Preserving Memories in Music and Mortgages with Josh Jones

Join the conversation as Josh Jones, a mortgage maestro with a penchant for vinyl, spins tales from his collection and the loan industry. The nostalgia of a well-loved Sam Cooke record meets the stark realities of navigating mortgage complexities. We connect through melodies and memories, celebrating the art of preserving historical pieces that define our personal journeys, all while unraveling the threads of real estate investing and the altruistic efforts of the JM Foundation during the economic turmoil of 2009.

If you've ever pondered the delicate dance between finance and philanthropy, this episode waltzes you through our hands-on approach to helping local families in need. Discover the pitfalls to avoid when seeking a home loan and the human stories that accompany the bricks and mortar of property management. As we reflect on the nuances of building a mortgage career and the unpredictable nature of real estate investing, you'll find wisdom peppered with personal anecdotes from my early days as an investor to the lessons learned along the way.

Our storytelling journey doesn't shy away from the oddities and charms of Riverside Brookfield, where the love for record collecting and vibrant suburban life unite. Take a stroll down memory lane with us, discussing the influential chords of Neil Sedaka and Wes Montgomery, and wrap up with heartfelt reflections on the community spirit that weaves itself into the fabric of our lives, whether through music, mortgage, or the simple joy of local events and cuisine.

Have someone you think should be a guest on this podcast? Let us know! Email your suggestions over to: [e-mail], [e-mail]

Connect with Karen and Andrew at Be Realty: Be Realty Group

Email the Show: [e-mail]

Guest: Josh Jones, Loan Depot

Link: The JM Foundation
Link: Sam Cooke’s career began in Pine Bluff | The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Link: Sam Cooke - Wikipedia
Link: Riverside, IL
Link: Wes Montgomery

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
Welcome to Records and Real Estate, a podcast about
well, records and real estate.
You'll be entertained andinformed as we explore the
intersection of these two worldsthrough interviews with
Chicago's most interesting andsuccessful people from both
industries.

Speaker 2 (00:20):
That was Andrew Wendt and I'm Karen Sanvas.
We are Chicago real estatebrokers, property managers, avid
music lovers and your hosts ofRecords and Real Estate.
Hi, karen, hi Andrew.

Speaker 1 (00:38):
We just chatted with Josh Jones.
Yes, we did.
Yeah, it's just a veritableencyclopedia of knowledge about
the mortgage industry.

Speaker 2 (00:49):
Yeah, it's one of those things that you know.
I've done a little bit of thebuying and selling from the
broker standpoint, you know,real estate broker, and then
there's this guy that does theloans and it's just sort of the
guy that you call on the phoneand they do all this stuff in
the background.
You have no idea really what'sgoing on and they just call you
like okay, we're ready to close.
Great, great, what justhappened?

(01:12):
Yeah, and to hear sort of the.
You know, pull the curtain backand see how the sausage is made
.
It was fun.
I would love to have him backand talk even more about this
process.

Speaker 1 (01:22):
We go on and on stories and learn about the
process.

Speaker 2 (01:27):
Yeah, and some pitfalls.
So if you're looking to buy ahouse, he'll show you some tips
and tricks.

Speaker 1 (01:32):
Yeah yeah, it was a really good educational episode.
We actually focused mostly onreal estate this time around,
which is nice and refreshing.

Speaker 2 (01:42):
That's right, so we're going to call this episode
Real Estate and Records.

Speaker 1 (01:47):
So we redo the logo too.

Speaker 2 (01:48):
I think so Just flip it around, just flip it 180.
Photoshop.

Speaker 1 (01:53):
Anyway.

Speaker 2 (01:54):
I'd say want to start .

Speaker 1 (01:56):
Yeah, let's get into it.
Okay.
Well, we're here with JoshJones today.
Thanks for joining us, Josh.
Appreciate it.

Speaker 3 (02:06):
I love that I'm here today, yeah yeah, we're happy to
have you.

Speaker 1 (02:09):
Josh and I are good buddies.
Our wives know each other well.
Well, you also know my wifeWell.
You went to college with her.

Speaker 3 (02:16):
Yes, I mean, we're talking 20 years ago.
She was an Elf Fee, I was aTheta Chi and I was the house
sweetheart of the alpha fees.
Okay, I got to know everyone.
I got to eat over there.
That was huge.
They had a really niceair-conditioned house.
Frat houses were sweat boxes atU of I.

(02:36):
So, yeah, better food overthere, much better food, much
better food, much better cook.

Speaker 2 (02:43):
Why did they have air conditioning and you didn't?
You know?

Speaker 3 (02:46):
they just had a really nice house.
Their cook a lot lesscigarettes in their food than it
was ours, wow.
So they had a really good tacoTuesday.
So I enjoyed that and I spent alot of time over there and I
got to see people.
I had one of the privilegeswhere I was allowed to at least
be upstairs.
I'd still have to be gone bylike 10 at night where non-house

(03:10):
sweethearts had to leave bynine.
So it was like I got an extrahour out there to hang out with
now my wife Michelle, so it wasreally nice.
But yeah, a lot of us becamelifelong friends.

Speaker 2 (03:22):
That's really sweet.

Speaker 1 (03:24):
Yeah, that's a good group of people that we get to
hang out with a lot.
Well, now that we have thatintroduction out of the way,
we're here at Records and RealEstate and Josh, we recently had
a guest that stated that theSam Cooke Live at Harlem Square
Club was one of the best concertalbums ever.
And I know you're a Sam Cookefriend or a fan.

(03:46):
I should say You're not afriend.

Speaker 3 (03:50):
I would be pretty old , but the way Sam Cooke passed,
we will talk about that.
So that is an interesting story.

Speaker 2 (03:57):
I don't know that story.

Speaker 3 (03:59):
I was not there, but You've heard.

Speaker 1 (04:01):
Yes, Do you have that live concert in your in your
album collection?

Speaker 3 (04:06):
I have a lot of Sam cook albums.
I love the fifties and sixtiesbut like Sam's music is is some
of the best music you can hearlike from like a chain gang, and
a lot of those songs and a lotof the artists at that time
would just cover and cover hisstuff and when you hear it, so

(04:29):
like the albums I have are hisgreatest hits albums.
It's really hard to find thosealbums Like.
You have to look hard, you gotto pay a real pretty penny Right
, and sometimes you get thoserecords and they're not in good
shape either.
So sometimes you have to buythe reproductions Right, right,
right, and they're good though,but the music is just so good

(04:49):
Nice.

Speaker 1 (04:50):
Tell us a little bit about your collection, because
you know, I don't remember theentire story, but you have this
old, beautiful sort of vinyl andstereo cabinet that you had
refurbished.

Speaker 3 (05:04):
I would say, right, yes, so I have this Montgomery
Ward 19,.
I think we had it dated it wasabout 1958 to 1962 range.
It has a record player, aneight track, and it has this old
radio in it, and so it sat inmy grandfather's three flat in

(05:27):
Berwyn where he has lived since1955.
Wow, and so it was actually mymother's too, who isn't with us
anymore, but she bought it, butit was old at the time when she
bought it.
She bought it, but it was oldat the time when she bought it.
Okay, so, like he believes,he's like I think we've had this

(05:48):
since like the mid 60s.
So like they bought an olderversion.
It was hers, and so it satthere and it was just basically
like everyone would throw allthis junk on it.
Right, right, right, fastforward.
It was 2015.
He was selling his home.
Okay, he was at that age.

(06:08):
He's still alive.
Now he's 97.
Oh, wonderful.
And he's like, hey, I'm goingto sell this.
And I'm like can I just have it?
And he's like it doesn't work,it hasn't worked in, you know,
30 years.
So I kept it in a storage unituntil I moved into my new house
where I'm at now, and so I hadthis record player and I was
like I got to find a way torefinish it because it means a

(06:30):
lot to me, it means a lot to thefamily.
So I found this company in NewYork, so I took this thing, I
boxed it up.
It cost me $700 to ship this toNew York, and so they were nine
months behind though.
So it sat there for nine months.
I completely forgot about it.
It comes back, it's restored,it's beautiful, it works.

(06:54):
Well, I thought it worked asthey were taking it off the
truck.
The guys like hit the side oftheir truck as they were taking
it off, and when I plug it in,it's like this sound which you
heard, that sound.
I was like, andy, you got tohelp me with this thing.
So I was like I can't ship itback to New York.

(07:16):
They felt really, really bad,and so I managed to find a local
guy here after calling allthese vintage I was calling
vintage computer shops, radioshops, going on all these
Facebook groups and the guy cameout.
He came out to the house andhe's like oh, you just got to
put this wire back.
He opened up the back and itwas fixed.

(07:37):
So now this and it is.
It sounds like probably how itwould have in the early 60s.
It sounds, it's cool and I loveplaying 50s and 60s records.

Speaker 1 (07:50):
Nice, yeah, yeah, it's a beautiful piece of art
really.
I love it.
It's certainly Americana, anddo some of your records come
from your grandpa and your mom,from your grandpa and your mom,
or so I have.

Speaker 3 (08:09):
From my other side of my family.
We I had a grandma whocollected all these old records
from like jim neighbors who wasthe andy griffith show gomer
pile was his name.
So you have, you have all thatotis, redding, ray, charles and
so I have a lot of old recordslike that.
And then over the I juststarted trying to buy those
older records, but it's reallyhard to find in good shape,

(08:30):
right.
These things are 50, 60, 70years old.
So a lot of the records Istarted to buy are just the
reprint of them, and it helpsbecause you don't know the
quality of the records you aregetting when you buy them out
there.

Speaker 1 (08:44):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I mean, there's a lot of vinyl
aficionados who want theoriginals but a lot of them just
want, you know, good soundingrecords.
Yeah, Just to hear the music.
No, I love it, Do you?
I mean you, you, you know fromthe years that we've gotten to
know each other a bit.
You do have like a strongconnection to family.

(09:06):
Was that part of the impetus tohave this cabinet refurbished?
Was, you know, sort of keepingyour family history?

Speaker 3 (09:13):
alive a little bit.
I think that when it comes topieces of furniture and people's
family right Like, to theoutside world it could be worth
nothing, or it could be worth acouple bucks Right, but to you
it's like, oh, if this is aconnection to your mother who's
no longer there, or this was thecenterpiece to where people ate
meals and dinners, and so like,to me that piece of furniture

(09:38):
is going to be worth, worth wellmore than anyone that it would
ever pay me for it.
Now, there's no there, there'sno price.
I could ever part with it,because when you hear that, you
could be like, oh my god, my,you know, grandfather, my
grandmother, my mother waslistening to this same record
player at the same time.
It's like the old saying thatif you're looking at the moon

(10:00):
and someone you know across thecountry is, you guys are looking
at the same moon, and when,when you think like that, you're
like, oh my God, they heardmusic out of these speakers the
way I'm hearing music.
So it's a really coolconnection, nice.

Speaker 2 (10:13):
What is the affiliation with you or why are
you so attracted to 50s and 60s?

Speaker 3 (10:19):
I actually think a lot of it has to do with two
things.
One my father.
I grew up on oldies.
A lot of it has to do with twothings.
One my father.
I grew up on oldies 104.3.
If anyone ever, ever, uh,remember that Dick Biondi, dick
Biondi, uh, uh, WJMK, um, and solike listening to like, uh,
blueberry Hill, and like allthese songs, uh, fats domino at

(10:41):
that time and uh, the platters,and like it feels like my
childhood.
And the other thing is like Ilove the 50s where it was kind
of the first birth of like itfelt like the first birth of
like capitalism and business andlike the cadillac and all these
cars.
That was like just really cooland so it now it seems like we

(11:05):
are kind of a throw, like athrowaway culture, and so back
then it's like you still haveall these classic cars that
exist from that time periodwhere, like it's just big,
beautiful pieces of work.
The music was, it was the birthof, you know, r&b and pop music
.
It was coming out of the 30sand 40s, which was like country

(11:27):
folk, and now you're coming intoR&B and the blending of
cultures and it was just it'slike a really cool time.
So I've always liked that.

Speaker 2 (11:36):
That's cool.
We have a book you should readfrom a previous guest, Mark Reno
, who wrote a book of thehistory of country music in
Chicago and it talks about thatgap or that bridge that you're
talking about of country musicand how it led to kind of
everything and it was put on themap with Chicago and the radio

(11:57):
stations.
That's cool.

Speaker 1 (11:59):
I think he's actually the guest that posited that the
Sam Cooke live album was thebest live album.
Swinging back could be wrongabout that sam cook.

Speaker 3 (12:07):
All right, so yeah, the story on how sam cook died.
He died at the age of, I think,33.
So the story is and thisactually has to do with the time
that it was he was in la and hewas with a uh, lady of the
night in a hotel room who robbedhim and he was running out of

(12:29):
the hotel room to chase her downand the hotel manager saw and
thought he was attacking her dueto the timing and I think that
was like 62-ish or something.
But he was really young.
He would have been like anotherray charles, just like great
music upon great great music, um, but he was murdered and then

(12:51):
it went to trial and it wasdeemed that the hotel manager
was a justifiable homicide atthe time.
So like just someone cut down inhis prime for just, but at that
time he still had like 30number ones.
Right, like he was, he would beour like you know, taylor swift
of right, like with with thatmany number ones, beyonce, it's
like right, it's crazy, wow Ididn't know that, I had no idea.

Speaker 2 (13:14):
Yeah, it's really sad .

Speaker 3 (13:15):
It's super sad and and it just wrong place, wrong
time.
And they thought era, yeah,wrong era.
They thought he was attackingthe woman and, of course, and he
got killed.
Yeah, right, yeah, but hismusic lives on for sure, that's
true yeah, what.

Speaker 2 (13:33):
What could he have done, had he lived longer?

Speaker 3 (13:36):
oh my god, I mean he would.
He would have had a hundredhits.
I mean you have even from thesame area.
Uh, neilaka, right, like hismusic.
If you Google his name and youplay his stuff, you're going to
know all of his music.
And he's still around today.
Yeah yeah, sirius Radio 50s,gold, channel 72.
That's literally always on inmy car, too Nice, I love that

(14:02):
era.

Speaker 1 (14:02):
So, speaking of families and connection to
families, you and your wife havea foundation, jm Foundation.
Yes, josh and MichelleFoundation.
That is yes, josh and Michelle,and tell us a little bit about
that, because you guys help outspecific families each year
right, yeah.

Speaker 3 (14:23):
So back in 2009, we started the JM Foundation.
It was kind of right after thehousing crash happened and you
started seeing people who werelosing their homes.
People really started havingfinancial problems, and so we
said, hey, you know, if there'ssomething we can do to maybe

(14:44):
help on the local level right,we all have the Red Cross and
all those other things and so Isaid, hey, why don't we start a
foundation?
We don't really know how tostart a foundation, but we know
we want to help, and so thepremise was to help people who
fell in between, who fell inbetween.
So there's a lot of Americanswho, where they they, you know,

(15:07):
make just enough to get nobenefits, but they make too much
.
Where they might not get theirkids, might not get free lunch
at school, they have rent, theyhave, you know, 2.2 cars, 2.2

(15:28):
kids and they're just barelysurviving.
So we adopt 10 families aroundthe holidays and we talk to the
families, we work with localagencies to make sure we're
getting qualified families, buteverything is local, within like
a 10 mile radius of RiversideBrookfield area.
And then we talk to thefamilies.
We say, hey, what do your kidsneed?
And then we raise funds from,from people, typically private

(15:51):
donations.
We've had some grade schoolswho did some concerts and
benefits, and we were, and theymade large donations to us,
which then we in turn donate outus, which then we in turn
donate out.
But our job is, if we can feedand clothe and give these
families basic needs and goods,and we provide them for a couple

(16:13):
months, maybe we don't see themagain, maybe we get them
through that hard part thatthey're going through.
So we took the idea of theChristmas basket that people
just drop off and just kind ofblew it up and said we're going
to give you a hundred Christmasbaskets and we're going to spend
, you know, a thousand dollarsper family around the holidays.
Get, get some kids that youknow, one nice present and get a

(16:36):
bunch of food, paper towels,toiletries, you name it.
We were doing it and so youguys have been part of that, A
lot of people have been a partof that, and we pack the food
around the holidays, we go tothese people's houses, we hug
and kiss them and it's just agreat thing.
So yeah this is now our 14thyear.

Speaker 2 (16:54):
14th year, 14 years, so you look to other people to
find these families.
Is that how you?

Speaker 3 (17:04):
pick them.
We have some local agencies whowe work with.
Our biggest one is CAEL, and soit's Chicago Area Alternative
Education League, and so thisleague is ran by one of our good
friends, sarah Lorenzi, and soshe works with a lot of local

(17:25):
families and kind of I don'twant to say the troubled youth,
but more of the just kind of thekids who are falling in between
, like they're not, they're notdoing well in the regular
schools.
So now they're with this, withthis program, and so a lot of
their families need help, and sowe get some of the families
there.

(17:45):
And then it started out wewould work with the local town
hall, but we kind of realizedthe local town halls and the
village halls just didn't knowtheir families the way we
thought they would.
So we had to go and then, andthen we work with and we also
work with a guidance counselorat a special needs school too,

(18:06):
nice, and so with those two wehave plenty of people to, you
know, choose from.
We don't do the thing like, hey, can you help my friend?
You know, like we really wantto make sure our money and other
people's money is going to gooduse, right, it's very important
.

Speaker 1 (18:20):
That's smart.
I mean it's, it would it's.
It's a lot of work.
I'm sure in and of itself wouldeven be more work if you had to
track down the worthyrecipients.
You know that's the hardestthing.

Speaker 3 (18:33):
Yeah, and it used to be.
We would deliver to thesefamilies and and some people
would say, oh my God, did yousee their flat screen TV?
And I kind of used to feel likethat too.
And then I got to a point wherewhere I realized if that one or
two nice things make makes themfeel normal or okay, right, who

(18:53):
cares?
Right, because you know youcan't even buy a lousy TV
anymore.
If you want a TV, it's going tobe a flat screen TV.
It is what it is.

Speaker 1 (19:02):
Right.

Speaker 3 (19:02):
So like that's where, just finding the good families,
the people who really need it.
You know, we had a lot of.
We had two kids with cancerthis year and so we were able to
do some nice things for them.
So it was really great.

Speaker 1 (19:16):
So you guys have, you know an event, but if people
wanted to make a donation to thefoundation, but if people
wanted to make a donation to thefoundation, they could, or yes,
yes, so, um, we have the jam,the jam foundationorg, and then
we also have Facebook, instagram, the jam foundation.

Speaker 3 (19:37):
You can go there and it has all of all of our
information on there to donate.
We are always acceptingdonations.
Obviously, most of our moneycomes in around the holidays.
And then we also have a bigbingo event coming up in April
where we're going to have about250 people.
We place bingo, prizes, cashbar, and that's going to be at

(20:00):
Asciana Banquet Halls in.
I want to say that's Lombard,but our good buddy owns that
place, so we're going to bedoing it over there.

Speaker 2 (20:09):
That's really cool, that's great.
Do you get to follow up withthe families or how?
What happens after that, Afteryou drop off the baskets?

Speaker 3 (20:17):
There are some families we make lifelong
connections with.
So, like there is, one of thefamilies ended up, I really took
a liking to one of the oldersons who wanted to be in
business, so I had him internwith me for a couple of years
and then he went off to collegeat Milliken, which was really,

(20:38):
really great the first person inhis family to do that.
And then we've had otherfamilies who we've stayed in
touch with, where they send usprogress reports and then
sometimes during the year, likehey, my son wants to play this
or my daughter wants to do danceit's 350 dollars, do you know
anyone?
And so we'll kind of cometogether and say like we're

(21:00):
going to pay for that because wedon't want your children
missing out on on experiencesjust for money.
Right, if it's something toenrich them.

Speaker 2 (21:08):
Mm-hmm.

Speaker 3 (21:09):
And then there's some families.
We wish we knew what happenedto them, but they just kind of
moved out of the area.

Speaker 2 (21:15):
Mm-hmm.

Speaker 3 (21:15):
And that's it.

Speaker 2 (21:16):
Mm-hmm.

Speaker 3 (21:17):
And maybe they're okay.
Yeah, and maybe they're okay.
Yeah, absolutely.

Speaker 2 (21:20):
Nice, very cool.

Speaker 1 (21:24):
Well, let's switch gears a little bit Not a little
bit, maybe a lot of it and talkabout mortgages.
Do you know anything aboutmortgages?
I might know a thing or twoabout mortgages.

Speaker 3 (21:33):
How long have you been doing mortgages?
So this is my 19th year.
I started when I was 22 yearsold.
Wow, I'm 41 now.
It's the only kind of real jobthat I've ever known anything
about mortgages, except that ifyou wanted to start a business,
you wanted to buy a house, youwanted to kind of grow wealth,

(21:58):
you needed a loan.
And so I figured, like you knowreal estate, I read in college
like it's a big part of theeconomy.
So, uh, you know, that's kindof how I got into it.
I started out as an assistantfor a couple loan officers who
did some mortgages, and one wasreally mean but he took control

(22:21):
of the deal, and the other onewas kind of just chill, relaxing
, probably enjoyed marijuana alittle too much, and his clients
loved him too.
So I was like all right, let'stry to be like the stern nice
guy and let's see if that worksand it did Nice.

Speaker 1 (22:43):
You found your way to connect, your own personal way
to connect with yes.

Speaker 3 (22:46):
I learned from two other successful people, but I
said well, why don't?

Speaker 2 (22:52):
we just tweak that a little bit yeah Nice.
If you were going to givesomebody coming up.
You know another 22 year oldadvice about being a loan
officer what would you say?

Speaker 3 (23:04):
You have to have the business owner spirit.
If you're not self-driven inany of these positions, right?
Real estate agent, mortgagelender, even a lawyer, right?
Just because you became alawyer doesn't mean all of a
sudden you're a great lawyer.

(23:24):
You just passed the bar, right?
And I'm not saying that's hardor easy, okay, so I'm not saying
either of that.
But you have to be willing tolearn and build your business.
But also, nowadays, it seemslike the information component
is what is winning.
So you know, 22 year old me,you have to say you've got to be

(23:46):
all in.
You can't be like in for thecommission or trying to make
some money or being, like youknow, the dealer, you know
making all this stuff.
You have to be there to be aprovider of economic advice,
integrity for the long haul.
You don't want to just do thisone transaction, you want to do

(24:09):
everything.
You want to do their next 20transactions.
So that's where the businesshas changed.
But, yeah, a 22-year-old mightbe like what are you even
talking?

Speaker 2 (24:18):
about.

Speaker 3 (24:19):
I just want to make money, but it is a great
industry.
Yeah, for sure, for sure.

Speaker 1 (24:26):
So how has it changed a bit, I mean from when you
guys started.
Is it harder, is it easier?
Just change it's change bit.
I mean it, you know, from whenyou guys started, is it?
Is it harder?
Is it easier just change, it'schange the.

Speaker 3 (24:36):
The market crashing of 2009, in my opinion, was a,
was a cleansing of the industry,like how a lot of recessions
and pullbacks are.
It kind of gets out the garbage, it gets out the junk of the
industry, and so before then, itwas actually a lot harder to

(24:58):
even try to get a deal or havereal estate agents talking to
you divorce attorneys, insuranceagents, whatever it may be
because they're always like Igot it, I already have someone,
I already have someone Fats.
Like there was police officers,cab drivers, they were all

(25:19):
mortgage lenders.
You would get in a cab and theguy would be talking to me.
He's like oh, if you need aloan, I'm like I just got in
this industry, you know, becauseno one did Uber back then you
hopped in the cabs, that's right.
Because no one did Uber backthen you hopped in the cabs,
that's right.
So, and then you fast forwardand it like cleanses it out and
the mortgage industry did a 180where anything you knew was done

(25:43):
and you had to relearn.
Yeah, and that happened severaltimes and then, most recently,
it happened in COVID.
Again, the guidelines changedagain.
So, like I jokingly say, youknow, I've been in the industry
like four or five years, righttimes, and then most recently it
happened in covet again theguidelines changed again.
So, like I jokingly say, youknow I've been in the industry
like four or five years right.
Yeah, even though it's been 19,it's all I've ever done.
There always seems to be anindustry reset.

(26:03):
Yeah, and so that, like I lovetough markets because the goods
survive and the people who aregoing to complain and whine and
say, man, I remember when, yeah,I do too, but it's not there.
I remember the fifties the bigold cars right now they're all
crazy now and so like that'sjust where the world is.

(26:26):
But yeah, it's, it's been.
If you're not involved in theinformation and the guidelines,
it's really hard to do to takecare of every client now.

Speaker 1 (26:37):
And you mean like learning the information and
what goes into sort ofunderwriting loans and just
being on top of the industry asa whole.

Speaker 3 (26:49):
Absolutely Like.
Why?
Why is there inflation?
Why are interest rates higher?
You can't just say rates arehigher People know rates are
higher.

Speaker 2 (26:59):
How did we get?

Speaker 3 (27:00):
there, and so if you can explain that, it doesn't
become about, well, that personacross the street has $100 lower
in fees.
That's gone Right.
The same way like if you'rehaving furniture delivered to
your house, I don't care if thedelivery fee is $100 or $200.
Who's going to show up on time,not beat up my walls and

(27:21):
deliver the furniture in thesame condition that I bought it
in, right, right, right, that'swhat's important, not, well, you
know that place can deliver itfor $50 cheaper, right, right,
you know.
That's kind of, I think, wherethe real estate world has now
gone and mortgage world and alot of worlds are moving towards
it's service, not Are youseeing sort of a contraction

(27:45):
after last year, withtransaction volumes being down a
bit?
being down a bit.
It's, I would say that thedeals now and the transactions
going on now the perfect credit,great down payment deals those
are very few and far between.
Now it's people coming out of apandemic.

(28:07):
You know what.
They paid some bills late, youknow, because they didn't change
their spending habits.
Now they might have spent allof their savings, so they don't
have a large down paymentanymore.
How do I take their situationand get them in the lending box?
I don't care if you're just inthe corner, I just got to get
you in there to get you a loan.
And so that's where knowing ofthe programs has really kind of

(28:32):
changed.
Right, right, right, you haveto.
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (28:35):
So thank you for all of that really good information,
which is what I expected when Iinvited you on.
What about some stories where aclient of yours maybe learned a
lesson in the process ofgetting their loan pushed

(28:57):
through?
And I guess, like, maybe, andso like, this is an education
bit right for our perspectivebuyers out there, where somebody
went through something that, um, you know, surprised them and
surprised you, so so a listenercan learn from that experience.

Speaker 3 (29:14):
So they're having to go through it themselves.
Yes, so there are two storiesthat I always tell when I'm
asked, cause they are foreverand I do like 200 loans a year.
So like just know that thesetwo stories, out of all the 19
years, stay with me the most.
So the first story is I call itthe furniture story, a lot of
furniture here.

Speaker 2 (29:36):
We started with furniture.

Speaker 3 (29:37):
We started with furniture and so the story is
it's a husband and wife and theyhad four kids buying the first
place.
So excited.
So you do the whole loan stuff.
You know, you get their incomedocuments, you make sure they're
good, they go put an offer on aplace, they win the bid,
everything's great, fast forward.
We get what's called the clearto close, which just means your

(29:59):
loan's done.
Hey, you're closing in a coupleof days.
Everything's done, we're goingto get all the final numbers
together.
They're so excited.
It's Memorial weekend.
I get a call on Tuesday.
There's a final let's call it asoft credit check, make sure no
new debt shows up.
And my processor says, hey,josh, for that loan that's

(30:23):
closing tomorrow, there's a new$350, let's say it was 350,
maybe it was a little more loanfrom Darwin Furniture.
I'm like, hmm, okay, that's aproblem.
We were barely qualifying as itis.
So I called them up and I waslike, hey, did you go and get a
furniture loan out?
And they said, yeah, you knowit's Memorial Weekend.

(30:45):
You get the Memorial Weekendsale.
We wanted to buy all thefurniture.
We could get 10% off.
I said, well, we got twooptions you return the furniture
or you're going to have nicefurniture and no home, so um the
more so.
So they returned the furnitureright and so I'm assuming after
closing they went andrepurchased it under some

(31:06):
agreement.
But we had to, we had to.
We couldn't meet closingbecause we had to get the
furniture back.
Prove that the note wascanceled.
And so the moral of that storyI always tell people is that
just during the loan process, nonew debt, yeah, yeah, only if
it's an absolute must.
Like I'm driving down 294,which Laura, your wife, was, and

(31:29):
she was driving my wife's carand the engine blew up and we
get a call, she's at 295 I don'tknow why she took michelle.
It was a very old car, by theway.
Yeah, no, it was a.
It was probably like a 1995mitsubishi lancer, you know

(31:50):
perfect.
If you talk to la, she's goingto remember that.
Yeah, of course, and the engineblew out.
So if that happens and it's anabsolute must and there's no
other way, talk to your lenderand just say, hey, I have to do
this.
But if you're like at Kohl'sand you want to save your 10% on
your get your Kohl's cash, youmight have to just wait to open

(32:14):
that kohl's credit card tillafterwards.
So no new debt what's the um?

Speaker 2 (32:19):
what's the process on the back end for you?
When it is a must, you know,the engine blows and they have
to spend some money.
Yeah, what do you do?

Speaker 3 (32:29):
so it's I I always preface them with.
We're going to need a bunch ofpaperwork because odds are that
that debt might not show upexactly how it's supposed to
look, with your payment andeverything on your credit report
.
And a lot of times we don'twant to pull a brand new credit
report because if the scorechanges all of a sudden, the

(32:50):
whole loan changes.
And that's how things happen inthe 11th hour changes all of a
sudden, the whole loan changesand that's how things happen in
the 11th hour.
So, like, if you have to do it,keep a copy of your paperwork.
What your note is how much thepayment is, because we're going
to need all that if it's a must.
And there's been people who arelike well, I had to open up the
credit card, okay Well, did youget the credit card agreement?

(33:10):
No, it's online.
Okay Well, you got to go findit.
We got to calculate what it is.
What did you charge?
There might not be a paymentyet.
I have to auto-calculate that.
Then we have to verify it.
So there's all this extrapaperwork, that saving your
lender headache, saving you theheadache, just only if it's an
absolute must.

Speaker 2 (33:30):
Yeah, I would say that the average person probably
really doesn't know that I meanunless they're specifically
told.

Speaker 3 (33:35):
you know no, it's, it's because you do your
day-to-day life.
Yeah, loans, yeah, you're like,okay, I'm done with my loan or
I'm getting a loan.
I'm, you know, qualified.
Well, I was always planning togo trade my you know leased car
in for another lease car.
Well, your lease payment nowwent up $500, right, like, so

(33:56):
like, and those are the hardestthings.
It's really hard to return alease cars.
So, like, don't do that.
Whenever I see someone has alease, I'm like, oh my God Cause
, you just can't ever get awayfrom it, even with a note from
your lender.
Well, you can.
But there's like, let's say, ifyou had $8,000 left on a car

(34:17):
and you had a car payment of 500bucks and you needed that $500
gone, you could, in theory, payoff that car.
But if you have a lease, youcan't pay off a lease.

Speaker 2 (34:31):
Really, I've never leased a car.
I don't know how it works,because if you lease, a car.

Speaker 3 (34:36):
you're just prepaying your lease, but when that lease
is up you don't own the car.
You have to release another carto drive.
So when people are like, oh,I'll just pay off the lease, I'm
like, no, you're actually justprepaying the lease.
It's like if you rent anapartment, I just prepaid for
five months.
When that five months is up,you're still going to have rent.

(34:58):
Same thing.
And so that's why, like,leasing is really tough in the
lending world, and so it's it's,but if you own a car or you're
almost on the car, then it's alittle bit easier.
Interesting, okay, what's thesecond story?
Second story was 2010.
And this was a.

(35:18):
They were buying a foreclosureGreat deal.
It was in Naperville, so Ididn't know this.
Apparently, the real estateagents in this.
They got in a heated fightbecause one of the heat, one of
the real estate agents, wantedthe home for themselves.
Let's say, the home was like240.
The appraised value came backat like 410.

(35:41):
My client ended up getting itand I was doing the loan for it.
Well, the day before closingthey're trying to do the final
walkthrough and they can't getinto the property because the
listing agent who was trying tobuy this foreclosure for
themselves took all of thelockbox keys.

(36:03):
So the buyer I don't even knowwhy I did this, but the buyer
was like hey, josh, I'm on myway to closing.
Do you think you can go by thehouse?
I remember the side garage doorwas opened and I was like, okay
, well, what am I?
He's like, just, you know, tellme, the inside looks okay.

(36:25):
And I was like, ah, this isn'tmy world, like I'm a mortgage
person.
I was like, but I will do thisfor you.
So I go there and you know,cell phones are relatively new.
It's 2010 and he didn't have acell phone.
So I called up the closing andI said, hey, I'm not going to
say his name because it's a veryunique name.
Did you have a pool in yourhouse?

(36:46):
And he's like no, and I'm likeI'm not kidding, like no, and
I'm like I'm not kidding, thewater upstairs is running.
There's water running down thestairs.
And I open like as soon as youwalked in the house, I smelled
water.
You know, like like dampness,yeah, I have never seen in this
house.

(37:06):
The basement was 2700 squarefeet.
Picture four feet.
And I know this because andI'll explain why four feet of
ice, cold water, oh my god,through the whole basement.
Oh, wow, just imagine what thatlooks like.
So like you're talking all theelectrical, all the hvac, the

(37:27):
water tank, you name it.
And so he was like I'm gonnacall a plumber, because
obviously we didn't haveFaceTime back then.
Like whatever we did, it didn'texist.
So he called the plumber.
I don't know why I did this.
I waded in the water with theplumber.
Now, looking back, I was likewhat if there was live
electrical?

Speaker 1 (37:48):
Yeah right.
We would be having a verydifferent guest today.

Speaker 3 (37:52):
But the water was so cold.
He still went through with thepurchase because he got such a
great deal on the place, becauseit appraised so much higher.
So the moral of this story isdon't get in a fight with the
listing agent, did she?

Speaker 1 (38:05):
or he or they like sabotage.

Speaker 3 (38:09):
Yes, what they believe is two days, because it
was probably two days before thefinal walkthrough.
He did like the wet banditsfrom Home Alone and put rags in
the upstairs master bath andtheir hallway bath and then
turned on the water, took thelockbox keys and left.

Speaker 2 (38:30):
Oh my God, that's terrible.

Speaker 3 (38:33):
And so those are the two stories.
I always say like hey, just inthe transaction, always treat
everyone with with respect youknow this is the home you want
to buy.
You don't want someone likeputting a old fish thing in the
vents and like treat everyonewith respect.
Yeah, yeah, like, like, so, so,like that's kind of oh, you

(38:54):
know, I'm so upset with theseller, don't say anything.

Speaker 2 (38:57):
Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 3 (38:58):
Because if you make them mad, they might do
something.
Yeah, vice versa Most peopleare respectful.
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (39:04):
Most people don't take it to that extent, so yeah.

Speaker 2 (39:06):
And also do a walkthrough.
Do a walkthrough Before theclose through.

Speaker 3 (39:10):
Do a lot for the clothes.
Yeah, yeah, don't send yourmortgage guy either.
Well, I mean, thank god theydid?

Speaker 1 (39:16):
yes, I was, I guess.
I guess it didn't matter, hewas still gonna close anyways.

Speaker 3 (39:19):
But like he felt something was off.
Yeah and that's why I was likewhy are you asking me to go
there?
But he apparently knewsomething happened yeah he, he
felt it it.

Speaker 2 (39:31):
Yeah, trust your gut, yeah, wow.

Speaker 1 (39:34):
So what recommendations do you have for,
like first time home buyerswhen they're trying to get
started?

Speaker 3 (39:43):
Oh, I used to tell them you know, save as much
money as you can, right, butnowadays down payment has become
one of the least importantfactors in buying a home they
have.
It used to be the only 100percent financing loan out.
There was a VA loan If you werea veteran.

(40:03):
Now you have normal people, 100percent financing loans you
have one percent down.
Really so yeah, so, so, so.
So the best advice I could givesomeone is pay your bills on
time, take care of your you knowcredit and get used to paying a
higher payment than what yourrent is actually going going.

(40:25):
It makes a lot of sense becauseyou know it's the old saying was
rent like own for what you payrent, yeah, if you were renting
for you know, twenty fivehundred dollars.
But if your rent's a thousand,right, unless you're buying a
fifty thousand dollar condosomewhere right, you got to get
used to paying.
Paying that higher rent, right,pay your bills on time, take

(40:47):
care of your credit and for yourlike work.
Work as much as you can.

Speaker 1 (40:51):
If your job's offering you overtime, take it,
do that Same sort of advice ordifferent advice when you're
just getting into real estateinvesting?

Speaker 3 (41:03):
So real estate investing I love real estate
investors, I own a handful ofbuildings and so, from
commercial to residential, whenit comes to that, down payment
becomes key.
There's programs out therewhere you could buy low down
payment for four units and under, but when you get into the five

(41:25):
unit and above world, youreally need the 20, 25, 30% down
payments.
So, if that's the case, bediligent about saving your money
Because, yeah, I mean owning a12-unit building, owning a
20-unit building, that's whereyou can really do well for that

(41:46):
cash flow for the future.
But it's harder to buy them,which is why you don't see them
sell as much.
But yeah, I mean for commercialinvestors, you have to save
money because the down paymentis going to be king on that one.

Speaker 1 (42:03):
How did you get into the real estate investing world?

Speaker 3 (42:06):
My first piece of real estate that I owned was a
six flat commercial building inBrookfield.
I still own it to this day.
Residential apartments sixunits.
It was back in the day beforethe market crashed.
I was actually still in college.
Wow, I was a fifth year collegestudent.

Speaker 1 (42:24):
Are you saying that this is when you could get a
loan with the signature?

Speaker 3 (42:28):
I might be saying that.
I might be saying that when youcould do a 5% down commercial
loan.

Speaker 1 (42:37):
Well, good for you for still hanging on to it.

Speaker 3 (42:41):
And I was kind of just learning as I was going.
And then, you know, the marketcrashed a little bit, but then
interest rates came down.
I refinanced into a normal loan.
I took a building that at thetime was getting maybe 3,500 a
month rent and over a five-yearperiod I was able to get it up
to about 5,500.

(43:02):
And now it's about it's aboutas high as it's going to be,
maybe like 6,200, 6,300.
And in like in seven years nowit's finally paid off.
So, but that that was adifferent time.
But that was my first place.
And then my parents, when Igraduated college, they gave me
like two months at home.
They're like you own a six flatand you live in a 10 by 10

(43:24):
bedroom with your parents.
You're out, you know whatyou're doing.
So I had to.
By then I was working.
So you know, then I had to buymy house, which I bought in 2005
, which real estate was onlygoing to go one way from there.
There wasn't a crash going tohappen.
Real estate was going to go upand up, and I still own that
house to this day that I do rentout as well, good, any fun

(43:47):
stories?

Speaker 1 (43:47):
Is there a landlord story?

Speaker 3 (43:50):
Yeah, I do, the one that comes to mind, just call
him, mr Ray.
It was November 15th.
I'll never forget the day.
It was a eight flat that Irecently acquired in 2008.
Okay, eight, okay.

(44:17):
And I owned a building formaybe two or three months at
that time.
And so I get a call on aThursday and it was one of the
tenants who said hey, you know,apartment unit I think it was
four apartment unit for the TVis really really loud.
I'm like okay, so I call up MrA.
Hey, I talked to him.
Can you just keep the like?
I don't.
I don up MrA.
Hey, I talked to him.
Can you just keep the like?
I don't, I don't like thosecalls.
I just like I like normal calls, plumbing right, stuff like

(44:39):
that, not like someone's beingloud, like, oh my god, what did
I get into.
And then I get a call the nextday hey, the TV's loud, right.
I'm like I call up Mr A.
He doesn't answer.
And I'm like well, I calledthem.
I left the message Fast forward.
A couple days, days later, it'sNovember 15th, all that happened
before it's November 15th and Iget a call from the same tenant

(45:02):
.
Hey, like, the TV has beenblaring all weekend.
I'm like okay, whatever.
So I go over there.
I'm banging on the door likesuper upset, right, like I'm go
over there I'm banging on thedoor like super upset, right,
like I'm just, you know, I justwant to relax, right?
you know it's in the evening andI open up the door and he
smoked.
It's okay, I walk in there.
I'm like ray, you in here.

(45:24):
Mr ray I don't even know ifthat was his real name, but
that's what I said in my mind.
It was because I inherited allthese tenants.
So I, you know, haven't doneanything, smoked, you know.
So I'm walking.
I walk into the kitchen, I lookout of the corner of my eye and
Mr Ray is dead wedged betweenthe couch and his coffee table.

(45:47):
Mr Ray and again, his name isnot Mr Ray, but that's what I
call him he was in his birthdaysuit With the TV blaring, the TV
blaring, and so from when Ifirst talked to him to that time
, he had a heart attack.
So I call up 911.
Yikes.

(46:07):
And I tell them, I say, hey, Ifound a deceased person.
And they were like super, like,how do you know he's deceased?
I was like, well, I'm not adoctor, but his feet are blue
and certain things happen whenyou pass and body parts just let
go.
And I said so and they're like,well, can you feel for a pulse?

(46:30):
I'm like he's no longer with us.
But I understand that a coronerhas to make that determination,
as I am not one either.
So the police come and as soonas they walk in, they're like,
oh yeah, and so, as I'm sittingin the hallway and all this is
going on, all the tenants arecoming out.
And I was like, oh, you know,he passed.

(46:51):
Going on, all the tenants arecoming out and I was like, oh
you know, he passed, but youknow, and so, um, it was.
And then you see the body bagand you see all this stuff and
you're like, what did I getmyself into?
this building yeah uh, fastforward.
I turned that building into acondo conversion and made after
doing everything, riskingeverything, yeah like $42,000.

(47:13):
I sold my last unit in 2008 andthen like kind of everything
fell apart.
But I priced them reallybecause I felt there was bad
vibes with that building so Ididn't want to own it anymore.
So I was like I'm going toconvert this to condos Again,
trusting your gut.

Speaker 2 (47:32):
Yeah, wow, I kind of wish I still owned anymore.

Speaker 3 (47:32):
So I was like I'm going to convert this to condos
Again, trusting your gut.
Yeah, Wow, I kind of wish Istill owned that.
That was a good building, butat the time I just felt there
was a cloud Too much.
Yeah, when you find someonepassed and then it was just like
I just couldn't recover fromthat.

Speaker 2 (47:49):
Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1 (47:52):
While the police and the coroners were there Did?
Did somebody ask you to changea light bulb, or something like
that?

Speaker 3 (47:57):
Hey, since you're here, thankfully not, but when
they, when they brought Mr Rayout and he was in one position
and they had to get him flat andI never saw that before and you
see, like grown men, like, oh,straightening legs out and I'm
like oh, I've never seen that itwas it was because we're not

(48:20):
used to seeing that when we seesomeone who's passed, it's in a
nice yeah, presentation, yeah,you don't see anything.
And so I'm and you know, at thetime I was, I don't know 24 and
I'm seeing this like, oh, my god, you'll never unsee that.
It's like 24, 25 and, and Ilearned and I did learn a lot
with that building, though.

(48:40):
But you know, mr ray, whoever he, whoever he was, I didn't have
any documentation, becauselandlords never really kept any
records before that.
They're like, this is so, andso I just call him mr ray,
because, right, because that waswhat he was, but I'm pretty
sure that wasn't his name right,it was like bill or something.
I've never even called him ray,that was just like street name

(49:01):
or something, I don't know wowwow, yeah, that's a good story.

Speaker 1 (49:05):
We uh, you know, we manage properties we had yeah,
what do you guys got?
uh, there was one time where, um, a tenant of ours, had been
dead for a long time, to thepoint where, you know, he
bloated and ruptured, oh Lord.
And that's when we found out.
And this was our previousproperty manager's last day.

(49:27):
Yeah, I think I got the call.
This was our previous propertymanager's last day.
Yeah, I think I got the call.
You know, and I do feel bad forthis, but it was a weekend and
you know, I was younger then andprobably went out with Laura,
my wife, and so I did not hearthe phone ring at 2 in the

(49:48):
morning.
Unfortunately, lauren, our goodfriend Lo, who was a property
manager for the time, did hearthe phone ring at two in the
morning.
Unfortunately, lauren, our goodfriend Lo, who was a property
manager for the time, did hearthe phone ring and had to go to
the unit at two in the morningto, I guess, identify the body.
But, like similar to you, youknow, you don't know all of your
tenants, but yeah, he quit thenext day.

Speaker 2 (50:09):
Yeah, I think we're still dealing with structural
issues that happened from theleakage.

Speaker 1 (50:15):
Yeah, there we could be.
Yeah, that's true, yeah.

Speaker 3 (50:19):
It is because you have to think about it.
You have the carpet, the padunderneath the flooring.

Speaker 2 (50:25):
Yeah, this was a joist issue, that it
deteriorated the structuraljoist underneath the flooring
and we had to move out all thetenants below.

Speaker 3 (50:35):
Wow, this was a rupture.

Speaker 2 (50:36):
Yeah, something yeah.
So, similar stories.
Property management is superfun.
Yeah, and on that note, let'stake a break.
Why don't we take a break?

Speaker 1 (50:49):
Hello, hello, hello, just staying.
Hello, hello, hello.

Speaker 2 (50:51):
Just staying in.
You've got good tone.
Man, You've got a good ear.

Speaker 1 (51:00):
Thanks.
There was a, I don't know why.
I mean, I guess my sister justthought I didn't have any tone,
and so one time we were, becausewe were both working downtown.
Anyway, there was a famousscene it's not a movie but it's
in our minds where we weredriving downtown and she was
convinced that I wouldn't beable to.

(51:21):
But she was like putting outtones and I was matching her
pitch.
She was floored.

Speaker 2 (51:31):
You grew up together and she had never heard you sing
, were you.

Speaker 1 (51:36):
Well, I wrote that newsletter recently where she
just like kind of threw outthere one time that she thought
I did have a good voice, andthat's when I became convinced
that I did, even though she likehad no basis for throwing out
that comment.
So no, I didn't, I was not this.

Speaker 2 (51:53):
You know, singer, she was the singer yeah, I feel
like that happens a lot infamilies siblings, you know one
person's known for something andthen the other person kind of
shrinks back because I don'tknow.
For whatever reason they thinkthat they can't, and that's.

Speaker 1 (52:13):
That's not true.
Yeah, I wish, I wish my musicalpotential had been nurtured
more, but I didn't reallydemonstrate any.
But there was this one time inseventh grade music class where
we were meant to, you know,compose a song using the

(52:35):
components of a Casio keyboard.
And I made a good one.
My teacher was blown away.

Speaker 2 (52:42):
Interesting, but you never took it past that.

Speaker 1 (52:45):
Never took it past that I was not very good at
trumpet.

Speaker 2 (52:48):
But you also got into sports.

Speaker 1 (52:51):
I was big into sports .
Yeah, I mean, baseball was myone true love at that time, for
most of my life there's not alot of coolness, a cool factor
when you're that young, at leastfor me.

Speaker 2 (53:02):
You know being in band and orchestra.

Speaker 1 (53:03):
You know it was kind of a geeky thing to do yeah, I
mean, it probably would haveserved me better, though I
didn't.
I probably should have been alittle bit more geeky and less
concerned about my coolnessfactor yeah, everyone probably
could have done that, reallywasn't that?
Cool when it came down to it,no well, you're cool now.

Speaker 2 (53:19):
Yeah, look at me now and I will just put it out there
.
It is never too late to learnmusic yeah, no, I, I uh.

Speaker 1 (53:29):
I took piano lessons for like a hot second.
It was really rewarding.
Maybe I'll do it again, but Idon't have that much time.

Speaker 2 (53:34):
Maybe you and Axel could take piano lessons
together or some guitar lessonsor something.
Yes, because he shows a lot ofinterest.
He's very interested.

Speaker 1 (53:42):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (53:42):
He's a little rock star in the making.
Oh my gosh Just his poses.

Speaker 1 (53:53):
He takes his little ukulele, which he calls his
guitar, and just leans into itlike rocking, or he'll get up on
the little table and say, yeah.
I'm on stage and then I took avideo.
Lennon was up there watchinghim sing Wheels on the Bus.

Speaker 2 (54:04):
The biggest fan.

Speaker 1 (54:05):
His biggest fan, for sure.

Speaker 2 (54:07):
Yeah, I mean he was I don't know one and a half years
old and he knew how to hold andkind of strum and mock a guitar
with the correct fingering,like it was kind of incredible.

Speaker 1 (54:18):
Yeah, yeah.
And I've taught him over theyears this like this in quotes
big finish, which you know.
Before he didn't really get,but now he totally gets and he
goes big finish and he strumsharder and like it's amazing so

(54:40):
good, so you know, okay, um doyou have a record of the?
Week record of the week.
Record record of the week.

Speaker 2 (54:47):
I do.
Okay, it's not a really recordof the week.
It's an artist that is verywell known to some people.
I never heard of him.
It was actually probablymentioned many times on this
podcast and I just kind of wroteit down.
Have you guys heard of Elvis?
I know he's good.
He's old, though Probably verysimilar.

(55:07):
This guy is Wes Montgomery.
Sure, okay, I bring him uptoday because he was born in
Indianapolis.
You guys were talking aboutIndiana going to school.
So you know a little tie back.
I have been learning,struggling to learn some jazz on
piano, Okay, and I don't know,just stumbled upon him and love

(55:29):
it Is that what we werelistening to before, right
before I press record no, no, nono that was just a random piano
instrumental.
Okay, pop.

Speaker 1 (55:38):
Because correct me if I'm wrong I mean I know West
Montgomery is is somebody thatcovers a lot of pop, is that?

Speaker 2 (55:46):
He does.
One of the top songs on Spotifythat he did is a cover of
tequila.
Huh, da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da, that's funny.
Yeah, I always think of Pee WeeHerman when I think of that
song.
I'm not a huge fan of that.
It's just like when jazz peoplethey love to do a jazz version

(56:07):
of Raindrops on Roses, like no,don't ever cover.
If you're a jazz person outthere, don't cover that song.
Again, it's done.
It's just, it's a wonderfulsong but it belonged in the
movie and then it's done.
I don't know Whatever, butanyway it's for somebody who

(56:28):
doesn't really love jazz.
For somebody who doesn't reallylove jazz, it's a really nice
entryway because it's got a lotof rhythm, it's almost danceable
and he's a guitar player, jazzguitar.
But it's not noodley,masturbatory jazz, it's actually

(56:49):
fun jazz.
So that's my record of the week.

Speaker 1 (56:53):
Nice, yeah, I love it .
Thanks for sharing.
Well, we're back with JoshJones.
Hello Hi, how's it going?
Wonderful.

Speaker 3 (57:15):
So, if I put you on the spot, what new music are you
listening to these days?
Of any new music, when I'm notlistening to the 90s music,
which I would consider the mostnewest music that I like?
Um, it's 30 years old, I know,okay, I know, I know, I mean the
late 90s with bsb and nsync andotown and lfo and all those
bands, and then you haveBlink-182.
I mean, you had Sum 41.

(57:37):
Those were the great.
You know a lot of great music,but today I feel like I liked
old Taylor Swift.
I don't like new Taylor Swift.
There's not a lot of musicwhere I'm like this is real good
stuff.
Some of the hip hop artists Ilike, but I try to stay off the

(57:58):
regular radio because every hourit's the same six songs and
they're just okay.

Speaker 1 (58:06):
Do you did you?
I know your, your.
Your wife went to Taylor Swiftand Madonna.
Do you?
Do you have to go with her orno?
I so when it comes to concerts,I know your wife went to Taylor
Swift and Madonna, do you?

Speaker 3 (58:13):
have to go with her.
No, so when it comes toconcerts, I get a little upset
with concerts.
If the concert starts at 8, whyaren't they starting at 8?
Yeah, I agree.

Speaker 1 (58:23):
I have to work the next day.
You want to get on that classaction lawsuit from those New
Yorkers that sued Madonna forstarting late, is that right?

Speaker 2 (58:31):
Yeah, that was pretty late though.

Speaker 3 (58:33):
I think she started like an hour late, even later,
oh wow.
When I went to Jay-Z and Kanyewhen they came here, you know,
10 years ago, they didn't comeon until like 11.
I fell asleep in a seat yeah.
And there's pictures of me.
I was like, well, it's verydisrespectful that they're late.
The only recent concert thatI've been to was Blink-182,

(58:56):
which I really really like thatone, but the kind of pop ones
it's.
You know, I'm going to be thatold guy I also don't want a
30-minute encore.

Speaker 2 (59:06):
Come out and play a song, a last final song, and
then wrap it up.
I hate standing there like,like you know, like a silly
monkey, clapping my hands,knowing that they're back there
smoking pot right, taking theirtime, and then they got a whole
another set and I'm ready forbed wow, yeah, there's uh,

(59:27):
today's.

Speaker 3 (59:28):
Today's music is just , it's just a different vibe.
I did like a lot of the technostuff.
I liked it.
But if you're noticing some ofthe music is they're redoing
Diddy's song, who redid a songalready, and if you go back,
it's done from Otis Redding,like Otis Redding or Sam Cooke

(59:50):
originally did it, or like Elvis.

Speaker 2 (59:52):
It's meta's right goes back to the 50s.
Yeah, all right.

Speaker 1 (59:58):
So so we'll stick with the 50s and the 90s.
You have old records.
Is there a riverside you know,or thereabouts record?

Speaker 3 (01:00:06):
shop that you like.
There are some local ones.
There's one in bro Brookfieldthat I like, there's one in
Maywood that I like as well, andso if I'm just literally
driving down an area and I seesomething, I will just stop in
and see if there's anything cool.
Nice, there's just somethingabout an old record.
When you open it it smells alittle different, it smells old.

(01:00:28):
And to think this music wasburned into that vinyl, printed
on that vinyl, yeah, you know 50, 60, 70 years ago.
And you're listening to, to howit was supposed to be listened
to.

Speaker 1 (01:00:42):
it was pretty cool, well you know, other people have
listened to it.
Yeah, you put stories around it.
That's fun.
It went through a lot speakingRiverside.
You grew up in Riverside.

Speaker 3 (01:00:55):
So I was born in Berwyn, moved to Riverside when
I was four and then was inRiverside until I was 21, until
I was told to leave because Iowned a six-foot.
No, no, no, 22.
And then I went to Brookfieldfor 14 years and then Riverside
sucked me back in.

(01:01:16):
But you know, riverside is oneof those towns.
It's kind of, you know, adiamond in between a whole bunch
of other towns, like the roadsare curvy, it's a Frederick Law
Olmstead town and before GPS, ifyou didn't know, you would just
, you know, go around Harlem orOgden, or you'd go around

(01:01:37):
Riverside and no one knows thereal story.
But supposedly all the curvedroads was to keep outsiders out
Interesting.
And so you know, riverside tothis day doesn't have a lot of
business within the town becauseit doesn't get a lot of traffic
from outside.
So it's got like tworestaurants you can eat at, it's

(01:01:58):
got a beautiful river and youcan go along the riverside.
It's got a great library and areally cool water tower, which
is the staple of Riverside.
And then why is it cool?
It's the water tower is likeover of Riverside.
Why is it cool?
The Water Tower is like over 100years old and it's been in a

(01:02:19):
handful of movies.
The most notable movie and thetrain station was the Lake House
with Keanu Reeves and SandraBullock, and so if you look at
that the main house that KeanuReeves lived in is in Riverside,
and then the water tower, aswell as the train station, is
also in Riverside, too Cool.

(01:02:41):
So it's a cool little piece,and the town hasn't changed much
of how it has looked.
The water tower and the libraryand a couple of the main
buildings have been the same.
I mean, if you look at picturesfrom the early 1900s, it's the
same Amazing.

Speaker 1 (01:02:58):
Everything else has changed around there.
Nice, great place to raise afamily.

Speaker 3 (01:03:02):
Yeah, schools are really good, community is good,
a lot of summer events, artfests, food events, and then we
live close to the center town,so we just take the two little
boys in there and just hop, youknow, toss them in the wagon.

Speaker 1 (01:03:17):
We go to center which is nice, nice yeah and then a
lot of good restaurants andstuff like that around riverside
.
I mean, you got also gotbrookfield zoo nearby yes, yes,
I mean brookfield.

Speaker 3 (01:03:28):
I love, love Brookfield.
Michelle and I were there for14 years.
Tons of good restaurants.
You have the zoo, you have pubs.
I love that area Like Berwynamazing restaurants, lagrange,
lagrange Park, amazingrestaurants over there.
So it's really changed and youget a lot of city transplants

(01:03:48):
now coming into the Burbs overthere.

Speaker 1 (01:03:51):
Oh, it's so close.
I mean it's so close to thecity.
So if you still need to getdown to the city, you know which
has also changed.

Speaker 3 (01:03:59):
Yeah, just hop on 55 or 290 and you're there.
Yeah, that's it.

Speaker 1 (01:04:03):
Well, josh, thank you so much for joining us today.
Thank you, really fun to talkto you, andy.
Thank you, karen.
Thank you, I appreciate it.

Speaker 3 (01:04:09):
Good to have you Andrew.

Speaker 2 (01:04:13):
Yes, karen, why big finishes?

Speaker 1 (01:04:23):
That's an interesting question for the ending
segments of our podcast.

Speaker 2 (01:04:27):
Let's finish, big Andy, let's finish big Andy.

Speaker 1 (01:04:33):
Well, I mean, I think it helps the audience
understand that this is the end.
Okay, it also kind of leavesthem with something a little bit
more elevated than the normalcourse of the concert, or you
know the song or whatever.
You're finishing big.
I think that it's.

(01:04:56):
You know, it's nice to go outwith a bang.

Speaker 2 (01:04:58):
Yeah, have you ever been to a show that has not done
that?
Like almost to the completeopposite, where they just end
real real quiet, real quietly.

Speaker 1 (01:05:09):
You know, I mean I'm going to get a little fishy here
, forgive me, I smell it.
But I mean, you know, certainlywhen you're a Phish fan, the

(01:05:35):
choice of song in the encore caneither leave you fulfilled or
leave you with something to bedesired.
I don't think it's theirintention to finish small.
They just play what they wantto play and sometimes it doesn't
hit you personally for thatparticular concert correctly,
but other times you might besitting next to a stranger that
loves it.
So, but I, you know, conversely, I think just sort of fading

(01:05:59):
out and walking off stage isalso kind of nice.

Speaker 2 (01:06:03):
Yeah, I kind of like that, depending on, because
sometimes if I'm so amped aftera show and, like we were talking
before, sometimes shows can goon forever, and then you're
coming home at you know one inthe morning and you're buzzing
and you don't get to sleep yeah,yeah, I mean I, I definitely
get that, I I'm with you, like Imean you know, I don't need a

(01:06:25):
four song encore, I'm ready tobe done and sort of file this
experience away Like, okay,check that box, I've done that.

Speaker 1 (01:06:35):
Yep, I like it in plays when you know sort of the
stage just stage lights just goblack.

Speaker 2 (01:06:43):
Mm-hmm.

Speaker 1 (01:06:44):
Kind of fade away.
I mean it's a satisfying endusually.
Yeah, it's a weighty play.

Speaker 2 (01:06:50):
Yep Leaves you with your thoughts let's see.

Speaker 1 (01:06:55):
Does that answer your question?
I mean, we were talking aboutmy, my son, and how I taught him
a big finish, and I just thinkit's cute, uh, when he, when he
does a big finish, yeah, um, andI also I don't know why, I
guess I don't know why I him.
I guess I was just like tryingto teach him some theatrics.

Speaker 2 (01:07:14):
I love it.
He's naturally a front man,yeah, rockstar, so yeah.

Speaker 1 (01:07:20):
Probably will serve him well.

Speaker 2 (01:07:22):
I hope someday.
In the back room, you know, inthe green room he's got all the
ladies around, you know.

Speaker 1 (01:07:28):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:07:28):
Thinking he's the shit.

Speaker 1 (01:07:30):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:07:30):
And you're like yeah, my dad taught me that.

Speaker 1 (01:07:39):
Your endings are so big.
Yeah, yeah, I mean I think,depending on the context, I'll
take some pride in that.
Yeah, do it.
I could also think where that,like it, just gets him into
trouble just because he gets old.
Could you just tone it downjust a little bit?
Teach him how to do the otherthing the quiet ending yeah,
yeah, just go out with a whisper, read the room.

(01:08:01):
Maybe Read the room.
He needs to read the room alittle bit.
But yeah, I don't know.

Speaker 2 (01:08:07):
You know who also needs to read your room.
Who who also needs to read yourroom?
Who?
Your dog Pearl?
She definitely needs to readthe room she does.
She's always doing a big ending.

Speaker 1 (01:08:17):
She's always yeah.
Well, she doesn't want anythingto end, she just wants to be
petted, and petted, and petted,and won't take no for an answer.

Speaker 2 (01:08:25):
Well, they're both adorable, so good job, thanks.

Speaker 1 (01:08:28):
That's why Big Finish is Okay.
How about we do a Big Finish?
What should we say?
Should we?
You know who does Big Finish aswell, who Smartless?

Speaker 2 (01:08:39):
Oh, right yeah.

Speaker 1 (01:08:42):
Which we can't do.

Speaker 2 (01:08:42):
We can't do that, we can't steal that, we'll get sued
or something like that.

Speaker 1 (01:08:46):
But good for them.
They just signed a big new deal, did they?
Yeah, they just signed a big,big new deal, did they?

Speaker 2 (01:08:50):
Yeah, oh, that's great.
If you haven't checked outsmart list, it's also a really
fun podcast, fun podcast.

Speaker 1 (01:08:57):
I actually wanted to mention a podcast that we like.
There's another podcast thatour friend, jason Taylor turned
us onto.
It's the rock and roll and 500songs.

Speaker 2 (01:09:06):
Oh yeah yeah, that's a good podcast I listened to.
I think it was the episode withthe monkeys.

Speaker 1 (01:09:13):
Nice.

Speaker 2 (01:09:13):
Yeah, you didn't go in order, no, you just picked a
random Of course, because Iwanted to go with something I
cared about A song that I knew,or like a band that I knew
really well, or that I was justintrigued about.

Speaker 1 (01:09:26):
Okay, well, there's some podcasts you should check
out.
And how about this big finish?
We haven't really asked this ofour listeners before, but if
you enjoyed this episode, smashthat like button.
Spotify.

Speaker 2 (01:09:42):
Bye, bye.

Speaker 1 (01:09:48):
This has been an episode of Records and Real
Estate.
Thanks for listening.
We hope you enjoyed it.
Today's episode was brought toyou by Be Realty.
Be where you want to be.
Be Realty.