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The Semi-Retired Agent

The Semi-Retired Agent

By Brandon DeVere

Forget the OLD models of real estate and constantly having to rely on your next deal to make ends meet. You know what you want from your business and how it will make you feel to run a business that will allow you time freedom and security. One that will allow you to pay for your kid’s education, allow you to travel, or just give you more of your time back while working less. This book is your launchpad to building the life you thought that selling real estate was going to provide for you.
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Episode #000 "What You Can Expect From This Podcast"

The Semi-Retired AgentNov 19, 2020

00:00
16:29
Episode 020 "Why I root For The Success Of Others?"

Episode 020 "Why I root For The Success Of Others?"

𝗜𝗺 𝗚𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗳𝘂𝗹 𝗙𝗼𝗿 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗢𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗧𝗼 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻 𝗙𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝘂𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗢𝗳 𝗢𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝘀

Unfortunately the majority of us have been conditioned to be either jealous of others or ashamed of ourselves when we see others succeed.

Somewhere along the way it has been ingrained in our minds that there is only a certain amount of success out there.

And if anyone but us succeeds it is taking away from the limited amount available.

I myself can attest to this.

I have seen people succeed and immediately question my own abilities.

That was before I decided to be grateful for those who succeed ahead of me, and why you should too.

By saying…

“𝗜’𝗺 𝗚𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗳𝘂𝗹 𝗙𝗼𝗿 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗢𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗧𝗼 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻 𝗙𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝘂𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗢𝗳 𝗢𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝘀”

Your mindset will shift, giving yourself permission to root for the success of others.

Instead of being jealous or ashamed that they have accomplished something that you haven’t yet.

Cheer for them to succeed.

When they do, figure out how they did it.

They will create the blueprint for you while collapsing the time it takes for you to have success.

The important part of this will be the “abundance” mindset, as it is a positive one rather than the negative mindset of “scarcity”

By viewing it in a positive light you will have the ability to learn from them.

Coming with a negative mindset will put blinders on. Blocking you from learning anything.

Besides the energy it takes to be jealous is energy taken away from the energy to grateful.

We can ALL be successful, so why not root for growth.

I can’t wait to learn from your successes.

Because I am grateful for the opportunity to learn from them.

Cheers to your success,

Brandon “I’m Rooting For You” DeVere

Jul 08, 202107:31
Episode 019 "What Game Are You Playing?"

Episode 019 "What Game Are You Playing?"

Have you ever felt like you are not enough?

Like, the more you do and accomplish the further away from your goals you get?

I have definitely felt this way, on more than one occasion.

Wouldn’t it be great to always feel like we are moving closer to our goals?

I was listening to Morgan Housel on a podcast today and he had an interesting thought that may explain it.

What game are you playing?

Maybe your set of rules for success aren’t the same as the rules your peers have set for their success.

Yet many of us gauge our success on what others deem successful.

For instance, when I talk about The Semi-Retired Real Estate Agent, that is MY version of success.

It is not about me not doing anything and fishing all day.

It is about me not having to ask someone for permission to spend time with my family.

I understand that not everyone views that as success.

But I do… that is MY game which has its own set of rules.

What is YOUR Game?

What are YOUR rules?

I’d love to hear what your definition of success is.

Jul 01, 202105:30
Episode 018: "My Biggest Mistake"

Episode 018: "My Biggest Mistake"

"𝗠𝘆 𝗕𝗶𝗴𝗴𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗠𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲"

I tried to create for everyone

The beautiful thing about creating content is that you can weed out the people that will never align with you or your message. Without ever having to spend the energy to convince them that they should do business with you.

If you have to convince them now, you will have to convince them in the future.

I started building an alliance of agents about 3-1/2 years ago and what I thought back then was that I wanted anybody and everybody to join me.

But the reality was much different.

I’ve actually met far more agents that don’t align with what I want to accomplish than agents that do.

Not saying that they are bad people or agents, we are simply playing two different games.

It doesn’t matter to me if you sell 5, 10, or 100 homes a year. If we aren’t rowing in the same direction, our maximum growth will be compromised.

And by creating content such as this email, the ones that will be a fit will eventually raise their hand and say...

“I’m in, let’s do this”.

And the ones that won’t be a fit will unsubscribe and move on.

I know it may sound counterintuitive when trying to build a large alliance to just let people walk.

But for the long game it. Is absolutely necessary.

And I invite those who are not open thinkers to unsubscribe. If your gates are closed my message won’t land for you anyway.

I am creating for those WILL, not for those who WON’T

If you are one of the ones who WILL, I invite you to connect, collaborate, and contribute in our private group. Here.

Jun 27, 202109:49
Episode 018: Liam Swords "Being An Independent Broker Wasn't What I Thought It Would Be"

Episode 018: Liam Swords "Being An Independent Broker Wasn't What I Thought It Would Be"

Former Independent Broker Liam Swords shares with me the untold aspects of being an Independent Broker.

Things that made him think twice about having his own brokerage and how they ultimately drove him to partner with the fastest growing brokerage in history, in order to give his agents the opportunity that they deserved.

Learn why he has chosen to "plant his flag" with this company in order to give him and his agents the life they deserve.

His desire was to leave a legacy and this was the best way to do it.


Jan 29, 202101:06:48
Episode 017: "The Inviter"

Episode 017: "The Inviter"

The Inviter

Although I think you are ready to take this step to add to your existing business, you may be saying to yourself, “I don’t think I need this, I just want to sell more homes.” To that I say, “Please, keep selling homes.” After all, we are real estate agents and that is what we do. We sell homes, and quite frankly, without home sales this model doesn’t work. In fact, without selling homes no real estate model works.

You might also say, “But Brandon, I don’t know how to build a team, I’m not like you, I’m not sure where to start.” Also a valid point and I know exactly how you feel. I felt that exact same way when I first started building my organization, which is now over 200 agents strong. I didn’t think I’d be able to do it either. It just seemed so overwhelming. But what I have found was that it was just like recommending a product to someone or inviting them to something. Have you ever recommended a movie or restaurant to someone? Or even invited them to a party? Your answer is likely yes, and you probably do this more than you even realize. Another question is, have you ever been compensated financially for your recommendations or invitations? That answer is likely no.

What if I told you that the model I’m speaking of does exactly that—financially compensates you just for recommending it to and inviting others. This allows you to become an inviter, an inviter who has the opportunity to be responsible for the positive changes in the lives of countless others. An inviter who, when people say or hear your name, their face lights up and they feel incredible gratitude that you have come into their lives. I know this to be true because I am fortunate enough to have these types of interactions with multiple people who thank me for inviting them to join me, and by doing so, changing their lives. I’m not saying this to brag. I’m saying this because it is true and it is something that is solidifying the legacy I plan to leave behind.

You too can start creating a legacy today, and it starts with just one invitation. It will not only change your life, but the lives of so many others. All because you were brave enough to go first. All because you chose to be an INVITER.

Nov 19, 202004:37
Episode 016: "Interested In Leveraging YOUR Existing Business Yet?"

Episode 016: "Interested In Leveraging YOUR Existing Business Yet?"

Interested In Leveraging YOUR Existing Business Yet?

Now is the time to ask…what are you going to do?

Before reading this book you may have had the excuse that you didn’t know what residual income was, or that you didn’t know that you could make it just by continuing to sell real estate. But now, you don’t have that excuse.

You are now aware of residual income and how you can change your life and the lives of others with it. The only decision left is this: will you take this new knowledge and act on it or will you let it pass by?

I get it, this isn’t for everyone, and it may not be for you. I respect that. But I’m sure you know someone who this would be perfect for. So if this isn’t for you, please share this book with someone you think could benefit from it. Trust me, they will thank you for it.

There is a new standard in the way real estate transactions and compensation plans are structured, and we’ve already seen changes happen. Don’t get squeezed out of the industry because you are afraid to adapt.

We are on the ground floor of something special, and I want to personally invite you to join me on this journey. Are you ready to change YOUR life? More importantly, are you ready to change the lives of others?

I think you’re ready.

Nov 19, 202003:34
Episode 015: "Pay It Forward"

Episode 015: "Pay It Forward"

Pay It Forward

As we talked about in chapter one, legacy is very important to me, and I knew I wasn’t going to leave the legacy I wanted to just by selling homes.

But this, I could share with agents all over the world and help them create a business and lifestyle that they had never thought possible. They could take their current business and by making one simple little switch, they could leverage their business like never before.

To date, I have helped change the lives of over 200 agents and their families in ten states, four provinces, and counting. I often get messages from these agents thanking me for giving them the opportunity to grow beyond their previous limitations.

Like I said, just selling more homes wasn’t going to do much for my legacy. But giving people the opportunity to get control of their time to enjoy with their family and have a feeling of freedom for the first time in their career; now that is a way that I can leave a legacy.

The best part is, you can do exactly the same. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to do the math and figure out that it is possible for anyone. I am living proof. I am no smarter or better than anyone else. So if I can do it, you can definitely do it. And I can show you how.

The “Will-Able” Asset

Another amazing benefit of using this strategy is that you position yourself to leave what you’ve built to your children or other loved ones. Remember chapter four, “The $10 Brokerage.” When you build something for 30 years and realize that it’s basically worthless, it comes as a gut punch. But if you are strategic about it, your family can benefit from your hard work for generations to come.

Nov 19, 202005:16
Episode 014: "Chapter 14 - How Residual Income Helped Me"

Episode 014: "Chapter 14 - How Residual Income Helped Me"

Now that we have an understanding of residual income and how it can help you exponentially grow your business, I’d like to share a couple of stories of mine that will give you a better understanding of how it applies to real life.

The Shutdown

I’m not sure if you remember all the way back to January of 2019, but during that time I had a client that was scheduled to close on the 17th of January.

Everything was ready, and we were “clear to close”

But, there was one little problem, my client was a government employee. Now, it’s not that I don’t like government employees, but his employer plays a big role in this story.

If you remember what was happening during this time, you will know that the government was shut down and had furloughed a number of employees. This was a big deal for a couple of reasons. One, he was no longer technically employed. Two there was no one to answer the phone when the bank called to verify his employment. If you can’t verify employment it is a little tough to get a loan approved.

Well as you’d probably suspect, we couldn’t close until they could verify his employment, setting us up for an unknown closing date.

Normally this would have had me worried, wondering what I was going to do, “I need this to close”. But the fact that I had been building a residual income that was built into my real estate business I was able to rest easy.

The income that I had earned from the production of the agents that I had partnered with, from across the U.S. and Canada, was more than enough to cover my mortgage payment for the month. This allowed me to relax and remove the stress of a delayed closing.

My Son’s

October 29th 2019 I dropped my son off at school by walking him to the gate and watching him run to the playground. It was just like any other day until he turned around, holding a single finger up as to say, “1 second dad, I have to tell you something”. He ran over to me and said, “I can’t go in daddy”, with tears rolling down his face.

I didn’t realize what this was eventually going to become, and quite honestly, I wasn’t ready for it. From that day on he only made it to 3 full days of school until we got shut down completely because of COVID -19. It turned out that he was experiencing anxiety at quite a high level. This required me to sit with him at the school office for hours at a time or sometimes bring him home while I tried to work.

I'm sure you can imagine how difficult this was to put in a full day of work. And as you probably guessed, as the hours I was able to spend working went down, my own production went down with it. I mean, when you are working no more than 2 hours at a clip, it’s a little tough to get in a groove.

This went on for 4-½ months. But you guessed it, by leveraging my business to create an additional revenue stream, my mortgage was covered, regardless of the amount of homes I sold each month.

Nov 19, 202009:40
Episode 013: "The Simple Trick Real Estate's Top Producers Are Using To Create Additional Revenue Streams"

Episode 013: "The Simple Trick Real Estate's Top Producers Are Using To Create Additional Revenue Streams"

As I have mentioned a couple of times, our industry typically has a natural progression for the  life-cycle of a Real Estate Agent.

A new agent will typically join a brokerage, and in some cases join a team. After they gain some experience, they may move away from the team and on their own, they may get assigned to be a trainer with a fancy moniker. When they graduate from there, they may decide to become a “Team Leader” and eventually a broker, either independently or buying into a franchise, and/or get into property management.

Being a broker or working in property management can be lucrative, but they also carry high overhead costs and risk. Not to mention the amount of your time it can eat up performing low-income producing tasks and in some cases, some cases, being a glorified babysitter. The worst part of all is that you are extremely limited in your growth and the growth of your agents you’ve recruited to join your brokerage.

I, like most agents, once had aspirations to become a broker. After all, it was the next natural step that many before me had taken.

But, the closer I came to actually realizing that dream, I realized how broken the model was. I really didn't feel it had a chance to hold up for the long-term. The industry and technology had been quickly changing the way business was being performed, it seemed inevitable that the old model would eventually lose its relevance.

That is when I turned to Real Estate’s Newest Revenue Model. With this model, I was now going to be able to grow a team like a broker, attracting quality agents while eliminating the high overhead costs and risks previously associated with being a broker.

More importantly, I have now been granted the opportunity to help my agent partners grow exponentially as well. Creating the ultimate setting for massive collaboration, something I have never seen before. I have now been able to do this all without the limitations of physical borders, allowing me to grow a team throughout 5 states and into Canada. The best part… It didn’t require any special licensing, designations or courses to get started. And in the meantime, I just continued to sell real estate.

Without a doubt, applying this one aspect to my business has not only changed my life but it has changed the lives of my agent partners as well. I have found a better way to run my business and it has changed my life, that is why I am so passionate to share it with others. Some will “get it” and some will not, either way, it will not deter me from my path to share with others… My goal is simply to introduce it to those who are looking to grow their business exponentially.

Are you looking to grow your business exponentially?

Nov 19, 202006:20
Episode 012: "Chapter 12 - Why Having Multiple Revenue Streams Is A MUST For ALL Real Estate Agents"

Episode 012: "Chapter 12 - Why Having Multiple Revenue Streams Is A MUST For ALL Real Estate Agents"

Most Real Estate Agents have become accustomed to a commission-starved life, based on their business being built only on a single stream of revenue. This isn’t entirely their fault though. In most cases, this is all they have been taught from the beginning of their careers. The challenge that this model brings is that an agent can easily find themselves in "survival mode”, leading some of them to questionable decisions made out of desperation, and ultimately forcing them out of the industry they were so excited to be in.

When you don’t have anything in the “pipeline" and you are living “deal-to-deal” you can easily become desperate, and you may find that your values and beliefs are being challenged. As a real estate agent, it is never fun stretching commission checks from month-to-month. This is why it is so important that as agents we learn to leverage our business in order to create multiple streams of income that can offer us more freedom and peace of mind, limiting the struggle of the daily grind of just selling more homes.

I, like most others in the industry, was solely dependent on sales as my only source of revenue. As I began to educate myself on the importance of multiple revenue streams, I started to expand my business. Since adding the most significant revenue stream yet, I’ve been afforded the luxury of time, freedom, and worry much less than I did when I was relying only on 1 source of revenue.

I really felt it this last January. I had a buyer that was due to close on their first home. They had mixed emotions, because, although they were very happy to be buying a home, they weren’t technically employed at the time. Which is a pretty big qualifier for getting a loan.

The circumstance was this, We were just waiting for the verification of employment in order to close, which wouldn’t have been a big deal but…They are a federal employee, and well… Our government was “shut down” at the time, so there was no one to take the call to confirm that he was still employed there.

So we had to delay the closing.

Of course, they were extremely disappointed and nervous. In addition, I just spent months working with this buyer that, at this point, may or may not get into their new house. Which in turn, meant, I may or may not get paid for all the work I had put in. We have all been in a similar situation. One that we have poured our blood, sweat, and tears into, only to find out that the result is completely out of our control. Luckily for me, I had previously added a revenue stream by leveraging my existing Real Estate business that allowed me to collect a monthly income regardless of the status of this home or any other that I had in escrow. And by partnering with Real Estate Agents in British Columbia, Canada. That revenue stream alone was enough to pay my mortgage for the month. Again bringing me peace of mind.

Adding this revenue stream to my business has also allowed me to have the freedom to be more selective with clients, relieving me of chasing new “leads" down, begging and bugging them for their business.  If you haven’t yet, I strongly recommended digging into what additional revenue streams that you can add to your Real Estate business so that you can leverage them to your advantage.

You owe it to yourself to start thinking like a business owner and not “just” a real estate agent.

Nov 19, 202005:15
Episode 011: "Chapter 11 - The Importance Of Multiple Revenue Streams"

Episode 011: "Chapter 11 - The Importance Of Multiple Revenue Streams"

"I Didn't Know"​ - Why Most Real Estate Agents Are Stuck In A Single Revenue Stream Business Model. As Real Estate Agents, “knowing” can be the difference between having a successful career and being “squeezed” out of the industry like so many others. Unfortunately, when we don’t know things, we don’t get to use the excuse, “It’s not my fault, I didn’t know” That excuse doesn’t magically wipe away or bring back the opportunities that we missed out on by “Not Knowing”.

Recently I played softball in a novice co-ed league, nothing serious or competitive. Really about the lowest level you can play in. After the game, I sat with my buddy Jon in the bleachers and watched the game after ours. As we were sitting there, the Field Director and a representative from the softball association approached us.

“Do you know who’s bat this is”

“No, why?”

We had remembered seeing it in the dugout but weren’t sure whose it was. They went on to tell us that is an illegal bat to use in this league, and the punishments were severe. Now, you’re probably thinking, “Ok, an illegal bat in a co-ed, novice league, big deal” Honestly, that’s what I was thinking too, but when they explained what wouldn’t happen if someone was injured from it. It definitely was a big deal.

You see, in an attempt to make the game safer, certain bats, due to age or the material they are made with have been outlawed because the ball comes off of them incredibly fast. Making them more prone to seriously injuring someone. Only bats with “approved” stamps may be used in these leagues. You might be surprised by what might happen to you if you use an illegal bat and it causes an injury.

The person using the bat, the umpire of the game, and the field director will serve a minimum 2-5 year ban and up to a lifetime ban from the association, which spans across the country. On top of that, depending on the injury and the player that was injured, you could be facing legal action. It doesn’t matter if you knew the bat was illegal or not.

Now, how scary is this to think about… You haven’t played softball in years, a co-worker asks you to come, fill-in, because they are short a player. You “dust off” the old glove and head out to the park. You’re excited! After all, you haven’t played in years. "This is going to be fun” It’s your turn to hit and since you haven’t played in so long, you don’t have a bat of your own. So you randomly reach for one and head to the batter’s box. You take a swing and before you know it, the pitcher is on the ground. He had no time to react because the speed in which the ball came off the bat and he’s injured. Now he has to leave the game and the umpire asks you for the bat you just used. - This is standard protocol whenever someone leaves the game because of an injury due to a batted ball. - As he looks it over he informs you that it was an illegal bat. Unfortunately, you are now responsible for what happened. Regardless if you knew it was illegal or not. No pleading ignorance, you don’t get a "pass" or "do-over" for not knowing.

The same could apply in Real Estate, most agents only know of one way to generate revenue. That is, to sell more homes. The reality is, that there are plenty of revenue streams that are available to us as agents. It’s on us to seek them out and apply them to our business. There are very successful revenue streams available to you right now, and by NOT asking the right questions and finding them, you are serving your own “suspension". It’s up to you to decide for how long. Will it be 2-5 years? Or even a lifetime ban. Maybe you take action and stop it today.

Nov 19, 202005:06
Episode 010: "Chapter 10 - Mindset"

Episode 010: "Chapter 10 - Mindset"

In addition to removing your ego, you are also going to need to be aware of your mindset. I want to talk about 2 main mindsets that you will likely have to possess in order to have continued success in this industry. There is a reason that so many don’t make it in this industry and I can make a case that those who don’t make it, share a certain mindset and those who do make it share another mindset.

Mindset #1: Short Game Vs Long Game

Unfortunately, the majority of real estate professionals are playing the short game. They are only interested in the NOW. They haven’t given much thought to anything other than what they have in escrow or where they are getting their next client. They seldom look at what their business will look like in 5, 10, even 20 years into the future. This, in my opinion, is why they have so much trouble with change. Things are working fine the way they are, why change it.

I am always intrigued by agents who tell me that they won’t give up a “split” because they already make 100%. The reality is… you’re not making 100%, but keep telling yourself that. (I actually spoke with an agent recently that was paying over $12,000/yr at  a “100%” broker)They look at me like I’m an idiot because I give up 20% per transaction. With a “short game” mentality, you are right, giving up 20% seems like a bad idea, but if you pan out for a moment and look at the “long game”, you will see that even though I gave up 20% of a certain number of transactions NOW, I collected well over 100% by the end of the year.

Most agents cannot grasp this concept because they are solely focused on, “what do I get now?”. So when they see that they have to give up 20% initially, their mind just shuts down.

Mindset #2: Employee Mindset Vs Business Owner Mindset

Again... unfortunately, most agents fall into the “employee mindset” category. This isn’t entirely their fault though. A large number of agents get into the industry were previously employees, not business owners. Just like myself, I was an employee when an agent came in, grabbed me from the workforce and put me in a position to fend for myself. I went from someone telling me what to do everyday, something I didn’t have to think about, to someone who had no real training on what to do as a business owner.

In my opinion, agents and brokers collectively have to assume some of the blame for agents not having an “owner mindset. It starts with managing expectations. When I got into real estate, this agent that approached me said, “you’ll make 6 figures effortlessly?”. After being in the industry for over a decade now, I would say that my expectations weren’t quite managed after that statement.

The difference between an “Employee Mindset” and “Business Owner Mindset” is as simply described as this. In a restaurant, in order for a server to make more money is to serve more tables. That is no different than a real estate agent selling more homes. It is more work for more money, single input/single output. A business owner looks at that same restaurant and adds more tables, and maybe more servers to leverage his existing business to increase revenue. That is single input/multiple output.

In order to leverage your existing business, you will want to have a business owner mentality. This will help you realize the true potential you have at your disposal.

Nov 19, 202009:56
Episode 009: "Chapter 9 - Understanding The Old Model"

Episode 009: "Chapter 9 - Understanding The Old Model"

Just like anything, in order to grow into something new, you will have to know what you were. This is no different.To best understand where we are going, we must understand where we have come from.

I want you to think about this for a second… The real estate model that most agents are plugging into right now was built before the internet was invented. Yet, not much has changed in the way that model operates. For the most part, ALL companies, up until recently have operated the exact same way, and almost all of them still do today.

First you start with an international company, the main brand that you are representing. That international company then divides itself into regions. These regions are then sold as franchises to owners who take on all of the risk and liability of being an owner of their selected territory. At that point the franchise owner must hire a manager and staff in order to recruit agents to join and grow the franchise, which in turn grows the company.

The modern day challenge with this model is the need for brick & mortar locations. This brings unnecessary costs and liability that significantly cut into profits. Profits that are coming from the sales of the agents on the front line. Their commissions are being sent to pay the brokers, the franchise owners, the regional owners, and the international company, as well as paying for the rents and utilities of the physical offices.

In the past this was a great model and just fine before the internet, it has definitely served its purpose. But now, it is just outdated. Why is it outdated? Because now that we have the internet we have never been so connected with our clients. We can meet them for the first time or show them homes through a video conference call while they are in another state, taking them on a virtual home tour. We can use our computers from our cars, or even meet them in a coffee shop. I know some agents will say, “it’s not professional to meet in a coffee shop”. To that I say, “it's not professional to waste your client’s time by making them come to an office when they don’t have to”. Let’s be honest, unless you are in an office in a tourist location like the beach, people are not just walking off the street into your office to buy or sell a home. How are they finding you? Once again… the internet.

We have tools available to us that we have never had before, why would we continue to fight the advancements in technology? Remember the chapter on tradition? This is exactly what I was talking about, when people want to fight change because it’s “not how they do things”. This mentality will get you left behind. The industry is going to grow with or without you. You are the only one that can decide if you are going to grow with it.

Nov 19, 202007:10
Episode 008: "Chapter 8 - E.G.O."

Episode 008: "Chapter 8 - E.G.O."

Now that we have discussed that “Tradition” can blind us from opportunity, let’s talk about the most egregious culprit of what holds us back. And that is.. EGO. I have seen ego crush dreamers and believers because they couldn’t get out of their own way when they thought they “knew better”.

I was once asked to write down the reasons why I have yet to take action on something I believe in.I wrote these 3 words. Fear. Embarrassment. Ego. I immediately realized that the FEAR of being EMBARRASSED would lead to a hurt EGO. And honestly, even admitting this out loud and on paper has me feeling a little embarrassed right now.

But, what I have also realized is that I’m not the only one to feel this way. I mean, who am I to think that I am some special unicorn that is the only one that carries these limiting beliefs? I remember a couple years ago sitting in the crowd of a packed Tony Robbins event and hearing him repeat over and over…"Real Original” when someone would explain their “unique” situation. He did it as a way to show everyone that “we were not alone”.

In “Think Like A Freak”, a book written by the authors and hosts of the Freakonomics book and podcast. In the book, they lay out a scenario where you are a soccer player lining up for a penalty kick that will win you and your country the World Cup. As you make your approach, you analyze the data to decide which way to kick your shot.You think, “should I go left or right?” Then you notice you have a 7% higher chance of conversion over either side, if you just shoot it straight at the goalie. Statistics show that 98% of the time the goalie will dive one way or the other, only remaining in the center of the goal 2% of the time.

What is interesting though is that only 17% of penalty kicks at the elite level are aimed at the center. Now, why if it is statically the highest percentage shot, aren’t more shots going there? Simple… Fear. Embarrassment. Ego. If you shoot to either the right or left and it is blocked or misses wide, no one will fault you. That is what you’re supposed to do. But if you shoot it directly at the goalie and he doesn’t move and blocks it with minimal effort… You look like an idiot and you suck at soccer. The fans will be sure to let you know.Even though, statically speaking, it is a higher percentage shot, it is the public perception that it is a terrible idea. So, you are more likely to sacrifice an increase in probability to make it, in order to reduce the chance of embarrassment for trying something unconventional. The same goes for business as well.

I am in an industry that touts practicing very low converting strategies and tactics that haven’t changed much in decades. If you fail at these then that is ok, you will be told it is a "numbers game" and you get right back out there and knock on another door. But, if you travel outside of the road that has been paved for you and try something new, you’ll have opened yourself up for ridicule if it doesn’t work. The result is, you settle for the road with minimal risks for judgement.

While it feels like a much safer road, the rewards also become minimal. When you handcuff yourself with that mentality, you do reduce your risk of failure, but also, significantly reduce your opportunity of exponential success.

Whenever a new opportunity presents itself to you, refuse to pay the F.E.E. The costs are high when you give into… Fear. Embarrassment. Ego.

Nov 19, 202011:06
Episode 007: "Chapter 7 - Opportunity"

Episode 007: "Chapter 7 - Opportunity"

Another way that tradition hinders our growth is that it can blind us from opportunities that are being presented to us. Making us feel like we can never catch a break. The reality is, that the opportunity was right there for us to act on, but our tradition kept us from being able to see it.

On one of my dad’s recent trips to visit us, we were driving around and I asked him what were some reasons that he thought might keep people from achieving their own success. One of his answers was opportunity. Interesting, I thought. Did he mean the lack of opportunity?

So we started discussing what we thought was an opportunity. What made an opportunity an actual opportunity?

Was it simply something that happens by chance? You know, the right place at the right time type of thing. After some discussion, we agreed that there was more to it than just that. We decided that there were 3 basic elements to opportunity with chance being one of them.

These were our 3 elements:

1. The opportunity presenting itself (chance).

2. Recognizing the opportunity presented.

3. Being prepared to act on that opportunity.

I believe these are all of equal importance. Obviously you need the opportunity to present itself but if you don’t recognize it, it might as well have never been there. The same goes for being prepared for it. If it presents itself, you recognize it but are not prepared for it, you can’t act on it. That would be a missed opportunity.

For example, a few years ago I sat in the same room and even at the same table as a friend of mine at one of the most amazing charitable events I have ever witnessed. Since then, he has hosted multiple of these same events. Bringing in 10’s of $1,000s in donations to his local community.

We both saw and recognized that same opportunity at exactly the same time. The difference was… He was prepared for it and I wasn’t. By possessing ALL 3 elements of opportunity he was able to take advantage of it.

I know we all have different upbringings, journeys and life paths. And no, I am not that naive to believe that everyone will get the same opportunities or even the same amount of them. Some may get better opportunities than others and some more frequent than others. But I do believe we all get them. It just depends on if we can recognize them and are prepared to act on them.

Nov 19, 202004:41
Episode 006: "Chapter 6 - Tradition"

Episode 006: "Chapter 6 - Tradition"

I’m not saying that tradition is bad. Actually, tradition can be a good thing, and usually is. Your family probably has a few traditions of their own. Hank Williams Jr. even wrote a song about traditions. Just Google “Family Tradition,

”  -- it's the first thing that pops up.

But just because we have traditions, doesn’t automatically make them right. As we evolve, some traditions no longer apply, yet we try to force them to work. “That’s how we’ve always done it.” The challenge with “traditions” is that they can significantly hinder your growth. For example, you might not try something different for fear of going against tradition. And if it doesn’t work…Forget about it. You’ll never hear the end of it. “I told you it wouldn’t work.”

Now, I’m not a religious person but that doesn’t mean I can’t learn something from a religious book. Pastor Rick Warren, In his book, The Purpose Driven Church,  had this to say about growing a new church. “We’ve been able to experiment with far more ideas than the average church - mostly due to the fact that we didn’t have decades of tradition to deal with.”

To me, he is saying that there can be a big advantage of not having traditions in the way of starting something new. There is no, “t

This is how we have to do it.”

Think of Major League Baseball… The stands are empty every night and the purists want to preserve the game and care too much about stats and records and the interest level continues to drop. Opposite of that is the NFL. It is constantly changing and adapting, and has never been more popular.

When you are limited in the ways you can do something, the amount of possible growth shrinks significantly. But when you aren’t bound by those limitations, you can experiment with infinite ways to grow. Your potential is increased exponentially.

Don’t get me wrong, sometimes tradition can be good, especially when it comes to family. But… in business and personal development, it can interfere with our goals.

I am not saying that we abandon tradition altogether, but we need to also keep an open mind when new ideas present themselves. We must keep experimenting, and not let ourselves be limited by the chains of…

Tradition.

Nov 19, 202004:37
Episode 005: "Chapter 5 - Now What?"

Episode 005: "Chapter 5 - Now What?"

With realizing that the overhead costs and risks associated with owning my own brokerage wasn’t looking to be worth it. Not to mention the fact that I could build something for 30 years and have it be worthless in the end wasn’t something I was getting excited about any longer. Actually to be fair, not worthless, it did sell for $10.

Even though Owning my own brokerage was now off the table, I still needed to leverage my time, money, and my business.

For years I, like many agents, was stuck in a single input/single output business model. Meaning, that when I sold a home I got paid, when I didn’t sell a home I didn’t get paid. It was that simple. This contributed to the “Vacation Intimidation” I was talking about. If I was on vacation or got sick, there was no one there to work for me. I was 100% self-employed. And by that I mean I was the only employee. It was completely up to me to produce.

Then I heard a mentor of mine say this, “Brandon, would you rather spend 100% of your time, or 1% of 100 people’s time?”

Boom! Mind blown. That is when I realized I needed to find a way to get paid while I wasn’t working. How could I leverage other’s skills, time, and actions while putting them in position to succeed as well?

This was going to be much harder than following the traditional methods of those before me, I thought.

But I knew that this was what I needed to do. I needed to replace that single input/single output mentality with something more progressive. I needed to implement a single input/multiple output mentality. How could I grow a team that also carried this mindset and duplicate it themselves. Now, I wasn’t only thinking about how I can grow a team, I was thinking about how my team could grow their own teams. This would be a win win for everyone.

What I also realized in my research to start my own brokerage was that most brokers end up training their agents long enough to be able to produce on their own. After that they end up going out on their own. So in the traditional model, as a broker, you either limit the growth of your agents, or you train your agents to become quality agents, go out on their own and become your competition. But with what I discovered, you could build your agents up to be top producers, help them grow their team, and stay with you to build something together. To build something special.

This was going to be huge, but it would challenge traditional beliefs, and if there is one thing I know about the real estate industry is that it is significantly deficient when it comes to exploring new ideas and implementing change. It has a “good ‘ol boys” kind of mentality to it.

Unfortunately in the past, the real estate industry’s growth has been limited by people blindly following tradition.

Nov 19, 202005:46
Episode 004: "The $10 Brokerage"

Episode 004: "The $10 Brokerage"

As I set out to figure out a way to run my own brokerage, I had a couple of questions to answer first. Do I buy a franchise or go independent? What will the costs be? What other training or licenses do I need? After it’s built will I be able to sell it?

While gathering answers to these questions I made some interesting discoveries. Typically the goal is to get your name on the sign out front, so everyone knows who you are. At that point you will truly have made it… or will you.

The things I would discover over the next few months as I continued to dig for more information would surprise me. I hadn’t gotten any closer to whether I would buy into a franchise or go independent, but with my personality I was leaning toward independent. I had been with an independent broker for the last several years and not 1 client of mine cared at all what brokerage I was with So brand recognition didn’t really mean anything to me, because it didn’t mean anything to them.

As far as the costs and additional training went, it wasn’t really a big surprise to find out that I would have to have a certain amount in reserves as well as obtain a new license for each state that I wanted to grow my business in.

Now, thinking about how I wanted to scale my business, I could see the costs and time “racking up”. This was going to be expensive and cost me a ton of time. This was my first roadblock. I was really having a tough time wrapping my head around accomplishing this goal. How was I going to build what I really wanted to build? The money was one thing, but the time? That was a completely other challenge. There is only one of me.

But, the costs and the time associated with what I wanted to accomplish wasn’t even the biggest surprise.

I was talking to one of my best friends, who owns his independent brokerage. He said to me, “guess what? I just expanded into another city about an hour away”. I said, “that is awesome, congrats! What did that cost you?”. He told me that he had purchased it for $10.

Wait… what?!?!

“Yeah, she wanted to give it to me but my lawyer said I need to pay something, so we settled on $10”.

I asked why the hell would she ever sell her brokerage for $10. He then explained to me that brokerages typically don’t sell for much because you are essentially selling the agents that you have on your team and their production can fluctuate. Another factor is that an agent can leave at any point. If they average 100 transactions a year with you, the new buy can’t count on them staying. They would be at risk of dropping those transactions should that agent decide to leave.

This was the final blow for me. After learning that she owned her brokerage for 30 years and sold it for $10 I no longer had an interest in building my own brokerage. The $10 deal was great for my friend, but for the broker that sold her brokerage after owning it for 35 years… not so much. As I stated in chapter 1, I want to leave a legacy. This isn’t how I was going to do it.

Nov 19, 202005:04
Episode 003: "How Did I Get Into Real Estate"

Episode 003: "How Did I Get Into Real Estate"

Isn’t it funny how most people get into real estate as a profession?

I don’t remember any of my friends growing up saying “you know what I want to be when I grow up?

...A real estate agent.”

Most agents I come across, have a similar story, they got into real estate as an afterthought.

Truth is, I’m no different.

I was a 24 year old “Hookah Boy” (yes that was my actual title). I “loaded bowls” bowls for a living. My dad must have been so proud.

Every Friday night a real estate agent would come in, sit at his favorite corner booth. Everytime I brought him his hookah he would ask me...

“Hey Brandon, you think you could pass a real estate exam? If you can, I’ll take you under my wing and you’ll make 6 figures, EFFORTLESSLY”.

“Sure, as long as I study for it”, I said

Nov 19, 202006:55
Episode 002: "Chapter 2 - After All, I'm A Teacher"

Episode 002: "Chapter 2 - After All, I'm A Teacher"

Why teaching is in my blood...

My father was a teacher and I guess it is in my genes.

I love to learn and share with others. It's no doubt I'd share this.

Nov 19, 202005:24
Episode 001: "Chapter 1 - To Me, Legacy Is Paramount"

Episode 001: "Chapter 1 - To Me, Legacy Is Paramount"

What my mother's funeral taught me about legacy and why it is so important to me.

Nov 19, 202007:06
Episode #000 "What You Can Expect From This Podcast"

Episode #000 "What You Can Expect From This Podcast"

Welcome to the Semi-Retired Agent Podcast (SRA).

This podcast will be a collection of chapter summaries, explanations of SRA traits, as well as interviews, and other lessons.

When I realized that I wouldn't be able to build the legacy I wanted to leave behind by just selling homes, I had to find a different way to make an impact. A way that I could truly change lives.

In my quest to find it, I stumble upon something incredible.

A way to put agents in a position to continue to sell homes, after all, that IS what we do, but I also found a way for them to leverage their existing business to grow beyond where they have ever thought imaginable.

After finding this, I didn't want to keep it a secret, I wanted to let everyone know about what I had found.

This podcast is my way of sharing what I have learned with others, so they too can become Semi-Retired.


Nov 19, 202016:29