Podcast: Texas Real Estate & Finance Podcast

Episode Title: TREFP #29 Robyn Barrere

Host(s): Mike Mills

Guest(s): Robyn Barrere

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Mike Mills (Host) | 00:00:15 to 00:00:30

We got a whole intro and everything. So I'm thrilled to have you here today. Now, one thing I want to admit. Okay, I'm going to introduce you to everybody, but I always butcher your last name. It's okay.

Mike Mills (Host) | 00:00:30 to 00:00:43

Everybody does. So is it Barre? All right, now I got it. Now I got it. I was like, I wonder if there's someone that pronounced it correct.

Mike Mills (Host) | 00:00:43 to 00:00:53

I'm like, everybody else is going to just pronounce it wrong. So everybody wants to put an A on it. In our area, Barrera is a very more common name. It's a French name. Yes, roll those R's.

Mike Mills (Host) | 00:00:53 to 00:00:58

Yes, roll those R's. All right. Answer to everything. There you go. So I have Robin here with me today.

Mike Mills (Host) | 00:00:58 to 00:01:08

She is with old Republic title. She is business development manager for Arlington Mansfield. I am sales executive for Arlington. Sales executive. Big time.

Mike Mills (Host) | 00:01:08 to 00:01:21

All right. I like those titles. That's great. So I wanted to bring Robin on today because we've had over the years, many conversations. I think I've known you that now for going on.

Mike Mills (Host) | 00:01:21 to 00:01:38

It's probably eight, seven or eight years, I think, ever since the Remax days. But I always really enjoyed whenever we got a minute to just chat. And I can't say that that always happens in my life. I'll agree. Yes.

Mike Mills (Host) | 00:01:38 to 00:02:09

But especially in our job, because a lot of times when we come across each other, we are in a situation where we're talking with agents and we're schmoozing and doing our thing, making friends and relationships and all that kind of stuff. And more often than not, lenders. I'm a lender and Robin's with mean. We're always at the same things, but we're not know, trying to work with. Each other as much or getting to talk to each other as much.

Mike Mills (Host) | 00:02:09 to 00:02:14

Right? Yeah. Bring that mic just a little bit closer so you're not so far away from it there. Sorry. I got relaxed.

Mike Mills (Host) | 00:02:14 to 00:02:34

Yes, you got to get in there so we can hear you. But the few times that we have actually had opportunities to chat, I always really enjoy them because I think you have great insight for a number of reasons. I know we were joking earlier about you saying you're not an expert. Please don't say I'm an expert. But that's part of the reason.

Mike Mills (Host) | 00:02:34 to 00:02:45

I just told you that. That's why you are an expert compared to most, because you understand that you're not an expert and you're always willing to learn. And I appreciate that from you. Right? Yes.

Mike Mills (Host) | 00:02:45 to 00:03:03

Because of course, the people that are shut off and think they know everything already are never experts because they're missing out on a wealth of information that they're not willing to accept. And in our business, it's just changing so quickly all the time. You have to really stay involved. You have to read, you have to talk to a variety of people. Yes.

Robyn Barrere (Guest) | 00:03:03 to 00:03:09

Listen to different opinions. That's right. Some that you don't always agree with. That's a tough thing for a lot of people, isn't it? Yes.

Mike Mills (Host) | 00:03:10 to 00:03:39

Talking to someone that they don't share, every. Nobody that you're ever going to meet in your life, do you share everything with 100% on what you think? It's impossible, even your spouse or your significant other. So that expectation is very unrealistic. But part of what makes you, in my opinion, a wealth of information is because you do spend so much time around a great deal of different people, and you've gone through every.

Mike Mills (Host) | 00:03:39 to 00:04:05

We were joking the other day when we were talking at the Arbor event where I can't remember how we got on the topic. Something about I did leadership Mansfield, and you're like, oh, I did leadership Mansfield, too. And then you're like, and I did leadership Arlington and I did leadership Midlothian. So you've done them all in this immediate area. And every time I see you on social media or whatever, you're either dressed up at some event or you're having lunch or you're at a social Christmas party.

Mike Mills (Host) | 00:04:06 to 00:04:35

I know you work very hard, but that's another thing maybe we can get into a little bit later about. Part of our industry's hesitation sometimes on doing things is because everybody carries around this guilt that they need to be working, and they don't see that going out and attending a Christmas party or going to an Arbor event or having lunch with somebody that you'rE friends with is working. Yes, that's what we do. We make it look fun. That's right.

Mike Mills (Host) | 00:04:35 to 00:05:08

But that's our job. That's what we're supposed to do. But before we get into all that stuff anyway, anybody that's going to tune into this a little bit later, right now, we're going to get into, or my intent is to get into kind of the current state of our market, not necessarily just in Dallas Fort Worth. Obviously, we're going to focus on that because that's where we live and that's where we work. But also, I want to talk about housing in general and kind of the trends that we're seeing and things that are heading down a direction that I personally am not a huge fan of.

Mike Mills (Host) | 00:05:08 to 00:05:27

And I think we can talked about this a little bit, too. You and I are on the same page about that a little bit. But I want to get your thoughts on it, because not only do you spend time around agents and events and whatnot, but you're also very involved in the city. I see you at different city events, familiar with the mayor. You're plugged in, as they might say.

Mike Mills (Host) | 00:05:28 to 00:05:54

So from the outside looking in. I always have perspectives on what I think, but sometimes, until you get into the mix and you're there every day or around it, you're like, well, yeah, I understand what you're saying, but actually, it kind of works like this. So I'm interested to get that perspective from you, because I don't have that. But before we get on all that, I didn't know you were born in Louisiana. Yes, actually, Lake Charles.

Robyn Barrere (Guest) | 00:05:54 to 00:06:05

But I call Lafayette home. Okay. Because I moved around a little bit when I was younger, but Lafayette's where I went to high school and graduated and then came to North Texas. Okay. To college.

Mike Mills (Host) | 00:06:05 to 00:06:15

So Susan, my wife, she's from Louisiana. She was born in Baton Rouge. Now, she didn't go to high school there. She lived there a few years. But that stuff's, like, in your, like, I don't know that that stuff ever.

Mike Mills (Host) | 00:06:16 to 00:06:44

Like, her parents are from there, and that's where they grew up and went to LSU or, um. But that's kind of run through. And you know what's funny is people that I ofteN, I should say people that I meet from Louisiana that actually were born and raised and grew up there and then went somewhere else, there's a different amount of. I don't know if empathy is the right word, but certainly for the rest of the world, well, just your willingness to accept other people for what they are. Yeah.

Mike Mills (Host) | 00:06:44 to 00:07:05

Right. That's a little bit of the Creole Cajun culture. They're a mix of people, African American, Indian, Caucasian, French, all of that. And it's so funny because when you're around it, it's like anything you think this is, know, Janky, what am I doing? I couldn't wait to get out of Lafayette.

Robyn Barrere (Guest) | 00:07:05 to 00:07:16

And then when I reflect on that and going to Denton, Texas. Yes. I thought I had gone to the armpit of the. I called. Well, I guess it was a little.

Mike Mills (Host) | 00:07:16 to 00:07:24

I didn't change quite a bit. Oh, yeah, it has. But I called my friends back at home, and I was like, oh, my. God, where did I end up? Where did I end up?

Robyn Barrere (Guest) | 00:07:24 to 00:08:02

Because we all went different places, but Lafayette is just such a great town, and it's such a great culture and you don't realize that when you're growing up around it. No, I think it's ingrained in you a little bit. And even just, I had a friend of mine on here a little while ago, and we were talking about the black culture, and I was relating it to, like, he was talking about respect and things of that nature. And I related it to my wife because she growing up in South Louisiana or being around most of her family that grew up in South Louisiana, and then she was basically raised in South Houston, which know that. Well, I'm just saying it's so close.

Mike Mills (Host) | 00:08:02 to 00:08:15

It's not that there's a lot of people from. Oh, sure, there's a lot of Louisiana people in Houston. The oil business, right? Correct. And so her propensity to be polite and have manners supersedes everything else.

Mike Mills (Host) | 00:08:15 to 00:08:50

So, like with our kids, they can make mistakes at school and they can have all these little issues because kids are kids and we all let that roll. We deal with it. But if they're not polite or they don't say, yes, sir or thank you or yes, ma'am or hold the door for somebody or whatever the case may be, that's when my wife comes unglued. Because there's this culture in the Southern United States. It's just very much like, hey, everybody is everybody, and we're all going to be nice to everyone, and everybody's going to behave themselves, and we're going to be polite in manners, and then things will flow just fine.

Robyn Barrere (Guest) | 00:08:50 to 00:09:11

Yes, we're going to be polite. Yes, that's the South. That's right. And I think when you grow up in that and you're around it all the time, your appreciation for people is greater just simply because you aren't making judgments necessarily right out of the gate, you're just like, I'm just going to be nice to this person. I'm going to treat them with politeness.

Mike Mills (Host) | 00:09:11 to 00:09:21

And more often than not, that comes back to you. So then you meet people and you're like, oh, that person's wonderful. And they're like, well, when I met them, they were a jerk. It's like, well, yeah, but that's just because you're rude. Yes.

Robyn Barrere (Guest) | 00:09:21 to 00:09:33

You weren't polite. Yes. So I would imagine that's probably what has set you up to be such the relationship based person that you are today. Would you agree with that? I would agree that that probably is a part of it, yeah.

Robyn Barrere (Guest) | 00:09:33 to 00:09:50

I've always been interested in other people and cultures, but I think moving around at a young age had something to do with that, too. Right. We moved when I was nine to Beaumont, and then we moved to Lafayette when I was 13. Those are really pivotal times in a young person's life. Right.

Robyn Barrere (Guest) | 00:09:50 to 00:10:09

So having to learn how to make new friends and not understanding some of the differences in the culture. Right. When I moved to Lafayette, they were putting all of the 8th grade in one that we had two eighthes in the entire city of Lafayette. Oh, wow. And so I had to get on a bus and ride a bus to the other side of town.

Robyn Barrere (Guest) | 00:10:09 to 00:10:14

What? Didn't mean anything to me, right? Because I just thought, oh, this is what I do. Yeah. You're a kid.

Mike Mills (Host) | 00:10:14 to 00:10:21

You don't know any better. I moved here. We live here now. This is what we do. But when you look back at history, it was very significant.

Robyn Barrere (Guest) | 00:10:21 to 00:10:36

It was the beginning of integration and doing all these other things, but it was just a different time. It was a different time. And so I learned to make friends. I didn't even think about that. I was going to the other side of town because there was the Cajun people.

Robyn Barrere (Guest) | 00:10:36 to 00:10:43

They're very different from us. Right. But you just don't see that. You don't see that anymore. No.

Robyn Barrere (Guest) | 00:10:44 to 00:10:59

I've always been a little bit like that. Maybe that's what gave me the ability to leave home and go to North Texas. So why North Texas would. So a friend of mine, I thought I wanted to be a buyer, and a friend of mine's father was working for. Do you remember stripling and Cox?

Mike Mills (Host) | 00:10:59 to 00:11:04

Oh, you want to be a know? I was actually a merchandise buyer. Were you? I was. That's what I thought I would do.

Robyn Barrere (Guest) | 00:11:04 to 00:11:12

Right? And he was like, oh, Robin, do not go to Ms. Wade's merchandising school. Go get a marketing degree. Yes.

Robyn Barrere (Guest) | 00:11:12 to 00:11:26

At a good business school. And North Texas has a great one. And so I was like, okay, they were living at Eagle Mountain Lake, and we were friends from Beaumont. Okay. And we'd stayed friends, still friends over the years from third grade, fourth grade.

Robyn Barrere (Guest) | 00:11:26 to 00:11:46

Anyway, so that's what I did. I went to North Texas, and then my family all ended up relocating. My mother worked for a seismograph company in South Louisiana, and they moved their corporate headquarters to Grand Prairie. So my dad took early retirement, and my family all moved up here, my sisters and everybody. North Texas.

Mike Mills (Host) | 00:11:46 to 00:11:57

And then you're like, you got to come here because everybody else is here now, right? Yes. Because mom is not going to let you move far away from the family. Right? That's exactly me.

Robyn Barrere (Guest) | 00:11:57 to 00:12:05

They followed me. Yes. That's what my wife's family did, too. She was living in Houston. She moved to go to school, and then we met.

Mike Mills (Host) | 00:12:05 to 00:12:27

Or she moved up here, and then we met and kind of knew pretty quickly that we were going to probably end up getting married. And so her parents are like, well, I guess we're moving to Dallas. Okay. And they're still know the family is very important. So went to North Texas and graduated with a marketing degree.

Mike Mills (Host) | 00:12:28 to 00:12:40

And then I saw you were actually a realtor first. Yes, I was. So between college and all that life, having children. Well, getting married, life, work, life happens. Yes.

Robyn Barrere (Guest) | 00:12:41 to 00:12:51

So I moved to France. I worked for a. Wait, you moved to France? I did. I worked for a food importer in Dallas and did inside sales.

Mike Mills (Host) | 00:12:51 to 00:13:01

Okay. So I met my second husband, and he wanted to be a chef. He was from France. Okay. And had moved here when he was 18.

Robyn Barrere (Guest) | 00:13:01 to 00:13:08

Anyway, we moved to France, lived there for two years while he went to chef school. Oh, wow. How was that? It was an adventure. Right.

Mike Mills (Host) | 00:13:08 to 00:13:20

I've been to Paris. My wife and I were there for, like, a week, years and years ago. So I have a little. But of course, I have a fascination with the French culture coming from South Louisiana. And then I was working in the food business.

Robyn Barrere (Guest) | 00:13:21 to 00:13:36

Our clients were French chefs, and that was really know. Living there was completely different. You became very French when we moved over there. All of a sudden, my Americanized French husband was acting like a French guy. And what did that.

Robyn Barrere (Guest) | 00:13:40 to 00:14:09

You know, my son was in school in Paris, and we lived in a little village outside. So we lived in a village where there were people from Portugal that kind of had settled in that little area, and his family was living there. So we would get on a bus, a train, and walk to Park Monso in the middle of Paris for the first six months of being there. Okay. Within probably four months, my son Colin, who is 40 now, was seven.

Robyn Barrere (Guest) | 00:14:09 to 00:14:18

He was speaking beautiful French. Yeah. I mean, when you're immersed in, especially kids, they pick up stuff. They're like sponges. I was listening to him play with his cousins one day, and they were just like.

Robyn Barrere (Guest) | 00:14:18 to 00:14:26

He was rattling off, and I thought, oh, my God, that's my child speaking French. That's awesome. Yeah. How'd your French? No, not good.

Mike Mills (Host) | 00:14:26 to 00:14:45

Not good. So I got a job through the American church teaching English to French business people that were traveling and working with Americans, and they needed to hear the AmericAn accent. They'd learned British English. Okay. But not American English, because it's different.

Robyn Barrere (Guest) | 00:14:45 to 00:15:07

Coming here and hearing us talk like this, they couldn't understand what anybody was saying. So I really did what we're doing right now, just had conversation with people, and we'd have the dictionary out. So my French vocabulary increased, but I never really. The conversational side of it was tough. Like, you could probably even now recognize words and whatever, but just speaking it is more of a challenge.

Robyn Barrere (Guest) | 00:15:07 to 00:15:27

I could go shopping. I could do the basics right, but I couldn't have an in depth conversation with someone, and they would certainly recognize that I did not speak. Yeah, I don't think this one. But that was a big adventure, and it was fun for us. We were only there for about two and a half years and then came home.

Robyn Barrere (Guest) | 00:15:27 to 00:15:57

But that really opened my eyes more to the world. Oh, yeah. I worked on a cruise ship for about a year and a half, or about a year, I guess, and there was, like, 2000. Most of the passengers were American, but there were, like, 2000 crew members or people that worked on the ship, and 95% of them were not from the United States or even there was a small percentage of Canadians, but everybody else was from all over the world. And you met different people from all walks of life.

Mike Mills (Host) | 00:15:57 to 00:16:29

And that had money that didn't have money, that came from Third World countries, that came from westernized countries just everywhere. And the perspective and insight that I gained about just human beings in general, when you see that and you understand that we're all the same, everybody's the same. Yes. It's just our culture and where we come from maybe lead to different behaviors and different ways that we communicate and interact with each other, but everybody wants the same stuff. There's nothing that sets us apart.

Mike Mills (Host) | 00:16:29 to 00:16:54

But when you get that at a young age and you take that in, it kind of changes the way that you look at things in general. And then I do think that leads to a better level of acceptance. And kind of like what you said when you sat down a little bit about, again, not being an expert. It's the fact that, to me, everything kind of exists in a gray area. There's not very many things in life that are black and white.

Mike Mills (Host) | 00:16:54 to 00:17:21

There's always some level of a spectrum of, okay, well, I get this. I understand where you're coming from, but also understand where this person is coming from on this. And I can kind of exist in the middle without saying, well, you're right or you're wrong, and put some kind of label on somebody just because they have a certain opinion of how things work. And we could talk about feelings all the time about how someone feels about something, but I think it's important that we accept and listen to the other side. Yes.

Robyn Barrere (Guest) | 00:17:21 to 00:17:37

And so I've always been interested in people's stories. So that's what I feel like in my business. That's what's been helpful to me, is that I'm just like people. Yeah. Well, to some extent, you have to be in our business with what we do.

Mike Mills (Host) | 00:17:37 to 00:17:58

We have to be willing to be accepting of all kinds of stuff because if you're not and there are people that aren't, but if you aren't, then you're cutting off a good chunk of access to business that you could otherwise have. Oh, yes, right. Yes. Because you're like, well, this is how it is. And then there's a lot of people that just go, okay, cool.

Mike Mills (Host) | 00:17:58 to 00:18:16

I know where you're at on that. So I'm going to not talk to. You. Because whenever you condemn or have some kind of harsh black and white negative opinion on something, it's going to alienate some people. Well, I always say for me, I don't want somebody judging me.

Mike Mills (Host) | 00:18:16 to 00:18:28

Absolutely. I'm not judging you. No, I have been forgiven and I forgive you. Yes. I have way too many flaws to be worried about everybody else's.

Mike Mills (Host) | 00:18:29 to 00:18:31

Fix my own problems all the.

Mike Mills (Host) | 00:18:35 to 00:18:45

So you get back, you're in France. Okay. So we come home and anyway, long story short, I needed to find a way to support my family. Yes. Let's just say it.

Mike Mills (Host) | 00:18:45 to 00:18:55

Don't we all? Yes, that's what we do. And I had a friend that had gotten into real estate in New Jersey, actually. And so I thought, I'm going to get my license. While I was working little small jobs.

Mike Mills (Host) | 00:18:56 to 00:19:15

You came back to the Metroplex at that time because your family was here. Right, because my family was here. And so I got my real estate license. And I started in 1994 with my real estate license. And I was really fortunate to be at Prudential Sutherland, where Bill Sutherland had just a whole different way of looking at real estate.

Robyn Barrere (Guest) | 00:19:15 to 00:19:34

Alan Toppy was a mentor. He was our manager. And they brought in great people. We had great opportunity for training and very, they embraced the Mike Ferry ideas of doing business. And Mike Ferry is really the first guy that taught real estate agents to look at their business like a business.

Mike Mills (Host) | 00:19:34 to 00:19:45

Right. And to really look at profit and loss and all the activities that you're working for yourself. You need to maintain it. Yeah. Doing scripts, learning how to get out and really work.

Robyn Barrere (Guest) | 00:19:45 to 00:20:07

So I was fortunate in that, and I made a lot of great friends. So Smokey Garrett was in the class right before me, and my class was like. Was a. I had a great group of people in my class, but Mike Manion was an agent there, and Holly Custer, Terry Franklin. There was just a Linda Huddleston, Sharon Parrish.

Robyn Barrere (Guest) | 00:20:07 to 00:20:24

It was just like they had just built this tremendous office. So I learned a lot from those people. It was really good. But I got to a point where I needed to find a way to support my family and looking at long term security. And I didn't want to live on just straight commissions.

Robyn Barrere (Guest) | 00:20:24 to 00:20:45

So a good friend of mine was with another title company, which shall not be named. I did go to work for Alamo. She came to me and she said, hey, let's go to lunch. I'm looking for someone. I'm going to be a real estate coach, and I'm looking for someone to take my place.

Robyn Barrere (Guest) | 00:20:45 to 00:21:04

And I was like, me? It's a really good recruiting method. Yes, absolutely. So that was in 1999. And so a lot of those people that I'd been doing transactions with, that I'd worked with and learned so much, they became clients or prospects, potential clients.

Robyn Barrere (Guest) | 00:21:04 to 00:21:17

So it was a good transition for me. And I had a great mentor, Sheila Garner, that really taught me the business. And of course, then, sorry, I went to work with the.

Robyn Barrere (Guest) | 00:21:19 to 00:21:27

And, you know, that whole group of people where I just really learned a lot about the title business because you think, you know, but then you don't.

Mike Mills (Host) | 00:21:29 to 00:21:59

I've never, when it comes to the title stuff, I steer clear of that as much as I can because it involves too many legal things that I just don't want to dip my toe into because of ignorance mostly. So I have very little other know, the ones that we work with and the people that we have relationships with, which, by the way, your office is fantastic. Thank you so much. Love working with Carmen and the entire crew. So I appreciate you guys, because I will say there are a lot of title companies.

Mike Mills (Host) | 00:21:59 to 00:22:09

There are now, that number has probably shrunk in the last twelve months and. It will probably be shrinking. Probably be shrinking some more. That's my opinion. Did I say these are all my opinions?

Mike Mills (Host) | 00:22:09 to 00:22:31

These are all your opinions and my opinion as well. So we share in that opinion. I do think there is going to be some contraction there, but my point of that is just simply that working, just like I'm sure working with lenders for you, working with title companies can be a bit of a challenge. And, you know, the thing is. Okay, so let me just make a statement.

Robyn Barrere (Guest) | 00:22:31 to 00:22:44

I do work for Old Republic title. The things I say today are expressly my opinions. They are not old Republic title. I feel like we need, like a disclaimer at the bottom or just put it out there again. You have too many attorneys involved in your business, so everybody's got.

Mike Mills (Host) | 00:22:44 to 00:22:59

Yeah, okay. But in title, the title business is regulated by the Department of Insurance. Yes. So the only thing that sets title companies apart is really the customer service. That they give because the fees are all the same.

Robyn Barrere (Guest) | 00:22:59 to 00:23:06

And their plant essentially have a good plant. Plant. I love how you all call it a plant. I think that's funny. Yes.

Robyn Barrere (Guest) | 00:23:06 to 00:23:40

Well, that's old school, isn't it? Right. Yeah. So going to work into the title business and Then having really great mentors has been really wonderful for me and working for a company that believed in investment in me. So allowing me to be a part of Brian Buffini training, I always believe that if you're learning alongside the people that you are working with, you're learning what they're learning, and they see that you become a resource, and resources are important.

Robyn Barrere (Guest) | 00:23:40 to 00:23:52

So I've done a lot of Brian Buffini training, and I've done Mike Ferry. I did Mike Ferry from real estate and then on. Those are important resources. Right. Well, it's funny, too.

Mike Mills (Host) | 00:23:52 to 00:23:53

I think agents.

Mike Mills (Host) | 00:23:55 to 00:24:19

It's not agents, it's everybody. This is a human problem. Whatever industry you may or may not be in, when people say training, everybody's like, training? I don't know, training. And especially when you're doing sales type activities and you go into the sales trainings to some degree, when you look across core tenants of a lot of them, they're all very similar.

Mike Mills (Host) | 00:24:20 to 00:24:36

Right. They're telling you the same information, different ways to do it, different methods of executing your plan. Exactly. Whatever the case may be, which you determine is good for you or not good for you, it's kind of like you were talking about scripts earlier. I run into people sometimes, like, scripts are dumb.

Mike Mills (Host) | 00:24:36 to 00:25:00

I don't need scripts. Look, if you can talk and you're comfortable on a regular basis communicating with people over the phone or talking to them in person, and you don't feel uncomfortable, and it's like part of your nature that you're able to do that, then, yeah. Scripts probably aren't a big player in your life. Right. But that same person that's able to do that is terrible at being detailed and writing down their schedule and making sure they follow up with people.

Robyn Barrere (Guest) | 00:25:00 to 00:25:22

Yeah. Well, and for me, scripts were important. I had some great other training with a group called the Right Track, and they gave us scripts for the title business and doing that with them made me realize when you go on an appointment with somebody, whether you're a real estate agent or title or lender, you have some things that you need to accomplish. Correct. And that's what scripts help you do.

Mike Mills (Host) | 00:25:22 to 00:25:27

There's a goal. You and I are talkers. Yeah, we'll just talk. This is working, right? We'll just talk forever.

Robyn Barrere (Guest) | 00:25:28 to 00:25:55

But if I don't have something of what I need to, that question, that thing I need to get to, however it might be that I get there. Yes. And I think that the thing that I think gets missed on trainings is that, especially when it comes to the type that we're involved in, is somebody will say, well, I've done that one before. I went there and I saw it and it was good. I got some information, blah, blah, blah.

Mike Mills (Host) | 00:25:55 to 00:26:08

But what I think gets missed is that that kind of stuff is no different than exercise. Right? Yeah. If you go for a run, okay. And you're like, well, I ran today.

Mike Mills (Host) | 00:26:08 to 00:26:20

Okay, great. You feel good and you feel better. But if you don't go run tomorrow or the day after that or the day after that, then whatever you did on that day is not going to have any long term benefits. Yes, right. That's exactly right.

Robyn Barrere (Guest) | 00:26:20 to 00:26:28

I liken that also to scripture and prayer. Yeah, I've been there, done that. Well, yeah, but you got to keep doing. Yes. The point is you have to keep.

Mike Mills (Host) | 00:26:28 to 00:26:56

I'm breathing right now, but if I stop breathing, then I'm probably going to die. So you have to take those lessons. And it's great to see different types, buffini, fairy, go to different ones, take the pieces of information that are going to be beneficial to you and pull those in. But then on a regular basis, you need to refresh yourself. You need to watch things that put you in the right mindset to accomplish what you need to accomplish for the day.

Mike Mills (Host) | 00:26:56 to 00:27:11

Because it's very easy to go the opposite direction if you just decide to hole up in your house and not leave and not say anything to anybody and not communicate with anybody. And now you're a hermit and you're like, why did my sales go down? Yeah, and your fingernails are dirty. Right.

Mike Mills (Host) | 00:27:13 to 00:27:41

I think the great thing about what happened to us during COVID when everybody got locked in and we all got, me included, got very comfortable with like, wow, I can just work from my house all the time. I don't have to go interact with human beings. Yes. Maybe not the worst thing in the world, but then once that was lifted, especially, we were fortunate in Texas that we got out from under that pretty quickly as far as just the restrictions of being able to. We were.

Robyn Barrere (Guest) | 00:27:41 to 00:28:07

I just want to make a plug for Tree pack that we were deemed essential because of the work that people did with the legislature to say that we are essential. And that was a good thing for. I mean, you can't shut down the planet and not have repercussions. You have to let things. You got to open up and continue to conduct business, because if you don't, the flow of money stops.

Mike Mills (Host) | 00:28:08 to 00:28:38

And not that money is everything, but it's a lot, and it kind of makes the world go round. Now, speaking of Tree Pack, one of the things I wanted to ask you about is you're involved in really everything. You're involved in everything. You're involved in a lot, and I know that obviously, it's a function of your business, so it plays a role, for sure. But nobody gets involved in as many things as you're involved in unless you actually enjoy it as well.

Robyn Barrere (Guest) | 00:28:38 to 00:29:03

Oh, absolutely. The Arlington board, I was calculating this because we just had the installation for Robin Eastman and their group, and that was a really fun event in Mansfield. But I have been associated with Arbor for 28 years. Right. So my years as a real estate agent and then in the title, and I really feel like my role there is right now is support in a lot of ways.

Robyn Barrere (Guest) | 00:29:04 to 00:29:32

But on the committees that I got involved in, I kind of fell into Tree Pack. But I've learned so much about what Tree Pack really does, and we have good leadership right now. Real quick, before anybody that doesn't know what it is. Oh, it's the Texas Real Estate Political Action Committee. And what our committee does, we're not governmental affairs, because there is a governmental affairs committee, but as affiliates, I don't think we can be on that.

Robyn Barrere (Guest) | 00:29:32 to 00:30:06

I don't know if we can or not. But what treepac does is we put together fundraisers and educate people about what tree pack does. So got involved in Tree Pack and then on education, because I'm a big believer in education for myself and for others, and I've been on education almost the whole 20 years, every year. So we read the scholarships, when people apply for scholarships, and I've learned a lot from doing that. But we also put together some of the programs that happen, like you attended or you were part of, you didn't attend.

Robyn Barrere (Guest) | 00:30:06 to 00:30:14

You were one of our main speakers, our panelists. Yeah, main speakers. A strong word. I just talk a lot. So that's why you did kind of take over.

Robyn Barrere (Guest) | 00:30:14 to 00:30:22

But it was good that you did. You did a good job. Everybody did. David Stout, Patty, all of them that were on that. It was a really good panel.

Robyn Barrere (Guest) | 00:30:22 to 00:30:31

But that's the kind of things I like to see us do at Arbor. It was fun. I enjoyed it. It was good. And I have repeated what you have said several times.

Robyn Barrere (Guest) | 00:30:31 to 00:30:48

I was in a meeting yesterday with a group of realtors about, talking about, you had mentioned, we were talking about the fact that we have this window of great appraisals right now. Yes. And so let's don't lower prices to get a property sold. Do concessions. Yes.

Robyn Barrere (Guest) | 00:30:48 to 00:31:08

And I think your industry, the lenders, are doing a good job of getting that word out to the real estate community and to agents. And they're learning that. I heard several people talking about transactions they had just put together and the concessions that made it all happen. So I think that's how we work as an industry together. Right.

Robyn Barrere (Guest) | 00:31:08 to 00:31:24

And I think that's important. So I love that education part. The education committee does a lot of good things, and then I'm on special events, but that's just kind of putting together the award show. Yeah, that's the fun one. Yeah, that's the exciting, fun one.

Robyn Barrere (Guest) | 00:31:24 to 00:31:34

Yes, it is. Education is boring. Nobody wants to be educated, but we all like to party. Yes. So when you can be on the party committee, that's the one you want to join up with.

Robyn Barrere (Guest) | 00:31:34 to 00:32:12

That is true. Well, you all do a lot of great things, but I don't know that your rank and file realtor in the area really understands everything that happens up there. Oh, it's know, I think that what's funny about it is the know that I see up there all the time, Walt and you and whole that whole crew, Sarah, you're all great people, and you don't give your time. Especially realize as a lender, if I want to participate, which I'm going to, you got to hold me accountable on that. I am going to.

Robyn Barrere (Guest) | 00:32:12 to 00:32:19

Don't you worry. We start in January. Good. I got an email that said we weren't meeting, so I was like, oh, okay. Yeah, we don't usually meet in December.

Mike Mills (Host) | 00:32:19 to 00:32:51

Right. But when you're not a lender or title, even for yourself, but you're actually a realtor that's working and selling whatever else, and you give that much time of yourself to an organization like Arbor, that's huge. Just because most people are trying to sell and you're trying to help other people sell and trying to make selling easier for them and sell at the same time. Oh, by the way you don't make any money for doing any of it. Yes, that's right.

Robyn Barrere (Guest) | 00:32:51 to 00:33:22

Well, I will say, and again, I'm fortunate that my company is supportive of me doing that. Right. And my closers, my teams are supportive of me doing that and my involvement in that and some other things that we do in the community, but they are supportive of that. So not every real estate agent understands all that's done at their board membership or their association. And so I think it's important for us to help to educate them a little bit.

Robyn Barrere (Guest) | 00:33:22 to 00:33:37

So I try to explain to people, hey, call Walt. I had one agent the other day that was trying to find out some information. I said, I think you can do that on remind. Call Walt. She called me within an hour and said, oh, my God.

Robyn Barrere (Guest) | 00:33:37 to 00:34:05

I didn't even realize that Walt would do that training with me, like, over the phone and did it. And it was so perfect. I said, well, you are a member of the association, but I also think that sometimes you're a member of something and you don't realize all the benefit or you don't take advantage of all the benefits. And I think that right now our association is trying to really get the word out of all of the benefits. Because we kind of pulled back, of course, during the pandemic and all that happening.

Robyn Barrere (Guest) | 00:34:05 to 00:34:23

And then Taylor did a lot to get the doors reopen and get people to come in. But I think they've done a lot just to educate their membership. And I recently was in Ellis county because those two boards work pretty close together. Well, they're together, right? Yeah.

Mike Mills (Host) | 00:34:23 to 00:34:45

They're like an offshoot of Arbor, essentially. They are part of a subsidiary, DBA, part of. But they have a beautiful new. You know, we opened our Midlothian old Republic title office about five years ago, six years ago. I was trying to think about when that was.

Robyn Barrere (Guest) | 00:34:45 to 00:35:03

And I fell in love with Elvis County. I mean, that's just a great area, but very different because part of them were Metrotechs, part of them were Ellis Hill. Just kind of all over the place. So we purchased, I guess maybe I'm not saying that right. A disclaimer here again.

Mike Mills (Host) | 00:35:04 to 00:35:14

Arbor purchased. Yeah, Arbor. Oh, Arbor purchased Ellis Hill. They have a beautiful new office. They're doing some great classes and doing some great things down there.

Robyn Barrere (Guest) | 00:35:15 to 00:35:31

I went to one that was really for the commercial segment. And it was Judge Todd Little. It was their president of their chamber, their economic development guy did a presentation about what's happening down. And, you know, there's so much growth in Ellis. Yes.

Mike Mills (Host) | 00:35:31 to 00:35:48

It's huge. I will say the only leadership in the area I have not done is Ellis county leadership. It's on my radar. There's a Midlow one and an Ellis county one. So I asked the president of the Waxahatchee Chamber if they had leadership.

Robyn Barrere (Guest) | 00:35:48 to 00:36:18

Well, he had a lot of fun with, you know, but then told me, no, what we've done is Ellis county because Waxahatchee, Avilla, Red Oak, all of that, everything that's happening down there, there's a lot of growth. And so they just kind of combined it all into one, which really does make. Anyway, so what does tangent there. If you were talking to an agent that was coming in brand new, that you were said, okay, you need to be involved with Arbor. Here's why.

Mike Mills (Host) | 00:36:19 to 00:36:41

What are the benefits to agents to get involved with Arbor and attend things that they're. What are they missing out on if they're not? Well, so what I say is find a committee to get involved in. And I think Arbor's done a good job this last year. They had an event where you could come and talk to the different committees before you like speed dating.

Robyn Barrere (Guest) | 00:36:42 to 00:37:03

You could go around exactly like speed dating, but you could go around and talk to the different committees about what they do and when they meet or whatever it might be to find your place or what you do. But when I meet with a new agent, I tell them to get involved because it's yours. And you're going to find out about the services that are available to you. Like Walt. You're going to understand.

Robyn Barrere (Guest) | 00:37:04 to 00:37:15

You're going to be a part. It's your association. You can make it be. If you come and you say that such and such isn't working, or I don't like this and that. I don't care for hearing that.

Robyn Barrere (Guest) | 00:37:15 to 00:37:26

If you want to make a change, be the change, right? Somebody else say that somewhere, but get involved. Get involved and help your association. Don't be an armchair quarterback. Get in the game.

Robyn Barrere (Guest) | 00:37:26 to 00:37:46

And I will say this. I do tell affiliates that they're not all coming here just to meet you. They're coming here to network. They're coming here to meet other agents, people they're going to do business with. If you meet someone, it's important as an affiliate that we don't try to ask them for their business right then and there.

Mike Mills (Host) | 00:37:46 to 00:37:59

You mean the minute you talk to them, you don't. Your beautiful card here. Give their card and call them for a one on one appointment. But don't try to cost. I've had realtors tell me they stopped going to some of those things because.

Mike Mills (Host) | 00:37:59 to 00:38:04

There are so many inundated with. They're inundated. Yeah, I can see that. I could definitely see that. Yeah.

Robyn Barrere (Guest) | 00:38:04 to 00:38:27

I think it's a part of, for me, having been a part of it for a long time and wanting it to be successful is to say, hey, affiliates, let's not do that. Let's encourage our real estate community, the realtors, to come and let's don't accost them. That kind of a thing anyway. Yeah. Well, I think for agents to.

Mike Mills (Host) | 00:38:27 to 00:38:59

I say this all the time when I talk to new agents about real estate activities, it's a weird thing how when you're showing a house, when you're previewing a home, when you're holding an open house, when you're even having lunch with it or going to a title training a title office and doing a training whatever it is that you're doing that is some sort of real estate related activity. If you're constantly doing things like that, business tends to just kind of show up. Yes. Your phone rings. Yeah.

Robyn Barrere (Guest) | 00:38:59 to 00:39:18

Because not only that, you're networking people. Agents do business with other agents that they will like. Correct. Right. You have a tendency, and anybody can say that they don't do that on purpose, but it does kind of happen, they get something from someone and that's a person they've met and they trust or whatever it might be.

Robyn Barrere (Guest) | 00:39:18 to 00:39:29

So the networking part is really important. Right. I will say the other thing I say to a lot of agents when they're brand new, is be involved in their community. Yes. Get into something.

Robyn Barrere (Guest) | 00:39:29 to 00:39:45

Yes. Get out and meet people and meet people that aren't necessarily, like, your neighborhood is good, it's important. Your children's school, sure. But your chamber, just neighborhood groups, other things. Get out in your community.

Robyn Barrere (Guest) | 00:39:46 to 00:40:09

Get on a committee with your city. Get involved in your city, because the more you learn about your city, which is what led me to leadership, was I learned so much. I met so many city people, but I learned about different services that our city offers. We have Economic Day, we have History Day, we have hospital Day, we have social services, art and culture. Yes.

Mike Mills (Host) | 00:40:09 to 00:40:35

No, I did the leadership Mansfield thing that I did that one. Haven't done Arlington and Midlothian and Ellis County. I know I'm slacking, but I did it initially for work, obviously wanted to network and meet people and do the whole thing. But what I found was I learned a tOn. Like, you just learn a ton.

Mike Mills (Host) | 00:40:35 to 00:41:00

Some things I was like, really? That's how we do this. Yes. And then other things, I was like, wow, I didn't even know that we did this and that the city was participating in this and this was something that we developed or whatever the case may be. So you just pick up so much information about your area, and if you're going to be an expert in anything related to real estate, you kind of need to be an expert in your area and everything that happens in your area because you want people.

Mike Mills (Host) | 00:41:00 to 00:41:25

Because the little twist that I put on the get involved is I will tell agents, get involved in something that you really like, because if you don't like networking events for whatever reason, you're not a small, talking, hanging out kind of person. I'm kind of that way, yeah. If you're not that way, then don't do that. Right? Yeah.

Mike Mills (Host) | 00:41:26 to 00:41:34

I love my dog. My dog is my favorite. This is my wife. My dog is a favorite person in my entire life, which, by the way, is also my wife. Yes.

Mike Mills (Host) | 00:41:34 to 00:42:13

She calls her dog her soulmate, not me. Then go do activities that involve your dog and other people. Go to the dog park, go to dog shows. What are the dress up thing, whatever it may be. Because when people see you doing something that you're passionate about, when you have passion for something, then the trust that carries over from that to do something like a transaction with you or ask you to sell their house or help them buy a house, they're going to have so much trust and faith in you because they see you in an environment that you have passion for and that you love.

Robyn Barrere (Guest) | 00:42:14 to 00:42:36

It's so true. So Salvation army was that for me. Somebody got me involved in the inspiring Hope luncheon and then that led to being on the Salvation Army Council. But I didn't really know too much about Salvation army, but I got involved in that luncheon and then began to learn more about Salvation army and what they do. And then that just grew.

Robyn Barrere (Guest) | 00:42:36 to 00:43:03

And I met so many people, but it was an opportunity to give back to the community and know do something that was imporTant, I felt like was important work. And so I felt very fortunate to have had the experience of being a part of those luncheons. I'm not as involved in them as I was, but sometimes it's time for you to go to do something different. Yeah. You can't do all the same things all the time.

Robyn Barrere (Guest) | 00:43:04 to 00:43:17

And I believe being involved in your chamber is really important. I'm on the board of directors for the Arlington Chamber. No, somebody did that for me. Somebody did that to me. Yes.

Robyn Barrere (Guest) | 00:43:17 to 00:43:38

No, that's been a great experience and learning how chambers function and how things happen in your community. And in a just. It's important. It's led me to a lot of different relationships and meeting a lot of different of. I tell you, a lot of my clients have gotten me involved in things.

Robyn Barrere (Guest) | 00:43:38 to 00:43:49

Chris Hightower is my client. You know Chris. I know Chris very well. Yes. Well, he's got me on the board for the Arlington Museum of Art, and that I feel very passionate about.

Robyn Barrere (Guest) | 00:43:49 to 00:44:14

And I'm excited about what the art museum has got in its future and what we've been doing and accomplished being a very small little community museum. But we have big things on the know that when you do those kind of things, you learn about your community again. Right. So I think that's important. And you meet a ton of do and from all walks of life, all businesses.

Mike Mills (Host) | 00:44:14 to 00:44:34

Even one of my loan officers, Glenda, that works for me, she does a lot of work in Ellis County. And we were talking yesterday about. She's trying to figure out. She does a lot of social media stuff, but what her niche kind of is on how she wants to get involved, essentially. Right.

Mike Mills (Host) | 00:44:34 to 00:45:17

Ellis county leadership. Ellis county leadership. But part of what we discussed was, like, her going out to businesses, because she does so much social media stuff, like turning that and bringing that to a business, axe throwing place, boutiques, whatever, because not only do you show and give, because you're giving promotion to that business or to some degree, touting what they do, but also you're creating relationships with those business owners. AnD Then when people interact with them on a day to day basis, whether it be in their business or personally, they're like, well, if you need a mortgage, call that person, because she's awesome. And I trust her.

Mike Mills (Host) | 00:45:17 to 00:45:29

That's right. I like her. I always say, as far as lenders go, do business with people that you might run into in a grocery store. Yes. I think that's important.

Mike Mills (Host) | 00:45:29 to 00:45:42

I like that. Yeah. When I sold real estate, the whole thing of you got to give three people out, whoever answers your questions. I would say that. But also the person that you're going to see somewhere and they're not going to turn and run from you.

Mike Mills (Host) | 00:45:42 to 00:45:47

Right. This isn't the right event. I need to go. I don't have my tie on. Yes.

Mike Mills (Host) | 00:45:47 to 00:46:03

Sorry. But I think that's important. I think there's so many lenders, people that will find their lender on the Internet or wherever they might find them. It's like, do business with people that you're going to see somewhere. What have you taken?

Mike Mills (Host) | 00:46:04 to 00:46:18

You mentioned it briefly, but your experience with all the leadership groups. Arlington, Midlothian, Mansfield. What do you think that you've taken most from those experiences? Well, I would say one thing is. And why would you recommend it to somebody?

Robyn Barrere (Guest) | 00:46:18 to 00:46:46

Okay, so, one thing is, the people that I met and spending that time, a guy in Mansfield actually said this, and I thought, Ralph, that makes so much sense. It's like it was $600. Don't quote me on that today. But he said, think about all the seminars and things that you go to that you spend $600 just for the seminar, and then you got to buy a hotel, all the eating out and everything. We spent $600.

Robyn Barrere (Guest) | 00:46:46 to 00:47:12

It lasted nine months, and we've deepened these relationships, and we've spent this time. He said, this was the best seminar I've ever been to, and I thought, that is truth, because we did economic development in Mansfield and learned about so many different things in Mansfield. Like, you said, that you don't know how the water department works, and then you pick a project, and I didn't. Even know where it was. I got there, I was like, this iS.

Robyn Barrere (Guest) | 00:47:12 to 00:47:26

Yes. And then the animal shelter, our project, because everybody does a project, right, was the animal shelter. So I was so happy to see that my friend Casey Lewis posted the other day that Mansfield's getting a new animal shelter. Oh, wow. I did not know that.

Robyn Barrere (Guest) | 00:47:26 to 00:47:38

We painted the animal shelter, and we were so sad when we saw how the animal shelter in Mansfield, in a city like Mansfield, that it looked. Of course, that's been a few years. Sure. Because I'm. Best class ever, of course.

Robyn Barrere (Guest) | 00:47:38 to 00:47:44

From. Yeah, that's the years ago. Yeah, we're class ten. Best class ever, everybody. Yes.

Robyn Barrere (Guest) | 00:47:44 to 00:47:55

Whatever it was. But really, my takeaway, really, from all through. And they were all three different programs. Right. So my takeaway from all of those, really, was what I learned.

Robyn Barrere (Guest) | 00:47:55 to 00:48:26

Again, just in each city, what each city is doing, and the people that I met from the city that I could go back later and say, oh, I met you. And really, literally walking up to Trey Yelverton and saying, I met you when you were the assistant city manager, like, a million years ago. I knew you when you were like, yeah, sure, you. You know, it's just like knowing who to call when you needed a permit. Jackie Sanchez was in my city.

Robyn Barrere (Guest) | 00:48:26 to 00:48:35

She was in my. You know, I could just call Jackie. Who do I talk to? That's what I loved about know is just all the different people. I kind of get plugged into it.

Robyn Barrere (Guest) | 00:48:35 to 00:48:44

Yeah. You ever. Have you ever thought about running for any office in local government? No. I have too many shadows.

Mike Mills (Host) | 00:48:45 to 00:48:46

Yeah.

Robyn Barrere (Guest) | 00:48:48 to 00:49:21

It'S funny that you say that, because looking at different political things that are going on right now in our community and people that are running for office, you have a different respect for those people for not only what they have to do every day. I was looking at Mayor Ross's Facebook page the other day and every place he went. And I know that Robin Eastman knows this because I said it to her. He said, I saw him at some event before Arbor installation. And I said, I want to thank you for taking the time and doing this for us.

Robyn Barrere (Guest) | 00:49:21 to 00:49:41

And he said, do you know, I was invited to the White House holiday celebration on Friday night, and I turned them down because I'm going to be at Arbor's installation. I was like, oh, my God. There was a city employee that said, I can't believe he did. Hey, he's. He's entrenched in the Is and he's.

Robyn Barrere (Guest) | 00:49:41 to 00:49:55

A man of his word. But looking at his Facebook page, I was like, he has been on Saturday, an elementary school. I mean, just all these different places. And the schedule that someone like that has to keep up with is insane. Absolutely.

Robyn Barrere (Guest) | 00:49:55 to 00:50:12

And our school trustees, what they do, they give of their time tremendously. But no, I'm not doing that. But not me. I'll support them however I can. Yes, I like privacy and going out to dinner.

Mike Mills (Host) | 00:50:12 to 00:50:31

My husband. It's way better. Yes, I might say the wrong thing. Yeah. Well, speaking of saying the wrong thing, I really want to know how you feel about our housing situation that we're dealing with in our state, in our area, but also just in the country in general.

Mike Mills (Host) | 00:50:31 to 00:51:05

Okay. And I've got my basic frustrations, let's call it, let's say that the two things that I think are causing a lot of problems, and I don't know how to fix them. I mean, I'm sure that there are ways to fix it, but I bet you have better insight. So, number one, is corporate interests increasingly having a greater share of owned real estate in communities, single family residences, not just apartment complexes and those kind of things. But are you referring to Bill to rent that?

Mike Mills (Host) | 00:51:05 to 00:51:47

Yes, but just as a whole. Like, just in general, whether they're buying up properties and flipping them or whether they're holding them and renting them, whatever the case may be non individuals or even non mom and pop investors, but actual corporate interests, large banks, large hedge funds, large ibuyers, whatever, buying up property at an accelerated pace over the last ten or 15 years. So that's number one. And then number two is due to many various economic factors, building those houses has become less and less profitable. Which, whatever you think or don't think, having to create a business and run it, you need to make money.

Robyn Barrere (Guest) | 00:51:47 to 00:52:04

Right. And so if you're a builder, your goal is to make a profit. And therefore, if building a house for $130,000 is not profitable because of various different reasons, then you're not going to do that. Right. And a bank might not loan you the money.

Mike Mills (Host) | 00:52:04 to 00:52:20

Right. Exactly. To get the capital you need. To me, those two things are causing housing in general. If you look at the trend over the last ten years, we're not in a place where more and more people are able to own a home.

Mike Mills (Host) | 00:52:20 to 00:52:31

We're getting to a place where less and less people are able to own a lot. It's a lot. That's a lot to think about. So what do you think about? So these are expressly my opinion.

Robyn Barrere (Guest) | 00:52:31 to 00:52:44

Expressly your opinion, not the opinions of anyone at all. Republic title these are my thoughts. And also we started this conversation the day that we did the Thunder panel. Right. Which is how I got here today.

Mike Mills (Host) | 00:52:44 to 00:52:58

That's right. Yes. So the corporate owners, I have concern about that myself. And I brought up, so we do a lot with, or I listened a lot to Dr. Mark Doubtser.

Robyn Barrere (Guest) | 00:52:58 to 00:53:34

And one thing, when the build to rents were coming, they're very popular on the East Coast. They were a solution for some housing areas to develop houses where people really wanted to rent. Okay. And so that kind of eased its way into North Texas, down through Houston and coming up here and now we have several communities that are built to rent. And when I started seeing those pop up and I listened to doubtser talking about the negative of that, it just made me think about it, of course, because I respect him.

Robyn Barrere (Guest) | 00:53:34 to 00:53:49

I thought, oh, well, if he says it's negative, then it must be negative. Right. But when you start to really look at housing and think about where people are and what people want, it's not necessarily what I want. Of course, everybody's different. Yes.

Robyn Barrere (Guest) | 00:53:49 to 00:54:18

And there's a whole world of people that want a property, a really nice property to rent because they might be here for a year and then they may go somewhere else. Right. There is a whole world of people that in the past couple of years said, I can get top dollar for my house. I'm going to sell my house today, but I'm not ready to buy another house because it's crazy and I'm not going to waive the appraisals, I'm not. Doing the pay $60,000 over a list price.

Mike Mills (Host) | 00:54:18 to 00:54:28

Yes. I'm not doing all that crazy, so I'm going to take my cash, hold on to it, but I'm going to go rent something. Oh, what am I going to go rent? Oh, there's nothing to rent. That's the other problem.

Robyn Barrere (Guest) | 00:54:29 to 00:54:53

And then rentals started going up, which I understand just recently that rentals may be leveling out, correct? Yes. It's seasonal, so this is normal this time of year. But part of it is there's a couple of factors. I'm not an expert on this, so I'm sure your disclaimer may mess this up a little bit, but the way I think about it is apartment complex, right?

Mike Mills (Host) | 00:54:53 to 00:55:14

Because when you're talking about renters, that's a big piece of that metric is what apartments are charging for rent. Right. So, you know, and I know, and living in Mansfield, we've had a lot of apartment complexes built in the last, say, ten years. Okay. We also have, believe it or not, a declining population.

Mike Mills (Host) | 00:55:15 to 00:55:43

That's kind of slowly, slowly, but people are having kids later in life, families are being formed later, all that kind of stuff. And people are moving out a little bit. Correct. So what happens is that it's like anything else, oil production, any kind of economic impact, is you build apartments for a demand that you think is here and will be in the future. And so you tend to like anything else, overbuild or overproduce or whatever.

Mike Mills (Host) | 00:55:43 to 00:56:26

And then when the demand doesn't meet the build, then you pull back on the build until those properties start to fill up. Well, if they're not filling up, then you have to change something to get attracted to get people attracted to move in, and that's generally the price. So if I've got 500 units in my apartment complex and I'm only 75% full, well, then I've got to take those other units, and I got to bring the price down in order to adjust it. And so you'll see a lot of people move in the winter around this time between November, December, January, February in that environment, because it's kind of like there's like this end of the year, Christmas is over, we're going to start a new whatever, right. We got to get a new place.

Mike Mills (Host) | 00:56:26 to 00:56:30

Let's get out of here. That kind of a thing. Yeah. And there are people that. That's how they live.

Mike Mills (Host) | 00:56:30 to 00:56:50

Yes, absolutely. When you have an overabundance, to some extent, not fully, but an overabundance of space, and you have people making moves. Well, you're going to lower your prices in order to get them to move in. So on an just annual basis, you'll see rents come down at this time of year in general, but then overall. Yes, then they'll go back.

Mike Mills (Host) | 00:56:50 to 00:57:22

They'll go back a little bit, but it's not going to go back that much because again, I think the bigger issue right now is that those type of living situations, condos, they've almost not condos, they've overbuilt a little bit where they don't have enough people to meet the demand for the amount of units they have. Well, also, I'm guessing a factor in that is the fact that during the pandemic, things that happened with jobs and landlords suffered some. Yes. And so then it just kind of all trickled down. So then they raised and then that kind of thing.

Robyn Barrere (Guest) | 00:57:22 to 00:57:56

Well, I want to go back to your question about the corporate owners because I have to wonder, and maybe you know the answer to this. Is there a breakdown between we're a hedge fund owner or we are a LLC? Because we flip houses and I'm just three real estate agents that work together and I'm not really a corporate owner. I formed an LLC. Every realtor I know forms an LLC.

Robyn Barrere (Guest) | 00:57:57 to 00:58:15

And so when they purchase a rental property, is that lumped into those numbers? So I believe so. And it depends on where you pull the numbers from. From what I understand now, I've never actually pulled up the source of this data and gone through it. I get it just like everybody else does from this news source or this.

Robyn Barrere (Guest) | 00:58:16 to 00:58:38

Housing buyer, Texas A and M. Exactly. So the way I understand it, just in accumulating different spots, is that obviously a, it depends on where you get the number from. So I heard, or I read that in 2021 it was like 35% in our area, Dallas Fort Worth homes were bought by entities. Yes.

Mike Mills (Host) | 00:58:38 to 00:59:06

But included in that number were the LLCs and the smaller entities that weren't an individual because it's very hard to parse out. Yes. I feel like, and I don't even know, again, it's a feeling that a lot of those that we think are big corporations or hedge funds or whatever are probably some of the communities of people that are flipping houses. Oh, for sure. There's definitely a percentage of it.

Robyn Barrere (Guest) | 00:59:06 to 00:59:18

And they're investors and they live in the area and they're here. And so are they improving some of the areas that need to be improved? I think so, yeah. Is that a bad thing? I don't know.

Robyn Barrere (Guest) | 00:59:18 to 00:59:42

I think those are things we see in the long run that we see down the. I really. When the Bill Durants first came to my attention, I mentioned them to some people in the city. They watch them because what happens when they're sold? So you build them and they look beautiful, and they don't look like where you or I might live.

Robyn Barrere (Guest) | 00:59:43 to 00:59:58

But they're individual homes. They don't have a yard. They might have a green space, but there are people that want to live like, sure. Absolutely. And we have to find ways to accommodate those people.

Robyn Barrere (Guest) | 00:59:58 to 01:00:33

We have to find that middle ground of people that want to live where they can go over here. We don't quite know where we want to be forever. We might want to just stay right here. The only slight pushback, I give on that a little bit, is that I do think there's certainly a segment of the population that wants to live that way. What I don't think is that it's a very big segment of the population, and I think that media in general marketing is trying to create this idea that this is what people want, but that's not really what they want.

Mike Mills (Host) | 01:00:33 to 01:00:49

And the only reason I say that is because you know what they want. No, not because I know, but because I've read in multiple other places that they say. Like the millennials. Right. Millennials want to be social.

Mike Mills (Host) | 01:00:49 to 01:00:55

They want to be amongst everybody. They want to live in communal areas. Okay. My son lives in deep, Ellen. He's lived there for 20 years.

Mike Mills (Host) | 01:00:56 to 01:01:28

Yes, but what adjusts for that or what changes with that is when families come into play, when you have kids, because then that lifestyle does not become congruent. Look, everybody lives in different ways. I'm not saying that some people don't love living with their kids in New York City. What I'm saying is that the majority of those people that have children, they want to get the suburbs and the schools and the yard, and that's what they're looking for. But like we talked about earlier, we have formations of family that are being delayed.

Mike Mills (Host) | 01:01:29 to 01:01:40

So people are having kids later in life. Yes. So what's happened is this narrative has been created that that generation wants to live. They don't want to have a house. They want to live in an apartment with everybody else and their friends.

Robyn Barrere (Guest) | 01:01:40 to 01:01:52

That's how they're getting their deal, through planning and zoning. Right? I guess so. Because of that, I think it's not nefarious. I don't really believe that.

Mike Mills (Host) | 01:01:52 to 01:02:15

I think things just happen the way they happen. Yes, but I don't think there's a lot of malice built into it. No, I don't think so. But what I think is that because those family formations are happening later, that for a segment of time when you and I were younger, we were starting families at a younger age, perhaps we were ready to buy our home at 22. This family is not ready to buy their home at 22.

Mike Mills (Host) | 01:02:15 to 01:02:21

They're buying it at 32. Yes. Okay. Because they're delaying having children. They're delaying the formation of the family.

Mike Mills (Host) | 01:02:21 to 01:02:31

Good, bad, whatever. That's just what's happening. That's what's happening. And so because of that, for their 20s or whatever you want to call it, oh, they don't want to live in a house. They don't want to do this.

Mike Mills (Host) | 01:02:31 to 01:02:37

And then they have the kids and they're going, no, I want a house. Yes. But I can't afford it. Changed their mind. Right.

Mike Mills (Host) | 01:02:37 to 01:02:53

Because they just delayed what? We always progressed in life A little bit sooner because of the way the culture was and the time was because of that. You see these articles and these things. Oh, this generation wants to live together. They want to be in communal spaces.

Mike Mills (Host) | 01:02:53 to 01:03:05

They want to do all this stuff. And then they go, no, I wanted to do that when I was 28, but now I'm 33 and I got two kids and I really want to have a backyard. Yes. Right. So what I think is it goes back full circle.

Robyn Barrere (Guest) | 01:03:05 to 01:03:27

This is why it's important for us to be involved in our community. Right. And to pay attention to what's happening in our community and to know those people and our city leaders, to watch and see what happens. So when I mentioned this to our city manager, he said, we're watching them because we don't want them to flip and then be an eyesore. We have enough of that.

Mike Mills (Host) | 01:03:27 to 01:03:42

Yes. And so we're going to watch, we're going to see how things are maintained and taken care of. We're going to, and the city can't monitor all of that all the time. That takes a lot of money and time, et cetera. But they say they're going to.

Robyn Barrere (Guest) | 01:03:42 to 01:04:21

We did the economic tour last February, and it's where we went all over and we went down 360 Mansfield and not deep into Mansfield, but just right at the edge of Arlington because it was the Arlington Chamber doing that and talking about what's happened along 360, that southeast area where there was so much rapid growth. And then those people, and it's something that never occurred to me. But those people shop in Grand Prairie because Grand Prairie is right across the road from them. So their revenue is going over there, goes to Grand Prairie. Yeah.

Robyn Barrere (Guest) | 01:04:21 to 01:04:45

And Grand Prairie's got some pretty awesome stuff going on. If you ever drive through Grand Prairie recently, really cool stuff happening in know, it's just those are things that we all have to be aware of and think of. We can't just be isolated and say, why is that like that? And why don't the city fix that? He was explaining to us that there were some fences that were falling down and people were complaining.

Robyn Barrere (Guest) | 01:04:45 to 01:04:58

Why didn't the city take care of that? Well, it's not the city's responsibility. There is a partial HOA. I don't remember all the details of the answers, but the city is not responsible for every little thing that happens. But we have to understand that.

Robyn Barrere (Guest) | 01:04:59 to 01:05:10

And we understand that by getting involved and having conversation and meeting people and getting know, serving on committees and being involved in our community, we find those things.

Robyn Barrere (Guest) | 01:05:12 to 01:05:37

I, I was looking recently know, talking to somebody about Arlington, and that's Arlington is really a place for redevelopment, right? Yes, because it's got older parts of it that could be pipeline refurbished. Yeah. I lived in one of those houses until I got to where I can't put another $50,000. And I love this house, but I'm older, I'm 62.

Robyn Barrere (Guest) | 01:05:37 to 01:06:05

I'm like, I don't want to have this big yard and everything else and the responsibility of that. And this precious young couple just starting out bought my house and they're doing a great job with, you know, you start looking east. Arlington has a lot of. Yeah, but those people, I think this is what you and I talked about, they need a place to go. Those older people that are in those neighborhoods, they need a place to go, and we need to find that for them.

Robyn Barrere (Guest) | 01:06:05 to 01:06:32

I heard about a development the other day that is of, I don't know if they call them tiny houses, but it's in an industrial, a little bit more of an industrial area that has a green space. It hasn't been approved or anything. It's a developer's dream. It's his idea. But I was listening to it and I was thinking, oh, so older people might want to live close like that.

Mike Mills (Host) | 01:06:32 to 01:07:06

I had a weird, very, almost exact same thought. This was five years ago, probably, but about tiny houses, when they were kind of the rage for a minute. And to me, it would make a ton of sense to find a spot that you could build, say, or put 10, 15, 25 houses on it. I do think it would be beneficial to some degree to parse out the land, because the issue that I have with the mobile home communities, for example, manufactured homes, are great. They make some really nice ones.

Mike Mills (Host) | 01:07:07 to 01:07:29

But the bigger underlying issue with that whole industry is that you don't own the land underneath the house in most cases. Right. If you're in a park. So these parks sell people on, hey, build your house and bring it here, and you can rent this property and have all the amenities of being in here. What they don't say is, like, when you're ready to move and you don't want to live here anymore, you can't take your house.

Mike Mills (Host) | 01:07:29 to 01:07:40

I mean, you can, but it's going to cost you $30,000 to take your house. To take your house, yes. Or you could just sell it to us for ten and we'll keep it and then we'll rent it out. Yes. And this is why those places go, right?

Robyn Barrere (Guest) | 01:07:40 to 01:08:01

Yes. That's a good explanation of that, though. Well, yeah, it's just another component of how that works. Situation works. And so when I look at the tiny house, I kind of look at the same way, and I think that for older people, especially, if you could give some level of ownership to say, hey, when you sell this, you own this piece of land, you can sell it along with the house or you can move the house.

Mike Mills (Host) | 01:08:01 to 01:08:27

And tiny houses are actually a little bit more versatile to move because they're smaller and it costs less than a big, huge double wide with four bedrooms or whatever. But you could have an area where you have, whatever, 2025 tiny houses, and then you have a little pond with a pavilion, and you have, like, a community garden, and you have areas that are community spaces within people close to you. Correct. And they're right there. Yes.

Robyn Barrere (Guest) | 01:08:29 to 01:08:51

I don't mean this in a negative way, but people that are maybe in your age range or people that will check on you. I know there's some great communities out there where people check on one another all the time and check on their elderly neighbors. But the thing is that I think about my mother living in her home for so long, trying to take care of a house. Yeah, it's a lot. It is a lot.

Robyn Barrere (Guest) | 01:08:54 to 01:09:03

And it just got more and more difficult. But where would she go? Well, part of it, too. Brickdale, you run out of. I think.

Mike Mills (Host) | 01:09:03 to 01:09:29

I haven't experienced this yet because I have a daughter. She's in high school, my son's in 7th grade. But you could probably speak to this a little bit. But when your kids grow up, I think, because I know right now my wife and I spend 90% of our time on our kids, anything that we're not working, we are doing stuff with our kids. So when that goes away and they move off, because I've told her, I'm like, when they leave, they ain't going to be calling you every day to check on you.

Mike Mills (Host) | 01:09:29 to 01:09:41

Maybe your daughter will. Maybe women tend to be better at that stuff than men do. But what I'm saying is they're going to have their own life, and we want them to. And we want them to. And you can't be involved in that life.

Mike Mills (Host) | 01:09:41 to 01:09:52

So then you have to create another life for yourself. Yes. Okay, well, I think once you get to that point, then you start looking around at all the stuff you have and you're kind of like, well, I don't need that. I don't want that. I got to clean that.

Mike Mills (Host) | 01:09:52 to 01:10:03

I got to move that. I don't want to do that. So I just want to shrink it all down to where I have to mess with nothing. But then you have to replace all that with human connection. You have to be with people.

Mike Mills (Host) | 01:10:03 to 01:10:27

So that's why retirement communities are so popular, obviously, is because Grandpa's kids ain't visiting him anymore. But his neighbor Ethel and his friend down the road, Billy, excuse me, down the hall, Billy. They play poker or chess together every day, or checkers or hang out club they're in. Wine is their. That's the reason they get up every day, is to spend time with those people.

Mike Mills (Host) | 01:10:27 to 01:10:55

Because you lock a human being alone by themselves at a certain point in life, or any point in life, really, it's not going to go very well over a period of time. No. So you have to be amongst other people. And the more active you are and the more involved you are doing things that gives you purpose, that gives you reason to get out of bed, that gives you reason to keep moving, to have something. It adds not to your quality of life, but it also adds to the length of your life interaction with others.

Robyn Barrere (Guest) | 01:10:55 to 01:11:14

I mean, that's what you see in places like Viridian. Yes. Viridian is a great example where people are. And Bob Kimball has taken a floodplain and made a beautiful know, that's just turned into a really nice thing. And you see those people, some people drive through there and say, I don't want to live that close.

Robyn Barrere (Guest) | 01:11:14 to 01:11:35

Well, then that's not for you. And thank goodness that this is what, as my friend says, this is what makes markets. Everybody's got different tastes. We all have different tastes, but that is for a lot of people. And it is a community that will have, it has a variety of people from different backgrounds.

Robyn Barrere (Guest) | 01:11:37 to 01:11:58

And I love all the things that they do out there with the, they do have book club and Wine club and Sailing club and all these great things, and they have the only beach in Arlington. Yes. I didn't move. Know when I had the opportunity to know this guy had built a house that I had loved forever and. And you just wanted that one?

Robyn Barrere (Guest) | 01:11:58 to 01:12:05

I just wanted that one. It went on the market. It has a little French. It looks like a house in Louisiana, kind of in Lafayette. It's got a few of those little things.

Robyn Barrere (Guest) | 01:12:05 to 01:12:53

But I also wanted something that was newer, not brand new, but newer, because I'd been living in a 50s house for 20 years. I raised my family in an old 1950s, which I loved that house and had great memories. I just didn't want to constantly be wondering if every time I flushed the toilet, where the pipes go or whatever, I just didn't want to be constantly taking care of a house. Yeah, well, I mean, you live in an old house for a long period of time, stuff breaks down, and unless you're just excited about doing that stuff, then you don't want to be in that situation. So lifestyle plays a very big role in where you live and how you live, because the less time you want to jack with, screwing around with the pipes or vacuuming a bedroom or wiping down mirrors, the more time you get to go spend hanging in the garden with your friend.

Mike Mills (Host) | 01:12:55 to 01:13:13

And I think even as you get older, you start to value those relationships that much more. And so therefore, that becomes way more of a priority to you than making sure that the bed is made the way it should be made in case guests come over. That's the world that I live in right now. All the pillows. I see another pillow.

Mike Mills (Host) | 01:13:13 to 01:13:41

I know. She's great. She's wonderful. So why do you think? I know to some extent, but the other part of this argument, or I should say my concern, is the affordability to create new housing, because I understand, to some extent, I think everybody probably, there's probably some room for profit margin to shrink a little bit in some of these builds, but it's not my business, so I'm not going to tell anybody how to.

Robyn Barrere (Guest) | 01:13:41 to 01:14:15

And I don't know all the ins and outs of how that works. I don't either. But overall, it is very expensive to build a house, whether it be for materials, for labor, for land, for whatever it is that it takes to get something actually built. It isn't something that unless you know what you're doing and you have economies of scale, so you're building enough homes to kind of bring the cost down of some of these materials and things of that nature. It's not something that is a very profitable venture if you're just doing it on your own here and there because the dirt's expensive.

Robyn Barrere (Guest) | 01:14:15 to 01:14:30

Yes, right. But I also think that, and I look at Mansfield as an example, and I think I told you this, but I don't know the number. I think it's around 3000. Could be 2800, 3200, I'm not sure. But around 3000 sqft in Mansfield.

Mike Mills (Host) | 01:14:30 to 01:14:43

If you're building a single family residence, you cannot get permitted unless it's that size. Yes, they're not building. My very first house was 1300, was in Arlington over offshorewood that we bought. And it was a tiny little. I mean, it was great.

Robyn Barrere (Guest) | 01:14:43 to 01:14:53

Mine was $1,500. Perfect house for me and my family at the time. Great little neighborhood, access to everything. We paid $130,000 for it. It was awesome.

Mike Mills (Host) | 01:14:54 to 01:15:05

This was in 2004. Wasn't that long ago. Right. I think that house now today sells for 300, probably. And the issue isn't that home prices are going to go up.

Mike Mills (Host) | 01:15:05 to 01:15:14

This is why I argue to people all the time, like, buy a house as soon as you can. Yeah, they're not going down. They're not going down. Yeah. I'm going to say, particularly in North.

Mike Mills (Host) | 01:15:14 to 01:15:48

Texas, yes, because we have so much influx of people and businesses, our tax structure is great, but then also our regulations within the state are fantastic and attracting to people to move in. But you can't find $130,000 house anymore. I mean, you can, but it's not going to live there. And it's probably some house that was built 80 years ago that's fallen apart. So that's a concern, because if they're not building houses that are affordable, that people can buy, and they're only building homes within a.

Mike Mills (Host) | 01:15:48 to 01:16:37

Because they have to, because they're a business and they're trying to make money. But when you look at the price of homes compared to income and how it's gone up, it's not even close. Right. So if I were living in today, even with inflation accounting for my income going up over that same period of time, what I was making then, I would not be able to afford the starter home for $300,000 was what my wife and I were making at that time. And so what that leads to is unless you have a good family or community that you can rely on, meaning you have someone that can help you with your down payment, you have somebody that can gift you funds, that can co sign with you on the house or whatever the case may be.

Mike Mills (Host) | 01:16:37 to 01:16:53

If you don't have that, then what do you do? Yeah. And I think that's one of the reasons why this tiny home project is probably going to go through planning and zoning. Right. It's just a small thing.

Robyn Barrere (Guest) | 01:16:53 to 01:17:16

I'm just saying that not only is that for an older couple that needs to sell their house, downsize and downsize, but it's also for a young person. Wants to start buying something expensive, they. Want to buy something that's not too crazy expensive. I don't know the price point on those houses, so don't ask me. Well, I mean, it depends on how structured are they buying the house they buy in the land?

Robyn Barrere (Guest) | 01:17:18 to 01:17:39

I don't know. But I'm just saying I agree that there is a demand for that kind of a thing, that kind of a property, and I just don't know where they know. Arlington, the city of Arlington, just did that big study with. So Mayor Ross, they created. Well, maybe Jeff Williams might have started that.

Robyn Barrere (Guest) | 01:17:39 to 01:18:16

I don't know exactly all the ins and outs of that, but they had the Unity council and then they had a real estate advisory, and then they came together and they did each segment of Arlington of doing these, showing that information that they pulled together about housing and looking at some of this infill on land where there's an OD lot in a neighborhood and can we build something there or what? Are there requirements or restrictions that would need to go into that? Things that were kind of passed along before because there was issues and now. They'Re going, here's a piece of land because we don't have a lot of land. Right?

Mike Mills (Host) | 01:18:16 to 01:18:28

Yeah. And so really I don't think that it went anywhere. They had a lot of meetings. I attended one and there were a lot of questions. A lot of people are nervous in my neighborhood.

Robyn Barrere (Guest) | 01:18:28 to 01:18:58

If there was an empty lot, I don't want them just to fill it up with something or allow somebody to just build anything. But I also know that there are a lot of people that would like to take their, where they have a decent lot and they would like to build a small house in the back. For their parents or their parents kids. Yeah, or their kids that have gone off to college that can't afford to buy a house right now and they want them right there. And I have a daughter that I'd like to put her in a house outside of my house.

Mike Mills (Host) | 01:18:59 to 01:19:06

Does she want to do that? No, she does not. She owns that house. I keep reminding her that she's a guest. Right.

Mike Mills (Host) | 01:19:06 to 01:19:25

This is my house. But no, I'm just saying then there's not a spot because I downsize to a little small thing. But I think that there are places that that can be done and places that can't be done. Anyway, I just feel like I'm going to circle back to. It's important in our communities for us to look at different options.

Robyn Barrere (Guest) | 01:19:25 to 01:20:07

And that's why I think it's important to keep our mind open, stay open to the fact that it's not just what you want right now, it's that there are people out there that can't afford to buy a house, that want to buy a house. They maybe have saved some of their money and they have a down payment, but they need to be able to find a house to buy. Well, and the reason that for me, I think it's such a big deal is that because homeownership is the most reliable, I guess, is the way I could put it, or most consistent path to wealth that you can find. RIGHT. When you look at 90% of millionaires in this country, most of them built their wealth through real estate.

Mike Mills (Host) | 01:20:07 to 01:20:21

It's literally that many. THE HARD PART IS RIGHT NOW, YOU CAN'T GET OWNERSHIP IN ANYTHING BECAUSE IT'S EITHER. I'VE GOT TO BUY A 500,000. I mean, I know there's, I'm exaggerating, but I've either got to buy a $500,000 house or I got to rent. Those are my two choices.

Robyn Barrere (Guest) | 01:20:21 to 01:20:40

And then the thing is, once I buy a $500,000 house, can I buy furniture? I can't do anything right because I can barely afford to do it, even if I could. So it comes down to ownership for me, it's like, what can you own? We were fortunate when we were younger that we were able to buy something that was not incredibly expensive, but it gave us some ownership. RIGHT.

Mike Mills (Host) | 01:20:40 to 01:20:55

Because I think that the way things are headed, and again, I don't think there's any malice necessarily, but is that we don't own anything anymore. YOU DON'T OWN ANYTHING? THAT'S RIGHT. THAT'S THE CONVERSATION THAT WE HAD THE OTHER DAY. WE DON'T OWN ANYTHING.

Robyn Barrere (Guest) | 01:20:55 to 01:20:59

WE DON'T OWN OUR MUsIC. NO. WE DON'T OWN OUR PHONE. NO. YOU DON'T OWN YOUR CaR.

Mike Mills (Host) | 01:20:59 to 01:21:24

YOU DON'T OWN ANYTHING. And where I get off on my little tangent of conspiracies, or whatever you want to call it, and I don't think it's conspiracies. I think it's just what it is, is that most hedge fund private equity companies, the way they make their money, the big ones, is they make their money on pensions, or I should say manage. They manage pensions. That's where they make money too, but it's just through management of pensions.

Mike Mills (Host) | 01:21:24 to 01:21:46

Okay, so City of Arlington Fire Department, City of whatever, Lockheed, whoever the company is or the entity is that pay pensions out to their employees, they give that money to. Nowadays, these big. Correct. They manage it. So they have to find a place to put the money to make money.

Mike Mills (Host) | 01:21:46 to 01:22:13

Right. And they need somewhere between, I think it's like six to 8% return in order to continue to fund the pensions of the future generations. Okay, well, previously or since its inception, to some extent, they were taking that money. This is where the housing crisis really came into play in 2007. And eight is because housing was considered to be a very safe bet.

Mike Mills (Host) | 01:22:13 to 01:22:35

So if you're going to invest your money somewhere, invest it in housing because it always goes up in value. People tend to pay their rent or their mortgage or whatever because they have to live, they need shelter. It's one of those things that we require to exist. So it was always a safe place to put it. And then again, due to confluence, a number of things we created bad.

Mike Mills (Host) | 01:22:35 to 01:22:55

I say we certain people created bad financial products that relied. Correct. My industry created bad financial products because we were giving out loans. And when the money's being tossed out, everybody's like, yeah, keep doing that, keep doing that. And eventually the piper came, Colin, or whatever the saying is.

Mike Mills (Host) | 01:22:57 to 01:23:16

So that's where a lot of hedge fund money started because they were getting such a good rate of return in those because it was growing, growing. And this has been going on for ten years, twelve years. It wasn't overnight with it now. So then they moved into business development because they lost that little bump of stream. They're like, okay, we can't do that anymore.

Mike Mills (Host) | 01:23:16 to 01:23:24

So we got to find another place to invest this money. Again. This is just market business. This is how it works. So they went into oil and gas specifically.

Mike Mills (Host) | 01:23:24 to 01:23:52

Like there's a ton of oil and gas equity firms and whatnot that buy smaller oil and gas companies, consolidate them, and then what they'll do is they'll buy different industries up and downstream of the processing line, essentially. So like the pipe fitter and then the guy who makes the gauge seismograph company that my sister worked for. Exactly. They will go in. My mom's actually going through this right now, which is in healthcare, but hedge fund was trying to buy them.

Mike Mills (Host) | 01:23:53 to 01:24:02

They laid off a bunch of people and there's good and bad. Okay? There's good people and bad people. There's good hedge funds and bad hedge funds. This is what it is.

Mike Mills (Host) | 01:24:04 to 01:24:23

But then what they realized in that world was that now, because when we were doing the mortgages or involved in that thing, that was just money, and money was doing things that money does. Okay. Yes. But now I'm running a business now I've got HR, now I've got employees. Now I've got a lot of headaches that I really don't want to mess with.

Mike Mills (Host) | 01:24:24 to 01:24:50

And so what had happened to a lot of these is these hedge funds would get in, they'd try to revamp stuff, realize it was a little bit more than they wanted to bite off, and then they would take debt out and file bankruptcy. Happened all the time. So they all, as an industry, decided that that wasn't the best way to go because it was too much work and the rate of return wasn't as good. So where do they turn back? They go back to housing.

Robyn Barrere (Guest) | 01:24:50 to 01:24:56

Yes. And they go, this is tried and true. People are going to live. They're going to pay rent. They're going to pay their mortgage.

Mike Mills (Host) | 01:24:56 to 01:25:05

So how do we get back into this game? And they're part of some of the build to rent? Oh, sure. Not all of them. No.

Robyn Barrere (Guest) | 01:25:05 to 01:25:33

And that's what we have to. Well, we have to monitor it. And so then what ended up happening, or what is happening now, is that they realize that real estate is a great tool because it does two things as a business owner, not your house that you live in, but as a business person, it generates cash flow. Right? So if you'renting out properties, you have people paying you, there's money flow, it sits there, and it generates money.

Mike Mills (Host) | 01:25:33 to 01:25:49

And you don't have to do anything other than maintenance and whatever. Right. You're not operating a business, you're not going into work every day and paying employees. SO IT DOES THAT. AND THEN IT'S ALSO AN ASSET THAT APPRECIATES THAT YOU CAN LEVERAGE TO DO ALL KINDS OF FUN STUFF.

Mike Mills (Host) | 01:25:50 to 01:26:08

I always use the Elon Musk example of talking about how billionaires pay for stuff, because Elon Musk people's money. YES. WELL, NO, ELON MUSK DOESN'T TAKE A SALARY, OR I THINK HE DOES SOME EXTREME. BUT A LOT OF CEOS DON'T TAKE SALARIES THAT WE KNOW AND THINK OF AS LIKE, A W TWO. I'M MAKING $200,000 A YEAR.

Mike Mills (Host) | 01:26:09 to 01:26:28

THEY GET STOCK OPTIONS INSTEAD OF THEIR INCOME, WHICH THEY BUY, WHICH IS A NON TAXABLE EVENT. AND THEN INSTEAD OF, BECAUSE IT'S ONLY TAXABLE WHEN YOU SELL THOSE STOCKS. YES. SO IF I'M GOING TO WALMART AND I NEED TO BUY GROCERIES AND I'M ELON MUSK, I'M NOT BUYING GROCERIES WITH TESLA STOCK. I CAN'T.

Mike Mills (Host) | 01:26:28 to 01:26:35

RIGHT. BUT I DON'T WANT TO SELL IT BECAUSE IF I SELL IT, I GOT TO PAY TAXES. YES. RIGHT. I DON'T WANT TO DO THAT EITHER.

Robyn Barrere (Guest) | 01:26:35 to 01:26:41

YEAH. SO WHAT DO I DO? I BORROW AGAINST IT. I USE LEVERAGE. I USE DEBT TO BORROW AGAINST THAT.

Mike Mills (Host) | 01:26:41 to 01:27:02

SO NOW I HAVE A LINE OF CREDIT FOR 300, 400, WHATEVER THE NUMBER IS, AND I CAN GO BUY AND DO WHATEVER I WANT. AND MORE OFTEN THAN NOT, I BUY ADDITIONAL ASSETS, LIKE A YACHT, THAT I CAN ALSO THEN PAY CASH FOR OFF THE DEBT THAT I BORROWED FROM MY STOCK. AND NOW I CAN PAY CASH FOR THIS YACHT, AND NOW I CAN LEVERAGE THAT FOR THE SAME PURPOSE. YES. IT'S SO COMPLICATED TO BE RICH.

Mike Mills (Host) | 01:27:02 to 01:27:18

VERY COMPLICATED TO BE RICH. WHILE ALL THIS IS GOING ON. THIS IS WHAT REAL ESTATE IS TO THESE LARGE ENTITIES, IS THAT IT'S AN ASSET THAT APPRECIATES. SO I PAID $200,000 FOR IT ORIGINALLY, AND NOW IT'S TEN YEARS DOWN THE ROAD, AND IT'S WORTH HALF A MILLION. YES.

Mike Mills (Host) | 01:27:18 to 01:27:25

OKAY. SO I CAN GET A BIGGER LINE OF CREDIT. I CAN GET A BIGGER LINE OF CREDIT. I CAN GO ACQUIRE MORE PROPERTIES. I CAN GROW EXPONENTIALLY.

Mike Mills (Host) | 01:27:25 to 01:27:44

AND THAT'S WHERE THE DISCONNECT FROM THE AVERAGE PERSON, THE AVERAGE INCOME EARNER, WAGE EARNER, SEPARATES FROM THOSE WITH WEALTH IS BECAUSE I'M NOT SAYING DEBT IS GO GET A BUNCH OF DEBT. THAT'S NOT WHAT I'M SAYING. NO, I KNOW YOU'RE NOT. BUT WHAT I'M SAYIng is that that's the game that's being played. The game that's being played is I acquire an asset.

Mike Mills (Host) | 01:27:44 to 01:28:23

That asset appreciates in value, and then I leverage that asset to acquire debt, to acquire more assets. And so then I can exponentially grow my wealth in a relatively short amount of time because I own all these assets right now. I do have a lot of debt. So you got to have income or you got to have cash flow generating assets, which, again, that's what real estate is. So what ends up happening is that the appeal to this is so great to a company that's trying to earn a 6% percent or eight return to pay some, because if I lose that pension, then my hedge fund could go under because they're $3 billion of my revenue that I'm investing.

Mike Mills (Host) | 01:28:23 to 01:28:32

The money that I'm investing, I should say. Right? Yeah. So I have to continue to find these things to make money. And real estate is a perfect vehicle for that.

Mike Mills (Host) | 01:28:32 to 01:28:59

So when I see those conditions, I go, that's a problem. Yes. Because that makes it very difficult for a younger person that doesn't have the access to the resources just to start. I just need to get the ball rolling down the hill. I need to get you a little property so you can have equity and so you can build it and so you can grow and then get the bigger one and the bigger one not to be bigger, because it's not about things, it's about wealth.

Robyn Barrere (Guest) | 01:28:59 to 01:29:02

Yeah. It's about growing your wealth. Right? Sure. Absolutely.

Mike Mills (Host) | 01:29:03 to 01:29:20

When I look at the scope of it, and again, I don't think there's malicious intent necessarily with all of this. No. But it happens around us and it's something I think I'm going to say again, is what we have to watch and monitor that in our communities. That's why being involved in your community is important. Yes.

Robyn Barrere (Guest) | 01:29:20 to 01:29:30

Know what's happening around you. Well, and that was going to be one of my questions to you, too, is like, how do we address these issues? But I know the answer because it's get involved. Yes. And that's what you are.

Mike Mills (Host) | 01:29:30 to 01:29:32

I mean, you're involved in everything.

Mike Mills (Host) | 01:29:35 to 01:29:50

That's why I admire you. No, for real. That is one of the reasons that I wanted to have you in to talk and to go over some stuff is because you have perspective. Okay. Don't call it knowledge, don't call it expert.

Mike Mills (Host) | 01:29:50 to 01:29:55

Call it a ton of perspective. Perspective. I like that. Is that better? And so does old Republic times.

Mike Mills (Host) | 01:29:55 to 01:30:17

Yes. You're the guru of perspective because you've experienced a lot of different things in the city. Well, I learn when I visit with you, and so we need to visit more often. But I do learn from you, and I'm so glad that you're making the commitment on air to be involved in the education committee at the Arlington Board of Realtors this coming year in 2023. I'm involved.

Mike Mills (Host) | 01:30:17 to 01:30:43

I'm going to be involved more and more. I just recently retired from coaching all my kids, so that's why my time is a little bit more. Yeah. Once my son went from 6th grade to 7th grade, then my responsibilities for managing his athletic career were over, which I was more than happy to let go, I'm sure. And now I'm just sitting in stands cheering on things and watching from, watching from the sidelines at practice.

Robyn Barrere (Guest) | 01:30:43 to 01:30:52

You have plenty of time to do that. Yes, I've got a lot of time. Well, we're an hour and a half in. I know. I see.

Robyn Barrere (Guest) | 01:30:52 to 01:31:00

Wow. Yes. I told you so. Originally, I told her it was going to take an hour, and she's like, man, that's a long time. I'm right out of stuff to talk about.

Mike Mills (Host) | 01:31:00 to 01:31:15

I'm like, well, first off, you and I talk a lot, so we're going to get through it and we're going to blow through things really quickly and even extend it. I figured it would go a little bit longer today, but we're definitely going to do this again because. Thank you so much, Mike. Yes. I just enjoy, you make this easy.

Robyn Barrere (Guest) | 01:31:15 to 01:31:30

I was a little uncomfortable, but you just make it easy. Well, you got to get past the. Well, first off, I tell everybody, let's not pretend like there's 8 million people watching this thing, okay? Let's be real. All right?

Mike Mills (Host) | 01:31:30 to 01:31:49

I do this for a number of reasons. One is I love talking to people and I like this type of environment, one on one. Like I told you before, you put me in a network event, I'm going to go find one person that I like and I'm going to go stand in the corner and chat with them for 45 minutes. Yes, that's what I'm going to do. I'm the same way.

Mike Mills (Host) | 01:31:49 to 01:32:10

Yes. But I enjoy this because you really get to talk to someone and find out about them and what they do. But it's also, like we said before, you have to be out in the community, and this is to some degree, my version of that a little bit is I show up on people's feed every once in a while and they're like, oh, there's that guy running his mouth again. Okay, great. Let's see what he said for 2 seconds.

Mike Mills (Host) | 01:32:10 to 01:32:36

All right, I'm bored. Let's move on. But I do think, and I agree with you, that the market that we're heading into and the mass contraction that we've had and everything, you have to be involved in something. You've got to be involved in your city, your community, you've got to do church groups. You've got to get involved in your book club, whatever it is that you love and you want to do.

Mike Mills (Host) | 01:32:36 to 01:32:46

That's what you need to get into. So this is my vehicle to some extent because I really like it and I enjoy it. I like talking to interesting people like you. Well, good. I'm glad.

Mike Mills (Host) | 01:32:47 to 01:33:01

Well, we'll definitely have to do it again at some point because I've got a long list. But when we come back around to this one again, when I get a little bit more big boy, I love it. Anything else you want to say before we go? Oh, just thank you. Merry Christmas.

Mike Mills (Host) | 01:33:02 to 01:33:10

Merry Christmas, indeed. Merry Christmas, everybody. Well, thank you for hanging out. I really appreciate it. And I'll be back on Thursday.

Mike Mills (Host) | 01:33:10 to 01:33:20

I'll be talking with Kevin Lewis. He's Mansfield Youth Baseball Association. I know him pretty well. Been the director there for 20 years. Okay.

Robyn Barrere (Guest) | 01:33:20 to 01:33:27

I bet he's done leadership, Mansfield. I bet he has, too. I bet he has. So we're going to get Glenda signed up for leadership. Alice County.

Robyn Barrere (Guest) | 01:33:27 to 01:33:36

She can tell me about it. Oh, yes, please. God, we got to get her in that one. All right, guys, well, I will see you on Thursday, and thanks again, Robin, and we'll see you later. Okay.