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Show Summary
In this episode of the Real Estate Pros podcast, host Micah Johnson welcomes Rolando Nandin, a seasoned mortgage professional with over 15 years of experience in the industry. Rolando shares his journey from software sales to mortgage underwriting, highlighting the importance of understanding the intricacies of lending and how it shapes his approach to customer service. He emphasizes the need for clear communication with clients, breaking down complex legal jargon into understandable terms, which is crucial for building trust and ensuring a smooth lending process.
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Rolando Nandin (00:00)
So instead of focusing that, I always say, like, find a person that really, really understands their business.because most of the time they’re going to have the best of everything. They’re going to have the best pricing. They’re going to have the best service. And if you go after just pricing, the service is going to deteriorate a little bit because it’s just hard to be able to give. There’s going to be less bodies operating. There’s less people working to ⁓ provide that service and they can hinder it. But you can get good pricing.
Micah Johnson (02:08)
Hey everyone, welcome to the Real Estate Pros podcast. I’m your host, Micah Johnson. And today I’m joined by Rolando Nandin, who’s been making some serious moves in the mortgage industry for quite some time now. Rolando, welcome in man, glad to have you.Rolando Nandin (02:21)
Yes, thank you, Micah. I really appreciate you having me on here.Micah Johnson (02:25)
Absolutely, absolutely. I’m excited for our talk today. I think our listeners are really gonna take something away from how you and your team particularly approach the way that you do lending and making sure that the best foot is always forward and the customer really understands what’s happening. I love that. I love when folks take care of people. let’s dive in on that. For folks who may not know you yet, what is that main focus right now and what markets do you operate in?Rolando Nandin (02:49)
I operate right now in Texas. So most of my business is done in Texas. I lean heavily over the residential purchases. ⁓ I do investment properties, primary properties. ⁓ There’s a couple of things that I have access to to do commercial loans as well. But the majority of my background and everything has been the foundation is in the residential space. ⁓ Just understanding loans for investors who are buyingyou know, loans under DSCR, ⁓ P &Ls, and then course primary homes, which a lot of us do, But yeah, no, I mean anything to do with residential and you’re buying a house, one to four unit, you know, I’m your guy.
Micah Johnson (03:35)
Awesome, man. Well, let’s back that up for a second. So you got into this business about 15 years ago. What led you to it? And then give us an idea of your experience on the way up. What have you learned so far along the way that really helped you stand out in that world?Rolando Nandin (03:48)
Yeah, so you know, I was I was doing software sales for a company called Avnit years back early early 2000s and ⁓ Things weren’t I got a little it was a lot of work Was in charge of a territory of 60 million and I and I had an opportunity to go into the banking had a that was after the 2008 crash so they were hiring people like crazy and ⁓ I decided to apply to a bank job to get into underwriting ⁓ ended upworking my way up the channel to get up to the underwriting and work mediations underwriting where I actually was trying to help the bank at the time was Wells Fargo, just people from losing their homes. And we have to read guidelines very well. We go to attend mediations and just help them understand whether there was a solution for them or not. So I got to get exposed to the reasons why banks do the way they do things and also from a legal perspective, right? Why things are written the way they are.
I think it’s important for people that work in this space because there’s a lot of fine print in that. So when I worked there in 2010, I worked four years of underwriting, went to a couple of different banks. What happened when I jumped from bank to bank to work as an underwriter is that it opened up my eyes on how banks, especially the big banks, have a lot of red tape in things. So if you stay at one place,
you think you know the way things work, then you find out that when you leave these places, there’s more than one way to skin a cat. And you start to figure out that there’s multiple ways to provide value to clients and consumers when you start to understand how things work at different places. it’s the interpretation of things that we do in our experiences. So I worked at a couple of different banks.
Micah Johnson (05:32)
Right.Rolando Nandin (05:41)
and did that for 10 years for mortgage underwriting.COVID hit, pushed me out. I got laid off from my underwriting job and I decided to go to sales, which is not normal. Most underwriting jobs are people that are very analytical. looking at, they like to be behind the computer. They don’t like to deal with people. And that was me the first year. And unfortunately, it took me about a year and a half to kind of adapt to that sales world.
coming from doing mortgage loans from on the back end. However, what that did is that it allowed me, it allows me to bring a lot more value to the table. And so now I’m able to assist clients and help them understand the language. know, clients have many questions sometimes as to why we ask for certain things a certain way. And when you have the comprehension of understanding what the bank is trying to do and what they’re trying to do to protect themselves and make sure
Micah Johnson (07:01)
Right.Yeah, absolutely.
Rolando Nandin (07:28)
that you relate that in terms that they understand because clients, it’s a lot of gibberish when you look at that legal stuff. A lot of realistic… Exactly.Micah Johnson (07:35)
Right, right. lot of real estate jargon, man. Terms only we hear. We know what they mean because we hear them every day, but the other folks,they don’t know what they mean.
Rolando Nandin (07:45)
Exactly.And you know, I just try to filter all of that and put it in the most simplest terms for someone that’s trying to get a loan, whether it’s an investment property or if it’s, you know, for something that they’re going to do for personal use. And that’s, that’s what caused me to come into the sales side after COVID and been doing it since on the lending side, then I got an opportunity to run my branch. And ⁓ I kind of shortcut that, right?
Micah Johnson (08:09)
Mmm.Rolando Nandin (08:12)
The reason I got to shortcut that a bit was because when I was interviewing, they saw the extensive knowledge that I brought from the back end to where they said, hey, if you get people that are working with you as other loan officers that maybe want to come to the company, you have the expertise to help them structure loans, which is where most people lack. But it’s not the money making business of the the sell side. The money making business of the sell side is you being charismatic, people liking you.getting that business to come in, but that doesn’t mean that you’re a true professional. That just means you’re good at the piece of sales, which is playing the part of getting people to like you to send the business to you, which is great, right? We all with the companies need that, right? They need that person. They do. However, then you get filtered into this long, you know, assembly line of getting the client through different departments and.
Micah Johnson (08:57)
They do.Rolando Nandin (09:08)
when people are so compartmentalized these days and so focused in just doing their job, sometimes you don’t get that streamlined process anymore. And you will get people thinking outside the box. And understanding the guidelines in depth, like the way we do up here at Affinity Mortgage, due to the underwriting experience that I bring, also my loan officer assistant is a 10 year mortgage ⁓ loan officer. And so we combine our knowledge to stream linkMicah Johnson (09:16)
Right?Rolando Nandin (09:37)
streamlining all that process up front. And that’s the value that we bring for investors and for just, you know, residential people getting a primary home. And it just, it just makes the process smoother. And so, you know, whatMicah Johnson (09:50)
Yeah. What I love aboutit is you’re like a, what’s unique about your experience. Cause you’re right. Not everybody has that 10 year background in underwriting and it is a personality difference. Just knowing folks who’ve done it, it’s right. They don’t want to have a phone call. They just want to check the paperwork. This is the part that we want to do that we like. However, it’s almost what it sounds like to me is it’s like you’re you’ve shifted now and I’m to use the car world, but it’s like you’re selling cars that you also built now.
Rolando Nandin (10:01)
Yes.COVID hit, pushed me out. I got laid off from my underwriting job and I decided to go to sales, which is not normal. Most underwriting jobs are people that are very analytical. looking at, they like to be behind the computer. They don’t like to deal with people. And that was me the first year. And unfortunately, it took me about a year and a half to kind of adapt to that sales world.
coming from doing mortgage loans from on the back end. However, what that did is that it allowed me, it allows me to bring a lot more value to the table. And so now I’m able to assist clients and help them understand the language. know, clients have many questions sometimes as to why we ask for certain things a certain way. And when you have the comprehension of understanding what the bank is trying to do and what they’re trying to do to protect themselves and make sure
Micah Johnson (11:24)
Right.Yeah, absolutely.
Rolando Nandin (11:51)
that you relate that in terms that they understand because clients, it’s a lot of gibberish when you look at that legal stuff. A lot of realistic… Exactly.Micah Johnson (11:58)
Right, right. lot of real estate jargon, man. Terms only we hear. We know what they mean because we hear them every day, but the other folks,they don’t know what they mean.
Rolando Nandin (12:08)
Exactly.And you know, I just try to filter all of that and put it in the most simplest terms for someone that’s trying to get a loan, whether it’s an investment property or if it’s, you know, for something that they’re going to do for personal use. And that’s, that’s what caused me to come into the sales side after COVID and been doing it since on the lending side, then I got an opportunity to run my branch. And ⁓ I kind of shortcut that, right?
Micah Johnson (12:32)
Mmm.Rolando Nandin (12:35)
The reason I got to shortcut that a bit was because when I was interviewing, they saw the extensive knowledge that I brought from the back end to where they said, hey, if you get people that are working with you as other loan officers that maybe want to come to the company, you have the expertise to help them structure loans, which is where most people lack. But it’s not the money making business of the the sell side. The money making business of the sell side is you being charismatic, people liking you.getting that business to come in, but that doesn’t mean that you’re a true professional. That just means you’re good at the piece of sales, which is playing the part of getting people to like you to send the business to you, which is great, right? We all with the companies need that, right? They need that person. They do. However, then you get filtered into this long, you know, assembly line of getting the client through different departments and.
Micah Johnson (13:20)
They do.Rolando Nandin (13:30)
when people are so compartmentalized these days and so focused in just doing their job, sometimes you don’t get that streamlined process anymore. And you will get people thinking outside the box. And understanding the guidelines in depth, like the way we do up here at Affinity Mortgage, due to the underwriting experience that I bring, also my loan officer assistant is a 10 year mortgage ⁓ loan officer. And so we combine our knowledge to stream linkMicah Johnson (13:39)
Right?Rolando Nandin (14:00)
streamlining all that process up front. And that’s the value that we bring for investors and for just, you know, residential people getting a primary home. And it just, it just makes the process smoother. And so, you know, whatMicah Johnson (14:13)
Yeah. What I love aboutit is you’re like a, what’s unique about your experience. Cause you’re right. Not everybody has that 10 year background in underwriting and it is a personality difference. Just knowing folks who’ve done it, it’s right. They don’t want to have a phone call. They just want to check the paperwork. This is the part that we want to do that we like. However, it’s almost what it sounds like to me is it’s like you’re you’ve shifted now and I’m to use the car world, but it’s like you’re selling cars that you also built now.
Rolando Nandin (14:24)
Yes.Micah Johnson (14:43)
you what you can tell a customer about how it works is way different than just somebody that got a sales job at the car lot that can read the they’re just reading you the list that’s on the window just like you can read it right it’s just you’re only calling them because they have the keys basically versus someone who can walk up and say hey this is what it’s built on this is the process behind it this is the part you need to think about here when you’re at this step and over here and so I’m to think about here and and because likeRolando Nandin (14:43)
Yes.Yep.
Exactly.
Exactly.
Micah Johnson (15:53)
Like you’re talking about even seasoned investors, their rules are changing constantly. Stuff is always in motion, which is why it makes having a solid real estate team in your background or in your, in your corner, everything I always say on the show, no one can close a deal by themselves. No one’s everything. Nobody is all the things right. And you need.Rolando Nandin (15:58)
Absolutely.Nope. No, absolutely not.
Micah Johnson (16:17)
You need your title or attorney. You need your lender. If you’re using one, you need your home inspector and you need like, you need all of these different pieces to actually be successful. And as you’re building that out, that’s something I did early on in my career in Florida. I got started as a realtor, but I found a lender much like yourself that knew his stuff. I mean, he cut his teeth doing the hardest doing VA loans on mobile homes in Florida. All right. Like the hard thing to get done.Rolando Nandin (16:24)
Yes.Yeah.
Micah Johnson (16:47)
But if this dude couldn’t get it done, it couldn’t get done. That’s what ultimately the relationship that we built. So whenever I sent him anybody and I would send him my family knowing if he can’t do it, it can’t be done in this state. That’s the reality. That’s his experience in it. And having somebody like that, like yourself in your corner, sometimes saying no is the most kind thing you can do. Right? One thing I love that he did is for anybody I sent him that wasn’t ready. Here’s how you get ready.Rolando Nandin (16:51)
Yep.Yeah.
Micah Johnson (17:16)
because I know how to get you ready. It’s not just a no, it’s a not yet. It’s a, is what’s lined up for you. You go take care of these things. You’re right back in the game. It’ll take you three months and we’re reset. And to me, I want to sell a house three months from now too. Right. It’s not just about the day. How do you keep people in the system to where they come back to you? Hey man, he’s ready now. It’s time to go. And it’s people that are experts that let you do that. Folks that also underRolando Nandin (17:22)
Yes.Yeah, absolutely.
They come back to you, Yeah.
Micah Johnson (17:46)
They understand their product and they understand their people. And that’s something you put in your information when you first filled out for the show was that emphasis on relationship that you’ve learned where now that you know all of the other parts, building strong relationships with people becomes real estate business. It is a relationship business. And how, when that shift happened for you, what’s that done for you? How have things been going in your brokers that you’re at now for the past five years?Rolando Nandin (18:03)
⁓ absolutely.Well,
you know, the past five years doing this, I mean, I struggled the first year and a half, right, because I was so stuck in the mentality of like, ⁓ I know this job so well, people need to listen to me. And that was the biggest eye opener, right? It’s when you come into the sales world, because anybody that’s in real estate, it’s a sales world. And in reality, it’s a sales world and everything.
because you’re selling yourself whether you’re working on the back end or not, you’re competing for jobs, right? So you have to learn sales. And that was so hard for me. And I had to bump heads with my coaches, with other managers at the time when I was working at other companies. And it led me down a path that it was inevitable for a person like me. Sometimes some of us have to learn the hard way, right? Or some of us have to figure it out, right? But really, honestly, it didn’t take me too long.
in the grand scheme of things. ⁓ But it was one of those things where you had to let go and understand that you have a new role and you have to deliver it in a different manner. And I don’t have but but it’s nice to have that foundation and it’s opened me to grow personally and understand the business to where I can now take my knowledge and and put it.
as on the front end and learn how to sell it because it doesn’t matter how good you are at things. you nobody knows who you are and nobody knows what you can do, you could be the best loan officer and nobody in a senior business if you can’t get them to like you and they can’t they can’t find you. So that sales piece is the biggest percentage. And that’s why so much money goes into what I call the noise. Right.
Micah Johnson (20:04)
Okay, dive in there. Right.Rolando Nandin (20:04)
the sales marketing stuff, right? Allthe, you know, buying leads and getting in front of realtors with the new systems that are in place. I mean, we have to spend so much in marketing because marketing, we’re all competing to be the first person to get looked at. But unfortunately, that’s the piece that you know, maybe we’ll get into later in the show that I think we’re gonna struggle with is how are people gonna decipher who’s the true professionals?
because
Micah Johnson (20:35)
Well, you were saying this in the pre-call recording. In the end, and please explain it for those that are out there listening and watching, what differences actually exist between mortgage lenders and how it gets, because you’re right, it gets sold to us in many different ways. You see all kinds of different catch phrases and buzzwords being thrown around with rates and different things. But in the end, behind it all,Rolando Nandin (20:55)
huh.Micah Johnson (21:01)
Do y’all mostly have the same thing? Where do the differences really exist?Rolando Nandin (21:05)
Well,you know, off the top of my head, I can tell you, you know, you have people that work in the retail space, which is the bank. When there’s a depository bank and you have people that can go get a checking account and investment savings account. Then so you have lenders there in that space. And then, of course, you’re restricted to the products that that particular bank offers. OK, then you have another retail space, which is what I call the non-bank space. Right. We’re not tied to a particular bank.
It’s still retail because everything is still kept in house. So it operates like a bank, they have a warehouse line of credit, right, that we just lend. We dedicate ourselves just to mortgages as opposed to a bank like the bigger banks, right, and that have depository accounts and things like that. They don’t focus just on mortgages. They have an array of products, right? So they have different departments, all that stuff, right? And then you got the non-bank stuff retail space, which is just mortgage.
Micah Johnson (21:57)
Right, credit cards, all that stuff.Rolando Nandin (22:04)
I mean, these people, we are just dedicated to mortgage. And then you got the brokers. Okay, the brokers are people that are not tied to anything. They’re basically a middleman. And then they have to send it out to different banks. There’s pros and cons in every space. Okay, at the end of the day, does pricing matter to clients, to investors? Absolutely, it does. can be, it’s variant depending on which one you go with. Some people are very dedicated to a niche and they’re gonna give you better pricing.And then some of them are spread a little bit versus, you know, they do everything What’s more important instead of focusing on which one’s the cheapest you got to find the blend of who has the service Because service is super important if you’re bringing clients You’ve got to make sure you can cover things quickly and enclose them on time with accuracy so I Tend to want to play in the middle, which is the non-bank and retail space
because it gives me the best of both worlds. Right? It gives me the best of pricing and it gives me the best of service. That doesn’t mean that someone in the broker side can’t have that and doesn’t have it set up. It just means that you better be really, really good at what you do on the broker side because if you’re not, you are depending, because you’re handing these deals to other banks. You don’t have access to them. Yes, we have account executives. When I broker deals, it’s a headache for me because I have to depend on them telling me,
Micah Johnson (23:06)
Okay.Rolando Nandin (23:33)
how the deal is going on versus me controlling it internally where I can actually have my hands in everything. And because I understand how the closing department works, because how title works, I get to see what’s going on more in a ⁓ real time space versus when I’m sending it out to places and it’s kind of happening behind the scenes and I have access to talking to them. But that service is hindered a little bit in my opinion.Right. Everybody’s got a different perspective on things and the pricing does impact. Pricing is like this. I’ve worked at companies where my pricing is very expensive because their overhead is expensive. Too many chiefs, not enough Indians. Right. So everybody sucks up the profits up here. So when you can find a company that operates in the space, whether it’s a broker space, the retail space and knows how to keep their P &Ls clean, that translates to savings to the clients in the front end of lines. OK.
Micah Johnson (24:02)
Mm-hmm. Gotcha.Gotcha.
Rolando Nandin (24:32)
Mismanage money up here means more expensive down here because they’re trying to pay for things. So at the end of the day, I work for a bank that runs very skinny and efficient. It’s hard to run efficient today because there’s not a lot of people that have true knowledge and value in the spaces. They’re just filling bodies in into these spaces. So what does that cause? It causes to hire more people because now they’re compartmentalizing things.Micah Johnson (24:32)
Mmm.Interesting.
Rolando Nandin (25:00)
And you got to have two people to do the one job when when you hire someone that’s really good at what they do, they can handle both jobs. And now you don’t have to split the cost. And it’s overhead for the company. They got to get that extra cost from somewhere comes from the consumers. Right. So ultimately, it’s hard for any investor or anybody to know whether they’re getting the best rate or not.Micah Johnson (25:08)
Right.Rolando Nandin (25:24)
So instead of focusing that, I always say, like, find a person that really, really understands their business.because most of the time they’re going to have the best of everything. They’re going to have the best pricing. They’re going to have the best service. And if you go after just pricing, the service is going to deteriorate a little bit because it’s just hard to be able to give. There’s going to be less bodies operating. There’s less people working to ⁓ provide that service and they can hinder it. But you can get good pricing.
Now that can work for some people as long as you’re not on time restrictions and you’re not expecting things fast, you know? So, which is right in the real estate world, everybody wants it done quick. So, ⁓ but ultimately it’s, you gotta go through, it’s the way of the world, right? We have to go and kind of try different places. ⁓ I keep an eye on that because for me, it’s important for my clients to receive the best of everything.
Micah Johnson (26:08)
Which is rarely.Right, right.
Rolando Nandin (26:29)
And so I keep that balance to deliver that service, to deliver that pricing that they want, keep things inexpensive. mean, today’s world, it’s expensive. You go to the grocery store, it’s $1,200 a month. I mean, it’s tough. So everything’s expensive. So every little dollar matters everywhere. And when you have a branch manager, you have a loan officer or any business partner that is mindful of all of that, and they’re somehow operating their business and keeping tabs on all of that and where they work,Micah Johnson (26:41)
Right.Rolando Nandin (26:59)
then that means that you’re going to get the best upfront. And not a lot of people operate that way, unfortunately. And so it’s rare that you find that combination. And you know, we like to say that we deliver that here.Micah Johnson (27:12)
our listeners out there.Yeah, no, can tell, man. You definitely know your stuff. So I’m interested in how you might be able to help even folks outside of Texas. What are some questions that they need to be asking to help them determine the level of professionalism of the person they’re dealing with? What do they need to ask from your point of view that would help them see, this is somebody worth working with or somebody not worth working with?
Rolando Nandin (27:22)
ThankWell, yeah, you know, and I’ll start with
this. ⁓ Years of experience matters. Absolutely, it matters. But does it mean that someone that’s 25 years in the business mean they know more than someone that’s 10 years in the business? Not necessarily, because quality of years is more important, right? It’s the blend of what made those 10 years or what made those 25 years. So what I would tell people outside anywhere dealing with business partners is do your research.
Micah Johnson (28:00)
Right.Rolando Nandin (28:09)
Look at their LinkedIn accounts. Do they have their history of where they’ve worked? How long have they been in the industry? How did they work up to that? Like if you go to my LinkedIn account, you’re gonna see my underwriting experience. You’re gonna see how I led that. So when people are in business, like investors, it’s good for them to educate themselves on understanding the aspects of every partner they need. And then finding the resources out there to researching them and saying,Micah Johnson (28:34)
Right.Rolando Nandin (28:39)
Are they fluff or do they really carry like the experience that I really need? Because it’s gonna be hard to sit down in front of someone and really decipher and say, Micah, tell me a little bit about yourself and let me know why you. Well, today’s world, it’s very easy to spill out stuff and script things and sound great. So it’s gonna be harder for people to ask these questions and really know.You’re more than anything else. You’re going to have to do a little bit of deep diving yourself, right? Not read. Yeah, because you know, you got to get in there and find out. Here’s the other thing. The other thing I’ve had people tell me, hey, can you go leave a Google review on my deal? I’m like, why? I haven’t done business with you.
Micah Johnson (29:11)
Right. And there’s the underwriting in you coming out. I love it. You got to get in there and find out.Right.
Rolando Nandin (29:30)
What arethese reviews? ⁓ I mean, every review I have, I let it be. I let it roll. If my service was where it needed to be, that’ll be a five-star review. If someone rates me a 4.75, I ask them, and if that’s the way they felt, then I needed to listen to them more to meet the needs that they needed. Because everything has to be tailored to a specific client. Not every client.
That’s the mastery of sales, right? Is being able to understand each client. You can’t set up a process and say it’s gonna work for everybody, because it’s not. You have to be able to change it as it goes. It’s gotta be tailored. So, investors out there looking to wanna know what to ask their people that are working with it, is just research them a little bit. Use the tools, LinkedIn accounts, look how many times they’ve jumped around jobs.
What’s built their career? Are they able to answer your questions on the fly with knowledge that you feel is being delivered confidently? Right. So like if you feel any hesitation, be cautious on taking that and running with it. You know what mean? A lot of the times are they telling you, hey, I don’t know that answer, but I’ll get back to you.
Micah Johnson (30:40)
youRight.
Rolando Nandin (30:53)
Well, that’s great. We get taught to do that because we don’t want, we’d rather say no and get you the right answer than tell you something that’s not right. So there’s nothing wrong with that. But if you find yourself that you’re dealing with a partner that’s constantly telling you that, I don’t know. I would argue that do they know that they’re business in depth?Micah Johnson (31:14)
Right. Red flags going off. I mean, you can say it on a few things because it is, there’s the, yeah, it’s cause what is your rubble? It’s unique to each person. That’s where the relationship business comes back. When you start to, it’s funny because you’re doing behind the person, it’s the same thing, but what makes a good salesperson is they can talk about their product 20 different ways. You can’t pin them into a corner because they understand it from the viewpoints that the people they’re dealing with need to hear it from.Rolando Nandin (31:15)
See ya.Yeah, it’s just too much to know everything, but…
Exactly.
Exactly.
Micah Johnson (31:44)
And you only get that by dealing with people through the process of learning your product. had, there’s, there’s a way you understand it. You know, founders, they know their product left, right up and down. So that it’s a different way of, of what they see because they create it. But when you’re dealing with, no one’s creating mortgages right now. We’ve been doing that for quite some time. So when you get into the industry, knowing, spending that time educating yourself, and I couldn’t agree more, man. I love what you said there about look people up. There’s too many tools now to take a quick second. See,Rolando Nandin (31:56)
Right.Yeah.
Micah Johnson (32:14)
Okay, what are they actually doing? Is this somebody that the background sounds right? So that then when you actually do get to the conversation, you can see if they’re the right vibe for you. You because you said this earlier, nobody wants to work with or will work with someone they don’t like, they don’t trust, and they don’t think can get the job done. And so much of that is not how much you know about your business, but how well you relate to people and then how much you know about your business, right?Rolando Nandin (32:24)
Yes, right.Exactly
right.
Micah Johnson (32:41)
thatfactor and you went through it when you switched to that sales world is the ability to connect with somebody is a unique skill in and of itself. Once you learn that one, then you get to show them all this other stuff you know. It’s like the age old adage, no one cares how much you know until they know how much you care. And you go in there blast and at the wrong way without the right mentality and yeah, people take it the wrong way. They can take it. Maybe you don’t know as much as you think you know, because you’re just hammering me with all this stuff you know. Like, is that all?
Rolando Nandin (32:57)
Yep.Thank you.
Hahaha
Micah Johnson (33:10)
Is that it? But that presentation of it that gets people into the system, I appreciate that. So for those of you out there listening, ⁓ make sure, look people up, find out if they’re professional. Rolando, if someone wanted to be able to find you, what’s the best way for them to find you if they’d like to touch base and learn more from you?Rolando Nandin (33:27)
Yeah, they can follow me under. mean, they can just Google me Rolando Nandin at shop pop up in Texas as a local lender in the San Antonio, Texas area. I mean, I service all of Texas. I’m licensed there. ⁓ There’s branches that we have and other surrounding states. So I’m necessarily bound to just Texas. I do have other states that I can ⁓ assist with. ⁓ know, a lot of the rules are the same across the board. However, there are little nuances that are different in each state. So it is.important that you find someone local. I mean, I get this often where I get a client that was pre-approved outside of Texas. Texas is special. We love to have extra rules on things. And so when it comes to the lending world, it’s a little different. And I can’t tell you how many deals I’ve saved at the closing table or a week before the closing table because they were misinformed on what they can and can’t do in Texas. ⁓ so it does matter that you have you have local knowledge. ⁓
I would tell, I would argue that local knowledge ⁓ is not always the superior way because if your person that you’re dealing with understands how to read and interpret guidelines, then it’s easy. I can go into any state and read and tell you, you can’t, you can do this, you can’t do this. Problem is that people just read and they don’t really understand it. And so then they say, yeah, yeah, we can do it. But they didn’t look at the fine print or they didn’t read between the lines. You know, fortunate legal
⁓ fine print is not sometimes very straightforward. You got to be able to think and process it and say, hey, is this going to get me in trouble? How is, you know, me personally, when I do loans or when I do something, I’m always picturing myself in a courtroom and explaining to the judge, hey, what was your intention? Right? Like, what was this? Because at the end of the day, that’s you have to look at this from a lens of a legal perspective every time you do business.
Micah Johnson (34:59)
Yeah.Right?
Rolando Nandin (35:23)
And so whenMicah Johnson (35:23)
Right.Rolando Nandin (35:23)
you understand things through a lens of business or legal perspective, then you’re going to have a much better experience in anything you do. Yeah.Micah Johnson (35:32)
Absolutely, man, absolutely.And thanks for sharing that. So if you’re listening and watching in, check the show notes. We’ll make sure we have Rolando’s links in there where you can reach out to him. Take advantage of people who have expertise in industry. Relationships drive this game. So when you find a good one, learn from them. That is my best piece of advice. Learn, learn, learn. Don’t stop learning. Find good people to learn from.
Rolando Nandin (35:51)
Yeah. And, and, and one more,and one more thing, Micah, nobody’s perfect. Nobody’s perfect. So if your business partner makes a small mistake, we’re human. And at the end of the day is you got to weigh that mistake versus all the other, because everybody likes to remember the mistake. Never wants, nobody remembers the wins. So I always tell people, I was like, if you’re really in business, understand that people were human and people will make mistakes.
Micah Johnson (35:57)
Right?Right.
That’s right.
Rolando Nandin (36:20)
but it’s the level in the, you know, the level of mistakes, the severity of the mistakes, and were they able to pivot and were they able to, you know, find a solution without you having to lose out on things. Because at the end of the day, ⁓ that’s a true business partner. Nothing ever in real estate is going to work 100 % flawless. There’s gonna be hiccups. Yes, exactly.Micah Johnson (36:40)
No, no, you want to work with good problem solvers and you’ll learn how they deal with it. Like as longas problems don’t stress them out, that’s a good sign that they’re good to work with. They’ve been through enough of them. Rolando man, appreciate your time today, your perspective, your story. Thanks for joining me. I think more folks need to be out there doing that, putting that professional foot forward, getting that experience and sharing it with others in a way that’s valuable. So thanks again for being here. If you’re listening in and you got value out of today’s episode, please like this episode, share it with someone else you think would get value too.
Rolando Nandin (36:48)
Yeah.Yep.
Micah Johnson (37:09)
And don’t forget to subscribe. We appreciate everybody that follows us along here. We got more conversations coming up with operators, just like Rolando, who are out there building a real business. So thanks for joining us. We’ll see you on the next episode.
