30 UNDER 30
Stars of Generation Next
BY LESLIE CUMMINGS, JANE BUREK, ROBERT FREEDMAN, SARA PULLAN GEIMER, STACEY MONCRIEFF, AND LUCIEN SALVANT
Ryan Adams
Robert Birkeland
Michael Campana
Andrew Gaydosh
Lori Giebeig Simpson
Albert Hairapetian
Brian Hopkins
Yusef Khatib
Amy Lessinger
Jodi Machardy
Sandy Maclin
Terri Mallozzi
Larry Matos
Jennifer Medak
John Medak
Matt Nesbitt
Dominic Nicoli
AnthonyNudo
Stacey Oberan
Kenny Parcell
Gina Piper
Juli Rojas
Albert Ruiz
Bryan Russell
Brian Shinall
Chris Skorseth
Karina Stark
Karina Veliz
Christopher Viets
Tarik Williams
Don’t blink your eyes or you’ll be sure to miss one of our “30 Under 30” dynamos in action. This year’s rising stars are not the types to sit on their hands and wait for the action to come to them. Many of our 30 come from families that initiated them into the real estate business at an early age. But many of those who didn’t have the benefit of family role models have found other ways to learn the ropes, such as shadowing or assisting top practitioners in the field. These pros know how to work hard--but having seen older colleagues burn out, many of them say they won’t sacrifice their “other” life for real estate. Part of their formula for success is a balanced life that allows them time for family and vacations. To achieve their goals with time to spare, our 20-somethings have well-thought-out plans for success. So get comfortable and immerse yourself in the exciting world of 20-something success on the rise.
A sea of sales
Ryan Adams, 26
Sales associate,
Adams, Cameron & Co.,
Ormond Beach, Fla.
E-mail: info@adams-cameron.com
“Chase the business and let people know you’re extremely happy to be working with them.”
Ryan Adams turned a job as a boat salesman into a booming career selling real estate along Florida’s east coast.
It doesn’t hurt that Adams has an intimate relationship with water. He grew up and still lives near Daytona Beach. “As a kid I set crab traps in the water. I know coastal properties, the water depth, and the neighbors.”
Not only that, Adams is part of a real estate family.His grandmother founded a brokerage, and his father has been its president for most of Adams’ life.
Adams always planned to join the business, but his dad suggested he first go out and work in sales to be sure he’d like it. Adams sold boats for four years. When he joined the brokerage company in 1998, he sent a mailing to his customers--”a database of 1,000 boat owners I knew personally,” he says.
He got so many calls he didn’t send a second mailing for eight months. Past customers helped Adams net $9.1 million in sales in 2000. “I grew up in this community, and I’m very fond of it,” he says, “I love when I convince someone to move here.”
Esprit de corps
Robert Birkeland, 29
Buyer specialist, Larson Team-Shores & More Realty, Crosslake, Minn.
E-mail: rob@larsonteam.com
“Study and learn from others’ mistakes.”
Rob Birkeland, ABR , GRI, wanted to get a quick leg up in real estate. So while he worked full-time as a loan officer, Birkeland got his real estate license and apprenticed with the area’s top producer. For four months, he spent time every weekend and two or three nights a week shadowing his mentor--attending client meetings, open houses, and appraisals--to learn the business.
“I figure I’ve shortened the learning curve by five years, maybe more,” he says. “I positioned myself to start at full stride.”
Today Birkeland is one-third of the sales team led by his mentor, Bruce Larson. Being part of a top-producing team gave him credibility from day one, he says. In 2000, his third year in real estate, his individual sales totaled $10.5 million. To set himself apart from other buyer’s reps, Birkeland developed a CD-ROM, which he sends to prospective buyers before he meets with them. The CD touts Birkeland and his team, technology tools such as Online Agent and REALTOR.COM, and the Lakes Area, primarily a second-home community.
“My goal,” he says, “is to have buyers already sold on me when they walk in the door.”
A pyramid of goals
Michael Campana, 26
Broker-owner, Campana Realty Inc., Fort Collins, Colo.
E-mail: mcam8@home.com
“Visualize what you want to get out of real estate, then set up stepping-stones for getting there.”
Michael Campana’s father was an Italian immigrant who started a masonry company in Fort Collins, Colo., and later built and invested in apartments.
Today Campana is following in his dad’s investing footsteps, buying land and developing it into apartments, condos, or town homes. He sells some and keeps others for rental income.
Campana spent just one year in sales with another brokerage; in 1996 he opened a company in which he could combine his construction and sales skills. “Things really took off when I stepped up to the plate and started my own little business,” says Campana, who has four siblings, all involved in real estate. “I set up a pyramid of goals for myself, from selling investment properties and houses to apartment construction projects and land development.”
Last year he did more than $3 million in sales, mostly multifamiliy units he built and sold. “I put in 120 percent all the time to make sure I get good referrals,” he says.
He shoots, he scores!
Andrew Gaydosh, 29
Broker-owner, RE/MAX Integrity Group,
Richmond, Ind.
E-mail: Agaydosh@aol.com
“Invest in education. If you can adopt one or two good ideas a year, you won’t have to go through all the pitfalls of figuring it all out yourself.”
Playing college basketball taught Andrew Gaydosh, GRI, to deal with the highs and lows of success and defeat. In one year, his team went from being in the top 20 in the country to 4-26.
“Athletics really parallels our business, because if you fail, you have to get up the next day and start all over again,” he says. “I find the competition motivating.”
In his college days, Gaydosh never planned to sell real estate, but he did invest in a single-family rental home with a friend. Then the summer before his senior year, he took his mom up on an invitation to go to real estate school with her and get their licenses together.
After graduation, Gaydosh joined his mom as a salesperson at a local franchise and began to learn the business. He and his mom decided they’d do better on their own, so he sold his rental property and, together with his mom, bought a RE/MAX franchise.
“I was 24--just naive enough to think I could do it,” he recalls. Indeed, Gaydosh did $10 million in sales in 2000.
Youth, he says, is an advantage. “Because I was so successful at a young age, people think of me as a go-getter.”
Cheese on that burger?
Albert Hairapetian, 27
Sales associate, RE/MAX of Glendale, Glendale, Calif.
E-mail: albert@realestate123.com
“Be persistent and consistent, and manage your time.”
Albert Hairapetian has a drive to be different.
He works only 30 hours a week, takes no phone calls after 5 p.m., and works weekends only when he has an open house. Even his approach to open houses is different: He hosts a barbecue for the visitors. “I don’t ask prospective buyers whether they want to buy the house; instead, I ask them whether they want cheese on their burger. And they get to feel what it would be like to have a party with their neighbors.
“If 100 sales associates were doing it one way, I’d do it another,” he says. The different drummer approach is working well for the 27-year-old. Now in his fourth year in the business, Hairapetian closed $7 million in residential sales in the first two months of 2001 after booking $12 million last year.
The enterprising Hairapetian even owns an advertising business to deal with advertisers who pay to be in his 15,000-circulation monthly newsletter.
Sold--on Hopkins!
Brian Hopkins, 23
Sales associate, Century 21 Property Professionals,
Burlington, Iowa
E-mail: brianhopkins21@hotmail.com
“Help people get excited about buying or selling their home.”
In the small but highly competitive market of Burlington, Iowa, Brian Hopkins, 23, has established himself among the industry’s sales leaders after only a year in the profession.
He did $1.3 million sales volume in 2000, closing 25 sides, despite a late start. “I’ve always been aggressive,” says Hopkins, whose introduction to sales came in the fast-paced world of auctions, a calling he responded to at the age of 16.
“In six years in auctions, I learned to make people excited about spending money,” he says. “What I like most about real estate is that the harder you work, the more money you can earn. If you don’t produce, you don’t make any.”
Hopkins says he learned a lot about real estate by shadowing the more experienced sales associates, and he recommends that strategy to other newcomers.
“And always let people know you’re in real estate,” he says, “so that when they think real estate, they think of you.”
Nothing to chance
Amy Lessinger, 28
Sales associate, RE/MAX Realty Professionals, Reno, Nev.
E-mail: info@amylessinger.com
“Know what you want your business to look like, then determine what you need to get there.”
Reno, Nev., is one of the country’s betting capitals, but you won’t catch Amy Lessinger, ABR , CRS , GRI, e-PRO® certified, leaving her business to chance.
The three-year RE/MAX veteran has built her business around operational and technology systems that let her stay on top of client needs without having to push her workdays into the evenings and weekends. She also employs a full-time business manager. “Building my business around an organized office has been my vision for my real estate practice from day one,” says Lessinger. “We have a system for everything, from taking a listing to accepting a referral to thanking anyone who brings us customers.”
Lessinger likes certainty. The moment she meets with customers, she makes it clear what she will and won’t do. That way, there are no surprises. “If I can’t meet their expectations, I tell them,” she says.
Customers expecting her to work evenings and weekends balk at her limits, but for those who stay, the results are good. Eighty percent of her business, which last year topped $5 million in volume, is referral.
Military might
Jodi MacHardy, 29
Sales associate, Coldwell Banker Richard Smith, REALTORS® , Killeen, Texas
E-mail: soldbyjodi@earthlink.net
“Go on listing presentations with a top performer and learn how to price a property right.”
Military personnel are on the go, and so is Jodi MacHardy, ABR , CRS . In 1993 as a 22-year-old licensee, MacHardy moved to Killeen, Texas, home of the largest military base in the United States. Since then, she has become one of the top buyer’s representatives in Texas. Last year, with the help of a part-time assistant, she closed more than 120 transactions.
Knowing what makes military personnel tick is her ace in the hole. “Military people and I talk to one another on the same level,” MacHardy says. “Once we meet, they stick with me.”
Given the churning in the Killeen market, fueled by thousands of military people going into and coming out of Fort Hood every year, MacHardy sees a lot of new faces.
“I’m constantly in local publications letting people know it’s cheaper to own than to rent here,” she says.
Along the way, she’s become expert in VA financing and in repossessions and earned the admiration of her broker, Michael Journey, vice president of Coldwell Banker Richard Smith, REALTORS® . “Anyone who has met Jodi knows what a bundle of energy she is,” he says. “She’s constantly on the go.”
A success network
Sandy Maclin, 27
Sales associate, Realty One, Shaker Heights, Ohio
E-mail: sandymaclin@realtor.com
“Be dedicated to your job and committed to your goals.”
Since he was a small child,Sandy Maclin knew he wanted to be a real estate professional. “I always loved looking at all the different types of houses,” he says. “I knew this is what I wanted to do.”
He turned his childhood dream into a career that netted him more than $1 million in closed sales in 2000, his first year selling real estate full-time.
“Generating clientele was a major challenge. You start with nothing and just try to build,” Maclin says. “But I did a lot of networking with people I knew.”
Maclin entered the business with a natural love of working with and helping people. But he soon discovered that he needed more than people skills to succeed in real estate. “You have to be really patient,” he says. “That’s something I had to learn.”
Maclin got a chance to use his patience when a seller disappeared in the middle of the closing process. “We had a buyer and the seller knew it, but I couldn’t find her anywhere,” he says.
That deal fell through, but it didn’t dampen Maclin’s enthusiasm.
“I’m very spiritual,” he says, “and when things aren’t going great, I just try to stay focused.”
Early riser
Larry Matos, 27
Broker, senior vice president, Century 21 M&M and Associates, Modesto, Calif.
E-mail: lamsold@aol.com
“Find out what type of prospecting you enjoy the most, then prospect, prospect, prospect.”
A 14-hour workday is an easy stint for Larry Matos, a dairy farmer’s son who remembers getting up at 5 a.m. to feed the cows.
“To me, real estate isn’t work,” says Matos. “The dairy business is work. Cows don’t recognize weekends and holidays, and they need to be fed even when it’s freezing outside.”
Matos brought his farm-bred work ethic into the real estate business seven years ago, and now, at 27, he’s the owner of the second largest real estate company in Stanislaus County, in the heart of the California agriculture belt. He and a partner own five Century 21 M&M and Associates offices, whose 120 salespeople closed $180 million in volume last year.
To keep his business growing, Matos relies on his salespeople. “I try to set the right tone by bringing in the values I learned on the farm: working hard, staying upbeat, and creating an atmosphere in which we know we can count on one another.”
Fix-ups guaranteed!
Matt Nesbitt, 27
Associate broker and partner, The Group Inc. Real Estate, Fort Collins, Colo.
E-mail: mnesbitt@prodigy.net
“Call, call, call.”
Buyers who purchase new homes through Matt Nesbitt can actually end up making a little money through a warranty policy that Nesbitt, his partner, and a local developer created.
At closings, new-construction buyers get a check for $300 from the builder. When clients have a warranty issue, they remit a portion of the check every time they’d like something completed.
Nesbitt says the warranty helps eliminate callbacks to the real estate salesperson and the builder by giving homeowners an incentive to take care of little warranty issues.
“It really knocks down callbacks and helps make the builder’s life a little easier,” Nesbitt says. “The buyers are also happy, because they may end up with the extra money.” Any money left at the end of the warranty stays in the buyers’ pocket.
Nesbitt says the program helps create a positive bond between the salesperson, builder, and buyer. It doesn’t hurt sales, either: He closed $9.7 million in business in 2000.
Mastermind of success
Dominic Nicoli, 29
Sales associate, Century 21 Seville Contempo, Cupertino, Calif.
E-mail: dnicoli@finehomesandestates.com
“Learn scripts and dialogues for every situation.”
It didn’t take long for Dominic Nicoli to find the key to his success.
Nicoli started in real estate in 1996, and shortly thereafter he was introduced to the Mike Ferry Organization.
“The Mike Ferry Organization fit my personality and helped me become a better salesperson,” he says.
Nicoli is now a coach at MFO and a member of a groupof MFO sales associates who earn more than $1 million a year. The group gets together periodically to brainstorm how to improve their businesses and their lives.
Nicoli has seen plenty of improvement. His 2000 sales volume topped $48 million.
“I love the freedom and flexibility of real estate, and if you get the work done, it’s unlimited what you can do,” he says. “The Mike Ferry system doesn’t work for people who sit and wait for things to happen.”
Youthful exuberance
Anthony Nudo, 19
Sales associate, Coldwell Banker Rondon Realty Inc., Kenosha, Wis.
E-mail: nudo@coldwellbanker.com
“Advertise and market yourself before selling property.”
Nothing could stop Anthony Nudo from going into real estate sales--not even a lecture from his father, a real estate pro, on the challenges of selling real estate.
“He told me not to do it. He said, ‘It’s very hard,’ “ Nudo says. “But I’d been accompanying him on listings since I was 4 years old, and I knew I wanted to do this.”
When his dad saw his son’s determination, he relented and agreed to help him learn the ins and outs of selling.
“I did a lot of calling and a lot of phone duty, and other salespeople kept giving me customers because they didn’t want to work with buyers,” Nudo says.
Nudo had $4 million in sales in 2000 and is in the top 10 percent of sales associates in his county.
“I do a lot of cold calling. The rejection is hard, but it goes with the business,” he says. “If you can handle that, you can handle anything.”
Ropin’ up sales
Stacey Oberan, 29
Sales associate, Welcome Home Property Services Inc., Chino Valley, Ariz.
E-mail: wlcmhome@mwaz.com
“Don’t be afraid to ask a client for a contract.”
Stacey Oberan was an accountant who couldn’t sit still. “I liked the numbers, but I’m not good at sitting behind a desk,” she says.
So in 1998 she left her desk job for a career in real estate sales. She specializes in horse and ranch properties in rural Arizona.
“There’s a large roping community here, and everyone needs acreage,” she says. “I found this niche after I came across a couple of investors looking for large pieces to divide and sell.”
In a town where 4-H is a mainstay for recreation, and parents want to make sure their kids have a couple of acres for their pet projects, Oberan had no trouble finding buyers.
“Every customer I’ve had has sent me more referrals than I could handle,” she says.
But those referrals don’t come by happenstance. “I’m good about calling people back. I stop by to see how their house is,” she says. “I still get people who call me from the first mailing I ever did.”
The conqueror
Kenny Parcell, 27
Co-owner, RE/MAX Peaks Realty, Spanish Fork, Utah
E-mail: Kenny@kennyparcell.com
“Do work you enjoy, or people will see right through you.”
Kenny Parcell, ABR , eats up obstacles and spits them out--he hasn’t let anything stand in the way of his success.
Parcell got his real estate license and worked as a full-time sales associate while going to college full-time. After graduation, he dived headfirst into his career until his mother became terminally ill with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. Although Parcell was her caretaker throughout 1999, he was determined to keep his career on track. That year, he managed to do $4 million in sales.
After his mom’s death in late 1999, Parcell channeled his grief into his business. In 2000 he closed $13.5 million in sales.
His secret is none other than the Golden Rule. “I treat people as I want to be treated--and they give me plenty of referrals.”
Selling the American Dream has special meaning for Parcell: He’s the first one in his family to own a home. “It’s a real blessing,” he says, “to own your own place.”
A balancing act
Gina Piper, 28
Associate broker, Prudential California Realty, Pleasanton, Calif.
E-mail: ginarltr@earthlink.net
“Don’t be a secret agent. Tell everyone what you do.”
WhenGina Piper, CRS , GRI, LTG, was growing up, the last thing she wanted to do was work the crazy hours her mother put into real estate sales. But in her senior year of college, when it came time for her to choose between going to med school and pursuing some other career, Piper decided to make a go of real estate.
“I wanted to dictate my own income,” she says. “But I told myself I’d stay in real estate only if I could make it different from how my mom worked--have a career but still have enough time to spend with my family.”
Piper, who believes in writing down goals, has built a thriving real estate career without working nights or weekends. She also takes a vacation every year.
In 2000 she closed $14 million in sales. She is also president of the local chapter of the Women’s Council of REALTORS® and works as a paid trainer at her company.
Nonstop networking
Juli Rojas, 23
Sales associate, RE/MAX Properties Unlimited, Morristown, N.J.
E-mail: djrojas1@aol.com
“Make the most of the skills and talents you have to market yourself and gain exposure.”
Referrals accounted for 50 percent of Juli Rojas’ business in 2000 and netted her $2.3 million in sales in her first full year as a sales associate.
“I regularly contact my friends, family, and acquaintances. I let them know how important referrals are to me,” says Rojas.
To capitalize on her fluency in Spanish, Rojas volunteers as an interpreter for the Police Department. She also gains exposure through open houses. “It’s amazing how many people shop around for a sales associate through open houses. The benefit of an open house is that people see me in a business setting. That overcomes any qualms they may have about my age,” she says.
No matter where she finds her customers, Rojas says, honesty is the only way to keep them coming back. “When customers believe they can trust you, they’ll stay loyal and recommend you to others.”
Technology at work
Bryan Russell, 28
Co-owner, Meritage Properties, Los Gatos, Calif.
E-mail: bryan@meritageproperties.com
“Think outside the box when it comes to your business.”
From the ashes of a dot-com brokerage, Bryan Russell rose up to become broker-owner of his own company.
In December 2000, Russell’s employer, eHome Realty, switched from being an online brokerage company to becoming a software development company. Russell, a former vice president of sales, was given eHome’s blessing to start Meritage Properties from the client base he had built for eHome. He named the company after the group of high-quality wines to reflect what he calls his company’s blend of high-quality professionals.
Russell learned to build a business and a corporation at eHome--and he still touts the advantages that technology can bring to the business. “But the basics of real estate always come back to a fundamental belief in a consumer-centric business. That’s the heart of my business,” Russell says.
That belief helped eHome bring in $50 million in sales in 2000 and helped Russell successfully launch his new company.
Reaching out
Brian Shinall, 29
Broker-co-owner, Shinall-Burdett Real Estate Inc., dba Real Estate Concepts, Amarillo, Texas
E-mail: shinall@realestateconcepts.com
“Give sales associates the best training possible.”
Although Brian Shinall has ascended during the past decade from sales associate to broker to principal, he still counts the closing as the most satisfying aspect of his work.
“It tells me I’ve helped clients achieve their objective, while remaining professional. It’s a reminder I’ve earned my pay and I’m responsible for my income. I never want to lose sight of those principles,” says Shinall, whose brokerage boasts three offices across the Texas Panhandle.
Shinall says branching out into residential development and construction has fueled his company’s growth. But he gives most of the credit for his success to his 10 salespeople, who’ve collectively closed more than $23 million in sales since 1999.
Shinall is proud of the “three-tier” training program he developed to help salespeople learn everything from writing a contract to selling commercial properties.
The biggest challenge he’s faced along the way? “The transition from salesperson to broker to principal. It was a reality check to be responsible for the leadership and livelihood of other salespeople,” Shinall says.
Persistence pays off
Chris Skorseth, 29
Sales associate, Coldwell Banker Burnet, Waite Park, Minn.
E-mail: skorseth@home.net
“Develop a Web site that’s easy for prospects to use.”
Chris Skorseth, GRI, thought it was tough asking his dad for $2,500 so that he could leave college to focus on a full-time real estate career.
Then he started cold calling.
“Five years ago when I started selling, I did everything you can imagine to ‘work my sphere,’ “ Skorseth says. “I did four to six open houses a weekend to pick up buyers and potential sellers. I worked expired listings and FSBOs. Hard work and persistence were the only things I had.”
Skorseth now has an established business base, including some builders, and he uses the Internet to expand his sphere. In 2000 he closed $12 million in sales.
“The best way to build on a great customer list is to go online,” he says. “On my Web site, I offer MLS links, an automated new listings e-mail for hot buyers, and mortgage preapproval.”
Skorseth says the Web has allowed him to attract more business, but it hasn’t changed the basic rules. Trustworthiness is still his greatest tool. “Customers want a salesperson they can trust and respect,” he says.
Ultimate go-getter
Karina Stark, 27
Sales associate, John L. Scott Inc., Portland, Ore.
E-mail: karinas@johnlscott.com
“Go the extra mile--it will pay off in the long run.”
Change is a welcome challenge for dynamo Karina Stark, who moved to a new market, closed 37 transactions, and threw a wedding party for 300 guests all in the same year.
As a salesperson’sassistant from 1996 to 1999, Stark helped take her boss’s gross sales volume from $18 million to $45 million. Then she moved to Portland, where she was recruited as a project manager for a lackluster town home development.
“I sold the remaining 30 homes in five months and took three weeks off for my wedding and honeymoon,” she says proudly.
And she shows no sign of slowing. In 2000 she closed $7.5 million in sales.
Stark says her professionalism comes through for buyers and sellers. “Uneducated and unprofessional salespeople give customers the idea our time isn’t worth much,” she says. “But we’re helping people make an important life decision, and our professionalism has to hit that level of seriousness.”
Education means sales
Karina Veliz, 23
Sales associate, Century 21 Opportunity, Bell Gardens, Calif.
E-mail: c-21opporty@aol.com
“Surround yourself with positive and successful colleagues.”
Karina Veliz isn’t just a salesperson. She’s an educator for first-time homebuyers. Veliz draws together lenders, escrow officers, title representatives, and homeowners insurance reps to take renters through the process of buying a home. “Many people don’t realize how easy it is to become a homeowner,” she says.
Her willingness to educate customers and her ability to speak Spanish have earned Veliz a niche in the Hispanic community, says her broker, Daniel Nevarez. She closed nearly $9 million in sales in 2000, her second full year in the business.
“I’ve had some tough deals,” she says, “but there’s a saying, ‘We get by giving.’ When people know you’re giving your all to make a deal happen, they instinctively follow that lead.”
Veliz says salespeople who want to break ground in untapped markets should work with a mentor: “Join an office that will help you. It doesn’t matter whether it’s big or small. You can’t miss if you’re with a broker who motivates and supports you and truly cares about your success.”
Man with a plan
Christopher Viets, 29
Associate broker, RE/MAX Elite, Denver
E-mail: chrisviets@yahoo.com
“Have a business plan. Many salespeople, even top producers, don’t know what they’re getting for the money they spend on their business.”
Christopher Viets (rhymes with “beets”) says his first two years in real estate were “absolutely brutal.” He earned essentially nothing his first year and little his second.
Then he and a friend decided to try out Mike Ferry’s system. In 2000, his fifth year in the business, Viets closed nearly
$13.5 million in sales.
“Don’t take any system verbatim,” he says, “but use what works for you. I committed to working the phones really hard, and it produced fantastic results.”
Viets has been making cold calls just about every weekday from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m., with a goal of making 75 contacts per day.
“Once you learn to be good on the phone, your results change,” he says. “Until you can get past the rejection, you take it personally.”
In the past year, Viets has moved into a new niche--investment real estate. Viets buys distressed multiunit properties, rehabs them, and sells them for a profit. Next, he’d like to earn property management and commercial real estate designations (cpm and ccim), with the goal of eventually having his own investment brokerage.
Finding his voice
Tarik Williams, 23
Sales associate, Century 21 Solutions, Mesa, Ariz.
E-mail: twilliams@c21azsolutions.com
“Keep your promises, whether to a buyer, a seller, or another salesperson.”
While serving a church mission in Spain for two years after high school, Tarik Williams acquired people skills that have been invaluable in his real estate career. “I was a quiet person when I started the mission,” he says, “but over there, I was dealing with people daily.”
Williams has parlayed those new skills into a growing real estate business, with slightly more than $2 million in closed sales volume in 2000.
Fluency in Spanish hasn’t hurt his career, either. Four of his closings last year involved Hispanic clients.
“In most cases, the people I’m working with have been in the United States only five to 10 years. Buying a home for them is the true American Dream. And that gives me pleasure.”
Williams is furthering his education as he furthers his career. He expects to get his degree in construction management at Arizona State University in December--and may go on for a master’s degree in real estate. His secret to success, he says, has been his commitment to his clients: “Once I make a decision to represent someone, I give it 100 percent.”
Customer supporter
Lori Giebeig Simpson, 26
Sales associate, Coldwell Banker Bishop Realty Inc., Lake City, Fla.
E-mail: giebeig@isgroup.net
“Follow up and stay in touch with clients.”
To become a force in her market, Lori Giebeig Simpson, CRS , GRI, has combined market knowledge with a dose of good old-fashioned aggressiveness. She says she’s had to be aggressive to overcome the perception of inexperience. “Because of my age, people don’t have confidence in me until they meet me,” says Simpson, now in her fifth year in the business.
She won over enough customers last year to rack up $3.5 million in sales. She attributes some of her success to her enthusiastic efforts at keeping in touch with present and past customers.
A lot of salespeople lose business because they don’t follow up, especially when there’s nothing new to report, she says. Simpson keeps the lines of communication open, even after the sale. “You’ve got to stay in touch with past customers right from the start.”
In at least one case, Simpson’s follow-up paid off in more than new sales: She married one of her buyer clients.
Hungry for sales
Yusef Khatib, 25
Sales associate, Long and Foster Real Estate Inc., Reston, Va.
E-mail: Yusef.khatib@longandfoster.com
“Touch base with customers regularly, or they’ll think you’ve lost interest in them.”
When Yusef Khatib started in real estate a year and a half ago, a veteran Long and Foster top producer, Maureen Amendola, spotted something special in the young man--”You could see he was hungry to learn,” she says--and took him under her wing.
“We just clicked,” agrees Khatib. It wasn’t long before he clicked with customers, too, to the tune of $8 million in sales in 2000. While working his way through college, Khatib honed his skills working with the public as a manager at Banana Republic and Brooks Brothers.
“I love dealing with people, and I love selling,” he says. “I carry at least 20 business cards with me at all times. I even start up conversations in the supermarket checkout line and hand out a card. Everybody you talk to can be a potential client.”
Khatib believes a positive attitude is his best sales tool. “You create your own environment, and that affects your clients, too,”he says.
Clients for life
Terri Mallozzi, 29
Real estate consultant, RE/MAX Action Realty, Horsham, Pa.
E-mail: Remaxtlm@aol.com
“From your first day, gear your business to referrals. That way, you spend your time providing service rather than cold calling.”
You couldn’t pry away one of Terri Mallozzi’s clients with a crowbar.
Since setting out on her own two years ago, the 29-year-old has amassed a Rolodex of clients who, she says, won’t buy or sell a home with anyone else. Already her practice is almost entirely referrals.
“I talk to clients every day until their transaction closes,” says Mallozzi, who picked up her ideas from a top performer she assisted two years ago. Last year she closed $4.9 million in sales, mainly in the high-end home market.
She calls past clients once a month, visits them once a year, and sends them a steady stream of newsletters and cards. She also sees past clients at two annual events she hosts: a breast cancer benefit and a past-clients party.
Loyal clients are her secret weapon when it comes to convincing prospects her youth isn’t a liability. “If I’m up against more experienced practitioners for a listing, I rely on evaluations that I’ve had my clients fill out,” she says. “It helps me get over that challenge from sellers.”
All in the family
Jennifer Medak, 29, and John Medak, 27
Senior marketing consultant and sales associate, respectively, Norris, Beggs & Simpson, Portland, Ore.
E-mail: jamedak@nbsrealtors.com (Jen); jmedak@nbsrealtors.com (John)
“Keep a service-based approach. Leases roll over every five years, and if you don’t follow up, a lease will end and the client will go to another salesperson.”
Jennifer and John Medak both credit their success in selling commercial properties to the guidance and advice received from family members in the business. Their grandfather started a residential real estate company, which their father later took over.
“Growing up in real estate, I’d work on the properties and learn about real estate finance and law,” John says. “I always knew I’d go into real estate.”
Jennifer says she learned some of her best strategies from her father. “My dad was a huge influence,” she says. “He taught us to be goal oriented and persistent.”
He also talked them into trying the commercial end of the business. At Norris, Beggs & Simpson, both have shot to success: John did $20 million in sales and lease consideration in 2000 and Jennifer $9.5 million.
Another thing the dynamic duo learned from their father: Be honest and aggressive. “Don’t be afraid to ask questions you need to ask,” John says. “And don’t be afraid to say you don’t know the answer to a question.”
A great feeling
Albert Ruiz, 27
Sales associate, Century 21 Armstrong Realty, Santa Maria, Calif.
E-mail: c21aruiz@aol.com
“Be honest, work hard, and return calls promptly.”
A few years ago, life looked as if it would be pretty rough for Albert Ruiz. As a teenage father of two, he knew he faced a particularly steep challenge supporting his children.
After Ruiz graduated from high school, he took a job selling furniture. Little did he know that the job would lead him to a career as a multimillion-dollar real estate salesperson.
Ruiz enjoyed helping others make the right furniture purchase. “I learned that listening to customers and making them feel important was the formula for success,” he says.
In 1997 his mother and stepfather died in a car accident, and he had to settle their estate. That’s when he realized
he could use his sales experience to sell homes and maybe make a better living. Ruiz earned his real estate license
in 1998 and joined the top brokerage in town. In 2000 he closed $5.5 million in sales.
“When salespeople put their buyers’ and sellers’ best interests above their own, it pays off,” he says. “I get the greatest feeling when I hand the buyers the keys.”
