This month on the Full Circle Podcast, Christi sits down with our own Reece Stanley, REALTOR® and Director of Agent Success on the team. They talk about the current real estate climate, advice for agents, real estate investing, looking towards the future, and a whole lot more!
If you prefer to watch your podcasts, check this interview out on our YouTube page!
This month on the Full Circle Podcast, Christi sits down with our own Reece Stanley, REALTOR® and Director of Agent Success on the team. They talk about the current real estate climate, advice for agents, real estate investing, looking towards the future, and a whole lot more!
If you prefer to watch your podcasts, check this interview out on our YouTube page!
<silence> The Full Circle podcast, compelling interviews and incredible tales from Colorado's Western Slope, from the mountains to the desert. Christy Reese and her team here from the Movers Shakers, and characters of the Grand Valley and surrounding mountain towns that make the Western slope the place we all love. You'll learn, you'll laugh, you'll love with the full circle. Hi everyone, and welcome to the Full Circle podcast. I'm Kristi Reese, your host, and this week I'm really excited to have one of our own from the Kristi Reese Group. Mr. Reese Stanley. Welcome Reese.
Speaker 2:Thank you.
Speaker 1:My goal today is for our listeners and viewers to get to know some of our team members a little bit better. And I thought we would start with you , uh, as our first , uh, on team guest on the podcast because , um, you're in the leadership role here at Christie Reese Group. And , um, you're just super fun to talk to <laugh>
Speaker 2:<laugh> , so Well , thank you. I thought it
Speaker 1:Would be fun for everybody to get to know you a little better.
Speaker 2:Awesome. Yeah .
Speaker 1:Alright , so start with day one.
Speaker 2:Okay. Yeah.
Speaker 1:Uh , yeah , <laugh> and up through today.
Speaker 2:Perfect. To go . Let's go.
Speaker 1:Um, I forgot to start my timer. We're gonna do that so we don't go way over. Um, but tell our listeners and viewers a little bit about , um, growing up in Colorado and how you got to Grand Junction.
Speaker 2:Yeah, definitely. So , um, yeah, born and raised in Colorado. I grew up in Cortez, down in the Four Corners area. Uh , my family homesteaded there , um, I think we're like at 112 years ago. That's
Speaker 1:Such a cool thing. Yeah.
Speaker 2:And that's still in our family, so we go visit it often. And , um, just really need to have that piece of history still in our, in our family. Mm-hmm.
Speaker 1:<affirmative>.
Speaker 2:Um, then about 15 years ago, I moved to Grand Junction to go to Mesa State at the time. And , uh, met my wife there and stayed put. We love Grand Junction and, and the community and everything has to offer , so ,
Speaker 1:Yeah. And you mentioned your wife Nicole. Yes.
Speaker 2:You
Speaker 1:Guys met at C M U , was she a student there as well?
Speaker 2:Yes, she was a nursing student there, so . Okay .
Speaker 1:And does she have her nursing degree?
Speaker 2:She does, yeah. She has her nursing degree. Went on to get her nurse practitioner and now she owns , uh, or operates a , a med spa here in Grand Junction.
Speaker 1:Mm-hmm. <affirmative> you . And we can say the name of it. Oh
Speaker 2:Yeah. Little
Speaker 1:Quick
Speaker 2:Plug. Uh , about Face and Body Med Spa here in Grand Junction. Uh ,
Speaker 1:She does a great job. And they have a number of therapists there. They do. They're over , um, next to Roman Family Chiropractic. Yep .
Speaker 2:Right off Patterson. And
Speaker 1:You and Nicole both did some , uh, bodybuilding and fitness competitions when you were
Speaker 2:Dating, is that right? Yeah , we both doing it were mm-hmm . <affirmative> , it kind of feels like once upon a time ago, <laugh> <laugh> . But yeah, we, that's , uh, definitely one of our first passions was fitness, so we did some physique and bikini competition. I didn't wear a bikini, but , oh , <laugh> , but , yeah. Yeah . So we did that. Uh , it was , it was , uh, a lot of fun, a lot of learning and cool to push your body, see what you can do.
Speaker 1:Yeah. And , um, how do you feel that the, I I mean, for me, I had a lot of different , uh, jobs before I landed full-time in real estate. I mean, I got my license at a very young age, but I kind of thought, Hmm , I'm not sure that's what I wanna do. And, and so I , uh, flirted with a number of other occupations, but I feel like every single thing I did helped me be a better realtor because there's so many things involved in , um, guiding someone through a real estate transaction. How do you feel like the fitness industry and what you were doing there helped you with where you are now?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so I , I not only focused on my fitness , but I was a personal trainer as well. And , uh, so what I've, what I've found I've gravitated towards in my different professions is just helping others. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> . Um , and with fitness, you know, I was helping others with their health and nutrition and just overall wellness, and that was really rewarding to mm-hmm . <affirmative> , uh, to help people make those lifestyle changes. Um , from there I went into firefighting. I was an E M T firefighter with Grand Junction , uh, fire. And again, just helping people. Um, and that was a little more lit , you know, literal , um, helping people in their, in their most vulnerable moments. Um, but that's what I kept finding is I just liked to help people. Um, and real estate is a really unique way to help people as well. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> , um, whether that's changing their , uh, financial future or just helping someone provide a fam or a home for their family, you know, that's , uh, very rewarding as well. Mm-hmm.
Speaker 1:<affirmative>, so , so when you got your real estate license, you were a firefighter Yes .
Speaker 2:At
Speaker 1:The time. And , uh, I'm sure that was a very gratifying job, but also a , a lot of hard work, very demanding, especially with young kids, which you have three young kids. Right. So, how did you decide to make the transition from firefighting into real estate?
Speaker 2:So we had just had our second , uh, uh, boy Weston and , uh, decided, you know, if we were gonna make a change. The time was then, like, as kids got older, we were only gonna get more , uh, <laugh> ingrained into the fire department and just, yeah , just , uh, life gets busy. So we made the change. My wife was working at the time, so we felt comfortable to make the big switch. And so I , I didn't do either part , part-time. I just jumped straight into real estate mm-hmm .
Speaker 1:<affirmative> ,
Speaker 2:Uh , which I think was, was important for me to do. There was no plan B at that point. Um, and it was, it was a lifestyle change. I just, we wanted different things for our family, different things for our future. And , uh, real estate was the way to do that, being an agent and helping, helping others buy and sell. Mm-hmm.
Speaker 1:<affirmative> , uh, real estate's certainly not stress free . And certainly, I mean, I , I think a lot of people get into the business thinking, oh, I can do my own hours, which is true to some extent, but there are a lot of demands on your time in real estate too. How has that transition been for you and your family?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I , you know, it does offer some flexibility. Mm-hmm . <affirmative> , um, you know, I joke often that I, I went away from a profession that I was working 10 days a month to working basically seven days a week. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, you know, but it's not, it is not constant. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> , we might be able to work for over the weekend. You might be able to work for an hour or two hours in the afternoon, and that's all it demands of you that weekend. And other times it's a little busier. Um , but the flexibility of, of being able to plan family events around , um, the real estate schedule and, and that sort of thing is really nice. Mm-hmm . <affirmative> , it's a , it's a luxury for sure.
Speaker 1:Yeah. And when you're at the fire department, you were doing these long shifts where you're, you're not able to be with your family at all during those times.
Speaker 2:Right, right. You know, you're sacrificing the bedtime routines or, or, you know, as the kids would've gotten older school events and, and different things like that. Yes . So
Speaker 1:I do think that that's one of the things that , um, real estate is, is, is a great career for, is, you know, if I have a kid event, I put it on my calendar , uh, as an appointment and I don't miss it. So that's really wonderful. And since you joined us, you have had another baby, baby girl. Yes.
Speaker 2:Has
Speaker 1:Three kids now.
Speaker 2:Yes. Cooper is six, Weston is four, and Blake just turned two, so Yeah .
Speaker 1:She's such a cutie.
Speaker 2:They're fun. Yeah. Yeah , it's busy.
Speaker 1:Um, so I guess the , uh, that begs the question why Kristy Reese Group , um, when you wanted to get your license, you came and interviewed with us and, and what was it about our company that drew you in?
Speaker 2:So, for me, I mean , I didn't meet with a bunch of companies. I met once I met with Kristy Reese group that just felt right. I was looking for , um, some, some sort of company that was going to replace the camaraderie of the fire department. You know, I'd always been a part of a team and a family. And in real estate, I know that that's not always the case. You can operate as a solo agent and be very , um, very much alone on an island, whatever. Um, and so joining the Christie Reese group, it was just had this family atmosphere. The culture's amazing. And I knew that's where I wanted to be. Like, that's, that's the support I needed. Uh, that's the day-to-day living I was wanting from you and my family. So it's, it's been one of the best decisions I've ever made.
Speaker 1:We're so happy to have you here. And
Speaker 2:I'm not just saying that 'cause Christie's across the table. <laugh> . Good answer. Re
Speaker 1:<laugh> . Yeah . Um, no, we, I mean, it , it felt like the right fit from the start for us too. And, and one of the reasons I wanna have you on the podcast is 'cause I want , uh, the people that watch and listen to know the , the caliber of people that we have on our team. Like you. I mean, I just , um, you're so professional and so dedicated to everything that you do, and I really appreciate that.
Speaker 2:Thank you.
Speaker 1:So , um, since , uh, I mean, you had a really amazing , um, few years in real estate with Christie Reese Group , um, built up your business in a , a super solid way. And, and then we've moved you into a new position, although you're still working with clients full time , you're our sales manager Yeah .
Speaker 2:Here
Speaker 1:At the Christie Reese Group. So tell everybody what that entails.
Speaker 2:It's been a , it's been a really interesting transition for me. Um, you know, I've, I've worked in sales in the past , um, and to oversee what agents are doing as far as production and helping them with their goals is, is again, coming back to wanting to help others. And , um, it's, it's really gratifying in a lot of ways and challenging in others. Um, just seeing the potential in agents, even if they don't see it in themselves, and just helping them understand the why behind what they're doing , um, is , is really important. Mm-hmm . <affirmative> . Um , so it's been, it's , uh, provided me with a lot of growth personally. And , um, that's , uh, I'm , I'm con excited to see what , uh, what it brings in the future too. Mm-hmm .
Speaker 1:<affirmative> . So , and we have some agents on the team that have more experience than you do, and we've got some brand new agents on the team, so everybody's at a different level. How does that affect how you communicate with them each week?
Speaker 2:Yeah. We have senior agents that have 15 plus years in the, in the business where, you know, I'm just over four years. Um, but I think one thing that helps me guide them is just, just my ability to connect with people. Mm-hmm .
Speaker 1:<affirmative> ,
Speaker 2:You know, so when we talk about clients, that's, that's what we're doing. We're in the people business as much as we need to know about real estate and, and market trends and the data points around it, we also need to be able to communicate that with our clients and help guide them through that process. 'cause like you said, it's not stress free . So if we're good communicators and we connect well with people, then you'll be successful. Mm-hmm.
Speaker 1:<affirmative> like
Speaker 2:The rest you can train. So ,
Speaker 1:And there is a lot of talk about the new technology, ai , uh, artificial intelligence specifically, and how that has the ability to change our industry and our world, frankly. But in the end, we believe here at the Christie Reese Group, this is a relationship business. We're not just about a transaction and helping somebody sell, get it sold quick, and , and then we're done. Um, but it's about a lifetime relationship. And being an advisor, how do you talk to the agents on the team about building those relationships?
Speaker 2:We really stress the importance of your database. You know, just loving on your, your sphere or the people that you know , uh, because when times get tough, that's, that's, that's what people re resort to, right? They're gonna work with people who they know, like, and trust. And so if we don't have a , a good presence within our own community , um, then everybody knows a real estate agent and they'll, they'll look elsewhere. Mm-hmm.
Speaker 1:<affirmative> .
Speaker 2:So we just, we just talk about , uh, loving on our, on our people, right? Mm-hmm. <affirmative>
Speaker 1:Yeah. Being
Speaker 2:That go-to,
Speaker 1:'cause we get online leads Sure. And they're people that we don't know generally. Yeah . Some
Speaker 2:Of
Speaker 1:'em are here in our community, but maybe we're not aware of them. But yeah. Um , obviously really important to foster the relationships with the people you've already done business with and make sure they have what they need on a , a daily, weekly, monthly basis regarding their real estate needs. Mm-hmm . <affirmative> really important. Well, let's talk about , um, some of the trends that we see coming , uh, in real estate, specifically here in the Grand Valley, and then maybe on in the country as a whole. I mean, obviously we like to say we don't have a crystal ball. Um, and I, I've stressed a number of times with our clients and with our viewers and listeners that if the pandemic's, if the pandemic taught us anything, it is that , um, we don't know what's gonna happen in the future. I mean, things could change tomorrow and, and now we have , uh, everything going on in Israel, which is just shocking to see what's going on in the Middle East. Um, our hearts go out to all those folks over there, but things can have global implications , uh, and can affect the real estate market here in the United States. And so what I , I like to say to my clients is, I can tell you what's happening right now, and we can see a larger trend, but man, that can change quickly depending on so many things. Right?
Speaker 2:Absolutely.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah . Go ahead. Sorry. We
Speaker 1:Could have another pandemic here. Yeah . And everything we've thought was gonna happen in the next , uh, six months goes out the window. Yeah.
Speaker 2:There's so many variables , um, on the national level, international level, and right here in our own community , uh, whether that's , um, you know, a business bringing in more jobs or a business leaving and taking jobs , um, we haven't seen a significant impact at our, on our local economy , um, which is great. You know , I feel like we're, we're pretty stabilized mm-hmm. <affirmative> ,
Speaker 1:Um,
Speaker 2:But we come back to the inventory of housing and where that's headed. And right now we're we're just under 20% less than we were this time last year, correct? Mm-hmm. <affirmative> , I think it was 18%. Um, so that continues to be a challenge. Mm-hmm . <affirmative> , um, is inventory and affordable housing for people. Um, but because of that lack of inventory and the need for people to still find a home, the prices have remained , um, above , uh, above our three year average.
Speaker 1:So Yeah. Which is , uh, kind of shocking in a lot of ways. Um , there are people that think that our community is really expensive, but there are people that think, wow, you can still buy reasonably, reasonably priced home in the Grand Valley, especially compared to the resort towns and what you typically think of as the Colorado dream. Right. Those houses are so expensive. So we do offer an alternative to those kind of communities. Absolutely. For sure. Um, interest rates a big topic of conversation, of course. And boy, it sounds like the feds, I mean, there's a chance they're gonna raise them again, which is , uh, it's really hurting us. It's really hurting the housing industry overall. Can you talk about what you see out there working with buyers and sellers?
Speaker 2:Yeah, we, I mean, as we approach 8%, obviously that only is going to impact affordability even more. You know, when we look at home payments on a house at 400,002 years ago to now, it's, it's significant mm-hmm. <affirmative> . Um, so that's , it's changing people's ability to purchase. Um, and they're , so they might be settling or having to buy less of a house. Um, but ultimately we see people are still having big life changes where they're going to have to buy and sell mm-hmm.
Speaker 1:<affirmative> . And
Speaker 2:So we just want to be able to educate them when that time comes, you know, whether that's , um, moving for a job or retiring and downsizing or growing their family or, you know, whatever else life change is in place. Like, people are always going to have to move at some point. And so we just want to be the , the , the knowledge broker, right? Mm-hmm . <affirmative> , we wanna be able to guide them and make sure that they are making the smartest investment they can mm-hmm .
Speaker 1:<affirmative> when
Speaker 2:That time comes.
Speaker 1:And obviously nobody wants to pay 8% , uh, <laugh>
Speaker 2:Right .
Speaker 1:Financing, but , uh, we're not going back to three.
Speaker 2:No. I
Speaker 1:Mean, if that ever happens again, I'd be surprised. Right . But we do expect things to drop, we just don't know when, right, right . That we had a lot of prognosticators saying, oh, third quarter of 2023, they'll start to come down, and now it's second quarter of 2024, and now it's, you know, expect things to remain the same for a couple years. We , we really just don't know. So we know what's happening today, and if you need to buy a house today, I think you just have to be prepared to pay the price. Right.
Speaker 2:And
Speaker 1:Maybe look to refinance when rates go down a little bit.
Speaker 2:Yeah. So
Speaker 1:It could cost you a little bit more initially, which is a hard pill to swallow, but , um, I know there are some, some agents willing to help. And talk a little bit about the trend of sellers helping out with buyers' costs and buy down potential.
Speaker 2:Yeah. So sellers are definitely being a lot more accommodating , uh, when it comes to the , the real estate transaction as a whole. You know, two years ago you were looking at no inspections. Yeah , no , um, nothing below list price mm-hmm . <affirmative> , in fact, most were over list price. Whereas now, you know, we're seeing properties sell for about 98 to 99% of the list price. So you're getting, so
Speaker 1:Sellers are getting a , giving a little discount these days, giving a little discount. Not every house. Right ,
Speaker 2:Right. Not every house. Um , and then you're also seeing, you know, maybe it makes sense for the buyer to ask for, you know, X amount, 5,000, 10,000 in concessions to be applied towards buying down their interest rate. Mm-hmm.
Speaker 1:<affirmative> ,
Speaker 2:You're seeing that some sellers are being a little more accommodating to that as well.
Speaker 1:And to be clear , uh, buyers are not allowed to buy down their own rate. Correct. Right. I mean, maybe to a certain extent with some lenders, they have a program where buyer can give a little bit of additional cash, but it , it , it really has to come mostly from the seller.
Speaker 2:Right .
Speaker 1:So that's why buyers are asking, and sellers are saying, okay, I wanna sell my house and this is a good option. Right.
Speaker 2:Absolutely.
Speaker 1:What are you, how are you counseling your sellers in this kind of market?
Speaker 2:You know, it , it , it takes a little more preparation and effort to get your home on the market now. Um, again, looking back a couple years ago, you could just basically take some photos and, and sell your home quickly. It was a pretty wild time. Now it's like, okay, we wanna make sure that your home's presented perfectly mm-hmm.
Speaker 1:<affirmative> ,
Speaker 2:You know , um, because we're seeing homes that need work or, or in not an ideal location or, or whatever the variable might be, might sit just a little bit longer. Mm-hmm.
Speaker 1:<affirmative> , um,
Speaker 2:They're still a buyer for them, but they might just take a little more time. Um , but homes that are, are either staged well or just , um, you know, photographed, well, marketed well. Um , with a good brokerage, they're still going pretty quickly. And occasionally we're still seeing above list price offers mm-hmm. <affirmative> . So it's still a strong market to sell in. You just are gonna have to , um, prepare a little bit mm-hmm.
Speaker 1:<affirmative> , make
Speaker 2:Sure that everything looks great.
Speaker 1:And there are still those properties that come on the market that are just so highly desirable, you know, great location, great condition mm-hmm. <affirmative> great view, that kind of thing. I mean, those are still getting a lot of attention. There seem to be a lot of buyers for those special properties.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. Would
Speaker 1:You agree?
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 1:Um, so when you got your real estate license, you and your family had quite a bit of experience in investing in real estate. Can you talk about your experience there and how that led you a little bit more into the career of real estate full-time?
Speaker 2:Yeah. So I, I kind of joke that I became a real estate investor by accident. Um, I just got outta college, I think I was 23 years old, and I was trying to find a place to live, and I knew I wanted to buy, but my options were pretty limited. I didn't have, you know, much income. And , uh, came across a , a duplex that was for sale for, I think it was 105,000. Uh , wow. Which that doesn't
Speaker 1:Really exist , exist anymore,
Speaker 2:<laugh> . But , uh, so I went ahead and put the offer in . It was very rough. Everything needed redone. I mean, paint was falling off, the outside gutters were non-existent , like just a lot of things mm-hmm . <affirmative> , um, but, you know, owned that for a few years and just gradually fixed it up. And, and , uh, when I rented out the other unit, it realized that it was basically making my house payment and I was kind of living rent free mm-hmm . <affirmative> ,
Speaker 1:Uh ,
Speaker 2:Which was just kind of that light bulb moment for me that , uh, hey, this real estate thing's a pretty cool <laugh> pretty cool route to , uh, bettering my financial situation. Mm-hmm.
Speaker 1:<affirmative>.
Speaker 2:Um, so then I got plugged into listening to BiggerPockets podcasts and, and visiting their website and just kind of nerding out on all things real estate for a while . Um, and then I was at the, the fire department and just kind of every year from there, it was just, it was just my goal to acquire one property. Uh , and every
Speaker 1:Year,
Speaker 2:Yeah. That was my goal. And I think since 2014, I've been able to maintain that. Um, and it's, it's been wonderful for our family. And it , uh, you know, I got my parents involved. It became PAR Partners at one point, and , uh, it's been a , a great thing.
Speaker 1:So I always assumed that your parents got you into the investing, but it was the other way around.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it was the other way around. You know, they, they were entrepreneurs. They'd went through 2008 and , um, lost quite a bit of money in that, in , in, in their investment accounts, that sort of thing. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> . And so they're pretty gun shy about investing. They're like, you know, we're not too far from retirement and we just want to , and , uh, keep moving forward at , at the pace that we're on. And so to encourage them to explore new things, you know, at first there was a little hesitation, but since then they haven't , uh, really looked back. Nice . Now they're sending me properties,
Speaker 1:<laugh> like , what about this one? <laugh> ? And you have , um, some investment properties outta the state now, correct?
Speaker 2:Correct. Yeah . Mm-hmm . <affirmative> , so kind of the story to that was with that initial duplex , um, we ended up selling it, I think we sold it for around 1 65 , um, and did a 10 31 exchange or a tax deferred , um, investment method. And so we did a 10 31 exchange into a five unit apartment building mm-hmm . <affirmative> .
Speaker 1:Um,
Speaker 2:And then had that for a couple years, improved it, and , uh, stabilized it and then did that again , uh, sold that one , uh, and , uh, bought four fourplexes in Cincinnati. So that was kind of the path to that.
Speaker 1:That's great. What advice do you have for any of our listeners or viewers who might be thinking about real estate investing? 'cause and they haven't done it yet, or they've got some investments, but not sure how to navigate the current market? I , I know I get a lot of questions on how long should I hold an investment property and Yeah .
Speaker 2:Um,
Speaker 1:You know, am I looking to flip it or hold it for how long? And speak to that a little bit. What , what's some advice you can give to potential investors?
Speaker 2:Sure. Um, you know, there's so many different strategies , strategies out there, and that's what's great about real estate. Um, but for me it was all about avoiding analysis paralysis where you're overthinking and not taking action, and then understanding that it's not about timing the market, but it's about time in the market, right? Like, if you're going to , if you're gonna become an investor , um, you need to make smart moves, but you also just need to look at the long run mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Um, and so for me, it's never been like, we've never done fix and flips, which is, you know, it is a great opportunity, it's just not my specialty. Um, so we're more of the, the
Speaker 1:Long-term hold that takes , that can take a lot more effort and time.
Speaker 2:Definitely. Yeah , definitely. It's not passive investing mm-hmm . <affirmative> , it's very much hands-on. Um, so for me it's been just more of the long-term , like , uh, buy and hold , um, you know, fix up , maybe get rents improve depending on the, the property, that sort of thing. Um , and over time it just , uh, the properties pay themselves down and there's tax advantages to those properties and mm-hmm .
Speaker 1:<affirmative> ,
Speaker 2:Um , it allows you to, to purchase more if you desire to.
Speaker 1:I went to a real estate investing class years and years ago. I bet it was 20 years ago. And , um, the instructor said to me at the time that he, his, one of his family members had some health issues and they had to end up helping him out. And he said, and I was able to sell one of my investment properties and, and it didn't affect our lifestyle.
Speaker 2:Right.
Speaker 1:And that really made a lot of sense to me. I mean, having , um, and , and not all real estate is, is a liquid, can you consider a liquid asset? Sure . You know , I mean, you have to think about how long it's gonna take you to sell something, but it will sell with the right price. Right. But that , that really spoke to me a lot, like having those investments so that something does happen. You have a way to access those funds , um, without it affecting your day-to-day life. Yeah. Yeah. Really important. So one of the things that we've talked about <laugh> and I'm excited about is maybe having some classes on investing and financing, and especially for young people, because I think when you see the power that investing in real estate can have in your life, especially if you start at a young age. Yeah . It's really incredible.
Speaker 2:Yeah. I think that there's a , an opportunity there to, to give back to our community and, and educate , um, young , uh, entrepreneur mindset type of folks, you know, in the community mm-hmm . <affirmative> because , um, they don't teach you that kinda stuff in high school or really even college for that matter. Um, yet you look at the majority of millionaires across the US and the majority have some involvement in real estate mm-hmm.
Speaker 1:<affirmative>.
Speaker 2:Um , so it's, it's such a powerful vehicle towards wealth. Um, and, you know, we talk about financial freedom, whether whatever that might look like for somebody, but having the ability to work when you wanna work or do what you want to do without the, the confinement of, you know, I have to make X amount a year, or I need these types of benefits, like, that's pretty empowering. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> , so , and real estate can provide that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, absolutely. Um, I wanna turn a little bit more to your role as , um, sales manager and thinking about , uh, advice for agents that might be thinking about getting into the business or have been in business and are struggling because honestly, the market is , uh, a little bit hectic right now. I mean, it's , uh, it's an odd combination of things. We've got low inventory, we've got high interest rates. We have a pretty good buyer pool for our properties here in Grand Junction, but if they are interest rate bound , uh, it's tougher for them. And some of them are putting the brakes on Yeah .
Speaker 2:Purchasing
Speaker 1:If they have to. So , um, I know that when I talk to a lot of other agents in our market and around the country, 'cause we go to a lot of events with other agents. Um, some, some agents are really struggling and we have maintained , uh, a really solid , um, steady flow of business because we adhere to , uh, the best practices to make that happen. But , um, talk to agents that are, I don't know if there's that many agents thinking about getting into business Right , right now. Right . Like when times are good, everybody gets in , gets a real estate license, right? Yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Um, right now is a little bit more challenging, but still a great way to make a living. And we have , uh, quite a few new agents on our team. Yeah. How do you advise those people?
Speaker 2:Yeah. You , excuse me. Um, you know, we, we follow the Tom Ferry coaching methods and one of the things that they preach right now is what's working is the working agent. Yeah.
Speaker 1:What's working, working <laugh> working.
Speaker 2:Exactly. Whereas like two years ago, you know, you could have sat around a little bit and just waited for your phone to ring. 'cause so many people were in the market to purchase. Um, now you have to, you have to pound the pavement a little more. You have to have some grit mm-hmm . <affirmative> and some resilience and just , um, give it everything. Mm-hmm.
Speaker 1:<affirmative> ,
Speaker 2:You know, so that means more time prospecting, whether that's phone calls or time spent in open houses and networking, you need to be out in the public mm-hmm . <affirmative> . And you , you know, we talk about you can't be a secret agent. Yeah . Everyone needs to know you're a real estate agent and you need to be the knowledge broker. You need to be able to advise people when they do come to you mm-hmm.
Speaker 1:<affirmative> and
Speaker 2:Have vendors in your , uh, in your corner, you know , uh, lenders or whoever else that can help educate your clients so that they can understand this is the best decision for them. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> . And sometimes it's not. And we have to tell people that too . Mm-hmm. <affirmative>,
Speaker 1:You
Speaker 2:Know, that sometimes they're in a good spot and they need to stay there just temporarily. Um , but everyone's situation is different,
Speaker 1:So mm-hmm . <affirmative> , if someone came to you and said, Hey, Reese, I'm thinking about get my real estate license. I mean, obviously there's a lot of factors that go into it and, and their life experience and their personality and their ability to talk to people and have relationships has a lot to do with that. But what , what would you say to somebody that just kind of randomly said, you know, you're doing really well. I think I'm gonna get in the real estate business.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Um, maybe I'd ask them what their budget for therapy was or <laugh> No , I'm joking, but no, you know, I would , I would just ask them like, how much time are they willing to
Speaker 1:Commit mm-hmm. <affirmative>
Speaker 2:And why I would wanna know their why mm-hmm . <affirmative> because , um, real estate is glamorized a little bit by, you know, different television shows and , and different things where people think it's so easy. Yeah .
Speaker 1:And
Speaker 2:That , uh, you know, just need to ,
Speaker 1:Property selling sunset is not quite what we do in Grand Junction.
Speaker 2:<laugh> . No, no. We don't dress that way either , <laugh> . Um , so I would, I would want to know their why, and if it was, if it was big picture, then I would absolutely encourage them. Like, these are the necessary steps it's going to take to be successful. You know, we have a , we have a team of , uh, 16 agents, 18, including you and you and me. And , uh, we have some very successful agents mm-hmm .
Speaker 1:<affirmative> ,
Speaker 2:Like not just in our office, but valley wide mm-hmm . <affirmative> , like at the very top. And so we understand what it takes to be successful and just conveying that to a new agent, like helping them understand this is the time commitment and initially it's more time. Right. Until you have this system and you get started systems in place, the database, the network, until you have those things in place, place, you , you have to work harder. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> , you know mm-hmm. <affirmative>. So , um, just making sure they understood that. Yeah. And, and understanding their why ,
Speaker 1:Because I think a lot of people that got in the business when houses were selling like crazy , um, were like, this is really easy. Yeah . Yeah. Everybody
Speaker 2:Was getting their license mm-hmm.
Speaker 1:<affirmative>. And I remember , um, as the market started to shift a little bit last year, was it earlier this year , um, I had an agent that contacted me who had had a lot of success in the last year, pretty new agent, and she said, gosh, Christie , um, I, I don't know what's going on. I listed this house and I don't have any offers on it yet. Two weeks in.
Speaker 2:Yeah . <laugh>
Speaker 1:Welcome to reality. Right, right. Yeah. So I've been in the business 31 years and I've seen a lot of cycles and , uh, I really like what Tom Ferry had to say about the cycles in real estate. I mean, real estate is about population and inventory and the cycles, because we go through different cycles and it's, it's always gonna come back around. Yeah . We're pretty busy right now considering , um, what's going on in the , the world and the , with the interest rates. Um, we've got a pretty healthy supply of contracts on our team right now, and everybody's doing really well, but yeah, we're gonna keep that going.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. And we talk about too, you know, in times like this, it's all about market share. Like we want to increase our, our time in the community and just again, be in front of as many people as possible mm-hmm . <affirmative> , um, because there's some agents feeling a little deflated mm-hmm. <affirmative> , you know, and, and you can either kind of put your head back under the covers and go back to sleep or get up and run, you know, so
Speaker 1:Yeah. And, and we spend a lot of time talking about numbers here, looking at the market, looking at what's going on in the market, looking at the trends, and again, without a crystal ball , uh, try to advise our clients educatedly about whether now's a good time to sell, whether now's a good time to drop their price, you know, cut bait and run. Um, gotta get to this community by December. What are our options? What's the best tactic? Um, so we do a lot of strategizing here, which I'm not sure all agents do. Yeah, I know. They don't actually. Yeah . Right .
Speaker 2:So ,
Speaker 1:Um, okay. Uh , anything you'd like to talk about today? <laugh> ?
Speaker 2:Um, oh man. Freezing up. I guess ,
Speaker 1:Um , what are you excited for in Grand Junction as a whole , uh, as a, a long time community member here and seeing the changes that have happened since you've lived here and knowing the growth that's coming in our community? What excites you and, and is there anything that makes you nervous?
Speaker 2:You know, I, I look at this community and I've , I've been here for almost 15 years, all my adult life. And , um, it's amazing at the changes I've already seen. So I can only imagine what, what in the next 15 years will bring. Uh , but I think what really excites me is there's, I feel like there's been a pivot in, in the direction of, of the Grand Valley in the last , uh, few years, and maybe that was a result of the pandemic, but just , uh, magnifying the , the beauty of our valley. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> , you know, there's so much outdoor recreation opportunity, and I feel like we're, we're on the map now for that. Um , whether that's, you know, Palisade and the plunge and the vineyards, or all the trail systems or proximity to other great destinations, I think a lot of people are realizing that, that the Grand Valley has a lot to offer mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Um, so I'm, I'm excited about the opportunities that will come with that. And, you know, I, I feel pretty confident overall with the leaders we have in place in our community with the strategic growth that we'll be seeing. Um, sure. We're not always gonna get it Right. But I think we've got a lot of things right so far mm-hmm. <affirmative> ,
Speaker 1:Um,
Speaker 2:And I'm really excited about all this riverfront development that's happening. Yeah . I think that's gonna just add to the , the vibe and, and charisma that the Grand Valley offers. Mm-hmm . <affirmative> ,
Speaker 1:That'll be
Speaker 2:Great.
Speaker 1:Have you ridden the zip line yet?
Speaker 2:I haven't. At least I know I missed, I missed the day we were supposed to do it, so I'll get out there . Yeah, we gotta get you on there. I get out there.
Speaker 1:Definitely. Um, well, tell us what some of your , um, passions are right now. I mean, you've got three kids. Um , what do you focus on now outside of real estate?
Speaker 2:Well, the , I mean, this is still real estate related, but we're building , um, our primary home right now. So that's, that's been a lot of fun. Um, you know, me and my wife both had the opportunity of growing up on a little bit of land, and so that's, that's kind of the direction we're taking with our kids. This what's been really fun. We have, you know, we have 10 chickens out there already, and collecting eggs and all that with our kids is just a blast. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>.
Speaker 1:Um,
Speaker 2:And I think it's gonna create a little bit of grit for them too , because , uh, I mean, the other day , uh, we have a rooster mm-hmm .
Speaker 1:<affirmative> ,
Speaker 2:And it squared up and kicked my daughter in the chest. Oh . And she was sad at first, and then she was mad, and just like, we're gonna create some little , uh, little fighters out there <laugh> . So I'm excited about that. Um , I also really enjoy the outdoors. Um, mountain biking, not great at it, but getting better <laugh> . Um , so that's been a lot of fun. Just did the whole enchilada or a portion of the whole enchilada a couple weekends ago. So you did
Speaker 1:A , did a partial enchilada.
Speaker 2:A partial, yep . Okay . A partial enchilada, which was great time. Uh , and then this last weekend we actually were in Utah doing some canyoneering. We went through some slot canyons. So any, any excuse we can to get outside and just in the trails Yeah .
Speaker 1:Or
Speaker 2:The river or whatever is, is great.
Speaker 1:And are you still playing volleyball?
Speaker 2:I do, yeah. From time to time. I actually have a , a tournament coming up in , uh, starting in November, so I'll be playing then, but , um, don't jump quite as high as I used to, so I'm just thinking smarter <laugh> , <laugh> . I might not have all the athleticism, but it's fun to still play .
Speaker 1:Well, I appreciate your athleticism and I love that on our team. We have a lot of athletes and we have a lot of fi fitness challenges going on
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Uh , throughout the year. And I'm, I'm kind of missing that we're not doing one in October, so I think we gotta get one going Reese ? Yeah,
Speaker 2:I think so. What
Speaker 1:Do we like, do bench press or, oh,
Speaker 2:Yeah. I
Speaker 1:Don't know . Do
Speaker 2:Something like that. Whatcha bench
Speaker 1:Pressing these days?
Speaker 2:Oh, geez , it's been a minute. <laugh> <laugh> . Yeah. I
Speaker 1:Love it when we go to , uh, conferences that we, we get up and work out , you know, yep . In the mornings before we start our day. So it's a big part of working here is making sure that everybody is sticking to their fitness goals. And we think that it , it can't help but translate into your business, but it's part of just being a healthy individual.
Speaker 2:Right.
Speaker 1:Overall,
Speaker 2:Just puts you in the right mindset. Mm-hmm.
Speaker 1:<affirmative> ,
Speaker 2:Just, yeah. I think it kickstarts the day mm-hmm.
Speaker 1:<affirmative> . And
Speaker 2:If you feel good about yourself, you're going to have that confidence to help others make, you know, feel good about themselves. Mm-hmm . <affirmative> , I think that's really important. Yeah . So, yeah.
Speaker 1:Well , uh, in closing , um, I'm trying to think of something funny to say. I mean , we , we have a lot of fun with the Christie Reese group, <laugh>
Speaker 2:Oh man.
Speaker 1:Share too much of it on the, on the podcast, but , um,
Speaker 2:We are in a workplace. Yeah.
Speaker 1:Um, but I wanna thank you for all your hard work and, and dedication to the team, and to the agents, and to your clients and our clients , um, because I think you're just a, a , um, an amazing individual to work with and I'm really proud to get to work with you.
Speaker 2:Thank you, Christy . I really appreciate it. Yeah . Wouldn't wanna be anywhere else. This is amazing, amazing brokerage to work for and , um, yeah. I just look forward to, to the future.
Speaker 1:Thank you. Well, I'm excited for you to host a couple podcasts now and then too, part of , um, this introduction was getting used to the setup so that you can host a couple of guests now and then, and so I'm excited about that. Yeah,
Speaker 2:Me too. It'll be great to, to get to meet more members of the community and, and share that with everybody else. Yeah .
Speaker 1:So , yeah , right on.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Alright , well thank you to Reese Stanley, our sales manager and , uh, agent here at the Christie Reese Group. And if you wanna get in touch with Reese
Speaker 2:Yeah, you can gimme , uh, emailReese@christiereese.com or my phone number is (970) 697-7232.
Speaker 1:Awesome. Reach out to us at the Christie Reese Group. We'll get you in touch with Reese or any of our great team members. And , uh, if you're looking for a career in real estate or just need advice, you know, sometimes people call me and say, I'd like your advice on whether to get into real estate or not. Yeah . Reese and I are happy to chat about that, so
Speaker 2:Absolutely. Thank
Speaker 1:You Reese, and we'll see you all next time on the Full Circle podcast. Thank you. Bye. Thanks for listening. This is Kristy Reese signing out from the Full Circle Podcast.