Why Real Estate Deals Get So Emotional

Scott Kemp: Real estate looks simple from the outside. List the house, show the property, close the deal. But behind every good agent, there’s a lot more than signs and sales. It’s relationships, trust, timing, follow-up, and the people helping the whole thing keep moving. Today, we’re sitting down with Billy Scott and Sarah Cade of the Billy Scott Land and Home Team right here in Corvallis, Oregon.

Scott: Billy works in land and residential real estate, and Sarah helps drive the operations from behind the scenes. Together, they’re building a team around service, purpose, and helping people make some of the biggest decisions of their lives. And today, I promise you’ll learn something about what real estate really takes, not just to sell property, but to build trust, momentum, and a business that lasts.

Scott: Billy, Sarah, thanks for coming on. It’s good to see you again. I am so impressed. I just gotta say this. I’ve told you many times, both of you guys, just how quickly you have taken the real estate industry by storm. I think you probably make a lot of agents envious, but also, they can do it, too. What is your secret? How did you.

Scott: When did you start, and how did you quickly grow to where you are today?

Sarah Cade: He started when he was three. I’ve just always been saying he’s been building his real estate business since he was, a toddler, just ’cause he’s so relational. Go ahead. How long. Answer his questions.

Billy Scott: I guess, got into the industry in January of ’23, so a little over three years. We’ve been very blessed. We’re coming up on Over 120 homes sold during that time, with helping buyers and sellers, and we’re very honored because during that time, it has been a tough market from day one. You can’t do that without relationships.

Scott: At the end of the pandemic, or did it start during the pandemic, or.?

Billy: After. So, ’21, ’22 was, the boom, and then rates and everything started shooting up.

Scott: You, started right at the wrong time.

Billy: That said, "You missed it. You missed the whole boom".

Scott: They were just throwing money at houses, right? It’s like, "Here’s 80,000 over asking," you know?

Billy: None of none of that fell in our lap. We were. We heard stories about it, but we don’t know what that’s like.

Scott: ‘Cause it was a huge swing from People throwing money at houses to, it shut down, right? The rates went up and.

Billy: You figure 2.5 to 3% in ’21, ’22 for rates. And by the end of ’23, rates had hit almost 8%. Even though we’ll probably never see 2 to 3% again. Everybody remembers it just being a little while ago. Being a few years ago. So hearing 6 or 6.5% right now, oh, my gosh, the world’s crashing. It’s like.

Scott: That’s still relatively low, right?

Billy: It’s becoming the new norm, but it’s not normal for first-time homebuyers. It’s not normal when it was just a few years ago that the rate was half of that.

Scott: I’I’m guessing a lot of people are, staying in those houses at this point, right? They got that 3%. Maybe it’s a refi. Maybe it’s a new purchase. But they ain’t leaving anytime soon, right? They kind of.

Billy: It’s hard to justify, and we have that conversation, "Why would I sell if I’m at a 3% rate?" Well, when you look at the whole big picture of people’s finances, more often than not, people don’t think about this, but credit card debt is the highest it’s ever been in America. So people focus so hard on 3% interest rate on their home.

Billy: They go finance a pickup at 9%. And they think it’s no big deal. This is just the way it is.

Scott: People throw so much money away at new cars.

Billy: They pay 27% credit card. Don’t bat an eye. But as long as their mortgage is 3%, they’re good. When lenders go start running numbers and say, "What is your outgoing cash flow, and what if you refied, paid off your debt, stop paying all this interest, the interest that you’re not focusing on And then regroup?" A lot of times they’re dropping people’s payment.

Billy: They’re so caught up on, "My interest rate’s 2.5 to 3% on my home. Why would I ever sell?" It’s like, well, let’s look at your whole finances, and that’s where lenders come in and.

Scott: Sarah, tell me when you joined the team.

Sarah: . He had already been in real estate a year. I joined him just after your one year.

Scott: I have a feeling you’re a big part of the success, too, right? People like you.

Sarah: I’m just riding his coattails to success.

Scott: Sarah, you’re one of the kindest and nicest people I’ve ever met. You just have that spark about you and that quality. I don’t think I’ve ever seen her upset. Have you ever seen her upset? Maybe you have.

Billy: Are we being real? We’re being honest?

Scott: Did you, say dang once, or did the D word flow out or what?

Sarah: No, one time he experienced a different side of Sarah he had never seen before. He was like, "What in the world?" We had to work through that.

Scott: Real too, though. It’s like, you don’t wanna see that again, right?

Billy: I will act accordingly.

Sarah: That’s how it went. That’s pretty much how it went.

Billy: The thing is, there’s times I’I’ll chuckle with her because I will say "I’m looking for that one gal. She was, so sweet and innocent and, just so kind and. " And she’s like, "Oh, yeah? She’s gone."

Scott: I think what makes you guys special is you’re, The yin and the yang, right? You fill out very different parts of what is needed to do these transactions. And to help people. You know. Would you agree with that?

Billy: I can’t do, I can’t do what I do without her support and what she does. And the thing is, it’s not so much, I know how to get in front of people and build relationships, and that’s my forte. That’s, I love it. I could do it seven days a week.

Billy: I can’t do all the other things And to the level that she does it, and the way she keeps things organized, and with a systematic brain of keeping things flowing so we’re not letting people down. We kinda talk about I’m the promise maker. And she’s the promise keeper. You’re as good as the follow-through. I, you can’t do it alone.

Scott: I think we’re very similar that way, is we like to Go hard, 100 miles an hour, and. But there’s still a lot of stuff in, that got left in the dust that has to be picked up. Dealt with, to make it.

Sarah: It is good, though. It’s, I can’t do what I like to do without him either. And, I know there’s I could do operation stuff for anybody, right? But It’s different doing it with someone that you really respect and you trust and, you enjoy doing business with. And people keep telling me now, they’re like, "You just speak Billy now." And I’m like, "Huh."

Sarah: You just don’t even realize it ’cause, it’s just we work together every day, so it’s just, you just get used to it. We’re, I went on a listing appointment with, our new agent earlier in the year, and it was just so funny ’cause I didn’t even bat an eye.

Sarah: I was just like, "Yep, we’re gonna go," and Billy couldn’t go, and so I went with her, and I was like, "No problem." And it wasn’t until afterward that all of a sudden it hit me and I went, "Oh my gosh, I just went on a listing appointment without Billy." Like, I was like, "I’ve never done that before."

Sarah: Not only did we do it, we got the listing agreement signed. I was, reflecting and I was like, I was saying all the things that, Billy says, and I didn’t even think about it. But when you’re just around it so much and you’re just absorbing, all of a sudden you just start to embody it.

Sarah: That is really neat as an operations person, not to just, check the boxes, but also learn those, all those skills of how you’re dealing with people, how you’re talking with people, what are we doing with different objects, objections and obstacles. And how do we overcome it, so.

Scott: You’ve leveled up your game recently, is that right?

Sarah: I got my real estate license.

Scott: That give, that makes, that lets you do a lot more things. There’s a lot of rules around that, right?

Sarah: I can legally open a door now, so that’s nice.

Billy: To add on what you said is, when Sarah called me and said, "Billy, you’re never gonna believe this. Think of what just happened with me going with this listing appointment with Lauren." As a leader, when you hear that and you see the growth, but they’re not seeing it in themselves And they’re coming to going, "Oh my goodness, look at all the things we’re learning.

Billy: I never realized some of the things I’m picking up on or some of the things that I’m just confident to be able to go do and not even second-guess it," That is I don’t know, a sense of satisfaction of like, wow, we’re in the right rooms together. We’re learning from each other. We’re pushing each other, but we’re building each other’s confidence as a team.

Billy: I don’t know, it made me very proud to see her confidence go up of, ’cause she will, she will doubt herself at times and think like, "Oh, I don’t know. I’m just, I haven’t done this long enough." It’s like, "Hey. You’re the right person for the job." "You continue to be the right person for the job, and you’re the right person for Billy Scott Land & Home."

Billy: I’ve said that repeatedly from day one. My wife fully believes in it. Her husband believes in her just as much as we believe in her, and it’s just, we’re lucky to be able to walk beside her, but it’s not just It’s not just real estate. We get to go through life together.

Billy: The relationship that her husband and I have and that she has with my wife, it’s truly a relational partnership that you just get to grow. That’s something I don’t take for granted, and I’m very blessed.

Scott: I love seeing the interaction with you guys. You’re just a great team. But there is a, you’ve got another person on your team, is that right? When did she start?

Billy: Started in November, or end of Oc.

Sarah: The program started in October.

Scott: Are you looking to grow your team beyond that as well?

Billy: I think over time, yes. We wanna be very selective with our growth. We’ve talked to a lot of big teams, like the Gilot team, who’s the biggest team in. Willamette Valley. They’re. Well-respected. They got great agents. From the top down, it’s like people want to be that. I want to follow suit and be associated somehow, some way, running a business like they do.

Billy: Taking care of their clients like they do. I think early on, I kinda thought, "Man, I’m gonna have a big old team, and I wanna own a brokerage," and I’ve taken some trainings and done some classes and over the last three years done a lot of reflection and asked a lot of big leads that have been in the industry a lot of years. And they all said.

Scott: The goal was to keep it small.

Billy: "If I could do it again Keep it small and mighty."

Scott: I’m, yeah, I’m guessing the leaders of those big teams are doing very little of what they originally started doing. Now just managing agents and the fire of the day, and.

Billy: I would think somewhere in the range of, seven to 10-person team. To click on all cylinders and keep it small and mighty, and we’d rather do less business, but just do damn good business. Go through life together with your team, know your people. It’s not just a number. And that’s become way more attractive than who can get more agents.

Billy: It’s like, well, who wants to be a revolving door, is the sentence that follows that. We do not wanna be a revolving door.

Scott: I get it. Now, when you’ve. You were, previously you worked for Knife River, is that correct? You didn’t Wake up one morning and there was, 50 people all asking you, "Hey, you should be a real estate agent and I’d buy a house from you," or, "Just let you sell my house." You leapt in cold, right?

Scott: Just like everybody else who’s thinking about being in real estate, you started at the same place. How did you grow so quickly? ‘Cause you’re, you have a sphere of people I’m sure you know. But again, people weren’t lining up Waiting for you to become a real estate agent. Just throwing their houses at you, right?

Billy: That is for, that is 100% accurate. All that overflow was gone.

Scott: How do you go from zero to hero?

Billy: I don’t look at myself as hero. I look.

Scott: I look at you as a hero.

Billy: I appreciate it. I think ultimately just because, like Sarah said, I’ve been so relational. I was always a social butterfly growing up. Whether you’re on a sports team, you’re always the person joking, laughing, interacting with everybody, being the person that gets out of, kicked out of class ’cause you’re talking too much. ‘Cause you just can’t. No way. Not everybody shocked all at once.

Billy: I think, I think that entrepreneur mindset of always wanting to do more and not just settle for what I have, but also you build the relationships, everything else follows. It doesn’t matter what industry. At Knife River, they pretty much said, "Oh my gosh, one day you’re gonna be a salesman for us," early on in my career. It’s like, "Yeah?"

Billy: I’m thinking like, "I get to drive one of those orange and white trucks." "Like, I get paid with a company card and then a fuel card. How cool would that be?" "Like, I get to go take care of clients and swing out on job sites." It was always kinda like a big vision. I never really thought it would come to reality.

Billy: Over the years of all the jobs that I did at Knife River One thing led to another to be more knowledgeable and be more of that candidate of choice where it was a no-brainer, where it’s like, "Well, he’s crushed a lot of rock. He’s ran asphalt plants." "You know, he’s ran equipment. He understands, every little facet of the industry."

Billy: It just made me more well-rounded, and I never knew all those jobs would make me more prepared from the time I got into real estate of understanding. What do you do with a bare lot? What do you do with. Some of your infrastructure? What do you do with your underground utilities?

Billy: I don’t know it all, but I am knowledgeable in a little bit of a lot of those things over the years. Because of that exposure, and I think that just one thing led to another.

Scott: I’m gonna ask you If you had to pick three skills that a successful real estate agent would need to have, what would they be?

Sarah: I would definitely put relationships first because the money and everything else follow when the relationship is strong. The second skill is doing the work even when you are scared. Billy is not especially fearful and does not worry much about rejection, but many agents do, and that is normal.

Sarah: They may believe they have to eliminate the fear before acting, but they can still move forward while feeling it. That perseverance matters. I am not sure about the third skill. What do you think it should be?

Billy: I think something that comes to mind is relationships is absolutely key. It’s number one. If you can’t convert a relationship. Find a way to be the conduit or the glue of what they want, and where do you fall in and how you can help them get there You know, you may say, all right, maybe that’s negotiation skills.

Billy: Maybe that’s just thinking outside the box for creative financing and working with the right lenders. Maybe it’s allowing them to believe in you and building that trust where they aren’t scared. To buy their first home. Where they’re not scared to invest in their next property. Where you put their mind at ease because they trust you, and then you can coach them through the process.

Billy: I think if you can be able to take that relationship and convert it and walk them through and make them see what they’re capable of, I think the opportunities are endless when they say, "Oh my gosh, I trust you. Let’s go." And the most rewarding ones. Are the first-time home buyers who are renting and have the mindset that they’ll never be a homeowner.

Billy: "I’m never gonna be able to afford to. I’ll never make it in this market." It’s like, no, you will.

Sarah: They have nowhere to. They’re like, "Where do I start?" They have no idea. They’re so overwhelmed. I would say, piggybacking on that, I was thinking about he’s, one of the best negotiators I’ve ever seen because he’s not sleazy. It’s, genuine win-wins, and the way that he. I don’t know. It’s like he can picture it like a puzzle.

Sarah: He’s just, as he’s on the phone, he’s just putting it together. And then it ends up working out for everybody. He’s just so good at, things that I wouldn’t even think of. He’s like, "Well, what about if we did this?" And I’m like, "Where did that even come from?" Like, you know? I’m like I. And I think that’s where people listen to him.

Scott: Hey, we’ve negotiated a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles game, there you go. A beanbag, you name it, I mean. It does, it doesn’t matter.

Sarah: Dealing with people who are, they’re really stuck in what they want. How do you. Even though you know it actually isn’t best for them, what they think they want. He’s really good at working with them to get them to see a different perspective. It’s a good skill.

Scott: I’m guessing over, what’d you say, 120. Sold, and probably a close amount of buyers to that, no? I’m guessing with all those transactions, that they pretty much all went perfectly, right? You’re batting 100%, right?

Billy: Do you wanna hear. The termination count? Because it happens. That’s the. That’s the reality ugly side of the industry. And just, if I’m being honest, this year we’ve closed almost 30 transactions by the end of this week. Halfway through the year. Which is, we’re very proud of that. But we’re right in line, what was our goal? What’d we set out to do?

Billy: Are we supposed to be doing? Are we putting ourselves in a good position? And it’s like the goal is one thing, but it’s just stay client-focused. The rest’ll follow. But there’s been 13 terminations. Some of those are out of your control. Park approvals, people buying property, they get denied a park approval in a park, denied. It doesn’t matter how much they wanna spend.

Billy: Doesn’t matter, they can’t buy it. Like.

Scott: Does that mean? How do you get denied for a park approval? Who says you can’t come in? Why are they able to say that?

Billy: Lots of factors, and if you’re listening.

Scott: I didn’t know that was a thing.

Billy: Start being more lenient with your park approvals, please. It, they gotta apply and say, "Hey, do I qualify? What’s my background?" You know, credit score, background check. There’s a lot of, lot of different things with it. But I mean, there’s, housing laws that, they protect both sides of it.

Billy: It’s just, it’s such a bummer, you got somebody that’s ready and able, working with a lender, they’re pre-approved, they fall in love with a property, we negotiate, we come to terms, the sellers are stoked, the buyers are happy, and then the park approval’s denied. You contest it, denied. Contest it, denied.

Billy: It just takes the wind out of a buyer’s sails, takes the wind out of the seller’s sails. Eventually, the seller has to continue reducing the price of their home. Because it’s happened twice, and you’re chasing the market. Now it’s 90 days, 120 days on the market. We’re chasing the market. The market’s talking, and we’re the messenger of the market. If you don’t adjust, time kills deals.

Billy: Days on market kills deals. And it just It’s the pits.

Sarah: We had a buyer that. But he, Billy just kept pushing, and we got him approved. Also having an agent who I don’t know, doesn’t take no for an answer. That’s Billy. It’s just like, "Okay, cool. What about this? Okay, great. What about this?"

Scott: He’s tenacious. Tenacious is a good word to describe him, right?

Sarah: I like it until he does it to me, and I’m like, "No, this is what I need you to do."

Billy: Do you spray him with, a little bottle of water like a cat?

Sarah: We’re not. I, what? I need one. I need one.

Billy: I think you should do that.

Scott: I feel my wife. My school teachers, my coaches. No is no. It’s like, no, it’s not. I just didn’t ask the question right.

Billy: I just need to rephrase it a little bit.

Sarah: He literally will go, "Okay," and he goes, "So. " And I’m like, "No."

Billy: What’s the next thing? Sometimes I don’t, I don’t think I’m being tenacious about it. It’s just like, maybe she’s not understanding what I really want.

Sarah: That’s what he thinks. It’s great as an agent. It’s just annoying when you’re an operations person.

Billy: If my wife could only chime in right now.

Scott: You were, you did a podcast here with us for a while, and you. You had a lot of episodes, and I learned a lot, ’cause I was sitting in that engineer station. You’ve overcome some trials and tribulations in your life. Again, and I say this because Right now you’re looking like the king of the world, right?

Scott: From the outside looking in, it, I’m sure agents are like, "I wish I was doing. 60 Homes a year." Right? And they’re doing five, they’re doing seven, and they’re just barely on that edge. But That wasn’t given to you either, right? You overcame a lot in your life and to get to this place. Share anything about that?

Billy: It’s. I think we reflect a lot On our past, because it was not a smooth road. I don’t like to take the easy route. And I think I don’t ignore my past, but it’s one of those We reflect on it and we talk about it openly because it’s a part of who made Like, what made us who we are and the direction we’re going moving forward.

Billy: Whether it’s my, Years of drinking and, sobriety and falling out and, just overcoming You know, running and gunning and just kinda chasing trouble in my younger years. I just think, all of it is just another stepping stone And an opportunity of growth when you’re at a Y in the road of, what do you do with it? It’s not what happens, it’s how you handle it.

Billy: It’s like we continue to face the next Y in the road, and it’s like, well, you have a choice. You’re gonna do the right thing, you’re gonna take two steps backwards. And What are you gonna do afterwards? How are you gonna grow out of it? What’d you learn from it?

Billy: It’s like, I feel like It’s so funny you say, man, you probably feel like king of the world. But internally you just go, "Man I work so much and I just have so much passion for what I do in real estate, and I. If I could just do one thing different, I just wish I could not let anybody down anymore." And like how do we just.

Billy: How can we perform for every client, and every relationship, and my wife, and my kids, and my grandson, and teammates? How do I, how do I be a better leader and how do I support other agents who are wanting to grow in this industry? And.

Billy: It’s just like You take two steps forward and you think, "Oh my gosh, we closed some more deals," But then it’s like, don’t take too much time to celebrate, ’cause there’s more work to do and there’s people that need you, and you got more things to improve on.

Billy: You got, you need to be more disciplined, you need to be more accountable, and it’s like, but from the outside, social media paints a picture that People seem like they’re the king and queen of the world. And they got everything going, and it’s like I don’t look at it as, "Oh my gosh, we’re on top of the mountain."

Billy: I still look at it as Yes, we have came so far in life and in such a short amount of time, but then I look at the trajectory and the opportunities ahead is Mount Bachelor, and we’re staring up at it. Just going, "And we have so much farther to go."

Billy: "And we have so much more work ahead of us, and we’re gonna have slips, trips, and falls along the way." But, what we do with that as a team, like when we keep investing in training, and going to conferences, Coaching and, when I get off my coaching call I’d be lying if I said my head doesn’t hit my desk. And I think.

Billy: Man, what am I doing with my life? You know?

Scott: Then it inspires you and it’s like gives you a roadmap Yeah.

Billy: I wouldn’t, I wouldn’t change it for nothing. Like my coach, he busts my chops, and he’s not there to be my friend, and that’s been a hard one for me to Accept. Because I’m so relational. Because it’s like when we start calls, I want you to ask, "How’s family? How you doing? How’s life?" And it’s like, "Cut to the chase. Let’s get to business." It’s like, "Well.

Billy: Business will come later. We’re and it’s like I’ve talked to multiple people about it, and they’re like, "You don’t hire him to be your friend." Do I respect the hell out of that man, and do I respect the coaches that I’ve had over the years, from, Josh to John and Chase?

Billy: Like they’ve all been wonderful coaches, but every year it’s like I’ve switched coaches, and then you go try a new coach, and try some new tactics and new strategy. And it’s an investment. Like it’s a big investment. Sarah and I both have coaches.

Scott: Many, of the successful agents I’ve seen have coaches. They see it as a requirement. It’s not like an optional thing. Having that third party to point out all the things that you suck at is, I think, essential. I think it’s worth it. It’s not fun, but. My coach today, I just had a coaching call this morning, and she’s like, "Okay, so here’s your homework.

Scott: Here’s all the things you need to do." "You need to send it. " You know, and it.

Billy: See, I’ve kinda got a coach. I got Raoul telling me I suck every day, See?

Scott: He’s doing a good job. Good job, Raoul.

Billy: It makes me cry. I go cry a little bit and come back That’s when you need a Sarah.

Scott: She’ll say, "Your feelings are. ".

Billy: What’s your term for it? "Your feelings are valid." It’s like, "All right, that’s what I needed, Sarah." We call Sarah our, not only the mama bear of the office. But she’s our in-house, juju counselor Psychiatric You know, you name it. Like she’s just. She listens.

Billy: Like and that’s the thing when I don’t mesh with everybody, but when you got somebody like Sarah with you People are always just like, "Oh my gosh. What a good human. What. " Like. The way she carries herself, the way. And Sarah’s just like, "Oh, stop it. St-" It’s like, Sarah, I don’t think you understand. Like. Like I don’t know. I just. Some people just have that.

Billy: Way about them. I don’t know, but.

Scott: Some people get there, but a lot of people don’t get there when they’re in their mid-20s either. You can thank my dysfunctional family.

Billy: That was all trial and error. It made you better, it made you who you are today.

Scott: I don’t know why I laugh. I don’t know why. It makes me feel good. We’re so funny. That’s why we were crying.

Billy: We have zero views. We think we’re hilarious. I think my mom will watch Raoul will probably comment, "You suck." A couple pity views and outside of that, back to reality.

Scott: It’ll just be us rewatching our own.

Billy: Does that add to view count?

Scott: I’m asking for a friend. Oh, you guys are fun. I’m gonna have to do this. So being a broker is a lot like being a psychologist. Would you agree with that?

Billy: The hats you wear as an agent, you think you had an idea And just throw it out. I had no clue the hats you wear as an agent, the hats that you wear in operations, all the different things that come your way.

Scott: You gotta solve all their problems, right? And they’re.

Billy: A lot of them are new problems.

Scott: They don’t teach you in real estate school how to do that.

Billy: How to be a psychologist?

Scott: They don’t. And they should. There should be a course on in there.

Billy: Some that you get are just batshit, right? All right, so we’re gonna, we’re gonna go the unleashed version. I don’t have a license. I can say that kind of stuff. I will say this. We love them all, but some we love more. And, but the thing is, if you don’t have bad clients and tough situations and terminations Then you’ll never have those opportunities for growth.

Billy: If you think that this career’s just smooth sailing, you write offers, and you close properties, and everybody loves you. It’s like, that’s a fiction book. Because not everybody’s gonna love you, and some are gonna see the efforts you do behind the scenes more than others. Some are gonna know that you’re working your tail off, and some wonder. Do you do anything?

Scott: There’s the ones that come at you, and they wanna sell it for $50,000 more than you know it’s gonna sell for, right? How do you have that conversation?

Billy: It’s like a coach. The coach is gonna tell you. Things you need to hear, not what you wanna hear.

Sarah: You have gotten better.

Billy: It’s, sometimes we’ve had to shake their hand and say, "I would love to help you, but market data and where we’re at and the comps. Don’t support anywhere near where you’re at." "Now, I can’t be an agent that just hangs a sign, and in six months you fire me because of your unrealistic number. We would rather now not take that listing.

Billy: Unfortunately, we wanna help, and if they come to reality with their price, we would love to be able to be that agent. After they fire their agent that took that overpriced listing and couldn’t sell it. We would love that opportunity to interview for the job. But I’m doing a disservice if I’m allowing them to have an unrealistic number and not showing them that we’re the professionals.

Billy: We’re coming here with data. We’re not coming here with emotions." This, how are you gonna feel in six months when you want to fire me because your home hasn’t sold? And then our relationship’s never gonna be the same. So I have to have the confidence to have those tough conversations early on and get in front of it more.

Billy: Those are some things I’ve learned because early on it’s like, well, gosh, they want this. Let’s just try.

Scott: You’re hungry, right? You’re like, "Oh, I want that commission."

Billy: It’s a sign in the yard. Let’s try. Well. No. Let’s walk away and shake their hand and wish them luck. Because I spend thousands of dollars to put a sign in the yard and to market and the team and everything else that we’re doing and all of our expenses to be fired in six months and never get paid for your services.

Scott: It’s all up-front costs for you. All the marketing, all the time you’re putting into this, all the research. You don’t get paid till that house sells, right?

Billy: It’s a different version of gambling, and I love it. I love it.

Sarah: Going back to what you were saying about the crazy clients and being a psychologist, I’m not a psychologist, but what I have noticed is that a lot of the clients that are really tough, they’re people that are stuck in survival mode.

Sarah: They’ve had something in their life that they’ve gone through, maybe childhood trauma, addiction stuff, whatever it is, health things, and they’re in this place of like They’re not growth-minded. They can’t be self-aware. They’re so stuck in just trying to survive, and they’re angry, and they’re hurt, and they’re upset, and they’re just lashing out at everybody.

Sarah: They just kind of have their blinders on, and they’re just really stuck. So they’re it’s not always fun to deal with that, but at the same time, it’s still an honor to help people Because the reality is a lot of people are suffering. They are stuck, and Somebody has to help them. You know? And yeah, it isn’t always fun, and sometimes those phone calls are rough.

Sarah: Sometimes we don’t get good reviews for those. But at the end of the day, we still give them everything we can, and we do our. Best to help them and, get them on their way.

Sarah: For me, I feel like I can still go to sleep at night knowing we did everything we could, and we tried to go above and beyond, and to help them with where they’re at in their life. Even if they can’t see it right now.

Billy: That’s where I think you know just the type of person that Sarah is, so when we go on a listing appointment and it’s both of us, you’re not always gonna mesh with everybody. You got your four different personality types, and you gotta kinda read a room before you even get there based on your phone calls. Are they more direct? Are they more relational?

Billy: Are they gonna kinda slow play? Are they gonna be more methodical? What kind of personality are we dealing with? And it’s not to be a different person, but it’s to be a chameleon to make sure that you’re able to connect with your clients and meet their goals.

Billy: Also Sarah is so good at reading people and digging deeper, allowing them space to kinda open up and talk, and The business questions will all come later. And I know I’m relational, don’t get me wrong, but When people see how kind-hearted and big-hearted she is.

Scott: "Take your finger off the trigger." "Put the gun on the table." "I’m gonna be a good hostage negotiator." "They all come out of the building.

Sarah: This is my calling.

Billy: How many times have we heard, "Billy, like We love you, but then we met Sarah"? I’m like, "I’m still right here."

Scott: "I can hear you."

Billy: Because. I get to work with her. I get to do this every day. Sometimes Sarah’s gonna be the best fit for that client. Sometimes there’s clients that are like, "I don’t wanna deal with so-and-so," and they wanna deal with somebody more direct or whatever.

Billy: Then some clients, I have to be a lot more direct, and I don’t like it, but I’m not afraid to do it if that’s what’s in the best interest of having them achieve their goals, but Protecting our team, protecting our lenders and title reps. If they’re gonna call and belittle our transaction coordinator or.

Billy: The professionals that we work with and they’re gonna keep belittling them and everything else, hey, we’ll cut ties. You can either be professional and you can be respectful, or you can go elsewhere. We don’t have space for it.

Billy: I tell ’em, one-on-one with me, if you wanna lash out at me and you wanna get some things off your chest and you wanna call me some names, and then we figure out what we’re gonna do from here and how we can improve on it, wonderful. But you, they do not deserve that. And we’re not gonna stand for it. And.

Sarah: You have, you have very thick skin. Calm You’re really. Actually, you had one. It was Okay, it was, I, we might have to cut this out. It was with an agent, actually. They called and asking about a property, and I hear him on the phone, and you can just hear the voice, just going. And, he doesn’t know this person. They’re just calling about this, our property.

Sarah: He’s like, "Okay, I think it might be best for us to communicate via email." Like, and he just, I don’t know, he doesn’t get flustered or frustrated, and he’s I mean, then after the phone he, after he got off, he’s like, "Geez." Like, you know? But when he’s on, he’s very professional He’s not afraid to, just talk respectfully back, but set boundaries.

Sarah: He’s even done it with clients. He’s driven out to one of our past client’s homes and been like, "Hey, we need to talk." And then it’s like, "I’m so sorry, Billy," you know? And, it’s like, but he takes the time to do that because. Also knowing, this is, the most stressful thing for people, one of the most stressful things.

Sarah: The emotions, it just comes out and it’s not always their true self. It’s not always, a happy thing that we’re buying or selling, right?

Scott: Doing it out of necessity as divorce.

Sarah: They lost their job, they’re going bankrupt. Whatever it is.

Scott: Do you have ones, divorces where they can’t be in the same room at the same time? They’re bouncing back and forth between you?

Sarah: That’s where you really are a therapist.

Billy: That’s where Sarah. Sarah excels in those moments, where it’s like, we can keep the separation, but You always find there’s one relationship out of the two that is the leader, and one’s usually the follower. You know? And then it’s like, maybe you got family members feuding. I think family members, I’ll just say it. They’re the absolute worst part of real estate.

Scott: It’s like over inheritance sort of thing?

Billy: Sometimes kids want their inheritance, and their family, their parents are nice and healthy and they’re around, and they’re demanding their inheritance to buy property, or they want money and it’s unfair and it’s like. It’s like, I. I’m supposed to represent you as a client. I don’t believe in. I just It. They owe you nothing. How about that? They owe you nothing.

Billy: Enjoy the time with your parents while they’re here.

Sarah: Nine times out of 10, they don’t get the money, and then they end up severing their relationships with their family. They get nothing. Nothing came out of that, and it was just drama and a headache. And for everybody, you know? And, but I get it because, I don’t know. I don’t wanna judge too much ’cause it’s like. I understand those positions and it is hard to.

Sarah: Live on your own, and buying homes is expensive. I get it, but it’s just sad, though, that, yeah, even today, money. The root of all evil.

Billy: Money and land, the greed that comes out. It always works out and sometimes those deal, deals die and nothing comes of it, and it’s like, man, I just, I wanna help you. I don’t wanna get involved in your, in your family feud. I wanna be that conduit, that middle man, but also Some are so draining because it’s hard to not carry those emotions.

Billy: Because you care and you want what’s best for both sides. Because if you just protect one side, whether you’re representing a buyer or seller, like she talked about win-win. If all you do is protect one side That’s when deals die. ‘Cause one side, one party doesn’t feel like they’re getting a good shake at it. There’s not give and take. If you don’t find win-win, deals die.

Billy: It doesn’t matter if it’s just the relationships, it doesn’t matter if it’s transactions, it doesn’t matter. Find a win-win for both parties, and you know what? You keep things moving forward and everybody gets to achieve their goals.

Scott: There’s so much I could talk to with you about. I’m gonna pick just a couple more things, though. I love everything that you’re doing. You’re just. Your knowledge of real estate is very high, especially for someone just three years in. I mean. You can probably rattle off stats and figures all day, right?

Sarah: He told me.

Scott: Mortgage rates and all that kind of stuff. But I just help, I like how you’re trying to help people that aren’t even related to you and aren’t on your team. You have a little monthly get-together you do where everybody’s invited, right? Other real estate agents, mortgage brokers. Talk to me about that and just why do you do that?

Scott: Why do you try to help other people like that? You have no interest in it.

Billy: I just feel like I’ve always had mentors and coaches and people that you just lean on and who make an influence in your life. You never know the little golden nuggets that you get from individuals here and there, the relationships that you build. Maybe it’s meeting somebody at the grocery store and it’s like, oh, my gosh I wanna know more about them, or like.

Billy: I wanna hear their story more. And I just feel like When you get into real estate, I’ve never felt so overwhelmed, like drinking from a fire hose and spilling All the water that went towards me. All you’re just I, it’s, I don’t know a better way to explain it.

Billy: It’s like, man, everybody thinks when they’re gonna go get their license, and they’re gonna get into real estate, and it’s, "This is what’s gonna happen, and I’m just gonna start cashing checks."

Scott: That’s not how it works.

Billy: It’s like I try to go, "Okay, what were some of the things that we faced that we had to learn the hard way, and how can we help people not have to learn the hard way and just have collaboration?" And Derek Manasco, who we work with, he’s a partner. Good dude, and he’s always people first.

Billy: He kind of started something over in Texas, and that’s something that Real does. And it’s just, it’s community group collaboration, and it’s like, how do we just help one another? It doesn’t have to be what brokerage do you work for, and, "Oh, you’re on the outside. I can’t help you." Like, no. There’s tons of agents struggling. There’s solo agents struggling. There’s agents on a team struggling.

Billy: There’s teams struggling. People are struggling out there, so how can we be a place of like, "Hey, let’s talk about what’s happening in today’s market. Who’s winning really well right now? What are some of those golden nuggets to pass on so others can say, ‘Oh my gosh, let’s 10X this.

Billy: Let’s go win some more.’" And then also, what are some of the hardest struggles that we’re facing in the industry? And that’s where I talk about some of those terminations, learning how to keep deals alive differently, thinking outside the box, because so many people never wanna talk about it.

Billy: Before this spring, never was I hearing anybody talk about terminations And statistically, terminations are at, 25 to 35% of all deals. Are terminating. You don’t hear those stats. And then you go, "Oh my goodness, I know if I’m going through this, I’m not the only one." So how do we get ahead of it?

Billy: The amount of people that are willing to listen, and then they see that you’re getting vulnerable. You’re, they’re seeing that, they’re not just seeing the success. They’re seeing, "Oh my gosh Billy’s failing at a lot of things as well, but social media tells me otherwise." It’s like when you can be real and vulnerable with people, it doesn’t matter the brokerage, whatever It will attract people.

Billy: It’ll attract people who wanna be a part of that circle, and then you start realizing how many people are itching to tell their story of where their wins are, where their losses are How they wanna grow, what they need to do to learn, and be surrounded by more of those growth-minded people, and your circle starts growing.

Billy: It takes people being courageous and having the courage to go do it And put themselves out there first and just knowing that there’s agents that need this. There’s people that need to hear this. And it’s not glamorous at times. Like.

Sarah: You’ve talked about this before, not having the scarcity mindset of, "Well, I don’t wanna talk to other agents about what I’m doing or what I’m succeeding at, because we’re all in competition." He’s always had the mentality of, "No, ’cause when we collaborate, it actually is better for us when we’re negotiating deals and when we’re representing our clients.

Sarah: It makes us all better, and we give our clients a better experience." So you’ve always looked at it as you prefer to collaborate with agents. In our area. And not that we. That’s the other thing, too, that he has a hard time with sometimes, where I’m like, I have to rein him in a little bit. He does.

Sarah: He has a bleed, bleeding heart, so he’s like, he’s like, just wants to help everybody. "Oh, they can just come in our office. They can just. " And so we’ve had to talk about that a little bit, of like, okay, but, there has to be a benefit of being on our team. We can’t just give out who we are necessarily just. For free, either.

Sarah: Because we’re also building a business, and we want to attract people to this, and we want them to see the value of it. But it’s also just not. If he does that with everybody, he won’t even have time for anybody, you know? We’ve had to watch his time on that. I still think it’s, I would rather him err on the side of wanting to collaborate with other.

Scott: You do, a lot of social media, and I’m gonna congratulate on, you on that, ’cause that is where the successful agents are living right now. If they expect their phone to ring from just.

Sarah: He doesn’t feel like we do. He says our social media’s terrible.

Scott: No, it’s. It’s great. And I know that sounds terrible. I. I like that.

Sarah: That’s what he actually said.

Scott: You’re out there. You’re being you. And what I love, I, and I, and I tell my girls this, is that You don’t have to try to be everything to everybody. Be the person you are. You will attract the people that are attracted to you. To that personality, and you guys will click very well.

Scott: Then the nice thing about having a team member, if they want that super cuddles that Sarah’s gonna give them. They’re gonna say, "Step aside, Billy, I’m gonna go work with Sarah," right? They can find that person on your team that’s going to be the right fit for them, Congratulations on the social media. That’s. I wish more agents would do that.

Scott: They tend to, view the listing media as, what we do as just a pure cost and not like. This is your best marketing opportunity you’re gonna have. You are sitting in front of a house with your sign in the yard. It says people have trusted you enough to give them your business. There’s no more powerful imagery than that.

Sarah: We’re only scratching the surface right now. There’s so much we need to do better and master and figure out and all of that, so I appreciate you saying that, ’cause he needs to hear it. I think, too, the thing that I’m learning with social media is It is like your database, in a sense, of people. And that’s where it’s free advertising.

Sarah: In a sense of, where you can show who you are to people without putting your face on a billboard. Right? And honestly, it’s more impactful. And it’s more. Genuine and all of that. And he’s just, he’s good at it because he just is like, "I don’t know. Okay." Do we just film videos, and then.

Scott: He’s fearless, right?

Sarah: He doesn’t really care what people think. And I think that’s why people really like him on social media.

Billy: It’s like I enjoy doing the fun, goofy, just off-the-hook, hit play, let’s do this. I got an idea.

Sarah: Actually, did you see what happened, it was a couple of months ago, but what happened to his car? Did you see that post we did?

Scott: I did see that.

Sarah: I, come out, and he’s like, "Yeah." Oh, no, we were on the phone. He was driving to, a photo shoot or something, and all of a sudden he’s like, "Oh my gosh." And we’re like, "What’s going on?" And shingles were flying off of a manufactured home, which I think is so ironic that it was that house.

Sarah: They flipped over, and they were scratching up the top of his car, and he has a full glass, all the way down the top of his car. I come out, and, he’s like, he’s showing us. It’s so bad. Just totally scratched the paint, all the glass.

Scott: Were you possibly following a little close?

Billy: They just got on the freeway, and I was behind them, and they just started, and it was like, woo.

Scott: There’s like the two or three second rule, right?.

Billy: I stayed within it, maybe a little.

Scott: Not like, oh, it was two car lengths at 70 miles an hour. It’s not, that’s not the two you’re looking for there, right?

Sarah: Then I go, I go, "Oh my gosh, what are you gonna do?" And he’s like, "I’m gonna call a mobile home manufacturer and see if they’ll give me a deal on a mobile home."

Billy: Just think outside the box.

Sarah: I’m like, "Of course you are." We post that. People thought it was so funny. We never gave anyone an update on that, actually.

Scott: Thank you guys for coming on today. It’s awesome. I love your, the team, and both you guys bring very different things to it.

Billy: Scott, we can’t thank you enough. Last year when we were doing the podcast, I think we did 24. Some of the stats that we were looking into was if you reach 20.

Sarah: You’re above average or something like that.

Billy: You’re, in the top 10% of podcasts that even did it. And then we’ve put it on pause, and, we haven’t kickstarted it back up. But it’s one of those, we see value, but it’s like, to come in your studio and have, your people, you got an engineer sitting here, Raoul, doing his thing. All the sound. When people see it, they’re like, "Man, where’d you do this?"

Billy: Kudos to you for investing in what you’re doing because you’re not just doing real estate photography and videography, and you’re not building staffing all over the state to be able to take care of agents across the state, but also You know, some of your photo shoot booths, when people are wanting, head shots. Then doing the podcast and trying to take that to the next level.

Billy: You’re investing so much up front with the, with the theory of if you build it, they will come.

Sarah: At a, and at a very high level.

Scott: How I live my life, I think.

Sarah: He does it at a very high level. You don’t skimp on things, which I really appreciate about you, ’cause everything’s very high quality. And that’s. That’s what you, that’s what you produce, and I really. I appreciate that. And on a personal note, I was never even supposed to be on the podcast. And I.

Sarah: Look back, ’cause I’ve had a lot of just, I’ve been looking back over the past two years, and, there’s just been a lot of people that have poured into me, into my confidence and just who I am. ‘Cause, an operations person is always, they’re just behind the scenes.

Scott: I remember you were, just giving them some advice. And we were literally like, "Sarah Go sit down."

Billy: You’re like, "Sarah, jump up there." She’s like, "No. I. ".

Sarah: I’m not dressed for this. I wasn’t. I was wearing this fleecy, like. I don’t know, buffalo checkered, like. I’m like, "Oh my gosh."

Billy: Then from that point on, people started watching it, going, "Oh my God, who is Sarah?" It, and it attracts more people, of people getting to know who you are. Not just me. And it’s, I don’t know, I think it’s what made it something more special. Because nobody just wants to sit here and listen to me talk. It’s like having that dialogue, having that interaction.

Billy: Having, different conversations coming from different angles. Like. We don’t always agree. But different perspectives that make it relatable to others, and then it like I said, it attracts more people, and that’s just, I love it.

Scott: You guys are great. Thanks for watching another episode of Realiant Roundtable. If you are in the industry, real estate industry, and you’d like to come on and be a guest, give us a call, and we will see if we can make that happen, okay? Scott Kemp, Billy Scott, Sarah Cade. Thank you.