Transcript (Unedited)
Tom Heath
Welcome to a brand new podcast called housing for good. This is an opportunity for me me to meet really cool people in the real estate industry who are driving, building, and creating tremendous opportunities within our community. It's always been a passion of mine to make sure that the foundation on which we're asking people to purchase their largest financial investment is done on solid ground. And so we've always been supportive of those who are supporting our community, and we thought, you know what? There's a lot of people out there doing that. And we're blessed within the Tucson real estate community, at least, to have these individuals. So we wanted to chat with them. So this is a brand new podcast, and we're launching it with a very famous Tucson. Everybody knows Kim Clifton with Tierra Antigua.
Kim Clifton
Hi, Tom. Thanks for having me.
Tom Heath
My pleasure. So, tierra Antigua, your title with tierrantigua.
Kim Clifton
Is I am the owner co owner with my amazing husband, Matt Clifton, and I am the designated broker.
Tom Heath
All right. Owner and designated broker. And tierrantigua is a startup. Right. You just launched recently?
Kim Clifton
Yeah, a short time ago. 2001.
Tom Heath
- So you've been operating for a bit.
Kim Clifton
Yeah.
Tom Heath
And then prior to tierra and tigua, what were you doing?
Kim Clifton
So, I had been in real estate for a short time before we opened our own company, but before that, I'm a caregiver. So that's really my heart is in caregiving. And we moved to Colorado for a year while I was finishing nursing school, and it's beautiful there. It snows a lot. We moved back shortly after that, and I had to make a decision to be with our son or work at the hospital, and I didn't want to miss out on those little league games. And my in laws had been in real estate forever, and they said, you'd be great at this. We bought our first home. I have to disclose, it was a bit of a train wreck.
Tom Heath
Did you represent yourself?
Kim Clifton
No, we didn't. We did things all backwards, and then we found an amazing agent who helped us along the way, and I thought, this industry needs me. I think I can fulfill my caregiving and help people with the American dream, and I have loved every minute of it.
Tom Heath
So you actually became a nurse?
Kim Clifton
I was a medical assistant in an office for some cardiologists in town, and that led me to nursing school, and I didn't finish all the way because Colorado wasn't conducive to that.
Tom Heath
Got you.
Kim Clifton
But everything happens for a reason. I still get to caregive daily, and I love what I do.
Tom Heath
So in 2001 is when tierra Antigua opened.
Kim Clifton
Yeah. I got my real estate license in 95 okay. In Tucson. And in 2001, Matt and I decided, you know, we really had nothing negative to say about where we worked before. However, we had nothing negative to say about where we worked before. However, our clients and our goals were a little bit different and we wanted to just work for ourself. We had no intention of hiring any agents. It was just going to be Matt and myself.
Tom Heath
Screw that up. Yeah.
Kim Clifton
Agents started knocking on our door and 1100 plus agents later, here we are.
Tom Heath
You have 1100 now?
Kim Clifton
I know, it's crazy. We love it.
Tom Heath
Why were they knocking on your door?
Kim Clifton
Well, my in laws were a driving factor in our business and they had met someone who needed to work for us. But we also had local agents that we had worked with and my husband's pretty magnetic. And together we created a model that we found very agent friendly. We never wanted to rely on our agents to produce to pay our bills, but we wanted to give people an opportunity that wanted something different.
Tom Heath
Okay, so then you have agents knocking on your door and what was that conversation? Do you remember? What do we do? Because we're in this for ourselves and all of a sudden we got responsibilities and liabilities, right?
Kim Clifton
So there was a company in Phoenix named Dan Schwartz and one of their top agents got permission to kind of share that model and that concept with us. And so we modeled ourselves pretty much out of that. And again, it's always been some of our rates. We haven't changed since 2001. But we wanted to make sure that our agents had an opportunity to have a full service brokerage and 100% commission. That was really it. So that the agents could use the money they earn for whatever fits their needs, if that's on more open houses or more transactions or whatever their passion is. But it really helped us with our assisting in the community, which is something we've always done.
Tom Heath
We're going to talk about the structure that was created through tierrantigua. But prior since I've known you, tierrantigua has always been giving through the realtor association or through different events. It's not like giving is something unnatural to you.
Kim Clifton
No, and we were giving before we had tierrantigua. It's just know without this community we would not be here. And even prior to know my in laws, we spent a lot of time in Rocky Point in Mexico. Matt and I got married there.
Tom Heath
You got married in Mexico?
Kim Clifton
Yes. I know, it was such a fun.
Tom Heath
Is it recognized here? Are you actually married?
Kim Clifton
Well, funny story, we had 300 people at our wedding. I cried because I thought no one would come. My in laws, did you know any.
Tom Heath
Of them or were they most of them?
Kim Clifton
I didn't know most of them were my in laws friends and family and cohorts.
Tom Heath
I thought it was just people showing up. That looks like free alcohol.
Kim Clifton
We rented pretty much every place down there at the time. This was before condos and we had the Takada chairs. We took them from all the taco stands, but it was a fun time. But while being in Mexico, we helped build earthships and homes for the needy. My in laws were great mentors, phenomenal. They opened the first elderly care home. There orphanage. They helped them. Yeah. There's just not a lot of money there. If your family can't take care of you, there's really nowhere to go.
Tom Heath
So you get into 2001. I mean, it's a fairly lucrative time in the real estate business. Some money is coming in and you're thinking, got to give back.
Kim Clifton
Yeah. 2001, we were in overdrive mode. How many deals do I need to do to make this business work? And that's when we were selling real estate. And then we started hiring agents. And I have no regrets. I've loved every day of my life. I've never had a boring day.
Tom Heath
You say that because you're on camera.
Kim Clifton
Is that true?
Tom Heath
Okay. No regrets whatsoever.
Kim Clifton
Yeah.
Tom Heath
Oh, man.
Kim Clifton
When I don't follow my gut, that's my regret. But when I have a bad day, you want to know the real truth? When I have a bad day, I go to the soup kitchen or I go to Sister Jose's or I go downtown and give out clothes and gift cards, and you think you're having a bad day, you don't have to look very far.
Tom Heath
Yeah. I, over the years have been getting better at practicing gratitude. And no matter how rough the day is, being thankful for what I have, because my bad day is a great day for someone else. And I know that.
Kim Clifton
Absolutely.
Tom Heath
So let's fast forward a little bit. You're within the community, and then 2014, I believe you sat down again and said, well, let's go ahead and formalize our giving and created something we did.
Kim Clifton
I am an only child who has worked every day since I was 14. I come from a larger family with aunts and uncles, but working hard is something that comes natural to me, and I like to get what I want. So I'm open to say that we've served on many charities throughout our years, and I realized quickly that sometimes politics come into play, and it's at no fault of anybody's. It's just part of having an organization and an entity. We wanted to participate and do a walk for an entity, and because of politics, we weren't able to do that. So I was shocked. I'm like, we want to do it all and raise money and write a check and give it to you, but you're telling us that we can't do that. And that fueled me to say, well, we're going to open our own charity. We still give to all of so many charities in the community. That's never been a problem, and there's no negativity with that. It's just we wanted to do more. And being told that we couldn't raise money to help people made me think, what's happening.
Tom Heath
It's OD. But I understand. I've experienced similar things. The bureaucracy, anyway.
Kim Clifton
I get the frustration, but even bad things produce good in our life. I've battled cancer. We've matt's vision being told no so many times. I mean, we tried to get this foundation opened, and we were turned down three times. I'm like I don't understand. I want to raise money and give back to our community. And I had no clue the amount of individuals that actually take advantage of the system. But we got through that. And like I said, it was hard. I tell people it's harder than having a ten pound baby, which I did. It was the hardest thing I've ever done, but it was the most gratifying. So we really love it, and we've gone to the next level. In 2018, we were approved for the charitable organization, the tax credit, so people can give and include that in their taxes.
Tom Heath
So from 2014 to 2018, it was you just trying to find a way to get your money into the community.
Kim Clifton
My money. Our agents were a huge factor, so mainly Tierrantigua agents have fueled this with our friends and our family. But now we're on statewide.
Tom Heath
Have we mentioned the name yet?
Kim Clifton
It's Tierrantigua Hope Foundation.
Tom Heath
All right, we should probably cover that housing.
Kim Clifton
It should be down here.
Tom Heath
On the bottom right there is where you'll see it.
Kim Clifton
Yes.
Tom Heath
I hope if we got the tech skills, yes. Do you have a specific mission with the Hope Foundation?
Kim Clifton
Originally, and this was part of our struggle, getting approved is we wanted to be able to help those in need with anything essential. So if I wanted to go to the park and serve food, I wanted to do that. If I wanted to provide clothes, and we were looking at all of the things that we were already doing, we focused on those who fall below the poverty level. That was something that we needed to do to get approved. We found that was a niche that they would accept with essentials. So food, housing, clothing. Again, daily essentials. And that includes keeping people in their homes. Right. I'm in real estate, so selling property is what I do. But I'd much rather keep people in a home if we can do that. We've worked with so many charities. One of the largest charities that we've kind of taken on under our wing and worked closely with is Care Portal. Care Portal is regulated by the state, and let's say a child needs to be placed with family because maybe mom is out of the picture and dad might
Kim Clifton
be having some difficulties in life. And instead of putting that child in the system in foster care, they could go live with Grandma. But the requirements are they must have a bed and a dresser of their own.
Tom Heath
Okay.
Kim Clifton
And so we provide tons of beds and dressers and items that go with that. Some families will get placed in housing, and they have one air mattress for five people. So we're in real estate. People move every day. We come across things that are in good condition. They just no longer are in use anymore. So we do a ton of that. We help the Arizona Young Adult Program. Lots of people will give to the littles, but not very many people love to give with the teens. And so these are 16 to 20 year olds that have been in the system. They live in group homes, foster care on their own, and the amount of money they get is very little. So we do a holiday party for them every year, and it's so fun. And your partner, Ian, is usually oh, don't tell the kids. Ian is usually Santa.
Tom Heath
Well, no one is. Santa, Santa, santa. But he's like the sometimes Ian will step in.
Kim Clifton
If need be, he steps in to fill the suit temporarily.
Tom Heath
Yeah, understood. Understood. And I cut you off a little bit earlier, but Tierrantigua, are you Tucson? Are you arizona?
Kim Clifton
So Tierrantigua is Southern Arizona. Okay. Our offices encompass tucson, Green Valley, savarita, sierra Vista, Bisbee, stafford, Gila Valley, wilcox, Benson, all of Southern Arizona.
Tom Heath
But you're giving through the Hope is through the entire state.
Kim Clifton
We've given all over the entire state. We focus our dollars on Southern Arizona, not because we don't want to give to other parts of the state, but the needs are so great that it's almost like we can't get past that, but we give on a national level personally as well.
Tom Heath
Okay. So it's not just about I think a lot of times when you're in careers like ours and you're giving back, there's this immediate thought, well, you're giving back to get attention. I think it's important to understand that that's a lot of what you've mentioned. I've known you for years.
Kim Clifton
I didn't even know yeah, it's definitely not about me.
Tom Heath
Yeah, understood. Almost ten years. So we're coming up on a pretty big anniversary, and you were sharing with me before we came on a pretty astounding number of what you've been able to raise.
Kim Clifton
Yeah, so I don't look at it that way every day. And I'll share a funny story with you, but we've raised about 412,000 since we've started, and that's been local dollars. The majority through ourselves, our family, and our agents. Our agents are so giving, and it's phenomenal. And it doesn't mean that we don't give to other entities. And through Tierrantigua Hope Foundation, we give to a lot of additional corporations or charities, but we have a lot of boots on the ground.
Tom Heath
And I don't know if you came with the statistic, because that's a half a million dollars, roughly, which, knowing you being goal oriented, that'll be your goal for the ten year anniversary.
Kim Clifton
Since I walked in this office and got that number from my accounting manager, I'm like, oh, we're hitting a half a million.
Tom Heath
But that's for the Hope Foundation.
Kim Clifton
Correct.
Tom Heath
So Tierrantigua, outside of that and your 1100 agents are also doing things I know, sponsoring events and doing that, do you have any sense of that?
Kim Clifton
I'm sure it's beyond double that number. Yeah. And just what we do outside of Hope is a large number.
Tom Heath
Right.
Kim Clifton
Tierntigua Hope Foundation is really a vehicle for agents and anyone to be able to give to our community. We're currently redoing our website because we really want all members of the public to be able to contribute if they choose and know that the money is going to amazing places. But the boots on the ground also is very satisfying. I don't know if you know about there's a little place, it's tiny. I'm going to give them a plug. It's called the lot. It's on 22nd near Columbus. It's right next to Family Dollar. There is a connex box there and a couple of times a week a woman who has been doing this for a long time serves food. So there's housing next door that's daily, weekly. So many people in need and they show up and they get a hot meal or in the summertime sometimes it's a cold meal. Right. And Tierrantigu Hope Foundation along with our agents have been serving food there for some time now and just helped them purchase that conex box so they can yeah, it's little things that lots of
Kim Clifton
people don't even know about and it helps so many.
Tom Heath
And just a conex box, like it's a cargo container type of facility that you can convert into an office or.
Kim Clifton
A space so they have extra clothes tables for serving. It's pretty organized and the people are very respectful there. So we'll serve anywhere between, I don't know, 41 hundred people on any given day.
Tom Heath
Wow. So as we approach the ten year anniversary, how do people find out more about you, how to support you?
Kim Clifton
So you can go to our website.
Tom Heath
Which if we do it correctly, will be right here.
Kim Clifton
Hopefully go to the website, reach out to me personally, I'm pretty easy to find and our agents with 1100 of them ODS are someone knows someone and we are always looking for while you're doing your taxes, it's a dollar for dollar write off because we are organized, charitable, we're qualified for that. So it's 400 for an individual, 800 for a married couple. And the dollars, you'll get to see where the dollars go. When we do the young adult program, we don't have the liberty to take pictures because a lot of these kids are privacy and protective. But a lot of the other things, it's just fun event. And we have some events coming up, so I'll keep you posted.
Tom Heath
All right, so we don't have a Facebook or social media channel for housing for good yet, but we'll be posting things out through the Mortgage Guidance Group, which is my mortgage team. I'm sure we'll see things on Tierrantigua. Does housing for good. I'm sorry, does the Hope Foundation have its own social media?
Kim Clifton
It does.
Tom Heath
Okay.
Kim Clifton
It does.
Tom Heath
So we'll just tag that and send people that way then?
Kim Clifton
Yeah, absolutely.
Tom Heath
Well, I think this is exactly what I was looking for in a podcast about real estate and community intertwinement. So, Kim, I appreciate you being here.
Kim Clifton
Thank you.
Tom Heath
Tierra and Tigua, a Southern Arizona real estate company supporting Southern Arizona and the rest of the state through your charitable giving.
Kim Clifton
And I don't know a more giving person than yourself either, so I think this is a perfect podcast to do with you. And I'm so appreciative that you thought of me and all the good that we can do together. I was going to tell you when we started this foundation, I said I was going to get a tattoo if we raise $25,000. I've been perfecting that tattoo. And so I think the 500,000 mark I think I set my bar way too low, apparently, so yes, 500,000.
Tom Heath
All right.
Kim Clifton
It'll be appropriate.
Tom Heath
There you go. Half a million dollars. So we've got, like, 80 grand to raise. When is the anniversary? What is it?
Kim Clifton
September.
Tom Heath
September of.
Kim Clifton
Oh, I apologize. Our hope anniversary is May 6.
Tom Heath
May 6.
Kim Clifton
The day after Cinco de Mayo will be a perfect day to get a tattoo.
Tom Heath
Perfect. Yeah. You'll feel no pain? What's September anniversary?
Kim Clifton
What is that? That's our qualifying charitable.
Tom Heath
Okay, got you. So by May of 2024, we'll have 500,000.
Kim Clifton
Let's do it.
Tom Heath
And I think probably in January of 2024, we're going to start seeing images. Maybe there'll be, like, selections that the community can make as to what Kim's tattoo will.
Kim Clifton
We have a pretty cool logo for Hope, so I was thinking that I would get the logo.
Tom Heath
I think you should put it out there as a fundraiser.
Kim Clifton
When you do your taxes, you can get dollar for dollar write off. Why pay Uncle Sam when you can help our community quite honestly? Do it.
Tom Heath
And check with your tax advisor for specific information regarding disclaimer. Kim, thank you so much.
Kim Clifton
Thank you. Have a good day.
