If you're looking to save time and simplify your day, automations can help. Whether you're using an iPhone or Android, these small changes can reduce repetitive tasks and make your routine feel a whole lot smoother. For iPhone Users: Automate Everyday Tasks with Shortcuts Apple’s Shortcuts app lets you create automations based on time, location, or what your device is doing—basically, your phone can handle the little stuff for you. Here are some ideas to try: - Morning Report: When you stop your morning alarm, get an automatic summary of your calendar, weather, and reminders. - Meeting Mode: When a scheduled meeting starts, your phone can switch on Do Not Disturb, send a quick “in a meeting” message, and open your notes app. - Location Reminders: Get a prompt to grab groceries as soon as you arrive at your usual store. - Battery Saver: When your phone drops below 20%, it can turn on Low Power Mode automatically. - Wi-Fi Data Saver: When you connect to your home Wi-Fi, your phone can switch off mobile data to help save your plan. How to Set It Up on iPhone: 1. Open the Shortcuts app. 2. Tap the Automation tab at the bottom. 3. Tap Create Personal Automation. 4. Choose your trigger—like “Time of Day,” “Arrive,” or “Battery Level.” 5. Add the actions you want it to perform—like sending a message, setting Do Not Disturb, or opening an app. 6. Tap Next, review it, and then tap Done. 7. If you want it to run without asking you first, turn off “Ask Before Running.” For Android Users: Use Google Assistant or Tasker Android users can do the same with Google Assistant Routines or the Tasker app, which offers even more customization. Here are a few ideas: - Morning Routine: At a set time, your phone can read out your calendar, tell you the weather and traffic, and play your favorite podcast. - Location-Based Actions: Automatically turn on Wi-Fi when you arrive home or put your phone on silent at work. - Battery Saver: When your battery gets low, your phone can reduce screen brightness and limit background activity. - Text Automation: Send a message to your family when you leave work—no hands required.

Whether you were for it or against it, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBB) has officially passed. While it impacts many sectors, my big question is always: what does it mean for real estate? That’s my passion and my wheelhouse, so let’s break it down. While the headlines focus on politics, we’re focused on impact. The OBBB isn’t just another tax tweak; it fundamentally reshapes the playing field for how we buy, sell, invest, and build. In my world, that means big opportunities and a few big caveats. A Bold Boost to Affordable Housing First up: affordable housing. This bill supercharges the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC), increasing allocations by 12% and lowering bond-financing thresholds. Translation? Developers now have stronger incentives (and fewer barriers) to build more affordable units. Analysts expect this to add up to one million new affordable homes nationwide. For Sioux Falls, where we see steady population growth and a strong workforce influx, this is a game-changer. More affordable options mean more talent retention, more neighborhood stability, and ultimately, stronger economic growth. Opportunity Zones Just Became Permanent Remember Opportunity Zones? Previously set to sunset in 2026, they’re now here to stay, and then some. Investors can defer capital gains longer, and new rural-friendly provisions encourage development in underserved areas. For business owners and investors looking to scale or diversify, this is like hitting the tax strategy jackpot. We’ve already seen how transformative these zones can be for neglected corridors and downtown districts. Permanent status? Even bolder. Enhanced Tax Perks for Investors Real estate owners and investors are smiling right now. Why? - 100% bonus depreciation extended through 2029. - Pass-through QBI deduction increased from 20% to 23% permanently. - Section 179 cap raised to $2.5 million. These aren't minor tweaks. They're major cash flow accelerators, creating a strong runway for both small and large operators to reinvest, improve properties, and grow portfolios faster.

HERE is the google sheet we shared on our Mastermind today! Start by challendging yourself to have 10 local professionals in the next 30 days! Like Amy mentioned, it took her less than 30 days to get to 10 and that quickly grew to 40!

Yesterday, in our Signature Network Mastermind, we crowd sourced from the top professionals in our network what opportunities they would want to have discovered in their clients’ property records and surfaced in the form of an appointment with their client on their calendar enthused to discuss that opportunity. While we entered that mastermind with 55 unique opportunities that our technology will find, notify you and your clients and then bring it onto your calendar,, we left with a dozen more that were some of the best that we had heard. Here’s the lesson: while each of us have tremendous capacity to identify opportunities, we become more relevant and valuable when we collaborate together with our clients and partners to find out what they really want. Here’s the takeaway: talk to at least a client a day and ask them the biggest challenges they want to solve and the biggest opportunities they want to seize. You may be surprised that in so doing, your greatest opportunities will become obvious. BTW- if you are a Signature Network member and missed yesterday’s call, let us know and we will get you the recording.

As many of you know, five years ago, I published The Upstream Model. By following this model, not only do you get referrals from other professionals, but you simultaneously elevate your positioning in the marketplace to be a peer to other elite professional types (attorneys financial advisors, tax professionals, etc.). The challenge that many run into is that by default, most professionals are not good at referring other professionals. That's where for many, The Upstream Model stalls. Thankfully, my mission to provide a well-paid path for service professionals like you did not stall out there. Through an incredible partnership with @Don Yoakum, @Amy Stockberger, @Meagan Peer and incredible software developers, we are building technology that makes the implementation of The Upstream Model easy, seamless and even automatic... Technology for the non-technical... Technology that elevates you as the professional rather than diminishes you... Technology that gives you what you want: elevated professional status and a steady stream of ideal clients booked on your calendar... Technology that allows you to work by referral without have to rely solely on your friends and family. For example... this week we uploaded part of the client databases of one of our early beta testers of the Deep Dive Done for You service. The data set included 288 clients and within that data our tech was trained to look for 9 different scenarios for a professional like you to proactively serve. In that initial test, we uncovered almost 70 opportunities. And the really exciting part is... we're now training our technology to expand from searching for 9 different scenarios to over 50 different scenarios. If that math holds true, one client database of roughly 300 clients will produce more than one new opportunity per calendar day of the year for one of our clients to proactively serve their clients.