The Business of Homes Podcast

Episode #026 Transcript

00:00:28:17 - 00:00:53:15
Michael Conrad
You're back to the business of Homes podcast. I'm Michael Conrad, and we're having another episode of I came for the music and I stayed for the real estate. Today we're interviewing Zach. I'm again, Zach is a great agent here in Nashville that I've been fortunate to know for a number of years and a great guy and someone who has a slightly different perspective.

00:00:53:17 - 00:01:12:08
Michael Conrad
When he came for the music and save for the real estate, he wasn't up on stage shaking his tail and he wasn't there. He wasn't mixing audio, you know, he was doing something a little different. And so we're going to sort of dig into his background and kind of what got him here and what continues to fuel him.

00:01:12:08 - 00:01:15:16
Michael Conrad
And and hopefully he'll give us some great stories today. Zach, thanks for being here.

00:01:15:17 - 00:01:16:20
Zach Opheim
Yeah, thanks for having me.

00:01:16:22 - 00:01:31:14
Michael Conrad
We've tried to create a platform with this sort of the small series to showcase the idea that the music business, which of course in a lot of ways is like the heartbeat of Nashville, right?

00:01:31:14 - 00:01:33:03
Zach Opheim
Yeah, it is. Yeah.

00:01:33:07 - 00:02:09:02
Michael Conrad
The music business has just this wide, incredible range of characters and all of these very visible professions and lots of sort of less visible professions. Yeah. And some of these people end up in a real estate, in fact, kind of a medium sized group of people who kind of came for the music maybe, and then stayed for real estate and that there's these interesting translatable skills of maybe you honed these skills or these knowledge in the music world and then you brought it into to real estate.

00:02:09:02 - 00:02:15:08
Michael Conrad
So I'm hoping we can dig into that today. So tell me where you came from, how you got here to Too Old Music City?

00:02:15:08 - 00:02:40:04
Zach Opheim
Yeah. So born raised outside of Chicago in Rockford, Illinois. And I came down to Nashville for the first time, truthfully, in between junior and senior year of college. And intern to indie record label that's no longer around. And I bar back at Legends Corner and second fiddle. And I thought, Holy cow, the city is awesome. As a 20 year old, I wasn't even old enough to drink.

00:02:40:05 - 00:03:03:02
Zach Opheim
Working behind the bar and Broadway was different back then, but it sucked you in, right? And I mean, I also was an accounting and finance major and going, Wow, what do I want to do with that? Where am I going to go? And I thought, Well, I could do accounting for musicians. And that is the overarching thought that brought me to Nashville, got into business management, is what we call it.

00:03:03:02 - 00:03:22:04
Zach Opheim
A lot of people don't even know that term right? I didn't I was halfway through, you know, college in accounting. And if you don't go to college in Nashville, I don't think you're ever exposed to like, hey, this is an option for you as an accountant. I had no idea until I came down to Nashville and was like, Oh, business management, What is that?

00:03:22:04 - 00:03:46:10
Zach Opheim
And so I always explain it is we handled everything that goes through the dollar for artists. We handle their losses, we handle their taxes, we pay all the bills. We handled a lot of stuff. And that's a Nashville specific thing. And there are offices across the country now that's become more of a well-known thing. But when I was getting into it, it was like, Oh, let's try and go do that.

00:03:46:10 - 00:03:48:09
Zach Opheim
And that's what brought me to Nashville, essentially.

00:03:48:11 - 00:04:01:11
Michael Conrad
Amazing. So if this sort of relatively unique profession was born in Nashville, how did you shape it to be your own? Because you don't just like show up on the Broadway street corner and be like, I'm a business manager now.

00:04:01:14 - 00:04:19:05
Zach Opheim
Yeah, right. Has it's and also, I mean, the music industry is an interesting one to break into and it's a it gets fed a lot by Belmont and Lipscomb in our local universities. But outside of that, trying to break into the music industry, you feel a little bit like an outsider. Like I always joke like I'm not a Belmont kid.

00:04:19:09 - 00:04:40:05
Zach Opheim
Belmont. They they teach their kids the grooming. They have the programs set up to help you get started in the music industry, and kudos to them for doing that. That's that's a, you know, a great thing. I didn't have that right. So it was it was coming down news and relationships, trying to figure out who are the business managers in town getting involved with that.

00:04:40:09 - 00:05:10:04
Zach Opheim
I was lucky enough and blessed to have an older sister that worked in the industry, made a made a connection with my old boss, and that is six months later I had a job offered to me and that was I consider myself lucky for that. I also had an interesting early first year that most don't about four months after I started, my account manager went on maternity leave and right before she left for that, the middle assistant said When she comes back, I'm going to leave.

00:05:10:06 - 00:05:28:21
Zach Opheim
And so my president and vice president came to me at 21 years old and said, Will you run the team for the six weeks that she's out? And so all of a sudden I got to have conversations with artists, with managers or booking agents that I never would have been able to as an entry level assistant. And so that kind of helped.

00:05:28:21 - 00:05:47:19
Zach Opheim
What I like to say, Springboard my business management, understanding and career a little bit. I have one year of tour manager under my belt that kind of like sprung in there as early 24 year old. I got asked to go out on tour with Brett Eldredge and I kind of fell in my lap. I wasn't looking to go out on tour.

00:05:47:20 - 00:06:07:10
Zach Opheim
I knew tour managers, they needed somebody to go out. They said, Why just come out and see how it is? Well, I came out and saw how it was and it was awesome. It's great. I think Brett was 26 at the time or was turning 2627. I was 24. I was the youngest guy on the bus. We had 11 crew and one bus, one trailer.

00:06:07:12 - 00:06:14:12
Zach Opheim
Highly, highly, highly. Anybody that wants to learn the music industry go out on tour, you learn it all and you learn how the whole thing functions.

00:06:14:12 - 00:06:15:02
Michael Conrad
Because you got to do.

00:06:15:02 - 00:06:37:20
Zach Opheim
It all. You got to do it all. You're getting exposed to the whole wheel, right? I then was like, I can't do this forever. Came back into business management and did that for a handful more years as an account manager. And I think that both, you know, being in a low level assistant long enough and being a tour manager, it helped me to be a good account manager.

00:06:37:22 - 00:06:59:17
Zach Opheim
And for me, that transition to real estate was I don't know where I wanted to go and I didn't know what I wanted to do long term yet, but I knew I needed to make more money, right? And so I sat in that for a while and I started reading books and I started to have lunches with other people that left the music industry or partially left the music industry.

00:06:59:17 - 00:07:23:10
Zach Opheim
And and real estate was the entrepreneur ticket that I was like, Ah, I'm a son of an entrepreneur. He understood fast food chain restaurant owner and grandpa was as well. So I was like, I don't know where that's going to fall in, right? And so I always knew that I needed to express that. And that was real estate was my ticket.

00:07:23:12 - 00:07:38:14
Michael Conrad
That's amazing. I've heard it said that there's sort of two worlds in the music business. There is sort of the 9 to 5 world, and then there's the rest of the hours in the day. Yeah. What was that, your experience?

00:07:38:14 - 00:08:03:17
Zach Opheim
Yeah, I mean, we used to call a little bit of like the cool tax, right? It was like music industry. I would say most of the people in the industry would still agree with me that maybe you're underpaid a little bit because you get access to go to some of those shows. And that's great and dandy until you're about your mid twenties and you want to start a family and you go, Well, what if I don't want to go to that excellent show on a Tuesday night at 11:00 anymore?

00:08:03:19 - 00:08:35:11
Zach Opheim
And right. There's I don't think there's anything wrong with that. I'm usually wrong with being able to say that, but it's there Is that like a little bit of a cap in the music industry is your network base? I was thankful to be in Solid, which is a networking volunteer nonprofit leadership group within the music industry. That helped me relationship wise, but I still was hitting the ceiling of going, If I want to have the success that I dream for myself, whatever that number needed to be.

00:08:35:11 - 00:08:56:17
Zach Opheim
And it's different for everybody, I was most likely going to either need to open up my own business management firm or figure out a different line where I could apply more entrepreneurship. I think that the income is a little bit limited to unless you want to run your own shop, right? I mean, that's part of business as a whole too, but it's probably really prevalent in music industry.

00:08:56:19 - 00:09:22:05
Michael Conrad
Yeah, we've said it before, we'll say it again. All profit is born in risk. Yeah, some industries have that bar at different locations on the scale, but if you really want to sort of achieve those higher heights of financial sort of benchmarks, then there's going to be an element of risk. And sometimes that's I have to give up something or sacrifice something.

00:09:22:05 - 00:09:42:12
Michael Conrad
Maybe I have to risk a personal life or I have to risk, you know, having roots down because I'm on tour, you know, or maybe it's I have to go out on my own. And that was certainly something that I experienced in my career where you start to project out, you see the world around you, you've gotten to know it for a couple of years.

00:09:42:14 - 00:09:56:04
Michael Conrad
Maybe you've participated in a handful of roles to where you're like, Okay, I could do that. And that, you know, kind of gets me here. I could do this other thing that kind of gets me over here, and then do I have the ability to go beyond there? Right? And so the.

00:09:56:04 - 00:09:56:21
Zach Opheim
Next level.

00:09:56:21 - 00:10:17:12
Michael Conrad
To the next level, Yeah. Oh, no, maybe I don't if I'm working within this network. And so then whether you come from an entrepreneurial background, you did. I did or not. Sometimes you sort of wake up, you're like, Oh crap, I think I have to like, hang out a shingle and like, do my thing. And in certain industries, sounds like music that could be pretty hard.

00:10:17:15 - 00:10:26:04
Zach Opheim
Yeah. Yeah. And, and also in the line of work that I was, I wasn't really interested in going to get my CPA and.

00:10:26:04 - 00:10:26:19
Michael Conrad
Big hurdle.

00:10:27:01 - 00:10:47:10
Zach Opheim
And that was there are some long term business managers that don't have it. Maybe they have their CFP. And I went through my CFP program, I did well in the test. I did not pass it my first time, which is normal, just but I was like, I don't know if I get myself to go through that again. And so for me, the transition came right of going.

00:10:47:12 - 00:11:08:14
Zach Opheim
It started out as the snowball idea of making some extra money throughout the year to go in. Well, wait, if I'm ever going to make this leap and change, it probably needs to be before I have a family. And at the time I didn't have any kids. Now I look at finances a lot different, right? I can't. My risks are limited because of me back then, right.

00:11:08:15 - 00:11:09:08
Zach Opheim
Taking that little.

00:11:09:08 - 00:11:10:04
Michael Conrad
Risk index is.

00:11:10:04 - 00:11:32:02
Zach Opheim
Yeah. Yeah. Right. And so I'm thankful that I was able to whether I saw that in, you know, in the lining or not, I don't know. But it was a big I also was thankful to have the time to when I was making that decision of what I was going to do. My wife and I had a trip to Montana and we were going on hikes for hours and talking about it and talking about what?

00:11:32:02 - 00:11:58:19
Zach Opheim
Like it's a life change, right? And whenever you have those life changes, you have to be ready for what comes with it. And for me, it was going okay. I also was able to transition into real estate. I'm one of the few that probably was able to do some side work in the business management world that helped fuel my real estate business and where was I was able to kind of have them overlap a little bit and we can get in the weeds of that if you want.

00:11:58:20 - 00:12:19:12
Zach Opheim
Like, you know, like when I left business management, it is a pretty niche thing, right? To do finance and accounting for musicians and elss. And it's also a little bit hard to like. I can't necessarily take that experience and say like, okay, now I want to go work at a big accounting firm. They'd be like, Well, do you do commercial accounting?

00:12:19:12 - 00:12:23:16
Zach Opheim
No. I paid bills and I handled musicians money. It's a little bit different. Sound like.

00:12:23:16 - 00:12:24:07
Michael Conrad
A bookkeeper.

00:12:24:07 - 00:12:43:18
Zach Opheim
Right? Yeah, it's a little bit different. But for me it was I was able to do some business management on the side that paid some of the bills and helped that ease of going into a full commissioned industry. And in that I was also able to get some deals with some of those artists.

00:12:43:22 - 00:12:50:12
Michael Conrad
Yeah, well, first of all, I think it's very important for this podcast that we say that the answer to all of life's questions is Montana.

00:12:50:14 - 00:12:51:13
Zach Opheim
Like yes.

00:12:51:15 - 00:12:52:11
Michael Conrad
Just to have that be go.

00:12:52:11 - 00:12:55:08
Zach Opheim
Spend a week in Montana. You want to figure out the first.

00:12:55:10 - 00:13:19:00
Michael Conrad
Answer to everything. Second, I think you're hitting on this interesting concept that transition can be really difficult, especially this sort of full commission, you know, place where maybe it looked a little different beforehand. But I think that's one of the most interesting things that I keep hearing from folks that were in music business and moving into real estate.

00:13:19:00 - 00:14:02:20
Michael Conrad
Is that the relationship aspect allowed that transition to happen? Either more smoothly, more quickly, more successfully? I mean, undeniably, the tight knit community of music business is the same exact framework for community and sphere that you need to have to be a successful real estate agent. And so it'll be no surprise to me if you tell me that some of your people that you are helping manage also became some of your first clients, because in managing finances, essentially this big purchase, a place to put money, a place to invest and have roots for the long term, you know, for safety nets, etc., you know, it's real estate.

00:14:02:20 - 00:14:10:09
Michael Conrad
And so that that transition, maybe even more than sort of the singer songwriter going from music to, you know, real estate makes a ton of sense.

00:14:10:09 - 00:14:29:06
Zach Opheim
Yeah. Yeah. I think I have that. That plays to my benefit, right? Like, I couldn't you have to take a different approach when you come out of a different sector of the music industry, right? We've talked about some of the like if you're an artist then you go into real estate. You are having different conversations with your clients than I am, right?

00:14:29:06 - 00:14:48:23
Zach Opheim
I have that benefit. I think of being kind of claiming the finance accounting portion like that is the fiduciary advisor to my clients. So I think that my transition is probably a little bit easier because of that or just how I've built my real estate business or I've built it on that kind of those dynamics.

00:14:49:05 - 00:15:15:06
Michael Conrad
It's flavors of ice cream. At the end of day, you know, your flavor is very mint chip, you know, economics focused, you know, whereas someone else is coming out of music business is looking at it, you know, differently. But this concept of, you know, you're getting your work done in the music world, you know, during the day, and then you're really opening up opportunities, you're opening up new business and you're opening up relations ships in those after hours.

00:15:15:11 - 00:15:18:20
Michael Conrad
There's a lot of symmetry there, too. Yeah. You know, to real estate.

00:15:18:20 - 00:15:41:09
Zach Opheim
As you're now saying that again, I have that pop Tom Ferry in one of his early YouTube videos I watched when I got the license was we do our work during the week. We make our money on the weekends as a realtor, and that almost is exactly the same as we do our work during the day and we make relationships that turn into business at night in the music industry.

00:15:41:11 - 00:15:54:22
Zach Opheim
And so I think it's they're very relationship based industries and you've got to be willing to kind of go outside of the of run the business. It's that extra, it's the next level step that if you're willing to do it, you can have some success.

00:15:54:22 - 00:16:25:20
Jake Hall
So hey everyone, it’s Jake, director for the Business of Homes Podcast. I hope you've been enjoying today's episode starting with Zach's beginnings in business management, his transition to real estate and the connective tissue between the two industries. When we return, Michael and Zach will dive into the hardest transition from the music business into real estate, finding the right balance of guidance and an example of Zach's music industry connections.

00:16:25:20 - 00:16:41:22
Jake Hall
Helping land a deal. You don't want to miss it. Don't forget to follow us on Facebook and Instagram @thebusinessofhomespod, where you can interact with us and see some great bite sized pieces from all of our episodes. For you listeners out there, did you know our entire podcast are filmed and are on our YouTube channel?

00:16:42:00 - 00:17:00:21
Jake Hall
Check it out next time you want to see our amazing guests tell their stories. And are you currently watching this episode in video format? Don't forget to follow us on your preferred audio streaming service to take us with you on the go. Lastly, do you have any feedback or want to suggest someone for the show? Email us at thebusinessofhomespodcast@gmail.com.

00:17:00:23 - 00:17:10:15
Jake Hall
Please enjoy the rest of today's episode with Zach Opheim. Let's get back to it.

00:17:10:17 - 00:17:23:03
Michael Conrad
What has been one of the hardest? By contrast, one of the hardest transitions going from this sort of unique industry here in Music City over to, you know, a completely new world real estate.

00:17:23:05 - 00:17:49:12
Zach Opheim
The volatility of their market, I think a little bit plays into it of like I can go out and get ten clients, but because it's the biggest transaction of their life, I can't I can only coach them and advise them so much. Right. And I can go, This is a great idea. This is perfect for you. But there's a lot more of the emotion side of it in this industry where music industry different for creatives, different for artists.

00:17:49:14 - 00:18:09:22
Zach Opheim
But for me, I was in the business management, right? It was a county, it was pretty black and white. It was like, you should either do this or you can you can afford it. And a lot of times we were the no guys, so it wasn't always fun, but it was still a clear answer. Right? And so a lot of times now as a realtor, it's going this house is like when we started, you said you wanted a four bedroom, 300,000 square foot house for 500, right?

00:18:09:22 - 00:18:20:19
Zach Opheim
That doesn't exist anymore. But for 500 and you may go see that exact same exact perfect thing and do your job per se. I found you that house and it doesn't work for whatever reason.

00:18:20:21 - 00:18:29:05
Michael Conrad
It's interesting. Almost in music you were a bit of a tugging on the reins, you know, the brakes just a little bit.

00:18:29:08 - 00:18:34:01
Zach Opheim
Less creative in a creative industry. And now, you know, like is a little bit of a flip.

00:18:34:01 - 00:18:54:11
Michael Conrad
Yeah, Yeah. And then also in real estate, you're maybe more on the nudge side, you know, we don't ever want to. Yeah, yeah. Pushy, of course. But it's this idea that you not mostly as a realtor, you're not pumping the brakes nearly as much as you're kind of giving gentle nudges in the right direction. Whereas, you know, the role you occupied was maybe a little less nudging, a little more brake pumping.

00:18:54:11 - 00:18:55:02
Zach Opheim
Yeah, And that's.

00:18:55:02 - 00:18:56:03
Michael Conrad
An interesting difference.

00:18:56:03 - 00:19:14:05
Zach Opheim
That is an interesting dynamic. I mean, that's a lot of what we do now, right? Is is even to the thought of we present the property a lot of times, right? We have our searches set up, but it's like, hey, here are three properties that I think you would like, even that nudge you have to be careful of like how much do I push them to?

00:19:14:07 - 00:19:33:12
Zach Opheim
I want you to see this property because I think it's the great property for you. But does that mean that I have commissioned breath? Can you smell that? I like, You know what I mean? Like, how? What can I say? That? And our clients pick it up fast, right? It's like, okay. He has now asked me to go see that place five times, right?

00:19:33:12 - 00:19:52:19
Zach Opheim
Like, that's too many times. So it, it's finding that right balance of like guidance but yet Right. I always like, say you're steering the car, you know, like I'm helping us go and I'm navigating us. But ultimately, it's your decision of whether you want to turn right or left and you have to buy the house.

00:19:52:19 - 00:19:53:16
Michael Conrad
Or go into the ditch.

00:19:53:16 - 00:20:18:11
Zach Opheim
Yeah, yeah, yeah. And stuff. Right? And that would be like coming out of the buying process, right? Like and that is also part of it too. I think that has been an interesting change for me and that's entrepreneur part of it of going like I've had, I've had friends and family that don't do deals with me and I'm going, Man, that hurt who you know, or buyers that you spend a lot of time with that go, Hey, it, we haven't found anything.

00:20:18:11 - 00:20:42:02
Zach Opheim
We're just going to wait until next year. We're going to rent again. And that that's not even anything again, necessarily bad against me, but it's gone. Ouch. That hurts my bottom line. It affects my business. And I have to kind of differentiate between being a fiduciary, being a nice guy and being a business owner. And sometimes they overlap a little bit and it's hard to go like, No, it's the right thing for you.

00:20:42:08 - 00:20:46:04
Zach Opheim
I'm I'm going to have to figure out how to live without that commission, right?

00:20:46:05 - 00:21:20:16
Michael Conrad
Yeah. And I can imagine that in the world of personal managers, tour managers, business managers and music, there are also difficult decisions of how do you give guidance when you are essentially hitched to that wagon? You how do you give guidance that fiduciary sort of like pure and simple ethical third party guidance? You know, how do you give that when so much of it is still interconnected, that that is in some ways, you might say, specifically for real estate, that there's an unfair complexity to it?

00:21:20:18 - 00:21:24:06
Michael Conrad
I'm not sure fairness really has any part of this conversation. But, you know, it.

00:21:24:09 - 00:21:25:23
Zach Opheim
It is.

00:21:26:01 - 00:21:39:19
Michael Conrad
It's an unfair complexity because it feels fun and easy to help guide others into the success of selling or the success of buying. It feels uncomfortable when the circumstances just aren't aligned.

00:21:39:19 - 00:21:59:02
Zach Opheim
Yeah, Yeah. I mean, on the surface level, it should be all sun, you know, sunshine and rainbows and fun. And a lot of that is because of social media and what's portrayed out, right? There are a couple of accounts now that are showing like the funny real side of real estate agents. And I think it's I think it's valid.

00:21:59:02 - 00:22:16:18
Zach Opheim
I think it's important, right. Because if all you see is the picture at closing, a lot of the consumer are going, oh, that's all they do. Right? I think we've come away from a little bit of like the real estate agent only opens the door. You know, the hardest thing they do all day is figure out, put the key in the cookie.

00:22:16:18 - 00:22:30:17
Zach Opheim
Like, I think we've come away from that a little bit, but I still think that there's a little bit of like a oh, you, you do whatever you want all day and, you know, kind of you help us through the transaction, but then you're just there and I'm like, You've never done a deal with me. Yeah, that's what I say to that.

00:22:30:17 - 00:22:49:02
Michael Conrad
I see. Sometimes I see myself sweeping up, you know, in the office or whatever. You know what I'm like, I should take a picture of this, you know, because, like, I might be, like, the owner of a business or multiple business, but here I am sweeping. You know, I've seen an agent, you know, fixing something on a house or cleaning up.

00:22:49:07 - 00:22:50:17
Zach Opheim
You know, taking the leaves out of a gutter.

00:22:50:17 - 00:22:51:23
Michael Conrad
Yeah, cleaning up the mess.

00:22:51:23 - 00:22:54:19
Zach Opheim
Did not tell my broker I did that. But I live to see, you know.

00:22:54:20 - 00:22:55:12
Michael Conrad
Getting on a ladder.

00:22:55:12 - 00:22:57:03
Zach Opheim
Right? Yeah. I have not said yes.

00:22:57:03 - 00:23:13:10
Michael Conrad
All of those unsexy things. It's. It is a part of the value conversation that's a familiar one on this podcast where we talk about that. You've got to give lots of value to continue to sort of operate successfully, but also defend, you know, the reasons why you get paid.

00:23:13:15 - 00:23:22:09
Zach Opheim
And how do you show that value right? Like everybody has their own way of expressing this is marketing that value. Yeah, that's interesting.

00:23:22:09 - 00:24:01:13
Michael Conrad
And again, music comes back to be, well and easily connected to this because it's also an industry where image is everything and how we perceive, you know, the world of music, how we perceive the world of real estate is very almost certainly and potentially ugly ways, sometimes very different than reality. And so I think it it can be hard for us in real estate to both both be authentic as well as showcase what we're really doing, prove value and not have it come off as self-serving.

00:24:01:15 - 00:24:18:12
Michael Conrad
It's a very tight balance given your experience in music and our experience in real estate, for those out there listening who have also touched the world of music, who might be interested, or who are making their way in the world of real estate, what's something that you think about as a sort of someone who's seen both worlds?

00:24:18:14 - 00:24:43:09
Zach Opheim
I think it's really staying true to yourself, right? I think real estate as a whole gives you a pretty good opportunity to market and design your business as an it as an outside of yourself. Right. And I mean, we've talked a bunch about my clients. Look at me as a fiduciary. They ask me questions about their two loans, their comparing.

00:24:43:10 - 00:25:02:19
Zach Opheim
And I think coming from the music industry, it's going what you wanted out of the music industry. If you if there was something that you weren't able to get out of it, make sure that you're staying true to that. Once you have an opportunity to do that in real estate, I think, you know, you can't touch John. A little bit earlier, toots.

00:25:02:19 - 00:25:27:13
Zach Opheim
Its reputation is a big part of both industries. And, you know, I have been thankful to have mentors in business management and in real estate that are very high on that too. Like the way you do one thing is the way you do everything that's been with me since high school and that that portrays into your business so much of like, are you willing to take the high road?

00:25:27:13 - 00:25:45:21
Zach Opheim
Like if somebody is trying to battle you through a deal, are you willing to take the high road or are you going to scrutiny as to down to their level? And that's where I'm going. The whole point being is I think as your reputation grows within the real estate industry, the same way it did within the music industry, stay true to yourself.

00:25:45:21 - 00:26:09:23
Zach Opheim
Stay true to what you want your work ethic to be thought of, what you want your business to be thought of. The rest will follow. And and I say that sitting in this chair, having gotten deals for my clients because I was able to have the conversation with the other age on the other side and say, What do I need to do to make this work?

00:26:10:01 - 00:26:34:05
Zach Opheim
Can can I have some favorable, you know, intangible help? Is it? I think that I was able to bring value. Maybe the best way of saying that is I was able to bring some value by my business reputation and how I've done business in the past that they were willing to. Maybe that's worth value to a seller to have a deal go smoothly.

00:26:34:07 - 00:26:55:09
Zach Opheim
And if you're able, then it's hard sometimes from the buyer side to portray that across the table and go, We will do a smooth deal. My clients are great clients. I don't know what that's worth to you, but if it's worth something, let's incorporate that. And I know that I've gotten at least three deals in my career based on that mindset and based on that thought process.

00:26:55:09 - 00:27:03:16
Zach Opheim
And and I'm sure if I examined back maybe not as clear of a deal point, but in business management, I've had that happen.

00:27:03:20 - 00:27:23:14
Michael Conrad
Well, you're you're certainly highlighting a reality that you have more agency to be an entrepreneur and build the thing you want to build and operate in the way that you want to operate in the world of real estate, you know, the world of music, for better or for worse, you know, is kind of a closed door in a lot of ways.

00:27:23:14 - 00:27:41:01
Michael Conrad
It's difficult to break in. We know that sort of and you don't have as much freedom to sort of set things up the way that you want it. You have to participate in the structures that are already there. And so I think that's one of the biggest things that I'm sure anyone who has seen both worlds is probably experiencing.

00:27:41:01 - 00:27:55:17
Michael Conrad
And to sort of take heart and like you said, go make it what you will. And that's I think that's your version of be true to yourself if if you haven't been able to have as much ability to sort of make it what you want in music, then you know, there's a lot of opportunity to make it what you want in real estate.

00:27:55:17 - 00:28:12:19
Zach Opheim
Yeah. While making sure like right and I guess part of my stay true to yourself is also keep the ego out of it, right? I mean, a funny quote that I was told very early in the music industry was never don't ever learn how to play an instrument because then you'll think you're better than the artist. And I'm on the funny side.

00:28:12:19 - 00:28:33:07
Zach Opheim
So. Right. We have to remember that. But I was like, oh, okay. I mean, okay, from a standpoint, I get that that actually makes sense, right? And as a real estate agent, also, we have to go. It doesn't matter if you are only dealing with $2 million things. If you've got a 500 K deal, you have to like ego has to stay out of it.

00:28:33:09 - 00:28:50:17
Zach Opheim
We have our clients first. I think the more that we're able to do that, the better our industry will be. But I think that that also that shows to our clients and I think that that we're a referral based business. And why shouldn't that be at the very top, you know, if not in the top of our priority list.

00:28:50:22 - 00:29:14:03
Michael Conrad
This transition time, You know, you've been in the world of music, you're making your way, you're sort of hanging out your shingle and saying, No, I'm going to kind of make this transition. And some of your first clients, you were saying were, we're actually in the music business, so tell me a story about one of those first deals where you're making that sort of one foot in two worlds transition into into real estate.

00:29:14:04 - 00:29:35:17
Zach Opheim
Yeah, What great story is probably one of my first four deals showing an artist at home. And oddly enough, the listing agent is also an ex music guy. And, you know, I'm well, Chris Grimes. Chad, do you Chris like and it was almost like we had an instant like, if we can do this deal, I want to make sure you go about it right.

00:29:35:17 - 00:29:56:21
Zach Opheim
Like he knew I was new and we both had the music industry connection. We found that out because he was a guitar player for an artist that worked with my older sister several years prior. So like, right, all of a sudden we had this small knit. Thankfully, my client, like the home, we went on a contract and it was it was an artist's home being sold to an artist.

00:29:56:21 - 00:29:57:15
Zach Opheim
And so it was a.

00:29:57:21 - 00:30:00:00
Michael Conrad
Home that was previously in the music world.

00:30:00:05 - 00:30:06:11
Zach Opheim
Previously the music world being sold and a right. There's so many characteristics of homes that tie to that right.

00:30:06:11 - 00:30:09:15
Michael Conrad
And that, like you don't just have bedrooms and offices. You also have like.

00:30:09:17 - 00:30:10:02
Zach Opheim
Trophy.

00:30:10:02 - 00:30:11:18
Michael Conrad
Rooms and statuses and.

00:30:11:20 - 00:30:17:23
Zach Opheim
And space and like being able to not have people drive by Your house is a big part for artists.

00:30:18:01 - 00:30:19:15
Michael Conrad
It's like a hold box to check the whole.

00:30:19:20 - 00:30:40:06
Zach Opheim
I mean, right. You can maybe have a whole episode on like what an artist buyer looks like, right? But now it was from the get go. I found several other agents that were also in the music industry and being able to do a deal with one early on. And and Chris is also a fantastic agent outside of any connection to the music industry, right?

00:30:40:06 - 00:30:58:03
Zach Opheim
But we were able to do that deal together. And him and I have been best friends since that deal. We have not done a deal together. Let's do one, Chris, if you're listening. But like him and I are best friends, we still really respect each other in the industry. And he's, you know, great agents. There are a lot of great agents that have come from the music industry.

00:30:58:05 - 00:31:02:17
Michael Conrad
Well, it's it's a reminder not just that there's some sort of secret society of like.

00:31:02:19 - 00:31:03:07
Zach Opheim
You know, one.

00:31:03:07 - 00:31:17:14
Michael Conrad
Foot in two world people, but that the relationships that you build should create this atmosphere when you do get under contract of like, yo, we're in this together. We need to like march this ball down the field together.

00:31:17:17 - 00:31:31:11
Zach Opheim
I wish there was more of that across the whole industry. Yeah, that, yeah, that's one that maybe fits my personality a lot, right. But it's like. But I don't get paid if your deal doesn't close either. Right. Like that's not a shocking revelation, right?

00:31:31:11 - 00:31:32:03
Michael Conrad
We mutually we.

00:31:32:04 - 00:31:41:13
Zach Opheim
Have to, we have to get to the closing table with both sides signing whatever that looks like. And it looks like a lot of different things a lot of times. So, yeah.

00:31:41:18 - 00:32:00:13
Michael Conrad
I love it. I love these stories because the heartbeat of real estate is people, and we see that connection back to music so easily. And these stories are always wonderful to hear. Thank you so much for being here and sharing stories and helping us continue to figure out all of these funny little connections between music and.

00:32:00:17 - 00:32:05:11
Zach Opheim
All the connections. Small city or still small city at the end of the day. That's right. You know.

00:32:05:13 - 00:32:26:01
Michael Conrad
All right, guys, this is Michael Conrad with the Business of Homes podcast. I am so grateful that you're here listening and I hope that you'll smash the subscribe button to continue to hear our great episodes and our great stories. Check us out on YouTube if you want to see our lovely smiling faces and we'll get you next time.

00:32:26:03 - 00:32:46:19
Jake Hall
Hey everyone. Jake again, director for the Business of Homes Podcast. I hope you enjoyed today's episode. A huge thank you to Zach Opheim for being a part of the podcast. Go follow him on Instagram @zopheim and let him know how much you enjoyed their story. Don't forget to subscribe on your preferred listening platform and make sure to follow us on Instagram as well @thebusinessofhomespod

00:32:46:21 - 00:32:56:03
Jake Hall
Do you have any feedback or want to suggest someone for the show? Email us at thebusinessofhomespodcast@gmail.com. Thank you again for listening and we'll see you soon.