Next Level Agents: The Kevin & Fred Show - Interviews with the best and brightest minds in the real estate industry

Opendoor resumes iBuying in all of its markets   Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac forbearance rate drops below 5% The GSE rate is the lowest since mid-April, MBA says   Housing industry turns against Fannie, Freddie’s added refinance fee     Are people really fleeing urban areas for more rural areas? 

On this episode, I’m joined by real estate agent and entrepreneur, Justin Nelson who is on our show for the second time. He has been helping real estate business owners build leverage by placing well-trained virtual assistants in their organizations. Bringing leverage into our business can exponentially increase our effectiveness and our growth. The key is making sure that VA is set up to mesh with us and what we do, because that’s what will allow them to thrive. This is where real estate virtual assistant training comes in and provides what’s needed to create a successful employer-employee relationship.   Justin is the founder and CEO of Sphere Rocket and owner of the Franklin Team at eXp Realty, a Virtual Assistant Company created to help only the Real Estate Niche. Sphere Rocket has grown into a company that not only specializes in helping Real Estate Virtual Assistant training, but also helping any type of business looking for leverage.   Getting a VA can be a point of friction in so many real estate organizations, but it is possible to make the process smooth and to make sure the VA meshes with us so that they can thrive. If our VAs thrive, that’s how they can help us not only by growing our businesses, but by giving us real freedom in our lives.     In this episode: - Justin’s work in the VA world, and how he got started - How Sphere Rocket VA works and how the model is different from other VA companies. - The onboarding process and how to effectively work with a VA. - The 3 categories for VAs and how to determine what you need them for.   Guest Info   Justin is the founder and CEO of Sphere Rocket and owner of the Franklin Team at eXp Realty, a Virtual Assistant Company created to help only the Real Estate Niche. Sphere Rocket has grown into a company that not only specializes in helping Real Estate Agents get a Virtual Assistant, but also any type of business who is looking for leverage. https://www.sphererocketva.com/virtual-assistant

Q2 Earnings Calls Trump signs directives on evictions, unemployment and payroll tax deferral HUD allocates $472 million of CARES Act funding for low-income households Quicken/Rocket Mortgage Goes Public

In today’s episode, I’m joined by my good friend and business partner, Eric Lowry. He runs a highly efficient, systems-focused real estate operation complete with expansion teams and partnerships. Eric has built an onboarding system and training platform that many people in our industry could only dream of doing. His team was able to thrive during a pandemic and even double their sales from last year. They have achieved incredible growth where most people would just coast on years in the business. When him and I discussed how his team is managing in the pandemic, I knew we had to have him on the show immediately.    Eric is the CEO and Team Leader at The Lowry Team - eXp Realty. He is an industry veteran and entrepreneur with 22 years of experience in the business. The Lowry Team has built a reputation for honest, professional real estate service. They are committed to providing personal service combined with cutting edge technology to deliver exceptional customer service.    In real estate, it’s uncharacteristic for major growth to take place 20 years in. For the most part, the most growth takes place early on, and every progression from that point is only incremental. It’s even more uncommon and rare for that growth to happen within a pandemic economy, amid lockdowns, market uncertainty and new business constraints.    Eric Lowry did just that, and in August 2020, his team has already surpassed their total volume in 2019. This kind of excellence does not take place by accident, it comes from mindset, vision and the right kind of execution.    Website: https://www.lowryteam.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EricLowry0 Trainual   https://trainual.grsm.io/KevinKauffman Time Stamps    00:58 - Eric’s background and what he enjoys about the business side of real estate.  07:07 - Building a big scalable training platform within the business.  12:33 - Why training has to be scaled up as our teams get bigger.  13:55 - The downsides of one-on-one, in-person training.  15:43 - Where the Lowry team offers the best and most value.   17:50 - Selling more homes as an individual agent vs. running a team and increasing volume when you’re not in production.  22:00 - How Eric’s team doubled their sales in a pandemic.  29:48 - Eric on his team’s coronavirus business results.  35:50 - Eric’s top 3 pieces of advice for kicking ass.   Guest Info   Eric is the CEO and Team Leader at The Lowry Team - eXp Realty. He is an industry veteran and entrepreneur with 22 years of experience in the business. The Lowry Team has built a reputation for honest, professional real estate service. They are committed to providing personal service combined with cutting edge technology to deliver exceptional customer service.    Website: https://www.lowryteam.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EricLowry0 Training System https://trainual.grsm.io/KevinKauffman  

Here is this week's headlines...        Heard on the Street: KW searching for new CEO…     Just Announced: eXp World Holdings Acquires Leading Real Estate Search Technology Company    Fathom Holdings, the parent company of Fathom Realty, goes public

About the Episode On this episode, I talk to mega-influencer, media and entrepreneurship powerhouse, Gary Vaynerchuk, a man who has revolutionized how business owners communicate and operate. Through his business ventures, Gary has been able to build massive companies that aren’t just successful in terms of social media popularity, but also run as well oiled machines operationally, something many entities struggle with. Gary’s businesses have been successful because he understands the importance of patience when building something that can dominate for years.    Gary Vaynerchuk is the chairman of VaynerX, a modern-day media and communications holding company and the active CEO of VaynerMedia, a full-service advertising agency servicing Fortune 100 clients across the company’s 4 locations.   In addition to VaynerMedia, VaynerX also includes Gallery Media Group, which houses women’s lifestyle brand PureWow and men's lifestyle brand ONE37pm. In addition to running VaynerMedia, Gary also serves as a partner in the athlete representation agency VaynerSports, cannabis-focused branding and marketing agency Green Street and restaurant reservations app Resy.   Gary is a highly sought after public speaker, a 5-time New York Times bestselling author, as well as a prolific angel investor with early investments in companies such as Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Venmo, and Uber.   Gary is currently the subject of DailyVee, an online documentary series highlighting what it’s like to be a CEO and public figure in today’s digital world, as well the host of The GaryVee Audio Experience, a top 100 global podcast, and host of #AskGaryVee, a business and advice Q&A show which can be found on both YouTube and Facebook. Gary also appeared as judge in Apple’s first original series “Planet of the Apps” alongside Gwyneth Paltrow, Jessica Alba and Will.i.am.   As business owners, we are often so focused on short-term ROI that we kill our own long-term success. Gary’s success at building massive, solid and profitable companies comes down to his ability to put his focus on the future, not getting instant gratification now.      In Today’s Episode, We Talk About; Why we shouldn’t be too worried about short-term ROI.  How to practice patience with an unknown future looming over our heads.  The most misunderstood thing about Gary Vee.  

About the Episode On this episode of Next Level Agents, I’m joined by Sam Parr, the man behind The Hustle, the daily tech and business email. He calls The Hustle an information company geared towards youngish entrepreneurs, and people who are growth-minded.   Sam Parr is the CEO and co-founder of The Hustle, one of America's fastest growing media companies. Each morning they give over 1m users/day the important business news they need to succeed. The company generates 7 figures in revenue each month, and has grown to a team of 30 employees. The company also hosts Hustle Con a popular conference with thousands of attendees. The hustle is a fast-growing, profitable without any venture capital. Sam has also started and sold multiple companies, invests in real estate and startups.  Sam’s journey in business and the story of The Hustle is one of learning from some of the most legendary names in media like Ted Turner, and creating something that is so relevant and impactful right now. He understands the value of seeing trends before they are blatantly obvious to everyone else, and being willing to do things differently to how everyone else is doing. Add to that a sharp, brilliant and unique communication style, and you have an unstoppable media maven, and an equally unstoppable brand.   Building a business of note isn’t easy, and it requires us to constantly learn, develop, and iterate new pathways and approaches. The people who do this well understand that what really makes an impact is courage, mental and emotional toughness. As Sam puts it, business excellence is 20% intelligence and 80% emotional.  In Today’s Episode, We Talk About;   - The backstory of The Hustle and who the publication is geared to.  - Why Sam started a media company, why Ted Turner inspires him and how Sam honed the voice and tone of The Hustle.  - How Sam and his team built to a million subscribers in a short amount of time.  - Why The Hustle built their own email sending technology.   - How The Hustle grew to 7 figures monthly and a staff of 25-30 people.   - The value of seeing trends before they are blatantly obvious to everyone else. - The most misunderstood thing about The Hustle.  Guest Info   Sam Parr is the CEO and co-founder of The Hustle, one of America's fastest growing media companies. Each morning they give over 1m users/day the important business news they need to succeed. The company generates 7 figures in revenue each month, and has grown to a team of 30 employees. The company also hosts Hustle Con a popular conference with thousands of attendees. The hustle is a fast-growing, profitable without any venture capital. Sam has also started and sold multiple companies, invests in real estate and startups.    Website: https://thehustle.co/ GET 50% OFF WITH THE DISCOUNT CODE NLA  Twitter: @theSamParr

  As we continue to navigate the choppy waters of a pandemic economy, we’re still in the process of gathering data on how different demographics have been impacted economically. One of the companies exploring the pressures of the pandemic economy is Motley Fool’s The Ascent (https://www.fool.com/the-ascent/)   In a recent study and article, they put their focus on renters. There’s been a lot of focus on how homeowners have been affected, but renters are also in a precarious situation. 50 million renters have experienced immediate job and income loss; creating financial challenges many feel they will never recover from.    What makes the time we’re living through so challenging is that there’s no precedent for this. There’s nothing to fall back on or refer back to, so what’s playing out is truly uncharted territory. What sectors, demographics and states have been hit hardest in this pandemic economy? What assistance is available to affected renters? The Ascent’s Dann Albright shares insights on how this economy has impacted our population.  Quotes    Make smart decisions where you can, save up an emergency fund and dip into it in times like these. -Dann Albright     States that shut down their businesses early and aggressively tend to have lower infection rates but also have high unemployment rates right now. -Dann Albright    Things We Learned from Dann Albright   Renters are getting hit harder than homeowners  Renters have less housing security and are at the mercy of landlords. Programs have been put in place to help mortgage payers, but in many states renters don’t have access to the same assistance.    Many states have been affected in surprising ways States like Nevada and renters who live there have been hit hard by the pandemic because they rely on tourism and hospitality. Surprisingly there are many other states that on the surface would seem unaffected, but actually rely on leisure and hospitality too.    We won’t fully know the effects of this crisis for years to come It’s so easy to speculate, but the truth is, we will get the final data on how this has affected us months and years from now, not immediately. This situation is ongoing and evolving daily. We’ll have a clearer picture once the dust settles.   

In this episode, I’m joined by coach and real estate leader, Josh Cooley. Josh has walked the real estate business journey, from new and struggling single agent, to top producing team leader and multiple-brokerage owner, and now highly impactful real estate coach. In Josh’s own words, every step in his growth has been the natural next step in production and growth, made possible through hard work and applying a coaching mindset to everything. Josh Cooley is a team leader, broker-owner and real estate coach. He jumped into real estate in 2008, a time when most agents were exiting right and left. Focusing on the lead generation and working his database daily, Josh quickly made it to the top 5% of Real Estate Agents in Eugene, Oregon. 10 years later Josh owns and operates a top producing real estate team in Eugene and Keller Williams franchise in Southern Oregon. Josh’s greatest business passion is coaching and mentoring agents to reach their potential. He specializes in coaching agents in production of 40 closings to over 700 closings per year. From independent agents to team owners Josh coaches his clients to think like champions and win! In order to grow our businesses to meet their full potential, it’s necessary not to focus on what everyone else is doing, but to delve into our own journeys and figure out where the gaps are so we can adjust accordingly. One of the biggest gaps business owners have is a lack of balance between their lead sources, ending up with a business that relies too heavily on one source and isn’t weighted equally. - Selling 8 homes in the first 2 years, and the lessons Josh learned during that time. - Going out on his own and building a team. - Josh on applying a coaching mindset to everything he does. - The progression to coaching and becoming head coach and Reger Coaching. - What it means to “F* your business”. - Josh’s course and who the ideal student is. Guest Info Josh Cooley is a team leader, broker-owner and real estate coach. He jumped into real estate in 2008, a time when most agents were exiting right and left. Focusing on the lead generation and working his database daily, Josh quickly made it to the top 5% of Real Estate Agents in Eugene, Oregon. 10 years later Josh owns and operates a top producing real estate team in Eugene and Keller Williams franchise in Southern Oregon. Josh’s greatest business passion is coaching and mentoring agents to reach their potential. He specializes in coaching agents in production of 40 closings to over 700 closings per year. From independent agents to team owners Josh coaches his clients to think like champions and win! To sign up for the course, visit https://regercoachingandconsulting.com/f-your-business/. Early sign ups get a $100 discount.