In real estate, relationships aren’t just a bonus—they’re the foundation.

Few understand that better than Michael Tomlin, one of the top 1.5% of agents in the country and a top 5% Coldwell Banker producer globally four years running. Based on Florida’s Emerald Coast, Michael has built a thriving real estate business on one principle: relationships over transactions.

In this episode, Dale and Michael unpack:

✅ How the NAR settlement is actually playing out

✅ What agents want from lenders (beyond rates)

✅ The #1 deal killer—and how to avoid it

✅ Why niche products and problem-solving matter

✅ How faith and family fuel Michael’s success

Whether you're in lending, real estate, or both, this conversation is a masterclass in how to build trust, deliver value, and stay ahead in a changing market.

#RealEstate #MortgageLending #LoanOfficers #NARSettlement #MichaelTomlin #DaleVermillion #Batting1000

About Michael Tomlin

Michael Tomlin is a top-performing real estate professional on Florida’s Emerald Coast, ranked among the top 1.5% of agents nationwide by America’s Best in both 2023 and 2024. He has earned Coldwell Banker’s International President’s Circle Award for four consecutive years—an honor reserved for the top 5% of agents globally.

Known for his “relationships over transactions” approach, Michael has built a reputation for integrity, dedication, and deep local expertise. He specializes in condos, single-family homes, first-time buyers, and new construction. When he’s not helping clients navigate the real estate market, Michael enjoys life as a devoted husband and father of four.

Connect with Michael

Instagram → instagram.com/mrmichaeltomlin

Facebook → facebook.com/michaeltomlinrealestate

LinkedIn → linkedin.com/in/michael-tomlin-9b183b112

YouTube → youtube.com/c/itsmichaeltomlin

About Dale Vermillion

Dale Vermillion, an industry icon, has trained over 1,000,000 lending professionals and worked with more than 600 organizations. He is a three-time HousingWire Vanguard, a member of the 2022 Global Mortgage 100, and the author of Navigating the Mortgage Maze. Dale is also the founder of Mortgage Professionals Providing Hope.

Connect with Dale

LinkedIn → linkedin.com/in/dalevermillion

YouTube → youtube.com/@DaleVermillion

Facebook → facebook.com/dalevermillionofficial

X → x.com/dalevermillion

Website → dalevermillion.com

Email → listen@dalevermillion.com

About Batting 1,000

Batting 1,000 with Dale Vermillion is a production of Mortgage Champions. The show is produced and edited by Jake Vermillion. Music by Envato Elements.

All right.

Hello everybody and welcome back to Betting a thousand where we

talk with the heavy hitters in the mortgage and real estate industry.

And today I've got a real treat for you guys 'cause I've got a

a, a good friend, um, Michael Old Tomlin and his wife Caroline, are

good friends with Laurel and I.

And Michael is a top real estate agent in the country.

He is literally, um, one of the top one and a half percent of agents, um, in the

country by America's best and Real Trends.

He's a top 1000 agent in Florida.

He's a top 5% of Coldwell Banker, um, agents globally, four years consecutively.

This guy sells some real estate.

He knows the business inside and out.

He's just an absolutely great guy, um, and a great family man, and a dear friend.

So Michael, great to have you with us.

Glad to be here.

Thank you.

So, Michael, let's talk today about, I, I guess we'll start with

the topic, um, before we get into.

Talking with you about how to work with mortgage lenders and loan options and all

that stuff, but everybody's been talking about the NAR settlement that's been top

of mind for most real estate and mortgage professionals over the last 90 days.

I personally have said many times, I think it's much ado about nothing.

Mm-hmm.

And I know that as we kind of talked offline mm-hmm.

Uh, you've got some of the same feelings, but, you know, it is a, it

is a major shift that we're seeing.

In the industry.

There's no question about that.

Yeah.

Uh, love to hear from your perspective what you are seeing on the ground as

to the impact from the NR settlement.

And not only that, but you know, how is that affecting buyers and sellers

and agents and the transactions?

Love to get your perspective on that.

So

pre nar settlement.

It was always, you always knew what you were gonna get paid, even on the buyer's

agent, because at the end of the day, the listing agent's gonna come in and say,

Hey, I'm going to charge you X amount, and we'll share a piece with that.

There was some things that went on that brought about this settlement, and what's

interesting about the settlement is that.

You know, people scream doom and gloom when, when stuff like this happens.

It's, it's super, it's kind of silly to me because what I've learned is as the

real estate industry changes you, you begin to see there are your top level

guys are always gonna say your top level guys because they know how to adapt to

changes that happens in the industry and.

You.

The other part that I think was really, really, really confusing, and

I think it's it's still going on when it first launched, was there was.

A different settlements.

What, um, happened with different companies?

So like, I'm with Coldwell Banker Realty, which is un under anywhere

real estate, well anywhere.

Real estate had their own settlement versus like exp had

their own settlement and Keller Williams had their own settlement.

So everybody had their own settlement and what I watched was different.

Brokerages began to implement different best practices, come out with their

own set of forms to help protect, um, and, and be in compliance.

And so there was a lot of different information being given and it brought

about, honestly, just a ton of confusion.

I, I mean, and so I. Being me, pick up the phone and I started

calling other top level producers.

And I go, what are you seeing?

What are you being told?

How are we, how are you handling this?

Here's how I am and this is what I'm being told and how I'm being taught.

And, and so you begin to get a general consensus of, okay, I see how we can

get here, um, with this confusion.

And, and, and it's not misinformation, it's just, just

different stuff getting shared.

Um.

But now it's, it's pretty easy because, you know, I've got a ton of people

that I'm working with who are selling their home at the moment, and I, I've,

I can count on one hand how many of those sellers are saying I'm not gonna

offer a commission to a buyer's agent.

Okay, that's fine.

If that's what you want, if that's what you choose, fine.

Understand that in the event that there is a buyer representation form

that says, Hey, by the way, um, if you're not offering compensation,

I'm directing my, my agent to not.

Show your house, so you have that going on as well.

And sh that takes some time to learn and adjust.

Sometimes sellers just have to learn that.

But buyer's agents as well are gonna go, I'm gonna provide the value here

and I'm gonna show you what I'm worth.

By the way, I'm gonna try to, we're gonna try to work this into the

offer, so we need to make that.

Keep that in the back of our minds when we present an offer that here's where

we are without the commission being paid by the seller, here's where we

are gonna, what we're gonna have to.

So it's a lot more negotiation, a lot more back and forth.

But, but the biggest thing that I think was upfront was the, the kind of,

the confusion of information that was being passed between just brokerages.

Yep.

Good, good observation.

And, and, and I think we can all agree that, you know.

At the end of the day, I think the biggest impact that we're gonna

see outta the NAR settlement is.

Those agents who were part-time not doing a lot of sales and really

weren't investing in this as a career, yeah, it's probably gonna

be difficult for them to survive.

Um, yeah.

And, and do well.

But those who have been great agents who have, you know, really committed

to knowing their game, that bring a lot of value to the seller's agents.

They're gonna be in demand forever.

Yeah.

Because there'd be no reason why the sellers wouldn't want them, uh,

to be involved in that transaction if they're bringing a good buyer.

Right.

It's all, it all comes down at the end of the day to, to matching

together to a great buyer with a great seller that qualifies for

the loan and can move forward.

Exactly.

Yeah.

Love that.

So let's talk a little bit about, um, I, I'm.

There's so many people who watch this podcast who are in the mortgage

arena, and I always love to hear the perspective of boots on the ground,

people on the real estate side as to.

You know, from your perspective, what makes a great lender?

What makes a great loan officer?

What are you looking for?

Because what I hear a lot from the loan officers is, well,

agents just want the lowest rates.

Now I know that's not true.

What, what they want is they want a great transaction and be

represented well by their lender.

But I'd love to hear your perspective on what do you look for?

And a lender and a loan officer.

What matters to you?

Yeah.

What services are important and also what drives you crazy?

What are the things that you don't want 'em to do?

So

the relationship between a loan officer or you know, anybody in,

in that arena with a real estate agent.

We are inundated with people trying to get our business.

Yeah, that's just the way it is and I, and understandably so I get it.

Um.

It, it, it, you, you, it needs to be far more than just business transactions.

The people that I tend to refer business to is people that I actually will have

a conversation with that has nothing to do with real estate or mortgage.

That, that we're, we're genuinely a. It, it, it is a relationship based business.

And, and, and I know you guys are the same way as those who sell real estate.

This is a relationship, relationship over transactions.

I care more about you and what's going on in your life than what I care

about getting this deal closed, right?

The deal closing will happen just because of the relationship.

It's all about the relationship, and that's been my motto from the.

Beginning of real estate was relationships over transactions.

I will always value that.

'cause that is the key component to, uh, our business.

And so with mortgage and, uh, lenders and real estate agents, you, it's

not this, Hey, I'm gonna treat you to a coffee or to a lunch and let's

talk and you can gimme your business.

There.

There's, there's so much more that goes in there that you're

like, yeah, you're a nice guy.

Yeah, you get loans done.

That's great.

Cool.

If I think about you, I'll send something to you, but, but it's much

more, I, I don't want to be seen as a a, um, another deal for you to close.

Right.

That's that.

Because that's almost where that is.

I can tell you, I don't necessarily even get referral or, sorry,

referred buyers from lenders.

'cause I know there's a lot of lenders that do that.

I don't even work that way, but it's.

So it's not, it's the exchange isn't that necessarily, it's the organic

relationship and friendship that you have with those other people that really

come forward and, and you know, the other side, there's one caveat to that though.

The only caveat there is.

Where we live, we have to have certain types of loan products.

Okay.

Yeah.

I call, you know, I had a guy there, there was a lender up in Chicago that

was, um, doing a deal for a buyer and he said, oh, we can do non rewardable,

non rewardable, non wearable.

I said, okay, that's fine.

If you say you can, like I have sold enough property to know that you

have to have an an in-house service portfolio product because this is not

going to fit just a general condo, you know, condo, hotel type deal.

I say this, this is a very specific kind of deal because of the.

Building and the type of questionnaire that you're gonna get.

And he goes, and he assured me, assured me, assured me two weeks before

closing, he was like, oh, I'm sorry.

We can't, we can't do this deal.

We can't do the deal.

And I said, well then why did you tell me?

You could right there Our, our area specifically, because we

live down here along the coast, we have very specific products.

Everybody can do a va, everybody can do an f, HA, everybody can

do a conventional, but there's specific type of products that.

I may not, may have necessarily the best relationship with you, but you

are the only one that I know that could really close that kind of product

because your company can service that kind of loan and not everybody can.

So that's the only caveat that I would say, um, is that unless if

it's not a relationship based type, uh, um, kind of transaction there.

Um, then you better have said really good specialty.

I love it.

Yeah.

So that, that so dovetails into what I teach mortgage, originators

and lenders all the time, is that at the end of the day, this

industry's a relationship industry.

It's, it's not a transactional industry If you really want to be successful,

and I see that with every top producer that I work with, is they're the

ones who are really focusing on building the trust and the loyalty of.

They're partners.

Mm-hmm.

They treat 'em like partners, which means they have a deep personal

relationship with them that goes beyond just the transaction.

Um, and, and then you talk a little bit about the importance of product

diversity and, and making sure that you've got some niche products.

And you know, I, I say this all the time to lenders.

If you want to get in with a top producing realtor.

Do not walk in and ask them to be, you know, or tell 'em that you want

to be one of their primary lenders.

That's just the dumbest thing you could ever say, right?

You wanna walk in and say, look, how can I serve you today in areas

you're not being served, right?

And what do those look like?

And all of a sudden you could say, well hey, you know, here's some areas of of

opportunity and products that I don't have access to that if you have those.

That's a way we can start a relationship and then you build a

relationship from that point forward that really makes a difference.

Right.

So I love that you're, you are thinking the same way on that.

Let me ask you this question.

Open houses, do you, do you do many open houses?

Is that something that you see a lot of in the marketplace you're in?

So here's what I'll tell

you.

I personally.

Do not like to do open houses for the fact that in today's world, a lot of open since

Covid, lemme phrase that, since Covid open houses have really kind of tried,

they've, they've kind of, the activities really went down with open houses.

You know, it's, um, I tell sellers upfront, Hey, listen, um,

here's the secret open houses.

If they generate business, they don't necessarily sell your house.

It might, there's a chance, like if you look at the percentage, like you've,

there's like a three or 4% chance that they could sell the house, but

reality is, it's more of a generator.

But if you feel strongly about it, I will, because I want to

serve you in every way that I can.

But here's here, you know, here's what, and, and, and I'll do.

There are agents that I know that 15, 10, 15 years ago, that's

how they got their business.

That's how they really started.

They, they honed in a neighborhood or an area and they said, alright, I'm gonna

do open house every single day from this time, and I'm gonna get to know the

neighbors and I'm gonna get to know this and I'm gonna know what, that's great.

But my own personal style is not a, it was not an open house scenario.

I.

Okay.

Got it.

Talk about what are the major no-nos.

So when a lender's working with you as a realtor, what are the things

that just drive you mad that lenders do that you wish they wouldn't do?

They don't communicate.

You wanna blow up a transaction so fast?

Don't provide any information.

Don't provide updates to both buyer and seller because that will be the one

thing that will crumble a deal faster.

If you've got a seller who's antsy to sell and they're sitting

there going, what's going on?

When's the appraisal?

Do we know where they are?

Have they gotten conditional approval?

Do we know?

I mean, like, and they're asking questions and I'm sitting there going.

I don't know, man, like I've tried to call the a, their, the buyer's agent.

The buyer's agent said that, you know, they'll ask for an update,

but then it's a week goes by and then we still don't hear any like

that is so incredibly frustrating.

I think it's a lack of professionalism as, to be honest with you, because Yep.

But agreed.

From a contractual standpoint, I am su the buyer's agent supposed to provide

us the information to the seller.

Now, if I'm the buyer's agent, my lender that I have.

Become friends with, I talk to regularly anyways, so I'm

gonna get that information.

But if I'm on the other side and I'm, and I've got the seller and I'm sitting

here going, I don't know, I, I, I've called him, I've left him a message.

I'm still not getting anything back from him.

That is the one thing that, and, and I, and I'll, I'll add to this.

That's the one thing, that's the one way I'll never work with that lender.

Is because if I ever have somebody, they may have closed the deal,

but they sucked at communication.

They sucked at providing updates.

They were terrible about it.

And I just, for me, that is the biggest, biggest deal.

Um, and then if I were to add anything else, I mean, obviously, you know, I,

I mentioned the story about where this guy said he could do something, comes

find he couldn't because he just wasn't experienced or didn't have the knowledge.

Um, kind of not essentially kind of lied out of just.

You know, his lack of knowledge.

Um, yeah.

But, but the, those two things are probably the biggest.

Just I will.

I'll, it's like I turned red just thinking about it.

'cause I'm like, you've got to do better.

Got to do better.

You know, the lack of communication is a really, really big problem with a

lot of people in the industry because you have to think how many people are

gonna touch a real estate transaction outside of just your, your, your lenders.

Right?

You, you've got 10 to 12 people at some point.

It will be in the hands of a, of somebody.

And the only way to keep that gear turning and firing on all cylinders is

by providing proper communication and updates to keep everybody informed.

And then if there is a hiccup, we've had enough conversations to know,

to go, how can we overcome this?

I had a I, I had a deal a couple months ago that there was a

situation that came up and.

The cash to close was much higher than the buyer thought.

And so I said, look, here are the comps.

We're buying this under market value.

Why don't we go back to the seller and ask if he'll provide X amount of dollars for

closing costs and we could just raise the price of the home to cover the difference.

And then you, you're not, and it was just a simple like conversation.

But because we had had enough conversations leading up to

that point, it was an easy.

Way to just keep the deal going and, and, and so it, that, that's the number one

issue that I run up against, um, just because with the saturation of, of, of

lenders that are in, in, in the market.

Good.

So you work predominantly on the, on the listing side, correct?

Yes.

Okay.

Do you also do the buyer side?

Yes.

Representation sometimes.

Okay.

Yep.

So you, you've been on both sides of transaction.

Oh, absolutely.

I've got a question I wanna ask you that I'm curious about.

Um, as, as a, on the listing side mm-hmm.

The seller side, because most mortgage loan officers, they generally

work with the buyer's agents.

Mm-hmm.

At, because that's who they're representing.

Yeah.

When they're representing the, the borrower.

Um, as a listing agent, how often and how many transactions do you think the lender.

Who's working with the buyer's agent reaches out to you when they get

the contract to introduce themselves to build relationship with you?

How often does that happen?

Probably 30% of the time.

Very, I'm surprised it's even that high, to be honest with you.

Very little.

Well, the reason why I say that is because a lot of times it's me emailing,

like, we have an accepted contract.

I sit down Yep.

To email title.

And every, and everybody involved.

I'll go back to the guy's preapproval letter, see the

email, attach it to the email.

So a lot of times it's just because I've already sent them an introduction

email with the information.

Got it.

And that's, but that I, it is a rarity that I hear a true phone call

from them without me providing them.

Wow.

A lot of times As, so I, I, I'll add this, that as the,

when you're on the seller side.

And you, let's say we're working with a piece of resort property, a

condo that doesn't require, again, a special type of loan product,

or maybe it's a land deal, right?

Land deal.

There's not a lot of land loan options out there, and I'm sitting there and I, before

I approach a decision with a seller, it is wise to still pick up the phone and go.

Hey, so I don't care about your borrower.

I need to know about these products because here's the thing, that's

also a good way for me to learn who's doing them and who's not, right?

But also be able to provide, Hey, you've got a, a, a niche

that I need to know about.

So, but I often need to make sure that my seller's protected that in

the night that we're not crumbling, trying to scramble for, you know,

kind of a rescue deal, if you will.

Yep.

So from your perspective, if it's, it's interesting when you think about

that, that a hundred percent of the time you're sending an email out to

the lender and only 30% of the time does that person even respond to

your email, which is hilarious to me.

Yeah.

I would assume that if you had somebody who actually did their job, the way

that I teach loan officers to do it, which is the moment you get that

contract, the first thing you do.

You dial up, you do your research on that listing agent to know a

little bit about their business.

Yeah.

So you don't sound like you don't know what you're talking about.

Right.

You give 'em a call.

You, you, you let 'em know who you are, introduce yourself.

Tell 'em how excited you are to work with them and how much

you're looking forward to it.

Answer any questions they have for you.

Provide any credentials that they need and any information.

If you got that call, how much would that impress you for a loan officer?

And then.

Would you then put that loan officer at the top of your list as somebody

you'd wanna work with in the future?

Yes, and yes.

The, and I, because we're all busy professionals, I don't necessarily always

grab the phone every time I see it.

Right.

You can't.

Of course, of course.

But a simple, I, I will check my voicemail.

Like I, I'm one of those that do, um.

Sh shoot me a text.

Hey, left you a message.

Just want to, you know, introduce myself.

Super excited to work with you.

You know, call, call me when you can.

Like, those types of things really go such a long way because it just,

it gives you a peace of mind to know you're gonna be put in the loop.

You're gonna be able to have.

The updates that are needed.

Like, it is, like I, I have a situation, I got a penthouse over here that's un, un

under contract and I'm pulling teeth just to get when's the appraisal being done?

Like it, and it shouldn't be that hard to go.

Was it ordered?

Yes.

When is it?

Don't know.

I'll let you know.

Okay.

A week goes by.

When is it?

I mean, it's like, like Gimme a break, dude.

Yep.

I love it.

So, so good to know.

Um, these are the kind of things that I, I believe are absolutely

imperative that loan officers do, um, and is to reach out to those agents,

and I'm gonna ask you this question.

What if that text message, I love the text message that you

just, I. Poured out right there.

Mm-hmm.

It's simple, sweet.

Short to the point.

What if the loan officer actually did a video text message with that same

thing with their smiling face on it?

Would it mean more to you, the same to you?

Would it make a difference?

Um,

I don't think it, here's, here's.

I love video.

Okay.

Let, lemme say this.

I love the use of video within business.

I think it's, I think it, it, it's a li it separates just a little bit.

Yeah.

Some of the type of programs that I've seen come out that are for video type,

um, texting and emails and things like that doesn't always get clicked and.

Because it, it's like it takes you, it opens up a new window and then you

gotta, it's, that's the whole thing.

I think it could be a little bit better doable by a true like.

Like I take my phone, we're hit record video message.

Yeah.

Hated, blah, blah blah.

Click send as a text.

So the there, like I said, it's the programs that I get from different people

that I don't, that doesn't get clicked on, but, and a true text message I think is.

Much more doable.

Um, yeah, like I said, for me it, for me, I'm such like, I mean, you know,

I've, I've got four kids I'm running, I'm doing all, doing a ton of stuff.

I don't always have time to watch a video, but I can glance down at a quick text.

So for me personally.

I think either way it was great.

Just, I think it's the effort of reaching out is the bigger thing, how you do

it, whether it's via video or just via just some words on a screen, but, but.

Regardless, it's the effort of reaching out, putting me into that system

that when on Fridays or Mondays or whatever day you do it, and you send

out that update of conditional approval done, you know, it's like that is a

bigger thing and let's me know that I'm gonna be able to provide and be.

Knowledgeable of the updates, whether I'm working on the buyer's side

or I'm working on the seller side.

It it's, it's, it's the, it's the, just the effort of reaching out and

the effort of providing the updates.

I'm telling you, effort goes a long way.

A long way.

Yeah.

It does

love that.

So if there was one thing that you wish lenders did that they don't

do, what would that one thing be?

That's a good

question.

Um,

beyond, beyond the, what we've already talked about, right?

We, we, we've talked about communication and, and just, and just being there.

I think, I wish that lenders had a little bit better

knowledge in certain aspects of.

Of their own job.

And I don't mean that in a derogatory sense.

I mean that in a growing and learning sense because there's a lot of

lenders that I have come across and, and you know as well, when you have

a real estate boom, it seems like everybody gets into the business.

You have new lenders.

Yep.

You have new realtors, you have new title.

Yep.

So you have all this stuff and.

When you have people that come in, there is when you are dealing with

a hard situation with a buyer and.

You have being able to have the ability to go, okay, I have to be one step ahead

of you in every part of this transaction.

And because if something were to happen, I have a plan B, I have a plan C, and I have

a plan D. And it's knowing the ability to, to to stay a step ahead and knowing if

something happens, I can always do this.

It may change this and this.

But we can fix it.

Yeah.

And, and I've, and there's a lot of lenders that I've come across

that it's kind of face value.

Like if it doesn't work, it doesn't work.

But they didn't go through the process to try to go, here's how I can overcome this

problem and this problem and this problem.

And, and I just, it.

That is the, that would be one thing that I think I wish lenders had and

those who are far experienced, they kind of been through enough of Yeah.

Practice to know that.

Yeah.

But because there's so much of the new crew that have kind of come in over

the last five years, there's just, that's one side of things that I, I, I

would love to see, you know, be, and, and, and what happens is, as my job.

I have to know a little bit about everything.

I have to know a little bit about mortgage and lending and yep.

When I, because I have a relationship with my lender, I, by natural conversation,

they begin to talk to me about, well, you know, if we did this, and this

is to change, I mean, it allows me to also become more knowledgeable

because now I'm able to talk to that buyer to kinda reinforce exactly what

that lender was just saying to them, because I now know that, and so.

That's the kind of thing that I wish I would see more lenders do that.

That they don't just come in and say, oh, we can do that, that and that.

And you know that.

And I mean, no, we, there's the if, if you are a true professional, you are

really trying to grow, you're really trying to make it in the business.

You really have to be willing to learn new things, learn

new ways, new tips and tricks.

It's so important.

Very cool.

So you, you mentioned, um, before we got on, and I'd love to hear a

little bit about this, that the real estate business is gonna be changing

quite a bit in the coming years.

What are some of the things that you see on the horizon that you think

are gonna change in the way that people buy and sell real estate?

There's, that is a loaded question.

So,

so, uh, uh, the, the NAR settlement, we will start here

because that's where we left off.

The NARS settlement will cre you.

It's, it's,

it's a lot more about disclosure.

You're disclosing what you're being paid.

Okay.

Yeah.

Um, I love, love, love that a, that Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, I believe that they

came out and said, Hey, we will cover buyer agent commission, and it's not

wrapped into seller concession percentage.

Love that.

I, I think that's that really helpful.

And it puts the consumer first by, by, by doing that.

So I love that.

Um.

I think that you're gonna see, it's gonna take some time, um,

to, to, to go through this.

I, I think it'll take a couple of years before we really start seeing some things,

but there's going to be some consumers,

because I do this for a living.

Cons, I hear that consumers.

They think that real estate agents are overpaid.

You know, they think that, you know, we don't do anything.

And

I, my goal is to show them by my work ethic that there

are people who are like that.

Yes, but I'm not one of them.

You know?

Um, and, and, and.

So we're gonna see a, I think we're gonna see a wave of, um, discount

brokers and, and, and, and whatnot that are gonna come in and they're

gonna try to capitalize on it because.

That's just, that's, that's, that's the way of the business.

Um, you're, I'll be honest, I don't think we're gonna see a significant

decrease in commissions paid nationally.

And I, I, I'll tell you why.

Because pre na settlement, you saw, I'm gonna come in, I'm gonna charge you

four or five, 6%, whatever percentage that, that they, they charge will

split x with, with the buyer's agent.

That's done.

Now it is easier to walk in and go, okay, listen, my professional fee's

3%, what would you like to pay?

The buyer's agent seller says, I don't wanna pay one until we get an offer.

So tell them I'll entertain, uh, an a buyer agent commission.

Uh, but I'm not going to pre-negotiate one upfront.

Okay, that's fine.

Do you, do you understand the repercussions of, of what

happens if you were to do that?

We may miss buyers who are, you know, director agent.

Yes, I understand that.

Okay, cool.

Well, let's do that.

So they're only paying 3% at the signing of those agreement.

You got a buyer's agent that comes in and says, okay, listen, my profession

fees three point a half percent.

Now it's a simple work into the deal.

It's that, that's a simple shift into, we'll just.

Put that into the purchase price and we're done.

Oh, your lender can also cover part of that.

Great.

Now I'm paid three and a half versus the 2% that I would've

been paid six months ago.

I think that that's part of the thing that we're gonna see, that this is

actually gonna be a bite in the butt towards the sellers because this

started because of sellers thought.

You know, there was a whole disclosure issue and they didn't realize

they were paying and there was all this, this stuff that came up.

But I think what's actually gonna happen is, um, we're not gonna see a shift

in commissions paid, especially those that bring true value to the deal.

So that's one of the things that I just, I, that I'm seeing.

Um, and, and, and it's, and it's a very simple way to word it as you're speaking

to a seller or you're speaking to a buyer and, you know, um, but it's a, it's gonna

be interesting to see how this phases out.

We're getting, we're, we're obviously, I think we'll lose a good part of

the, what I call part-timer, um, where it's not a real profession,

it's kind of a side hustle.

I think we'll lose some of that as well.

Um, which is, for me, that's great because that's what I do.

That's what I do for a living.

Um, but Right.

But I do think we're gonna s we'll, we'll see a shift away

from some of the part-timers.

Um, and, and you know, that'll, that, that will open up the market to those who truly

take this on as a, as a real profession.

Good.

Well, great stuff Michael.

Appreciate all the insight and the wisdom.

Uh, let me, let me close with the last question that I ask all of my guests.

You, you've been very successful in your career.

Um, you're, you're top one point a half percent in the

country in real estate agents.

That's an amazing accomplishment.

Mm-hmm.

Um.

Tell me about who has mentored you in your life, um, and, and how much

you valued that in your career, um, over your career that has helped

you get to where you're at today.

So when I first got into the business, I.

I came out of an industry that was an, was an e-commerce style business.

And so I was, you know, phone calls and emails.

They really didn't freak me out 'cause I was used to it anyways.

And I rem like there was a couple of guys that I, I was with a different brokerage

back then and there were a couple of guys that were about, had about 10 years on me.

Um.

Family, men, um, you know, were, we were, he and I both were, um, kind

of, we, we, we, we served in, in local churches and we did a couple things.

And, um, and I just was curious, asking questions and, and

wanting to learn and, and grow.

And, and, and he was like, yeah, sure.

Come on in.

And we will, you know, and I, and I, I'll let you just kind of shadow me and.

We only did that probably two or three times.

It wasn't that much.

But what I took away from it was like, man, that just, it just took, so, like,

I was amazed at just the willingness to go, I'm gonna let you in on all that I do.

Right.

Because it does.

Yep.

And, and there's a couple of other people that that, that I did that

with, um, whether it was, you know, that one was done with a lot with

like cold calls and kind of general schedule production type of things.

Then I did one that was, um, a little bit more open house focus.

I did one that was like, I, I took people that I wanted to, that were

about 10 years ahead of me, and then I, and then I said, okay.

How can I learn from this, but kind of make it my own?

Like, I don't wanna copy, I wanna make it my own, but how do I copy that?

And, and, and, and the impact that it had on me wasn't necessarily made

me productive, but it, but what I learned was, is that if I share with

you my secrets of the industry and the trait and what I do, you're not

gonna do exactly what I'm gonna do.

You can't, 'cause you're not me.

Right, but there's an impact that it will leave on you and, and, and that

whether you stayed in the industry or not, you became better for it

as a person, and it's easy to get.

It is easy to try to, to let your pride kind of swell up and kind of

beat your chest, especially when you're performing at high levels.

It's easy to, uh, uh, uh, kind of be a know-it-all with, with, with

o other people if, if you don't have people that keep you in check.

My wife is the best.

She's incredible and she, and she is.

She wants to see me succeed in every way possible.

Yeah.

And when, when I look back in my career, the, the people that mattered that

were in my corner, even when stuff wasn't selling, even when stuff wasn't

moving, I still, like, you've got my wife who, you know, she, she, she goes

and she'll walk these listings and she'll, she'll just pray over the house.

Right.

That's impactful for me because she's just as invested as I am.

I look at my kids cool, and I go, I've got to get up.

I've gotta go to the office.

I don't want to, I'm exhausted.

I've got a migraine.

I'm, I'm not feeling good, but they need daddy.

To do something today.

And so there are people that have encouraged me, whether both in the

business but also I look outside of the business and there, like my faith is a

huge, huge, integral part of who I am.

If you meet me, you will, there, there is a very good chance the name

Jesus is gonna come up because it's a part of who I am and my faith.

Yep.

Is not separate from me.

I know in the world that we live in, it is, they say, you

need to keep that separate.

I. And that's fine.

If, if, if me having a faith in Jesus makes you not wanna do business with

me, then we don't need to do business together because that's who I am.

And if you're hiring me, you're hiring that.

And so there, there, there's.

Just through life.

There are people that have spoken into my life.

There are, there are experiences that has allowed me to go, Hey, you know what?

I'm not gonna change who I am.

If you, if you want Michael Tomlin, you're gonna get Michael Tomlin and

I'm gonna work my hardest for you to make this, this, this transaction

work buyer or seller, doesn't matter.

But, but you are gonna get who I'm, who I am, and the opportunities

that, that this has given me far exceeds any accolades that I may get.

The accolades are great.

They, they, it kind of shows, hey, he's good.

He knows what he's doing, but at the end of the day, it doesn't truly provide me

with fulfillment if my, the fulfillment of the business comes far beyond what.

How much money that I could make, what accolades that I could have, any of that.

And at the end of the day, you, it's, it's, it's, it's about giving

back to others and it's about pouring into, um, I. Um, it, it's

just pouring into other people.

And, and, and I say that from a, from a stance of whether you're pouring

into for us a new agent, right?

Hey, let me show you.

Right?

Or it's pouring into people in your community and, and, and pouring into

and, and into trying to make, um, your community better, you know?

So that's about all I got.

Well, I love that.

And, uh, you, you, you, that's a great way to close out.

You and I share a, a deep faith in Jesus.

Mm-hmm.

As, um, as the center of our lives and Yeah.

You know what I love when you said, if you know, if, if you don't wanna work

with me because of my faith, that's okay.

But the fact of the matter is if we're living out our faith.

The way that the Bible tells us to.

Right?

Then people are gonna wanna work with us because we're going to

be the best version of ourselves.

We're going to work hard, we're going to be honest.

We're gonna do all the things that, that Christ amplified when

he, when he was on this planet.

Exactly.

So, um, I love the fact that that's where you're centered at

and that's where I'm centered at.

That's where Caroline centered, that's where Laurel centered at.

Yeah.

And that's how we became friends in the first place.

So, uh, it's, it's.

Cool to see that that is such a central part of what you've done,

and it's also a key part of the mentoring side of what you do.

Right.

Um, so let's close out, uh, tell us how people can, you know, check you

out, uh, find you get ahold of you.

And I also know that, you know, you and Caroline are doing a lot of work.

In ministry along with what you do Yeah.

In, uh, in your career, which they're, they're both the same thing.

Sure.

You've got the Waves Ministry that you're helping, you know,

young girls all over the world.

Yeah.

Not just, uh, you guys just got back from doing more of those.

And then the Kingdom Collaboration, take a minute and just share a little

bit about what you're doing on that side, and then how people can get ahold

of you if they'd like to talk to you.

Okay.

So.

This year, so, okay, lemme back up.

My wife and I run a 5 0 1 C3 nonprofit called Waves Ministry and, um, really

started, she started it about 11 years ago and we, she and I co-lead

and run this ministry together.

And like I said, it is a true 5 0 1 C3, but w like we got back last night

from Colorado, we had, um, a conference that we did and put on over there and.

It is a, you know, we, we, we deal with girls all over the

world, you know, we have, we have other things that we want to do.

Obviously, we, we love to expand, also bring in into the guys because guys need

it just as much as girls and, but, but we, we really focus on calling an identity

because when you don't know who you are, it's easy to get lost into a lot of the.

Kind of that, that, you know, you deal with cutting and depression and you deal

with anxiety and you deal with all these identity issues that if you don't know

who you are, all that stuff's gonna stay.

But until you know who you are, then you begin to, I. Um, kind of break

free from that because now it doesn't matter what you say that I am, because

I know who I am and I know whose I am.

So, you know, we, we are, that's, that's a big part of our lives is, is waves.

So, you know, between waves and real estate and then four kids

and running around schedules, like we live a pretty busy, busy life.

Um.

But where you can, you find me, I'm the easiest to find.

It is literally Mr. Michael Tomlin on everything.

Mr. Michael Tomlin on everything.

And you can, you know, from Instagram, you can message me.

Heck, you can, I think my phone number is actually on the Instagram.

You can call me from Instagram.

Like I'm, I'm very easy to get ahold of.

Um, I am, I am.

Uh, there is a term.

And, uh, that brokers will use to agents and, and they

say, don't be a secret agent.

You know, like, don't let everybody know that, you know, and so it's

like, trust me, there's no secret.

I'm pretty well found.

So good.

So,

well Michael, been great to have you, uh, appreciate you

and Caroline so much, and, uh, appreciate the, you taking time outta your busy

schedule to, to share with our audience.

Um, always great to see you, my friend.

Let's get together again soon.

Um, really, really appreciate this time today.

Thank you.

Thanks for having me.

It was good to, good to see you and talk to you and, uh, again, easy to

be found, so I'm, I'm always around.

Good.

Alright guys, that is a wrap for another Banning a thousand where we,

again, interview the heavy hitters in the mortgage real estate industry.

Thanks for being with us today.

God bless you.

We'll see you on the next one.