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Neal Norman: Founder of Kauai Organic and Hawaii Naturals Turned Hawaii’s #1 Agent

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In This Episode

Neal Norman of Hawaii Life Real Estate Brokers will give you invaluable tips and advice on buying and selling real estate in Hawaii, plus learn why celebrities from the mainland continue to flock to Hawaii and live the ultimate island lifestyle. Leave a review and let us know what you thought of this episode!

Top Quotes

“We never have what I would call like a mainland San Francisco, LA hot market type situation in Hawaii because it’s not a primary market. So, you know, most of what I deal with is in second homes. I don’t deal in the primary market.”

“We’ve done several deals that were $40 million and even $50 million, but they were amalgamations of several properties, but bought by one party or an estate. You won’t see the records of 40 or 50 because it might’ve been three or four purchases of 10 or 12 each.”

“You know people who are not in our business, they’re always enamored by like, ‘Oh my gosh, how much money do they, you know, these guys make selling this $10 million home or this,’ so what they don’t understand, it’s hard work too. It’s not just show up, get your license and start making 1 million bucks a year. It’s tough. I mean, it’s arguably one of the toughest jobs”

Episode Resources

Follow Neal Norman

Follow along with Neal Norman at: www.hawaiilife.com/nealnorman

Full Episode Transcript

Neal Norman: [00:00:00]  You know, I always say it’s part of the outside, whether I’m playing or working, you know, it’s all like a life, beautiful, you know, experiment and you know, living your life and leaving business into that, having it all, you know, cause it’s not about. Oh, no. It’s much more about life and lifestyle and that’s one of the things I upgrades and value about the culture here.

[00:00:43] Warren Dow: [00:00:43] welcome to DIGS Influencer Podcast, the Titans of real estate. The show that provides direct access to the real estate industry’s top movers and shakers is they share invaluable insight on how to best navigate and succeed in any market. I’m your host, Warren Dow, founder and CEO of media and publisher of digs magazine.

[00:01:06] In this episode, Neal Norman.

[00:01:16] Warren Dow: [00:01:16] Thank you to our show sponsor bow concept. Hello, Neal.

[00:01:22] Neal Norman: [00:01:22] Hello.

[00:01:23] Warren Dow: [00:01:23] So good. Thanks for taking the call. We’re just going to chat. So no big pressure here. We’re just going to have a little chat.

[00:01:28] Neal Norman: [00:01:28] I can do a chat.

[00:01:29] Warren Dow: [00:01:29] Cool, man. So, so welcome to the show. So give us, you’d like your 60-second bio if you could.

[00:01:39] Neal Norman: [00:01:39] My 60-second bio is, you know, I’m a 62-year-old surfer.

[00:01:45] From the East coast that moved to Kauai in 1985 around 30 years old. Fell in love with this place and fell in love with the people in the surf. And the culture is always on the hunt for the perfect spot. And founded in Hawaii and the Hawaiian islands. And as a kid, I was always a bill under signer fixer.

[00:02:09] And at 19 I bought my first house in Southern California. And then it’s made us a little town called Encinitas. And I borrowed money and did what I could and bought a little house and my first project, full-blown project at 19 I read it, a house in that little coastal community events need us. And I got my first taste of real estate and remodeling, buying and selling and you know, fell in love with it.

[00:02:34] And I’ve literally been doing it ever since. I have three kids, beautiful kids that were all born and raised in Hawaii. Beautiful wife, live on the beach in front of two great surf spots, have a very successful real estate practice, had some great employees, and have been involved in many different aspects of real estate, from building development, brokering and you know, love what I do.

[00:03:00] Love the process, love the dreams that are made and the homes that we sell on the land that we sell to people. And I love staying involved through the development stages. With people and help them design and connect with the right people to get their jobs done. And then many clients are long-term friends of mine, have a great life, and live in a really small, beautiful, tight community.

[00:03:25] And life revolves around the ocean and fishing and surfing, and we do lots of other things. We travel quite a bit, but you know, real estate is what we do for a living and very happy with how their salt gone.

[00:03:36] Warren Dow: [00:03:36] That’s awesome. Thanks for sharing that. You know what’s funny is it seems like the most successful agents, like in the US in different areas, they approach it almost like a lifestyle versus a business.

[00:03:49] And like your story, that 62nd bio was more, it’s like less business. It’s more setting up your lifestyle and having the business sort of weave into it right.

[00:03:59] Neal Norman: [00:03:59] Yeah. I think, you know, I always say it’s part to determine, so the outside, whether I’m playing or working, I kind of leave others to the side, but to figure that out.

[00:04:10] But it’s all, you know, it’s all like a life, beautiful, you know, experiment and, you know, living your life and weaving business into that and having it all, you know, cause it’s not about, not all about money. It’s much more about life and lifestyle. And that’s one of the things I greatly value about the culture here in Hawaii.

[00:04:31] Warren Dow: [00:04:31] Yeah, for sure. And you also tell us also about, you also founded an organic farm, right? You

[00:04:38] Neal Norman: [00:04:38] know, along with the building passion, I’ve always been really passionate about plants on trees, organic foods. And so in 1985 you know, my first project in Hawaii was a home on a small farm and we created a Palm tree farm and exotic Palm tree farm.

[00:04:57] And we always grew things organically and didn’t get that much bang for our buck in the sense that we’re protecting the earth by growing organically, but we weren’t creating something that was food. So after that, about 15 years of that, we created what’s called Hawaii organic farms. That still exists.

[00:05:17] And it became the largest ginger and Tumeric producer in the state. And we ended up growing Tumeric. Can ginger for whole foods and wild oats, and you know, very passionate about it, but it was too cumbersome of a job. Farming is the thing, the greatest thing you can do, but it’s a very difficult job. Didn’t give me, literally didn’t give me enough time to surf and knew my real estate work.

[00:05:40] And so after a while we sold that. That was my last one that I’ve had that operated very successful. Like I say, it’s still going on and we sold that in 2000 and get back to focus on my real core business, which was real estate.

[00:06:00] Warren Dow: [00:06:00] Cool, interesting tie in, you know, the whole farming and you know, it’s hard work and ginger and Tumeric are, they’re great for you too, right?

[00:06:07] They’re like the, what do they call that? Superfoods or something?

[00:06:11] Neal Norman: [00:06:11] Yeah, they’re medicinal, you know, they’re phenomenal for digestion. We grew a bunch of exotic fruits as well. Sugar, love pineapple and lychee and long gone. And even Noni. And we had a products company that we made, dressings and sauces and we sold those all over.

[00:06:27] Oh, it was just, it became like business became to the forefront and it was too much and it cut into the lifestyle and it really cut into this great business, I afraid over real estate. So it was just too fragmenting to have both things going on. And so I chose the latter, you know, the real estate world to keep on.

[00:06:50] You know, later we started a company and we sold that to what is now Hawaii life, which is, I would call it the premier real estate company in the state of Hawaii.

[00:06:59] Warren Dow: [00:06:59] Yeah. It seems like they’ve really taken over and they do a really good job, you know, on their brand and their agents and all that stuff. It’s awesome.

[00:07:06] So, and a question for you is, what’s your favorite, some of your favorite or your favorite surf spot in quiet.

[00:07:12] Neal Norman: [00:07:12] I have to kill you if I tell

[00:07:13] Warren Dow: [00:07:13] them it’s a secret spot, right? I’m sure

[00:07:19] Neal Norman: [00:07:19] They, the point is a world class right hand or many people know about it. It’s kind of like the daily bread here. It’s super consistent, gets great wins, and that’s kind of where I served mostly. But there’s a bunch of other spots and you know, luckily code-wise sort of maintained some uncrowded Agnus that is like that because there is an unwritten rule here that we just don’t really talk about the spots and nobody photographs the spots.

[00:07:46] And you know, obviously crowds are a real problem and surface up. We’re trying to keep what we can.

[00:07:51] Warren Dow: [00:07:51] That’s good. You should cause choir is an amazing place. I’ve been there once and I was blown away by the beauty and just, I was awestruck by just the, it’s magical, magical place.

[00:08:02] Neal Norman: [00:08:02] It really is beautiful. Yeah.

[00:08:04] Since lodge and fertile and you know, clean and very, very special place. I’ve never been to a place where so many people look at each other. You know, you run into somebody and they just go, .

[00:08:16] Warren Dow: [00:08:16] Yeah, for sure. It doesn’t like the Hawaiian Island told they have the longest in terms of age longevity. Isn’t that true?

[00:08:22] What do you mean? Like they live longer on average then?

[00:08:27] Neal Norman: [00:08:27] I do not have the answer that

[00:08:28] Warren Dow: [00:08:28] I heard that somewhere, but it makes total sense, right? If you’re living the dream and just like live in Aloha, you know, we’re just like, Hey, everything’s mellow and

[00:08:35] Neal Norman: [00:08:35] cool. It’s really nice when you know the important things are, who rides the biggest way catches the biggest fish and do barbecues the best bit.

[00:08:44] In fact, we had a friend over last night at dinner from New York, an act or client. I invited some local friends over and talk story about the old days at Taylor camp and for about 60% of the two-hour dinner, we talked about trees and or a single tree.

[00:09:02] Warren Dow: [00:09:02] It. I love it.

[00:09:03] Neal Norman: [00:09:03] And the woman was there and she was an actress, and my wife said to her, is it when you’re in LA and the dinner does this like conversation?

[00:09:10] She’s like, absolutely not. Pretty interesting.

[00:09:13] Warren Dow: [00:09:13] No, that’s perfect. That sums it up perfectly right there. Hey, by chance, do you know the irons? You probably do live in there. I

[00:09:20] Neal Norman: [00:09:20] know there’s many of them and yes, I have quite a few of them.

[00:09:23] Warren Dow: [00:09:23] The Bruce and Andy, and you know, for Andy, the passing, I’m into surfing as well.

[00:09:27] I’ve been surfing since I was a kid. Yeah.

[00:09:29] Neal Norman: [00:09:29] The iron Shami that boys, you know, born and raised here, and I’m friends with the parents, whereas we know the kids and they’re important, you know,  residents and really special good people and extremely talented surfers.

[00:09:44] Warren Dow: [00:09:44] Yeah. To say the least. Right?

[00:09:46] Neal Norman: [00:09:46] Yeah.

[00:09:47] Warren Dow: [00:09:47] So let me ask you, let’s talk real estate.

[00:09:49] So off Mark, I got a bunch of questions on real estate, but I want to start with like in the South Bay where we are, Hermosa Beach, Manhattan Beach, Redondo, PV, that whole, and even in the Westside, like off-market listings, not on MLS, off-market coming soon, whatever have become sort of all the rage, like especially at the high end.

[00:10:11] Is it the same over there? I think

[00:10:13] Neal Norman: [00:10:13] there’s mixed views and you know, we never have like what you would call a, what I would call like a mainland San Francisco, LA hot market type situation here because it’s not a primary market. So, you know, most of what I deal with is in second homes. I don’t deal in the primary market.

[00:10:32] I deal with, you know, I’m much higher-end home than what you would call, like, you know, average price. Or medium price. I don’t really feel a medium price. So we deal in high-end residential, which therefore is second home, third home, fourth, maybe fifth down for some people. So you’re dealing with an emotional buyer.

[00:10:52] We don’t have a lot of transactional volume. It’s not about how many sides, how many sales we make. For me, it’s, you know, we have a lot of very, very beautiful properties. When someone wants to have an off-market, which I always carry quite a few off-market properties. Some people think that because these properties are so special, they keep a more special nature of perceived special nature when they’re not listed, because they can, average can be three, four, or 500 days on market here.

[00:11:24] Yet you have the right buyer because you’re just not dealing with up a barrage of offers like you may with a great property in Los Angeles or Southern Cal, like where you are. You know in Malibu. And we typically sell below asking price, you know, by five to 10% so we never out the situation where you put it on the market.

[00:11:46] Now you wait one week and you have six offers and they’re all above asking. I’ve never been in a market like that. I always tell my in LA at Malibu Roper friends, I wish I would just like to come in and do that. But like a few weeks

[00:11:58] Warren Dow: [00:11:58] to see what that’s like the frenzy.

[00:12:00] Neal Norman: [00:12:00] So I tell people, you know, it depends on your motivation, but if you’re truly just waiting for that super special buyer, sometimes assessing real value is very difficult.

[00:12:08] At the high end. There’s so few transactions. It’s not a science. It shouldn’t be a science because appraisal is science. But you know, we have a lot of random market occurrences here that just, you know, someone just falls in love. It’s completely emotional. It’s not like they’re buying a house. It’s close to their job.

[00:12:26] They don’t need the house, but they want the house or the property. That’s my 90% of my grant actions are like that.

[00:12:35] Warren Dow: [00:12:35] Yeah, it makes sense. So, and you’ve got a beautiful $70 million. Listing. Is that the high water Mark? Like I know it’s right now that’s the most highest price listing, but what’s like the record sale over there?

[00:12:46] Neal Norman: [00:12:46] I think know a lot of the sales, we’ve done several deals that were 40 million and even 50 million, but they were amalgamations of several properties, but bought by one party or an estate. So you can look at it. You won’t see the records of 40 or 50 because it might’ve been three or four purchases of 10 or 12 each.

[00:13:08] So the highest we did do a transaction that was well over 125 million, but it was several parcels and it’s not something I can talk about. I can talk about that. There was a transaction like that. And it was, you know, hundreds of acres. It was beachfront, and that the highest transaction I’ve ever done is that that was vacant land, but it was over a half a mile would be fraught, private swimming codes and beautiful land, you know, more than over 500 acres.

[00:13:38] And that’s the strongest deal we’ve ever done here. And 70 million. It’s currently the highest list in the state for a residence. And then we have done a few deals that totaled 43 one was and then one was 49 five and we just completed one a couple of weeks ago. 39 five

[00:13:58] Warren Dow: [00:13:58] wow. Big numbers. And you deal with a lot of celebrities, right?

[00:14:01] That are buying and selling over there. Like I know you did Julia

[00:14:04] Neal Norman: [00:14:04] Roberts. So you know, typical owner and second homeowner in Hawaii is probably going to be from the West coast. You know, odds. So call it 50 60 70% are going to be from either somewhere between San Francisco. In San Diego and then some smatterings of Seattle and Portland people.

[00:14:25] And then there’s quite a bit of ski area people, Aspin Jackson hole squad, you know, taco, those kinds of people, Colorado people, they help people. They’d come over here and then, you know, typically the new Yorkers down come. But we do have some New York buyers and East coast buyers, Virginia Beach buyers and surfers.

[00:14:44] And so what’s up is my career has been mostly Los Angeles based and my first sale ever, I always kind of say this, so I was a real estate developer before I was a broker, and I had a realtor who owned a company. And when she sold me my first property in Hawaii, she sort of said, Neal, why don’t you come and you know, get a real estate license and do brokerage too.

[00:15:05] And I did. And my first sale happened to be Graham national, Crosby, Stills and Nash. That was the first deal I ever did. And it was an entree into the music and celebrity wall from Los Angeles. And you know that this is a referral business. So for many years, many years and continuing that their referral business, like the gift that keeps giving because you do a great job.

[00:15:25] And so it’s been a lot of celebrities. And in the last few years, there’s been so much wealth generated in the Northern California area that it’s kind of transmitted to that now. And more of my deals, bigger deals are happening with young people, younger type people from Silicon Valley.

[00:15:44] Warren Dow: [00:15:44] Looking for a personal stylist for your home.

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[00:16:03] For more information, visit Beau concept@beauconcept.com. Email info@beauconcept.la. The wealth effect is, it’s been crazy here as well. And the South Bay Manhattan beaches, you know, new all-time, high breaking records on the strand. Malibu’s continuing to breaks records just had a hundred plus million dollar sale.

[00:16:25] Neal Norman: [00:16:25] Yeah. My good friend did that deal. That was just unreal. That was my good friend’s house as well.

[00:16:31] Warren Dow: [00:16:31] Yeah, there’s so, and there’s bigger developments going on right now. I just saw recently, just this week, Paul Allen just listed for $150 million. Some land in like it’s in Beverly crest, or I forget the area, but yeah, Hilltop.

[00:16:46] When I forget how many acreage, but it’s prime prime land, you know. Who was the listing

[00:16:50] Neal Norman: [00:16:50] agent on

[00:16:50] Warren Dow: [00:16:50] that? Oh, I should have studied that up before.

[00:16:53] Neal Norman: [00:16:53] Was it Williams and Williams or was it Rick Island

[00:16:56] Warren Dow: [00:16:56] knows Highland. Yeah, Thailand. It’s Highland. Yep.

[00:16:58] Neal Norman: [00:16:58] Yeah, so Highland, you know, I spread the mind. Good guy. We do things together.

[00:17:02] He’s got listings better. Astronomical. We were talking that there’s going to be a half a billion-dollar listing or there may already be.

[00:17:12] Warren Dow: [00:17:12] Yeah, there is. I think there’s not one yet, but I know they’re building one back in that area.

[00:17:17] Neal Norman: [00:17:17] I think that’s the one he’s repping anybody. I’m pretty sure if there’s a 250 or more, I’m fairly certain

[00:17:22] Warren Dow: [00:17:22] there’s a 250 I think they’ve reduced it, but there’s been some crazy new development and that’s, those are spec homes.

[00:17:28] I mean, it’s like, could you imagine.

[00:17:29] Neal Norman: [00:17:29] It’s really truly is hard.

[00:17:32] Warren Dow: [00:17:32] I mean, carrying, carrying that on a spec home. It’s like, okay, but it’s, the wealth is just, this is why, like you said in the beginning, value is hard. What does it really mean when you’re at the Uber, you know, we call them rockstar digs, like that’s are the Uber high end, like beauty’s in the eye, the whole, it’s like it’s what you want to pay and what, you know, there’s a story here.

[00:17:52] There’s a guy that developed a three lots on the strand in Manhattan. Manhattan Beach, right on the strand and some big hedge fund or some wealthy person wanted to buy it and it wasn’t for sale. And they had the agent approach the owner and said, well, you know, basically, what would you take forward? It’s not for sale, not for sale.

[00:18:11] Anyway, long story short, he comes back and offered him $150 million and he said, no. Oh, wow. He said, no. And he said, the reason was, and I’m, I don’t know if I’m getting this exactly right in terms of the what was said, but. The gist of it is, Hey, I’ve got a lifestyle. I wake up, I play volleyball on the beach, like this is the best place on the world to live.

[00:18:32] Why would I move? Like, what’s the price? There’s no price to ,

[00:18:36] Neal Norman: [00:18:36] right? There’s no price for the exchange of the joy of brain’s

[00:18:40] Warren Dow: [00:18:40] priceless.

[00:18:41] Neal Norman: [00:18:41] I’m discussing like a very wealthy potential buyer and you’re discussing how much something may cost and this is astronomical, and maybe it’s never been achieved before, and the person’s worth.

[00:18:54] You know, hundreds or multiple billions of dollars, let’s say, and you say, what’s exchange worth for you to take the 50 million than it would cost to buy this property and to have that stay in the bank and earn its interest. And I get a grant, it’s a lot of money and all that, but what’s exchange? How much can you put a price on the joy.

[00:19:15] You’re going to have the next, you know, your years on earth, maybe you’ve got 20 or 30 or 40 left, but then you have grandkids and kids, grandkids, and I’ll have the grandkids and you know, the memories and the children that will be born and the surfing and that now oil, and you know all the different things you’re going to be doing and that beautiful property, you just can’t change that.

[00:19:36] That will go deep into someone’s psyche and soul to like, yeah, you’re right. Like the CSB doesn’t. Okay. Never get that joy.

[00:19:45] Warren Dow: [00:19:45] Yup. You have. So let me ask you a fun question, and you don’t have to answer this if you don’t want to, but I thought it would be fun to ask you like, what’s the biggest real estate check you’ve ever cashed?

[00:19:55] Like commission.

[00:20:01] That’s no worries. I thought I’d throw it out there. Cause it’s like, you know people who are not in your business. Our business. They’re always enamored by like, Oh my gosh, how much money do they, you know, these guys make selling this $10 million home or this, you know, so what they don’t understand. It’s like, it’s hard work too.

[00:20:16] It’s like, it’s not just show up, get your license and start making 1 million bucks a year. It’s tough. I mean, it’s arguably one of the toughest jobs

[00:20:24] Neal Norman: [00:20:24] it saves. Just say, I tell people, I always say the great thing about real estate. You can make hundreds of thousands, tens of thousands, you can make millions, you can make billions of dollars.

[00:20:36] There’s no lemon. Cause real estate is really an unlimited. So it’s a good category in business to be into. I see regret at it and you’re going to tell them the truth and good, you know, doing all the work that it takes to be a good realtor, a good broker. It’s not like I never said this is easy work,

[00:20:53] Warren Dow: [00:20:53] but it is

[00:20:54] Neal Norman: [00:20:54] nice to get paid for the hard work.

[00:20:56] So. Taking a category where you know, you make a lot of money and you may make a lot of money is kind of the case. So yeah, there’s been some great pay days. It’s been a joy and you know, we just keep doing our good work and keep telling the truth and keep, you know, keep

[00:21:11] Warren Dow: [00:21:11] me. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Well, the chair of the industry is changing so much too.

[00:21:15] I, being in the business, I’ve watched closely what’s happening with the direct to consumer model, the eye buyer, you know, with the whole, you know, Redfin, Zillow. Discount brokerage model compass. Now with, you know, public company coming in with lots of money, the landscape has been wildly disrupted and it’s changing.

[00:21:34] What are your views on that? What are your thoughts?

[00:21:37] Neal Norman: [00:21:37] Yeah, your views on that. So when I first was faced with a very big competitor who was coming into the market. You know why? And they said, you know, kind of join us or watch out. We’re going to take you down. And I said, you know what, you may be able to overtake me in the low end and the medium and stuff.

[00:21:59] But I believe that in the high-end world, a high-end purchase, a guy or a person, a buyer is going to want to talk to the person who is referred to them personally from one of their friends. Who’s bought through that person, that’s how I would want to do it. So I kinda often try to put myself in my own shit.

[00:22:21] I am my own shoes, but I put myself in someone else’s shoes. And I think that I’ve probed enough of the buyers that I know that would never just take it all the way down the road. You know, on the internet, I use it as a tool for information, and I use it as a tool for being efficient. But I don’t think you can replace.

[00:22:40] A good, honorable, super smart, intelligent guy out there, woman or anybody out there showing a property, discussing it, you know, vesting, you sort of having an invested relationship with that person and created a trust and a bond that lasts a very long time. And you know, I’ve done many of my deals over in a 35 year career.

[00:23:03] I’ve been multiple, multiple properties back and forth, sold or purchased from one person. And I just don’t see that. You know, maybe if you buy a condo, you’re going to do 90% of your work online, but when it comes to a five 10 15 $20 million property is going to be that person who has that kind of money.

[00:23:23] He’s gonna want to talk directly to them.

[00:23:27] Warren Dow: [00:23:27] No, I agree. That’s the high end is very, I think, insulated from a lot of the tech and the, you know, the definitely the discount. It’s back to the network effect and you know, the high-end pizza, different drum for sure.

[00:23:38] Neal Norman: [00:23:38] Yeah. So yeah, I think there’s a very good place in the world for the Redskins and the Zillows, but there’s nothing like, you know, I mean, even this conversation has been very indirect.

[00:23:50] You can hear the entire nation in my voice. I can, in your intonation, in your voice, the subtle, there’s a lot to that.

[00:23:58] Warren Dow: [00:23:58] Yup. I can hear a dog barking too, which is cool.

[00:24:04] Awesome. Awesome. So I know we got, we’re getting close on time here, but I want to ask you a few things on some of your peers. Like do you have any marketing tips or tips, you know, leadership type advice for people either that are, you know, looking to make the leap from good to great, you know, in terms of they’ve been in the business for a while or just someone starting out.

[00:24:23] Neal Norman: [00:24:23] Yeah, I mean, I think I have some real key things. I always tell people that it’s a business of networking. It’s a business of trust and it’s a business of the hard work and the knowledge is going to get you far. This, I always say, the harder I work, the luckier I get, you know? And just so I teach young brokers who work for me, or you know, we’d always say much better is to tell somebody, you know, I’ll get back to you with the answer to that question that I don’t currently have the answer to.

[00:24:53] Then try and come up. I see so often people trying to just come up with an answer just to look like they’re smart. I think that’s rule number one. Don’t fall into that trap. Just you’ll get back with the answer. Now, obviously, if you have a lot of answers, you’re going to be looking smart, but just don’t ever yes your way through

[00:25:12] Warren Dow: [00:25:12] that.

[00:25:13] Yeah.

[00:25:14] Neal Norman: [00:25:14] The other thing is, is just, you know, it’s like anything like the Tom and the threat of successful people I think is the hard work. Cause you know, there’s always going to be some factor of Will’s skill and luck. And I think the will is probably the strongest thread. That’s the hard work and skill.

[00:25:29] You know, obviously you’re not going to get that far without some good skills, but skills you can figure out, you can work hard to get more skillful and then you know, right place at the right time. It a little bit of luck and hard work all combined.

[00:25:44] Warren Dow: [00:25:44] So well-stated well said. Do you guys, you know the cryptocurrency phenomenon that’s going on right now, do you guys, have you had any Bitcoin transactions.

[00:25:53] Neal Norman: [00:25:53] I’ve certainly been semi deeply looking into it and very interested in myself. And I have clients that are Bitcoin, early adopters of Bitcoin. And I even went to the point of, you know, getting together a couple of my escrow buddies that run escrow companies, but see if we can get a vehicle for doing those transactions.

[00:26:12] And the truth is that we haven’t evolved it yet. So I have not seen one. I’ve not been involved with one. I’ve been asked before. But it’s never come to like, you know, Hey, I can buy this with Bitcoin only. Let’s make an app. And that has not happened yet. And if that does happen, I’ll be way open to making that happen because that person.

[00:26:33] Warren Dow: [00:26:33] Yeah. That’s something that’s, there’s been a few deals in Manhattan Beach that happened entirely with Bitcoin, so it’s definitely something that’s going to continue to evolve and we’ve got to pay attention to it.

[00:26:43] Neal Norman: [00:26:43] It goes through a conventional escrow company?

[00:26:46] Warren Dow: [00:26:46] That’s a great question. It went through an escrow company that.

[00:26:50] Created like a nontraditional portion of it or something. They figured out a way to do it, but it wasn’t, I don’t think it was a large, you know, traditional escrow company. I think it was a, they found a way to do it through a subsidiary or something.

[00:27:04] Neal Norman: [00:27:04] I’d love to share that. Yeah,

[00:27:08] Warren Dow: [00:27:08] no, I can definitely, I could ask the agent who, yeah, he found this company.

[00:27:11] That’s how he was able to do it. 

[00:27:14] Neal Norman: [00:27:14] love to hear about that.

[00:27:15] Warren Dow: [00:27:15] Okay, so that’s on my to-do list. So why don’t we wrap up. You’ve given me a lot of time. Thank you so much, and I think we’ve learned a lot about you and what’s happening in the real estate market over there. And my wishlist. I got to get over there and, and you know, go surfing with you.

[00:27:33] You got to do

[00:27:33] Neal Norman: [00:27:33] that. You got to come check out. We’re about to release some great apps with you, I believe, right?

[00:27:38] Warren Dow: [00:27:38] Absolutely. Yeah. Coming out this week and you’ve got your $70 million gorgeous Kauai estate compound. It’s 15 acres, right on 15 acres, oceanfront.

[00:27:48] Neal Norman: [00:27:48] It’s 15 acres haters correcting some two parcels side by side.

[00:27:51] 15 acres is roughly a 12,000 square foot cause magnificent house. Above a just an incredibly beautiful secluded beach they call secret beach. It’s a beautiful spot. It gets every now and then it gets perfect little beach break waves in the summertime, but sometimes, even in the winter, there’s a lighthouse on the East side of the beach and probably over a mile and a half beach, which is fantastic spot.

[00:28:16] Warren Dow: [00:28:16] That’s amazing. So what you’re saying is I just to get my own little secret surf spot and quiet, I got to buy that pad for 70 million. Right. You

[00:28:24] Neal Norman: [00:28:24] can’t do that.

[00:28:29] Warren Dow: [00:28:29] All right. I’m going to check them out for sure. All right, Neal. Well, Hey, thank you so much. We’ll definitely check in with you from time to time to see what’s happening in the markets over there.

[00:28:39] Neal Norman: [00:28:39] Okay, Warren, great tip. Talk to you.

[00:28:43] Warren Dow: [00:28:43] Thank you. Bye. Bye now.

[00:28:51] Neal Norman: [00:28:51] and

[00:28:51] Warren Dow: [00:28:51] that wraps up this episode. Thank you for tuning in and we hope you found some value. Please share, subscribe, and leave a review. Find us on iTunes and your favorite podcast provider. Until next time.

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