Speaker 1: 0:30

My name is Brian Sumardi. I work in finance, on the mortgage side residential. My background in the Marine Corps has shaped my business, or businesses, a lot. My last name is Sumardi, so they called me Sumo for short. I ran a personal training business in the past and that was called Sumo Lifts and that was called Sumo Lifts. My background from powerlifting the Marine Corps taught me, helped me become a state record holder just because I didn't know what powerlifting was at that time. And from there I kind of just branched and branded the name Sumo. But now I help veterans get into homes, invest in properties. It's like what's your story behind getting into the? This won't be shorter than 15 minutes.

Speaker 2: 1:19

I can tell you that.

Speaker 1: 1:21

I'm ready. It depends how far you want to go back If we do a TLDR. I was running my personal training business around 2019. Covid shut me down because I couldn't see my clients. I was very hands-on with my clients. My cousin happened to be the office manager of a mortgage company. She helped me get in during the pandemic, which when rates were at the all-time low, and I just had a great time. And here I am, five years later.

Speaker 2: 1:51

Well, you're still here.

Speaker 1: 1:52

It's not the COVID days, but yeah, I feel like I've used my background in fitness and being personal with people, incorporated with my mortgage business, and that's how I think I've developed my reputation.

Speaker 2: 2:07

That's awesome Stumo.

Speaker 1: 2:09

Thank you.

Speaker 2: 2:10

You served six years in the Marine Corps. How did that experience shape your perspective on finances, discipline and helping people achieve home ownership?

Speaker 1: 2:18

It was everything. While I was in the Marine Corps, I was in the Marine Corps Reserves. So another reason why I joined the Marine Corps was because I went the Reserve route. I knew I always wanted to be in fitness or I always wanted to be an athlete originally, but I'm about 5'3" 5'4".

Speaker 2: 2:34

What sport?

Speaker 1: 2:38

Well, to be anything, I just wanted to be an athlete, like when you were younger, you just wanted the fame and like the money and whatnot. But then it was just like the discipline I always love. Like. I love the like. In high school I did track, I did basketball, I did football and volleyball my senior year. So I was always just very athletic. But I love the team aspect of things and with the Marine Corps it allowed me to expand on that, like understanding teamwork and now with leadership and accountability. So I got yelled at. If you can imagine any military movie someone's yelling at you, spitting at your face you just understand grit and with that you understand the ups and downs of businesses.

Speaker 2: 3:17

So good training for being a successful business owner is.

Speaker 1: 3:21

Tough skin. Sometimes it's easy, sometimes it's hard, but you just got to ride through the ups and downs.

Speaker 2: 3:28

Speaking of which, you bought your first home at 28 using a VA loan, correct? What did that experience teach you that you can now pass on to other veterans looking to buy their first home?

Speaker 1: 3:37

Financial, financial budgeting and financial management, I think the biggest thing in the Marine Corps. They don't necessarily do teach you, but there are a lot of benefits that you should be aware of, the VA loan being one of them. I was just lucky to have a lot of seniors above me in the Marine Corps as well as outside the Marine Corps, teaching me or introducing me to bigger pockets, learning about real estate investing, and other seniors in the military who just told me to be smart with my money. I mean you hear that all throughout life. Parents or just elders just like save your money, be smart, but they don't tell you how to be smart, and how I like to shape my business is by telling them what to do.

Speaker 2: 4:20

We need that. We need, like a blueprint, a guide, because otherwise it's hard to.

Speaker 1: 4:24

I mean, if you want to simple it down and just spend less than you earn, it's kind of hard to lose weight.

Speaker 2: 4:29

You know like eat less, work out more, but yeah, but the answer is there.

Speaker 1: 4:36

The hard part is resisting temptations. That's the biggest thing, and I can't tell everyone what to do. I got out of the Marine Corps in 2018 and there were some hard times for me emotionally. I did go to therapy and that helped me also shape my mentality.

Speaker 2: 4:52

Yeah, I'm sure that was hard right.

Speaker 1: 4:53

Yeah.

Speaker 2: 4:54

It's a change. What are some of the biggest myths or misconceptions about VA loans that you wish every veteran knew?

Speaker 1: 5:00

You can use it multiple times. I think that's the first one. Use it to your advantage. Think long game. The VA loan helps you get rid of PMI, so private mortgage insurance. That's probably saving you at least $100, $200 a month. That adds up. You can put zero down. So generally right now, if I'm ballparking it, you can get into a home with $10,000 to $20,000. No-transcript.

Speaker 2: 5:39

Oh, I didn't know the PMI thing. There you go For first-time homebuyers in today's tough market. What are the top three mistakes they make and how do you guide them through that stressful time?

Speaker 1: 5:53

Say that one more time.

Speaker 2: 5:54

In today for first-time homebuyers in today's tough market, so not just for VA people. What are the top three mistakes that you see them making and how do you guide them through that stress?

Speaker 1: 6:06

Top three mistakes. I wouldn't say it's mistakes, it's just mentality. Understand why you want to get into a home. Understand your personal monthly and annual budget. What can you afford consistently. And understand compounding. If you study finance they say like the eighth one of the world is compounding. It's like always, I hear. I always can make this kind of saying too. Where would you rather have a dollar every day or 1% gain from a penny? If you wait long enough, that 1% compounding over time will destroy that $1 a day.

Speaker 2: 6:49

How does that apply to somebody who's buying a home?

Speaker 1: 6:53

Real estate. So another thing, that for everyone that thinks that the market's going to crash, I personally believe real estate just hedges inflation. I think in our market 3% to 5% appreciation is very normal and the natural or the average inflation rate is about 3%. So by you investing your money and you getting a loan against property or real estate in the area, you are just fighting inflation. You put it into your savings account. Even a high-yield savings account is roughly about 4% right now. That's doing it just because inflation is high right now, but once things get better, usually high-yield savings account is like 2%. So you're still losing money over time by saving it.

Speaker 2: 7:36

Isn't that crazy.

Speaker 1: 7:38

Compounding.

Speaker 2: 7:40

You're known for making complex mortgage terms visual and simple. Can you give an example of how you've turned something intimidating into something that clients actually get?

Speaker 1: 7:51

I'm a spreadsheet nerd. My first interaction with a client is generally doing the application and then afterwards we do a video call, if they can't meet me in person, and I kind of go through my spreadsheets. It's like, hey, what would you like your monthly payment to be? Then I will. It's like what area do you want to be in? We'll look up property taxes. We'll look up average homeowner's insurance. We'll break it down. And I think I always want to. I always like to bring up analogies Like there's nothing to fear but fear itself. So what you don't know is what you fear. But once you understand something, then it's nothing to be scared about.

Speaker 2: 8:26

That's so true. That is so true. What's your philosophy on building trust with clients that may feel overwhelmed or intimidated by the whole mortgage process?

Speaker 1: 8:37

I personally like to attract people who are like me.

Speaker 2: 8:43

Who like spreadsheets and.

Speaker 1: 8:46

People who like spreadsheets Sports.

Speaker 1: 8:47

People who like sports people who like fitness, because it's a lot easier to create these analogies. If you can't relate to me, I may not be the loan officer for you. You have to trust me. I have to trust you that you're giving me all the right information, you're giving me the right documents, and you have to trust me with your vulnerabilities. I like to bring up dating analogies as well. I've been with my girlfriend for a year now, but then one of the biggest things that I like to do is like set expectations in the beginning Also something I learned from the Marine Corps and one of the most vulnerable things is showing someone your credit card bill or your statement.

Speaker 2: 9:22

Did you do that at the beginning with her?

Speaker 1: 9:25

Wasn't in the beginning. I would say, maybe in the first three months, because, like it kind of gives you like, hey, I showed her mine first, yeah, just to be vulnerable. Like hey, I spend my money on food, clothes and technology like my camera gear. That's plain and simple. That's me to a T.

Speaker 2: 9:45

I need a budget line item for these three things.

Speaker 1: 9:47

Yeah, If I have excess money, it's going to one of those three things. So let me know what you? What do you care about?

Speaker 2: 9:55

Yeah.

Speaker 1: 9:58

So if you can see something it's almost for me too, and I look up people's bank statements you kind yeah their money, and then it kind of tells you in the future how well they will manage their real estate or investments.

Speaker 2: 10:24

That's a good point. Renovation loans are a tool most buyers overlook. Can you tell me? How do they work? What are the surprising ways they can change the game for buyers in this market?

Speaker 1: 10:36

In this market. It's interesting, but it takes a lot of grit, I would have to say so. Fha 203k is a great way to get into a renovation loan. You can, as long as the HUD consultant approves of what you want. It usually is all cosmetic, like if you want to renovate your kitchen prior to buying and combining it with the home loan. It's possible. So putting down three and a half percent. And then we've had a time last year someone bought a home this is a higher range, maybe like an 800,000s, or actually they bought it $600,000. They did about $80,000 of renovation but after all the renovations were done the home was valued over $800,000.

Speaker 2: 11:26

Oh, wow.

Speaker 1: 11:26

But the loan is still that $680,000.

Speaker 2: 11:32

How much did they borrow?

Speaker 1: 11:33

So $600,000 for the home. Okay $80,000 for the renovation, so $680,000 for the renovation, so $680,000. Got it. But then, after valuation, after the work was completed, the home was valued at over $800,000.

Speaker 2: 11:45

So they made that money. That's awesome.

Speaker 1: 11:46

So it's just getting a discount for putting in the work. But the issues that I find in the DC market most sellers want a quick and easy turnaround time when it comes to selling their home, so getting the offer accepted is difficult. And then most people want a turnkey home. They don't want to live in a renovation zone. So it takes a lot of grit, but if you're willing to do it it's worth it.

Speaker 2: 12:13

Yeah, that's smart. I didn't even know that existed.

Speaker 1: 12:15

Look at me learning all these things today, what's your?

Speaker 1: 12:26

process to make sure that every client feels educated, not just approved for the loan, by the end of the time that they're working with you. I have to gauge on how vulnerable they're willing to be with me If they're willing to tell me Brian, help me budget, brian, help me stay within my monthly limit. Most of my clients are. I'll rewind it. I don't really hang out with other loan officers until recently and the more I hear their problems, the more I want to yell at them for not setting expectations beforehand. I want to yell at them for not setting expectations beforehand, like some people. They say I don't know. These are some of the people that I meet through like networking events and just like I overhear what they say.

Speaker 1: 13:10

If their clients are trying to buy a home $50,000, $100,000 above what they get approved for, $50,000, $100,000 above what they get approved for is usually a situation of the monthly payments don't make sense to them at the end. But then at the end they're just like oh, I still wanted X amount of home, but for $2,500, $3,000. But then for the home that they want it'll be $5,000 for monthly payment. These are numbers that are just on the top of my head. It's like if you're not comfortable with this, don't look at that. So that's why I really do the spreadsheets and I show them homes like, hey, this is what you can afford, this is your range. If you want more home, you got to bring in more money. And then that's when reality kicks in those expectations that you're setting.

Speaker 1: 13:58

Exactly so know your limits, know your boundaries. In the Marine Corps we do a lot of firearm training.

Speaker 2: 14:08

One of your safety rules is know your target, know what lies beyond you. Apply that too.

Speaker 1: 14:12

Exactly.

Speaker 2: 14:14

You've closed over 200 loans in the DC metro area. Is that correct number?

Speaker 1: 14:18

Yes.

Speaker 2: 14:19

Okay, what have you learned about this market specifically? That's different from other places?

Speaker 1: 14:24

So those 200 loans were probably all throughout the US. In our current market we're very competitive. I've lived in San Diego, I lived in Seattle, I live in New York, I live in Florida. We're very competitive here.

Speaker 2: 14:40

What do you mean by that?

Speaker 1: 14:41

If you hang out in DC because of my military background I've worked in DC you kind of understand everything is very political, very status-driven, money-driven and you see that when it comes to negotiations it's everyone's bottom line on the line and the only way to win is to have a win-win situation. So here versus anywhere else I've been or lived or worked in is not the same everywhere else. Maybe an LA, a New York? Those are the main three states that I feel like. Maybe an LA, a New York. Those are the main three states that I feel like, or like cities that really compare to the DC metro area.

Speaker 2: 15:26

You mean like people don't play around here.

Speaker 1: 15:30

Give me your. It's a lot of smoke and mirrors.

Speaker 2: 15:33

Oh, so people do play around here.

Speaker 1: 15:35

They do. They play with the status game, but at the same time the agents are still their agents and the client is the client and you have to kind of play the game the way it is. So you have to understand how to maneuver in this area where it can be dangerous, or just to get your deal done.

Speaker 2: 15:54

Yeah.

Speaker 1: 15:55

But if you set expectations beforehand, I feel like a lot of people have been in business here. A lot of people have been in their industries for over a decade, so they understand the ins and outs of the industry and the business. So there's no reason for you not to be honest in the beginning.

Speaker 2: 16:15

Yeah.

Speaker 1: 16:16

So if you say my client can be approved for this, I've verified income, I've verified statements, I've verified like, okay, cool, just say it how it is, don't BS. You're good to go, but you'll find a lot of people who do that.

Speaker 2: 16:32

They know how to work the system. Try to at least. What kind of culture do you aim to build with your team and referral partners, and how does your military background influence that?

Speaker 1: 16:43

Interests I like to. I really like a family aspect. I think I've told my girlfriend and maybe I've never said this publicly, but it's like I have strangers. I have best friends. Okay, I feel like I'm missing one.

Speaker 2: 17:03

Enemies.

Speaker 1: 17:04

I guess there's enemies too. I guess it was three. So it's either the way I strategize or categorize my people in my life strangers, best friends or it's my wife, like my wife is my wife. And then, like I treat everyone kind of the same in regards to if I meet you in person, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt You're going to hear everything that I would say to anybody else and then you're a stranger. If we don't stay connected, like I might meet you once or twice, let me like that's an acquaintance, but if we don't keep connected, then I like to. I have a lot of my friends who I don't see. Even like my closest friends. We don't see each other, maybe like once a month, if that, and. But every time we do see each other we just pick up from where we left off. There's no such thing as like where you been, like I know what you're doing, you know what I'm doing. We're working, we're building our future together. We're all we all kind of aligned to the same goals.

Speaker 2: 18:00

Yeah, no drama.

Speaker 1: 18:02

Yeah, so same thing with my realtor partners, with my clients. I always say you can always reach me, I'm a phone call away. I may not pick up the phone immediately, but I'll get back to you.

Speaker 2: 18:12

Yeah, no, that's good. And then I'm sure you also, within your culture and your fellow partners, you have those expectations too right. Yeah, you have those expectations too right. It sounds like that kind of follows one of your values. How do you balance the seriousness of financial decisions with keeping the process approachable, even fun, for your clients and your team?

Speaker 1: 18:34

That's a tough one. I don't know, I don't think there is. For me it's fun.

Speaker 2: 18:41

For me it's fun Spreadsheets and analogies.

Speaker 1: 18:43

Yeah, spreadsheetsies telling stories. This is success stories. If you want to be successful, then follow suit.

Speaker 2: 18:51

Yeah, and I think you're super passionate about what you do At least it feels that way and that is fun To be able to make money on a renovation loan. That's where the fun comes in.

Speaker 1: 19:04

Yeah, personally I think I'm very introverted. If you ask any of my close friends, if you put me, ask my branch manager, you put me in a networking event. I would be the guy just sitting at the bar. I could just drink a liquid death, drink many water. I don't really drink much, or I drink, have my meal, and unless we have a connection already, a similar interest, I'll stay quiet.

Speaker 2: 19:27

I'll watch you like to people watch?

Speaker 1: 19:30

I don't like to, but I have to judge the situation before your military reconnaissance.

Speaker 2: 19:37

Is that what it's called? Yeah, maybe, yeah thinking up on the intel what can we?

Speaker 1: 19:44

yeah, like because you know there's a lot of times where you meet someone and you kind of just know yeah, this is not going to go anywhere.

Speaker 2: 19:52

Yeah I'm the same way. I like to kind of sit in the corner. I'm always like find I'll find where the food's at and sit there and quietly assess the situation and figure out who's safe, who to stay away from. What's this what? What is okay to say? What should I keep my mouth closed about?

Speaker 1: 20:06

yeah, I feel like military background or I think it's just social norms now, where you're just like, all right, these people are really gossipy. I'm not into that so I'm going to steer away. Or if someone's talking, I don't know if I hear like a military background, I'm like, hey, you're a service member.

Speaker 2: 20:24

Well, yeah, and then for some reason, any service member, you're just someone's talking. I don't know if I hear like a military background.

Speaker 1: 20:25

I'm like, hey, your ears perk up you a service member Like yeah, and then for some reason, any service member, you're just like hey, I was a Marine, you were Army. Then we'll talk shit to each other, but it's all love, family, yeah, whether they're brothers or cousins, you know.

Speaker 2: 20:48

You'll find out in a minute. Yeah, because you know. And in the military, it's like we all, we're all the same shade of green. Yeah, or we're just different shades of green. That's what we said. Yeah, we're all green, just different shades, right, yeah, so you also run sumo media. So where that's something where you're blending storytelling and branding with your finance career, how does your creative side make you a better loan officer, and vice versa?

Speaker 1: 21:05

I think marketing I would say mainly marketing, because it helps me find the right people that I want to work with um, not necessarily right people, but people who are prepared. I feel like I find a lot of people who reach out to me via social media. They've they're almost like ghost followers. They're like oh, I've been watching you for years and I'm like, but I've never seen you comment or anything. But now that I talk to them and do the consultation, now they're willing to be vulnerable with me. It's like I learned a lot from you, and from there it just snowballs into a deal. Tell me a little bit about Sumo Media.

Speaker 2: 21:41

We talked about it before we started, but what is it?

Speaker 1: 21:44

It was more of a side quest. To be honest, it was a side quest. My buddy and I, I think towards the end of my military career, he and I would always venture he was a cross-country guy. I just enjoyed meeting people. We would go to business, to business. We would like hang out, we would walk places, then we'd end up sitting down at a coffee shop or a local restaurant, small business, and then we're like, oh, this is a really good pastry, this is a really good bacon, egg and cheese, and then we would just take pictures on our phones.

Speaker 1: 22:18

He was like a wedding photographer, videographer guy. So he kind of got me into um camera gear. My first camera was a canon t5i and I got off of like facebook marketplace for like 200 with a couple lenses. So that was like my first big move into media and then from there I learned a lot of youtube, uh, university, uh, potato jet. Um, there was another guy, peter Hong, or Jason Fong. Jason Fong, those are like my main two creators that I learned a lot from media side. I think I love portraits personally just because I feel like with fashion, me personally, that I love, sometimes a story can just be an image and you can let. I think this is probably another dating analogy, but there's something sexy of just visualizing something, or just what's the word like, leaving the unknown to your imagination.

Speaker 2: 23:23

Yeah.

Speaker 1: 23:24

So when you just take a photo, there's like no caption. You just look at it, look at the subject. If the photographer is really good, you can imagine like what were they thinking on this? And then you can always imagine what the model is thinking or the subject, whether it's a can of soda or actual person. You can just tell like wow, or like you know, when you take a food photography, like yo, that cake looks delicious and it's just from a photo with the right lighting.

Speaker 2: 23:51

Yeah, that's the storyteller in you. So, outside of loans and numbers, you're into powerlifting motorcycles, dmv food spots. How do these passions connect with?

Speaker 1: 24:05

the way that you show up for your community and your clients. I'm a big Tim Ferriss fan four-hour work week but one thing I learned from him was create evergreen content and, I think, the beginning of my business careers. I've always tried to relate to people because I feel like I was very tunnel vision and I was like what could people, what do most people like? Food, fitness and then finances. I think that's my main three and then I kind of just dug deep into all three. Whether it was in the military, fitness was a major thing to stay mission ready. Food I always loved, growing up in Wheaton, maryland. I'm Indonesian, I grew up with a lot of Hispanics, salvadorians, mexicans, and I always get invited to the cookouts, all the delicious food, the carne asada.

Speaker 1: 24:55

So the pupusas and you just learn different things, different cultures and how they act, and then it just helps you be a more well-versed person. One other thing in the military background, the reason why I became so. The job title is 0313 LAV Crewman, infantryman. But the only reason why I took that job was because they told me I was going to go to my secondary school in San Diego. Like my other options was Georgia or Oklahoma. I was like San Diego. I'm just a like a 19 year old kid from Wheaton that never really been anywhere else. I'm like I want to go to California. I heard great things about San Diego. I get to get paid to go there, done deal and um, yeah, I just. I just always found opportunities when things were presented to me Advantage of those opportunities which you didn't let them pass you up.

Speaker 2: 25:50

If you could give one piece of advice to young professionals in the DC area about building financial independence, what would it be and how can they start that today?

Speaker 1: 26:00

Get your, get it out of you in regards to whatever you want to do. I feel like a lot of people in the DC area are transient, or I call them transplants. They're not actually from here. They come from different areas where they could be from Indiana or somewhere a smaller town and you get exposed to higher paying jobs. You get exposed to a melting pot of cultures and people, and I personally, when growing up, I love New York, so I feel like we're like a New York junior and, with the commercial real estate and the commercial businesses that I do know of, New York is coming here. Get it out. Get it out when you're young. Explore.

Speaker 1: 26:49

I didn't experience all the things that I've experienced by playing it safe. I explored my interests. I used YouTube to follow my interests. I got out of bad situations by getting on YouTube and finding the people that I wanted to look up to and, slowly but surely, I found a way to get to where I wanted to be. But just follow your interests. Focus on yourself. And here's my girlfriend and my mom say this to me now. My girlfriend always said if you be nice and be friendly, everything will be all right.

Speaker 2: 27:29

And your mom used to say that also.

Speaker 1: 27:30

Well no, my mom said that first, and then I told my girlfriend, that's what my mom said. Now she tells me that every morning.

Speaker 2: 27:36

You're like thank you, sweetheart, and you did that reminder.

Speaker 1: 27:40

Yeah, it's patience. Be friendly and be kind. Yeah, be nice to everyone.

Speaker 2: 27:46

Seems to pay off, huh.

Speaker 1: 27:47

I think so Because, like no one likes to be around like a sour, sad person, so just be nice, Like it doesn't hurt to be nice.

Speaker 2: 27:58

Yeah, sounds simple enough.

Speaker 1: 28:01

Sometimes life is simple. Most of the time, I think it is we overcomplicate it. Exactly, jinx.

Speaker 2: 28:05

Sometimes life is simple, most of the time I think it is we over complicate it exactly jinx is there anything that we want that you want to share with our listeners that I haven't touched on?

Speaker 1: 28:14

I have a home buyer seminar. This thursday might be too soon, they might not see this in time. It's today, tuesday, yeah do you have it?

Speaker 2: 28:21

does it repeat often or is it just at one time?

Speaker 1: 28:23

We try to have an in-person event or at least a webinar quarterly.

Speaker 2: 28:29

How do people find out about the next one, just in case they miss this one.

Speaker 1: 28:34

You follow me. I try to blast it everywhere. We're LinkedIn, facebook, instagram threads.

Speaker 2: 28:40

The best place to find you or name one of them that you went.

Speaker 1: 28:44

I would say the most content. I try to meet people where they are, whether it's Instagram, linkedin. I feel like I get the most results there, or maybe Facebook, what's?

Speaker 2: 28:56

your handle.

Speaker 1: 28:59

Instagram should be Brian C Morty Finance. Everything else should be if you type in Brian C, if you Google me, brian C Morty AI, you'll find me.

Speaker 2: 29:06

Yeah, yeah, yeah, we'll link it into the show notes. Appreciate it. Thank you so much for being here today, sharing some of your story and your knowledge too. I learned a few things myself.

Speaker 1: 29:18

Thank you. Thank you for having me, of course.