This week on Sunbound Asks we sat down with Ryan Meeks, realtor and owner of Ryan Meeks Escape to Arizona located in Scottsdale, Arizona. We had an amazing time welcoming Ryan to the blog, talking about a wide range of subjects from how Ryan got started in Arizona real estate in the first place, to how he uses his drone to shoot high-quality videos of properties for his clients. If you want to learn more about Ryan and Escape to Arizona, check out his website here or read our interview below.  

‍

Q: How long have you been a realtor?

A: I’m relatively new, but I’ve been involved in real estate for 3-4 years.

Q: How’d you get into real estate?

A: When I moved to Arizona, I’ve been here for five years new, I needed something new. My old business was growing stale and I had been doing it since 2004. It was a little bit unexpected, but I had tried a few different things and eventually fell in with a real estate company. I started doing some social media for them, and after doing that decided “hey, this would be a great opportunity to get my license” and I just kind of fell into it from there. So it definitely wasn’t on purpose, and at first mainly came from helping out that real estate company. 

Q: What’s your favorite part about being a realtor?

A: I really enjoy Arizona, it’s just such a great place to be, and that’s the reason why we moved here from Illinois. What I really love doing is showing off the different communities in Arizona and educating people about what Arizona is all about. I really just love helping people purchase homes here. I work primarily with buyers, so it’s fun to see someone and relate to them, since so many people are moving to Arizona from out of state like I did (particularly from California). We have people coming from places where they never see the sun, to living in a place where they see the sun every day. It’s great hearing about people’s trials and tribulations and then learning about how much they love living in Arizona. I’ve never met someone who didn’t like Arizona and didn’t enjoy themselves here.

Q: What’s your favorite memory as a realtor?

A: One that I think about a lot is getting my first sale as a real estate agent. You have to hustle in this business, nothing is really given to you. Some people think when they become a realtor they’re going to work with a team that’s just going to be putting money in their pocket, but it’s a lot of individual work. When you start a business you have to do everything like develop it and market it, so that first deal feels really amazing. It was from an open house, I did both a sale and a purchase, and it was awesome seeing that a lot of work had paid off.

Q: What’s your most unconventional real estate tip or trick?

A: One thing I do is I have a YouTube channel - everyone’s on the YouTube train these days and I don’t blame them it’s great content – and one thing I’ll do if a client isn’t here is fly my drone around to give them an amazing view of the property. Once I had a gentleman looking to buy some land in a community, and I was able to take my drone and, after using Adobe After Effects and some other programs, I was able to make him a video showing the lay of the land with plot lines added and everything. I love being able to give people a taste of the community without them having to hop on a plane and get down here. It’s particularly helpful if a property just pops up. I really try to do a lot of content with video. 

Q: What real estate practices do you use most in your own life?

A: I think it’s really important to always remember that your home is an investment, and you should think about it like any other part of your assets and liabilities. Because I work alongside lenders so much, I see this aspect of home ownership a lot and it’s something that’s really stood out to me since becoming a realtor. So it’s important to just stay grounded, and carefully consider all your assets and liabilities when you’re thinking about a home purchase.  

Q: What’s your favorite new real estate trend?

A: One trend that I really like, which is one thing that Sunbound is providing, is all the communities that home builders are making. There’s always been master-planned communities, but they’re always taking them to the next level in terms of quality and amenities. There are communities with full lakes you can canoe in! It’s really amazing how high-quality so many communities’ amenities are.

Q: What’s one thing you wish more people knew about Arizona real estate?

A: It’s what we were just talking about, but I don’t think people realize how great the amenities are at all these new communities. A client of mine just closed on a home in Western San Tan Valley. They had seen one of my videos and they were going to move to Idaho but didn’t because they didn’t realize that Arizona had so much to offer. So I wish everyone knew about the amenities at all the communities. But even if you can’t afford a community where homes can cost anywhere from $400,000 to over one million, there are some really amazing manufactured home communities, in a place like Sun Lakes for example, where you can get some really great options. There are a ton of amazing opportunities to make it down to Arizona even if you aren’t wealthy! I also wish people knew that there’s more than one climate in Arizona. If you don’t love it in the Valley, you might love it up in the mountains in a town like Prescott. There really is every type of climate here.

Q: If you weren’t in real estate what else would you be doing?

A: I’m an entrepreneur at heart. I’ve never really worked for someone in 20 years, so I would definitely be my own boss. What that would be I couldn’t tell you, but something entrepreneurial. Maybe videography, I do enjoy making videos so I’d probably say I’d be a professional YouTuber with a million subscribers. 

Q: What real estate resources would you suggest for our readers?

A: As far as resources go I would look up some YouTube content if you’re looking in Arizona. It’s always good to get a few different perspectives on anywhere you’re moving, and there are some great YouTube channels that show communities and everything. And even if you aren’t moving to Arizona, you can find some great YouTube content from any state. But if you’re looking for great content about Arizona, you can always reach out to me! I’m always happy to shoot a video for someone looking to learn more. 

‍

Sunbound is the best way to pay for senior living. If you want to learn more about how Sunbound can help make senior living more affordable for residents and easier to manage for communities, email us at info@sunboundhomes.com or request a demo here. Sunbound is on a mission to make senior living more affordable for everyone.