Mortgage Secrets Every Real Estate Investor Should Know | Dante Royster

Dante Royster (00:00)
Yeah, man. in twenty three I wrote a book, *The Ultimate Mortgage Guide*. And, it was one of those bucket list, definitely things. And I was, the the thing was interesting, I got going in two thousand two, right? And so I was getting questions there and I was like, Okay, wow, I’m getting all these questions. And I started noticing in twenty three, right, twenty one years later, I’m getting the same questions.

asked to me that it was being asked to me, over 20 years ago. So I started recognizing like they’re not teaching this in schools. This is not education that is just available for people.

Issa Hanna (02:03)
Welcome back to another episode of the *Real Estate Pros* show. I’m your host, Issa Hanna, and today I Dante Royster with Epic Mortgage here to share his knowledge with us. Dante, welcome to the show. Hey.

Dante Royster (02:11)
Thanks for having me.

Issa Hanna (02:12)
I’m super excited to have you. Fifteen hundred loans closed in 10 years. This is somebody who’s a heavy hitter, who has a lot of knowledge, and can definitely bring a lot of value to our podcast. So, guys, at home, make sure those pen and papers are out, your notepads are out on your phone because we’re about to go in and you’re about to learn a lot from Dante. with that, Dante, can you kind of explain what Epic Mortgage is, what you guys are doing?

Dante Royster (02:38)
Yeah, we’re a regional mortgage broker is what I like to call us. We’ve been around for seven years now. We’re licensed in multiple states and it really gives us boots on the ground in different states and locations and allows us to understand the market, holistically as well as regionally.

Issa Hanna (02:52)
Definitely, man. And and like I said, with the fifteen hundred mortgages closed, you’re expanding from different states. you’re you’re based out of Illinois, but you’re in Texas, you’re in multiple other states. so I I I love that you’re you’re you’re expanding that footprint, you’re expanding your brand all over the country. And and I can’t wait till more people start hearing about that. one thing I like to ask all my guests though, because we all have that cool story of of we.

Some of us fell into it. Some of us planned it out to get into real estate and to our respective aspects of it. What’s your origin story? How’d you get into this?

Dante Royster (03:29)
really really just blind luck. I mean, I I I was just looking for a job. I mean, at the end of the day. And I I have a sports background, so I I went to the interview and the guy’s like, Are you competitive? I said, Yeah. And he’s like, Can you get people on the phone? I said, Yeah. He’s like, You get people on the phone, I’ll teach you how to sell. And then that would that’s that’s basically it. I didn’t even know what a mortgage was. I wasn’t a real estate, guru. I don’t have anyone in my family that knew this. So it’s really been

mud up as far as just learning the business and understanding.

Issa Hanna (03:59)
Man, I love that. And people with a sports background, I myself played college football. we have something in us that like you can throw us in the fire or you could throw us in the deep end and we’ll swim. So you had to learn through the fire and and those are the best people once they get out of that fire because they’ve seen darn near everything in the game and they had to learn it on their own with their own process. That’s that’s the best people to deal with in our business.

We were talking earlier and you said one of the strengths that that you’re bringing to the table, which which a lot of regular, loan officers or or whatever don’t have, Dante is the owner of Epic Mortgage. he knows how to put deals together and he has knowledge of a lot of products. So can you kind of explain that, shed some light on that for us?

Dante Royster (04:48)
Yeah, I mean it really kinda goes into my whole biography, but I I’ve been a branch manager, I I’ve been a loan officer, obviously, I’ve been an account executive.

So I know how to put deals together. I know I know how to, look at something and decipher are we doing primary, are we doing investment? Are we doing can they verify their income? Can they not verify their income? What is the alternatives? I really break down deals and then I make it simplistic for people to understand. And I think that’s important, right? As an investor or as a buyer, you want to understand what the heck is he doing? Like, so many times you talk to a person and like

I don’t know what he did, And so I try to, I try to keep it I don’t want to say dumb it down, but I try to make it simple for people to understand.

Issa Hanna (05:29)
One hundred percent. One hundred percent. you’re signing your if it if it’s a home loan, most of them are thirty year year terms, These people are signing a payment down for thirty years. they’re nervous. They don’t know how a mortgage works. So somebody that could break it down to them, make them understand it, it goes such a long way when people know what they’re getting into as opposed to hey, just sign the started line or, here’s your numbers.

figure it out for yourself, So when you have somebody that can sit down, go through it, I I remember little little bit of my past and then we’ll get back to spotlighting you. I’d have a lot of clients that that didn’t know DocuSign, you they were older, they they couldn’t sign online, they couldn’t do, whatever it was. I would physically go and get the contract signed as a realtor at their home and I would explain it line for line everything they were signing.

That went such a long way with the clients and that went such a long way with getting that referral base as well, which I’m sure you can attest to too, right, Dante?

Dante Royster (06:25)
A hundred percent. Yeah, a a lot of it, everyone, sees what the Instagram or the Facebook, you see the the keys and all that stuff, but it’s also the customer service, is what you don’t see. it is the phone calls I got this morning. Hey Dante, my second installment of taxes came in. what is this? Can you explain? Do I need to make the payment or what am I supposed to do with this bill? it’s it’s explaining these little things that do happen. So, they have my phone number directly, they don’t have to call someone else. That makes them

I don’t feel comfortable with me like, hey, I can reach this guy and he’s going to answer my questions. it’s not like I got paid to answer these questions. that that already took place, but it’s, hey, this is part of the process, this is part of the service I provide, and I think it goes a long way.

Issa Hanna (07:53)
Definitely goes a long way. When you’re accessible to people even after the deal, you just don’t ghost them when you collect that check. It goes such a long way. You become their guy. You become the guy they call with any question about a loan. And also the guy that gets recommended and referred to everybody in their sphere, everybody they know. So that that is definitely one of the keys to success in our industry, y’all. I also wanted to.

Now, shift focus because we all have one. I asked all my guests, right? The real estate nightmare. Can you share one that sticks out in your mind?

Dante Royster (08:30)
Real estate nightmare, just being a mortgage broker, sometimes we don’t have the in-house lender or in house underwriting. So there are some times where you have that radio silence, and and you kind of have to take that faith along with me throughout the process that hey, I may not, if there’s a question that I don’t know, it might take me a little bit to get the answer for you. I’m gonna get it, but that anxiety has risen in our society, not just in real estate, but

It it’s just it’s so different from the eighties and nineties when I grew up to now. It’s just so a lot of people have this anxiety, they get so nervous and it’s like it’s going to close on Friday. I can’t tell you on Monday, it might be Thursday, but we’re going to get it done. Just relax. And and people with anxiety, they hate that word. Don’t say relax, I am relaxed. I just want to make sure it’s done. So I get it. but it’s just it’s a calmness that I have, it’s a confidence that I have.

I’ve been here before, like you said, fifteen hundred in the last ten years and counting. And so it’s just one of those situations where I’ve I I know to walk you through the fire and get it done, but sometimes I’m not able to get you that answer right away. it just it takes a little bit as being a broker, I don’t have that in house underwriting.

Issa Hanna (09:38)
One hundred percent. you’re waiting for that clear to close. Dante just can’t pull that out. he’s got to wait for them to to to come out with the clear to close. and and and the fact that you attributed that to to one of your nightmares, right? Shows that you care about your clients because they’re feeling anxiety. You wanna ease that anxiety for them. It’s not like, hey, just wait and and you put them out of your mind. You’re literally waiting there.

anxious just like them, even though you’ve done everything, you put the deal together with your knowledge where it’s gonna it’s gonna go to the finish line. But you care so much about the clients, you’re sharing that anxiety. So I I love that and I can see why you you’ve been so successful in our industry. you’ve also, with your knowledge, authored a book. So can you tell us a little bit about the book?

Dante Royster (10:23)
Yeah, man. in twenty three I I wrote a book, *The Ultimate Mortgage Guide*. And, it was one of those bucket list, definitely things. And I was, the the thing was interesting, I got going in two thousand two, right? And so I was getting questions there and I was like, Okay, wow, I’m getting all these questions. And I started noticing in twenty three, right, twenty one years later, I’m getting the same questions.

asked to me that it was being asked to me, over 20 years ago. So I started recognizing like they’re not teaching this in schools. This is not education that is just available for people. So I was like, what, let’s let’s have a home base. Let’s have a home plate right here where I have a book that says gives you the basics. what is the products that are available to you? Sometimes you don’t know what questions to ask. because everyone says, well just ask, why didn’t you ask this question? How can I ask a question if I don’t know what questions to ask? So

I try to give a template, a basic basic template for people to say, Hey, these are things you should know and be aware of before you embark in buying a house.

Issa Hanna (11:21)
Definitely. And and with your experience owning your own brokerage, authoring this book, I’m sure it’s full of golden knowledge. So guys at home, make sure you guys check out *The Ultimate Mortgage Guide*, written by Dante Royster, because I I’m sure every page is filled with something that you could learn from. when somebody’s been in the game as long as him, he’s done, started like you said, from the ground up. he he just has a different perspective than

than a lot of other people that that are into this business. So make sure to check out *The Ultimate Mortgage Guide*, you guys. Let’s talk future now. I’m gonna look you up your bio in five years. You’re already in a few different states. You want to expand. So where am I gonna see you in five years?

Dante Royster (12:01)
In five years, you’re really gonna see the expansion with branches in different states. I I think it’s time to actually put the brick and mortar into some of these states that we’ve really shown some level of like we’re we got boots on the ground. We got people that are, referring our name and passing our information out. And I think that’s gonna continue to grow and I’d like to see actually brick and mortar in those places so people would have a location they can actually go to.

Issa Hanna (12:26)
Amazing, man. I and I do not doubt in five years we’re going to see Epic Mortgage in multiple different states. definitely a brand built in Dante’s image, So somebody like Dante, I’ve talked to a lot of people, own their own brokerages, do a lot of stuff, but I could just see the the way he handles himself, the calmness, the knowledge he has, these these are the people that

jump and excel in our business. So that national expansion, no problem, man. I can see you handling that 100%, brother. now I want to pick your brand a little bit for our younger people, right? So a lot of people are new to investing. They’re new, they just got their real estate license. They just got licensed as a as a mortgage loan officer. Our business depends on growing relationships, growing that network, establishing relationships.

A lot of people get out, like you said, it’s an anxiety society right now. A lot of people are very anti-social. They’re on the social media trying to pull business. what advice would you have for them on on building these business relationships, growing the net?

Dante Royster (14:08)
I think, you always have to look internal first and decide what do you want. what direction you want to go. I I think there’s a lot of distractions and there’s a lot of things you can do, especially in real estate. I mean, there’s so many different positions, jobs that you could have, right? You could be an appraiser, you could work for a title company, you could be a loan officer, you could be a realtor, you could be an investor. So you kind of have to really look inside and do a self-audit and really decide what do you want.

Once you understand where do you want, then you’ll know, hey, what do you need to make this work? And you can use AI a little bit to help you, like once you’ve decided what do you want, like, hey, who are the people I need to connect with? And that’ll kind of give you the roadmap you necessary to build friends. I mean, really networking and relationships, it’s making friends. we find commonalities, right? Hey, you play college sports, so did I. So now we have a commonality. Hey, you’re in real estate, so am I. and then all of a sudden we can be friends and we can find some common ground.

And then we can say, how can we help each other? And that’s really how it works. I mean, it’s not that complicated, but sometimes we make it complicated. But I think it’s important to really understand who you are and where what do you want to do, especially in this industry.

Issa Hanna (15:15)
Definitely. This industry guys is full of a bunch of nooks, crannies, different facets where you can make money. I talk to people who are strictly apartment brokers. I talk to people who are lenders, I talk to people who are just normal real estate agents, investors. So like Dante said, find know who you are, find your way. And then also one of the most powerful relationships is a good loan officer and a good realtor, right? Because you guys feed each other the deals, you recommend each other.

you you get used to working with each other. And I mean, you can grow your business so much. as a former heavy buyer’s agent, my my deals and everything depended on my relationship with guys like Dante because they were the ones that were taking it to the finish line, and and vice versa, when when a loan officer has a client, you guys, and and they want to send them to a realtor who’s dependable, who’s not gonna lose them.

They’re gonna send them to their person that they know they can count on that way. Those person, that client doesn’t go somewhere else. So man, amazing advice, golden advice we’re getting from you, Dante. And now, I want you to talk about your podcast. you you got a podcast, you’re educating the masses just like we are here at Investor Fuel. So I want you to tell us a little bit more about how it started and and and and what you guys do on.

Dante Royster (16:31)
Yeah, it’s called *Epic Spotlight*. you can download it wherever you download a podcast. You can see it on YouTube. And really the premise was a CRM. We wanted a CRM tool for our clientele, our database. We wanted to provide them, additional information. And we really have kind of tailored it to more personal development. it’s like wanting to be better, and how do you get better? And listening to stories of

millionaires, successful people in their industry and what what it takes to maintain and sustain. And that’s always the key, right? Sustaining and being consistent. And just hearing different stories. And I wanted to make sure I’m giving that to my clientele because, usually you work with someone that like, and trust. And if we have commonalities, it’s usually about striving to be the best, the best version of you. And so our our *Epic Spotlight* is really guided towards trying to help people be in the best version of themselves.

And that way we can kind of pass it along with our database. And obviously along the way we’ve found other people and new people that have really enjoyed some of the stories that have come out. So yeah, definitely it’s worth a a listen.

Issa Hanna (17:31)
Definitely, guys. you’re watching Investor Fuel, you’re watching the *Real Estate Pros* show. *Epic Spotlight* is right up your alley and it’s with real loan professionals. So you go watch a show over here about investing in in something and learn about that. You go right to podcast or right to *Epic Spotlight*. you could learn about the lending and building and making yourself better. so I I would definitely check it out if I was y’all. Go there, subscribe, follow on all platforms.

Now I want to give you the floor to plug yourself, right? So if people wanted to get a hold of one of the most knowledgeable lone guys in the game, how could they reach you?

Dante Royster (18:07)
I’m on I’m on all the social media platforms, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, LinkedIn especially. That’s kind of where my I I spend a lot of my time at. but and check us out on YouTube. You can go to my website, danteroyster.com. You can go on to our newsletter, listen and kind of get knowledge. I always believe knowledge first. Once you have the knowledge, then then it’ll make it easier for you to make decisions. And I think

I’m a decision that you’ll choose. if you’re looking to invest or, buy a home, or refinance, restructure debt, just give us a call.

Issa Hanna (18:38)
One hundred percent guys, make sure to contact Dante. somebody who’s been in the game a long time. I can tell when somebody’s A holds themselves to the utmost integrity, B, they know what they’re talking about. The confidence Dante has, the humble confidence he has, tells me all I need to know that he will get you the the finish line. He will get you the best terms, the best deals that he possibly can. So make sure you guys contact him.

keep an eye out for Epic Mortgage because they are on the rise and they’re going to be an estate near you within the next five years. I can guarantee it. Dante, man, I’d like to thank you so much for coming on the show. And I’d like to invite you back on the podcast at a later date if you’d have us.

Dante Royster (19:18)
Yeah, yeah. I mean you put the gauntlet down, so I gotta deliver. So I I look forward to that. I mean, and then we can have a conversation for sure. Thank you.

Issa Hanna (19:25)
Thank you so much for coming on. and to our viewers at home, if you guys enjoyed my conversation with Dante and want to see more like it, make sure to hit like and subscribe. I talk to people every day that could bring us different knowledge on every aspect of the real estate industry. Until next time, the Real Estate Pros are out.