Build A Thriving Business That Actually Supports Your Life with Enas Latif

[0:00] Welcome back to the REI Agent. My guest today is Inas Lateef, Associate Broker and Team Lead of the Inas Lateef sales team at Hunt Real Estate ERA in the Buffalo, Niagara region of Western New York, and has recently opened a Compass branch in Tampa, Florida. An immigrant entrepreneur with over 20 years of experience in real estate, Inas has built one of the top producing teams in the Buffalo, Niagara market, earning recognition as a top 1% producer in the region. Her story is one of building something from the ground up in a market that does not always make the national headlines, but has its own distinct dynamics and opportunities that she understands better than almost anyone. Inas, welcome to the REI Agent podcast.

[0:44] Thank you. Thank you for having me. So first of all, where are you from originally and what brought you to the US? I was born and raised in Amman, Jordan and moved here in 1994. It took a few years for me to figure out what I wanted to do. And in 2001 was when I actually got my real estate license. Okay. So you got to ride the swing up and… And down and up. Rollercoaster. Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. What a crazy time, I’m sure. Did you go straight to Buffalo then at that time or… Yes. Yes. I have been in Buffalo for, oh my goodness, going on 32 years now. Wow. Go Bills. Go Bills.

[1:30] Right. Yeah. So cool. Tell me a little bit about, yeah, what got you to start real estate in the first place? It’s actually a funny story. So my husband and I were younger. We had a little baby and we started looking for a home. We worked hard, saved some money, started looking for a home. And back then we didn’t have Google or Zillow or anything like that. We would drive around the neighborhoods we thought we wanted to live in, call from the signs, that kind of thing. And I believe we were getting a bit frustrated because our experience was an agent would set up an appointment to show us their listing that we just called them on and didn’t really get an experience where any of those agents helped us understand the process, understand the market, or understand what we’re looking for and how to help us find a home.

[2:24] So it became really frustrating. And jokingly, my husband on the way home one day, he said, even you could do a better job. And I was like, first of all, I’m not sure if this is a compliment or an insult. But I was like, you know what? Challenge accepted. So a few days later, he saw a little ad in the paper for a breakfast seminar, if you’d like to start your real estate career by Hunt Real Estate. And I attended the seminar and here I am today. So are you happy he pushed you that direction now? Yeah, very much so. I have to say, maybe he didn’t push me to get into real estate or to get my license. But that first year was so challenging, especially for someone like me who doesn’t have a COI or friends or family to get some business from to get you going like most agents do.

[3:19] So it was a bit challenging. So it was a bit challenging. And I had a lot to learn. You know, English was my second language. I struggled with that a little bit and had a lot to learn. So there were a few times where there were a lot of tears. And the, I guess the lack of courage to want to continue. That’s when he really pushed me to stick with it. Okay. Yeah. Sometimes that’s, you know, it can be exciting and kind of fun to start. And then, you know, you get through the course and all that kind of stuff. And it’s, you learn that the business is not taught to you at all in the course. Right. Where do you get your business from? Especially for someone like me, right? So with really not a lot of people that I knew here.

[4:09] So, yeah, I mean, that’s something that people can struggle with, you know, if they’re, if they’re wanting to relocate. I mean, I feel like that’s one of the, you know, the, the other side of the sword or whatever, you know, that people don’t talk about as much with real estate is, you know, you kind of feel like you’re almost become, you know, more and more married to your market. Right. And you don’t have as much flexibility to move around, et cetera. But it’s possible. I guess, do you have any tips for people who would be thinking about starting their business in a brand new market? Maybe a spouse needs to move or they just want to, you know, Hey, I want to go live in San Diego. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, the way I found a way to make it here in Buffalo, not being from Buffalo, honestly was a mentor at the office that I had. It was my branch leader. And she, she gave me a list of things to do. And she said, just come in every day and do these things. Be consistent. If you treat it like a full-time job, you will make full-time money. If you don’t, you will not make money.

[5:09] And a lot of it was prospecting because the first things they teach you when you finish real estate school, the first thing they tell you is, Oh, connect with your CUI, send them letters. That kind of stuff. I didn’t have CUI. So it was more about calling for sale by owners, calling expireds, doing as many open houses as possible. Even though I didn’t have any of my own listings, I started going around the office asking agents if they need help with open houses, those kinds of things. And I did it every day. And I was getting frustrated because I still wasn’t getting the business. And one day she told me, she said, keep barking. One day somebody will listen. And she was not wrong. You know, it was consistency that mattered.

[5:52] And I had just kept doing it until I got my first for sale by owner listing, then my second, then my third and fourth, like literally in a short period of time, they just all happened. And from there, really business started snowballing. And that first for sale by owner that I listed, I sold them a house. And since then, now it’s been 26 years. Since then, I’ve worked with them and family members and friends of theirs multiple times. Yeah, it’s amazing how that works. Right. And it’s so true. There’s just even if you have a sphere of influence in your market, I mean, it can be a grind to get started and to have them trust you to have them think of you, they probably have another agent that they’ve been working with or whatever.

[6:35] I mean, if you’re new, most people know, you know, like seven, eight other agents. So it can just take it can be like you’re you’re beating your head against the wall for a while. But then there seems like a tipping point, right, where where things just start snowballing, start start coming in, the business starts flowing. Very, very true. And I see that a lot with my agents on my team as I mentor them and help them get started. Often, you know, they’re COI, to your point, maybe they know other people, but also they’re sitting back and watching to see if you’re sticking with this business or not. Do you know what you’re doing or not before they trust you to work with you? They know that you’re new where maybe prospecting outside of that. Those people don’t know that you’re new.

[7:23] As long as you do your homework and, you know, you provide good service, they’re not going to know that you’re new where your COI does. So sometimes it takes a little time to gain your COI’s trust. So don’t be discouraged by that. Absolutely. I think that thing that you said before, consistency is what’s so important. I think if you’re just consistent with something. And, you know, for me, I did a blog. I did a blog. I started off with three times a week, just really short, simple things. And then no AI then, right? Yeah. And then, you know, I went down to two. But and honestly, you know, I don’t even know how many people actually ever read what I actually wrote. But I was sharing it on social media every time I wrote something. And I think that just the act of having something that I’m sharing, hey, this is me doing something in real estate.

[8:14] And they’re like, oh, yeah, he’s been I mean, that’s been happening for a long time. So, like, you know, again, it’s not immediate, but that consistency, that showing up and hey, I’m in the business, I’m doing this, you know, putting that in front of people one way or the other. Even if they’re not reading it, just seeing the headline, if you will, you know, after a year or so, they start realizing and associating me with that. So I think that was really helpful. That consistent. I love that. I think it positioned you as the expert and the go to person, you know, and it builds credibility for you without you even like trying to prove anything to anyone. You’re just sharing good information. Absolutely. Love that.

[8:51] And I think, you know, that can look different for a lot of different people. Like, you know, some people might want to be kind of just just on the social media, like, you know, just sending stories or doing reels or that kind of stuff and just kind of doing day in the life, maybe even. But I think it’s that consistency that it just, you know, to remind everybody in your sphere, if you have it right, that you’re doing this and this is your job and you’re good at it. You know what you’re doing. Yeah. And social media made things so much easier. Now you can be visible to thousands of people by doing a few minute clip versus how long did it used to take us with networking, let’s say, to reach, you know, a thousand people.

[9:35] It would take you all year to meet a thousand people through networking, if not longer, you know. So it’s pretty amazing what you could do with social media. Absolutely. But showing credibility, I think, is key. Yeah, it’s a it could be a, you know, it could be kind of a double edged sword as well as if you’re just chasing trends and being a little too goofy. I don’t know if people will take you as seriously as you probably want them to if you actually want to convert some business. I there’s a really funny agent that I follow and they’re super viral. But like, I think I try to look up their their sales data once. Like, I don’t know if they’ve done very much actual business. They might just be making money on the social media.

[10:20] So, yeah. Yeah, that’s interesting. And I agree with you. It’s nice to have a little fun on it, I guess, and show your personality. But you definitely have to focus on becoming the expert and building credibility and showcasing that through social media because it’s so easy to reach so many people at once. Yeah. Over and over, too. Right. Yep. So now your team has built a level of presence and production most agents only aspire to over your 20, well, 26 years, right, in the Buffalo and Niagara market. What’s the single most operational discipline you would point to as like the biggest reason that growth has been durable? And where do most agents try and fail to replicate it? Mm hmm. Are you referring to my team like as team members?

[11:08] Are you referring to me as a team leader? Yeah. Yeah. No, your sales team. Yeah. Yeah. My sales team. Yeah. You know, what I coach them on, first and foremost, is to be consistent and have good habits daily. And, you know, have some balance between life and work as well, because otherwise, you know, people will have the peaks and valley. You need a consistent pipeline for consistent paycheck. Then you’re not as stressed and you could really manage your time better. So to me, it’s consistency is key, really. Everything else you could work on. Everything else you could definitely, you could definitely, you know, work on your objection handling techniques. You can certainly, you know, potentially have more buyers or whatever.

[12:00] But being consistent in what you do is really the key, in my opinion. Yeah, it’s true. I think, you know, even the seasoned agents have to kind of be reminded a little bit of coming out of like such a strong market that, you know, you’ve got to stay consistent. You got to, you know, you got to work on your sphere. You got to work on your database. You got to work on your business. You got to work on your business because, you know, we, it was always a concern of people that, you know, were joining, you know, in the pandemic and where everything was flying off the shelves. And it was so crazy that they wouldn’t know how to, you know, do the business afterwards. But, you know, it’s easy to get lazy when it’s just following your life, right?

[12:36] Yes, exactly. And I think the realtor culture is started or a lot of realtors, I should say, they started relying on all the online leads that were funneling through that time and just paying for leads and buying leads and all of that, which is fine. It’s a good supplement to your business, but your business should not be built on that, right? Your business should be built on relationships, you know, prospecting, old school prospecting still works and works really well. You’re building a relationship with that person versus someone just clicking online one after another, connecting with three different agents on the same day. You’re running to go show them a property and you’re hoping that they will work with you and maybe be able to build a relationship with them.

[13:23] So going back to old school methods, you can call them old school if you want, but they work, which is focusing on relationships and outreach, you know, be proactive about your business. Don’t wait for the business to come to you for that phone to ring or for, you know, buying leads. It’s fine if you do it as a supplement, but don’t rely on it. Yeah, I think that’s really a good point. I mean, I mean, there’s a couple of points there that I wanted to add to is that, you know, we’re not, if you’re, if you’re relying on somebody else’s model, their business model, basically, right? I mean, if you’re buying leads, you’re relying on them. And so they can change that. Like it’s going to, it could get way more expensive.

[14:01] It can be different than what it has been. I think a lot of people did struggle with, with the models getting more expensive or more saturated with other agents or maybe just less business in general. And, you know, if you’re starting out and you’re looking for more business, like you said, it’s not a bad way to go necessarily. But if you don’t focus on that relationship, you don’t focus on them being like, you know, long-term clients, trying to get, you know, their friends and family, multiple transactions from that connection. And, yeah, you’re going to be building a business model that’s like just reliant completely on something that you don’t really have control over. And I also like to tell people that, you know, think about what you want your business to look like when you’re kind of like, I know you’re desperate for anything right now, but when you’re like rolling, what do you want that to look like?

[14:50] Do you want to be playing a receptionist and answering the call for like, you know, that 1% of the people that you talk to that might be a good option? Or do you want to be talking to your friends that, you know, you have a relationship with and working with warm referrals and that kind of thing? And I think it’s true too for like the consistency thing. If you’re posting on social media, are you cut out to be an influencer? Do you want that life? If not, you know, maybe that’s not the place to focus. Maybe a blog or something like that looks more as more your speed. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. It has to be something that you’re comfortable with and can be authentic and is, you know, the ability to be consistent with it, right?

[15:31] Is it sustainable for you? If it’s something so outside of your comfort zone, it may not be sustainable for you. So there’s so many different things that you could do to generate business. Maybe a newer agent should pick the top three and stick with it for this year. And maybe next year, add another one or two that you’re like, okay, I can do this now. Or I’ll learn how to do this. Or I’ll push myself out of my comfort zone to do this. But be consistent with it if you choose to do it. 100%. I know of some people who have tracked, like they’re, you know, very, very, like have multiple like spreadsheets and, you know, data sets and, you know, graphs to show, you know, where the business is coming from.

[16:12] And, you know, if they’re taking on something new, like paying for leads, for example, like, you know, actually track what the result was from that. I know that takes a lot of discipline to do, but it’s a great thing to do for sure if you can. We had talked a little bit about the market shifting a little bit or not being as hot as it was through the pandemic. I’m curious what the data is actually telling you about your markets you’re in now. So Buffalo remains a very strong seller’s market, despite of maybe different news that we’re hearing in different areas of the country. And I believe a big part of it is affordability. It’s a very affordable housing market here in Buffalo. I think we were rated multiple times in a row through, you know, the website Zillow being number one area to live in for affordability.

[17:05] So we definitely have more demand than we have supply at this time. But it’s kind of weird. You really have to understand the market because it’s sometimes even within our area, the Buffalo Niagara area, it can be in different pockets, can behave a little bit differently. Different types of property can behave a little bit differently, too. And things will still have to be priced well, whether it’s a single family home, a multifamily, something that needs work, something that’s moving condition. If it’s not priced right, we’re not attracting enough buyers to that home for it to sell. And there are some properties that are just sitting on the market. So it’s a little bit different. You know, you can’t generalize so much depending on school district and other things.

[17:55] Yeah, sure. That makes sense. That sounds similar to where we’re at. And I know that in Florida, there’s some other dynamics there as well with like insurance. I know that’s been a big thing there. So from what I’ve heard, I interview people, you know, all across the country. And Florida is definitely one of the pockets. It seems like it’s been hurting a little bit more. There’s been a little bit more of a price correction. Yeah, in Florida, there’s absolutely more inventory for the buyers to choose from. So they’re definitely at leverage. And it is a buyer’s market there. However, it also depends from one area to another. So some areas, you know, are more so of a buyer’s market than other areas.

[18:33] And again, if something is priced properly and has, you know, what the buyers are looking for in terms of offering certain things, maybe being out of the flood zone, being out of hurricane areas and things like that would become more attractive. So these things will matter when you’re looking at properties in Florida. That makes sense. What do you think is still a really good place for agents, your team, your team seller selling agents to focus on? Like what kind of buyers, sellers, et cetera, is a good thing to still pay attention to? Is there a certain type of class or yeah, something that’s still strong in those markets? Yeah, I mean, I think that listings are the way to last in this business.

[19:20] They’re almost money in the bank. Obviously, in a seller’s market, it’s easier to have listings. But of course, I experienced markets where it was a buyer’s market and you carry the listing for months and months and months. So making sure that you know what you’re doing if you’re in that type of market and you’re constantly remarketing your listings and maintaining the relationship with the seller. So if it took a little bit longer, they maintain the listings with you as well. So that’s really important. But of course, working with buyers is always fun and gratifying, you know, especially for some home buyers are a lot of fun to work with. And they’re eager to get into a home. They’re eager to learn.

[20:03] And for me, maybe because I love real estate so much and I love teaching people about it and all the nuances. And also, I always take in consideration protecting someone’s investment when they’re buying a property, even if they want to use it for their own family home. It’s still an investment. Right. So I like to educate them on that aspect of it, too. So I really enjoy working with first time home buyers here and there as well. But also, I think a lot of people, a lot of people in our industry overlook working with investors. I mean, investors are bread and butter. Typically, an investor is doing multiple transaction a year and they’re doing it for years and years. So that is a recurring paycheck if you could focus on working with a few investors throughout the year and maintain the relationship to keep them long term.

[21:03] So we really work with a lot of investors on our team. Yeah. I was going to ask you, too. You said you mentioned off air that you also have invested in real estate as well. So can you talk about that a little bit and maybe what some of the investment opportunities would be in the markets you serve? Yeah. So personally, I do both invest in buying and holding and then invest in buying and flipping. Depends on the market and what I have available that I could buy at a good price.

[21:37] Because I believe that you make your money on an investment when you buy it. Right. Or what you pay for it is where you make your money. If you overpaid on it for an investment property, it will take a very long time to recoup your investment. So buy and hold, meaning that you buy the type of property that you could rent. And there are different properties that you could rent differently. Long term tenants, short term rental, Airbnb. So different options. Of course, we have to check with municipalities and things like that on what’s allowed, what’s not. But there are also the opportunities where you could buy something that in need of tender love and care and beautifying a home. And especially if it’s located in a sought after neighborhood and be able to then turn around and sell it for a profit.

[22:32] If that’s what you want to do. That’s, of course, quicker money, higher risk. You know, so different types of investments. Yeah, I love it. I think getting tied in and, you know, we all have been introduced to a property or have other agents be like, you know, I don’t know what to do with this one. This is a disaster. And, you know, we come across these things and these are good opportunities. If you can maybe partner with somebody that has had experience with renovating properties, maybe it’s a contractor, maybe it’s another agent that does it, you know, to kind of get started. That could be really helpful. It’s how it worked for us. But, yeah, what an opportunity. It’s usually the best way to get a property at a good price is if it needs that TLC, right?

[23:17] Because, you know, you’re not just trying to lowball somebody that doesn’t know better, but you have to go in and do the work and take the risk and risk your capital to get this property up to par. And if it’s in a great location and rents well, then, you know, usually you’re left with a good amount of equity. So if you’ve done any of those BRRRR methods, that could be an awesome way for an agent to kind of build up a portfolio without really having to invest that much money out of pocket. Right. So we did that through equity lines. We, you know, we got equity line on our first house. We moved into our second house, got an equity line on that. Eventually, we got equity lines on like five different houses altogether.

[23:57] But now we can, you know, use that temporarily to buy a house in cash, you know, at the auction steps if we want to or however. And then, you know, do a refinance after the renovations are done to keep it as a long term rental or just sell it and, you know, get the equity that you’ve built that way. But I love it. Yeah, absolutely. And, you know, agents sometimes forget we make a lot of money, maybe, you know, at least the ones who are very active and successful in this business. But there are many agents forget about retirement, you know, and making sure that we have a supplemental income. Also, if the market tanks, if your health, you know, maybe takes a little whatever you want to say. But if you’re like, you know, not healthy enough to be out there with buyers and sellers for a while or for a long while, potentially making sure that you’re still financially secure is very important.

[24:59] Because if we can’t go out the door every day and work, we’re not making money. Right. So you have to secure yourself financially. Absolutely. Yeah. One little trick, too, on that, by the way, I love the equity method. I did that myself a few times. But then also, you know, I realized that I had quite a bit of money I can borrow for free from my life insurance policy. So that’s one little trick, too, that maybe a lot of people are not aware of. Is this like an infinity banking kind of thing? Yeah. I mean, people can call it whatever it is. But truly, if you’ve been paying into life insurance for a long time, I mean, it’s free money to borrow, has very low interest. And if you’re flipping a property or investing in a property, it might be worth it to do that and maybe pay the money back so it doesn’t affect your policy later.

[25:53] Sure. Yeah, I love that. Another thing, too, is if you’re building relationships with banks, local banks, typically, smaller community banks, they sometimes offer some really good financing for these kind of things, especially if you have experience. I think it helps if you’ve done this a couple of times, you have a track record, et cetera. I’ve gone to a closing. I bought a property and received a check that I could then use to help rehab the property. Now, typically, I don’t always get everything. I don’t always get the property, no down payment, and all the money for renovations with, again, no down payment. Typically, it’s not that good, but a little bit of something, and then we can supplement it with equity lines and get the deal done.

[26:38] So definitely getting involved, having maybe something to show a bank, your experience once you get there, can definitely jumpstart you to get some of these deals that may be hard if you’re first starting. You’re like, how the heck am I supposed to come to the courthouse steps and have money to just buy this in cash? This is usually the way. And it can start as easily as just your first house you buy being one that you want to keep as a rental, and that starts for the equity. And we all know that that’s not 25% down. Yeah, exactly. So investors to work with for yourself, but then also become an investor in real estate, right? We’re in the market every day. You’re seeing all these deals. You understand the market.

[27:23] You know where the money is. While you’re making other people money, which is totally fine, and we should consider making ourselves money and securing our own financial freedom. The goal, the holy grail, especially once people have seen some of the ups and downs of a market is if you can keep your lifestyle lower and ultimately cover your lifestyle with the cash flow that’s coming in, then you have a lot more freedom to not stress about the ups and downs of the business, either seasonality or just market shifts, et cetera. So that’s hard for some people, but it’s a good goal to have. Yeah. Well, budgeting is important, too, which a lot of agents don’t, too. Know your expenses. The must-pay-every-month expenses.

[28:15] Give yourself an allowance for extras. And really stick with that budget. And I see many agents in our market. They get a big paycheck. They go out and buy this or buy that. And then a couple months later, they’re complaining they can’t pay their bills. Well, budget yourself, people. Got a Porsche payment coming due. I mean, it’s all something real fast. Yeah, totally. Well, talk a little bit about how you keep yourself. How do you keep your mind right? How do you keep your stress levels good? You’re doing a lot. You have multiple offices. You have teams. You’re selling a lot. How do you stay right yourself? Yeah, thank you for asking that. Well, some days are better than others, I’ll have to say.

[29:03] I make an effort to have some balance on a daily basis. However, there are some days in the busy season where maybe I don’t have that exact balance. But you know what? I’ll always feel the burnout after. So I have to remind myself how important it is to have that balance. So first thing first, you know, having my morning routine, it doesn’t have to be elaborate. For me, sitting down, having coffee, chatting with my husband together. We usually do it outside. So we’re getting fresh air and some sun just wakes my body and mind in a whole different level. And some kind of movement, whether it’s a few stretches or going to the gym that morning or, you know, taking a walk, whatever it is, that’s important to me.

[29:45] And I think it really helps me start my day on the right foot. And, you know, the days where I rush and don’t do that, I feel the difference throughout the whole day. So for me, that’s really important. Another thing for me, I love my family very, very much. I have two daughters and a grandbaby. I love my friends very much. I have a small circle of really good friends that I enjoy spending time with, quality time with. And quality time happens to be my love language. So to me, it’s carving time for, you know, to spend with my family, carving time to spend with friends, no matter what, and treat it like an appointment is really been helpful in that work-life balance. Because otherwise, you just keep working, working, working, you know, and it’s unhealthy.

[30:36] Absolutely. Yeah. I mean, yeah, put it in your calendar. That’s like, that’s definitely a tip. If you haven’t done that, like plan your personal stuff in your calendar. So like, you know, somebody asks you, you know, can you show me the house then? Like, oh, actually I got an appointment. I’m going to the gym. Yeah. But it’s an appointment. It’s important. And so let’s work around it and let’s find another time. Some things if you have on repeat in your calendar, then it’s already embedded in your mind. Oh, Wednesdays? Yeah, I’m available after 11 or I’m available after 10, right? Because you carve that time for yourself on repeat. So I’m a nerd with calendars and I’m a nerd with time blocking.

[31:16] And I think that’s the only way us agents can survive this industry and have balance and not lose relationships and important things while we’re focusing on our career and becoming successful. Yeah, 100%. If you were talking to a team member that was wanting to, you know, double their production over the next 24 months without burning out, do you have like a single highest leverage habit or system change you’d point to them first to do to implement? Yes, absolutely. Visibility trumps ability. So being visible in every way possible. Social media could be one aspect. Blogging, being at maybe selective. Be selective on where you’re spending your time for networking or attending certain parties or attending certain gatherings that you know you might be able to connect with people who could benefit you and your business while you’re having a good time.

[32:16] You could do both at the same time. But be selective. You don’t need to go to every party. Go to the ones where you know you meet the right people. And I’m very selective with that myself. And then honestly, building your own pipeline of business. If you’re building your pipeline, you’re not relying on it to come in, then you will see the business in the next 12 and 24 months. And it becomes easier to maintain and recreate. You know, especially if you sold 12 houses this year, those are 12 relationships. At least eight of them will become your fan and, you know, refer you to probably two or three more people in the next four years. So you already guaranteed your business. You just need to work really diligent on certain things now and be consistent with it now and then maintain the relationships from there.

[33:07] Yeah, that’s perfect. I love it. If you’re like most agents and you’re listening to this and you’re driving around and you don’t have your pen and paper handy, definitely go to reiagent.com to sign up for our newsletter. We will summarize these highlights here every week. So definitely subscribe to that to catch it. And with that, I want to transition into our golden nugget section. What golden nuggets do you have for our listeners today? Golden nugget. Let me see. Yeah, I have a few, but I guess the biggest lesson for me is build a business that supports your life and not a life that supports your business. Okay. If that makes sense. Yeah. No, totally. Totally. Yeah, it’s gold. It’s so true.

[33:57] I think, you know, the curse and the gift of this business is you kind of can create it the way you want it to be. But if you don’t, if you’re not intentional, it’s going to run you over, especially if you take off, right? Absolutely. Either run your day or run your business or it will run you. And for years, I thought personally, and I say this from my own personal experience that we’re, you know, just working harder, you know, all I need is work harder, work harder. But today I know, and I do believe that to be successful, you need to create the right systems for yourself and then stick with it. Even when you don’t feel like it, you create a system, you know, that system works, you need to stick with it.

[34:42] And like we said, I mean, I can’t say the word consistent enough, I guess, but make sure you’re surrounding yourself with the right people. You’re surrounding yourself with the right mentors and the right mindset is everything too. And not sacrificing your health or your relationships during that process. You know, and I say that from my own personal experience, really. Absolutely. No, it’s so true. Do you have a favorite book, a fundamental one that you think everybody should read or just one you’re currently enjoying? Yes. I’m always reading all kinds of different books on self-help and, you know, real estate stuff and, you know, the high hanging fruits, all these books, right, that everybody else reads.

[35:26] But one time somebody recommended this one book to me, and I love audibles, by the way. I can’t sit here and read for long. I’m not a good sit on a chair person. But I listen to audibles when I’m walking or when I’m driving, and I love them very much. And this person recommended this book to me that was 10 hours long on audible. I was like, geez, what am I going to finish that? I’ll tell you what, though. As soon as I started listening to it, I couldn’t stop. So the book is Think Like a Monk by Jay Shetty. And since then, I read it one more time. I do recommend it to almost everyone I know. And I know it’s not a real estate book. And that’s one of the reasons I recommend it to realtors especially because a lot of us are taught over and over and being told over and over and focusing on tactics.

[36:19] You know, just tactics, tactics, tactics, tactics, where this book really focuses on mindset. And even in real estate, you know, it’s a people business. And I believe it’s directly tied to the ability to manage our thoughts, our feelings, our emotions, our priorities, and at the end of the day, our relationships. Absolutely. Because it’s a relationship business. So it really changed. This book really, like, enlightened me in different ways and changed me inside out. And I can’t recommend it enough to people. That’s a new one. I’ll have to check it out. And same, Audible or Bust. I do like, I’m a little bit bougie with it. I do kind of like to get the Kindle version if it syncs as well so that if there is something I want to highlight at a stoplight or whatever, you know, I can go in there and highlight it and take a note or whatever.

[37:18] But in reality, I mostly just listen to it and try to get as much as I can out of it. But yeah, Enos, thanks so much for being on the show. This has been an incredible conversation. To everybody listening, if you got something out of today’s episode, please take a moment to subscribe to the REI Agent Podcast wherever you listen. Leave us a review if you can. It truly helps us reach more agents and investors who are on this journey with us. Of course, you can find us on YouTube and all the different podcast platforms. And where can people find you? Are you on social medias, websites, et cetera? Yes, absolutely. Inaz Lateef Realtor is my own personal social media on Instagram. But I also have Inaz Lateef Sales Team dot com is my website in Buffalo.

[38:08] And the legacy group Tampa dot com is my website in Florida. But really to find me personally, just go to Instagram Inaz Lateef Realtor. Awesome. Well, thank you so much for being on the show. It’s been a fun conversation. Thank you for having me. Thanks for listening to the REI Agent. If you enjoyed this episode, hit subscribe to catch new shows every week. Visit REIAgent dot 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. Thank you. Thank you.