KGCI: Real Estate on Air - 27 Years Old Selling 8 Figure Listings With Bo Palazola

Episode Date: February 12, 2025

So the big question is this. How do real estate agents like us get started in selling luxury real estate? How do we go from selling typical starter homes to selling multi-million dollar properties? What does it take to become successful in the luxury real estate industry? That is the question. And this podcast will give you the answer. My name is Juan Carlos Berenchi. Welcome to the Luxury Agent Podcast.

What's going on, everyone? This is Juan Carlos Baranetti on another episode of the Luxury Agent Podcast. On this episode, we're going to be filming the part two to the Bo Palazola Group at Daniel Gail Sotheby's in Breckenridge, Colorado. Bo is a phenomenal real estate rock star who's been dominating the luxury scene at a very young age. If you haven't followed him on Instagram as of yet, you should see him on his jets. You see him in front of these beautiful mansions and estates. And he's crushing the resort game out there in Colorado when it comes to luxury real estate. We want to go ahead and film a part two

because we got a chance to interview Johnny Keith, which was his associate on his team on the last call. And on this call, we're going to be covering Bo's marketing strategy, what he did to break into the luxury scene at such a young age and what he's doing to go ahead and build his brand and become more and more successful every single day. So without further ado, let's go ahead and introduce the man himself. Bo Palazola, what's going on, my man? Hey, good morning, buddy. I really appreciate having me today.

Yeah, I look forward to chatting about the luxury game and how you can tap into that realm. Anytime and happy to have you here. I'm noticing you're in a very tropical environment back there. Where are you at nowadays? You know, I flew into Miami last night. I've got some meetings down here with a couple developers and some big real estate agents down here. And then we're back to Destin tomorrow. and then back to Colorado Monday.

Cool stuff. And then what's your day-to-day like? Are you always traveling and really going to all these places to network with agents? Or what do you deal? It's constant, buddy. So you've got to invest in yourself, right? So first and foremost, it's what you want in this business and who you want to be around. Sorry, I just had a lag.

Yeah, I mean, honestly, it's really what you want to put into it. You know, so you need to understand first what makes you tick. What's your passion? Who do you want to be around? What markets you want to be in? And that's what I've done. So I started my real estate career kind of at the opposite end of the spectrum as far as I do not, you know, really dabble in residential as far as permanent residences, you know. I really focus on the second third home tourist driven destination feeder markets.

And for me, that was a different game than your average agent that just starts selling in a metro market, you know. So it was definitely learning from a different end of a spectrum for the real estate game. you know, in general. But yes, to your point, it's all about networking because my buyers are not local, you know, so my buyers do not live in Colorado. My buyers live in Texas. They live here in Miami. They live in Naples, Chicago. We're starting to see some Southern California. So for me, it's just crucial to be in those places. So yes, to your point, I'm always on the go. I'm always in the jet. I'm always flying networking. So basically, you're going out there. You're finding the buyer. You're not waiting for the buyer to come to you.

Most agents I see are just marketing locally and they're waiting for people to call them. You're physically going out there. You're traveling. You're making these connections in hopes of reaching out to those agents and them sending buyers your way, right? Well, not even in hopes of reaching out. You make it happen, right?

So you need to understand who you want to surround yourself first and tap into that, you know? So for me, just to put it in a perspective to give you guys an example, like I would fly to Beverly Hills on Tuesdays just for broker tours. Like just to go to broker caravans, I would fly in the L.A., go to Beverly Hills, and that's how I started meeting agents.

I'm not intimidated. Like, I understand that some people can be, but just putting that to the side and understanding that this is a people business and a relationship-based business, if you go to the best in your market or any market that you want to be in, go, talk to them.

Don't be scared to shoot them an email or text their assistant or whatever it may be, DM them on Instagram. Stay in front of them. Like, you know, for me, for instance, you know, being persistent pays off in this business, but these guys, these big guys, like, you know, for instance, you know, look at Chris Gertazzo in Malibu. He's done well over 8 billion in sales in a 17 mile radius of PCH highway. He didn't know who I was. He didn't hit me back up the first

several times that I messaged him, but probably by the 10th time he did and I got a meeting. So, you know, it's being consistent. It's knowing the market that you want to be in, but you've got to go there. You've got to network. And for new agents, It's, if you want to tap into luxury, you go to the best agent in your market and you take them to lunch or coffee and you ask them. And to me, depending on where you are, you've got to pick the brains of the best, you know. But it's not going and doing what they say and necessarily going an assistant route. It's diving headfirst in and not looking back. But in essence, it's having the right tools and the right people around you that you've been to have the opportunity to network with, you know.

So consistency is key, not having that fear of what. other people are going to think is crucial as well. You mentioned not being intimidated. And honestly, getting started in luxury real estate is intimidating for a lot of people. How did you get started? Take us back to day one and really what it was like for a young agent like yourself to break into this. Day one for me. So we all have our breaks in life, right? So, you know, I sold 19 homes, my first year in real estate, you know, average price point, 1.5 plus in that range. So it did well, you know, 17 or so a million in my first year, just doubled that where I've done over 100 million in sales in less than three years as a single agent. And that's been purely off building relationships.

To me, if you want to tap into this high net worth individual in this client in this market, you need to really, really value yourself as a luxury advisor to this person because this guy or this lady or whoever it may be, this client, they're not first-time homebuyers. You know, they've been around the block. They don't care. There's zero emotion involved. they get you get the deal done and they will pay you know they will pay for it you know that's what I mean like and that's another thing too is you know this whole um real estate brokerage you know going lesser than 6% commission right like I don't do that I don't discount commission because I my clients see value and I bring value and I explain the value um very very high net worth individuals

you know they focus on having a luxury advisor around them where they don't need to put time and energy into a transaction so to be able to do that you have to to be able to build a relationship. And to do that, they have to get to know you before they ever like you. And they have to get to like you before they ever trust you. And if they trust you, you're set. I absolutely, I absolutely love that because like I said, you're six percent, regardless of what you charge, you're going to make them a lot more money. You're going to save them a lot more money multiple times over. So people in that field, people in that high net worth category, they see the value in investing their time and energy with someone like you who could go

out there and get the job done. Well, that's also why to me, you know, on that the luxury real estate broker will never fade out, you know, because I get that there's these discount brokerages coming into town and, you know, people might, you know, it, and I'm not, I'm not saying it wrong in anyways, but the high-end clientele will always focus on a very high-end luxury advisor in real estate, period, and there will be no discounts in that realm. So that's really what I focused on and doing it in a way that I, you know, I go into this to these meetings, these with these clients with zero intimidation with the point that you don't talk about money, you don't talk about state, they don't care about that stuff. You just get to know

them. That's it. And you bring value to the conversation, you know. And that's what I've seen has really, you know, really help my career. One thing though, like what we're talking about earlier is having that break, right? Everybody needs a break. Everybody needs that one shot to really do it and get to that next level. And my one break, to be honest, guys, I mean, it was a $6 million house in Breckenridge, Colorado, and I was actually the buyer's agent on it, which I actually got the buyer from an open house. So I don't know where you guys are in your markets, but open house work, guys, I'm telling you,

depending on where you are, they definitely work. You know, I probably close seven to $15 million a year off open houses. So they work. But anyways, long story short, met this couple in an open house, super cool, showed them property. You know, they were in the $4 to $7 million range. So I set up some showings and went to this house. Just so happened that the owner was there. Now, we all know how that is being a real estate agent, being a buyer's agent,

trying to represent your client, be the professional right in the house and you don't want the owner there. You know, it's just conflict of interest potentially. But so, you know, anyhow, he was there. And it's a big house, 11,000 square foot house, right? So we're walking around and he's kind of in the corners, you know, just hanging back and didn't think anything of it. And, you know, said thank you for your time.

And we left. and probably four or five days later, he calls me, like randomly calls me, and just said, hey, I wanted to check you on your clients. Like, thanks so much for showing the house. And at that point, I thought that was weird, right? Because the listing agent should be representing the client. And I thought that was it. And I said at this point, you know, we haven't made our decision yet.

I'll let your agent know. Thank you so much. Have a good day. Then think anything of it, right? Like, I'd never hear from this guy again. Well, a week later, he calls back and asks me to come over for dinner. So, okay. So now the stage is set.

the owner has, you know, legally invited me into his house. So, you know, you guys ethical-wise, you can do that now. And so I went not really thinking too much of it. And a dinner turned into a three and a half hour conversation. And it was the fact that I rubbed off on him so much during that showing two weeks prior that he invited me over to dinner. And we sat there. We had a bottle of wine. It was great.

We had a good time. We'll probably four dinners later. So probably about three months down the road. So, you know, at this, at this process, it's probably a three to four month boarding process of getting to know this guy, right? He finally calls me and said, Bo, I just pulled my listing off the market. Here's your shot. So he gave me my first shot, you know, and he was an older gentleman, high-in exec in

the corporate world and literally looked at me in the face and said, you need a shot. This is your shot. So he gave me that listing. And that's actually when I was at Remax, where I started. my career guys, it was at Remax in Breckinridge, Colorado, and Sotheby's recruited me. And I'll never forget this, because I had about 25 million in listings at the time that I took from Remax to Sotheby's, and my client of the $6 million house that I, you know, he gave me the shot on, he said, Bo, I don't care if you start, Bo real estate. This is your house to sell. And that was huge for me.

Like, you have to have that reassurance, guys, right? And that was my first shot. I sold the house. I sold the house for five, well over five and a half million, you know. And now actually what's interesting is I have that same house. So the house is so nice. I sold it twice, right? No way. Yeah. So my client bought the house.

So I represented the buyer on the deal the first time. They bought the house. They just put $4 million into this house. And now we're back on the market at $15 million. And I've got a client right now who I just got phone with. We're about to be writing an offer on the house. So I'll be representing the buyer again. on the same property.

Yeah. So how much are we talking about in gross commission, just an estimate based on the first time when you sold it and the second time when you're selling it? What would that add up to from just one relationship? A million bucks. Wow. Wow. That's freaking awesome, Matt.

And I don't think there's any other industry you can do that where if you just go ahead and you focus on the person that's in front of you and helping them out, that could turn into multiple transactions of the course of the years that could make you a million dollars. That's freaking awesome. Yes. And I will tell you this, guys, please listen to this. And don't think, I mean, yes, a seven figure check. It's a lot of money.

I don't doubt that by any means. But please, if you guys don't hear anything for me, value relationships over deals. Chase relationships over deals. You know that one. You know our buddy Ricky says that since day one. But it's important. And it's what I've done. You know, Ricky came out to Colorado and went skiing with me a few years ago.

And we met in person, had a great time and hit it off. and we keep in touch. And that was one thing that he told me that, you know, hundreds of thousands of agents have heard it, right? But who has it actually stuck with? You know what I mean? Like, who actually has processed relationships over deals and then went and did that?

Who's actually reaching out to them on holidays? Who's actually checking it on their kids? Who's actually the one that's staying in touch and caring about their life, you know? Yep. Oh, 100%. Yeah, a relationship will pay you forever. That's freaking awesome.

So let's get into the marketing side for the luxury real estate game. Obviously, when you market a $15 million listing, it's going to be way different than you marketing a $500,000 house. What do you do differently to separate yourself from every other agent out there? Well, particularly in my market, guys, is my digital marketing. You know, I'm a young, hungry agent that came into a market that saw opportunity. So most of my direct competition are going off sphere of influence where they've worked for 25, 30 years in the market.

They've got repeat customers, referral business, which is great. right, they've earned it. But there's no hustle or drop. You know, they put it for a sell sign in the yard. They put it in the MLS and they just wait for it to sale. In our market, I will say that is effective purely because of how strong and how hot the market is, you know, and it's a seller's market. So anything sells. Point being, I went that extra mile. I saw the opportunity in the market to capitalize on the geo-fencing, the geo-targeting, the digital side of marketing, the paper clicks, LinkedIn, Google ads, Instagram, Facebook, everything, right? To where I call it a blitz market approach. So when I take a new listing, I blitz the market. That's what we do.

And it's being on multiple platforms, as many platforms as you can possible. And really understanding the relationships with some PR, you know, I mean, if you have the opportunity to be with a brokerage that has relationships with a Wall Street Journal or in LA Times or something like that, to be able to utilize those platforms is huge. But it's all, it's all said. You have to invest in yourself. I mean, off this $15 million house, I'll spend $35, 40 grand on market. you know my videos are the best videos i don't you've seen my videos on my page on my instagram page at breck really i mean those guys are amazing i've never seen the type of angles that they do do you know how my guys they go in and they and they do that day to night shot

where it goes on day to night yeah so big shout out to fortil media um they're my guys out of colorado yeah they're they're the real deal man and they the edge that they have the vibe they have this energy is young, it's hip, it's different. For instance, I sold a video, and that's another thing, too, is we're really analyzing the digital platforms and we know exactly what to do, right? So, I mean, at this point, if you've got a video online on social media and you're more than 60 seconds, no one's watching it, right? So that's the thing. So, you know, we've capitalized on that and I just sold a house actually hilarious. I sold a house purely off my video. So my video team came in and we did a video on a new construction I had listed at like 3.1-25 million and sold it within four days,

full-price cash offer off the video that the client saw the video in Chicago and flew in from Chicago purely off the video and bought the house in person cash, four-day closed, no contingencies. No, so hold on, hold on. You're marketing these videos in what, every major city throughout the country? Every major, no, well, our feeder market. So we, what I'm doing, one, is I'm growing a very, very luxe experience as far as I'm taking market share in every high-end, very strategic destination feeder markets. So I'm moving into Valen Aspen. We're moving into, you know, Texas, which is a big feeder market for us. We're moving into Naples, Miami. We're moving into the Hamptons, East Coast, New York. So I see you up there, buddy. You know, we're going

truly by coastal. What will happen is, you know, I will dominate very, very boutique destination feeder markets to where I represent my clients where my client has their primary house in L.A. They buy a ski house in Vail and Aspen. They buy a beach house in Miami or Palm Beach. I fly them in on the jet. I broker the deal. Then I fly my client home back to their primary house. That's what we're doing. So we're taking market share in all these very, very strategic destination feeder markets. And to do that, you have to advertise in those markets. So anything as far as digital and printed based advertising, you have to both. I mean, I get that print. is out of the way.

But where we are, we're a tourist market, where tourists are walking up and down Main Street, and the older demographic will still pick up the magazine. You know? So you can't, you can't, like, just erase that from your marketing budget. But what we've done and what I've done is, and it's huge, my clients, and not even my clients,

just buyers, sellers in general, before they ever come to Breckenridge, they know my name and face, period. And they know who, represents luxury. You know, you've got to, you've got to, you've got to have that lifestyle. You know, we sell a lifestyle, right? Especially myself. I sell a lifestyle. So you've got to live it, you know, you've got to have your break. I get that, right? But once you do capitalize on that and invest in yourself, you know, if you get a decent check, go double down on your personal

marketing, on your personal marketing budget. I've got over a quarter million dollar marketing budget just for myself, not including what suburbies does for me, you know? So it's, it's big, but I've done it and I've, and I'm 100% self-made. I took all of that commission off real estate and I just invested it in myself. I love it, Matt. I am such a huge believer that the agent is the brand nowadays. And to go back to what your seller was saying before, whether you were at ABC Realty or Bow Realty or whatever realty it was, you earned the listen because of who you are, and how you're investing in yourself. So if you're an agent listening, just remember, when it comes to you being a top agent, you have to reinvest back into yourself because if you don't believe

in yourself, no one else is going through. So this is just really good gems that you're providing here. Bo, let's address the giant elephant in the room, right? You're young, I'm young. The average age of an agent in a luxury real estate has to be well above 50 years old. How did you, as a young agent, break into this without people saying, hey, he's too inexperienced. he doesn't have what it takes to go out there and get the job done. Yeah, so I honestly get that question asked a lot. And to be honest, the most blunt way I can say it is I've never had pushback. I've never had pushback compliance because I know how to relate.

If you find a common ground immediately in a conversation and understand how to present yourself to these people, they won't question. I personally have not had it happen. And I've had dozens of people say, well, how is this young little shit getting these $18 million listings and how do they trust him and who is he and what does he do and what is he doing wrong? You know what I mean? And I have an X on my back for sure because we're in a small sandbox in my market and I took total market share in less than 24 months, you know, and it's purely off. I work my ass off guys. Like you guys see me getting on the jet and stuff, but you know,

Wani, you and I, you work 70, 80 hour work weeks. You understand, you know, I mean, we don't go out. We're up at five. We're working 12, 14 hour days. And we love it. it, right? It's our fashion. And that's what people don't see, you know. But to be honest, I've never had that blow up in my face. I know how to present myself immediately. I know how to find common ground and make a connection quick. And that's what I do. I set the hook, but I don't set it with wrong intentions. I set it with truly, truly wanting to help my people and help my clients. And like you said, wear multiple hats. And, you know, I've watched cats for a client for months. I go down to Denver and help clients move.

Like, you know, I'm always there. I started my own property management company just so we can manage properties, high-end luxury properties for our clients, you know. I love it. And listen, as agents who have both sold $100 million worth of real estate in such a short period of time, we get that at the end of the day. The client doesn't care how we look, how old we are, where we're from, as long as we'll get the job done and we'll do whatever it takes, man.

So really inspiring stuff, man. I want to thank you once again for just taking the time. today to be on the podcast and really just share a ton of gems. I don't think people understand how much knowledge you just dropped in such a short period of time. Anything you want to leave off up for a new agent looking to break into the luxury real estate scene. What do they have to do or what should their routine look like to really get to be part of this game, you know? I would say sit down and really think about what market you're in to start with, right? and understand the demographic.

And, you know, if you sell, say, 100 houses a year, you know, I sold 49, I did 49 transactions last year and did $84 million in sales in 12 months. So if that gives you an idea, you know, we're not pumping out major volume here as far as transactions. We're not doing two or three hundred deals a year, you know. So first of all, find out where you are, right? And then to be able to tap into it, it's really just asking yourself, what do you want to put in it. You know, what you get, what you put into this business is what you get out directly.

And consistency is key, obviously. But tapping in, it's just don't have fear, guys. Like, you know, go follow the best, the best guys on social media. Go follow Sally Foster Jones. Go follow Chris Carzzo. Go follow the Albuhrothers. You know, go follow those guys and Frederick Euclid and those guys and Devin Kay here in Miami, who I'm about to have lunch with. And really just relate to them and ask questions, you know. I mean, I'm always available on Instagram. You guys can always DME. Juan, you know, we're buddies. You know, we're growing our relationship and let's do some referral business together and, you know, just keep pushing, guys. Don't give up. That's the main thing. I've seen too many people in this industry just stop and just give up. You know, I've got an agent

working with me now who's done one deal in six months. And I'm, I've lit a fire under him. He's just a different breed as able to get traction to where Johnny Keith, he's been on my team. for what two months and has already closed six million so you understand i'm trying to say though like so there's different perspectives to everything and different you know people relate differently so you know i'm willing to help i know you're willing to help so you know you guys reach out for sure but just understand what you want first and then working it way working your way up to achieve you know and just not having the fear you know just just do it don't think about it get on get on social media, start doing Facebook lives, start doing

Instagram posts. Don't look at yourself, talk. Just talk. You know. There it is, everyone. Take action. Understand which mark you want to be into and start doing the work. Bo, how can people reach out to you and find you? Yes. My name is just Bo Palazola. It's E-A-L-A-Z-O-L-A.

I'm at Breck Rillity on Instagram. Just Breck Rillity and there's Bo Palazola on Facebook. Yep. And then my number, if you guys, you know, Juan, you can put my number in the in the link below. Perfect. And then for everyone listening, we're going to be going ahead and streaming this episode exclusively on the Gold Bar Real Estate Network. Go ahead and follow us at Goldbar on Instagram and follow us on our YouTube channel at Goldbar Real Estate Network. We're actually going to be featuring this month two of those huge listings that he has out there in Breck. And if you're interested or you have a buyer, you want to go ahead and refer some businesses way, make sure to stay in contact. So Bo, once again, thanks. And looking forward to doing lots of deals together in near future. Awesome, Juan. Yeah, appreciate it like always, brother. It's been a pleasure. Thanks, man. We'll talk soon.