[Joe]: Good morning and welcome again to Ask The Experts on Talk Radio 1190. Today
we're with Roger Wakefield, Expert Plumber of Texas Green Plumbing.
(972)-442-4101 is his phone number. You can also
try his website www.texasgreenplumbing.com. Jeff Lindigrin also here gracing us with this
presence. Vice President of Happiness, if you believe it we managed
to get him here, the Vice President of Happiness at Great Western Home Loans.
You can try his website www.gwloans.com and (972)-407
-9900 is the way to get him on the phone. So Roger, we're going to
pretend that Jeff's not here for a minute. Just - [Roger]: That's easy. [Joe]: Yeah we're going to, we're just
going to act like there's a wall there. There's nothing, just because I'm wondering,
we like him, he's fine. How has - how exactly has Great Western helped Texas
Green Plumbing that you brought him here with you today? [Roger]: It's
like I said a while ago: Jeff is a good connector, a good networker. A good
relationship marketer understands connecting people's what it's about. It's
not just - if Jeff every time he walked up to somebody he says: hey look we want to
do your loan for you, okay? Tell me are you buying a house soon? Are you're
doing this? In relationship marketing it's not just about marketing yourself,
it's about: look I've got a whole group of people and no matter what you're
looking for I can help you, and when people call me and say: look I need a
mason because my daughter ran into the brick and it's right by the frostproof
and you're probably going to have to come fix that. It's like: okay look, I've got a
mason. I've got a mason for brick, I've got a mason for rock. Jeff is that kind
of a connector and like I said earlier: when you walk in to a networking
event with Jeff or if Jeff's there, Jeff's looking around the room saying Roger do
you know so-and-so? Let me introduce you to them
and it's what it's all about. [Jeff]: Well getting to know people is fun. I
mean there, some people are so interesting and you don't even know
it. You could know them for years until you actually get to have a,
you know, in-depth conversation with them, you won't know that. Connecting the dots
is what it's all about in the big big picture and it's fun for me, it's fun
for you Roger. One of the biggest throwbacks, well
throwback is not the right word, Joe. [Joe]: Okay, I'll cut that one
out. [Jeff]: Alright. So I get folks want to come to a networking events and they
said well Jeff I need a name tag. And when I started this job
the first thing I did was got a name tag. I threw away my name tags and I get
folks all the time at our company and others go: I need them, I can't go, I
don't have my name tag. I go: look, your name tag is not helping you. It
could be hurting you. Sometimes people don't want to talk to you if they know
who you are what you do. Even if they don't know you, okay? Because they go: ah,
it's just somebody from that mortgage company that's going to ask me for business,
and that's not what you're there for.
You're there to meet them and get to know them and you know what? Be friends
with them. Just make friends. Because people do business with their
friends. [Joe]: And you were talking about the sort of "wallflower" mentality that can
happen at these networking events where somebody just sort of stays by their
wife and stands by the wall and stuff and I feel like that's kind of the
freezing aspect of it: Is you look around and some people just see a
roomful of people that are going to try to sell them something. [Jeff]: You know, this
Facebook and everything - I have a twelve-year-old and a Mac and she's always
on her phone, she's FaceTiming, she's doing the Spotify and it's a lost art
I think. True socializing without a phone, a device is a lost or a dying
art, I think and you've got to work at it.
I mean, to be happy and fun, you know, to yourself
it is, all the time, is not easy to do, you know? You got to build yourself
up for that. If you're in a bad mood, you just got some bad news and not
feeling well then just don't go, because you don't want to leave
that impression, you know? Yeah, Yeah.
I mean heck, you know, sometimes I live off my reputation for a while
because, you know, I'm busy doing other stuff, you know? And that's okay, you know?
But leave a lasting good impression is what I try to do. [Joe]: So let's talk about-
let's turn the tables now. Now Rogers not here, Jeff. So why did the Vice
President of Happiness come do a radio show with a plumber? [Jeff]: Well he paid
me. Well, you know, Roger and I think very similarly in terms of marketing and
advertising in exposure and this is another outlet for that, you know. We have
a radio show as well on a competing station and Roger comes and helps guest
host that with me as well. But even if I didn't have that I would still network
with Roger a lot because he is an influencer and he's become that
really in a short period of time and that's that's where I want to go, you
know? Everybody has to constantly grow and try to get better at what they're
doing. This is a new challenge. I don't want to just sit back and make flyers
about an open house and just, industry norm. Let's raise the bar higher and Roger
and I are both on the same wavelength in terms of that. What can we do to take it
to another level and get more exposure for our brand? [Joe]: So Jeff, we've been
talking a lot about your your online presence, your networking presence, your
Facebook presence, let's talk about home buying what kind of recommendations can
you give for home buyers right now? What kind of advice do you have? [Jeff]: Well great
question, it depends on the type of and price range of home you're looking for.
If you're if you're looking to stay under $500,000 in the Metroplex whether
you're a first-time homebuyer or you've never bought, the game for that, and it is
a game, is much different than it was 10 years ago.
It is extremely competitive and I'm a very competitive person, so I call it a
game, I put it all in in-game phrases. But you
cannot go out and buy a home in reverse order, game time decisions. You have to be
prepared beforehand because it's very competitive. If you're trying to buy a $300,000 house in Colin or
Rockwall, Hunt County, something like that
there going be 15 other people lined up, they're submitting offers too. Why are
they going to choose you and your offer over the other one, okay? I recommend you
deal with a local lender, such as Great Western Home Loans, family trusted, family
business, small, understands everything, has the community presence. But if
you're going to go buy a house, you've got to get your financing in order first. You
got to get pre-qualified or pre-approved before you even go shop. Don't even go
talk to the Realtor yet. They're going to tell you to turn around and go back and
get pre-approved. So being prepared is the biggest advice if you're
less than $500,000. If you're more than that, you're in the
upper luxury market, it's not as competitive but you still have to be
prepared. You know, the same process, you've got to be financially prepared
before you go and look. [Joe]: Do you - so, you're saying it's changed since the, over the
last, what? 10 years since? Yeah, do you feel like it's more difficult now to get
a house than it than it used to be? [Jeff]: You know, it's... Well yes, it's more
difficult now than it used to be, all right? Because back then you could have a
five hundred FICO score, you could not have a job stated income, bad credit,
it didn't matter. Well all of that's gone, right? Now
it's really the way it should be. You can still buy a house with zero down,
with three percent down, with three and a half percent down, with five percent down.
You don't have to put 20% down, as some of the national media outlets will
portray. So it's not that difficult, it's really not unlike going
to buy a nice car. You just have to document your income, we're gonna
look at all three credit bureaus, not just one like a party overdue, you got to
prove your income and then prove you've got money in the bank. Assets or reserves.
I mean if you can do that, then buying a house is really
pretty simple. [Joe]: Well we just got a little bit left but plenty more to talk about
with Roger Wakefield of Texas green Plumbing and Jeff Lindigrin
Vice President of Happiness at Great Western Home Loans. Plenty more to
come, stay with us this is Ask The Experts on Talk Radio 1190