Since Sean & Tim are two business owners who did not have a parent in either real estate or insurance, it's always good to get perspective from someone who did have a parent in their chosen industry. Jason Ostrowsky is a successful agent, business owner, and podcaster, but when he was young, he hated real estate ... that sentiment has changed as he's gotten older. In fact, he runs multiple real estate businesses today! It's always good to learn from someone who has worn every hat in their respective industry, so dig in as Sean & Tim extract wisdom and boots-on-the-ground experience from someone who's done it all!
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One thing that we have gotten from like a lot of guests, obviously we read about Sean's got it in his industry, we have it in ours, is AI. You kind of can't get away from the topic like any day of the week now. It's always involved in something. It's usually like a headline grabber where it's saying like this is gonna happen because of AI or everyone's gonna lose their job or like we're not gonna have a need for this.
SPEAKER_02Everybody panic!
SPEAKER_03So give us your take on the importance of relationships in the age of AI.
SPEAKER_01You know, I I think being around the business for, you know, 20, 20 odd years, I and and let me start out by saying AI is a game changer. Like it is a revolutionary technology input to what we do. But I feel like there's been time and time again in our industry where something comes out and it's like, oh man, this is gonna replace all agents, right? This is this is going to put us by the wayside the way of the dinosaur, and we're not gonna have jobs in another couple years.
SPEAKER_00We're all screwed. We had it. We had it with insurance when uh I remember I forget what year it was, but like Google came out and they were gonna start selling insurance. It's gonna be we're all done. And everybody's like, oh, we're packing in.
SPEAKER_01And that's the thing. There's disruptors all the time. There's people that are trying to put us out of business, but the one thing that remains, especially in the real estate industry, in my opinion, is the relationship aspect.
SPEAKER_03Agreed. Welcome to the podcast dedicated to real estate, insurance, and building your business. Join us as we take you along our own business building journeys with additional wisdom from our network of local and national experts. Welcome to Bricks and Risk.
SPEAKER_00This episode is brought to you by Property Management Redefined. PMR is not just managing properties, we're creating partnerships that build long-term success for property owners. John and his team can be reached at manage at gopmr.com or by phone 267-753-6005. Tim. Yes, Sean. Who's a good client for PMR?
SPEAKER_03Property management redefined is looking for property owners who value three things accountability, reliability, and a results-driven approach. You want to maximize returns, but still provide client and tenant satisfaction. There's a lot of property managers out there. Yes, there are. What does PMR do really well? Biggest thing is they're seamless and they're worry-free. So with that approach in mind, it allows the property owner to put their trust in PMR and know that the results will be there. The other thing I think a property owner is really going to value because they do it so well is that they have a local expert team, boots on the ground, managing your properties and your tenants' expectations every day so that you feel good about your investments.
SPEAKER_00We have millions of listeners out there. Tens of millions. If they want more information, how do they find PMR?
SPEAKER_03Right here, guys. Reach out to John Sachs and his team at Property Management Redefine. Take good care of you. Hey everyone. Welcome to another episode of Bricks and Risk. I'm Tim Garrety. And I'm Sean Mooney. Today, Sean, we have another local superstar agent. We have Jason Ostrowski, realtor and team leader for the Jason Ostrowski team at Berkshire Hathaway Home Services, as well as the podcast host of the Everything Real Estate Podcast. How are you doing today, Jay? Oh, I'm awesome, guys. It's nice to be on this side of the mic for any work.
SPEAKER_01He can drag me across the finish line.
SPEAKER_03Nice. All right. So a little background on Jay. So he's a second generation realtor with nearly 20 years of experience in the industry. With hard work and dedication, he chose to follow in the footsteps of his mother, Linda Ostrowski. He's worn just about every hat in residential real estate, including licensed assistant, buyer agent, new construction specialist, team leader, and sales manager. Jay also hosts the podcast, The Everything Real Estate Show, which is connecting ideas with action, and it's on behalf of Berkshire Hathaway Home Services, Fox and Roach Realtors. Today he leads the award-winning Jason Ostroski team serving suburban Philadelphia. On top of being a successful realtor, Jay is also the proud owner of a separate home management company called Far and Away, which we'll get into today.
SPEAKER_02All right.
SPEAKER_03And beyond the day-to-day, he proudly serves on the board of directors at Tri-County Suburban Realtors as well as at the state level with the Pennsylvania Association of Realtors. How the hell do you have time for all that?
SPEAKER_01Oh man, I'll tell you what. Yeah, I must hate sitting at home. I I say this to my wife all the time. She's like, Well, you just I I always look at she's like the governor on a golf cart for me, right? Like if she wasn't there to kind of pull me back, then I'd be going like 110 miles an hour all the time. So yeah, man, I don't know. I just I just like doing stuff, you know. I don't like sitting idly by and and just sitting on the couch. I feel guilty about staying home and like watching TV.
SPEAKER_00Are you like me? Like, so in my mind, I don't think anyone's like you. No, probably not. Yeah. Uh, but other people. Um I feel like you just said that, and I always get this thought in my head like there's literally like a clock going in my head. And if I'm sitting still, I feel like I'm feeling the minutes go by where I'm like, I I gotta do something. I I feel it's weird.
SPEAKER_01I just get this weird thing about feeling guilty about wasting time.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01And and that's not even necessarily wasting time. Like having time off is important, yep. But I just feel like, well, you know how it is, Tim. Like you're you're absolutely like we we complain when we're busy, but when we're slow, we can't wait to we complain when we're slow, right? We can't wait to get busy again. So like when I'm slow, I I'm like I'm clawing at the walls. Yep. Like I can't, I can't sit still. And my father was always like that too. So I don't know if I get that from my father or not, but yeah, man, it's it's tough, but I you know, I love to make it work.
SPEAKER_03So it's tough. All right, so your mom's a realtor. Yes, it's not everyone's situation. So, what was it like growing up like in the industry with a successful realtor parent?
SPEAKER_01Hated it, hated every minute of it. I used to get drug, I used to get drug everywhere, go into her office. So, so my my mother used to have this, uh, she started at Century 21 way back in the day, gold jacketed and everything. Nice. Um, it was like 1983. Okay. And I used to get drug into this office, and I kid you not, there was like literally nothing to do with this office. I used to tear off the like the perforated like MLS sheets once upon a time. Yep. And like I just couldn't stand it because she would take me to all her showings. So what she used to give me to to pass the time was I used to have all this graph paper that she would get me. Okay. And I would draw floor plans as no way. Yeah, dude, every house had to have a walk-in closet, and I did I put the Wick W I C and everything. Yeah, yeah, man. Like I thought, I thought I was like, you know, a little architect running around. Yeah, and uh so yeah, I mean, that was cool and everything, but just the hours that you have to put into a career because at the time, you know, my parents were getting a divorce and this was her only means of making money. And so she had to make it work. Yeah, yeah. She had to hustle to to keep the house, keep me fed, and uh, you know, she parlayed that into a really successful real estate career. She was in management for over 20 years with our company. Nice. Um, that's where I started. Um and she kind of taught without teaching because every time that I would have a problem, she would be like, No, no, no, no, no, go, go learn, go, go solve it. Like, you know, I'm not solving it for you. So that was that actually mom right there. Yeah, it was like it was hugely important at the beginning of my career that she guided me without guiding me and forced me to learn. And I think that's important for a lot of agents, right? Like, you have to be out there and you have to be your own advocate, you have to to be your own educator, and so she she kind of helped me do that, and uh, you know, the rest is history.
SPEAKER_00I guess they didn't have like Game Boys back then. Now uh I think Game Boy was huge. Game Boy came out.
SPEAKER_01Like, I think that was like what, like 87, Tim? Like you're you're my age, yeah. Yeah, dude. Like NES was just coming out. So yeah.
SPEAKER_03I remember when Game Boy came out, and so I have an aunt and uncle, shout out to my aunt Terry and Uncle Bill right outside of Atlanta, Georgia, and we used to drive down there like every couple years, and you know, so I'm one of four. So you're packing this car with like six people in a minivan driving to Atlanta, which basically take took at the time maybe like 15, 16 hours. And I remember the one year we got Game Boys, and we were like, oh, yeah, and we got like a bunch of games between the three of us because I had two brothers. We had like you got like two games these we like, we got six games, and we were like fighting on the way down, and I it's my turn. Oh, dude, Tetris on the Game Boy?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, come on. Seriously, game changer. Yeah, absolutely. I love it. Yeah, man, it was it was pretty, it was pretty crazy kind of growing up in in that kind of um, you know, uh environment because like I said, like she was she was out constantly, you know, showing homes, doing business. I was a latchkey kid, man. I used to come home and you know use the key to get in the door, watch Transformers every day, you know. Um, but she she made it work and it was I would think that it like it could go two ways, right?
SPEAKER_00So you're either like young and you get exposure to it, and you're like, oh, this is really cool, or like you get exposure to it and you're like, I don't want anything to do with that.
SPEAKER_01Uh at first I was like that, but she she kept bugging me and bugging me and bugging me to get my license. And then when I finally did, she was like, Are you sure you don't want to be a doctor? And I was like, Are you serious? Been on my case for like a decade asking me to get my license. And I'll tell you, I'll tell you what did it, Sean. Was uh I worked for my father growing up and he was a caterer. Okay. And I hate I I hated catering, I hated catering. You went home smelling like a hoagie every day. I was terrible at it. I got in a lot of trouble. I think the final straw was we were catering a retirement party, and I was walking a sheet cake with happy like retirement like Shannon on it. Right. And uh tripped over the curb, broke the cake in half on my way to this retirement party. And so I had a decision to make. Do I just this is where it gets great? So I I have a decision to make improvise. Do I, yeah, do I do I like just bag the cake or do I try and make it work? So I'm like, I in my mind, I'm like, I'm gonna try and make this work. I take this cake in and I'm trying to like smooth over the cracks. Nice, it does end up being like happy retirement and that's great. Dude, and it and I got in so much trouble. Jason, thank you for your help today. You're done. And I was like, you know what? I I need a career change. This is just absolutely brutal. So yeah.
SPEAKER_03Oh great. All right. Well, one thing you put down that I thought was great because again, we we talk about this all the time on bricks and risk are relationships. So you're a relationship guy. So one thing that we have gotten from like a lot of guests, obviously, we read about it. Sean's got it in his industry, we have it in ours, is AI. You kind of can't get away from the topic like any day of the week now. It's always involved in something. It's usually like a headline grabber where it's saying like this is gonna happen because of AI or everyone's gonna lose their job, or like we're not gonna have a need for this. So give us your take on the importance of relationships in the age of AI.
SPEAKER_01You know, I I think being around the business for you know 20, 20 odd years, I and and let me start out by saying AI is a game changer. Like it is a revolutionary technology input to what we do. But I feel like there's been time and time again in our industry where something comes out and it's like, oh man, this is gonna replace all agents, right? This is this is going to, you know, um basically put us by the wayside, the way of the dinosaur, and we're not gonna have jobs in another couple years.
SPEAKER_00We had it. We had it with insurance when uh I remember I forget what year it was, but like Google came out and they were gonna start selling insurance. It's gonna be we're all done. And everybody's like, oh, we're packing in and that's the thing.
SPEAKER_01There's disruptors all the time, there's people that are trying to put us out of business. But the one thing that remains, especially in the real estate industry, in my opinion, is the relationship aspect. Agreed. People want advice from people they know, like, and trust, right? We always talk about that, no, like, and trust. But it is is ultimately the simple truth of real estate. People are going to do business with people that they know, like, and trust. Now, are they going to trust AI when it's hallucinating about something that they're asking? Or you just can't replace a human being in certain ways, or at least not yet. Not yet. You know? Um, and I I feel like the AI component of what we do is important to learn because it is going to affect every agent's business moving forward. Like you have to have at least a rudimentary understanding of how to use AI tools. But that's to supplement what we do because ultimate ultimately what we are is a relationship business. And I will go to bat for that every single day. That you know, you just keep loving on your people, right? And that's gonna that's gonna build your real estate business. And and that's over over time, that's really what I've dug into.
SPEAKER_00We uh on one of our episodes I brought it up too about a topic of R O B E R O B O Robo. And it Robos. It was on the topic of people, and there was a study done, and it was about people's behavior and how they purchase and consumers and you know, in the way of insurance. And it was robo being research online, buying offline. Yes. So I think that's where this kind of takes us in the sense that just like the internet, when the internet came around, it kind of changed things and and consumer behavior, right? And it and it gave people the access to more information so you could be a more informed consumer. And I think AI is the same, it's a tool that people are going to use to get better information, more timely, more detailed, whatever it may be, and then they're gonna take that information or or whatever that summary might be, whatever they're whatever the information is they're looking for, and then okay, let me go talk to my person, and then we can use it as a starting point to kind of move forward.
SPEAKER_01Exactly. I I totally agree with the education aspect of it. Where and we get this all the time, just because if you have multiple clients, you're gonna inevitably get a text or an email from a client saying like there's they'll send you a Zillow property, right? Very good. Because they're searching 24 hours a day. Yeah, right. And that's good. That's a good thing. And that's a good thing. They can do it whenever they want, wherever they want. And we can advance, you know, the the way that we operate with we're we're a team, right? I always tell uh my my people that we are a team. When we start a process in buying a house, it's us working together to achieve your goals, whatever they may be. And if part of that is you see a house on Zillow and you send it to me, we go to see it and you end up loving it, great, it works out for everybody, right? And AI is kind of a similar thing. I think it just moves the ball down the field a little bit more and advances it in, like you said, Sean, the the education of a consumer and what they can do. But if you look at AI like I I think of a FISBO, right? Like when we work with FISBOs, 99% of the time we end up doing both sides of the transaction. Yeah, right, because they don't know what they're doing. Right. And even if you put that into Chat GPT, okay, what do I need to do next, right? You're still not going to get what's customary in that area. Exactly. What you need to do procedural-wise. What is what how do we negotiate something? Right? Like there's a rhythm and a cadence to to what we do. Oh, heck yeah. Bedside matter. Exactly. And and we learn that over time by doing it, you know, and that's the only way you really know how to do how you know do real estate, and people need you to figure that out.
SPEAKER_03I got a I got a really good example. This just happened today. So there's an agent I'm entering at Real, and um I'm we're co-buyer agents, but he's leading the charge. So he's got the client, he's doing all the heavy lifting. Um, got under contract, client had a change of heart, said, I don't, I don't want to buy this. So cold feet. There is no clause in the agreement of sale that says, if you get cold feet, then this. So he's like, Well, well, what do I do? And let me backtrack a touch. First, the agent I'm mentoring is like, well, how do we help him? Because he's got cold feet. We're not in a good position. Because now we have to go tell the other side what's going on, and there could be financial and or illegal repercussions. So anyway, we're talking through it. And he's like, Man, I just like I feel bad, you know. Even when we're talking to the buyer client, he's like, I feel bad. I was like, here's the deal whether you buy this house now or you decide to buy a home five years from now, you just decide to like, I don't want to buy anything right now. We're right here. And I said, here's why. Because it's not about us making sure this home gets sold to you, it's making sure you buy the right home for where you are in life and your circumstances and your family and your job and everything. And he almost like couldn't even believe it when we had the conversation with him, and then we got off, and I'm talking to the Asian. He was like, Man, he's like, the way you like speak to people, like he's like, he are he's like, I already know this about you. He's like, but I don't think he was expecting that. I said, look, man, you're the same way as me. Like, just be honest. Like, it's not saying, like, oh, well, you know, this is this is gonna be a big problem. Like, I don't want anyone to ever feel like that. It it's not a good thing to say you got cold feet. But if I asked AI, what do I do about a buyer with cold feet? Like, what am I gonna get? And even if I got something, I wouldn't even know what to do with it. And it kind of also reminds me, remember the movie The Net when we were like in the 90s with Sandra Bullock? She watched that the other day. And that was a great yeah. Tara knows what I'm talking about. The beginning scene is she's ordering a pizza online. I remember watching that movie back then. I was like, that is so badass. She like ordered uh anchovies or like pepperoni or whatever the heck she got on it. And it's like, pizza will be here in like 30 minutes. Fast forward 30 years later. Half the time I call the place to say I want a pizza, and every now and again I'm like, all right, let me just go online. Let me do an online order through like toast or like whatever app they got. You're 30 years later, and something as simple as ordering a pizza, I still do half the time. I just grab the phone, I'm like, yo, I'll take a pizza.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, it's it's my wife is strictly online, right? Online order. I'm the guy, I'm like that. I and it because we straddle, I feel like I'm late Gen Xer, right?
SPEAKER_03So we straddle that world of like we're the same age.
SPEAKER_01So we straddle that world, right, of like the new technology coming in, but we still do things the old way. So I'm still I'm a still like uh I write the checks guy, I pick up a phone guy, right? So I still do things very old school wise, yeah. And I feel like AI, just getting back to the AI thing, is that the the movie Wally. Remember the movie Wally with the wall the Walmart uh you know analogy, whatever the heck you want to call it. Well, well, it was like we we just wasted the earth, basically. Yeah, right, right, right. Like, but but if you remember in that movie, if I remember correctly, there's there's like kind of big husky people sitting on like a rolling around in chairs or something like that, and they just tell the computer to do everything for them. And and I don't want to be that guy. Right, right. Right? Like I still want to be. You don't want to eat all day and have a chair take you around. You know me about sitting up there, right? So like I go crazy. I it it would drive me nuts to be like that. And there are st I I I believe this is proven now that AI is now making us a little dumber. Um I believe that I really pride myself on number one, taking pride in what I do, learning about what I do, making sure that I am a master of my profession. And so I think AI gives us an easy way out a lot of times, and I I don't want to take that way out. Yeah, you know, I want to keep building in my knowledge base and and keep learning and and doing what I do.
SPEAKER_03Awesome, man. All right, so here's here's a good good segue. So, you know, you're watching your mom be a successful agent, like you said, the gold jacket and everything in Century 21, old school.
SPEAKER_00Did they actually have was there really Yeah, there's I thought I missed the people on the commercials.
SPEAKER_01No, no, there was legit.
SPEAKER_03If you hit a level, yeah, they'd be like, here you go.
SPEAKER_00Wait, and like would like they wear it to like put it on you the like century twenty-one dinner, or would you wear that to like a a meeting with a client?
SPEAKER_01I don't I never went on a listing appointment with her, so I don't know if she wore it to listing appointments. I I need like one of my century twenty one.
SPEAKER_03You need to find like an old school like century twenty one like billboard or like magazine jacket back to Mikey G.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah, well his dad would know, right?
SPEAKER_03Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01I want to bring The jacket back. Hey, there was something cool about that. I got like, you know, so our obviously our colors are um, well, they say cabernet, right? So I have this, and and this is totally, totally I didn't do it. I know. Like it's key drinking or lover. Um I I have this jacket. It's like a velveteen burgundy jacket. And if I could wear that to listing appointments, I think nine times out of ten I get that I get the listing. Yeah. I don't know why. I don't know. I don't that's uh I'm I you're bringing a whole Jason. Nice to meet you. You're hired. I'll see you later. I was just gonna say you're giving me ideas already. Now I'm gonna start doing that. You need to do some A B testing. Where, not where, where it not wearing it. I think it depends on the client, too. You know, I don't think some people would appreciate me.
SPEAKER_03I think the next time we do a podcast invasion, we might have to have green velveteen jackets. And people ask me.
SPEAKER_01I was just gonna say I should wear it on my podcast first. Yeah, yeah, that's a great idea. That goes. Yeah.
SPEAKER_03Oh, I would love to see that. Yeah. All right. So back to your mom. Yes. You're shattering your mom, you're learning. Um, then you get in the business. You've had a bunch of different roles. So you you, in my opinion, I would say, I don't mean this in any kind of negative way, but you learn the hard way. You started out doing the grunt work because you wanted to learn. You're like, let me see how this works. I want to see the people pushing the paper. Why are they pushing paper? And what are they doing? Like, it's such a great way to you learn by doing. That's just, I'm very big on that. And I think you starting there, the people that I know in this industry who have like family or who started there and been doing this like 10, 20 years, are some of the most successful agents I know because they know every single thing about real estate. So you start out, you know, more the assistant, then you become an agent. Why a team? Like, what made you want to kind of start a team?
SPEAKER_01Well, when I was doing assistant work, I was doing assistant work for a pretty heavy hitter in our office. Okay. And um, you know, got my license, and then I was doing licensed assistant work.
SPEAKER_00What is assistant like what like what were you doing in that role?
SPEAKER_01So at the time, I mean, again, this is before like major advancements in in technology, but even typing up an agreement of sale, we are still typing up agreements on carbon copies, right? So it was like word processor. Oh my god, it was like it was so monotonous, right? And she just didn't want to do that. So I would do that, I would do file work, and I knew the technology because I was on the younger side, I was like in my mid-20s, and um she didn't she didn't want to do the techno technological stuff at that time. So I I did everything for her. Um, you know, I used to sit open houses because I was licensed, I could do that for her, sit brokers opens, yeah, and just you know, learn from there bit by bit. So when I had the opportunity to to kick it over and become like a buyer agent, um, you know, she she was very, very generous with um, you know, making sure that I got the education to become a better agent. So she would, even though she was a top producer in my office, she would come in and ask me when she had a problem, what do you think about this? What do you think we should do? Right, yeah. Get me, and and I'd be like, oh my God, she wants my opinion about this. But it it it did get you thinking, it did get you in that that mode of problem solving in your career. So she, you know, she would throw me a lead every now and then. Um, and we we just worked well together. And she would like I said, she was on the older side, I was on the younger side, but we meshed really well because she had the knowledge of the industry, she had the client base, and I had the technological knowledge and and kind of just that that new agent coming in, that next generation of agent that knows a little bit more in terms of computers and everything, and that kind of just really meshed well for us. And so I did a lot of her marketing, um, but you know, made sure that things looked nice, nice and sleek for the team. Yeah. And so, you know, when I became buyer agent, I did that for a couple years, and then I I had an opportunity to sit new construction for a few years three days a week. Nice, and I can't tell you how much knowledge I gained from that because you know, instead of people um you going to meet people to gain business, people are coming to you and they're coming into the showroom. Yeah, so that really taught me what to say to people, what to ask, when to ask it. Yeah, you're a little bit more in the driver's seat. Yeah, what are what are the what are the vital points that you really need to to boil down to the essence of what they're looking for, right? So when to ask a question. So that was just great practice for like two or three years. I was there. Wow, nice. And uh we sold, I think the project had like 300 and wow, 300 and something units to begin with. Who was the builder? So actually, it was a I I say new construction. They tore the houses down to the studs, but Oxford to Bluebell, I don't know. Oh, yeah, yeah. Oh, we did talk about it. Scully called it. Yeah, and so Fresh, yeah. Shout out to Fresh. So uh, so yeah, man, it sat there for like three years. I was the second agent in. So there was a group of agents that initially sat it. They got, you know, I think they got pretty burnt out sitting it. Um, it was go, go, go. This was like 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009. So we ended up selling, I think, about a yeah, man. It got to be really rough on our way out the door there. But it helped to buy me my first house too. Like there was a first-time home buyer tax credit back then. Yeah, just so like it bought me my first house. It was such a great learning experience. And then uh, you know, and then just luckily that was available. Nobody else wanted to sit it in my office, nobody wanted to do this. I'm like, I'll do it. I'll take it. You know, I'll take it. So that was a great learning experience, and then from there, um, got asked to be co-team leader with with the agent I was working for. I think she saw that, you know, my business was expanding, I was gaining more knowledge, and I think she thought maybe I was gonna go out on my own. So she gave me the opportunity to be co-team leader, and uh, we did that for a couple years, and then I had the opportunity to to manage. They, you know, my company had asked me to manage, and at the time I would have been the youngest manager in our company. Wow, it's phenomenal. And so uh took that opportunity and uh it was great. It was a a great another great learning experience because you're on the other side of the ledger, yeah, and you're learning, you know, profit and loss. You're you're learning how the mechanics of a brokerage actually work. Yeah, it's a lot, which is invaluable, man. So like that kind of that kind of um experience and like I just lucked into it, I feel like. You know what I mean? And um, so after about three years of doing that, um, you know, I I it's it's hard to be on the other side when again I can't sit still and you're behind a desk from nine to five. Struggling.
SPEAKER_03And you're like, you guys would really get along.
SPEAKER_01I would literally do circles in my office. I would just circle and talk to my agents because my agents were my clients at that time, right? I wasn't selling anymore, I was managing. And but I was it was just driving me crazy. I I I wanted out, you know, and so I went back into sales. Nice. And my wife was in management at that time, and so she said, you know, come over to my office because I felt like if I stepped down and stayed in our Jenkentown office, then I was still gonna be looked at as the manager with a new manager coming in. So I went to my wife's office, and then um, that was in Springhouse, and then my mother retired, who was in management. She joined my team, and then my wife became the manager of Bluebell and Springhouse. So we merged.
SPEAKER_03Dude, it's a total, total family affair. Yeah, man.
SPEAKER_01So we're all together, we're all together in Bluebell again.
SPEAKER_03Did you and your wife meet through Berkshire?
SPEAKER_01We did. Actually, my my first, my very first job is a total like Jim and Pam situation that uh my it's it's so embarrassing. Um my my first job was uh before I worked for that agent I I referenced, I actually was the assistant to the assistant of uh another heavy hitter in the office, and my wife happened to be the assistant. Nice. So I actually was her assistant for like a short time period.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, it was crazy. What an assistant you must have been. Yeah, I was like, well, I must have done something right now.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, right. You know what? That's a really good thing. I think we have multiple Dwight's in the office. It was a big office, and you you know how it is. There's a bunch of knuckleheads wherever you go in real estate, you know.
SPEAKER_03That's great. All right, so the tip that you gave for listeners and watchers was it doesn't matter how you do it, just do it consistently, which we've chatted about before.
SPEAKER_01Why did you put that as a tip? I think that's the most important thing for agents coming in because I think agents want to know, like, all right, how am I going to gain business? Well, you can gain business 101 different ways. It's not about how you do it, it's about doing it consistently. And so if your thing is, you know, you sit open houses every weekend and you build your business in the beginning. Like I used to sit every open house that I had an opportunity to sit, because you're gaining business potentially. You're meeting people, you're talking to people, you're just putting more people in your pipeline. And so if you want to build your business that way, that's great. Like we were talking about cold calling, I think a little bit. Yeah. I I hate cold calling. Likewise. Um, you know, but you could build a business that way. Every morning, power hour, like you get on there, dial for dollars, whatever you want to call it, right? You can do it that way. We were talking about door knocking. Yep. Um, you know, and you can you can knock on doors. I've done that. Uh, I really hated it, but again, you could build a business that way, or you know, you're buying leads on Zillow. Like you, there's a million different ways to to build your business. But if you're not gonna wake up every day and realize that you are running a business, you know, your business is your business, right? If you get up every day and like we we always go back to sitting around, like if you're gonna take that opportunity to watch Netflix at you know 11 in the morning, then that's on you, man. Your day is shot. Yeah, exactly. Your day is shot. What you do today is gonna affect your pipeline two months from now, so or three months from now. So what are you working on today that's gonna gain you business? And I think you always have to have that mindset.
SPEAKER_00You need the patience too, right? So like you have to get it dialed in, be consistent with it, but there's in these industries, yours and mine, is people looking for these rewards like so quickly, and they're like, Well, it's not working. I'm being consistent. I've done it for like the last three weeks, and there's nothing where's the money? It's yeah, it's not fruitful. Like, obviously, this doesn't work, yeah, right. And I think people need to have that understanding, usually earlier on in the career, where they need to give it time um to to be consistent about it, but stay with it long enough where it can bear fruit. Because in real estate, insurance, many other industries, it's not like these sales are you know, they take time. These systems need to develop over time. And so you just need to be patient with it and have this stick toitiveness where you do it, you do it over time, and eventually it's gonna pay off.
SPEAKER_01I think you got to keep planting those seeds, right? Um, things take time to germinate. Sometimes it's three years later. Like I've had people call me on a postcard that like I, you know, I'm like, Where'd you where'd you get me?
SPEAKER_03They took it and they left it somewhere where they could always look at it, and then one day they're like, It's like it's three years later, and this guy's calling me.
SPEAKER_01Yep. And it's crazy to me, but people do that, right? And so I I think you have to make sure. I always tell my new agents, like, we want to flood the zone. Like, I see we were just talking about like where I see Brexit risk, right? We flooded the hell out of Atlantic City. Oh my god, did you ever? Did you ever? So, like you want to saturate, you want to saturate the market, right? So, like, how are you gonna do that? If you're opening up a new pizza shop in town, how are you gonna get people in the door? Right? Look at it that way. Look at yourself like a small business. How am I gonna get people inside the door? And you have to go to them. Like, you can't wait for them to come to you. And one thing that I think agents make a mistake about, especially early in their career, they're they're afraid to reach out to like friends and family or put themselves out there. Like, you know, you guys are great at branding, like I'm wearing my stupid hat today. But like I kind of like it. I like it. Thank you. I appreciate that. But like branding is a big part of what we do. Like, you have to put yourself out there. So now I'm like, I'm always wearing my stuff. You know, before when I was a new agent, I would have been a little timid, you know, worrying about what people think about me. I guess it's those battle scars over time where it just like if you're a new agent, bypass all that and just brand yourself, get yourself out there, don't be afraid to try new things. But whatever you're you're doing, like you were saying, Sean, like you have to give it time. If you're farming neighborhoods, like you don't send out just one postcard, right? You're sending out postcards all the time, or you know, whatever it is. You have to give it a solid year, in my my view, to see if something works or it doesn't work.
SPEAKER_03Hey everyone, this is Tim, your favorite bricks and risk co-host. But don't tell Sean. I hope you're enjoying this episode, and I'll get right back to it in a moment. 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 BR word by sharing your favorite episode with a friend. We greatly appreciate your time and trust. Now, back to the show. Yeah, I think the consistency too, because we've talked about this many, it's come in many different forms. Like with Garrett Maroon, it was called the runway. Give yourself enough runway. You know, we just did our hundredth podcast episode. I was talking about how Congratulations.
SPEAKER_01Thank you, man.
SPEAKER_03That's awesome. Uh my dad had always said to me, you know, you want to do on real estate or mortgages, because that's what he did forever. You got to have longevity. Like you gotta keep going and keep doing it. You have to be, it's almost like you have to be like relevant in some kind of way, shape, or form. And that's really where the time comes in. Like someone can say, Well, I'm consistent. I did it once a week for three months. And you're like, okay, that that's not that's not bad. Is that consistent? You're either gonna keep doing that or you're gonna do something else that you're consistent with. So maybe the three months, you know, depending on what you're doing, maybe it's not enough, maybe it's enough, doesn't matter. But the consistency never stops. That's what you have to keep doing.
SPEAKER_01I think you have to be tenacious, right? So you have to have that tenacity to to keep doing, keep grinding, like you were saying. Really, I mean, that's what real estate is. I'm sure, you know, that's what insurance like it's a it's a grind to try and get just a touch. Yeah. I mean, listen, man, what we do is not easy. If if what we did was easy, everybody would be doing exactly right. And so people, I think a lot of times get into real estate, you know, actually. Easy to get in. Easy to get in. Also easy to leave. Easy to leave, right? So I I think the the ones that stick around and make a career out of it are those that are tenacious, right? Absolutely. They grind it out.
SPEAKER_03So all right. So let's get into some nice stuff here. Um not that we haven't. I should have said a nice, a nice little segue. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Let's go with the so you've been, I mean, you're congratulating us. You've been podcasting for five years, man. So, dude, thank you. That's that is something that is consistency at its core. All right, so you've been podcasting for five years. What has that taught you? Like, you know, you're a consistent guy, obviously. You've been doing this for a while. You grew up in the industry, you've been able to like watch your mom do it, and she's taught you some things, but you've done it your way. Like, what has the podcast taught you? Five five years? I mean, it's that's that's amazing.
SPEAKER_01I I think I I think the great thing is I I think the both of you are like I am. I love I love learning, and so for me, it's given me an opportunity to learn about what other people do that makes them successful. What are like the overarching themes of everybody, right? Because you get to see things from 36,000 feet and how they do it, and it's invaluable to my business, but I'm just curious. Like, I I just love to ask people questions about their business. I like to talk about real estate. I'm a total nerd that way. I I just really enjoy it. So for me, doing over a hundred episodes, like I don't even think about it. It's just, you know, who's who's next that we're we're interviewing, and you know, you get some really good guests on there, and you're like, wow, like I'm I'm talking to this, this person or that person. And I get an opportunity to pick their brain for an hour and I get to share it out to the masses, which is great. And you know how it is when you start a podcast, I was scared to death. But I think it also, yeah, right. It but over time you gain that confidence when you see the reaction of people actually wanting to listen to it. So if I go back and listen to my you know first couple episodes, it's it's oh my god, it's so cringe. But um, but you're totally like but everybody's been there, you know what I mean? That's the other thing. Everybody that starts out doing whatever it is, you're not gonna be good at it the first couple times. And so we had the pandemic and I had nothing better to do. And can't sit around, J. Can't sit around and find something to do. That clock's ticking, it's gonna it's gonna be painful. Honest to God, man. I was like, what am I gonna do during these couple of months? So what I did was I I just watch, I don't know if you guys are familiar with with Pat Flynn. Yeah. So I just watch a ton of Pat Flynn on YouTube. I listened to podcasts about podcasting and pitched it, you know, to the company like this is the perfect time to start it. Absolutely. And got the green light to do it, and we just kind of put it out there, and you know, luckily it uh it kind of took off. So yeah, it's cool. So yeah, it's all it also taught me um that it's it's a good business builder, too. It's a good connector.
SPEAKER_03I was gonna ask so like get right there. Let's dive into like what has it done for Jay's business? Like how five years, how many episodes would you say? Do you know if you're 122? Okay, yeah.
SPEAKER_01I mean, we were bi weekly, so um, because I am trying to run, you know, a a full-time real estate business, I'm trying to get this other business off. We didn't even talk about your other business today. Yeah, so yeah, you guys are making me look good to that. Just go with the park trees, Jay.
SPEAKER_03Right, right.
SPEAKER_01Get right to the good from there.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. So how about business? What has it done for your business?
SPEAKER_01Well, I mean, when I first started doing it, I I again unforeseen consequences of just putting yourself out there. Yeah, right.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Um, so my company is is the largest affiliate that we have. Um, I don't know exactly. I want to say approximately between five and six thousand agents that are in Fox and Roach, and that's in the tri-state area. So the thing that it's allowed me to do is first and foremost, reach our agents. And you guys know how it is. They're doing the podcast and doing it well and giving good information gives you a certain amount of legitimacy and a certain amount of trust with your listeners. And so people that I've interviewed, say in Upper Jersey or Lehigh Valley or Delaware, you know, uh South Jersey, people that I wouldn't have known otherwise before, I've gotten to know, and now they trust me. And if they have a client that's in my area, I get the call and I potentially, you know, get the lead.
SPEAKER_03So so your podcast is industry-facing like ours. You're talking to like realtors, real estate professionals. Yeah. And then also um, you're talking to people that are connected within your company, and there's thousands of them. And again, how often does this? This happens all the time. Like someone from Jersey refers to PA, someone from New York, same thing, and vice versa in Delaware, because not everyone's rolling around with three or four state licenses. Yeah. And even if they are, I mean, I have Jersey too. Sometimes I'm just like, man, I feel like I want to just give it away. You want to go show how to do it. Because I don't do it all the time. And if I really want to help out the client, I kind of want to be a master at what I'm doing. Yes. Um, so that's cool. So would you say probably one of the biggest benefits to your business has been in your agent-to-agent referral network?
SPEAKER_01Yes. Absolutely. And and the connector piece, right? Because uh it's allowed me to build those relationships within within my company. So even if like someone in my office is looking for somebody, let's just say central Jersey, I'll be like, I got a great agent for you. Let me let me hook you up with so and so. That's awesome. You know, so it's really it it's really um kind of evolved my business to a different level because of you know the the connections that I've made through it.
SPEAKER_00And that's what we've always said was, you know, whatever intentions we had about the podcast and going into it is we wanted to use it as a vehicle to expand our networks. Yeah.
SPEAKER_03Definitely one of the major reasons.
SPEAKER_00And it wasn't like by design, it wasn't like we want to expand our network because we'll we'll do this and we'll get this. Like that wasn't the case for us, right? It's it was more of a situation where we said we want to meet more people and expand that way. And like wherever that takes us, takes us. And so we do get people that are uh find us from out of state or reach out and say, Oh, I saw this episode. You know what I mean? It's kind of weird where it does take you, but mostly in a positive way.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. I mean, we're sitting here today because Tim and I were on a taut class panel. And that's really how it connected us. It's yeah, it's one of those connections. Right. And and it it's a trip to me. Um you know, there's there's been a few times where you're you're out and about, and someone from another brokerage comes up and says, You do a great job on the podcast. I enjoy listening to and there's nothing better than that to me. Um, I was I was actually putting an offer in on a property, I think it was last month, and this agent was out in Newtown. So probably about you know 45 minutes away from me. And um, she worked for a different brokerage, and we were talking on the phone, and I was explaining, you know, what's what's your seller prefer settlement date wise, like all the typical questions you're asking? She said, Wait, I I know your voice. She's like, Where do I know you're like from Shannon's retirement party? You were that dude. You dropped that. You're the cake guy. You're the cake guy. You're the dude who tried to make it work. We laughed at you and then we kicked you out. Um but uh she's like, You you have that podcast. And and I was like, you know, yes, yes, I have the podcast. I said, anything that's gonna help me get my client the house, I'm gonna play that up, right? So and and the biggest the biggest thing was I was out in Louisville one time, I was at our company's convention and standing in line at Starbucks, and I was just talking to a friend of mine, and sure enough, someone behind me taps me on the shoulder and she's like, I know you. I and and so like it is it is a great connector that way. Yeah, it it brings you, brings all these people to you, and uh it's an attractor.
SPEAKER_03I think you know, so connect connection and attraction is one thing. Here's the other thing that that does, especially for those relationships, these people are not gonna walk up to you and say those things if you hadn't made some kind of difference either in their life or their business or both. Because I feel like the people, when we got into it, we both loved podcasts. Like, we're like, we listen to podcasts like more than we listen to music now. Like, and we're both music guys. So, like literally, when we realized how much we were both into it, it was kind of like, why aren't we doing it? Now, again, there's so many different ways to do it, who you're talking to, where are you gonna do it, why you gonna do it, how much does it cost, like how often, like all this stuff. And I just think I think when someone actually goes out of their way to say they know who you are and that they're familiar with your podcast, like you've really done something for them. Because there's no if they listen to it once or twice, they would not say that. If they've listened to it multiple times, or you know, you're lucky enough to be part of their podcast routine. We all have them five, ten, twenty podcasts that we listen to over and over again. I mean, it's like it's it's an unbelievable feeling in that sense because you're like, I'm actually really helping this person. And I think that is definitely what you were referring to. That is like an unforeseen you can't map that out.
SPEAKER_00You can't you can't say, I'll do this and I'll get that result.
SPEAKER_03Yep. It doesn't exist, it only happens if you do it and you do it well and you do it for consistently.
SPEAKER_01Well, you got I mean, you guys do such a fabulous job. I mean, and I mean that sincerely. It's not easy. Nope. Um, you know, I think your your audience, I guess they know that that it's not an easy gig, but when you're actually doing it and you have to steer a conversation or you have to remember to ask questions, or you know, it's not the easiest thing in the world to do. And you guys just do a great job. It flows really, really great. And um, you know, I likewise, right?
SPEAKER_00We're gonna show you uh episode one and then you can see I would love that.
SPEAKER_01I think the biggest I think the biggest thing was um that when I actually knew I was onto something is probably, you know, I was probably like into episode 20 something, and um there was a guy who I knew of from my company, wasn't in the area that I was in, he was in the Lehigh Valley, but he was a really heavy hitter um up there, and you just know the name because he does a ton of business. And we were at I I think like some some function for the company. It was like a cocktail party or something like that. And um he came up to me and said, Hey, I I just want you to know I'm a big fan of the podcast. I listen I listen to every episode, and I was just like, I was blown away.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. You're like, I'm like helping, I'm helping this guy.
SPEAKER_01It was amazing, it was it really. And it gives you the confidence too. Like, okay, I I am on to something, and people do appreciate this, and I, you know, so it makes it that much better.
SPEAKER_00Early on, episode 20 or whatever that number was, you're probably like, is this worth it? Yeah, is this like exactly is anybody like actually paying attention? Exactly. And then for him, who's a well-established guy in the industry, for that type of person to come up to you and and make a mention of that, that's why.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah, right? That's why, yeah. I mean, that's that's why I keep on doing it. Because if I'm I mean, it's not just about him, but I'm saying if I'm reaching even a handful of people that it's making a difference for a hundred.
SPEAKER_03Three people like him. I mean, you're gonna be like, oh man, three people?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, like that. Yeah. And and listen, it's it's sweat equity, right? Like if you if you're putting if I have the time to do it, I'm gonna do it. I enjoyed doing it. And so if you know, a handful of people are gonna listen to me or whatever it may be, you know, thousands of people are gonna listen to me. Uh I'm gonna do it because I enjoy doing it, and it's at least reaching some people that that kind of tune in and that gravitate towards it.
SPEAKER_00This one blew us away. So we track everything, look at the numbers, analytics. This month, this past 30 days, we get the uh tabulation. 20,000 people. That's awesome. On YouTube. Just that's crazy.
SPEAKER_0120,000. Good for you guys.
SPEAKER_00And we're like, what?
SPEAKER_01We're like, what are what is going on? No, it's never been like that. That's an amazing feat. And it's a testament to you, like I said, 100 episodes is not easy, not easy, and your consistency and your and your work, man. I told you, like, I'm seeing your cards in Atlantic City on tables and shout out to Angelos, AC. Dude, I I was I was absolutely blown away. But but again, you guys are are taking this seriously. Oh, yeah. Because I think a lot of people, just like getting into real estate, getting into podcasting, like a lot of people just don't take it seriously.
SPEAKER_03Although our outfits in Atlantic City would have told some people differently. They they did look mostly at Mooney's, concerning he changed into a turtleneck around like 4 p.m. Did you get them custom made?
SPEAKER_01Like where did where did these okay we'll get to the link.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. Yeah, I was just gonna say, I mean, should we be shouting them out now or should we shout them out privately? Gough gentry. Shout out to golf gentry. Gough gentry.
SPEAKER_01I'm thinking if I can get the pants and match that up with that velveteen blazer on the golf gentry.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.com. It's probably like dot net. Oh yeah. On a on a spread print on the pants with the jacket.
SPEAKER_03I love it. I would wear it everywhere. All right, so so let's dive into real quick. Tell us about Far and Away. You decided to start. Okay, so let me just say I'm on a team. I start, I run a team, uh, you know, I started a podcast, you know, I'm doing all this stuff for the board of realtors, all you know, state stuff. You started a second business called Far and Away. Tell us about that. Before you get started about the business, I want to know if he likes Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman because there's a movie called Far and Movement.
SPEAKER_00That's a great movie.
SPEAKER_03It is a great, great movie.
SPEAKER_00Um tell me about the conversation that you had with your wife when you were saying, I'm gonna start this.
SPEAKER_03What are you thinking?
SPEAKER_00Well, all right.
SPEAKER_01So start with that conversation, then roll into the business. So I I did get her blessing. All right. Now I don't want to make it about this, but I have had some health issues through the years. Yep. And so the first thought was, are you sure you want to do this? Um, because you're you know, you're a glutton for punishment. You know, you you know, you just don't tack on more. Yeah, do you want to tack on more? So I made I I made a decision this year uh that I was I was actually gonna step down from our local board in order to, you know, make this make this change. And so that was kind of part of the deal with her, right? I had to gain some time somewhere.
SPEAKER_03You're just like, I've done my time here and and I love it. Yeah. But now it's time to pivot a little bit and donate and donate that time to something else.
SPEAKER_01So, you know, this is kind of like a a passion project of mine. Uh, I had a client who um I sold her property in my area, and she had a secondary home. I think I want to say it's in Palm Beach, some some, you know, like Ritzy area, Florida. And she goes down there six months a year, and she had bought a new home up here. She sold her old place with me, bought a new home in Newtown Square, a townhouse. So she downsized, like her house was enormous, and so she downsized, went to Newtown Square, is up here for you know, roughly, roughly six months up here, six months down in Florida. And so we got to know each other really well. You know how it is. You hit it off with a client, you love this client. So I'm just checking in on her, seeing how she's doing. This was probably a year and a half ago, and I said, Um, I called her up, I said, I'm just calling to talk, I want to see how my girl's doing because she had a dog named Lexi who I lost. So I said, I'm not calling to check on a check on Lexi. And she said, Would you know that she literally just got down to my house in Palm Beach because she can't fly. So I have to pay someone to drive her from PA down to Florida, and it costs twice as much as a first-class plane ticket cost to get down to where I am. Just her dog. Just her dog.
SPEAKER_02Wow.
SPEAKER_01So I said, Well, maybe I should leave real estate and start driving dogs around. So we were joking around about that. She said, Listen, I don't think you should be doing that, but I'll tell you what I do need. And she said, I have a company in Florida that when I'm in Pennsylvania, they watch the house down there, they do weekly home checks, they go into the property, they search for any water damage, any leaks. Being that you're in Florida, you have weather events, probably a lot of shore second homeowners, vacation homeowners.
SPEAKER_03Exactly. So they need a service like that.
SPEAKER_01Exactly. So it's not property management because you know there's no tenants involved, you're not collecting rents, you're not dealing with that. You're dealing with vacant homes that are sitting idle for long stretches of time. And so she said to me, I don't have anybody in Pennsylvania that is doing that. If you start that kind of thing in Pennsylvania, I'll be your first customer. Nice. So I was like, That's a good idea. This is a great idea.
SPEAKER_03Like, I don't know anybody who's not the most common thing, but who the hell do we know that's doing anything like this?
SPEAKER_01Well, like, how many snowbirds do you know, right?
SPEAKER_00So I was just going to say, like, isn't is someone doing it? Is someone it does like, is there a need? Yeah. And there is a need. A need. Definitely.
SPEAKER_03We have gotten even with Jersey Shore people, I feel like there would technically be a need. Because some people go down the shore for like three, four months. So I have somebody. They come back once a week.
SPEAKER_01I have somebody that wants to do it down the shore.
SPEAKER_03See, see, I'm so I'm giving you a new line of clients.
SPEAKER_01So thanks for watching. Okay, I was gonna say, I'll get that referral. Um, but yeah, so I started, I looked into it. You know, I mean, last year was all about like getting the lawyer involved, getting all your paperwork straight, getting your insurance straight, liability stuff, uh, getting the branding down, right? Starting, you know, getting my website. So my my website designer, I I he's a brilliant guy. So I took it to him and I was like, listen, here's what I'm thinking. I need to build something out. I'm thinking about calling it far and away. And he thought about it. He's like, dude, you have to do this. He's like, you know, there's that book by by Gary Keller. Uh was it the one thing? Yeah. So he's like, this this has to be the one thing right now. And so I worked on it all last year, getting it kind of situated and off the ground. Did some trial runs with with a couple clients last year just to get my process down with it. Um, but this year, you know, I'm I'm starting to expand, I'm trying to expand slowly because scaling is kind of an issue because you get too many clients too quickly. Right now it's just me doing it. I have to start hiring a bunch of people, but I do have an idea to employ maybe some retired home inspectors that you know maybe they're looking for a part-time gig and what to do.
SPEAKER_00So anyway, so you know who I'm gonna tag team you with? Who's that? The uh Zach at Shoreline Waste. He uh his business is down the shore. Nice. He started a business where if you own a home down the shore, you pay him a monthly fee, and he makes sure the trash is taken out and taken back to the house. Yeah. So that if you're a great idea, if you're renting out, if if people are checking in, if you're leaving on an off day and trash doesn't come till Thursday.
SPEAKER_01We have that problem right now.
SPEAKER_03Moody's literally this week. And now, and now from what I've been told, Zach also has a mustache. I'm just that's that's maybe what I've been told. Might be true.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, you don't want to see me with a mustache. I've tried to grow that out, and it grows out, but man, I I did it once for our 50s.
SPEAKER_03It is not right. It is not amazing.
SPEAKER_00I think you got a lot of compliments on that for the your attire and your mustache.
SPEAKER_03I think I got more compliments on my chest are popping out on that shirt you let me borrow, but it's tight. Yeah, that's anyway.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, well, you know, I I'm just saying when it comes to the mustache, like I just look straight up weird. Like weirdo. Yeah, you wouldn't want to do that. Now my wife is like, oh no, you know, oh god, please, you know. Um, so I'm like, that that came and went pretty quick. Yeah, um, but yeah, so when when I started this and started to build it, um, you know, it it's one of those things where you get excited about it. And so literally, after we leave this podcast, I'm going to Malvern and I have two new clients that I'm going to see.
SPEAKER_00Phenomenal, dude. What's the what's the website? And and if someone were out there that were like, they're talking about this. I need this service. Is it available to to anyone that wants to do it?
SPEAKER_01So it's far dash away.co. So C O uh is the website. But yeah, I mean, we we really pride ourselves, it's it is suburban Philadelphia collar. So I do want to mention that. Yep. Um, right now my bread and butter is in Montgomery County, but like I said, I go to Newtown Square, I'm going out to Malvern. So really, you know, I'll hustle, man. Any anywhere that that you do it on the PA side or even down the shore, I I'm in talks with someone who's doing it down there or wants to do it down there. So we're trying to make that happen.
SPEAKER_03So yeah, because it goes in reverse, too. Yeah, it goes in reverse. You're up here all year, you know.
SPEAKER_00Absolutely.
SPEAKER_03Someone's got to look after it down there.
SPEAKER_00Is there a tier of services, or is it you sign up and this is what we offer in trust fits all kind of thing? There are tiers. So we can do a weekly check. More people need more things, like different things.
SPEAKER_01Yes. So we so there's the weekly home checks that we offer, or bi weekly home checks. So that's just a standard issue. We go in, we're looking for leaks, making sure nothing has has broken, you know, kitchen hasn't caught on fire, kind of thing. Uh beyond that, we can do concierge services. So some people want me to start their cars in the garage. Wow, that means some people you know want me to bring patio furniture in and out. Um, you know, so we do there's kind of add-ons that you can do to the level of service that you want.
SPEAKER_00The the trash cut, he also uh so down the shore, he I think he wraps patio furniture. Does he really? So like you gotta like wrap it to store it to push it away. Like, so like I'm just thinking of all these different levels that people are gonna need into it.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I mean, mail is a big thing. People, you know, people don't trust that some people don't forward their mail.
SPEAKER_03So I guess they do, they still don't trust it.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, so I have prepaid envelopes. I will literally take the mail to the post office, make sure I have one client that it that's in Maine six months of the year, and I every time that I leave their place, I'm heading to you know the post office to mail their stuff.
SPEAKER_03Wow, just throwing one big envelope kind of thing.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_03So, you know, it's great.
SPEAKER_01It's it's I love the idea.
SPEAKER_00I love the concept. I love like the like a new idea and then and then getting it off the ground and like where can this go?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah, it's like executing on that idea, right? Like it's uh I I like that.
SPEAKER_03And the thing is it's adjacent to what you're doing. Yes, you're in residential real estate, like you know.
SPEAKER_01Well, that's the kicker, man, is that you know, I start this business and I'm like, this is this is real estate adjacent, right? So if people again know, like and trust what I'm doing, when it comes time to sell their property, I'm hoping that I'm gonna get that listing out. Hell yeah, man. I already know the house intimately, right? Like I'm in there like every week. So who's gonna know the house better than than I would selling it?
SPEAKER_03So but you also have uh Moody freaking loves us. I need I need I need we'll we'll do a set, we'll do a second conversation. Yeah, we'll we'll have them back in you know, maybe a year or so and see see how many clients he's up.
SPEAKER_00But like you have a network of real estate agents that you just for like yes, hey, if you have any clients that need this, and like that's how I got these clients today.
SPEAKER_01Like, literally, someone in my office was like, hey, phenomenal, you know, I need somebody for a high-end client down this way. Can you help me?
SPEAKER_00What did I say in the limousine ride in Atlantic City? Uh, I don't know. We were a few deep at that point, but you can remind me. Fish in a barrel. It's like shooting fish in a barrel. Shooting fish in a barrel. It's like put it in front of these realtors. They have a need, they have clients.
SPEAKER_01It's it just well, also with the podcast, if it allows me to know more people through the podcast and has a certain level of trust with the podcast, if I tell those agents now that I've made connections with that I have this other company, you would hopefully think that it's gonna bear fruit.
SPEAKER_00The guy in Lehigh Valley who listens, I'm sure he's got clients that have a knee.
SPEAKER_01So, yeah, so it's one of those things. I'm I'm I'm starting out slow because I don't I mean, I do don't get out over your excuse. Yeah, exactly. Like not too much too soon because people want me, right? And so people that I trust once. Yeah, and so you can only be so many places at once, but the the potential is there to really grow this thing on scale.
SPEAKER_03We need some investment. All right, so your quote was great. So we'll close it out with this. So you had the proper function of a man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them. I shall use my time. And that was by Jack London.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, it's a Jack London quote. So if anybody's familiar with uh the Last Bond movie, okay, it's it's actually uh, well, I don't want to give away the plot. Can I give away the plot? Sure. He dies. He dies. And when they're memorializing him afterwards, they they say this quote. And my wife, as soon as my wife heard this quote, she's like, Oh dear God, he's gonna, you know, he's gonna run this. He's gonna run this. But I I think if there is one quote that kind of I think about, especially again, going back to like the the health stuff, like um, you know, there's there's been times where I've been down for the count. And again, this goes back to the whole time thing. Like, I'm gonna use my time wisely. We are not guaranteed tomorrow. Correct. So, you know, what are you doing today and what are you putting into practice that is going to help you? Doesn't matter if it's you know real estate, it doesn't matter if it's far and away. It doesn't matter if I want to learn about calculus or astronomy. Like I want to use my time wisely to uh better myself.
SPEAKER_03Phenomenal. All right. So before we shut this one down, why don't you tell our watchers and listeners where they can learn more about you and everything you got going on?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, man. So uh podcast-wise, everything real estate podcast, connecting ideas with action. Uh again, 122 episodes we have and running here. So we're bi-weekly that we drop a new episode. There will be one coming out, I think, next week for that. As far as the team goes, Ostrowsketeam.com is our website. You can check us out there. Uh far and away is far-away.co. Uh, you can you can connect with me there and then on Instagram at Jay Ostrowski. Um that's about it. I think I don't want to I don't want to inundate the podcast. We're gonna keep this rolling way past our time period here.
SPEAKER_03All right. Well, that's all we have for this one, folks. Thank you for tuning in again to another episode of Bricks and Risk. See you next week. Thank you for joining us on another episode of Bricks and Risk. 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 BR episodes on Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, and anywhere else you get your podcast content. Until next time, keep learning and keep growing.


