Inside the Mortgage Game | Sales Master. Developer. Closer.

You've hired and trained over 500 reps in the mortgage industry. So, when did you know you wanted to be an entrepreneur? >> The idea of becoming an entrepreneur is just ingrained in me. There was no other option ever. And the first week on the phones, I was absolute [ __ ] I was garbage. Finally, I walked up to my senior and I told him, "Hey, you got to help me. There's no way I can do this

bad." He's like, "All right." Him and the VP got me and they literally beat the crap out of me. I was a top producer immediately. >> Wow. Like a 2 or threeh hour session with the two of them. I just transformed my entire business and I was getting the most loan applications in the company history. I was getting like seven or eight loan apps a day. The main part of my success there was that office was

open 10 to 7:00. I was standing outside the door at 9:00 a.m. and I was leaving at 8:00 p.m. >> If the door was open, if people were there, I was sitting and working. I was on a mission. So, I learned it. >> Where did you get this ride from? >> What else can you do? You know, like what are you going to do? Sit at home and stare at the walls? Work a 9 to5? >>

There's some people that do. >> No, man. I knew that I wanted to be an entrepreneur. I knew I wanted to have my own business. Josh, what does success mean to you? >> Uh, wow. Okay. Success. >> Welcome to another episode of Pick Up the Phone Podcast. I am your host. My name is Jose. I'm the CEO of Vancom. I help people scale their businesses with marketing, sales, and artificial intelligence. Today's guest is Josh Farard, coming

all the way from Beverly Hills, California. Hello. Uh Josh has done over hundreds of millions of transactional volume in real estate. Um you've done developments from the ground up. Uh we spoke a little bit about that. Uh but I think really really uh interesting fact about you is you've done sales leadership. You've >> hired and trained over 500 reps in the mortgage industry. So >> I think we have a lot to uncover, Josh. >> Yeah. A

lot. A lot. >> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I'm excited to to have you here, man. Thank you so much for coming out here. >> Thank you for having me on. >> Absolutely. Absolutely. So, um before we get into the badass that you are today, let's talk about, you know, the beginning. Uh how did you get started? When did you when did you know you wanted to be an entrepreneur? >> Uh it was absolutely never a question. Uh

I come from a lifeline of entrepreneurs. Entire family history is everybody's an entrepreneur. Last person who was ever not in business for themselves was uh my great-grandfather. >> Um he was a brick layer. Uh his son started working got into real estate. >> Yeah. >> And uh my father was in construction. He had his own construction company. My mother started in the brokerage uh for lending mortgage brokerage. Uh, and you know, as soon as I came

out of >> even before I came out of school, I was working really. I was buying real estate and you know, doing deals. I was doing loan processing, working in construction. >> I did everything, man. I did everything related to real estate. I've been involved in it since I was a baby. >> Wow. So, you came out the womb and you're like, I'm an entrepreneur, >> man. When I was like 2 or 3 years old, it's

one of my it's one of my oldest memories. My first memory. Uh, you know, my father had a construction company, so he'd be leaving on Saturday or during the weekday to go to work and it was war for my mother and him. You know, I had to go with him to work. >> Yeah. >> I was just a baby. But if he left to go to work without me, it was like hell to pay. >> My

poor mother, she would have the worst day ever. >> So, you would uh you would ride along with your >> Oh, yeah, man. I was riding along from a very young age. I uh I had a problem sitting still. I sometimes still do. You know that. Um and uh you know working or doing something or being active or hanging out with friends even through high school. I always have to be on the move. >> Yeah. >>

Wow. Yeah. >> That's amazing, dude. So, >> um I'm very interested with like how you actually got started, right? Because you come from a lineage of entrepreneurs. How'd you get started? So in essence of starting my own business um you know I actually was uh in school. I was in school and I was studying and you know my father passed a little bit early so >> I kind of dropped out of school and uh once you

know and and moved back to LA >> and I you know I started in sales. Uh there was a guy who came uh who was mentored by my mother in regards to doing loans. Uh he said I want to be a mortgage broker. met my mother and um when I came back he had his own company and he was doing really well. >> When you came back from where you >> when I came back from college

after my father passed I I came and I went straight to him I said hey >> where did you go to college? >> I was uh I was initially at Cal State Monterey Bay but I wrapped up at Pepperdine. >> Okay. >> Yeah. I wrapped up at Pepperdine and it was fantastic fantastic experience. >> Nice. >> Um but anyways I came back to LA and I hit him up. I was like hey I want a job.

I want to do sales. >> Yeah. >> He's like all right. you know, come by the office, get an interview, and we'll go from there. >> Yeah. >> Um, I started there, and the first week on the phones, I was absolute >> [ __ ] Yeah, >> that's the best word. That's the best word. I was garbage. Absolute garbage. >> And um >> like everyone is, you know, >> but I didn't give up. Finally, I walked

up to my senior and I told him, "Hey, you got to help me. There's no way I can do this bad." >> Yeah. >> And he's like, "All right." Him and the VP got me and they literally beat the crap out of me. Yeah, >> I was a top producer immediately. >> Wow. >> Immediately with like a two or three hour session with the two of them, I just transformed my entire business. And I was getting

the most loan applications in the company history. I was getting like seven or eight loan apps a day. It was so much that my senior, he's like, Josh, I do not have time to close all of these deals and cold call throughout the day. You you got to slow down. Yeah. >> And I was like, well, split it up between everybody. I want to keep going. >> So, I did that. But the main part of it,

the main part of my success there was that office was open 10 to 7. >> Yeah. >> I was I was standing outside the door at 9:00 a.m. and I was leaving at 8:00 p.m. >> Damn. >> So, as you know, if the door was open, if people were there, I was sitting and working. I had I was on a mission. >> Yeah. >> So, I learned it. >> Where did you get this ride from? Gosh,

>> what else can you do? You know, like what are you going to do? sit at home and stare at the walls, work a 9 to5. >> There's some people that do. >> No, man. I I knew that I wanted to be an entrepreneur. I knew I wanted to have my own business. I knew I wanted to do it myself and I knew I wanted to have people working for me. >> Yeah. >> So, it was

never an option. You know, the idea of working a 9 to5 >> is like suicide for me, >> right? >> And I did it before like when I was in, you know, when I was in high school, the summer after high school, I was working at Countrywide Financial >> and I was doing data entry. I want to shoot myself in the head. Well, you know, like data entry. Are you kidding me? >> You're good. It, you

know, it was it was actually very educational for me because it was in their collateral lending division. So, it was after the loans were done, they were packaging them up and selling them off on Wall Street. >> Um, that's the division I was working in. >> Yeah. >> But, uh, yeah. I mean, you walk around that office. I was walking around that office and I would see people in their late 30s and their early 40s working

9 to5s like that. >> You're like, "No." I was like, "This is not for me. this is not for me. You know, I I you know, from a young age, we thank God, you know, um >> when when we were coming through high school, when I was in high school, our family started to gain wealth, right? So, my family and I'll be very honest with you, between my mother and my father and us as a family,

everybody worked from a young age. I mean, when I as soon as I got my license, I started doing, you know, uh doc deliveries for my mother's mortgage company. So, um, I was a messenger. I was a messenger and I was picking up loan documents, dropping them off and that's how I would take my girlfriend out for dinner, >> you know. Um, but the idea of becoming an entrepreneur is just I mean it was just ingrained

in me. There was no other option ever, >> right? Yeah. >> That's incredible, man. I think >> I think more importantly, you know, when you mentioned your success earlier and you mentioned the fact that you went and you asked your senior for help, a lot of people don't ask for help. Josh, you know what I mean? A lot of people are scared to fail. A lot of people are scared to be uncomfortable, right? And I think

>> I think that's a very important trait to be able to say, "Hey, you know what? I know that I suck. I know I'm trash right now, but hey, who can I ask for help?" And being vulnerable and asking for help is one of the greatest traits that an entrepreneur can have in my opinion. And it's one that it took me a while to actually overcome, man. If you uh at the beginning, I was proud. I

was like, "Man, I'm going to figure this out on my own." Blah blah. Dude, it took me so long to figure everything out because I thought I need I need to do this by myself. I'm reading all these books and I'm thinking that hey, it's me against the world, right? And we forget that, you know, everyone else out there, every entrepreneur out there is ready, willing, and able to help you out if you just ask for

help. >> Everyone, >> everyone, >> everyone wants to teach. Like, it's like, you know, our good friend, you know, Boris alone, he's always out there doing these classes and I think it's the best thing he could do. It's it's you know I mean he charges for his time but he's giving back so much to the community so much >> by teaching people how to buy real estate really how not to get screwed in the process. >>

I I think it's amazing thing that he's doing. I really like it. >> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I've personally been to his class and you know shout out to Boris. Anyone that's wanting to learn commercial, I don't I can't think of anything anyone better in Houston. Live around Houston, come to Houston and learn from this guy. This guy lays it all out. Uh, I learned a ton from going to his uh to his classes. >> Uh, I

don't know if he does the in-person one. I think he does it mostly like online, but >> Oh, now he's doing online now. >> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Like, uh, I think he's calling Creu, like commercial real estate university, something like that. >> Yeah. Yeah. He's developing something really big. Uh, yeah. Be on the lookout for that, guys. >> Our boy is doing big things. >> Doing great things. So, I'm excited for it. >> Yeah. >> But,

um, yeah, let's let's get back to your story, Josh. Yeah. What was your first year in business like? O well actually I go back to it you know the first year in business was was was uh very tough to start but I I I learned very quick so uh within you know 8 months I I was making six figures a month like it was it was no joke >> six figures a month >> six figures a

month I mean we were uh we started off uh when I opened the first business when I left that first company it was 6 months from the day that I started and um I opened my own business. It was me and four of my friends, like bunch a bunch of homies sitting in a in a a room like this. >> Yeah. >> And we were cold calling all day long. >> Yeah. >> And we spent the

summer doing that. Everybody made a bunch of money and everybody left. And then, you know, me and one of the guys, we stuck together >> and we ended up hiring, it was our first set of hiring. We interviewed uh about 25 people, took 10 people to training. And uh with those 10 guys um within a month we were making you know definitely staying up above up above you know six digits per month. It was it was

pretty it was pretty great. >> Yeah. >> It was pretty great. >> That's incredible. >> Yeah. I mean, we literally imagine going from an office this small with like 10 10 guys, you, your partner, and 10 guys, and then you go into uh, you know, we went we got into 4,000 foot office. >> Mhm. >> And we just >> packed that place. Within months, >> within months, we had we had grown to like 30 people. 30

turned to 35, 35 turned to 45, 45 to 60. I mean, we were just killing it. It was nonstop. >> So, the first year was amazing. When was this? Like what year? >> 2004. >> 2004. That's like just the the bull run of real estate. It's just coming up. And you're you're in California. So you're doing loans in California? >> In California only. Could you imagine if I was doing nationwide? Wow. >> What was the average

loan size out there at the time? >> We were our average loan amounts were somewhere between 400 to 900,000. >> Yeah. >> And you were making what? Like a point on that or what? >> A bit more than that. A little bit more. >> A little more than that. We we were doing well, but we were offering great service, you know. Uh we we did a lot of work for a lot of great clients, police officers,

firefighters, um you know, uh EMTs. We we did a lot of great work. Uh we partnered with the city of LA quite a bit. So, we would offer special services and programs for the housing for I'm sorry, for the fire department and for the police department. Um and that continues till today. actually our entire model now is based on we we keep them as our top priority right and uh uh they get a lot of incentives.

>> Nice. Yeah. Yeah. >> That's incredible dude. >> So first year in business >> you started working for someone right? You started working for someone that's your senior started teaching you. >> How long after that did you decide okay I'm ready to start my own business? >> It was six months to the day. >> Six months >> to the day. >> And so what happened at 6 months? You're like you're you're crushing it. You're making a

ton of money and you're like, "Dude, screw this. I'm going to I got to do this by myself." >> Well, well, the guy the guy I was working for knew, you know, uh for what the guy I was working for, he knew what I was doing, right? He knew that I wanted to come in, but he also knew something that's really important uh that a lot of people find it find they just don't understand this philosophy.

He knew that I couldn't compete on a level with him. It it just wasn't possible. He was already like three years advanced, you know, he was already doing it for three years. So he didn't have a problem bringing me in, teaching me, and then letting me, you know, go off on my own and enterprise for myself. He, you know, he when he he was at a point where he had 250 people working for him, and I

was one of them. So me coming in and leaving 6 months later, he wasn't at all threatened by me. He already knew and and he knew he owed a debt. >> Yeah. >> Wow. >> Yeah. >> So six months to you started the business and then you started growing it. Um within months, you're blowing it up out of proportions. >> Yeah. How was it? What happened next after that? You know, you you guys screw it to

about I think you had what, like 60 people in the office at some point. >> Yeah. I got to 60 and I capped it. I mean, I was very young. >> Yeah. >> And it was just too much. I was like 23 at the time. And to be able to, you know, to be able to m I I couldn't manage those people. I didn't know I didn't have enough life experience. Yeah. >> To be able to

manage a bunch of primadana salespeople. >> Right. >> Yeah. Cuz sales people in general are a bunch of primadonas, right? Be honest. We be honest with ourselves and about ourselves, you know. >> Of course. Of course. >> Right. And it's and it's difficult to >> It's a lot of personalities. >> It's a lot of different personalities, you know. >> Um, a few of them I'm still friends with till today. Uh, a lot of them uh left

on good terms, a lot of them left on bad terms. It, you know, it was it was a business. It was a business. It was tough. But 6 months to the day I went into business, I started raking in cash. That's amazing. Yeah. >> Yeah. What's uh what kind of money were you bringing in at the time? >> Uh our our company was doing about um we were, you know, we we were making about 8 million

in revenue a year. >> 8 million in revenue. That's insane. >> Yeah. Not all of it was for us, you know, we had to split up and split it up. Yeah. It's not all profit, blah blah, but that's still >> gross revenues were about 8 million. >> That's incredible. That's an amazing feat. You know, I think most people don't even see a million in revenue and most businesses, I'd say most small businesses don't even reach over

a million in revenue. So, I think that's an incredible feat, man. >> Um, so, you know, let's let's fast forward, you know, how did you get to from that, you know, to where you are today? You've done all sorts of great things. You know, you you did the development. What happened after when did you start doing development? When did you start investing in real estate? >> So, the market turned in 2008, right? And we went from

doing what was something like 60 to 80 loans a month to I mean doing four to eight loans. >> Um so finally I decided you know we we shut down our large office. We moved into a smaller office uh which we still have today till today. Um and uh >> I just you know I just decided to start investing in real estate. >> Um the company stayed open uh and and it did we did we still

did loans. We still did a bunch of work, but I wasn't involved. Uh, I started buying real estate. I started turning real estate. Um, we bought I I'll never forget the first deal I bought, the first apartment building I bought was an absolute dump. >> Where was it? >> It was in LA. >> Mhm. >> It had uh the city of LA had placed a lean against it >> and they were collecting the rents. um they

were collecting the rents and we had to completely redo the place, bring it up to code and everything just so we could get, you know, the money just so we could start collecting the rents. >> Oh my god. >> It was a it was a real feat, but we got it done. >> Yeah. >> Uh and you know, it was a very very huge learning experience. >> Yeah, I bet. >> And the beauty of it was

>> uh that I met a lot of people who work in that division and in the city and um I became friends with them. M >> so I see this problem and I see this and I look at it as an opportunity. >> What's the problem? >> So the building was it had it had a lot of deferred maintenance, right? And so I see this and I say, "Well, let me find more buildings like this, right?

I figured it out on this one. I became friends with the guys in the city. Let's figure this out and let's let's do more of these." Right. >> Construction. Yeah. >> So I find a bunch of uh I I called the title company. I was like, "Hey guys, give me a list of all the buildings out there." and they send me this list that's that's pretty pretty amazing and it's it's very long, you know, there's a

>> So now I start looking at all the properties and I start >> well calling owners, you guys want to sell it? You guys want to sell? I know you have this issue with the city. >> I can buy it, take it over, fix all the problems for you. >> Yeah. >> And you know, we ended up buying a few buildings like that. >> Really? >> And um you know, >> this was like year how many

years have you been in business at this point? [Music] >> Five. Five years in business. >> Five, five, four, four, four years in business. >> Four years in business. You're making a ton of money. Now it's like, now it's time to put this money to work. Let's >> Now we got to put it to work. >> We got to put it to work. Okay. So now you're buying multif family assets >> and you're buying distress. You

bought a couple of them. Yeah. >> What happened? >> I mean, we made a killing. We did great. We bought a bunch of them. >> Um, you know, we had I had great partners at the time. So, you know, we went into a few deals. We bought a 7 unit, then a 60 unit, then a 20 unit, then a 15 unit, then like there was another one. The first one I bought without anybody. Um, I bought

from one of the one of the biggest one of the biggest developer, one of the biggest property owners in South Los Angeles. Um, and that property that property was just prime for I didn't really have to do much to it. No. >> All I had to do is get into it, renegotiate all of the leases. There were three retail units. 10 apartment units, renegotiated all the leases, and boom, bro. The value went up like I mean,

in in a matter of 48 hours from the time I owned it, I increased the value $200,000. >> $200,000 in 48 hours. >> Yeah. I paid $550 for that building. And just because of the new leases I put in place, >> the value went up $200,000. >> Yeah. That's the beauty of commercial real estate, man. >> Just with the cap rates, you're able to really make a killing. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. By increasing and you probably

didn't even increase the rents a whole lot. possibly. >> No, I I think they were like a tenant was paying on one of them like 550 for a retail and I increased it to 900 or 950 >> and which was what was market. The previous owner was just like he was asleep like he was a >> he was a a 90-year-old guy. He owned half of South every other building was his, you know, in South LA.

And he was done. He was like done. He's like take whatever you want, you know, take all of them, you know, you go reposition it. You're still young. You can handle it, you know. >> Yeah. Oh, that was cool. >> That's incredible. Yeah. >> So, that's when you got started actually buying real estate, developing it, all that good stuff. >> Yeah. >> Now, when did you get to a point where you started, you know, you did

some development from the ground up, right? >> So, yeah, actually that that that kind of came second nature to me. Um because I was on the job sites with my father as a kid, you know, I actually was there. I was digging ditches for, you know, underground plumbing. Uh I would do it for fun and, you know, they would let me do it. And my dad was like, "Oh, we got an extra laborer for free today."

You know, uh, but I enjoyed doing all of that. So, when it came to doing uh development, we did a few we did a few houses. Uh, we did a lot of redevelopment. Um, we've I've built a few homes ground up. Uh, we're actually getting ready to do uh eight homes. >> Yeah. >> In in LA in Rita. That's one of our family projects. Um, and I have a few development projects here in Houston. I actually

work with a company called Nema Homes. Mhm. >> Uh Nema Dvari and I are really good friends. Uh he he lived with me for a while here in Houston. You met him? >> Yeah, so uh I've done a couple projects with Nema um where I invested as opposed to, you know, being totally involved in it. And Nema's a fantastic developer. He's a great person to know here in Houston as well. >> That's incredible. >> Yeah. >>

Um when did you get to the point where you were actually developing properties then? >> I mean, I've done a bunch. They were all mostly in LA. It was probably after I would say in like 201 12 2013 we we entitled a bunch of projects to develop >> and uh large major projects 60-unit apartment buildings. >> So there's there's people that are listening to this podcast right now and you know you just said entitled >> what

does what does that mean for the people that are listening? >> Okay so one one of one of the major things in in in buying property and developing property is the first thing you got to do is buy the law, >> right? >> Once you buy the law you get entitlements. Now what are entitlements? Entitlements are when you get plans and you know surveys. You submit the plans and surveys to the city. Uh plans including architectural,

structural, mechanical. I always do mechanical. Doesn't matter if it's residential, multif family, retail. Mechanical is a must. It's not required by the city, but I require it. Right. >> Um >> and you get those plans in, you you submit them to the city, the plans get approved. Now your project is fully entitled to build. So a lot of times what would happen in LA for us is uh we would entitle we would entitle properties and before

we even got a chance to develop them like somebody would figure out they had like access to the city records. They would call us and be like hey I want to buy it. Right. >> And so we would do a lot of that. We uh I was with my partner at the time Ronnie Raon. He's now got the Revon Property Group. You've met Ronnie before. >> Yeah. >> Ronnie's great. Um, >> so you would you would

entitle it, but you wouldn't go through with entire development because someone would buy it. >> I would I was making, you know, a lot of those projects I was making I was making my money before the project even started. >> Really? >> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. >> And the amount of time value. So I do a lot of calculations when I'm looking at something. Time value is a huge a huge number for me, right? So when I'm

looking at a project, when I'm looking at a loan, when I'm looking at buying a pair of sneakers, even the the time value that I have to the time I have to invest and the value associated with it is always a major calculation for me. >> Care to elaborate a little bit more on that? >> So let's say let's say for example, I'm doing a mortgage loan. >> Mhm. >> I know that I have to invest

10 hours to make $10,000, >> right? on that loan, that means my time value for that loan is $1,000 an hour. >> Now, if I have to spend 20 hours to do that loan, that means my time value comes back to $500 an hour. >> If I have to do 30 loan decrease, 40 loan decrease, now my time value gets lower and lower. The time value you invest in projects and anything, anything you do, >> you

have to calculate it because you have to put a value for your time. You know, I have friends who are extremely wealthy who don't value their time at all and still make quite a bit of money. And he doesn't even look at that as a factor in his in his calculation. Yeah. >> Then I have a friend who won't touch anything unless he's making $1,000 an hour. Yeah. >> He's like, "Don't even talk to me unless

it's $1,000 or or or more an hour." Yeah. You know, >> so it all depends on you. Like lawyers charge by the hour, so why can't we? >> Yeah. Yeah. I think that's a brilliant way to see, you know, business as a whole because it just allows you to focus your time and energy on the things that matter the most, you know, and you're not going to be spending time, you know, doing something that's going to

be of low value or like a a low value task, for example, you know, like something like if you're co- calling just like a huge list, you know, it's different versus co- calling a very targeted list. Yes. >> Right. And the time value of that is going to be extremely different compared to, you know, this list and this list, right? >> Well, that's where you come in. You got you're the one who brings the people on

to do all those. Uh >> that's right. >> Because, you know, it adds value to me to be able to have somebody else do the the, you know, mediocre tasks as opposed to the high level tasks. Right. >> Absolutely. >> So, I I need somebody to be able to do that so that I can keep my value high. >> Right. Right. And then you only have those highv value conversations. you let you know my employee deal

with you know all of the small >> you know it's always getting through the nose right that's really what Celsius is right it's like >> finding a piece finding a needle in a stack of hay you let you know someone else handle going through all that hay to find that one needle once they found a needle hey Josh look at this I found a needle >> hey I got your needle here you go yeah how many

needles you want me to find I got I got >> all of them >> once I have them I got to take care of them you got to find them >> exactly exactly Um, that's how business works, right? You delegate and then you're able to make more money. So, you're one of my one of my favorite clients, dude. Absolutely. You guys are uh crushing it. Sebastian, shout out. Sebastian is >> Yeah, Sebastian's pretty amazing. >> Doing

a great job. He lives in Argentina and uh man, he's crushing it for you. So, >> he is he's actually uh Sebastian's one of those guys who always asks. >> Yeah. >> There's he he he lives by the philosophy that there's no stupid question. >> Yeah. >> Right. And I love that. And and because of that, he's become a a beast. An absolute beast. >> Yeah. >> You know, he knows how to talk to people. People

love him. He he, you know, I I can in my in my view, he's become more and more charming and more and more personable. He he's growing fantastically. I love >> I think I've seen a huge change in him from the moment that he started working for you than before also, you know, like even just, you know, becoming more bold >> and uh just charismatic the way he carries himself. with conversations with him. Uh so dude,

you've done a great a great job developing that guy. So >> that's our that's our sales our sales leadership training. That's where all that comes in. >> Yeah. Yeah. Well, you've only trained 500 people. So I mean, you think you you learn a couple of things after training. >> I think I think we maybe have interviewed maybe 2,000 over over our lifetime, but you know, out of those 2,000, we brought 500 in. And even those 500,

think about it, out of the 560 people, maybe we had some turnover. Maybe it was about 120 people were the ones that stuck. >> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it takes a lot, man. Especially having people consistently produce volume. It takes a lot, you know. >> Yeah. It really does. >> A lot of handholding even on a daily basis. So, >> but yeah, you did it, man. You did it. >> Yeah. >> Josh, what does success

mean to you? >> Uh, wow. Okay. Success. I I guess if I was if I was seriously thinking about it, you know, success means being able to develop uh a a a strong infrastructure, right, with uh good people, good corporate values and uh goals, right? So success is very important in an organization. Uh you have to define it for each organization very differently. >> So for my for my initial mortgage company, it was just volume all

volume all volume of people. you know success was the more people you had the more loans you did the better you were doing. Uh now success has changed. Now success has changed to have uh for the organization uh more quality level people with a very good um a very good work atmosphere work life and work life balance right >> so I I'd say a lot of my success is in in the people just like Sebastian that

we've developed you know a lot of my success when I was doing property management was in the managers that I would create I would create an attitude uh and you know shout out to all the girls who have ever worked for me in property management I love you guys. I apologize for this. But I had a three cry rule. I said, you know, until until you've cried three times from working for me, you weren't the best

at your job. >> Yeah. >> And you know, all of them after I said it finally attest to it and all of them have left and become fantastic uh, you know, fantastic managers cuz I'm not doing property management anymore. They shut that down. >> Yeah. >> When did you shut it down? So, we really shut it down uh middle of 2024, maybe a little bit sooner than that. >> Uh we closed the office up and you

know, kind of I just wanted to focus on doing this and you know, transitioning over, but we really started this like October of 2024 to January of 2025. >> We really started the full advertising in January. So, uh, I'd say this mortgage, the mortgage, we've been back since since, you know, January of this year, >> and we probably shut down the management middle of last year. >> Middle of last year. >> Yeah. >> I'm kind of

uh I'm kind of done with it. But, you know, we have a fantastic uh management company. You know, we got Kalin and and and uh the team over at Stage Coach. Yeah. They do a great job. >> Yeah. Those guys are great. They uh they really know what they're doing when it comes to property management. >> Also allows me to stay in LA. >> Yeah. Yeah, it's uh weather's great in LA, so I loved it out

there. >> Yeah, it's fantastic. It was great. >> Yeah, >> you took the truck out, had a great time. >> Took uh took your son's Ford Bronco out. We uh >> I cruised down Highway One with my mom and my daughter and had a phenomenal time, man. Yeah. Thank you. >> Amazing. Absolutely. >> Absolutely, dude. >> Looking forward to you coming back, >> dude. I can't wait. I need to go out there and learn how to

surf or go uh cliff diving with your son. >> Yeah, he's your guy. He came he came home and he's like, "Yeah, we we went down to Newport Beach or something like that." And he's like, "Yeah, we're just cliff diving." I said, "You were doing what?" >> Yeah. Yeah, that's Eli. >> Yeah. >> Eli's our adventure guy. You know, he's he's pretty amazing, >> dude. That's great, man. Yeah. You have a great family. >> Thank you.

>> Um one of another one of your successes. >> The the the the main success. Absolutely. The main success. >> Yeah. Absolutely, man. It's all about family. >> But um dude, you've done everything. you've done, you know, mortgage business, uh, development, property management, you bought properties, repositioned them. >> Um, I think one of the, you know, one of the things also is you did you buy the a $10 million property from Boris? >> Uh, yeah, actually

it was a portfolio of properties. A >> portfolio of properties. >> Yeah, that was a that was a pretty good acquisition. Uh, it got stuck in CO, so we got stuck with that one, but uh, it was a it was a good buy. We did okay with it. >> Nice. >> We do okay with it. Yeah. That's awesome, dude. So, um let's talk more about like, you know, all of this experience obviously is like just adding

a lot of value to anyone that you do business with today. >> Um you work with, you know, builders, developers, realtors. Now, what what was kind of what's kind of your daily go-to people that you're working with? >> So, uh primarily right now, you know, our mortgage business has a lot of different areas. So we have our SVA lending division, we have our construction lending division, uh multif family retail division and uh our our our home

buyer division. So our residential division. >> Um so so the beginning of this year the main focus was really because all those other divisions are doing well. They're fantastic. They've been in place. Um they continued from 2004 to present. Um so those are great, right? I I had decided that the main focus for the expansion uh to Texas was the first-time home buyer market. Um so I I come from I come from a large family. I

have a large family. Uh you know we were six people. Uh growing up it was at actually I have five siblings. One halfsister who lives in in uh in North Carolina and then the four of us that live in uh you know LA are parents. So we always had a very crazy house. But one of the things I realized as as a parent about our childhood was that that >> that house offered us confidence, right? >>

And you know this this this idea of keeping the nuclear family super tight is is is a really it took it took a very profound effect on me. I I was listening to some podcast one time >> and they were talking about the nuclear family and I said, you know, that that's that's really >> the nuclear family. What is what is this? So the nuclear family is like you know a it's really it's really the development

of a tight-knit group right so you the parents the children having you know a real solid relationship shared experiences additional connections uh and you know to really to safeguard that nuclear family to keep it tight and you know to keep the family together creates creates what I believe to be better people uh more well-balanced people >> um and you know one way to keep that family nice and tight is is owning a home. I have a

profound belief that every family, it doesn't matter what kind of family you are, okay? But every family that calls themselves a family needs to have a base, >> needs to have somewhere that is their safe place. That's a place that everybody comes back to every day, that everybody sleeps every day. Because if everybody's coming in that house, the likelihood that they're going to love each other more and build more connections is very high. Mhm. >> So,

our our our first-time home buyer division is really my main focus of growth because uh you know, sometimes we we do well with it. Sometimes we do okay, sometimes we don't even make money, you know, doing some of these houses. But the idea that we can put families together in a place that that is their grounded place, it's their place that they call home and it's a place that brings them closer together, I think will create

better people for, you know, our communities, our our our states and, you know, really our country, >> you know, I really believe in that. So, >> I really I really, you know, >> sounds like you're very very passionate about this. >> Yeah, for me it's a big deal. You know, like having I I we're a family of six. Even in my house, I have four kids, right? And every single one of them is special. And every

single one of them needs to know that their parents >> love them. >> And as long as their parents love them, right, irregardless of what they do, >> Yeah. >> they're going to grow up to be good people, >> right? >> You know, they'll be balanced enough to be able to give back to society. You know what I mean? >> Absolutely. Yeah. And, you know, unfortunately, there's a lot of broken families out there, you know, and

uh but I I do believe that I agree with you. you know, when it comes to having that home base, uh there's nothing like quite having that that infrastructure of or or the structure that a child needs to develop, you know, and to and to grow and nurture and and have love from their parents. I I think it's a a wonderful goal that you have right there for first- time home buyers. >> I really I really

want to push that one. I I really >> Yeah. >> Do you have anything any sort of special programs or anything like that for first-time home buyers that sets you guys apart over anyone else? You know, I'll say Texas is an amazing market. All right. Here in Texas, we have programs that get you into a home and have you leaving with money in your pocket. >> Yeah. >> Right. It's it's ridiculous. Yeah. >> Uh you know,

we have some of those programs in California and other states, but here in Texas, >> my belief is exactly what the state and local governments are are looking for. They they believe in the same thing, the nuclear family. Let's get everybody into a house. And right now, it's a great time to buy a house. >> Yeah. Even with the rates a little bit higher, >> guys come in and buy the houses. You're buying it for $50

to $100,000 less than what it's going to be when the rates jump up. So, our our programs, my number one program is make sure you get in a house. That's number one. Number two, make sure you get in a house that you can afford. And number three, let's get the best house for the best price. >> Yeah. >> And the best mortgage plan that fits each family. So, so yeah, you can go out and you can

find interest rates at like 3.99, 4.99, 5.99, 6.99, >> but none of that matters. What matters is, hey, is this going to be a good program for you? Does it fit your financial profile? >> Mh. >> And uh are you and your are you and your family going to be comfortable in the home that you can buy for the price that you can afford? Right. >> Right. So, that that's that's my number one program. Can I

get you anything you want? Yeah. Come 20% down or $2 down. we'll figure something out for you. >> Yeah, dude. That's great. And uh you know, how do you how do you currently project these programs that you have right now? How are you marketing them? Are you getting them to, you know, into the people that actually matter, like the realtors, right, that are going to be working with the homeowners? >> Here's the thing, you know, I

actually I have I have great relationships with a lot of realtors, right? Um uh the the main way I believe to get the program out is is to really talk with your client. So realtors, realtors are understanding. They know what I do. They see they see the services that we offer. Uh and they they come really they're coming to us. They're coming to us in volume, right? Um the the second part of it is, you know,

really getting that that word out is really comes through a lot of marketing, right? We have to let people know. You could have the best loan program on the market and if nobody knows you exist, it's not going to get out there, right? >> So we do we do quite a bit of advertising on Instagram and Facebook and all that fun stuff. I I don't handle most of it myself. There's a bunch of videos that I

put up, but I I I can't really stand working on it. Yeah. So, you know, I I would say that, you know, that's I I I give the I give the credit where credit's due. Uh we work with an outside marketing company. They they kind of handle all that. >> Yeah. >> I love that. Good. Um what about uh what about like loan officers that you work with? How do you uh do you have any people

now under your your belt? Right now in our office, we have five loan officers in the office. >> We are absolutely looking for some really good talent. Uh we we we want people >> who know how to talk to people first. >> Yeah. >> People who understand the mortgage industry, understand the effects of a mortgage loan, understand the the the needs of their clientele. They ask the right questions, right? Um and you know, we're absolutely always

looking for new people to come in, people who really understand the game. And if they do, I want you to be part of our team. >> Absolutely. >> You know, really, I'm I'm I'm like I'm like so into it. I I'll handle all of your marketing. We'll do all of the leads. You know, you need just just come in and and do good business. That's all we really care about. >> Right. Right. Yeah. >> That's amazing.

>> Yeah. We have a lot of connections with different types of loan officers as well that we currently work with. >> Where are your loan officers right now? Are they here in Houston or in uh California? >> So, I I don't care where you are. So, we travel the world and we have loan officers all over the world. No, I'm sure. No, but um uh most our our office base is in our main base is in

California, so they're all out of our LA office. >> Um I have my own separate office because I like to focus quite a bit, but um >> most people now are working from home, >> right? So we have setups in office and setups at home, but everybody's >> kind of out there doing quite a bit of work. >> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, dude. That's great. How are you building your relationships right now? It sounds like, you know,

you're you're flying to Houston all the time. Yeah. And and let me ask you this. You know, what what keeps you bringing >> what keeps bringing you back to Houston? Because you you're based out of LA. You're you're out there. You're here all the time. What do you have going on here? >> All right. I want to uh preface by saying that California is my home. I love California. I love the weather. >> Yeah. >> But

the people here in Texas are just second to none. I mean, you got so many great people. So, why do I keep coming back? because a I can do business with good people. >> Yeah. >> And I love it. I love it. You know, I like working with good people. Also, you know, there's so many different reasons, you know, from a financial standpoint to be in Texas, to be in Houston, you know, that that just, you

know, they they take over. I mean, you're looking at you're looking at, you know, the cost per door, you know, in high-end neighborhoods, the cost per door in low-end neighborhoods. If you're looking at multif family, you're looking at the retail, uh the tenant base, the tenant quality for the price per foot. Uh you look at industrial, there's so much industry here. Yeah. Right. So so industrial properties are doing great over here. You have so much flow

of stuff coming into Houston that you know doing business in other states is possible, right? It's it's possible. But >> it's just very easy to do it here. >> It's much easier and there's a lot better people to work with. >> And the people are great. Yeah. I mean, we have southern hospitality throughout the entire city. >> Oh yeah. >> Uh everyone's friendly. Everyone's willing to give. Abundance mindset throughout. I mean, it's a great state to

do business. >> Absolutely. A great place to do business. >> Absolutely. Yes, sir. Um, and so do you still have properties here in Houston? >> Yeah, quite a few. Quite a few. >> Yeah. What uh what what kind of properties do you have here? >> I don't have any retail, but I do have industrial, multif family, and residential. >> Nice. >> Yeah. Yeah, those are good assets. Um I have a lot of partners on those. Um

uh I have some that belong to me and myself. Um stuff that belongs to portfolios uh that I'm involved in. Um, I have a lot of friends that I partnered with out here that own a bunch of industrial out here. Um, we still have quite a bit. Still have quite a bit we're involved in. >> Nice. Yeah. >> When you when you partner up, how do you structure your partnerships with people? >> It all depends on

the person. >> On the person. >> I will tell you that it all depends on the person. Um, you know, we have I have uh Ronnie who I'm partners with, being partners forever. Um, we don't even put anything on paper. Ronnie just says, "Okay, I open the LLC." And I'll be like, "Okay, well, I sent the deposit." and he'll be like, "Okay, I I I I I called I called the you know, I called the title

company. All right, I got the survey." You know, like we just kind of throw everything on top of each other. Then I have other partners that we, you know, um we put, you know, tenant and common agreements together. Um >> then, you know, it's all all different ways. Yeah. All different ways. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. Do you do any syndications or anything like that? >> We do not. Uh but but we have just uh this last

couple weeks, we're developing a syndication to buy um uh low volume multif family uh throughout Southern California. It's a new it's a new program we're putting together. We're going to start with that. We're connect with our old friends uh guys over at Edgestone Real Estate. Um uh Sebastian and Matias Stomark are good friends of ours. Um they have they're fantastic property managers, also partners. Yeah. >> Um they're great people. So, we're going to work with them

and have them kind of manage all the assets while we, you know, put the put the whole the the the assets together and do the rehab and redevelopment of them. >> Nice. >> Yeah. So, that's going to be a fun one. >> Yeah. >> Dude, where do you find the time to do all this [ __ ] you got going on, >> you know? Um, something I started with when I was younger is you can sleep

when you're dead. you know, live live while live while you can. Enjoy yourself and, you know, uh spend time with your family, spend time with your friends, >> and you know, really really invest a lot of time in in the people you love the most. >> Yeah. Yeah. >> And the things you love the most, >> especially in, you know, great relationships, people you do business with, and >> Yeah. >> taking care of them. They're going

to take care of you. >> Yeah. I mean, look, us, you and I have been friends for I don't know how many years now. Four or five years now. >> Yeah. >> And in that time, how many shared experiences that we do we have? >> A ton. and we have a good like close-knit group of friends here that we can, you know, say whatever we want and do whatever we want with each other and nobody's judgy

or nobody cares, >> you know. >> I I would say it's really, you know, it's a special group of people that we have, you know, in our circle because >> uh everyone is non-judgmental, you know, and we all want to see each other win and we we wish nothing but the best for each other. So, absolutely. I feel like we're each other's like cheerleader like, hey, you know, come on, blah blah blah, you know, >> get

out there, bro. You can do more. Why are you doing that? >> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Talking Sometimes we got we need some some tough love also, you know, from from your friends, too. You know, I think it's it's it's meant to push you and make you better, right? >> It's great, dude. We got a great group of people. Everybody's doing great and they tell you about it. That's the beauty about it is >> when you can

it's it's like it's having like your own built-in We've been to mastermind groups together, but it's having your own like private mastermind group of friends that are out there killing it and you just call each other, "What' you do with this? What would you do with that? Did you buy that deal?" No, you didn't. You got it for that price. who did the loan, you know, like all that stuff. We go back and forth. It It

makes it a lot of fun. >> It makes it a ton of fun, man. Especially when we're going out um you know, we we go out and we we go out to networking events or we're all hanging out, having a couple drinks and just conversations are always flowing and it's always just businessoriented. >> The best part about it, I think, is that we celebrate successes together. >> Always. >> That's that's a lot of fun. Like for

example, Jonathan, our just got engaged. Yeah. >> Right. That was pretty amazing. >> That was incredible. Yeah, >> that was incredible. you guys were all on that trip together. >> So, you know, funny story about this, Josh. We were on this trip and um only only I think only Boris and Franklin knew about the engagement. Me and Cody didn't know just because I mean Shone's more than anything, it's not that he didn't care to tell us,

it's just that he's like always on the run, always going, he forgot to mention it. So, Boris at the end is like, "Hey man, tonight he's going to propose to we're like, >> what? What? >> Are you kidding me? No way, dude. >> Yes. Yes. I get to be a part of >> Yeah. So, dude, of course, you know, we're all out there. We're all crying. Oh, my friend's going to be engaged. It was an amazing

experience, man. >> I was watching on the phone. I was like, >> yeah, they've been dating for a long time. They've been together for a long time. They've done a lot of business. And >> Halen's been an uh an instrumental part of a killer. She's a killer. >> So, you know, I think >> I like them. I think they're a fantastic couple. I really do. She's great for him. He's great for her. >> Absolutely. Yeah. Can't

wait to see what the future holds for them. So, it's going to be great. But uh but dude, this is a this has been a great great podcast. Thank you so much again for flying all the way from Beverly Hills. I mean, >> there's other things that bring you here to Houston, but I'm I'm very grateful that you're here at my uh in my podcast here today. >> Absolutely. >> Um anything else that you want to

add? I mean, I think we've covered a lot of things, man. You know, we've gone through your construction experience. >> Well, I do want to give you a special shout out. Uh your your your you know, your your profile, your business, the way you've developed it is really fantastic. I I think that you got a great product that you put out there. >> Um uh it's very very helpful. It's designed >> to help entrepreneurs really expand,

right? To really grow it. It's I I love it. I love it. You know, something we talked about a while ago, right? And um it's great to see it come into fruition and just like expand, you know, growing and growing every day. >> Absolutely, dude. And it it means so much for, you know, especially from a client and a friend to to hear you say that. Um I think I think the biggest uh compliments that you

know someone can do is you know referrals you know when you actually like you believe in a product so much not only are you paying for it but you're like hey man you got to you got to pay for this too you know because this is saving me so much time and energy from me having to do all the tedious tasks and you know this guy can just do it all for you. So >> I mean

just just this week I met with a bunch of realtors all I gave all of them your number all you talked to two of them already. >> We did. Yeah, it I mean that's the way it's supposed to happen, right? Absolutely. >> Um, your product is great. It works for all different levels. It's it's you know, you can it can vary up and down so you can you can tailor make it to anyone, you know. >>

So, that's fantastic. Um, outside of that, >> you know, it's great talking with you. I enjoy hanging out with you. >> Absolutely. >> Um, gonna have fun night. We're gonna uh with our friends. We're gonna go see Franklin this evening and his >> Franklin shout out Franklin Warren. He is having an event tonight. By the time this podcast is out, it'll be too late. But >> I got to go change my shirt and we can go.

>> But yeah, um just outside of that, you know, if you guys ever want to reach out, you want some uh you know, free consultation, just give me a call. >> For anyone that either wants to do business with you, maybe come and be a loan officer and you know, take advantage of all the sales experience that you have. You know, absolutely you have a ton of sales experience. How can people find out more about Josh

>> Farard? First and foremost is my cell phone. I love my cell phone. Call me, text me, I don't care. 8329559255. >> Check our website, uh, fnfloone.com. >> You can also email me easy, josh fnfloone.com. >> Nice and easy. >> Yeah. Make it as easy as possible. Absolutely. So, our our our main focus, just wrapping up, our main focus for our company is to make the lending process as simple as possible for the first-time home buyer,

for the new developer, for the contractor, for the, you know, investor, whatever it is. Our job is to make your life easy so you don't have to worry about the loan. Right. Um, >> as long as we get what we need, there's no reason your deal can't get done. Right. >> Right. >> So, um, you know, that's pretty much it. That's that's really First Nation Financial is a service business. Yeah, >> that's what we do. >>

Yeah. And I think just to, you know, also make sure that I most mostly everyone out there that's wondering whether they should work with you or not. I mean, >> you have experience in everything, dude. You know, not only have you trained over 500 people, but you've also bought millions of dollars worth of properties, real estate, you know, done the actual development from the ground up. So if anyone that is a builder or a developer that

needs a loan, who else, you know, what other person better to ask for than the person that's already done it themselves? >> You know, you you already know the whole uh uh experience of development. And real quick, you walk me through the the development experience, the the the process. >> Oh, the process. Yeah. Uh for the loan or for actually doing the development? >> Actually doing the development. >> I mean, you got you got all of

us over here. You got me, Boris, Jonathan. We got all walk you through. we'll hold your hand all the way through the process. Um, you know, really really the development process starts with buying process. Any anytime anytime you're making an investment, right? Uh, you make your money when you buy, right? >> Uh, everybody always says that, right? But it's really true. You really make your money when you buy. So if you buy something a great deal,

all right, you're you're going to do well with it no matter what. No matter what happens, even if you screw up, right, >> you can still do well with it if you bought, right? Yeah. >> All right. So let's say you buy a piece of land. First first thing you do, you buy the land, you get it under contract. While you're under contract, you must go and get your plans ready to go. So, by the time

you close, it's all about speed. >> So, by the time you close, you have a set of business uh building plans finished, ready. You have to know what you want to build there. You have to know what you're allowed to build there. And then you submit a set of plans. You work with an architect to get it going, right? You get your architect on, you get your structural engineer on, you get your mechanical engineer together, and

you put together a set of building plans. day of closing. The day you close, you take a copy of your deed and you walk into the Houston Peritting Center or you tell your architect to do it and uh you say, "Submit these plans." All right, you get the plans back and then you start the process. You got to find the right contractor. And in all that time that you're waiting for the plans to get back, you

interview like five or six contractors, right? Not one or two, five or six. All right? And you know, you get your pricing from them. You see which one you vibe with, which one's a good contractor, which one you think's a good guy, which one's a bad guy. Yeah. Right. And that's the guy and you choose your guy and you go forward with him, >> right? >> Get the process going. As soon as it's almost done, like

a month away from being done, you call the agent that sold the last five properties in that area. >> The agent? Yeah. >> Yeah. >> So, you bring him on and and now you list the property for sale. >> Done. >> That's That's really the process. >> Nice and easy process. >> Yeah. I mean, the construction process is a bit tedious. >> Yeah. >> Uh but if you plan everything out, nothing ever goes right, >> but

you let the contractor, you know, deal with all that. Let him do those things. Yep. and then you just focus on your own thing. >> Always, always, always mechanical plans. I can't emphasize it. >> The last thing you want on a on a a construction project, especially speck homes, >> Yeah. >> is change orders. So, >> change orders. >> Yeah. Just keep that in mind. Stay away from change orders. Whatever you can do to avoid that

change orders, avoid it. >> That sounds like a pretty expensive lesson you might have learned there in the past, Josh. >> Brings you back bad memories, I bet. I I remember one of our last constru my father's last construction projects. I I was working on the project >> and the lady was a very close friend and she was building this massive like 5,000 >> 5,000 foot home on this massive lot in the Palisades, Pacific Palisades by

the beach >> and um >> and it had a fantastic ocean view. >> Yeah. >> But she was a single woman. >> Yeah. Yeah. >> And she was building a 5,000t house with a 2500 ft master suite on the second floor. >> So 2500 on the bottom, >> 2500 ft² on the top. Onebedroom home, right? >> One bedroom. >> One bedroom. It was her It was her dream home. She was She wasn't having any kids, >>

you know? She wasn't getting married. So that's what she >> But the resale, >> her name was Victoria, and she didn't care about that. It was a family friend, and she was, you know, she she had enough funds. It wasn't a problem for her. She was building for enjoyment. Yeah. >> Well, the problem was we changed out the flooring in that house seven times. We refinished the kitchen cabinets four times. >> And as much as my

dad loved her and we were friends, we were like very she would come for dinner. We would have, you know, we were the family that she would hang out with. >> Yeah. >> Um he's like, "I can't do this anymore." He turned to her, he's like, "I can't. I've never wanted to walk off a project and especially one for you, but >> my love, I cannot." you know and um you know that was that was the

toughest construction experience even as a kid that I had. >> Wow. >> Yeah. >> Outside outside of that no the other ones were you know it was just issues a learning learning curve. >> Yeah. >> Issues that was the toughest >> issues. Learning curve issues. So like uh give you an example like that first building I bought right there was a huge learning curve but I was expecting it so it wasn't really a problem for me.

>> Yeah. So, uh, what ends up happening is, you know, we get our first inspection from the city and before that I even allowed the inspector to walk on the property. I stopped him at the curb. I said, "Listen to me very closely." Like, "What?" I was like, I remember his name. His name is Felipe Hernandez. I said, "Felipe, listen to me very closely." >> He's like, "What is it, Josh?" I was like, "I want you

to be as hard on me as possible." Like, what? I was like, "I want you to call out every freaking detail and every freaking problem on this building." >> He was like shocked. You know, usually inspector comes on site and you're like kicking him off. You want him to get off the property as soon as possible. So, writes up less stuff. >> He's like, >> "Are you being serious?" I was like, "Yeah, man. I'm here to

learn." >> Yeah. >> So, he walked on the property and uh, you know, he really spent time and energy teaching me. again he was somebody who knew and wanted to teach someone else. >> Yeah. >> Right. >> So he had the knowledge and I was a airhead when it comes to uh you know >> you wanted to learn >> finding out what all these issues are that the city of Los Angeles has and all their codes

and all their requirements but I know and then you go and ask him hey where can I buy the book with all the codes and stuff like that. He's like you can't buy it. I was like where am I supposed to look up the city code? He goes figure it out online. Now there's a database but back then there was no database online where you could go see all the codes and regulations. >> That's how you

learned right? But that's how you learn. >> Yeah. Yeah. Learn again. Again, just uh not being scared to look like a fool and not being scared to ask questions. Yeah. >> Not being scared to ask for help. >> Yeah. >> It's all it takes. >> It's all it takes, man. >> Like a jackass. I showed up in a suit over there and he's like laughing at me. So, >> I I learned that all the tenants were

like, "Who's this guy?" Right. So, I learned that I shouldn't wear a suit to go out to property. I learned that real early. >> Yep. Yep. That's why I'm always in a t-shirt hanging out. >> Exactly. Exactly. Um, bro, one thing that we forgot to to harp on is >> your sales experience. You said that you have a really good way to direct conversation in a way that prevents no answers. >> Yeah. >> How do you

do that? >> Yeah. So, really it has to do a lot with developing your script, right? Yeah. >> So, when you're developing a sales team, a lot of it is how you approach the first couple minute couple seconds of the call, right? Um, the first minute of a call, the first 60 seconds of a call is integral to building that relationship, right? >> When you when you allow when you allow in conversation to elicit answers of

no, >> you're you're you're already putting negative energy into the conversation, right? So, you're giving you're giving you're giving an out to anybody now. Whether they want it or not, they're going to use it, right? People are automatically wired to say, "No, hang up the phone. Why are you calling my house?" Right? I'm calling your house because you got an amazing opportunity here, buddy. Let's let's let's talk about it. Let's look into it. So, versus Okay.

>> Um, I'm calling because you qualified for a loan. I was wondering if you're interested. I know you're interested, bro. I'm not going to bring up the give you an option to say no to me in the first 60 seconds, right? >> Absolutely not. So, you get into the conversation and you hit you develop a script that does not allow for a no answer, right? >> First 60 seconds of the conversation are huge. All right? And

then automatically you go into asking the questions, the sales questions, the closing questions. Every question answered is a close. Every time he answers you, every time he speaks and gives you a response that's not a no is a close. >> So, so that's one of the main things, right? Um, so, so in training people, you know, everybody can sell. I don't I don't believe there's a person that can't sell. >> You just got to get out

of your shell. So, one of the things that we would do when we found somebody who couldn't sell, this was actually my specialty, cuz I would rip him off the phone. I mean, there were times where I'm listening to the guy on the call. I'm like standing over his head and then he's talking to someone. He's having a conversation. I was like, "No." And I hang up his phone, right? And I grab him. I rip him

out of his desk. I was like, "Bro, we got to work." Yeah. >> Right. Let's go. Let's go work on this. So, I pick him up >> and uh you know, the people who had the biggest problem, I call it the yell treatment, right? So, uh, we I would literally take him to the bathroom. >> Yeah. >> I would say, "You need to face that mirror and you need to scream at yourself as loud as you

possibly can." >> Yeah. >> We had a guy who could not speak. Like, you couldn't hear his voice on the phone. >> And could you imagine like 45 cold callers sitting in one massive room from 4 to 8:00 p.m. how loud it is? >> Madness. >> Right. Dot dot dot dot. Hello. Dot dot dot dot. Hello. Right. And we didn't have dialers back then. You got to do it all. things like this. My finger the first

week I was working, my finger was killing me. >> Got a callous on it. >> No, I built muscles in the tip of my finger. Yeah, it's still there. >> Um but but yeah, it was like it was >> So you take him to the restroom, you make them yell, >> I make him yell at himself and then I make him scream the pitch at himself in the mirror. >> Yeah. >> Uh at one time, one

time there was one guy who was in the bathroom while we were doing this. He was using the toilet and uh he's like, "Leave me alone." [Laughter] But but it was, you know, that's how we got people out of their shell. We got them to open up. >> And then those people became some of our top salespeople. >> Wow. >> You know, um you know, even going back to the three cry rule, I had a wonderful

girl. She now works at Wells Fargo. She's in the lending division. She works at Wells Fargo as a loan officer. She closes a lot of deals every single month. Top producer. >> Mhm. Um, and uh, poor girl I made, she told me years later. She never told me, but I found out that I would make her cry like three or four times a week. >> Wow. >> By getting on her, but >> now when I see

her, she says, "Josh, you're the best thing. That was the best thing. That was the best training I ever had." Thank you so much, Josh. >> But, um, you know, beat them beat them down until they get it. Yeah. >> And again, I don't believe there's anyone out there. I mean, unless you can't speak, >> you know, you can sell. >> You can sell. Anyone can sell. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. Love it. >> Yeah. >> So,

come work with Josh and he'll make you scream in the mirror. >> Yeah. Come on over. Screaming in the mirror is our number one thing. >> Uh, you know, whatever's whatever it takes to get success, you know, I think there's different ways to to reach it. And so, um, I think it I think it is very effective, you know. Um, I when I first started, I I would I would do that, too. And >> I would

actually scream at myself in the mirror a couple of times when when I first started, you know, but I sucked at the beginning. I think everyone does. >> You just try different things and try to see what works and whatever works for you. Hey, make it happen. Yeah. Go out there and close some deals, >> you know. Closing up, I would say this, and I want everybody to hear, everybody know. >> Nothing Nothing worth any value

is easy, okay? You got to work at everything. You got to work hard, okay? You got to work smart, but you got to work hard. Yeah. >> You know, you're not working. If you're looking to work 8 hour days, go go go sign up somewhere, right? You're going to be the real estate agent that closes $10,000 a year, right? If you if you want to work 14our days, 16 hour days, sometimes 18 hours, 18 hour days,

you're going to make it. You're going to make it. And you just have to believe in yourself. You have to be consistent. And you have to, you know, go for it. Yeah. >> Really. And that's I think what a lot of us have in common, right, in our group of friends and all my other group of friends is that you you go till you drop. >> Yep. >> Absolutely. >> Yeah. Sleep when you're dead. >> You

sleep when you're dead. Job's not over, like Kobe Bryan said. So, >> job done. >> Yeah. >> Job's done not done. >> Job's not done. >> Well, I don't think I could have said any better, Josh. And I think that's a great message for everyone that's listening. Um, you know, believe in yourself. Go out there, work hard, outwork everyone, and you're going to be successful. >> 100% >> piece of cake. >> Yeah. Thank you so much

for coming on here again, man. I really appreciate you. And uh >> Oh, yeah. We'll do this again sometime, huh? >> Absolutely. We'll be around soon. >> Absolutely. Thank you so much. >> Thanks.