KGCI: Real Estate on Air - Success with Listings Podcast with Ray Nouhan III: 70 units and over $23M in production last year

Episode Date: November 7, 2025

Friday Focus is your weekly mini-series from KGCI Real Estate On Air—a deep dive into one theme, broken into tactical, easy-to-implement episodes. Every Friday and Saturday, we unpack the strategies, scripts, and systems agents use to win more business—without the fluff.Catch every episode in the series to get the full picture, and put these moves into play by Monday.Summary:In this exclusive episode of the Success with Listings Podcast, we uncover the secrets behind Ray Nouhan III's phenomenal success, having closed 70 units and achieved over $23 million in production in the past year. Ray shares his journey and reveals the proven techniques and game-changing insights he utilized to dominate his market and drastically elevate his listings game. This is a must-listen for any agent—aspiring or seasoned—looking for a blueprint to scale their business and achieve extraordinary results. Ready for more? Subscribe to KGCI Real Estate On Air and grab the Always Free Real Estate On Air Mobile App for iPhone and Android. Inside, you’ll find our complete archive, 24/7 stream, and every Friday Focus mini-series—ready when you are.

Real estate strategy without the spin. Here's what you missed from this week's Friday Focus on KGCI, Real Estate on Air. Warren, I talked about my mom having this opportunity and getting me in a good vehicle because, you know, I think the vehicle is just, it can be just as important as who you are as a person. Because, you know, being in the right situation and having the ammunition that I have with the builder behind me, with the product that they have that I can go and move, you know, that kind of volume is really important. But, you know, like you said, it is a contact sport. And I didn't just start yesterday and just do 70 units. Like, you know, you take seven years and you work your way, you work your way up. And you do the best that you can.

You create the relationships. And you've got to be in it for the long haul because it's not just a get rich quick scheme, as you know, some people like to say. But you got to be in it for the long haul. You got to put in the work. And eventually, you know, those relationships start to cultivate. They start to monetize. And, you know, you can do anything you're willing to put the work in for. Yeah.

Welcome to the Success with Listings podcast, where we help you get success in the real estate game, the easy way. Now you can get off the roller coaster of Feast and Famine and out of the rat race of competing with every other agent in town. Hi, I'm Nollie Williams. I took over a thousand listings during my first 10 years from the real estate game, and in this podcast, I show you how to have success with listings. Let's go. What's up, Nolly Williams, back at you again, and I have a super special guest for you today. you're going to love Ray Newhand. Now, Ray, he caught me, he got on my radar.

We were introduced by a mutual friend in the business. And she was like, okay, this guy needs help with this. And I know that Nali could probably help him. So she connected me and I'm like, Ray, I don't usually have these kind of phone calls. But you piqued my interest. Now, listen to this. Before I get at you, Ray, I want to just tell the people, you started in the game, the real estate game at the age of 22, okay, that has a special place in my heart because

that's kind of when I started my first business, officially, you know, actually I've been an entrepreneur since like 12, 13. I'm sure that is similar to your story. But you got, you got in the game, man, and you're 29 years old as of this recording, as of this, you know, time right now, this podcast, you're 29 years old. Last year, let's just, I'm just going to kick it off with this. Last year, you did six. 70 units. You sold 70 homes and you did, that's over $23 million in production. And I got to tell you, Ray, I had you have you on Success with Listings Podcast because I want to know how you did it. And we're going to talk all about it. What's up? What's up? My man, Ray, how you doing, brother? About to get into it. No, I'm doing good. And I appreciate you having me on. I mean, this is, this feels exclusive. I feel like a real important person today. And I appreciate you having me. man, you're really important because you are going to inspire those of us like me in my 50s,

those in their 60s. And I even have agents in their 70s. And of course, I've got some, just talk to an agent today that's got a 19 year old, okay, that she has basically just got our license and educating in the business. And what we're talking about, we're talking about cutting a 5, 7 or 10 year curve off the trajectory of people's success just by learning the tips. If you learn what people like Ray are doing, you are going to cut down on the time and angst that you have in this game, in this game. So your exclusive new home construction, right? But tell us about how you decided. So I'm going to kind of take you back a little bit.

Okay. You're 13, 16, whatever age you want to go. When did you first decide that you wanted to be successful? Successful. Okay. Yeah, that's a good question as always. So, you know, I grew up with a very large family. I'm one of eight kids and the largest of eight kids. And, you know, always watching my brothers and sisters. I like to say that I matured quickly, just always kind of being responsible, if you will. And I always wanted a really big family myself. And so raised by two parents that did a great job, just always kind of instilling, you know, you got to be your best possible self. And, you know, if you want to go somewhere, you're going to have to take yourself there. But yeah, I would say, you know, getting out of college and going kind of following the footsteps of my mom, she's always been in new construction, always been in real estate.

She kind of introduced me to a good opportunity with this builder and kind of got me started on the right path and gave me a good vehicle to do what I've always wanted to do, which is provide for my family. And you're with Alan Edwin Holmes. I know that's kind of a big builder in that area. And I mean, obviously you could have gone anywhere with your skill set. you had mom there to help coach you and a lot of people don't have that that that's that's a beautiful thing and that's why really i'm having you on here maybe even for the for the person that whose mom

maybe just wasn't there for them or the dad wasn't there whatever it was yeah but from eight kids man so we're what which number are you where are you at in the midst of the line number one what talk about it yeah oh man no so so number one yeah number one so you actually had so you grew up with a leadership angle, if you will, because you had seven people, other people looking up to you. Yeah. No, absolutely. And I'm the oldest grandchild, if you will, as well. So, you know, we got a bunch of cousins and I'm the oldest of all that. And it kind of just plays into, I guess, you have to lead by example. And whether you think about it when you're that young or not, it kind of just is what it is. And, you know, the younger ones, they do look up to you and whatnot. So it kind of shapes who you are for

sure. So you went to college. Yes. At your degree. And then you decided, how did you decide real estate? Yeah, it was one of those things where I wasn't like, oh, I'm going to do real estate. I'm going to do real estate. I went to school for hospitality. So I went to go and I went to Ferris State University in Michigan. And I thought I was going to be, you know, resort management. I always wanted to do something with people. That definitely has been something I've been passionate about since, you know, as long as I can remember. And it was actually a friend of mine who was like, hey, if we get our license, you know, while we're in college, we can make some cold calls and we can try to make some money on the side. And my mom has always been in real estate. So it kind of just was like,

oh, that seems natural. It seems like something I could do. And so we did it. And I graduated high school and right out of the gate just went straight into real estate. Didn't even think kind of twice about it, went straight into real estate. That's quite interesting because I want to go back to this hospitality degree. Okay. Yeah. Now hospitality is something that, I mean, we're talking psychology, right? Yeah. We're talking about human beings. How do you interact with other human beings and help them have the most enjoyable experience possible? Now, how much of that education do you think contributed toward your success, like the success that you've had? I think all of it. You know, it all plays a role in it. Just me talking about the human psychology, you know, as real estate agents, we're creating an experience. We're taking someone through a process and everyone kind of coins it as, you know, one of the biggest purchases and one of the most emotional purchases. is that you'll make. And if you want to look at it from the lens of, you know, hospitality,

that's customer service at its finest at its highest degree. And so they're going to experience whatever you kind of put out for them. And so I think everything I learned kind of prepares you or gives you tips and tricks. You take things here, you take things there, and you kind of create the experience that you want to deliver with you and your business. You know, this is quite interesting because I'm actually seeing something as we're talking. I've never, I don't think I've ever spoken to someone that has a hospitality degree. that went into real estate. Sure.

And I may have, you know, but I don't, I don't remember, nothing comes to mind. Most of us, you know, either had a business degree. Right. And we had, you know, marketing, economics. But when you think about it, that could possibly be the best kind of degree to have. Yeah. You're going into this business. Because you're talking about it, you're, it's people, right?

This is a contact sport. And you're providing them with a level of, I mean, not only are you set an expectation, but you're providing them with a level of service beyond what they would even expect to have. Yeah. So I'm seeing for you, man, I think we might even need to connect and create a course on how, you know, how to, from a hospitality standpoint, how do you become the all-star realtor, the all-star real estate agent from a hospitality perspective? Hey, we might have to get together on a course on that because that gets the next level yeah no doubt about it so how in the world do you do 70 deals um 23 million in production i mean yeah are people just asking for you or what

what what's the secret there man yeah well like i said in the beginning when i talked about my mom having this opportunity and getting me in a good vehicle because you know i think the vehicle is just it can be just as important as who you are as a person because you know being in the right situation and having the ammunition that I have with the builder behind me, with the product that they have that I can go and move, you know, that kind of volume is really important. But, you know, like you said, it is a contact sport. And I didn't just start yesterday and just do 70 units. Like, you know, you take seven, seven years and you work your way, you work your way up. And you, you know, you do the best that you can. You create the relationships. And you've got to be in it for the long haul,

because it's not just a get rich quick scheme, as, you know, some people like to say. But you've got to be in it for the long haul. You got to put in the work. And eventually, You know, those relationships start to cultivate. They start to monetize. And, you know, you can do anything you're willing to put the working for. You know, I'm kind of smiling here because I'm already seeing the people that I'm going to send this podcast out to. And they're older than you, right? And you'll be able to encourage them like, hey, I mean, we're talking basics here.

It's like, I mean, these are fundamentals. It's probably a better way to say it, not basics, but fundamentals, that many people. just do not either know or don't practice or follow. You know, it's time on the task over time. Time on the task over time. And it seems like you, from our conversation that we had together, you're relentless and you don't give up. You're not super pushy.

And you give us a little bit of an idea of what makes you unique in terms of how you interact with people. Yeah. I mean, I definitely would say if there's style. of salespeople, I would say not as of a hard closer as possible. That's not my style. I would say that some of my hospitality maybe takes over. And, you know, there's a term that people use like a sales breath terminology where you can kind of come across sales, kind of coming across is too salesy. Right. You can smell the commission. Yeah. Yeah. So you've heard that before. And I try to stay

away from that because no different than people can kind of see if you're being fake, they can kind of see and smell that stuff too. And so you try to be as authentic as possible. And I think that's just something that I try to do with everybody that I meet with. And I think that the authenticity, people want the transparency. And in this day and age, it's tough to know like what's true or what's real, what someone's interacting with you. If you can believe them. And that authenticity, if you can be true and authentic, it does show through and it makes people trust you. You know, I'm just curious how many other people in their 20s that you know personally that are tracking with the kind of success that you've had. Well, I don't know. It's tough to say for sure. But you know, I've got some realtor friends in the

game and they're doing they're doing good as well. You try to connect yourself with people that you align with for sure. Yeah. Yeah. And that's you being humble. Yeah. Maybe. I don't know. I can tell you, I can tell you it's a very short list of the people that I personally know that that did, you know, 23 million and 70, you know, deals last year. So right. Let's let's, and I appreciate that because, you know, you, what I really want to anchor into is this, this hospitality thing. Now, we did not prepare for this. I gave you no questions in advance. I had no idea where the conversation is going to lead. And that's just how we do it. Yeah. I like to let the Holy Spirit just do, do his thing and just go. Amen. So, so, so as we're, as we're talking now, I want to

to lean into this hospitality thing. And as I'm doing it, what's happening is you're, you're snapping back to school and you're starting to remember a lot of the stuff from school that you use unconsciously. Like it's just part of who you are now. It's not even, you know, you're not going from a exercise or homework or from a book. It's just part of your, your stick, if you will. It's unconscious now. It happens. Completely. Completely. So talk to us a little bit about with a hospitality degree, what are some things that you see agents out there, not necessarily doing wrong, but they could maybe improve on from a hospitality standpoint or from that perspective. I know I threw you for a loop. I didn't want to have to take you back to college, but you know,

you know how we do it. No, it's okay. Yeah, I would say, you know, some of the things that I focus on that maybe others don't would be some of the small and finer details, you know, body length. language, tonality, you know, different things, mirroring. I mean, all this stuff is kind of baked into psychology and how people feel when you interact with them. And I would say that, you know, that does help when you're meeting with someone for, you know, for the first time, you know, because as real estate agents, we meet people for the first time literally every week all the time. And so, you know, first impressions or how you make someone feel within a certain amount of time is really important for us. So you can, you know, win that prospect over, make them feel comfortable

and if you're an agent that does residential real estate, win them over as a realtor because they have to choose you, right? They can choose anybody out there. But if you make them feel a certain way, you know, you can, you know, win their business a little bit quicker. So, you know, things like that. There's one thing I remember in college that one professor had told me, you know, when you're creating experience, the experience that you can give as an analogy to its highest degree would be a place like Disney World. When you go to Disney World, it's called Disney World because you feel like you're going to a different. different place and they have a certain experience that you exercise there that you feel.

And so something as small as like they talked about when we would be working in restaurants for internships and whatnot, like chewing gum or putting on chapstick, that takes your experience and it kind of takes you away from the experience of what you're trying to do because that takes it and that normalizes things. And maybe I'm not using the right word there, but just a small example like that of little things where, again, if you're creating this experience, you've got to be in the zone. you've got to be in game mode of, you know, doing the best job that you can do with that. And it's super granular, just something that came to mind that came to mind there.

It's kind of, I'm kind of laughing here because I remember a listing that I took. And the reason I got the listing was, you know, the client was meeting with several people. And this other agent, she says, Nali, he chewed gum the whole time. Yeah. And it's those little. Smacking. Especially when you first meet a person. For the first time, like you talked about, you know, you examine their body language.

You look at their tonality, the way they're speaking, and, and coupled with the idea of just being authentic and actually who you are instead of trying to put on a performance for the person. And so what, so outside of college, what things have you done to really sharpen your game? Like have you continued to study sort of sales or marketing and things like that? Oh, yeah, of course. So the one book that I think everyone will just be familiar with because it's a very popular book. It's a Dale Carnegie book. It's The How to Win Friends and Influence People. I would say that's the most influential book that I've ever read that I've been able to implement because you pick up little things from different books, but that was the one where I took

so much of that material and just made sure I made that an unconscious habit, something that I'm doing without even thinking about doing anymore. Sure. And so, you know, using names and, you know, not insulting people and little things. I mean, just that book is so good. And it's an older book, but it's just got so much, like you said, going back to like the foundation, not the basics, but just getting back to the simplicity of things. And that's a really good book that I always practice.

But there's places that have the online sales platforms. You learn different techniques and just different strategies. Grant Cardone, I've done that one. I know that one's a little bit more of a, he's more of a hard sell, but just I learned that stuff as well just to kind of get all of the information. and pick up what I like and what fits my style. There's Jeff Shore. There's so many different trainers out there.

I'm always trying to learn and get better for sure. Yeah, it's basically you take bits and pieces of everything and then you make it, you mold it into your style. Yes. And there's bits and pieces that you don't, you just don't pick up and you say, this doesn't work for my personality, you know, and you don't implement. And, you know, speaking of that book, Dale Carnegie's book, how to win friends and influence people.

You know, there are, I talked to a guy one time and he said, he says, man, because that book can actually be used to manipulate. Now, that's a whole different game. We're not talking about that. Yeah. But he had an experience with an individual that, that sort of mentored him and was using the techniques from that book in probably a not so, not the way that Dale Carnegie, you know, intended. ended it.

Yeah. Because anything can be misused, okay? Sure. And so, so at the end of the day, it really boils down to figuring out what helps people to have the best experience possible and being loving enough to study it and say, okay, how can, how can I give this person? Because you already know that doing business with you is the right decision for them. Right. Most cases. Yes.

And there's going to be cases where you say, you know what, this product is not for you. you, and that's okay, too. But in most cases, you're going to know that, so it's like, okay, how can I do them a favor and help them make the right decision, which is to choose me? Yeah. And I'm going to study what is it that will help me do that. And that's a great book for that. So I appreciate you, you sharing that with us as well.

So is there anything else that we're leaving out? And I know I've got a couple more questions that I do have to ask you. Yeah. You know, being that in, I have one that pops out in my head. I'm not going to ask it yet. Yeah. But what else do you think that we might be missing out in terms of, you know, there's an agent out there.

It says, man, I'm kind of struggling them. You know, you went, all of us went through, you know, the downs of the recent market and so on. I mean, the market is what it is. Yeah. What would you say to a person that's like, you know, I just can't make this work. How can this guy, I mean, how can this kid, you know, some of us talk that way. I'm 54, you know, so I could actually say that. What is this kid?

I mean, you know, it honestly, it kind of makes some people upset, but it shouldn't. It should, it should make them motivated. Yeah. So what else could, you know what I'm saying. What else? What else are we missing? Yeah, I would say, you know, like we talked about, it's not just an overnight success, but, you know, action, look at the actions that you're doing. because, you know, we as a builder, someone who works for a builder, you know, we really cultivate our relationships with realtors.

We want to work with realtors. We know that the realtor community is the one with the buyers, and we don't want to push them away because there's a misconception that builders don't want to work with realtors. And with us, we want to. And so sometimes I have to kind of look in the mirror and look at my actions to say, hey, are my actions lined up with what my outcome and what I want it to be? You know, you've got to be out there. You know, if you're just waiting for it to come to you, I don't think that that's, maybe the best recipe for, you know, making money or whatever your goals are in your business, but you've got to be making sure that you're doing the output to get the input. I love it. Yeah, you've got to make sure you're putting in the good work. If you're not moving forward, you're moving backwards, at least in the way I think about

it because being stagnant is a negative. It's not a positive. And that can't be good. Do you also have to go out and do your own lead in? Yeah. Yep. Okay. I mean, in a sense, so the builder has their website and they get.

it leads to that website. But what they encourage the most and what we're incentivized by the most is to go out there and make connections with the realtor community. Let's just say there's a realtor out there that I'm great friends with and we have a connection and they're bringing buyers to us. That's me cultivating that relationship. That's me generating that lead, at least in the builder's eyes. And yeah, that's encouraged a ton and we are incentivized to do that. Well, I, you know, I don't normally have, you know, guys that work with builders on here. But I got to tell you, man, your story is so unique. And I can only imagine where you'll be, you know, at age 35, 40 with all, because what you're getting more than the money that you're making, you're making good money.

But more than that, what you're getting is, you know, a quadruplea education on success, man. And I mean, you're you're setting yourself up the right way. So, you know, I really appreciate that. Yeah. I'm glad that one question, the big question that I wanted to ask you was when people, especially when you were younger, because you got in the game at very young, in your early 20s, how did you get over or overcome the objection of, you know, you're talking to someone in their 40s or 50s and they're looking like, man. You know what I'm talking about.

Come on. Yeah. You get it all the time. Yeah. Talk to me. Well, first, I try to take some humor into it because people will bring it up. Whether it's an unspoken objection, I didn't know at the time, or people that bring it up, because people do bring it up. And they would bring up my age.

And I would, you know, make some humor on it because sometimes the best thing you can do to not make it too serious is make a little joke out of it. And be like, oh, that'll be a compliment one day. So I appreciate you saying that, you know? Because, you know, you look so young. And when I was 22, I didn't look 22. You know, I looked younger than 22. Sure. So count that and factor.

into it. But I would say, you know, being able to actually train and learn the craft and be knowledgeable versus just saying, hey, eventually I'll look older and eventually that will stop being said. But having the knowledge base, so people did bring that up, I could talk from experience or, you know, I knew what I was talking about. Because eventually you can you can take that gap of in their head. They have this, hey, he's too young. If you know your stuff. Yeah. It doesn't matter anymore. If you know the game, and when you start what we call spitting game, I'm going to go there. You're like, hold on a minute.

This guy, he's a lot older than he looks. Start slinging it. Yeah, you know what I'm talking about. So, hey, I really appreciate it. Is there anything that I left out or that you wanted to add that might encourage or, you know, that you felt was unsaid? I guess just driving home the point that relationships are a huge part of this business. Whether you think that a realtor partner or a realtor co-workers, you're not enemy, but someone that you're going against, every relationship is going to matter.

You have no idea what relationship that you can make with someone where it's going to take you. No different than our relationship right here. I would have never thought that I would have connected with you and be doing this podcast today. Relationships are such a big part of this business. And I think it'll take you further than you even think. Even if you think it'll take you far, it could take you further. I love that. Every relationship matters, even if that person seems to be a competitor of yours.

You just never know. You know. In five years, I might be working for Ray. You know, I don't know. You never know. Possible, no, maybe not. So what's the easiest way for people to get a hold of you, Ray, if they've got questions or they just want to start following you, see what you're up to? What's best?

Yeah, I would just say the social media is. right you got instagram facebook and ticot are my platforms that i post on i'm starting to try to do more youtube but it's just at ray newhan three r a y n o u h a n o h a n o h a n the number three and you can always you know d me or whatever but that's usually the best way man i love it i we could stay on for hours bro because you are very inspirational uh you know the oldest of eight uh my wife was the youngest of eight no there you know 22 you got in the game. 22 is when I married my wife and got in full time into at that time the music industry. So a lot of commonalities. You just happen to be, you know, a couple of decades behind me.

But you're moving a couple, you're moving a lot faster than my trajectory. So I appreciate, you know, you coming on and sharing some formulas for success. The whole hospitality thing threw me for a loop, but I love how you've been able to work it in and, and, and can leverage it. Absolutely. Absolutely. All right. Love you, brother. All right, Ray. Thank you so much, my man. Thank you so much. Thank you so much for tuning in to this episode of the Success With Listings podcast. If you are serious about taking your real estate career to the highest heights, making more money and helping more clients while working less hours and spending more time with your family, be sure to get your copy of my free book, triple my listing. Absolutely free at Successwithlistings.com. Now you want to be one of your sure that you subscribe to the podcast and check out success with listings.com to get your copy of my free book. Hey, I'll see you on the next one.