STRATEGIC MOVES: Why The Top Realty Experts Are Studying Rod Watson's Blueprint To Success!

Welcome to the Forward One podcast. I'm your host, Paul Mark Morris, together with Josh Spitson. And our guest today is Rod Watson. Super grateful to have you here, brother. Yeah, thanks for having me, fellas. We've been in business and friendship for quite a while now, so we've got to know you really well. Very intentional. Family first. And always coming from curiosity, contribution. How do you elevate others with purpose and intentionality? So again, excited to learn from you today. Thanks for having me, guys. So Rod, tell us a little bit about how your real estate career began. Man, that's a great question. I actually began sitting on a couch one night. I was coaching college basketball at Point Loma National University. You know, the infomercials come on at about, what, midnight TV. Back then, TV went off, you know, and it had the infomercials. So I was watching this infomercial, which, Paul, you might be familiar with, and you might be familiar with, too, as well. Carlton Sheets, How to Buy a Home with No Money Down. Yep. And that was a hot course. He was an influencer of his time for real estate, and I ended up buying that course. It was like $170, $175, probably the best $175 I've spent yet. And I studied the course front to back. I actually created these little no cards so I could understand all the different vocabulary words, mortgage, appreciation, debt. You know, these are things that are foreign to me. A kid growing up in the South, I didn't grow up around affluent families. There were no realtors or real estate agents in my bubble or in my world. And I found it to be something I was very interested in. And so I studied the course, took the course, finished it. And then a year later, I found myself knee deep in real estate. you know, left college basketball and made the decision to pursue a, you know, pathway in sales and real estate. Wow. And so that was what year? That was actually 2002. 2002. Yeah. Okay. 2002. Okay. In San Diego. In San Diego. Yep. I was still coaching college. I was associate head coach at Point Loma Nazarene. I was working on my MBA at the time. And yeah, I was up one night just watching a show. A show went off and this infomercial came on and I was like, hey, wait a minute, what's this and I sat there and listened to it's like 15 minute infomercial they had the number that flashes across you know you call in and they also had a website too and you place the order and like I think like a week later the books were there at the house and I was excited you know I was like kid in a candy store man and just ripped through the whole course and I think it took me about a week and I had to cue cards and I would just come home from practice or at the time I was working on my MBA so I come home from class and I put the extra time in to steady those and I familiarize myself with the vernacular of the world of real estate, you know, and that helped me actually once I actually bought my first home because I actually knew what those terminologies were. And when did you actually get your license and when did you begin that? Yeah, it was like six years later, seven years later. I didn't get my license until 2007. And what was the catalyst for that? You know, my wife, she got hers in 06. And the premise behind that was to actually do what we're doing today is run an operator family business. But we started out actually as investors. So we started buying, well, the first home we bought was new construction. The philosophy was, and this was a tip from Carlton Sheets, was basically buy a home, live in it a year or two, and buy another home. And if you're a W-2 wage employee, you know, it's easier to get financing than it is as a self-employed individual. And so that stuck with me. And I'm like, I'm going to leverage buying, you know, old fixers or new construction properties, because if you get in at the time when the new construction is breaking ground, you get better deals on when they're closing out the subdivision. We got in at the time when they were breaking ground and there were some great incentives. And so my thing was, is that we can buy a few homes in these up and coming trending neighborhoods because this was Katy, Texas, by the way. And Katy is a prominent, if you're familiar with Katy, it's a prominent community in Houston where the schools are really good. Master plan communities, you know, great overall lifestyle for families. And so we had left San Diego. That's where we made our first acquisition. And then we started buying tax foreclosures and bought second and third property. And it just kind of just evolved from there. But my wife got her license, to answer your question, so therefore we could actually retain those commissions and apply some of that money back into some of the properties that we were fixing up. And that was the strategy. And then from there, the market changed around late 07, early 08. And that was the beginning of what we know now as the short sale and REO era. And that's where I really got my feet wet. That's where I learned the business of real estate in one of the most challenging markets when everybody else was exiting or running for the hills or completely getting out of the business. I chose to leave a six-figure paying job. I was actually sales, internet sales manager at Porsche West Houston. If you're familiar with Porsche Highline, you know, super car product. And I was having a lot of fun in that position, but I wanted to build a family business and I was very intentional about that. So I walked away from that. And that's what motivated me to get my license was to be able to work with my wife. And then I started focusing on doing short sales and REOs. And what did you take from that that you now apply today, the short sale REO business? Specifically from the short sale REO business problem solving, because those deals are very complex. You know, you're dealing with people that are not only upside down, but here in California, before I actually saw our backup, before I got to California, Texas, a lot of people had judgments and liens against their properties outside of just the first deed of trust. And also what took place back then, you had a lot of seconds. So you was 80-20, right? So 80 on the front, 20 on the back. And some people even had thirds. So if you're familiar with the short sale or the foreclosure process, when foreclosure takes place, second and third junior leans get wiped out. And so what we would have to do is negotiate with these lenders to settle those, you know, those basically those loans, those loans and to get a judge to get a release against the property so we can be able to move forward and close. And so what I learned is, you know, one, it's one of those businesses where you got to have a lot of patience when you're working with people and time because short sales at that time on average was taking anywhere from nine to 12 months to close. Who wants to wait nine to 12 months to get paid? That's how my business started. So for me, I learned patience. I learned how to negotiate. I learned the importance of really understanding title, right? And how title is positioned from first deed of trust, second and third, and how that overall process works. And then along the way, I helped a lot of people. And so I built relationships in that process. And there are, you know, when we see people that enter the real estate business at a very difficult time, they learn different, way different disciplines. Absolutely. Then it's good. That's right. And those times were more tough. Yeah. I mean, not only does Rod, is Rod talking about how long it takes to get paid, but, you know, the number of transactions just, you know, totally slumped. We were following some boom years, which kind of we are now, you know, where the number of realtors, there's so many realtors out there. And then you have that crash and a lot of people, the buying power went away because that was part of the thing that created the issue was that they were giving loans to everybody and packaging them up and selling them. That was the whole credit crisis. And so money was easy. And money was easy. Money was not expensive. and people were just, you know, I mean, I remember, I remember meeting a couple at dinner and they're like just a regular couple, you know, they had good paying jobs to be honest, you know, but they're like young lawyers and they're like, yeah, we're buying this house. I mean, it's like the crazy amount of money for the house. I'm like, how are they even going to pay the mortgage, you know? And they're like, oh, well, you know, it's interest only. And, you know, like, and the market's just skyrocketing and they're like, you know, and then we're going to refi out and that's going to, you know, I'm just like, And that was a moment in time where I was like, something bad is going to happen. But the skills that Rod's talking about are very unique and is very different from what you see on television now. Like, oh, I'm going to dress up. I'm going to look great. I know nothing about real estate. And I'm going to go sell a house. Yeah. Yeah. And that becomes your frame of reference. That becomes your basis. and foundations. So everything is relative, as I always say. So now that's the frame of reference, then life gets a lot easier, assuming. So that was in Texas where you began? We started in Texas, Houston, Texas, where we actually, both my wife and I got our first license. And then in 2011, I got my license here in California. Got it. And so focus, give us a little bit more sense of like the short sale business, the REO business. How many deals were you doing in those first couple of years? What did that look like in terms of like just what you brought home? Yeah, absolutely. So when I first started in Texas, I walked away from Porsche West Houston. And within, I would say probably it took about literally two to three months before I started acquiring listings. And what I did was, you know, I sold over 400 cars while working between Porsche, Land Rover, Jaguar, or Westside Lexus. And so I had this large book of business and I went into the book and I had all my clients' phone numbers and emails. And back then, you know, people still wrote letters. And so I wrote a letter to each one of my clients basically saying one in four individuals that you may know is going to be facing foreclosure or may currently be facing foreclosure. And if you happen to know anyone or yourself is faced with this situation, I am versed and skilled to help you navigate this process, reach out. So I sent those letters. About two weeks later, my phone starts to ring and people start calling me saying, I know this person, I got this friend or that friend. And also I worked out at a local gym called Lifetime Fitness. And a few guys there also knew that I was in the real estate and they would approach me like, hey, I'm in this situation. So we were carrying 10 listings at any given time. And on annual, we would do right around 18 to 20 deals at that time. So from about 2008 to 2011, when we moved back to California, on average, we do 18 to 20 deals. And for Texas at that time, you know, that's that's good business, right? You know, for my wife and I, we were able to manage that. And the biggest thing is we were able to help a lot of families. But then we transitioned because we wanted to live in California and we made the move back. And I was fortunate. I was at REMAX at the time. And REMAX had a relationship with Bank of America. And while I was in Texas, I didn't know this at the time, but I had a list. And I said, if I'm going to go after short sales, I'm going to focus on the bigger banks because they've got the most loans. So I focused on Bank of America, Chase, and Wells Fargo. Bank of America had more subprime loans than anyone. And Chase was second and Wells Fargo was third. Well, not knowing that in the meantime, the banks had to adapt to the environment that we were in. So they created equator to actually have transparency and actually track the short sales. And what they focused on were the agents that were closing deals regularly that were versed. And they had a cooperative short sale program here in Southern California. And I got introduced to the lady that was running that, you know, that, that arm of the division at the time. And they gave me an account similar to REOs. So instead of getting REOs that you would have to go and list and also put money into, which a lot of REO agents, people didn't notice. People, I want to get REO listings. But what you don't realize, there's a cost with coming and carrying REO listings. You have to pay to actually have those properties fixed up, property preservation, all that came out of your pocket and the banks reimbursed you later. Whereas with the cooperative short sale, I didn't have to do that. It was 6% guaranteed. Didn't matter if I doubled into the transaction or if another agent came along, they were going to pay three and three. For California, that's pretty strong, right? San Diego specifically. The other thing was they had an actual already, at that time, they had an actual appraisal that they went by. So they sent out an appraiser, they appraised the property, and at that, that's where you would list the home versus you would have to figure out the numbers, right? Typically, you know, 70, 75% of value is where you'd have to gauge pricing your property on. And in this case, they did the appraisal and they would tell you, this is where you list it and you got 120 days to sell it. Right. And then we'll give the actual property owner a relocation fee for five to $30,000. That got a lot of people's attention. So I would just basically work the list that they would send me that I would anywhere like daily, I'd get 10 or 15 leads out of that time that I did it for four and a half years. I got probably like 150 leads and closed about 70 million of that. Because a lot of people said no, but a lot of people, you know, a few people said yes. And so I worked that for about four years, and that's what got me acclimated. And I was selling all around Southern California. And that actually helped me learn the markets really fast. And I was appreciative for that because that opportunity really showed me, you know, how broad of a scale Southern California was, not just from San Diego, but to Orange County all the way up to LA. So you were coming all the way up there? I was coming all the way up here. you know, and Orange County and also working deals down the center. If you go Google Rod Watson or go on Zillow, you'll see the little dots and see where I've sold all over a sudden. I think that's unique because that helped me learn the markets rather fast. Well, most agents are typically just hyper-focused on a macro or micro market. You know, Beverly Hills is an example or Woodland Hills. And that's fine. That's the traditional way. But at that time, I wasn't coming in a traditional way. You know, I was coming in. This was a new era of real estate that no one had ever seen before. So So for me, it was also exciting, but I was also very, very fortunate to be in that position where I was leading that short sale cooperative short sale program for Bank of America. That came from significant initiative just per the letter writing to that book of business from your car dealers. And that's where it triggered all that. That's all preparation and initiative. And that's exactly the point I was going to make is that one thing that's standing out is that when we see new realtors come in the business or if we are coaching with a realtor that wants to elevate their business there are activities that lead to business And it not generally not rocket science and it's also generally not super easy. You got to put in the grind. You got a background in athletics. You have a background in coaching. So you understand you're not going to be game ready without, you know, without doing the running, you know, without doing the running, which is not a lot of fun in between. And, but like you said, the, the, you know, taking the, taking the list, calling the people, writing, you know, writing a handwritten letter, you know, moving out here and just chasing after all the, all the leads that, that were in front of you and then taking the ones that are, you know, wherever they are now, you know, now it's like open house is a great way to get business. People are like, oh, well, how far away is it? Or what they do at the open house, lackluster. Well, interesting story is from doing those short sales, I helped one particular client who he had an ice cream business at the time. And he was making good money, but he had hit some financial hardships. And his family made a decision they were going to move back to their country in Asia. And we ended up short selling this property, got it taken care of, and they moved back to their country. Well, 20 years later, he's a billionaire. And that's the guy that bought the $18.8 million property all cash. So, you know, when helping people, when you're helping people, you just never know, right, how someone's life's going to change. 20 years later, this guy went from struggling and, you know, trying to make ends meet, had to short sell this property with his family to being a billionaire and being able to come to California and sought me out because I maintain consistency with putting out content, market updates, you know, and just being consistent year after year. And that built trust with him. He's like, I'm thinking about buying a property in LA. You know, what do you think? What area should we consider? Et cetera, et cetera. Long story short, that led to us selling almost $20 million property 20 years later. That's phenomenal. And you started by saying patience and it's always comes back to greatness and great accomplishment takes time. And it comes back to having that foresight and discipline to play the long game, Like plant the seeds, come from curiosity, come from contribution and great things happen over time. And you don't know when they're going to happen. And even quite frankly, if they're going to happen, but they will happen if you do that with consistency. Yeah. And also, you know, the other piece, too, is just building building the foundation that Rod took the time to understand all of the aspects of real estate. And, you know, taking a course is one thing, but, you know, getting it down to your cards and all that kind of stuff. and really making sure you knew all of that. And it does come back to value because, especially now, most buyers are finding the houses that they're interested in before they talk to a realtor. So what value are you going to add after they come to you with that? and market knowledge? Or actually, let me ask you that. So are you finding that to be the case a lot of times with your clients? They're saying, hey, Rod, look at, I found this thing. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, obviously, everyone has access to Zillow, Redfin, these prime sites, compass that people go to to search. And buyers have a lot more control to the data and the information, or should I say access, right? And when clients come to me with certain properties, I try to get an understanding of what interests them about this property, right? And educate them about the area. It's not just the house, but it's where the house is located. Location is everything, right? And even getting down to the detail of lot positioning, like can your neighbors really see into your backyard? You know, that's important. You know, if you're talking about spending 10, 15, or five or $6 million, I don't want somebody being able to see into my master bathroom or my bedroom, or let alone see me if I want to walk around naked in my backyard, right? So those things are important. So to answer that question, yeah, we've gotten multiple situations where buyers are sending us properties and we're trying to figure out what it what's the interest. Why? Right. And then once you get understanding that that builds trust and it can lead to me actually doing my job and saying, hey, do you want advice about this or your mind is made up? This is what you want to do. Right. And even if their mind is made up, I still try to get to understand. does this make sense? You know, and is this the right time for you to pull the trigger and, you know, move forward with this acquisition or purchasing this property? I, I spend a fair amount of time, uh, you know, and not, you know, not frontline business for me selling real estate, but I still handle friends and family and, you know, special client or whatever. And I find myself spending a lot of time talking them out of what they're looking at. You know, like, oh, this isn't priced right. This is, you know, you know, whatever idea they have at the end of the day, it's their decision. And I always tell them that, but, um, you know, I have a client that's, you know, look, you know, looking to buy in Venice and his studio is in, in Malibu. Yeah. You know, what kind of a drive is that going to be? What's that going to look like? Yeah. I mean, look, at the end of the day, value is much more than surface level of a home, right? It's so much, as you say, about location, orientation, views, what's going on in the neighborhood. So much is there beyond what you see on the online portals. And that's where a great real estate agent who knows an area intimately and knows what to look for really helps create value. And it's like being a consultant, being a fiduciary is what we do. It's like, don't tell them what you think they want to hear. Tell them what you believe is the truth based on the data. And that's how you ultimately build trust. You know, that life is not all perfect, as we all know. And so many of us want to paint that perfect picture because we don't want to disappoint others. But when we're willing to give them honest, constructive feedback, even if it may disappoint them in the moment, that's how you build trust. And that's how they ultimately see you as someone who's just a great fiduciary for them. And I know you well enough to know that's exactly how you operate. Yeah. You know, so bring us now. So that was sort of the background, which is great and very unique because we haven't heard that story from anyone that we've interviewed. So far. Yeah. And so now give us a sort of current state of your business. What does that look like geographically? Yeah. Do you have a team? You know, where's that business come from? Where's the focus? Yeah. So currently where we are right now is we're family operated on boutique brand, distinct concierge real estate, you know, and we've been actively in business independently since 2022. So going on four years, almost four and a half, my wife, Laura, and our oldest daughter, Renicia. And then we have nine of the agents that work with us by way of relationships. Some of them came over when we were at KW. Some came over when I was at Revel. and then others just were referred or reached out to me directly. Some of those agents are in Los Angeles and we have three down in San Diego and one in Orange County. And so spread out along the Southern California coast. Our focus is working with high net worth professionals, sports and entertainment, athletes, you know, entertainers. And that's more or less my niche. That's where I really focus heavily on because that's my passion. My wife, we're going to be launching, my wife and my daughter, we're going to be launching an office in San Diego next year that we've invested in a little workspace in the new Andia Barbosa development, which is in downtown, kind of that east village adjacent to the financial district. And we're excited about that because there's 399 units. We're one of the 399. So we got 398 individuals to market to for perpetuity. And that's that's that's great. You know, we're excited about that. And then, you know, just as far as business goes, I mean, our focus is really just really helping our clients, you know, providing a high level service. And I know people hear that a lot. But what does that really look like in real time? You know, being willing to go above and beyond the example. I had one client who came to town and I helped him lease a property. And this was a high end sports and entertainment client. And this family flew in really late. It was like they got in. They got in later than what they were supposed to. So they ended up getting in like around nine. And by the time they got from the airport to the house, it was almost 11 and the kids were hungry. Most agents are like, all right, here are the keys. I'm out. Right. I realized the situation. She he he had he had already left and I was there waiting to give her the keys. The kids were hungry and they're running all over the place. So I'm like, we can order pizza. So I ordered pizza for him and then we can make a store run. So we run down to CVS, get all the things that she needs and then get her back to the house, make sure she settled. And I leave. I don't leave there to probably like 1230, almost one o'clock in the morning. I have a family too, right? But I also understand this is an investment that I'm making into my business. Long story short, they became one of my bigger clients. We did multiple transactions with them and recently just sold their property for $7.4 million. I bring it up to say not about the numbers, but about caring about people. I got in this business because I care about what I do and I want to have an impact. It's bigger than just, you know, most people build companies. They want to exit. They want to sell. And that's important if that's your thing. And that's big business. But for me, I have a family, you know, and I didn't grow up having a close-knit family. I didn't grow up seeing what high-level business looks like or a healthy, functional family. So for me, when I had the opportunity to create that for myself, I wanted to be able to share that with the world and have an impact. So when you go above and beyond for clients, they remember that. Those are things that stand out. And those are things that can help position you for success down the road, whether you know it or not. And I didn't do that thinking, oh, I'm going to land them as a buyer or a seller down the road. This was a rental at the time. This was the right thing to do. And so our focus is really just taking care of our clients. And then the other thing too, man, is just having an impact, right? You know, we spend a lot of time putting content out and the content is informative just to educate people about the buying and selling process. And I spend a lot of time studying the markets. You know, I tell agents, you know, if you want to sell and you want to have success, get out there, go to Caravan, study the markets, build relationships with the agents, build relationships with people because that in the end is what is going to help you separate yourself from the rest. Because you can talk to a lot of agents, but when you start asking questions like, what's the average days on market? What's the price of a square foot? What's the culture here in these communities? Not many agents can answer those questions. You'd be surprised. We walk into luxury listings and, you know, maybe you have a top agent that has a team. You know, they have a bunch of listings. Some of the higher price listings are not selling quickly, so they might have a bunch of open houses. They're not sitting there on open houses. You know, it's about price per square foot that we go through all the time and they don't know the number of square feet of the house they're sitting, you know, or, you know, or, oh, hey, the square footage is listed here. Does that include the ADU or is that not include the ADU? Because, you know, the price per square foot is different. Oh, we're not sure. And so, you know. 50% of the time, if not more, they don't have an answer. That's correct. But see, and what Rod was talking about is going the extra mile. That's not even going the first mile. But if you're out there doing all the hard work to go that mile, that extra mile, you know, the extra miles are very, very lonely. You know, like you'll be one of the few out there doing that. and you've already done all this work. You did all that work. I know for a family that's coming in from out of town and finding them a lease and all that's the reason why people don't do leases. That's a lot of work, a lot of work, a lot of work. You already had how many hours invested that it was just that extra hour and a half from 11 to 12.30, which are crazy hours, but that's that extra hour and a half that was the extra mile. Look, I come back to, again, knowing you, preparation. like which comes back that's a standard that's a standard of excellence that rod has that distinguishes him that's just embedded in his character and it's like it always comes back to like do one to others per staying there an extra hour and a half from 11 to 12 30 do one to others as you want have done unto you right it's like think about it from their perspective correct which is amazing how many people and agents just quite frankly don't do yeah you know so how do you tell us a little bit how you straddle like LA and San Diego. Yeah. That's a good question. I look at the long game, right? I see the Southern California, even going all the way up to the Northern, you know, California coast, a guy coming from Texas, everything's pretty much flat till you get out to West side, West, West of Texas. They call it Hill country, right? San Antonio, Austin, you know, places like that, El Paso. But when you're in Southern Texas, everything's pretty flat. But when I came out here flying in, I see all these glowing lights in the hills and I see all these houses during the daylight. And I'm like, there's millions of houses everywhere as far as you can freaking see. Right. So that immediately triggered something in my mind is like there's unlimited opportunity to sell houses. Right. And I'm not from a particular neighborhood, but I see houses everywhere. And so for me, doing the short sales carried me throughout Southern California and I was able to learn the market. So that built my confidence that when I made the decision, I wanted to focus on launching our brand here in L.A., that I could do it because I had some transactions under my belt and I had to spend some time coming back and forth. So basically what I do now is I as a CEO, I focus on business development, right? Building relationships. That's an ongoing thing because it's like a farm. I grew up in the country. You plant a seed, you water it, you've done your job. Let Mother Nature do the rest. And some of those seeds may germinate, some won't. But that's not on me. I've done my job. And so I focus on the business development side that's ongoing. So when I'm in town, I'm always meeting with either current people in our sphere or building new relationships to add those individuals to the sphere. Right. And to keep that process of building relationships going. The other thing we do is we do caravans So we focus on that every other week producing content that informative steadying the market And then the other side is helping the agents really actually break through Right A lot of agents want to sell at the higher price points So sharing strategy with sharing strategies with those agents that are effective, that works, you know, mental preparation, you know, coaching them up, spending time with them. And the other is down in San Diego, you know, since we have a place there and I went to college, I'm very familiar, very comfortable. I've been helping my wife and my daughter really get acclimated with selling in the city and then really drilling that down to one hyper local area, which is downtown San Diego, right? It's a highly dense population. A lot of young people coming and going close to the airport, high walk scores when people walk out of their building. They got restaurants, they got clubs, they got bars. There's a lot to do. And so for me, it's really just wearing a lot of hats, but at the end of the day, focusing on the long game because what we're focusing on building is for the long term, right? You know, servicing clients at the high level here in LA and down in San Diego, you know, you're servicing everyday people that are, you know, buying in the 500 to like the 2 million range and, you know, and then join the process while doing that too. So I wear a hat as a CEO and I spend time really just focusing on building the relationships and servicing the clients that are right there in front of us. And then also making sure our systems and processes are dialed in, you know, we're really leaning heavy in the AI right now. And so I've been spending a lot of time with our team developing our AI assistant ACE, really more around database management, really keeping us top of mind in front of the people we've already serviced. And then, you know, being in this business, you accumulate a lot of leads over the years. And a lot of those leads don't often close right away. So utilizing ACE is really helping us to stay not only top of mind, but provide value to those people that are in our database. So that's where I spend a lot of my time between Los Angeles and San Diego and just developing our tech technology. I'm curious a little bit more about ACE and how that is creating sort of mindshare. Yeah, that's a good question. You know, ACE was something that, you know, we, with the partnership with Radius, you know, they said, hey, you know, we're working on this level of technology. And that caught my attention because I had this massive database and I've tried different systems and it just wasn't a fit. It didn't work the way I thought it would. Right. And I was like, rather than me chasing new leads every month, I've got almost 40,000 contacts in this database. I know there's more business here. So I hired a company to sweep our database that basically told me how many individuals have bought homes and how many how many individuals have sold properties. And that was almost a billion dollars in sales that took place in that database that we missed out on. And that just didn't sit well with me. And so I was like, if I can just get one percent of that billion, that's where I want to focus my attention. And now let's work backwards and figure out how we can make that happen. And it's not an efficient way to just sit on the phone, I think, personally and try to just dial, dial, dial. But you can use AI to send text messages and emails. And then when you get responses from those individuals, the next step is schedule a time to either get in front of them or have a conversation with them. And so we've positioned ACE to actually work just like an assistant. You know, take care of those little tedious tasks, follow up and really hone in on figuring out who in a database may be ready to transact in three to six to 12 or 24 months. So it's really starting to automate the communication to bring the people that actually raise their hand or indicate that they may want to raise their hand to your attention. Then you take it in. So, you know, you basically are looking for the warm leads within that database and then going from there. Yes. And then and then so automating some of the initial contacts and then when you get when you get a response, then taking it from there. Yes. Yeah. So I can see all the communication when Ace is reaching out to anyone in our database. And if there's things I need to step in and say or get involved in within that conversation, I have the ability to do it. But yeah, we've programmed it and set prompts to reach out to tag contacts in our database. So example, sellers are an expired seller or a buyer, open house potential buyer. Those individuals are tagged and then there's notes. So then Ace can be able to look at the notes, see the tag profile, and then it's prompted on how we want the tone to be when engaging with those individuals. Not so much what to say word for word, but how to actually introduce yourself and then the value that you're there to basically offer on behalf of Rod and the team. Love it. What does obviously family's core, which I really respect and appreciate how you've integrated your family and I watch it also, you know, knowing you and I watch it on social media with your daughter and your wife. I think that's so cool. And, you know, I try to do somewhat similar things with my own family, with my son. What does the future look like? What's the vision for your team and your company? Yeah, I just believe in living a simple life, right? And simple is relative to each individual. You know, peace and spending time with my family. When I grew up, I had a family, but we were fractured. You know, drugs came into the community. My dad went to prison. My mom got remarried. She was in an abusive relationship. I was out of the home for several years from the time I was 14 until I graduated from high school. So I didn't really understand or really see true family structure. I didn't have a dad in the home and a mother that were on the same page working together, working towards building something. And when I got the opportunity to create that for myself, I've really locked in on that. And so what I see both long term and short term is I hopefully see all of our daughters working with us in the business. That's what we're working towards. Our middle daughter, she's working on her license now. My younger daughter, she says she has some interests and there's other things she wants to do. But ideally, I would love to see us all working in the business. And then I think the other thing on the short term side is the impact is important to me. It's not just about the money, but it's the impact that we can have on the people that we work with, the community that we serve. Like, example, you know, I've had a few pro athlete clients, one in particular. He played for the Chargers and he's hosting his second annual football camp. We sponsored five kids last year. This year, we're going to sponsor potentially 10 or more kids. So being involved, we're making an impact and helping these kids get exposure to not just NFL players, but what it's like to be in that environment where they're being coached, they're being taught the game of football, how to play it the right way. protective, you know, you know, and also that giving back aspect, I think, is really important because it allows us to build a deeper connection with our clients and to see that we're more than just real estate agents that's out to chase the commission. So really being heavily involved in the community, you know, having my family, also my wife and daughters were at last year's camp, and hopefully we'll be able to continue that. But overall in the family business, it's a legacy thing, right? Just to see our girls be able to thrive, be able to sell properties and be able to earn an income from doing that and, you know, continue the lifestyle that we're currently living on the long term. That's something I want to see rather than them having a look at going to college. And that's not a knock. I went to college. I have two degrees, undergraduate and a master's MBA. But at the same time, I'm not working in my preferred fields that I went to school for. Right. And so I've told my daughters, rather than you going that route, you can learn this business and you can go out, have an impact in the world, make your own money and then go figure out what else it is you want to do if you decide real estate is not the only thing you want to do in life. So for me, man, it's just really helping create that family legacy, create stability, financial stability, and just quality of life. I mean, you guys know when you become successful in real estate, it's rewarding. It can help you open a lot of doors in life and do things that oftentimes if you're not on a high paying job, even if you're on a high paying job, your time is limited. You can work towards buying back and getting back some of your time in this business. But when you do get that time, what you do with it is really important. And for us, we like to travel. We like to spend time at our place and having dinner with the girls. All those things are important. Yeah. You're an entrepreneur as a real estate agent. I mean, some people lose sight of that and there's good and bad. They come with that. There's a lot of reward if you create discipline and structure and you have a vision and you execute. And quite frankly, you could be getting nothing if you're an out of business real fast, which is candidly the vast majority of new agents do, you know? So yes, it creates, and I know you, cause you're super intentional about creating structure, creating systems, creating a path, having a purpose and having a plan. And I think that's a central theme for people who are successful in this business. And, and, and they're the, they're the minority for sure. Do you, uh, do you have a, like a daily regimen? Is there a certain amount of, yeah. Okay. So, so share that with us. Yeah. So the daily regimen, man, is, you know, I wake up, my wife and I, we have our, coffee and we listen to some motivational, uplifting affirmations, because I think what you say to yourself and the things you absorb in the first 10, 15 minutes when you wake up is really important. So if you're someone and you're waking up and you're stressed out and you got anxiety all the time, rather than waking up and rushing into the day, I think it's important. I've learned this is to take time for yourself. So that's our routine. We wake up first hour or so. it's just about us. And then we go to the gym. And, uh, you know, unless I have appointments immediately that I need to tend to with clients, I block out from basically 7.00 AM to about 10.00 AM. That's us. That's our time. That's the time for me and my wife to focus on ourselves, our health, our mental health. Physically, we go on our walk. We usually get our 10,000 steps in and then we hit the gym and then we shower up and then we head home and we take care of business that needs to be taken care of. If that's servicing the client, if that's showing a property, or if that's getting on the phone call with agents, et cetera, then I block out that time literally from like one to about five o'clock, six o'clock for those business-related activities after we're done. And in the beginning, I used to think, you just got to wake up, you got to hit it, hit it. And that's not healthy. Mentally, physically, as you're getting older, that stuff takes a toll on your body. So my regimen is take care of self first, family, and then business. Yeah. If you're not in a position of strength and both mentally, emotionally, and physically, then you can't give to other people, whether it's your family or your clients. I think that's so important to recognize that. And it's not sustainable otherwise. Right. Because again, at the end of the day, it's about consistency and consistency means sustainability. Yeah. And, you know, we, we, we talk about, you know, like you're talking about trying to balance, you know, putting, putting health and family first and that sort of thing. And that, and that is essential for sure. Yeah. Um, one of the, one of the things that, that I think is really vexing in this thing, which is very entrepreneurial is that people can spend a lot of time doing activities that are not going to lead to business. Yeah. Um, how do you distinguish, like you said, you know, when you come up to LA, you're going to make sure you're spending time with the, with the current database and you're going to make sure you're spending some time with some developing some new, some new people in your database. How are you, how are you figuring out how to use that, that business time? To answer that question, being very strategic about, you know, how I move, listening to my wife, you know, early on, I was taking certain meetings and, you know, just, I need to connect with people, get in front of people, but also being more selective and thinking about how is that, what is that meeting going to ultimately lead to? It's not just about the money, but it's like, is there something there that you're really going to be able to connect or help or service those individuals? So I, rather than just saying yes all the time, I'm being more selective and saying no. And then the things that I say yes to have to lead to a category that it's going to improve my life in some way or our business in some way or some shape or form. And so for me, You know, if someone's just calling me and they just want to meet up because, you know, hey, you're watching Rod Watson. I love to have coffee. I mean, it's like I can do a phone call with you because my time that I have to spend to get in the car is valuable. Time I'm going to leave and be away from my home is valuable. So if I'm going out of the house and I'm going to be meeting with somebody or I'm spending some time away from home, it has to be leading towards generating income at some point or a relationship that I'm established that eventually is going to generate income or some form of a benefit for all parties that are involved. So I'm very selective about who I'm around now more so than ever, where I go and how I spend my time. And like I said, my schedule is pretty, it's in my calendar, right? And this phone, that's the other great thing is that this phone allows you to connect with people all over the world. And by putting out content and being consistent and connecting with people, commenting on other people's posts and engaging with other people on these multiple platforms, opportunities present themselves. And then I can decide when those opportunities present themselves, which ones are worth me spending my time focusing on. How do you, I mean, I, I agree with everything you said and now I'm a newer agent and I'm, you know, I'm doom scrolling or whatever, you know, I'm commenting, you know, like how, like I know how Josh does it. You know, he's got, he's got a target, target group, you know, and then within that target group, that's who he's commenting on and right. So you can spend a lot of time, uh, you know, on Instagram or Facebook or whatever and generate no business. Um, so how are you figuring out now? I was talking about the outside world. Now I guess you're talking about, cause you brought it up. Phone is great. Yeah. We can connect people all over the world. how do you figure out who am I going to comment on or is there any system how does that work yeah good question Paul I mean I learned from a mentor of mine years ago you get rich in niches and so I think if you're a new agent you're starting out you're like where am I going to get business or how am I going to get business or you know who am I going to engage with start with the things that interest you that you're passionate about that you're knowledgeable of if that's the area where you live or if you're a soccer you're in the soccer right or me it's basketball or sports Right. Or if it's music, we're in L.A. Entertainment, then work your way backwards and say, OK, where do these people congregate? Where do they hang out or where are they on these platforms? Are they on Instagram? Are they on TikTok? Are they on LinkedIn? And then once you able to figure out where these individuals are and where they reside then reach out to them engage with them And so what I did early on was knowing that I had a background in sports I focused on AAU coaches Why Because they have close relationships and they're engaged with up and coming talent that could be potential lottery picks. And I happen to be a college basketball coach, a high school basketball coach, and I play basketball in college and overseas. And so having those relationships, I'm able to then say, okay, who in my network has access to the ideal future client that I want to work with. AAU coaches did. That's how I got my first NBA clients was reaching out to my mentor who was an AAU coach. And he introduced me to five players. Out of those five, I ended up representing three. And out of those three, they were top five lottery picks. So understanding who your niche or who that ideal client is that you want to work with and where they reside in engaging and reaching out. And also ask for warm introductions. Hey, you know someone? Can you introduce me to this person? You know, I'd love to work with them or I'd love to meet those individuals in the family or be able to just make a connection. So those warm introductions are important. Warm introductions have taken me a long way. If people know you, they like you and they trust you, they won't have a problem introducing you to people that they know, like and trust. But the character has to be there. You have to be reliable and you have to be someone that people can trust. So I would say focus on a niche market and then just go all in. One of the things in there is – did you want something or no? Yeah. Okay. Yeah, it's about an hour. Okay. Yeah, it's 2.25. Okay. Five minutes for you. All right. So – wait until that door closes. One of the things that you mentioned, I think, is a highlight, and it's what we talk about all the time is we'll ask people, what's your superpower? And to then focus in on your superpower. So if I'm coming to LA and I know that Beverly Hills Flats is super high-end houses, that's cool. And I want to make a bunch of money. So I'm going to go for some super high-end houses. How am I actually going to get a foothold in there? Where is the entry point? What's it going to be? Whereas you look at something you have great interest in. Before we started rolling the podcast, we were talking to Rod about basketball. And I have an interest in it, but I don't know that much about it. And just the rolling off the stats and here's how this player compares to that player. And the statistics say this, but that's misleading because of these other four things. And now you know that you're talking to somebody who really, really knows their stuff. So the message is not learn basketball like the back of your hand so that you can then connect with basketball players. That's not the lesson. The lesson is what is that one thing? What is that two or three things that you really are passionate about? And then your example of in San Diego, going into that new construction, 399 units, I think it was. and, you know, locating yourself there. That's how, you know, if your passion is architecture, really that's your passion, then it's going to be easy for you to learn. It's going to be easy for you to apply. It's going to be easy for you to, now it's not a neighborhood, but you want to be like, pick out all the great architects in LA and where are these houses, you know? And now let's start creating some content around great architecture, if that's your thing. Absolutely. If it's interior design, it's like, how did I transform this room that was, you know, mediocre to something that's like super splashy? And, you know, how am I going to help my client with that? Now, that person that's great at interior design, they may be terrible at finance. Um, so now real estate is a business that involves finance, but there, but there are these different levels where you don't need to be a master at finance. You definitely need to know, you know, mortgage rates and affordability and, you know, but you'd be surprised if you mastered a small amount, a small, important amount of the finances, then you can switch back into that thing that you love. And that's going to be your, your superpower. And, oh, you know, I need to know the contract. Yeah, yeah, you do. And I need to know the contingencies. Yeah, I do. And title. Yeah, I need to know that. But the landscape, you know, just take that landscape and either have somebody help you with, you know, get a transaction coordinator, for example, like I wouldn't do a deal. Forget about I'm a lawyer. You know, the thousands and thousands of transactions that have gone through our company over time. I would not do a deal without a transaction coordinator myself. because there are the, you know, 75 items that need a signature at different times. There's a timeline and yeah, you can automate that. You can use AI to help you. I'm like, let's just get the transaction coordinator that has 20 years experience. Now I can focus on what aspect of that do I love? When I'm servicing a client, you know, it's all about what kind of value add can the house be? That's where I love it. Somebody might want a done, done, done house. That's okay. but I'm focusing on, you know, the, the value add and the generational wealth and all that kind of stuff. And then, Oh, but, but they're interested in a neighborhood that I don't know, like the back of my hand. So I immediately go for somebody who knows the neighborhood, like the back of their head and go, Hey, let's do this deal together. Um, but again, it is that sort of working inside of your passion. You could be passionate about a neighborhood. Um, go live in that neighborhood. If you can't afford to live in that neighborhood, park at the coffee shop in that neighborhood. Make that your mobile office. But these are the pieces. Yeah. I mean, as Rod said it, the riches are in the niches, right? Yeah. And he chose sports and entertainment. And he's an expert in that world and being able to relate to those potential clients and what are the unique needs that they have relative to other people. You know, and that's, that's, that's the key. Be so good at something that your weaknesses become irrelevant because you're so good at and you create so much value, which basically you get rewarded monetarily for that. And that gives you the opportunity to delegate and hire other people in the other essential areas that you're not so good at, nor do you want to do. That's the key to success in anything in my mind. And stay, I would say, stay away from the like, you know, here's the thing. I think it's cool. Everybody thinks it's cool to represent athletes, you know, but I'm not going to be able to understand and speak that language of at the level that Rod can about basketball experience that would really connect with them. There's, there's no amount of studying I could do to get there. So I'm like, all right, if I have an athlete client, I'm going to focus on what I know about. I'm going to talk about how can I help you in the area that I know. But don't just look at what you think is cool. Think about what is that thing that you are really great at. Where are you the expert? And become an expert in something. That's the bottom line to me. And that's where great success lies. You look at anyone who's a top performer in anything, sports, entertainment, business, any of it. They are an expert typically in something. And no one pays attention to what they're not an expert in because they're so focused on how good they are at the thing that they're great at. They've mastered their craft. And we have a young realtor who works with us. And she's such a hustler. And one of the things that she would do is she would tell me all the things she didn't know. You know, like, well, I don't know. How am I going to do this? Because I don't even know what this is. And I don't know what that is or whatever. And then I overheard her doing a cold call still very, very early in her career. And when I overheard her do that cold call, I was like, wow, I've been doing this. I've been in this business forever. I'm not sure I could do that cold call better than her. I'm like, that's amazing. I'm like, this is your strength. Like all this other stuff. Like you don't focus on that. Don't put that out front. You know, you need to know a certain amount of things in this area. We've got people that can help you stick with the thing that you are really great at. And she does actually does a lot of transactions already. Shout out to Layla. Yeah. Yeah. I wasn't going to say who it was. I'll make sure she watches this. I think that's important, man. Understanding your strengths and knowing what you're, you know, what you're capable of and then putting yourself in a position where you can thrive, realizing those strengths. Right. Yeah. You know, for me, I think my superpower is I have a high level of emotional intelligence, you know. I'm an overachiever to a certain extent. You know, I'll push myself to exhaustion to accomplish a task or accomplish a goal. But I think ultimately patience is also something you have to have. And that's the superpower of mine and being able to be patient enough to see things through. And I think oftentimes people get too impatient and they quit too soon. And so, you know, understanding yourself and your strengths can really help you go a long ways in this business. And I define that as discipline. Yes, for sure. And Rod also made a really important point, which is knowing yourself. Because focusing on patience is something that somebody who is a massive doer needs to do. But a lot of times, it's like get up and go. So where are you on that spectrum? So you started off with saying, hey, I'm a person that could be an overachiever. I'm a person that could like really, you know, hammer at something until it's done. So I've, I've learned patience because that was the, that was the piece that, that, that was, you know, that was missing from that or, or at a lower level than that, than that overachiever thing. And for somebody else, it's not the overachiever. I say, Hey, forget patience, get up and let's go. Yeah. And I also think the times we've come up in, we were growing up, you had to be patient. A lot of shit took time to evolve or to happen or take place. You know, this generation that's with the technology, everything's moving faster. So the expectation is different. You know, people get frustrated if they don't see results in two weeks where it's like this shit might take two years. You know what I mean? Are you willing to stay, stay of course that not understood that when I came to California, this was a long term commitment. This was decades of time put in, not three years. And I'm going to be driving a fucking Lamborghini. You know, it's you're going to probably have to work 20 years before you can fucking buy a Lamborghini. Right. And are you really dedicated to that? And if you know the answer is no, then don't fucking do it. If the answer is yes, go all in. Yeah. I sum it up with play the long game with urgency. Yeah. Absolutely. Fire. Let's go. So we do a round called the fire round. And we've got some great deep questions, which somebody like you is, you know, will love your answers. But we're committed to not commenting so we can get through them real fast. Let's do it. What's your idea of perfect happiness? Time with my family. Yeah, time with my family. And financial stability. What's the attribute you most admire in others? Kindness. What's a trait you least like in others? People that are inconsiderate of others, you know, well-being and just not being considerate of other people. You know, emotional intelligence, those things are really annoying to me. A lack of emotional intelligence and really being considerate towards other people. Being inconsiderate, sorry. What's your greatest accomplishment? Oh, man, my family. I would say my wife and my kids. What's a trait in you that you would like to change? I think growing up, I developed a mentality of scarcity because everything was high to flight. and learning to retrain and rewire my mind to understand that there's abundance and you're not lacking anything and everything that's within you is there. It's designed to help you become the person you are. So that's self-doubt and really have to work internally to work on, like having a mindset of abundance. What's your most fond childhood memory? Most fond childhood memory, I would say probably riding the car with my dad when he would come pick me up. And just having that time with him, he would talk to me and say words of affirmations to me. Those are fond memories that I have as a kid. What's a talent that you'd most like to have? I would like to be multiple places at once, at the snap of a finger. So if I don't want to be here, I want to be in Bahamas, I'd love to be able to snap my finger like a genie and be in Bahamas. I think teleporting is the right word. teleportation being able to just go from one spot to the next love it so you're going on a hike and you know you're you're uh you're ascending this mountain you get to the top and beneath you can see all your friends your family the people you most care about are at the bottom and you're looking down on them what's the one thing that you say to them What do you shout from that hilltop? For me, the one thing I would say to them looking down is, you know, I would say to them, what do we need to do to figure out how we can help you guys get up here with me? That would be the thing. Figure out how to get everybody up top with me. I love it. That's awesome. I haven't heard that one before. You're awesome, brother.