Ian Arnold: 19:24

I wish I still had What did you do to that one? I leave it on our side of the street.

Shelly Walters: 19:28

No, I sold that one when I you know moved on to the next car. But that car was cute. Isn't it funny

Rick Ripma: 19:34

how we kind of fall in love with our cars? Yeah, not today though.

Shelly Walters: 19:37

They're not the same today unless I go get my you know, I love to go to meet them. My family we go to I go there all the time. Yeah. It's just something about just going and seeing the old classic cars. I love it.

Rick Ripma: 19:47

Yeah, I love the atmosphere. I just think becomes a great place. Yeah, yeah. And everybody's happy there right. There. Yeah, pretty much. It's a it's a great place to go. So what are you known for?

Shelly Walters: 19:59

I'm really listing specialists, obviously I do work with buyers, especially when they're referred to us or they're obviously buying because we're selling. So listings are my what I absolutely love to do. Perfect. We sell about 60 listings a year.

Rick Ripma: 20:13

Yeah, yeah, that's huge. Yeah. I mean, that's, that's, and you do quite a bit of buyer side too. So it's not just the listings. Yeah, you're a, you do a huge volume, which is awesome. We,

Shelly Walters: 20:23

I just, I really love listing houses for people, because there is such so much that has to go into it. And I enjoy doing it. I also have a staging company. So I'm really big about staging. I love staging. But that's just really more of what my specialty is, are you?

Rick Ripma: 20:41

Well, you seem to have an artistic eye, I'm guessing you're very artistic.

Shelly Walters: 20:45

I just, maybe my mom is very my daughter, a lot of people, you know, it's in my family, but I just enjoy. And that's why I think I'm always you know, part of my background is being working with photography and stuff. And one of the things is, when I'm going into a listing, like I said, getting them prepared for that I'm looking at the house through the lens of a camera, I'm trying to figure out what is it going to look like in each room online? I'm not looking at it as a person in the room today. And I think that is something that really has to be done because you know, you're looking at it differently. And but that's how the buyers are gonna say,

Rick Ripma: 21:18

yep, that's exactly right. Now, I know you do a lot of social media. So What all do you do? And how does that work for you? How does that work for you? But how does it work for your, for your sellers, when when and buyers possibly?

Shelly Walters: 21:32

Well, one of the things we do have a social media person on staff that is my daughter, Raquel, and Raquel does all of the social media for us and keeps us up, you know, I run my own personal Facebook page. But one of the things with the personal Facebook pages, I know, I have something, a poster in my office that says that, you know, 90% of the people have already looked at you online before they've even made a phone call. And so they've checked all those sites out. And one of the things with our social media is just to show who we are we you know, we're family team, we have fun, we are just down to earth normal people, you know, and I, it's not our social media is not sell, sell, sell, or here's my listing, here's this, it's who we are, so people can be comfortable with us. But then the marketing of the social media, for our properties, definitely do that as well. But there's just a lot, one of the things that training is is just to do a lot of video and, and get a lot of information out there to help people be comfortable with you.

Ian Arnold: 22:29

So have you seen how technology has changed? Yeah, when you first got it?

Shelly Walters: 22:35

Absolutely, yeah. So it's been 14 years and been a lot of changes in that. One of the things you were talking earlier I wanted to mention is, as technology changes, you as a realtor definitely have to keep up with everything that's going on. One of the things is video, it's new, it's not new, but it's something that wasn't, you know, pushed in 2008, all the photography, making sure it's professional photography, drone, photography, of video, anything like that, just knowing what's available out there. And that goes through consistent training, going to the national conventions, and just learning about what's new today. One of the things I think that helps in any agent is the background of what you've gone through, and we've gone through force shifts so far in the market. So 2008 was the beginning of the first shift. And then throughout that time, until today, we've had four shifts, and throughout the shift, you just need to keep up with what's what's working today, get rid of what happened last year or last, you know, last couple of years, and keep going forward with the new,

Rick Ripma: 23:35

right because not everything continues to work. Some things work forever, pretty much. But other things change. And you always have to, you always have to, I started a new home sales in 1990 You know, and so I've seen tons of changes, and I've been doing mortgages for over 20 years. And it's it's amazing the changes that happened. Yes.

Shelly Walters: 23:53

And you just have to keep up with it. It is your craft, it is your business. But one of the things about the business that you're in and I'm in and we're all doing is this, everything we are doing is affecting somebody else, right? You know, it's not it's not about me, it's about them and to just always keep that in mind. You always

Rick Ripma: 24:11

have to worry about how it's gonna affect your your client and you and everything. And we do this every day. So we kind of get we have to watch ourselves so we don't get too callous to it. Right? Because we you know, sometimes customer will ask something or they'll call the wrong person it's like they don't that's not their fault. That's our fault. That's my fault if I don't have if they aren't clear on who they need to communicate with. That's my fault not theirs. But you can you know times it's like wow, what is going on and then you realize it's me I gotta fix this

Shelly Walters: 24:42

well, well and what I love about it is throughout this past 14 years is the amount of friends that we have made you know when we close the deal we don't usually just walk away and never talk to them again. We have so many new friends that have we've made and I love meeting all the new people and seeing babies born and you know I've you know got clients from for Two years ago that their child was to their now, you know, for I guess would be graduating from high school go into their high school graduations. And it's just, you know, it's fun to just get to know people and be a part of their lives.

Rick Ripma: 25:10

How do you stay in touch with those people through through the all this time?

Shelly Walters: 25:15

Well, we do, you know, do some contacts through, you know, postcards or online or everything. But I mean, I've run into a lot of people, we do have client appreciation parties, at least twice a year. So we can see a lot of people that way. But just through just running into them, being in the same communities and running into their friends now who are, you know, being referred to us and keeping up with what's going on seeing what they're posting on Facebook? And, you know, I am almost, you know, always making sure I've friend them on Facebook, because I want to see what they're doing. And, you know, seeing people get married, and just every way that we possibly can just like a friend,

Ian Arnold: 25:49

right? So if you want to be invited to a party, at least once a year, guess what, I hope twice.

Shelly Walters: 25:57

Last one we get with a big bingo party, and it was really fun.

Rick Ripma: 26:00

Yeah, it sounds like it would be fun. It's Do you have great participation? I guess you would we

Shelly Walters: 26:05

do. And the next one I think we have coming up is going to be my daughter and I are big into real crime and or just doing the kind of searches and stuff like that for, you know, scavenger hunts or stuff like that. So we're going to be hopefully trying something like that. Or we're going to do a game show type style. So we're looking into our next one. Okay,

Ian Arnold: 26:24

so are you working on your camo now,

Shelly Walters: 26:27

we are just going to work on something that we have seen online, we constantly look for something fun, we don't want to just sit around a bar and have drinks, you know, not everybody drinks, and not all our kids can come, right, we try to also remember, one of our client appreciation parties was when Toy Story came out the new movie, make sure that kids are in can be involved as well. And we had candy and popcorn and drinks for them. And just it was so fun to see, you know, people brought their grandchildren and you know, we want to make sure that we can involve as many people as possible.

Ian Arnold: 26:56

So what is one thing that you think separates you, you that you do differently than most other realtors?

Shelly Walters: 27:02

Um, I think, you know, we have a ton of really, really, really good agents in our area, and everybody brings something different to the table. You know, just like I think more than anything is we just do make sure that what we're doing is in the best interest of our client, listening to their goals and their needs, and what they're trying to accomplish through the process. And what's most important to them, and just always listening to them and preparing them and letting them understand what the process is going to be like just just being their advocate.

Rick Ripma: 27:31

That's awesome.

Announcer: 27:34

Brent NMLS number 33041. Rick Ripma NMLS number 664589. And Arnold's NMLS number is 1995469. Equal Housing opportunity, some restrictions apply.

Unknown: 27:44

Well, first off, thank you for joining us, Danielle, I appreciate it. And I just was curious, how did you come to find out about Rick Ripma and advisors mortgage? Well, I was looking for a mortgage for myself for a brand new home that I was building. And I wasn't sure the direction to go, I didn't have anybody in mind. So I kind of just spoke to whoever I could speak to, I got their number and everything seemed to be exactly what I was looking for. So I went with them. The thing I liked the most about Rick and his advisors mortgage is that I could go and upload things online. And I didn't have to always be on the phone with them or sending them documents or trying to look for certain things that I needed to get the process going. Which was really great for me, I had a processor named Mark Coleman, who really helped me out in making sure I had everything I needed. Because I didn't know the first thing about having a mortgage. So it was awesome to have so much help. I think probably what I've benefited from the most is really just the understanding that sometimes I would get busy. And maybe I forgot to upload a document or I forgot to do a certain part of the process in a timely manner. And they would get right back with me and it wasn't like a hey, we really need this right now. It was always Hey, just wanted to make sure you still remember that we need this. Well, you don't get that too much. In this day and age, it seems like most people are either, you know, very demanding of something they need from you and they need it right now. And, and I agree I've seen that in Rick's attitude with us over over the last 10 years that he's very patient but also helpful to get the right things he needs. So exactly. In conclusion is Rick Ripma and advisors mortgage, somebody that you would use in the future and or tell your friends and family about. Absolutely. And I just want to thank them for all the effort they put in to help me find my dream home.

Announcer: 29:35

Ranch NMLS number 33041 Recruitment NMLS number 664589 equal housing opportunity. Some restrictions apply.

Rick Ripma: 29:42

I'm Rick Ripma You can go to HardWorkingMortgageGuys.com What about in our business and I think in real estate, maybe even more than in mortgage. Roadblocks come up. What do you have any tricks for, for overcoming getting around these roadblocks that come up through the process.

Shelly Walters: 30:01

I think getting back to one on one things we were talking about earlier as the roadblocks as they happen is to stay within my own four walls. And, you know, stop and think of what I've done in the past what's worked and what's not worked, definitely picking up the phone and calling the other agent. Working with other agents is another thing that I just absolutely love. The amount of friends I've made in this industry, that are very good friends of mine today, is being able to pick up that phone and working through it with the other agent is extremely important. And I think he talked about earlier, you know, with some of the newer agents, I can tell you the the person that helped me one of my first first deals was Michelle Shepard. And I can still tell you today that she helped me, I didn't know as much as I do today. Not that I know everything today. But she was so patient with me as a new agent and just helped me throughout the entire process. So if a roadblock comes up is just working with everybody else, not not getting an attitude and not thinking you know better than somebody else, just trying to just work through it. And again, keeping it away from your clients until you they absolutely need to know what's going on. Hopefully, you've got it worked out by then. Well, you

Rick Ripma: 31:05

You seem to be somebody who really values team. Absolutely. And it sounds like you look at not only your own group as a team, but you look at everybody you work with as your team. Absolutely. To me, that's a really valuable piece, because I work with a lot of different real estate agents, and you work with a lot of them, see you as a team. And you can work together because just like you said, not everything. Not every everything needs to be told right away. Because you can work you want to work through it. Like for me, I don't know, it sounds like you're the same way. I want to figure it out. And then I want to come up, here's my solution. Right? Here's the problem. Here's the solution,

Shelly Walters: 31:43

right? And then have the solutions, thought of and then go to your client and say, here's one, two or three, what would be best for you? What are you thinking, and I have talked to the other agent. And they're kind of thinking this, because normally, if you have something going on, everybody still wants to move to the towards the closing table, right? And so it's just to try to figure out how to make everybody okay, and that you know, those inspection items are really becoming an issue. And we're starting to come to a head on that. Just work through it. Because the second somebody throws their hands up in the air and goes, Just forget it, this isn't going to work, then it won't work, right. And I don't I don't normally give up. There's always got to be a solution because they didn't put an offer in on the house because they will just kind of have fun doing it. Right. Nobody put their house on the market because I just wanted to write and our goal is to help them continue forward and work through it. With everybody involved.

Rick Ripma: 32:34

Yeah, that's it's the only way to do it. Again, can you give people how they can get a hold of you, if you if they have any real estate needs selling? Buying any real estate needs?

Shelly Walters: 32:44

Yeah. And also we do, I'm doing coaching, so newer agents, if they would be interested in that as well. You can reach me on my cell phone at 317-201-2601. My email is Shelley. Shelley walters.com. Perfect.

Ian Arnold: 32:55

So what is your team right now consist of

Shelly Walters: 32:58

my team, like I said, is a family team. I do have an agent who works with me Jeff Matthews, my son in law. My daughter used to be with me as well. She is now a stay at home mom with three little babies, my grandchildren. My mom is my executive assistant and my daughter Raquel, my mom's Terri, my daughter Raquel is the one that does all our social media.

Ian Arnold: 33:17

So to join the family, you must do something in real estate to help you out.

Shelly Walters: 33:23

Or to be on the team. I guess you have to marry one of my kids. Oh my god, you know, parents are done. So I have no brothers and sisters. So yeah, amount of family. Yeah, we're all you know, I've got Jeremy is my other son. And he's, he's gone on to do bigger and better things. He was in commercial in New York City. And he you know, has been doing some other things as well. So it's, it just so happened that as my team grew, I needed another this or that. And it just kept happening that somebody would say, Can I start?

Rick Ripma: 33:57

That's a great way to do it. You know what you're getting. And it's really nice. Ian's got young kids. My youngest is 29. So but it's nice when you can have them around.

Shelly Walters: 34:10

Oh, it's fun as heck yeah, we have so much fun. And when the office or you know, when we're even on vacations, we're still talking about it and having fun. We don't bring breakfast or breakfast, bring the business to everywhere we go. But it is fun. Actually, another family member was my husband. My husband was in the car business. He was a GM at a Toyota dealership for 30 years. And he switched over and started working for me before he passed away. So he even changed careers to come work for me. So yeah, it's just something that I guess there's still one person that could come along

Rick Ripma: 34:44

well, you're, you're, you enjoy it so much. I do. And that obviously goes into your family. Your family sees how much you enjoy it. So it's like I want to I want to do that. That looks like fun. Yeah, you have a great attitudes and that's it's contagious. You're You're, I'm sure that working with you, is awesome. Because that when you know that you're motivated, we have a show we watch every morning, just because it makes you feel good. So that you're ready for the rest of your day. And I'm sure that you're kind of that way just for them.

Shelly Walters: 35:14

I just like the fact that I'm being able to help my family have a living, you know, a way to to make money and also enjoy life. Because one of the things is that I think with my, my thought process of what I want my team to be like is when you have like minded people, they're your family, right? You know, they they have the same goals and feel about people the same way I do, because they are my family. And that's really hard to when you do join a team or have a team that you are trying to build. Is everybody being on the same page of how business should be ran? And how you should treat your customers? That's a very difficult thing when you start combining and adding more people to your team.

Rick Ripma: 35:52

Yes, it is. You said coaching. And that interests me because I just started with a coach a couple months ago. And I can't believe how helpful it is. And so I can't recommend enough for people who are. If it's a I'm guessing you, you, you help new real estate agents I like

Shelly Walters: 36:10

yep, one of the things that I'm seeing, and especially because of this past two years, the past two years, getting away from the past six to eight months, as we've changed. We're a totally, totally different world, right. And I think one of the stats for my board is something to the effect of 15% have joined in the past two years, whatever. And I just feel cut again, talking about my first times and the agents that helped me is newer agents just being out there trying to figure out what's going on and what they should ask for or you know, when they have a deal come through, and they want to have questions on how to write the purchase agreement or whatever. I said we I like to help through real estate, my buyers and sellers. But I really, really am trying to get towards the process of also helping through real estate, people who are trying to get back into the business now, or are in the business but haven't been in it long enough to learn as much as maybe I could help them on a daily basis if they had questions. So helping people through real estate now I'm really trying to also add other realtors, because it is a hard thing to do. And I know a lot of people are out there really, really want to make this business work and and are enjoying it and are very good at it, but may have questions along the way. And I just want to be their advocate as well.

Rick Ripma: 37:25

I'll tell you what I found and why I think it's such a valuable thing for people because I've been in the business for over 20 years, I've I've been in sales my entire life. And quite honestly, I thought you know, I don't need a coach. Right? And then I decided, You know what, I'm gonna try it. And it's, I can't believe how helpful it is. You have a different even if somebody's been in the business a long time, you have a different perspective. So you it gives you somebody to talk to to bounce things off of that can really help you and they also nicely hold you accountable. Absolutely.

Shelly Walters: 38:01

That's the worst part.

Rick Ripma: 38:03

Nicely, yes. And that was probably why what held me really back from ever doing it is I, I was in the military, I didn't need that I didn't need to be yelled at, right, you know, basic training type thing. And people call it basic trends. Like I go, No way, I'm gonna do basic training. But that's not how it is. If you find the right coach, they actually figure out who you are, what you are, what you're about, and they really help I, I would encourage any real estate agent, I don't care how much time they have, it would be worth talking to you to see if becoming, you know, you as their coach, I think could be hugely valuable.

Shelly Walters: 38:40

And it also gets back to even if you're not having a coach or whatever it is, you know, through the pandemic, when everybody went home. And a lot of people stayed home is get back in the office, because you can throw your comrades in the office and you know, people like I hear the word, your competitor, every realtor out there is not my competitor, they are my friend, I'm going to be my advocate through another transaction. And you cannot look at the other people out there as Realtors as your competitor, everybody I've ever ran into is willing to help and talk to you and go through the process of asking questions and answering questions. So I just highly recommend at least getting back into the office.

Ian Arnold: 39:15

Well, I think a lot of people, you don't notice how much that interaction with other people is that you need not only like you were talking earlier is when you're sitting at your office. And let's say Suzy down the two offices over starts having an issue or whatnot, and you hear her discussion. And you're like, Oh, well, this is the way I would handle it. Or you might hear other people, Hey, you might want to try this. And it might be something you need to think about. And you're like, Oh, that was brilliant the way he said that.

Shelly Walters: 39:46

There's always somebody in your office or somebody you can reach out to that has potentially gone through the same thing that you can listen to what did you do in this process? And you may never have even thought about it and if you're just sitting at home and not having any interaction. I just don't think he learned the way you should. And that's one thing I said is back from 2008 on, I've never stopped doing education. I've never stopped going to training. I've never stopped watching webinars, because I always want to continue to learn and stay fresh.

Rick Ripma: 40:16

And this This is kind of changing subjects a little bit. But when what 2008 comes along, and you go, the real estate market is terrible. I think I'm gonna get into it. Why did you make that?

Shelly Walters: 40:30

I didn't know the real estate market was terrible. Again, I didn't know any better

Ian Arnold: 40:34

perspective. You don't know anything. This is the way it Yeah. So she went through the tough times early.

Shelly Walters: 40:41

I learned a lot. And I still say to this day that starting in a really down market and a hard market like that taught me how to do real estate, maybe a good basis for the rest of my business. The reason I got started was my youngest, Raquel was old enough to stay home after school, I had been a stay at home mom, besides doing some other stuff part time, and she was old enough to stay at home and I was trying to figure out what do I want to do? I was going to be a private detective, or something else. And I thought private detective might not be something What else could I could do. And really, really good friends of mine owned a mortgage board business, I'd been around them a lot and heard all the stories and sounded interesting. Couple of my really good friends were realtors. My realtor at the time owned the KW Carmel. So I was just around a lot of people in real estate and I thought, well, that sounds like something I would like to do. And that's how I I just decided to try it. Yeah, 14 years.

Ian Arnold: 41:36

Try, she doesn't tell you is her daughter, we're starting to get that age where you can leave our home cuz she's getting an attitude. And then you're like I need to get my kids haven't reached that age yet. I'll be there shortly.

Shelly Walters: 41:53

And now she's working for me.

Rick Ripma: 41:57

So where do you see your your business going? In the future? How do you what does the future look like for you?

Shelly Walters: 42:03

We're getting ready, talking very strongly about expanding the team. So we're looking for team members, my son in law, Jeff wants to really get expanded through teamwork as well. So we're doing expansion of our team, wanting to just really again, help other agents, maybe they're looking to join a team don't want to be alone anymore, or as they get started very new into the business want to join a team. That's, that's a huge thing we're looking at right now, like I said, trying to be an advocate for other realtors. And help them that way. I think I just kind of want to share what I can help people with, and go that direction. So those are two of the things I'm really working on right now.

Rick Ripma: 42:39

And and as we see the market, where do you see our housing market going?

Shelly Walters: 42:44

You know, that's a question obviously, everybody wants to ask, and I really can't see it. But one of the things is to just really make sure people understand is this market is just doing I mean, it's a normal market, in my opinion, we are not, prices are not dropping, days on market have gone up a little bit, but they're nothing like we used to see, you know, if you're looking for five years ago, when days on market could be 180, we're still at, you know, 30 to 40. Wow. And that's one of the things where you set expectations as well, because a lot of people are listening to the the national media and one of the things we always talk about, you know that one of the things the industry here is totally different than anywhere else. You know, we're a microcosm, we have a strong market, we have low and you know, low cost of living, a lot of people moving here, so we're not having major issues in the market, it's just shifted, and then to continue to look at the shift and see how you can help. But just making sure that everybody understands what the market is today. And that's where I say is being in the market on a daily basis and watching it. You know, we do watch stats for the past seven days, we watch every seven days, were we looking at what happened the past seven days, we're not looking back six months, we're not looking back three years, we're really trying to make sure we understand. So when I do go to a seller, and I tell them, you know, we're gonna put your house on the market at this price. And this is why, you know, expect 30 to 40 days to be on the market, at least, so that they don't get really freaked out by Oh, I didn't get multiple offers. And I didn't do that in four days. Because that's what my neighbor did. Right? Well, that was, you know, three or four months ago, even even two weeks ago, it's different today. So just staying on top of what's happening today is really important and making your sellers understand what you're seeing in the market and not what they might see on TV. So it's

Rick Ripma: 44:27

it was a really strong seller's market. Is it still somewhat of a seller's market? Or is it now more equal?

Shelly Walters: 44:32

We have, you know, the inventory is still low, the inventory is up, but it's still low. You know, as you guys work with all the time, we know interest rates have made a little bit of a change in everything. And that's where I say as well we start to look at, I have a sign in my office that says think outside the box. It's like okay, well, now interest rates have become something we need to deal with. What do you do there? Well, now we start to talk about how can a seller offer concessions to the buyer so that those interest rates won't impact them, but the buyer also needs to understand And if they want to buy a house, that there are options for them to make that interest rate be a little lower so that, you know, it doesn't affect them the way they're seeing it. But if they don't have the realtor, being an advocate advocate for them to explain options to get rid of the concerns, then they'll just sit on the sidelines, right?

Ian Arnold: 45:19

And then one thing that most, Rick and I have had this conversation several times is, you don't realize that yeah, rates have gone up from where they were. But if you ask your parents what their first mortgage rate was, I mean, you'll be shocked. And you're like, Are you really serious. But what happens is when rates drop people refinance look like if you pay a little bit more for the house that you wanted, for, let's say, a year, all right, and then refinance, you're in the house you live, it's appreciated. And so you're basically let's say, breaking even because you're paying a little bit more interest, but you're still ahead, you're paying not paying rent, you're not paying somebody else, I mean, it's still, it's still a good time to buy,

Shelly Walters: 46:02

well, if you're renting, you're always buying a house, it's either you're buying a house for yourself. But one of the things, you know, in talking about all of that is when you're having your house that you're going to purchase, and you're worried about the rates, is just knowing that the seller needs to be spoken to about how they can not have issues with price drop after price drop after price drop, because after a while, if you're going to drop the price 1020 $30,000, the issue still is maybe interest rates. So if you can also look at the other avenues, maybe offer a concession to help them buy down the rate or something like that, you will lose a lot less money by doing that concession than trying to chase a price that a buyer still can't do. So it's not, it's always trying to look at two or three things going on instead of just one. And then the buyers that are out there right now, when they do have, you know, the concern of the rate, they just really need to look at, like I said before, is what are they comfortable with monthly? And then ask their lender you guys provide for them all the time? Well, here's the amount, you need a concession from the seller to make that rate go down to where you are comfortable. So there's a lot of talk between the realtor, the lender, and as a team to figure out what do we need to do when we make that offer,

Rick Ripma: 47:20

right? Because it's really you have to have a plan. And the plan matters. And that's what I believe when you're when you're talking to a potential like a pre qualification, or somebody's looking to buy a house, they're not ready yet. You know, we do a we do a mortgage. Time where we get together, and it was just talking, you know, we go through these options and price and, and what they can afford, what they want a payment, those type of things. So we understand and they understand so they're prepared. And they understand the options. And like you said that to one buy down is a phenomenal product. Right now, it wasn't when nobody would give a concession. But now it's a great and it it makes a huge difference on price. And when the rates go down, you can still refinance and you don't lose any money. It's a it's a great option. I just did one for an agent who needed it to show her buyer or seller because they're happy, they weren't gonna have to do another price. And it's amazing the the value that they get by lowering the rate is much greater than lowering the price.

Shelly Walters: 48:22

Oh, absolutely. Because, you know, you run the numbers a lot more than I do, but I can look at in my head at some of the past listings and for looking at a listing that they're saying, Okay, I'll drop it another 10,000 Okay, that didn't work. I'm not dropping out. 10,000 Well, if you didn't do that 20,000 drop and you just offered the $7,000 concession. The buyer is now much better prepared to buy that house and able to buy that house and you only gave a concession of 7000 not 20 So that's where I say that as a real estate agent, you need to understand the Living Products enough to help your clients but not get too far into the weeds. You know, that's what your for you guys are there to help with that and that's when we turn them over and here's as much as I know. But you know, that's one of the concessions we put automatically in our listings if we're you know, 3040 days out. It's not i My opinion is not price dropping. It is okay wait the buyers still can't do this at this you know, I know looking at the comps the prices right? What else is happening in this market? And you were you know one of the things you said that I we kind of say it's kind of funny if you're looking at these rates, okay, well I could have done four could have done you know, in December it was 2.8. Now you know 6.8 Or whatever it is and just today but what is the difference now when you're buying a house for 350 or it's listed at 315 but you paid for 10 for it because of the competition as compared to today. Main pay 350 for it at a few you know better time to buy it's a much better time to buy you're not competing. And the other thing about it too is you're not sitting outside in the parking lot writing up the offer after you've looked at the house for 10 minutes with three or four other buyers in it. You really didn't get to see the bedroom because you couldn't even get in they're like, Okay, here we make the offer. Oh, and as is we'll we'll do an inspection. But we can't ask for anything. I mean, I'm not saying that market was bad, but it was different. And today's market your, as a buyer, you are in a better place. And it's still a seller's market because of the inventory. But the buyers are in a much better place.

Rick Ripma: 50:19

What's gonna happen when rates go back down, which they're gonna go back down? Are we gonna go back to that market?

Shelly Walters: 50:24

Yeah, you know, I don't think that the market is going to be like that in regards to the rates going down making us have, you know, multiple offers and stuff. I don't know. And you and I know, we can't, we can't even figure I mean, we would never have thought 2020 was gonna happen. Well, could any of I know what's gonna happen in 2020?

Ian Arnold: 50:41

I would invested in some stocks, called Zoom.

Shelly Walters: 50:47

I thought about that back in about March of 2020. And didn't do it. I thought Zoom is going to be the one. But, you know, one of the other things, too, was as well, during all of that process was continuing to work. You know, we didn't we were working through that entire time. So everything that happens out there real estate continues, real estate never stops. And people need to understand that is figuring out what's happening in today's market as real estate continues.

Rick Ripma: 51:16

Right. Well, thank you so much for joining us. If somebody wants to get a hold of you. What is the best way for them to get content,

Shelly Walters: 51:21

they can call me on my cell phone. That's my direct number 317-201-2601 My email Shelly Shelly Walters Realty Group and our website is Shelly Walters Realty group.com. So anyways, like that.

Rick Ripma: 51:33

Perfect, and that's if they have any real estate questions, or if they want, if they want to talk to you about coaching. Absolutely. Awesome. And I'm Rick Ripma.

Ian Arnold: 51:40

And I'm Ian Arnold. And if you want to if you missed our phone numbers or email or anything, it's just hit the description tab in all of our information and even Shelley's will be right there. Perfect. Thanks, guys.

Rick Ripma: 51:53

Thank you. Thank you for joining us. And you guys. Have a great day.