North Texas Real Estate: How Investors Can Take Control of a Shifting Market | Matt Lagos

Matt Lagos (00:00)
Finally, I said, “Look, we’re at the end of the option period. We’re prepared to walk away. If you’re not willing to sign this repair amendment, we’re gonna terminate the contract today. My buyer is not afraid to walk away.

We’ll go find some another property in the same neighborhood or the same price point. You cannot be afraid in this business to lose a deal, or at least you have to show them you’re serious. You know, just like at the poker table, if you’re all in, go all in.”

Scott Bursey (01:57)
Welcome back to the Real Estate Pros Podcast, powered by Investor Fuel. I’m your host, Scott Bursey. And today we’re delighted to be joined by Matt Lagos of Compass. Matt is a lifelong Texan and a top-tier real estate specialist focused on North Texas. He brings incredible expertise in helping seniors, investors, first-time homebuyers, and those navigating work relocations. Get ready, listeners, because Matt’s approach to negotiation and client service is going to provide some serious value. Matt, welcome to the show.

Matt Lagos (02:31)
Thank you, Scott. It’s good to be here.

Scott Bursey (02:32)
It’s awesome having you here, Matt, and to help our listeners get up to speed, please give us the ninety-second highlight reel of how your career ignited and where you’re pouring your fuel now.

Matt Lagos (02:43)
So, you know, I’ve been a licensed agent in Texas since March 2021. You know, I bounced around a couple of brokerages, as—as many of you who have started out as new Realtors know, you know, it’s a struggle and you kind of find your way. But about—I’d say about five months ago, the brokerage that I was with, it was called Rogers Healy and Associates, was sold to Compass—Compass International. They’re based in New York.

And I’ve been with them now for over—well, yeah, over five months. And, you know, basically, you—you—you said it in the description of what I do, but ultimately what I do, Scott, is I help build relationships. Whether it’s relationships between sellers and buyers, relationships between, you know, if you’re—if part of what you need is—is someone to, you know, remodel your home to get it ready for sale, you know, I connect those people you need to get what you need done. That’s what I am. You know, that’s what a bro—that’s the—the term of a broker, is to connect two sides of a transaction. So that’s what I do. And, you know, I—yes, it’s through real estate, but ultimately I’m in the relationship business. And that’s what I do on a daily basis.

Scott Bursey (03:48)
Thank you for highlighting that, Matt. It’s clear you’ve built a solid foundation. And you know what really caught my attention about you was the way you’ve been able to maintain such a high standard of client care while managing such a diverse set of real estate needs, from seniors to investors. Building on that, what are the primary strengths you rely on when negotiating for your clients in such a competitive North Texas market?

Matt Lagos (04:14)
Well, I think one—one of my strengths is how I communicate. You know, I—I grew up in Plano here in North Texas. Had some—I always like to brag about my ninth-grade English teacher. She made sure that I—I knew how to make an argument. But anyway, I digress. Yeah, my strong communication skills, which means strong negotiation skills. So when I’m negotiating, let’s say I’m representing the buyer

and I’m negotiating with the seller about how the contract’s gonna go, you know, I’m—I’m gonna lay out the reasons why it should be at this price, or we’re gonna do this option period, or, you know, or—or we’d like to have this repaired, or whatever it is. And I always like to say, Scott, I bring the receipts. So that way, you know, there’s no question. I’m not—I, you know, as Mike Wallace on 60 Minutes used to say, I didn’t just pull it out of thin air. You know, there’s a reason for asking a question, why it’s being asked. So

that’s one of my strengths. I think my also strength is research, you know, because I’m all about finding opportunities. You know, my advice to other Realtors: yes, you’re—there’s gonna be challenges. Now, you can either let the market control you, or you can take control of the market. I think the second way is better. And so I seek opportunities for my clients, whatever it is, and I say, “Hey, this is what I’m seeing, you know.

Let’s take a look at this. May have not been what you were considering, but I think you should at least look into this.”

Scott Bursey (06:29)
How do you keep your research skills sharp in this current climate?

Matt Lagos (06:33)
You know, I don’t just look at the traditional, you know, the National Association of Realtors, or, you know, I get—I do get Texas Realtors Magazine on a regular basis, you know. Not the traditional sources, but I also look at, you know, the unconventional sources. You know, I’ll look at things like, you know, the Dallas Morning News. You know, I’ll read the business section just to see what’s happening. You know, the metro section will have things that you can find that relate to a certain neighborhood or a—

or, you know, for example, you know, what happened in McKinney. They just had a—there was a big story about a mosque that was trying to get approval for a site plan, you know. So, I mean, just things like that. It’s—it’s very mundane that on the surface you think, “That doesn’t really matter,” you know. Or, you know, or for example, actually, this—this one’s more relevant. I think I read in

The New York Times or—I can’t remember where I saw it—that Samsung North America is moving their headquarters from New Jersey to Plano, Texas. And so that’s gonna bring thousands of jobs. They’re gonna consolidate it with the jobs they already have there on the east side of Plano. But once those folks move here and they start to move here, they’re gonna need somewhere to live. And that will just fuel the growth that’s happening in Collin County. And it’s been happening for a while, you know.

Collin County is the sixth-largest county in the state of Texas. By the way, also per capita, the second-wealthiest county in the state of Texas, just behind Rockwall. So, you know, things like that, or that the Dallas City Council approved an incentive package of $18.5 million to Morgan Stanley. Why? Because they’re considering Dallas or Atlanta to build their headquarters. And if

if Morgan Stanley accepts that offer, they’ll build a seven-hundred-thousand-square-foot office tower in uptown Dallas. Again, those folks are gonna need somewhere to live. And, you know, that just fuels the growth of Y’all Street. So that’s the point, is I don’t just look at the traditional sources of, you know, days on market and, you know, and—and of, you know, where—what, you know, what percentage of asking price. And, you know, I look at other sources because I—I was a finance major in college, and in finance you’re always looking ahead.

You’re trying to forecast what’s going to happen.

Scott Bursey (08:40)
Matt, that is such good perspective. And we’re interested to hear regarding weaknesses: where do you see the biggest friction points for new investors entering the North Texas market today?

Matt Lagos (08:52)
I think the hesitation of sellers, you know, because, you know, they see the way the economy’s going, you know, job growth was only 23,000 jobs in July, if that number’s accurate. I—you know. So I—I—and just the overall pessimism of the—of the consumer, even in Texas, I think people are just kind of sitting on their hands. You know, what happens is when things are bad, especially on the selling side, you start to go into what’s called paralysis by analysis.

You—you can—you can—you look at it from every which way and—and talk yourself out of making a decision. So then you make no decision. And so I think for investors, it—it’s to convince people, “Hey, this is what’s happening in the market. You know, it—you—you need—” You know, now I grant you, Scott, every person needs to look at their own financial situation, because what’s maybe good for—for me is not good for you. But, you know, if people are waiting to get a better price,

or they’re waiting for interest rates to come down, I’m sorry, you’re gonna keep waiting. And the—what I’m seeing is people are—first of all, I think waiting for the midterm election to see what’s gonna happen in Congress, but also I think they’re wanting to see what’s gonna happen with the overall economy and AI disruption, all these things, you know, that—that continue to kind of be a—a cloud on this economy, and that—that—it—it trickles down, or that puts weight on the housing market.

So I think for investors, it’s convincing people that, you know, “Hey, you know, now’s a good time to sell your home, because I don’t think you’re gonna get it—if you need to sell in the next six months to a year, I—I mean, I’m—I think you need to go ahead and take profits, especially if you bought pre-pandemic.” So that’s the biggest weaknesses I think for investors, is convincing people that maybe it’s time to take profit.

Scott Bursey (10:34)
Matt, we love your take on what opportunities are you seeing for first-time homebuyers that many people are currently overlooking?

Matt Lagos (10:41)
Opportunities? Well, the—first of all, there’s, you know, prob—there’s roughly about half a million more buyers—excuse me, there’s half a million more sellers than there are buyers in the market, which means there’s—there’s at least a half a million delta unit that, you know, between buyers and sellers, which means you—you—you get the pick. You—you—you get to call your own shot in a way. I mean, you—you can take all the time you want.

You don’t have to worry about whether that condo that you was—you maybe saw—I’ll give you an example. I have a client who’s wanting to be a first-time homebuyer. We’ve been—we looked at some condos. Well, some of them she liked, but she also realized she’s in no rush to move. And I think she understands that there’s gonna be plenty of—there’s, you know, if—if she still wants that condo, she may be getting it on sale in a few months. So

now your question was, what are the challenges for first-time homebuyers? I think they—they disqualify themselves before they’ve even considered whether they’re financially ready to be a first-time homebuyer. I think because of the programs through the Federal Housing Administration, FHA loans, if you’re a veteran, you’ve really got it made. I mean, you—you’ve—you’ve got every—you’ve got every program, you know, to make sure you’re, you know, you’re taken care of.

But I think for first-time homebuyers, I think some of them are probably scared with the responsibility of owning a home. And I think that’s where we as Realtors and we as real estate providers need to do a better job of educating them that, “Hey, yes, you’re gonna have to start taking care of when the dishwasher breaks. You’re not gonna be able to just call, you know, the—the—that phone line to get the property manager on the line.” But over time,

you’re also gonna, you know, you’re gonna have—you’re gonna be worth more. You’re gonna—you’re gonna be building wealth, so that in five years from now, that condo maybe, you—you know, and by the way, there are condos, especially off-market, that you can get for fifty thousand dollars. I can sh—I can show you the email right now. So, but anyway, I digress. So bottom line: first-time homebuyers need to be better educated on the responsibilities of being a homeowner.

I think that’s where we’ve sort of let them down. And I think Realtors have not been encouraged to reach out to them. Why? Because, you know, three percent or two and a half percent of a two hundred thousand dollar sale or—or purchase is not as good as a million-dollar sale effort. There’s, for some of them, there’s not—there’s not enough—there’s not enough meat on the bone. And so I—I think

for—and any—so, yeah, so bottom line: first-time homebuyers, they disqualify themselves, and we as Realtors and providers haven’t educated them better about why homeownership is such, you know, is transformational when you know that the money you’re paying, that two thousand dollars a month you’ve been spending on an apartment, is now going towards something that will pay you money later.

Scott Bursey (13:30)
It strikes me as important to ask: with the market shifting, what threats do you see for senior clients looking to downsize or relocate right now?

Matt Lagos (13:38)
The threats? I think probably for some of them, it’s the emotional attachment to their home. You know, people like my parents, who have lived in their home forever, or, you know, for a long, long time. And so while they probably should be moving into a, you know, downsizing into a smaller home, they—for many seniors, their next move—and the next time they move, will be in a box. It’ll—the next time that for them, they’ll move

to the cemetery. That’ll be their—their next move. And no, hey, no—no shame in that. That’s all right. Or, you know, especially, you know, also for seniors who have health—health—health challenges. I—I know many of them want to stay in their home as long as possible, and that’s why they do home health services. But some of them do, you know, especially their family members who get them to understand, “Hey, you know, these—these health issues aren’t gonna take care of themselves. Let’s go ahead and put you in an appropriate setting

so you can get the care you need.” But I think for seniors, their—their biggest fear is running out of money, because it used to be, you know, longevity—you know, when—when—when the—when Social Security was first—became law in the 1930s, the—the average life expectancy was like 60 or something, 62. Now the average age for—for, you know, for seniors is well into your 70s, and many live to be in their late 80s and 90s.

So if you’re a senior, I think you’re—now, if you were fortunate enough to be at a long-term company and you got a good pension, then great, but—but inflation is eating you alive. It’s eating you alive. So even if you had a lot of money put aside, I mean, you’re getting just whacked by inflation. The cost of food, cost of gas, the cost of groceries, you—you’re just getting—you’re getting just taken—eaten alive by it. And so

I think for seniors, it’s, you know, make sure you’re—you’re reevaluating your goals, but also, you know, I think for them, you—you know, I—I can see some of them, you know, I’m not saying do this, but some of them will take out a reverse mortgage just to make sure they don’t run out of money. You know, I think for some people that’s appropriate. For others, they’ll downsize, you know, maybe into a nice upscale apartment, they might do that. And then just, you know, and then take the proceeds and

maybe they don’t want to be in the—some of them may want to be real estate investors. I’m glad to help with that. Or some of them will want to, you know, put in, you know, in a Vanguard fund, and in, you know, because they can’t—they don’t want to accept too much risk. So I think for seniors, the threat is—is inflation and not knowing how long you’re gonna outlive your money. I think those two things is what they have to worry about.

Scott Bursey (16:05)
Matt, your motto is “Service above self.” Looking at your motto, how do you sustain that level of service when the market gets really volatile?

Matt Lagos (16:14)
Well, first of all, that’s a great—that’s a great question, Scott. That—that’s an outstanding question, because what I do is, first of all, I don’t panic. I don’t, you know, get down or think, “My God, what’s gonna happen?” because that doesn’t serve any purpose. I mean, I can’t be of service to others if I’m not, you know, if I don’t keep my composure and—and make sure that I’m of clear—of a clear mind of what’s, you know, and then I just, you know.

The good thing, Scott, is I mentioned earlier about research. My allegiance is to the numbers. So then I just start doing some research and start looking at, “Okay, where are housing starts?” or “Where’s the unemployment rate?” or, you know, “What’s the trend on days on market?” And, you know, and—and if I’m looking to help in a certain, you know, like let me say Collin County, just north of Dallas, then I just go, you know, I—and I get granular, too. I’ll even do it neighborhood by neighborhood just to see what’s happening.

So when things go—when things turn down, then you just look at the numbers and see the trends: the foreclosure rate. I think that’s another area when, you know, when for—you know, back in 2007, 2008, when foreclosures were going way up, you didn’t have to, you know, people were shocked by the way investment banks like Bear Stearns went under, but you could have seen that coming, and some people did. All you had to see was what was—just look at the numbers.

They—they’re telling—they’re telling a story, and as long as your—your allegiance is to the numbers and not to irrational exuberance or, you know, or Chicken Little, “the sky is falling,” you’ll be fine. Just follow the numbers. The—there’s no—there’s no secret—there’s no secrets here, you know. And—and pick whatever, whether it’s CNBC, or whether it’s Barron’s, or—or the Financial Times, whatever, you know, the Dallas Morning News, whatever financial

information you follow, just get—just go get the information and then—and then decide, “Okay, what should—how should we react?”

Scott Bursey (18:06)
I love that. I really love that. Matt, what is the one negotiation tactic you’ve used in the last six months that turned a dead deal into a win for your client?

Matt Lagos (18:19)
Great question. It’s a great question. I’ll use the one because it—it helped my dad close on a house recently. The seller was dragging their feet on the repair amendment related to the roof. And they had already promised they were gonna provide a new roof, but for some reason, that repair amendment was slow to come.

And I—I was talking to the—the seller’s agent, and I said, “Look, what—what’s taking so long?” And then—and it was, at times, it was radio silence. I mean, I wasn’t getting anything from her.

Finally, I said, “Look, we’re, you know, we’re at the end of the option period. We’re prepared to walk away. If you’re not willing to sign this repair amendment, we’re—we’re gonna terminate the contract today. My—my—my buyer is not afraid to walk away.

We’ll go—we’ll go find some another property in the same neighborhood or the same price point.” You know, I think you have to be afraid—you cannot be afraid in this business to lose a deal. You have—or at least you have to show them you’re serious. You know, just like at the poker table, you gotta—you—you if you’re all in, go all in.

Okay, but bottom line, I—I convinced the seller’s agent that, yeah, we were willing to walk away, and by the—before the deadline to

can—to—to exercise the option to terminate, we had that signed repair amendment. I had that signed repair amendment. And my buyer didn’t think I was gonna get it. He did not think—my—my dad, by the way, who was my client—my dad did not think I would be able to get that amendment. He was prepared to cancel, because he couldn’t understand either what was taking him so long. And

after I spoke to the seller’s agent, she says, “Yeah, we had a couple of offers that were over asking, but we could see that y’all were serious about—you—that you were—you were serious about what you were saying, and—and we—ours was an all-cash offer.” So, you know, yes, cash does matter. You know, when you have financing contingencies, it tends to, you know, it

doesn’t make your offer quite as attractive. But when—when I, you know, even—even though our offer was less than the others, it was all-cash. So she said, “I’m gonna take the bird in the hand versus the two in the bush. We’ll take the all-cash, and—and, you know, be happy with it.” So, yeah, that was my negotiating tactic. It’s—we were not afraid to walk away.

Scott Bursey (20:28)
Thank you for sharing that, Matt. And Matt, you have shared a lot of really good wisdom with our listeners today. But is there any final thoughts, any additional golden nugget or two that you would like to leave with our listeners?

Matt Lagos (20:41)
Sure. I, you know, there’s—there’s plenty of, whether it’s Realtors or, you know, vendors you can work with, and, you know, no matter who you’re doing business with, make sure you’re doing it with somebody you can trust. Trust, to me, is the only currency that matters in this business: credibility and trust. Because there’s always going to be more people who can do it at a lower price, or who—there’s always, I’m sorry, there’s always people who can

offer more services, or have more experience, or—or more knowledgeable, or that, you know, they’re masters of the universe and whatever they do. But the one thing: you cannot teach credibility and integrity. I—I’ve—I’ve learned that through multiple transactions, that, you—you—you know, people will rest on their laurels, they’ll brag about their experience, but can you trust them? And if you can’t—if you cannot—if you cannot trust them,

if you cannot trust their credibility or—and credibility is not just talking about, you know, did they lie or—or did they misrepresent? I’m talking about can they deliver. If you can’t trust people to deliver for you, then you need to rethink who you’re working with. Don’t just go off of, “Well, somebody has more experience,” or “They’ve been doing it longer.” Check their credibility. Check—check can you work with them. That’s the last—last words of advice I would give today.

That’s it. Thank you, Scott.

Scott Bursey (21:59)
Gold. That was pure gold. And Matt, for those of our listeners that want to keep this conversation moving, stay in your lane, or collaborate with you, what’s the best way for them to reach you?

Matt Lagos (22:51)
There’s multiple ways. You know, I—I am on Facebook. At—if you just look up Matt Lagos, I have my personal page as well as my business page. The business page is probably the more relevant one: Matt Lagos, Compass Real Estate, Texas. You can also reach me via my—I’ll give you my cell number, I don’t mind giving it out. It’s 972-379-7275. That goes directly to me. And, you know, I’d be happy to

talk to you and see if we can—I can be of that service above self. You know, and by the way, that comes from my time as a Rotarian. For you Rotarians out there, you know what I’m talking about. So, but yeah, so either on social media or my direct number, 972-379-7275, is the best way to reach.

Scott Bursey (23:34)
Matt, thank you for joining us today on the Real Estate Pros Podcast.

Matt Lagos (23:37)
Thank you, Scott. It’s been a pleasure.

Scott Bursey (23:39)
It most certainly has. And to our listeners, we appreciate you. If you received value from today’s episode, please subscribe. We’ll be filling your tanks with a lineup of elite guests, just like Matt, who are accelerating and setting the pace for the rest of the industry. Until next time, keep your standards high and your vision clear. We’ll see you in the next episode, everyone.