The Gritty Journey of a Determined Underdog First Year of Real Estate

Guest article by Carla Jones

Twitter: @itscarlajones

The Gritty Journey of a Determined Underdog First Year of Real Estate

Picture this: You’re in junior college, attempting to complete your prerequisites to begin a nursing program. You’ve told your whole family of your goal, making a heartfelt commitment of unwavering dedication. Given your history of faltering, it’s imperative you complete this long term commitment in exchange for your family’s endorsement.

But wait, you meet a man, who on the first date poses a simple question - “why do you want to become a nurse?” Caught off guard by this question, the knee jerk response is “well it’s a secure job, it pays well, and I will always have work.” You come from a family of civil servants, firefighters, teachers, professions of the like, to you the question of why feel almost self evident. Yet, he follows it up with an even more thought provoking question - “so, not because you genuinely like to help people?” At a loss for words, the truth unraveled, to which I responded “No, I mean, it’s a nice bonus, but it’s certainly not the motivation. The money is the motivation, honestly.” His reply was audacious yet strangely rational. He said “if money is the primary motive, wouldn’t you want to do something that doesn’t limit your earning power? I mean, what if I told you there was a career that has the potential to provide financial freedom, has no barriers to entry, no ceiling for the amount of money you make and your income directly reflects your capabilities and willingness?” To which I responded “of course that would be more interesting but I wouldn’t even know where to start looking for a career like that.” He sat back in his chair, took a swig of his old fashioned, looked me dead in the eyes, smiled and said to me “I’m going to change your life.”

True to his word, this man single handedly changed the trajectory of my life in introducing me to the vastness of possibilities in the world of real estate. He offered to mentor me, assuring me that if I followed his meticulous instructions and guidance, I would certainly find myself in the realm of a high earning potential. A life of financial ease, helping my family financially, and as a cherry on top, indulge myself in life’s luxuries. I hit the ground running, this man did not mess around, we’re talking master salesman, with little to no effort had me following commands like a little puppy dog. I think this had a lot to do with the fact that I had a big crush on him, wanted to please him and impress him. In other words, I wanted him to see he wouldn’t regret mentoring me. The second he got a yes from me, immediately assigned me 10+ books to begin reading and studying while waiting for my submission to the department of real estate to be approved. In his words, it was something like “training to prepare for the real training before the marathon,” the marathon being the actual agent duties and the real training being the studying to be done before the exam.

I might argue the most pivotal training wasn’t the technicalities but the intense mental shift. There aren’t many words to describe to you what it was like but the best way I can say it is like this - Imagine living a life so afraid, afraid of failure, afraid of what others might say, afraid of loss that you end up losing anyways because your life revolves around surviving rather than actually living. Then one day, you’re gifted some books that have wisdom so profound,  you make the conscious choice to no longer be afraid, and begin the self brainwashing. Negative thoughts? Banished. Negative self worth and self image? Vanquished. Fear of failure? EXILED! Suddenly the light bulb goes off and a new thought pattern emerges, it takes a whole new meaning. It’s that in life you can be whatever you want, be whoever you want, you just have to choose it. It’s a new dawn, a new day, a new life, truly. He said he was going to change my life, he did not fail to deliver, and I hadn’t even started my new career yet.

I made my choice, outlining in intricate  detail, to transform into a badass development real estate agent. Eager to be my mentor's shining pupil, as soon as I passed my exam, an interview to hang my license at Berkshire Hathaway in Beverly Hills was already lined up. Of course, you know, they loved me, surely they could smell the ambition from a mile away.

Promptly starting my first day, my mentor tells me “you know what you have to do, it’s time to pick up that headset, start dialing, and follow the script we came up with. Don’t forget, anything you don’t know the answer to, write it down, and any new objection that we haven't gone over, write it down.” I was instructed that in an 8 hour day, I was to structure my time like this: the first 4 hours are spent generating leads. This one was drilled into my head so hard, I would dream about it. The second half of my day was to be dedicated to follow up. Of course, you know my mentor took such good care of his shining pupil, lined up a sweet gig for me, leasing out his apartment buildings. I was to earn cash while studying and prepping for my next day. A splendid arrangement, don’t you think?

While my time at Berkshire served as a wonderful start, my mentor had more thrills in store for me. He told me there was an enterprising young man named Yohann Bensimon who was forging a team at Keller Williams and he thinks we’d work well together. My mentor laid out a perfect blueprint for success for me. He said “Yohann has a track record for success, he knows all the developers I know, you will bring him leads, people who want to sell their home, he will close them and bring the buyers. You two will double end deals and will be a force together.” I met Yohann and knew right away, he was exposed to the magic I was, my mentor had also mentored him. We clicked right away, I knew I’d be a great addition to his team and he knew the same. All that was left to do was an interview with the office manager, and having read The Millionaire Real Estate Agent by Gary Keller cover to cover twice and studying it, seeing it on the office manager's desk, I already knew this was my anchor. He hired me on the spot and welcomed me as a new agent to Keller Williams.

By this time, I’m about 6 months into cold calling everyday, 4 hours a day, sometimes more, I’ve put in more hours getting willingly rejected than most people do their entire life. I can tell you, the sting of rejection never waned, I just became more resiliant. I knew every possible rejection anyone could have and had a rebuttal for every possible response. The goal was always the same, meet them in person. Why you might ask? I knew once they met me, I would build rapport with them. They would enjoy being around me, being asked questions about themselves, talking about themselves. Although I told them it was to “take pictures of the property of the site for my developer client,” I was really taking photos but my efforts were really focused on getting them to divulge their problems to me so I could invariably present the solution.

The more calls I made, the more meetings I had, the more I refined my knowledge, my abilities. By that 6th month, I was very well versed with all the various development zones. How many units could be built on any given square footage, whether the lot was zoned for bonus density and at what tier that density fell into. I knew whether it was cheaper to build a by right project or if the lot was more valuable pitched to a developer as a truly feasible type of bonus density project. My mentor taught me the math and how to calculate these things, he also taught things about construction. If a lot was on a hill for example, I was to consider the added cost of grading which is something a developer wouldn't have had to do on a flat lot. I remember teaching a newer developer over the phone how my mentor taught me to get past a methane buffer zone test. My mentor taught me to think like a developer and even like a general contractor, to have basic knowledge of when an added cost might alter the appeal of a deal.

With all this mentoring, you’re probably wondering, the big question. How much real estate did I actually sell my first year then? Most agents on average typically make minimal to no income from real estate their first year. I sold a little over 8 million my first year in real estate, in 2019, solely in development. That was the year I made my first six figure income, I made 100k that year. Let the record show, I never once went to a fancy brokers open, I never took too much time taking classes Keller Williams hosted, I never even had a business card until after I closed my fourth deal. The reason I share this with you is because I want to drive home the point that if you direct your energy in focus in the right areas, you will be limitless. My mentor always reminded me of the 80/20 rule. He always told me “20% of your concerted, focused efforts and  input will inevitably produce your 80% results.” I kept this concept in mind HEAVILY on the days where I didn’t want to be rejected or told to fuck off over the phone. I am a sensitive woman and when even a stranger would cuss me out, I confess that it would sometimes make me cry. However, I kept in mind the 80/20 rule and that if I just focused on my lead generation I was already placing myself ahead of the game.

My first year was so fun and a rollercoaster of new experiences, it taught me so much about myself and my abilities. What it did, that I would argue was the most important takeaway from it, was being given the gift of being able to trust myself again. In the past I had broken so many promises to myself and others, when you do that enough, you lose trust in yourself. In turn this results in low self esteem, low self image, betrayal in yourself, lacking discipline, low self respect. Honoring promises to yourself and pushing yourself to your full potential, sharing your gifts and abilities with the world is a form of self respect. When you show yourself that you can be trusted, your mind and heart will repay you generously and endlessly. Your mind and heart will send you positive messages in times of doubt that say “you can do it” or “push through, make those extra calls, you know the magic lies in pushing yourself just past what you think you can.”

However, I would take it a step further and say, my mentor really gifted me this. He exposed me to education, ideas and concepts I otherwise may have never come across.

When my mentor said he was going to change my life and I agreed to those famous last words, I made a deal with an angel. That angel is now my fiance, the father of our daughter, the love of my life, and my forever mentor. My mentor, Artem Tepler finally listened to the advice of his mentee and chose to share his vast bed of knowledge with the world and those in pursuit of creating wealth for themselves and their families. It’s a beautiful thing to watch and I want you all to know, there is no one better for the job. You will gain insight so detailed and tailored to your journey and experience in development and real estate from someone who has such a deep love for the game. I wish you all the most success in your real estate endeavors.

For reference, here is a list of the materials and books I studied:

Sales Tapes

-       Zig Ziglar, A View From The Top

-       Brian Tracey, Psychology of Selling

-       Jim Rohn, Art of Exceptional Living

-       Jim Rohn, Cultivating an Unshakable Character

-       Earl Nightingale, Lead the Field

Books

-       Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki

-       One Minute Millionaire by Mark Hansen & Robert Allen

-       Rich Dad’s Cashflow Quadrant by Robert Kiyosaki

-       How to Win Friends And Influence People by Dale Carnegie

-       The Millionaire Real Estate Agent by Gary Keller

-       Shift by Gary Keller

-       Your 1st Year In Real Estate by Dirk Zeller

-       The Compound Effect by Darren Hardy

-       6 Steps to 7 Figures by Pat Hiban

-       The Miracle morning for Real Estate Agents by Hal Elrod

-       Turning Pro by Steven Pressfield

-       Getting to Yes by Robert Fisher & William Ury

-       Winning Through Intimidation by Robert Ringer

-       Awaken the Giant Within by Tony Robbins

Podcasts

-       Date with Destiny by Tony Robbins