Be the Solution with Maria Quattrone

From Burnout to Boundless: Craig Lerch on Reinventing a Real Estate Life

• Maria Quattrone • Season 1 • Episode 342

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What happens when the name on the door stops feeling like success and starts feeling like a cage? Craig Lurch, a Philadelphia real estate veteran and son of a broker, tells the raw story of smashing his “snow globe”—leaving his own brokerage, confronting ego, and rebuilding a career around three simple funnels: change lives, make money, have fun. It wasn’t tidy. It cost real money, pride, and a few tears. But it delivered clarity, scale, and a daily rhythm that protects energy and multiplies impact.

We dig into practical frameworks that any pro can steal: 90-day planning with big rocks, outcome-based calendars that kill knee-jerk decisions, and the discipline of saying no so your best yes can find you. Craig makes a case for kindness as a competitive edge—random acts that change someone’s day and quietly compound your reputation. He lays out today’s market reality with no spin: tight inventory, buyer agency agreements with teeth, and why insisting on alignment is not arrogance, it’s stewardship. If you’ve ever battled pricing delusion, boundary pushers, or the threat of a one-star tantrum, you’ll find scripts and stances that keep you sane and effective.

There’s heart here too. Behavior never lies, mastery takes time, and fun isn’t optional; it’s fuel. We talk Philly grit, unscripted radio, Italy’s calming effect, and a pink flamingo legacy from Craig’s mother—a reminder to leave people better than you found them. If your “success” feels small for who you’ve become, consider this your nudge to shatter the glass, build a blue ocean, and work with more intention and joy.

If this conversation moved you, follow the show, share it with a friend who needs courage, and leave a quick review—what’s one snow globe you’re ready to smash?

Connect with Maria Quattrone:
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Website: MQrealesate.com
Office number: 215- 607-3535

Maria:

All right. Today we're jumping right in with Craig Lerch. Craig has been, he's an industry, a real estate industry veteran. Gosh, over 30 plus years in the industry here in the Philadelphia market. And we're going to talk today all things real estate. So welcome, Craig.

Craig:

Oh my God, this is so great. I've, you know, we've known each other through the years, and to be able to do opportunities like this is, you know, it's neat because everybody says we all hate each other. Hell no. You know what? The the top players in the city communicate and hang out together and share ideas. There's more than enough business out there for people. You know, so this is oh yeah. This is so much.

Maria:

I mean, there's there's people that have business that shouldn't have any business because they don't have any clue what they're doing.

Craig:

Well, the average agent is what 3.6 houses a year. You can make more money working at McDonald's with benefits. Why stress yourself out for 12 months of the year to make the same amount of money? Geez, come on, do it in one month and call it a month, you know? Or do it in a week. Yeah, I love that. Oh my god, I did five houses. Great. This week? No, it in a year. Okay, that's a you problem.

Maria:

Well, definitely. So you have you have three things that you look at. Three things you live, three ways you live your life.

Craig:

Yep, yep, yep, yep. About um, I really dug deep after 30. I'm gonna say, well, it's been 30 36 plus now. Um, I'm gonna say around the 30-year mark, I was like, man, I hate this freaking industry. Freaking hate. I'm an SOB, I'm a son of a broker. I was born in the business. How many people can say that when they were born, their parents were like, I want to be, you're gonna be a doctor, you're gonna be a lawyer, you're gonna be this, you're gonna be that. Mine was like, You're gonna sell real estate. I'm like, great, here we go. So um, I was that kid that was like, you're never gonna do anything else. Economics background. And after 30 years in the business, being being in, you know, in our family business, 15, had my own brokerage um for uh you know, 17. I was burnt, I was tired. I was like, this, this, there's gotta be something else. And you start, you really got to start looking deep in yourself and figuring out why, wet, where, and how can I be better for my clients, how can I be better for my community, how can I be better for my family? And I was I was fit turning fifth, I was turning 55. So I was looking at the speed limit sign, and I'm like, I'm not going fast enough. And everybody is starting to usually start putting brakes on there, and I'm like, I want to go faster, and I don't want to go slower. Um, and I don't like speed. So at that point, I dug deep with my business coach, and we figured out one of my biggest problems was um after a full year of it and $30,000 of coaching cost, uh, that the problem was I was stuck in a in a in a in a zip code, my zip code. 19046 was the zip code, it was stuck in my head. And his response was, he goes, You're stuck in this. I'm like, what's this? He goes, a snow globe. He goes, When you entered the business 30 some years ago, you were a tiny little fish. And the problem is you grew to the size of this snow globe or the lake that you played in. And the challenge is, is you're like a pent-up cat in a corner. You have so much you want to do, and so many people you want to help, and so many lives you want to change, that you're stuck in this snow globe, and everything's not as sparkly as it was. So it's agitating you versus helping you change. So he says, You have an option, either smash the snow globe in which you're living in or stay in it and put yourself asleep and be miserable the rest of your life. So I was like, Woo, that's an eye awakening at the end of the year as you're getting ready to come into your new business plan. So um, we ultimately uh I he says, Look, take a week, let's regroup again. Well, in that week, he sent me a snow globe with a hammer. And he says, Here's the opportunity. You're either gonna smash the snow globe or you're gonna stay in it and you're gonna do it when we're on the phone together, when we're on a zoom together. So that next week, he's like, So what's it gonna be? And smashing it was really getting uncomfortable, which means that I dissolve and walk out of my own brokerage. I walked out of my own company, I was broker for five different companies for friends and stuff, and decided to go into a company where you know you have a dear friend, Veronica uh Fiorello is, uh, decided to go play with the XP. And in that process, we learned, I learned one of the changes in which I wanted to do was my three funnels and how I function every day and how I go through it. We talk about funnels as business. Well, it was funnels for life. It's change lives, make money, and have fun. And the full mission in that is to experience the best that life has to offer and exhaust it to the max with enthusiasm and intention. And in changing lives, it's working with buyers, sellers, negotiating contracts, working with other fantastic agents like yourself, doing random acts of kindness. You ever get up there and you see people not letting somebody out in front of you as they're running late for work in the morning with their car? If you're running one car late and that's going to make your appointment late, that's a you problem. So open, let people out in front of you, hold doors, go into bakeries, drop a hundred-dollar bill or a $50 bill or a $20 bill and walk out anonymously and say, bye for everybody who's in line behind me and walk out. Do something in a restaurant for some lady or some person that's sitting there by themselves. You know, you never know the life you're gonna change. That person might need that hug that saves their life that day. You don't know what's going on in their mind. So the number one is change lives. Number two is make money. You got to make money. I don't care where you can't not survive unless you're Mother Teresa. You can't change lives without making money. The more money you make, the more money you can give, the more money you can change. And the other one is have fun. If it's not fun, we talked about toxic people before. It's like the movie Um Blindside when when Sandra Bull goes to Shay, just go over there. I put toxic people over there. At the end of the year, each uh Mrs. Lurch and I sit down. I reference her after 37 years, so is Mrs. Lurch, and you've met Linda. Um, we're like, who's poisonous? Who aren't we going out with this year? Who aren't we gonna hang out with? You know, it's not comfortable. The more you get older, the less you're gonna have because people will suck your freaking energy out of you. So those are my three funnels. Change lives, make money, have fun. If it isn't two of the three, I'm not allowed to touch it. I'm not allowed to get involved with them. The goal is ultimately three of them. Okay, but uh usually it's changing lives and having fun, and the money will follow. This, you asked me to do this. I'm like, absolutely, get on there with you and have this. Is first of all fun. Two is you and I are gonna change some lives having conversations. And three, hopefully, it's gonna make somebody who's watching money because we're able to share ideas together after you know your third almost 30, some years, 25, 30 years, mine. You've got you got longer than almost a lifetime just between the two of us, just in real estate, not including the number of transactions. So, long story of how they came about. Smash the snow globe. That's why I have these around the office. I have one in my car, I'm constantly looking at it. Um, and then changing lives, making money, and having fun.

Maria:

I love well, first, I love the three things, second, and really tied with first. I love the snow globe analogy.

Craig:

So tell me, I cry. It's it's tough, man. It's tough. Every time I look at it, I get tear-jerked. This little freaking thing changed my life, you know.

Maria:

So I want to dig deep in that. How did it change your life? Um, what happened?

Craig:

You know, if you think about this, go back. You're playing in stale water, you're playing with stale people, you're stale, you're you're playing in other our friend Bruno and Stacy that we're at an AI thing with. Um, you you know, we get we were we've talked about this. Do we get so stuck in everybody else's memes in social media? We're also busy. How many people, how many, how many crazy dances? Guess what, everybody? I'm not doing any crazy ass dances, not happening. All right. I dance elegantly with my wife, that's about it. And I do a sprinkler and I dance like nobody's watching, all right? But I have fun, so I'm not doing that. Don't be somebody else, be you. You're the only one, unless you're an identical twin, like my wife, that has the same DNA, I think, because they've never done the 23 of me thingy, I guess. But the bottom line comes down to this you're the only one. You are a perfect diamond of your own perfect DNA. There's only one of you, and while you're here, you are making the means for yourself that'll be playing in eternity. And I got tired of playing everybody else's mean. I got tired of being what everybody else wanted. I don't really give a raspatootti at this point. I'm gonna be polite about it, I'm gonna not deal with it.

Maria:

What did everybody else want?

Craig:

You ever notice that people want they they suck your energy? They want you to do what they want. They need, they need you. You ever notice there's people that just it's it's the gotta minute people. It's the gotta minute, got a minute, got a favor, got it this, gotta this. Wow, you would go broke. If I gave money to every person, I do charity things, you you'd be broke. I know I'd love to make enough money to give it all away. First check goes to the federal government, second check goes to the state of Pennsylvania, third check goes to where my office is in Jenkentown. Then I get to live, then I get to donate. You know what I mean? But I don't know. It's just you got to learn to say no. The second you start saying time out, no, your life will open up because you get out of playing in the snow globe, you get out of playing in stale pond water, and you start swimming in a blue ocean like Nemo. Nemo had a broken fin, and he swam to Australia in the blue ocean with all these other animals and creatures, and every day was a new day in learning. People go through life swimming in a blue ocean, and that's what my change out of my boutique company that I thought was oh so freaking great was killing me. And I got out of my own way and thought bigger and said, what can I play in that has no boundaries, that has the biggest boundaries, that lets me do what I want, where I want, how I want, with no rules, with the opportunity for what I get and what my company gives me, with less stress, but I can accelerate in what I want to do. And that's where I made my change and where it's at. But again, the the the the biggest point was not living the memes of everybody else, making my own, not being afraid to hit the button of life. We spend so much time afraid of hitting the button. How good am I gonna look? How the who cares? There was a great quote. If you're reading other what other people are saying about you, it's none of your damn business. Be you, be there's only one of you. Be your best you, and that that's that's that's the key. And I've always been my best bit me. Um, but I was afraid, and as I've gotten older, it's like you you get a little afraid of doing things because you don't want to get hurt because you have kids and you want to make sure I'm not skydiving because I don't want to dive because yeah, you start saying no to things, start saying yes to things, and it's gonna open up a universe because it's gonna challenge you. At some point, somebody put a lid on our head and said, Okay, you're not allowed to grow. I'll be honest with you, 60 years old, I am 10% of where I want to be. I am 10%. Colonel Sanders built his fortune at 61 after being broke. Think about that. How many people are turning the brakes on? I'm throwing the octane in the fuel.

Maria:

No, most people by the time they hit the 60s are just gliding.

Craig:

This is the new 40, baby. Yeah, no doubt. I'm thinking of myself at 40, I'm better, I'm healthier, I'm happier, I got more money, my kids are good, I got less stress, I can change more lives, I can go place with my kid, I got a kid getting married, I'm gonna have grandkids, God willing, one day. You get you out of your mind. This is great, this is fun. I wish I knew what I knew when I was 40. That's the problem. They save you, they save youthfulness for young kids. You your youthfulness should come as you get older, and there's the problem. We all put the brakes on.

Maria:

Why we could go, we could go real deep on this because I think it's a bigger problem that I think that we've been indoctrinated into a world where we're supposed to follow the social norm, follow the plan, and it comes from schooling, from religion, from all of these things, and then okay, it's like you go work in corporate America, you stay there for 40 years, you get a gold watch. I don't have my watch off, and then you roll out, and then hopefully, hopefully, you have enough energy that you can take the trips. But here you are in the safari in South Africa, and you're like almost with a cane because you we had to wait so long to get there.

Craig:

I agree with you a hundred percent. You know what? I love saying yes. I love saying yes, but the only way you can say yes is if you say enough no's. Let's repeat that for everybody, please. I love saying yes, but the only way you can say yes is by saying enough no's. If you said yes to everybody all the time, you wouldn't have the space for the opportunity that's coming up because you already filled it with something that was stupid and a waste of time. Stupid how to save no's to leave the space open for what you do want to put in your life. There's a great calendar, it's called the Big Ass Calendar by Jeffy uh Jerry Itzer. Okay, Jerry Itzer. What book? He um Jerry Itzer wrote the calendar, the big ass calendar. He was actually one of the first rap guys, first white Jewish rap guys in the 80s. Okay. Oh wow. Okay, got in there, was a rapper, did his thing, started doing well, um, had his own record label and all this stuff. Um, and then he started flying private jets. As he was flying on private jets, he's like, I don't want to fly on regular book jets. So he said to his one buddy, who's another rapper, he goes, We got to figure out how to fly this way all the time. So he said to the guy who owned the plane who was there, he goes, What's it? What's this thing do when it's on the ground? He goes, Nothing. It sits here and costs me money. He is how but I could, if I could fly it and get money made for you, would you do that? And would you pay me a commission? He goes, Hell yeah. Guess what he invented? Marquee jet soldier for a billion dollars. Never owned a plane in his life. That's Jeffrey. Then he started uh Cocoa Water. Okay. His wife started the company Spanks. Follow them. There's a calendar, it's called a big ass calendar. It lays it out. Lay in all the big rocks, all the things you want to do. I have all my all my podcast recordings uh every Wednesday. I know where I'm at. I put other things in there, I put a family trip in there, I put in my EXP conventions, I put in, I live life in in uh 90-day segments. You can't screw life up that bad in 90 days. Yes, you can kill yourself. Yes, you can get a divorce by doing something stupid. Oh, and by the way, if you want to be happily married, hang out with happily married people. You want to be broke, hang out with broke drug addicts, gamblers, alcoholics. Okay. You want to be you want to be good, hang out.

Maria:

That should seem like common sense.

Craig:

Come on. You and I know there's common. There's common sense and there's this wall behind me. 90% of the people are as dumb as the wall. You know why? Because they're they've been told to be the wall. They've been told to be the wall. And that's the problem. A lot of people are fake on the outside. What's the real inside? What is it when it comes down? Are they willing to be vulnerable enough to cry? Are they willing to be transparent enough? And that's where the key comes down. That's where you've got to understand, that's where you're gonna go. You know, I was talking with somebody the other day and uh a lady yesterday, and the famous line, no good deed goes unpunished. Abso freaking lutely. I get punished a lot. Okay, but also at the same time, I've never had anybody go over to the other side, sit next to our maker, who, whatever religion it is, and then come back and say, Hey Craig, by the way, you were right, being a nice guy helped. Never had it happen. So I gotta have belief and faith. So the only faith you've got to have is the faith in you and what's in here. I told my my my kids this growing up, and and they live by this. Um behavior never lies. Your true identity, your true person, your true you will always come out. So if you cheat in a card game, you're probably gonna be cheating in other things in life.

Maria:

Wow. That's my favorite thing, is how you do one thing is how you do everything.

Craig:

Exactly. Behavior never lies. Three words behavior never lies, and it's not easy. Trust me, I'm not perfect, I'm far from perfect, and Mrs. Lurch reminds me of it, you know, but I'm all and so is my mother-in-law. My mother-in-law is great. I'm uh, you know, I tell her she's she's I said, You're my most favorite mother-in-law. She goes, Shut up. I'm uh your only mother-in-law. Thank God. But you know, that that's kind of where it's at. I mean, we went a little deep there, but it the perfect thing is be the solution as you as you do this. There is something that's gonna come out of here that's gonna help somebody change their life, and it's gonna be a solution for somebody to go to their next level and smash the snow globe. It's be those solutions.

Maria:

I want to talk about, I want to go back again about the snow globe because I think it's really important. I think that there's a time in people's lives that you need to smash the snow globe. So, what did it like look like for you to make that decision? What did you have to? We know you made it, we know you came out on the other side strong. Look at you, your energy, you're you're full of energy, you love life. But what kind of pain? What did you like? This is what people don't talk about, right? They want to talk about what what did you how have to really go through to come out on the other side? Um, like work through ego.

Craig:

Number one problem, ego. I was um, you know, you know, you have your name on the side, and the family's been in the business X amount of time, and all of a sudden you're gonna put yourself within a uh a brokerage name that isn't yours as the primary because of the rules of the state of Pennsylvania things, whatever it might be. And I I didn't want to, I didn't want to own it. I didn't want I I had been through many, and then and again, every real estate company fits the mold of the person who wants to be there. I didn't uh from for eons, I had been recruited by everybody, every brokerage, everything. I could have owned the territories, I could have bought them all, whatever. I I didn't want to do that. I wanted to be in something that was free, and so my ego was there. And five years prior, uh well, two years prior, I had said no to the opportunity of going to EXP where I'm at presently, and I'm gonna finish my world here because I'm very happy. But the bottom line comes down to it is I had to get my name all my ego was there, and I had to be vulnerable because to me it was a sign of failure that I didn't make it in this thing and I didn't sell the thing. Brokerages mean you're broke. You got to leverage it, and at some point you got to figure out is my am I paying the dollars to keep it open or whatever it might be? And it's ego, it is where it's at. So I looked at what opportunities I can get for making donations to this big company and what can I get back, and then how am I gonna grow? And that's that's where my my positive and negatives, my my profit and loss sides were playing down on the list. And then the biggest thing was like I kept going back. Why wasn't I pulling the plug? Why wasn't I pulling the plug? And then um it was me, and I'll and I'll be honest with you. I was on with Brian Moses, who is a national trainer and good friend of mine. Um, we've known each other for 25, 30 years. We we spoke and worked together with Craig. Remember Craig Proctor and Jay Kinder when we were all we were all out there teaching together and friends. Um, he had called me about this opportunity. He's the one that got me to Tommy Shaft, my business coach, and we went through it for the year. And and Tommy goes, I think you're ready for that change that you might need to get out of your company too, and that's your snow globe, also. And it was the night before Thanksgiving, and Brian had called me, says, Hey, I got Janet on the phone. I want to get Janet on the phone and Linda, let's do a quick Zoom. This is like after COVID or whatever it is, and we all were like getting excited about Zooms. Look at you and me. We're doing a podcast like this that we never would have done before. I'm I'm attributing all this to COVID. Thank God. We learned a lot from it, we had a lot of pain from it, but we also learned a lot from it. Um, so we're literally the night before we have a cocktail, and uh uh we're sitting there talking back and forth, and Brian goes, Um, I gotta ask you a question, Linda. Why hasn't Craig? It's been four months since he went through this stuff with Tommy. We've been talking about him close getting out of his own company and um coming to EXP and all that stuff. She goes, tell me what the problem is. And she goes, Brian, you want to know the truth? And he goes, Yeah, I want to know the truth. He goes, Hold on, I want to record this. I have this recording. He goes, Okay, Brian, here it is. She goes, he's a blanking P. She called me right out on the video. And I wouldn't say don't hear in front of everybody. She called me it out. And I looked at Brian's face and his wife's face dropped. That's how blunt it was what she called me. She goes, his biggest problem's him. He has made other people multi, multi, multi-millionaires through the year. We're very good in where we're at. He is very good in where he's at, but he's afraid to take that next jump. He's afraid of doing this because he's afraid to do it alone, because he's been told for all these years that he needs to stay where and what he's doing. So, Brian, he's the problem. And she goes, Craig, I'm gonna tell you right now, if you don't smash that snow globe and make this change, you are never going to another convention, you're never buying another motivational book, you are never doing this, you're never doing that. I don't want to hear it because you're a blanking blank, because you're afraid of your own failures. She goes, Brian, on that note, have a nice Thanksgiving. Took her drink drink, said cheers. She goes, I'm going to the living room. Goodbye, and walked away. Off the Zoom. I'm like, Brian's like, he's like, So are you coming to EXP tonight or is it tomorrow morning? I was like, we're gonna do this tomorrow morning. I gotta go to the cent with my wife. We went in there, I cried, I bawled. It was brilliant, it was tough. You know, it still brings it out. But guess what? It was that was a changing point. That was painful to get that smack in the face. Um, for the person that loves you the most. And that's where the truth came from. And that that's when bam. I mean, that you want to talk about hitting a stone wall at 100 miles an hour? Woo! Because at that point, all bridges were burnt. There was no way I could say no to anything. I got out of and and I don't know, getting out of my company, leaving my stock. Who how did I know that there's 20 years of depreciation that I owe tax on and I didn't even take any money out of my company, but I'm gonna owe the federal company, federal income tax hundreds of thousands of dollars because I closed the company. I didn't know that, did you? But I sure as shit didn't think I sure as heck didn't think about it when I walked out. I'll deal with it later. I didn't know. I found out about it a year later. What's what happened? I I got out closing the company, my brother kept it. You get depreciations and and all that stuff that were in my shares of the company. I had to pay tax on back depreciations and all that stuff. I don't know. My accountant told me what it was. I don't know, K1s and all this other stuff by leaving.

Maria:

Oh, because you have a partnership, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Craig:

Right. Right. So I had to take care of all that stuff on top of leaving because you had a partnership, that's why. Yeah, whatever the thing was. That's why I pay people to my accountant. Says, yeah, you're not gonna like this, but guess what?

Maria:

You're out of it, yeah.

Craig:

So that's being there, there's the things you don't know, but I kept going. I'm going and going, going, and I'm still at an exciting point. I mean, I'm learning every day, I've learned more technology, I've learned more about things than I would have by myself, and getting rid of that ego. But that was the hardest point. I I think that was that was the reckoning point. That was when you're there and realizing that you're the biggest problem. You can do anything you want to do. That's right. There are people that have made it from the ghettos, there's people that made it, there are people that are wealthy that are broke now. There are people to win lotteries. 74% of the NFL football players are bankrupt in two years after they're done football. And they had whatever money they had. Okay, so all these things, you know, you can be up here and fall, you can be down here and grow. It's all where you're gonna put yourself, and that's when I decided that I'm I'm just gonna smash it and start like I'm brand new. I burnt my bridges, I can't go backwards. Going backwards is a failure. My wife always said, worst comes worse, you go back into your old company. I'm like, screw that, it's burnt, it's done. I can't go back. I burnt the bridges. And when you fight with that, if you fight under the intention that the person you love the most, you need to find a hundred, you're broke, you have zero money. You need a hundred thousand dollars in 30 days, a hundred thousand dollars in thirty days to put a new heart in them, or they die. How bad will you fight? How many hours a day will you work? Our problem is we work watching clocks. We don't work until we're done our work, we don't work until we're met our purpose, we don't work until we meet our value. We work because we watch a clock, because we were told to watch a clock. I don't care how much money you want to make in a day, do it in an hour and enjoy the other 23 hours. That's why I said I live in 90-day segments. Every day I come in and whiteboard, I wipe, I wipe a number off and I put it there. Every day it's a countdown. How many days until I'm I I gotta meet it, I gotta beat her, I gotta beat her. You think that the uh you know the rockets that go up are perfect, they're under constantly fixing within centimeters to stay on track. If you're not watching where you are, if you're not watching where you're going, you're not life isn't a Tesla that drives itself. You gotta drive the car, you gotta know where you want to go. And if you don't know where you're going, there's your problem.

Maria:

Uh-huh. That is like one of the biggest things. Most people don't know what they want.

Craig:

You ever go to a restaurant? Or I love this. I I it it it loaths me, but I love it. I'm like, you you go to a restaurant and you people see you, you've got a menu in front of you, and people, well, what do you want? I don't know. If you can't figure out what's on a freaking menu menu in front of you, how are you running your life? I don't literally people. What does five years look for like for you? I don't know. What's next week look for you? I don't know. I said if you had the wildest dream, if you could pick your wildest house, where would it be? What would you be doing? How would it smell? How would it look, then what would you be doing every morning if in the first two hours living in it?

Maria:

I could tell you.

Craig:

And then, well, you can tell because you and me are alike. You start getting there, it gets it actually gives you chills. It actually, like, yeah, let's go.

Maria:

You know, I'm looking right now at my fruit and olive trees over the vista, and I can see the sea in the distance where in Italy.

Craig:

Where? Where in Italy?

Maria:

I don't know yet because I'm I'm torn from being up north and down south, probably, you know.

Craig:

So here's the difference. Do people know the difference of north and south in Italy? You do.

Maria:

There's 20 regions, and I've been to 17 of them.

Craig:

And what's your favorite region? Okay, your top two. I'm not gonna zero you in on one.

Maria:

Okay. Um I love Pulia in the south.

Craig:

And what was the thing you loved the most about that?

Maria:

Oh the sea, the food, the people, the longest, architecture, the towns. I like Piemonte, but uh probably because I haven't spent much time in Umbria, which I do want to spend time in, I'd have to go with Tuscana. And the reason I would go with Tuscana if I had a gun to my head is that from in Tuscany, you have within an hour and 15 minutes, you can take a train to Bologna, you can take a train to Torino in two hours, you could take a train to Milan in two hours, you could take a train to Florence in an hour. It's a great central part. And those are the places that I'd want to be, you know. And then I would say in if you wanted to go for holiday and wanted to be at the beach, you know, you go over to the Adriatic, um, which is a couple hours. So Or you can go to uh the Italian Riviera, which is like Geneva, which is about an hour and a half, two hours. So it's a very convenient spot.

Craig:

In fact, it's kind of like Billy. We can get to the mountains, we can get to New York, we can get the weather.

Maria:

It's definitely not like Billy.

Craig:

I'm being sarcastic. You know, I walk by. Here's something. When you're there, are you calmer?

Maria:

I love it.

Craig:

You actually go from here here. I call it the Delilah voice. It's like um when I do the radio show, I'll I mean I'm up here. And when I come out and I start rattling right on the phone at 10 after 11, I gotta remember hold on, hold on, hold on. You're amped up. You gotta bring it down to the Delilah voice. And be honest with you, I can't stand that voice. I can't stand listening to Delilah on the radio. But again, it's bringing it down a notch and not running people over because you you got the same personality as I do. We have a D personality, which is direct and to the point, and we have an I personality, which is very outgoing. So feedback to us is kind of like water off a duck. We really don't care about it, but we need to absorb it. And if an eye personality, it's like, yeah, let's go. Let I got you, and I'm excited, and boom, boom, boom. And everybody wants to follow the perpetual energy of it. And that's part of the thing. But I got to remember, bring it down. Not everybody's there. You know, you got to talk. Like if I come in all hyped up, or you talk like all hyped up, our Philly, all the time to a mom, a grandmom who's in her 80s, you're gonna run her over. Bring it down and treat like that. So, but that's the way that you come back from Italy, you're calm, and all of a sudden you start amping up again because it's our it's our environment, it's our snow globe, it's our environment.

Maria:

I'm angry. Philly's not at anybody.

Craig:

I've had more fun talking about Philly, especially now that the the selling 215 made in Philly TV or all that stuff. But here's here's the deal: we have grit, we have passion, we have love, we have this. Everybody says, What state are you from? I don't say Pennsylvania, I say Philly. Philly's one of a kind. You're either part of Philly or you're not. This is the birthplace of the United States. 250th birthday coming up, yeah. July 4th, 2026. Everything came from here. The 13 colonies came off of here from Independence Hall. We got all this stuff, and how many people? I want to challenge anybody who's watching this. How many people know how many square foot Independence Hall is? How many people know what the value of the thing is? How many people know how many bricks are in City Hall? How many people know how many steps are at the art museum? How many people have gone and seen these places? People come and visit them, but we are so ignorant in our own town.

Maria:

Oh, many places uh they have the same ignorance. It's not just Philly.

Craig:

I know, but I'm calling a spade because we live here. I'm I'm calling it what it is. I've learned more. Oh, it's something.

Maria:

It's something it's something, it makes it's a definitely uh a gritty place. Um it's it's a lot of things. People always say a lot of opportunity. No, you're from Philly. Okay, you're one of those.

Craig:

So the Eagles fans.

Maria:

I said I don't throw snowballs at Santa Claus.

Craig:

No, no, no, no, no. I don't throw snow. Hey, another thing is watch throwing rocks, man. Watch throwing rocks and glass houses. You gotta look in the mirror. That's a big thing, man. I love it when people are, I love critics. I have no problem being a critic as long as you're willing to take the feedback. If you're willing to take it, I'm willing to give it. I'm willing to take it, I'm willing to listen, but I'm gonna give it back. And that's the key. Communication's two ways, it's not a one-way street. Life's two ways. It's a chemistry act, like be the solution. The solution is the outcome of what I call two things put together. If you've got a conflict going on, it's because the perceptions of two people or two opportunities are not an alignment. And when I work with other agents, I say, hold on, we had one alignment at one point, but our anticipation of the outcome has changed due to inspections, due to personalities, due to this, this, and this. What do we have to do to get everybody congruent again back into the same vision? Was your buyer getting in this house, my seller getting out of this house, or vice versa? It was the incongruency of the expectations of what's happening because you don't know other people's expectations because people are told expectations, but oh, now's your chance to go beat them up on a home inspection. No, no, it's not.

Speaker 03:

Mm-mm.

Craig:

No, those are cosmetic things. What are our major things? So you've got to always be watching what those things are. And the main part going back to the solution is life's like a chemistry kit. And I tell my kids all the time, I've had Corey on the radio show with me. I said, Corey, how's it like to be in on a radio show? Dad, it's like sitting in the kitchen on Sunday just talking. You know, this is exactly how I talk with my kids. I said, Guys, it's a it's a life's a chemistry. With every action, there's a reaction. Everything you do is going to do it. You add something else, it's going to be a different one. So you got to watch who you're adding to the chemistry. You got to watch what you're doing in the midst of the chemistry, what things are being around it to make that solution, that end piece, what it is. And we're so busy at looking where we're at, we're not looking forward. If we were to look forward in the process and back engineer it, it's a lot easier. But we all get stuck in the mud and get stuck in the sand and get stuck in the in the quicksand. Instead of walking around it because we see somebody else in it, we decide, uh, hell, let's just get in it with them. No, figure out where it is, back engineer it, and life's a lot easier. So, and part of the solution, which is which is what you are. You're you're you're a problem solver, you're a solution-oriented person. And I love the name of your show. That that it's all about the solutions of life.

Maria:

Be the solution, and we're we're creating a be the solution movement right now.

Craig:

Be the solution, you be it. You own it, you own it. You are all in, you are all and it's not always easy to be the solution, but and it's not no, because that means you're gonna take it on the chin, you're gonna have to stand up and say something you don't want to say, you're gonna have to tell the truth to somebody that they may not like to hear.

Maria:

You're a idiot, go over there, or just walk away.

Craig:

You know what? I agree with you. I agree with you. I like if that's what you gotta do. Good for you. God bless you. Because you're gonna wake up being you tomorrow. I'm gonna wake up being me, and you are gonna be the same person. I'm not you, thank God. Not you. I mean, like that person I'm having that conversation with, you know.

Maria:

We all get to decide who we want to be.

Craig:

Yeah, you had asked me a question what's your superpower lawyer? Um, and I think it that the biggest thing, like I said, was uh my biggest attribute is my biggest fault. It's my loyalty. And unfortunately, you know, when I smashed the snow globe, I had to give up the loyalty to everybody else and go back to my own loyalty to myself. And once you find that, that's kind of where it goes. And that is my superpower. But I'm gonna put it back out to you. What's your superpower?

Maria:

Oh I would say, well, in real estate or just life.

Craig:

Well, how did you ask me? Ask it to yourself.

Maria:

You answered it how you wanted to.

Craig:

Okay, you're right. Neither one.

Maria:

So for me, I would say in the real estate world, I'm a listing listing. That's my superpower. My superpower is only not about listing, it's human connection, I think. I think it's I think it's human connection. People say all the time, what do you say to people to get all these listings? I said, I don't say anything to get all these listings. I say, I'm a skilled, I'm skilled at what I do extremely. It's it's crystal clear when I have a conversation with somebody, and I care.

Craig:

There's the key.

Maria:

And so because I care, I know what you know, and I ask critical questions to understand where they are, and I actually care about the outcome, which is being in integrity with people and telling the truth, regardless of whatever the outcome is gonna be. Doesn't matter. And I'll say, I'm here, I'm God willing, I'm here. So when you're ready, you're not ready, no problem. I'm not like uh there's no pressure, you gotta sell right now. The market's gonna crash, you know. People do this crazy stuff. Um let's take that listing for 600 when I know it's 500, and I'll watch it and I'll see it, I'll check on it, I'll see it's old or 500. Or in this market, quite frankly, it's probably not even gonna sell. Um, it's just not. We've had to cancel an enormous amount of listings this year that I never actually couldn't even believe so many because the alignment of where sellers' reality is and the market is is not aligned, and there's nothing I can do to change that. So, you know, it is what it is, it's a tough industry, you know. It's been more difficult, I feel, in the last year than even in the last several years, but this year, the last six months, I don't know what's going on with people.

Craig:

Well, you got a changing market where people used to be order takers and just easy, and then you have what I call the the cousin, the aunt, the uncle that everybody thought, oh, I'm gonna get this, and they're happy doing two or three sales a year. That's money for them to take a trip. And what does that do? It dilutes the upper, it dilutes business for the real true professionals. And people, I mean, I've lost listings to people say, Oh, by the way, and you know, these I've sold them two or three houses, and they're like, Well, my brother's daughter just graduated college and she got her license, and we're gonna give it to her because it's gonna help her pay her student loans. I'm like, you're taking your largest investment of 700, 800,000, 900,000, gonna trust it to a kid that's 23 years old, just got out, never did a sale before, who's gonna get X amount of percentage at the end, just write them a check and go use a professional, and I'll net more money for them, or I'll pay them, you know. I'm like, fine, whatever you want to do, God bless you. But it it's just there's that dilution because it's so easy in the industry. We may for us for for for for us to make it through this many years is is very rare. The average really five, five years, five years, and they're done now. They say that we're gonna lose 350,000 agents in the next 18 months. Yes, but there's also another 500,000 that believe that they're gonna make it, that are getting licenses and coming.

Maria:

So back in 2010-ish, we came, we went down from I think we were at 102 and we went down to 800. Yeah, and then we went up to like 108. Yeah, so think about that. Like right now, I believe we sit at 16 or one. I think it's one five eight. Okay, you're right in this year. There'll be three million sales in the USA.

Craig:

Damn, it should. Balanced market is 5.2 million homes, and we're at like three. And they're saying we're we could get lucky and hit four million. That means we're 1.2 million homes short for people. That's why prices are rising. That's why we're stuck in what I call the funnel, in that people don't want to move because where they're going to go is going to cost them more movement. People move because of expenses and because of size and being uncomfortable with what they're doing. When the pain to stay the same is greater than the pain to change, people will make the change. There's no pain for them to stay to change because they're comfortable where they're at. It's that baby boomer. There's this is the biggest wealth part coming out and where it's going in transitions of wealth over the next 10 years, uh, and property and things of that nature. But you're you're you're right. It is a crazy industry. That's why you need to deal with professionals. That's why you need to. I mean, I I loved what went on, you know. I'm not condoning right, wrong or not. I loved it. August 17th, 2024, you need to get buyer agency contracts. Because for the past eight years, 10 years before that, it was the law, too, but there was no teeth, there was no reality because not everybody was doing it. Oh, that company won't, that company does it. We won't make you do that because we don't want to make you feel uncomfortable. It was the law. The rule of the game is now as a buyer. You either sign this thing or I'm not working with you because I'm not losing my license because somebody snitched on me because we have the snitch rule out there. All right, that I didn't get it signed, or you slipped and said, Oh, well, I don't have that with so-and-so. Why do I got to sign it with you? Guess what? That agent's calling somebody because they've all been embredded. Oh, whoa, we're gonna catch them, we're gonna find them five thousand, ten thousand dollars, fine, whatever. I'm not, I'm not gonna be that, I'm gonna, I'm not gonna be that patsy for somebody, you know. So if you're not willing to commit to me, it's like um we talked about it earlier. You want to be happily married, hang out with happily married couples. You're married, it doesn't mean that you're out doing other things with other people, you know. And I tell people, look, I'm your realtor, I'm working with you, me and my team. This is us. This is us. We we are it, we are your your we're your life partner for that amount of time. And the goal is to meet your needs, and we're gonna communicate how the process is going on. And if not, it's okay. You know, that's saying no because that space will open up with somebody else in the future. Same thing with listings, you know. You fired X, you called it canceled. My opinion is you fired some sellers that weren't listening to your expertise. It's like going to a heart doctor that says, You keep eating this, you're gonna have a heart attack and die. And you keep doing it, and the doctor keeps telling, they say, you know what, I'm not taking care of you anymore because I don't want your death chart on my record. Same thing, you know, but they think we have to.

Maria:

They think we have to, they think a lot and I say, and the other thing is, you know, people that they just want to cancel because they think you can't sell it, it's they think they need a new broker. I'm like, okay, I'll withdraw it, but it's not gonna be a cancel listing. You signed a contract, I worked for you, I have expenses, several thousand dollars on your listing already, yeah, or matterport and all these other things.

Craig:

Yeah, yeah. People don't get it, yeah. People don't get it, people don't get it.

Maria:

Oh, and then here's the growth. You ready? Yeah, I am going to blast you all over social media. I'm gonna give you one star on Google and say all these bad things about you. I'm like, well, that's libel, and I'll send my attorney after I'll send. Yeah, people just think they can bully you. You should see the emails I got from people, the way that they spoke to me.

Craig:

Yeah, you'd be surprised.

Maria:

They think that you know, I'm a professional broker, I've been in sales and marketing for 33 years, in real estate for 22. I don't know who you think you're talking to, but you're not gonna speak to me like that, whether it's in a text email or verbally, I will not have it. I just won't respond. I just don't respond. My response is no response.

Craig:

Yeah, I another thing is is uh you know, as as I've grown, um is not to do knee-jerk reactions. Another reason why I do 90 days, how many times do you have marketing people or whatever trying to sell you something for your business? You need this, you need this. I say, I'm great. I have 77 days left, I have 43 days left to review what is going into my next 90 days, which will be then implemented in the following 90 days. So, whatever I'm looking at, it's gotta if for me to do something instantly, it's gotta be crazy. It's gotta be really good. And if the in or in the next 90 days, usually I'm planning out 120 to 150 days out that what would be implemented. My old self would be knee-jerk reaction. I file sparkly things. Squirrel, sparkly, let's go. I'm good. Let's get you're so busy doing nude that you're not finishing what you're doing, and our 80% or 70% is better than most people's 100%. And we're so busy, we get so busy sometimes trying to be the 100% ourselves and understand our 70% is so high over the bar of everybody else, they couldn't even catch us if they wanted to. I had somebody ask me, What do you do in a day? I said, Why don't you ask me what I don't do in a day? My daughter actually spent two or three days with me right after she graduated college, and she goes, Dad, you've made over a hundred phone calls, you've done this. I he goes, You've helped this, this. My wife nicknamed me Gaggle instead of Google. You're the same way. Who do you know that can I'm constantly connecting clients with other people that can get problem solved? I want to be that person, I want to be that person they come to because they're gonna tell other people about me. And it's word of mouth and referrals that helps our business grow. And that is one of the things you know, you don't know where your day's going. That's what I kind of like about this industry. You don't know how you're getting paid at the end of the day because you're not, but if you do the actions, you're gonna get paid in time. But you got to do the work. If you're not going out and doing uh extra sprints before practice or after practice, you're not gonna be the superstar on the field. You have to do the work, you gotta do the work, you gotta do the work, unless you're gonna win. Nobody can do nobody can do the work for you. No, no, you think tiger woods wanted to swing the club 10,000 times? 130,000 hours. Guess what? You and I have professional criteria in the sports worlds multiple times in our business. 130 over 130,000 hours. It's 10,000 hours to become. I've got over 130,000 hours if you take work hours and blah blah blah over 36, 35 years. 130,000. That is 13 professional golf spots. That's 13 quarterback spots. Think about that. Every 10,000 hours of practice, theoretically, is what they've said is made it professional. 130,000. You've got the same numbers. Think about it. But yet we get looked at by a brand new agent who's sitting there, not knowing their ear from the wall, and they calculate it says the same. Hold on, I get 130,000 out. So you're gonna go in with a surgeon who's never touched a surgical knife or somebody who's done it 130,000 hours. You know what? Good luck with that. You know what I mean?

Maria:

I love when they say you can't compare it to that. I'm like, I gotta go. I'm done with this conversation now.

Craig:

You know what? I was at the doctor's the other day, and uh, you know, well, my my my regular doctor knows this answer. Um, because I went in the doctor's one time. How many you go in the doctor's and you wait? And all of a sudden you're like an hour. I'm like, first of all, I don't have if I'm an hour late for a client without an explanation, I'm not getting a job. And I don't call, I don't write, I make them sit there and wait for me patiently reading a magazine. But yet we do that in a doctor's office. Well, years ago, I left. I just got up and left, and then they called me, like, well, we're charging your copay. I said, No, you're not. I sat there an hour. You even said the doctor hadn't come in from his rounds in the hospital. Whoa, whoa. I make as much money, if not more money, than the doctor. Her eyes blew up. So next time I came in, I sat there about a half hour, 20 minutes. I walked up and said, I told you, you got five, 10 minutes and I'm out. Boom, left. Next time I came, they put me in the room, left me in the room for 25 minutes. I got up, walked out. They got me the last time, though. They came in and said, Okay, doc, you're getting a physical, right? Yeah, here, get changed. Okay, great. Nurse took my pants, so I couldn't leave. So, kind of a funny story in that in respect. Is look, I don't have patience for people being, I don't have pay. Know where you're at. Just because they're a doctor, just because they're this doesn't mean they're right or wrong. We are professionals, we do what we do, and respect that. Respect what somebody does. I don't care if you're the water pourer at a restaurant, be the best water pourer, make those glasses sparkle, be polite when you see the people. Don't spill the water on the table and on my lap. Be the best at what you're doing, but be the best you want to be, be your best. You want to sell five houses and you're save yourself the problem, do it in a week, take the rest of the year off, go travel, spend time with family. Why have Ajita all those all those months for no reason?

Maria:

I don't be the solution, Craig. It was great to have you on the show today. So much fun. So much fun. And I look forward to being on your radio show in a couple of weeks.

Craig:

Next Wednesday, we're gonna go live WWDB 860, 1030 to 11. We're gonna have some fun. We're gonna, you know, it's unscripted real estate, just like this. It's called Unscripted Real Estate Talk is a half hour. Talks about the uh passions of Philly, selling in Philly, like you. Um you know what makes Philly Philly? What makes believe it or not? Everything in this city from the from the Uber drivers to the restaurants to the doormen to the everything in this city affects our real estate values, and nobody believes that. Oh, yeah, everything affects the real estate values, and we get to we get to help interpret that. And we're gonna, I'm so excited to have you on. We're gonna have I can't wait. You know what the best is? You don't have to have hair and makeup done. We're on a radio, nobody can see us. Well, I'll still be myself, yeah. Just you and the lovely, vibrant self that you are. You always you know, I I loved it the other day. I saw your your uh you were wearing flamingo pink, and flamingo pink is my favorite, and I love that in your coloring too. You know, flamingos are different, they're quirky, they're fun, their leg goes this way, and then everybody says, Why do you love flamingos? Because my mom, when when um I was 23, I lost her when she was 44 years old. Her one of her favorite animals was uh, and it's not animals, bird works, flamingos. And she had said to me, She had had all these plastic flamingos in front of her house up in Bluebell. And I said, Mom, she's the woman that wore St. John's suits, business, whatever it was. And I was like, What are with the pink flamingos? And she knew she had six months to go. She goes, Craigie, and she wanted a few people in life that can call me Craigie, other than my mother-in-law. Um, she goes, Those those flamingos are things to remind people. She goes, I live on a cul-de-sac of 12 houses here, and when I leave, people won't remember my name. But I'm gonna do a random act of kindness for every one of them before I die, and I'm gonna put a pink flamingo on their lawn so they'll see them leaving mine and going to theirs. And the thing in life is how many flamingos are you gonna leave? How many people are you gonna change those lives for? How many flamingos are you gonna leave on people's front lawn? And um that's why I love seeing the pink flamingos. That's why I love that color pink. Uh I have a flamingo golf head, you know. My golf favorite golf shirts are all pink and flamingos, and people say you're crazy. I was like, no. One, it reminds me of my dad, but two is they're also quirky. You got long necks, they're they're they're this pink color. They love seafood. I love seafood, but you know, but it is is when I go to her grave, I don't put flowers, I put a flamingo.

Maria:

Wow, that's a sweet. That's a great story.

Craig:

Every time I see pink, I think of my mom.

Maria:

Oh, beautiful. Keep being the solution, Greg.

Craig:

Thank you for letting me share that.

Maria:

See you soon.

Craig:

All right, see ya.