C (5:06)

How did you just quickly question on that?

A (5:09)

Right.

C (5:09)

It's always about surrounding yourself with the best people. It's just hard to find them. How did you recruit or find those people? Or how have you found in your life to attract people that are more talented than you or smarter than you? Right. That's saying you don't want to be the smartest guy in the room. It's like, how do you attract those people? So for me, ultimately finding people who.

A (5:31)

Are smarter than I am, it's not hard. No, but no pun intended there, but I, I would share with you. That again goes back to those relationships. Over the years, when I own my own company, I met some great people in the industry. This industry is one of the most generous industries that I've, that I've ever heard and that's the only one I ever worked in. But you know, those people were mentors to me while I was running my company when I was starting my real estate career. Then I got to meet them when I was part of that other company that I sold my company to. And I got to meet some great leaders, not only in Florida, but across the country that again, were extremely generous with their time and their advice and helping out some competitors that were also very generous with their time and their advice. And I always refer that in the industry we don't have competitors, we have colleagues. I mean, this is one industry that even though we're competing with one another, we need to work together to get a transaction done for a buyer and a seller and make that transaction seem seamless. And it's really about the experience you're going to provide the customer. That's, that's key. So that's how I was able to attract these folks. I got to meet them under different circumstances. I got to work with them, I got to deposit into that relationship bank account. So when it was my Opportunity to ask him to come join us at our company that we were building. There was already a good relationship there to start off with. I'll share with you. Stacy Benedict is one of those team members that been with us since we started this company. I met her at a Florida Realtors conference. She was working for realtor.com at the time. And I was so impressed with the way she was handling my questions and I was so impressed with the way she was, you know, promoting realtor.com, the company she worked for, that I told her that day, I said, Stacy, one day you're going to be working for this company. And lo and behold, she's been with us since then. So I knew I wanted her to be part of our company. So again, that's, that's the focus. It's being out there making those relationships, making those contacts and helping others. So when you have something to talk about or something to attract them to, that's already a relationship there, it makes the whole conversation a lot smoother.

C (7:32)

Yeah, it's so, it's so good. There's such a golden nugget there of like being so aware of your surroundings and present in your relationships. Because knowing that, it's like, even if you think about it very simply, like how you treat the cashier, how you treat the people that you interact with every single day and you have a chance to lift them up or to bring them down and you have a chance to, like you said, using your language to make a deposit in the relationship. And I think so often we are short sighted and we are, you know, focused on short term gain and we don't want to sacrifice the short term pain to get the long term gain. But every really successful person you meet, they are just so focused on really being present in the moment with the people they're talking to and investing in those relationships and bringing people up. So it's like the challenge always is, okay, how do I actually, how do I actually stay focused and be aware of what is happening right now so I can actually make somebody's day? And so I think this is such a golden nugget. So how did you end up now running the whole company?

A (8:38)

Like how did that transition that I started with WCI Communities and building this company? The long game was, you know, to build a great company. Obviously being part of a large company, a public home builder at the time, we always knew that the end game at some point would, would be to sell the company off and through a, a lot of different situations and scenarios that took place. The, our parent company filed for bankruptcy in after 2008 with the financial crisis. They were extremely leveraged, building incredible high rises and golf course communities all over Florida and outside of Florida. At that point, we were successful in keeping our real estate company out of the bankruptcy because we were cash flow positive, even though it was a very challenging time. And also we had a process that we had all these customers that had listed properties with us that we wanted to make sure that we were able to continue to service. So we were kept out of it. The parent company came out of bankruptcy. It went public again so many years later. The Prudential brand as all, you know, went away at some point and then we were looking for a brand replacement again. Back to that relationship for folks that I've known over the years. I knew Ron Peltier for many years at Home Services and when, you know, we were searching for a brand, got together and he said, you know, we're gonna have one. And I said, well, we want to be part of that. So we were able to sign. We're actually the first company to sign on with the Berkshire Hathaway brand in 2013. So we're all very proud of that here at Berkshire Hathaway Home Services Florida Realty. Our parent company then was sold to another public builder, Lennard Corporation, large corporate builder, public builder. That was in 2017. And then we were successful in sharing with the people I reported to at Lennar that maybe this is not the industry they want to be in because they're really large organization, very much focused on, on, on, on, on. On the stock value and very large margins and, and home building. The margins are huge. You know, in our industry, the margins are quite compressed and tight. So we were able to then make sure that they understood where we're to go and they decided, based on my guidance, to sell the company to Home Services. So we became part of Home Services in January of 2019, almost six years ago now. Next this January. And again, if you, if I was to kind of reverse when I got started and when I met Ron Peltier and I knew about the Home Services group, that would have been the goal that I would tell you I want to be part of that company one day. And here we are. So again, my other advice is focus on the, on what you want to achieve, have a cadence of accountability and continue working towards that. It's going to be one step at a time. It's not going to happen overnight, but you will get there if you don't give up and if you Continue to be focused and continue to build those relationships. Because of the relationship I have with Ron for many years, Ron Peltier it made the whole transaction a lot smoother and less complicated because there was trust and there was some people that knew each other and had made deposits into that relationship account that I keep talking about. So that's how, that's how we ended up here. And again, excited to be in this industry. I always tell everyone that, you know, great thing about this industry is that you never have to retire from it. So.

C (12:02)

So it's always changing.

A (12:06)

It's always changing. It's really a people focus industry. It's really about the people we're in the business of, you know, really making a seller and a buy a tenant and a landlord achieve their goals. And that's really the focus. You know, you talked about put a smile on everybody you meet. That's, that's been my life. I, I wanted to leave our conversation or interaction you making you understand and feel that, well, I'm important to this guy and I just met him and this is someone that I can call and ask tomorrow for a question for guidance. A lot of folks did that for me and my goal is to pay it forward. So I'm, I'm great.

C (12:43)

So many people lose that. So many people lose that. I don't know what you call it, if it's the human side or just the, you know, as they get up the ranks, they just don't just becomes like cold and. Yeah, it becomes very cold. It becomes very.

A (13:00)

Yeah, I like to stay connected, so. So I get excited when a sales professional in our company calls me and says they have an opportunity to take this listing for this value number and you know, any guidance or advice you can give and you know, I've been known to show up and even assist, you know, because that's really about that. I know that's going to have an impact in that person's life and in their career and in their business. And if I can contribute just a little bit to help that happen, I'm more than happy to do that.

C (13:26)

I think it's because what's happened to me, if I think of myself because I can't judge others, but you know, I've experienced from others. But it's like the more you get burnt by people like betrayed. I'm sure you've probably had your share of betrayals or people letting you down.

A (13:39)

Disappointments, I call them.

C (13:41)

Yeah, exactly. I'm more doom and gloom over here. No, but like I've had A decent number of those in my stint here. And I think you just. It's like a. Like a scab. Like you don't want to risk that scab being open again. So you basically don't allow yourself to, like, you cut off almost the vulnerability.

A (14:02)

Right.

C (14:03)

Because you don't want to go through it. How have you been able to let the betrayals go or the, you know, you look at. Think about that bankruptcy you went through. And I'm sure there's a myriad of other adversities. How, how have you let those go and not affect you?

A (14:17)

Yeah, it's a great question. And I'll tell you, it's. It's just how you approach life and, and in general, disappointments are going to come, but I try to focus on the positive. I've had many disappointments like everyone else. I'm sure I'm going to have many more before my time is over here. But I try to focus on the things that have been positive, on the folks that have been extremely loyal to me, on people that really had no need to assist or help or guide or mentor me and did it willingly without anything, expecting anything in return. So I focus on that. And the rest I understand just comes with life, just comes with being who you are, just comes with being active and being out there. So I really, I think that, you know, when you look at business in life, I think it's like a movie. And we talked about editing earlier. I think it's important to be able to edit and keep the good memories, the valuable memories, and learn from the bad ones. But don't let that influence the way you behave or the way you're going to grow going forward. Because like you said, you can become very skeptic and not everybody's coming out to hurt you. I truly believe that everyone I meet has good intentions. Until they prove me wrong, I am going to give them an opportunity.

B (15:30)

I heard the other day, and maybe you guys have heard it, maybe it's common, but forget the mistake. Remember the lesson. I was like, oh, that. I like that. You know, forget the mistake. We were talking about changes there, obviously in the industry. We're recording this here near the end of 2025. What are you thinking about for 2026? What are you thinking from whether, like, like leading the brokerage or what agents should be looking at and focusing on moving into the stage next year.

A (15:54)

So the last several years have been challenging for the industry. So. So if we. And again, there was some really positive. So if we can go back to 2020. Let's start there. That's when we learned that there was a pandemic happening in the world. And we were all impacted and affected by it. And how it's not only going to conduct business that was, that was secondary is how, how am I going to stay alive? I'm going to keep my family safe and my friends and my neighbors and the people that I care about, how do I help them stay safe? And then, and then we learned and again, Florida in particular, which I'm very fortunate, I have to share this. I am extremely fortunate that I get to live, play and work in the greatest state in the country.

C (16:34)

Yeah, you are lucky. Florida is a great state. We're in Pennsylvania. We like Pennsylvania, but we do like Florida.

A (16:40)

Pennsylvania is great. I think every state is great. But Florida happens to be my home. And I think the great state, state of Florida, second to none. So in Florida, through our work through Florida Realtors, we were able to keep Florida Realtors and our business as an essential service. That's awesome. So we were able to continue to conduct business safe by following the proper guidelines to make sure everybody stays safe and healthy. And because of our weather, we're allowed to do that, right? So we don't, we don't, you know, we can be outdoors, we can meet people outdoors. We don't have to be indoors, you know, during the winter time. So, so that, that helped tremendously. But doing, doing the, the coming 18 months, I believe that we probably sold five years worth of real estate in 18 to 24 months.

C (17:27)

Geez.

A (17:28)

So we pull forward. Well, if you, if, you know, we have short memories, right, we go back and you look at after the pandemic, you know, the transaction in Florida, we were selling home site unseen properties had 10, 15, 20 offers. Properties were going for 100,000 over asking price. We just, you know, we just kind of put that in the back of our minds. But it was just, just an incredible time to be in the business. However, being in the business for so long now, because I'm the smartest guy in the room, I kept telling my team, this is not sustainable. There's no way this can continue for, for, you know, for a long period of time, I knew it was going to stop, which didn't know when. And, and we make, arrange, we make, we make certain moves in our company to make sure we were prepared for when the slowdown came. And it came, right, it did. And we're there now. Right? And we're there and we've been there for the last 18 months. Probably two years. But you, your question is 2026. I would approach it the same way I approach 2025. I would approach this with a great deal of enthusiasm. But being anchor on reality, so very, very focused on the fact that if the pie doesn't grow, I just have to get a bigger piece of it. And what am I, my team, going to do to get a bigger piece of that pie? One of the other racism that we have around here is I always share, when the pie shrinks, the table manners have to change. So if you were calling 25 customers a week in 2021, now you need to call 75 customers a week for people or prospects. So you just have to increase and focus on yourself. Not what the market is providing, but what you can yourself provide to help you be successful in the market. In every market, there's always agents that are successful. Yep. And exceeding the average. Why? Because they stick to a plan. They work their plan hard, they have a cadence of accountability and they don't take any time off. They just. When I say don't take any time off, I mean when they're working, they're working. And I think that's another important advice. When you're working the business, work the business. When you're with your family, turn the business off because you got to have a work life balance. Sometimes they cross in this industry, the two cross one another. And I think that's where you may have a challenge because then your family's being ignored or the business is being ignored because you're doing things during the business time they should be doing. But again, my, my, my, my thought on 2026, I believe that those who can work the plan better than anyone else, those that are focused on delivering exceptional customer service. I know we keep talking about AI and everybody's talking about technology, but I will tell you that when you ask a customer, would you use that Realtor again, the answer is not going to be they had a great AI system or they had a great technology system. They're going to say they were awesome in their customer service and the way they treated me, me and my family. Yes, I would not only use them again, I will refer them to anyone that needs a real estate service. So the customer service piece has got to be top of mind and priority number one.

C (20:33)

Man, it's so well said because, you know, obviously AI is everywhere in the, in the rage right now and we're talking about it every day like every company is. But I agree with you that at the end of the day, it really just comes down to the client experience. And, and AI will either advance and help your client experience or it won't. And then, you know, I want to touch on a little bit more into what you said into this kind of agent playbook because it is really interesting that in this market, right, My brother runs, you know, number one mid sized team in Virginia in real estate and they're, you know, it's just a tough market and he is saying like I'll take his top producer on his team, Tim, Tim bushnell. Tim closed 70 deals last year. This year he'll probably close a hundred. And Tim is saying he's having to work three times as hard, if not more to close that many deals. And, and that's what we're seeing even on our side with reminder media that it is the effort that you have to put in. And that thing comes down to an agent's discipline. And the problem that we all see in this industry is agents treat this thing as a hobby or like a part time gig, not a full time gig. And it's, they're going to get beat by the agents who take it serious and show up. I'm curious because you have like 1400 plus agents that you're trying to inspire and get to do the work. How do you help an agent go from let's say they were doing eight transactions to going to 16. How do you guys help them do that to know where they should focus and what they should do?

A (22:10)

Right, Great question. And the focus in our organization, having that number of agents, having that number of offices, really it's the credit to the branch managers that I am so fortunate to work with every day. They are the ones that are there day after day. They're the ones that are dealing with the customer service challenges. They're the ones that are inspiring our agents to move forward, sales professionals to move forward. But the global advice at a 20,000 level is, you know, work on yourself. Work on having the best listing presentation second to none. Work on having the best buyer presentation second to none. And practice, practice, practice, practice. If you haven't talked to a buyer in two months, start talking to your family members, sit them down and practice your presentation on them because you're going to need that. Repetition just makes it more complicated, comfortable. When you're working with someone, then also make sure you are delivering over delivering. If you, if you're doing more than what's expected, the customers will remember that and they will use you, your sphere of influence. We talk about this all the time, you know, People, if you had. If you were getting married tomorrow, I asked myself, if you're getting tomorrow married, right, and there's no budget on your wedding, how many people would you invite? Oh, 600. Well, you need to call those 600 people today and let them remind them that you're in the.

C (23:28)

I'm gonna steal that. That's actually a great way to frame.

A (23:30)

It up and that you need referral. Do they, do they have a need for a realtor today or in the future? Do they know anyone that has a. So you take that 600 times, another 600 that those, those folks know, and you now have a huge influential group of.

C (23:44)

Why don't agents do. Why don't agents do that? I think you're going to have to.

A (23:48)

Ask the ones that don't do it why they don't do it. I will tell you that the ones that do it is because they're committed, they're focused. They want to win, they want to be successful. They want to provide for their family. Families. And they're not going to let the market dictate their success. Yeah, because none of us have any control over the market. Yeah, I, I think, I think we all agree on that. We do have a control of how we operate in the different markets. Right. So. So again, it's always about working on yourself and, and making sure you got the best. Now, we're very fortunate here at Berkshire Hathaway Home Services Florida Realty. And I remind our sales professionals, our entire team, every chance we get is that we are a full service. When I say full service, we have a mortgage, title insurance, home warranty. We've got things that another and other and other process and other and other services that consumers, I think, value tremendously, that if they're working with Ray Mesa at Berkshire Hathaway Home Services Florida Realty, I can take care. You can help me take care of my mortgage needs. You can help me take care of my title needs, my insurance needs, my home warranty needs. Right. I can assist you from A to Z. And I think consumers see value. I know they see value behind that.

C (24:58)

That, that I would, I would tell you, you are spot on. I almost like the way I see the future of the industry. If you don't come to the consumer as an agent with the full suite. And I'm meaning like, and you have to put this together. Maybe you're not part of the network, you know that raisin. But you have to find and bring to the table the lender, the title company, the home warranty. Because your competitors, like, I don't know what you think of the rocket mortgage and everything that's going on now with what they're doing, but that's the example people are using where they have now trying to get this full cycle to where they bring everything to the consumer. So I think to stay competitive in this industry, you have to function as the hub where you're bringing it all and you're not making the consumer go and have to now choose what lender. They have to go now choose what title, what, what home warranty. You're bringing that as an option which then gives them convenience. And that's what consumers want. They want convenience.

A (25:55)

And to your point, the consumer is driving that and that's how it should be. We should be sensitive to what the consumer wants so that we can deliver what the consumer wants. Because if we're not doing that, then we're not going to be relevant to the consumer. That's what the consumer is looking for. You need to lean into that. And we have to start thinking of ourselves as salespeople and more as consultants. I want to be your real estate consultant, Mr. Consumer, Mrs. Consumer. Whether you're a landlord today, a tenant, a buyer, a seller, I want to be the consultant for all your real estate needs for the rest of your life and the life of your family members. I want to be that consultant that you keep coming back every time you think real estate. And that's, I think, going to be important to lean into that. We're very fortunate in our company that we have those services in house. It's like, I'll give you an example. If you're going to go buy four different items that you need to complete a task, wouldn't it be great to walk through one door and have access to all those four items as opposed to, I go in for the realtor, I got to walk out, I got to go around to another door to go in for the mortgage, I got to walk out of that door, then go another door to go to go to the title. And none of them are connected. Things are going to go haywire sometimes in a transaction in real estate because there's a lot of moving parts the consumer, the synergies that you create by using the same services within the same two doors that you walk in for that consumer makes the experience so much smoother. Because if the title company has an issue, they can talk to our mortgage company. If the mortgage company is having a challenge, they can talk to the broker data. It's all together, right?

C (27:32)

Are you guys connected on the back end data wise or is that where you're moving to?

A (27:36)

That is, that is something that folks above my pay grade are working on. But my level, yeah, my level, the focus is to make sure that the consumer and our sales professionals are aware that these services are available to them and that we can provide a much smoother and best a better experience by utilizing all the company services. Because if something goes wrong with mortgage, guess who you have to call? Me. If something goes wrong with brokerage, all you have to do is call me if something goes wrong with this shirt. Because we're all connected. It's one. To me, it's one.

C (28:08)

And you, and you provide the convenience, you provide the service and you can control the experience versus passing. Because you know, one of the complaints with real estate agents a lot of times is like the home inspection, for instance. It's like you want to be there with the home inspector's there because you don't know how the home inspector's going to present the report to the client. And so it's like trying to control, not in a good way, from a service aspect. But yeah, you guys have a massive advantage. It'll be interesting to see your competitive advantage over the years with being able to connect the back end because that is huge. And you think about creating raving fans. I give talks all the time around this idea of raving fans and I love using examples like Disney or Chick Fil A. And you think of Chick Fil A, it's like, why have they created this cult like following this tribe and they make more money in six days a week than seven days of normal restaurants. And when you zone in, it's because they do the unexpected. They do, they over deliver. It's like everybody when you go like you go to a restaurant, like fast food, you expect it to be maybe not the greatest service. You expect the food not to be the greatest you expect. When you drive up to the drive through line, maybe you have to sit and you're dealing with a grumpy cashier and you think of Chick Fil A. What they do, they do the opposite. They, they get you through that checkout line. They have people with iPads out there. You go into their, their restaurant and they say, my pleasure. It's all clean. It's just unexpected. And so it blows you away. How can you as a real estate agent do the unexpected? You bringing more than just the real estate transaction but everything that's involved with it to the table, that's unexpected. And you will over deliver for the client.

A (29:37)

Totally agree. And just to just take with Chick Fil a for a moment, I think their moment of glory took place during COVID when they expanded their drive thrus and none of us could go into a restaurant and they had 100 cars outside and they were moving those hundred cars very, very quickly through those drive thrus. I think they gain a great deal of following by shifting in a moment, taking something that was very challenging for other, other, other businesses and other restaurants in their space and making it a win win. So I do believe that that's part, part of their, you know, their, their, their claim to fame and why they, you know, they can afford to close one day a week and not skip a beat.

C (30:15)

Right, agree. It's, it's, it's truly amazing. I try to study them and these other companies that are really well known for their customer service to try to figure out what is it that they do. And it truly is. It's the doing the unexpected, going above and beyond and the idea of pivoting during adversity and using it to do that. I mean it's such a great point. Last question for you Ray, because I'm just want to know, knowing what you know now, right, all your years of experience, you're still a young guy though, okay? But all your years of experience, what would you go back and tell younger Ray? Maybe that college age kid, what advice would you give them?

A (30:51)

Number one advice I would repeat to that young kid, which was which the advice that my in laws at the time gave to me, they, they shared with me, they said the following. I'll tell this to anyone that's in the real estate business. I think it's important. The advice they gave to me, they said look, you're going to make a good living helping others buy and sell real estate. But if you want to secure your future, buy real estate for yourself. That's the advice I would tell that young kid, Buy more. Because I did follow their advice. And my only regret today is not having bought more.

C (31:24)

I feel that especially during 2019, 2018, everything I bought then, I'm just like, gosh, every deal I turned down in 2019, like 2020, it's like a smoking opportunity.

A (31:36)

Well, it's like in my case it's been buy and hold. So I, I still have properties I bought when I was 20 years old.

C (31:45)

That's amazing.

A (31:46)

And they're still in my portfolio of rental property. So you know, I'm often asked, you know, when is the best time to buy real estate? And the answer is always going to be 20 years ago. And then I go, but the second best time to buy real estate is right now.

C (31:57)

Yes.

A (31:58)

Because 20 years from now, it's the one asset that with time, it's definitely going to appreciate and you're going to be, you're going to be very grateful that you did that. And then the other advice we started, you know, what kind of advice would I share with anyone? This is something that I learned a long time ago and I practice it not only in my business, but I practice it in my life. I, I always share to everyone that we get to choose what position we lead from every day when we wake up. And every day I choose to lead from a position of courage, strength, with a healthy dosage of humility and gratitude. No matter what market we're in, you need to be out there with courage and you need to be operating from a position of strength. The moment you're operating from fear and weakness, you've already lost the day. And then you have to have the humility and the gratitude to be successful. So that, that would be my, my parting advice. You know, courage, strength, humility and gratitude. It's going to win the day, every day.

B (33:01)

Very well said. Thank you so much for joining us today. This was great. Please, before we close out, let people know how they connect with you.

A (33:07)

Sure. My name is Ray Mesa, Berkshire Hathaway Home Services, Florida realty, mortgage, title insurance and home warranty. I can be reached at my cell phone number 305-794-4628. I have that 305 area code from the dolphins ears and my email address is Ray Mesa. R E I M e s a HHS floridarealty.com Awesome.

B (33:29)

Thank you Ray. And thank you all so much for listening. You can get all of the show notes, the video and any of that information that Ray just gave us in the over@staypaypodcast.com where you can get all of our episodes. If you like this episode and want to show your Support, go to YouTube.com remindermedia make sure you're subscribed to the channel. Give this episode a thumbs up and the best way to support the show is simply share this with somebody that you know. If you want to get hold of me or Luke, you can email us@podcastmindermedia.com and find us on Instagram. We are at Stay Paid podcast for this episode of Stay Paid. I'm Josh Dyke.

C (33:59)

Guys, I'm Luke Acre. Ray, thank you so much. It truly is an honor. I love Learning from legends in the space. And all your advice is just absolute gold. I encourage the audience go re listen. There's so many golden nuggets. Usually I give you guys one action item. I have two for you from this show that I want you to take action on because I just think it's so critical to your success. One is the example Ray gave about relationships and the deposits and the accounts of those relationships. And I just think that is such a powerful action item for you. And maybe use his example of who would you invite to your wedding, you know, tomorrow if you had a wedding today, and those are your relationships? And then ask yourself, did I make a deposit in the last week or month into those relationships? And a deposit can be a simple text message saying, hey, thinking about you, and I just want to say I'm grateful for having you in my life and make those deposits more than you make withdrawals. And then the second action item, because I can't avoid or help myself. You know, I got to give you two now. But take action on this. Is Ray mentioned at least two to three times on the episode. Cadence of accountability. Cadence of accountability. And that stood out to me of going, hey, do I have a cadence of accountability in my life? And if you're not where you want to be in your business or even in your personal life or wherever you're at, ask yourself, do you have a cadence of accountability? And if you don't, you need to take some time this week to implement a cadence of accountability. And oftentimes you need somebody else to be able to speak into your life, a mentor or friend that can hold you accountable. But you got to put that cadence in place. Remember the difference between top producers and mediocre producers. In every business, it's top producers. Take action. Take action on that. Today, SA.