October 25, 2022 • 30 mins
On this episode of Morenita, Darilyn sits down with Nicholas Ryan. He is a New York native and a dual-licensed Realtor Associate at Christie’s International Real Estate helping educate Latines about home ownership. We discuss it all! Real estate, how to be a homeowner, building generational wealth in the Latine community, investing in properties, ALL OF IT! Te invito.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Oh yeah, me hint it. I just want to give
you a heads up. The program you are about to
hear may have some explicit language, it may not. It
also depends on where the vibes and the spirit leads us.
Hope you enjoy. Welcome to more Anita, a deep dive
into the Latin X experience. With more Anita, we want
(00:22):
to create a community and a shared space with you
while sharing knowledge and inspiration. This show is about celebrating
our culture with guests who exemplify the best of us.
I'm Darrylene Castillo Vito me hint that there is nothing
(00:43):
like seeing your childhood friend Win going through the globe
stage together. Is honestly such a beautiful thing to watch,
and it could be a little frightening. But looking at
these throwback photos of me and my good friend and
guest today, Nicholas Ryan roofs that we have come a
long way from us playing deer pong to now selling
(01:07):
million dollar homes. Nicholas Ryan is in New York and
New Jersey real estate agent with six years of experience.
His specialties include buyer's agent, listing agent, luxury specialists, and staging.
Nicholas is here at Monanita to talk about the fad,
the topic that is so hot right now that everyone
(01:29):
is talking about real estate. I wanted to bring Nick
on here because whenever I talk about real estate within
our generation or any other generation, there's a few stigmas.
It's too expensive, I'll never own a home. How the
heck do I even buy a house. I don't know
who to call. Oh, it's too stressful, I don't make
enough money. The list goes on and on and on
(01:50):
and on. Nick comes through with the knowledge on how
you can buy a home, how it is possible, and
how knowledge is power. He also gives us a view
of how he got into real estate. His mother found
herself having to switch careers and it led her to
real estate. Not only did she get into it, she
has been killing it for years, allowing her son to
(02:12):
become a part of the legacy. Their involvement in real
estate goes beyond just selling. Nicholas shares how he and
his mother are planning to help advance of that being
there folks in home buying and how they are really
out here doing it. But now, if you've been listening
to previous episodes here on Mouanita, then you know, real
(02:33):
estate plays a big role in my life. My fiance
is an investor in real estate, owning multiple properties, and
it has given me a front seat and seeing how
owning multiple properties is more than possible. Real estate has
been hot for years and years and years. Even millionaires
and multibillionaires are involved in investing in real estate. It's
(02:56):
the secret that now everyone is on and it's hotter
than ever. So now we are sharing it with you.
Let's talk about how to get that money. Thane Veto
went on me, Hanton, Nicholas. Wait, is it Nicholas Ryan
or Nicholas Morales? Because I know you as Nick Morales?
(03:20):
But how can you prefer to be introduced? I've adopted
the name Nicholas Ryan, um, but officially it's Nicholas Morales.
You can call me just Nick. Are we on that basis? Well?
As I was, I was informing our listeners in the introduction,
how a little bit of how we know each other,
(03:41):
but just to give our listeners a little more insight,
because I think that's always fun when people hear stories
like that. Um, I was just joking, how Nick and
I go so far away, back to like literally middle school,
high school, days of uh just being teenagers and running
(04:02):
the streets of Rockland County shout out to the glow.
Up is really all the globe is UM. But also
like so great to see friends UM for so many
years doing amazing things. And as I mentioned, Nick is
an incredible real estate UM. And I'm gonna have you
kind of talk about what you do, Nick, and and
and give us the insight of who you are. Okay, UM, Well,
(04:25):
as you said, my name is Nicholas Ryan UM. I'm
currently a realtor associate in New York and New Jersey
UM with Christy's International real Estate UM. And I'm also
a member of the Morales Group, which is a team
within my brokerage UM. The team consists of three agents
including myself. We have our own transaction coordinator, marketing director,
(04:47):
and we service Hudson Valley, Westchester, Bergen County, Orange County
pretty much anywhere we could get to within reason. UM.
We're happy to help and and go to where Hudson,
Ali and Westchester's Topic Everything team. As of two thousand
seventeen to present day, we're part of the Christie's Master
Circle UH and we're certified Luxury Specialists, which pretty much means,
(05:09):
you know, we go to this huge conference where they're
talking about all the new innovations in tech and everything
from not even just real estate, but it's you know,
the latest suits, the cars, the you know, everything we have.
Martha Stewart spoke there one, so I mean it's a
you out here doing big things. Yeah. Real estate isn't
(05:29):
just real estate, you know, it's it's much more than that.
So actually, like in forever, real estate has never just
been about real estate. It's been it's like its own
world in itself. I mean, look at reality TV shows
like Senset Boulevard Um, you know, or like all these
other incredible shows on Netflix. It was that easy. Those
(05:49):
shows are very entertaining. But you don't know how many
clients I'm like, well, why on Love and are listed
They find their house after three showings, like oh, you know,
they don't realize that it's months of you know, we're
narrowing it down to these three houses. So I mean
I love the right. Yeah, I mean you see that,
you know, the actual splat and tears and like the
back and forth emails behind the scenes. Absolutely, and we
(06:13):
both know that because Nick actually um sold me and
my fiance's house that we're currently living in, one of
our investment properties. UM. But I really wanted to bring
you on today, Nick, because I think it's really important
for our community, not only that, but for our generation
to be talking about real estate right now, because it
is such a hot commodity, especially with where the where
(06:38):
the world is now today. UM. I mean me myself
as an actor, I have seen so much um of
the power of owning real estate and what that can
mean in the financial freedom it has been able now
to give me and my fiance after learning so much
about real estate. I mean, you are you are a homeowner?
(07:00):
Congratulations you just got your first home. Yes, thank you.
You know you are a thirty year old homeowner. That
is freaking huge, because I mean, I think that's the
that's the goal, that's the dream. You obviously were born
in a family of real estate. I want to talk
about that, and I want to talk about legacy with
(07:20):
you because you work with your mother or under your mother.
How does that work? What is that connection? My mother
is the team leader. Um, She's the reason I got
into real estate. So she's the leader of the Morales group,
the team that I'm on. And then we both worked
under Christie's, but she's been I would have never even
had an interest in real estate if it wasn't for her.
(07:41):
Growing up, she was a VP at City Bank Corporate. Um.
I've always seen her working so hard. Um. And then
her position, they told her, if you want to keep
your job, you have to be relocate to Jackson, Florida,
or we have to let you off after twenty five
years of work. You there, Wow? Yeah um. And she
(08:03):
never saw it coming. So, I mean, she had me
and my sister, and her biggest thing was, I don't
want to move them to somewhere, but they don't have family.
They're starting completely new, you know. And I mean I
love New York, you know, she loves Yer. Are both
New Yorkers, So we can't see ourselves living anywhere else.
So she decided, I'm gonna start over fresh new and
(08:26):
she got her real estate license and I watched her
like work her butt off year after year after year,
and within three years she tripled her salary at City Bank.
And that just she taught me that it's it's better
to be an entrepreneur and be in charge of your
own salary because you your work ethic determines how much
you can make and there's no cap on that, which
(08:47):
is so important in business, absolutely in any business that
you get involved in. And then for you seeing your mother,
you know obviously slay and kill it, how did you
come up? Because I mean, I I know you personal
really like Nick could literally be like somebody's manager. He
could be. And I've always been like Nick is like
such a great You always had a business knack about you.
(09:09):
You had this entrepreneurship. I feel like you and I
we we both like I vibed with you on that
growing up together. We both were like hustlers. We both
had a mentality that was like you can tell that somebody. Yeah, absolutely,
And for you, where did it switch for real estate?
I know you saw your mom working hard. When were
(09:31):
you like, you know what, I'm I'm gonna work under
my mom's wing and like I'm gonna freaking get into
this and do this. Like was it easy? Did you
try other things? Not at all? I mean having her
as a mentor was a blessing, um because having mentorship
in any sense with real estate is important, whether it's
your mother or you're broker. You just know somebody that's
(09:51):
been in the business. But there's so many ins and
outs of the industry that you don't learn in a class, right.
I had different goals for myself, like what I couldn't
make marketing It wasn't It wasn't what I saw myself,
you know, making after all the student loans I had
and everything, you know, after college, I was like, I
need more than this. Um. So, you know, I started
(10:14):
talking to my mom about real estate. She's like, why
don't you get your license. It's something you could do
on the side at least, um you always know somebody
that's looking for a house or that needs housing. And
then so I got my license. I started working with her,
and I started to realize, like marketing and real estate
go hand in hand. Everything about being a successful real
estate agent is marketing yourself because there's so many of us.
(10:38):
You know, the the fail rate in real estate is
and there's still a realtor. Everybody knows a realtor, at
least one, you know. Um, so I kind of you know.
What drew me in was like being able to develop
my own marketing strategies that set me apart from someone else.
So I was implementing my passion on what I love
with something that I commonetize and making good money off of.
(11:14):
So then you got in the game. You're you're learning
so much. You obviously have like great a mentors around
you working with your mom and learning from her, and
you guys have a good relationship where that's a peaceful,
you know environment, And I mean anyone working with their mother,
(11:36):
you know, it gets I know, yeah, but I love her.
She's your biggest I have to say, working with you
on the house that we bought, and just like I'm
gonna give your mom some prop because your mom's a badass.
Like the minute that mom was looped into the email,
like I mean, nothing was getting over her. No. And also,
(11:58):
I mean, you know, we we had heard from other
people that when we were working with you and your mom,
people knew your mom and like knew her name. And
we're like very aware, like you don't try to put
one over this lady, like you know. So having you
guys in our corner was so helpful, but it also
is a testament to like how you guys work and
how you guys operate, and um, you guys know what
(12:19):
you're freaking doing, which is gonna lead me to our
next question. Because I think that so many of our
listeners and and I just know this in talking with people.
People hear me talk about my fiance's real estate investing
experience and they're like wow, like he must be a millionaire,
Like wow, you really got lucky with that one. You
(12:41):
caught the roy fish. And it's like, actually, it's a
lot easier than you think it is. And I think
most of it is knowledge. How what if somebody came
to you and was like, I want to be a homeowner.
I see, it's in pop supposed to be a homeowner.
I don't I don't understand the world of it. I
(13:04):
don't get it. And especially in our climate today financially,
how is it possible for someone to become a homeowner.
So the first, um, false idea that people have when
it comes to home ownership is that you need tons
of money to own a home. Um. But what people
don't realize is a lot of times your mortgage payment
(13:26):
will be less than what you would pay in rent
for the same home or for a smaller home. Um,
you're just paying someone else's mortgage. That's all you're doing. Um. So,
I mean what I would say to somebody that's you know,
wants to become a homeowner, is still trying to figure
out the ends, and ounce is get your financials in order.
(13:46):
That's important. Good credit gets you so far in life.
It's the difference between a crazy mortgage payment, not even crazy,
but a healthy mortgage payment versus minimal you know. So
as long as you have your financials in order, when
you're taking care of that, you could be owning a
home tomorrow. Yeah. And as far as the interest rates,
(14:08):
they are very high. What are the interest rates now?
Are they six to seven or even higher? Pushing over
seven now? Yeah? So and then we also just came
from a financial situation where we were seeing you know,
obviously three percent interest rates when we got our house.
So we we got in who I mean when my
fiance heard that the interest rate, um, actually for one
(14:31):
oh one? What is an interest rate? For our friends
who might not know what an interest rate is? So,
it's the price you're paying. Um, it's like interests on
a card paying Um, it's the price you're paying added
to your mortgage. So the prices are paying back to
the bank. Right. So now, seeing like where everything is
right now, It's like I was just actually asking my fiance.
I was like, hey, Andre's like, do you should we
(14:53):
not buy a house right now? But his argument was like, actually, no,
it's a great time to buy a house because right
now less people can buy homes. And back then when
it was a three percent rate, you had a create
obviously that crazy influx right where real estate was going
insane and there is nothing available where now there's kind
of like this moderate level of availability. And you know,
(15:17):
he's like, I mean, interest rates always go up and down.
It always goes up and down. But he really was like,
it shouldn't determine when you buy a home. How do
you feel about that? Interest rates are tied to inflation.
So just like inflation goes up, just like we're overpaying
for gas at certain points, it's it's going to be
the same with interest rates, and that's always gonna fluctuate. Um.
(15:40):
But I mean, like I said, when it goes up,
it comes right back down. Since the eighties, I needs oppression.
You see these interest rates increasing, um, and then they
go back down and all those people that were waiting
to buy that home are now rushing to whatever inventories
out there, and that's when people are over paying for homes.
And instead of just being able to refinance. You know, Um,
(16:03):
that's huge, is there's not the home market is it's
stabilizing again because a lot of people are holding off
due to those interest rates. But the people that are
buying right now myself, UM, you know, i may have
a little bit of a higher interest rate, but I'm
not over paying fifty dollars for my home exactly. There's
(16:24):
a balance there, right. And also Fannie May um for
anyone that doesn't know, it's Federal National Mortgage Association. Um.
And they actually got the top honors for the most
accurate economic predictions. Um. They're predicting that by two three,
the interest rates are going to be going back down
to four. So you hear all these people talking about,
(16:46):
oh my god, we're headed towards a huge housing depression.
What am I? You know, I'm never going to own
a home. It's just a lot of she said, she said,
going back and forth. But when you look at the facts,
it's it's never a bad time to buy a home,
all right, you guys, you heard it here from Nicholas Ryan.
He has said it is not a bad time to
buy a home. Get your get your things in order,
get your wallet together, because honestly, I'm seeing it too.
(17:09):
I think that you know, we're living proof of that
as well, and like we're kind of like we were
a part of the three percent interest rate right when
we bought this house, but I feel like we paid
a little, We paid a good chunk over than what
I think. It was crazy. It's crazy because I pride
myself as a realtor most of my business, and this
is my mom taught me that it's our whole team.
(17:30):
Dynamic is always doing right by our clients every step
of the way. If a client walks into a house
that they might love and we see things like water
damage or this or that, we're going to tell them
straight up like this isn't for you, you know, like
or do you have the means to fix this? Do
you have the means to fix that? This house is
over priced. We're always going to make sure our clients
(17:53):
are making the right decisions, and that's why they come
back to us, That's why they refer us absolutely. Yeah.
So trust me when I say it's never a bad
time to buy a home. You just have to find
the right realtor and the right wits. So I'm gonna
(18:19):
switch gears a little bit because I just think it's, um,
I love that, like you came from a home where
like real estate is embraced and obviously real estate right
now is such a fad, Like it's a thing you
have to admit right Like it's on, it's trending, She's on,
she's on she's on Netflix, she's on HBO, she's on everything, honey.
Like even even a play that I recently did called
(18:41):
dream House was about real estate, was about gentrification, was
about huge such a huge part of like life absolutely
and also culturally. And that's the thing that I love
for you, or I love this for you that you
were born like into this real estate kind of household
where your mom you know, went into something new and succeeded,
(19:04):
and now it's like become such a part of your
lives that that's something that I don't think that we
in the Latinic community talk about much. Maybe we're talking
about more of it now, which is you know why
we're here having this conversation. But for you, where do
you see yourself going within this industry? I know that
there are some big plans that you have with with
(19:26):
certain organizations that you're creating and how do we continue
spreading the word to Latino communities because I think that
more people are interested now and becoming owners, they just
don't know how how are you shaping that, you know,
for the Latinic community. So going back to what you
said about being born into this family that embraces real estate,
and I'm Puerto Rican, I come from a Puerto Rican background. Um,
(19:49):
looking at my grandparents specifically, now, my grandparents, they have
prided themselves on, you know, having good financial history. My
grandpa there has the best credit score I have ever
seen in any client anyone, but they've never owned a home.
And when I asked them, why haven't you owned a home?
Like you were the co signer on my loan when
(20:12):
I first got when I first got a car, you
know what I'm saying, like, and they were just like,
we didn't know how it would go about doing it.
We didn't have the tools and the resources and the guidance.
And I think that's what happens a lot of times
with our community is there's a disconnect. Um they're not
provided the tools and the information that they need to
(20:32):
be successful in this industry. More so recently that's changed Hispanics,
the rate of home ownership is it serves in two
thousands UM, which is amazing. I'm so proud of that UM.
And they're also the fastest growing demographic. But the problem is,
like there's so many different and you know this because
you just bought your home. There's so many different parts
(20:54):
involved in this well oiled machine. You have your mortgage lender,
you have your title person, you have you know, your realtor,
your attorney, and a lot of times for Hispanics, they
don't speak the language, so that's that's a huge disconnect
and they feel overwhelmed by these contracts that are they're
only getting in English and they have no one to
(21:15):
help guide them through it. So a mix between you know,
getting involved in real estate myself and like I said,
looking back on the history of my grandparents and seeing
how they had all the means to do it, they
just didn't know how. Um. It kind of fueled, you know,
me and my mother, So we joined the National Association
(21:35):
of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals, we started our own Shoptor
and Rockling, and then from there my mom actually just
formed her own non for profit Latino is a real
Estate is an organization that you know, my mother formed,
and our mission is to educate, assisting guide the Hispanic
community in their journey to work, build, and invest in
real estate. You know. So our main goal is not
(21:57):
only to educate and empower the home buyer and seller um,
but also the professionals that assist them, anyone in the
industry that's assisting them. So we're advocating for policy changes
that will help support sustainable Latino ownership, doing things like
personally visiting these condo associations that aren't accepting these f
h A loans because it has you know, an f
(22:18):
h A stands for just just so just our listeners
can catch up with that if the if they're not
too sure. It's a loan that protects homebuyers against losses,
so it requires a lower down payment, but it's also
backed by the government, so it's a secure loan. But
a lot of people are turned off by this because
of the lower down payments, you know, right, And that's
(22:39):
just also because like I guess, if if if somebody
were to come by with all the money, right, like
I got five you know, I can put full cash
offer for something, and somebody is like, no, I can
only put this down deposit and then I can obviously
pay my mortgage. The cash offer always looks right more
impressive in a sense. Yeah, well, there's always that's real estate.
(23:02):
You know, there's phrase going to be competition. But for
situations that you know that aren't so competitive with the
condo um or with any association that doesn't accept that,
it's they're not even getting the opportunity, you know. And
those places that don't have all the all cash fire,
all that competition, they're not even given the chance to
(23:24):
to take that step right at the end of the day.
And I say this about like I mean I say
this on our on on multiple interviews within other industries
or even within our industry. It's like seeing the change
behind the table first. And for people who have access,
what you're doing is like providing access behind the tables
and having those conversations on how to open those doors
(23:45):
for our community, which is huge and necessary, especially with
the numbers that you just shared, how many more Latinos
have been able to own homes and we can continue
that number to grow and keep us informed. And not
only that, I love that that the organization that your
mother created, that that's bringing Latinos together on the industry
(24:07):
side as well. It's not even bringing Latinos specifically together,
it's bringing the industry together, the industry together, right, help
the Latino community, which is amazing. We have non Latinos
on our board. Um, we have attorneys on our board
that aren't Latino, but they understand the importance of being
able to help the Latino homebarer. Because to be successful
(24:28):
in this industry, you have to be working with Latinos
that were up and coming like the avoid us, you know, right,
and also like we also need to be working with
the people who are up there, which you know, I mean,
let's be real to like most are not Latinos, so
to include them in the conversation. Like we all need
each other, we all need to support each other and
need each other so we can at least grow together
(24:51):
and have that that impact. It's about enabling and empowering
the the top industry professionals to be able to help
those clients, whether it's you know, providing contracts that come
in Spanish so that they could give to their Spanish speakers. Um,
if they need somebody to translate for them, you know,
we're there, We're there, We have Spanish speakers that will
(25:11):
go there and translate, so they're still working with these
professionals that maybe are not bilingual, but those professionals are
able to help. We're putting together resources to do so,
putting together a whole book of resources, business referrals of
people that could help the Latino community and just giving
them the tools that they need. So absolutely so for you,
(25:32):
what do you see, um, what do you see like
your your Nicholas Ryan like end goal. You know you're
working with some top dogs and you're now creating this
organization with your mother and you're involved in real estate
is hot? What do you see for yourself personally? How
do you see yourself growing within the industry of real estate? Um?
This is this goes back to what I said about
(25:52):
no path. There's never a cap with real escy. So
I always see myself doing more that Like the technology
is changing, the methods are changing, the market changes, so
every year I'm learning more, every year I'm growing more.
Where I am now compared to where I was when
I first started is I look at that change and
(26:13):
I'm just like, I have so much left, you know,
I have so much more to accomplish in this industry,
and I love I've always been big on customer service
and helping people. I've always been a people person. So
I feel like I finally found my niche, you know,
because it's it's something that I have always had a
(26:33):
passion for and and and it's something that will always
be in demand in this country. So I feel like
there's no stopping. Yeah, You're like, there's no limit. And
I and also like in within real estate and all
the things that can be connected with now with all
I mean, listen, we might be out here seeing like Netflix,
like Nicholas Ryan on Netflix. Next. Yes, I am going
(26:54):
to be one of the property brothers that will be
the Douglas. I love that. Can I be a client.
I'm gonna be doing my life your seventeenth investment property exactly.
I'll be calling you when I'm ready to get my estate.
There we go at you know what I'm saying. You
know what I'm saying. Maybe I'll think about retiring when
I get my estate. That's like we made it. I
(27:19):
love like seeing a state like you're on property, like
those really like crazy ones. I'm like, God, damn, Nick,
I can't wait for us to be walking through mine
in the future. I love seeing all these crazy houses,
Like I bet it's still motivating, like I could own
this one day, you know, having access, Having access is
all you need to at least envision and see it
manifested and make it come true. Nicholas, this is my
(27:45):
favorite part of the show. These are our steed questions.
Are you ready? What's your favorite advice someone's given you? Um,
a year from now, You're gonna wish she started today? Facts? Okay?
Or two? Is there a celebrity or someone that you
admire that you would love to get a tour of
(28:06):
their house? Um? Yeah, so um actually modeling my current
home after Kim Kardashian and Kanye West home, of course
you are. I just love the sleek, minimalist, like natural.
Why is it embarrassing? It's like literally what's in now?
Like that? Like they are they literally real estate royalty
Like the decorations. Yeah, they just I mean, I don't
(28:29):
know if it's so much them as much as their
designers that they hire, but it's simple and like sophisticated
and and minimal and I just minimal. It's everything I want. Yes,
you know, yeah, I know, I'm with you. I literally
have the same. I mean, I what is um uh
Courtney doesn't she have Does she still have her own
(28:51):
like company like that? Like designer interior design company? Like
is that still doing anything? I don't. I'm not sure
if it's doing anything. Used to exist. They put their
people on a lot. Like those people that design their
homes are doing just fine because everybody wants it. Everybody
wants it. That's it. That's it. They're all getting into
(29:12):
housing because it's like you said, it's trendy right now,
so exactly, and people can make money, you know, sitting
on their foots exactly. That's okay. Number three, What reminds
you of home or makes you feel like home? Grandma's
cooking ash she makes everything. This is hard to say.
(29:33):
I love her son. It's my favorite. It is suncch season.
Everybody on Nicholas If people want to follow you or like,
you know, what's your social media plug? What's the best
way to tap in? So Nicholas Ryan Underscore on Instagram.
My work site is Nicholas Ryan dot online. UM. Instagram
(29:54):
is probably the best way to contact me. I'm also
on Facebook, I'm on all platforms. Is Nicholas Ryan UM
and then Latinos Dot of real Estate on Instagram. Latinos
Dot of real Estate on Instagram. Nicholas, thank you so
much for taking your time today. I know you have
a busy schedule. You gotta go sell those houses, go
to your thing, go pay that mortgage off that new
(30:16):
house you just got. UM and invite me over for
the housewarming. I'll bring some soul there we go. Sounds good.
Thank you so much for having UM. It's a pleasure.
Like I said, I'm a fan of everything that you do,
so to be a part of it is amazing and yeah,
I love you. Monamita is a production of Sono in
(30:37):
partnership with I Heart Radios michaela podcast network. For more
podcasts from I Heart Radio, visit the I Heart Radio app,
Apple podcast, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
Oh yeah, me hint it. I just want to give
you a heads up. The program you are about to
hear may have some explicit language, it may not. It
also depends on where the vibes and the spirit leads us.
Hope you enjoy. Welcome to more Anita, a deep dive
into the Latin X experience. With more Anita, we want
(00:22):
to create a community and a shared space with you
while sharing knowledge and inspiration. This show is about celebrating
our culture with guests who exemplify the best of us.
I'm Darrylene Castillo Vito me hint that there is nothing
(00:43):
like seeing your childhood friend Win going through the globe
stage together. Is honestly such a beautiful thing to watch,
and it could be a little frightening. But looking at
these throwback photos of me and my good friend and
guest today, Nicholas Ryan roofs that we have come a
long way from us playing deer pong to now selling
(01:07):
million dollar homes. Nicholas Ryan is in New York and
New Jersey real estate agent with six years of experience.
His specialties include buyer's agent, listing agent, luxury specialists, and staging.
Nicholas is here at Monanita to talk about the fad,
the topic that is so hot right now that everyone
(01:29):
is talking about real estate. I wanted to bring Nick
on here because whenever I talk about real estate within
our generation or any other generation, there's a few stigmas.
It's too expensive, I'll never own a home. How the
heck do I even buy a house. I don't know
who to call. Oh, it's too stressful, I don't make
enough money. The list goes on and on and on
(01:50):
and on. Nick comes through with the knowledge on how
you can buy a home, how it is possible, and
how knowledge is power. He also gives us a view
of how he got into real estate. His mother found
herself having to switch careers and it led her to
real estate. Not only did she get into it, she
has been killing it for years, allowing her son to
(02:12):
become a part of the legacy. Their involvement in real
estate goes beyond just selling. Nicholas shares how he and
his mother are planning to help advance of that being
there folks in home buying and how they are really
out here doing it. But now, if you've been listening
to previous episodes here on Mouanita, then you know, real
(02:33):
estate plays a big role in my life. My fiance
is an investor in real estate, owning multiple properties, and
it has given me a front seat and seeing how
owning multiple properties is more than possible. Real estate has
been hot for years and years and years. Even millionaires
and multibillionaires are involved in investing in real estate. It's
(02:56):
the secret that now everyone is on and it's hotter
than ever. So now we are sharing it with you.
Let's talk about how to get that money. Thane Veto
went on me, Hanton, Nicholas. Wait, is it Nicholas Ryan
or Nicholas Morales? Because I know you as Nick Morales?
(03:20):
But how can you prefer to be introduced? I've adopted
the name Nicholas Ryan, um, but officially it's Nicholas Morales.
You can call me just Nick. Are we on that basis? Well?
As I was, I was informing our listeners in the introduction,
how a little bit of how we know each other,
(03:41):
but just to give our listeners a little more insight,
because I think that's always fun when people hear stories
like that. Um, I was just joking, how Nick and
I go so far away, back to like literally middle school,
high school, days of uh just being teenagers and running
(04:02):
the streets of Rockland County shout out to the glow.
Up is really all the globe is UM. But also
like so great to see friends UM for so many
years doing amazing things. And as I mentioned, Nick is
an incredible real estate UM. And I'm gonna have you
kind of talk about what you do, Nick, and and
and give us the insight of who you are. Okay, UM, Well,
(04:25):
as you said, my name is Nicholas Ryan UM. I'm
currently a realtor associate in New York and New Jersey
UM with Christy's International real Estate UM. And I'm also
a member of the Morales Group, which is a team
within my brokerage UM. The team consists of three agents
including myself. We have our own transaction coordinator, marketing director,
(04:47):
and we service Hudson Valley, Westchester, Bergen County, Orange County
pretty much anywhere we could get to within reason. UM.
We're happy to help and and go to where Hudson,
Ali and Westchester's Topic Everything team. As of two thousand
seventeen to present day, we're part of the Christie's Master
Circle UH and we're certified Luxury Specialists, which pretty much means,
(05:09):
you know, we go to this huge conference where they're
talking about all the new innovations in tech and everything
from not even just real estate, but it's you know,
the latest suits, the cars, the you know, everything we have.
Martha Stewart spoke there one, so I mean it's a
you out here doing big things. Yeah. Real estate isn't
(05:29):
just real estate, you know, it's it's much more than that.
So actually, like in forever, real estate has never just
been about real estate. It's been it's like its own
world in itself. I mean, look at reality TV shows
like Senset Boulevard Um, you know, or like all these
other incredible shows on Netflix. It was that easy. Those
(05:49):
shows are very entertaining. But you don't know how many
clients I'm like, well, why on Love and are listed
They find their house after three showings, like oh, you know,
they don't realize that it's months of you know, we're
narrowing it down to these three houses. So I mean
I love the right. Yeah, I mean you see that,
you know, the actual splat and tears and like the
back and forth emails behind the scenes. Absolutely, and we
(06:13):
both know that because Nick actually um sold me and
my fiance's house that we're currently living in, one of
our investment properties. UM. But I really wanted to bring
you on today, Nick, because I think it's really important
for our community, not only that, but for our generation
to be talking about real estate right now, because it
is such a hot commodity, especially with where the where
(06:38):
the world is now today. UM. I mean me myself
as an actor, I have seen so much um of
the power of owning real estate and what that can
mean in the financial freedom it has been able now
to give me and my fiance after learning so much
about real estate. I mean, you are you are a homeowner?
(07:00):
Congratulations you just got your first home. Yes, thank you.
You know you are a thirty year old homeowner. That
is freaking huge, because I mean, I think that's the
that's the goal, that's the dream. You obviously were born
in a family of real estate. I want to talk
about that, and I want to talk about legacy with
(07:20):
you because you work with your mother or under your mother.
How does that work? What is that connection? My mother
is the team leader. Um, She's the reason I got
into real estate. So she's the leader of the Morales group,
the team that I'm on. And then we both worked
under Christie's, but she's been I would have never even
had an interest in real estate if it wasn't for her.
(07:41):
Growing up, she was a VP at City Bank Corporate. Um.
I've always seen her working so hard. Um. And then
her position, they told her, if you want to keep
your job, you have to be relocate to Jackson, Florida,
or we have to let you off after twenty five
years of work. You there, Wow? Yeah um. And she
(08:03):
never saw it coming. So, I mean, she had me
and my sister, and her biggest thing was, I don't
want to move them to somewhere, but they don't have family.
They're starting completely new, you know. And I mean I
love New York, you know, she loves Yer. Are both
New Yorkers, So we can't see ourselves living anywhere else.
So she decided, I'm gonna start over fresh new and
(08:26):
she got her real estate license and I watched her
like work her butt off year after year after year,
and within three years she tripled her salary at City Bank.
And that just she taught me that it's it's better
to be an entrepreneur and be in charge of your
own salary because you your work ethic determines how much
you can make and there's no cap on that, which
(08:47):
is so important in business, absolutely in any business that
you get involved in. And then for you seeing your mother,
you know obviously slay and kill it, how did you
come up? Because I mean, I I know you personal
really like Nick could literally be like somebody's manager. He
could be. And I've always been like Nick is like
such a great You always had a business knack about you.
(09:09):
You had this entrepreneurship. I feel like you and I
we we both like I vibed with you on that
growing up together. We both were like hustlers. We both
had a mentality that was like you can tell that somebody. Yeah, absolutely,
And for you, where did it switch for real estate?
I know you saw your mom working hard. When were
(09:31):
you like, you know what, I'm I'm gonna work under
my mom's wing and like I'm gonna freaking get into
this and do this. Like was it easy? Did you
try other things? Not at all? I mean having her
as a mentor was a blessing, um because having mentorship
in any sense with real estate is important, whether it's
your mother or you're broker. You just know somebody that's
(09:51):
been in the business. But there's so many ins and
outs of the industry that you don't learn in a class, right.
I had different goals for myself, like what I couldn't
make marketing It wasn't It wasn't what I saw myself,
you know, making after all the student loans I had
and everything, you know, after college, I was like, I
need more than this. Um. So, you know, I started
(10:14):
talking to my mom about real estate. She's like, why
don't you get your license. It's something you could do
on the side at least, um you always know somebody
that's looking for a house or that needs housing. And
then so I got my license. I started working with her,
and I started to realize, like marketing and real estate
go hand in hand. Everything about being a successful real
estate agent is marketing yourself because there's so many of us.
(10:38):
You know, the the fail rate in real estate is
and there's still a realtor. Everybody knows a realtor, at
least one, you know. Um, so I kind of you know.
What drew me in was like being able to develop
my own marketing strategies that set me apart from someone else.
So I was implementing my passion on what I love
with something that I commonetize and making good money off of.
(11:14):
So then you got in the game. You're you're learning
so much. You obviously have like great a mentors around
you working with your mom and learning from her, and
you guys have a good relationship where that's a peaceful,
you know environment, And I mean anyone working with their mother,
(11:36):
you know, it gets I know, yeah, but I love her.
She's your biggest I have to say, working with you
on the house that we bought, and just like I'm
gonna give your mom some prop because your mom's a badass.
Like the minute that mom was looped into the email,
like I mean, nothing was getting over her. No. And also,
(11:58):
I mean, you know, we we had heard from other
people that when we were working with you and your mom,
people knew your mom and like knew her name. And
we're like very aware, like you don't try to put
one over this lady, like you know. So having you
guys in our corner was so helpful, but it also
is a testament to like how you guys work and
how you guys operate, and um, you guys know what
(12:19):
you're freaking doing, which is gonna lead me to our
next question. Because I think that so many of our
listeners and and I just know this in talking with people.
People hear me talk about my fiance's real estate investing
experience and they're like wow, like he must be a millionaire,
Like wow, you really got lucky with that one. You
(12:41):
caught the roy fish. And it's like, actually, it's a
lot easier than you think it is. And I think
most of it is knowledge. How what if somebody came
to you and was like, I want to be a homeowner.
I see, it's in pop supposed to be a homeowner.
I don't I don't understand the world of it. I
(13:04):
don't get it. And especially in our climate today financially,
how is it possible for someone to become a homeowner.
So the first, um, false idea that people have when
it comes to home ownership is that you need tons
of money to own a home. Um. But what people
don't realize is a lot of times your mortgage payment
(13:26):
will be less than what you would pay in rent
for the same home or for a smaller home. Um,
you're just paying someone else's mortgage. That's all you're doing. Um. So,
I mean what I would say to somebody that's you know,
wants to become a homeowner, is still trying to figure
out the ends, and ounce is get your financials in order.
(13:46):
That's important. Good credit gets you so far in life.
It's the difference between a crazy mortgage payment, not even crazy,
but a healthy mortgage payment versus minimal you know. So
as long as you have your financials in order, when
you're taking care of that, you could be owning a
home tomorrow. Yeah. And as far as the interest rates,
(14:08):
they are very high. What are the interest rates now?
Are they six to seven or even higher? Pushing over
seven now? Yeah? So and then we also just came
from a financial situation where we were seeing you know,
obviously three percent interest rates when we got our house.
So we we got in who I mean when my
fiance heard that the interest rate, um, actually for one
(14:31):
oh one? What is an interest rate? For our friends
who might not know what an interest rate is? So,
it's the price you're paying. Um, it's like interests on
a card paying Um, it's the price you're paying added
to your mortgage. So the prices are paying back to
the bank. Right. So now, seeing like where everything is
right now, It's like I was just actually asking my fiance.
I was like, hey, Andre's like, do you should we
(14:53):
not buy a house right now? But his argument was like, actually, no,
it's a great time to buy a house because right
now less people can buy homes. And back then when
it was a three percent rate, you had a create
obviously that crazy influx right where real estate was going
insane and there is nothing available where now there's kind
of like this moderate level of availability. And you know,
(15:17):
he's like, I mean, interest rates always go up and down.
It always goes up and down. But he really was like,
it shouldn't determine when you buy a home. How do
you feel about that? Interest rates are tied to inflation.
So just like inflation goes up, just like we're overpaying
for gas at certain points, it's it's going to be
the same with interest rates, and that's always gonna fluctuate. Um.
(15:40):
But I mean, like I said, when it goes up,
it comes right back down. Since the eighties, I needs oppression.
You see these interest rates increasing, um, and then they
go back down and all those people that were waiting
to buy that home are now rushing to whatever inventories
out there, and that's when people are over paying for homes.
And instead of just being able to refinance. You know, Um,
(16:03):
that's huge, is there's not the home market is it's
stabilizing again because a lot of people are holding off
due to those interest rates. But the people that are
buying right now myself, UM, you know, i may have
a little bit of a higher interest rate, but I'm
not over paying fifty dollars for my home exactly. There's
(16:24):
a balance there, right. And also Fannie May um for
anyone that doesn't know, it's Federal National Mortgage Association. Um.
And they actually got the top honors for the most
accurate economic predictions. Um. They're predicting that by two three,
the interest rates are going to be going back down
to four. So you hear all these people talking about,
(16:46):
oh my god, we're headed towards a huge housing depression.
What am I? You know, I'm never going to own
a home. It's just a lot of she said, she said,
going back and forth. But when you look at the facts,
it's it's never a bad time to buy a home,
all right, you guys, you heard it here from Nicholas Ryan.
He has said it is not a bad time to
buy a home. Get your get your things in order,
get your wallet together, because honestly, I'm seeing it too.
(17:09):
I think that you know, we're living proof of that
as well, and like we're kind of like we were
a part of the three percent interest rate right when
we bought this house, but I feel like we paid
a little, We paid a good chunk over than what
I think. It was crazy. It's crazy because I pride
myself as a realtor most of my business, and this
is my mom taught me that it's our whole team.
(17:30):
Dynamic is always doing right by our clients every step
of the way. If a client walks into a house
that they might love and we see things like water
damage or this or that, we're going to tell them
straight up like this isn't for you, you know, like
or do you have the means to fix this? Do
you have the means to fix that? This house is
over priced. We're always going to make sure our clients
(17:53):
are making the right decisions, and that's why they come
back to us, That's why they refer us absolutely. Yeah.
So trust me when I say it's never a bad
time to buy a home. You just have to find
the right realtor and the right wits. So I'm gonna
(18:19):
switch gears a little bit because I just think it's, um,
I love that, like you came from a home where
like real estate is embraced and obviously real estate right
now is such a fad, Like it's a thing you
have to admit right Like it's on, it's trending, She's on,
she's on she's on Netflix, she's on HBO, she's on everything, honey.
Like even even a play that I recently did called
(18:41):
dream House was about real estate, was about gentrification, was
about huge such a huge part of like life absolutely
and also culturally. And that's the thing that I love
for you, or I love this for you that you
were born like into this real estate kind of household
where your mom you know, went into something new and succeeded,
(19:04):
and now it's like become such a part of your
lives that that's something that I don't think that we
in the Latinic community talk about much. Maybe we're talking
about more of it now, which is you know why
we're here having this conversation. But for you, where do
you see yourself going within this industry? I know that
there are some big plans that you have with with
(19:26):
certain organizations that you're creating and how do we continue
spreading the word to Latino communities because I think that
more people are interested now and becoming owners, they just
don't know how how are you shaping that, you know,
for the Latinic community. So going back to what you
said about being born into this family that embraces real estate,
and I'm Puerto Rican, I come from a Puerto Rican background. Um,
(19:49):
looking at my grandparents specifically, now, my grandparents, they have
prided themselves on, you know, having good financial history. My
grandpa there has the best credit score I have ever
seen in any client anyone, but they've never owned a home.
And when I asked them, why haven't you owned a home?
Like you were the co signer on my loan when
(20:12):
I first got when I first got a car, you
know what I'm saying, like, and they were just like,
we didn't know how it would go about doing it.
We didn't have the tools and the resources and the guidance.
And I think that's what happens a lot of times
with our community is there's a disconnect. Um they're not
provided the tools and the information that they need to
(20:32):
be successful in this industry. More so recently that's changed Hispanics,
the rate of home ownership is it serves in two
thousands UM, which is amazing. I'm so proud of that UM.
And they're also the fastest growing demographic. But the problem is,
like there's so many different and you know this because
you just bought your home. There's so many different parts
(20:54):
involved in this well oiled machine. You have your mortgage lender,
you have your title person, you have you know, your realtor,
your attorney, and a lot of times for Hispanics, they
don't speak the language, so that's that's a huge disconnect
and they feel overwhelmed by these contracts that are they're
only getting in English and they have no one to
(21:15):
help guide them through it. So a mix between you know,
getting involved in real estate myself and like I said,
looking back on the history of my grandparents and seeing
how they had all the means to do it, they
just didn't know how. Um. It kind of fueled, you know,
me and my mother, So we joined the National Association
(21:35):
of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals, we started our own Shoptor
and Rockling, and then from there my mom actually just
formed her own non for profit Latino is a real
Estate is an organization that you know, my mother formed,
and our mission is to educate, assisting guide the Hispanic
community in their journey to work, build, and invest in
real estate. You know. So our main goal is not
(21:57):
only to educate and empower the home buyer and seller um,
but also the professionals that assist them, anyone in the
industry that's assisting them. So we're advocating for policy changes
that will help support sustainable Latino ownership, doing things like
personally visiting these condo associations that aren't accepting these f
h A loans because it has you know, an f
(22:18):
h A stands for just just so just our listeners
can catch up with that if the if they're not
too sure. It's a loan that protects homebuyers against losses,
so it requires a lower down payment, but it's also
backed by the government, so it's a secure loan. But
a lot of people are turned off by this because
of the lower down payments, you know, right, And that's
(22:39):
just also because like I guess, if if if somebody
were to come by with all the money, right, like
I got five you know, I can put full cash
offer for something, and somebody is like, no, I can
only put this down deposit and then I can obviously
pay my mortgage. The cash offer always looks right more
impressive in a sense. Yeah, well, there's always that's real estate.
(23:02):
You know, there's phrase going to be competition. But for
situations that you know that aren't so competitive with the
condo um or with any association that doesn't accept that,
it's they're not even getting the opportunity, you know. And
those places that don't have all the all cash fire,
all that competition, they're not even given the chance to
(23:24):
to take that step right at the end of the day.
And I say this about like I mean I say
this on our on on multiple interviews within other industries
or even within our industry. It's like seeing the change
behind the table first. And for people who have access,
what you're doing is like providing access behind the tables
and having those conversations on how to open those doors
(23:45):
for our community, which is huge and necessary, especially with
the numbers that you just shared, how many more Latinos
have been able to own homes and we can continue
that number to grow and keep us informed. And not
only that, I love that that the organization that your
mother created, that that's bringing Latinos together on the industry
(24:07):
side as well. It's not even bringing Latinos specifically together,
it's bringing the industry together, the industry together, right, help
the Latino community, which is amazing. We have non Latinos
on our board. Um, we have attorneys on our board
that aren't Latino, but they understand the importance of being
able to help the Latino homebarer. Because to be successful
(24:28):
in this industry, you have to be working with Latinos
that were up and coming like the avoid us, you know, right,
and also like we also need to be working with
the people who are up there, which you know, I mean,
let's be real to like most are not Latinos, so
to include them in the conversation. Like we all need
each other, we all need to support each other and
need each other so we can at least grow together
(24:51):
and have that that impact. It's about enabling and empowering
the the top industry professionals to be able to help
those clients, whether it's you know, providing contracts that come
in Spanish so that they could give to their Spanish speakers. Um,
if they need somebody to translate for them, you know,
we're there, We're there, We have Spanish speakers that will
(25:11):
go there and translate, so they're still working with these
professionals that maybe are not bilingual, but those professionals are
able to help. We're putting together resources to do so,
putting together a whole book of resources, business referrals of
people that could help the Latino community and just giving
them the tools that they need. So absolutely so for you,
(25:32):
what do you see, um, what do you see like
your your Nicholas Ryan like end goal. You know you're
working with some top dogs and you're now creating this
organization with your mother and you're involved in real estate
is hot? What do you see for yourself personally? How
do you see yourself growing within the industry of real estate? Um?
This is this goes back to what I said about
(25:52):
no path. There's never a cap with real escy. So
I always see myself doing more that Like the technology
is changing, the methods are changing, the market changes, so
every year I'm learning more, every year I'm growing more.
Where I am now compared to where I was when
I first started is I look at that change and
(26:13):
I'm just like, I have so much left, you know,
I have so much more to accomplish in this industry,
and I love I've always been big on customer service
and helping people. I've always been a people person. So
I feel like I finally found my niche, you know,
because it's it's something that I have always had a
(26:33):
passion for and and and it's something that will always
be in demand in this country. So I feel like
there's no stopping. Yeah, You're like, there's no limit. And
I and also like in within real estate and all
the things that can be connected with now with all
I mean, listen, we might be out here seeing like Netflix,
like Nicholas Ryan on Netflix. Next. Yes, I am going
(26:54):
to be one of the property brothers that will be
the Douglas. I love that. Can I be a client.
I'm gonna be doing my life your seventeenth investment property exactly.
I'll be calling you when I'm ready to get my estate.
There we go at you know what I'm saying. You
know what I'm saying. Maybe I'll think about retiring when
I get my estate. That's like we made it. I
(27:19):
love like seeing a state like you're on property, like
those really like crazy ones. I'm like, God, damn, Nick,
I can't wait for us to be walking through mine
in the future. I love seeing all these crazy houses,
Like I bet it's still motivating, like I could own
this one day, you know, having access, Having access is
all you need to at least envision and see it
manifested and make it come true. Nicholas, this is my
(27:45):
favorite part of the show. These are our steed questions.
Are you ready? What's your favorite advice someone's given you? Um,
a year from now, You're gonna wish she started today? Facts? Okay?
Or two? Is there a celebrity or someone that you
admire that you would love to get a tour of
(28:06):
their house? Um? Yeah, so um actually modeling my current
home after Kim Kardashian and Kanye West home, of course
you are. I just love the sleek, minimalist, like natural.
Why is it embarrassing? It's like literally what's in now?
Like that? Like they are they literally real estate royalty
Like the decorations. Yeah, they just I mean, I don't
(28:29):
know if it's so much them as much as their
designers that they hire, but it's simple and like sophisticated
and and minimal and I just minimal. It's everything I want. Yes,
you know, yeah, I know, I'm with you. I literally
have the same. I mean, I what is um uh
Courtney doesn't she have Does she still have her own
(28:51):
like company like that? Like designer interior design company? Like
is that still doing anything? I don't. I'm not sure
if it's doing anything. Used to exist. They put their
people on a lot. Like those people that design their
homes are doing just fine because everybody wants it. Everybody
wants it. That's it. That's it. They're all getting into
(29:12):
housing because it's like you said, it's trendy right now,
so exactly, and people can make money, you know, sitting
on their foots exactly. That's okay. Number three, What reminds
you of home or makes you feel like home? Grandma's
cooking ash she makes everything. This is hard to say.
(29:33):
I love her son. It's my favorite. It is suncch season.
Everybody on Nicholas If people want to follow you or like,
you know, what's your social media plug? What's the best
way to tap in? So Nicholas Ryan Underscore on Instagram.
My work site is Nicholas Ryan dot online. UM. Instagram
(29:54):
is probably the best way to contact me. I'm also
on Facebook, I'm on all platforms. Is Nicholas Ryan UM
and then Latinos Dot of real Estate on Instagram. Latinos
Dot of real Estate on Instagram. Nicholas, thank you so
much for taking your time today. I know you have
a busy schedule. You gotta go sell those houses, go
to your thing, go pay that mortgage off that new
(30:16):
house you just got. UM and invite me over for
the housewarming. I'll bring some soul there we go. Sounds good.
Thank you so much for having UM. It's a pleasure.
Like I said, I'm a fan of everything that you do,
so to be a part of it is amazing and yeah,
I love you. Monamita is a production of Sono in
(30:37):
partnership with I Heart Radios michaela podcast network. For more
podcasts from I Heart Radio, visit the I Heart Radio app,
Apple podcast, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
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