September 12, 2025 • 32 mins
In Part 2, Brent Lee dives into market trends, the impact of interest rates, and the importance of mentorship and culture at Tower Agency. He also shares personal reflections on balancing business, family, and community while offering practical advice for both agents and clients. Joey Romero guides the conversation through key topics such as pricing strategies, adapting to market shifts, and the role of mentorship in fostering a supportive office environment. The episode also highlights Riverside’s future growth and Tower Agency’s commitment to building strong client relationships and deeper community engagement.
Brent Lee is a Southern California–based real estate broker, entrepreneur, and community leader. As owner and broker of Tower Real Estate Agency, he has built one of Riverside’s most respected independent brokerages, known for its agent-focused culture, high-performing team, and data-driven results for buyers, sellers, and investors. Beyond real estate, Brent serves as President of the Riverside Unified School District Board of Education, where he has championed initiatives to improve academic outcomes, expand career and technical education, and build stronger school–community partnerships. He is also co-founder of The Pick Group of Young Professionals, a leadership network fostering civic engagement and collaboration among Riverside’s emerging leaders. Through his work in real estate, education, and community development, Brent is dedicated to building a stronger, more connected Riverside for future generations.
In this episode:
- Market trends shaping buyer and seller behavior
- How interest rates influence deals and creative financing strategies
- Local insights on Riverside’s real estate market
- The role of mentorship in shaping Tower Agency’s culture
- Balancing business success with community and family commitments
- Brent’s reflections on personal and professional milestones
- Practical advice for both real estate agents and clients
The Norris Group originates and services loans in California and Florida under California DRE License 01219911, Florida Mortgage Lender License 1577, and NMLS License 1623669. For more information on hard money lending, go www.thenorrisgroup.com and click the Hard Money tab.
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Narrator (00:01):
Welcome to The Norris Group real estate podcast, a
show committed to bringing youinsights from thought leaders
shaping the real estateindustry. In each episode, we'll
dive into conversations withindustry experts and local
insiders, all aimed at helpingyou thrive in an ever-changing
real estate market. continuingthe legacy that Bruce Norris
(00:24):
created, sharing valuableknowledge, and empowering you on
your real estate journey.
Whether you're a seasoned pro ora newcomer, this is your go-to
source for insider tips, markettrends and success strategies.
Here's your host, Craig Evans.
Joey Romero (00:45):
The Norris Group is proud to present our 18th annual
gala. I Survived Real Estate atThe Nixon Presidential Library
on Friday, September 12. Since2008, our event has raised well
over a million dollars. Thisyear, we'll be raising funds
again from Make-A-Wish OC andIE. Individual Tickets are
available now. To get yourtickets, go to
isurviverealestate.com click thelink here in the card. We would
(01:08):
like to thank the followingplatinum sponsors, uDirectIRA
Services, The San Diego CreativeInvestors Association,
DouglasBrooke Homes, MVTProductions, Realty411, and DBL
Capital. Welcome back, everyone.
Let's get to it. Now, yourepresent buyers and sellers. So
(01:28):
how do you change the advicethat you give buyers and sellers
based on the situation thatthey're in?
Brent Lee (01:38):
Asking a lot of questions, right? So I think
that, as a real estate broker oras a real estate professional,
our job to find out ourclient's, "why", right? Why do
they want to buy? What do theywant to sell? What are their
goals, their timeframe? I thinkit's just about asking lots of
questions and really figuringout what is going to be in their
(02:01):
best interest. And I think ifyou do that, you're going to be
a great, a great real estateprofessional. So I don't think
there's any specificdifferences. It's just really
trying to figure out what their"Why" is, and really kind of
drill down so that you canprovide good advice.
Joey Romero (02:24):
And you can apply that to both sides of the sale.
Brent Lee (02:26):
it's not my job to make decisions for my clients.
That's not my job. My job is toprovide information, ask
questions, so that they can makethe best decision for
themselves. So I was in thatlike, especially when I'm
dealing with on a buy side, whena client wants to make an offer,
like, 'Brent, what would youoffer for this house?' And I'm
(02:46):
like, 'Well, I can't answer thatquestion for you, you know. I
can tell you what the house isat fault around it. I can say,
how long do you think you'd bein this house? How secure are
you in your job? Is your familyplan on growing?' All of those
things to help you make a gooddecision, but I can't make that
decision for you. Same thing onthe listing side, probably the
(03:08):
question I get most that I willrefuse to answer is, 'What
should I list my house for?'It's not my house to sell. It's
your house to sell. Again.
Here's the information. This iswhat I think the market was
there, but it's your house. Youget to sell it for whatever
price you want.
Joey Romero (03:23):
How should I frame this question? Because a lot of
people get stuck on what theirhouse was worth. Do you find
that it's hard to get people offof that number, or is it, you
know what? Hey, I'm going to hityou with the data, and we're
going to price it right. Becausewhat I've heard from all the
agents is, if you price housesright, they will move.
Brent Lee (03:47):
Oh, agree, agreed with that. So I think every once
in a while, I'll get a clientthat is stuck on a number. But I
think with the amount ofinformation that's accessible to
a consumer now, it's not as bigof an issue. I'd say 90% of the
time when I'm meeting withespecially a seller, they
(04:09):
already have a price in mind,and they're usually pretty close
to what they think it's worth.
You know, those AI tools outthere that kind of give you an
idea which house is worth signsof front yards and, you know,
apps that they can access to seewhat those houses are listed for
and sell for. I think theconsumer, because of access to
(04:29):
information, has a pretty goodsense. Every once in a while,
you'll get, you know, a clientthat is a little bit stubborn,
or, you know, has ideas abouttheir house as it's great
because they took great care ofit, or, you know, they put this
really nice air conditioner androof on it 10 years ago. It's
(04:50):
like, okay, like, every househas to have an air conditioner
on a roof, but got it. I'mtaking notes.Again, this is the
conversation you asked. Lots ofquestions. And I think at the
end of the day, most of thetime, the client comes to this
conclusion of what their houseis truly worth in the market.
But kind of like I shared on mylast answer, I always I want all
the power to be in their hands.
(05:13):
Okay, whatever you want to offerfor this house, I'll put it on
the piece of paper. Whatever youwant to list the house for, I'll
put it down on the piece ofpaper. But at the end of the
day, if you're a buyer and theseller doesn't like your offer,
they're not going to sell it. Sosame thing, if you're a seller
and you're offering your houseto buyers and the price is too
high, and so buyers don't wantto pay that price, then the
house isn't worth that much,right? So unless you want to buy
(05:38):
your house for that price, themarket really is going to
determine what the price is fora home. And I think most of the
time the client comes to thatconclusion.
Joey Romero (05:47):
To piggyback on that. So in Florida, we're
seeing that homes that are onthe lower end of the pricing
spectrum move really fast, andhomes on the high end of the
spectrum are still moving astraditionally, they do, but that
middle market is the one thathas been most affected by rates
(06:08):
and uncertainty and all that, isthere a type of home or pricing
structure that is moving fasterthan others that you see in
here, locally?
Brent Lee (06:18):
Yeah, I think the trends that you're seeing in
Florida are pretty similar tothe trends that are happening to
that are happening inCalifornia, but in particular in
California, what I'm seeing,price, of course, price matters,
but I think it's more on value.
I think customers are reallysensitive to the value that
they're getting in home. Solike, of course, home has to
(06:40):
price right, and if it's pricedright, then it's going to get
some look. But for a home tosell and sell in a reasonable
amount of time, you have todemonstrate good values to not
only price but condition. Sowhat I'm seeing is, regardless
of price, if the home is pricedfairly at market, and the house
is in good condition- turnkey,doesn't need a lot of updates,
(07:04):
doesn't need any repairs. It'sgoing to move. It's the homes
that even if it's priced fairly,if it needs a lot of work, even
if a customer wants to buy thathouse, they don't have the
ability to do so, because we'reseeing really cash starved
buyers right now. They haveenough money for the down
payment and closing costs,maybe, but very few have the
(07:26):
money for down payment closingcosts and renovation. So houses
that need work, unless they'repriced below market, I think,
are sitting on the marketlonger. Big houses is under
600,000 if they're in goodcondition, they're still moving
pretty quickly. And then houseis over a million bucks. If they
(07:46):
don't need a lot of updates orrepairs, they're moving too. But
I think really it's the valuequestion. If good value houses
are moving, if it's just an okayvalue it's going to take longer
to sell. And kind of want to putan asterisk on that. I think
we've all gotten spoiled in thelast, really 10 years, where
there just was a shortage oflisting. So buyers were willing
(08:10):
to buy just about anything. Now,inventory has kind of climbed
up, and affordability has beenan issue. Buyers finally can be
choosy. And when I first gotinto the business, it wasn't
uncommon for us to sit on amarket, 60, 90, 120 days. But
(08:33):
over the last 10 years, that'slike, what is going on, you
know? So I have agents cominglike, 'Oh my gosh, Brent,
something's wrong. I can't getthis this house sold'. I'm like,
'Well, how long has it been onthe market?' Like, '32 days.'
I'm like, 'That's not a longtime'.
Joey Romero (08:42):
That's it. People complain about interest rates
are saying we're right at whatit's supposed to be.
Brent Lee (08:47):
You know, 30 days is now 60 days. 60 days is now 90
days. So, I mean, it's adifferent market. Takes a little
bit longer to sell, but not thatlong.
Joey Romero (08:58):
Well, I think it's having an effect even on
investors, not only just, youknow, your typical retail buyer,
you know they're having toreally be careful with their
margins and and you know, one ofthe things that's affecting your
margins is going to be holdingcosts. So if I got a hold for
another 60 days, on top of whatI kind of, I'm used to, it's
(09:19):
really making them evaluate,like, how good a buy are they
making? Now, are you runninginto more creative deals lately,
where they have to, you know,talk about concessions, or maybe
some sort of unique financing?
Brent Lee (09:35):
Definitely concessions, right? So I think
that that seems to be like thenew normal, especially on the
lower end of the market, whereyou know buyers just have less
cash on hand. So you're seeing alot more sellers taking on
buyers closing costs are willingto offer help to get the house
(09:55):
closed. Sometimes that's donethrough a rate buy down. So, the
seller pre paying for a year ortwo, kind of a delta in the
interest rate to kind of make alittle bit more affordable for
the two years. So the seller iswilling to give a little bit the
buyers kind of banking oninterest rates coming down in
the next two years, or equitygoing up so they could, they
(10:17):
could refi. So definitely onconcessions. Also, you're not
seeing every time the sellergetting their price, you know,
100% what's the sale priceratio? Or 105% list sell ratio?
It's dipping below 100 now.
Joey Romero (10:34):
Yeah. So 97, 98 right?
Brent Lee (10:36):
Yeah. Sellers are being more negotiable on their
price, especially that it's beensitting a little bit.
Joey Romero (10:41):
Well, not only that, we've talked about it, you
know, with Bruce, and the thingsthat we do, you know, for
example, I'm not going to sellmy house like I've got, you
know, less than a 3% mortgage onit. I'm just going to turn it
into a rental and then, youknow, go find somewhere else to
live, you know. So it's like, Idon't have to sell it. Now, let
me shift a little bit back tothe way you run your office. I
(11:05):
know you've always been big withmentorship, and I know just from
knowing you, you actually havesome mentorship programs built
into your office structure,right? Not only just a
collaboration, but some realmentorship. How does that play
out in your office environment,day to day?
Brent Lee (11:20):
So, yeah, so, we realized, well, you've known
this for a little while. Whenyou get your real estate, when
you take your real estate testand get your real estate
license, it really doesn'ttranslate to being successful at
real estate, right? Like youneed to know those things to get
your license and follow therules and make sure you're doing
(11:41):
things the right way, but itdoesn't teach you how to be a
successful realtor. And so whenespecially with the rebrand, we
wanted to say, how can we helpmore agents be successful,
particularly agents that are newin the business or been in the
business maybe for less thanfive years and really haven't
found that consistency they werelooking to they got into into
(12:03):
the business. So we wanted tocome alongside them, really hold
Joey Romero (12:06):
To get to brand awareness too, a little bit,
their hand through the process,and make sure that they not only
know, like the technical thingsthat you need to do as a
right? If you're new, youhaven't built it up for
realtor, but really, how do yoube an excellent, how do you
become an excellent realtor? Sowe really leaned on some of our
really high performing agents.
One of those agents, her name isyourself, like.
(12:26):
Sarah. She's been in thebusiness for about 10 years.
She's really well known onsocial media locally, the big
following. A lot of agentsalready were following her
online because of her success,and just, she's just really
talented at social media, and,you know, wanted to how did she
do it? So with with her growthand her kind of being a leader
Brent Lee (12:47):
somebody to show your thanks. So it makes it really
in the office, she was willingto step up and show people how
she did it. And so we startedthis mentorship program last
year with about 12 agents, andit's been almost a year now, and
some of those agents are some ofmy best agents and new agents in
the office, finally gettingthose consistent results that
they wanted, and they're doingit the right way, right? They're
(13:10):
doing business throughrelationships. They're taking
care of the clients, putting theclients interest first, and
being rewarded with success. Sothat's a great relief for me as
a broker. One it's a it's goodto be associated with agents
that are doing business theright way. They're being coached
by someone that I know doesbusiness the right way. So that
(13:32):
really reduces my liability, andthey're making us look good at
the same time, and they'recreating great stories that we
can go out and share with otheragents that are struggling,
that, hey, maybe you just need areboot. Maybe you just need a
restart. And where you're atright now is just not a good fit
for the direction that you wantto go moving forward. So
(13:54):
providing an opportunity.
(16:39):
accessible for all agents,regardless of what their budget
is, and it's just, doing good,you know, and giving back.
Joey Romero (16:48):
Now you've seen quite a few micro market cycles.
We're getting to that age whereyou're actually seeing some ups
and downs. What do you think isheaded for Riverside here in the
next year or so?
Brent Lee (17:01):
I'm optimistic. I think Riverside is doing a lot
of good things. I think that theleadership in our city right now
is thinking about the rightthings, kind of focusing on what
impacts families locally. Whatcan they do locally to make
their community better? And Ithink when you focus on those
(17:22):
things, good results willhappen. So, I think Riverside is
headed in the right direction. Ithink a lot of the cities around
us are in the right direction.
Corona I think, is doing a lotof good things. Redlands is
doing a lot of good things. Andbearing some unknown that we
(17:42):
know we can't predict, I thinkRiverside is going to be in a
stable place moving forward.
Like you said, there's alwaysups and downs, and we haven't
had a down in a long time, andthat's just normal, healthy
market. But I don't think we'llhave a, I don't expect any
drastic downturn or drasticupturn locally. You know, I
(18:08):
think that Riverside will bepretty stable place. I think the
surrounding cities will be apretty stable place, and
hopefully we can just find moreways to make the dream of home
ownership accessible to morepeople. So hopefully we can
figure that part out.
Joey Romero (18:24):
Along those lines, where do you see Tower Agency in
the next five years?
Brent Lee (18:29):
Oh, man, I hope we continue to grow. That's my
goal. You know, we're hoveringright around 70 agents right
now, 75 my goal by the end ofthe year is to get to 200. I'd
like to have an office in SouthCounty, down kind of in the
(18:49):
Temecula and Murrieta and thenif you service that area, we
have some agents that work downthere, but home-based serves in
Riverside, and just make alittle bit more accessible for
them, have an office down thatway. So that's...
Joey Romero (18:59):
A lot of growth down there.
Brent Lee (19:01):
And there's a lot of growth down there, and I think,
like cities like to Temecula andMurrieta are very kind of
stable, like Riverside, it meansyou got a good local economy
there to keep the prices andkind of stability, which I look
for. I'm a pretty conservativeguy. I want to make wise
decisions for the business,because it impacts not just me,
(19:24):
but all the agents that chooseto work with us. But I hope we
continue to grow. I hope wecontinue to add agents who want
to have a, or believe in whatwe're doing here. You know, not
only, you know, selling lots ofhouses, but doing it the right
way, making lots of connectionsand making the community better.
So I would love to be able toreplicate this other places. And
(19:45):
kind of the next place we'relooking is kind of South.
Joey Romero (19:48):
Nice. Now we've heard how you've juggled
business, community, family. Howdo you keep all those plates
spinning and not burn out?
Brent Lee (20:00):
I'm really lucky I have, first I get to work with
my sister, so she's kind of likethe brains and the engine that
operates behind the scenes. Shedoesn't really care to be out in
the spotlight too much, butshe's a doer. She likes to roll
up the sleeves and get workdone. So she's really good at
following up on all the behindthe scenes things in our clients
(20:25):
life, but also with agents. Soshe kind of does all the stuff
behind the scenes. So thatallows me to be out and about
more with the agents and thecommunity, and then also just
have a really great team. Ibelieve you can't do this alone.
So I'm really grateful forpeople like James Monks, my
sales manager, my businesspartner, he's really good at
(20:45):
keeping me energized and keepingme focused on what we're trying
to do here at the office. Imentioned Sarah having a younger
person in the business who'ssuccessful reminds me of where I
was, maybe not like 10 yearsago, and letting that energy
just kind of permeate throughthe office. You know, she's
always looking to, how do we dothings better? How to do things
(21:07):
smarter, having people likethat. And then our office
manager, marketing director,Darla, she's also kind of like
the glue that kind of keepseverything together. We always
have great ideas, but we don'talways have time to make those
ideas happen. So we all lean onDarla, Jane, Sarah, and I, my
sister, to get things done. Sothere's just too much going on.
(21:30):
So being able to trust thosethat you work with to help you
make things happen for people isessential. We couldn't have
grown the company in the way wehave over the last 10 years
without, you know, justessential team members. You
know, I'm really grateful forthat.
Joey Romero (21:45):
Shout out to Lauren. Shout out, yeah,
absolutely. Alright, so lookingback on everything that you've
built, what's the oneaccomplishment, what's the
accomplishment that you're mostproud of?
Brent Lee (21:59):
That's a tough question, like professionally or
in the community?
Joey Romero (22:04):
Whatever you want.
Brent Lee (22:05):
The one that really comes to mind is the Pick Group.
I mean, I'm not a youngprofessional anymore. I'm going
to be 45 this month, so I'm wellpast the age range to be a Pick
member.
Joey Romero (22:20):
Well, you can thank me for your extra five years
that you got.
Brent Lee (22:22):
Yeah, I know the Joey rule, right, gave us from 35 to
40. But I say that because westarted that in 2008 and I
shared kind of the origin storyof why, like, we wanted to have
a voice in the direction of ourcity, but I met some of the
(22:44):
people that are most importantto me in my life, right? So like
my friends, my businesspartners, all are from
participating in the Pick Group.
Aaron Norris, you, Joey, theO'farrells. All of those folks
are just still in to this day,like I see them all the time.
They're people who I call in forbusiness and people who I call
in for community. They're peoplewho I call in for family. So I
(23:05):
think that's what I'm most proudof, and not only because it
helped me do what I do and bewho I was. I'm going to be on
the school board without that. Idon't think, I don't think my
company would grow in the waywithout that.
Joey Romero (23:20):
That was fun walking the neighborhoods with
for you early in those days.
Brent Lee (23:25):
Oh, absolutely. But the fact that they're still
doing it, and we're not thereanymore.
Joey Romero (23:30):
Yeah.
Brent Lee (23:30):
So to me, that is a testament to the legacy and the
importance of what was createdback in 2008 that it's still
important now, and that thestructure and the people that
are involved, it's about themission. It's about the vision
of the Pick Group, not thepeople necessarily, that are
there because it's come toserve, you know, different
(23:54):
generations of people, and thefact that it's still there
serving the same purpose, thatmeans a lot to me.
Joey Romero (24:01):
Yeah, it was, it's a special kind of era. I think
there was, you know, there wasthe founders, the just outside
the founders, and then there waslike, like, I was never one of
the presidents, right, but I wasalways one of those guys that
the founders and presidentscould lean on to say, 'Hey, can
you get this done? And like, Iwas like, Yeah, let's do this,
(24:21):
right?' And I had, like, a groupthat was kind of in the, same
vein, and we were all kind of,you know, that, '09 to, like,
'14, like, we were crazy, like,we just got so much done. And,
for me, it's also that special,like, that's where I met Aaron,
(24:41):
you know, everybody knows that'swhere I met Aaron, and it
changed the trajectory of mylife. And, you know, some of my,
you know, good friends are thesame. And I would argue that,
you know, even though you said,this isn't a business, but, it's
developed into the now, not soyoung man that you are, which is
(25:03):
kind of bled into everythingthat you do in business. So, you
know, it would kind of, it kindof brought you up, you know, and
it was big part of that. So Iagree that, that time was
special and I it's, you're oneof my favorite people to lean
on. I'll give everybody just asmall Brent Lee story. So as we
(25:25):
were, you know, going out thereand with our hair on fire, just
doing all kinds of stuff in thecommunity, we would have these
board meetings, and we would alljust get fired up about doing
it, and we would always have onedissenting voice. And it wasn't
not necessarily that Brentdidn't agree with it. It was
just like, we just have to showthat not every it wasn't ever
(25:47):
unanimous, you know. So it wasalways, Brent was like, the
'Nay'. He was always the nay, onthe on the board meeting votes
for everything that we're doing.
Like, what's what's wrong? Youdon't want to do this. Like,
'No. I was like, I knew we'regoing to pass it anyways, but we
gotta have somebody, you know',and it wasn't just always just
Brent Lee (26:04):
We always have good conversations, right?
Joey Romero (26:06):
Yes, yes. And it did. And it wasn't like, like,
you like. It wasn't just like,I'm gonna say no for sake of
saying no. You're always sayingno because you wanted us to,
like, to really consider thatthere might be a different
perspective on what we're doing.
And so I always took that awayfrom you, and I value your
opinion that way, because youalways helped us look at things
(26:27):
that we maybe were overlookingor didn't think about, and
whether it was because you youhad conversations with other
folks that we didn't have.
Brent Lee (26:35):
No, I'm glad somebody appreciated it.
Joey Romero (26:37):
Yes, yes. And and then you try to buy my style,
you know, three kids, you know,bring them up through the
community and athletes andstuff. Yes, now, so now, if
somebody was going to takeanything away from this podcast,
and, you know, our conversationtoday, what is the one thing
(26:59):
that you want people to takeaway from this? Let's do two
way. One, as an agent, somebodyin the real estate game, and
then maybe somebody who'slooking to buy or sell.
Brent Lee (27:14):
Yeah, I think from the the agent game. So those
folks that are in my industry, Ithink, have that mindset of
abundance. It's so easy in salesto like, 'This is mine. This is
mine. Take, take, take, oh, ifso and so gets a listing. That
means I didn't get to listing'.
I think that's just a completelywrong way to look at a business.
I mean, in Riverside alone, it'slike a $2 billion a year
(27:36):
industry, right? There's plentyof business for everybody if you
do business the right way. Yes,there's lots of competitors,
lots of realtors, too manyrealtors, to be honest with you,
but they're not doing businessthe right way. So I mean, if you
treat this job like a job, andyou put your clients first, you
(27:56):
stay on top of what markettrends are happening. You ask
lots of questions, and you putin the work, you're going to be
successful. I mean, it'sautomatic. I mean, I tell that
agent all the time, it'sautomatic. How you get there is
your path to forge. But if youput in the time, you put clients
(28:16):
first, and you stay on top ofthe game you're going to be
successful. So just do that.
There's not an easy business tobe in, it's easy to get in, but
it's not easy business to stayin. It's hard, it's a hard
business. But if you do it theright way, it can happen. So
come see me if you're havingtrouble in this business and you
(28:42):
want to figure out how to havesuccess, I'm happy to have a
conversation with you, whetheryou want to join my firm or not.
Customers and buyers, make sureyou're asking your real estate
professional lots of questionsto make sure they're a good fit
for you, just because it's youryou know, your brother, your
uncle, your friend, your cousin,somebody your mom used, don't
just hire them because of that.
Make sure it's a good fit foryou. Ask lots of questions.
Joey Romero (29:06):
Alright, I'm going to ask a bonus question. So
you're a second generationrealtor, do you see, have any of
your kids like, have you seenanything that they might want to
go into real estate?
Brent Lee (29:20):
It's funny, because I had it, and then last summer, I
was with my son, Felix, he was12 at the time, he's 13 now, and
he was asking me, like, lots ofweird questions like, 'So Dad,
how many houses to sell?' Neverasked the questions like that.
Told him. 'Oh like, how muchdoes it cost to sell a house?'
(29:42):
So I told him, and, then Irealized he was trying to figure
out how much money does Dadmake? And so he's like, 'That's
pretty good'. Like, 'I think,how do you get into this
business?' And I told him, like,'No way, no way, you cannot.
You're not allowed to be in thisbusiness'. So I joke with them.
(30:04):
Of course, I'll support my kidswith whatever business they want
to get into. But man, like Itold you, this is a hard
business. You know, I want mykids to get into something
that's a little bit easier, butI think he's the only one so
far.
Joey Romero (30:19):
Yeah, well, maybe you need to keep your mom away
from him, because then he'll behead first into real estate and
building an empire before he's20.
Brent Lee (30:29):
That's true.
Joey Romero (30:30):
All right. So last thing, can you tell the audience
how they can connect with you?
Brent Lee (30:35):
Yeah, please check me out. I kind of dark on social
media these days, if you like.
That's a place I don't want tomix in too often, but my office
is very accessible. So you canfind us at toweragency.com, you
can follow us on Instagram,@TowerAgency or on Facebook,
pretty easy to find. And if youwant to connect with me
(30:56):
professionally, social media,LinkedIn, brentwlee, that's how
you find me on LinkedIn, andhey, I try to be really
accessible on email too. So youcan find me at
Brent@toweragency.com.
Joey Romero (31:10):
Awesome.
Brent Lee (31:10):
We'd love to connect.
Joey Romero (31:11):
Thank you for jumping on and...
Brent Lee (31:13):
Appreciate the opportunity.
Joey Romero (31:14):
And everybody check out tower agency. They're doing
a lot of great things. They'releading everything in the Inland
Empire and in Riversidespecifically. So if you're in
the market to buy or sell...
Brent Lee (31:26):
Happy to help. We got an agent to connect with you
with.
Joey Romero (31:28):
Absolutely. So thank you. Brent.
Brent Lee (31:30):
Go Dodgers!
Joey Romero (31:31):
Yes, absolutely. Go Dodgers, hey, that's what,
that's what Fernie says, righthere. Go Dodgers.
Brent Lee (31:38):
Oh yeah!
Joey Romero (31:39):
Thanks everybody.
Brent Lee (31:40):
All right, man, keep going. Thank you.
Joey Romero (31:43):
Don't forget to visit isurvivedrealestate.com
for tickets to the event onFriday, September 12. The Norris
Group would like to thank thefollowing Gold sponsors,
Keystone CPA, The Inland ValleysAssociation of Realtors,
Pasadena FIBI, The North SanDiego Real Estate Investors
Association, LA south REIA,NorCal REIA, The Wizard of the
(32:05):
Wobbly Box, Andy Teasley,Shepherd's Finance, The Thompson
Group, PropertyRadar and WhiteHouse Catering. The dinner wine
is provided with a generouscontribution by Rick and Leanne
Rossiter. Hope see you allthere.
Narrator (32:19):
For more information on hard money loans, trust deed
investing, and upcoming eventswith The Norris group. Check out
thenorrisgroup.com. For moreinformation on passive investing
through the DBL Capital RealEstate Investment Fund, please
visit dblapital.com.
Joey Romero (32:38):
The Norris Group originates and services loans in
California and Florida underCalifornia DRE license 01219911.
Florida mortgage lender license1577 and NMLS license 1623669.
For more information on hardmoney lending go to
thenorrisgroup.com and click thehard money tab.
Welcome to The Norris Group real estate podcast, a
show committed to bringing youinsights from thought leaders
shaping the real estateindustry. In each episode, we'll
dive into conversations withindustry experts and local
insiders, all aimed at helpingyou thrive in an ever-changing
real estate market. continuingthe legacy that Bruce Norris
(00:24):
created, sharing valuableknowledge, and empowering you on
your real estate journey.
Whether you're a seasoned pro ora newcomer, this is your go-to
source for insider tips, markettrends and success strategies.
Here's your host, Craig Evans.
Joey Romero (00:45):
The Norris Group is proud to present our 18th annual
gala. I Survived Real Estate atThe Nixon Presidential Library
on Friday, September 12. Since2008, our event has raised well
over a million dollars. Thisyear, we'll be raising funds
again from Make-A-Wish OC andIE. Individual Tickets are
available now. To get yourtickets, go to
isurviverealestate.com click thelink here in the card. We would
(01:08):
like to thank the followingplatinum sponsors, uDirectIRA
Services, The San Diego CreativeInvestors Association,
DouglasBrooke Homes, MVTProductions, Realty411, and DBL
Capital. Welcome back, everyone.
Let's get to it. Now, yourepresent buyers and sellers. So
(01:28):
how do you change the advicethat you give buyers and sellers
based on the situation thatthey're in?
Brent Lee (01:38):
Asking a lot of questions, right? So I think
that, as a real estate broker oras a real estate professional,
our job to find out ourclient's, "why", right? Why do
they want to buy? What do theywant to sell? What are their
goals, their timeframe? I thinkit's just about asking lots of
questions and really figuringout what is going to be in their
(02:01):
best interest. And I think ifyou do that, you're going to be
a great, a great real estateprofessional. So I don't think
there's any specificdifferences. It's just really
trying to figure out what their"Why" is, and really kind of
drill down so that you canprovide good advice.
Joey Romero (02:24):
And you can apply that to both sides of the sale.
Brent Lee (02:26):
it's not my job to make decisions for my clients.
That's not my job. My job is toprovide information, ask
questions, so that they can makethe best decision for
themselves. So I was in thatlike, especially when I'm
dealing with on a buy side, whena client wants to make an offer,
like, 'Brent, what would youoffer for this house?' And I'm
(02:46):
like, 'Well, I can't answer thatquestion for you, you know. I
can tell you what the house isat fault around it. I can say,
how long do you think you'd bein this house? How secure are
you in your job? Is your familyplan on growing?' All of those
things to help you make a gooddecision, but I can't make that
decision for you. Same thing onthe listing side, probably the
(03:08):
question I get most that I willrefuse to answer is, 'What
should I list my house for?'It's not my house to sell. It's
your house to sell. Again.
Here's the information. This iswhat I think the market was
there, but it's your house. Youget to sell it for whatever
price you want.
Joey Romero (03:23):
How should I frame this question? Because a lot of
people get stuck on what theirhouse was worth. Do you find
that it's hard to get people offof that number, or is it, you
know what? Hey, I'm going to hityou with the data, and we're
going to price it right. Becausewhat I've heard from all the
agents is, if you price housesright, they will move.
Brent Lee (03:47):
Oh, agree, agreed with that. So I think every once
in a while, I'll get a clientthat is stuck on a number. But I
think with the amount ofinformation that's accessible to
a consumer now, it's not as bigof an issue. I'd say 90% of the
time when I'm meeting withespecially a seller, they
(04:09):
already have a price in mind,and they're usually pretty close
to what they think it's worth.
You know, those AI tools outthere that kind of give you an
idea which house is worth signsof front yards and, you know,
apps that they can access to seewhat those houses are listed for
and sell for. I think theconsumer, because of access to
(04:29):
information, has a pretty goodsense. Every once in a while,
you'll get, you know, a clientthat is a little bit stubborn,
or, you know, has ideas abouttheir house as it's great
because they took great care ofit, or, you know, they put this
really nice air conditioner androof on it 10 years ago. It's
(04:50):
like, okay, like, every househas to have an air conditioner
on a roof, but got it. I'mtaking notes.Again, this is the
conversation you asked. Lots ofquestions. And I think at the
end of the day, most of thetime, the client comes to this
conclusion of what their houseis truly worth in the market.
But kind of like I shared on mylast answer, I always I want all
the power to be in their hands.
(05:13):
Okay, whatever you want to offerfor this house, I'll put it on
the piece of paper. Whatever youwant to list the house for, I'll
put it down on the piece ofpaper. But at the end of the
day, if you're a buyer and theseller doesn't like your offer,
they're not going to sell it. Sosame thing, if you're a seller
and you're offering your houseto buyers and the price is too
high, and so buyers don't wantto pay that price, then the
house isn't worth that much,right? So unless you want to buy
(05:38):
your house for that price, themarket really is going to
determine what the price is fora home. And I think most of the
time the client comes to thatconclusion.
Joey Romero (05:47):
To piggyback on that. So in Florida, we're
seeing that homes that are onthe lower end of the pricing
spectrum move really fast, andhomes on the high end of the
spectrum are still moving astraditionally, they do, but that
middle market is the one thathas been most affected by rates
(06:08):
and uncertainty and all that, isthere a type of home or pricing
structure that is moving fasterthan others that you see in
here, locally?
Brent Lee (06:18):
Yeah, I think the trends that you're seeing in
Florida are pretty similar tothe trends that are happening to
that are happening inCalifornia, but in particular in
California, what I'm seeing,price, of course, price matters,
but I think it's more on value.
I think customers are reallysensitive to the value that
they're getting in home. Solike, of course, home has to
(06:40):
price right, and if it's pricedright, then it's going to get
some look. But for a home tosell and sell in a reasonable
amount of time, you have todemonstrate good values to not
only price but condition. Sowhat I'm seeing is, regardless
of price, if the home is pricedfairly at market, and the house
is in good condition- turnkey,doesn't need a lot of updates,
(07:04):
doesn't need any repairs. It'sgoing to move. It's the homes
that even if it's priced fairly,if it needs a lot of work, even
if a customer wants to buy thathouse, they don't have the
ability to do so, because we'reseeing really cash starved
buyers right now. They haveenough money for the down
payment and closing costs,maybe, but very few have the
(07:26):
money for down payment closingcosts and renovation. So houses
that need work, unless they'repriced below market, I think,
are sitting on the marketlonger. Big houses is under
600,000 if they're in goodcondition, they're still moving
pretty quickly. And then houseis over a million bucks. If they
(07:46):
don't need a lot of updates orrepairs, they're moving too. But
I think really it's the valuequestion. If good value houses
are moving, if it's just an okayvalue it's going to take longer
to sell. And kind of want to putan asterisk on that. I think
we've all gotten spoiled in thelast, really 10 years, where
there just was a shortage oflisting. So buyers were willing
(08:10):
to buy just about anything. Now,inventory has kind of climbed
up, and affordability has beenan issue. Buyers finally can be
choosy. And when I first gotinto the business, it wasn't
uncommon for us to sit on amarket, 60, 90, 120 days. But
(08:33):
over the last 10 years, that'slike, what is going on, you
know? So I have agents cominglike, 'Oh my gosh, Brent,
something's wrong. I can't getthis this house sold'. I'm like,
'Well, how long has it been onthe market?' Like, '32 days.'
I'm like, 'That's not a longtime'.
Joey Romero (08:42):
That's it. People complain about interest rates
are saying we're right at whatit's supposed to be.
Brent Lee (08:47):
You know, 30 days is now 60 days. 60 days is now 90
days. So, I mean, it's adifferent market. Takes a little
bit longer to sell, but not thatlong.
Joey Romero (08:58):
Well, I think it's having an effect even on
investors, not only just, youknow, your typical retail buyer,
you know they're having toreally be careful with their
margins and and you know, one ofthe things that's affecting your
margins is going to be holdingcosts. So if I got a hold for
another 60 days, on top of whatI kind of, I'm used to, it's
(09:19):
really making them evaluate,like, how good a buy are they
making? Now, are you runninginto more creative deals lately,
where they have to, you know,talk about concessions, or maybe
some sort of unique financing?
Brent Lee (09:35):
Definitely concessions, right? So I think
that that seems to be like thenew normal, especially on the
lower end of the market, whereyou know buyers just have less
cash on hand. So you're seeing alot more sellers taking on
buyers closing costs are willingto offer help to get the house
(09:55):
closed. Sometimes that's donethrough a rate buy down. So, the
seller pre paying for a year ortwo, kind of a delta in the
interest rate to kind of make alittle bit more affordable for
the two years. So the seller iswilling to give a little bit the
buyers kind of banking oninterest rates coming down in
the next two years, or equitygoing up so they could, they
(10:17):
could refi. So definitely onconcessions. Also, you're not
seeing every time the sellergetting their price, you know,
100% what's the sale priceratio? Or 105% list sell ratio?
It's dipping below 100 now.
Joey Romero (10:34):
Yeah. So 97, 98 right?
Brent Lee (10:36):
Yeah. Sellers are being more negotiable on their
price, especially that it's beensitting a little bit.
Joey Romero (10:41):
Well, not only that, we've talked about it, you
know, with Bruce, and the thingsthat we do, you know, for
example, I'm not going to sellmy house like I've got, you
know, less than a 3% mortgage onit. I'm just going to turn it
into a rental and then, youknow, go find somewhere else to
live, you know. So it's like, Idon't have to sell it. Now, let
me shift a little bit back tothe way you run your office. I
(11:05):
know you've always been big withmentorship, and I know just from
knowing you, you actually havesome mentorship programs built
into your office structure,right? Not only just a
collaboration, but some realmentorship. How does that play
out in your office environment,day to day?
Brent Lee (11:20):
So, yeah, so, we realized, well, you've known
this for a little while. Whenyou get your real estate, when
you take your real estate testand get your real estate
license, it really doesn'ttranslate to being successful at
real estate, right? Like youneed to know those things to get
your license and follow therules and make sure you're doing
(11:41):
things the right way, but itdoesn't teach you how to be a
successful realtor. And so whenespecially with the rebrand, we
wanted to say, how can we helpmore agents be successful,
particularly agents that are newin the business or been in the
business maybe for less thanfive years and really haven't
found that consistency they werelooking to they got into into
(12:03):
the business. So we wanted tocome alongside them, really hold
Joey Romero (12:06):
To get to brand awareness too, a little bit,
their hand through the process,and make sure that they not only
know, like the technical thingsthat you need to do as a
right? If you're new, youhaven't built it up for
realtor, but really, how do yoube an excellent, how do you
become an excellent realtor? Sowe really leaned on some of our
really high performing agents.
One of those agents, her name isyourself, like.
(12:26):
Sarah. She's been in thebusiness for about 10 years.
She's really well known onsocial media locally, the big
following. A lot of agentsalready were following her
online because of her success,and just, she's just really
talented at social media, and,you know, wanted to how did she
do it? So with with her growthand her kind of being a leader
Brent Lee (12:47):
somebody to show your thanks. So it makes it really
in the office, she was willingto step up and show people how
she did it. And so we startedthis mentorship program last
year with about 12 agents, andit's been almost a year now, and
some of those agents are some ofmy best agents and new agents in
the office, finally gettingthose consistent results that
they wanted, and they're doingit the right way, right? They're
(13:10):
doing business throughrelationships. They're taking
care of the clients, putting theclients interest first, and
being rewarded with success. Sothat's a great relief for me as
a broker. One it's a it's goodto be associated with agents
that are doing business theright way. They're being coached
by someone that I know doesbusiness the right way. So that
(13:32):
really reduces my liability, andthey're making us look good at
the same time, and they'recreating great stories that we
can go out and share with otheragents that are struggling,
that, hey, maybe you just need areboot. Maybe you just need a
restart. And where you're atright now is just not a good fit
for the direction that you wantto go moving forward. So
(13:54):
providing an opportunity.
(16:39):
accessible for all agents,regardless of what their budget
is, and it's just, doing good,you know, and giving back.
Joey Romero (16:48):
Now you've seen quite a few micro market cycles.
We're getting to that age whereyou're actually seeing some ups
and downs. What do you think isheaded for Riverside here in the
next year or so?
Brent Lee (17:01):
I'm optimistic. I think Riverside is doing a lot
of good things. I think that theleadership in our city right now
is thinking about the rightthings, kind of focusing on what
impacts families locally. Whatcan they do locally to make
their community better? And Ithink when you focus on those
(17:22):
things, good results willhappen. So, I think Riverside is
headed in the right direction. Ithink a lot of the cities around
us are in the right direction.
Corona I think, is doing a lotof good things. Redlands is
doing a lot of good things. Andbearing some unknown that we
(17:42):
know we can't predict, I thinkRiverside is going to be in a
stable place moving forward.
Like you said, there's alwaysups and downs, and we haven't
had a down in a long time, andthat's just normal, healthy
market. But I don't think we'llhave a, I don't expect any
drastic downturn or drasticupturn locally. You know, I
(18:08):
think that Riverside will bepretty stable place. I think the
surrounding cities will be apretty stable place, and
hopefully we can just find moreways to make the dream of home
ownership accessible to morepeople. So hopefully we can
figure that part out.
Joey Romero (18:24):
Along those lines, where do you see Tower Agency in
the next five years?
Brent Lee (18:29):
Oh, man, I hope we continue to grow. That's my
goal. You know, we're hoveringright around 70 agents right
now, 75 my goal by the end ofthe year is to get to 200. I'd
like to have an office in SouthCounty, down kind of in the
(18:49):
Temecula and Murrieta and thenif you service that area, we
have some agents that work downthere, but home-based serves in
Riverside, and just make alittle bit more accessible for
them, have an office down thatway. So that's...
Joey Romero (18:59):
A lot of growth down there.
Brent Lee (19:01):
And there's a lot of growth down there, and I think,
like cities like to Temecula andMurrieta are very kind of
stable, like Riverside, it meansyou got a good local economy
there to keep the prices andkind of stability, which I look
for. I'm a pretty conservativeguy. I want to make wise
decisions for the business,because it impacts not just me,
(19:24):
but all the agents that chooseto work with us. But I hope we
continue to grow. I hope wecontinue to add agents who want
to have a, or believe in whatwe're doing here. You know, not
only, you know, selling lots ofhouses, but doing it the right
way, making lots of connectionsand making the community better.
So I would love to be able toreplicate this other places. And
(19:45):
kind of the next place we'relooking is kind of South.
Joey Romero (19:48):
Nice. Now we've heard how you've juggled
business, community, family. Howdo you keep all those plates
spinning and not burn out?
Brent Lee (20:00):
I'm really lucky I have, first I get to work with
my sister, so she's kind of likethe brains and the engine that
operates behind the scenes. Shedoesn't really care to be out in
the spotlight too much, butshe's a doer. She likes to roll
up the sleeves and get workdone. So she's really good at
following up on all the behindthe scenes things in our clients
(20:25):
life, but also with agents. Soshe kind of does all the stuff
behind the scenes. So thatallows me to be out and about
more with the agents and thecommunity, and then also just
have a really great team. Ibelieve you can't do this alone.
So I'm really grateful forpeople like James Monks, my
sales manager, my businesspartner, he's really good at
(20:45):
keeping me energized and keepingme focused on what we're trying
to do here at the office. Imentioned Sarah having a younger
person in the business who'ssuccessful reminds me of where I
was, maybe not like 10 yearsago, and letting that energy
just kind of permeate throughthe office. You know, she's
always looking to, how do we dothings better? How to do things
(21:07):
smarter, having people likethat. And then our office
manager, marketing director,Darla, she's also kind of like
the glue that kind of keepseverything together. We always
have great ideas, but we don'talways have time to make those
ideas happen. So we all lean onDarla, Jane, Sarah, and I, my
sister, to get things done. Sothere's just too much going on.
(21:30):
So being able to trust thosethat you work with to help you
make things happen for people isessential. We couldn't have
grown the company in the way wehave over the last 10 years
without, you know, justessential team members. You
know, I'm really grateful forthat.
Joey Romero (21:45):
Shout out to Lauren. Shout out, yeah,
absolutely. Alright, so lookingback on everything that you've
built, what's the oneaccomplishment, what's the
accomplishment that you're mostproud of?
Brent Lee (21:59):
That's a tough question, like professionally or
in the community?
Joey Romero (22:04):
Whatever you want.
Brent Lee (22:05):
The one that really comes to mind is the Pick Group.
I mean, I'm not a youngprofessional anymore. I'm going
to be 45 this month, so I'm wellpast the age range to be a Pick
member.
Joey Romero (22:20):
Well, you can thank me for your extra five years
that you got.
Brent Lee (22:22):
Yeah, I know the Joey rule, right, gave us from 35 to
40. But I say that because westarted that in 2008 and I
shared kind of the origin storyof why, like, we wanted to have
a voice in the direction of ourcity, but I met some of the
(22:44):
people that are most importantto me in my life, right? So like
my friends, my businesspartners, all are from
participating in the Pick Group.
Aaron Norris, you, Joey, theO'farrells. All of those folks
are just still in to this day,like I see them all the time.
They're people who I call in forbusiness and people who I call
in for community. They're peoplewho I call in for family. So I
(23:05):
think that's what I'm most proudof, and not only because it
helped me do what I do and bewho I was. I'm going to be on
the school board without that. Idon't think, I don't think my
company would grow in the waywithout that.
Joey Romero (23:20):
That was fun walking the neighborhoods with
for you early in those days.
Brent Lee (23:25):
Oh, absolutely. But the fact that they're still
doing it, and we're not thereanymore.
Joey Romero (23:30):
Yeah.
Brent Lee (23:30):
So to me, that is a testament to the legacy and the
importance of what was createdback in 2008 that it's still
important now, and that thestructure and the people that
are involved, it's about themission. It's about the vision
of the Pick Group, not thepeople necessarily, that are
there because it's come toserve, you know, different
(23:54):
generations of people, and thefact that it's still there
serving the same purpose, thatmeans a lot to me.
Joey Romero (24:01):
Yeah, it was, it's a special kind of era. I think
there was, you know, there wasthe founders, the just outside
the founders, and then there waslike, like, I was never one of
the presidents, right, but I wasalways one of those guys that
the founders and presidentscould lean on to say, 'Hey, can
you get this done? And like, Iwas like, Yeah, let's do this,
(24:21):
right?' And I had, like, a groupthat was kind of in the, same
vein, and we were all kind of,you know, that, '09 to, like,
'14, like, we were crazy, like,we just got so much done. And,
for me, it's also that special,like, that's where I met Aaron,
(24:41):
you know, everybody knows that'swhere I met Aaron, and it
changed the trajectory of mylife. And, you know, some of my,
you know, good friends are thesame. And I would argue that,
you know, even though you said,this isn't a business, but, it's
developed into the now, not soyoung man that you are, which is
(25:03):
kind of bled into everythingthat you do in business. So, you
know, it would kind of, it kindof brought you up, you know, and
it was big part of that. So Iagree that, that time was
special and I it's, you're oneof my favorite people to lean
on. I'll give everybody just asmall Brent Lee story. So as we
(25:25):
were, you know, going out thereand with our hair on fire, just
doing all kinds of stuff in thecommunity, we would have these
board meetings, and we would alljust get fired up about doing
it, and we would always have onedissenting voice. And it wasn't
not necessarily that Brentdidn't agree with it. It was
just like, we just have to showthat not every it wasn't ever
(25:47):
unanimous, you know. So it wasalways, Brent was like, the
'Nay'. He was always the nay, onthe on the board meeting votes
for everything that we're doing.
Like, what's what's wrong? Youdon't want to do this. Like,
'No. I was like, I knew we'regoing to pass it anyways, but we
gotta have somebody, you know',and it wasn't just always just
Brent Lee (26:04):
We always have good conversations, right?
Joey Romero (26:06):
Yes, yes. And it did. And it wasn't like, like,
you like. It wasn't just like,I'm gonna say no for sake of
saying no. You're always sayingno because you wanted us to,
like, to really consider thatthere might be a different
perspective on what we're doing.
And so I always took that awayfrom you, and I value your
opinion that way, because youalways helped us look at things
(26:27):
that we maybe were overlookingor didn't think about, and
whether it was because you youhad conversations with other
folks that we didn't have.
Brent Lee (26:35):
No, I'm glad somebody appreciated it.
Joey Romero (26:37):
Yes, yes. And and then you try to buy my style,
you know, three kids, you know,bring them up through the
community and athletes andstuff. Yes, now, so now, if
somebody was going to takeanything away from this podcast,
and, you know, our conversationtoday, what is the one thing
(26:59):
that you want people to takeaway from this? Let's do two
way. One, as an agent, somebodyin the real estate game, and
then maybe somebody who'slooking to buy or sell.
Brent Lee (27:14):
Yeah, I think from the the agent game. So those
folks that are in my industry, Ithink, have that mindset of
abundance. It's so easy in salesto like, 'This is mine. This is
mine. Take, take, take, oh, ifso and so gets a listing. That
means I didn't get to listing'.
I think that's just a completelywrong way to look at a business.
I mean, in Riverside alone, it'slike a $2 billion a year
(27:36):
industry, right? There's plentyof business for everybody if you
do business the right way. Yes,there's lots of competitors,
lots of realtors, too manyrealtors, to be honest with you,
but they're not doing businessthe right way. So I mean, if you
treat this job like a job, andyou put your clients first, you
(27:56):
stay on top of what markettrends are happening. You ask
lots of questions, and you putin the work, you're going to be
successful. I mean, it'sautomatic. I mean, I tell that
agent all the time, it'sautomatic. How you get there is
your path to forge. But if youput in the time, you put clients
(28:16):
first, and you stay on top ofthe game you're going to be
successful. So just do that.
There's not an easy business tobe in, it's easy to get in, but
it's not easy business to stayin. It's hard, it's a hard
business. But if you do it theright way, it can happen. So
come see me if you're havingtrouble in this business and you
(28:42):
want to figure out how to havesuccess, I'm happy to have a
conversation with you, whetheryou want to join my firm or not.
Customers and buyers, make sureyou're asking your real estate
professional lots of questionsto make sure they're a good fit
for you, just because it's youryou know, your brother, your
uncle, your friend, your cousin,somebody your mom used, don't
just hire them because of that.
Make sure it's a good fit foryou. Ask lots of questions.
Joey Romero (29:06):
Alright, I'm going to ask a bonus question. So
you're a second generationrealtor, do you see, have any of
your kids like, have you seenanything that they might want to
go into real estate?
Brent Lee (29:20):
It's funny, because I had it, and then last summer, I
was with my son, Felix, he was12 at the time, he's 13 now, and
he was asking me, like, lots ofweird questions like, 'So Dad,
how many houses to sell?' Neverasked the questions like that.
Told him. 'Oh like, how muchdoes it cost to sell a house?'
(29:42):
So I told him, and, then Irealized he was trying to figure
out how much money does Dadmake? And so he's like, 'That's
pretty good'. Like, 'I think,how do you get into this
business?' And I told him, like,'No way, no way, you cannot.
You're not allowed to be in thisbusiness'. So I joke with them.
(30:04):
Of course, I'll support my kidswith whatever business they want
to get into. But man, like Itold you, this is a hard
business. You know, I want mykids to get into something
that's a little bit easier, butI think he's the only one so
far.
Joey Romero (30:19):
Yeah, well, maybe you need to keep your mom away
from him, because then he'll behead first into real estate and
building an empire before he's20.
Brent Lee (30:29):
That's true.
Joey Romero (30:30):
All right. So last thing, can you tell the audience
how they can connect with you?
Brent Lee (30:35):
Yeah, please check me out. I kind of dark on social
media these days, if you like.
That's a place I don't want tomix in too often, but my office
is very accessible. So you canfind us at toweragency.com, you
can follow us on Instagram,@TowerAgency or on Facebook,
pretty easy to find. And if youwant to connect with me
(30:56):
professionally, social media,LinkedIn, brentwlee, that's how
you find me on LinkedIn, andhey, I try to be really
accessible on email too. So youcan find me at
Brent@toweragency.com.
Joey Romero (31:10):
Awesome.
Brent Lee (31:10):
We'd love to connect.
Joey Romero (31:11):
Thank you for jumping on and...
Brent Lee (31:13):
Appreciate the opportunity.
Joey Romero (31:14):
And everybody check out tower agency. They're doing
a lot of great things. They'releading everything in the Inland
Empire and in Riversidespecifically. So if you're in
the market to buy or sell...
Brent Lee (31:26):
Happy to help. We got an agent to connect with you
with.
Joey Romero (31:28):
Absolutely. So thank you. Brent.
Brent Lee (31:30):
Go Dodgers!
Joey Romero (31:31):
Yes, absolutely. Go Dodgers, hey, that's what,
that's what Fernie says, righthere. Go Dodgers.
Brent Lee (31:38):
Oh yeah!
Joey Romero (31:39):
Thanks everybody.
Brent Lee (31:40):
All right, man, keep going. Thank you.
Joey Romero (31:43):
Don't forget to visit isurvivedrealestate.com
for tickets to the event onFriday, September 12. The Norris
Group would like to thank thefollowing Gold sponsors,
Keystone CPA, The Inland ValleysAssociation of Realtors,
Pasadena FIBI, The North SanDiego Real Estate Investors
Association, LA south REIA,NorCal REIA, The Wizard of the
(32:05):
Wobbly Box, Andy Teasley,Shepherd's Finance, The Thompson
Group, PropertyRadar and WhiteHouse Catering. The dinner wine
is provided with a generouscontribution by Rick and Leanne
Rossiter. Hope see you allthere.
Narrator (32:19):
For more information on hard money loans, trust deed
investing, and upcoming eventswith The Norris group. Check out
thenorrisgroup.com. For moreinformation on passive investing
through the DBL Capital RealEstate Investment Fund, please
visit dblapital.com.
Joey Romero (32:38):
The Norris Group originates and services loans in
California and Florida underCalifornia DRE license 01219911.
Florida mortgage lender license1577 and NMLS license 1623669.
For more information on hardmoney lending go to
thenorrisgroup.com and click thehard money tab.
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