How Rick Rucker Completed 13,000 Mortgage Transactions and Built a Lending Empire

Rick Rucker (00:00)
if you’re trying to be a master networking, master networker, push yourself to go when you don’t want to go. Push yourself to connect with five to six people at every event. And like I said, the genuine the biggest thing with salespeople in general is they think it’s talk, talk, talk. Just shut up and listen. Like people will tell you exactly what they need. If my people hear the word mortgage or they hear

Realtor or the real estate or investor, they’re gonna key in, they’re gonna have a converse, a genuine conversation with somebody and figure out ways that there’s synergies.

Issa Hanna (02:05)
Welcome back to another episode of the Real Estate Pro Show. I’m your host, Issa Hanna and today I have Rick Rucker, somebody who’s here to share his vast knowledge with us.

About lending in every single platform. ⁓ ladies and gentlemen, welcome Rick Rucker to the show. Rick, how are you?

Rick Rucker (02:22)
Good man, how’s it going?

Issa Hanna (02:24)
Great, man. I’m I’m glad to have you. I’m glad to pick your brand about a few things. So ⁓ for people that are at home watching, can you give us a rundown of what you’re doing today, day to day?

Rick Rucker (02:33)
Yeah, absolutely. So ⁓ I’m ⁓ president of Equity Capital Mortgage Group. we are the largest, or I would say one of the largest in the Midwest minority owned ⁓ mortgage companies. we specifically target, before it was a cool thing, we specifically targeted investors ⁓ when the market shifted in about 2021. ⁓ and just really dove into the business, embraced it, learned a lot, and we were able to quickly scale our business.

just beating the rest of the market to to the to the table. But day to day equity capital mortgage group, that is my focus as the president is just growing this business and helping investors just like yourself ⁓ grow out their portfolio.

Issa Hanna (03:15)
Definitely. And we are thankful for lenders just like you. You gotta have a great relationship with your lender. So ⁓ all investors are thankful for their great lenders, especially somebody with thirteen thousand transactions. That just brings a wealth of knowledge. So ⁓ how did we how did we get to thirteen thousand transactions? how how did you get into to to to the lending ⁓ field?

Rick Rucker (03:39)
That’s a great question. I was actually golfing one of my friends from the gym and she specifically asked me that like how how what made you even in this business? ⁓ and I wish that there was like some great thing that drew me in, but honestly, like I was selling cell phones at a a kiosk in the mall and I was doing pretty well at it. I thought I wanted to open up a cell phone store. ⁓ and I got a call from a gal ⁓ and the name of the company, I think it was equity.

Consultants or something along those lines. They pulled me in, they interviewed me. And they basically, you know, when I first pulled in, I see Mercedes, I see G Wags, I see all this money in the parking lot. I’m like, okay, well, maybe I’m in the right, right place. ⁓ that wasn’t really what sold me. And I tell this story all the time, especially to my employees. I said, you know what sold me is when I was actually being interviewed by my friend Beth. ⁓ she’s she was in HR at the time, and she was like, 96% of people in this business.

fail within the first year. And I have an ego, right? I come from sports. Like, you know, I was a football player at basketball. I played for St. Peter’s Chanel with some of the best basketball players in, you know, Ohio, arguably the country at the time, because LeBron James was coming up and a couple other people, ⁓ Juby Johnson and Brian Swift and a lot of bigger players. But ⁓ it was really what sold me was the fact that so many people fail out of it. ⁓ to me, that says that there’s a higher barrier

to entry. And obviously there’s a lot harder work that goes into it. So first three years of my career with smile and dial, you know, I made 150, 200 phone calls a day, co-calling public record leads, ⁓ which is basically it’s almost like calling the the white pages. ⁓ they give you a phone number and an address and they say, hey, call this person and convince them to refinance. ⁓ so I learned the hardest way imaginable my first three years, but I mean I will say that I was around

Some of the most incredible salespeople I’ve ever met. my friend ⁓ Johnny Liz, who now owns ⁓ Pizza 216, ⁓ Dale Click, just a bunch of like really, really good salespeople, ⁓ Jason Fogle, who also still works at Nations. But I was just immersed in really good salespeople for the first three years of my career, and it really taught me a lot about the industry. ⁓ fast forward, you know, as you go through.

My years being in the business, you know, if you do it the hardest way imaginable up front, everything else to me seems easy. So you know, when HARP came along and I was just taking phone calls and saying, Yeah, you’re at a six percent, I could take you to three and a quarter percent, blah, blah, blah. There’s no appraisal because back then it was all streamlined stuff. ⁓ it really, you know, that business was through the roof. So I mean, you could close forty, fifty loans in a month, no problem during that time frame. ⁓

But again, the reason why I was always so good and I was always top five dead or alive at every mortgage company I work for was just because I learned the hardest way imaginable up front and I was around some incredibly talented ⁓ salespeople when I first started in the industry. So ⁓ I that’s really just has what got me, you know, 21 plus years in this business that’s got me to that many transactions is just, you know, really learning it the hard way. And like I said, being around really good salespeople.

Issa Hanna (06:51)
Definitely. And 21 years in the business, 13,000 transactions. And and we were talking earlier, and you also mentioned something that most successful real estate people, ⁓ lending people have, especially early on in their career, and that’s a mentor. You mentioned Dan you mentioned Dan Milstein. could you shed some light on on how you met him, how he became your mentor?

Rick Rucker (08:00)
Yeah, so Dan Millstein ⁓ actually is the ⁓ owner of Gold Star Mortgage, who actually we still sell some of our conventional business to. So shout out to Gold Star. ⁓ but Dan Millstein was, I would say, one of the ⁓ really first that took me under his wing and showed me how to scale a business. He’s now, I think, a top 50 ⁓ NHL agent. ⁓ he’s completely shifted out of the mortgage space. ⁓ but

He was a number one loan originator from 2009 to 2011. ⁓ and I think he was closing, you know, I want to say 30 to 40,000 transactions a year, which is absolutely obscene. ⁓ but I learned from him and you know, it really he really taught me about scaling businesses, ⁓ economies of scale. ⁓ you know, when I first got into the business, you know, back in 2005, 2008, they would jokingly call me Section 32 because

Our fees were higher, right? You sold fees back then and sometimes higher interest rates. and it was all about what you could sell. But what Middle Stein taught me is like you should more or less like learn to maybe compress your margins a little bit and compete more in a volume business. So ⁓ learned a tremendous amount from him. We’re still good friends. And honestly, I learned a lot from Bill and Jeremy, ⁓ who owned ⁓ Nations Lending, ⁓ still good friends of mine.

Bill was actually supposed to be in my bachelor party last year, but he’s a busy guy. and I I think it’s it’s very crucial for anybody in the real estate space, whether it be lending or it’s you know investing, ⁓ you need to study the greats and become greater. ⁓ you know, even last week we had a we’re able to sit down with Matt Ishaba, ⁓ the president of UWM, which is the largest lender bar by by far. ⁓

in the country. and you know, you just really gotta immerse yourself in really good ⁓ mentors and learn from them. Like shut up. You know, that’s why I tell my employees here, is like, listen, I know that you got the world figured out, but if you did, you wouldn’t work for me. Sometimes you just gotta stop talking as much and listen more. And again, I’m not perfect still. I’m still trying to learn. I’m still trying to get better ⁓ at everything. And, you know, it’s just ⁓ you know, ment mentorship is everything.

Issa Hanna (10:16)
Definitely man, and I and I love that, what what you just said. You gotta shut up and listen sometimes. And then you followed that up by by saying, I don’t know everything. So when you’re humble enough, even after thirteen thousand transactions to to say, I don’t know everything, yeah, that just means you’re you’re destined for greatness, in our business. And and I don’t you know, I don’t have to tell you that for you to know that. So those to you, man, Rick.

How about you mentioned O five, you mentioned you’ve been in the business for twenty one years. So a lot of people that are are in the game right now, they didn’t live through the crash. ⁓ you did. So can you give us one time ⁓ what is it one nightmare that sticks out in your head about the crash?

Rick Rucker (10:59)
So I can tell you as a guy and why I continue to be a top former is I can remember down to the nanosecond when funding shut off in the business. Right. That is a feeling that we all run from in this business that that were was in the business back then. And like I said, I think there was another, there was probably another era of that. And that was probably I want to say Q2 of 2022 when interest rates went from three percent to seven percent.

⁓ those two to me are the defining moments of my career because you know, the average L O or the average company, you know, went and you know, went into hiding basically or hid under a desk versus, you know, people that are great just kind of stood in the face of adversity. ⁓ and I believe that goes back to, you know, some of the things that we’re talking about, like the roots that we come from. You know, adversity isn’t uncommon ⁓ in my bloodline. I kind of explained the situation where.

You know, my ⁓ my my biological father’s family, you know, they still live on the land that their slave owners owned. ⁓ and you know, when you go down to Shelbyville, Kentucky, by way of Wadi, it’s just a one one stop sign town. And you know, you just kind of fit it the the the history there is just so thick and it’s it c you know, it can be it can be hurtful to some people. ⁓ but

When you channel it and you realize what you come from, and then the flip side, like I said, is my grandfather came over by way of ⁓ Dublin, Ireland, ⁓ Southern Irish, the Foleys, the Hills, and the Simons, they all came over ⁓ originally on the boat ⁓ because there was no opportunity, right? So ⁓ I really channel those two things ⁓ in my day to day. ⁓ I make no excuses. I think that America is one of the greatest countries that ever existed because opportunity that allows

For all of us, right? I mean, I would have never thought when I was an eighteen year old knucklehead, ⁓ you know, and I mean when I was younger, I was even crazier. ⁓ but I would have never thought that I would have been had this the opportunity this country allowed me to be able to build this business. So ⁓ you know, I I just stick to my roots when it comes to coming through everything. But to your point, I would definitely say, you know, every great loan officer remembers those type of years and they run away from it.

as hard as possible, meaning like, you know, when it does get back to whatever normal is, you just keep running, keep running, keep running till you run into that next ⁓ you know, linchpin, unfortunately. But ⁓ you know, that’s the time when you should get in because again, everybody else is running away from it. And like I said, I’m not afraid to walk directly in to adversity just, you know, with my with my background, what I come from.

Issa Hanna (14:12)
Definitely. And and you’re literally a living piece of ⁓ American history and American perseverance. so ⁓ I could see where definitely ⁓ best country in the world. ⁓ no disagreement from me at all with that. ⁓ it’s afforded countless millions and millions of people ⁓ opportunities that they wouldn’t have been afforded during the potato famine.

Yeah. Or, you know, somewhere else. So I I’m definitely with you on that. I can definitely relate. ⁓ and with that, five years down the line, Rick, ⁓ where am I gonna see you? You know, what are your goals?

Rick Rucker (14:47)
That’s a great question. So I I’ll never forget the first time I had the idea to to start my own mortgage company. Very first person obviously I sat down with Dan Milstein. The second group I sat down with was the executive team at UWM, which again is the number one lender by by far in the country. ⁓ and they they basically, you know, sat down with me and I explained my ideology and they were like, You’re the next billion dollar company, no doubt in our minds.

⁓ so in my eyes, in the next five years or sooner, I want to be the next billion dollar mortgage company. And I think that we can, because again, in my eyes, this is a reactionary business. It’s not a proactive business. I think a lot of mortgage companies just assume that we’re gonna go back to normal. And I just think that, you know, when you’re younger as an entrepreneur in this space, ⁓ being in real estate.

⁓ you just you shift a lot quicker. ⁓ we’re a lot, you know, younger. We we have a different, you know, business development mentality versus sit there and, you know, take calls. You know, our average loan officers going to four to six networking events a day. ⁓ they’re having coffees with realtors, coffees with investors, ⁓ coffees with brokers. ⁓ you know, and they’re just really they’re doing the grind that it the it the industry lost to me for many years. So

that’s ⁓ in five years, like I said, I I see us being the next billion dollar company in this mortgage space, no doubt.

Issa Hanna (16:18)
Definitely, man. And I can see it happening. you’ve got the plan in place. ⁓ you’ve scaled since 2021 to a level that most people couldn’t fathom. So ⁓ I definitely don’t doubt you whatsoever, Rick, whatsoever at all. ⁓ so for people sitting at home ⁓ who are, you know, they’re watching us here and they’re like, Man, you know, this guy’s just a regular guy, started off like me. ⁓ I want I want to be like him.

What advice do you have for them on cultivating business relationships, growing their network?

Rick Rucker (16:48)
Yeah, that’s a great question. ⁓ and like I said, I think some of it I derive from, you know, the Irish have a saying they always have a guy for that. ⁓ I learned at a very young ⁓ age that the more value that I bring to anybody, right? Anybody in any space, ⁓ the more likely they’re going to refer me to other people. So I just kind of learned like, hey, if I have ⁓ a guy that’s a great plumber, for instance.

I see somebody online or a friend or whoever’s asking for a great clump plumber. I’m going to connect that guy and I’m also going to co-sign that plumber, knowing that I work with them in the past, because I’m all about my name. ⁓ you know, I’m just gonna co sign that guy, connect the dots, let the magic happen. And then what always, always, always inevitably happens is people remember that. They, they, they sh they literally will follow it away and say, Man, I remember that one time.

Rick connected me to that guy ⁓ and you know helped make some magic happen. So I just believe in genuine, you know, one-to-one relationships with people. ⁓ I believe in our space ⁓ that, you know, unfortunately the average person comes out of college or high school, they say, I’m done with learning. We don’t allow that here. We tell everybody 20 to 30 minutes a day, ⁓ you know, whether it be Housing Wire, who we actually have a relationship with, they’re they’re patched into our website.

Or if it’s mortgage news or realtor.com or any of those groups, you’ve got to focus in on constantly taking information, disseminating it, and teaching it to the masses because the masses don’t know 98% of what we know on our side, right? They don’t know what you know that Northeast Ohio ⁓ is very, very good for cap rates, for instance. ⁓ you know, versus the United Rest of the United States, again, all we hear

Sometimes in the news is how bad it is in Cleveland or some people whine and complain. But then we have investors from, you know, overseas, ⁓ Canada. We have a lot of foreign nationals that invest in northe northeast Ohio specifically because the cash flows are so high. So, ⁓ like I said, we really just try to focus in on ⁓ the now and you know, helping people

⁓ find that way ⁓ or find their way in the in the industry.

But like I said, if you’re trying to be a master networking, master networker, push yourself to go when you don’t want to go. Push yourself to connect with five to six people at every event. And like I said, the genuine the biggest thing with salespeople in general is they think it’s talk, talk, talk. Just shut up and listen. Like people will tell you exactly what they need. If my people hear the word mortgage or they hear

Realtor or the real estate or investor, they’re gonna key in, they’re gonna have a converse, a genuine conversation with somebody and figure out ways that there’s synergies.

Like I said, I think that that synergy ideology is best. Stop walking in as a salesperson ⁓ saying, gimme, gimme, gimme. Say what can I add value? Like for instance, you know, we discussed ⁓ investor fuel ⁓ had a great, you know, name brand in this market.

You know, how can we connect? How can we connect the dots? That’s just how always been my personality is how can we help each other really ⁓ expand? it it generally, it genuinely works when you genuinely don’t have angles to me, which I think notoriously, especially you know, past life in music as well as real estate, everybody has an angle instead just be a genuine person and the business is absolutely gonna come back to you.

Issa Hanna (21:02)
Definitely. And that’s the recurring theme you get from really successful people in our industry is, you know, your integrity, your name. Like you said, the name is the game. ⁓ synergy. Everything. People yeah, people, it’s word of mouth. People are going to refer you. So you’re getting referrals from your plumber, and you’re also getting referrals to the guy that you are from the guy that you referred the plumber to. Why? Because your name is so good. And and that that’s

creates thousands of dollars right there just off of a small little network. So yeah. Man, great, great advice, Rick. Great advice. And then you we touched on this, you just mentioned it. you pivoted, excuse me, you pivoted during ⁓ the crash to the music business. And you ended up working with some pretty big names, especially in the Cleveland area. So yeah, can you shed some light on your time in the music business?

Rick Rucker (21:54)
Yeah, absolutely. So I think ⁓ so it was actually before the crash in about two thousand six, one of my fraternity brothers ⁓ started a music group. They were called North Squad and they were making a little bit of buzz around Cleveland. ⁓ and basically he he wanted me to manage them and I had left the music business like when I was eighteen. I think I started a record label called Dirty Bird Records, and I was all about the music business and I quickly learned that you know I probably need to get some education.

⁓ to be able to understand it. So I did go back and graduate from Kent State, ⁓ top of my class in 2005. But 2006, attorney brother comes and puts this per or this ⁓ record contract in front of me from slipping side records. ⁓ and he was like, Do you think we should sign this? ⁓ wound up not doing the deal. ⁓ but I went on ⁓ kind of a marketing run with them, and then I connected with you know Grand Hustle. ⁓

For instance, there’s a guy named Clay who’s originally from Cleveland, who was the president of Grand House of Records, which is TI’s record label. connected with him, then started meeting more people. So Julia Beverly, who was one of my mentors in the music business, started Ozone magazine, which was the South version of ⁓ Source magazine, learned a lot through her, ⁓ you know, ⁓ got connected to

Steve Rifkin, who originally started Loud Records and then started SRC Records, learned under Gabi Ace Vito, ⁓ Ice Shuler, Rest in Peace. ⁓ so through those guys, I met the Acons, I met the 50 Cents, my my man Renee still works for G Unit Records. He does all of his label stuff. But I really learned a completely different way of business in the music business because

It’s a grind. It is exactly what I talked about. Your name is everything. So ⁓ the way that I built my name in that that you know realm or whatever was through artists and label promotions. So if an artist was anywhere near the Midwest, I was getting a call and they would ask me, you know, ⁓ you know, who’s who’s who’s the local ⁓ vendor that you trust? Who’s the local nightclub? Who’s the local liquor store you think it would be good for us to go to, or the local

college or the local college radio station. And my word was everything in music, which I’ve always been raised that way. Your word is everything. ⁓ and, you know, again, I I got to go on some really cool tours. ⁓ you know, bounced around a couple ⁓ of the tour dates with Akon and Usher back in the day. anytime little Wayne would come through his camp, would hit me up, ⁓ Jeezy CTE Records.

⁓ and one of my good friends who I actually learned DJing with, DJ Feezy, ⁓ he was really the one that taught me a lot about the music business. But to your point, Cleveland, greats. ⁓ I would definitely say Chip the Ripper, Mo Pacino, another good friend of mine, ⁓ Ray Junior, Ray Cash, Kid Cuddy. I remember when Scott was first coming up in the industry, and these were all guys, they didn’t even know about MGK. I was co signing them.

⁓ not expecting anything, right? I was bringing in Ozone, I was bringing in top executives. we did the ⁓ new music seminars in Cleveland where we brought in some of the biggest music executives to the city. But I didn’t want anything out of it other than, you know, pure altruistic ⁓ ways, because one thing in music is when you learn you scratch people’s back when they’re on the way up, they tend to, you know, come back and you know take care of you when they’re up there. So

But it’s the same exact ideology. It’s, you know, your word is everything. If you cosign somebody or ⁓ co-sign something, right, you’ve already probably done business with them. You know that they’re legit. ⁓ and as crazy as it sounds, that’s exactly how the real estate market is ⁓ in general. And I still talk to guys ⁓ to this day. ⁓ you’re starting to see a resurgence of a lot of ⁓ you know, bigger artists coming through Cleveland.

I don’t want to take exclusive credit for that, but ⁓ a lot of that was built on the foundation of you know the run that you know myself and like I said, my buddy E Feasy had back in the day, where we just connected a tremendous amount of people to the city of Cleveland. ⁓ my my boy Hef that went that ran the Ohio Hip Hop Awards. ⁓ we connected ⁓ with him and like I said, brought Ozone in, brought this is 50 in. We brought in Digiwax, like

just all these major, major music people into the city of Cleveland. Like I said, I like think, knock on wood, I left a permanent ⁓ impression on that in a short time that I was actually involved in the business. But it’s very similar to real estate.

Issa Hanna (26:40)
Definitely. and that that business, they correlate similarly. They they can both be kind of cutthroat too, ⁓ if if you don’t watch what you’re doing. So you were able to navigate those waters, jump back into the water of of lending and then build this amazing company and ⁓ you know, ⁓ the future plan, you you’re starting to have some warehouse lines going I hear, huh?

Rick Rucker (27:03)
Yeah. Yeah. So again, thankfully through my learning of the the industry, so you have what’s called the broker channel, and that’s where thirty percent of the market goes to the broker channel. The reason why is because they close at a higher ⁓ clip and they close faster. ⁓ but you can add to your overall product suite or offerings by having your own funding source because instead of you waiting for

A lender in the broker channel to t tell you what to do, you can use your own ⁓ funding source. So we are in the process by way of again, UWM has been really helping us build this warehouse line piece out. ⁓ but ⁓ it’s basically allows you to utilize your own funding source. ⁓ it’s a leveraging, it’s what this banking system is built on in the United States, where basically you have X amount of capital and you’re able to leverage that capital up so that you can fund your own transactions.

⁓ and really again, our focus being, you know, women, minorities, Gen Z, millennials, investors, it really just allows us to better serve them ⁓ in a capacity of being able to, you know, open up the markets a lot better. So ⁓ again, it’s been quite the learning process. I don’t pretend to know everything. And, you know, the great people. I think the very first time I sat down with Dan Milstein, he told me all of his faults. He told me all the things he did wrong.

And that’s what the great people do is they will tell you all their faults. It’s the bullshit con artists that are, you know, charging $30,000, $40,000, $50,000 for speaking engagements or masterminds, right? That want to hold it in so that you pay that fee just to learn what they did wrong. But I’m a, you know, I like everybody to know the knowledge. You know, we started Momentum CLE, which I mentioned. ⁓ my sister unfortunately ⁓ passed away. ⁓ she started Women Who Invest.

⁓ again, under the same ideology. We offer these events for free. We bring in massive investors. I think Momentum is bringing in Steve Yoke, a good friend of mine. He flips 250 different properties. Like we try it’s it’s the same premise of what I learned in music is you put you know the new up and coming talent with the guys that are already there, and you kind of let the magic happen. ⁓ and it’s purely altruistic, ⁓ both Momentum and women who invest.

we’re trying to work out actually a deal with women who invest through the Players Association for the WMBA to bring to you know every major market again to teach women. ⁓ Vice President of Sales Chrissy Sanders actually used to be a ⁓ sports agent. So what we’re trying to teach ⁓ women and honestly anybody in the entertainment business, you know, ⁓ I we’re have an affiliation with Bone Thugs and Harmony.

⁓ sports players, we’re trying to teach them how to invest in real estate to mitigate their tax liability, which a lot of them just aren’t aware of. Because to your point, you know, I went all the way up to master’s, you know, master’s level’s finance work, and I have no idea how a mortgage works, right? And the system is created for you to be a nine to five worker instead of thinking outside the box on how to scale or how to, you know.

How to use real estate to your advantage or how to use leveraging to your advantage. I had to learn that way all the hard way. But now again, through women who invest, women or women who invest in Momentum CLE, we really are just teaching people exactly all the mistakes that we made so that they hopefully don’t make the same. ⁓ but it’s really been a blessing. Like I said, I could never see myself here, you know, a when I was younger, anybody that

Knew me when I was a kid can tell you that I was a I was a wild kid. We like to fight and get into all type of mischief. ⁓ so the opportunity to be here on the other side and teach people, you know, especially at a young age. I mean, I’ve spoke to ⁓ local high school kids. that, you know, the the I would I would say the system says encourageable or they’re not gonna mount to shit or anything. Excuse my French. I’m not sure if I could swear, but ⁓

You know, just I’ve I’ve I’ve always prided myself on going to kids and saying, you can do exactly what you want to do. Stop being so sh short sighted because a lot of times I was born in East Cleveland and the inner city, we’re taught, you know, let’s get this shorthanded hustle, right? Yeah. I mean the funny thing over the weekend was I was explaining how I used to broke down weed and shit like that when I was younger and how you’d you’d be able to make a a decent amount of profit on it back then, but now that’s commercialized, it’s not there.

But the point is, we as young minority men, all minority men and women often get stuck in these stupid ass, like endless, like it’s not going to go anywhere hustles that you put your entire life on the line versus going into maybe a wholesaling capacity or into ⁓ you know, ⁓ a buy and hold strategy or being a burr strategist where you can make 10 times what you were thinking you could make and selling some.

you know, weed or illegal drug or some type of street hustle. If you just apply it in real estate, you can become a millionaire in a very short period of time. ⁓ and again, if I can teach more and more people that the street way is not the way to do it, that the legit way is the way to do it, ⁓ you know, through real estate, ⁓ you know, to me it’s it’s something that keeps me up every day and keeps me excited to come to work.

Issa Hanna (32:21)
Definitely. And ⁓ you know, people sitting at home, real estate for somebody who who may not go to college or may not have the money to go to a you know, get a get a job ⁓ or doesn’t have the connections that that other people have to get them to to where they need to be. If you work hard enough in real estate, you could change not just your life, your whole family’s life. and I love that yeah, and I love Rick that you are

You are taking the time. ⁓ you’ve got all this going on, but momentum CLE, everything, you’re taking the time to educate people who who may not know this. You know, this information is not available to just everybody. so I I definitely applaud you being a Cleveland native myself. ⁓ I love what you’re doing for our city. So ⁓ I definitely want to tell you to keep keep it up, you know, and if I could do anything to help, I’d be glad to help. ⁓ so with that, Rick.

If people wanted to get a hold of you, they inspired by your story, they they want to do a loan because you do every loan under the sun, you know. and thirteen thousand deals, you know you’re the guy to go to in Cleveland, ⁓ and around the country, where could they get a hold of you?

Rick Rucker (33:30)
Yeah, great question. So I have a Linktree, which is just linktree.com, I think /equitycmg all my information is up there. I do have obviously rickrucker.com, which is my name. ⁓ you can check out some application information, blah, blah, blah. And then obviously we have Equity CMG which is just shorthand for equity capital mortgage group. equitycmg.com You can go there. And like I said, you can not only learn about the interests

industry through our relationship with HousingWire. But you can also, if you’re an investor and you’re like, hey, I want to check the value of my property, we actually have an affiliation with a company that will allow people to pull cons for the house. Because again, we want to create as much value at Equity Capital Mortgage Group without you even doing a loan with us so that we’re always top of mind no matter what. But like I said, Linktree Equity CMG, ⁓ RickRucker.com.

or equitycmg.com ⁓ those are the three easiest ways to get a hold of me. ⁓ and we’re always looking for ⁓ new investors, new loan officers that want to learn a new way, a new trade, ⁓ broker relationships, realtor investor relationships, just like yourself. we’re always, always, always looking to build with new people. Like I said, even if we’re not a good fit, ⁓ it doesn’t matter because there’s always there’s

America is the land of abundance and opportunity, ⁓ and there’s always opportunity for us to help each other.

Issa Hanna (34:58)
Definitely. So make sure you guys check Rick out. And ⁓ what a revolutionary idea to get people who who may not know how to pull comps, you know. like you said, most people don’t know what we know, you know, just just off the top of their heads. So I applaud you for that, Rick. And it was an honor having you on the show as a fellow Clevelander. ⁓ I love what you’re doing for the city. Keep keep it up, and I would love to invite you back on the show.

At a later date if you’re interested.

Rick Rucker (35:27)
Always. I’m always always interested in in in just giving as much value as I can to this this this earth.

Issa Hanna (35:34)
Well, definitely. And if you guys enjoyed my conversation with Rick and want to see more just like this, make sure to hit like and subscribe. I talk to people every day that can bring us different knowledge on every aspect of the real estate industry. Until the next time, the Real Estate Pros are out.