- 4 days ago
On this episode of Power House, Zeb Lowe sits down with Simone Kelly, founder of Seniornicity, to discuss one of housing’s most overlooked challenges: helping seniors navigate the later stages of homeownership.
Drawing on experience across mortgage, real estate and senior services, Kelly explains why many older homeowners aren’t staying put because they refuse to move—they’re staying because the alternatives are complex, emotional and overwhelming. The conversation explores aging in place, reverse mortgages, caregiving and the growing opportunity for housing professionals willing to serve an aging population.
Kelly argues that success in this space isn’t about generating leads. It’s about building trust, relationships and support systems that help families navigate major life transitions. In an industry increasingly focused on speed and automation, she makes the case for a more human approach.
Related to the episode:
Zeb Lowe’s LinkedIn
https://www.linkedin.com/in/zebulon-lowe-a02353a4/
Simone Kelly's LinkedIn
https://www.linkedin.com/in/seniornicity/
Seniornicity
https://seniornicity.com/services
The Power House podcast brings the biggest names in housing to answer hard-hitting questions about industry trends, operational and growth strategy, and leadership. Join HousingWire’s Zeb Lowe every Thursday morning for candid conversations with industry leaders to learn how they’re differentiating themselves from the competition. Hosted and produced by the HousingWire Content Studio.
Drawing on experience across mortgage, real estate and senior services, Kelly explains why many older homeowners aren’t staying put because they refuse to move—they’re staying because the alternatives are complex, emotional and overwhelming. The conversation explores aging in place, reverse mortgages, caregiving and the growing opportunity for housing professionals willing to serve an aging population.
Kelly argues that success in this space isn’t about generating leads. It’s about building trust, relationships and support systems that help families navigate major life transitions. In an industry increasingly focused on speed and automation, she makes the case for a more human approach.
Related to the episode:
Zeb Lowe’s LinkedIn
https://www.linkedin.com/in/zebulon-lowe-a02353a4/
Simone Kelly's LinkedIn
https://www.linkedin.com/in/seniornicity/
Seniornicity
https://seniornicity.com/services
The Power House podcast brings the biggest names in housing to answer hard-hitting questions about industry trends, operational and growth strategy, and leadership. Join HousingWire’s Zeb Lowe every Thursday morning for candid conversations with industry leaders to learn how they’re differentiating themselves from the competition. Hosted and produced by the HousingWire Content Studio.
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NewsTranscript
00:00Simone Kelly has spent her career at the intersection of mortgage lending, real estate, and senior services.
00:05Her experience has led her to the conclusion that the senior housing bottleneck isn't about reluctance to move.
00:11It's a systems failure.
00:13She's the founder of SeniorNicity, a B2B referral network built to coordinate the fragmented ecosystem around senior transitions.
00:20In this episode, we dig into trapped equity, the reverse mortgage opportunity, and what the industry as a whole needs
00:26to do differently.
00:38All right, Simone, thank you for joining me.
00:40Hi, thank you for having me.
00:42Yes, ma'am.
00:42Okay, so I do want to know or learn a bit about your background and how you got to where
00:48you are now.
00:49But before we jump into all of that, can you share what it is exactly that you're doing right now?
00:56I built a company called SeniorNicity.com, one of two companies, but the major flex for me is SeniorNicity.com.
01:07I had gone through quite a bit with taking care of family members and my previous roles and my other
01:15jobs.
01:15I've seen such a huge fragmentation of the senior service providers, let's say.
01:22And so my goal in SeniorNicity is to bring together, I'm a big, strong believer in networking, and I've done
01:28that throughout my whole career building businesses.
01:31So Building SeniorNicity is basically taking six major providers for seniors and putting them together to make one full transaction
01:42because a senior will use or their family members will use anywhere from three to four of the six primary
01:49provider types for each transaction,
01:51whether they're going to go to an assisted living or need to go to an assisted living or need to
01:57relocate themselves, let's say, to a smaller environment.
02:01And so SeniorNicity is there to build like a B2B.
02:04I think you look at it as like a LinkedIn, right, but for seniors, but also adding a little bit
02:11of Angie's list in there at the same time because the providers are there as a list of providers and
02:16they're all brands.
02:17So when I wanted to get rid of the fragmentation, I wanted to make sure that seniors and family members
02:23had an option for every brand.
02:25So you do have smaller companies that are doing, let's say, senior placement, and they're putting their own network together
02:33with these other five components or seven components of different providers.
02:36But the problem is you're still having one of those components as one brand only.
02:41And so what I thought would be the best is transparency where they can see all of the brands.
02:48They can see all of the individuals that are working in that industry in their local area.
02:53LinkedIn is very nationalized.
02:55Facebook, very nationalized.
02:57You have your groups.
02:58What we're doing is focusing on the localized market.
03:01So it's geomapping when people come in.
03:03And providers are able to follow each other and build teams to help seniors and their families get through whatever
03:10they're going through.
03:11Their main goal, I guess, is what it is.
03:14Right.
03:14So I believe you started your career in the mortgage space and then you moved.
03:19I can't remember the order because it's been, I think it was quite a bit, but you moved into real
03:23estate, escrow,
03:26and then some more transaction coordinating before kind of landing in this senior services industry.
03:32I would say on paper, that's a sprawling journey.
03:36So I'm curious to know if it, did it feel like that along the way?
03:40And how did you realize that all of these worlds were ultimately connected?
03:47So, yes, I started in the lending industry and then built a real estate office and then became a franchisee
03:55of a real estate company called Remax,
03:58which I guess will now be called Real.
04:01And I needed that because I needed the branding.
04:04I knew we were taking too long at listing, so I did that and became a franchisee.
04:08And then I opened my own escrow, TC company, sign company, and then eventually led into Grayson's,
04:15which was the estate sale company I built.
04:17And then I franchised that myself, having the experience of a franchisee.
04:21I knew what I wanted as a franchisee.
04:24I also knew what I didn't want as a franchisee.
04:26So it made it much simpler being a part of like an amazing, and Remax was an amazing experience
04:32when I had that experience to be able to grow my own franchise model.
04:36And then I since sold that, left there at 52 franchises, and then started Seniornicity.
04:43I don't necessarily know if I knew my journey was going this way.
04:47I think a lot of times in life it's happenstance, right?
04:50Like where it just kind of morphs into something.
04:54What I did realize is that my goal in building businesses has always been an ecosystem, right?
05:00Plugging in holes that need to be plugged in, that are left out because the majority are going 90%
05:05to the easy route.
05:07I want to plug in that 10%.
05:09And so building ecosystems around what I'm doing with the, let's say, the first ecosystem I built
05:14was the lending, the real estate, the escrow, the TC, and the signage, right?
05:20And then I built up and then sold those and then built up Graysons, which was starting to build its
05:26own ecosystems.
05:27It was, you know, estate sales, business liquidations.
05:30We were going to add other things, but I didn't know how to move it nationally.
05:35It's funny when you sell, right?
05:38You think, okay, I'm selling for the greater good, which you are.
05:41And then, but then when you learn after you sell what you didn't know, you're like, oh my God, I
05:46wish I wouldn't have sold.
05:46But then you're like, I wouldn't have known those avenues were there if I hadn't sold, right?
05:51And so that was like the defining moment for me was like, I learned that, right?
05:55And then what I realized as growing, my mom had gotten very sick at 55.
06:01She had a major stroke.
06:02We took care of my dad from his whole life because he had diabetes and was just in and out
06:06of heart surgeries.
06:08And, I mean, I've just been around sickness for so long.
06:10And then when my mom got sick, I, you know, it lands on me because my father had passed and
06:16I didn't have any help.
06:17And I was embarrassed.
06:18Like I have built these massive companies and did not know how to navigate something as what was so similar
06:26to me as a sickness.
06:27I didn't know where, I didn't even know what skilled nursing was.
06:31I didn't even know what senior placement was until two years ago.
06:34I didn't know like case managers.
06:36I didn't know PT, OT, all of these things.
06:39So I was just gathering it all on my own and it, and it was, it was to, it was
06:46worthy of the cause, but it did, um, enlighten me to what was missing.
06:51And when I started doing Grayson's, what we noticed in houses is the degradation of the homes, right?
06:58Like they weren't going upstairs.
06:59So the upstairs was getting very degraded to say the least, the piping, the everything, um, and the clothing, the
07:07bugs.
07:07I mean, and they were just using about probably 500 to a thousand square foot of their home.
07:13And so seeing that it's not because the families weren't available.
07:17A lot of times the seniors don't want that help.
07:19They're like, I can do it even though they can't.
07:21They're embarrassed.
07:22Again, you feel that embarrassment of not being able to do it.
07:25So when I built Grayson's, I knew that there was something that needed to be done to assist seniors.
07:32If they wanted to age at home, if they wanted to move to assisted living, how could we combine all
07:37of those needs that they have in a simple transaction with multiple providers?
07:43And that's why the senior listening networking came about.
07:46You wrote an op-ed for us recently that had a really interesting premise and which is, which is one
07:53of the main reasons I wanted to have you on and speak to you on powerhouse.
07:56And that's that the, the senior housing bottleneck, it's not about a reluctance to sell necessarily, which I think is
08:03the, the dominant narrative, I guess, right?
08:07Does that, the scene that seniors have, which is funny in and of itself, because like, whenever you think of
08:13seniors, I've had this conversation with many reverse people, you know, people in the reverse space, because we're, we're going
08:18to be tying this into heckums and helocks.
08:22But for a heckum, you know, to qualify for reverse where you're 62, like, I don't know anybody that's 60,
08:2762 years old that sees themselves as a quote unquote, you know, senior, right?
08:31But the seniors, you know, they have this emotional attachment to their home and that, you know, that leads to
08:39this, you know, reluctance to sell, which is, in that case, it's really difficult, almost impossible to overcome with any
08:45kind of like rational or logical or, or financial argument that's, you know, presented to them.
08:52But like I said, your argument or your premise was not so much that it is this reluctance to sell,
08:57it is a systems problem, which I thought was really interesting.
09:00So can you, can you unpack that for us?
09:03What do you explain the system and, and what's broken in this systems or why this is a systems problem
09:09for the audience?
09:10Like, how did you arrive at that framing and, and why do you think that the mortgage industry specifically has
09:16been kind of slow to recognize it?
09:19Okay, well, my theory is that it's not that they're so attached to their home, right?
09:25They're attached to their independence and their home is a representation of their independence.
09:31So if we are not able to show them as providers that you can still have independence, you don't have
09:37to sit in this big house all by yourself.
09:40And, and that is where I think that fragmentation happens.
09:43Nobody is educating the family members or the seniors that you can still have independence and not live in this
09:50big overburdened home.
09:51And, and that's, and when you talk about, you know, HELOCs and, and reverse mortgages and things like that, those
10:00are great for aging in place.
10:02But again, and it gives them independence and, you know, obviously they're not working.
10:06I mean, so it allows them to have that tax-free benefit of having the reverse mortgages that they are
10:11much better than they were when I was in lending.
10:13They were horrific.
10:15Like, I mean, they were literally made to take the home.
10:18It was nothing that, you know, you borrow 200,000, the lender's going to put 200,000 on top of
10:23that.
10:23Your home now has a $400,000 loan on it and your home is worth 390,000.
10:29Well, you, in six months, you have to refi that or buy it out when your mom passes or moves.
10:35And there's no equity to do that.
10:37No bank's going to loan you money.
10:39So they lose the home.
10:40And that was such a horrible, horrible design of a loan.
10:44It's almost like, you're going in like searing, like you're going after a certain demographic.
10:56And so now the reverse mortgages are so much better and do give people the ability to stay at home.
11:04But is it best for them to stay at home in a larger home?
11:08And I have seen the frustration with the seniors I've worked with in the past where they can't clean their
11:14home as they want to.
11:15That generation of people are very clean.
11:18Like they want their homes clean.
11:19And then what happens is they buy stuff.
11:22People bring stuff over.
11:23They make food.
11:24They don't have the capacity to clean the way they want to.
11:28And so then it just becomes compiling and compiling of stuff in each room.
11:32And so they hide it at first.
11:34They put it in one room and then that room gets full and they put it in another room.
11:37And it just goes on and on.
11:39And now they're just compiled with stuff all on top of them.
11:42And so I don't think that it's about the home.
11:46It's about the fear of losing total independence of themselves.
11:52I mean, there's not a person out there that does.
11:55I mean, there are probably a few that like to just be alone all the time.
11:58But when you're alone all the time, you become somewhat secluded from everything else.
12:03And then there's no growth in that, right?
12:05You become stagnant and you're just waiting for your time, right?
12:08And that's where I think the education that we can provide them, whether it's on seniorness
12:14through the six different avenues or programs that can come out and speak to seniors.
12:19There's a lot of really cool programs out there that people will just come out and be
12:23their friend and they'll start to tell them and talk to them about the different options
12:27they have so that they're not home alone.
12:30And that, I think, is where I came up with, it's not them being like, I'm keeping my house,
12:38it's mine.
12:39It's more my independence.
12:41I'm keeping my independence.
12:43And my house so happens to be what is the, like the figurehead of their independence.
12:50Yeah, it's kind of, I mean, very similar thing to taking away the driver's license,
12:55right, or convincing your parent and your grandparent that they should not be on the
13:01road anymore, right?
13:02Because, I mean, not only the home, but also the vehicle.
13:06That is, that's the quintessential American, you know, encapsulation of freedom and
13:10independence is I can get in my car, my own little world, and I can go wherever I want.
13:14And I remember a conversation that my parents had with my, I grew up with my grandmother.
13:20And, uh, uh, I had some wild rides with her before I had to step in and say, like, no,
13:28you're not, this is not, nobody is safe here.
13:31Um, so that, okay, that's, that's really, uh, interesting.
13:34And, uh, and I, I definitely can see, uh, that you, you already just kind of spoke to
13:39this.
13:40I was going to ask you not, I mean, I think anybody that's taught, anybody that knows
13:43anything about reverse mortgages, the reverse mortgage space.
13:46If you're a semi-educated, you know, that they are not the reverse mortgages of old,
13:51not just the heckums, but some of the proprietary products that are sprung out over the past
13:55several years, but on, um, but not just that, like, if you're inside the industry, you're
14:02well aware of the stigma.
14:04If you're outside of the industry, if you're just average citizen, there is you, the general
14:08stigma is that there is nothing redeemable about a reverse mortgage.
14:11So, and we know why, right?
14:13But what I'm curious to you, uh, about, or to ask you about is like, what do you think
14:17better positioning around a reverse mortgage looks like?
14:21Do you think you, you did mention education?
14:23I mean, I would assume that that is a primary, uh, a primary component, uh, to positioning the
14:29product as something that really is a lifeline to a lot of people.
14:34I mean, if I'm understanding the question correctly, and please, um, uh, bear with me if I get it
14:40wrong, um, what would make, um, what would allow us to see a reverse mortgage prior to
14:48when it's an emergency, I'm assuming, and how could the industry, how could the industry
14:55position the product in a, uh, in a, in a better, in a better light, right?
15:01Because the, the guidelines are there, the underwriting requirements are there for it to
15:05be a viable, you know, safe financial product for consumers, but from a, you know, I don't
15:11want to say from a marketing standpoint, but from a public perception standpoint, how, how
15:15could the mortgage industry, because you're, you have this interesting space where you've
15:18lived, you've walked, you've lived in the mortgage space.
15:22And now where you're at now, you kind of, you're, you're tied into the mortgage world
15:26and tied into the real estate world.
15:27And so you are at this really unique intersection from, so from your perspective, how could the
15:32industry position the product better as a viable, uh, you know, alternative for, uh, for seniors.
15:40I mean, one of the things that I've seen a lot in, uh, in my years tied to the reverse
15:44mortgage space is that a lot of people will, you know, uh, they'll, they'll go out and they
15:48will get a home equity loan or they're going to heal lock before they get a reverse mortgage.
15:52And one of the benefits of reverse mortgages is that you're, you have optional payments,
15:57right?
15:57And so you don't have to be at the end of the day, you do have to pay it back.
16:00It is a, it is a mortgage like anything else, but you get a HELOC or you get a home
16:04equity
16:04loan 30, 60 days, you've got a note.
16:07And if you're, if you are retired and you don't have a steady income stream, you're,
16:12you're, you're, you're, you're really just kind of treading water, right?
16:15As opposed to a reverse that allows you to sustain some sort of either independence or,
16:20or sustain your lifestyle that you had previously.
16:23So how could the industry do a better job at positioning that from your standpoint?
16:28Well, that's super simple.
16:30Um, it's how I built my first business.
16:33I was 29, 30.
16:35It's very easy.
16:36It's networking.
16:37That's what senior in the city is.
16:39The lenders aren't getting in front of the consumer because there's no way for them to
16:43get in front of them.
16:44No.
16:45I mean, there's so many streaming services and television and cable and tech talk and
16:50social media.
16:51And yeah, you can run a bunch of ads, but now it's just a blur.
16:54Everything's just a giant commercial, right?
16:56You're not able to get in front of like when I was in it, like they, you know, they had
17:00started member diet tech and, um, all the big brokerage firms, you know, 5,000 loan reps
17:07and, and they were sending mailers out to everybody.
17:10And it was like a new way of networking into homes for mortgages.
17:14But when it comes to seniors, you have to network.
17:18That's what senior in the city is.
17:19So when you network with that realtor, you have to be introduced to that senior.
17:24You're not going to knock on their door and introduce yourself, but the realtor is right.
17:29The case manager is going to refer over to a skilled nursing.
17:32Who's going to refer over to a caregiver, right?
17:34Once you're done with it.
17:35Okay.
17:36You have to network with that caregiver company because they are in the home, right?
17:40And how are they going to pay for caregiving?
17:42Right.
17:42Oh, well, they need a reverse mortgage to pay for that.
17:46So they can age in place.
17:47So everything is very, very simple around networking and people forget, like that.
17:53I don't know if it's just, uh, an, an ego problem or an uneducated problem or unknown, like they
18:01don't know the process of networking, but networking is no longer, you know, Hey Zab, you're my lender.
18:07I'm going to you for everything it's, Hey Zab, your personality doesn't match this cranky guy.
18:13Like I need to get somebody in there.
18:15That sweet kind of woman that he's just going to not, you know, railroad the entire time they're
18:20there, right.
18:20They're going to be strong.
18:21They're going to be this, whatever, but it's going to be a kind interaction.
18:24So it's no longer Zab, you're my guy and I'm only going to use you.
18:28It's networking with multiple different people within the same industry.
18:32So if you're going to market like with caregivers, right, and you go with the agency and you're
18:38like, Oh, I'm just going to market with visiting angels or comfort care, right?
18:43You're limiting your ability for your clients because seniors are different when it comes
18:47to speed, when it comes to demeanor, um, and who they're willing to work with.
18:52Right.
18:53So you have to have those options in order to network, right?
18:56So you may be as a lender, one option out of 10 options that realtor has because of the
19:02different personalities they need to work with the family members and the seniors.
19:06But networking is the only way you're going to get in that door to explain to them how
19:11they pay for it.
19:12Senior placement, great group to network with if they're going to leave their home, right?
19:17Because they're finding them another place, right?
19:19And supposedly in reverse mortgages, you have to live in the home in order to have that reverse
19:24mortgage.
19:24But no one is like, uh, are you home?
19:27Is it you?
19:27No one's knocking on the door.
19:29I mean, I know that sounds terrible and probably maybe illegal to say, but no one's checking
19:35on that senior and, and, you know, we've got bigger fish to fry than if the senior moved
19:40out and they have a reverse mortgage on it.
19:42Right.
19:43And no, the very simple answer is networking.
19:45The only way a lender can get in there is by networking with multiple people in the multiple
19:50industries that work with seniors and their family members.
19:56Yeah.
19:56And I would say, I think that, uh, you know, a huge part of that too, if you're, there's
19:59been a, as I've seen it in the, in the industry, because, you know, obviously, I mean, this is
20:04a overused phrase, but everybody knows that the industry is, the lending industry specifically
20:09is rapidly evolving.
20:10And there is a bigger and bigger push for, uh, for lenders or for loan originators to
20:17become this all, all things housing, you know, finance facilitator.
20:24So, you know, a purchase, a traditional purchase loan originator, you know, beyond expanding his
20:30portfolio to, you know, non QM products, uh, the ability to tap into the reverse space.
20:37And there is a certain personality element that's involved in that I've seen that myself.
20:42I worked at, uh, I was, uh, did training and origination as well at, at a lender that did
20:47both forward and reverse.
20:48And, um, I was in, I had a foot in, in, uh, in both waters there.
20:53And, uh, I noticed that we had a larger program to bring, which is, it was, it was pretty
20:58far ahead of his time, actually, whenever I was there, because that's something that a
21:01lot of people are trying to do now, bring forward people into the reverse space.
21:03And when you get, you get traditional purchase LOs that are used to, you know, closing in,
21:08you know, 30 days takes too long.
21:11You know, uh, I mean, that is not, that is not the reality of a reverse originator.
21:17And as, as the industry is kind of calling for this more hybridized role, it really does.
21:22It's, it really is not for everyone.
21:24There's a certain personality type that's, that is very, uh, comfortable and actually enjoys
21:28longer conversations over what can be a six month, eight month, nine month year, 18 month,
21:35sometimes period of time.
21:37And, uh, I, I don't know to what extent that is, uh, either advertised or what extent those
21:44expectations are set for, uh, this kind of opening up of the, the hybridization and the,
21:50the modern loan originator to where you can originate all things for all people.
21:54There is a call for it, obviously there's a need for it if you're going to survive moving forward
21:58with the advancements of technology, but AI, but, but it really, it takes a, uh, a certain
22:04kind of person.
22:05And to your point, I do believe that that personality type will easily be the, the network,
22:11obviously is primarily because you'll, but if you're not, if you're not the right person
22:15to fill that role in your community, you will be rooted out by the people who like,
22:19you were talking, you know, like you have like senior care or, uh, uh, senior, senior specialized,
22:24you know, realtors or, or, or agents, like they will be able to, they'll spot, they'll spot you.
22:28They'll spot you really, uh, early on.
22:30When I started my first lending company, I actually had 20 LOs, right. Then they were loan officers.
22:36I mean, they took it from the very beginning conversation all the way through underwriting,
22:41got the conditions done. I mean, we, we actually did the work back then. We didn't just hand it
22:45off right when we got an application. And then I trained those 20, how to be realtors.
22:50And so how we did it was we did lending and then we represented them on the real estate side.
22:56And we gave them 1% of our 3% commission on real estate back to their loans. So they
23:01didn't pay
23:01anything. And, and that was the first kind of, and everybody was like, you can't do that. You know,
23:07it's a, it's a, um, conflict of interest. And I was like, we can do it and we can do
23:12it efficiently.
23:13And we did. Um, but then when I moved into like the Remax space, I tried to train realtors to
23:19do
23:19lending, right? It's a totally different mindset. And that was the first time I learned like,
23:25you know, real estate agents, they're, they're, they're magnificent at what they do. The good ones
23:29are amazing. Um, but if you take them away from doing real estate, they can't function. That's not
23:38their thing. They want to push that aside, move on to the next. One other thing that is a, is,
23:43is
23:45happening in the industry a lot is realtors are now trying to be senior placement people. I mean,
23:51there's flat out lies going on on social media saying, Oh, facilities are now paying realtors
23:57to bring them business, right? Um, they're hiring realtors. Okay. Realtors don't get paid unless they
24:05have a broker's license individually by that facility, right? They have to be paid legally
24:11through their broker. Right. And so there's just so much, and it's actually AI is adding more
24:17fragmentation to our industry than anybody realizes because what people don't realize
24:21senior, we are all moving really fast, whether we're coding faster, we're automating things faster.
24:27We're throwing websites by the millions out there. Um, everything is senior related and you're,
24:32and a senior is like, what's going on in this world? Like, forget it. I don't want anything
24:35to do with this. There's too much happening because the seniors aren't moving faster than
24:40they were before just because AI came and you can code faster or you can market faster.
24:45It doesn't mean the seniors watching you. They're just like, wow, these rats are just running around
24:50like crazy. I'm just minding my own business in my home right now. I don't need all these ads.
24:54They'll pick up a book and read the walk to the park. They're not moving their decisions any faster
24:59because AI is there. And I think what's happening in this society is business owners.
25:05Everybody's trying to move so fast to be the first person in the door, right? I'm the first
25:09person that did this. I'm, and that practicality that leads up to it is getting hurt. And that's how
25:15it's fragmenting us more. So I noticed like over time, the last six months alone, every single company
25:22is like, we are AI, AI, this we AI website. We seniors are like, I'm going to move when I
25:29want to move.
25:29And when I have the right information in front of me, I don't care whether you're AI or not.
25:34It's what decision I want to make that best suits me. Right. And, and that's where I think we're
25:40losing. Now we were gaining foot and now we're losing a lot of it because everybody thinks
25:45everything's moving so fast. Oh, so the seniors must be moving fast. No, they're moving at the
25:50same exact rate. They were moving prior to all of this frenzy happening with, Oh, free senior,
25:56senior. So you've got to jump in there. It's the greatest thing. And I really hope
26:00that it calms down and, and the proper people are in place.
26:05I think, I think you stole my, the answer to the last question that I had for you.
26:12No, no, no, this is perfect. This is my last question that I had for you was what is the
26:17like I said, you sit at this really, you're, you're, you know, this, you know, the housing
26:22industry because you've been like in a little bit in every, in every, uh, world or sector.
26:29And, uh, and now where you sit at this inner, uh, this, this intersection of them, what is the one
26:34message that you would like, you know, the housing industry to kind of like walk away with
26:41from this, you know, this topic? And am I wrong in saying that you just kind of, uh, stated that,
26:47that the seniors are not, they're not moving at the speed of AI and, you know, focus on your education
26:53first. Yes. I apologize. Um, yes, it is. It's like, slow it down. They're not moving faster.
27:03Okay. Give them your time. Um, you know, that's what we used to do like 20 years ago, 30 years
27:09ago,
27:09we were slow. We move slowly to match the personality. Now we're expecting them to move
27:16fast to match our personality. And we have to remember we're providing a service that hundreds
27:21of thousands of other people are providing as well. The one who understands how to relate to
27:26the behavior of seniors and their personalities, because they're all different will be the one
27:31that is successful. And we used to build up like realtors would have farms, right? And they'd walk
27:36their farm. Very few realtors I know now. And, and ones that are the most successful still do
27:41walk their farm and talk. Hey, happy Halloween. Here's this, here's your market share, right?
27:46When somebody wants to age in place, a realtor introduces a caregiver group.
27:52They're supposed to do that, right? They're introducing them to somebody that's going to
27:56help them age in place, right? After they've educated them on, do you really need this big
28:01house? Do you need this? Do you need that? After the seniors, like, no, I really want to stay.
28:05I love my neighbors. We go bingoing or whatever they do every week, right? And like, okay,
28:09let me introduce you to a caregiver group and also a lender. Because if you're going to stay,
28:15you don't want to take all your money out of your bank and become, you know, non-liquid,
28:19let's use a tax-free one, which will benefit you when you utilize that money to pay for your care
28:25or whatever you need and car maintenance, if you're still driving. But that's when that conversation
28:30happens. And that means the realtor is now building a system that is allowing them to have people in
28:38their, what do they say? Like, you know, you have your, your, your customers, right? And they,
28:44and most people want customers gone in 30 days, right? Back then it was like,
28:48you had a whole lane of customers to nine, six, seven months out, eight months out a year,
28:55you were just lining up customers so that you can live in that industry longer. It wasn't this
29:00instantaneous. I need the listing now. Oh, you're not going to give it to me now. Leave. We really
29:05worked with those people and we got to know their families. We had dinners with them. We got to know
29:11the
29:11lenders. The siblings would recommend us because we were so patient. So we were gaining customers
29:18that way. We were gaining customers by neighbors. Cause they're like, we see you over here all the
29:23time. Like, cause you know, they're nosy, right? And we see you over here all the time. What are you
29:27actually doing? Oh, I'm just updating them once about making sure they're okay and providing them
29:32the services they need as they, you know, live in their home. And neighbors will be like,
29:37can you do that for me? Right. And that's where I think we win is when we go back to
29:43the way
29:43of catering to the personality and not expecting them to cater to our fast pace.
29:50Simone, thank you so much. I appreciate you taking the time and hopping on and join us for a bit.
29:55Oh, it's my pleasure.
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