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Shine On Success
Shine on Success is a dynamic, story-driven podcast where extraordinary entrepreneurs, visionary leaders, and resilient change-makers share their journeys to success, revealing both the challenges and the strategies that led to their breakthroughs. Each episode offers a unique blend of inspiring personal stories, practical business insights, and actionable advice, allowing our guests to connect with an engaged, growth-oriented audience ready to be motivated and uplifted. By joining us, you’ll not only have the opportunity to showcase your expertise and inspire listeners but also to be part of a powerful platform that celebrates ambition, innovation, and the courage to turn dreams into reality.
Shine On Success
From Hollywood to Homeownership: A Journey of Impact
What do Broadway, Beverly Hills, and buying your first home have in common? David Sidoni. In this episode of Shine On Success, David shares his incredible journey from dancing with legends like Michael Jackson to becoming the go-to expert for first-time homebuyers. With a passion for education and a mission to change lives, David reveals how he went from the spotlight of Hollywood to the heart of real estate, guiding countless renters into homeownership.
We talk about overcoming fear, the power of persistence, and why first-time buyers hold a special place in the industry. Plus, David shares why the real estate world has been failing first-time buyers for years—and how he's changing that. Whether you're an aspiring homeowner, a real estate agent, or just love a great transformation story, this episode is for you.
Tune in and get inspired!
Connect with David here:
Website: https://howtobuyahome.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HowtoBuyaHomeGuy/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/howtobuyahomepodcast/
X: https://twitter.com/DavidSidoni
Connect with Dionne Malush
- Instagram: @dionnerealtyonepgh
- LinkedIN: /in/dionnemalush
- Website: www.dionnemalush.com
- Facebook: /dmalush
- LinkTree: https://linktr.ee/dionnemalush
Welcome back to Shine on Success. I'm your host, Dionne Malish, and today we have an exceptional guest whose journey spans from the bright lights of Hollywood to empowering first-time homebuyers. We're not even sure how that all works, but we're going to get to know David Sedoni, once a performer in productions like Newsies and host of Wheel 2000, and he was also on Beverly Hills 90210, which was one of my favorite shows growing up and he has transformed his career into a mission driven endeavor, guiding countless individuals towards home ownership through his how to Buy a Home podcast and howtobuyahomecom. In this episode, we'll dive into David's remarkable transition and uncover invaluable advice for those looking to make the leap from renting to owning their first home. And, David, I am so glad to have you on here today.
Speaker 2:It's been a while since I had anyone in real estate, so I'm excited to have you. How are you doing today? I am doing fantastic. It's an exciting year, stoked to be moving ahead and looking forward to seeing what's next.
Speaker 1:I agree. I think the shift is happening again, so I'm excited about that. Last year I was out of control. I have no idea what happened right same there. So you're in california, we're in pittsburgh. It's 25 here. What's the temperature there today?
Speaker 2:I'm in shorts and flip-flops. So 60 something, 70 something probably.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think it's 72 today so california I do love it there. I fact, one time I went there for two weeks and I cried whenever the plane was coming. I was crying because I didn't want to go home, but I still never left, I still stayed in Pittsburgh. So I must like something about the cold.
Speaker 2:My dad was raised in Buffalo, New York. I was born there and I think I moved when I was six months old and my dad got a transfer to Southern California and let's just say he decided to stay.
Speaker 1:Yeah, well, good for you, and I'm glad that he did so. Tell me this I like to always start off with what is one thing you would like our audience to know about you.
Speaker 2:That I have dedicated myself to being an educator and giving empowerment to a sector of real estate that, in the nicest way I can say, is underserved in the authentic, transparent, real way, or have been getting hosed by the real estate industry for decades.
Speaker 1:I bet I'm sure you have, and I agree with you, it's definitely underserved. There's something special about a first-time home buyer. They're so excited and happy, you know, and I love them myself, but I don't really practice much anymore and I went on a showing a couple of weekends ago and I'm like, oh my gosh, like I haven't done this in two years, you know. So I was a little shocked about the whole thing because it was just unique and it's been a while. But you know, I could feel the energy and the positivity. It was their first time they ever bought a home. They were in there I think they're in their late forties and it was just, it was really cool. So I get what you're doing. So I have a question for you, because I think this is important. Most people wouldn't expect someone who started in Hollywood to end up changing lives in real estate. So I have to ask you was there a moment when you looked around and thought this isn't my path anymore. I'm in for something different? What was going through your mind at that time?
Speaker 2:You know there is an actual, real moment and it sounds like one of those made up stories, but it really happened to me. I was 28 and I'd been seven, eight years in the business and done everything Dance with Gene Kelly or worked on a project with Gene Kelly. Dance with Michael Jackson. I was on 90210, the episode where the frat house burned down, Me and my friend started the fire. That was us.
Speaker 2:And throwing water balloons out the window and we caused mayhem. And as I was turning 26, 27, 28, I was working and I saw, like many other entrepreneurs and like many other people, when you're at the top, then there's a definite separation. You're either the person who's getting the scripts sent to you and then you decide what projects you're going to do, or you're continually hustling. So I was kind of making the decision that that I wanted to look for something that was purely about control and stability. And it was a day I was working and I was doing a game show for Disney channel and Dick Clark was the producer and we were in between shows and we had like six minutes to change clothes in between because we shot them almost in real time. And so I'm standing there like a scarecrow, their audio people are taking off my mic belt and putting new mic batteries in and fixing that and the wardrobe people are taking my thing off, hair and makeups on me, and then someone else is reading me pronunciations to make sure you know I know how to say metamorphosis correctly or whatever the questions were.
Speaker 2:And Dick Clark was on the set that day and I wasn't feeling great. He's like how's everyone doing? Hey David, how are you? And I was like I'm pushing through Mr Clark, I don't feel really great today, and he goes, cool, hey, everybody out of the room and we were like what? And he said to me he goes, david. Okay, here's your first tip Smile a little more, you're great. Second tip the director and a couple of people that make more money than you. But I could fire and replace any of them in 20 minutes because someone will drive in and do the job. Today. The only person I can never replace is you, you have to say. The answer is always I'm doing fantastic, mr Clark, it's not because you're great or talented, it's because you're just the guy on camera.
Speaker 2:And at that moment I realized I was doing well. But I still wasn't in a position, place where I could take a day off if my kids had something going on. So I started to invest in real estate that was 1998 and did that for a few years and then 2005,. You know, getting married and having a life. It just made sense to me that running my own business in the world of residential real estate was something I could do and still have the balance I wanted in life. So that's how I made that very unusual transition.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's interesting too, and I love how you put your family right there at the top. And you know, some people don't do that, right, I mean they just they don't, they can't, they're made of different things and I love that you did that. And it's interesting because real estate is theatrical in some ways. Right, you have to do presentations and you have to be spot on all the time. When someone asks you a question, you have to know the answers. You have to know so much about real estate and people watch HGTV and they think that's what real estate is like. But we're here to say it's not. It's not like that at all, but it's. It's fun, it's invigorating, it's hard. There's lots of pieces and parts Like you have no idea, Like the audience. The behind the scenes of real estate transaction is a lot. And then when you're dealing with first time homebuyers, you have a whole different energy, Right? So what is your favorite part of the first time homebuyer business?
Speaker 2:I think over the you know it's been six years now where I've just been educating. I've been helping first time homebuyers throughout the process since 2006. But the last six years when I when I really focused on the educating probably my favorite part is, once you've become that trusted advocate and you can be very transparent and very blunt with them, the surprise how many people realize they're basically over-prepared because the information out there is so crappy. Nobody knows what they can do until they hire someone and people. There's a giant disconnect between when you hire somebody versus how much research do you do on your own before you hire someone. So my favorite part is talking to people who tell me they're 12 to 24 months away and we end up being under contract in a couple months. And you know, with the podcast I think over six years nationwide we've had. Last I checked it was like 72 percent of the people who said they were 12 to 24 months were under contract in 3.2 months Once I got them connected with the right people and education is important, right.
Speaker 1:And so I tell our agents I say get on social media, share everything you know, just keep sharing items of value, right. And so there's so many pieces to do that with. It's like an entire reality show that we could have just on all the components of real estate. So let me ask you this, because change is never easy, as we know. So when you walked away from entertainment, what was the toughest part, and was there a moment that doubt crept in when you thought did I make the right move?
Speaker 2:I think the toughest part for me was when I got really active in the real estate. There was the performing and there's always the you know, personal, narcissistic love of applause. I, throughout my career, replaced that a little bit with the excitement and passion that I got when I would teach, while I was on TV and in movies and stuff. I would teach theater, musical theater on the side for fun, wow, yeah. So when I figured out that in real estate that could be something that could kind of fill that passion bucket, it was pretty exciting. And throughout the almost two decades now in real estate, wow, what a huge, just emotional smack in the face it was for me to realize that in my twenties, where I had a wonderful career and got to do amazing things, everything I was doing was for the applause. And now everything I'm doing is like the stage manager in the back to support other people and to get them, to have them be the hero of the moment, not me, be the hero that gets applause. It's just as fulfilling, if not more.
Speaker 1:That is awesome. Thank you for sharing that. So did you ever feel like that? You made a mistake.
Speaker 2:No, the only thing I ever wanted to do was I wanted to be Dan Cortez from MTV Sports. That's all I wanted to do If I could. I wanted to be a big Broadway star, but I didn't have the vocal chops for it.
Speaker 2:So, I was really enjoying hosting, but I have friends that are very famous television hosts that are constantly auditioning. I mean, unless you're Ryan Seacrest or Mario Lopez, you are reinventing yourself your whole life. And because I had a really good taste of it as you know someone in my late 20s I saw how difficult a life that was going to be. So you know, I end up going to theater all the time now and that that fills me up. That's awesome.
Speaker 1:So let's talk about any other adversities you've had in your life, because that's the point of when I started this is to learn from other people that you can push through adversity, and reading books like thinking, grow rich and personal development have helped me tremendously, because I've had my share too, like everyone else, but the fact is I keep getting back up and keep moving forward. So can you tell us a story about something that was adverse in your life that you pushed through?
Speaker 2:Yeah, you know the relationship with my wife. We talk about persistence all the time and that is something that I have learned and persistence has been something I don't think I realized was happening in my life, but it was. I just thought it was what we called working hard. So, you know, for me, I auditioned for all kinds of things that I thought was going to be the thing that was going to be my big break, and it wasn't. And you know, I had an opportunity to be on a television series, had an opportunity to be the lead in the movie, but I wasn't the lead in the movie. I ended up being one of the co-stars and that ended up propelling my career.
Speaker 2:And so, at the time, the humility and understanding that wherever you're placed right now, it's never the top of the mountain and you can continue to work, and I mean that's. I think it was in my early thirties when I read thinking or thinking grow rich for the first time. But it was my dad who had the success posters all over his room, cause he was a 35 year salesman and you know Babe Ruth's, how many times he struck out versus how many home runs he hit. Oh yeah, all the the success things. I mean I've still got like five of them in my garage from when I retired.
Speaker 1:Accessories and I remember we had the first ones that came out and I had them, I'm so proud of them.
Speaker 2:And in you know, 90 or 2005, my dad gave me these old cassette tapes he had of this guy who was a sales guy that then became a real estate guy named Tom Hopkins.
Speaker 1:Oh, my God Of course.
Speaker 2:So you know, I had Tom Hopkins Hopkins, Zig Ziglar, and then you know, I didn't blow up right away. My first year in real estate was at the top of the peak before the crash, and so everybody and their mother was an agent, and there were many years that, you know, we didn't know what, what was going to happen.
Speaker 1:You know I first year look like for you in California, because I can say here in Pittsburgh like I know what it looks like here, but what does that look like? How many transactions.
Speaker 2:Oh, in 2006,. I got my license on Valentine's day, 2006. And I immediately signed up for the Buffini coaching program, which was all referral and because I wasn't doing any cold stuff and because I was a former actor. Therefore, because I was just talking to people, I knew everyone was like, oh God, another actor with a realtor. I had one transaction. My second one, my first year.
Speaker 2:I sold one of my real estate investment properties, which was a good thing and a bad thing. I had a year's salary in the bank, but the mistake I made, looking back on it, was I put so much energy and effort in just building a referral-based business that I didn't do enough open houses. I wasn't available to people that would trust me and go with me. I was just talking to all my people who I needed to actually even. It was more difficult for me to re-earn their trust. And then my second year in Southern California. I think my average sales price was like $475,000 and I closed 19 deals almost all first-time homebuyers and almost all referrals from the people I knew from Disneyland, because I'd had a year's worth of work and the headlines started to change, and so there were several times I was going to my you know mastermind meetings with my people and and I was in tears my first year.
Speaker 1:Thank you for being smart by having a one-year salary waiting there, right? Instead of some agents think that it's okay to quit your job. It's not. The first year is difficult, you know, it's we. I did four transactions, I think, my first year here in Pittsburgh, and you know so. I feel you, I understand it, but our average sale price here is about 235,000.
Speaker 1:Now it was probably about 150 or maybe 125 when I started in 2024. So, yeah, you don't make a lot of money in the first year or two, and you know. So, yeah, that's so cool. I love hearing this story. It's just so great. So, if you look back, what do you think has been a reason why you've been in real estate this long? Because most agents barely make it five years.
Speaker 2:Yeah, 87% quit. A wonderful stat from NAR. Part of the reason why I do what I do now For me, because I was constantly one of the neatest things about doing real estate was, you know, finally in my thirties, realizing what my dad said and constantly working on self-growth. You know, starting with the basics, with you know, jim Rohn's Zig Ziglar, think and Grow Rich. And then, you know, reading so many of the early books and then constantly working on that that I started to feel self-development. That was a good thing for me and my family and all we saw a constant possibility on the horizon. There was always a different growth, there was a different level.
Speaker 2:You know, it's that cheesy thing people always say you know, you can be as successful as you want to be in real estate, you just got to put in the work. There's no cap. You're not waiting for your boss to promote you. And once I got the taste of helping people in Southern California where it's super expensive people who work at Disneyland they super expensive People who work at Disneyland. They're never going to make $300,000 a year, but they want a house Once I got the taste of learning the creative options that we could find for them, that was something I couldn't, I just knew was going to be something that I could do and still have a happy work-life balance.
Speaker 1:So you said something earlier about open houses and it's so funny. I'm putting together a document. So my creative side of it. I had a graphic design business prior to owning a real estate company, so I have best of both worlds. So I create a lot of the agents. They're probably sick of the things that I'm constantly making things.
Speaker 1:But this time I made something about open houses and when you just said that, it hit me. So you go in using this referral business, you're like, oh my gosh, my first year sucked, you know, but open houses will use something you didn't do. So I put together a document that said this real simply, if you do one open house a week, so in four weeks you get one buyer that closes a deal In our company at the average sell price, you're going to make about $70,000. That one year just off of those 12 leads right. But if you double your average sell price, you're looking at about $140,000 for 12 houses. So that in Pittsburgh is big right, because over $100,000 is a big deal because our average sale price is so low. But you know, there is so much opportunity in open houses. Still, after all these years, 100 years later, people still want to walk through the house. I don't care how good your video is. So can you talk to me a little bit about that, because I want our agents to hear this too, because it's important.
Speaker 2:So, as someone who you know started slow but then became, you know, an office of 250 agents, I became the rookie guru. They had me teaching classes to the rest of the team people who were in for 15, 20 years on how to work with first-time homebuyers. I was the little superstar for the for the place. I would go back to that guy and say what are you doing? You should be doing five open houses a week, a hundred percent.
Speaker 1:You said five. Absolutely Take your work with you.
Speaker 2:What was I doing for eight hours a day when I was trying to generate that one transaction that I couldn't have done sitting there? And if someone came in and talked to me, that distraction isn't taking away from my work time. That is my work time. The more that you learn, the more efficient ways to market and prospect. Then the shorter your workday can be. And if that's the case, if I take an eight hour rookie day and I can do it in five, which is the way I'm built, then I've got three hours a day. That's an open house.
Speaker 2:If I had done open houses, I would have met so many more people. It's the number one thing I would have changed about. I wouldn't have done me personally, I wouldn't have been, like you know, calling expireds or door knocking, and that's a wonderful way to build your business. Because of the talents that I had, because of what was there for me the ability to articulate and I'm a real estate nerd. So I learned all this stuff and I was reading all this stuff, but I was trying to figure out how to do it in a voicemail or a text. I should have just been doing it face-to-face, with people who were raising their hand and saying they were interested.
Speaker 1:Makes so much sense. So let me say this so most agents, they'll run after the luxury buyers. You build a business serving first-time home buyers, who can be the hardest client sometimes because it's difficult but you get a lot of benefit from it. But what made you double down on that? And then did people tell you it was a bad idea? Because I heard you say something earlier that people were all over you about the first time home buyers. Can you explain that?
Speaker 2:Everybody said it was a bad idea. My dad said it was a bad idea. Everybody in my life said it was a bad idea. So what happened was, 12, 13 years in, my wife looked at me and said you know, I had a team, I was managing people. I thought the training of other buyers agents was going to fulfill that motivational you know, inspirational part of me that enjoyed inspiring people and motivating people and helping people get to the next level. That's the thing to get what you want, help other people get what they want. So I thought that was going to be it.
Speaker 2:I soon realized that I was feeling much more fulfillment with the first time homebuyers. So then I took a step back. I took a year and I have three giant notebooks where I thought about a business plan. And then I said OK, david, you're not the smartest guy in the world. Why hasn't anyone else in real estate done this? And then I looked at the brokers, the big brokers, business model and, truth be told, the agents are the clients, not the actual people buying the home. If that's the case, what if I can find a platform? Oh my God, here's a microphone right here in front of me. Maybe that'll be it when I can explain to the consumer you need to be the consumer, you don't need to be a client to someone who is the consumer of somebody else, who's not giving them what they really need, which is the training, what they really need, which is the training.
Speaker 2:And when I realized that it's 3,000 hours and apprenticeship time to get a cosmetology license in California and it's 40 hours open book and my 18-year-old can pass the real estate license test and 87% of them quit in five years, I thought what if I could mass educate? I'm not going to make a lot of money right away. It'll take time and it did. The first couple of years was nothing and then the last three years we're closing 200 referred out buyers for 100 million in volume, and I don't give a darn about the volume. It's entrepreneurship 101.
Speaker 2:Scale Can you scale this? Yes, I can scale this because I have these amazing relationships with some of the greatest agents in the country and I'm just a matchmaker and I don't say come to me, I'm going to matchmake you. I say come to me and I'm going to give you more education than anybody online. I guarantee it, if not triple. And because the rest of the industry ignores them, and the only other people out there trying to talk to first time homebuyers are new agents. I now dwarf everybody else with the amount of information that I'm giving to these people that they're so desperate to have.
Speaker 1:One of my favorite parts of taking deals that other people wouldn't and first time home buyers is the next time they buy and they're friends and family right on. So in Pittsburgh you can buy houses for like $30,000. But then I would treat them just as good as I treated someone that was buying a half a million dollar house right. So when they were done they loved me so much they told everyone and then their parents wanted to buy a house and their friends and then the next time they bought they were at 150 or 200. That is the magic.
Speaker 2:It's a sustainable business model that the industry is truly snubbing their nose at. The industry knows I'm going to bring in 10 new agents. Nine of them are not going to succeed oh my god. But they expect those nine people to close two or three deals with their aunts, their uncles, their cousins and whatever. And they do it because they get a 50 split off them and it where. If they took the time to train them up, then, if those people were trained up correctly, then they would be much more loyal to their broker and they would get all the other deals.
Speaker 2:I said from a long time ago you know I've I've had more people ask me to be a part of this and I have turned away more people than I actually have in my little stable of what I call the unicorns. And what a true unicorn sees when they're working with the first time home buyer, if they have the capacity to work with them or if their capacity is that there's a team member who's trained right. It's like a wedding photographer who looks at a bride and groom. So many people in the industry just look at the bride and groom and the people who are relational. They see five deals on the left and five deals on the right, and it's that. It's just a mindset change it's so good.
Speaker 1:Obviously you've been talking a lot about this, because you do. I'm just I'm saying serious.
Speaker 1:My cheeks hurt from smiling. So one thing earlier was so we had a coach one time. His name was john chap, like I don't know if you've ever heard of him, but john chap, like his, is incredible at recruiting right and he taught us about that. He's what he said hire 10 agents. Five are out, they won't last. You have four that you can you have, they'll do okay, and then you have one superstar he's like. So he said one out of 10. But for me, like there's so much opportunity in those five. But then there's those four.
Speaker 1:Like you said, trading is massive, like I believe what you're doing is the next phase of real estate and every agent in every market can educate the public. We have social media and I talk about that rule of 250. If you're going to a wedding or a funeral, there's going to be 250 at a wedding, 250 at a funeral, right. And when you're there, that is your people, those are your people. And if you work and now you have this database built, now you have one right, you have database you can keep working. The database it just keeps working and working. There's so much opportunity and it's not easy. It's not HGTV easy. You have to do the work but the benefits totally outweigh, because in Pennsylvania you have to 75 hours of what it takes to be a real estate agent here, so it's a little bit more than California. But you're right, and anybody can get licensed. But can? Can you give the right information? Are you trained well enough? There's opportunity in training. There's opportunity in every single market to educate your consumer.
Speaker 2:It's been interesting for me because I've laid everything I know out and I'm constantly asking other people and I'm constantly researching and reading and you know to be straight up, regurgitating because you know people I'm working with are out selling homes eight hours a day. I'm researching now and connecting eight hours a day. There are people that I work with that are just as and way smarter than me who could do exactly what I'm doing when it comes to regurgitating the current market information and how it affects first time homebuyers. But the education standpoint I'm constantly asking other people what's going on and I am very aware that a large portion of my audience are new agents that aren't getting the training and they listen to my how to buy a home. I'm talking to the consumer, but they're learning how to work a price on negotiations, how to work a bidding war, how to write an escalation clause. They're learning about mortgage interest rate buy downs because they're not getting trained where they are.
Speaker 1:I love this. So let's talk about fear. Fear stops most people from taking the leap, even buying a house. So you have a story of a first time homebuyer was terrified to take the risk, and how it changed their life.
Speaker 2:Oh my God. I have hundreds. I have over 70 interviews of people who have reached out to me, listeners to the podcast and then we connected with someone and then they they closed on the home way back when in 2022 I think was madison, who was like the smartest 23 year old I'd ever met and tons of money because she'd been working since she was 15 like close to six figures saved and was waiting to buy because she was following dave ramsey's principles and she was doing everything like that. I have two episodes that say I love Dave Ramsey for helping you get out of debt. I abhor everything else he says and think he's a large reason why our first-time homebuyers are completely behind the eight ball because of the principles that they teach, which are completely out of touch with how to buy a home. When rents are high, you can't save six months. You can't save six months. You can't do 20% down payment. You can't do a 15%. You'll be renting for 10 years and I have the math to show you. That's not good. There's good debt and there's bad debt. You have to adjust with the times. Madison came to me and I talked to her forever about putting a low down payment and showing her what it would be versus her rent. And we went back and forth forever on it and when she like, what was crazy was the day that she was like, ok, you know what? You're right, I understand, because I had to show her all the math. The next day a screaming deal came on the market and I was like we can get this, I can steal it for you. We went in, we met the agent. The agent loved me. It was one of the agents who likes to talk and so I let her have it and I just listen.
Speaker 2:Long story short is Madison was petrified to death and wanted to buy something. She ended up putting an offer in on that house. The person asked for a rent back for four months. During the rent back, the home went up $45,000 in value before she ever moved in. Because I told her this is time to go, you know. And then we've had.
Speaker 2:We had some guy who was, who was homeless when he was 15 years old and never bought a home before in his life and heard the podcast and said, well, he says I can do it, let's see, reached out to us. We got him in touch with someone. They were in Northern California. I think it was a $300,000 home and in four months they ended up being able to buy a home and the last few days they needed like about $5,000 more and their parents couldn't help them. But what their parents did was they gave them a $6,000 trick by letting them move in with their parents and then they didn't pay rent for 90 days. So they got the money. Boom, they're in the house.
Speaker 2:And you know one of the episodes I cried with the people two people from the South who'd never bought a home in their life no one in their family had and they were doing Dave Ramsey and they were saving money and they were doing Dave Ramsey for two years and their credit score stayed in the tank. And when they called me well, actually they just listened to one of my episodes, took some advice on credit score. Their credit score went from 600 to 700 in a month and then we got them on on on the right path and that's that's been the neat part. It's the people who've never bought a home before their parents and they don't have a blueprint, but there's enough education that I can give them that they feel confident to then reach out and get over the fear.
Speaker 1:That's great. So markets shifted. We've had COVID market, then we have this unique market. Interest rates are high, inventory is low. You've seen the market ups and downs because you've been in as long as I have. What's the number one thing that separates those who win in real estate from those who sit on the sidelines?
Speaker 2:Your time in the market is 100 times more valuable than trying to time the market. If you doubt me, you can go back and listen to my podcast since 2019, where I've been telling you there is one thing, and one thing only, that affects the housing market in the 2020s and it will not crash. It will not drop unless there's a gigantic economic thing, because of one thing only low inventory. The report just came out the other day. I've been saying between four and seven million homes short. Redfin just came out with something that said we're 2.4 to 7.2 million homes short. As long as we are short, homes for sale, people are going to find a way to get out there and it's economic one-on-one supply and demand. So number one thing I could say about the market right now is everything stopped October 2023, because interest rates went from 3% to 8%. You know how long it stopped Like four months, and then it started going back.
Speaker 2:And last year people figured something out. Last year, according to a survey that came out from Zillow, 45% of the people who bought homes in 2024, one of the worst years in real estate 45% had a mortgage interest rate less than 5% Mortgage rate. Buy downs became a thing. Last year, people figured out they needed to do something and the sellers are going to start figuring that out. The locked in is going to go away. But the other thing that's interesting is I'm a giant real estate nerd. No one never have the people that have been. Everyone I've seen that has been right for the last 20 years, like 90% of the time. This was the biggest time they were wrong. Wow. More people expected 2024 to be the beginning of something and it wasn't because interest rates stayed. So I don't. Nothing's going to be dramatic unless the stock market tanks, which is kind of scary. What are we on a 13, 14-year run? Yeah, it could happen.
Speaker 1:It could happen. There is that opportunity for sure. Yeah, so one thing you talk about is a unicorn realtor, the agent every buyer dreams of. But all agents are not that unicorn. What makes the difference between the average and the elite agent?
Speaker 2:I think the first thing is understanding that 13% only 13% of the agents that you talk to will be around to sell your house in five years. That's the first thing is to realize that there is. It's just like if you were looking at the all-star game. Let's say you're watching the basketball all-star game. The difference between 135 people on the court and five people on the court, that's the first thing. Realize you're looking at a basketball court with 3 million people on it and not all of them are all stars. There are 3 million people with their real estate license. That's the number one. And the second thing is if they're brand new to the industry, you have to get a complete understanding. I'm not saying new agents can't do the job, but you said it, it's one out of 10. So I'm not saying new agents can't do the job, but you said it, it's one out of 10. So you have to know a whole bunch of stuff, to know how to interview, to vet, to understand their training, to understand their support. So there's a nice mix in the middle of experienced, wonderful agents that also have the time and the bandwidth to work with a first time home buyer. That's your sweet spot.
Speaker 2:I tell people take a hundred times more research on who is going to represent you and interviewing them than you do home shopping on Zillow and shopping online and researching how to get the best interest rate. Because I could tell you, with tens of thousands of first-time homebuyers reaching out to me every day, 90, 95% of them have spent the last eight months trying to figure out how to get the best interest rate and trying to figure out how to get a deal. By the way you write your offer and then they spend five minutes researching their realtor. It should be exactly the opposite. Find their unicorn quality.
Speaker 2:Are they experienced? Are they trained? Are they compassionate? Are they empathetic? Will they be able to walk you through everything? Are they active? I just had someone this morning that I was, that I connected to somebody across the country in Florida and and the agent the unicorn came back to me and was like we're back. They were off for six months. My local lender just told me about a $15,000 down payment assistance grant. We're ready to go Someone who's active, empathetic, compassionate and experienced, so they know how to handle what is going to be a tough time for first-time homebuyers right now. For sure.
Speaker 1:So, looking back on your journey from Hollywood to today, what's the moment you're most proud of?
Speaker 2:Oh, you know it's tough because I think I fly under the radar. You know I see all the other real estate people talk about. You know a lot of the people that I've taken advice from and learned about marketing and social media and things like that. They're on stage talking to people. Why? Because they're selling crap to other realtors and so the real estate community knows about them. Nobody knows about me because all I do is talk directly to the client. So for me there's no recognition, there's no banners, there's no plaques.
Speaker 2:It's when I talked to Sally in Miami, who bought a home in November of October 23 and her family had never bought a home before and her interest rate was seven point five, but she knew that she was going to make it happen.
Speaker 2:And you know, when I talked to the people in Boston who are in a 700 square foot apartment and they buy an eight hundred thousand dollar condo which they didn't think they were going to do for five years because it's not much more than their 700 square foot apartment and it was a twenty two hundred square foot condo that they own. So the very first one of those, the first time after two or three years of me doing the podcast without a lot of success when I'm maybe two is two years when the first couple called me from Denver and they said they'd be on the podcast and they were just blown away at getting connected with the right person in Denver and they got the house and they got a roommate in and they're like he pays us. So now we pay $700 less than we paid on our rent and it's a freaking house, yeah it's so good that was awesome.
Speaker 1:It is awesome. You just have a way of making people happy. It's a great energy that you have. I love that. So my final question and I think it's just a fun question If you could go back and give young David advice for facing adversity, what?
Speaker 2:would you tell him? I think that I led with a lot of passion and a lot of grit and a lot of determination. I probably would have told myself to read more and get that open mind. Brian Tracy talks about it. He goes out and does these consulting jobs where companies pay him multiple six figures to do his thing and all he does is walk into the Salesforce the first day and say 30 minutes every morning, read about your industry, Then call me in 30 days. And there's a reason why I can spout all these stats and things. It's because I'm a nerd and I just read this stuff. But I didn't start doing that till I was in my 40s.
Speaker 1:Right, yeah. So one thing I did early and I think that this was such a great marketing idea. So I was involved in a marketing club that met once a month. It was incredible, I learned all kinds of amazing ideas. Club that met once a month, it was incredible, I learned all kinds of amazing ideas. Right, it was a Dan Kennedy style marketing, no BS. So I went to the marketing and I learned from them that I should write a book. So I wrote a book called 25 Tips for Selling a Home in Pittsburgh, and so I used to. I had that printed copy and I used to take it with me on every listing appointment and I'd say, mr and Mrs Seller, I literally wrote the book on selling houses in Pittsburgh. Show them the book, sign it like I was a star. And you know how many appointments I won? Just about every single one, right? That's a closer.
Speaker 1:Because, no one else did it and they still have it. So all of these years, since 20, probably did that in 2008, maybe, and I am the only person that wrote a book on selling houses in Pittsburgh and I literally did it. It wasn't ChatG gbt. At that time, I really wrote the entire book and it was the best marketing I ever had and people looked at you differently, like they'd see a funny thing. I'd see a tv screen in our local grocery store and they'd be like I saw you on tv, like I wasn't on tv, I was just on the screen, but I was always out there. You know doing things, but that book was my greatest marketing tool of all time. But what was it? It was about giving information. We didn't have all this cool stuff we have today. Right, we were doing podcasts and you know, and video opportunity on a free platform like Facebook or Instagram or TikTok. Like there's so much opportunity for an agent today. It's unbelievable. So thank you for spending time with me. And how can our audience get ahold of you?
Speaker 2:Everything's at howtobuyahomecom.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's the best URL. I don't know how you got that, but damn, it's probably worth some money today.
Speaker 2:Somebody. Yeah, that's an interesting story. Godaddy has a program where they will attempt to purchase URLs for you and my understanding it's about a 5% success rate. Mine worked, like four years ago. It's about a 5% success rate, Mine worked like four years ago.
Speaker 1:Wow, I can't believe it. I tried so many of them and I can't get them. I never, ever get them and I just won't do it. There's some that are excruciating, so, but that's a great, great URL. So that's how they can find you and I appreciate you so much for being on here with me today. So, for all of our listeners, if you could like, subscribe and share this episode, we'd appreciate it, because if we could help one real estate agent get better in this industry, then we did everything right today. Thank you so much, david.
