Episode #23: Respect, Help, & Love with Mike McCann

[00:00:00] I remember one eight and say, you were the most competitive person, Asia. I love you so much. You're the most competitive person I've ever met my life. When I go to listening and they tell me your own ear, I know I'm not kidding. Right.

[00:00:12] So how do you be successful in people we respect? Love here and help because I help everybody. It's plenty for everybody. Welcome to the podcast dedicated to real estate insurance and everything in between. Join us as we take you along our own brokerage building journeys.

[00:00:35] With additional wisdom from our network of business experts. Welcome to Bricks and Risk. Everyone, welcome to another episode of Bricks and Risk. I'm Tim Garity. And I'm Sean Mooney. And today, Sean, we have a super cool guess. Someone I'm very excited to introduce to our audience.

[00:01:01] We have Mike McCann, the real estate man at a Philadelphia Pennsylvania. How you doing today, Mike? Awesome. Wonderful. Thanks for coming on, boy. Mike, that's it. Being here. So brief background on Mike. He's currently an associate broker at Keller Williams and Power.

[00:01:17] He's a team leader at the Mike McCann team and operating principle at Keller Williams main line. Mike and his career sold over 10,000 homes and has close to 50 team members on his team. He's also consistently ranked as the number one real estate team in Philadelphia for over 30 years.

[00:01:36] Mike's a native Philadelphia raised in Northeast Philadelphia, which I like to call the least. He loves people working hard and being a rainmaker. He also believes that patients and persistence are the keys to success. So you were born a raise in Philly.

[00:01:54] You sold vacuum cleaners door to door in the early 80s, which is super admirable. And you went into full time real estate sales in 1988. So what was it about real estate that allowed you to go all in for that as your career path?

[00:02:11] First of all, a couple things I want to say. I should have had you play. You're before I ever speak. I always had you too. It's a beautiful day. So long. Oh, nice. Maybe we can make that work. That's a ball.

[00:02:24] Because that comes up to create and then I usually come on and we might want to hand it close shots. I don't feel like I forgot. I should have had you do it. It's a beautiful song. I go in all the time. Thank you.

[00:02:38] I grew up in the foreign northeast team. Okay, not to know what is the foreign northeast. It's definitely different. Definitely different. I agree. So. But. What made me get into real estate? So I started working when I was like eight or nine because people in my neighborhood

[00:02:56] they're parents book a mini bikes and my parents said you can have one where we can't buy it. So I started hustling for me and I saved up 105 dollars. And when I was 10, I bought a mini bike myself. Wow. So what I realized that many bike.

[00:03:11] I took care of it. I wrote it more. I enjoyed it more than everyone that was handed to me. Like yeah. So that's it. So that really then I bought a third bike. And so I've been hustling. I was in a restaurant restaurant business.

[00:03:23] When I was eight to ten, I was carrying groceries, cutting lawns to and stuff like that. Then then at ten to twelve, I was selling salt pretzel. And then twelve, I got in the restaurant business through high school.

[00:03:33] I was a dishwasher prep in bus boy or that stuff. And and I remember I said, I don't know like like 14 and 15. And then people would say in the restaurant. Oh, yeah. I'm kidding. What do you walk? I said, what are you talking about?

[00:03:50] And it's just I just like the work and I like to make people happy. Right? And I remember saying in my mom. I wish there was a job where the hardy worked. The more money you could make.

[00:04:01] Because I was getting the same taste that people that were like looking at the clock. Not work. Yep. We didn't know about entrepreneurs. The bull cone, they were cops, firemen, my dad was a teacher. Nobody knew about that. So I fit work through high school.

[00:04:14] Yeah, 33 hours a week through high school. Well, my first call before I was 16. I always had a bad but the we the we were. I learned early of of setting a goal. For working for it and then obtaining that gave me so much more joy.

[00:04:31] So that's why I've been happy to do my whole life, right? So but I graduated high school and there were no jobs. Which is why we're going to high school. By the way, George Washington high school. We got we got bus. We were mixed marriage.

[00:04:45] So all my friends with the wine because it was a Irish. Yeah. That's my wife Mike. He's a rag doll. Okay, okay. We got bus to Washington. It was that. That's seven type of shit Jewish. And what we were like there were like where are you people? Anyway.

[00:05:03] So it was a big school. It was a it was great. But all my friends with the arch of the sobriety. That's there. Yeah. So anyway, so I graduated high school but I didn't know what I wanted to do.

[00:05:16] And I always said for when I was little that I wanted to be a millionaire. And the reason I said that is because my parents got the worst we did having money. So it was we were always like with half and I was home embarrassed.

[00:05:31] And so my mindset was like I'm going to be a millionaire. I want to be a millionaire and we still laugh at me all the time. I mean, I remember I did a project a nice grade of rapport and it was me being a millionaire.

[00:05:41] And she's like, you keep like what are you going to do? I don't know. I got to say my mindset from about 11 was I'm going to be a frigging millionaire. It's crazy. I didn't know what I wanted to do.

[00:05:52] So I graduated high school and I had a thing to go to college. But I am the college we're dead and I thought, I want to do it. I can't waste my career. So I took a job in the city of Philadelphia at in the sewer department.

[00:06:06] So I worked in the sewer from first year out of high school. And my friends were making a fun to me but I was getting a 450 and I was going to get a 450 and I was going to get a lot of money.

[00:06:13] I was getting a 450 and I was making a huge amount of money. I think I did a bit more wage was at 175. So I don't think that. Yeah. And then we got laid off because in 79 and 78, 78, 79, there was major inflation. There was no jobs.

[00:06:31] The gas lines was a horrible time in our country. So we knew it was expanding. The horrible time and none of us, all my friends, we could not get jobs. And there was no jobs. The steel mills were closing. The manufacturing was closing.

[00:06:45] I took the police test twice about a 97 and the 98, but I didn't get on because there was so many people going for it. And that's in my knowledge because I took the fire test. We're trying to get jobs. We did not get jobs.

[00:06:57] And so I took this phone call. And guys, did you come in an interview me? And I tried out the borrowing to New Jersey. He puts me in this room and shows me a movie. And the movie was about, it was Chuck Conner.

[00:07:11] She was a show back in the day. It was like a question of God and the rifleman was called. And he did this video about an entrepreneur about you could have the American dream. And it showed you these beautiful houses, beautiful cars, beautifully yachts, beautiful women on it.

[00:07:28] It showed you all this stuff that I'm like, Dad, yeah, yeah, you're like, that's my vision board right there. So I'm on that. Yeah, that was nice. And then at the end, it said it showed you this thing that did 36 things. And it was a freaking 644-door vacuum.

[00:07:44] But my mindset was like, this is what I've been talking to my mom about for five years or eight years or whatever. Yeah. And so that guy James B. Marry in the third became my mentor. He was a family escape the Holocaust.

[00:08:02] He was in Moss or a big attorney. He couldn't afford it. He had to get a job. He couldn't get a job. So these vacuums, they end up being a Kirby distributor. It becomes a multi-millionaire. I meet the guy's 64. Multi-millionaire. He got his old degree.

[00:08:18] But he stayed in Kirby in these franchises. And he taught me everything about never, never, never give up. The harder you work, the luck that you can get. It means won't. If he can do it, you can do it. So he told me all these things.

[00:08:36] And so I walked around in Bucks County, carrying a 600-34-door vacuum. In my hand, nothing went doors. And by the second year, I was making more of my father who was a college profession with a doctor to tell. Hustling vacuums.

[00:08:52] Now, all my friends in Park with thought, I was, you know, they used to think that me the first month or two until I started to make big dollars. And they're like, oh my God. I'm gonna sell vacuum stew. Come on, Mike, sign me up.

[00:09:04] Yeah, it was an unbelievable, and he taught me everything. And then at 20, so I did it like a year and a half or two. It's funny, my dad, I was, my dad passed away from COVID two years ago. We're cleaning up support with the first one.

[00:09:17] Yeah, he had some magazines from 1979 when I was like, one of the top guys in the country selling Kirby back. It was magazines because they had this magazine that showed me stuff. And so, so I, at 20, I opened up with a partner in Delaware.

[00:09:36] We only opened up our own office. And I'm engaged at that time. And then the guy worked down, we were blowing it up. And then the guy was older to me, took a bandage, screwed me. And so, finally, I just said, I'm out of here.

[00:09:49] So after three, he had to hear some vacuum readers came back to the park. I didn't know what I was going to do. So I moved in the center city, started in the hotel business, and I'm at the Hilton. And I don't know what I'm doing.

[00:10:01] And then in 85 interest rates started to drop down from like 18, 14%. Yeah, to about 12%. And in 1995, the market started to come back because rates were down to 12 or 13%. Can you believe that? And then the market's out. Yeah. And to my friends, they both worked for their dads.

[00:10:23] So that 85, they said, hey Michael, I'm at the Hilton. I'm the second and last period in the Hilton because I was an archipelago. I was three jobs at the Hilton level. And they're like, come on Michael, we're going to take a course and buy real estate.

[00:10:36] I said, I can't. I said, oh, I'll work for my dad. I don't have your guys money to be very cheap. I'll work with you guys. And my friends are like, well, just take the class. So I walk in that class in within two minutes.

[00:10:49] Oh my god, you can make a commission show real estate. And I thought I did it with six or three more long backings. Yeah. And I was 27 at the time. Oh, so I'd been three, four years at the Hilton. Yeah. But I didn't want to work.

[00:11:05] I got the restaurant biz, but I don't want to work Friday night Saturday night. You know, like, yeah. And you were limited. There was a limit to your income and your growth at the Hilton. Yeah. So that's it. So it's in 1988, June of 86.

[00:11:17] I got my real estate license. And then another thing I didn't know, my friend says, oh, my body just opened the real estate company. So I go with Stephen Glash, real estate, 433-Bambridge Street. And he puts me in the basement. I didn't know at the guidance somewhere.

[00:11:32] I stayed here to prop and manage a human and sectionate rental properties. The in graduate hospital because graduate hospitals all sectionated at the time. Really nice. And he's I'm in the basement of this place and he said, give me a phone book and he said,

[00:11:44] You can make a lot of money so I make the calls. So I'm like, so I continue. So I started to take courses at temple. So I taught myself. And one of my mentors was Alan Dom. He taught course on the same. Yeah. Yes.

[00:11:59] And I didn't know him, but he was at that time. Number one agent in America. He was on the business map in New York. In America. In America. And we got super shocked. Wow. This was like 1988-1989.

[00:12:13] And he was the conduce specialist and he was the guy that made a hundred phone calls a day. So I took a course with him at temple. And I'm trying to sell real estate. I don't know if he's teaching me. People aren't letting me in their doors.

[00:12:27] Nobody knows who Stephen Glash, real estate was. You know, I wasn't the tines of the South, really realtor, but we let me in the center city realtor, like whose glass we're all estate. I had a hard time. I made like 17 grand my first year.

[00:12:38] And I was working 10, 12 hours a day. But I was not given up because I saw what other people were doing. And James B. Mary came back to me. In my mind that mindset and said, if you can do it, you can do it, but only better.

[00:12:55] And I just kept that belief. The second year, the guy made 34 grand. And then by the third, for a year, I sold 90 properties. And I was at number one, 18. And then all of a sudden, everybody's open. Oh, cool. I didn't get it. Yeah.

[00:13:12] Everybody wants to talk to you at that point. Yeah. But what's funny? You know, back then the prices were much less. The brokers took 15 percent. So I saw 90 properties, I'm working 12, 14 hour days. I remember I worked seven days a week.

[00:13:27] I was like, okay, one weekend off the month, other than that, I was working. And I was wife and child with a second one on the way. Small little house, I bought in South Philadelphia for $4,000. I had $20,000 credit card debt.

[00:13:39] So people think, oh, you're working with Canadian real estate, man. Dude, I freaking work. My mindset is everything. That's my message. I'm trying to tell you in your fingers. And I'll stop blaming when in the second. But I just wanted to tell you my story because my story,

[00:13:55] I'm not smarter than anybody. I'm not better looking than anybody. I'm not more operational than anybody. I had a mindset that I was going to be successful. And I do love people. That is the, I was raised with my mom and three sisters with love.

[00:14:12] So I do love helping people. That's the one thing that I had. But I had this mindset. And I wasn't afraid to work hard because I knew the results of hard work who would pay off over time. And I didn't care if it took me longer.

[00:14:27] But I was going to do it. And so the third year, I showed 90 problems. And then pressure on the, I made 45 grades. Yeah, like, right, could you make it like that? Well, I thought it was 90, like 500 or a pop. Yeah, but 90 property.

[00:14:40] I mean, like something is clicking where you're like, I'm doing something right. If you can move that much at the end of your mind, yeah. At least at the, at the very least, something you're doing at that point is going to build some confidence in,

[00:14:59] I'm on to something. It's like seven, eight sales a month. That's a lot. That's a lot by today's standards for one person. Yeah, 90 deals. Yeah. You're probably the one person. Very, very. Great. I didn't know that there was a system. No enhanced title. Yeah.

[00:15:12] We went in, he has insurance. I did it. I did all the campaigns. No, no tech. Yeah, no tech. No, no, yeah, go drive to the title company. Get a drive to the mortgage company. There was nobody, you know, It's so much easier. There's no internet.

[00:15:25] But I hope the border realtors get when I went to a convention in California, May the eight. I was on the border realtors. So what I did three things I want to say, instead of me grabbing with my story. Right away, I realized that in real estate,

[00:15:40] everybody cooperates. So I thought, I want to have the best reputation, not just with clients, but with the real estate community. So I volunteered at the board. I took classes. I helped agents too. I want to become the most knowledgeable in real estate.

[00:15:55] So nobody back then was taking it. They got their license and that was it. I took every course of Temple University to check them on to every course there. And so I was able to help more people and do more deals because I became more knowledgeable.

[00:16:10] So, so have the best reputation in the community. Become the most knowledgeable. And then I said, I'm going to work the hardest. Now today, I say work the hardest, but slash the smartest because of tech.

[00:16:22] You have to work smart now and you can do things so much easier if we attack then the old school just calling everybody in. Right. They didn't have voicemail when I started. Yeah. Yeah. No voicemail. No lock boxes. I don't want to get into that too much.

[00:16:36] But that was crazy. So that was what I did. So here we go. So next year, taking a client another class with me. I said, I'm going to call it another class with a gal and down. He says, Mike, you need an assistant.

[00:16:48] I said, hey, I'm making 45,000 years. I have two kids. I have 20,000 credit card debt. I don't have the money. So I did what I did with my mini bike. I said, okay, he's telling me to do this. I want to do it.

[00:17:01] So I saved up about six months and I got three months of pay. So I hired my neighbor and I said, I need help because our kids will be to school, start home and school. So I need help in my real estate business.

[00:17:12] I have three months of pay for a job. I don't know what's going to work out, but I only have three months of pay. The work's going to be agreed with how the job is not. I only have three months.

[00:17:21] So and so my friends were saying, I should never do that. Like you're a control freak. I'm only a control freak because if I don't do it, there's nobody else that we do it. So I hopped with assistant. And first couple of weeks was weird.

[00:17:35] You know, in my wife and his DPS. Another key to success, anyone listening? Mary, well. So my wife is sale at Umsowns my wife is DPS. So she helped me get chocolate when I got a listing. We're going after expired preparing agreements of sale. Oh, doing my marketing.

[00:17:56] So she didn't check was to get the assistant. And that next year, I net it $40,000 more by having that assistant. There you go. The first level of scaling up. Yes. And this is 89. Nobody had an assistant. There's no such thing as buy rates.

[00:18:14] There was no such thing as teens. But people would say to me, well, how can you have an assistant? You work for Stephen Grace Real Estate. What do you mean? Yeah. And then 92, I heard my second assistant because the business is now coming in.

[00:18:28] What was best about the assistant was besides doing these things. That I didn't want to, Alan Dom explained to me. Said, Mike, if your value is 10 bucks a year and you can hire somebody for five bucks a year.

[00:18:44] You'd be better off doing your 10 dollar job, let them do the five dollar hour job. So that was the mindset. And then I net it more with the best thing was I didn't have to do the things that I didn't do what I like to do. Right?

[00:18:58] What did I like to do? I like to take buyers. And I like to be on this thing. And I like to negotiate deals. Yeah, deal deals. Front lines with the clients. You know, you like being on the front line. Yeah. That's so cool.

[00:19:09] So here's another one for you. So you love building wealth through selling real estate. But you also love building wealth through owning real estate. About five months ago there was a survey that I found through CNBC.

[00:19:20] And they said the number one way to build wealth in the US today. So this is October last year was real estate. 45%. So there are on par with with you and me building wealth in the United States. You do it through real estate. Stock market was at 32%.

[00:19:36] So real estate was better. So what is it about real estate that makes it number one in most people's minds, including yours? Another great one. Ready? Alan Dom. I've had three mentors in my life. James D. Mary. Alan Dom. And now blue and I Gary Cho. That's awesome.

[00:19:56] So there are my three mentors in my whole life. So Alan Dom said that he said Mike, you can make a lot of money selling real estate. He said, but if you want to build real wealth, you need the own real estate. Right?

[00:20:07] I don't have the money to buy it. So mindset. So here I am. It's 1992. 1992. I caught this guy called me up. And I was 92. 91. I called him up. So we'll get a property at the starting federal and pinstreet. Again, it was 30,000 dollar property. Poppers weren't that expensive.

[00:20:32] It's kind of a rough area at the time. There's a bunch of project housing. And it was just a high crime area a little bit. Yeah. So I showed this guy beat the show this guy. I'm looking at this guy. I'm like, better be careful.

[00:20:46] I'm not sure he kind of had to get dirty under shirt on. I just didn't look wrong. That's right. So I know about this one. I got my radar, right? So here, I'm offered, I'll offer cash 30,000.

[00:20:56] So he keeps me in over his house on the three other block of warden and street. And I think because you hand rid agreements then there was one page at hand wrote it. We write up the agreement. I got it closed for him.

[00:21:06] He goes me back about two weeks later. He's your might. He's there. He like boats. He's a kid. He's going to come on my boat. He's there. I really appreciate he said nobody ever treated me with respect the way you treated me with respect.

[00:21:18] So I'm going to boat John. He takes me down the mountain. We pull up. His boat is the size of the city block. He's actually getting y'all in the chest. So I'm like, yo, look at this. I'm living it up.

[00:21:32] What's he wearing a dirty shirt when he was riding in the boat? So the guy was, the guy says he was 44. He's like, I started to buy real estate when I was 18. I was a plumber. He's a highly tired of 32. He's here now.

[00:21:48] Now I own, I forget how many 30 or 40 properties are something like that. He's my goal. I started buying those things in when I was 18. He's I could buy a house and get a paid off in 10 years. Right in the out. And stay here. I'm 34.

[00:22:05] I've worked for two years. I do what I want to do. I manage my properties. Yeah. And I love houses. And the reason is, my people stay. So I don't need the fancy center city. Yeah. Don't think of the people.

[00:22:20] So I love blue cow or neighborhoods that have an upper potential and I get people. And they stay with me five 10 years. You know, years. So I went home that night. I said, huh, we're going to start to buy real estate.

[00:22:33] Now, I didn't have the cash because then you need a 30% them. I've got interest rates were about seven and a half or an adjustable. They're about 10 and a half for a fixed rate.

[00:22:45] So I got a couple of partner who had more money than me, who had been talking to me about investing in real estate. Now I saw how I could do it. Because I don't do anything unless I know I can do it. Yeah. I have to believe it.

[00:23:02] Right? So I said, you know what? Yeah. So we would have, so next a couple of years. I was buying one or two bottles of my blog was to get them paid off in 10 or 15 years. Yeah.

[00:23:17] And so for the first, probably six or seven years, I had partners that cash out. I managed that I cleaned it up. I rented it. I returned it over and then the deal was when we sell it. The deposit money they put up for me. I gave back.

[00:23:32] But by the late 90s, I could do my career was taking off board. I had my first buyer's agent in 96 just when buyers came in and I was doing better. I started to buy my own. So my goal was to buy one or two homes a year.

[00:23:47] You don't pay it off in 10 or 15 years. That all my runs were 15 year ones. Now I just want to say one thing is the properties that that 1990 to 1996 the market crashed. So someone to stop we bought became worth less than what I paid for.

[00:24:06] I'm like, oh my god, what am I doing? But I didn't sell. Then by 97, 98, 99 they started to go off. Yeah. By 2003, those homes were worth 300% more than what we had. So my goal was when I'm 50 that 50 properties paid off. And that's what I did.

[00:24:30] So and what the mindset of real estate is, you need to buy now. You're not going to get rich off of the people thinking, and I paid fair market value. It wasn't like all I just got for closures because 1990, 1994 was a bad time.

[00:24:45] They started the RTC, the resolution, and trust corporation. So many people went for closures because they changed over the last few walls. And the horrible time in real life. Between 1990, 1994, it was about, I think the 30% of the agents left the business.

[00:25:03] Every major real estate company in center city closed up. Throughout the country values were down 20 to 50%. Again, for closure, crazy, it was a crazy time. But most of the stuff I thought was just fair market, clean it up, rent it out. And I stole them today.

[00:25:22] Then, you know, that's a circle in the 90s. And then by 2003, four or five, oh my God, I've been up another. So the homes I went today were 1,000% more than what I paid for them. They've been paid off for 15 years, 20 years.

[00:25:35] And I still, around 64 and I asked them, I was like, my he got to stop buying. Just, just had a careful see where were you buy most of your properties. So your 50 properties were all over? Yeah. So I've got 70 units right now.

[00:25:50] So all the places that I really not. So I'm, I'm, I'm geographical. Before the internet, you wish more geograph. So most of the properties I brought were in, and sport passports, where on the grace of our, and on the Queen village in Bevel,

[00:26:09] So I really, I'm very much Southfilly. Yes, very much Southfilly. Yes, like, yes. And what I looked at was potential that steady improvement over time. Yeah. I mean, we were first finding this, if you are having graduate hospital, we flip.

[00:26:28] And once I would sell, I probably sold a dozen, but I pretty much try not to sell, because I don't like paying the capital gains and all that stuff. But yeah, so all in Southfilly. And it was funny.

[00:26:43] You didn't buy in Bevel, I didn't buy in Point Bridge. Now I have a couple of Point Bridge, but Southfilly, Queen village, Bevel best, you know, pass your own square. Very cool. Mike, if people look at you online, what translates to me is, you're a high energy guy.

[00:27:00] You, you know, and it's day in, day out, hustle, hustle, hustle, hustle. How much of that is for you and just the way you're wired? And how much is it that you're trying to show your team that energy, and hopefully it kind of translates to them? Right.

[00:27:22] So in my mindset, I'm an underdog. I've always been an underdog. And I love helping underdogs. Yeah. Right, so basically, the underdog of all time. There you go. Yeah. So, so that's my mindset. So the, like, one of my team,

[00:27:39] I only grew, I didn't grow to have a team. I only grew a team because the bit, I got so much business I couldn't hear. But the opportunity was there. Yes, and I needed it to service my clients. But very selective,

[00:27:53] I only want to people that had the desire to be successful that had that cared enough people and had great ethics. And no negativity. And wanted to succeed. Very, very important. How do you measure that? Like if someone were like, hey, talk to them and, you know,

[00:28:13] I got Jane over here and she wants to get into real estate. Like how do you size them up and think that third, like one that's eager to be successful when you talk to them? So it's so much different from when I started because when I started,

[00:28:31] there were no teams, there were no plans or no stuff. And so I would just meet somebody and feel the mail. I've also had people on my team, many on my team 25, 22, 20, 1918 year. Well, the one thing that I did have,

[00:28:45] get in school, I was a C student at best, unless I was really into it, then I might go for a quick, but I was a C student. But with people, I do have a good gauge. That's one thing, my mom will say to me,

[00:28:58] I'm a good judge of character. So, but today, having a big team, so I've actually, you know, 14, I have the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the team, which is my, maintain the feeling that I've made my mechanic and we started out for three years,

[00:29:12] though I have the main line when we open the office there. And then I, I couldn't, I can't commercial. And then I've unlocked power by mechanic. So today, and I've got 11 operation people. So today, we do KPAs. We date like this whole, we do the training process,

[00:29:28] which is so important. So before it was just just just, just know where you're got. It's a size of a month. Yeah, I bought it. Yeah. Now the last five years, it's also, it's a really grew. So, since I really learned a lot more about operation. Yeah.

[00:29:46] The key, the key to my success is how, how in the weight people. And we always call it one in one as three. So I built some, and I'm like bringing new people who just had desire. Now, I don't know, I never bring on these top producers,

[00:30:01] who demand all this stuff. I want to grow somebody. So they become, I'm a gratitude person. It's one of my, I'm going to take this off my screen. I'm going to show you this thing I have here. But gratitude is an attitude. So, if Jim on SD,

[00:30:14] on my team, the young man, there's 125 million dollars a year. He works on my team in Saint. Right? That's how he looks. Most, that's more than three teams combined. Right? 24 years. We are one of, he doesn't need me for a decade or two. I haven't needed him.

[00:30:31] But together, we're to better. Yeah. And that, and I try to build. So today I'm doing, today I'm doing, yes, I'll be out. The him now, the more hangers in the winter. I'll take a snapshot, I'll send it my team. Listen,

[00:30:45] if I can do what you could do, it coming up very, that's awesome. Yeah. I try to help people build. So, my, so your wall changes. I was always a giver even when I didn't have much. I always helped real estate community,

[00:30:56] whether they're on my team or not. I just help. Good things happen with good people. Yeah. You give good, we're all there's plenty of. I would help people 20 years ago, build a team that weren't in my company, and just just could things happen with good people. But today,

[00:31:11] as I'm doing a bigger team, my most important thing is, is life changes from feeding your family to. To build a business, and then giving back and helping people grow. So my primary listen,

[00:31:25] if I just so real estate and it's probably made a lot more than I do running all these teams, because I'm helping my family. My time is spent helping people grow. But the reward of bringing people into my life that have to write DNA,

[00:31:38] and then having them grow, whether it's operation people, and you need great operation people to that. Yeah. And see how it's brutal. I don't ever want to tell the person that comes in, they aren't everything for me. They're not grateful. They're not,

[00:31:53] they're not contributors and then two years later, they go out and they try to do it on their own. They got like, I like people that are going to be with me for a whole time. And that makes my life, you know, a married 30, 30, 30, 30, 30 years. 25 years.

[00:32:07] I am a consistency guy. But helping people grow. And then I've ages in here that I'm like, no, you need to buy real estate. They don't want to buy real estate. Oh, assistant. The one assistant she came from came with 25 years ago,

[00:32:21] she's a millionaire for me making a buy real estate. That's great. Great. You can do it. You can do it. And I've couple of ages that are making big dogs. And they're like, if they buy real estate, oh, but look, I'm like, no, gosh,

[00:32:34] I'm taking you this half. You're freaking buying this. Wow. And then no, okay. But what people don't want? Yes, you can always do flips. What? You need to buy. As well as my real estate covered itself, and I made $100 or $200 a month. And it's for the long term.

[00:32:53] And right now, like right now, yes, I feel it's pretty expensive. Yeah, it is. I'm having a lot of money to go to Port Rich. You know, because even fish can't continue to in a very high, but I like around center city, West Fillley. Yeah. For a furry.

[00:33:10] Yes, yes. Where you can clean a house up. Get somebody in there. Get your own pay off and I promise you, Spilly will continue to grow. For 20 years, we will be such a world-class city. Yeah. Trust me. You know, my first 15 years in Fillley, when I was selling 86,

[00:33:28] the 1990, like, he worked in Center City. Then by 99, 2000, if they ran down on this. I like this. You work in Center City? Exactly. Yeah. My defense. I'm a center city. Yes. Get on my own. That's super cool, man. And this is, hey,

[00:33:45] this is why we're chatting with you, man. We want to get down into the details. Hey, everyone. This is Tim. Your favorite bricks and wrists co-hosts. But don't tell Sean. I hope you're enjoying this episode and I'll get right back to it in a moment.

[00:33:58] Our audience grows through word of mouth. So if you would please take a moment of your time and give us a review on the platform you're on, that would be fantastic. Please also help spread the B&R word by sharing your favorite episode with a friend.

[00:34:13] We greatly appreciate your time and trust. Now, back to the show. Here's another one. So you were very loyal to your last broker. You were there for a while. You built your career. But again, in real estate, opportunities come in front of us here and there.

[00:34:32] And when they do, you can either seize upon them or you can keep doing what you're doing. And timing is everything. So, you know, your previous brokerage you were there for a while. And then you pivoted to Keller Williams. So we can see them on your background

[00:34:46] and you would say Gary Keller is one of your mentors. So what was it about that KW opportunity that finally got you to move from your long time spot? And you kind of knew it's like, hey, this is going to be a step up for me.

[00:34:59] Like, what was it about that? So I am a royalty person. My first broker, I was with Stephen Wright six years and the only reason I had a left because I would have stayed with him because I'm a loyalist first.

[00:35:13] So people started by 1990 people offered me all kinds of stuff and I'm like, no, I'm saying here. Now, I didn't work for, but then he started to have problems because I had a lead. So in 1992, I moved to Predential. And I went in and then took my,

[00:35:28] it's funny, I come in the Predential from Stephen Wright's real estate. They called me Mr. IBM because I had, you know, nobody had computers. There was one time, there was a hundred agents in the office. I had computers, I had an assistant.

[00:35:43] I was, I was head of the game. I remember the thing was 89 and paid $5,500 for a laptop or no document, I would have had a laptop. So then I go to Predential and then I,

[00:35:57] now all of a sudden, I'm getting even sort of getting into the higher level because it's potential, let's think, well, I have something I know where copper, shenner, shenny, and tech. You're leveling up. So that guy sold out to Predential Fox and Roach in 1999

[00:36:13] and I was hard broken. So then I opened my hard to Fox and Roach and everybody at my office was like, we're going to stay with them. I met them and I fell in love with them and then I worked them.

[00:36:24] And then even, I came to meet 2000s when all these companies, so from, as I told you from 1994, every major firm left center sheet, like her cold well bank or shenny 211 remit, they all closed down. And then in the late 90s they started to come back

[00:36:41] and then in early 2000s or coming back and one of the companies offered me the million dollars hundred percent commission to lead, Predential. And I'm like, I'm not going. I don't hear. I'm like, when you're in a relationship it has to work for both. That works for me,

[00:36:55] but how long will that continue to work for me? Probably not that long. I stayed. Then after the downturn and we had great years wait a 37% market share, our office is number one in the country for potential on the end of the 2000s and 40 number one agent

[00:37:17] nationally for the full company from 17 years in the world. Had a 85,000 agent every year on the set. It's when I just got a text yesterday they had their rewards and they got the money. And they said, like the rewards are not the same with that.

[00:37:31] Yeah, you got a separate gift. I would jump. I would come out on there and I would back to that. I would do my one hand of the push-ups in 2018. I came out there. So, I was like, yeah, I was like, the carry me Eagles flag.

[00:37:42] Yeah, I love it. Yeah, and it was great. What happened was after the downturn. The downturn was o8 to 12. They started to cut back and they got pork, buck, buck, shark. And a sore, caligrowing and 1314 as the agents were leaving and it's funny, caligame

[00:38:04] to me, you know, five. I'm like that, mate. Yeah, yeah. But by 1314, I see caligrowing and our company shrinking and I thought, and everybody that would leave, I'd be like, you traded at a Ponzi scheme. You're drinking the cool rate through an igles' royalist

[00:38:24] and I loved all of them. And I was real scared. And it wasn't about money. I knew with the caligrant plan, I would make a lot more money but it's not about money, if happiness. When you can feed yourself on the answer, yeah, you'll realize

[00:38:39] when you don't have many money, it's horrible, right? Right. But once you can feed yourself, whether you make extra wine, it doesn't matter. Yeah, buck, yeah. So, but I thought it was a little bit more expensive. And I said to that, we need to change,

[00:38:52] we need more training, we need more this and that. And I shall count, grown and grown. So, like, you know, five, there's 85,000 perennial agents. It was like 40,000 caligrants. Turn around by 16. There's 160,000 caligrants and there's 45,000 buck charigrants. Oh, yeah, that's a big swing. Who's shit?

[00:39:10] And I didn't want to mean and I remember a couple of my younger eight, saying, Mike, it's dying here. Look at that. And I'm like, no, no, no, no. So, I thought if about five or six years, a soul that changed wasn't coming. In 18, I said,

[00:39:25] you know what? I have a fiduciary obligation to protect at that point I had 19 agents and six assistants and they're here because they trust me. And if I don't believe that we're the best company anymore, I need to change that. And so, 59, I end up,

[00:39:44] you know, so we looked into it and it was me and Jim and my wife and we looked into it. And I meet Gary Chavar and I'm like, this guy is freaking me. He loves, he's a billionaire. He's doing the business every day. He loves people.

[00:40:02] His growth plan, his operation is what I always said but he has an insistence and operations. And the guy was unbelievable. And he's the only because he loves the real estate agent. So in 19, we made that move. And I mean, one third of my team was like,

[00:40:21] I think most of mine, another third was like, yeah, and another third was like, I'm not sure. So it was a big change and it wasn't, I was a couple of the people from Berkshire, like I cried with them but I explained I did it because I believe

[00:40:38] the next 5, 10, 20 years this is the best place today. How hard was that for you? Because you knew at the time like that, some people on your team weren't, yeah, weren't going to be going along with that plan. But you kind of made the decision

[00:40:57] stuck to it how difficult was that at the time? Dude, dude, dude, dude. Yeah. Yeah. Dude, dude, right? So here we have this successful team, number one in the country. All my agents are making great money out. My operation team has been with me a long time. Yeah.

[00:41:17] But again, as a leader, you have to make the right decisions. Sure. You have to make the best decision and they're not always sometimes they're hard. That's why I said, one third was like, is he crazy? Yeah. And then, and because they didn't like camera, they could say,

[00:41:33] no, one third was like, yeah, which was normally just the younger people and the other was like, I'll wait and see. So of my 26 people, 25 came, one do not. Come, a year down the road, two left after that. But so I had 19 agents,

[00:41:53] 18 came or my operation is people came. But today in the same office, I have 29 agents, so we grow. But this is what I knew it was the best. I made them, so it's hard to make them move. I've emotional context with the operation people. Yeah.

[00:42:09] I mean, the head of the head of Bergshire was like, like, I wish you could stay. He said, but I understand. And he said, he said, you're one of the best human beings that I've met. Besides the best university. But I wanted to, the more angry with me,

[00:42:24] coupled with my cry, with it was hard. And with my key, it was hard. But here I am, from about three or four weeks into the here. And it's all new and I'm like, fucking, but she's like, I'm like, I'm like, because it's just different.

[00:42:39] And I'm showing up at different plays. I don't know, you know, three or four weeks into it. I come flying in the office. My operations team says, like, like, like, like, like, we know why he came to count. I'm like, why? Yeah, all my ear,

[00:42:59] but I did not. If my, a bunch of my agents are in the office, they're learning. That's a way. Energy and it's here is so much different. And that was great. And then, and so after three months we started to change systems. And within six months,

[00:43:15] our whole operation changed. And then what's happened is now. So then there's more opportunities. We have income streams that are not just selling real estate at Keller, there's many different opportunities. Yeah, I'm into a year of Gary Cowers. Mike,

[00:43:32] You're one of the best for applications out of the thousands of people. You're also going to have a get it's incredible reputation. So do you need help more people? I can't help but I can't help but I can't help but I can't help but I'll teach you.

[00:43:47] So I did some with his coach, me and him a couple times doing COVID. One's zoom on how to help more people. And I end up buying a market center in the main line.

[00:44:00] I never wanted to, I was offered brokerages from years and I wanted to do it. But he said it's about helping more people, giving more opportunities. So the people don't want to grow, don't have to leave you. They can grow with you.

[00:44:14] And so that's my, like, Jim has grown grown. There's people in my core that are grow, and I can offer more opportunities. So that's kind of what the Cal Cal World is very entrepreneurial. It's not just about a real stake commission. There's classes on everything.

[00:44:30] There's support on everything. There's operations on everything. And there's people, so there's way more income streams. And again, I didn't need for the money. I'm not because I thought it was the best place to be for my agents down the road.

[00:44:45] And how much of it was Gary himself, right? So you met with him and you're a very successful agent. You don't need really to make that change team leader. But how much of it was getting in the room with Gary himself.

[00:45:02] And you know, you connecting with him and him kind of mapping out this vision as to like, Where you could be 10 or 15 years down the road? Yeah, it's funny. So the reality of it is that I'm, it's probably like, I'm going to try to come on.

[00:45:21] Probably like somebody was a drinking or a drug problem, right? Yeah. They know that they have to change. They know that they, that's probably a bit of the algebra. But I knew that I had a change for a couple of years and I fought against it.

[00:45:39] And I didn't want to change. And I saw my friends who were going to California, growing their energy there, having fun. And inside I was jealous because I wish that was our company. And I was fighting against it because I was such a warrior was.

[00:45:54] And I would forget everybody that we knew he wasn't going to them. And so, so finally when I really met Gary my wife, Jim and I, I really had my mind made up. So was it actually Gary didn't sell me at all? Yeah.

[00:46:10] I just spent the day with him down in his place. And, um, and I was like, we left there like unbelievable. And yeah, I can even get Gary Caler right now. I'll be back to me in an hour. Yeah. He kind of, we believe in there. He's unbelievable.

[00:46:26] Anyway. So it wasn't, it wasn't. Sorry. I was told before I went there because I knew I needed to change. I saw just like our saw successful people. I said they're doing well. Yeah. And then I knew there was more opportunities.

[00:46:40] And the biggest thing for me today is if somebody comes and works on my team or in my company. If they don't do better with me than they were before, I'm a loser. Yeah. I failed. And I don't fail. I do whatever it takes. That's my mind set.

[00:46:56] So I have to work harder. Why did you bring more people in? And I'm very, very, um, having a great relationship. We can pet it as I am. Right. If somebody's going on a listening point, but I'm probably going to get it.

[00:47:09] And he just, I remember one eight and say, let me say, Mike, he's here. You are the most competitive person. I love you so much. You're the most competitive person I've ever met my life.

[00:47:17] When I go on a listening and they tell me, you want to hear, I know I'm not getting right. So how do you be successful in people we respect and love you? And help because I help everybody, right? Yeah. They plan for everybody.

[00:47:29] So, um, so that's your Gary didn't really show me that the opportunity does. And what you're finding is, you know, the people that want to really have big lives. I have to identify people. Okay, I'm happy making 200 grand a year and that's all I want to make.

[00:47:46] And that's fine. I don't, I just want to sell some real estate or whatever. And that's fine. And then I've other people that are like, no, I want to expand. So as we open, yeah, as we open up on the main line, as we're going to grab maybe

[00:47:58] open up somewhere else soon. As I have, as a people that want to grow, can grow more. And the ones that are just want to sell, like here, I'm making sure they're secure.

[00:48:08] I, uh, most important thing to me is that people are better with me than without me. And that's by high and right. And I probably only had a few me, even my career, um, whether it's Operation,

[00:48:20] Probably maybe eight or ten in my whole career in operations and probably about, I don't know, five or six ages, but most of the people with me. There's a, uh, in the back of my wall here, there's an, an album.

[00:48:33] It's framed and signed and it's the hotel California. It's a soul on there from back in the day. It's such a lovely place, but you can never leave. That's it, my op-a. That's my people bought me a team here. Uh, that's awesome.

[00:48:45] True words to wisdom here from, uh, from one of the best. So before we close it out, Mike, and we really greatly appreciate your time today. I'm sorry. I didn't give you many questions. I ramped all the time. Oh, no. This is exactly what we want to. Exactly.

[00:49:00] What we want to take a note. Yeah. Um, why don't you tell the audience, um, best way to get in touch with you. Learn more about you and your team and everything you got going on. Sure. Yeah. So, um, it's funny.

[00:49:11] Everybody says to me like, that's not new. We're making sure emails and texts are finished. So, uh, my, my rule with my team is, you return every call, every email, every text, every day right away, no matter what, never be on the end of the day.

[00:49:24] Most of our calls are returning to two minutes to two hours. So, I am McCain at Macantine.com MCCA and then at MCCA and then TIA and dot com. And I am text 2577-8901. Those are both me personally. And then of course my website at canteen.com.

[00:49:46] Um, and you'll see our Google, we'll be in, um, so what I do is for people together, and I'm going to be talking about people out and, um, and, and there's many people help every single week that aren't with my company.

[00:50:00] Yeah, I don't want to be a competitor. I don't care. I'm a big believer, Mike, in the 51 49 rule. If, if an every transaction you do in life, you give, you give 51%, you're always going to be ahead of the game. I never heard that. I like that though.

[00:50:22] Yeah, I like 51. I never heard that either. Push. Well, I'm not telling you. I just mean that the other person's going to get more from what I'm giving, it always reciprocates back to you being the beneficiary at some point somehow, some way. Great. Great way to put it.

[00:50:39] I want to say one of the things right now, it's one I've been through five downturns in my career. Two of them severe and three of them softer. Right now, we're in the biggest change this last year. She has fastest downturn in the number of transactions in 40 years.

[00:50:58] Crisis didn't drop for the number of transactions with her six and a half million, the full point one million, the 35%. Most people's at the agents income are down 20 to 50%. Yeah. Paying their changes coming, the week will be gone.

[00:51:15] And every downturn, I always came out of it the next year or two or three, whenever we're going to have a long talk to the next level. So those that survived and will thrive as long as they show up, show up.

[00:51:30] You know, I tell my agent, be any officer, not a cop or one at a point. Do not sit in your home, you know, zoom kind of, you know, the co-op kind of messed a lot of people are not showing up.

[00:51:40] Do you want to be around the top five people, you have to be around the top five people are going to influence who you are. So make sure you're around quality people. And this is the best business in the world.

[00:51:55] And yes, some people will be leaving, some people will be hurt. But every downturn, my business has grown. And I, this downturn now, I went down last year. I went down that 25% but you know what I did? Because I saved my money, I invested another 20% in the business.

[00:52:16] So my income was dramatically different. Guess what? I didn't cut back into the downturn. Double down. Actually increased my market, bought on another social media person, got rid of what wasn't working, increased what is working, invested in me and my business and my team agents.

[00:52:35] So that we'll take it to the next level. So don't give up. That's what I have to say. Great advice. Dude, you're a legend man. We greatly, greatly appreciate your time today. We know you're a very busy guy.

[00:52:46] So we're going to close it out with that one folks. So thank you for tuning in to another episode of Bricks and Risk. See you soon. Thank you for joining us on another episode of Bricks and Risk.

[00:52:59] Our goal is that you walk away with one or two valuable nuggets and we greatly appreciate you sharing your time with us today. You can find all B&R episodes on Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube and anywhere else you get your podcast content.

[00:53:16] Until next time, keep learning and keep growing.