KGCI: Real Estate on Air - Ryan Gomillion

Episode Date: June 6, 2024

Tell us about Ryan Gommelion a little bit and particularly how you got started in real estate. But give us a quick intro. So I am from and grew up in a town called Gurney, Texas, which is just north of San Antonio. And it was my hometown before it really became a suburb of San Antonio. So I got to grow up with it, if you will. It's very different from what I grew up in. But that's where I spent all my childhood. And then I moved to Austin in 2015 to attend UT.

And I really fell in love with Austin and decided to make it my home from then on out. And I actually got started in real estate while it was a UT student. I did an internship over the summer where it was an entrepreneurship internship. I was actually running a house painting business of all things. And that ended. And I didn't really know what I was going to do with myself. And I didn't want to go back to bartending. And I got an email about getting my real estate license and helping students find places to lease.

I said, hey, sure, let's do this. And I signed up for an interview. And three days later, I was getting my real estate license and going through the courses. And it was a blast. And I really enjoyed that. It helped working with students was a nice way to get into the business. but it really showed me how intricate and dynamic the industry is. And it really resonated well with my desire for a challenge with what I do.

And so it was fun doing that while a student. And then graduation came up and I didn't really know what I was going to do. Real estate definitely made the most sense. I've always had an entrepreneurial mindset. New business was my path. And real estate was the answer to that. So that's kind of how I got my start. I got a couple sales into my belt while I was finishing up as a student and everything

and really fell in love with the sales side. And so decided to then move. move into the sales while also still helping a little bit with student leasing up until I move to E-HP. Okay, very good. So I know that like you and I met, I don't know, sometime over the last six months, you and I, and right away we were talking about, I mean, obviously, you're the younger generation in the industry. And honestly, I think that's a great place, great spot to be. And so right away, you and I were talking about what that looked like for you and what you were passionate about. And right away, you started talking about like wealth building with the younger

generation. I remember you and I were having that conversation. We had just met and boom, we were into that conversation. So just tell me a little bit about that and why that resonates with you and how you're utilizing that in your business and just who you are in the industry. I am, you know, part of, I guess I'm on the young side of the millennial generation. And I've noticed just with my generation and as well as the one, or I guess after me, there's this mindset that housing is just unobtainably too expensive and and just unapportable in that and that you just have to work in this rat race, this mouse wheel, your entire life for a chance at it. But it's really much more obtainable than many people know. And that's one of the many platforms that I take or soupboxes that I take

while I'm going into this and just wanting to educate other people around me about how it isn't that hard to reach and how, yeah, you may not have, you know, the nicest home as your first one. But that first little step into the real estate world then allows you to take the multiple steps later on and later on that that then get you closer to your dream home or let you obtain it and maybe even more so if you have investment goals. And so really educating people on that and but getting down to the root of what they need to. Because just like anywhere else, not everybody has not everybody can sit the same mold. And so that's, that's one of the things that I'm really passionate about and really enjoy sharing. And that's what I, one of the many approaches I take as well

on social media and just trying to connect with as many people as possible. Yeah. So it sounds like, it says like one of your niches, if you will, and I'm not going to pigeonhole you in this niche. It's just a niche for you is being able to have this conversation with, let's say, the 30 and undercrow really get, you know, get those early 20s and mid-20s, really just get them thinking about these possibilities. So the education aspect of that. And find those that it's like that are in a position. It's like, how do you scrape together kind of the down payment for that first little piece of

of real estate to get started. Exactly. Yeah, I love that. What do you want? Like, what are you working on this year? Tell me some of the things that you're focusing on in your business. I've been in the industry for eight years, but making this move was a move to the biggest brokerage I've ever been at.

And so I've taken the mindset again of being a new agent and really diving into all the great new agent activities. And one of the ones that I'm really, really focusing in on is just my social media presence and just internet presence in general. Yeah. I really recognize how powerful it is. Instagram is great. Facebook.

TikTok I haven't really dove into, but it's definitely on my radar. And then YouTube as well, which I know you and I have talked about before. And so really diving in on that. And I was somebody that didn't even have Instagram on my phone before I got in. And so now it's a focus of mine. And I work on this every single day. And either scripting. So tell me about that.

So like, yeah, every single day. So like kind of walk me through that. Like what, what are you doing? Because I know that you're very disciplined and focused. you're really good with a calendar. I think if it's on your calendar, you do it. You're absolutely right. And not everyone can say that. So tell me about, you know, kind of like social media. Are you like posting something every day or what are you doing? What's, what's your plan? What's your roadmap? Yeah. Yeah. So I have a time blocked where every single day, between the hours of 930 and 1130,

nothing else gets scheduled in there. That is when I am coming up with the script, recording a video, editing it and posting it. And yeah, so that's that's that. I do that Monday through Friday. Weekends, Saturdays and Sundays are my two days I wiggle a little bit depending on open houses and different appointments and so on. But Monday through Friday, if I'm not posting a video, then somebody should check in on me. What kind of content are you focusing it on what's working? Yeah. Do you know what's working or experimenting? What's your content? Yeah. So I've done it now for long enough to where I've gotten some of that great feedback and I'm able to implement different things into it. But one thing that works really, or that is working,

I like to do a mortgage rate update. I typically do that one day of the week. And while it is, things change more often than once a week. It's just nice as a constant reminder on that and just talking about the financial side of real estate. I also do, and I actually got inspiration for this from you and listening to you talk at the off meet. I do a new build focus. So I, yeah. So I take a new build deal of the week and I'll put it out there. It'll be anything from, you know, high-end new builds to more of the first time home buyer-friendly ones. And so that does really well too. And then honestly, what does the best and what you'd probably expect are just walkthroughs of gorgeous homes. And that or unique homes or unique properties. And so. I candy. Real estate eye candy.

Exactly. Yeah. Okay. So yeah, I typically fill my weekends with open houses or tours. And while I'm there, I'm taking videos and walkthroughs. And then those are what's getting posted during the week to do. What's the, what's the coolest house you've worked with or seen lately? What's one that's like? Yeah. I actually had an open house at a house. yesterday. So this worked perfectly. And it was out in Davenport Ranch right next to the Austin Country Club and gorgeous, 2.475 million price point. And they had, they had a terrace on the home that they enclosed into a sunroom and just incredible views out into this valley. You've got no back neighbors. You can just see way out there. And the amount of sunlight that came into. So that will be

going up on my Instagram here probably on Thursday. So keep an eye out for sure. Yeah. Nice. That sounds good. I love that. So I know that you're really building that. into your business as a strategy. But like if someone was, because I, because I know that you're studying, you're studying this, you're focused on this, you're disciplined in this, what advice would you give to other agents

or other entrepreneurs who really want to use more of kind of a video and social media strategy in their business? Yeah, that's a great question. My number one overarching advice on this is don't be paralyzed about trying to be perfect at it to not do it. I think it was a Mike Sherrard quote. It's imperfect action is better than perfect inaction.

And that really resonated with me because I didn't know what I was doing. I'd never filmed myself with a green screen Instagram background or anything before. And so I just did it. And it wasn't that great. But then the next time, it was a little bit better. And then I got feedback from people too. And I got better at it. And I still feel like I'm learning every single time I post a video out there.

So kind of going back to what I said at the beginning, just thrown yourself into it, committing to it and doing it and not just. think about doing it. Nice. I like it. Are you doing some posts? Are you being, how geographically specific are you being with some of your posts? I'm curious how you're working that into your strategy. Yeah. Yeah. So my more general videos, like mortgage rates, for instance, I just posted one earlier today. That one, I will, it's more of an overarching information on it. But then I always like to plug in a little Austin update within that as well. So, yeah, sometimes I'll reference stats or just talk about how the market's doing on that. And then other ones, for instance, like my home walkthroughs, I'll do,

I will actually talk about the specific neighborhood within Austin and maybe give a little background on it. Like I did one for an East Austin property and talked a little bit about East Austin and so on. So I try to be as geographically oriented as I can. Yeah. Because I know that that's what will draw the views or people that are looking in the Austin area and curious about these things. Yeah. It's interesting that you can, if you pour yourself into a zip coat, you know, let's say, And you walk it, you talk it, you speak it, you live it, post it, post it, post it, post it, post it, post it. You could own it. You could own it in six months, I think. You're right. Yeah, absolutely. If you go big with it.

Yeah. No, you're right. And that's one of the beautiful things about social media and posting these videos is that people may not have heard of me before, but now they're seeing me and they go, hey, that's the Hyde Park guy. That's the Brentwood guy. I've seen him before. I've heard him before. Good. And it's a lot easier to associate yourself with things just like that versus door knocking. or other, you know, kind of more traditional ways of marketing within the real estate industry. Well, but what kind of advice do you have? I mean, now you've been in the business for eight years. How old were you when you got your real estate license? You were in college, I believe. Yeah, absolutely. I got my real estate license just about a month before I turned 21. Okay. Nice. Yeah. At 20. Well, and I think that's an awesome credential. So for the rest of your career, you get to say, I got my real estate license when I was 20 years old. You know, and that's going to be,

That's going to be a nice, nice feather in your cap for a long, well, for the rest of your career, for your big career. What kind of advice would you have for other realtors that that's how they're getting started, but then they want to make the switch to, you know, full on real estate sales. What advice do you have for those agents? Yeah. You've lived, you've lived it. What's your advice? Yeah. So I've got two pieces of advice.

First thing is try everything. When you are coming into the industry, especially coming into the industry from a niche, such as student leasing or something else, you don't know what you're good or not good at, really, when you get into the business. So it's, you really, really have to not let yourself have a limiting mindset and dive in to gather as much experience as possible. So that's number one. And the number two is commit to it. Real estate is not easy, despite what everybody sees on TV and the internet. It's not just, you know, take and walkthroughs of homes. There's a lot of work, a lot of hard work. And often it's a lot of thankless ways. So it really is a grind at times, but if you commit to it, give yourself fully to it, it does pay off wonderfully to you. I want to comment on your name and I want to ask you because you have an awesome last name. Thank you. How are you working that into your marketing? What do you do with an awesome last name?

Like, Go Million? Well, you have to use it, of course. My joke is that the industry chose me. I didn't choose the industry. Okay, okay, good. Yeah, but it's my tag on all my online presence, really. I'm the go million dollar agent at go million dollar agent. That's it.

That's my. It's fantastic. And I think you should go straight for those million dollar listings. It's like, well, but it's my name. This is what I'm supposed to be doing. And then once the net worth hits the billion, then I'll think about changing my last name. Right. Right.

Oh, yeah. You can have lots of, a lot of fun with that. Absolutely. I love that. Well, and I love that you're, that you're using it. You should. I mean, I'm in Nelson. There's not a lot I can do there.

A good friend of mine is the name is love, lots of stuff she can do there. And then the Nelson's and Andersons of the world, we just have to be a little more creative. But you were bored, you were bored into it. Yeah, I've got to make use of it, of course. My fiancé, I'm getting married next year. Oh, awesome. Congratulations. Thank you.

Thank you. I'm very excited. She is super excited to also make use of it. the last name too. Oh gosh. Of course. He's already coming up with some ideas on it. I would too, but I'm already, I'm already taken. So that's like, let's go back to kind of your, the topic we touched on earlier, kind of the time management, discipline, structure, calendar. Now, that is not the sexiest part of real estate. Not, not even close, but you've identified it as something that you're good at. That,

That's something that you really have incorporated into just who you are and how you run your business. So I want to hear about that a little more. How does that work for you? Do you think that people are wired for that? Or can you learn it? Or is it innate? What is that? Yeah.

So I think it's a little bit of both. I do think some people are wired for it. But mostly if you have an open mindset to it, then you can really take it on. And that's what I really did. I started with a Google calendar, which if you don't have a Google calendar, like y'all are just barely tapping into your potential at this point. Yes. And it started with school and just scheduling school and work and keeping things straight.

So I knew where to show up and when. And then as I got busier around my college schedule and also worked schedule since I worked all through college, I leaned on that more so. And then when I started in my last real estate brokerage, I was challenged by mentor and broker to read a book. And it was the success principles by Jack Canfield. And I read that and I went, wow, this is awesome. I've never, like this is all some of this is things that you would think about. But a lot of this is just brand new content for me.

And I really want to dive into this more. And so I went back to him for another book and he gave me more. And then that just started this whole journey of all these success oriented books and business focused ones. And I still challenge myself to read them and stay on top of all of that. And so it is, I feel like it's something we owe ourselves is to to stay as educated as we can be on what else is going on, what other people are doing to be successful. and then how you can take that and learn from it and implement it into your own style too.

Yeah. I have a theory in real estate. And I guess this would be more, almost more of a theory in success. Okay. Because it applies to probably everything. It's just that real estate happens to be Arlene. I have this theory that, and you've heard me say this, I think, that the most successful are not necessarily more talented than you are.

They're simply more consistent and disciplined with the basics and the fundamentals. Absolutely. They're better at following a schedule. Absolutely. Yep. I agree 100%. Follow the schedule and make more money. I want to share something with you and I wasn't planning on doing this, but this is a perfect.

So this is kind of a side note, but that's fine. I'll probably pull it out and do a separate video on this. But you just you just teed it up. I'm going to share my screen with you and I want to share with you something I've been working on. And I'm going to give it to you. This is going to be my gift to you. Wonderful. Okay.

All right. So I'm sharing my screen now. you can see that's a Google calendar, right? And you don't need to look at the detail on my calendar. In fact, I'm going to turn my calendar off. But I'm going to share with you this calendar I built. You're going to like this. Oh, lovely. Side note, I love how you are a person who has a ton of tabs open because that's who I am too. Oh, yeah. Yeah. No, thank you. No judgment on the number of tabs. There's no shaming here. I am with you 100% on that. I got tabs. I'm sure I could close maybe half a dozen of those, but That's about it. No more than that. But I want to share with you this coach Julie realtor success

calendar that I've been building for months. And what this is, and I'll give it to you, you can add this to your calendar. Okay. I love that. And what it is. And this is what, when people join me at EXP, this is part of the gift that I give them. And I'm giving it out to kind of some select people as well. But what it is is because I realize it's that principle of so many people, I think, are really talented in real estate, talented with people passionate about the topic, but they're falling short of following a schedule and having that discipline and having a roadmap of what does it really take to succeed in this business? And so I built this calendar where there's literally, there's a daily checklist, there's a weekend review, you do a daily CMA,

it's having the conversations. What do I do on Mondays? What do I do on Tuesdays? Here's a YouTube post on Wednesday. Here's the new construction work on Fridays. And there's more geographic. I've got, I think, like three geographic posts a week. And you could tweak this up a little bit. You're doing the daily and that's great. I wouldn't change. It would not change what you're doing. But this provides the basic structure. It gives you just a quick checklist for the end of each day. And if you look at it, it walks you through it. Actually, I'll give you a little more detail. Like here, this researching new construction, it literally walks you through it. It gives you some resources.

It helps you think through it so that you're really creating some quality content. Some of the contents are weekly or events. Some are monthly, some are quarterly. So like right there, for example, every month I run a 30-day challenge. Every month there's an activity for how to manage birthdays and anniversaries. So it becomes, so not only it trains you on it, but it just becomes your checklist. And I have it set so that Google sends you an email every day that says, here's your schedule today. Here's your list.

And of course, you can go in and tweak it. I say five real estate conversations a day. Well, for you, you might want to change this to 10. Someone else, it might be 20. Someone five may be the right number. So you can tweak it. So this is what I have been working on behind the scenes. Vendor project.

I'm jealous of any new agent coming in with you having access to these things. Thank you. I'll give you the link. I'll give you the link to this so you can. Yeah. Thank you. I really appreciate that. Now, I have a feeling.

I mean, you've already told me, and I'll stop the share right there. You've already told us that in your calendar, you have it blocked every morning you're doing that social media content. You're very purposeful with it and you've prioritized it. in your business and you're consistent with it. And that's the biggest thing and the biggest hurdle. I think as well for people really diving into this is that this isn't a process where you make one video and then all the business comes in.

No. It's something you have to consistently put yourself in front of people and they have to be reminded of who you are and overtime associate real estate with you and your name. And then they may reach out two, three years from now going, hey, I saw all your videos during this time. Now I'm ready to buy a home. Now my cousin is ready to sell their home. Yes. So let's do this. Let's you and I, and you'll have to remind me, but let's you and I, let's plan for kind of the end of the year.

Although at the end of the year, we could do it right at the beginning of the year. Let me put this on my calendar. Put it on your calendar. Let's do another, we'll do another video. We'll do another one of these sessions. But the whole conversation is, hey, what results did you get this year? Because you really kind of started this project, let's say, what, in March or April? Is that about right? Yep, in March. Okay. So you started in in March. we're going to see at the end of the year, we're going to see what 10 months roughly of this

really focused and disciplined and consistent effort, what your results are. Like how many followers or views or what is starting to happen in your business? How many leads or opportunities can you actually say came out of? Or what were just, what were some of your experiences? What did you learn? What would you do differently? So let's let's do that. We'll just kind of track your progress with this effort. Who are you? So I'm just following kind of wondering, who are you following, like, on social media, or there's some role models that you're kind of studying what they're doing? Because a lot of what we do, it's like, look, you don't have to have all original material. In fact, most of your material probably is not, it's not very original. You'll see someone else do something. It's like,

that's a great idea. That's a great video. I'm going to go do some like that as well. So I'm curious, who are you following? So Ricky Carruth is one, Sumin Kim, as another, who we again have the privilege to hear on Wednesday this week. Levi Laskick is another one. And then there's a few others that I just can't remember off the top of my head. But they're not all real estate related. Some of these are just public speaking related. Some of them are just social media marketing related. And so a lot of these industries do have a lot of overlap. And I've started to realize that and really take from that as well. I follow some of those folks as well. What challenges are you facing? So I'd say one of the biggest challenges I face on a day-to-day basis is just being a young agent.

There's a stigma within the real estate industry that if you are young, then you don't really know that much versus maybe an older real estate agent. And so that's been a challenge that I've faced my entire career within real estate. And it's one that is honestly kind of energizing for me because I know that I have something to prove out the gate. And I get to work extra hard for the business. And I get to just be an exception to this idea that somebody has. has in their head. So that's one of the biggest challenges and also one of the biggest motivators that I

face too. Yeah. Well, I think you are the exception. You really impressed me the first time I met you. You're extremely well read. You know the market. You're a student of the industry and the market. You're constantly studying it. You have a vision. You have drive. People want to work. People want to work with energy, integrity. People have a vision and a drive. And I think I think you fit all of that. Yeah, and I think you can kind of roll with the young thing. It's like you can probably even joke. It's like, oh, really, but really I'm 39 years old. And they'll be like, no, really, I'm 40.

I'm just, I'm just young or whatever. You know, you just people are going to want to work with you because you're doing a bang up job out there. Well, thank you. And I know that I can just do incredible things when given the opportunities. And that is all about right now. My push is just putting myself in. in those situations to get the opportunities. So putting myself out there, both in person, their open houses, meeting people, and then also online, too. Within a couple years, I think you're

going to be one of the top agents in central Texas. I really do believe that. Tell me about joining EXP. How has that been for you? Talk about that for a minute. Yeah, absolutely. So my previous brokerage was a smaller brokerage. I was one of two agents that were on the sales side. So very, very small. And that was my only real estate experience. I graduated into that from my original student leasing role. It was a sister company still under the same broker. And I enjoyed it, but I felt like I had kind of achieved what I could achieve. And I kind of chanced into EXP, honestly. I was working with another or adjacent to another agent within the central Austin market, Brian Copeland. And I walked into his office one day. And he said, hey, Ryan, I've got this really

cool model that I just joined. I'd love to tell you about it. And I said, sure. And we met up a couple times. That was maybe three or four times. I finally started to see the power that it has and what it does to empower agents within the industry as well. But I really enjoyed my time here. I feel like I'm connected with just an insane amount. People and also very successful people, too, that I would not have been able to bump elbows with before. And so having happy hour opportunities, training opportunities, and just boundless amount of options on that has been amazing. And I can already feel the effects of this additional influence that I'm having within my own business. And it can only go up from here. So it's, I really, really enjoyed it. Again, it's my first, I'd say big brokerage,

but I can't imagine being anywhere else. Because you've faced any challenges with the switch to a new broker? I think any time you move brokerages within the industry, it's you take a couple steps back for them to take multiple leaps and bounds forward. I definitely have felt the couple steps back, you know, those same habits and activities that were getting it from point A to point B before, they aren't the same ones here. And so having to read the real. learn a couple things, relearn systems. EXP really does give you a lot of online resources, but sometimes it can be overwhelming. And so learning those and also learning how to fit them within my business too.

I'd say those have been some challenges. What do you like best about it? I'd say ultimately I'm a people person and just having these connections with people that I hadn't had before has been the number one for me so far, getting meet people like yourself. And someone came here in a couple days and Elizabeth Riley and I mean, just Brian as well, even though I already knew them. And getting to know people too. and also just how welcoming and really just attentive everyone is too.

I don't feel like a nobody. People are actually interested to know my story. Well, and I think kudos to you. You really have applied to yourself. You're showing up. I keep seeing you at all the events. You're meeting people. And that's why you have to plug yourself in and you've done that very naturally.

And I think that's an important part of really making anything work. It's like, are you showing up? Are you meeting people? Are you plugging in? So this might work for you. There's an agent in Houston that part of her strategy is that she tries to attend as many events as she can in San Antonio, Austin, and DFW. I love it. Because she's a people person.

And so when she's there, she's just, I'm your, I'm your Houston connection. I'm your Houston connection. I'm your Houston connection. And in a very short amount of time, she met all of these agents all over the state. They know who she is. They know her face. They know her name. And it helped her build her business.

And she was new in the business. It's not like she had a long real estate resume, but she just had the drive and the energy and the personality. And it was a really good strategy. So that could be something that would work for you as well. So instead of just the Austin events, you're like, wait a minute, what are the San Antonio events? What are the Houston events? I like to drive. I don't mind.

I don't mind a little road trip. I love that. That's great. So think about that as a little strategy. I just, I'm really excited about the social media aspect of it all. And I obviously, everybody should go follow me at a million dollar agent. But it's just been such a fun journey and learning more and more about it. And I'm excited for just the potential it has. And with it, like, it's such a different form of marketing and prospecting to. Because once you put a video out there, it continues to knock on those doors for you. It continues to mail the postcards and everything. And so it's in this internet age that we're in, it is incredibly powerful. And, uh, I definitely encourage everybody to give it a try. Because like you said earlier, you may be saying similar things to other agents, but you have to offer and what I have to offer are different,

even though we're doing the same content sometimes because you're offering your experience. I'm offering mine and so on and the next agent and so on. And so that is the biggest thing about it. And I also even use it almost as a resume too. Like for instance, in EXP, when we have referrals reach out of different agents across the country looking for agents in Austin, I say, hey, I'd love to help them out. here's my Instagram to see if I would be a good personality fit for your client. And so it goes beyond just that.

And I know Sue and Kim, he uses it in listing appointments. You go, hey, this is what you're getting. You're not just getting me. You're getting all these processes and all these videos and all this marketing that goes beyond any other agent. And so it goes beyond just, you know, taking a video of yourself, talking about mortgage rates, talking about a new bill of community. You're really building something that works beyond.

What's your username typically again, like Instagram? Yeah, it's at GoMillion. So my last name, Dollar, agent. D-O-L-L-A-R agent. And that's funny. I was just, I was just going to ask you that anyways, and you put that plug in. So you're really true. And I will say, so I will put this plug in that whoever's listening to this is if you like this content, hit that little subscribe button down below. We like the subscribe and the likes in the comments because that helps us get a little more energy on this channel. So you just go right ahead and hit that subscribe button right down there.

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