Aggieland Against ALS & more!

Learn about this important cause!

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
The views and opinions expressed by the participants on this
show are not necessarily those of Stuart Information Services Corporation,
Stewart Title, or Stewart Insurance. Before you make any investment,
you should seek the advice of your investment advisor or attorney.

Speaker 2 (00:13):
Whether you're a real estate broker, realtor homeowner, buyer or seller,
everything matters when it comes to real estate. This is
Real Estate Matters with Steward Title, Steward Titles. Bill Knapik
and guests open the door to what really matters in owning, buying,
and selling real estate. And now Real Estate Matters with
Steward Title, brought to you by Stuart Insurance. Here to inform,

(00:37):
entertain and inspire. Bill Knapek, Welcome to the show. It
is Real Estate Matters with Stuart Title. Thank you for
joining us. I'm your host, Bill Knappik. Here we are
on show number five seventy one, always talking about real estate,
all the things that relate to real estate and sometimes
so much more so. Once again, thanks for joining us

(00:58):
here on Real Estate Matter with Stuart Title. You know,
if you want to see this show on the YouTube channel,
it's easy. Simply go to Stuart dot Com Forward Slash Radio.
That's Stuart dot Com Forward Slash Radio. In addition, you
can access pass shows right there at the website. And
right now, let's talk to Jim Palomski. His company is

(01:22):
Red Door Realty. Jim, welcome to the show.

Speaker 3 (01:26):
Thank you so much, glad to be here.

Speaker 4 (01:28):
Well, Jim, it's great to see you. First of all,
the company is Reddoor. Let's tell people about the company.

Speaker 5 (01:33):
Absolutely, the company's been around for a number of years.
I actually don't own the company. I am an agent
that runs a team underneath that brokerage. I've been there
for the last eleven years and run a team of
eighteen agents.

Speaker 4 (01:47):
Eighteen agents, So give us an idea as far as
the marketplace right now and geographically where you and the
team are doing most of the work at this.

Speaker 5 (01:56):
Point, absolutely, most of our work is on the northeast
side of Houston and on the north side of Houston.
We do service the entire city of Houston, and the
market has been a little bit slow. How I measure
my success within a slow market is the accumulation of
buyers and sellers that I work with, And at the

(02:17):
moment I'm working with about four times more than I
normally would because people are hesitant to jump in with
the interest rates being higher, and I'm getting more listings
that are having more days on the market. So I'm
currently somewhere around almost seven million in inventory that's just

(02:38):
kind of floating.

Speaker 4 (02:40):
So I would think one of the good things is
if I'm a buyer and let's say I'm going to
go up to the Kingwood the Northeast area, I might
have more choices than I would have a few years ago.

Speaker 5 (02:49):
Absolutely, it's the buyers are not only having more choices,
but the days on market is giving them more flexibility
with the price.

Speaker 3 (02:58):
So more negotiation room. Because sellers, the.

Speaker 5 (03:01):
Longer they're on the market, the more they want to sell.

Speaker 4 (03:04):
And of course, as far as the team goes in
yourself as you're working there, the company is up in
the Northeast, and those listening outside of Houston, that's pretty
much north of the city, maybe forty five minutes without
traffic or so. But as far as the team geographically,
where else does the team go?

Speaker 3 (03:21):
Oh? All over the place?

Speaker 5 (03:22):
I mean I sell in Katie, Pasadena, sugar Land, basically
anywhere my clients want to and that kind of is
part of how I get my clients is my clients
are my friends and referrals that I get from my friends,
and you wouldn't think that that would be the only source.

(03:42):
But I've been doing this for twenty four years and
I've sold over fourteen hundred homes, so I've come across
a bunch of people, and those people have appreciated the
way that I do real estate.

Speaker 3 (03:53):
I don't rush you. I take time if you want.

Speaker 5 (03:57):
To take If you want to go quicker, I could
do that as well, but I do it on your
time essentially.

Speaker 4 (04:04):
So there you go. People want to come back and
work with Jim again, right again and again. Alutely, there's
no doubt about it. One of the great things too.
As far as you're saying, you're in the profession now
about twenty four years or so, so let's going way back.
Certainly you've seen a lot of changes in this period
of time, but going way back to the beginning, what
was your inspiration Jim to say, Man, I want to

(04:26):
be in the real estate world.

Speaker 5 (04:28):
A friend of mine twenty four years ago, who's unfortunately
no longer with us, motivated me because he goes, Jim,
you're so up beat, you'd be perfect for it, and
I got my license and then I worked real estate
on the side for the first decade. And it wasn't
until about or literally fifteen years into me having my

(04:49):
license that I had a really really big year and
transitioned from teaching, which i'd done for fourteen years, into
real estate full time.

Speaker 4 (04:58):
So then there was a point, And I think it's
always interesting whatever role someone comes from and they get
into real estate, there's a point, I think right where
you feel the traction where you say this is going
to work absolutely And how long again was that for you?

Speaker 5 (05:12):
Well, it was about my fifteenth year of real estate,
always doing it on this side. Yeah, but I had
a breakout year where I had double my teaching salary
come in in one year while I was teaching, and
even my parents, which are pretty conservative, said get out.

Speaker 4 (05:29):
And now it is the time to jime. That's awesome.
And then right now, so it sounds like you might
be helping more buyers in the market, or what about
the sellers.

Speaker 5 (05:38):
Up there, I've got an equal number of buyers and sellers.
My business has always been fifty to fifty, so I've
got twelve listings and twelve buyers.

Speaker 3 (05:46):
That I'm working with right now.

Speaker 4 (05:47):
That's a nice balance. So as far as we look
ahead at this point in time, with your experience in
real estate and what you know about what's happening in
your market, how do you see the year play out
here for the rest of the months five or so
are left.

Speaker 5 (06:00):
I'm so glad you said that. Part of how I
do real estate and how I'm different from a lot
of people is that I spend a lot of my
time in the community. So I am the founder of
the Lake Houston Chess Club, I am an officer in
the Rotary Club lake Houston Rotary Club that I'm a
part of. I'm also was the president for the last

(06:20):
year of my Toastmasters group. So when business is slow,
I always have my groups that I'm a part of
and I'm continually showing and I don't go there to
get a deal. I go there to serve that group
and to serve the community, and from that comes my deals.
So I'm going to continue to accumulate my deals through
the friendships that I make in the community.

Speaker 4 (06:43):
And also you're having fun connecting with the community. And
let's talk a little bit about chess. Yeah, because I
think a lot of people. I've played chess, I can't
play very well and I would need a refresher course
to play the next game. However, people think it's a
difficult game. It's very strategic, it's complicated. You have to

(07:03):
be moves ahead and all those and so much more.
Tell us about what attracts you and the give us
an idea of the skill level that you're at and
who you're playing with.

Speaker 5 (07:12):
Sure, sure, well, first thing I want to say that
the game is not complicated. If it was complicated, we
wouldn't have five year olds that could pick it up
like that, right, So when people say, well, how is
it not complicated, it's it's well, what we do is
you look at five year olds pick it up because
there's only six pieces, and if you know how those

(07:33):
six pieces move, then you know how to play. So
King moves one space, Rouck moves up and down, inside
to side, Bishop goes diagonal. I've already talked to you
about how three of the pieces move, so you learn
how to play in basically two minutes. But getting better
is where the distinction comes in. So there's ratings attached

(07:54):
to how good you are if you play online or
if you play in tournaments, and I play in tournaments
and my places me in the top four percent of
tournament players in Texas. So out of twelve thousand tournament players,
I'm four hundred.

Speaker 4 (08:08):
So if let's say you're going to participate in a
tournament tomorrow or in the next two days or so,
is there what kind of preparation do you prepare for
this or what mental things are you going through to
be ready for the tournament, because you're I'm going to
guess you're going to want to win this tournament.

Speaker 5 (08:26):
Absolutely, to go into a tournament, you need to definitely
have training. I would say, have a coach that's teaching you,
and make sure that you are studying books. So that's
where it really comes into effect. As well as if
you have books, what books do you study? What are

(08:46):
you supposed to study? So I wouldn't recommend just jumping
into a tournament. I would first recommend going to a
chess club, seeing how good you are finding out from
people there, what do I need to study? And then
once you feel like you have some traction, jump into
a tournament. Otherwise those kids are going to slice and

(09:07):
dice you.

Speaker 4 (09:08):
Well, that's to me, that's kind of the intriguing thing
that children are fascinating in their mental capabilities and how
they approach just life in general is being growing from
little babies to adults. But as far as how is
it that they can grasp this and at what age
in your clubs do you see where children actually start

(09:29):
that really show promise or are really good.

Speaker 5 (09:31):
Making show promise almost immediately, Because when if someone has
a high level of intelligence, let's say, and then picks
up the game and then start studying it, and then's
playing it every day and then playing tournaments once a week,
it's an immersion into an entire world. And the more
you immerse yourself into it, the better you get. So
any number of you, if you don't think you're good

(09:53):
at chess, practice play.

Speaker 3 (09:57):
It will be better. You will get better if you practice.

Speaker 4 (10:00):
And how does the mastery level that you're at with
chess help you in the business world, in the real
estate world, if any or vice versa.

Speaker 5 (10:09):
Well, I'd say the biggest help that I get is
that I'm able to run clubs in the area. So
I have a club on Tuesday night, in a club
on Thursday night. How does that help you with your business? Well,
I'm there I'm coaching. It's free and people know that.
I don't run around asking for real estate deals, but
I wear my real estate shirt and people like what
I'm doing. And if they like what I'm doing, they

(10:32):
bring me business. So that's really the thing that helps
me the most. My business is participating at a high
level within the clubs that I am a part of.

Speaker 4 (10:40):
We're talking with Jim Palomski. He is with Red Door
Realty and associates. Well, Jim, before we close this segment,
what else do you want people to know?

Speaker 5 (10:48):
I want people to go to Lake Houston Chess Club
on my Facebook page and I want you to follow it.
I also want you to look into if you're interested
in being a part of your community, check out your
rotary club. There's over forty rotary clubs in Houston and
they're all do goodding people people that want to do
good and raise money for the community.

Speaker 3 (11:08):
And toast Masters.

Speaker 5 (11:09):
Those of you that are afraid of public speaking or
interested in getting better at public speaking regardless, go attend
a toast Master meeting. There's over one hundred and thirty
clubs in the Houston area for that as well.

Speaker 4 (11:20):
I'm glad you mentioned that because that's one of the
great things. When you say toast Masters, they're almost everywhere.

Speaker 5 (11:26):
Yeah, there's one hundred and thirty six clubs just in Houston, and.

Speaker 4 (11:29):
I would think that's good training for adults in almost
any age. In your toast Master's work, how young are
people there.

Speaker 3 (11:37):
At least be eighteen? Yeah.

Speaker 5 (11:39):
We the organization caters to basically adults in improving their
public life.

Speaker 4 (11:46):
That sounds good. Now, if someone wants help buying or
selling real estate, you're their for them there as well.

Speaker 3 (11:51):
One dred percent.

Speaker 4 (11:52):
Yeah, please, Jim, let's tell people how they can reach you.

Speaker 5 (11:55):
Seventy one to three four five nine zero two zero
is about space text call s one three four five
nine zero two two zero.

Speaker 4 (12:04):
Jim, thanks for being with us.

Speaker 3 (12:06):
Thank you for having me.

Speaker 4 (12:08):
As we continue, let's talk to Sissy and Chris Larkins.
They are with Aggie Land Against Als. Hey, guys, welcome
to the show.

Speaker 6 (12:21):
Hi, how are you well.

Speaker 4 (12:23):
It's good to see you. First of all, Aggie Land
Against Als. Let's tell people what that is.

Speaker 5 (12:31):
Well.

Speaker 6 (12:31):
Chris and I are both in the real estate or
mortgage industry. We work for Appliaza Home Mortgage and Chris
was diagnosed with ALS in twenty twenty two. ALS doesn't
have as much awareness as other diseases. So he played football.

Speaker 7 (12:52):
At A and M.

Speaker 8 (12:54):
And I had been to.

Speaker 6 (12:56):
An ALS conference and I thought, let's raise money because
you need awareness and funds. Because at the conference I
what had just gone to one of the researchers. I said,
I need for you to cure ALS. Now, what is
it going to take? And he said at least a
billion dollars for all the trials and everything, and the

(13:19):
pharmaceutical companies they don't want to invest in this because
there's not as many people as say cancer or dementia
for your ROI so I called A and M, the
chancellor at A and M, because I said, what if
we partner with AM? And Chris was saying, you're probably

(13:40):
not going to get anybody or anything like that. So
I left this long message and the next day his
assistant called me back and said, we'd love for you
to do your fundraiser at Aggie Park and have us
join in and be a part of it. So in
December it started rolling, and then he got interested in

(14:02):
helping because it was rolling. So then that's where Aggie
Land Against Als dot org was born.

Speaker 4 (14:11):
Well, so many things sissy to take away from that,
but number one, if you didn't ask, right, we have
to do it no matter what we do in life,
many times to ask. That's how we achieve things, and
that's how we get awareness. And therefore here we are today,
right right.

Speaker 6 (14:29):
Chris always says, you got to make the call because
we are both salespeople.

Speaker 9 (14:33):
And I've been in the business in you.

Speaker 7 (14:35):
I can't make the shot if you don't take it, So.

Speaker 4 (14:41):
No doubt about it. So as we think this disease
als now, most people know what it is, but give
us an idea of what is it for someone that's not.
They've heard about it, they don't know, they haven't been effected.
Give us a word of what it actually is and
how it affects a person.

Speaker 6 (15:00):
Well, I'll tell you just a little story. Chris read
this book about twenty years ago, written by Mitch Album
and it was called Tuesdays with Maury's and he it
was Maury had als. It wasn't about als, it was
about a relationship. And after he read it, he thought,
my god, that's a horrible disease. Thank god I don't

(15:21):
have it. And isn't it funny that twenty years later,
he gets ALS.

Speaker 7 (15:27):
Well.

Speaker 6 (15:27):
ALS is a motor neuron degenerative disease that there's no cure,
there's no remedy. It is always fatal. Your motor neurons
are you, they're not talking. Your brain is talking to
your motor neurons, but the motor neurons is not talking
to your muscles anymore. So as they pull away, all

(15:49):
of your muscles deteriorate and die. And mother Nature doesn't
tell us which muscles are going to die first, you know,
because everybody with they some people their facial muscles might
die first. Chris is he started noticing his left side
was going. Your legs and so you can no longer speak, eat, walk, talk,

(16:17):
and ultimately, since your diaphragm is a muscle, then you
can no longer breathe. So there is no cure, there's
no remedy. They don't even know why you get ALS.
They don't know who's gonna get ALS.

Speaker 9 (16:32):
Now.

Speaker 6 (16:32):
Ten percent of ALS cases are actually a gene, so
ten percent is hereditary, and they've actually done I had
a little more success figuring out since it's a gene,
some kind of remedies for that. But then ninety percent
there is no remedy, there's no cure. There's they don't

(16:55):
know why you get it. Now I can tell you
which they don't know why.

Speaker 7 (17:00):
This is either.

Speaker 6 (17:03):
Veterans and it doesn't matter what branch of the military
you're in. Veterans are two to ten times more likely
to have ALS than the general public, and they've the
data is so clear that finally the Veterans Administration has
actually recognized that ALS is a problem for veterans. And

(17:25):
the ten percent more than the general public is I
believe the Air Force, the Air Force so, but there's
no tell.

Speaker 8 (17:34):
We don't know why.

Speaker 6 (17:37):
I always say, with all the other diseases, cancer, Parkinson's, Alzheimer's,
there is an idea of what causes these things, and
there's so much awareness and there's so much money put
into some cure. I feel like ALS is the black

(18:00):
Coal of diseases because you have no idea why, there's
still no cure, and it doesn't get that much awareness
because it's considered a rare disease. But every ninety minutes
someone dies of ALS, and every ninety minutes someone is

(18:20):
diagnosed with ALS. And there's this one researcher that has
done all this research from all the years with ALS,
and he estimates that by the year twenty forty five,
there will be sixty nine percent more incidences of ALS

(18:40):
than before. So here we live in Houston, we're thirty
minutes away from every oil company, well the best medical
but also you're thirty years every chemical in America. If
you I mean, think about whenever you leave Hobby Airport
and you fly immediately you get in the air and

(19:02):
you look down and you see thousands of chemical companies.

Speaker 7 (19:07):
I tell everyone a story about is supposedly so rare
this disease, so people don't I give as much. It's
not ohet like she said for the drug companies. But

(19:30):
since I have got it, it is like when you
buy a new car, you all this son, see that
car all over the road, there's my car over there,
and it's very common. Well, since I've got it, I

(19:53):
can't tell you how often I come across people that
have but have known it had done uncle. The mom
is very prevalent, So kinda odd, I think.

Speaker 6 (20:12):
And since we know, we'll see more incidences of ALS
in the future. And the other thing is the United
States has more ALS than the rest of the world,
and think about it. We allow more chemicals in our
food and in our lives than other Europe doesn't allow
a lot of the chemicals in the food that we do.
So perhaps I mean it's a it's a it's a

(20:36):
modo neuron and it's coming signals from your brain. So
perhaps it is chemicals that just told the brain to
switch off.

Speaker 4 (20:49):
Does as you mentioned some of these things, sissy, is
it affect men more than women or women more than men?

Speaker 3 (20:56):
Is?

Speaker 4 (20:57):
Does that? Is there any rhyme or reason to that?

Speaker 6 (21:00):
Well, sixty percent, it's a sixty forty sixty percent men forty's.

Speaker 7 (21:06):
Changing do war? Women are kidding in now, so it's
leveling out.

Speaker 6 (21:14):
And men usually it's uh. And it's kind of odd too,
it's white men between forty and sixty. That's where the
most cases are. But we've in our the ALS Association.
In last year when I went to their first ever
conference in Dallas, we met some young people. This met

(21:37):
this one girl named Brooks. She's in her thirties and
she has ALS and but she's on social media and
she's trying to bring awareness and it is very sad
when you see a young person.

Speaker 4 (21:48):
So generally speaking, the organ your mission is to bring awareness,
which we're doing a little bit of that here today.
But also there's a fundraiser coming up we want to
tell people about because people will hear this and they'll
want to help well.

Speaker 6 (22:03):
Aggie Land against als dot org. We are raising money
and awareness. We're raising money for the ALS Association, which
is a four star charity organization, which that means it's
that if you get four stars and a charity, you're
the best. We're raising that because they do a whole
lot of research, they do care, they do awareness. We

(22:30):
leis on the Advocacy Committee for legislation and this year
we've been They had been trying for years to get
a bill passed to help ALS patients because when you
have ALS, it could be two hundred fifty thousand dollars
a year for your care and you can no longer
work anymore. And if you don't have like I'm I'm

(22:50):
Chris's spouse, so I can take care of him. But
many people don't have anyone so money. It's it's called
the bankruptcy disease because it costs so much for your care.
Because think about you can no longer walk or talk
or eat, and so we did advocacy. We were in

(23:12):
trying to pass this bill in Texas seventeen other states.
It's called a mediicap bill, so they asked us to help.
We started advocating. It's Texas legislature in January and so
Chris and I went to testify the very first the
House had an Insurance Committee meeting, so we were going

(23:33):
to testify, and we thought this is a simple bill.
Everybody should want to vote for it. But we didn't
realize the insurance companies. I mean, y'all are insurance, but
the insurance companies did not want this bill to pass.
So whenever we went before the Insurance the House Committee,
you have to testify and you get two minutes to testify. Well,

(23:57):
Chris had his two minutes of speech and he was testifying.
So he comes up to testify. The two minutes is
a clock that's ticking in your face, and he started
to talk about Tuesdays with Morey's. Well, one of the
bad things about als too is you lose your ability
to control your emotions. So Chris has what they call
pseudo bulber, which it was now, so he started he

(24:21):
tried to get his speech out, but he started getting emotional,
and he started to cry, and then all of the
people in the committee started to cry, and then everybody
in the room started to cry, and so it became
so emotional this poor grown man who was embarrassed that
he's crying. But it got our point across it, and

(24:41):
so ultimately from there everybody was on board with the bill,
and in the end Representative Jay Dean from the Tyler area,
he was the one who really pushed this bill through
and ultimately they named it the Chris Larkin ALS So
Chris has a build teamed after him, but it's to

(25:03):
help patients with ALS get lower premiums with their because
think about a but ALS patients when you're diagnosed. Most
ALS patients die between two and five years of being diagnosed,
so you don't have.

Speaker 4 (25:23):
Lung and no way to prevent it that we know.

Speaker 6 (25:27):
We don't know why. We actually had another person in
the mortgage business, Greg Burkett, two years ago died of ALS.

Speaker 4 (25:34):
We're talking with Chris and Sissy Larkin. The organization is
Aggie Land Against Als and going back. There's a fundraiser
coming up. Is that correct? So there's two things we
want to make sure people know about how they can
help at any time of the year, right And of
course about this fundraiser, if you would tell us.

Speaker 6 (25:55):
That November one, Aggie Park and we're partner, we're doing
this with We know how how Chris play football at
A and M and Aggies have spirit and they help
each other. So we thought, great, it's for everybody. But
it's a one mile walk, a five k run and
we're trying to do the largest ice Pocket challenge with

(26:17):
five hundred people, and we want you to donate to
get a spot on it. The Aggie Band leader Russell
Tillman is helping us, I mean Tipton. Tipton is helping us.
And then also the Lieutenant Colonel Rob Washington, who is
head of the Core Cadets on Simpson drill Field. We're
going to arrange it and then the Communication Department Mike

(26:39):
Riley is going to film it.

Speaker 7 (26:42):
Fun noise go on now though.

Speaker 6 (26:46):
Yes, we want you to tea and and we need sponsors.
Currently we have Platinum fifty thousand dollars sponsor, Gold twenty
five thousand dollars sponsor, Silver ten thousand dollars sponsor, and
our company Plaza Home Mortgage. They were the first to sponsor.

(27:08):
Do the ten thousand dollars sponsor. Plus the owners have
asked the employees of Plaza if they donate, the owners
are gonna match. And then now NW Vitamins, they just
did a fifty thousand dollars sponsor. Now is a national
vitamin company.

Speaker 4 (27:28):
So then the website, Sissy, where people where this information
is for people at reference. Let's tell them the website
again in case they want to donate, they want to
be a sponsor, give us that.

Speaker 6 (27:40):
In where they can join the walk in the run. Okay,
Aggie Land against als dot org, Aggie Land against the
als dot org. Or they could call me or Chris.
My phone number is eight four seven seven O seven
eight eight seven seven eight for seven seven O seven

(28:03):
eight eight seven seven Cissy.

Speaker 4 (28:05):
Larkin, Thank you guys. Once again, Cissy, the website is Aggie.

Speaker 6 (28:11):
Land against als dot org. Right up on the camera
there it is Aggie Land against als dot Org.

Speaker 4 (28:21):
Thank you so much, Sissy and Chris, thank you. As
we continue, Mike Snyder is with us again. He leads
our Northern division here in Houston, our sales team, our
business development people in a tremendous way. Welcome back, Mike.

Speaker 8 (28:38):
Bill I'm excited to be back.

Speaker 9 (28:40):
Thank you for here.

Speaker 10 (28:40):
Just last week I was, I was here, and then
we had a guest I was going to meet in
the lobby and she said, hey, I wrote down the
wrong day, and so here we are.

Speaker 8 (28:49):
I can't wait to have her back. But I'm glad.
I'm glad to be in the seat again.

Speaker 4 (28:53):
One of the things that people we get feedback all
the time, Mike, in terms of sales. Maybe people listen
to the show for Real Estate eight sales, but I'm
hearing too that people in other professions are taking some
of the sales tips that realtors provide and they bring
forth so that people listen to us to learn a
little bit more and deepen their mastery in sales. And

(29:14):
you and I study this topic for years. So one
of the things starting out with sales, no matter it's
real estate, but certainly title reps in real estate. What
are some of the components when we think about a
sales represent a sales representative, what are some of the
in your mind that the key components?

Speaker 10 (29:31):
Yeah, sure, so you know the boy that a sales
job or when people think sales, it can be all
sorts of things and sometimes it's in My job is
just to manage the business that's coming in and take
care of the clients and making sure they're getting everything
they need. Sometimes it's more of a customer service driven one,
but I in my mind, when we talk about sales

(29:55):
and selling, it's more about it's more about creating opportunities.
And you do that with prospecting and finding out, Hey,
who are the people that have a need and what
I do helps with that need, solves a problem, makes
something more efficient, makes them more profitable. And so finding

(30:17):
out what who those people are and then identifying those
opportunities and then using your skills to advance those relationships
and build rapport and make those connections for people, and
then ultimately asking them, hey, can we do this for you?
You know, asking for the business. So that's what I
think of in sales is man finding the people, making

(30:38):
the connection, putting you both together your resources and their needs,
and then ultimately doing it for them and then doing
it again and again.

Speaker 4 (30:47):
Again and again, and let's build a business right in fact,
And that's one of the simple things I see it
sometimes and even myself I fall in prey to this
where you build a relationship and you do all these things,
but sometimes you forget to ask for the order, ask
for the business, or ask for for that you're there

(31:07):
to help them, And that happens every now and then.

Speaker 10 (31:09):
It does, it does, It's happened to me. And some
days I'll you know, in the past, I've looked down
and Mike, wow, I have a great contact list of
of friends that don't send any business. And yeah, yeah,
so hey man, let's turn this around and hey, wy
don't you be a friend that sends me business?

Speaker 8 (31:26):
And yeah, it can be tricky sometimes.

Speaker 4 (31:30):
Well, one thing I'll reference is that here it is
show number five seventy one.

Speaker 8 (31:34):
Yeah, and congratulations on that.

Speaker 4 (31:35):
Well, thank you.

Speaker 8 (31:36):
That's not easy.

Speaker 4 (31:37):
It's not easy through a lot of management changes, all
sorts of things challenges. But I will say this, and
of course we've been on probably six hundred and twenty
shows counting reruns in eleven plus years. That said, asking
is one thing, but also asking big, I think is
the second thing. Because as I relate this idea to

(31:58):
this show, started as a sales rep for Stewart Title
almost twelve years ago Labor Day, and I was excited
about radio and media and interviewing and I had experience,
but I got on board and I asked within three
four weeks of being a part of Stewart Title. And
I thought it was just a big idea that no

(32:21):
one would say yes to. But guess what, here we are.
They said yes. I presented the whys, and now we've
not only changed lives, we've developed business for Stewart Title.
But it goes back to the moral of the story
is if I didn't ask, because they could have said
no very easily, but if I didn't ask, we wouldn't
have the show today.

Speaker 8 (32:41):
That's true.

Speaker 10 (32:42):
And in Chris and Sissy segment, Chris mentions you you'll
miss every shot that you don't take exactly, and that's,
you know, it's kind of simplifies the idea, but it's
true if.

Speaker 8 (32:55):
You don't ask. So I'll tell you. I'll tell you
a story.

Speaker 10 (32:59):
One time, I'm meeting with a top producing agent and
I hadn't been doing this very long. I'm trying to
convince him that I have the tools to help him
with his business, and I have the tools to help
him with this, and he looks at me and he goes, Mike,
I don't need your help prospecting. I don't need your
help with marketing strategies. I'm doing really well. I don't
need your help with that. I said, well, well, Chris,

(33:20):
what do you need? And he proceeded to tell me,
and then I did something about that, and then I
started to offer that and we did some work together.
And so you have to ask another agent again, a
top producer. I asked him. At the end of our meeting.
We had talked about all the things we do and
I had asked him questions about what's important to him

(33:41):
and what he needs and things like that, and I
kind of told him how we do those things, and
he said I asked him myself, so what do I
need to do to earn your business? And he looked
at me, he goes, you just did you asked me?
And he goes, I can't tell you how many title
sales reps have sat with me and had to great
meeting and then they leave and I don't hear from them,

(34:03):
and that's it. And all they had to do was
ask me for my business. And so that's I mean,
that sticks with me and that you've got to You've
got to ask, because otherwise they you can't assume. And
if you're a real estate agent. And I know there's
real estate agents listening to this that feel like their friends,
the people that kind of are in their sphere should

(34:26):
list their homes with them or buy a home with them.
And I can't tell you how many times I've talked
to an agent that have said I am so mad
at my friend. I called her the other day and
she said, oh, I just listed my house with another agent.
Or I saw the other day that her house was listed,
and I called and said, hey, I saw your house
was listed.

Speaker 8 (34:45):
What's going on.

Speaker 10 (34:45):
She's like, yeah, that that person came out met with
me one of my business asked me for it. I
thought you were too busy to do it, or I
thought you were this. I didn't think you wanted it,
And so you kind of fall into a trap sometimes
are getting comfortable with who you're talking to, who you're
working with, and you assume the business when you really
still need to ask for the business.

Speaker 4 (35:06):
Well, it makes me think that as a sales professional,
there are systems and procedures we need to go down
the list, but never forget to ask. And here you are,
you lead our team in the northern region of Houston.
What should real estate professionals that are out there listening. Now,
what should they know about how our team can help
them in the offices that you're serving.

Speaker 10 (35:27):
Well, these are some of the things that our reps
and our teams can help them with. Is most people
call it farming, and it is farming. I've learned that
in this industry, I prefer to call it prospecting because
people that have been doing farming, or agents that have
been around for a long time, when they think of farming,
they think, oh, I'm going to get a list, and
I'm most say in postcards, and that doesn't work. And

(35:48):
if that's all you do, then it doesn't work. But
I prefer to look at it as prospecting. Let's put
together a prospecting list. Let's help you identify opportunities to
get one more listing out of this one you have
in this neighborhood. And that's what our reps and that's
what our offices in each one of our offices, and
we've got twenty something offices around town. But our reps
can sit down with you and help you put together

(36:10):
that prospecting list and help you in a neighborhood of
four hundred and fifty houses find the fifteen.

Speaker 8 (36:17):
That might be.

Speaker 10 (36:20):
Sellers in the next twelve to twenty four months, and
then they can help you with some of these strategies
about marketing where it's not just postcards and you do
have to ask for the business.

Speaker 8 (36:29):
And those are the things that.

Speaker 10 (36:30):
They're knowledgeable about and trained on and work on and
improve on, and those are the things that they can
help you with just as an agent when it comes
to building your business. That's how you can use That's
just one of the ways you can use your Stuart
Title sales roop.

Speaker 4 (36:47):
Indeed, in fact, our sales reps have so many resources
that they're willing to help real estate agents with. All
I have to go is to Stewart dot com find
the closest Stewart office. But when we think about agents,
I talk to them all the time on the show
off the show, I mean all the time in other cities,
other states, so anyway, but the agents sometimes every now

(37:08):
and then, even in other states, they say, Hey, is
this AI? I mean AI is out there and they're thinking,
are we going to be replaced by AI?

Speaker 10 (37:17):
I ever hear that Mike I do and I teach
an AI class. It's one of the first things I
ask agents, is is AI going to replace you? And
I'll look around the room and I'll see I'll see
people nodding like that could happen. I see people quickly
say no. And my opinion is this this industry, real

(37:39):
estate buying and selling homes, it's still a kitchen table.
Business deals happen, conversations happen at the kitchen table. And
is AI going to replace an agent? I don't think so,
but agents that incorporate AI into their business. And when
I teach it to agents, I'm trying to get you

(38:01):
to use a tool like that to get to more
kitchen tables. So I don't think it's going to replace agents,
but the agents that do use it are going to
have a leg up over the agents that don't.

Speaker 4 (38:13):
Mike, what else should we know about Stuart Title, the
Stuart reps and the work you're doing here?

Speaker 10 (38:18):
Hey, I think I just think you need to get
to know them. I think you need to get to
know the reps, have a conversation with them about your business,
what your goals are, what are some things you'd like
to do in your business, and just ask them if
they can do it. I can't tell you how many
times I've sat down with an agent, they're like, I
didn't know you did that. I didn't know you could
help me with that. Well, our reps can do that
for you. Just have a conversation with them. Here's kind

(38:43):
of what I'm trying to do. Do you have something
for that? Do you have something that can help me
with that? Can you give me a hand? Because more
times than you think the answer the answers yes. In
my role, I'm always recruiting for Escro officers, Escro assistants,
you know, just the Escro team, because that's a great
way to grow on office and we want great people

(39:05):
in our offices, uh, dealing with our agents, but not
just dealing with our agents, dealing with their clients too.
I am the sales manager for several of our offices,
so obviously I'm looking for sales people and UH and
currently I am looking for somebody in a sales role
and I would love to love to speak with people.
You don't necessarily have to have title experience with like

(39:27):
some sales experience, but we can teach you the title side.
And I'm looking to hire somebody to cover our our
offices on the West side. Katie fullscher uh to take
care of that.

Speaker 4 (39:40):
Sounds good, Mike. Let's tell people how they can reach you.
Mike Snyder was Stewart Title, leading the company and the
area in a tremendous way.

Speaker 10 (39:48):
You can reach me at seven to one, three two
six one zero four seven to two. Again, that's a
seven one three two six one zero four seven to two.
You can call or text me at that number and
let's have a conversation.

Speaker 3 (40:04):
Mike.

Speaker 4 (40:04):
Thanks for being with us, Yes, sir, real estate matters
with Stewart Title would not be possible without our partner,
Stewart Insurance. With a focus in real estate and a
special focus on real estate broker Stewart Insurance creates insurance
plans to address the risks facing our industry today. They
invest a significant amount of time helping real estate broker
owners offset and manage their risks. Here he is John

(40:27):
Bramblet with Stewart Insurance and the president of the Houston
Mortgage Bankers Association. John, welcome to the show.

Speaker 9 (40:35):
Thank you, Bill.

Speaker 4 (40:36):
I appreciate it so many things. I'm stopping right there.
There are so many credentials that you have, but we
want to hear from you so well.

Speaker 11 (40:42):
Yeah, let's talk a little bit about the Houston Mortgage
Bankers Association.

Speaker 6 (40:46):
Yeah.

Speaker 11 (40:46):
I was a privilege and honored being named president, and
my tenure began the first part of June. In fact,
you were with us. I was sitting right beside and
you were with us at the installation, which I appreciate
very much. So, yeah, my tenure begin the first of
June of this month and it'll go through May of
twenty twenty six.

Speaker 4 (41:03):
It's exciting. That explains your security team that's here with you,
following you around.

Speaker 8 (41:08):
Yes, it is.

Speaker 11 (41:09):
There is a security detail that comes with the presidency.
I that is kind of a necessary evil, but you know,
you just have to deal with that.

Speaker 9 (41:18):
There are just, you know, so many demands for your
time and all.

Speaker 4 (41:20):
A fascinating extra with the position. But let's tell people
right here in Houston they hear about the organization, what's
the goal of the h MBA.

Speaker 11 (41:29):
Well, one of the things that we've worked on in
the last half a year was an idea of you know,
there were a lot of things within our by laws
about what we wanted to accomplish, but we wanted really
to have establish a mission that would be the baseline
for everything that we did. So at the installation in June,
we launched the mission for the Houston Mortgage Bankers Association,

(41:50):
and that's empowering the broader mortgage community through meaningful connections, education,
and value driven solutions. So that's our basis for what
we wanted to do. So from a connection perspective, there's
got to be collaboration.

Speaker 9 (42:06):
What is important to.

Speaker 11 (42:07):
Our members everything that we do and that we need
to do, and it's something that we're emphasizing significantly this
year is everything that we do is their value for
our membership, whether it be a luncheon or another event,
or an education or some information that we share, is
it of value to our members. And then from an

(42:29):
empowering perspective, you know, we want to make sure that
we're investing in our members' success. Again going back to
that providing value, we're investing in the industry's success, and
we do that through advocacy and we do that for education,
you know, opportunities to make sure that all of our
voices are heard, especially those that are new to the
industry and those that are new to our association. We

(42:50):
want to make sure that everybody's voice is heard. And
then a growth perspective. Yes, production volume is important. We
want to make sure that we're doing business with each
other so that we can have help grow our each
individual companies in our each individual portfolios. But we also
want growth in knowledge, we want growth in confidence, we
want growth and resilience. And then just from a personal

(43:10):
professional aspect, we want our members to grow. So that's
really kind of the driver that we have and it's
based off of that mission that we launched in June.

Speaker 4 (43:19):
How many members are there, John, We.

Speaker 11 (43:21):
Have one hundred and eighty two right now in the
Houston chapter. We're the largest NBA chapter in the state
of Texas.

Speaker 4 (43:27):
And if someone wants to be a part of the group,
you still are able to have new members absolutely.

Speaker 11 (43:32):
So our group are those that are mortgage bankers and
then like Sissy and Chris, and then those that support
the industry like Stuart Insurance.

Speaker 9 (43:42):
So those are the membership.

Speaker 11 (43:44):
So for example, on our board, we rotate we have
a ladder of you know, to get to the presidency,
but will rotate those that are in the mortgage banking
industry and those that support So the gentleman that's coming
after me is in the mortgage banking business. A spirou
with Prosperity Bank, so he'll follow me, So we rotate

(44:04):
that way. We have one hundred and currently one hundred
and eighty two members in the greater scenario.

Speaker 4 (44:08):
And John as the president of the organization. What is
your role that you're providing.

Speaker 11 (44:14):
Well, you, like any leader, you know, part of it
is to kind of get out of the way, you know,
let's let me remove obstacles from our team.

Speaker 9 (44:21):
An we have a really strong board.

Speaker 11 (44:24):
We've got twenty two board members that are made up
the four executive members, so the president, vice president, Secretary,
and treasurer. We've got fifteen directors and then we have
three past presidents. And we've really been blessed since I've
been on the board that it's a really strong and
working board. So that my job is to make sure
that one we have this mission set in the direction set,

(44:47):
and then just continually remind the board members and our
committees of what we're trying to accomplish and making sure
that we're including everybody involved. As I said, we have
a really strong board and we're pushing committees pretty strong
this year. So we've got a speaker, committee, sponsorship, membership, finance,

(45:08):
the Happy Hour, Holiday Committee, Octoberfest, and the Golf Tournament Committee.
The committees that are the most successful are those that
incorporate members of the association beyond just the board, because
that's the way it gets people involved and they're if
you're involved and you have some stake in the association,
then you're going to support it and you're going to

(45:28):
stick with it long term, and potentially you could be
become a board member. So you know, I'm stressing very
hard for our group that we take a look at
that going forward. The other thing that we're going to
take a look at is next year is going to
be our ninetieth anniversary. So we've already started the conversation
about what do we want to do for that ninetieth anniversary.
And then there are key things that we have throughout

(45:50):
the year that we need to make sure that are successful.
So we want to make sure that our luncheons are
valuable for our members. So we want to make sure
we have the right types of speakers. We have of
several happy hours throughout the year, make sure.

Speaker 9 (46:03):
That those are a valuable.

Speaker 11 (46:05):
Our Holiday party is a great fundraiser that we do,
making sure that that's well attended our golf tournament is
a great fundraiser that we have.

Speaker 9 (46:12):
Make sure that's well attended.

Speaker 11 (46:14):
And then Octoberfest that's coming up again, make sure that
those are well of petended. So we're not only raising
money for the association, providing value for our members, but
in certain of those events supporting the community.

Speaker 4 (46:27):
So many elements to this, John, as far as first
of all, before you became the president of the Houston
Mortgage Bankers Association, you were already really doing a lot
of other stuff. Give us an idea so that we
can learn. As far as being able to do so
many things, Stuart Insurance, you're doing a tremendous job. You're
here on the radio, you're doing CE classes. How have

(46:50):
you been able to fit this and what are some
of the principles you use to be able to get
so many things done and to be a part in
a fantastic way of all these organizations.

Speaker 11 (46:59):
Well, I think of it is that we do want
to give back and you can support your community through time,
talent and treasure. There's a gentleman named Ron Willingham that
I wrote a book called Integrity selling in twenty percentury.
I know that you've read and when I'm certified to
facilitate their sales process, and when I met him, he's,

(47:21):
to me, had the greatest definition of sales, and it's
building relationships, meeting needs, and providing value. So if you
take that and you put it in every aspect of
your life, it's going to be more fulfilling. What I
need to make sure that I'm doing is whatever I'm
doing to support the community or the industry. Ultimately, then

(47:41):
we'll come back and support Stewart Insurance. So our leader
Tom Carpenter always talks about the fact that you've got
to give to get that we want to provide value
first in order to receive an opportunity later. But I
need to make sure that the activities that I'm doing
are providing value and that we can provide value for
those Associate siations, those organizations for the industry. But in turn,

(48:03):
at some point we you know, then we get some
opportunities to support those organizations and individuals with their insurance.
So that's kind of a broad answer. Specifically, when I
am the most successful, I time block, so I block
out times for specific activities. So I block out times
for the real estate matters, so the time to get

(48:24):
ready for the show.

Speaker 4 (48:24):
You've never missed either the.

Speaker 9 (48:26):
You know, the follow up. You know there's follow ups.

Speaker 11 (48:28):
You know, if I'm going to make this a value
for us and the sponsorship of value, I've got to
follow up and generate business. So the follow up, I
make time for my new business efforts. I've got some
administrative responsibilities I've got to block out time for, and
then I block out time for the Houston Mortgage Bankers Association.
So I know that at this period, for these couple
of hours, I'm going to work on nothing but HMBA.

Speaker 4 (48:51):
People right now are probably wondering what the website is
for h m b A.

Speaker 11 (48:55):
Houston DASHMBA dot org, Houston DASHMBA dot org, and would.

Speaker 4 (49:00):
They be able to see all the events that you
mentioned and they how to join and some other composers.

Speaker 11 (49:05):
Lately they can join. There's an update on the events.
In fact, we've got four coming up that are worthwhile.
On July the thirtieth at five thirty to seven thirty
out at Kirby Ice House on Guestner. We're having a
summer happy hour on October excuse me. On August of
twenty eighth, from five thirty to seven thirty again at

(49:25):
the Kirby Ice House. We're going to have a member
of appreciation happy hour in September of the tenth, there'll
be our normal monthly luncheon, so it'll be the first
luncheon of the fall and that's at the Junior League,
and we'll have an update on the speaker on the website.
And then our annual October Fest, which is big fun
and I've been fortunate enough to be on that committee
for several years. That takes place on October the sixteenth

(49:48):
at Tahouse Brewery.

Speaker 4 (49:49):
So many great things.

Speaker 9 (49:51):
Well, if you'd like to be part of.

Speaker 11 (49:52):
The Houston Mortgage Bankers Association, we would love to have
you a part of it and be part of one
of those committees. You can visit you know, Houston and
NBA dot org to find out more or just reach
out to me. Give me shoot me an email at
John dot Bramblett B R A, M B L E. T.
T at Stuart dot com, or just call me at
Stewart eight six six seven ninety eight two eight two

(50:14):
seven and I'll help you become a member of the organization.

Speaker 4 (50:17):
And the phone number for Stewart Insurance. People always want
to hear that.

Speaker 11 (50:20):
Eight six six seven ninety eight two eight two seven
eight six six seven ninety eight two eight two seven John,
thanks for being with us, Bill, I appreciate it.

Speaker 9 (50:28):
Thank you so much.

Speaker 4 (50:29):
Congratulation, mister President, Thank you, sir. And he is back
with us. Jim Palomski. He is with the Polomski team
and Reddoor Realty and Associates. Jim, welcome back, Thank you,
thank you. Well here you are as we've closed the show. Jim,
what are some of the other things you want people
to know about what you're doing at Reddoor and your team?

Speaker 5 (50:50):
Absolutely, one of the things I want to mention, and
I totally forgot to is I'm volunteering with a group
called Girl Chest Power and Beyond, Girl Us Power and Beyond.
And it's a group that helps girls from ages five
to eighteen, encouraging them to be confident independent through playing chess,
volunteering and acquiring knowledge. And I am volunteering for that

(51:13):
group and as an English teacher to do public speaking
classes for the girls. So if you have a girl
in that age group and you're interested in being a
part of that, just let me know give me a call.

Speaker 4 (51:25):
Well, now that you mentioned as far as that goes.
When I think of again, I'm thinking of chess now
as as we're talking about this, I'm thinking of these
chess masters. Was a Gary Casparova and who's like one
of the greatest magnets Carlson.

Speaker 3 (51:39):
Yeah, Magnus Carlson is the best in the world right now.

Speaker 4 (51:42):
That's amazing. So he is the reigning gut.

Speaker 5 (51:44):
He's been the goat for like fifteen years, so wonder
how he does it. One of the things that chess
masters at that level are gauged by is how long
they stay on top. So Gary Kasparov stayed on top
for a decade. Bobby Fisher was on top for about
five years. So yeah, it's being at that level and
being the best in the world.

Speaker 4 (52:02):
Is I think you told me earlier that the chess
match is about three hours, give or take. If you're
in a serious competition. After the three or so hours,
does it is there like a oh wow, like your
mind really went through a whole the big ordeal.

Speaker 5 (52:18):
How do you see that you have about an hour
before your next match, So it was about running out
and getting food coming back.

Speaker 4 (52:24):
So there you go play again and Jim, if someone
wants some help with you or your team and buying
or selling real estate. You're right there, absolutely, Jim. Let's
tell people how they can reach out to you if
they want to buy or sell.

Speaker 5 (52:34):
Best ways to text or call me at seven one
three four five nine zero two two zero seven one
three four five nine zero two two zero.

Speaker 4 (52:44):
As we continue, Cissy and Chris Larkin are back with
Aggie Land against Als. Cissy final word? What else should
people know?

Speaker 6 (52:52):
We want sponsors. It's we need big sponsors for the event,
and you can donate on our website site anytime, even
if you're not gonna be a part of the event.
So we're looking for BUCkies or home Defo or Low's.
We think this is a great opportunity for them to
do buckets for the ice Bucket Challenge.

Speaker 4 (53:13):
And ice and the website is Aggie.

Speaker 6 (53:17):
Land against als dot Org. Aggie Land against als dot Org.

Speaker 4 (53:25):
And Chris a final word, what else do you want
people to know?

Speaker 7 (53:29):
Thank you for participating.

Speaker 4 (53:33):
Thanks Chris, It's our pleasure. Thank you for being here
once again. Sissy.

Speaker 6 (53:38):
The website is Aggie Land against als dot Org or
you can call me eight four seven seven o seven
eight eight seven seven eight four seven seven o seven
eight eight seven seven, And.

Speaker 4 (53:54):
Thank you all for listening to Real Estate Matters with
Stewart Title. I am your host, Bill Nampick, together with
John Bramlett, Mike Snyder, all of us at Stuart Title
and Stuart Insurance, Stewart dot Com, Forward Slash Radio. Thanks
for listening. We'll see you next week.