Guru Steve Rupp with ZULU Group

Rick Ripma: 0:00

Welcome to Indy's Real Estate Guru. I'm Rick Ripma, your hardworking mortgage guy and I've been in mortgages and housing for over 34 years, I've helped over 5200 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: 0:22

And Im Ian Arnold part of Rick's hard work and mortgage team. I've been in the financial industry for 15 years helping people rebuild their credit and get or just increase their credit so that they can go ahead and get better interest rates. Sorry to save your money. I've also have a passion in helping you secure your overall financial wealth through real through anything real estate, and hopefully to pay off your home. That's what I dream about doing for my home here soon.

Rick Ripma: 0:51

And for the latest information on the housing market here in Indiana or mortgages, please go to HardWorkingMortgageGuys.com. That's HardWorkingMortgageGuys.com. Or you can call 317-672-1938. That's 317-672-1938.

Ian Arnold: 1:07

So Rick, we have a very special guest today.

Rick Ripma: 1:10

Yeah, as a huge hitter. Yep. Guru Guru, Guru Guru.

Ian Arnold: 1:15

Three gurus.

Rick Ripma: 1:16

I don't know we've never we've never had more than one guru. Oh, well, we probably have we just never realized it. It's just it's called a guru squared. It probably is. But I've known him. I've known him not not Well, of course, but I've worked with you. I don't know when the first time was I worked with you. It was a long time ago. It was a long time ago. Yes. Probably when I was selling houses, and probably would have been a long time ago. So here,

Ian Arnold: 1:41

do you remember his name? Yeah. Steve. Rob. Well,

Rick Ripma: 1:44

he's with Keller Williams, but I don't think he was with Keller Williams When I first met him.

Steve Rupp: 1:48

Probably with Century 21. Row two, you're born.

Rick Ripma: 1:51

Okay. Yeah, that's right. I remember that. Yeah. Awesome. So we appreciate you joining us. Thanks for joining us.

Steve Rupp: 1:59

Thanks for having me. I appreciate it.

Rick Ripma: 2:01

If someone wants to get a hold of you for any real estate needs, what's the best way?

Steve Rupp: 2:05

Email or tax is always the easiest. So email is Steve at welcome the number two nd.com or 317-339-7698. All right,

Ian Arnold: 2:16

and so before we get into real estate, what did you do? Or where did you grow up

Steve Rupp: 2:22

or so I grew up in at North side of Andy my entire life. And I went to Xavier, and I studied Entrepreneurial Studies, which at the time was something that most people didn't even know what it was, let alone know how to spell it. And so I was in a class of maybe 20. And that's about it. Now, of course, it's taken over the country. And, and everybody knows what an entrepreneur is. So that's, that was kind of my foundation. The other thing was that I literally grew up in the real estate industry, I was I was born into it. My dad got into real estate the year that I was born, and 1972 taking things back. So he started with a with FC Tucker here, and Andy, he was there for eight years. And then he set off with with six partners, and they started a company here called century 21 Realty Group one. And they became the number one central 20 Wind franchise in the world for 11 out of 13 years. So I literally watched him build that company up into what it was. And and I vowed at that time that I would never get into real estate. So we know at best intentions yield. So anyway, fast forward a little bit, I graduated Xavier, I got into the first thing that most entrepreneurs think about doing. And that was banking. And I got into that because frankly, I didn't have anything better to do. And number one, number two is I wanted to get a better handle on the thing that I felt was my weakness, and that was finance. So I wanted to go into the lion's den, so to speak, and figure out where all the money is. Figure out how they deal with that money and how you get it if you want it. And so I went into banking, I was in a management training program, I was a branch manager and then I ended up with a commercial cash management where I managed corporations cash flow needs, so I did that. Then I got into commercial kitchen equipment manufacturing rap with with a buddy of mine. That that was short lived. And then I ended up with with a marketing company where we did promotional advertising and promotional products. So like the logos on your shirts, we would do that as it's called trinkets and trash. Did that for about a year decided I didn't want to keep doing a bunch of small little stuff. I wanted to do more more big stuff. And then that's when my dad had said why don't you at least Finally, try real estate And I think you'd be good at it. And so so I did. And here I am. 24 years later, it was right. My dad usually is right. It's funny how that happens. So yeah, so so he did so. So we, I was very fortunate because we work together as a team for about five years. He mentored me, and I soaked up everything I could. And then he, quote, unquote, retired, he had a soft retirement. And then I took over and then I built the team to what it is today, though, is his name, Steve. Also, his name is Jack, Jack, just wonder Jack grew up. Okay. I'm not a junior. No. Yes,

Ian Arnold: 5:39

go ahead. So when you got into it was what it seemed like pretty big shoes to feel you because your dad was so good.

Steve Rupp: 5:47

That he is yeah, it was. But I mean, to be honest with you with the kind of reputation everybody knew my dad on the north side, everybody knew my dad. And so I had some pretty long coattails to write on for a while. And it was, it was, for me, it was nice, because I didn't have to work with a reputation. I already had one. And my dad had and still has a stellar reputation. There's not not a person I've met in my life, who didn't think the world of them. And so for me, it was nice to be able to have that I didn't have to prove myself to a lot of people. They said, Well, if you're anywhere half as good as your father, you're, you're going to be good in this business. And that was, that was a really nice compliment, to be able to say the other thing is, I grew up with a lot of our clients. So we don't really do much advertising, to be honest with you, we just love and our clients. And so we've grown our database organically, mostly. And most of the people that he was working with were like longtime friends, and they literally watched me grow up. So I there wasn't a whole lot of proving of myself with them, either. They seen me for 30 years. And they knew that my dad and I had a lot of similar similarities in character and as well as in, in knowledge and passion about the real estate industry. So it helped it, it made my job a lot easier than a traditional new agent coming into the business starting from scratch.

Rick Ripma: 7:13

You already had a tremendous mentor. Absolutely. And you were smart enough to listen to your mentor, which is a lot harder when it's your father, I found

Steve Rupp: 7:24

it sir can be or candy. The older you get, the smarter your parents become. Right. Yeah.

Rick Ripma: 7:30

And maybe that maybe that helped you not to get into real estate right away. You had age a little bit before you got it.

Steve Rupp: 7:37

That's right. It does help. It does. And, you know, honestly, I am glad that I didn't get in right, right into real estate. I'm glad that I cut my teeth and some other industries, you know, without even thinking really knowing what I was going to do. You know, think about it, I I had the perfect foundation for real estate and it wasn't planned. I'm not that smart. But when you look at it, you know, entrepreneurial background, my formal education, and then finance sales and marketing, right? There's, there's nothing that's that's better foundation for real estate. So I didn't plan it. It just happened that way. And then of course, having a really good mentor to help me get started was was really nice. And then turn the business over. And then let me Let me maximize it into what it is today.

Rick Ripma: 8:24

But he made you learn first, he didn't just turn it over yet. You worked with him for five?

Steve Rupp: 8:27

I did. I did a lot of grunt work too. Well, that's it.

Rick Ripma: 8:31

I don't know if we haven't talked to any agent who grew up in the industry where their parents were a real estate agent. Whereas little kids, they didn't work in the real estate industry. They may not have been official real estate agents. But you I bet you remember when there were no keys at the house or you know, there were no key boxes. You had to go pick them up. And you remember all that all betcha

Steve Rupp: 8:52

I do. I remember my dad having to drive all over the city to go pick up keys because there were no lock boxes at the time. And you could only show three houses at a time because there just wasn't time to pick up the key show the house, drop the keys back off to the office and so forth. You know, a funny story is that I remember when my dad was was working at he did a lot at a retirement facility here in Indy. And he was the resident had unfortunately just passed. So he was working on getting the house ready to put it on the market. And there was a Mercedes in the garage. And I was really young at the time and I walked down like Dad, can we keep the Mercedes you know, he disappointed me pretty quickly. It's like no snow son that doesn't belong to us and week, but I was so excited Can I at least get in the Mercedes. So we did that was an earth and we didn't we didn't have fancy cars or anything but but it was it was just funny stories like that that you have or you're getting ready to pull out of the driveway on vacation and you get the call. And all of a sudden the car goes into Park and your dad just Wait a minute, just wait just a few minutes, I'll be right back, you know, runs inside and does whatever he needs to do. And then, okay, I'm ready to go. I mean, such as the life of a real estate agent or a mortgage lender, right? I mean, it's, you just you gotta be there when the clients are ready, right? Yeah, there's not really a choice as there. That's right. Now, if you want to be successful.

Ian Arnold: 10:19

The nice thing about today, though, it's, we have technology. Oh, you need a pre approval. And let me send you the link on the phone. Let me go ahead and do this really quick. Click, click, click. Oh, honey, can you drive? Why I do this? All right, go ahead. It's not right. You were just saying so much easier. So. So you've actually seen the whole full technology change from the time you got into it? And everything? So is it more beneficial than it is? Basically, you can get a hold of any second now you feel tied to work, you can't get a break?

Steve Rupp: 10:53

It's a double edged sword? That's a great question. It's a double edged sword. I remember, I remember my dad having the MLS books, you remember those big old books that were published. And, you know, having to go through those and to show show clients that the houses and so forth, and in our role as real estate agents, and as mortgage lenders, and quite frankly, you can apply this to any industry right now, I would suggest is that we have, we have transitioned as our role. And what I mean by that is that we have transitioned from the knowledge keepers or the gatekeepers of knowledge, to the facilitators of knowledge and information, I can go online and I can learn what a doctor or surgeon learns on Google is that the is that the kind of person you want to do the surgery, somebody who just learned it on Google, same thing with real estate, same thing, same thing where the information is there, but there's a lot of bad information or information that isn't relevant to your specific situation. And that's what you know, I think more a good mortgage loan officer and a mortgage and a real estate agent do is they take all this massive, these massive amounts of information, and whittle it down into just the parts that you need in order to accomplish the goals that you want. So back to your question, when it comes down to is it good or bad, it's both it has made our jobs both of us were just talking about this easier, in some respects, you can, you know, go in, in take care of a mortgage app and the car, hopefully not driving, but in the car, you can sign real estate documents anywhere. But at the same time, it's an on demand society. And so the biggest challenge that I found is, is is is is training your clients as to where your boundaries are. And I think that's so important. And I might I might tick some people off by saying this, but I'm I'm passionate about this is it is not okay. Or appropriate, in my opinion, to brag to your your clients or potential clients that you're available. 24/7 365 Because you're not number one, number two, you shouldn't be How are you? You're going to get burned out. I don't care how much of resolve you have, you're going to get burned out. And then how good are you to your clients, you can't help them make good decisions. It is okay to take recovery time. And that's the biggest challenge today, not just with real estate with kiddos. Now, that's the biggest issue. Technology is the biggest problem, why they have so much anxiety. Everybody does. And it's because of technology. It's an always on mentality and always able to be reached. So one of the things that I talk about in my initial consultations with clients is, listen, we work darn hard for you. But my faith and my family always come first. And I have to cut out time for them. So I can be a great dad, I can be a great husband to my wife. Because as my dad taught me to get back to my dad, my dad told me at the very beginning when I got in this real estate, he said Stephen, you are no good to your clients. If you are not healthy mentally and physically, yourself, period. That's all you got. And if you are not mentally or physically healthy, you are no use to anybody. So work on yourself first before you work on other people. It's just like when you go on an airplane. What happens when they go through the safety demonstration? They talk about the bags that come down if the airplane loses pressure, what do they say to do? Put your mask on first, before you assist your child. Why? Because you're no good to your child if you passed out, right? That's exactly the same thing. And I wish our industry would work more on that of carving out time and it being okay to carve out time to spend time with your family and your friends and work on yourself. While we spend so much time and effort working on our clients. We working on your business versus in your business, and there's a huge difference.

Ian Arnold: 15:03

And Steve, if somebody wanted to get a hold of you about buying or selling a home, how would they get ahold of you?

Steve Rupp: 15:09

email or text Steve and welcome the number to indeed.com or 317-339-7698. And Rick, how would they get

Ian Arnold: 15:17

ahold of you or I

Rick Ripma: 15:18

go to HardWorkingMortgageGuys.com That's HardWorkingMortgageGuys.com Or you can call 317-672-1938. That'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'll work for you. While the why we hardworking mortgage guys secure your best mortgage, real estate gurus work hard to, they avoid problems, the amateurs just they just don't even see they listen, and they find unrealized opportunities. If you're buying or selling a home. A real estate guru is a valuable asset. If you're even thinking of buying or selling a home, keep listening. And definitely call one of Indy's real estate gurus.

Ian Arnold: 16:06

All right, Steve. So we're gonna take a little side tour on the real estate. So let's do this. So we were just talking about taking a little time off. So if I told you, I got to take your phone away from you for at least a day, and so no work? What are you doing?

Steve Rupp: 16:23

That's a great question. I do, I do work out a lot. So I you probably find me in the gym for for a bit, probably be out, walking my dog with my wife taking a little bit of recovery time. And hopefully, my two daughters would want to join us as well. If I could take a little bit more time off, we'd be on a plane over to Europe. So we love traveling, especially over to Germany, Italy, Austria, Switzerland, France. Those are our our favorite places to go. And we like to spend as much time as we can over there.

Ian Arnold: 16:56

So what do you think the best site you've seen? The best site why I mean, just going like traveling, um,

Steve Rupp: 17:05

I would say the Swiss Alps. I love the Swiss Alps, they are absolutely stunning. And being being above the clouds and seeing the mountain range, the snow capped mountain range with all of the houses that are down the mountain, as well as the valleys that turn greener as you get below the frost line. And the rivers that run through there with the Aspen's and so forth, it is absolutely stunning. All right,

Ian Arnold: 17:35

next time you do that, tell us all to close your eyes. So we can just go ahead,

Rick Ripma: 17:40

well do my answer to be different, I'd be looking for my phone

Steve Rupp: 17:48

might take a couple of days you get used to my wife likes to have these these vacations out of the way where I have to pay to have access to my data. And I'm too cheap to do it. So she knows that I won't do it. And I'll wait to get on Wi Fi later that night. So it takes a couple of days to kind of get used to not checking your phone all the time pulling out of your pocket, but I'll tell you, it's freeing when you don't have it. Yes. And you pay more attention to the people who you're with. Yes. And you're you're more present.

Rick Ripma: 18:18

Yep. My, my son who's you know, everybody he knows is in investment banking, or that type of career right there in banking. And so when that because they have to work all the time, when he was an investment banker, 110 hours a week was nothing. So they'd go on vacation, where there was no cell service. There was nobody they one of them went to Alaska. To what's the mountain up there? Why can't I remember the mountain up there? The big the big park national park up there? no cell service at all? Right? So that's where they went? Just that's what these guys do. Or they'll go over to Europe where they because that's the only way you can get away? Yes, right. Right. So what is your superpower or superpowers?

Steve Rupp: 19:05

I'm really patient. I'm a I'm a good listener. And the and I think in today's day and age, that's really important to do. Because a lot of people don't listen, they like to be heard. And when you go in with a curiosity mindset of seeking to understand versus being understood, that's that's important to people, you make them feel important. And that's to be very frank with you. That's That's most of our business. Because, you know, buying and selling house is one of the top five biggest stressors right in the world for anybody for any human being. I think it's number three lace the last chart I looked at and right behind death and having a baby. And when you look at that people a lot of times are just not in Very good mental place. And so I think a really good real estate agent has to look at themselves as a counselor, first you got to get your your client's mind straight, and not thinking with emotion. But thinking more with logic. That's the most important thing. That's when you're going to be making better decisions. And in decisions that are likely going to yield you a better result, whether that's money, a faster sale, whatever the case, smoother experience. That's why teachers make the best real estate nation statistically, because they're good at listening. And they're good at understanding and solving people problems.

Rick Ripma: 20:35

They make. I didn't know that was statistics, but we've talked about it we've talked to other agents about it's amazing how many agents were teachers? And how many agents even if they weren't teachers are teachers at heart? Right? That's it that sort of makes total sense?

Steve Rupp: 20:49

Absolutely, it

Ian Arnold: 20:50

does. So it's just the teachers know someone to boss you around.

Steve Rupp: 20:55

Some of them like to do that, too. And that's fair. But but the good ones are definitely the teachers at heart and you have a lot of agents who, you know, let's face it in this industry, you have a lot of proprietary information. But to be very frank with you, a lot of agents are willing to share. I mean, come on this this podcast or any other medium, and they're willing to share everything because they're teachers at heart. They have a servant's heart. And that's what in real estate agents, we are, we are the industry that that the last stat I saw was that we give more service hours than any other industry out there real estate agents do. We're more active in our communities than any other singular agency out there. And the reason is because we have a servant's heart. And that's just that's who we are. And I think at the base, that's why we like to help people, right. And that's why teachers who like to help people do very well in real estate.

Ian Arnold: 21:49

So when he's recruiting people, he goes straight to the schools and become a realtor. Let's go.

Steve Rupp: 21:56

Yeah, I've been banned by a lot of the principals. Here comes Rob, lock the doors.

Rick Ripma: 22:03

It is it is amazing how many teachers are real estate agents. It always amazes amaze me. And it's interesting to hear that because now you kind of understand why. My my niece is a real estate agent out of North Carolina, we she was on the show, and she's exactly what you're talking about. She's just she's one of the most great, you know, one of the great people you meet, you know, she's just a phenomenal person. And she's a phenomenal real estate agent because of that. And when she she was still a still a teacher when she became a real estate agent. And she boomed. Because all of the students parents all wanted to work with her because they love to write because she was that I'm sure there's, there's there's teachers who aren't that way, but the great ones are that way. And, and I've noticed that what you said about the agents here, you know, the agents come on our show, and they're all wanting to share and help they want to help the industry, they want to help somebody who's, who may be struggling a little bit, maybe that's a newer agent, or maybe it's just somebody who's, you know, hit, you know, even even when you have a lot of experience, you can hit times when it's like what in the world is going on, to have somebody like you, who's done it for a long time, seeing all the different everything that's happened, and it's done really well, to listen to what you do and how you do it makes can make all the difference in their life. I agree. It's huge. I think so what's something you're incredibly proud of in your business?

Steve Rupp: 23:32

First off, is that I mean, our business is almost entirely repeat and referral, that I know it's not unique. But for me, the greatest compliment is when when people choose to work with you again, or they send you their family members, you know, we've we've worked with, we're down to the third generation of some of our clients. And and that is probably the biggest compliment that we as a team could receive is people think enough of us to keep using us over and over again. And and to trust us with one of the most important decisions of their lives. And so that, to me is is the thing that I'm most proud of. Second most is the team that we've built to to help our clients and provide what I call magical service to our clients. They they do just that they do have a servant's heart. They're very, very good at what they do. And we never stop learning. And that's something that I think is incredibly important in in today's day and age is there's always new information out there's always something to learn, always something you can share, that's going to better help your clients. And at the end of the day, that's that's really what we try to do.

Rick Ripma: 24:45

So tell us about your team.

Steve Rupp: 24:48

So right so we've got a small team, small but mighty. So So I'm the team lead as well as the listing specialists. So I still am a producing agent. And then Thea smelly is our senior buyer specialist. She is just about ready to go on maternity leave so she is due on May 11. So we have been prepping for a few months for her and have another agent coming in to fill in for a while she's gone for a couple months but she she does an outstanding job in this business there there in my opinion there's there's two different types of people that are in sales you have hunters you have gatherers and fan I are more of that the gathering type will love on you. I don't like cold calling Dialing for Dollars door knock and all that stuff I don't do that I'd rather love on you to death and in stay in contact with you over the years and show you that I care about you instead of trying to find new business all the time. And say is the same way so once we got you we got you and we're going to love on you and show you why why people continue to come back to us. And then Kylie Z Jack we met her actually she worked at Realty Group when I was there with my dad in high school. Wow. And then she came on board about eight years with us. They have been with us for four years. Kylie's been for for eight years. And she handles all the paperwork, all the reports, all the backend stuff. She's the one as I say, I'm the promise maker, Kylie's a promise keeper. And she does a really good job at keeping promises. And then lastly, we have a virtual assistant, his name is Mark. He's in the Philippines, and he handles all of our social media website, a lot of reports for Kylie, Kylie, he does all of our video editing all that stuff, which has been great not having to deal with that. And then he can take care of all that off of our plate, so that we can focus on what we're best at is being in front of clients, right?

Rick Ripma: 26:44

Yep. And that's, that's really what we, we have to be there in front of the client and helping the client. You can have people in the background taking care of things. But without you in front, it doesn't happen.

Steve Rupp: 26:57

That's right. And I, and I'm passionate that that everyone on our team who's client facing or interacts with clients, so mark would be an exception, must be licensed. And I know not every not everyone feels that way. I just, I feel that number. There's two, two things. Number one, you ever get audited unlicensed people eventually going to do something that they shouldn't have. It's just happens in this business. So you don't have to worry about that. Number two, you always have a backup, right? So we have Kylie if they account isn't available to show a house for a particular client. Maybe she's she's booked up, maybe she's blocked time blocking with with her husband, or soon to be baby, which is important than I step in. If I can't do it, Kylie can so there's there's three layers for our clients. And at the end of the day, it comes down to providing a magical level of service, making sure there's always somebody there on the team that can help.

Ian Arnold: 27:48

That is awesome. So if somebody wants to work with you or your team, how would they get ahold of you?

Steve Rupp: 27:53

email or text is the best way. So Steve at welcome the number two nd.com or 317-339-7698?

Ian Arnold: 28:02

And, Rick, let's try this. How would they get ahold of you? All right,

Rick Ripma: 28:06

well, to get a hold of either one of us and go to HardWorkingMortgageGuys.com That's HardWorkingMortgageGuys.com, all of our contact information is there. Or you can call 317-672-1938. That's 31767 to 1938. Good job, sir. I did. Alright, so

Ian Arnold: 28:24

now what we'll do question of the week, and the question of the week is sponsored by Hey, Rick and I the hard working mortgage guys, where we believe in helping and supporting you and your realtor by sending constant updates on your loan process. We do not like people in being black hole, you don't want to be in a black hole. So contact us today at hardworking mortgage. guys.com. All right. So here's a good question. What was your first car? My first car was a 1982 Honda Accord. That's a good car stick shift. Yeah, it was a great car. jumped the gun. Hey, I was waiting for my daughter still drives that car. When the surprise

Steve Rupp: 29:04

nope, at two followed by an 86 Honda Accord. Those were great cars. And my sister and I both use him. She went to Xavier as well. And so we both were able to share the car down at Xavier. So yeah, I love those cars. Yeah.

Rick Ripma: 29:18

Yeah, I had, I don't know what your mind was, but probably around an 8687 with my wife and I had one. And it lasted forever. I mean, we gave it away to my sister in law and then she drove it for a long time. Yes, it's just a great Those are great cars. Now I know you're a car guy. So tell us about your favorite car that you've ever had.

Steve Rupp: 29:41

And it's one I have now. It's gonna be so yeah, I drive a BMW X seven and 50 eyes. So that's the performance version for the X seven. And I was so so I had to balance the the fun go fast. Call Are with the needs of a family. And the three row seats that my wife required me to get. And this was the best option.

Rick Ripma: 30:10

And I know you did something really special with BMW. So tell us about that experience that you had.

Steve Rupp: 30:15

Oh, right. So last year, I did too. So BMW has a couple of actually three now, performance driving centers. So one of the West Coast, one of the East Coast and then actually just opened up last summer, right here at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. So if you wanted to do this, you could do it right here in Indy, if you're if you're local. But I went out to Greer, South Carolina to the performance driving center, and to the two day M school class, which is their go fast cars. And they you have about 13 hours behind the wheel with private or professional driving instructors around the racecar track. And they teach you how to race and all the different elements that you need to learn about with skid pad or braking or steering or racing and how to go into turn to come out and all that good stuff. So that was a first and then I took my daughter to a teen driving school there later that summer. And she learned defensive driving, which was an amazing experience. And as we talked before we the show got started. She put that to good use within two months of taking the class and successfully navigated a pretty bad hydroplaning incident on Keystone. Four cars behind her all spun out. And she she remembered what she learned. And she was able to keep the cargo in straight and got home safely. So money well spent, in my opinion. That's awesome. So

Ian Arnold: 31:35

I do have to ask, so when you got done with that class, and you came back here, was it tough to

Steve Rupp: 31:41

limit or it was when you when you have a wife who is sitting right next to you the whole time reminding you now Steven, you're not on the racetrack anymore. You need to slow down a little bit going through these roundabouts. This is not a skidpad anymore. Yeah, that was hard.

Rick Ripma: 32:03

They are Yeah. Did you find it interesting how close you can get to a corner before you have to hit the brakes?

Steve Rupp: 32:12

Well, if you're racing, you know, you got to wait till the very last second and then you slam those brakes on and then you you execute your turn, that's close, it is very close. And if you're not used to that, you get reminded real fast that you can't just gradually put those brakes on because you have your instructor screaming in your ear. You're not on the streets anymore. Steve, you're on a racecar track act like exactly

Rick Ripma: 32:36

the opposite of your why that's

Steve Rupp: 32:39

not on the racetrack. Nope. Yep.

Rick Ripma: 32:42

I wonder did she go to a class on how to how to communicate with?

Steve Rupp: 32:48

No, but I think I think they do have a private class for all the spouses that they're sitting in while we're on the racetrack. That's funny.

Ian Arnold: 32:56

So what would you and you probably have tons of them, what would you consider one of your most memorable deals?

Steve Rupp: 33:04

That's a great question. You know, I would say probably the thing that most people would go to, if I had to guess, is a first time homebuyer the first time homebuyers are. And I'm just gonna, I won't go to one specific one, because for the most part, most of them are like this. They the excitement that they have, from the beginning to the end of the process is contagious. And we've all been doing this for a very long time, decades. And anyone who does anything for an extremely long period of time, you lose some of that passion. It's just natural. I don't care how much you love it, you're going to lose some of the excitement as you get into it. And to be frank with you. That's part of our that's part of the powers that we have is we can distance ourselves and separate ourselves and not let our emotions get involved in it. But with first time homebuyers, it's so fun to feed off the emotion that they have and how excited they are to own their first home and a lot of them first time homebuyers. They're buying homes later than ever before. The average is what 3637 38 years old now there was there it was 33. But but they're waiting longer and longer, which means they have waited for so long to buy their first home. And they they're just so excited to be able to do this. How can you not get excited to be the person to hand those keys for the first time to that homebuyer who accomplished a dream that they've had maybe for decades. This is their I've arrived moment. And for you to be such an important part of it, whether it's real estate, their mortgage loan officer who's been a part of that who helped them get to that point. How can you not be so proud, so excited. And so happy for them, that they you were such an important part of this monumental decision and moment for them that they will never forget, ever in their entire life. And their family is also likely extremely happy for them. So that's what is the most exciting part for me to catch

Ian Arnold: 35:19

you off guard. After they sign in everything you're walking out, walk out and they start crying. You're like, what's going on? Rick, and I've talked about this, and it's just shocked you you're there's like, no, it's tears of joy. And I'm just like, Oh, I didn't expect this. But I understand where you're coming from.

Steve Rupp: 35:35

That's right. Yeah, there's there's a lot of emotion. And then there should be it's all culminates at the at the closing or as I call it a celebration, because it is a celebration, we do some fun stuff with that. But afterwards, there's tons of hugs and pictures and everything. And, you know, it's that moment where, you know, their real estate, whether it's from a lending standpoint, or the real estate transaction standpoint, for my part has, has gotten a lot harder. There's there's a lot more laws and rules regulation. I mean, heck, the purchase agreement my dad guide into it was two pages, legal size, front and back. That was it. Now it's eight. It was a lot more legalese on it, there's a lot of the components that have become a lot less fun about real estate. So having these opportunities for first time homebuyers to see the excitement on their face, to drown out some of the mundane stuff that we face every day as part of our business. Everyone in every industry has mundane parts. But having that excitement that that pure, unbridled joy, the tears of joy, a lot of times the hugs, the laughing the whooping the it's so exciting and rewarding. That's the most important part. And yeah, the tears of joy can be if you're not used to it, or like what's going on here. You're not happy? And you know, tears of joy are the look the same thing as tears of sorrow, but there's usually a big smile on your face. And that's that's the tell.

Rick Ripma: 37:03

Go ahead. Oh,

Ian Arnold: 37:04

so what is one thing when you're training somebody? Because I know you got a whole team and everything? What's the couple key characteristics that you look for? In a hiring a real estate agent?

Steve Rupp: 37:19

That's a great question. The educational part, you can always train. It's the stuff that that you can't train nearly as easily. That's the most important thing and that that a lot of it is your emotional intelligence. And, you know, how does the person interact with other people? Are you people person, if you're not a people, person, you will not do well in this business? I don't care how good you are. You have to be people person. So that's the first thing I look for is, is how easy is it for them to interact with other people and carry on a conversation? If that doesn't hit, the rest doesn't matter. Now, that's number one. The second follow very closely, as we talked about this at length is do you have a servant's heart? Are you in it for the right reasons? Or are you in it big just because you, you like to look at houses, and you enjoy the home shows on TV, and you want to go drive a fancy car because we all make a ton of money, which we don't, not nearly as much as a lot of people think you do. But there's more to it than just the money and the seeing the houses and all that good stuff. That's just scratching the surface. When you go deeper, you have to have a genuine, like and curiosity for other people. And you have to have a servant's heart wanting to help them get from point A to point B as easily as possible in one of the most stressful anxiety ridden experiences of their lives.

Rick Ripma: 38:46

That is very stressful. For most of them. It's amazing. So what how would you describe your brand?

Steve Rupp: 38:54

So the Zulu group, we get asked that a lot and so so it probably be easiest to tell you where a name comes from. And then you could you could extrapolate the rest from there. So the Zulu group is was taken from if you're familiar with military, Zulu time is military time. It's it's Greenwich Mean Time, which which is the prime meridian that runs through Greenwich, England. So if you're on a military op, where i No matter where you are in the world, you use Zulu time. And you could have your your control or headquarters in Arizona, and you could be running an op in Afghanistan and your your time is zoo time. That is, that is the time against which everything else is measured like that. We want to be the real estate team against which everyone else is measured. That's not to be arrogant or haughty. We're always trying to do better we always can do better. We're just always trying to reach the stars.

Rick Ripma: 39:56

Or what are the some of the things that you do for your clients because it sounds like with what you do, you must have some standard, maybe not even standard, the things that you do that are really, you think really helpful and the clients love?

Steve Rupp: 40:09

So that's a great question. One of the things so let me ask you, this raccoon, do you know what the number one complaint against real estate agents is? And ever follow up? And never follow up? Which which is communication? Right? Right, it's always gonna be the number one issue and that and that's not just real estate, it's most industries, too. Absolutely, it is. And that's probably I would imagine, I haven't seen the stats, I know what they are for real estate, but mortgage is probably the same thing, lack of communication, lack of follow up. So what we've done and something that I'm really proud of, and we do it to a very high level is that we have we call it a world class update system for our clients. And the pinnacle of this is the Tuesday update. So every Tuesday, our clients, if you are a seller, from the time that you you approve that listing agreement all the way till celebration day, you are getting an update every Tuesday on the status of your transaction buyers, we start that as soon as you go under contract, we don't do it when you're out looking that's done on an as needed basis. But what that does is a voicemail system. And the reason it's a voicemail system is because it might not be convenient for you to hear the message at the time it is for me to record it. And so and when you have two different spouses and recognize when have you ever had a situation where you've had a husband and wife and you tell the wife something, and in the talk to the husband, and he has no idea how

Ian Arnold: 41:37

wife's always right? Or the wife said, she's right, you're listening, honey,

Steve Rupp: 41:43

you're right, your decision makers, your wife, that's exactly right. And you're gonna win 99 times out of 100 on that are you but I'll tell you, I'm 100% right on that. But but it's like the game of telephone. Right? You, you tell the first person a message. And by the time you get to the second person, the message is change. Third is changed more fourth, fifth, the more people that goes through, the more that message changes. And I don't know about you, but I want my message to be heard the way that I tell it, I don't want it to have to go through someone else. And again, that's That's nothing to be here. Again, it is i I'm good at what I do. And I want to make sure that the message that I have the information I've worked hard to get is communicated effectively and clearly and accurately to my clients. So this works extremely well when I have divorcing people. And then they get mad of well, you call my spouse before me why is that? I didn't I left you a voicemail, you can both check, you both got the email, same time. Or if it's an estate, we do a lot of estates. And sometimes the estate attorney wants to get an update on what's happening. And they can do that. Or if there are beneficiaries, or a trustee, or a personal representative, I can be in communication with all these people with one phone call. And then they can listen when they're ready to listen to the message. And then they can listen to it as often as they want. And then we send them an email and let them know when the voicemail is ready to be listened to. So it's it's very, very easy. It's to me, it's a very simple process, but but nobody does it. So that's one of the things the other thing that I do is is kind of dorky and my family reminds me of how dorky it is. But if you call me any day, you're gonna get an updated voicemail greeting. And I update my my voicemail message every single day. And I will tell you when I'm going to be returning phone calls. So if I'm sitting in here and we're and we're doing this show, I'm not panicking getting antsy because my phone's been blowing up because my my clients know when I'm going to return their phone call. So my immediately might not be very immediately but I define what immediately is, so they don't have to wonder when I'm going to return the call. And then of course the real magic is you got to make sure you you commit to those call times and call back.

Ian Arnold: 44:02

I think one thing that you made a good point and I don't think you emphasize it enough. So I'm going to have you make the voicemail call but then you follow up with the email, especially in today's world let's be honest, most people don't check their voicemails but if you got an email that goes hey, I just left you a voicemail then they're gonna be oh, I need to go listen to that because I mean how often we get oh mailbox is full, you know me mailbox mean voicemails you have to have in your mailbox, debit full happens all the time, doesn't it? So I think that's a huge point, especially if you're a new agent out there and you want to work that type of system that email secondary is huge.

Steve Rupp: 44:42

The and the other thing is and this all revolves around one one central point is communication. So it's setting expectations right up front. So here's what we found with our team is when we when we do not honor our client and and in really strongly encouraged them to sit down for an initial consultation for both buyer or seller. That's when we have issues, because we didn't set the X page expectations up front. And that's when we go through the entire process from beginning to end of this is what to expect with the process of buying home when you work with our team. And Kylie then sends out video so we do like, so milestone updates. A lot of lot of lenders do this now. But the we do milestone updates. So I've recorded videos. And so Kylie will drop videos via email and text to our clients. And for each process to say, hey, congratulations, you just hit this milestone, this is what you have to expect next. This is what the next milestone is after that. So we're constantly telling people what to expect, so that we don't have any misinformation. And so the the last thing I want is a phone call from my client saying, Hey, I'm confused, I thought this is going to happen. Clearly, I didn't do my job, if I can't anticipate your needs. And that's what today's society is, is anticipating people's needs before they have them. If I can't do that, and do it, well, I haven't done my job. And that again, goes back to communication.

Rick Ripma: 46:14

Well, it's critical. You know, one of the things, those Tuesday calls that you make or voicemails that you make, we do the same thing. And it's one of the once you start doing it, you see how valuable it is? Because if you don't tell some if it's not hard to call somebody when you have something to tell them. Okay? It's it's during that time, you know, even a four week process, there could be a week where you I mean, you're just the mortgage is approved, the appraisals in the inspections, all done, you're just sitting there waiting. But the customers still need all you got to do is tell them everything's great. We're looking for a smooth and flawless closing. They're all happy, right? If they don't hear that they don't know what's going on. And it starts building in their head that there's problems,

Steve Rupp: 46:56

they create their own narrative. Yes, that's that's the issue and brilliant. You know, we had a builder I when I built a couple of houses and and I told the builder I said, here's how you win with me. Stay in communication with me weekly. Tell me what's going on. Even if you don't have anything communicate? I don't know. You don't just like what you said. I don't know you don't. So tell me. And so we're at the the drywall phase, and they were drying taping mudding drywall, and you know that that could be a you know, several day process, what have you and you got to wait for the drywall mud to dry, you know, before they can start finishing it so forth. And so I didn't hear from him for a week. And I called him and I said what's going on? He said, Well, I Why didn't you give me an update? He said, Well, this is literally what he said, Well, you don't need me to tell you the dry walls dry India? Yes, I do. Well, how am I supposed to know that? Right now I'm in the business. And I did know that. But how does he know he should have told me and that is that's the thing I always go back to is exactly what you said, and what somebody's got to clear to close three weeks before closing because maybe they had to delay closing or maybe you're just that freaking good. They don't know that and you got to make sure it hey, listen, we still have a clear to close, we are still looking to close on time on such and such a date such and such time such and such a place. There is nothing more that you need to do for this week. I'm going to be checking in with you next week as well. And I'm hoping they give you the exact same message. And that makes them feel so good. It's just another touch point. And it should be an opportunity for us as their team real estate team to stay in touch with them to let them know what's happening. I've only had one person in my entire 23 year plus career who has told me that I over communicated one. And that was a real estate attorney, drill. And she said, Steve, I know you know what you do what you're doing? I know you have this. Just tell me when it's done. That's the only person Absolutely it is. And I took that as a compliment. But in the in the in the 50 years, but going from my dad to me not once if we had someone complain because we did not have enough communication, not one time working with 1000s and 1000s of clients. And I consider that to be a huge compliment. That's what I'm very proud of. Because that's that's not what a lot of other people can say. And we work really hard at that.

Ian Arnold: 49:23

Yep. All right. So Steve, one last time. If somebody wanted to get a hold of you and your team,

Steve Rupp: 49:30

how would they do that? Shoot me an email at Steve at welcome the number to indie.com or call me or text me 317-339-7698 All right, and Rick

Ian Arnold: 49:43

how would they get ahold of your eye

Rick Ripma: 49:45

to get a hold of Ian or I go to HardWorkingMortgageGuys.com That's HardWorkingMortgageGuys.com Or you can call 317-672-1938 That's 317-672-1938 and follow us for more in detail. Real estate gurus

Ian Arnold: 50:00

alright and reminder if you know any friends family or coworkers looking to buy sell or refinance contact Rick or I will be more than happy to help and Steve thank you again for coming on the show

Steve Rupp: 50:09

thanks for having me it's been a lot of fun

Ian Arnold: 50:11

awesome thank you