Mortgage Connects an MGIC Podcast

“A winning mindset”: Adding value to referral partners to earn their business

• MGIC MI

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Stephanie Budnick (00:03):
Welcome to Mortgage Connects by MGIC, bringing you the latest insights from top mortgage professionals around the industry. I am your host Stephanie Budnick, and I have the pleasure to have Matt Weaver on with us Vice President of Mortgage Sales for CrossCountry Mortgage. Matt Weaver is ranked as the number one purchase mortgage originator in the United States for closed transactions and has been the number one originator in the entire state of Florida for 20 20, 20 21, and 2022. Matt has dedicated his life's work to servicing mortgage needs of the real estate community, specializing in the purchase market, its agents and their clients. For over two decades, Matt's cutting edge concepts and relentless pursuit of supporting agents has earned him the record for the number of contracts accepted in a multiple offer situation. During the most competitive years our MO market has seen in modern history, his unique team structure and process flows have allowed him to help over 25,000 families purchase a home and remain a top producer through all market cycles. Matt, that's a pretty impressive vial. Thank you so much for being here with us today.

Matt Weaver (01:10):
Well, thank you. Thank you for the opportunity, Stephanie. I greatly appreciate it. And to the, uh, staff as well.

Stephanie Budnick (01:16):
Yes. We are just so excited to kind of learn more about what makes you so successful and some of the ins and outs of your business. So I kind of just wanted to start with that. I mean, your bio said a lot about you, but what makes you so unique and what are some of those cutting edge concepts that you had that make you so successful in today's industry?

Matt Weaver (01:36):
Well, thank you again. I mean, I would say to you that my competitive advantage, um, for, for years has been what I call singleness of purpose. Um, and what I mean by singleness of purposes is that we know who our customer is. Hmm. <affirmative> and, and I I really do believe to be great at anything, one must specialize in what it is that they're doing. And so my customer is the real estate agent. My customer has been the real estate agent, regardless of interest rate volatility. And it's with that, that gives us, um, that competitive advantage that I'm referring to because you see, when you know who your customer is, then you can of course think about how you can support them to the highest level possible. You can understand their pain points, understand their sales cycle from beginning to end, and how you can add value within their sales cycle, keeping them more efficient and helping them sell more real estate.

Stephanie Budnick (02:30):
That makes a lot of sense. And I think that, you know, typically a loan officer thinks of their customer as just the home buyer. But it's an interesting point of view that you have that, you know, the real estate agent is your number one customer that you're specializing in.

Matt Weaver (02:45):
Yes. And and I say that because I think, you know, when you look at the a loan originator, there are several different ways and methods of getting business. Um, and I think the challenge that a lot of loan originators have is the ebb and flow with where the market is and where, um, interest rates are. So, as an example, interest rates have gone up. So of course a lot of managers and branch managers and owners are talking to loan officers saying, you gotta go out and get real estate agent business, but here, watch, what if you didn't like working with real estate agents?

Stephanie Budnick (03:20):
<laugh>, that'd be difficult.

Matt Weaver (03:21):
<laugh>, right? I mean, if you, if you don't, then there's other segments of the business that you might have more of an affinity to, which you should go and, and go after that type of business because you're gonna have passion for it, you're gonna understand it. And so it's with that, that we just happen to understand who our customer is. And it really dates back to, um, when I was 18 years old, um, I actually started off in the real estate industry, um, from 18 to 21. And, um, I did really well at it, uh, even being very young. But it even goes back further than that. I mean, when I was 10, 11, 12 years old, um, I would collect real estate agents, postcards. Um, I I thought they were like celebrities.

Stephanie Budnick (04:07):
Oh, okay.

Matt Weaver (04:08):
Okay. Um, I'd see 'em on billboards and, and I just thought, wow, I'd see 'em on television and, and, you know, doing commercials. So I always had an affinity to, uh, agents. And so then I became an agent, um, did really well at it, and then converted to the mortgage side of the industry. I was, I guess I'm a little bit more analytical than I thought, which, um, you know, converting over, uh, made it. Of course it was, it was perfect for me. But, um, in, in doing it, I understand, um, the agent sales cycle so I can understand what pain points they have, where I can fill that pain point and that, and that's something that's really, really big for us. Sure.

Stephanie Budnick (04:48):
That makes sense. It made me things that you said made me think of a couple different things. One is I love getting mail with different things that I had gotten from as a child. Like, I don't know, postcards and recipes and different things. So I remember getting things like that and thinking they were pretty cool. So I can, I can re uh, resonate with that. Um, and then when you were talking about specializing, you know, it's kind of, we, you think about where you wanna target and who you wanna be with, and being more mindful of, of who your audience is. It's like golfing, you know, knowing what you're aiming at and, and really practicing that and not just, oh, yeah, that, that sounds good. You know, <laugh>, it's kind of the same analogy

Matt Weaver (05:28):
Without, without a doubt. Uh, you know, I was talking to, um, a group of loan officers a few weeks back and, and I said, look, um, loan officers, they're kidding me. A loan officer out there that, that may have gone through a divorce, just as an example. And they may have an affinity to that and understand that there's a lot of emotions that take place there. Um, and, and they may want to help people in that, in that world going through that. So their customer might be a divorce attorney, right? Sure. And so if you know that that is your customer, then you can really figure out how to market to them, how to provide value to them, and you can stay focused on them. So for, for example, the Matt Weaver team in specializing with the agent community, you know, um, the second advantage that I have, and, and this is gonna sound, uh, it may come off a little arrogant, but I don't mean it to be arrogant whatsoever, is thinking.

Matt Weaver (06:22):
And, and what I mean by thinking is, every day for a minimum of 30 to 45 minutes, I'm thinking about my customer and I'm thinking about how I can add more value to them. I'm thinking about our process on how we can always enhance it. And, and so if that is my world, and that's what I'm thinking about, they always say what you can, you know, what you focus on expands. So it's with the singleness of purpose in specializing with agents. And then it's the thinking about it every day and taking time to think. Um, I think there was a reporter, a study that most people somewhere in the neighborhood of over 80, 85, maybe even 90%, don't take time to think. Um, and it's something that's really, really critically important for us. Otherwise, we're just servicing. Um, and we're on defense. Uh, my my position is, is that I'm always looking to remain on offense with, with our value and our services to the real estate agent community.

Stephanie Budnick (07:25):
I like that. I like staying on offense. And you talked about some of the ways that I believe you've earned that accolade of most realtor referred. You know, are there any additional types of activities that you do that you feel, um, aid in generating some of that accolade that allows you to get that type of, um, recognition?

Matt Weaver (07:46):
Yes. So the, the first thing is, um, many, many years ago, I wanted to develop a set process, a set system. And, and, and today it's what I call our scripted process. And sometimes when we hear the word script, we think it's negative. Um, we think, oh my gosh, are we gonna be robots reviewed as robots? Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. And so when I say script, I'm not necessarily referring to just verbally. I'm also referring to the actual process itself. And so if you take a look at my, um, existing process from the point of a customer saying, hi, I'd like to get pre-approved all the way through to funding, and every micro step in between is a scripted process. And, and the reason why we are so diligent with our scripted process is that's how we remain consistent. Um, I think consistency is what the customer deserves.

Matt Weaver (08:45):
Whether your customer is a real estate agent, a divorce attorney, uh, and so on. And, you know, it actually dates back to kind of emulating or modeling, um, a restaurant that I've always, uh, had such respect for a restaurant group called Hillstone. Um, you may be familiar with it. Hillstone, uh, it owns several different restaurant concepts. One of them being Houston's Houston's restaurant. And, um, there's one probably a, a few miles away from where I live, and we happen to go there all the time, but I've been going there since I was 13. Now, it's interesting because you wouldn't say they have extraordinary food. You would say they have great food, okay. But what they're known for is the level of consistency and consistency and service they provide, which probably makes them the number one privately owned, um, restaurant chain across the United States. So when we think about it from a perspective of being a loan officer, um, the first thing I would say to loan officers that are looking to originate high levels of volume or units, I personally count units. Um, but if you're counting volume, whatever it may be, is to sit back and really whiteboard your process from beginning to end. What does that look like? How do you enhance it? Um, it's not gonna look, uh, how it's gonna look today versus let's say six months from now or a year from now. Cause you're constantly figuring out new methods and so on. But it's, I think, critically important to have it scripted out. So your customer that you're serving has a consistent process.

Stephanie Budnick (10:24):
And that's kind of what you were talking about spending the time thinking of is sometimes that, right? The processes in which you go and how you can be more efficient,

Matt Weaver (10:32):
No question. I mean, each day, um, that I have my thinking time, um, it's gonna be on a certain topic, it could be another value proposition to the agent community. It could be how to enhance an existing value proposition. Um, it could move over to operations, it can move over to process flow and so on. So at this point in time with our, um, with my team structure, uh, there are a lot of different, uh, what we call layers <laugh>, that sure can, can kind of be endless, uh, which, which makes it fun. I mean, let's face it, most of us in the, uh, mortgage industry are analytical. So, um, us analytical people love kind of figuring things out. So it, it does work. Um, but yes, in that thinking time, it's always how can we enhance the process? I, I would say that we are, um, probably either number one, two, or three, uh, of the most non-com complacent mortgage teams in North America.

Matt Weaver (11:34):
Um, and, and, and what do I mean by that? So, uh, we could have an application day, meaning, you know, someone calling to get pre-approved. We could have it to where it is up 50, 60, 70% in one day. The following day we're asking ourselves, how can we be better and how can we do more? And so we're never complacent in what happened yesterday. And so that's a really big thing because I think that's where you can really gain momentum. And momentum is one of the, one of the hardest things that originators, um, can maintain because they can get really busy one day, uh, and, and they allow that one day to maybe take them off course the following day.

Stephanie Budnick (12:18):
Yeah. I, I believe you, when you say complacency can definitely be a hindrance. If you're not willing to look internally and reflect and make modifications, I think that you'd be stagnant. And, uh, you, you thinking about that constantly, I think I agree. Would it allows you to succeed like that? Um, we have, you mentioned that, you know, interest rates are on the rise and no matter what's been changing, there's certain things that you are able to do that keeps you the way you are. But are there any industry trends that you are seeing that other originators should maybe take note of?

Matt Weaver (12:53):
Well, okay, so the interest rate environment, of course, uh, in Q4 or during Q4 of 2022, quarter one of 2023, and here today has been <laugh> challenging to say the least for all of us. Yeah. But the one thing that I think is so critically important is to keep a strong mindset. Um, and it's, and it's not easy. Mindset is something that is going to give an originator the competitive advantage. And when we talk about mindset, it sounds very cliche, you know, mindset. But you see, I always love this quote, you know, whether you think you can, or whether you think you can't, either way, you're right. Okay, <laugh>, so I like it. So if we, I'm writing

Stephanie Budnick (13:42):
That one down,

Matt Weaver (13:43):
Right? So if we can think about it from that perspective, um, we cannot let the external circumstances hinder or change our mindset, um, mindset. What do I mean by that? Okay, so Palm Beach County sales are down 30%. Okay? So, as an example, um, the county that I'm in right now, Palm Beach County, the typical transaction counts about 3,500 transactions a month. Um, it's down 25 to 30%. So let's call it 2,600 transactions. Here's the question we ask ourselves, how many of those transactions do we want you see? So it's not about, um, are they down, it's about, look how many are still there and how many do we want?

Stephanie Budnick (14:28):
Okay?

Matt Weaver (14:29):
And so we're constantly, um, fighting towards our goals. Now, when there is contraction taking place, uh, and we want to grow 20%, okay? So my, my goal is to is to grow consistently 15 to 20% a year, similar to essentially like a blue chip stock. Okay? So not nothing too volatile, cuz I think that's proper performance. Um, but if we, if we look at, you know, 15 to 20% a year, well if industry sales are down 30%, um, it, and I wanna raise and go up 15 to 20%, that means my activities should, um, increase by about 50% to get to where I want to get to, okay? To fight the counter wins that are, that are taking place. Um, in 2022, in the beginning we knew that we were gonna be in for a very interesting year. We just didn't know when that would be.

Matt Weaver (15:23):
Okay. Was it gonna be, um, in, you know, the middle of the year? Was it gonna be towards the tail end? Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, uh, but the mantra that my team and I kept was winning is the only option, period. And, and with that mantra, what, what we were doing for ourselves daily, cuz we would be saying it daily and throughout the day, was we were, we were allowing that to be an affirmation back to us that winning truly was the only option. Um, we seconded that with we are going to outpace the decline in originations. That's it. So we weren't accepting anything else. And, and, and that right there is single-handedly what allowed us to actually close up in volume, uh, for year 2022, um, relative to 2021. Wow. So we did, um, really outpace, uh, originations in that regard. But that's a mindset. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, and, and, and I wanna say to everyone or anyone who is listening that here, ready? If I can do it, you can do it. I'm not doing anything more special in that sense other than we talk about singleness of purpose, we talk about, um, thinking time and we talk about mindset. Uh, but all of that can, can take place when you are really working on your own personal self-development, which is another component to I think, high levels of origination.

Stephanie Budnick (16:55):
I like that you said mindset. You know, you can apply that to any, any part of your life, right? It doesn't necessarily have to be just industry and mindset and being competitive will allow you to be focused on whatever that is you're trying to complete or accomplish. Um, and helped you with overcoming obstacles. I know, like everyone else probably asks you like, what tips do you have? And these are some great ones with the positive affirmations and mindset. Are there anything from a more technical standpoint besides consistency that you could offer that can help individuals navigate through the obstacles that are still ahead for the coming year?

Matt Weaver (17:33):
Well, well most certainly, um, think about your customer and then think about how you can, um, add value to them as an example. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, uh, it, it appears that a lot of the markets, uh, across the US today are in a multiple law offer situation. Okay. Um, I can tell you that we're seeing an uptick with multiple offers over the past three to five weeks here in the South Florida market. Now watch, we can look at that and we can say, well, you know, I helped pre-approve a customer for, for my real estate partner. And, and, and, and, and good luck and GoGet 'em, but what if we took it a step further and got involved during the offer process and see it's with that, that we constantly add more value back to our real estate agents. So, as an example, you know, we are very involved, I personally am very involved during the offer process to make sure that that offer gets executed and we eliminate the buying competition.

Matt Weaver (18:35):
Number one, that is a value add to my real estate partner. And number two, if we think about it, the home buyer themselves, when they're buying a home, there's a lot of emotion on the line. Okay? No question about it. And they're envisioning their family in that home. I think as real estate professionals and as mortgage professionals, it is imperative that we get their offer accepted over competing and, and, and it truly is within our control. Um, it's not always about price, it's also about terms as well. And if you take a look at the offer process or, or a sales contract to offer, um, a lot of the terms actually come from the loan officer because if they're getting a mortgage, a lot of it is hindered on how fast a mortgage loan officer can deliver at certain points within a contract. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>.

Matt Weaver (19:28):
So how are you getting involved to help your real estate agent? Um, when we think about the pre-approval process, gosh, one of the biggest, I think, challenges in our industry, because there really isn't a universal pre-approval process as a whole. Everyone has their own different philosophies and innuendos and how they do it. Um, my standard is to review everything in its entirety and never compromise that standard. I believe that's the way we should be operating. Because if you think about the most precious asset a real estate agent has, it's their time and we need to protect their time, making sure that the client is well informed, well qualified. So once they do find that home, we can close and fund successfully. But second to that, if we have that type of standard, you see, that speaks to the listing agent community, and then you now garner the respect and the street credibility from the listing agent community on, wait a minute, if I have more than one offer, I'm gonna go with this one because I know they don't compromise.

Stephanie Budnick (20:29):
Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, are there any other like additional things of value that you send back to the real estate agent with your involvement? Like is there interviews or is there insights that you're providing them that, let's say in a multiple offer situation for some reason that loan doesn't or that home buyer isn't the one that's selected that would allow them to both parties to really think of you again, when it comes time for that next home that comes up,

Matt Weaver (20:58):
Absolutely nothing beats contact. We are still in a contact sport. I know that we want to, um, try to figure a way around contact. Okay, I see all over the internet about ai, this and that. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, and I'm sure it has, its, its its purposes. However, however, um, personal contact, meaning for us, loan originators to pick up the phone and call the listing agent is critical to the success of not only winning in a multiple offer, but understanding why we didn't win. Ok. So as an example, um, if, if one of our home buyers did not get their offer accepted, I'm asking the listing agent, and I've been doing this for years, which allowed me to accumulate data, which allowed me to put into my process, which allowed me to enhance the process so we can of course enhance our offer acceptance, you see?

Matt Weaver (21:50):
Yeah. So, um, speaking to listing agents and understanding why, what would've made it more comfortable for you and your seller? And so each individual state and city has their own, um, timelines and timeframes, but what I would say is, is to the originator that's listening, be unorthodox in all that you do. Okay. Like, as an example for me, I, I try to do the opposite of what most people do. Okay. Um, I heard a great one. It said, if, if you can manage to do the opposite of what others do, you'll almost never make a mistake. <laugh> ok. <laugh>. Um, so, um, so what do I mean by that? I do a lot of public presentation. I do a lot of speaking, um, watch, what is the number one fear that most people have speaking public?

Stephanie Budnick (22:38):
Speaking in public. Yeah,

Matt Weaver (22:40):
Right, exactly. So then what I did was I figured out, wait a minute, how can I do that? Um, because I really was never really good at it. Okay. Um, I started that about 10 or 12 years ago, and it's something that I'm constantly trying to improve and get better with, but I'm doing something that really a lot of people in my industry don't like to do.

Stephanie Budnick (23:01):
Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, I know a lot of people are terrified of public speaking. So that is definitely a way to stand out.

Matt Weaver (23:09):
Oh my gosh. I, you know, it, what motivated me was one time I was, um, in a room with, I think it was the owner of the company that I was with at the time, and three other loan officers. And this big real estate broker owner came in, and this has gone back, I think I wanna say 2010. And, and he walks into the room and, uh, he says, before I begin, I'd like to go around the table and find out a little bit more about each of you. And so he said, um, you can go ahead and start. And he pointed to me,

Stephanie Budnick (23:39):
Hmm.

Matt Weaver (23:40):
Ok. And, and, and I froze. I mean, I didn't even, I, my mouth couldn't even open. I was just watching. I was unprepared. I was not scripted. Ok. So, um, it was a real embarrassing moment, and it was at that point in time, I said, I'll never let that happen to myself again. So now here, watch the originators that are listening today, I want you to think about this. If an agent asks you today, right now, in 30 seconds or less, why would I use your services? Could you properly articulate that? And

Stephanie Budnick (24:15):
You have to have an elevator speech ready at all times,

Matt Weaver (24:18):
No question. And the amount that do not, or is, is, is very high. Okay? Um, so that's the part. So we have a scripted process in terms of our loan process from hi, I'd like to get pre-approved all the way through to funding, but also a scripted process in the way that we communicate and talk. So a client calls up and says, hi, Matta was given your name by, um, Melissa, I'd like to get pre-approved. You see my opening to that is the same scripted opening each and every time because I know it works. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> and, and, and, and it's efficient for the customer, it's efficient for me. And it puts them right into where they should start in terms of the process and it works. Um, I think what happens is, is that a lot of loan originators, um, don't necessarily have that type of scripting from the beginning. And again, remember, every industry outside of mortgage and a lot of the real estate industry don't have a scripted process. But every other industry does. You know, you walk into, um, a restaurant that you, like, the chef follows a recipe, which is a script. The waiter and waitress come to your table, they're gonna tell you the specialist, which is a script. Um, you board a plane, it's a scripted process. So everything is a scripted process, with the exception of, of our industry. Right. <laugh>. So we

Stephanie Budnick (25:43):
Have to, it's really easy, right?

Matt Weaver (25:44):
Oh, without a doubt. So, um, you know, so when we, when we don't have a scripted process and we kind of wing it, what ends up happening is, is that a lot of conversation ends up happening. It doesn't even need to be happening. Right. Um, and, and, and, and it makes, it doesn't make for necessarily the best set of circumstances for the client. We're always looking to make sure it's efficient, it's timely. It's, um, we, we have a high level of communication. Uh, and, and at certain points within the process,

Stephanie Budnick (26:13):
Well, I mean, I've read so many different reports and studies that say understanding the mortgage process is still one of the hardest things. So you finding and streamlining some of that, I think just improves the process from agent to home buyer to make them more comfortable and know what's going on. Like you said, it's an emotional experience when you're buying a home. So the less that they have to feel frazzled and actually can make sense of what's going on, will is definitely something that, you know, people are really looking for that they don't know is what they expect to occur.

Matt Weaver (26:47):
I, I really do believe that. And also, we're on the financing side of the industry, and, um, you'll find this interesting, Stephanie, you know, based on my discovery, I do a lot of market research. Okay? Um, I, I do that because then, then I understand how to serve my customer better, but what also being scripted and, and, and, and choice of words and so on, what that, what really, um, allows that it, it helps us, let's just put it this way, um, by retaining and helping us to retain the customer, the agent. Um, now what do I mean by that? So over the years I've asked agents, okay, um, any particular reason why you stopped using the prior loan officer that you've been using? And you'll get a kick outta this about 70 to 75% of the time. Okay. When I would ask that question, um, majority of the responses back was, are you ready for this?

Stephanie Budnick (27:40):
Yes.

Matt Weaver (27:41):
Bedside manner.

Stephanie Budnick (27:43):
Really

Matt Weaver (27:44):
Think about that one. Okay. Um, bedside manner watch, they're professionals. We're professionals. These aren't our bros. These aren't, let's go grab a beer. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, this isn't any of that, because we have to understand that the agent is the employer, the agent's, the employer, and the agent employs not only mortgage title insurance, and the list goes on and on and on. We don't view ourselves as equal to an agent. We view ourselves as, um, being trusted by them and we are being employed by them. So it's a really big difference. Um, if they don't necessarily have the best bedside metric that's up to them, we're gonna maintain our level of professionalism regardless. So we're never bobbing and weaving outta that, if that makes sense.

Stephanie Budnick (28:42):
No, that makes sense. And I think, you know, you're sta what you were saying before with calling a listing agent even. I mean, I think doing that is showing a different way of having a professionalism about yourself and really showing that interest. Um, in all parties within the process,

Matt Weaver (29:01):
In all parties we're very particular with the words that we use, the word we choose. Um, and so you can probably maybe sense a little bit of that here in this interview here today, right? Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Um, and this is coming from, um, and by the way, this is coming from someone who's very undereducated. Okay. Um, watch. I didn't even finish high school.

Stephanie Budnick (29:21):
Okay. No way. Um,

Matt Weaver (29:23):
That's correct, yes. Okay. Um, and so, you know, I'm not necessarily saying I'm proud of it, but, okay. Um, what, what I constantly do is I'm constantly looking to improve not only my team structure, not only my services, but I'm always looking to improve myself as well. And, and, and, and that's where the personal development comes into play, um, allowing us to, uh, always be just a little bit better every single day. So there's always room to improve. Um, Hey Matt, how did you do on, uh, that presentation in front of 300? I'll never give myself a 10 because

Stephanie Budnick (30:00):
I'm the same way. Yep.

Matt Weaver (30:01):
Oh, exactly. I mean, how, then where are you gonna improve from? So at the absolute maximum it'll be eight. Ok.

Stephanie Budnick (30:08):
We're definitely our own worst critics, but I think it allows you to really reflect and improve, like you're talking about, to really know that you can always do better, you know, and get better

Matt Weaver (30:19):
Without a doubt.

Stephanie Budnick (30:21):
You've given a lot of different items and ways of PE that people can take that if they're looking to pursue a career like yours. There's some great pieces of advice from consistency to mindset to, you know, going above and beyond. Is there anything else that you can think of as we close up today that you could give as advice to others looking to produce numbers like you or get into a career similar into the origination standpoint?

Matt Weaver (30:50):
Absolutely. First, believe in yourself and believe that you two can do it if you truly want to. Um, success is defined by everyone individually. So some may, may define success as, uh, 300 transactions a year, uh, 100 transactions a year, or 3000 a year. Um, but once you define what it is that you want to do, you really have to have that true belief in yourself. Okay? Um, and, and I wanna, and, and if you had that little doubt, which is called normal, okay? Um, I'm here to tell you that you could do it because I'm doing it. All right? Um, so believe in yourself, no question about it. Now, the way that we believe in ourselves is we have to, uh, go back to studying and learning more about the confidence process, about the self worthiness process and so on, because all of those little elements in the mindset play a role.

Matt Weaver (31:48):
Um, it has for me. Okay? Uh, if you would've asked me 10 years ago, Hey, Matt, do you see yourself hitting numbers to where you're number one in the state or in the nation? I would've said, no, that's for someone else. You see, I didn't believe necessarily in myself. Okay? Um, but that's a learning process and that can change. Um, the second part to that is after you can really truly believe in yourself and be, have belief in time, because what ends up happening is, is that as you continue to build your process, to remain consistent, to think about your customer, and staying very diligent with that, never compromising on your process, uh, maintaining your integrity and credibility on the street, as you continue to do that, what ends up happening is, is that over a period of time, it meets its opportunity. And what do I mean by that?

Matt Weaver (32:44):
So I've been developing our process, uh, that's realtor centric really since 2010. Um, and we always were trying to figure out how to remain, um, steps ahead of any other competitor in a multiple offer situation. Just using that as an example. Well, we were working on that for many, many years. And then boom, COVID hit 2022 March. Now we all remember that, but a month or two after COVID hit interest rates, were down to the floor, a multiple offer environment like we have never seen in the history of, uh, we're gonna say the real estate market, at least here on a local level. And we were fully ready. So our hard work, our preparation met its opportunity in 2020, which then took us to another level. So believe in yourself, believe in your mission, work on it the right way, and then also understand that there's gonna take time, and we have to always have faith in our time.

Stephanie Budnick (33:54):
Think that's a great summary, believing in yourself, consistency and patience. I do you, I do have one question. What changed your mindset a little bit as to that you could be number one. Like, is there something that happened that allowed you to believe that you were gonna be there?

Matt Weaver (34:10):
Oh, yes. I mean, uh, uh, the answer to that one there is, I was, um, I was invited by a dear friend of mine to a real estate conference years ago, and the keynote speaker was Donnie Deutch. Okay. Um, for those that don't know who Donnie Deutch, um, is, uh, he owned an incredible ad agency, so he's a, um, a genius mind when it comes to marketing and so on. Uh, he was also on the campaign trail, uh, to some of the former presidents. Um, and he also had a show on c m BBC called The Big Idea. And the big idea was, um, he would interview world leaders ranging from, uh, Saudi prince over to Snoop Dogg and everyone in between <laugh>. And when he, yeah. And, and when he came to do, uh, the keynote speech, um, he came up on stage and, and he pulls out this kind wrinkled up piece of paper and, and he says, you know, uh, I've been around the most successful people in the world, and I wrote down 20 points that they all have in common with each other.

Matt Weaver (35:25):
And he said, the number one point that they all have, which I find so interesting, is they have a naive sense of entitlement. And everyone's looking at him a naive sense of entitlement. What does that even mean? And he said, basically, what I mean by a naive sense of entitlement is they all truly believe, why not me? Why not me? And yeah, it was with his passion. Um, and he actually, uh, said it a little differently, but I'll, I'll spare your viewers. Okay. <laugh> <laugh>, um, it was with his passion where it clicked for me. And, and I said, that day, why not me? Right? Well, why that's awesome. It's not, it's not someone else. And the second thing he came up with, are you ready for this one? The second thing is, is he said, I never met a genius. And what he, what he meant by that was he's been around some of the most influential people in the world, and as he's in these boardrooms and in these interviews, he says, I've realized they're not even that smart <laugh>. So it was with that understanding that, um, you know, why not me? And yeah, watch the other ones that are doing it. They're not geniuses. I mean, as far as loan originations go, I mean, look at me. I just told you that I Yeah. Didn't finish high school. Okay? So, um, so that's what I would part with.

Stephanie Budnick (36:57):
I love that. Thank you so much. That's great advice. I like a naive sense of entitlement and you know, your ambition to just be you. So Matt, thank you so much for your time today. I have really enjoyed speaking with you.

Matt Weaver (37:10):
Oh, absolutely. Thank you, Stephanie. I greatly appreciate, um, the opportunity. Dennis, thank you so much for arranging and, uh, together and success.

Stephanie Budnick (37:19):
Thank you everyone, so much for listening. For all of the latest industry insights. Subscribed to Mortgage Connects on Apple, Stitcher, Google Podcast, Spotify, Amazon Music, or go to mortgageconnects.com.