Live at MOCO Food Hall with The Net

We are live at The Net networking event with contractors from Conroe, The Woodlands, the North Houston area, and I'm here all by myself. Craig has abandoned us. I don't know where he's at. He probably doesn't even know where he's at.

I'm here.

But here's the deal, we're glad you're here, glad you're joining us. If you're live, share this right now, that would be fantastic with your friends so they can see all the things that are happening right now. But yeah, we're here at Moco Food Hall, and if you've not been to Moco Food Hall in Conroe, this place is awesome. It's got like these little air, like, Very— like, there's a coffee shop behind me, uh, there's a burger place in here, there's a Cajun place in here, an Asian place in here. There's just all kinds of different food places inside here. It's air-conditioned, it's out of the rain, which it's raining right now. And, uh, Jonah, our producer, is over here about to chow down on some good food. So it is what it is,

but we are glad that everyone is joining us. And, uh, we're just gonna interview some people today, get to know some people and their businesses. Uh, we're gonna start off with someone that you have heard us talk about multiple times because they are a sponsor of our show, and that is Lone Star Appliance Repair. I'm gonna bring Darlene in right now. Darlene, how you doing?

I'm doing great. How about you?

Oh, I'm doing great. It's such a nice atmosphere in here. I love it in here.

It is great.

Yeah, it's fantastic. Go ahead and do this for us. Tell us, uh, Lone Star has been great for us and I want to learn more about it, but for now, how are people going to get a hold of Lone Star Appliance Repair?

You can call or text 936-647- All right, that's it.

Just call them, text even.

Even text.

Wow, that's super simple, man. I, I think that that's like a new thing where people can actually text into a quote-unquote business line, you know, and still get someone on the other end respond to what's going on, you know. I don't know, we live in a world where sometimes people don't want to call, or they think about calling, it's a weird time. Like, I don't know what they're doing. Maybe they're on the bathroom. I don't know. They're, they're trying to— I don't know.

I actually had a customer text me at 11 o'clock on Sunday night.

Oh wow.

And my phone went off and I responded.

Did you really?

That's the way I am.

Look, that is a whole new level of customer service, y'all, because most businesses, I mean, when they close, they're closed, and they should be on some level, but at the same same time, if you're focused on customer service, you're focused on customer service.

And that's us.

That's y'all. Tell us a little bit about what Lone Star Appliance Repair does, and maybe what, you know, just, just a little bit about the business, I guess.

Sure. We work on all appliances within the home except for hot water heaters.

Okay.

That's the only thing we don't work on.

Okay.

We repair, we install. We have our fair share of all of this.

Okay.

A lot of refrigerators at this time of the year go out because it's so hot.

Right.

So we get a lot of refrigerator calls and wine coolers.

Okay.

Wine chillers, things of that nature. We work on all of them. We have been in business since 2017. I have been the office manager since 2019.

Okay.

It's a great business. We are family-owned and operated. We— it's good.

You just do things right.

Yes.

You know, I think we've talked about this on the show before, but I think a lot of people just don't— I think they feel like appliance repair is gone. I think things are disposable. disposable more than they used to be. Like, for instance, you used to repair your computer and now you just go get a new one. Um, you used to repair, I don't know, something, and now you just get a new one. I think a lot of people do that with appliances. They think, my appliance, it stopped working the way it should, I'm just— it's time to go get a new one. But a lot of times it's way more cost effective And you don't have to go buy a new appliance, figure out what to do with your old appliance. Does it

fit? Is it the right color? Does it match my other appliances? All these things. Just get it repaired, right?

Honestly, yes. And we found this out especially during COVID Okay, there was the part with the shipping supply.

Oh yeah, all of this.

And nobody could find new appliances. So we have select vendors that we can get parts from. Um, that is really well— has served us well. We never skipped a beat during COVID Really?

Not at all.

Amazing. Yeah, because man, you couldn't hardly get a refrigerator to save your life.

Exactly. I was looking on certain big box stores' website for an outside freezer and it was 6 months out.

Oh my goodness. That's insane. I mean, if you, if you need a freezer, you need a freezer.

Exactly.

I mean, most people, like, if you're like us, and we got food in our freezer that if it goes out, I mean, there's a— there's hundreds and hundreds of dollars worth of meat, vegetables, and stuff that we've maybe put up ourselves that I don't want to— I want to eat it, you know, and I don't want— but I don't want to eat it today.

Well, and the one thing about it, we offer Someday it's some— it's same-day service.

Oh, really?

Oh, yes.

Okay.

We do try same day.

Okay.

And when we get that call, we're, okay, where can we fit these in on?

Sure. And I assume that some are more priority than others.

Refrigerators technically are priority.

Okay.

Because you can live without a dishwasher, a microwave for a day or so, right? But you're not living without refrigeration.

No, that's just— Yeah, so I mean, are you— do you find that people— and I don't know, you may not know because of the industry specifically you're in, but I think that like, for example, a lot of people, they outfit their kitchen with a microwave, a stove, an you know, the oven, the refrigerator, the dishwasher, and they all match, right? And it's like anything else. From year to year, those appliances change. They have new designs. They've got new colors. They've got new— all this kind of stuff. And so— Hey, what's up, Patrick? Everybody's coming by. You know, I think that Are you finding that people will just replace all of those things?

Um, right now I think people are more cost-conscious.

Okay.

So they're wanting to kind of repair and hang on just to see. A lot of customers I'm finding that I speak to are unsure of, should I pull the trigger on buying something new, or what's more cost-effective?

Sure.

are finding that instead of buying new, let's just— it's actually cheaper to just have it repaired.

Sure. Yeah, well, and I honestly, it's less time-consuming.

Absolutely.

I mean, you don't have to go find something, figure out is this the best product, does it match, is it, you know, all of those sorts of things. It's— and it's of course cheaper.

Of course.

Without a doubt.

Exactly.

Okay, well, here's one thing that we have to talk about. This is a longstanding debate with me and Craig, okay? And I am certain of the answer, and he feels certain of the answer as well. I'm, I'm sure he's wrong, but I'm— I need you right now to run interference on this and give us the definitive answer on this question. Are you ready?

I'm ready.

Is a sink an appliance?

No.

Yes! All right, the internet, all of you out there, you have to understand, this is one of— one more example of me being right and Craig being wrong. I mean, who in their right mind thinks that a sink is an appliance?

It's not.

It's not an appliance. Now, could there be an appliance connected to a sink?

Absolutely.

Maybe even more than one?

Correct.

Okay, like a garbage disposal?

Correct.

That is an appliance, correct?

Correct.

Uh, dishwasher, obviously.

Yes.

Okay, he has in his mind that a sink is and should be an appliance. Now, so this brings up another question that I've got. What defines an appliance?

Normally it's something that you plug in.

Okay, that's exactly what I said to him. But again, so this is number 2 on the same issue where I'm right, he's wrong. Um, you have to plug an appliance in. It's got some sort of energy, electric power that comes to it. Um, it doesn't have to be electric, it could be gas. Right, like a gas dryer.

Even ovens.

Absolutely. There's plenty of things that run off of natural gas or propane, um, or I guess other gases, um, that you're probably not bringing into your house. But, um, wow, man, I feel so vindicated right now. This is what it feels to be right, Jonah. This is what it feels like. I'm— I know the feeling often, actually, but This is one more moment. Thank you for clearing up this longstanding debate. There is no more debate.

No.

No more debate. The other thing that's interesting that Craig is emphatic about is that microwaves are of the devil. He believes that they are going to fry your brain and nothing good comes from microwaves. Now, I will say this. It is not the best way to have nice, good, warm food.

I actually have a funny story about this.

Bring it on.

So Christmas, the year of COVID 2020, you know, we were all supposed to be socially distancing and this, that, and the other. And I had a lady call the office and tell me that because her microwave was out, And I could not get the cart for 7 days, that I would totally ruin her baking.

Wait, what?

Exactly, exactly. Well, I said, ma'am, with all due respect, what are you baking in a microwave?

How are you baking in a microwave?

Exactly.

Did she give you an answer?

No, she was too mad at me.

Oh, wow. I feel like her issues were beyond a part for a microwave.

Uh, yeah, a microwave is for warming. It's not for baking, for instance. It's not for slow cooking.

Grilling?

No, grilling, no.

No, it's got a purpose.

Exactly.

It heats things up.

Exactly. Wow.

Now there— so, so Craig, uh, again going back to him for a minute, Like, he, he just thinks that nothing tastes good out of the microwave, which I'm gonna agree on some level. It's not the best option. But he also just thinks that there's something weird that it does to your food, and therefore we're gonna grow like extra legs or something. I don't know. But here's the thing that I would say about that. So my daughter— have you seen these warm-up stuffed animals?

No.

You've seen them? Jonah's seen them. Okay, so They're basically, um, I have— okay, you know, like heating pads that don't require a power source? You put them in the microwave, you heat them up, and it retains heat. Like, I know some people will even make them and they'll use like deer corn and different things like that because they retain heat. It's basically that concept, only it's a stuffed animal. And so my daughter actually has been using one recently. I don't know, like, she had an earache at one point. And it, you know, she could lay up against it or whatever, and it was just this nice cozy thing for her. And here's the deal, Jonah,

you just cannot put that in the oven.

Absolutely.

To heat it up.

I can tell you, I have balls because I have, I have rheumatoid arthritis.

Okay.

Um, so I have balls that are filled with rice, just dry white rice.

Yeah.

that I put in the microwave on cold days, and I could just— that can help with my joints and my hands.

But you couldn't— how else are you going to heat that up?

There is no other way.

There's no other way. It's— yeah, you got to use a microwave. So they do have— okay, one more thing I'm right about. Okay, uh, man, we're on a roll tonight. I'm so glad you're here and clearing up all of these issues. And with— without Craig here to defend himself, it makes me so happy. So that's great. Well, let me ask you this. What else— I mean, is there something, I mean, that you would say you probably don't normally think about repairing this for whatever reason, but we will repair that? Do you have anything like that that you can think of?

Trash compactors.

Oh.

Those were a big thing back in the '70s and early '80s.

Oh, sure.

And we have been getting several calls for homes out in Montgomery, which is shocking because Montgomery was 2 homes.

Sure. You know, yeah, it's blown up.

Exactly.

We live out there. It's blown up.

Exactly, like Conroe.

Yeah.

So we've been getting calls for trash compactors.

Wow.

We get a lot for wine chillers.

Okay.

A lot of people don't realize that if it fits under the counter, we fix it.

Ice machines. Okay.

That's another one.

Yeah.

Just things that, that people don't normally think of. Right.

Well, I would say give, give you a call.

Oh, of course.

Just call Lone Star Appliance Repair. Tell me the number again.

It is 936-647-2364.

There you go. Because you never know. It would be better to have a conversation.

It's—

you're gonna answer the phone even at 11 o'clock at night. You're gonna potentially reply to a text. Ask the question and then make an informed decision. I'll tell you, we had a, um, we had a washer. We bought a new house. The house came— the previous owners, uh, left, wanted to leave their washer and dryer. It was a much nicer washer and dryer than what we had. And about 6 months after we lived there, the washer went out. Perfect. So they said it had a bad— that there was something wrong with the motor. It had a, like, an onboard computer that told us that. So we actually called— I don't know, it may not have been Lone Star, that was probably our problem. Um, we called someone, an appliance repair, they

came out, and sure enough, it was going to be the motor that needed to be replaced. And the motor was going to be like $500 or $600. Well, I could go out and buy a brand new one for about $750, $800, and this one was about 10 years old. And so I made the choice to do that. But had they said it was gonna be $200, $300, even maybe even $400, half price of a brand new one, I would have done that all day long.

I'm gonna tell you something that's surprising.

Okay.

Most people don't know that motors on washing machines and compressors on refrigerators have a 10-year automatic manufacturer warranty.

Oh, really?

Yes.

And so no matter what?

No matter what.

You're probably within warranty, most likely.

As long as it's not 10 years old. Okay, so motors and compressors on refrigerators.

And all of that kind of stuff is within the, um, Like, you can just look at the model number and figure that out, right?

Yes.

So you don't even have to have a receipt for it necessarily?

No, you can call up the manufacturer, give them the model and serial number, and they can tell you when you bought it.

There you go. That's awesome. I bet, I bet had we called Lone Star Appliance Repair, we would have not bought a new washer because I bet it was within 10 years. Wow, man. Well, not only did they lose a sale, we had to replace something that was working. Stuff like that's frustrating.

It is, you know, and a lot of my customers that call me, that's something shocking that they find out.

Absolutely.

Because not many consumers are aware that it's automatic, right?

That's amazing. Well, thank you for taking the time to sit down with us and, um, you know, relay the message that we're so thankful for the sponsorship of the show. Lone Star Appliance Repair, located right here in Conroe, and they service all of the neighboring cities as well.

Yes.

And, uh, give them a call. Uh, tell us the number again.

It's 936-645- There it is.

All right, well, Darlene, thank you. It has been a pleasure. Uh, I'm so thankful that you can confirm my rightness on things, and, uh, thank you for, for coming. And, uh, I'm gonna let you go hang out again, and if you'll find the next person— I think someone right over here— tell them you're done and we'll have someone else sit down.

Absolutely.

All right, thank you.

Thank you. Thank you for having me.

Absolutely. So yeah, you can just put those right there. Great, man. That, that's, uh, so much fun talking with her. And, uh, I think that so many times we just don't think before we start making new purchases. And it's not because we want to make new purchases. Sometimes we just don't know that there is a different way to do it. So Lone Star Appliance Repair, we're very thankful for them sponsoring our live events, which has been fantastic. So I don't know, Jonah, I think we're supposed to have someone else showing up and sitting down, um, but I don't know, we'll have to wait and see. Um, we— so we're here at The Net, and it's a networking event, which is clients called The Net, and there are all sorts of

contractors. And so for those of you, um, who haven't been listening to us forever, um, hold on, let me get Adrian's— we're gonna have to get Adrian's attention, tell him to send someone else over here. Let's go! You got someone else for us? I don't have a microphone.

I thought you said after that one.

We can try it. Here, we're just gonna— don't turn anything off, Jonah. We're gonna take a break. I'm gonna look. I don't think we have a microphone for the net, but we might. Hang out with us. We're gonna take a 5-minute intermission. We'll be right back. All right, well, we are back. I was unable to help figure out their microphone issues over there. We got all the stuff here at the Homeowner Show, even for our live events. But we don't always have stuff to help other people, but that's okay. So we got someone else coming. Buddy will be here in just a few minutes. Uh, what I was gonna say is I think a lot of people, if you've not been listening to our show, might not

know exactly what we're here for, but we're here to talk to contractors, and that's what the net is here for. And you can go around Yeah, it'll be easier to get through over here. How are you? You can listen. What? You can look. You can get on in a few minutes.

Okay.

Tell Adrian. Tell Adrian you want to.

Adrian's a guy.

Adrian's a guy. He's he's my uh he's the one feeding me. So just tell him you want to get on. Where's your car? Hey, I don't know where he is. He's MIA. Buddy, if you'll put on those headphones, pull that microphone all the way up to your, to your mouth there, and we will rock and roll.

Something like that?

That's it. Pull it, pull it just a little closer. There you go.

Up and at 'em. All right.

You got it. Perfect. How you doing, man?

I'm well. How about you?

I'm doing fine. I'm Kevin. You and I have met before.

We have.

All right. And you remember me.

Wow. Marketing guy.

I mean, I'm— yeah, I do some of that. Yeah, so, um, we— Craig's not here, so it's just you and me tonight. Okay, so, uh, hanging out at the net, chilling, you know, all that kind of stuff. You actually coach a lot of these people.

I have.

Yeah, have. So tell us a little bit about you and what you do.

So first, Action Coach Business Coaching. Okay, it's a worldwide franchise.

Okay.

So we probably have 1,000+ coaches or firms, you know, in about 70-ish countries or so.

Wow.

I'm with Action Coach North Houston. Bob Keplinger is the owner of the franchise and I work with him and I've been there, I'm in my 5th year with him now.

Okay.

And so yeah, lots of, you know, without getting into the history of the net and Biz Connection and everything But I've been around for all of that, so it's about a 4-plus year journey now with the networking entities and working with everybody in it that I can.

Right, okay. So when you say coaching, what does that look like? If I'm a business owner and I want to be coached, what kind of service does that look like?

So I think Maybe a better way to answer that would be a lot of business coaches come over from a corporate gig.

Okay.

30 years in corporate America and they accomplished X, Y, and Z, all great stuff and important stuff. I myself was a plumbing contractor in Washington, D.C., where I come from, for about 25 years. So I did the small business journey. And so I think when I go all the way back to that young man, And if there were business coaches around, A, I know for a fact my life story would be phenomenally different and more successful even. And I was very successful as a plumbing contractor, but I suffered all the blues about, you know, 60-hour weeks and no vacation and all the stuff that I hear from clients that come to talk to me. And I think there's a bit of a

stigma around it that it's kind of like, well, I'm messed up, so I need to go see a therapist, or I suck at business, so I need to go see a business coach. And if I could go back to my younger self, I would feel like, oh God, this guy is going to see how dumb I am, or I should know all of this stuff.

Yeah.

When the fact is we're good plumbers, we're good dentists, we're good florists, we're good at whatever we do, and nobody learns business. So I wasn't a college guy. like those corporate guys were, and I assumed they learned all that stuff. And the MBAs, etc., that I've met in my coaching career all have said they teach us none of this stuff.

Wow. Wow.

And so every business owner does not have these business basics that we provide. And so what— to answer your question about what it looks like is we have a structure and a platform that we call coach on, but we meet you where you are.

Okay.

And so what are your top challenges? Let's dig in and start whittling at them, give you strategies. And coaching is different from consulting.

Okay, let's talk about that.

Consultants are going to come in and do it for you for a weekend or 5 days and bill you and leave. Coaching, we make you, with our help, figure it out so you learn and That's a huge distinction and one that I hadn't really thought a lot about.

But I think that you're right. I think it's almost like counseling. Some people have this negative stigma about counseling when honestly a good counselor is just going to be someone who listens and helps you think differently. And a coach is going to do something very similar. They're going to listen to what's going on and help you maybe strategize around something that you may not just— you're just not skilled at. Because here's the truth. If I'm a roofer and I know how to swing a hammer, I'm really good at swinging a hammer. But like the rest of it, I got it. So I got to invoice people. I got to find leads.

Marketing. Sales, management, team building.

Yep.

On and on.

It's all these pillars of owning a business that I— man, I just got into business so I could put some roofs on a house, you know. I didn't know all this other stuff. And so you have to do one of two things, and maybe combine them, is you got to figure it out, right? Or you got to find someone else who can figure it out for you.

Or with you. I would say, I mean, the other thing that I want to point out is that the coach is going to be a confidant and a friend, but also a coach.

Okay.

Drop down and give me 50. But I mean, it's like the advantage that I have, especially having been you, my client before, is that you can't see the forest for the trees, and the forest is on fire half the time, right? And I have the advantage of seeing seeing it from the sidelines to say, wait a minute, this is what's going on, because I'm not lost in the chaos like you are.

And so that—

and then accountability is the other piece.

Okay.

You know, and what's interesting to me these days is that, you know, it's a generational thing too. So very young people are coming to me saying, I'm thinking about starting a business and I know the first thing I need to do is engage a coach. Oh my God.

Wow.

That's amazing.

So they get it, you know, it's like the stigma issue is slowly going away. So, you know, the clients that are phenomenal success stories are all people that were mostly kind of hurting when they first came in and, you know, and they paid attention and they did the work. Not everyone is coachable.

No, that's true.

Human nature and mindset is a huge piece of it. And some people will say, yeah, yeah, you're right, I need to do that, and then not do it.

You mentioned something that I've been digging into a lot recently, and that's mindset. This idea that we all have certain ways that we look at the world and that we look at other people, and most importantly, the way we look at ourselves. And so much of how we do business is, is played out in our mindset. And so working through that And it's not just, oh, someone else tell me how I should think. It's not that. It's, it's an attitude. It's a, it's a, a worldview. It's a visionary type of thing. Absolutely. And those are things that honestly, I don't know how else you're gonna learn that kind of stuff unless someone talks to you about it.

I mean, it's, it's central to everything that we do. And, you know, I always joke around and self-effacingly say, I love mindset stuff. Why do I immerse myself in it? Because I need to. I struggle with those things. And so we all show up with all this head trash rattling around, and then we go into business and it's like the customer is the enemy or the employees are the enemy, and it's just totally wrong mindset. And so, you know, when you start to think in terms of what does the customer What does the customer want? How to speak to them in their language. What do the employees want? Are you including them in everything? How to build the team, we have steps for that. How to build systems, we have steps for that. And every,

every time we turn around, there's a kind of a mindset piece to it.

Man, that's, that's huge. The other thing that I've been learning about recently is I think that so many business owners They see themselves as this massive essential cog in the entire process. And if I remove myself, then it's not going to get done well, or it's not going to be done the way I want it, or I'm not going to be profitable anymore, or— and they keep coming up with excuses for these sorts of things. But I'm learning this, and I want you to speak into it for a moment. I think that we try to figure out how to do things over and over. How do I— how am I going to do that? How, how am I going to figure that out? All these sorts of things. And I'm finding that

it's really less about the how, and it's most of the time about the who. Who can really step in and make this what it needs to be? It doesn't have to be me all the time.

Wow.

I mean, that just brings up so many things, you know. And so, I mean, I love it when I have a breakthrough with a client early on where we can smile at one another and say, actually, if we're honest, we're control freaks, aren't we?

Most all of us are.

You know, and so, and then there's ego around that business ownership, right? My company, my way or the highway, and all that kind of stuff. And so once you get beyond that, what is so wrong with surrounding yourself with people that are much better than you?

Wow.

And so, you know, one of the questions we ask a new client is, when is your business going to be finished? If you asked me that when I was a young man, I wouldn't even understand the question.

Yeah.

I'd say, I guess when I keel over, it'll be finished.

You know?

Yeah.

So no clue that, you know, Brad Sugars, our founder, has a wonderful little slogan. He said, a great life is the goal and a great business should provide that, but it shouldn't take over your life. And I, my personal opinion in American culture, we have lots of isms and addictions, but workaholism is America's honorable addiction.

Wow.

Right? And so we give, we give some credence to that. Oh, you know, I don't have a life, I work 80 hours a week, I haven't had a vacation for 10 years, like it's something to brag about.

Right.

That's insane.

Right.

I was that way once upon a time, so I get the mindset. I appreciate the need for the mindset shift.

Sure.

It's important.

No, it's, it's so important. And I think that if you're going to grow, if you're going to scale, if you're going to find a way to be a business owner instead of a business operator, those are 2 very, very different roles that you can play. And many people try to play both of the roles, and they find that their family is suffering, Their health is suffering. They're, you know, so many things in their life are taking a nosedive. And I think if they would sometimes step into someone like your office and just say, man, I— look, my business is thriving. I'm actually— I'm making a lot of money, but every other part of my life stinks.

It's dying.

Yeah, it's dying. And, and that I think that if we had more understanding of the coaching process and that, man, if you would come in and sit down with me and let's just talk about some of this stuff, then you can figure out a way to remove yourself from the how, figure out the who, get your mindset straight. I was talking to someone just the other day and he said, I tell you what, Kevin, this is not going to be make any sense to you unless you really kind of understand the situation, which I worked through with him. But he said, I learned that I can work 10 hours or less in my business a week and

triple my income by making one small shift. And we talked about that, and the small shift was removing him out of something that he didn't even want to do.

Exactly.

He didn't want to do that job. But he felt like he had to do that job. And whenever he recognized someone else can do that and probably do it better because I didn't like doing it anyway, it removed a bunch of stress out of his life and it allowed him to work fewer hours. His family was happier because he was around more often and he was making more money.

Yeah, I mean, sadly, back to that workaholism, the honorable addiction, I mean, the ramifications, the divorces, the financial ruin. It's really sad and frightening. I mean, I write a blog now, and one piece I did recently was on business owner burnout.

Okay.

And the last one I did that I submitted today is the Pareto principle, the 80/20 rule, right?

Okay.

And so your example was somebody who finally got it, that 20% of the effort is going to produce. And so business owners need to start stop doing $12 an hour work, you know? And, and they're serving the team and they think they're serving the customer, right? Business owner serves the team, the team serves the customer, the customer serves the business, and the business serves the owner. Man, that's the proper cycle.

That is gold right there.

The ego says, no, I gotta serve the customers because they can't do it right, right? So now you're paying people to watch you do their jobs, right?

The insanity is No, you're exactly right.

I was guilty of it, so I have empathy, but I need to stop people from doing it.

You've been there too in your own business, and it's just this idea of, you know, if you want to be super successful in your business, you have to kind of figure out what you— what your business— what you want your business to look like. There are certain people that I think do want to work 40 hours a week. Okay, well, that's— if that's what you want your business to look like, There's ways to make that happen. But if you don't want to do that, which is what most business owners get in business to do, is to remove themselves from working 40-hour work weeks, then you're going to have to make some dramatic shifts.

So they, they go into business and they kind of create a monster whether they know it or not. And some don't progress beyond that for years or decades, or they quit, or they go out of business, or they have health issues, you know, unless and until they get it. So to your point about you could choose to work 40 hours a week, but it has to be a choice. So I own this company, I don't need to come in all week, right? You know, is— can the business work without you? That's what business ownership is.

Wow.

Hello guys, I'll be in Tahiti for 3 months. You got this, right? No, I won't be answering emails and cell phones. I expect a good profit report when I get back. See ya.

But that's—

my team knows how to do it.

Yeah, I think that what you just said, 3 months. I mean, so, okay, if you're a business owner right now listening to this podcast, I want to— I want you to ask yourself a question. Could I go to Tahiti for 3 months?

Or even make it 2 weeks.

2 weeks.

Could you?

Okay, could you do that? But could you do that and your business actually grow, let alone just function, not die, not like The house is on fire. I'm talking about growth, even if you're not there, because it's possible.

And, you know, it's baby steps, right? So back to the control freak issue. If we're honest about that, let's take a 4-day weekend. We're going to be geeking and, and going through withdrawals a little bit about how's it going. But you need to discipline yourself to be able to do that. Chances are it'll survive and be fine. You know, and what's the worst that could happen? Think it through, right?

Well, I guess if you hire the right people.

Exactly.

And you, you build a culture around the type of business that you want to have. You know, I think that people that build businesses that have good culture in them, you retain your employees. They love you. They want to make you happy. The customers are happy because they're happy. It's just there's so much that I think someone with your expertise can sit down with the business owner and just change the world.

And there's a whole system to hiring and team building and then management and then delegation and all of that. Checklists and KPIs and all that stuff. And, you know, that stuff is boring to most of us. Yeah, it really is. But so, like, good news is you don't have to do it, but you need to know it first to be able to delegate it.

That's awesome. Well, is there anything that you would like our listeners to know? Any, anything, um, any bits of wisdom you want to impart or anything before we're done here?

Just, um, take us up on what we call a business strategy session. Take me up on it. Okay, it's a little bit involved, but I would like to give you 90 minutes of my time to do a business strategy session with you, and there's a few steps to that. One, I'll send you what we call a business background questionnaire. If you started yesterday, you won't be able to fill a lot of it out. You, you fill out what you're comfortable with filling out. Everything's confidential with us, and you fill it out to the best of your ability and send it back to me. Then I get— we do about a half an hour phone call to focus on that, because one of the things that emanates out of that exercise exercise

is we'll identify your top 5 or so struggle areas, right?

Okay.

And so that way, when I do bring you in for the 90 minutes, we're laser-focused on getting results for you. And so we're going to give you strategies to tackle those top problems and have a conversation and just, you know, maybe address some of that head trash or some of that mindset stuff for 90 minutes. And there's no obligation whatsoever. 90 free minutes. Am I going to talk about coaching for the last 2 minutes? Absolutely.

And you should.

And no is a complete sentence, and I get that.

Yeah. Well, 90 minutes is more than reasonable. I think 30 minutes is more than reasonable, but 90 minutes takes it to a new level.

Plus the questionnaire, plus the phone call prior to that 90 minutes.

Wow.

So it's pretty thorough.

Pretty amazing. Well, buddy, thank you so much.

My pleasure. Good to see you again.

Yes, absolutely. We need to catch up and just kind of let you know where things are with me. All that kind of stuff. I appreciate your time. Likewise. Uh, if you don't mind, uh, well, I think Patrick is gonna hang out next, so okay, we'll, we'll grab him. Thank you very good so very much. Enjoy your time, man.

Will do. Take care.

Okay, absolutely, man.

Buddy, give me your toys back.

Thank you. Buddy's got some great stuff going on. Yeah, take your Diet Coke and get out of here. Get out of here.

Good to see you, bro.

You too, man. He has— Jonah, he could be like a like an announcer of some sort. He's got this low, perfect voice, you know, for, uh, for being— I don't know. I think if I was his coach, if he was my coach, I would just be like, talk to me more. I really like his voice. Listen, uh, Patrick is gonna sit down with us, but while he is getting his headphones on, um, I want to do a shout out to Lone Star Appliance Repair. They are our sponsor for tonight's event. We heard from Darlene just a little bit earlier, and we just want to let you guys know that Lone Star Appliance Repair does unbelievable work. They're local here in the Conroe area. They work

all over the area. Don't go just buy a new appliance. Let them come in and repair it for you. You can get a hold of them pretty easily. Their number is 936—

936- 647-2364.

That's 936-647-2364. Give them a shout. Darlene will take care of you, and, uh, they would appreciate your business. Patrick, what's up, my friend?

Hey, how are you doing?

And I am doing fantastic. It's been a minute.

Okay, it's just sound okay?

Sounds great. Do you hear yourself?

Yes.

Then you're good. That's the main thing.

But I get a lot of resounding voices in my head. Is that the same?

Well, no, that's different. That's not the headphones problem.

Okay.

Man, it is good to see you again. It's been a little minute, but—

It's been a little while, but I've been watching your shows.

Okay.

You guys are doing great.

Thank you. Thank you. We have a good time doing it. So tell our listeners if they haven't listened to the episode with you on it, I don't remember when that was. It's been a while, but tell people, give them— give us your name and tell us what you do.

Okay, my name is Patrick Morales. I'm a mortgage broker with Nexa Mortgage serving everywhere in Texas, and then of course I can go to almost every state except for Massachusetts and New York if I have to. Okay, but most of my work is here in Texas. I did have a deal that went into California— not California, Connecticut and one that went to Florida and the ones that went to North Carolina. So I could do it.

Okay, so great.

And, um, as a mortgage broker, I work wholesale with a whole bunch of different lenders. So as long as it's mathematically possible, legal— I'm not going to jail for anybody— and moral, I like to sleep at night, right? I can get it done.

Okay, wow. Yeah, because I think, um, as a broker you have you have access to different programs in different situations than maybe just a regular mortgage broker may have. I mean, mortgage specialist may have, right?

Yes.

Okay.

I mean, so, so I have over 200 different lenders that I can go to so that way I can take care of my clients. And with the recent influx of new businesses going out there, I had a whole bunch of what's called non-QM. That's non-qualified mortgage, basically not standard.

Okay.

So you get a business person who, you know, they got a whole bunch of write-offs, so it doesn't look like they're making money, but they are making money.

Right.

I got statement loans that can take care of them, and it's a wonderful option versus trying to find a way to get a regular loan. I let the business keep doing their business thing. Making their money the way they do, and just finding the right loan to take care of them.

Okay, so where is the mortgage rate right about now? Because I know it's just been nuts over the past year.

Okay, so a lot has changed in a short period of time.

Okay.

I mean, basically doubled.

Oh wow.

More than doubled. Um, so right now, if you go online and you go to Bob the Big Mortgage Company. They'll quote you a great rate, right? Great rate. But you read the fine print. That great rate is if you put down 25%, have a 740 credit score, your mortgage is at least $250,000, if not more. Okay, okay. And you're paying 2 points.

Oh, you're paying 2 points?

That's— you look at that and they're doing 2 points. So with those online people, I can almost always beat them. Okay. Right now, if you want a good rate, you're gonna have to pay some points down. Sure. So that's unfortunately the way it is right now. Historically, it's a little bit more back to normal. I hate to say it that way.

Yeah, well, those 2.5% mortgage rates that we were seeing 2 to 3 years ago Those are phenomenal. It's just like unprecedented.

Yeah, definitely. And I called up a few of my customers that I got into 2.5 and said, how do you like me now?

Oh yeah, oh yeah, for sure.

So they're happy, uh, and now they're thinking, okay, what about if I have to move? Give me a call, I'll show you the numbers, I'll show you how it works.

Okay.

Because yes, if you go move somewhere else, you're, uh, what you call it, Your rate's gonna be higher.

It's gonna be higher.

But for the last several years that you had this great rate, you actually put more down on, on the house.

Okay.

More down on the mortgage, so that way your principal went down. Throw that in with the unprecedented, uh, unprecedented value increase in the Houston area.

Yeah.

You're in a great position.

You're still in a good place, right?

Yeah. So, okay.

What about if I'm a first-time home buyer right now? What is that like?

That is very challenging.

Okay.

Okay. Um, right now I've seen, uh, the stresses on, uh, credit ratings get stronger. So you need better credit rating to get a good rate, you know, and a good rate right now is higher than it was a few years ago.

Right. Are we in the 6s?

Okay, without paying points?

Yes.

You're in the 7s?

7s, okay.

Okay, you pay a point, maybe you get down to 6.5 or so.

Okay.

Give a range, 6 to 6.5 or 5.5, maybe a little bit more. But there's less flexibility with the interest rate, with your credit score. Your credit score is not good, it's gonna hurt.

Right.

Okay. So there are those challenges, but there's always a way. And to give you— you know what, let me give you a tale of 2 buyers.

Okay.

2 buyers, both about the same credit rate, same credit score, same rate they were looking at, which was high for the time. Now it's low.

Okay.

But high for the time, about 3 years ago. One of them, actually both of them, I told them, you got to buy now because you're ready, you can do this. Yes, the rate's not where you want it to be because the rates everybody else was getting, 2.5%, 2.75%, and so on, right? But I said, look, yours is in the 4s, in the 4s. So they're like— I said, buy the house now because things are going to happen. So one bought, the other one did not. The one that bought, now their house is up over $60,000 in value, and they now have a great rate.

Okay.

Same rate, but now they have a great rate, and they have $60,000 worth of wealth added in this few years. The other guy, unfortunately, he's priced out of the same house he was looking at just a few years ago, because now that same house is $60,000 more.

Right.

And throw in, uh, the interest rate being higher, it's totally priced out.

And it's just a weird deal because I think a lot of people will say it's a horrible time to buy a house, and there's part of me that goes, well, okay, what is your definition of a great time to buy a house, right? Because what a lot of people think is just what's in their most recent memory, and honestly, when those rates were at 2.5%, the home values were so high, they were so inflated.

And they were paying overpriced.

Way overpriced. Way overpriced. And to give you an example, during the time whenever we were looking at those 2.5%, 3% interest rates, I sold my house for 50% more than I bought it for 5 years earlier, which is Absolutely insane.

Right. Which is a great time to sell.

It was a great time to sell.

But the challenge buying was.

Yes, it was. And a lot of people would tell me that, Kevin, what a horrible time to buy a house. And I'll tell you what, we did go in and buy a very expensive house, and it was— we paid 10% more than what the asking price was, but we got locked in at 4.5%, right?

Which was We fell high then.

It was— we fell into this really weird moment where, yes, our house was a little bit more, but we sold our house for so much, right? And our interest rate was still pretty good at 4.5%. Uh, historically, it's still a very good rate, and I feel pretty good about where we were at. But honestly, We have to remember things like there's refinance options, right?

Yes.

And you can buy stuff now knowing that if the rate goes down, we can refinance and we can figure out a way to make this work. So, and I think also, you know, maybe you can speak to this a little bit. How many people do you talk to that just try to get into something that they shouldn't try to get into? They're trying to get into a home that is maybe $400,000, $500,000, and they really have to be looking for a home that's $180,000 or $200,000?

Those, those are challenging conversations.

Sure.

But I don't want to put somebody in a mortgage that they're going to default on.

That's not fair to anybody.

Not fair to anybody. Not fair to them. So, I mean, I do have the conversation. Look, this is what you can afford. And most of the times what ends up happening is when you get to the how much does it cost monthly? That's where it opens up and clears things out. Think about how much you make, think about how much you spend, think about all the different things that you have to pay for during the month. Here's your monthly payment if you want that house. Here's the monthly payment if you want that house. It comes down to cash flow and monthly payments.

What can you do? And what can you qualify for? I know that's a big deal. And credit score plays a big part into that. A lot of people during COVID wrecked their credit score, um, because they were buying stuff and then racking up credit card debt.

And then there's a number of people who, you know, lost their jobs.

Absolutely.

And now they got a whole bunch of different things. And then if you heard the news, the credit card debt, because of the— what inflation is doing to us, credit card debt has soared.

Wow.

So there's more credit card debt. So talk now, now I'm having conversations with people, you know, this is actually a great time to cash, to do a cash-out refi.

Okay.

Okay.

Yeah.

Not for the rate, right, but for the cash flow.

Okay.

So one client that I'm working with right now, basically they got into a whole bunch of credit card debt and they have a great rate right now. And I'm telling them, I did the numbers, I said, look, if you do this cash-out refinance, and pay off almost everything you got, you'll ease up your monthly nut by $3,000. I'm like, do it, okay? Because here's the deal, you can— if you, if you're saving $3,000, put, you know, $1,500 away for an emergency, because that's what got them in trouble, right? Put $1,500 down on the principal, you're in a much better situation altogether.

Wow.

But they're like, oh, Well, but this is a credit card versus a 30-year loan. I was like, it's the cash flow that's killing you.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

You got to make, make choices, right?

Right.

Well, the cool thing is that you have options for people and get them into a situation. And the great thing about brokers is you give them the option to say, hey, this lender offers this program, this lender offers this program. Let's figure out what numbers are going to work the best, get you into the best mortgage that we can possibly get you into.

Right. Get them, you know, get them into the house.

Right.

So when it comes down to it, for most people, they're buying a house to live in.

Right.

And I try to convince them, look, this is— you're buying a house to live in. You're not buying it for an investment. Now, investors, different story.

That's different. Yep.

And I could tell you a story about that one.

Oh, sure.

So I ran into this young person. Gen Z.

Okay.

He's doing very well cash-wise.

Okay.

About 2, 3 years ago, he got an opportunity to go buy a rental property. Fair price, good rate, great cash flow. His father convinced him not to do it because he's young, he might have to move, do this, all that. And now he's still thinking about buying a rental property, but The rates are much higher.

Oh yeah.

It's harder to get into those mortgages now.

Right.

And I said, okay, so why don't you look up the house and see how much it's worth now? And he goes, I don't wanna do that. And I said, no, do it because you'll learn that sometimes you have to take on the opportunity when it shows up.

Yeah.

Because right now his cash flow would be great because I mean, you think about the rent's gone up, what, 10% for most places, I think 10% in 2 years.

Yeah, something like that, yeah.

His cash flow would have gotten much better already, and his equity would have been, you know, much higher already.

You know, it's hard to see the future to know what to do, but—

Until you get to be old and you go, wait a second, I should have done this.

Right. But I think one of the things that I hear you say that's so important about that is sometimes you got to make a choice today. For today and not worry about what might happen tomorrow. Does that mean you get into a less expensive house, a smaller house, an older house? Sure. Know that you can build equity now, and whenever things get to where you want them to be, maybe 5, 10 years from now, then you're in a great place to be able to do something. Yeah, definitely.

And, uh, with The way the market's going and the way things are going in our area, pretty much anywhere in Texas. More people moving in. Buy smart, make sure it's within your means. It's a great time to buy, it really is. So the basic rule is, you know, when's the best time to buy? 30 years ago or today?

That's right, that's right. Well, Patrick, thank you. We're gonna have to wrap it up. We're gonna get some stuff going over here, so thank you for coming on and giving us a few minutes. It's always good to chat with you.

Great.

How can people get a hold of you?

Best way to get a hold of me is 2 ways. One is either call me. My phone number is 281-964-9368. Or go to my website, which is moraleslendinggroup.com.

Okay, perfect.

It's that easy.

All right, great. Thank you.

Thank you very much, and it's great to see you.

Yeah, absolutely, bud.

I'll talk to you later.

All right, see ya. Well, that is gonna do it for us tonight at the Homeowner Show at our live event with the net. Jonah, go ahead and cue the music. Uh, if you didn't know already, our sponsor for tonight is Lone Star Appliance Repair. We thank them so much for sponsoring us. You can get a hold of them at 936-647-2364 or go to lonestarappliance.us. Thank you to them. And thank you for listening, for sharing our podcast. Subscribe to us. Maybe Craig will show up next time. Until next time, we'll see you later. All right, buddy.