October 16, 2024 • 35 mins
Join us as Sam Taylor, visionary entrepreneur and owner of Property Experts, takes us on a journey from his beginnings at Cheers Restaurant to his successful transition into the tech world and finally, to his thriving career in real estate. Alongside Steve Reed of Benchmark Home Loans, Sam shares invaluable insights into how adaptability and innovation have been key to his success. Together, we navigate the challenges faced by smaller businesses when big corporations take the helm and the critical role that strong partnerships play in the real estate and lending sectors.
Get ready to uncover the essence of building trust and nurturing relationships in real estate. Our conversation underscores the profound impact personal interactions can have, as we move beyond impersonal communication to forge connections that matter. Sam and Steve share touching anecdotes on viewing clients as families, not just transactions, emphasizing the significant responsibility real estate professionals hold in guiding clients through major life decisions. With a focus on trust, service, and the emotional weight of the profession, this episode promises to leave you with a deeper understanding of the power of relationships in achieving real estate success.
To help you to navigate the home buying and mortgage process, Jonathan & Steve are currently licensed in Tennessee, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and Virginia, contact us today at 423-491-5405 or visit www.jonathanandsteve.com.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:19):
Thank you.
Tons of great things to do andawesome local businesses and on
this show you'll find out whypeople are dying to move to
Northeast Tennessee and on theway, we'll have discussions
about mortgages and we'llinterview people in the real
estate industry.
It's what we do.
This is Benchmark Happenings,brought to you by Benchmark Home
(00:42):
Loans, and now your host,Christine Reed.
Speaker 3 (00:48):
Welcome back everybody to another episode of
Benchmark Happenings.
And you know we always havesuch a focus of the star of our
show, and so, but we have twostars today, but one we
particularly want to highlightis Mr Sam Taylor, owner and
operator of one of the region'sbest real estate establishments,
(01:09):
property Experts.
So, sam, welcome.
Speaker 4 (01:13):
Thank you, Christine.
It's an honor to be here withyou and Steve.
Speaker 3 (01:16):
Well, it's an honor to have you here, and I know
we've tried to get you here onthis podcast for a long time.
So today is the day.
Speaker 4 (01:24):
Well, thank you so much.
Speaker 3 (01:26):
We're excited.
And then also we have SteveReed with us, owner and operator
of Benchmark Home Loans.
So, steve, I'm so glad you wereable to carve out some time to
be with us today.
Speaker 2 (01:38):
Well, thanks for having me, and just to be able
to see Sam sit still for 30minutes is going to be a feat to
witness.
I don't think I've ever seenthat before, but I think we've
got him maybe handcuffed to thechair here for about 30 minutes
unless there's food involved.
Speaker 4 (01:53):
Right right, right yeah, but that's still maybe
I'll sit still for yeah yeah,but just to get sam corralled.
Speaker 2 (01:59):
He's a busy guy he is and uh so he, he's a mover and
a shaker in this industry.
So, uh, to have him in here andbe able to sit and chat with
him and just have a conversationand what success looks like to
him, hey, it's, uh, I'm allabout it, so I can't wait well,
thank you both very much.
Speaker 3 (02:17):
I look forward to it and and you know I think a lot
of it too is, um, you know, it'sjust the relationship that the
two of you have that work, andwe'll dive into that a little
bit more because I think that'sreally interesting for our
listeners to hear of how thisworks, with real estate and
lender looking at thatpartnership.
(02:37):
But, sam, I really want tothank you for sharing your bio
with us.
I was reading that and you havesuch a just a, an amazing
career.
Speaker 4 (02:49):
It's obvious.
It's been interesting, for sure.
Speaker 3 (02:51):
Well, you're a self starter, You're an entrepreneur
and you really and truly embodywhat America really is of being
your own business person.
So tell us just a little bitabout your career, your career
path.
Speaker 4 (03:08):
Okay, Well, I started off in the restaurant business
of all things.
Speaker 3 (03:16):
Cheers.
Speaker 4 (03:16):
Restaurant Okay.
Speaker 3 (03:18):
Remember Cheers.
Speaker 2 (03:19):
Yes, so Johnson City, fine establishment we love
Cheers.
Speaker 4 (03:22):
Right Johnson City got liquor by the drink and
Bennigan's had opened and theyhad a manager.
I was there with my brother andtwo other guys and the manager
at the time came by and he wasbragging about how much money
they were doing, how muchbusiness they were doing it was
(03:43):
packed, yes, money they weredoing.
Speaker 3 (03:43):
How much business they were doing.
Speaker 4 (03:45):
It was packed, yes, and we started talking as the
nights went on.
That business actually evolvedon a beverage nap, okay.
So the next day we were, likeyou know, we kind of laughed
about it, and then it gotserious and we were all broke.
And then it got serious and wewere all broke.
(04:05):
So we started to invite otherpeople to invest and it just
grew from there and so we didthat for about 12 years and we
had an opportunity to sell itand, unfortunately, the company
(04:27):
that did it, they changed ourformula and it took them about
12 to 18 months and they wereclosed.
So that was sad, because wereally loved that.
Speaker 2 (04:38):
That's interesting to know.
I never knew that's the wayCheers got started.
Speaker 4 (04:42):
Yeah, it did Wow.
Speaker 2 (04:44):
Just on a napkin and over a drink it did.
Speaker 3 (04:47):
And I've heard stories similar to this Sam of
large companies and you meetwith these owners and sometimes
some of their greatest ideas.
They were sitting around on abeverage napkin.
Speaker 4 (05:02):
It was.
Speaker 3 (05:03):
It was, it was crazy.
Speaker 2 (05:05):
Well, not only that.
I've heard of a lot of theselarger companies and I've
experienced this too.
The bank bought my company andran it in the ground.
Pretty much.
It's like, when they get tothis corporate mentality that
they can't really.
They're not as nimble as anentrepreneur like you that can
make quick decisions, gooddecisions.
Speaker 3 (05:23):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (05:24):
That's for the best of the company.
They'll run these companies inthe ground.
So you had what 12 to 18 monthsyou said before it was closed.
Amazing, after 12 years.
Speaker 4 (05:33):
Right, wow, right, so it was interesting.
So towards the end of thatthere was a computer chain.
It was called Computerland.
Remember that.
Okay, From years ago and um, Ihad a computer background in
college and, um, I enjoyed itand so they asked me if they
(05:55):
liked our marketing.
It was just different and theywanted to get out of that
stuffiness.
So they started doing thatpart-time and then it grew to
full-time after we sold chairsand that was a great springboard
going forward for me.
So I really enjoyed that andlater on I opened up my own
(06:22):
technical firm called ComputerConnection and did that for 10
years.
There's like a 10-year shelflife for me.
Speaker 3 (06:34):
I just have a lot of interest I guess.
Speaker 2 (06:36):
About every 10 to 12 years.
It's time to refresh, yeah.
Speaker 4 (06:41):
But I went to work for Bob Garrett and I managed.
I was the sales manager forpoint 24 and Harmony Ridge and
Kingsport and which is when youand I met it was here next door
at point 24.
So I met Steve, and oh seven,and oh seven, oh eight is when
(07:04):
it all fell apart.
Speaker 3 (07:05):
It fell apart.
Yeah, I remember.
Speaker 4 (07:07):
So I was just trying to eke out a living and so, by
the grace of God, it really was.
I had people that believed inme, and so we offered and to
this day we still do real estateremodeling and interior design
(07:30):
and put together a crew in 07and 08.
They were actually two of ourbest years and at that point,
christine, to be honest with you, I was just trying to eke out a
living.
Speaker 3 (07:43):
Sure At all, yeah At that point.
Speaker 4 (07:45):
Christine, to be honest with you, I was just
trying to eke out a living SureAt all.
Yeah, and the business grew andwe eventually did a showroom.
But to this, day that has beenvery helpful in our business
being able to offer remodelingservices.
A lot of times clients willwalk into a room or walk into a
house and they just can't see it.
Speaker 3 (08:07):
Right.
Speaker 4 (08:08):
And if we make some changes to it, it allows them.
So we have an interior designeron staff and she's incredible,
and we've got a good group ofpeople that do the construction,
yeah, and so that's kind ofthat's the story of us and going
on year well, since 07.
Speaker 2 (08:31):
Well, we know your beautiful wife Donna is the
reason for your success.
Oh, absolutely.
I don't think it would be hereif it's not for her.
Speaker 4 (08:38):
That's right.
Oh yeah, talk about marrying up.
And you too, buddy, I'm tellingyou, christine is phenomenal.
Speaker 2 (08:48):
What a great team y'all have got.
I think we both married up.
Speaker 4 (08:50):
We certainly did.
We certainly did no complaintsand we love Donna, married 33
years.
Speaker 3 (08:56):
Congratulations.
Speaker 4 (08:57):
Thank you.
Speaker 3 (08:58):
Two beautiful daughters and your little
granddaughter.
What's her name?
Speaker 4 (09:02):
Her name's Eliana, and how old?
Speaker 3 (09:04):
is she now?
Speaker 4 (09:05):
So she just turned two.
She's just really.
You have no idea how much youhave so much fun with grandkids
until you have them, yes, I meansuch a blessing.
Speaker 3 (09:16):
They're the apple of your eye.
They sure are Right.
Oh yeah, Girls.
Speaker 4 (09:21):
So I grew up with a bunch of guys.
I do have a sister, but I hadstepbrothers and a real brother.
And so honestly I prayed forgirls, and God gave me that.
Speaker 3 (09:34):
And I love the girls.
Speaker 4 (09:36):
And I well.
Thank you very much.
I'm very proud of them.
I'm a true bad girls.
I wanted that father daughterrelationship, but I'm very proud
of girls.
You know I wanted thatfather-daughter relationship,
but I'm very proud of both ofthem so much I prayed for boys.
Speaker 2 (09:48):
Sam, I prayed for boys and God gave me Brittany
what he blessed you for sure hewas going to get my attention.
Yeah, and he continues to dothat with Brittany.
Speaker 3 (10:01):
She's incredible, she's got such a great person.
Speaker 2 (10:05):
Both your daughters are beautiful and sweet girls.
You guys have done a great job.
It's all about family.
Speaker 3 (10:11):
It really is, and you truly are a family man.
You and Donna and yourrelationship and you guys are
truly all about family.
Speaker 4 (10:19):
That's your number one At the end of the day.
That's what it's all about itreally is.
Speaker 2 (10:24):
It is that's why we get up and do what we do, right
it is.
It is your family and yourclose friends.
Speaker 4 (10:31):
That kind of sums it all up right there.
I really have enjoyed what I do.
Speaker 3 (10:38):
That's amazing.
Speaker 4 (10:41):
I love helping people and it's great.
It's very rewarding.
Speaker 3 (10:46):
Yeah.
So, sam, what are a few of yourgoals or must, like
non-negotiables ways that youserve your clients every day?
I mean, we just talked abouthow much you love what you do,
and it's obvious.
Speaker 4 (10:59):
Oh thanks.
Speaker 3 (11:00):
You know they always say if you do what you love, you
never work a day in your life.
Speaker 4 (11:04):
That's true.
Speaker 3 (11:04):
So what are some of those goals of how you serve
your clients and thenon-negotiables?
Speaker 4 (11:12):
Well, I want the experience to be as seamless and
as stress-free as possible forthe client.
I mean buying a house.
That's one of the largestpurchases that a person can make
and they've got to feel goodabout that, and so we get the
(11:34):
anxiety of it.
I had a realtor, a verysuccessful realtor, and still is
he made a comment to me sayingall this is going to go online.
Is he made a comment to mesaying all this is going to go
online, and argued with him thenand I've seen him recently and
I've mentioned that to him.
There's no way.
I mean the online, I'mcertainly I'm sure you could do
(11:55):
it, but your home, when you'reselling your home or when you're
looking for a home, I meanthat's huge, so personal.
It is personal and it's all thatthat comes with it, right?
I mean, you get the client'sanxiety, the stress and you
(12:16):
really my job I try to relievethat stress as much as possible.
My job I try to relieve thatstress as much as possible.
So, along the way, you want tomake sure that, if at all
possible, you can help themchoose the right lender, the
right home inspector.
We make suggestions.
We can't tell them what to do.
(12:38):
We've had clients that havecome in and they want to go
through Rocket Mortgage or someonline mortgage place.
And I've been down that road.
So actually I won't do that nowbecause it just never turns out
(12:59):
good At any given time.
For instance, christine, I cancall into this office and ask
what the status is of a mortgageprocess.
Speaker 3 (13:11):
That's valuable.
Speaker 2 (13:13):
He's even gotten me on the phone a couple of times.
Speaker 4 (13:16):
Well, I've got to tell you.
I've got to tell you.
On Saturdays, sundays atnighttime, I've picked up the
phone.
You know, I'm sure you'reprobably having dinner or you're
on the lake and Steve alwayspicks up the phone.
And Jonathan, and Jonathan,what a great guy he is too.
(13:38):
I mean he really smart as awhip.
Speaker 1 (13:43):
Yes, very nice guy.
Speaker 3 (13:44):
Yeah, yeah, we're proud of jonathan.
Yeah, absolutely, he's done agreat job, and but thank you for
saying that oh, my goodness, Imean proud of the team here.
Speaker 4 (13:53):
Yeah, it's, it's phenomenal and it starts from
the top.
Speaker 3 (13:57):
It's you know, yeah, you feel it.
It's all from the, the and itdefinitely trickles down Well
it's a God thing.
Speaker 4 (14:05):
It really is.
It really is, and so if you putpeople in place that have got
common beliefs, that you do andvalues, then that's a good thing
.
Speaker 3 (14:19):
And it works well.
Speaker 4 (14:21):
I mean you can't always make it that way, I mean
people, but you know there areexceptions, but for the most
part everybody here at benchmarkdoes a really good job.
Yeah, Communication is critical.
Thank you, it really is.
Speaker 3 (14:36):
It is critical and it's extremely difficult these
days.
It is like more now than ever,but having that personal touch,
being able to talk to someactual human actually on the
phone versus a robot voice andpushing multiple numbers to get
to something, and then you neverreally get an answer.
(14:58):
It's very frustrating.
And these larger companiesnobody works after five o'clock,
nobody does nobody on theweekend, um, and you know what,
and being in real estate, that's.
That's a big part of when you'rebusiest weekends, holidays,
people want to come out and seehomes absolutely you're.
Speaker 4 (15:16):
I sold a house not last year but the year before on
Christmas Eve.
Yeah, I mean, I've gotten upfrom Thanksgiving table after we
had Thanksgiving and showedhouses that day and I really
wanted to go sleep on the couchafter a big Thanksgiving dinner.
Speaker 3 (15:32):
I draw that turkey yeah that's turkey.
Speaker 2 (15:35):
One thing I'll say about that access.
I don't grant that access toeverybody.
I mean there's very few people.
I answer the phone for on theweekends, and that's only with
close partners.
Most in the real estatecommunity cannot get me on the
weekends, so I don't open thatdoor to everybody.
But if it's a trusted partnerlike Sam that we work together a
(15:58):
lot, he's always looking outfor me, I always look out for
him and so he can always get meon the weekends.
But like I don't even goadvertise that even to new
realtors, I'm trying to gettheir business.
I'm like sure.
Speaker 3 (16:11):
So so that's something that well, you got to
have a lot.
Speaker 2 (16:13):
Well, that's something that happens through a
close partnership, like we'retalking about today, is that
develops over time and youdevelop that trust.
And you know, sometimes when myphone's ringing, I'm thinking
in my mind well, unless this isone of about three people, I'm
not answering the phone.
So you know, and Sam's one ofthose three people.
Speaker 4 (16:35):
Well, thank you, Steve.
Speaker 2 (16:36):
But I mean, that's just the way it works and to me
that's what today we today we'retalking about the benefits of
working close in a partnership.
And that's one of the biggestbenefits is you're not hung out
to dry.
You can always get somebody.
But now there's a lot of realestate agents and there's great
agents that are successful doingthis, but they want to pass
business out all over town orthey just go to whoever their
(16:59):
clients already using.
They don't try to work with ayou know a trusted lender, and
they don't ever build thosekinds of partnerships, so I
think they have a little bitmore limited success by not
doing that and uh you know Idon't want to build that with
everybody.
I mean it's only people thatshare my core beliefs, people
that I, you know, care about andwant to have dinner with and
(17:21):
hang out with, not just abusiness relationship.
So that's kind of from alender's standpoint.
We don't answer the phone forjust anybody on weekends.
Speaker 4 (17:31):
It's all about relationships.
Exactly Everything's aboutrelationships.
Speaker 2 (17:35):
It really is.
Speaker 4 (17:36):
It's the same thing.
I've got an issue with peopletexting.
I've got an issue with the withpeople texting.
Texting, in my opinion was Imean a sentence or two, but
sometimes you get like pagespick up the phone and call and
you can't.
You're hearing your voice,you're not hearing the client's
voice or or whoever is textingyou.
(17:59):
So I mean, pick up the phoneand and and find out what's
going on.
But that's an honor.
I appreciate you saying that Ido that, though.
Speaker 2 (18:10):
Like speaking of the texting, I'm glad you brought
that up, because a lot of themaybe not even newer agents, but
agents that I don't work with alot they'll.
They'll start texting me and Ijust do this to drive them crazy
.
But I'll pick up the phone andcall them and I'll say, hey, I
just got your text.
It's easier to have anear-to-ear conversation.
Let's just talk this throughand we can have a better
(18:31):
conversation in three minutes.
Yeah, a lot of times they dobecause they're probably
thinking who the heck is thiscalling me?
They don't realize it's theperson they just texted.
But we can talk somethingthrough in three minutes.
It might have taken us, youknow, 10 texts back and forth to
get to the bottom of, so a lotof times a phone call really.
It builds a relationship, uhand, and I want to do that, and
(18:53):
it also saves time.
A lot of times we think text isquicker but a lot of times it's
really or multiple emails.
Speaker 4 (19:00):
if you see, I do the same.
Speaker 3 (19:03):
It's easier just to pick up the phone.
Speaker 4 (19:04):
I'm overwhelmed on emails I miss.
I feel like I need to do abetter job, but I'm out selling
or with a client and you comeback to your laptop or whatever
and you've got 100 emails.
I mean, it's easy to miss anemail.
It really is, it's just pick upthe phone emails.
Speaker 3 (19:22):
I mean, it's easy to miss an email.
Speaker 4 (19:24):
It really is.
It's just pick up the phonecall.
I'm going to go back to Steve.
He's been very modest.
Steve and Jonathan, I've nevernot called and one of them have
not picked up.
I mean, and that's phenomenaland what an incredible support
staff you've got.
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (19:41):
And same for you.
I mean we love Pam, loveworking with her, and Donna,
when we've worked with her, Imean you know your team over
there at Property Experts.
Speaker 4 (19:50):
So Pam is my work wife.
Speaker 2 (19:52):
Yeah, and then I go home to a wife.
Speaker 3 (19:54):
Yeah, and you've got two daughters.
Speaker 4 (19:56):
I spend more time with Pam than I do.
Speaker 2 (20:00):
Yes, donna, I honestly do, yes, donna, I
honestly do yeah, we need tohang out more as guys so we can
just have the testosteroneflowing.
Speaker 3 (20:07):
Well, that's fine, because so Pam Donna and I will
go shopping.
That retail therapy is whatscares me.
Maybe we don't need to hang out.
Speaker 2 (20:16):
We don't have any money.
Speaker 3 (20:18):
We'll let you hang out all you want guys.
Speaker 4 (20:21):
You guys go and have fun.
Speaker 3 (20:24):
So, steve, you sort of touched on this about you
know Sam.
What do you see that'sdifferent about Sam and the way
he serves his clients?
Speaker 2 (20:33):
So there's a lot that I mean.
Let's just talk about the toptwo or three and there's a big
distinction.
There's over 3,000 real estateagents in the Tri-Cities and I
big distinction there's probably.
There's over 3000 real estateagents in the tri cities and I
can see that's unbelievable, tosay that out loud, but I can see
some distinctions with Sam, andI mean just personally.
(20:54):
What I like the most thatmatches up really well with our
values here and our core valuesand our beliefs, is that he
cares about clients and andpeople sense that, so they trust
him and so I love that.
You know we don't we're nottrying to pawn off a house on
somebody or a loan on someone.
It's always about what's theirbest interest, and so I love
(21:17):
that I love Dylan from theposition of of trust, and I've
even told clients before if youdon't trust me, then either ask
me the questions and maybe youstill won't trust me, or you
probably need to go somewhereelse, because it's not any fun
to do business with clients whodon't trust you because it is a
huge transaction, so they haveto trust us.
Speaker 4 (21:37):
I've never heard that .
I've never had anybody say that.
Speaker 2 (21:40):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (21:40):
Everything I've ever heard from clients has been
extremely complimentary.
Speaker 2 (21:44):
Yeah, but we have had those clients, maybe not from
you, well, not everybody's goingto love you, right?
Speaker 4 (21:48):
Yeah, I mean, well, they love you.
Speaker 2 (21:50):
Christine, yeah, they may love her, but the other?
Speaker 4 (21:53):
thing, are you going to sing for us today?
Speaker 2 (21:56):
You want me to sing we can close it out instead of
the commercial.
So I call her Patsy because shesings a mean version of crazy.
Speaker 4 (22:06):
She does Phenomenal yeah.
Speaker 2 (22:09):
So one other thing I want to get in here before we
move on, though, is about Samand how he kind of distinguishes
himself from other agencies.
Just not only the trust, but heis a mover and a shaker.
And when I say that, I meanthat to the fullest degree.
(22:29):
He does not wait on somethingto happen, he goes out there and
makes it happen.
So like when I've got clientsthat are looking for a house
that I need to send someone to.
You know, sam, the next thingyou know they're under contract.
I mean he will find a house.
He knows who's going to selltheir house six months from now.
He knows who's going to sell itthree months.
(22:51):
A lot of these properties won'teven be on the market.
You know, when we sold ourhouse, you know Sam called me
before we even put it on themarket and said, hey, you ever
thought about selling your house?
And I was like, well, I can'tbelieve.
You called and said that and sohe ended up selling our house.
And to me that's just huge.
You know someone that goes outand makes it happen, don't wait
(23:11):
on the market to come to them.
So I love that.
So I love the trust, I love thecaring and I love the make it
happen.
I mean, how could you?
Speaker 4 (23:18):
get better than that.
Thank you so much I mean it'sall true.
Speaker 2 (23:22):
I mean it's from the heart and it's true.
Speaker 4 (23:24):
So very kind and what an honor it was to sell your
parents' house Truly.
Speaker 3 (23:31):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (23:31):
I mean, they're just fantastic folks.
Speaker 3 (23:33):
Yeah, yes, absolutely , and they love you too.
Speaker 4 (23:38):
Now your mom, now she can strike a bargain on, oh,
now on everything that's wheresteve learned his negotiation
skills.
Absolutely, I'm telling you,she will listen yeah, she'll.
Yeah, it's like a garage saletimes 10 with her.
Speaker 3 (23:54):
She's incredible though you know what I'd love to
see?
I'd love to put her and scottlandy together and see who could
get the best deal.
Absolutely I don't know whowould win on that one.
Speaker 4 (24:06):
Yeah, I'll tell you how funny.
You've got a wonderful family,steve, yes, at least.
Speaker 3 (24:13):
So, Sam, what do you love about your job?
Speaker 4 (24:16):
I love the people, christine, I really do.
Speaker 3 (24:20):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (24:21):
It is so personal with me I you can't go through
this experience and not get intothe details of their life.
I mean they have to share thisstuff with you, some details,
and I'm a caring person and, inorder to serve them better, tell
(24:46):
me what your needs are, whatyour future plans are.
I mean some, just don't.
I mean some people.
They want to buy a house or anew home, not a house, a home
and they're looking ahead.
They may want to.
That might be their age andplace home.
This might be a short term andthey may want to move to the
(25:08):
beach in a couple of years.
Speaker 3 (25:10):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (25:11):
So all those type of things factor in.
There may be, you know, adacompliances, they may have a
handicapped child and we've gotto look for properties like that
.
I mean, that's you know.
But it's really wonderful whenyou can click with a client and
(25:32):
I've had some incredible clientsthat are friends forever, you
know.
If they called, well, it's ahigh calling, it's really a high
calling.
Speaker 2 (25:41):
I used to hear that a lot and I thought that sounded
so cliche.
And then I started reallythinking about that and it is
most folks' biggest investment.
So they're putting out moremoney for this transaction than
anything else.
Not even like to call it atransaction, because I see them
as families and we used to.
We used to track loans how manyloans do we close last month?
(26:04):
Well, several years ago westopped doing that.
We say how many families did weserve?
Speaker 4 (26:09):
last month, absolutely.
Speaker 2 (26:10):
that's why it's all, and so it is a high calling.
You've got a lot of power inyour hands to, you know, steer
someone in the wrong directionor the right direction,
absolutely.
So as I've gotten older I'vetaken it a lot more serious than
when I was young and dumb.
You know it was like I stillwanted to help people but didn't
(26:30):
realize the.
You know the gravity of thesituation.
Speaker 3 (26:33):
You know well the significance and the impact you
make on that family and theimpact they make on your life as
well in that relationship.
Speaker 4 (26:42):
Just like you said, sam, and to go a little bit
further.
It blows my mind, christine,that people when they, when it's
time to sell their house, theywill say, oh, I'm giving it to a
friend, a good friend, thatjust getting into the business,
I mean you are putting yourlargest asset, or one of your
(27:04):
largest assets for somebodythat's unskilled I mean there's
so much involved in it, thenegotiations it's almost like
saying you know, hey, my cousinover here.
Speaker 2 (27:15):
he's going to medical school, so I'm going to let him
do this surgery because heneeds the money, I mean it's
scary.
You know someone that has notnearly the knowledge or whatever
.
You should never select alender or a real estate agent
based on it's a family and Iknow there's certain pressures
that come with that.
But I would certainly interviewthem and find out, absolutely,
(27:41):
absolutely.
Speaker 3 (27:42):
Yeah, and it's yeah, it's very important.
So what are some of thechallenges right now that you're
seeing Sam in the real estateindustry?
Speaker 4 (27:53):
That's a big question .
I know that's a big question.
I mean.
What we're seeing is people areso nervous about the economy
and the nation.
We're at a critical point andI'm not going to go down a
political path.
It's a shame that you can'ttalk, that you know you can't
(28:15):
have a discussion without peoplebeing upset.
They're very.
This is a very important time.
Speaker 3 (28:25):
It really is.
Speaker 4 (28:26):
In our country and you know they've announced down
the road that there may be arate cut and I think a lot of
people are on the sidelineswaiting for that.
There's there's there's severalthings going on in the market
right now.
Speaker 3 (28:43):
Yeah, it is challenging I know, steve, just
in the mortgage industry, howchallenging you know and we
always go back to well, yousurvived 2008.
You survived lots of ups anddowns, but this market in
particular is more difficultthan 2008.
Speaker 2 (29:03):
Well, it's 40 years I've been doing it almost 40
years, so it's the toughestmarket I've ever seen, and
people are nervous, like you say, sam, and they're afraid to
make a decision.
They're's the.
It's the toughest market I'veever seen, and people are
nervous, like you say, sam, andthey're afraid to make a
decision.
They're on the fence.
So the last thing they need tobe doing is watching the news,
because there's so much fakenews out there.
Speaker 4 (29:21):
And the.
Speaker 2 (29:21):
New York times just came out with an article talking
about how it was cheaper torent than buy.
And they had all the numbers andthey compared buying like a
$500,000 house to $2,200 a monthin New York.
Well, where can you even findanything for $2,200 a month in
New York?
And they didn't even putanything about rates going up
(29:46):
over the years.
They left out so much in thisarticle.
They were $130,000 off thewrong way.
They said it was like $120,000cheaper to rent over a 10-year
period.
It was actually $130,000cheaper to buy over a five-year
period.
So, doing this every day, Iknow the numbers to put into a
(30:06):
calculator right, and they wereso blatantly off.
So that is a huge.
I'm glad you brought that up,because that's a huge challenge
is when our clients hear this.
We have to be the voice ofreason and be, able to give them
factual information to, to theyou know kind of debunk some of
these articles.
I started to say rumors.
(30:27):
It's not even a rumor, it was anewspaper article in the New
York times, the largestnewspaper in the Us.
So that is a huge challenge.
That people are scared anyway,so they don't need much to keep
them on the fence right, so keepthem paralyzed from doing
nothing.
So when they see stuff likethis, uh, it makes their job a
(30:47):
challenge.
Speaker 4 (30:48):
So 7% interest rate, yes, it's higher than what it
was several years ago when itwas three, and that's an issue
that a lot of sellers have.
They don't want to get out of alow interest.
Speaker 3 (31:07):
But I remember my first house it was 16% interest.
Speaker 4 (31:11):
I mean you got to put it in the thing about real
estate you're going to haveinterest rates that come up and
down, but consistently.
As an investment, real estateis by far better and safer than
any other investment that youcan make.
So if you choose the rightlender, the right agent, the
(31:35):
right location, years down theroad you know you can turn
around and sell it and make alot of money.
It just blows my mind what realestate prices they've gotten to
.
Speaker 2 (31:47):
Yeah, what a great investment.
Speaker 4 (31:49):
It is that same house that first that first house
that that Donna and I bought it.
I think we bought it for 60 andit just now sold for almost 400
.
Yeah, we wish you would.
So, yeah, Right.
Speaker 2 (32:01):
We, we just really look at ourselves, though, in
your position and my position asguides.
We, we're not the stars of theshow, it's our clients, you know
, it's all about them, and we'rejust guiding them to the best
house, to the best loan.
And we tell our clients now andthis is probably getting old
for some of them to hear, butwe're like if they're on the
fence we say, you know, marrythe house, but date the rate,
(32:25):
because the rate's somethingthat can change over time.
And I tell clients you're goingto be in this rate, this 7%
rate or 6.5%, whatever it istoday it probably changed five
times since we've been havingthis podcast but get into the
house.
You're going to have thehighest house payments you're
probably ever going to have.
(32:45):
It's going to be going down fromhere and you're going to be
making more money.
You're going to be able torefinance in probably 12 to 24
months.
So, if you look at that, whywait on home prices to go up?
Because I feel like and I'venever seen it in my lifetime
like this I feel like there's somuch pent up demand to buy a
house.
If rates go down a percent,that's really going to spur on a
(33:07):
lot of buying and there's goingto be which is going to drive
up the prices even more.
So go ahead and lock in on aprice, get a rate that maybe is
not so attractive right now, butthen the future looks bright
for you to refinance and havelower payments.
Speaker 3 (33:23):
Absolutely, and it's the best, safest way to build
wealth.
Speaker 4 (33:26):
It is.
Speaker 3 (33:27):
And it still is the American dream.
Speaker 4 (33:28):
It is.
Speaker 3 (33:30):
If we could tell younger people invest, buy your
home, don't wait.
So, guys, this has been.
I think we could just go on.
It's been such a great, greattime together.
Speaker 4 (33:45):
Well, thank you, christine very much for inviting
.
And, Steve, thank you sir.
Speaker 3 (33:49):
Well, I didn't invite you, it was actually her that
invited you but, I'm glad youcame yeah I knew I was gonna get
sam on this podcast she's beentalking about, uh well, thank
you so much she's like we got toget sam on a podcast I know.
Seriously, I'm glad you're hereand thank you appreciate your
time and I appreciate you sitstill for 30 minutes thank you,
(34:09):
sam.
Thank you Christine, hopeyou'll come back.
Absolutely.
With that we'll conclude theshow and we'll have a brief uh
outro.
Speaker 4 (34:17):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (34:19):
This has been benchmark happenings brought to
you by Jonathan Tipton and SteveReed from benchmark home loans.
Jonathan and Steve areresidential mortgage lenders.
They do home loans in NortheastTennessee and they're not only
licensed in Tennessee butFlorida, georgia, south Carolina
and Virginia.
We hope you've enjoyed the show.
(34:40):
If you did make sure to likerate and review.
Our passion is NortheastTennessee, so if you have
questions about mortgages, callus at 423-491-5405.
And the website iswwwJonathanAndStevecom.
Thanks for being with us andwe'll see you next time on
(35:02):
Benchmark Happenings.
Thank you.
Tons of great things to do andawesome local businesses and on
this show you'll find out whypeople are dying to move to
Northeast Tennessee and on theway, we'll have discussions
about mortgages and we'llinterview people in the real
estate industry.
It's what we do.
This is Benchmark Happenings,brought to you by Benchmark Home
(00:42):
Loans, and now your host,Christine Reed.
Speaker 3 (00:48):
Welcome back everybody to another episode of
Benchmark Happenings.
And you know we always havesuch a focus of the star of our
show, and so, but we have twostars today, but one we
particularly want to highlightis Mr Sam Taylor, owner and
operator of one of the region'sbest real estate establishments,
(01:09):
property Experts.
So, sam, welcome.
Speaker 4 (01:13):
Thank you, Christine.
It's an honor to be here withyou and Steve.
Speaker 3 (01:16):
Well, it's an honor to have you here, and I know
we've tried to get you here onthis podcast for a long time.
So today is the day.
Speaker 4 (01:24):
Well, thank you so much.
Speaker 3 (01:26):
We're excited.
And then also we have SteveReed with us, owner and operator
of Benchmark Home Loans.
So, steve, I'm so glad you wereable to carve out some time to
be with us today.
Speaker 2 (01:38):
Well, thanks for having me, and just to be able
to see Sam sit still for 30minutes is going to be a feat to
witness.
I don't think I've ever seenthat before, but I think we've
got him maybe handcuffed to thechair here for about 30 minutes
unless there's food involved.
Speaker 4 (01:53):
Right right, right yeah, but that's still maybe
I'll sit still for yeah yeah,but just to get sam corralled.
Speaker 2 (01:59):
He's a busy guy he is and uh so he, he's a mover and
a shaker in this industry.
So, uh, to have him in here andbe able to sit and chat with
him and just have a conversationand what success looks like to
him, hey, it's, uh, I'm allabout it, so I can't wait well,
thank you both very much.
Speaker 3 (02:17):
I look forward to it and and you know I think a lot
of it too is, um, you know, it'sjust the relationship that the
two of you have that work, andwe'll dive into that a little
bit more because I think that'sreally interesting for our
listeners to hear of how thisworks, with real estate and
lender looking at thatpartnership.
(02:37):
But, sam, I really want tothank you for sharing your bio
with us.
I was reading that and you havesuch a just a, an amazing
career.
Speaker 4 (02:49):
It's obvious.
It's been interesting, for sure.
Speaker 3 (02:51):
Well, you're a self starter, You're an entrepreneur
and you really and truly embodywhat America really is of being
your own business person.
So tell us just a little bitabout your career, your career
path.
Speaker 4 (03:08):
Okay, Well, I started off in the restaurant business
of all things.
Speaker 3 (03:16):
Cheers.
Speaker 4 (03:16):
Restaurant Okay.
Speaker 3 (03:18):
Remember Cheers.
Speaker 2 (03:19):
Yes, so Johnson City, fine establishment we love
Cheers.
Speaker 4 (03:22):
Right Johnson City got liquor by the drink and
Bennigan's had opened and theyhad a manager.
I was there with my brother andtwo other guys and the manager
at the time came by and he wasbragging about how much money
they were doing, how muchbusiness they were doing it was
(03:43):
packed, yes, money they weredoing.
Speaker 3 (03:43):
How much business they were doing.
Speaker 4 (03:45):
It was packed, yes, and we started talking as the
nights went on.
That business actually evolvedon a beverage nap, okay.
So the next day we were, likeyou know, we kind of laughed
about it, and then it gotserious and we were all broke.
And then it got serious and wewere all broke.
(04:05):
So we started to invite otherpeople to invest and it just
grew from there and so we didthat for about 12 years and we
had an opportunity to sell itand, unfortunately, the company
(04:27):
that did it, they changed ourformula and it took them about
12 to 18 months and they wereclosed.
So that was sad, because wereally loved that.
Speaker 2 (04:38):
That's interesting to know.
I never knew that's the wayCheers got started.
Speaker 4 (04:42):
Yeah, it did Wow.
Speaker 2 (04:44):
Just on a napkin and over a drink it did.
Speaker 3 (04:47):
And I've heard stories similar to this Sam of
large companies and you meetwith these owners and sometimes
some of their greatest ideas.
They were sitting around on abeverage napkin.
Speaker 4 (05:02):
It was.
Speaker 3 (05:03):
It was, it was crazy.
Speaker 2 (05:05):
Well, not only that.
I've heard of a lot of theselarger companies and I've
experienced this too.
The bank bought my company andran it in the ground.
Pretty much.
It's like, when they get tothis corporate mentality that
they can't really.
They're not as nimble as anentrepreneur like you that can
make quick decisions, gooddecisions.
Speaker 3 (05:23):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (05:24):
That's for the best of the company.
They'll run these companies inthe ground.
So you had what 12 to 18 monthsyou said before it was closed.
Amazing, after 12 years.
Speaker 4 (05:33):
Right, wow, right, so it was interesting.
So towards the end of thatthere was a computer chain.
It was called Computerland.
Remember that.
Okay, From years ago and um, Ihad a computer background in
college and, um, I enjoyed itand so they asked me if they
(05:55):
liked our marketing.
It was just different and theywanted to get out of that
stuffiness.
So they started doing thatpart-time and then it grew to
full-time after we sold chairsand that was a great springboard
going forward for me.
So I really enjoyed that andlater on I opened up my own
(06:22):
technical firm called ComputerConnection and did that for 10
years.
There's like a 10-year shelflife for me.
Speaker 3 (06:34):
I just have a lot of interest I guess.
Speaker 2 (06:36):
About every 10 to 12 years.
It's time to refresh, yeah.
Speaker 4 (06:41):
But I went to work for Bob Garrett and I managed.
I was the sales manager forpoint 24 and Harmony Ridge and
Kingsport and which is when youand I met it was here next door
at point 24.
So I met Steve, and oh seven,and oh seven, oh eight is when
(07:04):
it all fell apart.
Speaker 3 (07:05):
It fell apart.
Yeah, I remember.
Speaker 4 (07:07):
So I was just trying to eke out a living and so, by
the grace of God, it really was.
I had people that believed inme, and so we offered and to
this day we still do real estateremodeling and interior design
(07:30):
and put together a crew in 07and 08.
They were actually two of ourbest years and at that point,
christine, to be honest with you, I was just trying to eke out a
living.
Speaker 3 (07:43):
Sure At all, yeah At that point.
Speaker 4 (07:45):
Christine, to be honest with you, I was just
trying to eke out a living SureAt all.
Yeah, and the business grew andwe eventually did a showroom.
But to this, day that has beenvery helpful in our business
being able to offer remodelingservices.
A lot of times clients willwalk into a room or walk into a
house and they just can't see it.
Speaker 3 (08:07):
Right.
Speaker 4 (08:08):
And if we make some changes to it, it allows them.
So we have an interior designeron staff and she's incredible,
and we've got a good group ofpeople that do the construction,
yeah, and so that's kind ofthat's the story of us and going
on year well, since 07.
Speaker 2 (08:31):
Well, we know your beautiful wife Donna is the
reason for your success.
Oh, absolutely.
I don't think it would be hereif it's not for her.
Speaker 4 (08:38):
That's right.
Oh yeah, talk about marrying up.
And you too, buddy, I'm tellingyou, christine is phenomenal.
Speaker 2 (08:48):
What a great team y'all have got.
I think we both married up.
Speaker 4 (08:50):
We certainly did.
We certainly did no complaintsand we love Donna, married 33
years.
Speaker 3 (08:56):
Congratulations.
Speaker 4 (08:57):
Thank you.
Speaker 3 (08:58):
Two beautiful daughters and your little
granddaughter.
What's her name?
Speaker 4 (09:02):
Her name's Eliana, and how old?
Speaker 3 (09:04):
is she now?
Speaker 4 (09:05):
So she just turned two.
She's just really.
You have no idea how much youhave so much fun with grandkids
until you have them, yes, I meansuch a blessing.
Speaker 3 (09:16):
They're the apple of your eye.
They sure are Right.
Oh yeah, Girls.
Speaker 4 (09:21):
So I grew up with a bunch of guys.
I do have a sister, but I hadstepbrothers and a real brother.
And so honestly I prayed forgirls, and God gave me that.
Speaker 3 (09:34):
And I love the girls.
Speaker 4 (09:36):
And I well.
Thank you very much.
I'm very proud of them.
I'm a true bad girls.
I wanted that father daughterrelationship, but I'm very proud
of girls.
You know I wanted thatfather-daughter relationship,
but I'm very proud of both ofthem so much I prayed for boys.
Speaker 2 (09:48):
Sam, I prayed for boys and God gave me Brittany
what he blessed you for sure hewas going to get my attention.
Yeah, and he continues to dothat with Brittany.
Speaker 3 (10:01):
She's incredible, she's got such a great person.
Speaker 2 (10:05):
Both your daughters are beautiful and sweet girls.
You guys have done a great job.
It's all about family.
Speaker 3 (10:11):
It really is, and you truly are a family man.
You and Donna and yourrelationship and you guys are
truly all about family.
Speaker 4 (10:19):
That's your number one At the end of the day.
That's what it's all about itreally is.
Speaker 2 (10:24):
It is that's why we get up and do what we do, right
it is.
It is your family and yourclose friends.
Speaker 4 (10:31):
That kind of sums it all up right there.
I really have enjoyed what I do.
Speaker 3 (10:38):
That's amazing.
Speaker 4 (10:41):
I love helping people and it's great.
It's very rewarding.
Speaker 3 (10:46):
Yeah.
So, sam, what are a few of yourgoals or must, like
non-negotiables ways that youserve your clients every day?
I mean, we just talked abouthow much you love what you do,
and it's obvious.
Speaker 4 (10:59):
Oh thanks.
Speaker 3 (11:00):
You know they always say if you do what you love, you
never work a day in your life.
Speaker 4 (11:04):
That's true.
Speaker 3 (11:04):
So what are some of those goals of how you serve
your clients and thenon-negotiables?
Speaker 4 (11:12):
Well, I want the experience to be as seamless and
as stress-free as possible forthe client.
I mean buying a house.
That's one of the largestpurchases that a person can make
and they've got to feel goodabout that, and so we get the
(11:34):
anxiety of it.
I had a realtor, a verysuccessful realtor, and still is
he made a comment to me sayingall this is going to go online.
Is he made a comment to mesaying all this is going to go
online, and argued with him thenand I've seen him recently and
I've mentioned that to him.
There's no way.
I mean the online, I'mcertainly I'm sure you could do
(11:55):
it, but your home, when you'reselling your home or when you're
looking for a home, I meanthat's huge, so personal.
It is personal and it's all thatthat comes with it, right?
I mean, you get the client'sanxiety, the stress and you
(12:16):
really my job I try to relievethat stress as much as possible.
My job I try to relieve thatstress as much as possible.
So, along the way, you want tomake sure that, if at all
possible, you can help themchoose the right lender, the
right home inspector.
We make suggestions.
We can't tell them what to do.
(12:38):
We've had clients that havecome in and they want to go
through Rocket Mortgage or someonline mortgage place.
And I've been down that road.
So actually I won't do that nowbecause it just never turns out
(12:59):
good At any given time.
For instance, christine, I cancall into this office and ask
what the status is of a mortgageprocess.
Speaker 3 (13:11):
That's valuable.
Speaker 2 (13:13):
He's even gotten me on the phone a couple of times.
Speaker 4 (13:16):
Well, I've got to tell you.
I've got to tell you.
On Saturdays, sundays atnighttime, I've picked up the
phone.
You know, I'm sure you'reprobably having dinner or you're
on the lake and Steve alwayspicks up the phone.
And Jonathan, and Jonathan,what a great guy he is too.
(13:38):
I mean he really smart as awhip.
Speaker 1 (13:43):
Yes, very nice guy.
Speaker 3 (13:44):
Yeah, yeah, we're proud of jonathan.
Yeah, absolutely, he's done agreat job, and but thank you for
saying that oh, my goodness, Imean proud of the team here.
Speaker 4 (13:53):
Yeah, it's, it's phenomenal and it starts from
the top.
Speaker 3 (13:57):
It's you know, yeah, you feel it.
It's all from the, the and itdefinitely trickles down Well
it's a God thing.
Speaker 4 (14:05):
It really is.
It really is, and so if you putpeople in place that have got
common beliefs, that you do andvalues, then that's a good thing
.
Speaker 3 (14:19):
And it works well.
Speaker 4 (14:21):
I mean you can't always make it that way, I mean
people, but you know there areexceptions, but for the most
part everybody here at benchmarkdoes a really good job.
Yeah, Communication is critical.
Thank you, it really is.
Speaker 3 (14:36):
It is critical and it's extremely difficult these
days.
It is like more now than ever,but having that personal touch,
being able to talk to someactual human actually on the
phone versus a robot voice andpushing multiple numbers to get
to something, and then you neverreally get an answer.
(14:58):
It's very frustrating.
And these larger companiesnobody works after five o'clock,
nobody does nobody on theweekend, um, and you know what,
and being in real estate, that's.
That's a big part of when you'rebusiest weekends, holidays,
people want to come out and seehomes absolutely you're.
Speaker 4 (15:16):
I sold a house not last year but the year before on
Christmas Eve.
Yeah, I mean, I've gotten upfrom Thanksgiving table after we
had Thanksgiving and showedhouses that day and I really
wanted to go sleep on the couchafter a big Thanksgiving dinner.
Speaker 3 (15:32):
I draw that turkey yeah that's turkey.
Speaker 2 (15:35):
One thing I'll say about that access.
I don't grant that access toeverybody.
I mean there's very few people.
I answer the phone for on theweekends, and that's only with
close partners.
Most in the real estatecommunity cannot get me on the
weekends, so I don't open thatdoor to everybody.
But if it's a trusted partnerlike Sam that we work together a
(15:58):
lot, he's always looking outfor me, I always look out for
him and so he can always get meon the weekends.
But like I don't even goadvertise that even to new
realtors, I'm trying to gettheir business.
I'm like sure.
Speaker 3 (16:11):
So so that's something that well, you got to
have a lot.
Speaker 2 (16:13):
Well, that's something that happens through a
close partnership, like we'retalking about today, is that
develops over time and youdevelop that trust.
And you know, sometimes when myphone's ringing, I'm thinking
in my mind well, unless this isone of about three people, I'm
not answering the phone.
So you know, and Sam's one ofthose three people.
Speaker 4 (16:35):
Well, thank you, Steve.
Speaker 2 (16:36):
But I mean, that's just the way it works and to me
that's what today we today we'retalking about the benefits of
working close in a partnership.
And that's one of the biggestbenefits is you're not hung out
to dry.
You can always get somebody.
But now there's a lot of realestate agents and there's great
agents that are successful doingthis, but they want to pass
business out all over town orthey just go to whoever their
(16:59):
clients already using.
They don't try to work with ayou know a trusted lender, and
they don't ever build thosekinds of partnerships, so I
think they have a little bitmore limited success by not
doing that and uh you know Idon't want to build that with
everybody.
I mean it's only people thatshare my core beliefs, people
that I, you know, care about andwant to have dinner with and
(17:21):
hang out with, not just abusiness relationship.
So that's kind of from alender's standpoint.
We don't answer the phone forjust anybody on weekends.
Speaker 4 (17:31):
It's all about relationships.
Exactly Everything's aboutrelationships.
Speaker 2 (17:35):
It really is.
Speaker 4 (17:36):
It's the same thing.
I've got an issue with peopletexting.
I've got an issue with the withpeople texting.
Texting, in my opinion was Imean a sentence or two, but
sometimes you get like pagespick up the phone and call and
you can't.
You're hearing your voice,you're not hearing the client's
voice or or whoever is textingyou.
(17:59):
So I mean, pick up the phoneand and and find out what's
going on.
But that's an honor.
I appreciate you saying that Ido that, though.
Speaker 2 (18:10):
Like speaking of the texting, I'm glad you brought
that up, because a lot of themaybe not even newer agents, but
agents that I don't work with alot they'll.
They'll start texting me and Ijust do this to drive them crazy
.
But I'll pick up the phone andcall them and I'll say, hey, I
just got your text.
It's easier to have anear-to-ear conversation.
Let's just talk this throughand we can have a better
(18:31):
conversation in three minutes.
Yeah, a lot of times they dobecause they're probably
thinking who the heck is thiscalling me?
They don't realize it's theperson they just texted.
But we can talk somethingthrough in three minutes.
It might have taken us, youknow, 10 texts back and forth to
get to the bottom of, so a lotof times a phone call really.
It builds a relationship, uhand, and I want to do that, and
(18:53):
it also saves time.
A lot of times we think text isquicker but a lot of times it's
really or multiple emails.
Speaker 4 (19:00):
if you see, I do the same.
Speaker 3 (19:03):
It's easier just to pick up the phone.
Speaker 4 (19:04):
I'm overwhelmed on emails I miss.
I feel like I need to do abetter job, but I'm out selling
or with a client and you comeback to your laptop or whatever
and you've got 100 emails.
I mean, it's easy to miss anemail.
It really is, it's just pick upthe phone emails.
Speaker 3 (19:22):
I mean, it's easy to miss an email.
Speaker 4 (19:24):
It really is.
It's just pick up the phonecall.
I'm going to go back to Steve.
He's been very modest.
Steve and Jonathan, I've nevernot called and one of them have
not picked up.
I mean, and that's phenomenaland what an incredible support
staff you've got.
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (19:41):
And same for you.
I mean we love Pam, loveworking with her, and Donna,
when we've worked with her, Imean you know your team over
there at Property Experts.
Speaker 4 (19:50):
So Pam is my work wife.
Speaker 2 (19:52):
Yeah, and then I go home to a wife.
Speaker 3 (19:54):
Yeah, and you've got two daughters.
Speaker 4 (19:56):
I spend more time with Pam than I do.
Speaker 2 (20:00):
Yes, donna, I honestly do, yes, donna, I
honestly do yeah, we need tohang out more as guys so we can
just have the testosteroneflowing.
Speaker 3 (20:07):
Well, that's fine, because so Pam Donna and I will
go shopping.
That retail therapy is whatscares me.
Maybe we don't need to hang out.
Speaker 2 (20:16):
We don't have any money.
Speaker 3 (20:18):
We'll let you hang out all you want guys.
Speaker 4 (20:21):
You guys go and have fun.
Speaker 3 (20:24):
So, steve, you sort of touched on this about you
know Sam.
What do you see that'sdifferent about Sam and the way
he serves his clients?
Speaker 2 (20:33):
So there's a lot that I mean.
Let's just talk about the toptwo or three and there's a big
distinction.
There's over 3,000 real estateagents in the Tri-Cities and I
big distinction there's probably.
There's over 3000 real estateagents in the tri cities and I
can see that's unbelievable, tosay that out loud, but I can see
some distinctions with Sam, andI mean just personally.
(20:54):
What I like the most thatmatches up really well with our
values here and our core valuesand our beliefs, is that he
cares about clients and andpeople sense that, so they trust
him and so I love that.
You know we don't we're nottrying to pawn off a house on
somebody or a loan on someone.
It's always about what's theirbest interest, and so I love
(21:17):
that I love Dylan from theposition of of trust, and I've
even told clients before if youdon't trust me, then either ask
me the questions and maybe youstill won't trust me, or you
probably need to go somewhereelse, because it's not any fun
to do business with clients whodon't trust you because it is a
huge transaction, so they haveto trust us.
Speaker 4 (21:37):
I've never heard that .
I've never had anybody say that.
Speaker 2 (21:40):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (21:40):
Everything I've ever heard from clients has been
extremely complimentary.
Speaker 2 (21:44):
Yeah, but we have had those clients, maybe not from
you, well, not everybody's goingto love you, right?
Speaker 4 (21:48):
Yeah, I mean, well, they love you.
Speaker 2 (21:50):
Christine, yeah, they may love her, but the other?
Speaker 4 (21:53):
thing, are you going to sing for us today?
Speaker 2 (21:56):
You want me to sing we can close it out instead of
the commercial.
So I call her Patsy because shesings a mean version of crazy.
Speaker 4 (22:06):
She does Phenomenal yeah.
Speaker 2 (22:09):
So one other thing I want to get in here before we
move on, though, is about Samand how he kind of distinguishes
himself from other agencies.
Just not only the trust, but heis a mover and a shaker.
And when I say that, I meanthat to the fullest degree.
(22:29):
He does not wait on somethingto happen, he goes out there and
makes it happen.
So like when I've got clientsthat are looking for a house
that I need to send someone to.
You know, sam, the next thingyou know they're under contract.
I mean he will find a house.
He knows who's going to selltheir house six months from now.
He knows who's going to sell itthree months.
(22:51):
A lot of these properties won'teven be on the market.
You know, when we sold ourhouse, you know Sam called me
before we even put it on themarket and said, hey, you ever
thought about selling your house?
And I was like, well, I can'tbelieve.
You called and said that and sohe ended up selling our house.
And to me that's just huge.
You know someone that goes outand makes it happen, don't wait
(23:11):
on the market to come to them.
So I love that.
So I love the trust, I love thecaring and I love the make it
happen.
I mean, how could you?
Speaker 4 (23:18):
get better than that.
Thank you so much I mean it'sall true.
Speaker 2 (23:22):
I mean it's from the heart and it's true.
Speaker 4 (23:24):
So very kind and what an honor it was to sell your
parents' house Truly.
Speaker 3 (23:31):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (23:31):
I mean, they're just fantastic folks.
Speaker 3 (23:33):
Yeah, yes, absolutely , and they love you too.
Speaker 4 (23:38):
Now your mom, now she can strike a bargain on, oh,
now on everything that's wheresteve learned his negotiation
skills.
Absolutely, I'm telling you,she will listen yeah, she'll.
Yeah, it's like a garage saletimes 10 with her.
Speaker 3 (23:54):
She's incredible though you know what I'd love to
see?
I'd love to put her and scottlandy together and see who could
get the best deal.
Absolutely I don't know whowould win on that one.
Speaker 4 (24:06):
Yeah, I'll tell you how funny.
You've got a wonderful family,steve, yes, at least.
Speaker 3 (24:13):
So, Sam, what do you love about your job?
Speaker 4 (24:16):
I love the people, christine, I really do.
Speaker 3 (24:20):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (24:21):
It is so personal with me I you can't go through
this experience and not get intothe details of their life.
I mean they have to share thisstuff with you, some details,
and I'm a caring person and, inorder to serve them better, tell
(24:46):
me what your needs are, whatyour future plans are.
I mean some, just don't.
I mean some people.
They want to buy a house or anew home, not a house, a home
and they're looking ahead.
They may want to.
That might be their age andplace home.
This might be a short term andthey may want to move to the
(25:08):
beach in a couple of years.
Speaker 3 (25:10):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (25:11):
So all those type of things factor in.
There may be, you know, adacompliances, they may have a
handicapped child and we've gotto look for properties like that
.
I mean, that's you know.
But it's really wonderful whenyou can click with a client and
(25:32):
I've had some incredible clientsthat are friends forever, you
know.
If they called, well, it's ahigh calling, it's really a high
calling.
Speaker 2 (25:41):
I used to hear that a lot and I thought that sounded
so cliche.
And then I started reallythinking about that and it is
most folks' biggest investment.
So they're putting out moremoney for this transaction than
anything else.
Not even like to call it atransaction, because I see them
as families and we used to.
We used to track loans how manyloans do we close last month?
(26:04):
Well, several years ago westopped doing that.
We say how many families did weserve?
Speaker 4 (26:09):
last month, absolutely.
Speaker 2 (26:10):
that's why it's all, and so it is a high calling.
You've got a lot of power inyour hands to, you know, steer
someone in the wrong directionor the right direction,
absolutely.
So as I've gotten older I'vetaken it a lot more serious than
when I was young and dumb.
You know it was like I stillwanted to help people but didn't
(26:30):
realize the.
You know the gravity of thesituation.
Speaker 3 (26:33):
You know well the significance and the impact you
make on that family and theimpact they make on your life as
well in that relationship.
Speaker 4 (26:42):
Just like you said, sam, and to go a little bit
further.
It blows my mind, christine,that people when they, when it's
time to sell their house, theywill say, oh, I'm giving it to a
friend, a good friend, thatjust getting into the business,
I mean you are putting yourlargest asset, or one of your
(27:04):
largest assets for somebodythat's unskilled I mean there's
so much involved in it, thenegotiations it's almost like
saying you know, hey, my cousinover here.
Speaker 2 (27:15):
he's going to medical school, so I'm going to let him
do this surgery because heneeds the money, I mean it's
scary.
You know someone that has notnearly the knowledge or whatever
.
You should never select alender or a real estate agent
based on it's a family and Iknow there's certain pressures
that come with that.
But I would certainly interviewthem and find out, absolutely,
(27:41):
absolutely.
Speaker 3 (27:42):
Yeah, and it's yeah, it's very important.
So what are some of thechallenges right now that you're
seeing Sam in the real estateindustry?
Speaker 4 (27:53):
That's a big question .
I know that's a big question.
I mean.
What we're seeing is people areso nervous about the economy
and the nation.
We're at a critical point andI'm not going to go down a
political path.
It's a shame that you can'ttalk, that you know you can't
(28:15):
have a discussion without peoplebeing upset.
They're very.
This is a very important time.
Speaker 3 (28:25):
It really is.
Speaker 4 (28:26):
In our country and you know they've announced down
the road that there may be arate cut and I think a lot of
people are on the sidelineswaiting for that.
There's there's there's severalthings going on in the market
right now.
Speaker 3 (28:43):
Yeah, it is challenging I know, steve, just
in the mortgage industry, howchallenging you know and we
always go back to well, yousurvived 2008.
You survived lots of ups anddowns, but this market in
particular is more difficultthan 2008.
Speaker 2 (29:03):
Well, it's 40 years I've been doing it almost 40
years, so it's the toughestmarket I've ever seen, and
people are nervous, like you say, sam, and they're afraid to
make a decision.
They're's the.
It's the toughest market I'veever seen, and people are
nervous, like you say, sam, andthey're afraid to make a
decision.
They're on the fence.
So the last thing they need tobe doing is watching the news,
because there's so much fakenews out there.
Speaker 4 (29:21):
And the.
Speaker 2 (29:21):
New York times just came out with an article talking
about how it was cheaper torent than buy.
And they had all the numbers andthey compared buying like a
$500,000 house to $2,200 a monthin New York.
Well, where can you even findanything for $2,200 a month in
New York?
And they didn't even putanything about rates going up
(29:46):
over the years.
They left out so much in thisarticle.
They were $130,000 off thewrong way.
They said it was like $120,000cheaper to rent over a 10-year
period.
It was actually $130,000cheaper to buy over a five-year
period.
So, doing this every day, Iknow the numbers to put into a
(30:06):
calculator right, and they wereso blatantly off.
So that is a huge.
I'm glad you brought that up,because that's a huge challenge
is when our clients hear this.
We have to be the voice ofreason and be, able to give them
factual information to, to theyou know kind of debunk some of
these articles.
I started to say rumors.
(30:27):
It's not even a rumor, it was anewspaper article in the New
York times, the largestnewspaper in the Us.
So that is a huge challenge.
That people are scared anyway,so they don't need much to keep
them on the fence right, so keepthem paralyzed from doing
nothing.
So when they see stuff likethis, uh, it makes their job a
(30:47):
challenge.
Speaker 4 (30:48):
So 7% interest rate, yes, it's higher than what it
was several years ago when itwas three, and that's an issue
that a lot of sellers have.
They don't want to get out of alow interest.
Speaker 3 (31:07):
But I remember my first house it was 16% interest.
Speaker 4 (31:11):
I mean you got to put it in the thing about real
estate you're going to haveinterest rates that come up and
down, but consistently.
As an investment, real estateis by far better and safer than
any other investment that youcan make.
So if you choose the rightlender, the right agent, the
(31:35):
right location, years down theroad you know you can turn
around and sell it and make alot of money.
It just blows my mind what realestate prices they've gotten to
.
Speaker 2 (31:47):
Yeah, what a great investment.
Speaker 4 (31:49):
It is that same house that first that first house
that that Donna and I bought it.
I think we bought it for 60 andit just now sold for almost 400
.
Yeah, we wish you would.
So, yeah, Right.
Speaker 2 (32:01):
We, we just really look at ourselves, though, in
your position and my position asguides.
We, we're not the stars of theshow, it's our clients, you know
, it's all about them, and we'rejust guiding them to the best
house, to the best loan.
And we tell our clients now andthis is probably getting old
for some of them to hear, butwe're like if they're on the
fence we say, you know, marrythe house, but date the rate,
(32:25):
because the rate's somethingthat can change over time.
And I tell clients you're goingto be in this rate, this 7%
rate or 6.5%, whatever it istoday it probably changed five
times since we've been havingthis podcast but get into the
house.
You're going to have thehighest house payments you're
probably ever going to have.
(32:45):
It's going to be going down fromhere and you're going to be
making more money.
You're going to be able torefinance in probably 12 to 24
months.
So, if you look at that, whywait on home prices to go up?
Because I feel like and I'venever seen it in my lifetime
like this I feel like there's somuch pent up demand to buy a
house.
If rates go down a percent,that's really going to spur on a
(33:07):
lot of buying and there's goingto be which is going to drive
up the prices even more.
So go ahead and lock in on aprice, get a rate that maybe is
not so attractive right now, butthen the future looks bright
for you to refinance and havelower payments.
Speaker 3 (33:23):
Absolutely, and it's the best, safest way to build
wealth.
Speaker 4 (33:26):
It is.
Speaker 3 (33:27):
And it still is the American dream.
Speaker 4 (33:28):
It is.
Speaker 3 (33:30):
If we could tell younger people invest, buy your
home, don't wait.
So, guys, this has been.
I think we could just go on.
It's been such a great, greattime together.
Speaker 4 (33:45):
Well, thank you, christine very much for inviting
.
And, Steve, thank you sir.
Speaker 3 (33:49):
Well, I didn't invite you, it was actually her that
invited you but, I'm glad youcame yeah I knew I was gonna get
sam on this podcast she's beentalking about, uh well, thank
you so much she's like we got toget sam on a podcast I know.
Seriously, I'm glad you're hereand thank you appreciate your
time and I appreciate you sitstill for 30 minutes thank you,
(34:09):
sam.
Thank you Christine, hopeyou'll come back.
Absolutely.
With that we'll conclude theshow and we'll have a brief uh
outro.
Speaker 4 (34:17):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (34:19):
This has been benchmark happenings brought to
you by Jonathan Tipton and SteveReed from benchmark home loans.
Jonathan and Steve areresidential mortgage lenders.
They do home loans in NortheastTennessee and they're not only
licensed in Tennessee butFlorida, georgia, south Carolina
and Virginia.
We hope you've enjoyed the show.
(34:40):
If you did make sure to likerate and review.
Our passion is NortheastTennessee, so if you have
questions about mortgages, callus at 423-491-5405.
And the website iswwwJonathanAndStevecom.
Thanks for being with us andwe'll see you next time on
(35:02):
Benchmark Happenings.
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