Episode 200: Jamie Rogers
On this episode of The Brad and Taylor Show, we have Jamie Rogers from Bellabay Realty!
To watch the full episode, check it out on YouTube below. In the meantime, here’s a transcript of the conversation…
Here’s what you missed from Jamie Rogers…
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Taylor: Welcome to The Brad and Taylor Show. Today, we have Jamie Rogers.
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Brad: You’re listening to The Brad and Taylor Show, a podcast that inspires entrepreneurs to pursue their passions. We’re sitting down with some of the best to learn how they got started and some lessons they learned along the way.
Taylor: Hey Jamie, how’s it going?
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Jamie: We’re good.
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Taylor: Today’s an exciting day. This is our 200th episode and you are a lucky guest.
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Brad: Well, let’s get the show started. Tell us a little bit about you. What do you do?
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Jamie: Yeah, so I am a real estate agent here. I work with Bella Bay Realty out of Caledonia here. I got into real estate about a year ago. I’m not actually from Michigan originally. When I moved out here, you know, it was kind of a fresh start for me and real estate was always something that really piqued my interest. Something that I felt like my skill set would allow me to excel at. And just the opportunity to build relationships with people, work with people. So I finally took the plunge and decided to get my license, especially with COVID happening. You know, what more do you have to do then, do online stuff and do classes. So I decided to take the plunge and I got my license and just dove right in. It’s been a wild year. I’m just, I’m sure you guys know that the real estate market has been crazy. So it really forced me to learn on the fly and learn quickly. And in a sense, you know, I’m grateful for that. I think that was a little crazy to come into that market, but also just a great way for me to learn.
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Brad: That’s awesome. So you said you weren’t from Michigan and you just showed up here and you just started real estate. Tell us about that.
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Jamie: Long story short. I was born and raised just outside of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, lived there my whole life. I’ll just say that as I got older and into my early twenties, you know, I wasn’t really making good choices for my life. My priorities weren’t really in line and to say the least life was pretty rough for me. It was hard, you know, but I had some family out here in Michigan that just reached out to me and offered an opportunity to come and experience something different and try to get away from the lifestyle that I was living. So I came out here and long story short, I just got plugged into the church and I met Jesus and that really just totally changed my life and completely transformed everything in my life. And from that moment on, you know, that’s when I started getting into real estate and I really just, it just changed my priorities on everything. I mean, I came here a lonely single broken man, and I’m now a successful married man with a baby that’s eight months old, a beautiful little girl. I give all the glory to God. I mean, I wouldn’t be here without Jesus and that’s really kind of how I got started here.
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Taylor: Well, congratulations, Jamie, that’s huge going from where you came from to now. That’s a huge accomplishment.
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Brad: That’s awesome. So tell us, how did you just come here? Were you like, I’m going to start real estate or how did you get here? And you’re like, well, I’ve always wanted to do real estate, so maybe let’s just give it a try. Did you try anything else before, while you were here? Or did you just say, I’m going to try that?
00:03:24:19 –> 00:04:27:01
Jamie: I was working, I was the director of operations for a fitness company for a little while, and then COVID hit. So like everything shut down. So I was kind of out of commission on that one. I actually signed up originally to do the online real estate course, and I just found that really difficult because I’m more of a hands-on learner. And after working all day and things like that, you want to come home. I wanted to spend time with my fiance and it was hard to get in front of a computer for three to four hours and read through PowerPoint. So actually when we got married, we were discussing buying a house. And the realtor that we got connected with had told me, Hey, I shared the same struggles. I just did a full nine to five, five days a week, like Monday through Friday class. So I decided to just do that. I took a week off of work and I just went and did it. And that was how I got my license. That was the best way for me to do it. I just prepared myself, took the test right after that, and got licensed. And the rest is history, I guess.
00:04:27:26 –> 00:04:39:24
Taylor: That’s awesome. Would five-year-old Jamie imagine you being here today with everything that you’ve accomplished? Was this ever on your radar as a child?
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Jamie: Oh, man I don’t know. A five-year-old Jamie had too many expectations outside, so maybe five-year-old Jamie would be a little bit surprised. I’m sure that 20-year-old Jamie would be a surprise to where he is today too.
00:05:01:29 –> 00:05:07:09
Taylor: Yeah, absolutely. Did you get any advice when you first started out in real estate that has stuck with you?
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Jamie: I don’t know if I have got a piece of advice strictly pertaining to real estate, but it’s something that has really coincided with real estate and it was something a good a wise man once told me, he said, Jim, you can always make more money, but you can never make more time. And I really have applied that to real estate because it’s very easy, especially in this market to just get caught up in the craziness and to kind of forgo opportunities to spend time with your family and things like that. So that’s just something that I’ve really tried to apply to my work life, you know, time is more important than money and if I do the right things and keep my priorities straight, there will always be opportunities to sell more houses, think that there will not be more time to spend with my family and things like that.
00:06:02:14 –> 00:06:12:20
Taylor: That’s awesome. How did you get that first client? Because you didn’t know anybody. We want to know the details. You came to a new state, a new career. How did you grow that clientele?
00:06:13:10 –> 00:07:12:00
Jamie: When I first got my license I actually signed on with the brokerage that I got my license through, great brokerage, but I was like I needed to get going right away. And so I just felt like the training wasn’t there. I ended up doing some research, talking to some other realtors and Bella Bay was the one I came across and it turned out that Bella Bay has a really good lead program. And so that was kind of one of the reasons that I decided to go with them because I knew, you know, obviously real estate, you’ve got to build your business, but I didn’t. A lot of people tell you, build it from your sphere of influence. I don’t have one here. So it was important for me to kind of have that spoon-feeding, so to speak, to kind of help me build that business. And so I went with them and, you know, I got the, not only that, but I got the training and the support and everything that I needed. So it’s been amazing working with Bella Bay and I would highly recommend it to anyone that’s listening to this and looking into real estate. A great organization.
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Taylor: That’s awesome. Over the last couple of years, what is the worst property or showing, or even, I don’t know if you’ve hosted an open house, maybe not so much since the pandemic. know the kind of went away for a little bit because of in-person stuff, but what is the worst property you’ve been to? We want to know the details here.
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Jamie: Oh, worst property. I showed a property down in Battle Creek, a small little home right on the water and I’d showed my clients quite a few houses and they were looking at some very nice properties and I couldn’t figure out why they wanted to see this one, but it was so much worse when we got there in person like the front door was open. I mean the ceiling was caving in. It was just, I was actually shocked that it was still standing. I mean, we must’ve spent maybe 30 seconds inside. We walked inside. I was like, okay, this is way worse.
00:08:04:24 –> 00:08:07:07
Taylor: Get out, get out of here.
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Jamie: I’m assuming that the house probably needed to be condemned. I mean, I can’t imagine it would have cost any less to rebuild it yourself.
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Taylor: Yeah. So they didn’t buy that one?
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Jamie: Oh absolutely.
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Taylor: No, no way. So you’ve come a long way in the last couple of years. I know you’ve had a lot of changes going on in your life. What goals do you have to go into 2022? What more changes do you want to make? Do you want to add clientele or what, what’s your goal?
00:08:37:03 –> 00:09:13:29
Jamie: Yeah, so I would say that moving into 2022, one thing is, you know, I’ve been primarily more of a buyer’s agent. I know that as you’re building your referral-based business here, now the listing side of things can start to come into play a little bit more. So I’d like to fine-tune my skills and start kind of working on the listing side as well. And working as a seller’s agent as well. I mean, I’ve listed houses but primarily been a buyer’s agent. So I’d like to kind of dip my toes more in the listing game and further my knowledge in that area.
00:09:15:10 –> 00:09:23:00
Taylor: Awesome. If you could start over with all the knowledge that you’ve learned, what’s one thing that you would change to start over with. Is there anything you’d do differently?
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Jamie: Start over?
00:09:23:27 –> 00:09:26:08
Taylor: Over real estate specifically.
00:09:27:14 –> 00:10:19:15
Jamie: I would say that, in the beginning, I was so gung ho that I took every lead that I possibly could. And I mean, I did well, but it was as I started growing and learning, I realized that I wish I would have just worked smarter and not harder. And really, I felt like, in the beginning, I could have done a better job, I spread myself too thin, and now moving forward as I will, I’ve done a much better job of really kind of just taking the leads that I get and pouring myself into the people that I’m working with rather than playing a numbers game. Just saying, let me get as many leads as I can. And that will equate to sales rather than just, you know, taking a few leads and knowing like not biting off more than I can chew.
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Taylor: Yeah. Do you have any systems in place now that maybe you didn’t have when you first started, they kind of help you stay on track with that?
00:10:26:16 –> 00:11:12:29
Jamie: Well, having a good CRM helps with that. I’d love to have an assistant, maybe that’s the next thing in 2022. Not that, you know, as if raising kids isn’t a full-time job enough as it is. But yeah, I think I’ve really just as I said, I’ve slowed things down and so things were so chaotic before. It’s like, I couldn’t even keep up with my CRM. It was like I wasn’t keeping up with updating customers. So it was like just lowering the amount of workload that I was given, allowing me to just do a better job in every way and allowing me to just do the things that should be easy easily.
00:11:13:10 –> 00:11:43:18
Taylor: Yeah. I know. It’s hard though. In the beginning, too, you mentioned that you felt overwhelmed because you wanted to take everything that was coming towards you. It’s hard to turn those down when you first start, especially in a new state, no database around you, that you have a spear grown already. So I can definitely see where I think, I don’t think you’re alone with that. I think a lot of people in the beginning since we’ve talked to a lot of people, Brad and I have heard some of the same similar things in the beginning, everyone’s taking more than they can to right off the bat.
00:11:44:04 –> 00:12:22:09
Jamie: Oh yeah, absolutely. Well, for me too, I work for my father-in-law as well. He owns his own delivery company here in Grand Rapids. So I’ve been driving for him for like half a day since I started real estate. So I’ve been working full-time in real estate, but also have a full-time job with my father-in-law. So that has been a challenge, you know, just finding that balance and then having a baby and all that stuff. So it’s been a learning process, but it’s been helpful for sure. And I mean, I’m going to make the transition into real estate you know, 24/7, 365.
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Taylor: Yeah. Even though you’re already doing a full-time job.
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Jamie: And you know the job, but it’d be nice to just be able to focus myself on that.
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Taylor: Yeah. Do you have any business books that you’ve read that have helped you out throughout the last couple of years?
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Jamie: I hate to be this guy. I’m not much of a reader. I’m more of a, I will say one book, I must say I’m more of a motivational type book leader, inspiring type stuff. So business books are not knocking them whatsoever, but I did read the book How to Win Friends and Influence People.
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Brad: I’m sure everybody reads that.
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Jamie: So I thought that was a great book that really helped me, especially in a business like real estate, where that is what it’s all about is building relationships and building that rapport with people. So that book, I think certainly helps, helps me in my endeavor in real estate.
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Brad: That’s awesome. How can people get a hold of you?
00:13:23:18 –> 00:13:38:08
Jamie: Well, I mean, my phone would probably be the best way, through email as well. Uh, you know, you can find me on Facebook or Instagram as well. But yeah, those are the best way to contact me. I mean, I’d be happy to share my number.
00:13:38:21 –> 00:13:40:02
Brad: Yeah, that’s perfect. And what is that?
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Jamie: You can reach me at 6 1 6 6 3 4 1 5 9 1. Or you can reach me at my email at [email protected].
00:13:50:12 –> 00:13:52:16
Brad: Awesome. Hey, thanks for coming on and sharing your story with us today.
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Jamie: Yeah. Thank you so much guys for having me. I really appreciate it.
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Hello. Hello. Are you there? Are there, are there, Hey guys, we just wanted to thank you for listening on either a podcast or on the YouTube video here. If you guys wanted to subscribe, that would be awesome. That would mean a lot to us. If you guys could give us a five-star review as well, that would be amazing. And we’ll see you on the next one.
Check out Jamie Rogers:
Bellabay Realty
bellabayrealty.com/our-locations/jamie-rogers/
Facebook: facebook.com/people/Jamie-Rogers/100036172906831/
Instagram: @the_realtor_dad
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