Unlocking Resilience and Real Estate Success Through Unprecedented Times with DeVante Blow

[0:00] Welcome to the REI Agent, a holistic approach to life through real estate. I’m Matthias, an agent and investor. And I’m Erica, a licensed therapist. Join us as we interview guests that also strive to live bold and fulfilled lives through business and real estate investing. Tune in every week for interviews with real estate agents and investors. Ready to level up? Let’s do it.

[0:24] Welcome back to the REI Agent. It’s Matthias here. I wanted to talk a little bit before we get into our guest about if your past self would be proud of you and proud of who you’ve become. And would they have any idea or any expectation or any would they believe that you are who you are right now? And I have a lot of thoughts on this. It stems, this whole line of thought stems from talking about basketball. We did a little bit in this podcast, but it was perfect timing because I actually touched a basketball for the first time in many years yesterday. My girls were doing gymnastics and I had to bring my son there who is two and can’t sit still to save his life. So instead of wrestling with him, I took him to a different part of the gym gymnasium that we were in.

[1:11] And there were some basketballs and I was like, you know, it’ll be fun. He can run around, kick the ball around like a soccer ball and I can shoot some hoops. And they must have not been like, you know, regulation basketballs, either youth size or maybe women balls. But I, and also I’ve been doing CrossFit. I don’t know what else to say. I like, it was just like overshooting. It was, it was like that, uh, the Philip Seymour Hoffman, uh, skit. What, what movie is that from? Along Came Polly, maybe. Where he’s just, just blast it off the backboard and not getting close. It just, yeah, it was, it was bad. And then I, I tried to correct that by arcing it. And it was just like this huge arc and just like, I made, I made like three, I made 33 pointers.

[1:58] Um, which, you know, good for me. But when I was a kid, when I was in elementary school, that was like peak Michael Jordan, Chicago Bulls era. And, uh, I was obsessed. It was such a fun thing to watch. I was obsessed with the team. I wanted to be a basketball player. I was out there playing hours a day. Uh, same or same with my friends. They were obsessed with it as well. So we just played so much basketball and I, you know, I got decent for my age, but along the way it kind of faded. Uh, I didn’t grow the basketball hoop got taller. They had to raise the rim at some point. Um, so I just, you know, I, it faded out and I just haven’t played much at all here recently. Uh, but you know, back then that was, that was everything to me.

[2:41] And to, you know, if I asked my elementary school self, what I was going to be, I don’t know if I would have really thought I was going to be a basketball player. My parents aren’t very tall. Um, I probably understood that piece of it, but there’s probably a part of me that was dreaming that I would have played in college or something. Right. Never happened. Um, and then as I got older, uh, you know, getting into like more into the high school scene, I was, I was a punk man. And so like being into business, being into a real estate sales, I feel like that was going to be the man. I was probably all about sticking it to the man. And here I am the man.

[3:20] And I, you know, it’s just, it’s just interesting to think about like, what, what would, uh, the common threads be, or what, what would I appreciate about who I am now? And what would I be like appalled by? I think at the end of the day, uh, there definitely would be an understanding that, you know, having a fierce sense of independence. Uh, that’s a theme I think that would have gone through, uh, high school to now that still is there. And that’s probably one of the biggest things that draws me to being an entrepreneur, to being, uh, in real estate sales is that I, I kind of, you know, do what I want. I am highly motivated. I work really hard. Um, but I, I choose what 16 hours a day I want to work.

[4:01] Nobody tells me to work. I choose what 16 hours a day I want to work. Um, and, and, you know, I think also I had high expectations, uh, for myself. I think I, I, I knew that I was going to figure something out that I was going to be great at something. And I, I’m not saying that I’m great right now, but I do feel very proud of, um, Erica, the woman I married, my love. Um, I feel very proud of her. I actually, there’s a story that she’s mortified to hear. So she’ll enjoy listening to this again, uh, is where I was actually in church in high school or middle school very early. It was one of the times that, so her family traveled around a lot, um, and they were different areas. And at this point they were in, in Virginia and she didn’t go to my church, but I think her mom was doing some sort of, um, practicum or something at my church.

[4:52] And I just remember one time she walked in and I just like, it was like, whoa, that’s like the prettiest girl I’ve ever seen. And, uh, but at the time I, you know, I was, I was a punk and I, I don’t think that she would have had any interest in me. At least that’s the story at the narrative I tell myself. Um, and, and so she seemed very unattainable, unattainable. Let’s just put it that way. And so I would be very proud of myself now for, uh, being with her. That’s one thing that I would be very proud of for sure. And I think to, to get into that line of thought a little bit more too, uh, somebody in my high school was giving, uh, advice as to, you know, relationships and that kind of stuff.

[5:39] And they, they just basically said, you know, in your forming formational years, they said like, you know, become somebody who you want to marry. And I think that, uh, in high school for me, I was, I was a little out of shape. Um, you know, kind of didn’t have the best hygiene, had long hair and, um, you know, all that kind of stuff. I just, I feel like that was a key thing that I had to realize about myself is like, you know, what I can’t have these super high expectations for who I’m going to be with if I’m not living up to them myself. Right. And so I think, you know, that was something that clicked. I think I always knew that at some point, you know, I would, uh, take life more seriously be more disciplined, blah, blah, blah.

[6:26] Um, but at the time, you know, I definitely, I definitely wasn’t. So anyway, I think that there would be parts of who I am now that my high school self would be proud of. And, uh, maybe parts of them that would be like, dude, I can’t believe you did. You went down this route. Uh, but it’s just a fun exercise. I don’t know. I don’t know what you, uh, if you ever thought through that kind of thing. Uh, it’s also fun to think through like, uh, what your funeral would look like, who would be there and what they’d say about you. Maybe fun’s not the right word, but maybe an informative and a good kind of check to keep yourself accountable, to keep yourself kind of doing, keeping your values in line with, with how they should be and how you want them to be.

[7:08] Um, so those are, those are fun exercises to do. Anyway, uh, our guest today is Devante Blow. Devante is, um, uh, agent that is coming out of the Northern North of Seattle, Washington area. Um, and he is killing it. He’s been super motivated. He has been in the business since 2020, but he has a team of 13 people and he’s just written a book. Um, so, I mean, that is a lot of ground to cover in four years. Uh, so I, it was a great conversation. I think he’s got some really good insights, um, hopefully some motivation for people, uh, who may be feeling a little bit burnt out. He’s got, his book is, I think a really good resource for, um, just if you ever find yourself in a bit of a rut where you just like not feeling like the business is right for you.

[8:00] There’s a lot of agents out there right now that they just aren’t, aren’t feeling it right now. Uh, I think his book could really help, uh, the, the, the concept of it. So I definitely recommend, uh, checking him out, listening to this podcast and checking out his book, uh, without further ado, Devante Blow.

[8:21] Welcome back to the REI agent. I am fortunate enough to have, uh, Devante Blow coming here out of, uh, North of Seattle. Uh, Devante is, uh, an author and an agent. Uh, Devante, tell us a little bit about yourself. Yeah. Thank you so much for having me. Uh, I am a real estate agent. I am a team leader as well. I have a team of 13 agents here in Bellingham, Washington. I joined the industry in 2020. So right, right during the, uh, the shutdown and everything like that. That’s when I got in another plant from the restaurant industries. I used to work in the restaurant industry before this and in Washington state, March 17th was the, uh, we got the shutdown order. And, uh, so it kind of put me and my family in a, in a whirlwind.

[9:06] Right. Uh, so we made crazy decisions. We’re like, you know what? The world’s going crazy. So let’s do something crazy. So we got married in June of 2020. We moved away from Whidbey Island, which was all I’ve known to Bellingham, which is only about an hour away, but still a completely different place for me. Sure. And then we started completely different careers. My wife is a mental health therapist and I got into real estate. Ah, man, it’s too bad. We should have, we should have you guys back on. Have you both on because my wife is a therapist and we often do this together. Um, which yeah, anyway, that’s, that’s hilarious. It’s awesome. Uh, so she wasn’t that before she changed careers too.

[9:46] Yeah. So she was actually in the military. Um, that’s how we met. She’s from Rhode Island and her first duty station was, uh, where I was from, Whidbey Island. And, uh, you know, growing up in the military household, I always told myself, man, I’ll never get with a military girl. And here I am. Never say never. Right. That’s awesome, man. So yeah, you, you have been hustling. I mean, you are, you know, you’re four years deep and you started in the craziest time changing careers. Uh, were you all considered, uh, mandatory workers or essential workers in Seattle or in Washington? I’m sorry. Yep. Yep. Yep. We, we were lucky to be essential. Yeah. Same. Yeah. I know all, not all States were that way, but, uh, but now you have a team of 13.

[10:30] That’s crazy. And now you’re also an author. I mean, you, you’ve been moving. Good job.

[10:41] So, so, I mean, did, did you go all in when you, when he jumped into real estate where you just, you know what, this is what I want to do. I’m not going to have, you know, my restaurant job on the side. I’m not going to do both. I’m just going to go all in. Yeah. You know what? It was, um, you know, I, I say this often with respect to everyone who suffered during COVID COVID was probably the best thing that ever happened to me and my family. It forced me to burn the ships and truly choose me. Right. Um, you know, I was very comfortable in the, uh, the restaurant job that I had, I was there for eight years and around year six is when I was like, ah, you know, there’s gotta be something out there.

[11:15] That’s better. That’s more, you know, I had caps where I was and I always wanted to be in a, in a position to where I could leverage my strengths and not have a cap on what I could do. And so, um, you know, that led me to real estate. It really led me to a mindset. So there’s a man named, uh, Tim Cornwell out here. He’s a rockstar agent. Um, everybody knows this guy and he had a team at the time. And, um, I went and I interviewed with him and I tell people all the time, I didn’t care if he was selling Cutco knives, Mary Kay or perfume out the back of his car. His mindset is what I fell in love with and why I got into real estate. It just happened to be that. So, uh, that’s awesome. Um, those, those kinds of people are so huge and so fundamental for, uh, true success in the business.

[11:58] So that’s, that’s great that you found that early on. Um, how long were you a solo agent? What, where, where did you start? And then, you know, when did you start building a team? Yeah. So, you know what? I was, uh, not a solo agent for a very long time, but I was with a boutique brokerage and then three, three and a half years ago. So like, I’ll tell you how long, um, I was a solo agent three and a half years ago is when I joined EXP realty and, uh, started my team earlier this year actually, and have been crushing it. So, you know, it’s been, it’s been a fun ride. That’s amazing. Wow. Yeah, man. 13 people. That’s a, so do you, do you had, do you have like designations for people? Like, are they like buyer specialists, listing specialists, that kind of stuff?

[12:41] Or how do you approach your team model? Yeah. You know, we, we do niche down. Um, right now I have four new, new, new agents that are, you know, we’re still in the like 30 day bootcamp, essentially, you know, trying to find what their niche is. But we have one guy that’s, I mean, he is like the short-term rental specialist. Like if you look on his wall, he has like 15 listings in there, but they’re all like, you know, 80, $90,000. But this guy’s just crushing them. He does 70 plus deals a year. And then we have our commercial specialist, you know, and, um, overall we have a heavy, um, influence on the residential, um, so yeah. Cool. Well, that’s fascinating. Yeah. Um, yeah. So what, what, uh, do you, would you suggest, I mean, COVID is such a unique time that it’s going to be kind of hard to probably talk to people in general, but D I, I always go back and forth about the, the burn, the fleet on the, on the way in.

[13:35] Um, like, you know, in some ways you have to be able to, you know, provide for your family and provide for yourself. Um, and there’s no guarantees in this business. Right. How, how would you advise people? I mean, how do you advise people joining your team? Like, is it, you know, go all in? Cause it’s a sink or swim mindset. You’re going to, you’re going to be more motivated or yeah. What, what, what’s your advice there? Yeah. So typically what we like to do is, um, we, we set the bar pretty high. Um, just, you know, I mean the war of attrition and the, the turnover rate in real estate is, is high, you know, in general, regardless 87% failure rate in the first two years. Right. So what we’d like to do is we like to, we set the precedent and saying, Hey, you know what, if you want to join this team, we ask you to be all in, you know, no side jobs, no part time, you know, like just come in and we have systems and processes in place to help you absolutely succeed.

[14:24] And so, you know, we have, we have people that have taken the bait, you know, and they’re, they’re crushing it, you know? So, um, we don’t, we don’t typically take a part-time agents, but we’ve made it an exception. Okay. And then, and then with that, uh, do you, what kind of model are you all operating? Do you, are you all buying leads inside sales agents? Um, how, how do you operate in the, in the, yeah, the lead funnel? Yeah. So, you know, we try to add tremendous value because at the end of the day agents, you know, we wear so many hats. I think the value add in a team and a team leader is, Hey, how many hats can I take away from an agent so that they can strictly be, you know, in their highest and best use.

[15:04] And so we, uh, we have leads, we buy online leads, but we also have an, um, a caller and I say, you know, she’s calling these leads five plus hours a day. And then we also, we, uh, we take, especially the new agents, we take them on our listing appointments and our, you know, buyer, buyer agency agreement signings and everything like that so that they can get infilled. Some shadow. Yeah. Some shadow. Right. But then we also pay for, uh, transaction coordination, you know, kind of saving our butts at the same time too. Yeah. You know, and then there’s a couple of other things that we add specifically for, um, to try to attract agents that are about two to three years into the real estate, um, career.

[15:43] So they’re like, they’re right there. They’re like crushing it a little bit, but they need that extra boost to go a little higher. Those are the, that’s our target audience. Okay, cool. And, and so you said you hired out the transaction coordination. Do you have like a third party doing that? You don’t have somebody in house. Is that, is that correct? Yeah. Yeah. So there’s a, there’s a company called Transactly. I’m not getting paid to shout them out at all, but, uh, but they have, uh, yeah, not yet, not yet. Uh, transaction coordination team and, um, Caitlin Goodsell, man. Oh my gosh. She’s saved our bacon so much. So, yeah, that’s something I think that, I think that’s a trap a lot of, uh, agents get into is just doing everything themselves.

[16:21] They feel like they have to be, yeah, wear all the different hats. Right. Um, and, and I think that’s something that, you know, that’s an easy one to, to, to start with as one that a lot of people have heard of and, and that they could, and, and I don’t know if this one, if this model is based off of like per, per deal, you pay it X amount on or, or whatever, but oftentimes it is that way. And, and for me personally, I had a, uh, I brought on an assistant, uh, that primarily became a transaction coordinator and, um, that was just an hourly rate. So, you know, they had a different job. They could work at night or in the evenings whenever it suited them for the most part. And, uh, you know, it worked great.

[17:00] I mean, like when I was busy, they were busier. Um, and so, you know, my income and their income kind of went the same up and down. It wasn’t like I was committed to a full-time person right away. Yeah. Um, but yeah, hiring somebody out that, that seems to be a big hurdle for a lot of people like, you know, like outsource a little bit, you know, it’s, it’s, you can’t do everything yourself and, and provide amazing service. Yeah. And nor should you want to, honestly. Um, you know, it’s, it’s one of the things that I tell the new agents specifically, like, Hey, I know that it may be tight, but I promise you hire somebody to do these things, you know, so that you can stay again at your highest and best use.

[17:38] That’s, that’s at the end of the day, the best thing you could do. Yeah. Yeah. That makes tons of sense. Now, how big of an area do you all cover? Yeah. So we have, um, one, two, three, we do three counties right now, Whatcom County, Skagit County, and Island County. And we’re not necessarily the biggest counties in Washington state, but, uh, you know, we, it’s about a good 30, 35 mile radius that we’ll cover. Um, anything outside of that will, will likely transfer out or, you know, refer out. Sure. Yeah. Okay. No, cool. Um, well, tell us a little bit about your book. I mean, this is, uh, you, you were telling me a little bit about it and I’ve got some jokes to tell, um, about myself, but, but go ahead, tell us a little bit about your book and what inspired you to write one.

[18:25] I mean, that’s awesome. Yeah, man. Um, so just one layup is the title of the book and it’s, it’s designed to help entrepreneurs and real estate agents build the playbook for success. Um, oftentimes what plagues our industry and industries is, uh, the notion of just our, sorry, one size fits all. And I don’t believe that whatsoever. You know, I have agents on my team that can crush doing cold calls, you know, and I have other agents who would absolutely suck at that, but can do six, seven, eight hours a week of open houses and absolutely crush that. And so the premise behind the book is, Hey, what can we do that is technically low hanging fruit, right? A high percentage shot that you can take in your real estate career that you can, so that you can build momentum.

[19:09] And so I help people, you know, just create a playbook specifically for them. And, uh, man, it, it, it’s, it comes from my story, but it also comes from, you know, those who have trusted me to help them along their real estate journey. It’s one of those where you apply it, you learn who you are, you learn your ideal client, and then we build systems around those two things to help perpetuate business. And, uh, yeah, so the, the, the idea of the book actually started years ago. I grew up in a very, very big family. Like I’m the oldest of 20 kids. Whoa. Wow. Yeah. And my mom, my mom, my dad, they had me at a young age. They were just kids themselves, 15 years old. Right. Wow. And so I grew up in my grandparents’ house and they had seven kids.

[19:54] Right. So all my aunts and uncles were, you know, not too much older than me. So I was like the youngest of them and then the oldest of a whole bunch. So I’m stacked in the middle. And, uh, we were all huge into sports, man. I mean, we, I mean, we have a full football team, you know, it’s just me and my brothers, you know, both sides, we can play both ways.

[20:15] Right. And so my love for sports started then. Okay. And the way that I, I thought about this book is right outside of high school. I started to apply the things that I learned. Football is my number one sport. I love basketball too, but football is like, it taught me a lot. I started to apply the principles that I learned in football to my business world and to the real life. And I was like, man, this, this would probably help out a lot of people. And so it’s been over 10 years that I’ve had this mindset of just one layup. How can we do this? And, uh, and so I, there’s a story and there’s two stories, but I’ll tell one of Steph Curry. I don’t know if you know who Steph Curry is, but he’s going to go down as probably the greatest shooter of all time.

[20:53] Right. In 2019, it was the, uh, the conference finals. He was playing against the Houston Rockets and it was game six. They needed to win this one to push them to the championship. And he was having the worst game of his career. First quarter, zero points. Two quick fouls. Second quarter, still zero points. They go into the third quarter after halftime, make their adjustment adjustments. And he still has zero points all the way through the halfway point of the third quarter. And finally he gets back to the basics and his first shot that he hit was a layup. And then he hit another layup. Well, Steph Curry at the end of that game exploded for 33 points in a quarter and a half. Dude, like what?

[21:35] Teams. Yeah. It’s like a third of the, of the points. Maybe the other team was going to score in a game. Holy crap. So he explodes for 33 points, but what he did was he got back to the basics. He hit the easiest shot, you know, that he’s learned to take from the moment he learned to dribble a basketball. Right. And so imagine if we get back to the basics in our real estate careers, you know, whether that be making, Hey, you know what? Let me just try and make five phone calls today or have five conversations, or let me just knock on five doors today. Or, you know, let me just do a, a, a two hour open house, whatever it is, your baseline, why not start there so that you could build momentum so that now you can hit the big three in your careers.

[22:13] And so that’s where it all came from. That’s awesome. Devon. I really liked that. Um, the joke I was going to make first was I touched a basketball for the first time yesterday in years and, and elementary school, I was going to be a professional basketball player. I was watching Michael Jordan and I was, you know, I was out there playing hours a day and I touched a basketball yesterday for the first time and I’m bad. Of course, but I only, I only shot threes. I didn’t take the layups that, you know, so I didn’t, I didn’t build up any momentum. Um, but, but to get back to the more serious, more important things, um, man, the right now, that’s what people need. Like people need to build some momentum because there are so many burnt out agents right now.

[23:00] They are so, they are switching firms. They are doing different things. They’re doing all, they’re starting their own brokerage, whatever. They’re all, they’re searching for something to, to build up that spark, get back into it because it was crazy in the, in the pandemic. And then all of a sudden, you know, the interest rates go up and it’s just like, it’s just not the same out there. Right. It’s, it’s more balanced. And maybe if, if, if we had a mindset shift, if we looked at it differently, we might enjoy it more. It’s not as crazy as it was. Um, but I think I just see it. I, so I’m in leadership, um, for my local association and, you know, I just, I just feel like this, there’s this, the overall pulse.

[23:38] Um, I think it’s just people are, are burnt out there. They’re just not invested in the career as much as they were. And man, that that’s, that’s it. Like start building the momentum. Right. I mean, that, that makes a ton of sense. I love that. Yeah, absolutely. You know, there’s a, there’s this thing called desperation ball. You know, you’re, you’re down a whole bunch and you’re just trying to hit crazy shots. You’re just throwing up crazy shots. Right. I feel like there’s a lot of people in our industry that are in, they’re playing desperation ball right now, shooting half court shots, you know, taking the left-handed layup when they know they’re right-handed, you know, like all the things that you’d know that, Hey, this is not how I’m going to achieve success.

[24:16] A lot of people are doing, you know, and, and I was guilty of that too. There was a moment in my career where, um, I think it was at the end of my second year, my wife, uh, she was diagnosed with cancer. Oh gosh. Yeah. And oh my gosh, I was, it, I was disheveled. You know what I mean? As a, as a husband, you know, our, our priority is like to protect our, our family and everything. And I could not physically take cancer from my wife, you know, so that she would feel better. And so it, it, I went about five and a half months without selling a house and I was down to $50 dude, like legitimately $50. And if you think about it, you know, health and, and, and financial woes, that’s like the two main ingredients for, you know, getting a divorce, you know?

[24:57] And I’m just like, no, like I can’t do this. I’m talking to my wife, like, babe, I am, I’m struggling. I want to be here with you. I truly do, but I need to sell houses. You know, I’m like, you know, help me. And so she gave me a pep talk. She’s like, get the freak out there. What are you talking about? Like, like, you know, Hey, we’re going through this journey, but listen, at this, at the end of the day, you gotta, you know, you gotta do what you gotta do. And so that’s when I applied these principles even more. So I was like, you know what? I need to get back to the basics, dude. You know, I’m trying to buy all these crazy leads, trying to invest into all these people that are like, yeah, my AI robot and make these calls for you and blah, blah, blah.

[25:33] I’m burning through. And so now I’m down to 50 bucks, right? My whole career changed when I took that $50 and I was prompted to take somebody out to lunch. Now, mind you, 50 bucks out here in Washington, that doesn’t get you a whole bunch for lunch, right? And this cat wanted to go to Scotty Brown’s, which is a local restaurant, which is not top tier, but it’s not cheap at the same time. So for the first time in my life, brother, I ordered me a salad. I ordered me a salad and I told her, hey, get whatever you want, you know? And so the bill came out to 43 bucks, man. And I’m just like, I’m nervous. But this person who was a good friend ended up buying a property with me, you know, not even a month later.

[26:18] And then that steamrolled into the craziest two and a half years of my career. Each year has gone up significantly in volume and overall GCI. And it’s all because, you know what, I went back to who I really was. I’m more of a relational real estate agent. So, you know, taking people out to lunches or hosting open houses or doing community events, that’s where I’m like at my highest and best. That was just, you know, the layup that I needed. And of course, there was some other work that happened, but that was the layup that I needed to be able to be where I’m at today. Hmm. That’s great, man. That’s I, there are so many things out there winning your money and those increase so much through the pandemic, right?

[27:02] I mean, there’s just so much money flowing around this, this industry that I think that people, everybody was just focused on how do we get a piece of that pie? And yeah, it’s, it’s, it’s hard. You got to be on top of it and make sure that you’re not, you’re not going through everything, even when times are good, because you’re going to set yourself up for misery, misery when, when things slow down a little bit, or, you know, I mean, like we have, this is one of the things that I preach about getting some passive income as well for agents that, you know, if there’s seasonality, I don’t know how it is in Washington, but you know, around here for sure, there’s like, you know, this, the summer, the spring, those are hotter times in the winter.

[27:42] Yeah. Right. And then, and then we have the winter, we go through the winter and then we, then we have to, you know, it might be that your, your splits reset or whatever reset. So you’re getting a little bit less money, right. From your commissions that you are earning, even though that’s slower now. And then you need to pay taxes. And it’s like everything, like, I think our dues are also due at the end of the year. Everything just kind of like piles up. And if you’re not used to this flow, like it can, it can hurt. It can take a while to get going. And you feel like you’re digging yourself out of a hole every single year. And, and so, yeah, I mean, like the, the more you understand that that is going to be a reality that some, so like if it’s cashflow, let’s say you still make a good amount of money every year.

[28:22] But as far as cashflow goes, like you’re, you’re just getting less at certain periods of time. You’re getting a lot more. Um, so don’t, don’t overextend yourself when the getting is good. Right. Yeah, that’s true. Pay your bills, pay your bills. I paid all the rest of my bills for the rest of the year. And I was like, you know what, whatever comes in now is just, you know, icing on the cake. So that’s perfect. And, and is your wife doing okay now? Yeah. You know what, she’s in full remission. Um, you know, there was, it was, it was a journey and, uh, you know, there was a 12 hour, 11 hour surgery that she had to go through. That was probably, that was probably the hardest 11 hours of my life, you know, but outside of that, man, she’s been, she’s been traveling.

[29:01] She’s going to Jamaica next week. You know what I mean? For a friend’s wedding. I told her, I was like, Hey, you know what? You have a whole new lease on life. I don’t want you to feel as if you’re, you’re tied down to anything. Go and have fun. You know? And so she’s, she’s taking full advantage of that. That’s such a great reminder to, to really appreciate what you have. Right. I mean, I’m sure that has renewed your lease on life too, in some ways. Right. I mean, like just being thankful for, you know, every moment we have with people we have around us and, you know, not being too focused on, on the future or the past. I just really appreciate the moment. Right. Absolutely, man. It’s a, it’s a reminder of how frail we are as human beings.

[29:39] Right. And how fast this life is going. You know, she got diagnosed with cancer. She was only 29 years old, you know, and it was so aggressive that, and, you know, without getting too like that, you know, we’re a very young couple. It’s not like we were infrequent and I’ve never felt that before. And then two weeks before she went on chemo, it was the size of a lacrosse ball, you know? So like, it was that aggressive. So yeah, you know, we, as humans, man, we have to live it up, man. We have to enjoy the times that we have now because you never know what tomorrow’s going to bring, you know? So yeah, that was, that was a wild time. I’m sure, man, that’s crazy. I can’t imagine.

[30:19] Yeah. I was thinking too, when you’re talking about football and when you’re talking about sports in general, kind of prepping you for it, I never, I didn’t play organized sports growing up. And it’s, it’s always been a bit of a regret of mine because I think I had to learn discipline on, on my own time. I think I had to kind of figure that one out for myself. Um, and that might just be, those might be two related things. Like maybe I needed to do it myself and to have other people teach it to me. Yeah. Um, but is that, is that part of what you would, uh, attribute to your success too and business when you correlate it to, uh, your, your, your career or your, your sports growing up? One million percent.

[30:58] I mean, I had the triple dose, man. My mom had me at a young age. So I was raised in my grandparents’ house and then my grandparents were in the military. Right. And then I played sports. So man, I had the triple dose of like discipline, discipline, discipline, you know? So yeah, I attribute it to the, uh, the, the tribe that raised me. Uh, it’s, it’s such a good thing to have. I mean, again, like I, I definitely, I have it more now. Like I said, like I, I, I got into, you know, running. Uh, I’m not, I’m not meant to be a runner. I’m meant to push boulders up a hill. I’m not meant to run away from anything. That’s not, that’s not me. Uh, but, but it did teach me discipline. You know, like it’s, it’s, it’s like Arnold Schwarzenegger talks about it.

[31:39] It’s, you know, you get 10,000 reps and then you’re going to be good at something. And like, you can, you can apply that to whatever you want, right? You, you want to get something you want to get somewhere. You’re going to have to put in the work and you’re going to have to be disciplined about it or else it’s just not going to, it’s not going to take off. It’s, it’s hard. But, and, and honestly, I wanted to talk to you about this too, because I feel like some people that got in to the business in the pandemic, maybe not, you know, went the beginning of it, but like in 2021, uh, they saw fast success. And I feel like that is almost like, they almost got a kiss of death, um, from that. Um, I’m sure there’s plenty of people that are going to be successful that got in at that time.

[32:16] Uh, but you know, it was kind of easy money there for a while. Like, I mean, talk to me about that. I mean, what your perspective on that? Cause I, you were, you, you were right before that wave really took off for all the money was, was coming in. Yeah. You know, I came in right when it, right when it happened, honestly. Um, and you’re right. It was, it was easy money. You know, it was, people were calling me, you know, and I’m like, who am I? I’m just, you know, this, this greenhorn, you know, in, in real estate, but you know, I had a great, so Tim Cornwell, the guy that I keep mentioning, he had, systems, right. He’s like, Hey, listen, this isn’t going to last. In fact, it can’t last. So, you know, let’s, let’s make sure that we have in mind that this isn’t going to last.

[32:59] And so he built systems around the team to like, Hey, okay. In the slow months, you know, this is what real estate looks like. Cause he’s been in it for decades. Right. And so he’s seen that the highs and the lows. And so he let it, he never let us get too high. In my first year I did, I think 10 or 11 cells just shy of, um, 6 million in total volume. And I’ll do it. I was, I was, I was loving it, dude. I was loving it. But honestly, the, the systems that were built around, um, and when I say systems, I mean, he was always a relationship guy, right? He’s always like relationships over transactions, never, ever just, you know, sell a house and let that be that. Stay in contact with those people, you know, and then one listing should always, um, be get, you know, two more transactions.

[33:41] And so like he built, he built it to where it’s like, you know, if you’re doing one thing, it should lead to another. And so that has always been my baseline. I’ve never dropped lower than 6 million in volume, you know? And so, uh, there, but in saying that everyone that I got into real estate with that year is gone. I’m the last of the Mohicans, you know, like it, it takes twice as much work now to get maybe half the pay that we got back in the day. You know, it’s, it’s, it’s, it’s work. Yeah. So, well, and, and, you know, that’s, that’s the thing. It’s like, you know, we, I was saying that a lot of people are unmotivated there, they, you know, they’re burned out or whatever, because it was really easy there for a while.

[34:19] And so even, you know, people that have been doing it for 20 years, it’s a shift to come back down. Um, it’s a shift to, to go back up. Like, you know, it’s, it’s just, you have to be adaptable in this market to, to stay, you know, to, to stay on it and to, to not lose focus. And you, you, it’s, it’s not going to be the same ever. And that’s kind of fun. And it’s kind of hard, you know, it’s, it’s both, but. No, you’re, you’re totally right. I think honestly, we’re in a healthy market right now, which I think that people will be like, no, we’re not. I can’t afford a house. But at the end of the day, you know what, 2020, 2021, people are paying a hundred to $200,000 above list price. It doesn’t, it doesn’t matter if the price is at a 5%, you know what I mean?

[35:02] You’re paying 200,000 more than what this house is worth. You know? So it was, it was hard, man. It was so hard. I, I prefer, and this might sound crazy. I prefer this market. Yeah. Like a five and a half to six and a half, uh, interest rate. Yeah, no, I agree. Like, I think at the end of the day, it’s, it is, uh, not as, it’s not as stressful. Like, I mean, cause like, you know, the, it was easy, but at the same time it wasn’t because you, you had to like, if you were representing a buyer, you had to write like 10 offers for them and he had to do it like then, like, it was like, see the house, write an offer. Yeah. Um, or else you didn’t stand a chance. So like, it’s, it, it’s different. Um, it’s moving slower, but it is, it’s not as stressful.

[35:42] So yeah, I agree with you completely. Um, and then Devante, where would people find your book if they wanted to pick that up? Yeah, not a problem. You can go to either my website, www.devanteblow.com, or you can go to Amazon. I’m on Amazon. Just type in my name or type in a just one layup and it’ll pop up. Cool. And, and speaking of books, do you have a favorite, uh, book or a fundamental book that you feel like, you know, anybody getting into the business or who has been in the business for a while should read? Yeah. You know, um, I’m always looking to add more revenue streams, right? More ways to generate more money for me, for my family, for my team. And so there’s a book titled, uh, the upstream model by Justin Stoddard.

[36:26] And I met him in Fresno at a speaking engagement. And this book, man, it’s all about how to leverage referrals and leverage relationships to get more referrals. And, um, it’s, it’s a game changer. You know, just going out there and procuring, um, a listing or procuring a buyer is one way. And I’m not speaking down on that, but then also, you know, leveraging the relationships outside of your state, outside of your county, outside of EXP, you know what I mean? Like outside of your brokerage to generate more incoming buyers, incoming sellers is probably, um, a pillar that people need to focus more on. Yeah. Okay, cool. Thanks for that recommendation. Is there anywhere else that you would want people to follow you, um, or reach out to you?

[37:09] Yeah. I’m, I’m very active on Instagram. You can follow me at Devante Blow. I keep it simple. That’s my email too. Devante Blow at gmail.com. You know, I’m very simple, man. At Devante Blow. So, um, if you want, you know, the funnier side of what I do or the fun side of like where I’m at, um, Devante in the PNW is my, my local, um, I explore like local shops, mom and pops and, and hot, hot beds of where we live. So it’s pretty fun. Awesome. Cool. Well, Devante, thank you so much for being on the show. Uh, I really enjoyed, I’m going to go and, uh, try to pick up the basketball again. I’m going to, I’m going to focus on the layups this time and back away from the, or get closer from the three lift point line.

[37:52] Cause I apparently could not shoot a ball anymore to save my life. All right, brother. I appreciate you, man. All right. Thanks. Thanks for listening to the REI agent. If you enjoyed this episode, hit subscribe to catch new shows every week, visit REI agent.com for more content until next time. Keep building the life you want. All content in the show is not investment advice or mental health therapy. It is intended for entertainment purposes only.