Cyndee Haydon: NAR, Insurance, Affordable Housing, RPAC

REE#168

Cyndee Haydon: [00:00:00] Half of all people that hold a license, don't even sell a house every year and 80 percent sell less than five.

Cyndee Haydon: And so I also think that that's a challenge where professionalism and making sure you're hiring someone that actually is bringing the skills and the value, right? So I think if you're someone that isn't really doing that for your client, then. Then I think there's going to be technology options that are maybe even better, honestly,

Tracy Hayes: Welcome back to the Real Estate Excellence Podcast. The guest I have for you today, if I have only one word to describe her, it would be involved. This guest is highly successful realtor, international speaker and trainer in the Tampa Bay real estate market. [00:01:00] Always been an early adopter of technology from helping IBM launch a personal computer to video testimonials in 2006 to chat GPT in 2022.

Tracy Hayes: She has a unique ability to make complex tech tools and ideas easy to understand and implement for results. She's 2023 chair of the national. Association of Realtors Insurance Committee, which we'll talk about and because that's important to Florida. She is a recognized champion of insurance issues at both the state and national levels and has been a national trainer for NAR at risk Highly regarded since 2021.

Tracy Hayes: She's accomplished author of seven books provided invaluable guidance for sellers Especially those dealing with probate in process in Florida founding member of the certified probate Real estate advisory board, 2019 to 2023. She's been on the NARD board of directors. I think this list would be shorter if I just mentioned the board.

Tracy Hayes: She's not part [00:02:00] of that one time or another let's welcome this highly experienced realtor. And one of the most influential representatives in the real estate industry, Cindy Hayden to the show, Cindy, welcome.

Cyndee Haydon: Well, welcome, welcome. And thank you for having me, Tracy. That was, that was quite an introduction.

Cyndee Haydon: I appreciate it. It could

Tracy Hayes: have gone on for several pages, the list, all, all the things that you've been involved in. We'll tip on those and, and how, uh, yeah, I think that, uh, you know, we could talk a little bit about real estate in general, but obviously with your expertise and experience share how important it is to be involved, uh, or support individuals, uh, being involved to make sure.

Tracy Hayes: You know, uh, with the NAR lawsuit and all the things going on, how important it is. So, but I do, uh, we, as we mentioned, pre show you are running for the secretary of Florida realtors for 2025.

Cyndee Haydon: I am, I am. I'm excited. Uh, and again, I think everything we're talking about today. Sort of what's prepared me. And when you talk about the change coming at us and, and [00:03:00] lawsuits or MLS or agents at the center or AI and technology, I think that, you know, we need leaders that are courageous and courageous.

Cyndee Haydon: I think goes in with early adopter, right? It's like, it's like, let's not be afraid of things. Let's figure it out and then find the opportunity and leverage it for our members. Right. And so I think all of that kind of comes together. I feel like I've had a lot of opportunities, as you said, to serve, which has been important to sort of learn some of these issues that might take more than a soundbite.

Cyndee Haydon: But yet, also, I've learned how to take that and make things very understandable and implementable for my fellow realtors. And that's what I love about BarCamps, right? And it's not about being the smartest person in the room. It's about, Hey, I have this thing and you have that thing. And let's all collaborate.

Cyndee Haydon: And when we go, then we all can go faster, farther together. Right? So we don't all have to figure it out ourselves. Like let's work together.

Tracy Hayes: What is some of the, uh, you know, with this, the NAR [00:04:00] lawsuit? going on. Obviously, there's been one huge settlement. To me, it's a money grab from a bunch of lawyers, and you probably might agree to some extent of that.

Tracy Hayes: Um, if you could share with us some of the, you know, maybe some of the back room discussions discussions. of the leadership circles that you're involved in at NAR, at Florida Realtors, some of the things that you guys are talking about, I had Patty Ketchum on a few weeks ago talking about the NAR lawsuit, uh, from, from her angle there.

Tracy Hayes: What are, what are some of the things that does Uh, in Florida that we think we might need to get ahead of or are we ahead of the curve on that?

Cyndee Haydon: So, you know, I think first of all, there's a verdict right? But I mean again, it's going to be appealed and litigated and the case out in Missouri the The box we had to play in, almost the jury didn't have any ability to say almost anything, but that occurred.

Cyndee Haydon: And so we have a lot of questions about the way the judge kind of set that up [00:05:00] and, and you know, but what's interesting, Tracy, is nobody on that jury has ever owned a house. So again, here you have an industry that serves people and is the envy of the world. And you have people that have never, ever even bought or sold a house hearing limited information.

Cyndee Haydon: So I think, I think there's a lot of room for, for, you know, uh, interpretation. And again, there'll be a lot of debate. And certainly I do feel personally that, that. Just like in business when you're successful, you know, the cost of doing business people are looking how to put a hand in the pocket Right, so I think some of that's going on But I do think that the lawsuit I think if we take what did we learn or what are the opportunities for the realtor association, I think we learned that we're really good of telling what we do and how we do it, but we haven't been as strong to explaining to the consumer why we do it.

Cyndee Haydon: Right? And so again, even down to why we cooperate with [00:06:00] other realtors is to get the seller the best outcome. So again, it's it's all these things that I think what we've learned is that We assume, you know, we're so busy helping people that we sometimes, and I think it's obvious, have missed the boat on explaining and the impact and why we do what we do.

Cyndee Haydon: And so I think that that's going to be what most of us learn and improve right away. And I think the consumer will be better served by just understanding more behind the scenes, how it works and why it works. So, um, so I think that's an important piece. I think the other piece that's going to be, have to really be thought about is

Cyndee Haydon: real estate as an industry.

Cyndee Haydon: And obviously realtors have come a long way since the sixties and beyond when we had red lining and, and discrimination and other things to really have a fair and open marketplace. For everybody. And I think if you [00:07:00] change the way that we cooperate and the ability, you know, again, a consumer, all a seller always has the right to choose what to pay a cooperating broker.

Cyndee Haydon: So if they choose zero, they have that choice before the lawsuit. They have that choice now, but if a seller believes, Hey, this is the best way to get the best outcome. The courts and everything else shouldn't get in the middle of it. But if they do, I worry about those first time home buyers that are just struggling to get in a house with these interest rates.

Cyndee Haydon: As you know, I'm worried about, you know, those people that, you know, we have people that have never in their generational history had a home. How do we get them in a home? How do we help them navigate? Because they don't know the right questions to ask. And again, what we do, I mean, we are. We guide, lead and protect.

Cyndee Haydon: And at the end of the day, we get paid a success fee, but, but that is what we do. And so I understand that [00:08:00] corporations may not feel they need a realtor. Someone like BlackRock and Vanguard institutional buyers, they're running a spreadsheet, crunching numbers. There's no humans involved. But I can give you story day after day about how we have protected our clients.

Cyndee Haydon: I mean, little things like looking at a seller's disclosure and there's an abandoned fuel tank, you and I know they can't get a mortgage, but you know, I had a client that bought something prior to me and that agent didn't know they bought it and paid cash and went to sell it. And I was like, well, you just bought someone's problem.

Cyndee Haydon: And it's just all that knowledge and all those things every day that, um, another house I sold last year, someone had sold the, the, the seller and said, Oh, you can short term rent this. They bought it, they renovated it. And it was in an area that had a three month minimum. And so again, it's, it's, it's just so many ways that we literally, you know, want to make, have people make a good decision.

Tracy Hayes: So, you know, it's, it's interesting you said that, [00:09:00] you know, that the jury had, none of 'em had ever owned a house. Well, I, I really, that's a, is that a jury of your peers ? I, I don't . That would be my question. You're right. You're, you would have to at least have a homeowner, if not other real estate agents on that, uh, on that board to be juries of.

Tracy Hayes: Uh, jurors of your peers, um, and it just, it just goes to, uh, well, I guess kind of leading what my thought was when you were, you know, telling a couple of great stories there, uh, is, is the training part of it, um, you know, right down to the, the brokerage level to even, you know, the local boards and, you know, the state level going to really kind of get back to the basics.

Tracy Hayes: Uh, because we've been moving so fast at different times where we haven't taken time and had a full buyer's consultation Explaining everything or even the listing side It was just like throw a sign in my yard and we'll sell in a few days And we'll have multiple offers that we actually have to explain.

Tracy Hayes: This is why you're paying. This is all the things I [00:10:00] do that You don't see And then with the training, I think it has to lead towards the technology because obviously people are going online and, and learning these things to back it up with, you know, whether it's, uh, instructional videos for the homeowners and so forth of, uh, you know, putting that out there, what a real estate agent really does because of a lot of, it's, it's kind of like an iceberg, right?

Tracy Hayes: You only see the tip and a lot of it's below the water.

Cyndee Haydon: Absolutely. And I think Tracy too, that the other thing that may come out of this is

Cyndee Haydon: we are an industry with a low. Bar for entry. And yet I think that the number is like half of all people that hold a license, don't even sell a house every year and 80 percent sell less than five.

Cyndee Haydon: And so I also think that that's a challenge and Patty probably spoke to it where professionalism and making sure you're hiring someone that actually is bringing the skills and the value, right? So I think if you're someone that isn't really doing that for your client, then. Then I [00:11:00] think there's going to be technology options that are maybe even better, honestly, because again, they've got built in checklist or whatever.

Cyndee Haydon: But, you know, I think that, um, I think in Florida, in Florida, you better have a good realtor. And again, that's kind of been my passion and helping my peers understand. You know, flood insurance. And now you've got citizens mandating flood insurance. You've got second homes and others that are paying more.

Cyndee Haydon: And then you've got, I'm working with a Senator in my key contact, uh, rep Cheney in Tallahassee, but not just in flood insurance, but every area has a different look back period. So now when your insurer says, Hey, you need a new roof, but you have to look back over five years and you now don't have enough money.

Cyndee Haydon: You just lost that house. And so I heard a story from one of my peers that said their daughter bought a house last year completely renovated, which isn't what that what everybody wants. Right. I want it turnkey. I want it renovated. Sure. Moved in two months later, [00:12:00] the AC went. So she did the right thing.

Cyndee Haydon: She goes to the city. She said, Hey, I need a permit for a new AC. Guess what the city told her that she's pregnant with a baby and no AC in Florida in June and they said, I'm sorry, but the previous owner used up all the money for the 50 percent rule and so you can't get a permit. You're like, what? Um,

Tracy Hayes: pass that one.

Tracy Hayes: Okay. There's something there. I don't know about 50%. What, what explain that?

Cyndee Haydon: So if you live in a flood zone. So like, again, in Jacksonville, you're talking on the coast, you're talking, you know, near lakes and rivers and other areas. Then, then there are 5 million people in the United States that have mandatory flood insurance.

Cyndee Haydon: If you have a mortgage, right. You probably run into that, the people that have to have it. The other piece of that is if you're in one of those properties, the depreciated value. So if you have a. I'll give you my own example. I bought a house that is insured for 250, 000, but [00:13:00] FEMA's depreciated value says it's worth 130, 000.

Cyndee Haydon: So I can only repair 62, 000 worth it, or I lose the house. So again, if it's in one year, you go, well, that might be able to cover a roof for things that come up. But if I'm looking over five years and I put in an AC, I put in new windows and now my insurance company says, put on a new roof. There are a lot of people that I worry are gonna find out that they're gonna have to just scrap that house.

Cyndee Haydon: It's pretty scary.

Tracy Hayes: Because those are like essentials to a house being a house. Yeah,

Cyndee Haydon: it's not like exactly. It's not improvements, right? You're maintaining it,

Tracy Hayes: right? Yeah, but you're on the NAR. What is it?

Cyndee Haydon: Well again, that's why chairing the insurance committee for NAR has been a passion because [00:14:00] we've wanted to educate people on And really my peers and realtors to be that consultant to the client, to make sure they understand what are the ramifications of the decisions.

Cyndee Haydon: And that's why it makes me crazy when I think, Oh, I can go on XYZ website and just buy a house. You can again, and just like attorneys, nobody needs until stuff goes wrong, right? It gets very expensive on the other side. And our goal is to help people avoid those costly mistakes and, and buy a really good safe home and, but a good investment, right?

Tracy Hayes: So a hundred percent, a hundred percent. I was just thinking, I know it was a couple of years ago, uh, but they regularly have, it was the, um, think it was the, the counties here. I'm in St. John's County in St. Augustine. And they were, you know, talking about. You know, yeah, these houses get damaged or, you know, whatever.

Tracy Hayes: And yeah, there's calculations done on the flood damage. And then if they, you know, they have to raise the house to certain, um, level, uh, there, there's a lot of [00:15:00] complicated, uh, things going on that. Yeah. Like, you know, I'm, I'm on the West side of 95, so I don't worry about it too much, but those on the East side of 95 and out in St.

Tracy Hayes: Augustine beach or any of those places where, you know, the, you know, years ago was. It's reasonable now. Yeah, you got to think of the insurance and if you do, any something happens, you, they want you to come back and if they're going to fix the house, you got to raise it and it goes, it's, it's getting a crazy.

Tracy Hayes: Um, I'm going to take, take it, just take a step back. Cause we could dig into insurance and talk about that all day. Cause that is a great subject. Um, um, and again, having an informed real estate agent is so vital, but let's, uh, step a little bit back. Um, For you, um, Cindy, where are you from?

Cyndee Haydon: So growing up, that was the hardest question.

Cyndee Haydon: I was born in Miami. My parents moved every two years growing up.  um, and then I went to university of Florida, worked for IBM, moved some more, but we have lived since 1991 in the Tampa Bay area. And I currently live in Madeira beach. So [00:16:00] when we finally found our place, I put down roots. I'm like, this is my forever home.

Cyndee Haydon: So we love it

Tracy Hayes: here. So you go to university of Florida at that time. I, you were, I think it looked like you were a dual major. If I saw your LinkedIn correctly, business and computer science, computer science there. Um, I mean, Did you, I mean, what was your vision as a career, just as a businesswoman, you know, obviously when IBM is pretty sound is a very structured environment as the vision that, that I have of working for IBM, was that like, Hey, this is what I want you thought of doing for the next 30, 40 years of your life.

Cyndee Haydon: So it's really funny. I always wanted to be in marketing and I had a, uh, uncle that was a business owner and he said, get a marketable skill. Like there's marketing and everything. So that was how I ended up getting into computer science. And the funny part is how I ended up working for IBM is because I've always excelled at work.

Cyndee Haydon: Like whatever I put myself through high school, college, et cetera. And I know I had a [00:17:00] good work ethic, but I would look around on Friday nights with people with pizzas and, and like these cards. And I was like, okay, I, this is hard. Like, this is hard for me. This isn't my like flow. And I thought, let me volunteer and try to do some work and see how I do with that, because maybe I'm going down a path.

Cyndee Haydon: That's just not really going to, you know, I'm not going to be good at. So I actually went to the Dean of the college and I said, Hey, I'd like to volunteer, uh, I'm in the computer science, you know, business and, and. I'm sitting there and the branch manager of IBM calls him looking for an intern. And so the guy says, well, she might be sitting right here.

Cyndee Haydon: And I'm thinking I got busted for something.

Cyndee Haydon: I'm like, what did I do? And, uh, it was really interesting because, um, we had a meeting. And my GP, my GPA was not a 4. 0. And so I sat across from this branch manager and he said, you know, we don't usually hire people with your GPA and it [00:18:00] wasn't bad, but it just wasn't IBM ish. Right. And I think, you know, in that moment, it kind of my character, which is true of everything in my life.

Cyndee Haydon: I mean, I just took personal responsibility and said, you know, I understand. Meaning there's no excuse I'm going to give you. There's no, it's like, it is what it is. You know, I'm putting myself through college, I'm working a job, I'm doing whatever it is, you know, but I, but I just said, again, if that's the rule, I, I'm not going to change it, you know?

Cyndee Haydon: And I just said, I understand. From there we went on and I got hired at the time when the personal computer was coming out. And they said, we need somebody to train all these departments. Cause it was the first time that the computer had gone from the backroom and the mainframe into the business. And I will tell you that exactly like you, I, at that time, IBM was the largest corporation and they had a reputation like none and I thought, oh, I am not a stuffy person, like blue suit, white shirt and kind of Stepford wise [00:19:00] is what I imagined.

Cyndee Haydon: I got to tell you. It was the most entrepreneurial place you could imagine. Everything was, if you had an idea, own it, be empowered to do it and be responsible for the results. By contrast, I ended up co opping for Houston Lighting and Power and that was like government work and people got mad at me. They said, you work too fast.

Cyndee Haydon: You work too hard. You're making us look bad. And it was just, so it was such a gift to find out because I think it's not only our skills, but the cultures of where we fit in that are, that it's sometimes what doesn't work gives you more information than what did work. Right? So, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And then I went to work for him.

Cyndee Haydon: I got a job offer after college to go to Lexington, Kentucky, where I met my husband and that was actually what you were saying more in the pure programming system integration. I looked at my husband, my then, you know, significant [00:20:00] other and I go, yeah, no, this is not for me. I'm going to go back to the field in marketing.

Cyndee Haydon: And, and I really loved just like being that consultative salesperson, like I am today in real estate. So he had lived his whole life in, in Lexington, Kentucky. He ended up saying like, I'm with you, let's go. And we went to the marketing side of the house. Love, love, loved it. And eventually got back to Tampa Bay.

Cyndee Haydon: I wanted to be in Florida. We went to Philly and then Florida. And then they said, your next job is in Dallas and nothing wrong with Dallas. But listen, I'm at the Gulf of Mexico, white sand and water at my back door and sunsets. I was like, people work their whole lives to live this dream. Like we can figure out another way to earn a living.

Cyndee Haydon: So at that time they were trying to downsize and they offered a buyout and we like raised our hand and they go, well, you're both the best in the branch where you work. We're not paying you to leave, but they didn't lay people off back then. So it got to the last day and they're like, all right, we'll let you, we'll [00:21:00] let you have the buyout and what that did for us, my husband has been there longer and we got medical and we never knew who knew as an entrepreneur, but medical was life changing, right?

Cyndee Haydon: It allowed us to work. But then make sure we protect our family. So that's how we, we both went to work for our clients. The next day did that for a while. And then we said, you know, we want to start a real estate business in 2005.

Tracy Hayes: So, so yeah. So how did you, was that something maybe you had been thinking about years in advance or how did that come across in front of you that real estate was the route for you?

Cyndee Haydon: So I think what happened is, um, we actually got to that stage where we wanted to have children. Um, my husband, when I married him, had two children from a previous marriage. So we had, we had made a commitment and we had raised them. Took some time. And so we were at that stage where it was like, okay, we want to have our own children.

Cyndee Haydon: That means it'd be nice if we lived in the same place. So, you know, because again, our jobs would be some travel, some other stuff. And we looked around and kind of said, what are we passionate about? What, what. What could we transfer the skills we have and, and be good at. And, and also what can we get paid a [00:22:00] decent wage if we're, if we do a good job.

Cyndee Haydon: So real estate come at, came up for us. And, uh, but it's funny because we both walked away back then from six figure jobs and the little, you know, the definition of an optimist is jump in when the market's crashing, you know, it's like, it's like, cause he and I both went at the same time. So we burned the bridges.

Cyndee Haydon: We were all in, I mean, failure was not an option. Right. So. Yeah. So we started in 2005 and, um, you know,

Tracy Hayes: learn kind of any initial struggles in the transition to, to share and, uh, you know, the, the real estate agents that we listening, I mean, the kind of some trials and tribulations that first year as an agent and, and transitioning from corporate America to.

Tracy Hayes: You know, your own alarm and you getting yourself out of bed. So

Cyndee Haydon: not that part, but I think the part that people don't realize is when you're an entrepreneur, you wear all the hats, you know, you're the marketing, the accountant, the customer service, all of that, the, you know, and so I [00:23:00] think first of all, just.

Cyndee Haydon: There are things that each of us is good at and things that we're less good at. And so, so, you know, kind of filtering through that. I think that what I learned most is there's so many ways to be successful in real estate financially. And so it was really kind of discerning. what way worked for us. So when we started, interestingly enough, my husband loved Craig Proctor and he loved the idea of I can have a business, a successful real estate business in my underwear, in my house.

Cyndee Haydon: And I was like, so we started with, you know, bargain homeless and all this. And I just came to him after two years and I go, if this is our future, like I don't want it. These are not my people. And it was because the message we sent out was very transactional. So the people we attracted were very transactional and I'm very relational.

Cyndee Haydon: So also along the journey, I had gotten introduced to Byron for only in Joe stump. And I was like, these are my people, the abundance mentality, the collaborative mentality [00:24:00] that let's help each other be successful. And so I actually built a, uh, we call them a do group, but three other women, we've been together now for 15 years, we meet once a week and we went from being like, In survival, like everybody starts, you know, like paycheck to paycheck to last year.

Cyndee Haydon: All of us were on Tom Ferry's top one half percent of realtors in the country. Right. And we are just, um, team business, husband and wife team. So it's not, it's not like this big, but we've all built it by building, taking care of clients, building repeat referral, um, and bringing value to people. So, but for me, that was where it was like, I love working when I'm.

Cyndee Haydon: In that mode of helping people and delivering, you know, and so that's where

Tracy Hayes: even though the two other women that you teamed up, you're not, they're not on your team, uh, but they're more like accountability partners and you share, or obviously when, you know, the curve balls come at you that you haven't dealt with [00:25:00] before you kind of get together, you know, Hey, I got the situation.

Tracy Hayes: Have you guys ever dealt with this type of thing?

Cyndee Haydon: Absolutely. You know, uh, again, things like, Before they changed the coming soon, we developed something called gardening. But the answer was like, if you were going to sell a home, you would do things like have an open house for the neighbors ahead of time, because they often know someone that wants to live in the neighborhood or differently.

Cyndee Haydon: And so we would work together to like, what do we want to say in the letter? What do we want to, you know, do the brochure? Hey, what's working for you? Okay. How would we tweak that? And so part of it was, okay, you write this postcard. I'm going to write this letter. Like we would, we would. Be a undefined team.

Cyndee Haydon: But I think that's the future of the world. Like I, that's part of my passion for floral realtors. Like we have to collaborate more rather than compete in my opinion. So for me, that's been something that's been successful and what I would, and that's really the basis of bar camp, right? It's like, let's collaborate, let's find people that we share.

Cyndee Haydon: What I'm [00:26:00] good at, what you're good at. And again, um, one of the women is incredible with language. She says things in a way that are just so spot on. Right. Obviously at the group, mine has been tech, right? Like I'll be like, Hey, this is how we can do this smarter or leverage this. Like I was. You know, there was a time when I had three videos on page one of Google, right?

Cyndee Haydon: Like it was the early days before everybody else, you know, 2006. But again, it's just, everybody could pick a piece and then we just are able to do more together. Do

Tracy Hayes: you see in a, you know, cause collaboration was the word before you even said it, that was in my mind and I was going to say it, but then you said it.

Tracy Hayes: So I do use the fancy word, but, um, You know, a lot of agency, the other agents has competition and in, you know, in your experience, you know, been doing this for a couple of decades and looking at it and going, you know, some, some will stay, some will be there long term. Some are going to last a few years and go move, whatever life [00:27:00] happens.

Tracy Hayes: Some just will never, you know, Just never bear fruit. It just happens a high percentage actually don't. So to look at others as competition versus collaborating with them and seeing the three of you, you know, probably enjoy going out to dinner. Maybe you can go on vacations together and enjoy because the three of you have, you know, held each other accountable, leaned downtimes it's been better than, than looking at that person and going, Oh, they're competition.

Tracy Hayes: I, I, you know, I don't want to share my secrets.

Cyndee Haydon: Right? I think I have two examples of both and how how it's easy to fall into one or the other. But, you know, starting out in the beginning, we didn't, we came out of technology and we didn't have a sphere. So we were building a business on Google page one, you know, there's only 10 spots on page one, right?

Cyndee Haydon: So, so the work that we would do to do that, I was like, Yeah, I'm not really telling other people because there's only one page, right? But but many people have built a real estate business. The more [00:28:00] transactional, the more, Hey, I'll buy your house in 60 days. Hey, whatever, whatever, the more competitive I think you are in because somebody else is going to make an offer.

Cyndee Haydon: So when we made the switch to be all in on relationship, it really unleashed the abundance mentality. Because I say every day, my people are my people. They want to work with me. And I even have people that do something different. And I just let it go and say that wasn't meant for me. And some other blessing comes right.

Cyndee Haydon: Because, because again, sometimes just like it's friendships, you're in there for a season or a reason or a time, and you just have to let, let it go, you know, and, um, and I think there's where the abundance comes because. People, our relationships are unique, but if it's a, and I don't want to say a gimmick, if it's a, if it's a, if it's a finite strategy, then, then it's more competitive because, because we're going after the same thing.

Cyndee Haydon: And so as people move and as we, as we find people that are relational, [00:29:00] you can really share, I've been able to really share freely. Because I hope, first of all, what, 80 something percent of people, 90 percent of people never do anything with it. So share away, but the ones that do it's their people that they're going to do.

Cyndee Haydon: And then they're going to figure something out, share it back and you go. Wow. Okay. Now that jump starts, you know, so I have no

Tracy Hayes: doubt agree. I mean, from the mortgage side, you know, if you're sitting there, Hey, I got the lowest rates. I got the lowest rates. Someone's going to come and give you a lower rate.

Tracy Hayes: And

Cyndee Haydon: then you're there you go. There you go. Right. And his rate, all that matters. I mean, again, there's people that, you know, they thrive in that business. It's just, here's the difference. That kind of the competition mentality is like the guy that, that has to plant corn every day. Right. And then we're building an orange orchard over here and the oranges come year after year.

Cyndee Haydon: You know, I had four listings yesterday. From [00:30:00] referrals or repeat clients, which is a blessing. But I, if I was out there having to put corn seed and wait, you know, it's like, it's, it's, it's tiring. It's where's, you know, when people say burnout, that burns you out, man, you know, if you're dealing with people you care about, it's really an energizing.

Tracy Hayes: Well, it becomes transactional. And I think that eventually the transactional thing, having worked in a call center for the first. 12, you know, 12 years of my mortgage career. Um, it, it, it becomes that because they're calling on an 800 number and it's, you know, uh, type of thing. And, you know, over time, yeah, you will get some repeat clients cause you did treat them well.

Tracy Hayes: And they're like, oh, that was easy. And the technology is there, but, uh, most of them, I mean, the first question out of their mouth on the phone is cause they're calling on an 800 number, not across from you, not, you know, locally there to say, what's your rate, what's your weight, let me call someone else, you know.

Tracy Hayes: And it just goes, but changing a subject a little bit. I was on your social media, you were posting some pictures, um, real estate day, uh, agent day over in [00:31:00] Tallahassee this past week. What was the, um, uh, the word that you were trying to get across? What were some of the discussions going on in, uh, with your representatives in Tallahassee?

Cyndee Haydon: Absolutely. Well, I think this year, our first conversation was really thank you because finally, last year, we made some historic legislation with funding hometown heroes for affordable housing, you know, but that money was was used as spoken for in 50 days. 100 million. That's how much demand. So, you know, part of it was saying thank you for the first step.

Cyndee Haydon: However, you're welcome. That pump is not primed yet in a few years, then when people sell a house, that money goes back in, but we got to have a few years of help to get, you know, people that are trying to get the American dream of homeownership in excess. You know, my near and dear passion has been about insurance and, and it was really long before, um, before this, but I lost everything in a house fire, uh, in the [00:32:00] eighties.

Cyndee Haydon: And so I know the resiliency for families and I was lucky. I had good insurance. But a lot of people don't know. And if they can't access it, you know, you just worry about them. So we were there saying, Hey, great. First step, you kind of close those legal loopholes, but, but in our neighborhoods and, and, you know, every mortgage before we do it, you got to say, okay, your, your taxes, your insurance, your payment, but the wildcard, the third stool, that's kind of been wobbly.

Cyndee Haydon: Is insurance, you know, so how do people afford it? And more importantly to me is how do they afford it long term? So even those first time home buyers, you get in a house, if you gotta give the keys back when the insurance renewal comes, I, I don't want any part of that for me. I've been there and, and I, I was like, I want to set people up for success.

Cyndee Haydon: That's what realtors do. And so again, a start means we just have to keep showing, Hey, this is, this is great, but there's more need. So, and then we're doing things, you know, I think, um, Uh, interestingly enough, commercial is very impacted by [00:33:00] insurance because of the way their financing works and what's required different than a home for 30 year mortgage, you know, there's like, that's an issue.

Cyndee Haydon: And then business rent tax, we got that coming down. So we're the only state that has it. And so we want to be again, favorable to businesses. Um, so those things really were on the forefront. Um, I think the other thing that, that you and I both want is currently, if a condo has 150 units or more, they have to make their documents and information transparent to consumers.

Cyndee Haydon: And you and I both know we're trying to figure out for people, like, does it qualify for a VA loan? You know, is this, is this solid? Will they do the condo questionnaire? So now the proposal is, if a condo has 25 units. Or more, they're going to need to be transparent. That is good for buyers and sellers and realtors and mortgage people.

Cyndee Haydon: Because again, we believe people should have the good information to make good decisions. And that's a big step in that [00:34:00] path. So that's really a kind of exciting that they've taken that up and it looks, it looks like it's promising.

Tracy Hayes: What do you think, uh, you know, you're, you're on, uh, NARS insurance. What was the actual, the.

Tracy Hayes: Yeah,

Cyndee Haydon: chair of the insurance committee

Tracy Hayes: and chair. We'll just call it the insurance committee. Yeah insurance

Cyndee Haydon: committee

Tracy Hayes: works Well, I guess insurance is going up everywhere. I had an agent that I use on and a little you know We just did a little you know streaming video talking about insurance in In your eyes, and this being kind of, you know, on a national basis, but if we can bring it back to Florida, what is causing the, uh, rapid in the last 24, I don't know, 36 months, I don't know, you could.

Tracy Hayes: probably narrow it down, the rise in the insurance costs and to the point now, it's actually a huge factor. Uh, you were telling agents get insurance quotes like right away, especially for that marginal buyer. Because when I [00:35:00] worked for a large, um, lender for a builder here in town, we just put 100 bucks in there and you know, that was good for qualifications and, you know, get insurance later.

Tracy Hayes: But now it's not so, especially on the existing homes. I mean, you get a marginal person and Cost him

Cyndee Haydon: not qualifying. 100%. Uh, you are speaking my language. Um, so a couple of things since, think about it

Cyndee Haydon: since COVID, how much more expensive labor supplies, all of those things are. So that's a huge factor. Then you look at, um, Uh, the value of homes, which again, you know, here we've seen in our area, you know, you'll see 60 percent 70 percent well, a big increase.

Cyndee Haydon: So again, that comes into effect. And the 3rd thing that's very interesting, and we actually had a work group because in 2021, President Biden had an executive order that said Fannie and Freddie needed to underwrite for climate financial risk. Well, for me, because words get thrown around, I don't know about you and I'm like, [00:36:00] okay.

Cyndee Haydon: What is climate financial risk doesn't even exist. And then if it does, how could it come at us? I got to tell you what was super interesting. And this applies so much to Florida as well is FEMA has never accounted for rain and precipitation. So when you look at what happened in Orlando with flooding and Ian, when you look at Vermont, when you look at Connecticut, when you look at hurricane Harvey, those are all rain events.

Cyndee Haydon: So those things are all coming into play that there are costs and damages happening in places that, uh, many of the consumers think they're safe because we said, Oh, it's not a mandatory flood area, right? To the tune of 10 million properties, they've identified 5 million currently have mandatory flood. 10 million more should think about it.

Cyndee Haydon: That's huge. And then the last factor is, I think it's up to 40%. Of your insurance payment is reinsurance, which is the [00:37:00] insurance that insurance companies have that kind of say, Hey, if it gets really big, you're going to come in and like, make sure we don't go under. And so those people quite honestly think about this.

Cyndee Haydon: When you look back two years, three years and interest rates were two, 3%, there weren't a lot of places to put your money to get a good return. So they would take the risk with real estate and insurance. Now you look at where interest rates are and you go, okay. They've lost in Florida a billion dollars a year.

Cyndee Haydon: So you go, Hmm, I gotta go to work every day and I gotta pay, you know, I'm losing a billion dollars, or I can take this money and put it somewhere else. And I got a much more guaranteed return. So I think all those factors are like the perfect storm we're working through right now.

Tracy Hayes: It's complicated for the average consumer to, you know, you know, bring all that in and understand the, you know, what, yeah, what, yeah, the reinsurance, that was something that she had said as well, and understand, I have my personal conspiracy theory, because I think the [00:38:00] Black Rocks and the other individuals who are own majority of these insurance companies, again, are are.

Tracy Hayes: Probably instigators of the Biden, uh, thing, mega Fannie, Fannie and Freddy, uh, you know, the climate, uh, you know, uh, game and using the language and so forth to drive, to drive some of the cost up as well. I don't know. That's, that's just my little.

Cyndee Haydon: Well, Tracy, that's why, listen, that was why it got my attention because at the beginning and people, I get interviewed by news people all across the country and they're saying, well, is this affected by climate change?

Cyndee Haydon: No, I don't know what the climate's going to do in the future, but I know it rains in places that we, that we've either densely, like we built denser, so it can't get absorbed. Things have happened. I'll give you that, you know, like that's finite. I give you that. But I think the thing that worried me the most, and it still worries me is this.

Cyndee Haydon: Exactly what you said when I was on the NAR sustainability pag in 2019 and I heard from BlackRock and [00:39:00] Vanguard and CoreLogic and people saying, we don't want climate financial risk properties in our portfolio. Okay, so then I look around and I go, well, wait a minute, you sell mortgages, but we sell mortgage backed securities to investors.

Cyndee Haydon: If investors ever said, we don't want to buy this. Then do we all end up having either portfolio loans or we don't get loans or we pay huge interest rates because, so for me, that's why I really worked with our committee to do a white paper on the 10 ways it could come at us. Because I worry that it will real or not impact or not, you know, There are enough people with enough things going on that I think it is going to be a factor in the real estate affordability.

Cyndee Haydon: And so I would like us to have a seat at the table, helping craft a solution. And then have it happen to us like bigger waters did, where all of a sudden Congress goes and passes something retro six months and people that had homes went from flood insurance, that was 1400 to [00:40:00] 14, 000 and they said, Hey, write us a check and I'm looking in the eyes of a veteran with tears that says.

Cyndee Haydon: They just foreclosed on me and I didn't do anything wrong. And as a realtor six months, how would I know they'd go retro back six months? I mean, at least now I can educate people. I can say, Hey, here's what you need to expect. Here's what you need to plan for. Does it work for your budget? You know, and, and the more we can do that, I think the more we help people make good decisions for properties that they can afford and stay in.

Tracy Hayes: What are, what are the things that, is there anything we can do as citizens of the state of Florida? Um, and then there was talk that, um, Uh, the some of the legislation, you know, because obviously we're very insurance litigious state, right? I mean, lawsuits involving insurance companies and claims and all that stuff is very high in Florida.

Tracy Hayes: I think there was some statistics almost as much as the other 49 other states combined. What can we do at the, at the state level, uh, or, you [00:41:00] know, lean on our local representatives. I have one of the state senators. And possibly the local congresswoman on the state level going to leave it living in my neighborhood.

Tracy Hayes: What the senator does, the other one's running for the open seat. Nice. What can, what can we share with them to hopefully tamper some of this stuff down to protect Florida a little bit? Because this train's getting out of control.

Cyndee Haydon: Yeah. So they did a great job last year, closing most these incredible loopholes.

Cyndee Haydon: Right. Um, and so, so we're seeing that less lawsuits, we're seeing new insurers come in. You know, the hard part is that the insurers are already here. They have to settle out these litigious lawsuits that already existed. So they're a little disadvantage. So I think all that's happening. I think this year, the governor, so this would be how you would help this year.

Cyndee Haydon: The governor has, uh, proposed a budget that they would not put taxes on insurance and other aspects [00:42:00] this year. Uh, and so the, the Congress, I mean, our, our legislature, our senators and representatives have to pass a budget that supports that, but it would mean about a 6 percent reduction again. It's not going to, you know, but if we could just get things stable and start moving down and get more competition, I think we're going to step in the right direction.

Cyndee Haydon: The other program that really is helping is my safe Florida home and that's allowing people to do mitigation, like put a new roof, put in windows, you know, put a new garage door and they're finding that people that are using that. So what that means is for every dollar a consumer spends. The state will put up to 2.

Cyndee Haydon: So if you had a 15, 000 roof, you put in five, the state pays 10. And so the, um, if you're in, it's for town homes and homes right now, they're talking about maybe expanding the condos, but what they're finding is the people that are taking advantage of it. Are seeing many of them have a thousand dollar a year reduction on their insurance and [00:43:00] they're living in safer homes, right?

Cyndee Haydon: I mean at the end of the day Florida has a little older housing stock in many areas. How do we get more resilient? How do we mitigate how do we harden and be

Tracy Hayes: safer where you're at the st The st. Pete area I think is one of the oldest areas in Florida

Cyndee Haydon: It is. We, that's why when it came to flood insurance, we were the most impacted.

Cyndee Haydon: We had 54, 000 homes then that were before FEMA even invented flood insurance. Right. So absolutely we, we have to, you know, struggle with that.

Tracy Hayes: many people are mind boggled from the whole, you know, 10 years on the roof. Yeah, you know, obviously they're you're told they have a warranty, you know that that's not there.

Tracy Hayes: It's not the warranty They think it is but how these insurance companies, you know from what their agents are telling me From zero to ten almost every insurer that's available uh is We'll do it. You start going over 10 years. You start narrowing down who's available. And then at 15, I mean, forget it. I mean, you need to try to find [00:44:00] insurance, which is affecting, obviously, the agent, you know, who's, you know, listing someone buying or selling the home.

Tracy Hayes: I mean, it's so important. What's the age of the roof is the first question,

Cyndee Haydon: right? Right. 100%. Um, they passed legislation last year that said that insurance companies had to insure roofs that were under 10 years. Right. And then every five years, you know, then after that, you've got to prove there's five years of life.

Cyndee Haydon: The goal is five years of life. And the reason is because, as you know, part of it is that Florida has a very favorable environment. Uh, policy that when you go, an insurance company goes to do a roof, they can't patch it. They have to replace the whole thing. So rather than repair, you might have had something happen to one piece and it's like, it gets complicated.

Cyndee Haydon: So roofs are expensive. A lot of people after it, they did a good job on really closing that down. The other thing, and I'll be honest with you, I'm in the middle of putting a new roof on my house and I just told him, like, give me a 10 year roof because I'm really not expect. I mean, I don't like give me the cheapest roof.

Cyndee Haydon: There is seriously on [00:45:00] the on the lifetime because I don't see getting it. I don't see, you know, I think the trends are definitely against it. So I think for those of us going forward, we're making different decisions. You know, someone says I got a 25 year roof you can get. I was like, Yeah, right. No, I'm going to be replacing it in 10.

Cyndee Haydon: So give me the 10 year roof.

Tracy Hayes: Yeah, it doesn't, it doesn't really matter. Right. You say, Hey, I spent all these extra thousands of dollars because the shingle is rated for 25 years. The reality is they're looking at the permit date. And then what's the day is today. Oh, you're, you're at 12, 13 years. Yeah. I don't want to buy your house because the roof is too old.

Cyndee Haydon: Well, even if they want to buy it, they can't get insurance. Right? Well, that's the problem. Exactly. They'll buy it. They think it's fine. No roof. They'll take it. But the lender says, the insurance company says, so.

Tracy Hayes: So you don't see that really changing so much. So you're, you're doing the economic thing is I know I'm going to have to change my roof.

Tracy Hayes: If I move out of here in 12, 13 years, the buyer is probably going to make me [00:46:00] either compensate them or have put a new roof on. Is that

Cyndee Haydon: so every seller I work with, I tell them, you just need to get a four point and find out now. So we know how to negotiate, right? If a roof has to be done, there are roofers that'll get paid at closing.

Cyndee Haydon: There are roofers, citizens will let you have 30 days, you know, again, he comes back to work with an experienced realtor that knows how to help you navigate. It doesn't mean that the seller has to write a check right now before they've even gotten money coming in. There's a lot of ways to do it, but it is a reality for sure.

Tracy Hayes: Right. Oh, and obviously on the lending side, I mean, we can put it in escrow. I mean, there's all those programs to do it a hundred percent. Uh, uh, from that standpoint, um, you, um, uh, I'm going to go down cause I had your whole list. Um, we we've been talking about the insurance committee. Tell us a little bit about Your experience, you know, you're no longer on the board of directors right at NAR, right?

Tracy Hayes: Your term ended. No, I am still

Cyndee Haydon: on the board of directors

Tracy Hayes: still on the border. So you've been there since [00:47:00] 19 2019 yes, what are some of the things that you know on a national level all of a sudden your eyes just like you were Like, oh my god I didn't you know some of the stuff that you've learned being on a board and being exposed to real estate on a national level

Cyndee Haydon: Well, the reason that I got involved at my local level and then at Florida Realtors and National, all three is, and on the public policy side for me is because it makes me a better realtor for my consumers, right?

Cyndee Haydon: So I love going and learning more about, uh, what's happening. For instance, one of my peers. Uh, in Naples just shared how there's companies building modular homes after the storm and they're just bringing them in and that the ones they had before the storm went to 180 mile an hour winds, right? Like that's going to help people.

Cyndee Haydon: I know sometime in the future, maybe even myself. Right? So I think it's, I think those things are important. I think it's been for me. Also, because Florida [00:48:00] has, you know, we're the biggest state, we have the most realtors is making sure our issues are addressed and, um, and being able to bring some, like I said, talking to FEMA about should a roof really be in the 50 percent rule?

Cyndee Haydon: Like we know they're going to wear out. So why are you penalized? Like I'm not. Adding an addition, right? I'm you want a safe house. So why would you not let us put a roof on? Right? So I think that some of those things, you know, are helpful. Um, and it's interesting now, I think kind of segue because I've done so much in public policy, but looking at artificial intelligence and in seeing people that I sense are afraid versus leaning into the opportunities, right?

Cyndee Haydon: And so I think one of the things as. organization is you get people from all spectrums, all markets, you know, all backgrounds. And my, because of my background and because of my career, I'm always saying, we're not putting genies back in the [00:49:00] box, you know, so let's figure out how to leverage it, how to do it responsibly and professionally.

Cyndee Haydon: But let's not limit Realtors competitiveness, you know, I heard that there was an MLS somewhere that said, if you used AI on, uh, on your listing description, you had to put it in there like, like the, um, the virtually staged photos and I'm like, okay, so I could shop at the Fiverr and someone could give it to me and I put it in for nothing.

Cyndee Haydon: So you're like this friction doesn't make sense. Right.

Tracy Hayes: So if you used ai, whether it was in the description or you know, the virtual house staging, they wanted you to actually make some sort of a declaration that you used ai.

Cyndee Haydon: Yeah. That there is an MLS in the country right now.

Cyndee Haydon: Not stellar and not, you know, not, uh. Not knee, knee fires, but there are people that are saying that. And I don't think that's the right approach, right? Because again, you're trying, you know, what I [00:50:00] put in a listing description, you know, I'm responsible for fair housing. I'm responsible for truth. I'm responsible for facts, but you know, Bigger businesses, wealthier people always have had assistance.

Cyndee Haydon: They've had, you know, like, so again, AI is just an assistant and a tool to be used responsibly. And it's actually sort of a, an equalizer and a democratization of what people could do. Using like directing it for what you want. So that's been, that's been a very interesting, you know, more talk about ethics and, and, and use.

Cyndee Haydon: And so again, I think we need a seat at the table for that. There's

Tracy Hayes: more important subjects than did they use a virtual staging tool, uh, to attract some, we all know. Those pictures are, uh, as oftentimes are a lot better than that house looks. We, we know that, I mean, and it gets you in there. It just sounds like someone who doesn't, uh, doesn't use AI.

Tracy Hayes: And so it wants to kind of hinder others from using it. Uh, because I think it's an, an, an advantage in some [00:51:00] way that that's my opinion.

Cyndee Haydon: Uh, I think, I think you're right. And I think for me, it's, it's so interesting because I dove really heavy into chat GPT, um, because it's, it's one of the few things. So two times have I have I dove heavy in my career.

Cyndee Haydon: One was I started video testimonials in 2000 and six. So we think about people are just figuring out video and back in 2000 and six. But what brought me to it has always been about the consumer. So what I I deal with a lot of second home and people that are not here vacation rentals. So I said, well, people really don't want to hear what I would say about myself.

Cyndee Haydon: They want to hear what other people's experience was. What did they learn? How would it help? And so for me, video was a way to do that. And it's funny, the first video I ever captured and has been viewed almost 12, 000 times. And it has really crappy audio because it's on the beach and it's like, and people always want it today.

Cyndee Haydon: People want to tell me that video is awful. And I go, I know, but how many of your clients [00:52:00] have introduced you to 12, 000 people? Like it's okay. It's okay. You know, today we do better. You and I've got professional mics, but you know, you go with where you are and you don't wait for perfection. So when I saw chat GBT, what, what really, really has been my focus and passion is how to have it help realtors or people using it.

Cyndee Haydon: Communicate and connect better. And because think about what you do. And I do, we take people through some of the most stressful transactions of their lives. And many times our biggest job is keeping them from sabotaging. We're, we're getting them from where they are to where they want to be. But sometimes it's a challenge as the things go wrong and how we bring people along and what their personality style is.

Cyndee Haydon: And how do we have the right words to, you know, be empathetic. But also still guide them to where they need to go. And for me, it's. It's what the surprise was [00:53:00] is I've been teaching people how to better understand my own style, but just like in life, the better the questions, the better the outcome. Right?

Cyndee Haydon: And so same with that tool. It's like the better you ask it, the better outcome. But what's interesting is I learned more about my style and it changes in different situations. If I'm asking a seller for a price reduction, I'm not coming with the same tone and voice as I do. When I'm sharing tips on a video for five ways, you can, you know, save money and energy in your home, right?

Cyndee Haydon: I mean, there's a different energy level. There's a different, you know, so, so what, so what I found though interesting is it's been great for helping me improve my weaknesses. And

Cyndee Haydon: most of us fail at our weak points, not our strong points. You know, our strong points get us to a certain part. And then, but at the end of the day, you and I only get paid if we're successful at the end.

Cyndee Haydon: So, you know, almost there doesn't get it. Right. So like nice try doesn't get it. Success is [00:54:00] the only thing that we get paid a success fee for. So it's really, I have found helped me look at some of the areas. Um, one for me is brevity becoming like, whether it's Florida realtors or other places, insurance, how can I take really big weighty subjects and, and help communicate them as succinctly and quickly as possible, because we still live in a world.

Cyndee Haydon: Where the average person's attention span is that of a goldfish, eight seconds, right? So it's a powerful tool. And that's why I'm excited to share some of that at the, at the one coast bar camp. Right. Is, um, cause I think a lot of people are kind of being lulled into like, you know, the cheap tricks, right?

Cyndee Haydon: Like, Oh, right.

Tracy Hayes: And the reality is all these things that were, were, well, every training that I go to, I've been to this one coast, you know, the last two years in a row. Uh, you know, you, I sit in a lot of, on the, um, uh, the social media, [00:55:00] that kind of thing, and everyone's looking for, uh, yeah, this is, here's your key.

Tracy Hayes: Just do this 1, 2, 3, and, and it, and you'll, you'll take off. And it just doesn't work that way. It, it is a long-term game. This, you know, whether you're doing videos or, you know, I like to obviously, you know, prop the agents up, get them on, tell their story. We cut them in the reels. The long form is always there, video and audio, but it's the short form that, that gets it.

Tracy Hayes: And it's a long term game. You have to consistently be doing it. Uh, there, I wanted to jump over since you, again, you are on the. On the on the you know, the demand for housing nationally is is high, but obviously florida's on steroids Um, and I remember and just kind of want to get your thought on this back in the um in the 80s When florida started to pick up, you know Palm coast was one of the places that I can name because I was there.

Tracy Hayes: I remember friends my parents moving there and um, you saw in the daytona [00:56:00] area um type of thing where and I'm sure it's happening over on yours on the West Coast as well. You were seeing these manufactured home Nice communities being built even on golf courses and so forth because you had to you know, they're visualizing the older retirees coming here, which we still have but we now we have the families moving in and So there's even a greater demand in I was on the St.

Tracy Hayes: John's, uh, County, uh, affordable housing advisory committee, and it really was almost like banging your head against the wall because it just doesn't, we're really not seeing that, um, that I don't, I don't want to use, I'm going to use a word. It's not a real bravery that, that, that, that politician that stands out said, Hey, we've got, you know, We've got to, we've got to make some room for some affordable housing because these guys running the restaurants, these guys mowing the lawns, these guys are, you know, being our, our county employees aren't paid very high.

Tracy Hayes: Teachers have a problem in St. John's County, I'm sure in other counties as well. They can't [00:57:00] live in the county and teach unless obviously their spouse is making a lot more income. So what, what is the answer for Florida in your mind to create not just the. Money for hometown heroes because these builders if they could sell the house for four or five six hundred thousand That's what they're going to do.

Tracy Hayes: So where can we keep that? Affordable house that sub three hundred thousand I think is really the number now um type of home Uh, and, and, you know, and build that level of home, where do you, where do you think that answer is?

Cyndee Haydon: So I think one of the challenges in florida that sometimes we're not thinking about is the cost of the land So when you when you look at it before they even start building, right?

Cyndee Haydon: I mean, we only have so much land and a lot of it and then like you said they got to decide Okay, i've got this land. How do I leverage my investment? So what I'm seeing and in St. Petersburg is a great example, but we're hearing about it across the country is [00:58:00] really reexamining and getting an open mind around accessory dwelling units, right?

Cyndee Haydon: So the idea, think of it like this, maybe a little cottage on your property and whether again. Whether it's multi generational, our Children or our parents, you know, being there. But, you know, a lot of cases you look at things that were built and, uh, there's enough land to have somebody else there. Right.

Cyndee Haydon: And we, we went through this code development, land code development that was really somewhat. Managing what they wanted in a community, right? And so again, some of the rules, like, for instance, to me, I'm just gonna say Cindy Hayden things, but you know, some of these HOAs that say you can't have a vehicle that has writing on it.

Cyndee Haydon: That means as a realtor, but really in the day it was, let's keep plumbers and AC people out. We don't think they're really good for the name. I mean, let's be honest, right? Like that's what I perceive. I think that's so [00:59:00] outdated. Like, I think that's so outdated. Like if I want words on my car, why do you care?

Cyndee Haydon: Right. And so, um, I think it's those kinds of things that we're slowly, but surely having to reexamine of, are they? serving. I know early on when I was in leadership, Pinellas, the city of Dunedin was partnering with businesses saying, how can we give like build a public's and then let them have like housing above it, right?

Cyndee Haydon: I think the one challenge I'm seeing, and even though at the state level, a lot of dollars are giving for building apartments. And I personally struggle because That apartment could be a condo where the owner is getting generational wealth, building equity, et cetera. And so I, I think that, you know, that is something that we should consider is how do we make people, even if it's a smaller thing, accessory dwelling or a condo, you know, like versus the corporate [01:00:00] entities are building more housing that will almost, I worry, trap people from ever making the transition.

Cyndee Haydon: To owning their own piece of real estate, right? So

Tracy Hayes: it's going to max out their budget there. Well, I know one of the problems now, the talk is, uh, the average car payment, right? We're trying to qualify people. And the average car payment has made its shift. And now that's eating up another, you know, put two cars in the family that eats up another, you know, four or 500 of.

Tracy Hayes: of, uh, what, you know, of the debt ratio that they could, uh, you know, be buying these expensive houses and the balance of one or the other. Yeah, you keep, you keep pushing people. Well, you know, I think a lot of consumers, they don't necessarily, uh, think of what they can afford based on their lifestyle.

Tracy Hayes: They're based, they're based on, you know, what they can get approved for, which I've told people for 18 years, we can approve you for a lot. I don't want that kind of payment. Right.

Cyndee Haydon: Yeah. Right. [01:01:00] And I think the low interest rates lulled a lot of people along that, you know, so it was easy, it didn't feel like that much.

Cyndee Haydon: And then all of a sudden you, you, you've got this. You know, monster that you could be kind of keeping you back. I have a young son who's in the army and he and his wife, um, own a home and, and obviously they were able to use a VA loan to get into it, but they've been very prudent because they've seen so many of their friends, you know, colleges are giving credit cards and they try to suck you in and they're like, Hey, let us help you buy the first car and they're seeing their friends get.

Cyndee Haydon: stuck in jobs they hate because they have to pay the man they have to pay, you know, the person they made that with. So I think that's also part of it. You know, at the national level, we have a, a program we're rolling out about financial literacy, but much like yourself, I think that's a conversation that we need to have more of because people are in over their heads sometimes before they ever realize, or even if they are, how do we get a path to set them up to benefit from the American dream and homeownership?

Cyndee Haydon: [01:02:00] Absolutely.

Tracy Hayes: Yep, I want to finish with two things. I want to go back to I got over my shoulder your Facebook page. Um, What is it as secretary? Oh, you know that you're running for for 2025 for florida realtors What is it that they need to know and and why should they I don't even how is it actually selected?

Tracy Hayes: Is it just the members actually vote for or how is the how how are you actually? You awarded that seat Sure.

Cyndee Haydon: So Florida Realtors has board of directors from around the whole state and there are just under 900 of them and in August they will vote and they will select from me and another candidate who they choose to serve.

Cyndee Haydon: And for me, I've kind of focused on four, what I'll call them pillars, but, um, based on everything we've talked about, I believe we're in a time where we need courageous leadership. You know, people that will have the real conversations and whether it's an elephant in the room or not, let's have it, let's find a way forward that we need to be dedicated to advocacy.

Cyndee Haydon: The [01:03:00] issues you're talking about, you know, the, the affordability, the insurance, all those things, we need people that understand those issues are experienced and can continue to help us, you know, make a better place to live, work and play for Florida. We need people who can create a brighter future and focus on, you know, thinking, and that's kind of looking at AI and technology and other things.

Cyndee Haydon: It's like people that will think outside the box, people that aren't afraid to try new things, people that can say, you know, what if we don't get stuck? And we've always done it this way. And the third is, you know, someone that really cares and is for our members, keeping realtors, you know, profitable and having a seat at the center of the transaction and at the table.

Cyndee Haydon: And yeah. And then as a Florida realtor, director and leaders, I think we have to have someone that is mentoring and bringing other people along because again, our future is the future leaders. And it's, it's, um, you know, one of the things I tell people having moved so much growing up, you know, where we started on this conversation, I was [01:04:00] always that kid having to find a new seat at the table.

Cyndee Haydon: And so for me, I'm passionate about a big tent and everybody having an opportunity and a seat to be at that table, because I think when everyone's included, everyone wins. And so, um, that's the kind of leader I am, you know, and, and I think every challenge and change that I've been through. prepares me to be able to handle whatever it is that's going to come at us.

Cyndee Haydon: But what I do think is I don't think this is a time where we're going to be sitting around eating bonbons and, you know, reminiscing about the glory days. It's going to be shoulder to shoulder, get in there, do the work and make sure that we're still here. Three, five, 10 years down the road. That's what I think.

Cyndee Haydon: Well,

Tracy Hayes: would you, I mean, agree we're cutting, Florida's on a cutting edge. I mean, all these, all these issues are relatively new. Not that we couldn't predict them possibly COVID definitely through a surge in the, in the migration to Florida, um, bring in. But you've got to have the experience of the past [01:05:00] because a lot of these, uh, steps we're taking now, whether it's an insurance, affordable housing, they're, they're new steps.

Tracy Hayes: They're not, they're not something that, uh, Hey, this is what happened 20 years ago. It's, and of course those, those generations are gone. It's who's here now, who's going to be the next person. So we can get some of the things smoothed out because we are really treading a new path.

Cyndee Haydon: Yeah, no, absolutely.

Cyndee Haydon: Absolutely. And I'm just grateful that, you know, again, someone like you in the mortgage, because we, we all do this together, you know? And so I think that, and it goes back to that same thing we keep saying collaborate, but it's the teamwork. It's not, there's not, we can't be in islands and we can't sit there and be in territories.

Cyndee Haydon: It's like, you know, part of what you see on your side, realtors are seeing on there. So how do we, and we're seeing the consumer try to navigate, you know, or just tread water in this perfect storm, really.

Tracy Hayes: Yep, the Mortgage Bankers Association, the local units to national needs to be collaborating with [01:06:00] NAR especially on this insurance thing and because that's a qualification Issue as insurance goes up.

Tracy Hayes: I want to finish with this. Um, what do you want to deliver on the 26? What message do you want to get across? Uh, you know different I get and from what I understand I don't know the official format. Some people said you guys are gonna have a few minutes on stage because let me tell you the lineup that Kim has put together is amazing.

Tracy Hayes: The, the 17 people I've already talked to a good portion of them and, and every one of them is bringing something awesome to the table, uh, in their experiences and expertise. So what message do you want to get across?

Cyndee Haydon: Well, if I had my druthers, it would be about using technology, whether it's. AI and chat GPT today or whatever it is to build connection and improve our communication because when we are connected to the consumer, no technology or other shiny object is going to displace us.

Cyndee Haydon: But if we're not, everything is open game, Katie bar the door. So that's [01:07:00] why I think that that is so critical. The rest of it, I mean, that's foundational. So the rest of it is just icing on the cake.

Tracy Hayes: 100%. I think Sean Carpenter agrees with you. He wanted his messages. You know, this, this is a relationship business and you've got to get in front of your buyers and sellers and in the face to face just, you know, by leveraging that technology to communicate them.

Tracy Hayes: When you're not in front of them, uh, just to back up what you are telling them in the face to face and showing your value, uh, there. Cindy, I appreciate you coming on today. Uh, we could definitely talk for hours. Uh, hopefully maybe I can reach out to you, PRAC. I'd love to get like a little forum together, because I think insurance is going to continue to be a subject through the next couple of years, uh, until people feel Well, I don't know if we'd ever accept the cost of insurance, but you know, uh, to make it more reasonable, but definitely keep everyone advised, especially these buyers and sellers and the real estate agents, you know, on explaining to him what, what, uh, what this house insurance could cost you versus that [01:08:00] house.

Tracy Hayes: I mean, it could be the difference of that. Uh, they could be at the same price points, but one could cost you a few hundred dollars more because of the insurance.

Cyndee Haydon: Absolutely. And I would love that opportunity because again, as we talked about, it's a partnership, right? I mean, what you see helps, helps educate me on things that are coming or things, you know, um, I just, again, just simple examples.

Cyndee Haydon: Those are things like the new home construction and lending and all that. I mean, like on a dime, you're going to hear about stuff that changes opportunities for the consumer. And so the more we're helping each other stay up to date in this dynamic world, the better off for the consumer.

Tracy Hayes: 10 four, look forward to meeting you on the 26th.

Cyndee Haydon: Thank you. Thank you for the opportunity. It was a pleasure and you do an amazing job.

Cyndee Haydon: So appreciate

Tracy Hayes: you. Thank you. We'll see you on the 26th. See you on the 26th. Yes, ma'am. [01:09:00]