Episode 194: David Goad and Erik Gray
On this episode of The Brad and Taylor Show, we have David Goad and Erik Gray from Real Estate One!
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 David Goad and Erik Gray…
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Taylor: Welcome to The Brad and Taylor Show. Today we have David Goad and Erik Gray.
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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 guys, how’s it going?
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David: Good. How are you?
Erik: Thank you for having us.
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Brad: Yeah, of course. Anytime. Well, let’s get the show started. Tell us about you guys. What do you guys do? How’d you guys get started?
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David: Do you want to take this?
Erik: When I first started, I was a teacher, I was a special ed teacher in Dearborn at a place called William Ford and what ended up happening is, I don’t know how much you know, about being a teacher but it’s not really a livable income. So I started doing real estate on the side as well, and then it just started picking up. And I got so busy that I was either doing a disservice to my students because I wasn’t teaching them. Like they deserve a teacher. I was doing a disservice to my clients because I wasn’t giving them everything they needed. So I had to make a decision, you know, which road I wanted to take. And here I am, you know, the road I took. That’s all for me.
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David: I started off as a project manager for a Fortune 500 company called Quest. And from that point, you know, I was working like 60, 70 hours a week making a base salary and busting my tail. And then I was like, Hey, you know, I want to serve people. I want to be a part of something bigger. I obviously can’t do this in a corporate setting. I got to do something on my own. So then I’m a huge golfer. So I took it. I was like, Hey, I gotta do something I love so I want to teach, I want to teach kids. So I started doing golf lessons for a company out in Farmington Hills, called Golf Leadership Academy. They’re a great company.
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They do great things for kids. They instill leadership skills in younger generations to take pride in their work. So it’s phenomenal what they do. And then I was like, well, I try to do something. I took a huge pay cut. And then I was like, my uncle or my wife’s uncle. He was a broker in real estate. And he’s like, man, you know, everybody knows you, you gotta be a realtor. I’m like, dude, I have no idea what to do. So basically it was like, Hey, I’ll teach you. I’ll show you the ropes. So I got into real estate, like the first year, it was a struggle. I mean, you hear Railers quick, quit all the time. And I think it took like six months, seven months to get my first deal. And then after that, I mean, it was just like, everything was flowing. And now I’m here with this guy over here and we partnered up at Real Estate One and yeah. We’re super excited. So we’re loving every minute of it. That’s awesome.
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Taylor: Did you guys know each other before partnering up or how did you guys kind of meet and how did that work out? Were you friends beforehand?
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Erik: So we actually use the mutual inspector. We both use the same inspector and he took us out on a golf outing, you know, we met that way. He’s a good golfer. He’s good to have on your team. So I was like, yeah, I got it. And we just clicked, you know, and I know his brother, I know his brother-in-law, so we play a lot of golf together. And then he was like, oh yeah, you guys would be great as a team. And we were like, whatever. And so we just tried out a couple of deals together that just flowed really well. And yeah, we just jumped, just dove right in. Do you know what I mean?
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Taylor: That’s awesome. And then you guys both said that you came from teaching backgrounds too. How do you find that plays into what you guys do now? Because I’m sure you guys are still teaching your clients, right? You guys are.
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Erik: I had a lot of clients that have if you look on my Zillow, there’s a ton of stuff that says, like, you know, they’ve been taught by me, Erik’s taught me more in a week than I learned with my past realtor in like six months because that’s just natural to me. I just like to teach and I just like to go over the process. Here’s what we’re doing. This is what happens next. This is why it happens. So it’s, yeah. I kind of incorporate teaching with real estate in a sense. I mean, and you know, teachers, you have to be organized to be a teacher. He’s not organized though. That’s the real reason why my teaching didn’t work out.
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Taylor: Right. Is that the real reason Dave?
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Erik: I’m in all, like in all seriousness, l do keep it simple, stupid method, right? Like you got to tell these people, I mean, cause they use you as their trusted advisor, you know, and sometimes it’s just a food dump. I don’t want to dumb it down, so they understand it in a way where it makes sense and we make it fun for them. You don’t try to make it like, well, Hey, you gotta do this and that. And the other and everybody gets so stressed out. You just gotta teach them, coach them along the process and make it simple.
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Taylor: Yeah, absolutely. Especially with the paperwork side, there’s so much going on behind the scenes that maybe the new home buyer doesn’t actually realize all that goes into it. So breaking those steps down is so helpful, especially before you get to closing.
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Erik: Well, having consultations is so important. Right? I feel like that’s the one thing I thought about for the industry. It’s like the first time you meet somebody, was that a house? I feel like that’s a little bit backward. Instead of having them come in like going over an entire process and telling them what it’s going to be like, and then once you do that, it’s all simple from there, you know? Because they understand what’s going on and if they have questions, they know who to reach out to when to reach out all that. So it’s just that consultations are so important.
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Taylor: Yeah. Absolutely. Did you guys get any advice maybe when you were solo before you guys teamed up that helped you along the way or maybe advice when you guys teamed up together?
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Erik: I would say for me, the best advice that I got was like actually just going through the deals, going through the process, and from that, I’ve learned what I can do better, what I shouldn’t, what I shouldn’t do, stuff like that. But that’s where the advice part applies. I think it’s more hands-on and that’s when you learn the most, you know, at least for me. I mean just not cutting corners, just doing the details in detail. I think what’s important is, you know what my past broker before this and my mentors here and my broker here all instilled in my head is that keeping in touch with your past clients and your sphere of influence and the advice they gave me on how to do it, like, you know, people do postcards, email drips. I don’t know if you know what Popeye’s are, but just keep in touch with your clients, I feel like that was at the top of the best advice I ever received.
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Brad: That’s awesome. What’s your guys’ favorite way to market right now? Because I know you probably like what you’re doing, but what’s your favorite way?
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Taylor: To different options out there, Yeah.
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David: I mean, there’s so many and that’s kinda what Erik and I are really trying to focus on because there are so many people that focus on real estate, right? They pitch videos about real estate. And in what we’re trying, in the background nobody really likes, people need to understand what’s going on in real estate, like mortgage rates and inventory and all this stuff. But nobody, really, everybody wants to go with you, right? Nobody’s going to watch a 10-minute video of you explaining how real estate works. So we want to make it more fun, like our favorite way of advertising, which we’re trying to get better at, and do more of our videos. Like political, local restaurants, you know, like going to those places and you know, promoting those businesses.
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I mean, we’re talking about like stupid dad jokes, you know, we’re big family guys. We just want people to understand who we are and real estate is like a by-product of what we do. Right. I don’t want to shove it down people’s throats because that’s when they’re like, oh, you’re just another realtor trying to make a sale. Well, no, that’s not the case here. We’re two individuals or two dads and it’s what we do is we support our families and this is how we do it. And we’re funny. We love, we love people, and hopefully come along for the ride, you know, like that’s what we want our business to be.
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Taylor: Yeah, absolutely. I love the dad joke idea too. That’s going to show people your grades and true personality. And then the business will just follow like, oh yeah. I’m definitely working with him. He’s a cool dude. So, Erik, I have a question for you for this next one. What is the worst property or showing that you’ve been to? What kind of stories do you have for us?
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Erik: Well, one just comes to the top of my head and it still gives me nightmares. So I was showing a client, we went to a house down river and you know, we went inside and there were cats, there were probably 15 cats and I’m not counting them just everywhere. Like, you’d lookup on the TV, you’d look at a light. It was sitting on a light like they were everywhere. So I was like, oh, okay. This is kind of weird. But we just kept walking and then we stepped on the carpet and I had shorts on, it was the middle of the summer. And then I looked down at my legs and I was like, oh my God, like my legs have never been this hairy. Like then it looked like hair was falling off. I was like, what’s happening? Like with just leaves all over covered off my legs, like back out of the carpet, back on my legs. So we ran out of there. Like we were on fire on the porch. So like if neighbors saw us, man, we were like patting each other down.
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Taylor: Right. That was my question to you. How’d that go?
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Erik: We never looked back. We’re outta here.
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Taylor: Did you guys make it past the front entryway where the carpet was?
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Erik: No. We walked a lot of 15 cats. Went on the carpet, saw a million fleas. Even in my car, like, I mean I had to go wash my car, you know, contemplated setting it on fire because there was like, I was still picking off my leg in the car.
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Yeah. I wouldn’t put them in. I wouldn’t put that past him either.
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Taylor: So Erik, I take it. You’re not a bug guy.
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Erik: No. I mean it still bothers me, but the little ones that just Bugs me bugs me.
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Brad: I like it. So tell us about your guys as a team. Do you guys plan on venturing out and getting more people or what do you guys have planned?
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Erik: Oh boy, that’s a loaded question. Obviously
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Brad: We haven’t talked about that yet.
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David: So this is where our heads come together well. It’s like last year was the greatest and the worst year of my life, you know, because I had so much business, you know, it was awesome in that aspect. But then I also have a kid, and he’d be like daddy let’s play or something. I was like, okay. And we play. And then I had to do work so we came together essentially so that, you know, we could still have the business, but we have more time for our families and have a life. That’s the ultimate goal you know, we want to have a business and a life at the same time. So we’re trying to work that out to where, you know, we can.
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Yeah. So we’re definitely looking to add more people. But at the end of the day, it has to be the right fit, who we like, what we stand for, what they stand for. I mean, that’s just a really big part of who Erik and I are. We’re all about family first, business second. And, it’s definitely hard, it’s hard to figure out. You need them when you need them. The process behind all that stuff. So there’s a lot of stuff that’s going to entail us sitting down and figuring that out. But I mean, ultimately the goal is to expand our team for sure.
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Taylor: That’s awesome. It’s definitely hard to find that work-life balance, especially with the market so crazy as this past couple of years have been.
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Erik: Yeah. That’s the thing it’s like, that’s our motivator, right? That’s bold. I mean, I don’t want to speak for you, but like our motivators, our families. So we both would have it super hard because we want what’s best for our family. But then at the same time, when you do draw in a good amount of business like it’s a lifestyle and people are reaching out to you. Like it doesn’t matter what time of day it is. It’s whatever’s convenient for them to reach out to you. And they expect you to respond. So it’s always, that’s always a tough thing to handle. So it’s just trying to develop a business plan around that so that we can kind of handle that situation. You know, those situations.
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Taylor: Yeah. When you guys do expand, what do you think you’ll add on for your first hire? Maybe like an admin or another agent?
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Erik: It’s probably going to be like a dual, right? So like admin slash buyer’s agent as somebody that can take on like pay like their license so that they can handle the paperwork. And then if we need somebody to show a house or two for us, we can have them show the house.
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Taylor: Yeah, absolutely. That’ll save you guys a ton of time, especially just having a third person to go out and do showings.
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Erik: And then we can focus more on, you know, marketing and getting more leads
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Taylor: Yeah, absolutely. If you guys could start over today, um, what would you do differently off of everything you guys have learned solo and as a team, what’s one thing you each would do separately differently to start over again?
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Erik: I would’ve started earlier, I mean for me like honestly, I look at it as a journey, so I don’t think I would have done anything differently. Because I feel like that’s how you learn from your past, you know what I mean? We all wish we could’ve done something like earlier or whatever, but I think personally like that’s where I’ve learned so much, like being by myself on my first deal, trying to make something happen. Like that’s when, you know, you get so nervous and frustrated and all the emotions and now it’s fast forward three, almost four years later. And it’s like, it’s part of who you are now and what you do and how you handle situations. So I wouldn’t really change it, you know?
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Taylor: Yeah. David, I know you mentioned earlier when we were talking, it took about six, seven months for you guys to get your first deal. How did that first close and go for you? Was it smooth?
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David: Yeah, actually it was, it was very smooth. It was a family member, so I had to make sure it was. I didn’t have any options for it not to be smooth.
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Taylor: Right. What about you, Erik? How long did it take you to get your first listing and how did that one go?
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Erik: The big dog, I actually had a client before I was licensed. They knew I was getting licensed and they were reaching out and they waited, you know, they reached out to me like a week before I got my license. And so then right when I got my license, I showed them houses and yeah, like the third or fourth house, we made an offer and your first deal, you know, you have your mentors and your broker and everybody working with you. So what I mean is, they were typically pretty smooth and it was, you know, they were great buyers, like 800 credit score, like, you know, so it was easy peasy.
00:18:01:24 –> 00:18:39:03
We still get nervous all the time. They would call me and ask me questions, you know? Like, and I’m like, sometimes I thought they were speaking Chinese and I had to like, let me, I’ll call you right back. And so I’d have to call my broker, get the answer, and call them back. And there were times I was like, there’s no way they’re going to keep you using me. Like, I don’t even know the answers to these questions, but it all worked out. And like Dave said before, that’s how you learn. And you know, you gotta go through the trials and tribulations.
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Taylor: They must have known that you were newer too because they waited for you.
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Erik: Yeah, it was, it was a referral from a guy that I used to play softball with. The team wants to talk me up. Horrible. It’s solvable. We might be better at real estate.
00:18:58:07 –> 00:19:05:11
Taylor: That’s funny. That’s funny. Do you guys get to go out and do golf outings? I know David, you said to you, you’re a big golfer. Do you guys get to go do those a lot?
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Erik: And we tried to definitely support, you know.
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Taylor: And now Erik just called you out. David, how’re his golfing skills?
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David: Oh, it’s, Erik’s golfing. I’ll be the first to admit that they’re not great. That’s why I have them on my scrambles.
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Taylor: It’s okay. Do you have any business books that you guys could recommend to maybe anybody starting out?
00:19:37:26 –> 00:21:03:29
Erik: Mine would be, The Power of Habit. I think it’s Charles. Uh, gosh, I can’t think of his last name right now, but it’s a phenomenal book. It just talks about how to transform habits and follow through with that stuff. And creating habits is so important. As well as how to break habits. It’s so important. I mean, cause life, I mean life’s not easy, right? So we develop certain kinds of habits and it just happens. But there’s just like the science behind how you can break those habits and how you can form yourself into being a better person. I mean, continuous improvement on yourself is always just something that I think is so important because we’re always trying to get better every day. Obviously, we’re never going to be perfect, but I mean, as long as you can keep pressing on and trying to become a better version of yourself the next day, it’s just always the best thing to do.
Yeah. I’m sure somebody probably said this before. But it would be A Millionaire Real Estate Agent. I mean, it just goes down, it breaks down from like when you first start real estate all the way to how it ends with starting a team and how you start. So it just goes through like everything. It was an awesome book.
00:21:03:29 –> 00:21:06:14
Brad: That’s awesome. I like it. How can people get a hold of you guys?
00:21:08:02 –> 00:21:55:22
David: So for me, I can give you guys my cell phone and my email. They can check us out, we’re in the process of branding, right? We’re coming up with our new tagline that is simply Sold with a Gray and Goad. That’s our new kind of slogan slash logo. So we’re working on branding that, but my cell phone is (313) 319-7688. And my email currently is, david@gowithgoad. Yeah.
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Brad: How about you, Erik? How can clients get a hold of you? Um,
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Erik: Yeah, basically the same, but I get a lot of contact on Facebook. They’ll Facebook message me. And then basically, it’s just how they can find you on my cell phone.
00:22:16:13 –> 00:22:26:11
Brad: Hey, there we go. There we go. So we look for the smoke signals, awesome. Hey, thanks guys for coming on and sharing your story with us today,
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Erik: For sure. Thank you guys. Thank you.
00:22:33:07 –> 00:22:51:08
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. And if you guys could give us a five-star review as well, that would be amazing. And we’ll see on the next one. Yeah.
Check out David Goad & Erik Gray:
Real Estate One – Southgate
Facebook: @EGhomes2/
www.facebook.com/davidgoadrealtor
www.instagram.com/david_goad_realtor/
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