Episode 60: From Vision to Velocity: Scaling Operations and Impact with Amelia Valdez

0:00 know we all in this Ellis County, Texas. And if you're looking to meet an awesome real estate agent that is but knows the area is originally from Ennis, Texas. I would like to introduce you to Amelia Valdez. Hey, I'm Nate Carver and welcome to Between Two Doors. Hey, Amelia. Hello. How's everybody today?

0:40 Great. Welcome to the between $2 podcast. How are you doing? I'm good, I'm good. All right, so it's pretty sunny day today, so I think it's a good day. I did y'all get the, the false spring? Yeah. Or a little bit of it this morning. It was 19 here. So nice. It was a little chilly. Yeah. But we had we had a nice couple, almost a full month of spring. And then we got a freeze the last few nights. And so the garden. Was supposed to be 96. So it'll be summer. Yeah. My garden is toast.

1:21 I'll have to replant, but that's okay. It had. Yeah. It wasn't very, very well established anyway. So. Yeah. So you're you've got roots in the community. You've been there. And how long have you been a real estate agent? This is my 17th year of being a real estate agent. Good for you. And you. You've racked up some awards and some acclamations along the way. And, good for you. Yeah. Bilingual? Yes, sir. Spanish and English. That's correct. And Spanish and English. Yes. Nice and good. Lots of lots of underserved communities there that you will that I help out.

2:06 So welcome to the podcast. I'd like to know. So what was it like growing in Ana's growing up and Ana's. You know, and this is a small town. You know, it was it was it's grown a lot in the past five years. We've had a lot of growth here. Hope it continues because we we need it. We're kind of in the middle of, I call it, and we're in the middle of some pretty good communities. We have, of course, Canada or South. We have Dallas to our north, we have Loxahatchee to our west. And, you know, we have Kaufman County to the east. So we have a lot of people that come through here that are going places. And then we have people that, you know, live here that go to those places to work.

2:50 So, I feel like we're we're a middle, a middle ground for people. And also, we're very, unique in that we're kind of just like we still feel like we're just a little small town, you know? What were some things growing up there that really influenced you? You know, what we have here, you know, that we have some large likes, which that was really popular whenever I was a child. Now they're more, you know, for, empty nesters that are just RV traveling. We do still experience the lakes, but, some of them have, closed their gates, due to, you know, attendance.

3:35 But there's the major ones are still open. But, when I was a child, we had six of them, and they were all open. The small ones and the big ones, now, just the big ones are open, the small ones are closed. But we have, the our bluebonnets, which attract everyone. They have for many years, even as, as a child, that's what we grew up around, was bluebonnets and having to go out to the park and play in the bluebonnets. And then we also just had, you know, small town living, you know, we had a local downtown that everybody would shop at. The stores were all downtown. So we have that and we had a little theater here in town too.

4:15 We still have all those things are just a little bit different. Yeah, I know plenty of people that go for the bluebonnet photo op, and, there I will be out of town this week. I'm going to do that. And, you know, whether they're going to go into your county and, get the photograph. So. Yes. That's right. So there's fishing lakes, boating. Fishing and boating lakes. Yes. Do those any well it's Texas sea bass stripers cropping. And so on. Yes. Yeah yeah yeah I and there have been crappie fishing down there. Maybe someday. Well tell me, some of the highlights.

4:59 I guess it's nice that you if you're trying to describe the county or that area to someone who's in. Yes. Things that you would really want to point out, but that you're you're probably about. Yeah. If I was talking to a client that was not from this area and wanted to come and see what Anna's had or wanted to probably explore living in Ennis, I would just say, you know, we are a small, we I call it small. We're not too small, but we're a small local town that, thrives on community. And, we try to have, you know, a lot of attractions as.

5:41 And we have community events that keep us, focused on our neighbors. And we have things for the kids that, that you can just walk out your door and come downtown to do, we have quality of life, entertainment type stuff like sitting around listening to music or, you know, going to the parks, and there's some things going on there. We have a lot of school. I mean, a lot of youth leagues that the kids are involved in soccer, baseball, the football, our school is, ran fairly well. It has, you know, the kids have a lot of opportunities here, in a lot of different programs I can participate in.

6:26 And then we have a lot of historic homes that are in in us that people like to live in. And, we have downtown, loft living, work live, zones here in downtown that people are attracted to also. And then, of course, you know, we're just 30 minutes from downtown Dallas and, and it's not a congested ride. It's, you know, if you were, you know, this far, which is, you know, equivalent of around 35, 40 miles from a Dallas, if that was your equivalent from, a town going north from Dallas, your commute is a two hour commute.

7:11 Our commute is literally a 35 minute commute from downtown. Yeah. On the on the north side. And Dallas. Yeah, you're right. The commute. You got a time? Yeah. Anytime. You got to get on the road when you need to get it. Because if not, you're gonna be sitting there. Yeah. But you started. You got your start in real estate back in 1998. Tell me what your your journey there was. How do you a unique start you got you got into it with construction, right. That's correct. Yeah. You know, I worked with my family, owned, my family, my father and my, siblings were, involved in construction.

7:54 So we, we were involved in that pretty much all of our lives, born and raised and, with my father being part of, you know, a concrete, trade. And, so my brothers followed in their footsteps, and others were masonry or framers or concrete guys. So, you know, we were just all in the construction field, and that's how I basically got started. But, then, you know, went into getting, my real estate license and, doing more of the, selling to the clients instead of just developing and letting the agent take over.

8:35 And so what we were developing. Yeah. As a what your what were some things you, you learned early on that really helped you out and helping with buyers? Being that closely connected to the construction and builder piece. You know, I think the knowledge that I had for, a lot of my clients was very helpful or being, informed or knowing the process of doing something or getting getting the process done is a huge, benefit. You know, if you know what it's going to take for you to have to get your loan. What, all of the pieces of the puzzle are you going to have to have to be able to get qualified to get a loan to do construction, or if you've already look, you're already looking at a new construction and that's already built.

9:26 And what the process is to have to make your mind at ease, the product you're buying is going to last you the time that you will live there. And, you know, you look into the permitting part, the inspection, the parts that they played in, and then follow up with your own inspections and, detailed to the work that was put into the home you're trying to purchase, right? Are you seeing a new construction now in your area? Yes. We have a lot of construction going on here. We have, three new subdivisions, large set of subdivisions in the area. And they have, we have a lot of building going on around here. So there's a.

10:06 Lot of custom homes, like you're. Buying that more track home, builders. Now, you know, the custom homes that we do have, them, they're sporadic. They're more custom land builds. So people are wanting, you know, getting a developer build their home on 20 acres of land or, you know, 3 to 4 acres of land. But it is a custom built home, right? Yeah. And I always I've when I talk to people that are looking to get the financing for that, I'm like, make sure you got a great realtor like you, on their, on the, their team and a great lender on their team and a nice cohesive plan.

10:48 That removes a lot of the chaos. Yeah, a lot of misunderstanding, really, that leads to chaos. Because if you understood the process, it's so much simpler than, having, you know, not knowing what the next turnaround step is. Do you get a lot of VA down in that area? Our veteran. Yes. We have a lot of VA down here. Yes, ma'am. Excellent. Yeah. I've been doing I've been doing, VA construction or the one time closed vehicle or construction vehicle on the actual name of it. And, and it's certainly an experience anyway, good for you. But you didn't. That's in there.

11:31 So let's talk about let's talk a little bit of bilingual. I get enough, I know enough to get myself in trouble. You read it. Great. I. I know too much, so I will get me in trouble. Yeah. A few years formal education in Spanish. And then three years in Greek. And so between the two I make, I can mess up a whole bunch of things. Yeah. And that for you. Do you have an idea percentage wise? Your test, your clients that are, you know, maybe their Spanish is their first language. And it spoke about how extremely important that is for you being able to negotiate and read contracts with them.

12:18 You know, the reason that is exactly the reason why I got into it. I mean, yeah, I do, and actually trying to not just target and only have that as my client base, because it didn't actually work out that way. It, I was seeing a lot or having a lot of clients or customers calling me after they purchased a home and not even know what their actually their obligations were or what their they had, and warranty of a warranty, availability, or you know, how they were to get their homestead exemption or, and not that it was the fault of the other agent that, you know, that worked with them.

13:05 It's just they probably just missed it or didn't really like, comprehend what was going on. And, you know, just didn't get that translated to them in a way, in a manner they needed to hear it. And, so, you know, you know, I just need to have something that people will feel like, okay, I'm going to go to her because I know she's going to explain to me, and I do my best to try to make sure that when we're reviewing something, you know, I give them the information they need and then translate it to them in the proper ways. And then also, you know, that checkpoint we have, Spanish that forms, the Association of Realtors has that some of the majority of our forms are in they are translated Spanish.

13:53 We just can't use them. But I do keep them on hand and and give them to, you know, my customers, give them to my clients and tell them this is what I'm reading here, and you can read along with me in Spanish. And I'm gonna explain to you in English, in the English form, to you. But we cannot sign the documents in the Spanish form. You have to have them in English. So at that, I feel that's a little bit more of a comfort zone for them. And, you know, and then I also let them take, you know, like, and take them and be able to read them in reference to them and and know that they can always ask me or, you know, for questions if they need to.

14:36 Write a run into it every. And yes, in the five different states, licensed in people, you know, English isn't their first language. Maybe it is or that or maybe their, their preference is a language that they're most comfortable in, whether it's Spanish up here in Dallas, it's Farsi, Arabic, and the list goes on. And. Oh, no, you know, I took a class, a six month. Basically, it was a six month, class at that, metro Texas, offering. And it was and there were so many different people that took the class and so many different languages that were being spoken.

15:20 And so it's amazing how, you know, and we are here to we can serve so many different people's needs, with us being able to implement those things and, and put them into a process where people can understand them, where they can become property owners. Yeah. It's just it's removing one more barrier, ownership. And, you know, I'm a huge advocate of people home owning homes. Yes. Wherever they've come from, whatever their background is, you know, if that that's their dream to own a home. Now, I'm here to help care. And so are you. And I love that. Yeah.

16:02 That you, us, me. Also the percentage that, probably, you know, the percentage of people that I help. So my client base is probably around, I'm going to say it's probably 6040. Based. This is that first time home buyers, you know. You know that it is. I would say that that's probably the majority of my, but here now, going on 17 years of doing business, now I'm getting the repetitive clients or getting their children and a family member of someone that that needing the home.

16:42 Yeah. And they're upgrading or moving or they're moving into their new dream home and they're turning that program and they segue way talk to me about generational wealth. In the time that you've been a realtor, I'm sure you've seen this. You know, I'm a big advocate of that. You know, I tell, you know, because I was, you know, I came from a Hispanic family. We are traditions are move one place, and that's why you stay. Those are the you know, those are the kind of roots that, you know, that have been instilled in our community for many, many years.

17:23 And, you know, so those barriers, I call them barriers because I have, you know, you have they're the kids of these, people that I've known for a really long time that are now able to purchase homes, and they're wanting to make changes or update or move up into something different. And you have parents that, they're like, yeah, you don't need to do that. You have a home, you need to stay where you're at, you know, don't spend any money that you don't need to spend. But, you know, I try to tell, you know, advise my clients, you know, if you're going to be, you know, purchasing something, you need to look at the situation that you're in and about and evaluate that situation.

18:07 And if it's something that you know, you can't. I'm actually in the middle of it right now with, a family, if you're wanting a certain type of property and it's not in your budget to do, then you can look to the next thing on your list and say, okay, this is the thing I can afford, and how am I going to be able to take this and make it be worth something where I can then later on, five years, eight years, sell it and make money out of it and move on to the next, and move on to our next stage in life, which it may be our forever home where we set our roots, where our children are going to grow up, which are the grandchildren of the parents that I attended to in the past. And, to these these young couples that, you know, have been renting, you know, they've been renting for ten years, you know, and that money is gone out the window that, you know, and then I just say, you know, this is what you need to look forward to, and then let's move forward on how you can make that happen.

19:12 You know, I have some clients that every 3 to 4 years, they, they, start processing to either build something new and then sell what they have. And with their the equity they make out of the home, they put it into a new home that then turns around and gives them money to invest in other other business in real estate, you know, either buying lots or where they can build later on, or buying business businesses that they could get into things like that, that they're investing that money into. Wow. Yeah. I just I just had a client, she's renting, she's paying $2,600 a month, and I just qualifier for a $300,000 purchase price.

19:59 Her monthly payment, matched to rent payment at $2,600, $300,000 purchase price in the area that she's wanting to live in. So I factored in taxes, property taxes, and, for homeowner's policy. She's out looking at houses now. She's both of our own. Her first home and not be renting anymore. Yeah, but I mean, on Sunday, I was showing Sunday to a couple, and they, we actually, we had seven homes to look at. Six of them were in their budget. One of them wasn't. And, they really like the one that wasn't, but, you know, and they said, you know, they were at, you know, three, $3,000 limit on their house payment.

20:44 They didn't want to be above that. And, I'm sorry, there are a $2,500 budget per house payment. And and the house it was not in their budget was a $3,000 house payment. And but it had a structure, a little barn type building that had an office space inside of it that was heat and air. And as you know, you're in the trade. You know, people in the trade, you can, you know, dresses up, lease it out and make your $500 like you don't want to be in over budget in this out of this space here.

21:25 So you can still have what you love and you're going to have to supplement it with, you know, taking this space and making it to where somebody can lease it from you and then you can afford your payment, you know, we talked about it. You know, we looked at our other homes and, you know, we they eventually still ended up staying in their budget. They found something that was adequate and they were happy with, and they liked just as much as the one that was out of their budget. So, you know, there's so many options that people can explore and not have to live on. Rent. That's why you got to have a qualified real estate agent knows what she's talking about that, you know, knows her market and and knows how to is thinking in that space that they're, you know, they got their own lives to live.

22:11 They're not, you know, necessarily brainstorming real estate options like, you know. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. So let's talk about your career. You have been recognized multiple times, by the H. Rp's top 250 Hispanic realtors in the nation. Tell me about that one. Tell me what that stands for. But then tell me what that means to you. Yeah, that's not rep nor rep is National Association of Hispanic Realtors. You know, and I tell everybody this story when I first was nominated, I sit in the movies with my family watching a movie, and I get a message on my phone, and, and I, look at it, and then I send it to my broker, and I was like, is this real?

23:06 And he's like, I don't know. And he said, we'll look at it on Monday. I said, okay, so came to work on Monday and we started looking into it. And he's like, well Bobby dang, it's real. And you know, that was the first I ever heard of it apparently is a nationally recognized, organization. And, they they're, very, very laser pointed on generational generational wealth. And they have, a lot of different types of groups that will help you, you know, boost your business and be mentored and, get involved with community service and all of these other things.

23:51 So, you know, found out that someone nominated and I and I won and, didn't won the first place, but I did when I was one of, I think, in Texas that year, I was, one of five or so, and I was the only one in Dallas Metroplex area. But that's all for you. Let's put that into some context. So nationwide, there's about 1.5 million realtors nationwide, that one Hispanic. They have to be. Yeah, that's. Out of that 1.2 million, only 40,000 realtors are, Hispanic.

24:31 And that's right now 250. That's amazing. That's big, big time achievements. Good for you. But you also hold some other some other accolades. The Avion. Yes. Or what is what does that mean to home buyers and sellers? You know. You know, whenever a home buyer seller looks at that, you know, and I do feel like people do check into those things and, and look and research that now even more and are more those all those types of information, engines are available now more than ever with ChatGPT and, with AI that's out there, that they can get that information at a couple clicks of a button.

25:19 And, so it is very helpful to have it, and to, to, to, you know, push yourself as an agent to try to receive any of those type of, accreditations or, you know, being being notarized for that. You know, it's, it's, it's, it's something to have, but it also is something that a client can see that you're out there doing the job and you're working and showing that you're out there working and trying to help as many people as you can to be property owners and business owners or investors or whatever they're out there trying to get done.

26:03 The what's, what's something that you, in your opinion, separates a good realtor, from a great realtor? You know, I think a good realtor does their job. They do it to the best of their knowledge. But when you have a great realtor, a great realtor is someone that supports the community she's involved in, supports the her her, clients that are coming to them for whatever information and, tasks that they're needing to get done and accomplish at the time, and then also be there as a community servant.

26:49 What's something what's maybe one thing buyers and sellers should look for, when they're looking for a realtor agent to help them. Now, I think that a buyer and seller, when they're looking for an agent that is, in the area that they're trying to you know, set their roots in, they should look for someone that is, well known that someone that has knows the area that they're actually trying to purchase in and then, and then, to know that that person is there for them when they need someone to talk to and answer their questions and whatever questions I have be very supportive in getting those answers to them.

27:34 All right. In your local market, are you seeing, what's curious, are you seeing people coming out of the Dallas County down into Ennis County, or are they coming from everywhere? Ellis County is, I think, one of the they are one of the fastest growing counties here in the area right now. You know, Ellis County is a large county. We have lots of towns in Ellis County that runs from, Midlothian, you know, all the way back around here to Ennis and, Red Oak. Oh, well, yeah. Various, you know, there's lots of growth everywhere around us right now, and.

28:16 Yeah, you know, it's moving fast. And, you know, with all the things that are happening on, you know, on the state level side, you know, with trying to keep up with infrastructure, trying to keep up with water, you know, availability for all the communities. It's a struggle. And I think that they all managed to well, Is there is there a, a price range that you're seeing that people are looking for or taking away? So there's all kinds of prices for housing, but, yeah. You know, I think that the mid price range, you know, a $300,000 home, you could, you know, you could easily get that in a, in a good area.

29:07 You know, people are more, comfortable in that price range. You know, I've seen it more, you know, a lot of people here lately have kind of come down and selling something there, and that is back in the higher range. I'm talking about somebody that has a $700,000 home. They're selling it and they're trying to get into, you know, a $400,000 home because it's just more economically feasible for them. But it's still getting them a quality home. Right. And taxes the property taxes there.

29:47 I'm not compared to Dallas. It's lower right in so for what that means to homeowners or you can buy more house, you can spend more house, you spend more money on principal than you would on interest or in, property taxes. Right. Well, I mean, that's you can weigh, you know, in different areas. You know, we there's a lot of a lot of different tax categories for homebuyers. When you pick choosing a town you're going to live in, you know, here in Ennis we don't have college, a college tax, but there's one in the works actually there's one in Corsicana. There's one in Midlothian. Because we do have some college colleges there in that area.

30:29 So they do get that tax added on to their their tax base. So, you know, when you get out of into the county, you know, you drop that city tax, you drop that, you know, you don't have to have, you get an exemption or, you know, things like that that could help you in your taxes. So that's a lot of things that you have to juggle and work out with your client whenever you're trying to find the right place for them. But when these people are coming from Dallas or, you know, we had a lot of transplants from California in this county and quite a bit.

31:10 And, you know, they were just floored at what you could get compared to what they were coming from. And right, they were just amazed at, you know, being able to to purchase something and that and that price, that bracket that they were like, this can't be true. You know, this, that this home, if it was in California, would be millions of dollars. And, you know, here they're paying, you know, under a million for it. So, they were just very surprised. Yeah. I hear that often. What, what about the housing market excites you about the future business? I'm sorry. What did you say?

31:51 The future to Ennis. What about the what? What about the housing market are you really excited about? You know, I'm ready for us to step into its next phase of life. You know, right now we do have a Walmart. We do have a, you know, an H-e-b. But we need more. And, you know, the development on 45 going so north and south, we have a Bucky's and, we have all those things, but I think I, I'm ready to see Anna's change into or transform into something different. I think the Ennis is ready for, a little bit more, custom home building communities, as in with parks and walking trails and, amenities.

32:41 Some of our services just don't have that right now. And I think we're ready to step into those next steps. So that happening? Yeah. Well, you got a Bucky's no, I know, I know people that trout, myself included. That would be a Bucky's, you know, plan all. Together every day. And I'm like, what are y'all all doing here? There's hundreds of cars out there. I know you can drive from here all the way to Florida. Only stopping at a Bucky's. Now this all prospect, I don't know, there was only one Bucky's. I know it was a destination all of its own, so, yes. It is too. S, a little personal side.

33:21 What are you doing when you're not helping families buy or sell home? You know, I have, two wonderful grand boys that love to do sports, and I love to go watch them. And then I, you know, really, passionate about, my family. And I love spending time with them, so, and then, the time that they have plans and they don't want me around, I try to do some community service and am involved in some, nonprofits and, doing some volunteerism. But not what nonprofits do. You are you, Right now I'm involved in, is the station nice? And they, they hold a yearly Cinco de Mayo festival here in downtown Inez, and, and we've done that.

34:09 This is our six year doing that. So I do that. And, and then I'm a part of the greater United Way. I'm on the board of the great, you know, way. I'm also on the board of the, the greater Inez chamber. And then, I also, the likes of Venus, which is, another group that helps put on a Christmas events during the Christmas time. And downtown in US. Oh, wow. I tell you what, the, think on my own Christmas, would be a few anyway. Any one of those if you want to put a spotlight on them, you know, a podcast, and I'll put a spotlight on.

34:49 Okay, I will do some marking for and see if I can draw attendance and whatever, whatever I can do, that's okay. That put you on the spot, but that's that's available to you. So if I had a free weekend and I'm headed in, it's. What would I do? What's the one thing you would. I would not want to miss out on? Okay, well, if you came to us, I'd like for you to plan it either to come down Bluebonnet season or come during poker festival. We have a poker festival here at the, Memorial Day weekend. And then we also have Cinco de Mayo in May. But plan it around something that is happening downtown.

35:32 And, when you get here, you know, Walker historic downtown, which is very beautiful. And then we also have, a couple places that you could visit. We have, some parks that are here. You know, we have, some walking trails. We have, some wooded walking trails also that are here and some of our parks. And, and then I would end up going to the drive in, you know, we have a drive in here. Nice. Tell me about that. That's awesome. So, yeah, we have a drive in. It's called the Galaxy. It's on 45. Probably go to dinner and then go to the the drive in.

36:19 That's worth the drive right there. Yeah, I think that's probably the closest drive in to me. And, actually, there's one in Fort Worth. I don't know the location, but there is a small one. If it. What it's ours is. I think we're at we're now up to seven screens, so. Okay. Yeah. Wow. It's a little eclectic. It's a little eclectic. When you pull in, you're like, what is this? But there is a drive in back there. Great, I love it. Yeah I remember drive into when I was a kid and then when that long get up. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. We're we're running out of time, so let's, real quick.

36:59 What, what advice would you give someone who's dreaming of buying their first home? If someone's dreaming of buying their first home, I think they should call a lender and talk to a lender. And ask them what they're qualified to purchase. After they find out that they need to call a agent and ask them all the questions. You know, said earlier of how, you know, you how will you represent me if I'm wanting to buy a property and then, get out there and look for your house because it doesn't have to be a dream. It could come. It could be possible. And there's so many products out there that people don't know that they could use to buy their first home.

37:42 You know, there's there's, no first time homebuyer incentives to the builders, and local, you know, community development. They're offering great interest rates. You know, people just need to need to try and do it. Even the people that think, oh, I don't have the credit to do it. An agent can steer you to someone that can help you fix that credit. And then you can get you can get your dream will come true eventually. You know, with a good realtor and a good lender, you can build a clear mortgage plan or they'll build it for you and, do that all day long. But it's up here. Yeah, that's what we do all day long.

38:24 I'm like, look, you can own a home. Then there at the top, whether it's 30 days now or, you know, a year now. I mean, it's not a dream. It's always it's it's it's it's possible you it can happen for you, you know? All right. Amelia. So, my, I have my very first great or great niece. Grand niece. You know, months now, and her name is Amelia. So as well, I love that. You know, I used to not see people with my name. But now, nowadays, more than ever, I see than a more and more. Yes. Yeah. So I'm like, hey, big way.

39:06 But I was named after my aunt, so you know. Yeah. So that's good. Good. So how would someone if they're, if you're looking to buy or sell a home in the Nice Market or Ellis County, how would they best reach out to you? You know, they could Google me, Google my name, Amelia Valdez, and it will come right up. Or, you know, they can come and visit us and, right on North Avenue, right after you cross the railroad tracks. Our office is right here on the corner. Starting where the historical downtown is in the more built in. And we're here to serve you. We have a bunch of real estate agents in our office that can all help guide you to where you need to go.

39:52 Perfect. And I'm going to put. I'll put your links. I'll attach your, contact from any kind of websites and all your social media to wherever y'all are listening to this or watching this. And, that's going to wrap it up for us on this episode of Between Two Doors. Amelia, thank you. Thank you very much for being a thank. You, I appreciate it. Thank you.