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What if your best business partner is also your spouse—and your toughest boss? We share how two teachers packed a U-Haul, chased a bigger life in Texas, and transformed a side hustle into a top-producing real estate brokerage without losing the plot at home. The path wasn’t linear: a 2008 licensing sprint, early Zillow experiments, a move to San Antonio with a small sphere, and mentors who cared as much about margins and jeans as they did about GCI. Along the way, a premature birth at 27 weeks forced a reset that changed everything. Erin stepped out of the classroom, mastered the back office, and turned scattered spreadsheets into systems, client parties into community, and chaos into four times the profitability.

We talk real tactics—open houses that still work, bank-branch prospecting, positioning that fits both luxury listings and first-time buyers, and the small branding choices that make clients feel safe. We pull back the curtain on launching a brokerage: when to leave the big split, how to price your time, and why clean accounting is a growth engine, not a chore. Then we go deeper: rules for couples who work together, like resolving conflict the same day, setting lanes for sales and operations, and remembering the first job is family. You’ll hear how a CASA toy-drive holiday party grew to hundreds at The Rock, why community beats cold ads, and how to find mentors who save you years by telling you the inconvenient truth.

If you’re a realtor, loan officer, or small-business owner wondering when to jump, this story offers a clear blueprint: stop waiting for perfect, ship the work, and iterate in public. Subscribe for more real estate strategy, business systems, and honest conversations about building a life and a company you’re proud of. If this resonated, share it with someone you’d trust as a business partner—and a life partner.

#KeyFactorsPodcast #RealEstateAF #CesarAmezcua #ErinAmezcua #RealEstateJourney #CouplesInBusiness #ImmigrantStory #BrokerLife #NICUSurvivor #FamilyFirst #LoanBot #TexasRealEstate


2:27 – Meet Cesar & Erin
3:16 – Cesar’s journey from Mexico to college in Texas
5:07 – Erin’s military upbringing & family sacrifice
8:10 – The hilarious story of how they met
16:01 – The ultimatum that led to their move to Garland
19:55 – Becoming a bilingual teacher on an H-1B visa
27:23 – Both get real estate licenses in Dallas
30:04 – Why they left it all to move to San Antonio
33:53 – From PO Box in Helotes to full-time real estate
43:02 – Launching their own brokerage in 2013
46:07 – Premature birth changes everything
49:10 – Erin joins the business—and makes it 400% more profitable
54:01 – Advice for couples working together in real estate

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Key Factors Podcast is Powered by LoanBot.com
Host: Mark Jones | Sr. Loan Officer | NMLS# 513437
If you would like to work with Mark on your next home purchase or as a partner visit iThink Mortgage.

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A wedding coordinator turned realtor who almost quit ends up selling 30+ homes her first year and doubling down on the one tactic most agents avoid: telling the truth. Meet Melissa Royale, a San Antonio agent who built a resilient business on systems, mentorship, and real conversations about budget, tradeoffs, and timing.

We dig into the inflection points that changed everything: splitting from family partners, leaving a bad fit, and finding a mentor who replaced guesswork with accountability. Melissa breaks down the exact toolkit that saved her sanity—Google Calendar time blocks, Tasks for daily execution, a CRM that keeps seven-month leads warm, and a live checklist that flags deadlines in red. The result is a calm brain and a steady pipeline, even with multiple pendings in a tight, incentive-heavy market.

If you’re wrestling with affordability, builder concessions, or the post-NAR settlement noise, this conversation offers spine and strategy. Melissa explains how to write offers that win, why she negotiates compensation inside the contract, and when she refuses listings that won’t sell. She sets expectations with buyers early—choose your compromise: location, size, age, or upgrades—and warns short-term owners about competing with builders on resale. For new agents, her advice is direct: know your personality, pick the right environment, and get organized fast. For buyers, it’s simple: start where you are, build equity, and let your next home fund itself.

Real estate doesn’t reward perfect conditions. It rewards clarity, consistency, and courage. Tap play to learn how Melissa turned hard lessons into a durable playbook you can use today. If this helped you think sharper about buying or selling, subscribe, share with a friend, and leave a review with your biggest takeaway—we read every one.

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Key Factors Podcast is Powered by LoanBot.com
Host: Mark Jones | Sr. Loan Officer | NMLS# 513437
If you would like to work with Mark on your next home purchase or as a partner visit iThink Mortgage.

Send us a text

Everyone’s sharing hot takes on the 50-year mortgage, but most people miss the real question: does it help you buy smarter, or just slower? We sit down with San Antonio experts Robert Elder and Stephanie Paxton to unpack affordability beyond the headline rate, run the equity math on 30-year vs 50-year scenarios, and reveal why taxes, insurance, and maintenance now drive the monthly payment more than anything else.

We get brutally honest about new construction. Builder buy-downs and flashy incentives can be seductive, but the true cost is often buried in the price—and appreciation can lag for years in areas with abundant land and endless new phases. We contrast that with landlocked neighborhoods where limited supply supports stronger resale dynamics. We also break down buyer expectations that hold people back: choosing staging over structure, refusing longer commutes that transplants accept, and chasing “move-in ready” at the expense of long-term value. If you’re weighing a first home, a move-up purchase, or a possible rental conversion, this conversation will sharpen your strategy.

We close with where the deals actually are. Year-end inventory homes can be negotiated hard across all price tiers, while select resale properties offer meaningful price cuts. The playbook: model your total payment with taxes and insurance, stress-test your five- to ten-year plan, and consider the 50-year loan as a tactical bridge with a refinance path—not a forever decision. Local data beats national headlines every time. If you’re ready to run your numbers and build a plan that fits your life, tap follow, share this with a friend who’s shopping, and leave a quick review to tell us what you want covered next.

Support the show

Key Factors Podcast is Powered by LoanBot.com
Host: Mark Jones | Sr. Loan Officer | NMLS# 513437
If you would like to work with Mark on your next home purchase or as a partner visit iThink Mortgage.