How he made $100,000 his first year as a Real Estate Agent

What's up you guys? It's Graham here. So I'm actually all the way in London, Ontario for the next week visiting family, and I got linked up with Jeff. Why vote here? And Jeff and I actually go back pretty far. Almost like, yeah, it's been good. It's been almost a year, I think, when I first started making YouTube videos. Jeff was one of the first people that reached out, and this is when I had like a few hundred subscribers. He reached out to me. I think he was just getting in real estate at the time, or he had just started doing it a few months. We've kept in touch this entire time, ended up meeting up a few days ago, and he tells me his first year in real estate he's made over a hundred thousand dollars, which is absolutely incredible, let alone for just like the first year in real estate.

So I'm with him now, and I figured we'd make somewhat of a spur-of-the-moment video here where he explains his story, how he was able to do it, and hopefully that brings some experience and some knowledge to you guys you might be interested in. So anyway, this is Jeff.

"What's up guys? We're just driving around checking out some properties today while Graham's in town. And yeah, 100,000 in one year was tiring. Yeah, that was every single day answering the phone, getting out there. So if I want to go back to how I started very early on, when I was taking my first test, I just started telling people I was gonna be a realtor. I think that's really important. So whatever your network is, just tell them so that when you have your license, maybe you already have some clients lined up. And if not, just team up with someone in your office and tell them you got a ton of clients. Let them take it; they'll hook you up later on."

"So why real estate? Like why did you want to get into real estate? What was the... because you could be, I mean you could be anything really?"

"Well, I have a military background. In the military, you meet a few different type of people. And just like how we're hanging out now, same kind of finance type guys that are in the military. And like, we wanted something bigger. And it was 2008, I read 'Rich Dad Poor Dad.' Because read that book, you guys have read the book? It's good. And that just changed my mindset because the Canadian dream or the American dream of like, you're supposed to be going to school and doing everything that they talked about to make money and have a job, it just didn't seem fun to me. The military, it was fun because we were traveling all around the world. I kind of wanted how can I recreate that in passive income kind of stuff."

"So then I started reading like Tim Ferriss. Tim Ferriss is great. 'The 4-Hour Workweek' is one of my favorite books. If you guys have not read that, read it! Yeah, so then these became like the Bibles. I don't want to be just there for my seven-day trip to Cuba or Mexico and then have to come back and work the nine-to-five. So real estate became that vehicle that could fund my travel."

"Basically got home from a couple tours overseas, came home with a lot of money. Now, I originally wanted to buy a penthouse unit and have a BMW, but that was a fantasy that I kind of wanted, a thought I wanted. And then I looked at the numbers and I said I can't recreate in a job buying these at the moment. They ever cost two, three thousand dollars a month in operating expenses, and there was no job in London, Ontario that I could get that could pay that. So despite I didn't want to have to go back to Afghanistan or anything like that, so I went the opposite. I bought a triplex, a multi-family building, and I had no car downtown and lived in a basement."

"So I went from thinking I wanted this playboy lifestyle condo and to just getting a two-bedroom apartment in the basement. I had six tenants above me paying my rent. They were university students, and then learning how to be a landlord. That's the way to do it too, is just to live like you make nothing. Always living like a broke college kid, especially when you're in your 20s. It's the best time to do it, and nobody questions it. Like if you're living in the basement, having six tenants and living on the ground in a sleeping bag, people are just like, 'Nah, it's a 20-something guy.' Exactly! I remember getting shoes. I plugged my Blackberry into the wall; it sat on the ground on the carpet. You're like, oh! And the thing is, that's okay in your 20s, but when you're like 40 years old, people just think you're weird. But when you're 20, it's like nada, you're 20, it's cool! It's amazing."

"Yeah, the older you get, the less socially acceptable that becomes. And then you're, then you can't do it. My tenants were pretty much close to my age. And then, yeah, slowly I get a bit older. Yeah, I can't do that. So then I had the triplex, go and learned how to be a landlord and learned the rules. And I was part of real estate investment network. It's a Canadian national landlords kind of group of realtors and investors. And I always, 'Okay, now how do I get more capital?' So anyways, I have a joint venture out in Calgary; that was my second property. I don't do anything; I get a check in the mail, and I have all checks for a year. And that is an easy passive way to be a landlord. Team up with somebody you got the money, team up with the brains."

"And then so they wrote there, and that seemed the easiest for my second one. Then life got in the way a bit, and I ended up... it wasn't socially acceptable to live in a duplex, triplex anymore in the basement because my girlfriend at the time... and you were renting to mostly girls, right?"

"Yes, all girls there. There's been years tips here; take tips from this guy, he's doing it right! Yeah, you got university stuff in your town and you're 25, bio? Get a sorority house. Exactly! Look at the basement! Okay, so I'm living for free in the triplex, and I thought, 'Okay, it's nice here, but you know, there's six bodies moving in and out up and down the stairs all the time. It's not that quiet.' I'm getting a bit older; why not? I can live for free in the triplex, but why not rent out my unit and buy another unit with another rental unit and live for free in another property?"

"So I ended up buying a duplex, ended up renting out the upstairs for a good, good dollar value. Yeah, so now I'm living in the second property for free. Now I have three properties while I really wasn't overly working. I only worked to get the mortgage or the loan for you guys. So you need a job, so you need to show that income statement. So I literally got this contract with the army so that I could buy the next duplex. The problem is I was doing all the cool stuff overseas and all that, and it's like, 'What do you want to do?' - 'I want an office job.' And like, I was just trying to find out what I wanted in my life."

"Real-rent my now wife seeing you should be realtor. Other people it's got three units in it; however, the city only sees it as a duplex. You want to go, 'Well, you're a part of it.' I'm driving around; I could be there. Okay, right? So a few suggestions with that call, I would have gotten his number for sure. So I always like asking, 'What is it that you're looking for?' Find out if he's just literally in town, just driving by, just curious, bored, nothing to do or if he's specifically looking for something like that. And he's driving around different places on the market. Try to get an idea of what he's able to buy when he's ready to do something like that. Somebody that's calling back, and then say, 'By the way, I forgot to tell you, I might have a few that these in the market. What is it they were looking for?'"

"Oh, please, you know it! Sent him a text. Of course, it's the one time we call and he's in pick. I hate when people, like, you know they're on their phone right now. Yeah, realtor tips! Realtor tips right in the field. So let's check out this one of his listings here. It is a single-family house, but it's actually a pre-potential flip. I'm listed at 330; across the street just sold for 455, I believe, and it's a gorgeous house. So London sees the potential here; it just needs a lot of work. You can ask for big bucks after you... uh."

"So how did you get this listing? He got my name because I'm heavily involved in investor stuff. So then when he had to sell his London, Ontario property, the last one in his portfolio, he ended up just reaching out to me through word-of-mouth. So he called me and said, 'Hey, I heard you're an investor realtor. Can you sell my properties?' No problem. It's awesome, right? So it started off with always being out to the social meetups and just meeting people. I told everybody, 'Tell everybody, I'm gonna be a realtor.' And then, okay, when you're brand new, you don't know how to do anything or write an offer or strategize to get the house for the good price. But what you can do is pick up the phone and send anything that your clients ask for."

"Remember one complaint? Oh, I can't get a hold of my realtor! That was insane to me very early on. I was talking to some realtors and thinking the realtor must be the end-all, be-all of knowledge base. And I started talking to him about rentals and this, and they're like, 'I don't know.' So right away, I found a niche: become the investment realtor. So I don't know what that is for you. Maybe it's commercial properties, maybe it will review the high-end listings, right? That's what I originally wanted to do, but for me, the money was going to the investment properties because trying to sell the million-dollar listing in year one to make the hundred thousand dollars sounds great, but you need crazy connections to make that happen."

"I didn't have that, but everybody loves HGTV and they want to buy properties and flip them and be a landlord and make passive income. And that's what I'm selling as a realtor. It's like, 'Let's go to these properties. Let's turn these into gorgeous properties. Let's rent them out for top dollar, and then you have passive income!' And then you can travel with that so maybe you can quit your nine-to-five."

"So that's like picked up a lot of clients literally selling that dream of it. One of the things too is finding a niche. Mine has been leases, was like high-end licenses, and then that like transfers to something else. Yeah, Jeff's was just investment real estate. So you got to find a niche, and then when you find that niche, just completely run with it. You just, like Graham's doing a Craigslist a lot triplex. Yeah, putting that in Toronto which seems very cheap to a Toronto person. They call me, oh I like that $200,000 triplex, they're like, 'Okay!' And you get their information, and they say, 'Oh, but I can go up to 1.8 million!' And you're like, 'What are we doing? We're in the residential real estate!' Could you get a client that quickly when you're new? They don't care that I'm new because I'm the one with the product and I can get them the deals. And then I can speak for myself, just owning and knowing the rental laws and anything, but zoning."

"Yeah, and nobody cares either if you're new or not. I've never had people question it. People just assume if you're selling a house that you've got to be experienced. You got to have like usually people just assume me out like five years experience is automatically... yeah that just comes to coffin stick. At first, you're kind of nervous about a few things, but it's usually behind the scenes, and the public doesn't see it. See, for me, it's so much different. I might get just a, like, you know, a few at a time, maybe play between one and three listings at a time. It's just a different price point; like I don't do a lot of volume, I do more just like, you know, it's the price point. So I do fewer in a higher price point than a lot of volume."

"This one over here, she's trying for six hundred, so I'm three hundred. She was four fifty, six hundred. So it's like, by mine, renovated up to the six hundred, but she hasn't sold just yet. So I want to talk about how I made the hundred K in the first year picking up the clients. Well, one of the things before also I was an agent, I helped rent out. It's just like you're doing the leases. I did leases for other landlords that needed to, and then I met property managers. And property managers, take care of your property managers; they have their ear to the ground, and they know."

"I get a call, pick up the phone, and he says, 'Hey Jeff, I know a landlord that's looking to sell, and I heard you just got your real estate license. You should give him a call.' I gave the guy the call. I was pretty nervous during this call, because like now I wouldn't be nervous, but you know, I'm fake it till you make it. I was like, 'Oh yeah, this is gonna be my first listing.' And that's so true about faking it until you make it. At the beginning, I was so nervous just to pick up the phone and call somebody. Your heart starts racing; you hope they don't pick up because then it's like good advice. He's just like, 'Tom, we'll get the sign on the lawn,' and I'm like, 'Okay!' Now I'm learning the speed is important. Yes, I think that's what I was pitching a bit. Hey, if you want this sold, I can have the sign up in one hour, and I can actually do that. I'll do it."

"Yeah, realtor's might do it tomorrow or later, so the guy's like, 'Okay, let's sign on the lawn!' Fire them off the paperwork. Later on, the speed is everything. People sometimes are in the moment for something, and when they're in the moment, you've got to get it. And sometimes the next day, even though they'll change their mind, Dewar's, it's not for them, and you just gonna run with it when they're in the mood. When they're actually willing to do something, you've just got to be available right there to do it. I got that one, and he had another property right beside Fanshawe College, and he wanted me to sell it. So all of a sudden, I have two signs within two or three blocks on Oxford Street in my first... such a pimp to people."

"And then they could till you make it. They give me a call even if they didn't want those properties. What do we do? We get a find something else; find something else. Also, we're coming in. So that's how I started off in the first couple months."

"That is so true, by the way, about having multiple signs in the same area, and people start to see you over and over and over again, and then you build up your brand and reputation. People think if three people are using him to all sell their home at the same time, you've got to be good! You got to be like, you got to know that area better than anyone else, and that automatically gives you an edge that if you go into a listing appointment in that area, people automatically trust you because three other people have shown and put in their trust in you."

"So then very early on, I learned that social media was super important. And I just, I knew it would not be overnight, but I knew I had to get started because all these... everything that the realtor in your office here is doing, the older one, if he doesn't adapt, he's gonna be dead in the next... We were probably gonna do a video on like the future of... yeah, exactly! You gotta adapt. Do anything to know. Like if a person was from out of town, I'd be like, 'I already have a video of it. Do you want me to send it to you?' And nobody was doing that at the time. And now people are starting to emulate that a bit; just give, give, give, give, give in your first year. Do you not ask. Do not be needy; do not do three showings and say, 'Which one do you want to buy?'"

"Search for is so true; keep providing, providing, providing because you want to sell the guy one used car and it breaks down, and then they got the house is... and then they say, 'Jeff sold me that house. He just, he wanted to make his commission!' So it takes a bit of money to back to not feel so needy in a sale. Yeah, like it's such a catch-22 because it's like you want this sale. There's nothing you want more than that sale, but at the same time, if they sense any sort of like, 'I gotta make the sale, I got him!' and they feel pushed in a way that they don't want to feel pushed, you kill it. It's not, it's a long-term thing. Or it's not like a short-term... how are they sell a house? Yeah, to the next deal. But that just advanced me as a realtor as well because I was out looking at the product with these guys."

"Yeah, and even if they didn't buy, you know other people, I'm like, 'Oh, how about that one?' Yeah, I've been to it. Yeah, at the beginning I think it's really just experience. The more you're out there, the more people you meet, the more houses you see, it just helps you in every aspect, even if that doesn't necessarily make you money. It's something that just goes into the knowledge base."

"And that so the 100k in one year? Yeah, every day you should be doing something. I don't understand if you're just sitting there playing video games and you have no clients! What are you...? So if you're just out there and you're doing something every day, like, what can I be doing at Facebook? At liking people's posts, liking all the baby pictures, like whatever. You're not even talking about real estate; you're just just talking with your people. Kijiji, lots of ads on Kijiji; that is free! What the listings up? Ask a guy in your office, 'Hey, can I help you sell your house?' He's gonna say yes, and then use it. Brand it right that you're a sales rep, and then they will call you!"

"And then you bring that person to that guy's property. Making hundred K in one year is not easy; you gotta be every day doing something. Be the go-to realtor for everything! If your client says, 'Like I need to call these carpets for the listing; we need it cleaned.' I choked; I say, 'I got a guy. I got a guy for everything!' And if I don't, it doesn't matter, I just know where to call or find out. So you need to make it so streamlined, clean for your sellers. Or even if a buyer is asking like, 'Oh, like what's up with this roof?' Well, let me just call my roofer. And then you know, like, always has his customer assistance, customers, a lot of customer service far and again speed. Like sign on the lawn, I can get my photographer over there, take photos, get an inspection, guide it to a pre-inspection or inspect! Like just be that concierge service to your client, and then that's gonna help you get more clients after that."

"I totally agree with that. So anyway, dude, that was amazing! Thank you so much for doing this video, and I really hope this is helpful for all of you guys watching from somebody who's really just passed their first year and already killing it. I mean, I think it's incredible what he's done so far. So I'll link if you guys want to add him on Instagram and follow what he's doing on social media and see what he's doing himself and what's working for him. I'll put his Instagram down below so feel free to add him on there. Also, if you guys haven't already subscribed, you know you want to subscribe. So if you make sure to click that subscribe button and you can also follow me on my Instagram and Snapchat if you guys want. I post it pretty much daily, so if you want to be a part of it there, you know how to."

"I'm just gonna put it over your face here, but dude, thank you again! I appreciate it. Thank you, and thanks for watching, guys. Graham's channel is amazing! So yeah, we might do some more collaborations in the future, so stay tuned. That's the next one. Yeah, cool. Thanks, guys!"