KGCI: Real Estate on Air - Secrets to Fast Real Estate Success, with Victoria Melton

Episode Date: September 10, 2025

Morning Primer is your weekday boost from Mindset & Motivation Monday—quick, focused, and made for agents by KGCI Real Estate On Air. Give yourself a daily mindset reset for the daily direction you need to show up sharp and ready to win.Start your morning ahead of the market and ahead of your competition every day with KGCI Real Estate On Air. Summary:Unlock the definitive secrets to accelerating your real estate career with top-level agent Victoria Melton. This episode delves into the essential strategies and mindset shifts that empower newer agents to quickly boost their income and establish a thriving business. Learn actionable insights on leveraging community connection, building strong leadership, and embracing personal growth to achieve unparalleled success in the competitive real estate market.Bullet Point TakeawaysRapid Career Acceleration for Newer Agents: Discover the specific strategies Victoria Melton employs to help newer real estate agents bypass common pitfalls and achieve fast income growth and career success.The Power of Community Connection: Learn how building strong community ties, demonstrated by Victoria's ability to mobilize support during crises, is not just impactful personally but also a profound driver of business success and client trust.Leadership and Team Dynamics: Gain insights into Victoria's approach to fostering a collaborative environment within her team at eXp Realty, emphasizing how diverse perspectives enrich the team and drive innovation.Resilience in the Face of Adversity: Hear Victoria's personal journey of overcoming challenges, including market downturns and personal losses, and how maintaining perspective and gratitude can empower you in your own professional hurdles.Personal Growth Fuels Professional Success: Understand how continuous personal development, reflected in Victoria's transition from a stay-at-home mom to a successful entrepreneur, fundamentally shapes your approach to real estate and client relationships.Topics:Victoria Melton Real EstateFast Real Estate SuccessNew Agent StrategiesReal Estate Career GrowthAgent Leadership SkillsCall-to-Action:Ready to fast-track your real estate career? Listen to the full episode on your favorite podcast platform and unlock Victoria Melton's secrets to rapid success! Ready for more? Subscribe now and tap into our Always Free Real Estate On Air Mobile App for iPhone and Android, where you’ll find our complete archive and 24/7 stream of proven real estate business-building strategies and tactics. 

Morning Primer, picking up where mindset and motivation Monday left off. No hype, just strategy mindset and direction from KGCI, Real Estate on Air. Welcome back to the Realty Funnels podcast. I'm Kevin Cahill, and I'm so excited today to welcome Victoria Melton, who is a top real estate agent in North Carolina. Victoria, welcome. Hey, thank you for having me. Well, it's my pleasure, and I'm so delighted that you agreed to be on with us. tell everyone a little bit about yourself where you are how long you've been in the business what you do

so i have been in i'm in north carolina Winston salem north carolina which is a small smaller city right in the middle of raleigh north carolina and charlotte i have been in real estate for just finished my fourth year yeah i love serving people i love what i'm doing i love the the different ways we can work real estate here and i love watching the growth that's in my city because the growth that's happening in Charlotte and Raleigh is pushing people out to my area. So our market's still pretty good. And your market, Winston, is really a very affordable pocket for all the hustle and bustle that's going on in that Charlotte, Raleigh, intellectual business hub. It is. So we are ranked one of the top 10 most affordable places to live.

in the country and we are in between two of the fastest growing cities in the country so that kind of sets us up to be we probably won't ever be at that level because we don't have the space however it's a great place to invest our average family home is 289000 wow yeah very affordable it is and luxury starts um luxury our luxury market It starts at $750,000. Very affordable as well for some of those larger estate type homes. Right. And so when you look at markets like Charlotte and Raleigh, their average price point,

I believe I could be wrong, but it's around $400,000 to $450,000. So there's a big difference. And we're about an hour from one and an hour and 20 minutes from the other. So I get a lot of clients and a lot of buyers that when they start a lot of, working remote, they gravitated towards Greensboro, towards Winston-Salem because of the affordability to live. And if they only have to commute to the office once a week or once every other week, it was perfect for them. So that's where we're at. It's a great place for investing, for rentals. You could get a three-two town home for about 220 in certain areas, and they're

running from 1650 to 1850 a month. So those are nice returns. Correct. And you're getting a good area, good schools, good renters. Most of my investors have great. Actually, all of my investors have great renters right now. So it's a great place to hold your money for the resale in the years to come because I believe we're about to grow substantially in the next three to five years. And it's one of those beautiful parts of the country.

You're around gorgeous lakes. You're not far from the mountains. You're not far from the ocean. And you have really moderate, temperate winters. And the summers aren't unbearable. So having lived in Florida for so long, there are a lot of people who would just go up to North Carolina in the summer. Yeah.

So North Carolina, it gets human, but nothing like Florida. you don't have surprise thunderstorms here. You know they're coming for a day ahead. But we are, so I'm about two and a half hours from the heart of the mountain from Asheville, which you have beautiful hiking mountains, great restaurants, beautiful scenery, three and a half hours to the coast for the beach. Carolina has some beautiful old beaches. A lot of character there.

a lot of, I mean, there's busy beaches and then there's some very calm, calm beaches. So I like where I live. I like that I could go to the beach on a day trip. Actually, for Mother's Day, we went to the beach for the day. There's three and a half hours we went into North Myrtle, had the best day. And then I could go to the mountains for the day if I want to. So, yeah, it's nothing strenuous. And then there's a lot to do.

in our small area. We're building a good culture in this city and surrounding cities. Greensboro has a lot to offer. High Point. That's all in my area that I cover. And then we have Charlotte, which on the way to Charlotte, you've got Lake Norman.

Yeah, it's beautiful. Beautiful lake, beautiful homes. We have high rock lake, which is we call that the fun lake, a little too much fun. Definitely beautiful places there. So you have the best of everything. Our winters, I think the last time we got snow is when I moved in my house two years ago.

Not bad. Moving day and we got a lot of snow, but it's gone quickly. And we haven't seen a good snow since. So if you don't like snow, it's a good place to be. If you really want snow, but not a crazy winter, you could go an hour north, still see the snow, but it still doesn't stay. But yeah, the humidity isn't as bad as Florida. I always say once you cross that South Carolina border, we have a joke, meaning my family, that this is your repentance time because this is like the gateway to hell.

It's hot. You just profusely sweat the second you cross that, South Carolina and further south. But yeah, I'm from Virginia originally. I lived in North Carolina, almost 16 years, and I've really grown to love it a lot. And you've been an agent now four years, and you're having incredible success in your career. Tell me what you were doing before you were in real estate. I was actually a stay-at-home mom. My daughters, I got my license on a technicality, to be honest.

My daughters went to college and I have a son at home. He's 16. And I had been married into the car business for so long that I've watched sales for years. And so, and then I do have a Rodan and Fields business, which is a sales direct marketing that I've run for seven years and grown it, built it. And when my daughters left, I had someone approached me and they said, I need a realtor in the office. And I thought, well, that'll get me moving, right? Because kids keep you busy. You don't realize how busy you are until they leave. And so, and my son is super easy. And I thought, well, I can take them with me. And it was just a friend who needed me to unload investment properties with his property management company.

And he was going to coach me. So I said, yeah, I'll get my license. That's all. It was going to be very casual, almost like a hobby part time. nothing like what I'm doing now. And so I get my license, go through it. I said, hey, I'm ready. And he just says, I can't hire you.

He took on another company. And so I interviewed with different brokerages, didn't feel a connection. And I thought, because I knew, all right, now if I'm going to align with a brokerage, I'm going to do this. And it's partly a people pleaser in me. But I feel like if someone is going to teach me how to do this, I need to make them proud so it doesn't fall short of them taking time to pour into me. So some people will say I'm a people pleaser.

I think it's more of a respect thing. Of course. I think if you're taking the time out today to speak with me, you know, I want to make you proud not to please, but out of respect for what you're doing for the industry as well. Well, and then how you're going to have the success that you've had. had. I'm sorry. That's how you're going to have the success that you've had.

Right. It's how you hold yourself accountable. So fast forward, I found the XP. I liked what it had to offer. And I thought, I can grow on my own terms. I can learn as much as I want or as little as I want, but that, you know. And then when I started looking into, because the world shut down, too. Right.

I did not get my license because I thought I was going to be rich because of the market. I didn't know the market was going to happen like that. I had no idea. And I remember my first client looked at a house, loved it, single mother, who waited years to buy a house. And she was like, I have to have this house. And we're standing in this house. My first client and I text the listing agent, hey, what, What's good for your seller?

Do you have any offers? Not knowing that this was the start of something, absolutely bananas. And I threw myself to the woods. I was like, I better learn how to swim in this. And she said, we just took an offer. And she said, she said, Victoria, thank you. She said, we had 12 offers this morning. Wow.

And I thought, and she's, and. and find another house for that buyer. Same thing happened. This was all within a week. It was Mother's Day. And she was very emotional. And I was like, this will never happen again. This will never, I will never have a buyer not get the home that they want.

Never. And it never happened again. Every buyer I had except five out of 60 buyers, five of them, three had to put in two offers to get the home they wanted because they got their feelings hurt and they didn't listen and then I put in three offers for two others and I said do not ruin my reputation for this and because North Carolina law is just different when you explain you're putting a deposit down on this house you're not getting it back if you back out we are a due diligence state so I knew from that moment my first client that I'm going to have to advocate

research, pay attention to what this market is doing because this is not normal. And it just led to, and I thought if I'm not getting listings yet because I'm new, I have to perfect how to represent my buyer, how to get their offer accepted and get the job done. And I just, and it wasn't until year two, which the market was still crazy, that I really tapped into it what I could do, how I could leverage what I have at EXP and the tools to build and then build again

because this is the only industry no matter where you're at. There's no glass ceiling unless you put it over your head yourself. Right. You know, I think I've noticed a lot in listening to other agents who are either struggling

or who are on top of their game And the one struggling if they're blaming things and they can't quite break through that ceiling, it's your own fault. I agree 100%. You know, it's all mindset. It starts with mindset. And then with the mindset, it's about being prepared, being knowledgeable. And then over time, you acquire skills. And then over time, you acquire experience. And that's really the rest of the rest of the time. but you have to start with that mindset. So how did you come to this industry new to this residential real estate world and wake up every morning and have the right mindset? What was your sort of routine? I didn't have one until probably a year ago, but it's not, I'm very unorganized. I understand myself so completely.

I'm a procrastinator. I'm unorganized. I can be very social and I can be very introverted. And I pulled the things that were going to hurt me and I paid attention to people who are opposite of me so I could learn from them and learn the tools that they use. So I never had any systems until probably the end of last year to keep track.

And now I'm doubling what I did last year. Congratulations. Thank you, which it's huge in my area, and I'm still a small fish. But I always want to be the small fish because that means I have a lot to learn and a lot of people to learn from where we're at. And I think I just knew that I was going to do this or I wasn't. You can't, I don't want to say, I don't know how else to say this, but you just can't half ass it and be successful. No, I fully agree. This is, you have to be all in. Right. And when people come to you with a need that you know you can help with, and now you know what their need is, you're responsible. So you take

responsibility for yourself. So I had to take responsibility for what I was bad at. And, you know, a lot of people, especially the last two weeks, I've heard a lot about cultural. how people need culture and how people need to be motivated. And I'm thinking, I'm way not motivated. I had to really learn how to discipline myself. Because if you miss something, it could be detrimental to your client. Absolutely, especially in those states. And there are probably about 38 of those states where a buyer makes an offer.

And they're pretty much bound to buy that house. and if there are any issues during the home inspection, they're going to get negotiated, but you're not not buying the house. You're buying the house. Correct. And so North Carolina being one of those, it really puts an enormous responsibility on a real estate professional like yourself to keep your eyes wide open. Understand what you're seeing. Take a look at things before the buyer falls in love with the beauty of the house because you need to realize, okay, this has a 12. 28-year-old water heater and a 17-year-old AC system, those are going to be necessarily

replaced pretty quickly. And they're like, oh, but it has the granite countertops and it has the beautiful wood floors. And you're like, yes, but you've got about $15,000 worth of repairs and updates that you will have to make right away. And a lot of agents will miss it. Yeah. Oh, that's the first thing. I learned when we would have to go, we would have like 30 minutes for showing.

And you're like, this is someone's livelihood. They're throwing into this house. So one thing I strategically did was pay an inspector to go with me if I knew we had to go fast and furious. And he, there was, especially if I did a video showing, if I had relocators. There is as a new agent, well, I still get nervous. if someone's relocating and they can't put their eyes on the house and it is solely up to you, it feels like Florida here because I will sweat the whole time. This is a huge,

because it's, it's not like a pair of jeans that don't fit and you return it. This is the most anyone's going to spend for the rest of it. I mean, I was a rental baby. My parents didn't buy a house. We were renters. And it was so important that my mom had a house.

And I think that's why I take it so personally because they couldn't afford it. So when someone can, that's a huge responsibility. So in the fast and furious market, I would pay my inspector. And if we got the house, he would take it off the inspection and finish the inspection. Wow, that's a great relationship. And it would be known that. This is a soft inspection, but we just looked at big things. We only have 30 minutes.

We can't cover the necessities, but we can cover what do you think about this, this, and this, and take pictures and show them all the things that we can and say, you know, because being a due diligence state, and you have someone from Wisconsin moving that is not a due diligence state, everyone's like what is due diligence well that's money to the seller within three days of going under contract you do not get it back if you back out it does not earn us money we also have earnest money but since since in the last three years you don't see a lot of it here anymore because they're going to negotiate that earnest money into your due diligence of course in that deal because the higher year of due diligence, the less of a chance you're going to, a buyer is going to back out.

Right. And that's the security the seller wants. Especially in a competitive market, especially when they've got 12 offers coming in, they're going to look for which deal will close. And in the, I mean, not now, but a normal due diligence would be like 1%. And if it's been on the market, maybe half that. but I was helping another agent out, showed a house while he was out of town, and it was a, I think it was like an $800,000 home or 900.

And they were so tired of putting in offers. I don't know how many offers they had put in, but I was just helping someone out. They wanted to put in an offer. They did. They got the house. I mean, this was two and a half years ago, three years ago. they put up a hundred thousand due diligence. They wanted that house.

And I thought, please don't make me deliver this check. Please do not make me deliver. I can't find my keys on a daily basis. You not give me this check. I do not want this. And I just remember thinking, okay, this is what it is. But that also educated me on how to help my clients, put in a good offer to win the deal. But that's kind of, you know, as far as mindset, because I know I can talk in circles, but as far as mindset, I just really had to be honest with myself.

I had to know where I was falling short, know what I had to make better, and know that I cannot procrastinate on someone's life savings going into a home. I cannot procrastinate and calling them during that due diligence period for repairs. And when I know I can attack it, I can be done with my day and spend it with my family for the rest of the day. Where I went from 100 hours a week, nonstop, to just falling over. I mean, my family went and see me. I would just roll in the house and go to bed and then get up in the morning and do it all over again. And I really had to get organized and get to work if I was going to make this a career and take it seriously and take people seriously. So it wasn't any class I went to or anything like that.

It was seriously being honest with my shortcomings and knowing I had to fix it. I applaud you for that. First off, for just sharing that, but also for having that. self-awareness that in order for me to be the very best version of myself that I can be, I need to come to grips with exactly who I am. Right. And then you were able to do that. And then you've been in the business four years.

And inside the EXP ecosystem, you're an icon agent, meaning you do so much business each year that you actually get all the money back that you ever get. the company in terms of your commission splits and you're able to actually get that money back as stock and it's really incredible. And inside of EXP, we're talking about less than 2% of agents achieve that icon status. And so my hat's off to you because you did what you needed to do to serve your clients at a high level, but also really explore who you are and who you're trying to be and sort of face those shortcomings. We all have them. We all, not everyone addresses them though. Right. My strength is my client relationships. My downside is sitting still paperwork,

those things. I've joked that this is one of the best industries for people who have any type of attention deficit disorder. Because there's always something new, always something different. There's always a phone call to return and email to address a new listing that you can go and explore. And it's really great because you're never bored for long. The flip side of it is sometimes we need to take a deep breath and focus. Right.

And do the paperwork. I know when I first started the paperwork, I was like, oh my gosh, I'm never going to know how to do this. I'm never. And this is going to make or break. if you do one thing wrong in that contract or if you can't read a contract to your seller, I mean, and in North Carolina, our contracts are so long that if you don't pay attention to where closing costs go, you could, this has happened where I was representing the buyer.

The seller misread our offer, it was already signed. And we had a small portion of closing costs and a home warranty in the offer. That the buyer was going to receive those money from the seller. That the buyer was receiving. And the seller did not relay that. And you were representing the buyer? Yes. And so the seller's agent dropped the ball.

Right. And you know, the seller too, because you've got to read what you sound. You do. You're ultimately, if you're the principal, you've got to take 100% responsibility. for what you're selling. And so, and that all comes down to things that are happening in the real estate world today about, you know, get it. You just have to know.

And I knew right then, I was like, okay, I need to get this. And when I understood all our contracts, then I handed it over and hired someone. So now you have a transaction coordinator. You're in the process of building a team. You're in the process of redoing your website to grant. your team and you're just really on a great growth trajectory. I really enjoy it. But what I enjoy the most is learning how we can change and make it better. You know, if we want to emulate, there are other people I look up to in the industry, but how can we take what they're making

good and do it better? And do it with your voice and who you are and how you want to be perceived in your community. Correct. And actually do things in our community and do things. And do things be active in our community and do things with a, I want to say a pure intention without thinking, okay, this is just about business. But everyone on my team that I have brought in is specific. There's a specific role. I mean, real estate is the facet, right? But they are so specific to who they are and how they serve people. And that was my biggest criteria. If I bring you in this, we're serving people. Are you coming from, are you coming for a paycheck? Are you coming for service? And all of them, every one of them. I have six agents. All of them have a heart to serve

people. And I'm like, okay, this is our foundation. The rest will come. And so, we're slowly building and branding. And when I laid out my purpose for building a team, how I wanted to organize it, I said, can you relate to this? Does this speak to you in some way? So our team is called the movement. And we are, I said, this is how I want it to grow. This is how I want to be represented.

And they said 100%. this is what I'm about. And I said, okay, we're going to change it. We're going to change it in our area. Good for you. That's exciting. One of my favorite quotes is from Napoleon Hill, who says that you should always deliver more in value than you ever collect in fee. Yeah. And when you deliver more in value, you'll always get the fees. The fees, the money will just show up because people want the delivery of value and they want that experience of a true professional helping them achieve their goals. And you just start with a servant leadership heart and then you don't need to worry about the money. You don't need to worry about where the clients are coming from.

They're going to beat a path to your door quite candidly. Right. And I think when you listen to the needs of a client too and you actively listen, you can really narrow it down and make it such an easier experience for them and an easier experience for you for the sake of not running yourself ragged. Like when I have certain investors for certain properties, I know their margins. I know if they're going to do a flip, I know the end game. So when I have something come up, I know everything I'm presenting. Does this work for you or does it not? and I know the numbers, so it works, easy.

When you have someone in a certain budget for a single family home, this is the criteria, and we stay focused on that. And then once you narrow that down, three or four homes, they find their home instead of 100. I mean, I've had those. Yes, of course. And there, certainly I've coached real estate agents. I've had agents in my brokerages where.

they don't properly frame the buyer's search parameters and how the search process will happen. And then the buyers are just looking at too many houses. The agents are getting run ragged, spending so much time missing out on the actual properties that they would want to buy. And so you've set it up from the start that you're putting together a much better process. It has to be, or you're going to mentally drain yourself. And if you're not, you know, if your cup's not full, you're going to be taken from your client. Yes.

And I've had people, I've had clients who have used other realtors and they will say, well, they stood me up at a showing, not show up. And or, well, they used to tell me how they were just so busy with other clients, they couldn't get to our, deal. And I thought, whoa, every client deserves to think that you're the only client that they have. It's so important. I mean, we're dealing with the place that they're going to call home if they're a buyer, the place that they're going to create memories. It's the place that they've celebrated birthdays and holidays when they're selling. And it's so important that we handle it with the level of respect, not only that the financial component of it merits, but the emotional human side of the equation as well. I mean, this is the place that at the end of a stressful day, they're so glad

to get back to. Right. You're right. I didn't even go that deep on it, but you're right. You're exactly right. This is, you know, Christmas and holidays and families. I remember when I was still a younger agent, newer agent back in September of 2001. And of course, the terrible tragic events of 9-11. And the evening news was showing people walking across the Washington Bridge to New Jersey, walking across the Brooklyn Bridge back to Brooklyn. And everybody just wanted to go home. Yeah. And that's what we help people find. And that's what we help people sell. It's really, to me, it's a very sacrosanct opportunity that we have to handle this properly. I agree.

I agree. And I've worked with agents who get so consumed and these deals are like a conveyor belt. Right. And in working with them when they're so overly saturated with listings and they don't even know what listing you're under contract on. And I think. gosh, that, you know. It could be one of two things.

It could be that they either are too busy with too many deals and they have too much success, which is, wow, that might sound like a great problem. Right. But I actually suspect that they're just not really engaged. Right. And I think it could be definitely one or the other or both. And I think when I get, I have eight listings coming up and I have a notebook and I'm preparing because I've got them written down.

And I just have spaces. I carry a notebook with me wherever I go. Me too. It's so interesting that there are younger agents than us. And they're thinking, oh, I just need my tech. I just need my iPad. I just need. And I'm like, you can't write a note that fast.

You take a phone call. You're in your car. You're driving to an appointment. Somebody tells you something important. You're not going to fire up the iPad while you're driving. You need to have a pen and paper. Right. And you can't do it while you're on the phone either.

Yeah. So, and I just keep, which I do this with all my listings, but knowing what I have on the market now and adding to it. Yeah. I've just got to write it down. and know which is which and who's calling for what? Because you're always going to get phone calls. And that, for me, when I call in some, and I tell the address and they're like, let me look that up.

And I think, oh, did you not, do you not know what you have listed? Right. So I pull from what I think I want to do better. and I do better to my standards. It may not mean anything to anyone else. But I want to know when a buyer is calling about a listing, that I'm representing my seller every single time. And not like, oh my gosh, which one was that?

It's so interesting. You mentioned that. There have been dozens of occasions where Lisa and I will be out with a seller client or with a buyer client. and they'll ask us about some prior interaction. Hey, those buyers who were this, did they do that and they wrote us this offer? Are they still around? And we will grab a physical journal and we'll say, here's that person.

I can call them right this minute. And they're like, wow. Or Lisa and I will be out with buyers and they'll say, there was a house that we looked at and had that really funky, bathroom. Do you remember that one? And Lisa will grab the Manila folder with every property we've ever shown them. And she'll say, oh, that was the one at 123 Main Street. And they're like, that's right. That was that one. And they, we look like heroes, but we're also demonstrating that this matters to us. You're important to us. We're not just sort of winging it here.

Oh, Lisa is a much better person than I am. I'm going to use that. I am not. So I think I need to do that is every time I do a showing is keep it in an envelope for each client that, hey, we looked at this, this and this, because that I don't do. But that's a good idea. You know, it comes from sort of old school doing this since 1999 when I got started, the MLS was delivered like a phone book every two weeks. And then those would eventually become door stops in your office. And so then you'd have to tear off a page of the MLS, and that's how you sort of kept track of what you did. And sometimes you went into the photo copy of that. But nowadays, we print off everything that we ever show a client, and we keep a copy, and we give them a copy of everything.

It's so remarkable. You'll give them a copy. Here's a folder of everything we're going to look at today. Then we meet with them a few days later. I'm like, here are three more houses, and they don't have the folder we gave them. Right. I email everything. I've come to terms that they'll leave it on the counter.

And I said, you know what? I'm going to email it. So I email, I don't even print them out. I print out the MLS sheet. But I don't email the disclosures anymore. No. I don't print them. I email them because everyone is on their phone.

Yeah. You know what? And I prefer a paper. I want a hard copy. I like, it's so funny because I print out. inspection reports. Instead of reading them on the computer, I like the hard copies so I could get our repair list straight, make sure it's right. And no one else does. Very few people want a hard copy anymore. It's interesting. All the top agents that I ever interview, all the top

agents that I've ever coached, they might be young, but they do it old school. They print stuff off. And the reason for that is because they can quickly go like this and say, here are all the properties we've looked at. They're all right here. What question do you have for me? Right. Right. As opposed to, and it's interesting, some of the younger agents, they're like, I want to do it techie, but it takes too long. They're asking me a question. Then I need an internet connection. Then I need to log into the MLS. And I'm like, I already answered it. Yeah. I keep it, like if I email it to them, I already have it. So I don't have to log in anything, but I just like having it in my hand so we can read from it. Because to me, when you're looking in your phone, while you're with your clients. It looks like you're not looking at the property information. It looks like looking at something more important.

Correct. And that gets to me too. But I guess. I just, it's so funny how many people just would rather have it email, but something. It's interesting. They, they want it emailed, and I'm happy to email paperwork and properties and comparative market analysis and, you know, market update, market overview. I'm happy to email that. I want them to be able to access all the photos. Right. But then all of a sudden, they realize Kevin actually has at his fingertips. Right. Everything. There. Yeah. Yeah. And so that sort of-

You can read it as you go through the house too. And what was it? What was the square footage of that house we looked at last week? It was 1947. Okay. As opposed to, let me go and look that up. Because now we're done. And what's your next question?

Right. Right. Yeah. I get it. 100%. So you're obviously on this amazing growth trajectory. You're also mentoring agents and you're in essence helping them to understand the local market, the local nuances, and how things are done at a high level there.

Tell me a little bit more about why you want to do that. That's obviously a servant leadership part that you have. So when I started, there were four other brand new agents with me, and they couldn't find their footing where we were. They couldn't, they just, I don't want know if the expectations were just different. And I knew from being in sales that you have to have realistic expectations. You have to have a plan and you have to have a plan of attack. And you don't just get licensed and you're selling million dollar homes. You're not selling any homes, right? And so I watched. I'm definitely people watching. and it's not to accuse or judge, it's to learn 1,000%.

And I think you learn way more from other people's mistakes than anything. And to me, that's wisdom. So I watched them and they all left to different brokerages. And then I watched them through and I'm like, okay, what am I missing here? what do I need to do to not have to go here, there, or everywhere? And, you know, EXP does have a mentor program. I am a mentor in that program. And I had a great mentor.

I had a phenomenal mentor and sponsor who walked me through everything. However, I was coachable. So when I get a hold of new agents, I don't try to break them down. But we talk a lot about expectations. We have boundaries. We have, you know, I want to know what their expectations are. And the questions no one asks me, why did you get in real estate? Because when you know why someone did it, other than your why, which is your family,

and all that. Not that. Let's not get into that. Because that's what gets you working every day. But why real estate? What made you decide to go to real estate? And you learn a little bit. And then you can pick, okay, this is what they're going to be good at. And if you can break it down for them, have those expectations, then they will do great. And it's not about, I think what this company taught me was how to be a shark. To learn how to fend for myself, I have great people I collaborate with. I have great people who have leveled me up, who have brought me in and just teach me everything I need to know. However, I used that information and I did something with it. Right.

And that they kept telling me and I was like, oh, I don't want to do that. If calling expires is going to get me more listings because someone says I got 85 to 100 listings, this is how I did it. Well, they did it, right? So what am I going to do? I'm going to go start calling. I do get a lot of listings that way. It's old school. That's okay. Taking action, though.

Right. And I want to set the expectations for new agents and see them flourish and not quit because a lot of people do quit. And I think if you can get through that stagnant beginning, if you can make it through that, you can, you'll definitely succeed in this industry. It's just getting through that. So let me ask you one last question. Knowing now what you know, what do you wish you knew in the first months of your career? How much money it took to get started, right? Because you think, okay, I'm through the class now what? I didn't know.

I wish I knew to be, to show up at work every day. If you don't have anyone in your pipeline. that should you should be working harder than you ever have the the non-busy days should be your busiest and I wish I knew how to build that pipeline quicker because it took a lot of failing and a lot of not showing up to work every day and you know I don't go have lunch with friends anymore I don't do that. I don't go salon appointments during work hours or anything like that. My day is very structured.

And if I knew to apply that earlier, I would have icon here too. But I give myself grace because I learned so much and I'm able to apply it now. So I think going in, I did have realistic expectations. I just like for everyone to have that because you could dream, oh, I want to be a luxury agent. Well, those are wonderful. But so is a first time home buyer and that's luxury to them. Absolutely. You could have someone with a budget of $180,000 and that is a luxury to them.

They're getting their foot in the door of something bigger in the long run than just throwing their money out on rent. I believe that you and I have the opportunity to change people's lives. And the fact that somebody goes from being a renter to being a homeowner means that on average, I just saw this statistic not too long ago, the average renter has a net worth of around $5,300. And the average homeowner has a net worth of over $265,000. Wow. So here you are helping people get into $180,000. dollar purchase, which in the residential real estate industry, a lot of snotty agents would sort of,

you know, lift their nose at that. I don't deal with that price point. But the reality of it is you're helping those people create a generational wealth that renting would never have afforded. Sure. I mean, there was a time I couldn't buy a house. You never remember that, you know? And my very first house, it was an old farmhouse in Virginia, if you dropped a can of food coming into the door out of, because this happened out of a grocery bag and a can of food just rolled down, not the kitchen, the whole house. You couldn't stop it because a house was not level at all. We would have to get a card jacket up in the foundation. So everyone starts somewhere. it amazes me when there's a price knob that this is someone making their life better for their

family, for themselves. Financially, they're going to have equity in this home and later be able to resell for maybe something nicer. But if they don't want to, they don't have to. And the end result is they have a paid-for home. Yeah. It's a really important ministry that we have where we're able to really help people improve their whole situation when they're buying and really take full advantage of the hard work that they did

when they're selling. I think it's really special and important what we do. Yeah, I agree. And I think even helping personal investors building their portfolios to make their lives better, you know, real estate is the one thing that really sets that tone for financial freedom and to get ahead. More millionaires created their wealth through residential real estate than anything else. Absolutely. This has been such a great conversation. I feel like we could talk for a lot longer and maybe we'll do that on another call in the future. Absolutely. Thank you so much for being with us today. Thank you for having me. This was a lot of fun. You've been listening to the Realty Funnels podcast with Kevin Cahill and Lisa Cahill, where we share the story.

strategies, systems, tools and behaviors of top sales pros, so you can stay in your strength zone, earn more money, and keep more of the money you make. Visit us at realtyfunnels.com to learn more and to access our resources. Please be sure to subscribe to our podcast and share with your friends. Thank you for listening. Goodbye for now.