Episode Transcript
[00:00:08] Speaker A: Hello and welcome to Coffee is for closers. I'm your host, Tim Brigham. And if this is your first time tuning in, this is a show for realtors about realtors, top producers, and how did they get to where they are today, and how are they surviving in this market? If you haven't already, please click the subscribe button down below or give us a like so. You can always stay in the know with what is the hottest topic in real estate and who's producing right now. With me today is the biggest up and comer in Chicagoland real estate, Ed Grohoiak.
[00:00:39] Speaker B: You say that three times.
[00:00:41] Speaker A: Good man.
[00:00:42] Speaker B: There we go.
[00:00:42] Speaker A: That was good.
[00:00:43] Speaker B: We didn't work on it or anything.
[00:00:45] Speaker A: Or anything like that. I mean, Brigham, everybody adds an end to my name. I don't know why, but I was.
[00:00:50] Speaker B: Like, why isn't it?
Sorry.
[00:00:53] Speaker A: Listen, I am absolutely just so impressed with everything you've accomplished and all you've got going on for the audience. Tell us about you.
[00:01:03] Speaker B: I'm born and raised in Chicago. My family's been in Bucktown for over a hundred years. So that's like, truly my identity is as a grojoviac. And I think sometimes people think my last name is Grojo, and I guess the branding worked. But really, growing up in my family as a grojoviac is so my identity, being from Bucktown, I think, has defined my life as not just a real estate professional, but a basketball agent, and as somebody who's involved in different philanthropic organizations, that I'm very Chicago, and that's truly my identity.
[00:01:42] Speaker A: That's awesome. Your whole family seems to be very Chicago, right?
[00:01:45] Speaker B: For sure.
[00:01:46] Speaker A: So tell me about that. Tell me about why do you love Chicago? Why are you here? And how did you get into real estate?
[00:01:53] Speaker B: I think we're so Chicago. My mom's never moved off of the street that she grew up on. People know her as the queen of Bucktown. She's lived on Palmer for 75 plus years.
[00:02:03] Speaker A: Wow.
[00:02:03] Speaker B: My dad was from Avondale, and he moved because he knew the only way he could be with my mom is to move into Bachtown.
And I really look at both my late father and my mom as people who brought me into real estate. My dad and my mom built a three flat in 1999, but if I can give her her flowers. My grandmother was really the homie when it came to real estate. She bought a two flat and an lc lot in, like, 1969, I think.
[00:02:36] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:02:36] Speaker B: And people were like, oh, you're crazy.
And that building, for somebody who never graduated from high school changed her life and changed all of our lives. And I always tell people, it's like the women in my family have taught me real estate. My grandmother, my mom, my sister.
My dad was brilliant as well, but he would always just be like, go talk to your mother. And that's what I do, how I got into real estate.
[00:03:01] Speaker A: Smart man. Smart man. He probably doesn't sleep on the couch much.
[00:03:04] Speaker B: No, he had the king bed. That's awesome.
Real estate. After years of being a basketball agent at Go Empire, an agency out of Chicago that I started in 2011, shortly after my dad passed away, I was looking for something else in my life.
Looking for a secondary gig, really, because I come from a family that if you didn't have, like, two or three jobs, my grandmother would put you to work. And I just felt like it was time to add something. And we were in Puerto Rico, I think it was about, man, maybe nine years ago. And I was just sitting on a beach, and I was like, okay, my life has changed. My dad passed away. I'm 25.
What am I going to do?
And the idea of real estate kind of just came to me. And I tell people it wasn't like this epiphany, but it kind of just felt like a very felt sense of like, yeah, this is probably what I should do. Within three months, my dad passed away. My mother passed away. My mother inherited different properties and out of utility. I was like, I need to learn about real estate. I need to get my license. And at the beginning of 2015, I took the test, and the rest is history.
[00:04:15] Speaker A: So started 2015. What are your numbers now? What does your career look like today?
[00:04:20] Speaker B: My team and I are just coming up on 100 million in volume for the total of my career, which is exciting.
I think we'll throw a party at that point. Maybe you'll be invited.
[00:04:33] Speaker A: No?
[00:04:33] Speaker B: Sweet. And this year we're doing. I think we're at 18 million right now. Okay. And I know it's a tough year for everybody. This will be my biggest year since starting real estate in terms of volume.
And shout out to all my clients who just refer me because this is a big referral year for us.
[00:04:53] Speaker A: Wow.
Let's unpack a little bit of that.
First off, congratulations, because this market is just chewing people up, spitting them out. Right. The fact you're scaling and having the best year of your career so far says a lot about who you are and what you're about.
But you said some things that it's real unique. So you actually were a basketball agent prior to becoming a real estate agent. So for the audience, can you unpack that a little bit?
[00:05:19] Speaker B: Tell us what that looks like. I kind of want to take it back because I know you said this is a really difficult year, and I think that people are defined in tragedy a lot of times. And I look at this year and things have been out of whack. But I think about 2013, when my dad passed away, and I'm like, this is nothing compared to that. And I think as human beings, we don't give ourselves enough chance to say, I've been here before in different situations, and I made it out alive, too.
[00:05:51] Speaker A: Shall pass.
[00:05:52] Speaker B: Yeah, of course. It always passes.
[00:05:53] Speaker A: Right?
[00:05:54] Speaker B: So I look at this year as, yeah, it's totally hard, but it wasn't as hard as when I buried my dad and my grandma within two months of each other. And I look back at just those opportunities, really. I look at them as opportunities of growth, and those challenged me to help get me to where I am today.
And it's not always as bad as it seems. And I think next year at this time, everybody will be all right.
[00:06:20] Speaker A: But I love what you just said is it really was about hard times. Actually show who people really are during easy times.
The skill set is kind of dismissed. Now. It's, who are you really? What is your skill set and what is your ability? Because you got to put your fists up.
[00:06:39] Speaker B: Well, I mean, it's like, how do you identify? I identify as a worker.
I identify as somebody who wants to grow. And I also identify as somebody who is going to outwork everyone.
When I talk about everyone, I talk about, I'm 35. The 34 year old version of Eddie. The 33 year old version of Eddie. The 32 year old version of Eddie. Like, I'm only playing basketball against myself at this point. I love it. So for me, it's like I'm only competing against the old version of myself. And this version, like the 25 year old Eddie, would have given anything to be where the 35 year old Eddie is.
[00:07:22] Speaker A: We have to remind ourselves on a regular basis those that have been doing this for a little while of who we were when we entered this industry, right. And how happy we were for such little successes. And now it's like, adversity shows up and what are we going to do about it?
[00:07:36] Speaker B: My mom, one of her favorite quotes is, don't ever forget where you came from. And the people that you meet on the way up are the people that you're going to meet when you fall inevitably on the way down. And not, like, when you come down, like when you fall down, because life is tragic, people get sick and people die. And a lot of times it's not graceful. So it's like, that's why you have to be nice to everybody. One of my sister's big lessons to me was like, just be nice to people. And it's been like, some of the best advice that I've gotten kind of taken back to your initial question, like, the basketball industry, it's not a nice industry. The sports industry is not nice.
[00:08:20] Speaker A: Give me some examples. So come on, you got to have some war stories or something.
[00:08:23] Speaker B: I mean, it's just like when you sign a listing agreement, you're locked in, that seller's working with you, you're good. You're going to probably get paid. When you sign a basketball player out of Louisville or Connecticut or the University of Dayton, you then have to protect that relationship because you know all of your competitors are breathing down said clients. Next, saying, eddie's a good basketball agent, but he's really a realtor, isn't he?
[00:08:56] Speaker A: Wow.
[00:08:57] Speaker B: I don't really have real estate colleagues in contemporary saying, well, he's really a basketball agent, so it's dirty.
There's about 500 to 550 available NBA clients every year. I think last week there was more than 550 properties that were listed in Chicago from Monday to Friday. So it's a much more competitive.
[00:09:20] Speaker A: What a way to unpack that. We got it in a week. What you get in a year?
[00:09:24] Speaker B: Well, again, I'm still in the basketball industry. And shout out to all the guys at Go empire who keep it going, and they're amazing individuals, because I'm like, if you guys just want to actually make some good money, just come and sell real estate. Because our job in basketball is so hard and so difficult. Real estate is easy compared to basketball.
[00:09:48] Speaker A: So how did the agent side of it help you with real estate?
[00:09:54] Speaker B: I think communication has always been such a big part of who I am. But in the basketball industry, you're always communicating with your clients. If that's them, their significant other, the parent, the athletic director, the coach, before you even get into a contract negotiation with a team, because then when you're talking to a team, you're like GM, coach, player, personnel, travel assistant. So I was always on the phone, and people know this, like, back in high school at Quigley and at Dayton, even at Northwestern, where I got my master's degree, I was always on the phone kind of bringing people together and aligning different decision makers. So, like, in real estate, I just play point guard. I'm like, I'm going to be your point guard. I'll align you, your lender, your attorney, your inspector, the listing agent, the listing attorney, everybody.
[00:10:53] Speaker A: So you're earning the trust first, right? I think a lot of people are so desperate with deals, or they're so focused on the deal versus the relationship. And our relationship as real estate professionals is to make sure that we are the resource. Keep giving stuff to people. You never go broke giving stuff back, so you have to be a servant heart and just giving things away so that way you earn the right to represent them.
[00:11:16] Speaker B: I mean, I'm working on deals right now that are two, three, four years in the making. But then when I pull back from that, I'm like, wait, these are like 40, 50 years in the making based off of, like, I stand on the shoulder of my parents and my grandparents.
Because I'll just say agents got really spoiled during the pandemic. That was like, you threw up a sign and it was gone in 2 hours.
Now it's like you really have to be a tactician on your process and how you go about getting a deal done. And for me, again, it comes back to communication with my client and then the other side. I think listing agents know they're going to hear from me all the time because I want to make sure they know that their anxiety can be quieted.
[00:12:10] Speaker A: I heard a story about you, that you are a good one. Well, I think it's amazing. I think it's a good one.
I heard a story where what you just said is so real to you that you were at some awards banquet or something, was going to some meeting and you were on the phone outside on the phone while they're announcing your name inside and you're like, yeah, I'll be there in a minute. Everybody can wait. This is more important.
Tell us the story. I want to hear it because it sounded awesome.
[00:12:39] Speaker B: Yeah, we were at the app properties. I think it was like fall sales meeting. We were in old town and I didn't know that they were going to be like, here are the people that are putting to use our systems at properties and shameless plug shout out to app properties for the love and the support and like, Rick Sobin and everything he does for me and Thad and Mike and just the like, I feel so lucky to be a part of a organization that has just helped me thrive. And I think there's no qualms about the fact, like, when I came in, I was a $10 million agent, and now two and a half years later, I'm a $20 million agent during one.
[00:13:27] Speaker A: Of the hardest markets, too.
[00:13:29] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:13:29] Speaker A: Incredible.
[00:13:29] Speaker B: And again, I don't even think about the market. Right. I'm like, who can I service? How is my team growing? Like my Sister Megan and Lynn, and these are all people who I want to see thrive. And I know that it's not just about the market. It's like, is everybody good? Is everybody healthy? And the thing about the way I look at life is like, if your people are healthy, then you're good. I don't worry too much about the interest rates. And is this deal going to die? Because I'm like, we're here and we're happy and we're healthy because the reality in life is like, that's not always the truth.
But back to the app properties sales meeting. One of my clients calls me and he's in a stressful situation.
And I go outside and I take the phone call, and I thought it'd be like a five minute conversation. And some people who I know like and trust are like, can you just have these ten minute conversations? That's not who I am. I'm going to be on the phone with you for 30 minutes because I'm going to be asking, I don't care about, did the loan come in on time or did the appraisal get ordered? I'm like, wait, what's really triggering you on this? Can we peel that back? Because a lot of the times, it's not about if the appraisal came in, it's that the person is worried that they're going to be let down or that they're not going to get said result that they want. Right? And a lot of it comes down to, what is that person's relationship like in their first house? And I don't think people, and I won't even say realtors, I don't think people realize how much the house you grew up on in and the people that you were around influences every single decision you make. And then in real estate, you end up buying this thing.
And a lot of the times, it's like, well, what was that experience like when you were five years old? Like my experience. And I think people are like, why do you love real estate? I grew up in a household where my grandmas were always around, my parents were always in the house. We would have tens of people eating at a table.
And for me, it was a really positive experience. Now, there was expectations, and you weren't going to screw around, but it was a warm environment. So come back to my client, who's freaking out at this app properties event, he lets off to me that I've been thinking a lot about when my mom died and tomorrow is her anniversary, I'm like, okay, this is really the triggering moment. And where he's at, he's not worried about the thing. It's that he's experiencing that grief and loss that all of us have. The real estate transaction is just the added pressure of being a human being and trying to make a move that you want to make right? And somebody's like, yo, you got to get inside. They're talking about you. And I'm like, I don't care. He needs me right now. And I go back inside after having the conversation, which wasn't five minutes, it was like, 40.
And a fellow at properties agent Sarah McClellan, shout out to Sarah was like, they were just talking about you, and they had your photo up there. And I was like, oh, that's. But, like, for me, that type of press doesn't motivate me. The fact that I was able to help my client, who, by the way, is like, if and when I pull this transaction off, will be one of the biggest transactions of my life, not even career.
They needed me, and I realized that. And it's like they can put my slide up at app properties any day.
He needed me at that. You know, that's what I would expect from somebody in my position, and I never expect from others what I don't expect from myself. And I don't mean to sound like Michael Jordan, even though he is one of my idols, but people know I have super high expectations for myself, and I'll never ask of others what I would never ask of myself.
[00:17:51] Speaker A: Man, so much good stuff there. That's so much good stuff there. I say this all the time, and I love the way you put that together, is that people seem to forget that the work that we do, that's where somebody puts their kids to sleep, right? Totally. This is where this person's going to raise their family. This is something that, if you get it wrong, you can script somebody's life. My mentor in the mortgage business taught me. They said, you know what happens if you give somebody the wrong mortgage?
[00:18:16] Speaker B: You screw their life up.
[00:18:18] Speaker A: They get divorced. Their kids don't go to college. You ruined someone's life because of the fact that you didn't take the time to actually listen or figure it out. So you have to get it right on the front end.
How do you go in? There's so many agents that would hear that their name is being called and they're like, let me call you back and let me go deal with this on an ego side of it. And I love that.
What I get from you and the vibe is that how could you possibly respect your slide? Being up there while your client is sitting there stressed out? There's no point. This is the most important thing that needs to happen today.
[00:18:49] Speaker B: Well, look, I realize at the end of the day, no sales results, no sales numbers will define who I am.
[00:18:57] Speaker A: Amen.
[00:18:57] Speaker B: At my funeral, the way that I will define my life is how many people showed up and said, he made an impact on me.
[00:19:06] Speaker A: Nobody's going to show up going, but he's got a great watch.
[00:19:09] Speaker B: Yeah.
It makes me think about my old man.
He was so low key, and I didn't even think he had friends, because when he would come home, it was just about the family and he died. And we used to have this thing, and my mom would be laughing, but it was like, you're going to have a one car funeral if you keep acting like that. And there's like 600 people that showed up. And I realized he had such an impact on the way that he treated people and the way that he behaved. And for me, it's like, I appreciate the sales goal. I appreciate the Rolex that app properties gifted me for road to Rolex. That stuff's all important for the ego. Right? But for the spirit and the being that I hope to be, none of that matters. I want people to come into my funeral and say, yeah, he sold my parents a property in 2015 that put me through college, and we refinanced that or sold that. Now we're putting their grandchildren through school. That, for me, is what I'm playing for. It's like I'm playing for when I'm dead. Because then the real impact can be made. Instead of, oh, you sold 19, 20 million. That's neither here nor there. It's like, I helped 225 families since I started. That makes a difference.
[00:20:43] Speaker A: I want you to know that I'm probably going to carry that around for me the rest of my life. Is I'm playing for when I'm dead.
[00:20:48] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:20:48] Speaker A: Because it's, like, so good.
[00:20:49] Speaker B: It's what they say about you when you're not there.
My dad would always say, like, you are worth more dead than you are alive. And it's like, when you're gone and you're not here and people still talk about you and they still revere you and they still cry about you, then you know, you did your job, but the human existence is always like, what about here? What about now? What kind of car? What kind of watch? Instead of like, how many people did you impact? How many lives did you change? Which, for me, that's what it is. Not even in real estate. But I think that that's why I was brought to this world, was just to impact people and to help people long in their most stressful times. Really?
[00:21:31] Speaker A: Yeah. Level five leadership lives on, but they don't need you. No. Right. You built something so good, like a legacy, where you've helped people, that it lives on after you are gone.
[00:21:40] Speaker B: Yeah. You live through them, and they take on you as they go into other places.
[00:21:47] Speaker A: So I have a question for you. So, an agent that's listening to this, right? Because it's an agent focused show, and. Wow. Well, I wasn't a basketball agent. I don't have any of those resources, or I'm from Chicago, but I've got relationships, but I'm struggling right now, or I'm looking for a tactic or something. What is something that you think that an agent might consider or that you'd like to share with them on what you do in your business that maybe they're not thinking about?
[00:22:14] Speaker B: I mean, I know they're thinking about it, but they don't want to do it. Social media, period.
[00:22:20] Speaker A: Expand on it.
[00:22:21] Speaker B: I mean, I speak from the experience of having done social media since 2015. And when I talk about social media, it's not just Instagram. It's Instagram. Facebook, LinkedIn, Google, my business, YouTube. It's everything. So whenever you post once, you post everywhere. Because there's different age demographics. Right? Like, my mom's friends are seeing me on Facebook. My friends are seeing me on LinkedIn. My professors from Dayton and northwestern, who are referring me business, are seeing me on LinkedIn. Right? So you have to pepper it. But to get out of the mindset of, oh, I don't want to do this. Yeah, I don't want to do it either. Right? And I did it since 2015. And earlier this year, we had a reel that just completely took off 25 million views. But behind that was the constant posting when there was, like, three or four likes.
[00:23:12] Speaker A: So let's unpack that real quick. So, first off, I'd love to get into strategy, but 25 million views. What did you put out? What was that?
[00:23:19] Speaker B: The thing is, you never know when something cracks. And this one, I would say it's three things. By the way, shout out to Andrew Javin, who's a great compass agent. Out of California. He is our social media coach, and he's created this incredible members only community.
And I was actually just in San Diego last week with a ton of compass agents, a part of his group, and, like, anything in life, you need a good teacher.
[00:23:50] Speaker A: Yeah, for sure.
[00:23:52] Speaker B: And, like, I was with Tom Ferry from 2015 to 2022, and when I weaned off Tom, and Tom's great at what he does, I found Andrew. And Andrew is like, hey, these are the things that you could be doing, which are really about reels. Like, if you feed the Instagram system of reels, they will make sure that they feed you back this reel, which was.
I didn't talk. I was just like this. And then I also then looked at my nails like this, and it was me calling my sister, letting her know that I upset mom. And it was funny because, a, it had nothing to do with real estate, b, we've all been in the situation where you get off the phone with your mom or your dad, and you want to call your sibling to let them know. I want to get ahead of this. Mom's on some BS, by the way. Don't believe her. But we had a call to action. We were like, tag your best sibling. Okay, so it had nothing to do with real estate, and it was relatable because everybody's been there. So then people just started tagging their siblings.
That's crazy.
[00:25:01] Speaker A: So, for anybody listening to that, what he just said is, you're creating content that's relatable. But then you got to trick the algorithm every once in a while, right, of that, tag somebody who will think, this is funny, like your sister or your brother or whatever, right?
[00:25:14] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:25:14] Speaker A: And now 25 million views, and then what happens is it picks you up. And so now when you put out additional content, when it comes to real estate, more people get in front of it.
[00:25:23] Speaker B: Yeah. I mean, we gained 10,000 followers from that.
[00:25:26] Speaker A: Wow.
All right, monetize it. How much business would you say you get off real estate or off social media?
[00:25:33] Speaker B: I think sometimes agents like a quick fix, including your boy right here. But there is no quick fix with social media, because you have to do it consistently, and you never know who's watching you. And one of my favorite reels that my sister did was you post something and you get ten likes. But then you look at the views, and it's been viewed thousands of times. And the thing is, you can't get caught up in the likes and the views. It's like you do it for yourself because you're building your brand, like anything. And if you put out just a poorly done reel, you may get two or 300 views. Like Kevin Rocio Krock, who introduced K Rock. Shout out to the, I was going to say grandfather, but he'll be really mad at me. Shout out to the uncle.
[00:26:27] Speaker A: He said that?
[00:26:27] Speaker B: Yeah. Shout out to my uncle Kevin. Uncle K.
Probably one of, well, I don't know, arguably one of the best realtors in the city, but easily one of the best commercial realtors. And just like mentor and friend, like, I love Kevin. Me and him did a reel and I think it got viewed by 2500 people. And I said, name me anything where you could get in front of 2500 of your people. Like, you do a mailer for 2500 people, it's at least $1,000. Probably more than that, right? So it's free.
And to kind of come back is like, how much business do we get off it? No one's dming me. Hey, do you want to sell my condo? And if so, it's probably some bot, right?
[00:27:10] Speaker A: Once you go to WhatsApp.
[00:27:12] Speaker B: Yeah, exactly.
It's more of like the residual effect. Like if I meet somebody, I'm going to follow them and they're going to follow me back and then they will watch me. Right? I've met a lot of people who were working with an agent and I'm like, okay, cool. By the way, if you ever need anything, here's my QR code. Scan it in, follow me. Either way, even if you don't use me, there'll be some tips there that you could use. And inevitably that person starts watching, starts watching. And then out of nowhere it'll be, hey, I want to let you know we re upped our lease because we couldn't find anything. But we would love to have a conversation with you in the spring about switching up agents. Because we've been watching you and you taught us, you educated us. So social media is the true educator of real estate.
[00:28:01] Speaker A: I think a lot of people misunderstand. I 1000% agree with you. I think that a lot of people are out chasing likes and shares and views.
[00:28:07] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:28:08] Speaker A: And I said this at a conference recently. It's like you're not an influencer. Stop it.
[00:28:12] Speaker B: Stop it.
[00:28:13] Speaker A: You're not trying to sell widgets, right? You may be selling lifestyle, you may be presenting something of what's possible, right. And trying to attract the right type of people. But the most important thing is really putting out content that you believe in as well as it's a conversation. It's not a popularity contest. Per se. Right? If you're using it for real estate, you're trying to put content in front of your clients to get them thinking about things, to understand that maybe the news is spinning things a certain way and they're not looking at the actual data. And maybe we should have a conversation of what's specific to you, because how many people were sitting around saying, I'm waiting for this, I'm waiting for that. I'm waiting for this, I'm waiting for that. And it's been ten years. You're waiting around for what? For sure. What is that waiting for? Ten years? You're real smart in waiting.
Wait, but are you? Because how much money did you lose paying rent this whole time? And all those things.
[00:29:09] Speaker B: The thing is, when you look at how much people, especially in Chicago, paid for rent in the last ten years, and then you then hedge that against some of the equity gains that their contemporaries got, who 100%, it's just mind blowing.
I think for me, it's about just throwing the content out there. I'm really off the cuff.
Like, we have a great saying at Grojo group. Done is better than know. And Megan and I are both, like, minor know where. It's like, wait, this doesn't need to be perfect. Just get it out there. Because as my mother would tell me as a young competitive irish dancer, no one knows except you act as if you bought the stage. So, like, if you're doing social media, which every agent should be, it's your phone, it's your life, it's your industry. Go out there and just talk. Just go speak to the truths that you know. Like, if you have kids, if you have a parent that's aging, just speak to what property has done for you. And I think people realize early on, when we were at like 1500 followers, and 2000 followers was. I was just talking about the property stories of my family and how real estate completely changed the trajectory of where we're at. Instead of saying, what do they want? It's like, no, what do you want? And then just putting that out. And it's funny, it's like you crack, you go viral. Everybody's like, you're an influencer. It's like, I've been doing this for five years and no one thought I was. And then one time you do it. The influencing, the non influencing, none of that matters. It's like, again, if somebody sees a video and they leave with more education when they came in, the job is done. Now, when you have people sharing that content to your friends, I don't know how. If you sent me a mailer and I want to share that with my. Now what I'm going to take.
[00:31:12] Speaker A: Who takes a picture of that, sends it to somebody?
[00:31:14] Speaker B: Nobody. Right. So again, I would just encourage agents to lean into their social media, but then that's leaning more into your identity of who you are. Like, no one cares what you look like, no one cares what you sound like, no one cares what you're doing. Why? They are caught up in their own experience of feeling inferior in their own regard. So they don't even have the ability or the time to say, oh, they look like, blank, or they don't sound tailored because they're caught up in their own insecurities and their own weaknesses.
[00:31:53] Speaker A: I sat with somebody one time who makes more money than probably anybody in real estate, right. And the guy, he's a coach and he's built these systems that are absolutely incredible.
[00:32:06] Speaker B: Sure.
[00:32:07] Speaker A: And one of the things that he said at this conference in front of us was, I always laugh when people are so apprehensive to film content. He goes, you want to see how easy it is? And he turns it on and he just starts talking to his phone. He goes, it doesn't have to be a studio like this. It doesn't have to be any. It could be, just turn the phone on. The biggest mistake that people make is they just don't get started.
[00:32:30] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:32:30] Speaker A: So you made a mistake. So you said something the wrong way. So what? There's going to be somebody listening to you that will be more than willing to go, you're the only one that cares about it.
[00:32:39] Speaker B: You're the only one that cares about it. And the thing is, you just got to start somewhere. And I tell people, they're like, how do I get started in social media? Just start doing stories. They disappear in 24 hours. You don't even have to look at yourself after that. Just start doing video, little stories about, oh, I'm going to walk through, put some audio above it, and that's it. Because then people are going to be like, they're working. And that's all you really want as somebody in real estate. But if people don't see you out there and please update your photos, please. Because the thing is, when somebody sees you and you don't look like your photo, you then tell them something about yourself that you didn't want to get out, which is, I'm not confident in where I'm at.
[00:33:31] Speaker A: If he's hurting you right now and you need a photographer, I know quite a few. Just shoot me a message. It's all good. We'll get you connected.
[00:33:36] Speaker B: And the thing is, people know, like, I'm five, six, nothing, and I don't care. It's like I'll be out there with whoever's shooting content because at the end of the day, it's like somebody's going to see that.
[00:33:48] Speaker A: I've seen what. So I love your social media content because it's awesome, right. Is that you're yourself, you're traveling, you're doing all this stuff. You're laughing at life, you're laughing at things. You're super relatable, but you're also a tactician. Right. When it comes into real estate, it is something that you take very professionally and you make sure that all the boxes are checked and that you are earning your stripes with your client. Because I think that's something too. Is that everybody's so afraid to be themselves because they'll think that that's unprofessional.
[00:34:14] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:34:15] Speaker A: Same time is that I got tattoos. I'm a regular guy. I'd rather you know that. I understand you, but I'm going to earn it too. Right. Is that we can be relatable and still be really good at what we do.
[00:34:28] Speaker B: And the reason why I like you is that you are unequivocally, unapologetically yourself. Appreciate it. And I respect that. Right. And I see that. And I'm like, oh, when you reached out, you were like, do you want to come on? I'm like, of course. Now, if you weren't who you are, I might then question, right? Sure. Because it's so about who you run with, right? And I want people to run with me who want to be themselves.
Because we all come in with our traumas. We all come in with our losses and our grief, where share those, because there will be people who see themselves in your own story. And then for you have clients for.
[00:35:13] Speaker A: Life, you'll also be able to help them deal with their shit, right?
[00:35:15] Speaker B: Totally.
[00:35:16] Speaker A: Because they'll. Sometimes real estate is so interesting because we deal with life's problems. They need someplace to live. They had a divorce, there was a death. There was something really serious, which causes them to, like you said, most people, your parents, they bought one house and they stayed there right in the old school. Now we've got such a fluid. People are moving. There's something really serious going on. What other relationship can you have besides a psychologist or a doctor where you're calling somebody up going, hey, can you fix my problem? I don't know what I got to do. And you have to go through this very complex, very difficult.
Sometimes there's lots and lots of layers to it, but that's where you become a tactician. You sit down and figure out, okay, I got you. I'm going to figure this out. We're going to figure this out together. And just know that I'm not going to give you advice that I wouldn't take myself.
[00:36:06] Speaker B: Yeah, right. Totally.
[00:36:07] Speaker A: It's an incredible journey to be on, as long as you respect it the way it needs to be respected.
[00:36:12] Speaker B: Right?
I haven't mentioned her in the past. I mean, I did. My sister, Megan, who's the co founder of Groho group, she's somebody who was a school teacher and still is a school teacher in CPS for 16 years. And her ability to really tighten me up has been super helpful. When you deal with the traumatic experiences around death and dying and loss and those, you know, so much of the work that we did as a family helped prepare me. So Megan being, hey, like, dad'sick, you should see a know, this is going to get really messy.
And then when he passed away, to be, hey, like, you might want to start going to mindfulness. It might help you in terms of your meditation journey and then my own physical journey of like, hey, you need to get to midtown and start working out with Steve. All of us need support.
I'm so lucky to have it in the closest relationship of my life. But Groho group is not where it is today without my sister. And there will be people watching this whose business partners are not their sibling. Right? Maybe it's their close friend, maybe it's their significant other. But we all need each other because you can't do this on your own. And my sister really, and I didn't realize this until about two years ago. She's like, real estate is really lonely. And I'm like, it is as popular.
[00:37:51] Speaker A: As we all seem, as we got all these lonely. It is. It's hard. And I don't think that's talked enough about. You're the first person to bring it up on this show, is that, look, it's lonely when you're in a competitive sport all of the time, and who are you able to have a conversation with? I love that you've got your sister in your corner. There's so many agents I run into that behind closed doors. You'll go, oh, wow, so you're going through something right now. And this life, this career path, it's relentless. It will not let you take a breather. Right. Otherwise you get competitive. Nature shows up and somebody else comes in and starts messing with it. It's something that is extremely important for. What you just said is that who's around you influences you more than you know.
[00:38:39] Speaker B: Totally.
[00:38:40] Speaker A: We have a dinner that we do on a regular basis where we just get agents together who are like minded. And the last time we just did this, I was reminded of how incredibly important it is, your circle. And it doesn't mean that you have to be closing deals every single day with them or something like that, but those people who you can get a beer with and sit down and go, this is what I'm dealing with. You're not going to believe it. And them actually being able to be a sounding board for you. Your sister sounds like your sounding board. That's incredible, man. Everybody needs that.
[00:39:10] Speaker B: Yeah. And I think what you're talking about is, like when Tom Ferry was like, the future real estate is teams. I always thought it was, oh, because you can sell the most. But it's no. You then have resources to support one another because people burn out. And people are like, oh, did you burn out? I'm like, what year? Right? It always happens. But then when you're burned out and you have team members, you're like, hey, I need you guys to come in and support.
But without that support, it can get exhausting and super lonely.
[00:39:47] Speaker A: I think that real estate relationships are very different than any other relationship professionally. I think that there's an unspoken language, and, look, it's different between different circles. Some people, they subscribe to a completely different methodology. Totally than others. Right?
[00:40:03] Speaker B: Totally.
[00:40:03] Speaker A: It's fine. You're over there. You're over there. I'm over here. Like, whatever, it doesn't matter. But when you find the people who are with you, it's so cool because it's such a strong friendship, right? Because you guys understand. It's almost like, I would never compare it to our soldiers or anything like that, but it makes me feel like you're in a foxhole together, right? Like, you can build that relationship going, do you see what just happened? Can you believe this?
[00:40:28] Speaker B: Right?
[00:40:29] Speaker A: And it's the one person you can say it to who will actually understand what you just said because your spouse will look at you and go, I don't know. I don't even know what that means. What? Yeah, it sounds rough. What?
[00:40:38] Speaker B: And I love app properties because I feel like I found my crew there. Cool. There are agents there who I meet with consistently, who I'm like, oh, I'm not the only crazy one. We're all nuts. And you realize that it makes it a lot easier. Or if there's an agent who you really respect and you're like, oh, they're struggling too. It makes your own struggle easier. And I have been lucky enough to have contemporaries at who I respect but who help bring me back when I'm really struggling. Because without that, I don't care how much people want to take in a split and this and that. When people are like, I'm thinking about leaving or I'm thinking about coming, whatever, I'm like, okay, it's more than your split. It's like, who's going to help support your mental health journey? Who's going to hold you down when you're melting down?
Because those things are so much more than like, are you getting 25 this, that? And I think sometimes agents get too caught up in the splits and more about like, wait, where are the support staffs and how do I take most advantage of them? Because it's not all about the split.
[00:41:59] Speaker A: You see a lot of that in the mortgage space, too, and I don't think it's talked about enough. Sure. So it's very similar in that you'll see people who, obviously you see it too, where people bounce brokerage to brokerage to brokerage. Do things happen in your career? Sure.
[00:42:12] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:42:12] Speaker A: Are there some moves that have to happen? Yes, sometimes. But what you find is that sometimes you've got someone who's so focused on the next thing versus if you just sat down and had a real coach, had a real community, had a real system, and actually owned the bullshit. Right. Like owned what you're not doing correctly. Maybe it's not somebody else's job, maybe it's yours and just put the blinders on. It's not time for a sign on bonus. It's time for you to be surrounded by community members as well as to do the hard work. Right. Be surrounded in a group where you're watching somebody do something, going, oh, I can do that and own it. Right now this market is going to chew people up and spit them out. And it has nothing to do with the brokerage that you're with. It has to do with you.
[00:42:55] Speaker B: So let me ask you then, why do you think people don't do that? Is it ego or like, in the lending space? Why do you think people get off the rails instead of maybe just saying, I need to own this in the lending space?
[00:43:10] Speaker A: It's really interesting. We saw this in 2008 and I love that you asked me that question because I don't think a lot of people pay attention to this market will not be the same as 2008. Nothing about it matches. Right. But what we found were people who, like we said, maybe weren't surrounded by the right people making the right decisions. Market got hard and they either quit or went on to something else. You have these different models. Right. And so in the lending space, just because it's okay to do it today doesn't mean it's going to be okay tomorrow.
[00:43:40] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:43:41] Speaker A: In the same instance, you have to make sure that the grass isn't, the grass is always going to look greener somewhere else. It is. Right. This business is hard. So really you have to do is sit down and ask yourself, is this company or is this group providing value to me? Are they going to get me through this market? Do they have the ability, do they have the products and price? Yeah, of course, that's just at the start of it. But exactly what are you doing to support those people around you? And it's hard. It's going to be hard. You're going to get difficult clients. In my group, I've got coaching. I not only have a coach, I'm a national coach as well with my organization, which really helps because as I'm coaching others, I'm reminded of the things that I need to do. Right. Because nobody's perfect.
[00:44:24] Speaker B: No.
[00:44:25] Speaker A: And that's it for me is I finally found a place where I'm sitting here looking at things long term versus if you're constantly bouncing from sign on bonus to sign on bonus, you're doing a disservice to your clients. You're going to lose more than you gain because how do they get a hold of you, right? What do your systems look like? All of those things, that professionalism behind this industry, you have to find your lane, stay in it. And I'm reminded of what Matt Learssey said. It was pretty wild stuff. I don't know if many people caught this. In his interview, he was talking about his briefcase. It's one of the scariest looking briefcases I've ever seen. Right.
[00:45:04] Speaker B: Imagine it's all beat up and he's.
[00:45:05] Speaker A: Got the same clipboard and the same brief. But he said it, he goes, I don't give up on things that work for me. Right?
[00:45:12] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:45:12] Speaker A: He doesn't need a new briefcase. He's going to duct tape that thing back because it works. Right? Same thing. If it's working for you, identify that and put blinders on right now versus bouncing from thing to thing to thing to thing. There's always going to be a thing, right? And what are you getting out of that relationship?
[00:45:30] Speaker B: When we met Kevin, K Rock brought me to the west loop, and you were just talking about your resources.
I forget who it was. Maybe some guy was on the Zoom call. He's from Ohio. And I learned something that day. And we were talking about my crack sewer line of my property in Logan. I was in and out trying to handle that. And I was in there for the nugget of the year for me, which is that the majority of millennials haven't even bought. And I remember being like, wait, what? And it was that on the doorstep of whatever we get past this market is all of the people that are my age who still haven't bought. And then I started thinking about all my classmates from St. Joseph at and Quigley and Dayton and northwestern, and all these places that I'm affiliated with. I'm like, wait, we've done a hundred million in eight years.
And I was so excited about what the future holds. But with that nugget, and, like, without knowing Kevin having the app properties connection, without the support that you and Kevin offer each other, I'm not there to then learn that piece to back to the Groho group and be like, just wait, we're good.
[00:46:45] Speaker A: Per the US census. Okay, so the average first time home buyer, 34 years old. I'm unpacking. This is the most exciting piece of information that is available today in real estate. The average age of the first time home buyer is 34. 34, right. We all know that per the US census, we have the most 34 year olds that will ever be in the United States, in us history, in 2025. Yes, rates do matter, but they're not going to matter at that point, because what happens next is those people still want to buy because of the stats, right? Life, new job, marriage, divorce, whatever it is, whatever the thing is, people buy and sell real estate. Well, first time home buyer, average age of 34, all those people are coming to market. We all arguably think something's going to happen with interest rates. We don't think we're going to stay where we're at today, right?
[00:47:34] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:47:34] Speaker A: If rates were to come back down, some inventory would show up, but we're also going to have those people turn into buyers. So not only do we have no inventory right now, we're going to have some inventory show up, but those people are going to turn to buyers. And then we've got all these 34 year olds looking at each other going, man, I do not want to rent anymore or whatever next stage in their life is.
We can see from the statistics that we have arguably one of the biggest real estate booms to ever hit the United States on the horizon, right? That's a bold statement, but the data tells us that's what's coming.
[00:48:11] Speaker B: Things are going to be wild, and I'm a millennial and a strong one, but I'll say, watch out for Gen Z, because they are coming too. And why this year? I've worked with more Gen Z buyers ever before, and they're different than the millennial buyer.
The millennial buyer kind of jumped over the $300,000 condo purchase to build equity and said, well, I'll just wait until I'm 35 and overpay for the $800,000 house.
[00:48:42] Speaker A: Oh, shit.
[00:48:43] Speaker B: The Gen Z is buying the $300,000 condo, which will be worth $400,000. And they're already thinking, oh, this is the long term asset of the unborn child. And at 25, I just went under contract yesterday with somebody from the University of Dayton, my alma mater, and I'm like, oh, wow, he is going to be in a way better situation than the 35 year old who I'm not going to name because he knows who he is. He's one of my close friends who didn't buy the place in Bucktown, so Gen Z is much more willing to take the advice. Like, the kid was like, hey, what do I need to do to get this place? When my millennial friends would have thought it over and over and over, and the anxiety would have gotten started and then they would have backed themselves out?
[00:49:36] Speaker A: That's really interesting. Again, I think there's so much that's been shared here, but that's the first time I've ever heard that put together that way. Because, one, I'm the first year of millennials, right? So I've been hearing about millennials for the longest time. They kind of have a bad rap, whether it be job history or interviews or whatever.
[00:49:54] Speaker B: Timing. Yeah.
[00:49:54] Speaker A: The millennial thing is the participation trophy generation, if you will. Right. Well, then you have this Gen Z generation that's starting to come into the market, and you're right, they're coachable. Right? They're willing to listen to the people who are good at what they do. It's an untapped market. I don't hear anybody going after the Gen Z market right now.
[00:50:16] Speaker B: Well, it's interesting because they're making good money out of school and out of a few of them, the ones that I worked with, it's not just a single person. They're married in their early 20s, mid 20s. So they're thinking about things much more differently than the millennial. But, yeah, they're like, I don't want to pay the high rent because my millennial friends in Chicago, a lot of them got off real easy paying six, eight, $1,000 of rent. The Gen Z renter is paying $2,800 a month. So they're like, okay, sure, it's going to be 3100 for a mortgage payment, but I'm already paying 28.
[00:50:56] Speaker A: But it's a savings account. You're paying down a mortgage every single time.
[00:51:00] Speaker B: And I think that they will be a generation that will craft their own impact on the real estate industry.
It'll be really interesting to see, because I also think they're going to be the landlords who will be, like, 70 years old, and they'll be like, oh, I've owned that for 50 years.
[00:51:20] Speaker A: I just thought about this. So millennials, right? In the generation of what we had Facebook show up, we had all these things. So it is common. You'll talk to a client, and they're like, they're on Google.
They're just so analysis paralysis, right? It's like, okay, you got to talk to this person. You got to talk to that person.
[00:51:38] Speaker B: Which there's talk to my dad. I got to talk to my money guy.
[00:51:41] Speaker A: You should verify these things. You should. But at the same time, if you're not making a decision because of it, it's a huge problem. Because what has renting done for you? What has waiting done for you? And the answer is, nothing. It actually hurts you.
[00:51:54] Speaker B: It hurts you.
[00:51:54] Speaker A: So how smart are you, right?
[00:51:56] Speaker B: And somebody else is going to buy that place, right? Like, that's just the reality is, like, you can pass. Somebody else is going to buy it. And I mean, I'm with clients right now who bought three years ago, who are up 200 grand in some situations, and then you have that same contemporary of theirs who rented and spent, let's just say, the last three years of rent. Maybe they spent 75 grand. That's a $275,000 swing. And that's the difference between, unfortunately, the haves and the have nots in the new world order after the pandemic is like, a lot of people who have money in America own real estate.
[00:52:37] Speaker A: That's right.
[00:52:38] Speaker B: And you can either pay that person and give them money so then they can pay their mortgage, or you could try to get your own mortgage and become that person, but without making the move on buying, you never have the chance. And look, I think for me it was easier because my grandmother did it, my mother did it, my sister did it, and we all need people to fall in line with. But look at any boomer right now who owns a house. Look at all the memes. It's like somebody laying down in cash like this. It's like the boomer who bought their house, who's up 600 grand, and then look at the boomer who didn't buy a house.
A whole different. And we could do a different segment on this is like, senior housing is a huge problem all over the country right now. But the ones who bought 60 years ago, 40 years ago, are up big time. And a lot of times they're giving the money to their grandchildren, their children for the down payment, because a lot of times, millennial doesn't even have the down payment.
[00:53:40] Speaker A: And this is how smart the Gen Z buyer is on their $300,000 purchase. My CEO, Bill Cosgrove, has been very vocal about one of the biggest problems in the United States, right? He talked about how there's not a lot of $300,000 homes being built. Everything that's being built is at a higher price point with these developers, right? So at some point, the demand for maybe not your forever home is going to continue to take off because there's nothing going to be available. There's nothing there that will be something they can afford. So then they just don't end up buying. So if you were to buy something now, and maybe, yeah, it's where you live for the time being, for the next couple of years, but then you turn into a rental property. Maybe you turn it, maybe you sell it and you buy something else, right? That demand is just going to continue. That's how smart these people are. Because holding themselves to this MTV cribs version of what real estate needs to be.
[00:54:39] Speaker B: No. And supply and demand will always dictate. We don't have enough homes on the market for the demand of buyers because the bank stopped lending in 2008 to developers. So the existing stock has gotten so much more expensive. And you have people locked into low interest rates who are like, why would I sell when the rent is higher than the mortgage payment? And then if you take it a step further, which a lot of our clients are doing, is you hold the first place, you go buy the second place. You create an LLC, you sell the property to the LLC, then you have taxable write offs to bring down your income, right? And then over. Like, this is really how people are passing wealth down in America right now, is through their trust, through their will, through step up and know. And I think these gen zers are like, yeah, we want that.
[00:55:34] Speaker A: Because I think anybody that goes to your social media and checks you out, right, and then compares how intelligent you are with your business is going to see the real power of what you're doing is that you're relatable and you've got strategies that actually build wealth, that you actually have a team, you've got resources, you have things for people of like, oh, well, let me simplify that for you. This is how I would do it, or this is what I've done for another client. At the same time, you're a normal guy. It's not like walking in and talking to somebody who's got super uptight and hard to have a conversation with. It's okay, let's do it.
[00:56:07] Speaker B: And the thing for me is, I was my basketball agent. I'm a realtor. I'm also right now studying my mentality, coach certification. And my friend from Dayton, Nick Sandoval, was like, why are you giving all of this? And, like, if there's one thing that comes out of our whole shoot is people have to want to put the work in, at the end of the day, I'll give everything away. Will you put your own spin on it? Like I tell people R and D, my stuff. What's that mean? Rip off and duplicate it. Take what I do, rip it off. Put your own spin on it and say it's your own. I'm never going to say that it's not. Right. But at the end of the day, people have to put the work in, and a lot of people don't want to put the work.
You know, going back to one of my mentors, Dr. Tidelbaum from Dayton, he would always just say, I'll tell you exactly what to do, but will you do it? Like, I can take you to the doorstep. Are you going to walk in? And most people don't want to walk in. And that's like, for me, it's like, I hope people take what I've said and put it to use. The sad reality is 80% of people won't. But for those 20% of people that do, and people know I'm easily accessible, they can always reach out to me. I'll help anybody. Because at the end of the day, they can't be Eddie G. They can't be me.
[00:57:29] Speaker A: Right.
[00:57:29] Speaker B: And I'm the only one that can be me. And that's how I know. Again, abundance, mindset, not scarcity. Because for me, it's like we all can eat. There's enough cookies for everyone. As my sister.
[00:57:40] Speaker A: So this is it. This is us calling you out right now, that if you're watching this, you've gotten this far into this conversation. What are you waiting for? Get out there, get a coach, get help, get whatever you need, but start, start. Stop making excuses. You're going to do it tomorrow. End the video right now and go do whatever you've been putting off.
[00:57:58] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:57:59] Speaker A: It's been great sitting here, hanging out with you, man. I think people are going to great nuggets from everything you shared with us, and we really appreciate it. Thanks for being on the show.
[00:58:06] Speaker B: Appreciate you, man. Thank you.
[00:58:07] Speaker A: Thank you.
