Finding A Better Way: Joe Maez Discusses Leadership, Mentoring And Mindset For Success

Welcome to beyond you'd why Podcast, where we go beyond just talking about your why and actually help you discover and then live your why. You see, we believe that knowing your why, that driving force behind every decision you make and every action you take, is the essential first step to really knowing yourself. It allows you to move forward faster and have a bigger impact. If you're already a fan of the show, then you know that every week we talk about one of the nine whys, and then we introduce you to somebody with that why so you can see how their why has played out in their life. This show will be more powerful for you if you've already discovered your why. If you still need to do that, head over to whyinstitute.com and discover your why today. It'll only take you about five minutes. Now let's meet today's guest. Welcome to beyond you'd why Podcast, where we go beyond just talking about your why and actually helping you discover and then live your why. So if you're a regular listener, you know that every week we talk about one of the nine whys, and then we bring on somebody with that why so you can see how their why has played out in their life. And so this week we're going to be talking about the why of better way. So if this is your why, then you are the ultimate innovator. You are constantly seeking better ways to do everything. You find yourself wanting to improve virtually anything by finding a way to make it better. You also desire to share your improvement with the world. You constantly ask yourself questions like, what if we tried this differently? What if we did this another way? How can we make this better? You contribute to the world with better processes and systems. While operating under the motto I am often pleased but never satisfied. You are excellent at associating, which means that you are adept at taking ideas or systems from one industry or discipline and applying them to another, always with the ultimate goal of improving something. So this week I have got a great guest for you. His name is Joseph Maez. He was born and raised in northern New Mexico. Joe is not afraid to go the extra mile. He's a graduate of UNM Anderson School of Management, a US army combat veteran, the first New Mexico broker on record to close over 100 million in residential real estate in a single year. He's recognized as being amongst the leading real estate professionals in the country, selling thousands of homes in Albuquerque and Rio Rancho metro areas. Armed with a unique and extensive knowledge of local markets, coupled with unparalleled marketing and negotiation Skills and discipline. Joe brings a true passion to every real estate transaction. Joe is also a sales coach and consultant to many public and private companies. Joe, welcome to the podcast.

Hey, thanks for having me, Gary.

Hey, this is going to be fun. I'm looking forward to this. So let's start here. Tell everybody a little bit about your background. Take us back to where were you born, how did you, when you went to unm, how did you get into the military? And then how did you get into real estate? Let's go down that path.

That's a long. That's a long story. How long is this podcast? So, no. So born in Espanola. So I was born in Espanola, New Mexico, a little northern New Mexico town up in Rio Riba County. Actually grew up, went to school in Cuba, New Mexico, until I was in third grade. And at that point, my father got a job in a different up in Chama, so he moved us up to Abiquiu, and that's pretty much where I grew up. So my graduating class was 18 people. Gary. Wow. 18 people in my Coronado High school.

So most of people listening to this will not know what Espanola is like, what kind of a reputation it has, what is it known for? Kind of give people a sense of where is that and what is that like?

Well, you know, it's a beautiful place. You know, to me, it's a beautiful place, you know, doesn't have the best of reputations. Obviously. It was known as being the lowrider capital of the world and also the heroin capital of the world, which we're trying to change. But there's a lot of amazing people that come out of the Espanola Valley area.

And so. And it's beautiful country, too. So, yeah, I mean, guess what? For people that are listening, that have never experienced it, it's definitely a challenged location. It's. It's a challenged community. And more specifically, where I graduated from was a place called Gain in New Mexico, which is where the Coronado Leopards and my graduating class was 18 people.

So it was a consolidated school where people are. I mean, literally, Gary, I rode the bus for 45 minutes in the morning to get to school, right? And so it was neat. This just this last weekend, I took my daughter on a little trip, and I hadn't been back to that school, Gary, in 20 years. And the campus gates just happened to be open on a Sunday afternoon. And I took my daughter through there. I said, that's where your daddy went to school. She's like, no, Way. Right, of course. Because, you know, Mirea is going to, you know, my kids are going to some really great schools right now, which I want them to go to school where it's cool to be smart. Yeah. I mean, because when I was growing up, it wasn't cool to be smart. You know, it just, you. You couldn't learn in peace. You actually had to do. Do things a little bit differently. So I, I graduated from that school and I did the delayed entry program for the Army Reserve. So my. Both of my grandfathers are war veteran. So they were. And other is a Marine Vietnam veteran. Okay. And I always wanted to be like those guys. Those are my gold standards. Right. You know, that's what a man should be. Right. First and, you know, I mean, just studying what you're studying and doing what you're doing, everything. A lot of things are learned. And so we want to be like the people before us. Well, right. I have great mentors, but watching them. So I was the only person from my generation to go and join the military. So as soon as I possibly could, I always even told my recruiter, I said, man, I was down. You know, normally people just like, hold out for like a bonus or something like that. And I just joined up right away. And so I was a combat engineer and I was, you know, I went to school at UNM because the good thing that my parents did and is they always programmed us. They said, you're going to college, you're going to college. And so that was awesome. And my first, My first major was sports medicine because I was super, you know, into sports and, and very physical. You know, always like to run, lift weights and do all that stuff. We didn't have enough kids for a football team at the school that I went to. So that was kind of a bummer. But if you're going to play basketball, you just had to run really fast. And so you had to be faster than everybody else, which kind of helps me out in my industry right now. You have to be faster than everybody else. So, you know, gotta be resourceful, huh? Yeah, you got to be resourceful. And so.

I joined the reserves and then I went to. I got a business degree. But before, when I was going to college, you know, mom and dad said, you got to go to college. Well, my first major was sports medicine. And then when. So I was going to NMSU down at New Mexico State, and then one day I woke up, I said, what. What's going on with you, man? Like, you. You want to. You've always, you Know, I used to sell my artwork in Old Town and, you know, I had. Did stuff for the Spanish market when I was growing up. My father in law taught me how to carve crosses and, and Spanish colonial furniture and things like that. So one day I was like, I'm not gonna be rubbing people's feet for the rest of my life. I just, you know, and then I said, I'm going to business school. So I left nmsu, went back to Anderson because I have a really strong business school. And that was that. And then halfway through my graduate, my graduating semester, I was deployed to Iraq with the 101st Airborne Division. That was in 2003 when we invaded.

Iraq. And so that was an eye opener, man, because. But you know, as a kid, you know, when you're in your 20s, I mean, that's, you know, my. Both my grandfathers were war vets. My dad's a war vet. This was me, part of me going into that role. When you're in your 20s, you don't think that war is a bad thing. You're actually as sick as it sounds. Excited to go to war, right? And then when you get to, you know, where I'm at in my life right now, you know that war, there's not a lot of good that comes from war. But I can tell you that great experience came to me from war. It was very humbling experience. You know, what would be into a 13 month deployment that was at that. Okay, well, I'll tell you, going to war is super humbling because you never realize how good you have it until you don't have it. And you know, that's always been a saying, right? And sometimes people get tired, they don't know what that means until they experience it. But even, you know, going to school, certain relationships that you've had, advice that your father or your mother gave you, advice and mentors gave you, right? That's all. A lot of times we take that for granted. Heck, running water, Gary. I mean, running. Taking running water for granted and taking a shower, cold water, or just things like that. What. What was supposed to be a four month deployment turned into 13 months. Wow. So that'll really, you know, change your perspective on life. So what was that like? Well, nobody really, nobody ever really likes to admit, you know, you know, their shortcomings. But I was the kid growing up that like going to college was checking the box for me. Okay. Like I just checked the box. Because if you didn't, you didn't feel and go to college in our family, like Everybody like gave you the guilt trip just because all our fathers and mothers had done it. You know, my grandmother was like the first valedictorian of, in. In the. In the family line, so she like set the expectation that everybody was going to, which was great to move the needle forward. But for me it was like, I mean, seriously, Gary, I didn't even buy books in college. I just literally went and I listened and I passed every test with A's, B's, and the occasional C. But when I got back from Iraq, I got straight A's, bro, because they didn't give me. They didn't give. Unfortunately, Anderson didn't give me any credit, not even partial credit, but it was fine. I mean, I got down into it and, and I finished off and I graduated with straight A's my last semester, which was. Never happened. But I was in the books I was reading. I was like, wow, I'll never take, I'll never take education for granted like that. Or opportunities for that matter. Right? So that was me. I needed that. Because if I didn't get that little kick in the butt and it was, you know, going to war for me was, was an eye opener. I was a hell of a soldier. You know, uh, when you're in your.

20S, I think that's a great time to be a soldier. When you don't have, you know, any kids or worry about back at home, I think. And then of course, now I'm in my 40s, I'd probably be. I'm 40 years old now. I'd probably be a totally different soldier than when I was then because I was the young, one of the youngest NCOs, which is a non commissioned officer. So I got out as an E6 after eight years of being in, which was. I was always a fast tracker. I always, you know, max my PT test, maxed all, you know, all the educational stuff. I was really, really good at it. So I always excelled. But I had soldiers that reported to me that were twice my age, which was, you know, another learning lesson. Right. Because I didn't. Yeah, I just didn't have enough miles on me to empathize with them about, you know, what was going on back at home. Because it was hard for some of these guys to be, you know, that far away from their families. And I could not even, I couldn't empathize. Right. So that was where, you know, just. It just takes time to get that kind of experience. Now I'm, you know, I'm pretty decent communicator just because of, you know, because people will say, well, you're only 40 years old. And I'll tell them, well, I'm 40 years old, but I got a lot of miles on me. You know, I got. I got a. A lot more miles. You know, I almost. Sometimes I feel like Forrest Gump sometimes, right? Just because there's so many things, you know, because, yeah, 40 is young, and I've still had a lot of life experience. So when I was coming back from Iraq, Gary, when I was coming back, my wife started looking for. For homes for us, because kind of where I come from, everybody does. And I think that's the way a lot of people think about things, right? They say, okay, this is the path of life that people need to take, right? It's like, okay, you go to school, then you go to college. After you go to college, you get a job.

You work that job, you know, for as long as it takes to retire. You contribute to your. Whatever retirement account it is, and then. Then you retire and then you get a hobby, right? Or. Oh, yeah, and by the way, in there, buy in the. In the way that you throw in. Get married, right? Have kids, right? Buy a house. So there's like these. It's like the paint by numbers thing for. For your life, right? And I think that's all. It's all learned. It's all learned, right? So when I came back from Iraq, I told my wife, I was like, well, I had some good money saved, because, number one, when I was there.

There wasn't anywhere to spend that money, okay? Now these poor guys come back in debt because they have access to the Internet. I had. I did not touch that money. So I had a pretty good amount of money saved when I came back. And then.

So I said, all right, time to check that box and buy a house. So Rosie started looking around for a house. And then when I finally was able to talk to her, when we came back, when I came back into town, she's like, you would be a good real estate agent. I said, what's a real estate agent? She's like, well, they help people find houses. And she said, they make a lot of money, too. I was like, money? I like money. Because at that time, I was bartending at my family's bar in college, and I used to. I would. I did pretty good bartending. And bartending is listening to people, you know, making sure their drinks are full, you know, that they're not waiting on you, for that matter, right? And being a good listening ear, but also remembering them knowing what they like when they show back up again. And so I was a. I was a great bartender. So she said, you love helping people. You love listening to people. I said, real estate. I said, how does that work? She said, It's 100% commission paid. I was like, whoa.

Not where I come from. Because where I come from, it's like 1st and the 15th, right? You get a, you get a paycheck on the 1st and the 15th. So. But I said, all right, well, I'll listen. So I went to career night with her.

And I listened to the guys that were putting on the career night and just super awesome guys. I mean, just totally put on a good show. Sold me on it, right? But when they told me 100% commission paid, I still had those limiting beliefs in my mind about, you know, could I do it, right? Could I do it? And so we both agreed that we're going to get our licenses. So Rosie got her license and went with the brokerage here in town. And then I. At that time, Pulte Homes was doing a lot of college recruiting. So they're on campus and it was in real estate. So I said, you know what? And they advertised a $55,000 a year salary with benefits. I was like, great. There's the security. So there's the security. So I went with it and I interviewed and I got the job. Okay. It was a long. It was actually a fun process, but. And a lot. There's a lot of time with that. We probably don't have to talk about that. But it was neat because my military service got me, you know, got me in the door there. The degree, I would have never got in the door if I didn't have my degree, because they're only looking for college grads. And number two being, you know, that was when, you know, veterans were just coming, you know, war vets were just coming back from Iraq. So I was one of the first people to come back. And that was exciting too. So they hired me pretty quickly, which was great. And I started with this company, and it was so awesome. Their sales training program was phenomenal. And I didn't know it at the time, but my mentor, his name was Brian Fink, and he used to tell me, you know what, if you want, I'll train you, I'll give you extra training. Meet me at my office at 5 in the morning. And he offered that to the wholesale staff. And. And I was one of the only ones that showed up. And he took a major liking to me. But before that, the company had rolled out. And this kind of really where I got recognized was the company had rolled out a CRM. So it was a national initiative. So Pulte is a Fortune 147 company. They roll out this CRM. And you know how that is, Gary. I mean we're both better way guys. When sometimes when people roll out a CRM, any company rolls out a CRM, you lose so many people because people just don't like change. And me, I'm like, give me change, I love change. And that's what I've realized about myself.

So they roll out the CRM and I'm an intern at this time. Okay, Gary. So I'm just like low on the totem pole, which is great. I'm learning. And all of a sudden corporate flies into town. Nobody even knows who I am. Corporate flies into town and they said, we're looking for Joseph Myers. That's before I started going by Joe. It's we're looking for Joseph Myers. And they said, and my, I remember my VP and his assistant and the assistant. So that's a young guy, he's working down in the South Valley and he's all, well. And then my VP says, well, if he did something wrong, you know, you know, they're like, if he did something wrong, we can assure he's new or whatever. They said, no, he's the number one user of sales logics in the country. And we want to talk to him because we notice this, the sales in his community have gone through the roof. And so I was using it. This was a platform at that time, like in 2004, 2005, that was the first year starting to see like mass emails, you know, things like that that were going out. And I was using it because I had to network with the brokers in the community and I just. And the rest was history, Gary. I mean I just used that system and then they had me teaching it and I used that system. And then so seven years I was with Pulte and my last two years with that company, I was the number one salesperson in the entire nation out of Mexico, which was awesome. Right? And so, but it all came with great training. Pulte had an amazing, amazing training program and Ryan did a really good job of investing in me. And, and he's an integral part mentor his who was very inspirational to me and all cool, cool stuff like development wise. So I really learned a lot about construction finance. I mean so there's so much that goes into it, right? So it was almost like a Master's degree in real estate, right? And then.

There, towards the end, they started laying off people. So Pulte changed in general just because it was in the downturn and they started laying off a lot of people. So a lot of my people that I looked up to were getting cut and let go for right reasons. I mean, the company could not sustain that type of overhead anymore. But to me, I had never seen anything like that. So it was hard for me to take. Even though I was a great revenue generator. I mean, and I was kind of at that.

Point untouchable. I mean, you got a 20, you know, 25, 26 year old guy making half a million dollars a year. It was, I never, it was amazing. And I was at the top of my game. My wife was on the resale side, I'm on the new construction side. We're just doing great. I'd had my, my first. My little boy was two at the time and Rosie was pregnant with our little girl, right? And then this lady comes into town and she, she came into town and she was from Pulte Corporate. And after they started laying off all, you know, the executives that I had, they came to depend on me. And I knew I wasn't going to get touched because I was a revenue generator. The last person you're going to touch is your revenue generator. And. But she came to town and she's like, so you're Joe Maya? I said, yeah. She says, I hear you get whatever you want around here. I was all, well, I was like, where's this coming from, right? And she said, well, starting next year, we're going to cut your commission. And the reason we're going to do that is because we know you're used to making a certain amount of money and you'll just work harder to make that same amount of money. And I was like, wow, she's a cold blooded killer. But she was hired to do that, right? And.

At that point, and she's honestly one of the best things that ever happened to me because I had been toying about going out on my own for a couple years at that point, but I didn't do it. Again, a second level of limiting beliefs, right? Just saying one every. And I knew I could do it. And then a lot of agents or a lot of marquee brokers in town that were like, hey Joe, you got it made. People just come to you, you know, like, I didn't have anything to do with the sale. Like I was an order taker. And I'm just like, And I'm listening to that. I'm like, all right, all right. So all this stuff is adding up, but I knew I was an X factor. Like, I always make things happen. And, you know, it's funny, when I was younger, I never thought algebra would come in handy. But you know what? I solve for X every day, Gary. I'm always solving for X, whether it's figuring out a problem or finding out a better way to do things right. And so at this point, I'm on the top of my career. And then one day, I was at a company picnic, and our new division president was there, and him and I got along really well. And I think about it, six months had passed since that lady had that conversation with me, and I'm forever grateful for her because she kind of sounds fancy. And he said, yeah, what's going on, Joy? I said, well, I've never done this before. And he's like, what? I said, I'm going to give you guys my two weeks. I have anything lined up, Gary? Nothing. And he's like, well, what is it? Is it about that conversation you had with so? And so I said, no, it's not that. In fact, I'm glad that happened because I just. This company is amazing, and it really was. It is to this very day, one of the best companies out there because they always stood behind their product. It didn't matter how much it costs. They always warrantied stuff. I mean, it's seriously, what a great place to learn. And.

I just got to prove to myself that I'm not what they say. I'm not just an order taker out there. And so the guy's like, well, if you ever want to come back, the door is always open. I appreciate that. But I told him I won't be back, and I haven't. So my first year, I went to the same brokerage that my wife was with just because me and the owners were really good friends. And out of 550 brokers, I think I placed four. Number four out of 550 brokers my first year. Wow, that was awesome. Then. Then, because I, you know, that was awesome. And then.

I knew I always wanted to be number one. Number one, meaning like top and units and volume. Right. And there's. The only way I could do that was by having a team, because I was doing it all by myself. At this point. My wife was taking care of the kids full time and taking care of me full time, which is really a hard job, and taking care of our household. I mean, that I Would not want that job. That's the hardest job in the Maya's family. Right. Is, you know, supporting us. And so that was good that she got to stay at home and she got to do all that here. I, I just hit the ground. And so at this point I started shopping for companies that could, I could have a team. Right. And they, they had teams here in Albuquerque, but they weren't real team, you know, they weren't, they weren't. And so kill myself, you know, from distress and exhaustion if I was going to work the same that as hard as I was my first year in residential resale. So I started, I looked at ReMax, I looked at Keller Williams. Went with Keller Williams because they have a really great, you know, philosophy and how they approach doing business with people. Win, win or no deal, which I love. Right. I think you got, it's got to be a win win. I know. By the way, financially it made a lot of sense from a team perspective. So that way my team members can make make decent money as well because I can't be making all the money. So. So we did that and just grew that company. Keller Williams really blew up. And that was when I broke the hundred million dollar mark and took the number one spot in Albuquerque. Yeah. So. And that's documented. It's a documented, you know, thing for four years last year. And then about three years ago, I just left Keller Williams and said, you know what, at this point the buck stops with me anyway. And so I started the my husband, which we've been at it for three years. Last year we closed $149 million in production for 425 units, which is my all time best. We have, it's a small brokerage. We have about eight brokers here. Most of them are new. They're newer brokers. So I specialize in training newer agents. But the only difference is when I was with Keller Williams, I would lose my experienced brokers to the company, which, I mean, you got to get it. I mean people want to make more money and who am I to tell a broker that's been with me for a certain amount of time, like I can't give you a raise. I can't do that. It just can't. So now with our Myers Group companies, our Myers companies, we have the Myers Group, which is kind of like the boot camp. I wonder where that came from. Right. So it's kind of like the boot camp for newer brokers and if they want to stay long term, they can. But the Myers Group is a Training ground. It's where you learn how the real world in real estate works. I mean, everybody, they have all these cool classes, but the real world is the real world. And what I provide is real world experience. Okay? And then there's a separate brokerage that I own, which is called AI, which stands for all in. And so these are people that are all in. They're not doing this, they're not doing that. They don't have one foot over here, they don't have one foot there. They're all in. In real estate. And, oh, by the way, they've been vetted by me, so they've been trained by me. They have, you know, no criminal. Criminal record. You know, these are people that you can trust in your home, with your family and stuff like that. So that's a new launch. And then there's op, which stands for on purpose. And OP is for people that went through the Maya's group couldn't do AI because it's a lot of work. And now they realize that real estate isn't as easy as everybody says it is, but they worked hard for their license, and they still have a lot of contacts. So through op, they don't have to be members of the board of realtors with all the fees, but they can refer people to the Myers Group, and they can get paid a referral fee on that. So it's kind of like a triangle of companies. And I also own a title company as well now. It's called Signature Title, and that's been for three years since we've opened it. It's super, super successful. It's doing really good business, and then.

You know, it's just great. So that's where we're at. And I have an amazing staff. As you know, we've did the our why, we discovered our whys with you, but. But definitely a better way person. So it's neat to see that because, you know, the Myers Group does what it does because we do. We did find a better way. In fact, a little flashback that I had, Gary, was when my mentor was around, I'd tell him, I said, hey, Brian. I said we'd sell way more houses if we had somebody to do our paperwork. I mean, it just seems like every time I'm writing up a contract in the sales office, somebody's coming in wanting to buy, but I'm face to face with somebody, you know, writing them up on a deal. And he's like, hey, man, when you're the boss, one day you could do things how you want. To do. And I said, noted. So, yeah, so now you do. My salespeople do not write their own purchase agreements. In fact, we have a pretty experienced. A very experienced contract writer that writes all of our contracts. And really my claim to fame is over 3,000 transactions, Gary. And I've never been in a courtroom, which, you know, the money is great, but having a great reputation is even better. And so if any attorney would ever to go and say, oh, you have a pattern of behavior, the pattern of behavior would be just successful.

Yeah.

And doing things right and creating a business model that, that people know that when they're doing business with us, it's getting done right. And we spend the money on the processes to make sure that they don't have to worry about. That's why people hire brokers to give themselves some insulation from liability. So.

So question for you then. You said back a little bit ago that, you know, you're the guy that makes things happen, and what do you attribute to your ability to make things happen?

Well, I think a lot of that is. It's a culmination of a lot of things. Right. You know, it's, it's, it's interesting. You know, in the military. Well, my, My mom, number one, My mom would always tell us, you know, I'd always say, I can't do that. She's. And she would quickly say, you can and you will. So that was instilled at us, in us at a young age. So my parents were always the can do type of people in the military. I remember. And it's just been ingrained in you over time. But we all, you know, one of the things that I always would remember was no excuse. There's no. That was always what they say, you know, if a drill sergeant or higher up came up to you and said, hey, what's this all about? I said, no, excuse me, and we'd fix it.

So we never make excuses and we always would complete the mission. Thinking back, we all. We never had a failed mission because we always just never gave up. So looking at things differently. So there's a lot of tenacity that goes into it and the canned in the mindset. You know, one of my favorite sayings was a Henry Ford, you know that saying, whether you believe you can or you can't. You're right. I mean, that is a huge mindset. I mean, there's been properties, things that we've done here that everybody said, no, you can never do that. Oh, well, we did it, you know, and, and so it's just a mindset, Gary. I really think it's a mindset that we know that we can do things, we can get it done. Okay, I really think that's the answer to your question. It's just a mindset more than anything.

So when you work with new brokers, what are some of the things that you really work with them on so that they can get over these fears? Because I'm sure there's a lot of fear jumping into a commission only kind of a situation.

Well, and that's where I'm still, you know, it's neat seeing my. Because I learned from these guys too. So I'm a mentor and I've mentored some great people, in fact.

But they mentored me too. They didn't even know it, but they've been mentored. They've been helping me out as well. And so just putting myself in their shoes, you know, really, one thing that I know that we do differently, Gary, is, is a real life experience. Okay? So I can't remember the book and I'm an audiobook type of guy, so this podcast is great. I've listened to some of the podcasts and I gotta say, it's great for a guy like me because I'm not a pick a book, pick up a book and read type of guy, you know, so.

You know, one of the things I read, listen in one book was 10% of what you're going to learn is in the classroom. Okay? The other 10% is reading in a book, but the 80% is actually rolling up your sleeves and doing it. Okay? That's the approach that I love your agents is I've had to teach myself, you know, maybe not the best analogy, but as a wolf would teach the pups how to hunt, I mean, that's how I teach people how to do things. Okay? It's roll with me, it's I do it, we do it, they do it, so do it. And if you watching me do it, you're going to be way more comfortable than if you read it in a book or they talk or some guy that was teaching in class that's never even done it, he's just qualified to teach the class. I mean, this is real world experience. So when any of my brokers come out of my camp, if they give me two years, I would put them up against any seasoned broker out there. I mean, just from how to get things done, how to, they're hearing, you know, a seller call me upset about a low offer or me talk, negotiate that they hear firsthand the negotiations and offer and how you get the highest price for a seller. They hear firsthand a deal's going to miss closing, and both the buyer and seller have scheduled moving trucks, and everybody's up in arms about. That's real life experience. You will not learn in a book. You will not learn in any class by somebody that's teaching a class that's probably not even qualified to teach class. I mean, this is real world stuff. So they're seeing it for real. I mean, you'd be surprised, Gary. I mean, literally, some agents will never sell a house because they really don't know how to write the contract. They've never done a single contract. But guess what? Once they've done that first contract, it's all good. Now they did it, right? It's almost like a. A rites of passage. It's like, okay, now I've done that, okay, I'm not afraid of it anymore. Just like a lot of things in our life, it's like, you know, the first time you skydive. Never done it, you know, but the first time somebody skydives, you know, they're probably freaked out. The second time, probably not so much. You know, if they come back, right, then they're probably not afraid of it. Um, it's the same deal. What I do is I get them. I get people past that threshold sooner, right? So, whereas. So I remember there was a broker that, you know, I used to see her in the office all the time, okay, When I was back at Keller Williams. And I always remember these stories, but she'd been going all. I mean, Keller Williams is like one of the best training companies there is. I mean, they did do a lot of training, you know, classroom training, which poor thing, she was going to those classes and going to those classes. And then one day, I've probably been about eight months, and I see her in the hallway. I said, you sold anything yet? And she says, no, I haven't sold anything. I said, I'm going on a listing appointment. Come with me. She jumped in the car with me. She watched me list the house, like that, like listed, listed the house. And then when I'm driving back with her to the office, I get a call from one of my buyers, and they said they. There was a house that we emailed them, right, because we have automatic trips and they wanted to see it. So I said, all right, I'll have one of my brokers go up in the house for you. I said, you're going to go open that house, and after you Go open that house.

I'm going to tell you, and we're going to write it up. She's all really. I said, yep.

That was her first transaction. And then I had. I said, have the buyers call me from the house. So they called me from the house. I ran payments with them over the phone. I told him about how the process worked. Boom, boom. She's listening, she's watching it. Probably something that she had been in those classes for six to eight months and never even experienced, right? And I had her write up the deal for me, showed her how to write up the deal, and now she's a producing broker. I mean, she's not on my team. She's. But she's a producing broker out in society right now, Right? And I know that was the spark that lit the flame, right? So that's what I do. That's what I do, is I show people. And the other thing about me is I'm. I'm a one. I'm a man of abundance. You know, I never think about, hey, that's my competition. Because it's not. You know, I truly feel the more.

That you help people, the more you get. I mean, there's just so much business, Gary. There's so much. But I hope, you know, for me, I know that it changed her life, but it changes my life, too, because it really.

It just reinforces my beliefs, right, that I love helping people I like. And like Rosie said years ago, she's like, you'd be a good real estate agent. You like helping people. I'd be a good anything because I love helping people. Yeah. You know, so, hey, what was.

What was your spark that really set you from guy didn't know anything to off and running? What was that spark for you?

Well, I think it was just the fact that, I mean, you know, this is going to sound pretty weird, but I grew up doing pretty hard labor, you know, and doing stuff where I was even thinking back about my military career as I was an nco, but I had all the credits to be an officer. You know, I always wanted. I always did things the hard way. And just when I realized how much I could do and what a living I can make with using this, and that's really where things took off. And it was like a dream come true. You know, a lot of people will say, well, Joe got lucky. Well, I did get lucky. I really got lucky to find my niche. And my niche is I can take things that are in bad shape and I can. I can make them shine, you know, And So now that I got that, I mean, really one of the hardest things for me, Gary, was when I reached what I felt was the pinnacle of my career. And a lot of people will probably never reach that spot, but I was fortunate to reach it. It's a breaking point. And I don't know if you can.

I don't know if you can identify with this. And I'm pretty sure you can because you're a winner. But when you get bored with what you're doing, okay, so like I reached a point where, okay, I'm the number one guy. I'm selling all this stuff, you know, I'm selling all these houses. And then you're just like, okay, I've climbed to the top of this mountain, now what? And it seemed like I had always been, you know, the military climbed that mountain, did that, then it was time, then I went to Pulte, climb that mountain. I was done there. It seems like seven year cycles. So it's like eight years in the military.

Seven, eight years in. Seven years in new home sales. Now I'm at this, now I'm at this 7, 8 year mark in residential resale. I'm at the top of my game. And then you start thinking, well, what now? It's almost like Rocky, you know, it's almost kind of like Rocky, the Rocky series, you know, Rocky. When he just got kind of not, I don't want to say complacent, but he was just. Wasn't like it now what? Right. And so I kind of took a year off and I let the company do its own thing. And it still did really well. But then something I realized how much I missed the interaction of being with people. And literally, I mean, hey, I mean it's crazy. But saving people's lives when you sell it, sometimes there's situations where you're literally saving somebody's life. And in these. And I'm able to.

Help people in situations where I know another broker might not be able to do it. Like just for instance, like, I mean, I got a deal that's closing this week where.

I mean these folks, we sold their house and you know, everybody sees my sales and they see like, you know, this one that sold for 2.7 million. They see all these big deals that close, but we sell everything, you know. So this house right now that I have out, that's out in, in Los Lunas, on the outskirts of Los Lunas, which is, you know, it's, it's. I mean this is a $149,000 property. We get it under contract, and the seller doesn't have the money to make all the repairs that have come up on this house, and they're already under contract on another property, so they have to close. So there's the foundation on this mobile home that. That needs repairs. They don't have it. There's a septic that failed on this house, needs to be replaced for the state in order, but that they don't have the money. The neighbor next door, they've been living in this house, and there's four people using this well. And the neighbor refuses to sign a Welshare agreement even though these people have been living there for eight years and they've been paying the electricity on this well. And she don't. She won't sign a Welshare agreement. And the buyer's lender will not sell that property unless there's a well share agreement or they have their own well. Guess who just drilled the well? I drilled the well for $20,000. I replaced the septic for $55,000, and I did the foundation for probably about $1500. Now, I don't have to tell you, but the commissionable event on that one is maybe $5,100, right? But I can, you know, and they have enough proceeds coming out of the sale to where they sign something saying they'll pay me back at closing, you know, whatever. But I'm able to do that. I'm the expert. I'm the. I know I can get it done. So it's neat to be in a position like that to where you can literally bridge the gap, right? And everybody's like, well, how do you sell 425 homes last year? I found a way. I found a way to get it done. And so, because I've been fortunate to be really, really good at what I'm doing, I'm able to help way more people just because I'm able to bridge the gap for them.

So what does it take? What do you see as what separates you from. There's a lot of really great real estate agents out there, and we both know a lot of them. But what is it that makes you really good? What is the mindset? What is that X factor? What is that thing that somebody who's listening to this right now, they're thinking, you know what? I'm considering getting into real estate, or I am in real estate, and I'm trying to figure out, how do I go from beginner to expert? How do I go from survival to abundance? What is it?

Well, I'll Tell you nothing. Nothing, Nothing. Gary, the answer to that for me is nothing replaces experience. You have to have good, quality experience, okay? You have to get a great mentor, somebody to mentor you. You know, it's so crazy to see real estate agents coming out and they get into it, right? Because they say, oh, look, you know, there's this guy, and he's got this and he's got that, and, man, you know, he doesn't even speak good English. But if he could do it, I mean, the truth is, if I could do it, they can do it. But what they're missing is the eight, the 19 years of failure, you know, that comes in there. And learning and learning the hard way, too. So, you know, when I mentor people, I always want to save. My goal is to save them. Just kind of like my dad and my mom used to give me all this great advice that I never took.

My goal is that I get them to take my advice and save them some steps that they. They. That I had to take that they shouldn't have to take. And that's where it's at. It's really being mentored. And, you know, there's so many agents coming into any industry, even any industry, what it is. But I know that when you're, you know, you're a dentist, you didn't just start working on people's teeth. I mean, it took time. You had to watch somebody that had crazy experience.

You know, perform things, and guess what? That made you a better person. But right now, there are people in this industry, and I have my qualms with this industry because, number one, they just let anybody get into it, okay? Which is sad, because, you know.

The same goes if you think it's expensive to hire a professional, try hiring an amateur, right? And a lot of people don't realize that until they have to call me up, right? And now they've spent double or whatever. But electricians have. They have a journeyman program. They have apprentice and journeyman program. That's what people really need to do. They need to not cheat the system. Okay? One of the biggest pieces of advice, because I mentor young ones, and, you know, I had a couple of college interns this summer, and they said, well, what's the biggest piece of advice you can give? You know, somebody younger like me, you know, And I said, enjoy the process.

Enjoy the. Enjoy the process of learning and learn well, you know, because if you skip a step, you might not be able to survive.

Something really serious. You know, I deal with, you know, millions and millions of dollars of Production. What happens if you make a mistake? Are you able to.

Are you able to make it right? You know, because that's the profession. If you're a true professional, you have to be able to make it right. Okay? And that's why to work with the true professional, it costs money. But a true professional should pay for themselves. So I always tell myself, you want to get to the point where your experiences were so much that people hire me, it's almost like getting me for free, because I basically pay for myself during the transaction just from the advice that I'm able to give people. So I always say it's experience. I have a.

Autographed picture here in my office here, and it's Nolan Ryan and Robin Ventura. And Nolan Ryan has Robin Ventura in a headlock. Do you remember that? Yeah. So I have a signed copy of that picture right here, and I have it in my office for a reason. And I always. I named that picture Experience.

Because, you know, Nolan Ryan was, at the end of his career, probably one of the best pitchers of all time, Right. Hall of Famer. And there's this young guy, he steps up to the plate, and he's a pretty. I mean, Robin Venturi was a pretty built guy, right? He was a. He was a hot shot back then. And Nolan beamed him, and he beamed him. And you would think, you know, everybody. Nobody knew that Robin was going to charge the mountain, or Robin, like, acts like he's taking the base. You can watch it on YouTube and all that stuff. And then halfway, he just decides he wants to charge Nolan, right? Well, everybody think, well, hey, Nolan wasn't afraid. I mean, you're talking about a veteran pitcher. Do you think he's been charged before? Yeah, maybe once or twice. He actually walked towards Robin Ventura.

Like, not one bit of fright, just.

Went for it. And really, what that all boiled down to me was experience. The man had, you know, been in his fair share of scraps.

You know, and. And he knew how it was going to turn out. He knew how to handle the situation, and that's what happened. But he couldn't have done that had he not been through all this.

I love it. Oh, yeah.

So a lot of he couldn't have handled the way he did.

Good.

I was going to say. So having your mentor, when you first started, how much of a benefit was that?

It was a huge. It was a huge benefit. I didn't know it at the time, Gary, just because I was young, right. And a lot of, you know, people that are younger into. And you don't have to be young. I'm just talking about being young in the profession. When you're learning a new trade, so to speak, you don't know it at the time, but you realize it later down the road how valuable certain mentors were. So my men mentor Brian taught me the critical path of sales, and we never skipped a step. You know, I have my own way of doing things right now, but my own way couldn't have been my way without his way. So everything from how you greet somebody to how you get commitment, right? And getting commitment. Sales is not a bad word to me. Sales is helping people. It's getting people to decide on something that's good for them. Not what's good for me, but what's good for them. So I literally approach sales in a, in a way that I'm helping somebody, you know, I'm solving a problem. Okay. But he went a lot deeper. So a lot of brokers are. Real estate brokers are. They help people find houses. See, I know he taught me how to know the money really well. So knowing the mortgage side, knowing the different programs being, being knowledgeable about all the ways, like if somebody's a doctor, a lot of people don't know that there's zero down programs for physicians with no mortgage insurance. A lot of people don't know that they'll say, hey, call this lender and get back to me on Monday. Well, nobody's ever going to call that.

They scared. They're almost afraid of going to a lender as much as they're afraid of going to the dentist, you know, I mean, so it's like. But that's the reality, right? That's human psychology. That's, that's human nature.

So I always knew the money side. He taught me how to, you know, the value of learning the money side. So it's not just about the real estate process then. It's about knowing your product too. And then that's where the construction knowledge came into play. How did those, how does that work?

Because I remember one of the first things when I was out, I was selling houses in the Southwest and a guy comes in and he was actually on Sandy Pressley's team. He was a buyer's agent for Sandy Presley, Arnie Katz. And Arnie is like one of the better buyer brokers out there. And I'm brand new man. I'm just like new kid on the block. And Arnie wants to show his client one of our specs and a spec home, a standing piece of inventory out there. And the Guy comes in, he's all, what kind of roof is this? I said, again, Gary, I'm green. This was like 18, 19 years ago. The guy says, so what kind of roof is this? And I said, I don't know, sir, but I'll get that answer for you. And he said, what kind of windows are these? I don't know, sir, but I'll get that answer. What's the kind of air conditioning? I don't know, sir, but, you know, what the hell do you know? I don't know, sir, but I'll get that answer for you. So, I mean, that was one of those defining moments in my life where I said, I will never be in that position again. And so I pulled Antonio, who is our project manager at the time out there, and I said, antonio, I want to learn everything about construction, from permitting to the CEO. I want to. I mean, just use me, right? And they did. Those guys taught me. You know, Antonio and his team taught me really well about how the construction process works. So now when I show up to an appointment, I'm not just some other realtor. I know.

About psi and slabs. I know about the different types of slabs. I know about your windows. I know more about somebody's house than they know about their house when I show up. And that's great, right? Because I'm, what, an expert? I'm not just anybody else there. We are experts on the money side. I mean, if I'm representing a buyer or a seller, they can get their mortgage lender on the phone. And that mortgage lender, you know, they call me Frost Mortgage, who I do a lot of business with, they call me.

The lender, the lender's broker. That's what they call me just because I'm super low maintenance. And by the time I give them somebody to talk to, they're already qualified. I just need them to pull credit. You know, I've already talked to the people about it. I already run numbers. I've already set expectations. It's pretty easy for them when I get to them. But I've already. I know how to ask the questions. I know about the different programs and the reality of all that. But that came with time and experience and being a student of the craft.

So you said something really important there I wanted to touch on. You said you help people make a decision.

And that seems like a big difference between helping them buy a house or helping them the other areas, it's. You helped them make a decision. Because to me, when I'm trying to buy something that's the hardest part. Do I, how do I make a decision? And if you can help me do that, boy, you're my guy.

Well, here's the thing about you, Gary. I mean, so let's just. So you do what you do, right? Which is what you do, and that's great. You stay in your lane and that's all fine and good, but when you come into my, when you come into my domain, right? When you start coming into my universe, that's my universe, right? So my job is to be of value to you. So you don't know the market the way I do. And chances are if you give me, you know, five to ten minutes to talk with you and you tell me in a very casual way, because I'm going to be asking you a lot of great questions, open ended questions to have you open up to me, then chances are I'm going to know where that property is.

And it might not even be on the market, okay? But I'm going to know where it's at. I'm going to know that financially it meets your needs, it's not going to put you in a hardship and it's going to meet a timeframe that's comfortable for you. And oh, by the way, I'm probably going to know about, you know, unless you're paying cash, I'm probably going to know about a program that you don't know about that's really going to put a smile on your face. So that's what it is. And at that point in time, you know, you might have went from, I mean, I've seen people that have told me while we're looking, within the next 12 months to move, but after maybe a 30 minute conversation with me, they're moving. Right. And it's for the better. It's not, you know, that I sold them on something. I just showed them something that they didn't know about. You know, I always tell the, I always tell my brokers, I said, tell me some. Tell them something that you don't, that they don't already know. Tell our clients something that they don't already know. Because if, I mean, there's a reason, Gary, why Zillow and realtor.com and those types of platforms exist. They're disruption, Right. And the disruption is the fact that people aren't as creating the value that they should. Right.

When Zillow is doing the job for you.

If the buyer or the seller know more about you than you failed. Right. That's the way I see it. Technology shouldn't replace brokers like me because we're very valuable. And anybody else that I train, I want them to build in their value that, you know, they never have to be intimidated by some app that's going to be created. Right. People always do business when they know there's value. Love it.

Okay, last question. And I know you've talked about a lot of great advice and given a lot of great advice, so what would you say is the best piece of advice you've ever received or you've ever given?

Ooh.

That'S a good one. I receive a lot of great advice.

So there was a saying in Spanish. Okay. There's a Spanish saying.

And the Spanish saying says, lovarato questa caro, which means the cheap will end up cost. The cheap way of doing things ends up costing you the most. Okay. So, you know, I've learned that you get what you pay for. Right. In most cases. Right. Never go to the lowest bidder. So that's one of the better advice, and that's just in everything, too. It goes all the way around. If. If you're gonna go about something the easy way, it doesn't have to be about money. It could be about taking the easy way out versus, you know, putting in the work.

So that. That. That's a full circle. That saying can mean so much on so many different levels. So don't ever cheat yourself. Right? You got to put in the work to get what you. What you deserve. Right. If you want it. As far as advice that I.

That I give, I don't know. I mean, that's a tough question, Gary. I. I would. I. I just don't know how to talk. You know, that's a tough question for me to. I give a lot of advice, but really, the advice that I give is just by my actions and just, you know, watch what I do, and that's kind of how to do things. Right. I just, you know, I have. Having kids, Having kids. I've learned that it's not about what you say.

It'S about what you do. Right. People are watching you, and they're watching. They're watching how you deliver. And that's the best example, because a lot of people can say things, but it's about what they do that really. That really is worth more. Right? So, yeah.

Awesome. Joe, I appreciate you taking the time. I know you are busy. Thank you for being here, and I am glad we got a chance to finally do this. I know we get to see each other from time to time, but we haven't really had a chance to sit down and me learn about you. I mean, it is fascinating how you have gone from where you came from to where you are now and a lot of great lessons there. So thank you so much for spending the time. If there are people that are listening that want to connect with you, want to learn more about you, maybe want to work with you buying or selling a house or being mentored by you, how should they get ahold of you?

Yeah, the best way to do it is to go to my website. It's www.joemayes.com. that's J O E M A E Z.com and they can just inquire, they can fill in an inquiry and we'll get with them.

Awesome. Joe, thanks again, man. I'll see you on the golf course.

I'm sure you got it, Derek. Thank you. Thank you.

I really hope you enjoyed today's episode and that through today's guest, you heard how important it is to know your why and how impactful it can be in your life and the lives of those around you. Be sure to head over to whyinstitute.com and discover your why today. Remember, the the more you know about yourself, the more you'll know about others. I'm Dr. Gary Sanchez and I'll see you on the next episode.