KGCI: Real Estate on Air - 108: Lost Your Passion For Real Estate? Watch This Comeback Story!

Episode Date: March 12, 2025

Hi and welcome to Let's Talk About Real Estate Podcast, the podcast for real estate agents absolutely everywhere. I'm Lisa B, and during this podcast we're going to be talking about everything real estate. What's working, what's not working? AI, automation, technology, EXP Realty and absolutely everything to do with real estate. I'll have guest speakers as well where we'll answer your questions from the Facebook group, let's talk about real estate. So if you haven't joined the Facebook group, make sure you do that now. And we'd be happy to help answering any question. And again, welcome to the show.

Barry Feldman, welcome to Let's Talk About Real Estate Podcast. Lisa B, it's been about 10 minutes since I spoke to you last. I know exactly. We talk all the time. Today, thank you so much for joining me on the podcast. What I want to talk to you about today is your experience in real estate, basically. So for anybody that's feeling that, you know, I guess feeling a bit lost, feeling they can't do real estate, not sure what to do, feel like giving up, you've got to listen to Barry's story. You really do. So do you want to say the

story about how we met? Yeah, I was on Facebook because I used to scroll a lot. I still scroll a lot. And somebody was on Let's Talk Real Estate asking for, and I didn't even know I was part of that group, asking for a business coach. And I was a bit struggling at the time. It's like I can, I could. And Lisa suggested, she goes, I used to coach, but I can put you on to different coaches and blah, blah, blah. So I never met Lisa, me. This was about June, May June last year, 2020.

And I sent Lisa a message saying, I'm looking for a business coach. We got on to one of these things called the Zoom. And I don't know why, but I think Lisa, Shana, Shana, I don't know. empathy at the time with my story and said she'll coach me basically for free. And then I was uncoachable. So basically we used to log on for Zoom for an hour a week and it was just a waste time. And I was working at a major franchise at the time, but we shouldn't mention Mr. Hooker's name. And with a promise that everything came into the office, I was the other salesperson. I would bit of lackey, a 54-year-old lackey with 30 years experience and get every sale.

And it just didn't happen. I got onto a Zoom with Lisa and said, that's it. I'm done. Finished. Real estate's not for Barry anymore. I'll find something else driving Uber. I've got to pay kids, pay rent, etc., etc. So Lisa started talking to me about this concept called EXP.

And I knew about it because I was speaking to someone else. in Melbourne and I'm going, I can't do this again. I just can't. I've been with everyone. You name of real estate franchise. Yeah. Independence. At Realty, Eview.

You name it. I've done it. Harcourt's Ray White, everyone. I can't start again. I don't want to start again. So I said, I don't have even the money to start again. So Lisa said, I'll get you three months free at EXP. All you need is $200 and something.

was joining fee, and go and get some cards printed. You have a computer, you don't need anything else. And she goes, I'll be backing you. Not financially, but mentally. And I said, well, I got nothing to lose. So I did. I joined the XP, chose my sponsor, which was the hardest decision, but luckily I think I went the right way.

You think? I know, she got me hat. And within the first week of joining, I was just out with some friends. And a guy says to me, do you know, can you sell a house in this suburban in Melbourne? And I didn't even know anything about southern. Except they knew I was hungry. I said, yeah, I can do that. And signed up my first auction with EXP, signed up my second auction with EXP,

and then got called into a 20-minute dollar listing. I wouldn't, if I would have been LJ Hooker, I'm not going to say what suburb it was because that's not nice. I would have been pointed into that little area and this was an hour driver as a farm. So I had no chance, but being international, I took my XP Pollard

and my pet like that and my listing kit and I drove to the farm in Warringle and walked out with a $20 million listing using the power of an 89,000 or nearly 90,000 network of 24 countries, soon to be 27. Yeah. Sold it.

$19.5 million. And really have a look back. Yeah, I haven't. That's amazing. So since then, just so that's a year ago, that sold on my birthday became unconditional, the 26th of November, 2020. So I had, so I capped in a day because it was either capped.

So until August 1st, I then was on 100% and I was listing and selling and listing and selling. And I didn't get to ICON because I didn't really push that hard, but I will in 2020 this year. And I hired a PA who's out of the about today. I rented an office because I can't work from home. I bought a new car, bought an investment property, booking to buy a second investment property. And talk about your holidays. How many holidays?

I've been to Bali, one, two, I've been to Bali in the last year, three, twice, been to Phuket once and been to India for work once. And I'm going to Bali on Monday again. Exactly. So it's all right. Work-life balance. When I'm at work, I work seven days. Yeah.

And every three months I try and take a week off overseas. I leave my business to the tailor, my PA. Yeah. And she's great, but I'm always there on the phone and internet and Zoom. I can do anything. I've even learned to, I'm learning how to use DocuSloid. Boomer. I'm learning to be paperless, which is really hard.

Yeah. And what about the weekend? What happened on the weekend? Three auctions, three sold only reserved by hundreds of thousands and another private sale. So four in the last weekend. Yeah. Average sale price,

1-2, 1-3, something like that. Good time. Next year you're going to be focusing on luxury as well. So, XP, you've got this thing. As you can see, my background was a world tour. So I spoke on luxury. I spoke about EXP luxury. E-P luxury is a game changer.

So my office is situated in Brighton in Victoria. It's the second most expensive area of real estate in Victoria. It's Turek and then there's Brighton. And there's been a lot of past in sales in the last six months or four months. And we just haven't had time to concentrate on it yet because we've been selling a whole lot of other stuff. Yeah. But January, when I get back from holidays, Taylor and I are concentrating on luxury listings. Yes.

Going in the $4 million plus range, EXP can offer you $27,000 of marketing for zero. Exactly. Barry Feldman Real Estate or Melbourne Real Property, what we call powered by EXP, we'll pay for real estate.com and everything else, so we'll offer your marketing. We'll take a known that's their approach.

We want this thing over four million bucks. We're going to get them, sell them, and that's our focus for next year, as well as any other real estate that we get. We're not going to just concentrate on that. So I'm looking, I actually had a meeting with,

you don't even know this yet. Lisa. I had a title yesterday. We might be looking and putting on a second person to focus on one part of real estate. Why, Taylor, I focus on the actual part. And it's time to, I don't want to grow too big because I don't have patience for staff. I don't have patience for myself most of the time. I want work-life balance.

I still look after two kids, two cats. I've got Lisa B on my head. You know what? Can I just interrupt? Like when we were coaching, I saw you as, like, like a caterpillar turning into a butterfly. You know, I always had belief in you, and I just needed to get you to see that, you know, and you did, you know, and that's, that's the thing, is having the belief.

And so what do you think the difference was, okay? Working for yourself, you know, like, what do you? Working for myself is huge. Finding the right PA was huge. Yes. Investing in myself. So I took the... And taking a gamble on yourself.

I don't gamble, but I... Oh, sorry, okay, not that word. I invested in myself. I was flying to Bali, I made a few sales, and I sat... No, I was flying India in January. It was 12-hour flight. Yes.

I sat on the flight, and I wrote out for the first time in, I don't know how many years of... You know, I started a proper business plan with a proper budget. Yes. And I sent it to Lisa. and then I was going, it must have been June. I went to Bali. And on the way back from Bali, I had a five-hour flight.

And I did it again. And this time I put a budgeting with figures on how much it's going to cost me and how much everything's going to cost me. And I sent it to Lisa and I sent it to Taylor my PA. And I said, this is what I'm going to invest in. This is what I'm going to do. I'm going to be a risk reversal.

I'm going to do standing real estate. com accounts. I don't believe in feature plus, whatever they call it. Yeah. I can prove it on the weekend. I sold four properties on standard. Yeah. Other reserves when others didn't sell that many.

So I got the track record. Yes. If a property's priced right, it will sell. It'll sell. Yeah. So standing real estate dollarcom account is costing me $20,000 a year. Yeah. And I took the, invested it into that real estate.com account.

We're right now investing into a website. just taking time because I haven't had time to sit down and review everything. It's just I'm chasing my legs. So, but I have all in January to plan again, ready to go for February. And on the plane. Two weeks of January, we'll be just planning for February. Yeah. And it's exciting.

I've got to tell you, I'm. It's so good. Like the difference, I just, I'm so proud of you. The difference to when I first met you to now is like chalk and cheese, how somebody can transform basically like that. You know, it's you, you changed from one minute to the next. You were like, I'm going to start this other business.

Remember, you were going to do something else. And I said, well, what about, you know, when we sort of talked through it and then you went down this road, which, you know, you haven't looked at. I joined the B&EGreeks. If you in real estate and you can get into B&I group, do it. It's hard.

It's a pain in my bum being on. Yeah. You have to be in the cult. of B&I. I'm not into that cult version of BNI yet, but I do it because the rewards are there. Yes. And so find the B&I group. They're hard to get into for real estate agents because everyone wants them for some reason. Start your own B&I group. Network. I'm out talking. I'm going to tell you that I'm not going to say how much commission I've written, but I've done a lot of sales. Yes. Last year. And I haven't prospected. I've done zero.

prospecting. I've just... Well, you're prospecting by going to BNI, shall you? One reason for one way of prospecting. The rest of it is just me picking up something that I hadn't picked up for a long time in the telephone and saying here somewhere and just making deals, make him happen. Yeah. That's a hard marketing, Melbourne.

It's like really hard. Yeah. I'm just out there hustling. Tell me, how do you say it's hard when you made four sales? What do you mean? To describe it for people that are listening that are not. know Melbourne. How was it? I had to get the price on the one. Yeah. Like I had to So the only expectations are a lot more than what the buyers are prepared. In 90% of the cases.

You've got to have the tough conversations and all that. I've got an option this Sunday or this Saturday at 12 o'clock. My vendors or the price from the public is X. My vendor is Y. Yeah. My previous phone call to the Zoom was ringing up my purchases, my vendors and saying, your choice is yours. I'm happy to cancel the auction. Yeah. You go, what do you mean? It's, well, you're 200k above market. You're 20% above market. It's not going to sell. So what do I have to stand there for? Just, I don't need to put a suit on. And they don't like that conversation. I don't like that conversation. So I start, I preference to conversations when I go into a vendor and I say, I wish I could tell you a conversation when my cat can sell a property.

What do you mean? Well, I said two years. years ago, three years ago, anyone could stand it at open for inspection, give out the brochures, three weeks later, the auctioneer would come, and he would scream, you'd get 300 grand above reserve, and no one did any selling. It was the market conditions that did it. Now you have to find the buyer, find the seller, get them together, get the prices aligned, negotiate and work and get the sales done. Yeah. And it's hard work. It's green head work. I don't pick up anything heavier than a pen. Yeah.

Anything else I do on Air Tasker. Yeah. I don't do any physical work. But I sit there and I work out. I've got the scripts and dialogues and I tell them the truth. I don't lie to vendors. I don't give them fake offers. I just don't give them the expectations.

When I list the property, I tell them this is what I have, tell them there's three figures. You tell me the figure you want, the figure that's achievable, the figure the market's going to give. and the one to some time, like we had three on the weekend, but we had roller coaster figures, but they were doing somersault down the street. So if the vendor won't listen to the market, the market then gives the price.

Yeah, that's right. We can only massage the market that much. Yeah. You know, and in the end, if the vendor doesn't want to listen, I'm not afraid to go to a vendor and do it. I'm giving back their keys, and so thank you for the opportunity.

Yeah. Only that many hours I've got in the day. And now that I'm on 100% commission because I've capped, I can make deals. I can give a little bit off the commission if I have to. I can. Yeah, you're in control. Yeah, it's my business.

You know, EXP is great. EXP's there. They're training every day. Yeah. Do you think that's the difference from going out by yourself? Do you think that's the biggest thing that you had faith in yourself to do? I'm accountable to three people. people. Yeah. I'm accountable to you. Actually, I'm accountable to myself. Yes. And then I'm

accountable to my bank account. My life. But then I'm accountable to you. I don't lie. I'm accountable to the 21-year-old PA and I'm accountable to my personal trainer. So my personal training gives me an app and if I bullshit in the app and I say, I've done 12 reps at 50 kilos of a thing, of an exercise. And then I train with her the next day. She goes, oh, look, Barry, you did 12 at 50. And she puts the 50 kilo weights on and I can't lift it up. I can't lie.

No, exactly. You can see I can't do it. Yeah. So you need accountability. You need someone, you need to do this work. Real estate doesn't just walk into your door. But that's what you did. You did your business plan.

You sent it to me, Taylor, and I think you're your personal trainer. You know, you sort of, you've got those people around you. and I think that's really important to set yourself up with people around you that that you can talk to about business. And if you're struggling, they know you're struggling and they've got you've got your back. You know, they're there to go, you can do this, you know. Even with my trainer, I think I've trained with her. She's my biggest expense in my life.

But it saves me because I don't eat out that much anymore. So it's called Girl Maths. I've learned about Girl Maths. So, but it's good. from my mental health. So the first thing I'm doing the morning, I'll go to gym. Yeah.

A few times I've walked out on it because my head's not there. But when I concentrate and when I do things, same as real estate. Some days I go, I can't do it today. Yeah. I've got to couch in the office and I have a nap. Yeah.

Some days it's just not there. But when I focus on work, we're out there and we're hustling. And I think that anyone can do real estate. Yeah. Yeah. But I want to know how many people are going to be doing it in six months in a hard market. Like it's getting hard now.

I don't listen to economists. I don't listen to the public on the street. Yeah, that's right. You're on the call face. Yeah. But, you know, when you're in a national company like EXP and you go on a Zoom and they start telling you that it's getting hard on Adelaide, it's getting harder in Sydney, it's hard in Melbourne.

So the agent that hasn't been, like I've been doing this too long, but not with as much as enthusiasm as I've got now. So the scripts and dialogues, I'm lucky, they just come out in my brain. Yes. And I'm lucky that I've got all that in the brain and I can still remember it. But it's having the hard conversations.

It's not taking it personally. It's not taking it emotionally. It's out there telling the Vendor's the truth. I made a deal that I'm not going to lie to a Vendor. Yes. You know, if I might, you know, I remember once that I was doing an open for inspection and six people, only at that time six people came straight. And it was an empty, the bend doors had vacated and moved to the country.

And I remember the conversation today, I ring the vendor, straight after the open. I go, hello, Mrs. M. Barry, how are you? She goes, great. She goes, how many people came through? I said six. And she goes, who's going to buy it? the blonde couple with the baby or the single brunette. She was watching the open for inspection on cameras.

It's everywhere now. You can't lie. You can't lie. You can't lie. You're going to get caught. If I would have told her 23 people came through, I would have lost all credibility with that vendor. Absolutely.

So if I have zero, I tell them zero. Yeah, exactly. You can't lie. Back in the days, people used to do car drops and things like that, you know. But, okay, so tell me, if somebody is feeling lowest of low, they're in real estate, they really don't know what to do. Give me a call. Well, what advice would you give them?

What did you do? When you felt that down and whatever else, what did you do to turn around? You were exercising every day. What else did you do? Mentally, what did you do? I don't eat me a bit better, which I still have to do again. Eating better, yeah. And I did a business plan.

Yeah. Spoke to us people. So if you're feeling that you can't do real estate and you've got zero experience or lots of experience, find somebody who you're like, I couldn't find anyone with, you know, I've got someone in the Gold Coast, you, I'm in Melbourne. We have no similar backgrounds except for real estate. We have similar brains. Our brains don't stop thinking.

Yeah, that's right. But find someone who you can connect with that's got more experience than you. Yeah. who does it better than you. Like I'm not going to find a business coach who doesn't understand real estate. No. It's going to be an I, if every BNI group has a business coach. I'm not going to use that business coach if they know how to coach KFCs.

Yeah. I need someone that's been in real estate. So if you're out there and you're struggling, find someone in your office who in your office aren't going to care. That's the problem. If you're in a big franchise group, if you're at, one of these big groups. No one, everyone's competing with you.

At least I found you. You're not competing with me. No, exactly. You're helping me. Yeah. Yeah. So that's the difference between EXP and any other agency that I can think of. No one can put, like, there's no competing when you ask someone for help,

especially if you pick someone into state. Yeah. And it's in your team, right? So, you know, if I make money, you make money. If I have grown for someone in my time. team, we both make money. You're not going to steal the person and you're going to help that person. Absolutely.

So just thinking about a change in real estate. It's nearly Christmas. Yeah? Pick up the phone, ring me, ring you. Yeah. And we'll give you the difference in power of real estate. And the world thing, like, Lisa tells me in Australia there's 50,000 real estate agents. EXP's got 90,000 around the world.

So I remember I, in. got a member in my team. He didn't last long because he lied. And I actually threw him out. But he got a listing in his first week in EXP from EXP in Texas. Yes, he did too. He did. Yeah.

He got a lead. He never listed it or he probably threw him out before he had a chance because he lied to us. But he got a lead from an EXP agent in Texas who had family in the part of Melbourne where he was. Yeah. You know, there's amazing opportunities like that. Yeah, there is. But I think that's why you're thriving as well because, I don't know, we're both kind of a little bit ADHD brains.

You know, we sort of, you know, don't stop. Like you said, our brains don't stop. So the opportunities that we have, there's so many that you don't get bored either. You know, you can list and sell. You can grow a team. You can do your property management. You can do so many different things. You can do it globally.

and all channel it into real estate. And I think if anybody's feeling really down about real estate, I think the biggest thing you've got to think about is that all your circumstances where you are, is that real estate can change in a moment. You know, you can have a listing on the market for six months and I've been there, you know, two years, had a listing on the market.

And somebody will walk in and buy that house and you think, where have you been for the last two years? Where have you been for the last year? If you just happened to us, we had a listing for six months, Seven months I had this house listed. Yeah. And the vendor and I were clashing and it was like getting nasty.

And someone walked into last week to the open for inspection. A week later, under offer. Two days later, sole sticker on the board yesterday. If you go to my social, you'll see the nicest couple with a dog and me and a T-shirt and shorts putting a salt sticker and all of us hugging. Yeah, that's right. Exactly. That happens.

It's, you can make a sail in a heartbeat in a very quick moment. if you've got the listing or you can get a listing very quickly as well. If you're doing the actions. So like you said, do the business plan, then work out the actions of what you're going to do. And then discipline. Don't wait for the motivation because you'll be sitting on the lounge going, I'm not motivated yet. You've got to actually go, okay, that's it. I'm going to do it.

I don't really want to make the calls, but I'm going to do it anyway. I'm going to contact people I know. I'm going to do withdraw from sales. I'm going to do all of these things. And you need to listen to advice. Saturday morning we had set it this weekend we had three options. one on Saturday and two on Sunday. I texted my PAS and I see you at the auctions.

And she goes, and she texted it back and she goes, if you don't have a shirt, jacket and shoes on, don't come. Because I walk around in Apollo and Nike Jordans. She wrote back, if those Jordans are on, don't come to the auction. So for the first time in weeks, I put a shirt on, put a jacket on. You know, we do hold you. to a higher standard sometimes than what you want to do,

which I like to, but you listen to us. We go, no, no, no. And you go, all right. You know, you kick and scream, but we drag you across sometimes. I like the norm. I've lost one listing this year.

Yeah, right. Yeah. So I reckon that's a pretty good effort. Yeah, that's right. But you're doing your way. You know, that's the thing, is that, you know, EXP, again, it allows you to do things your way.

Nobody's your boss. You know, we've got a boss, you know, that runs EXP. Yeah, they run the administration. Yeah, but it's Agent Central for agents. You are the boss of you. I'm going to tell you, and my last LJ. Hooker office, I hated going to work. It was a 30-minute drive from my house, and I needed to go in to pick up one stupid piece of keys. I needed to go get keys.

Yeah. So I came from gym to get the keys. And the bus looked at me and goes, I go, yes, sir. Yes, man. He goes, in this office, we don't wear tracksuits. I said, okay. And I didn't go back into the office for three weeks. Yes.

And I think that's when you left. That was the straw. In this office, we don't wear tracksuits. I said, man, I just came to get a pair of set of keys. I'm not putting a suit on for instead of keys. Yeah, that's right. In my office, if we're not seeing clients that day, I wear what up shorts and t-shirts,

and I keep up, like I keep a pair of real estate clothes if I need them to change here, and if I have to change, I do. Otherwise, like today, I've just put this t-shirt on for the Zoom. Yeah. And I had a different, Lisa goes, when of the Zip's that, I had a different t-shirt.

She was putting your polo with my hat. And I just think that people like normality, people like real and unreal. Yeah, exactly. You know, I'm keeping the admin support in EXP Australia. You know, I've got Kirsten leading a team of amazing people, Rachel Griffiths, Emily, Renee, people I don't even know their names. Yeah.

They've got my back. Yes. You know, they've got my back. It's the best admin team I've ever had. Yeah. If you really get stuck, you've got 24-7 support from people in America. If I haven't needed to use that. Anyway, Lisa, I've got to go.

All righty, thank you so much. So anybody that's feeling a bit, a bit down in their real estate creed, give Barry a call. 0410448277. All right. All right. See you later. Bye.

Thank you for listening to Let's Talk About Real Estate podcast. We hope you enjoyed the show. If you have a question about real estate, then please join the group on Facebook, also called Let's Talk About Real Estate. For those of you who are interested in EXP, please join us at 10am Brisbane time every Wednesday morning for EXP Explained. Thank you again for joining us and don't forget to subscribe to the podcast and see you next week.