Florida broker Ben G. Schachter uses innovation and resilience to make a comeback after losing everything in the 2008 market crash.

Ben G. Schachter, GRI, is no stranger to the roller coaster that is the real estate profession. After joining the industry in 2000, Schachter made millions—and then lost it all in the crash of 2008. His resilience and innovation paid off, though, and today he’s found success not with one business but with two. The Florida-based broker and president of The Signature Real Estate Companies is also the co-founder and head of sales at TotalBrokerage, a software company for real estate brokerages, and he credits his resilience in the industry to learning from his setbacks, following his intuition, and pursuing out-of-the-box approaches.

A Teenager Looking for Spending Money

Unofficially, Schachter began his real estate career at age 15. Angling for cash to take girls on dates but not old enough to secure a traditional job in Florida, he had to get creative. He lucked out on finding a real estate agent who needed assistance making cold calls and who’d pay him cash. The agent paid him $5 per hour plus $20 per appointment. “It was ironic because this job ended up shaping the trajectory of my future career,” he says. “Had I not tried to get a job at 15 and instead waited until I was 16, I probably would have been like everybody else and worked in a grocery store or at the mall.”

A few years later, while a freshman at the University of Florida, he started his second job in the field, at an apartment leasing firm. He cleaned and loaded the fax machine and later answered the phones and completed paperwork. Eventually, he became a leasing consultant at $10.50 per hour.

When Schachter graduated from college in 2000, he turned down the company’s sales manager offer to earn his real estate and mortgage broker licenses. Then, while living at his parents’ home in Boca Raton, he began working as an agent under a broker whom he’d met in college. At the same time, he started his mortgage broker business.

Capitalizing on South Florida’s new-construction boom, he earned $146,000 in his first year and purchased a two-bedroom apartment. He often played dual roles for his clients as their agent and their mortgage broker.

Earning Millions and Losing it All

In 2002, Schachter recognized he could capitalize on earnings by having agents work under him, so he started his own company, Florida International Real

Estate, and a real estate team under the broker he’d met while in college. Thanks to the continued surge in new construction, he was netting a seven-figure income by 2006. To catapult his earnings further yet, he decided to invest in flipping new construction.

The market crash of 2008 stopped Schachter in his tracks, though, halting his upward trajectory. He realized he needed to borrow $4.5 million to close on the homes he’d committed to buying and flipping. In the end, he sold his own home, car and even wristwatch to raise the funds to close them. The homes he’d hoped to flip at a profit were sold at a considerable loss. “Things got so rough, I had to sell my blender—and I had a really nice blender,” he recalls.

To regroup, Schachter moved back in with his parents, and at that time, all his possessions fit into two duffel bags.

Despite his losses, Schachter was intent on remaining in the real estate profession. His earlier successes made him confident in his ability to bounce back, and he looked at the effects of the market crash as a learning opportunity. “I figured this was a good time to earn my broker’s license, so I could hire other agents and mentor them,” he says. “I could teach other people what to do to be successful and, equally important, what not to do so they wouldn’t make the same mistakes I did.”

So he could pay for real estate school, his father loaned him $500, with the stipulation that he finish the course, pass the state test and move out within 90 days.

Becoming a CEO

Soon after Schachter earned his broker’s license, he rented his own home and began working at Boca Raton–based Quad Realty Investments Inc. Its co-owners, Mark Levy and Schachter’s former neighbor Jack Jaiven, asked him to be their broker. When the two offered him a specific salary, he told them to cut it by 50%. “I said I wanted to earn equity in the company if I was going to build it,” Schachter says. “I was concerned that in five years, they’d bring in a business consultant who’d ask why they were paying me so much.”

To achieve the goal of partnership, he asked Jaiven and Levy to set specific sales goals. The goals were lofty, and to the co-owners’ surprise, Schachter succeeded in meeting them. By age 31, he was broker and president as well as a partner of the company.

Expanding the Business

After joining the company in 2006, Schachter not only beat his sales goals but also started making changes: First, he changed the name of the company to The Signature Real Estate Companies; then, he joined the local MLS and REALTOR® association and bought computers for all the employees.

Realizing the effectiveness of hyperlocal branding, he set up brokerages in multiple communities and branded them according to the community’s unique aesthetic and needs. For each of these companies, he used the name of the community. Each has its own branding and location, but all were run by one management team and back office.

Schachter interviews each potential hire or agent himself to ensure they’re a good fit for the brokerage and commits to offering them all of the amenities needed to do the job well. Though margins have thinned, he still believes in offering tools, technology, training and support in abundance.

To compensate for those thinning margins—a result of rising costs and inflation—he saw the need for additional revenue streams. He’s set up several successful affiliated real estate–related businesses, including a real estate school and a mortgage brokerage.

In 2015, Schachter had grown frustrated with existing real estate software and asked a software engineer friend from college to build a cloud-based, end-to-end transaction management solution. As partners, they created TotalBrokerage, a software company that brings all aspects of the back end of a brokerage together in one package. After beta testing the product at his own brokerage, he added the software to his suite of income streams, and the two began selling it to the public five years ago. The subscription-based software is used by about 200 brokerages.

Today, Schachter, who lives with his wife and three children in Boynton Beach, Fla., works 20 hours per week at TotalBrokerage and 50 hours per week at The Signature Real Estate Companies. Boasting a 40-person management team and nearly 1,500 agents, the brokerage is projected to close about 6,000 transactions totaling nearly $2 billion by the end of 2023, with the affiliate companies bringing in another $1 billion.

National Association of REALTORS®
Reprinted with permission

Burnout is a serious issue that affects more than performance at work. Know the signs and how to help your agents get through it.

Before Paula Davis founded the Stress & Resilience Institute in Milwaukee and wrote the book Beating Burnout at Work, she spent several years as a commercial real estate practitioner. The inkling that she was experiencing burnout sparked when she realized she was procrastinating on certain tasks.

“I’m rarely a procrastinator. I began going to work later. As a lawyer, I didn’t have a start time. I started [showing up] 20 minutes later, then 30 minutes. I pushed the boundary,” she says.

She began waking up every day not wanting to go to work, and she found that she became sick more frequently.

“That’s the way stress impacts us physically. I would get a stomachache and then headaches; then it began happening every time I would close a deal,” she adds.

She felt that every curve ball in every deal was a major crisis. At home, when a family member would ask a question or need something, she found that she’d unnecessarily become upset or lack the capacity to help with what were normally easy tasks. Her eye-opener moment came when she got upset with her mom, who had asked her to pick up something from the store.

“I wasn’t having any fun, not at parties or with anything,” Davis says. “There should be some sort of happiness, joy and positive emotions sprinkled into what you do on some days. That used to be present, but it was eroding for me.”

Job burnout is more than having a bad week or feeling exhausted at the end of each day.

“Burnout is a sense of chronic cynicism or frustration,” Davis says, and it can lead to poor quality of life, poor performance, and depression.

What Burnout Is and How It Manifests

Nearly five years ago, the World Health Organization recognized work burnout as an occupational phenomenon. Symptoms are characterized by three components:

• Constant feelings of exhaustion
• Intensified mental distance from your job or feelings of cynicism or negativity toward one’s occupation
• Reduced effectiveness at one’s work

To a real estate professional, burnout can present itself as a constant annoyance with clients and their needs, for instance. Agents might even start questioning whether its really necessary or not to answer another client question or show yet another home. Agents aren’t doing so because they don’t want to provide the best level of service, but rather because their mental and emotional resources are depleted.

Another example of how burnout manifests is ambivalence, Davis says. For instance, an agent facing burnout might feel victimized by the market and resort to the thought that they can’t change anything—there’s no point in trying. Rather than a feeling of acceptance, which is healthy, Davis says, in cases of burnout, disconnection from the work is what surfaces.

Why Be Concerned About Workplace Burnout

For a broker, it’s important to know the signs of burnout and the tools available to agents. An agent in burnout is an agent in need, and if the issue is left unaddressed, consequences could stack up for the agent and the brokerage.

Health care provider the Mayo Clinic asserts that ignored or unaddressed job burnout can cause some major health problems including fatigue, alcohol or substance abuse, heart disease, high blood pressure, Type 2 diabetes and vulnerability to other illnesses. Sufferers also feel drained, have fewer coping skills and possible anger or irritation.

“As the market is changing with inventory so tight and higher interest rates, industry practitioners find themselves taking on more than they would before,” says Rebecca Thomson, regional vice president for Coldwell Banker Realty in Chicago. She supervises more than 2,000 agents in 19 offices across Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana and Michigan.

Thomson says real estate professionals burn themselves out because they have so much to deal with, adding that it’s especially true for women.

“They are delegating personal and business responsibilities. The pandemic put more on them, such as when kids had to be homeschooled or taking care of elderly family members,” she adds.

She says agents must take care of themselves but, much of the time, they don’t realize they’re overworked or in burnout until it’s caused major issues. Brokers are in a unique position to help agents navigate burnout and even prevent it from occurring in the first place.

Five Ways to Help Agents Avoid Burnout—And Work Through It

Schedule time between agents and managers. “Our management team are trained coaches,” Thomson explains. “Our offices are focused on culture collaboration instead of cutthroat culture.” Having leaders checking in with agents on a regular basis can give them the community and care they might need. With new agents, Thomson gives them a journal to write down all the things happening, what they are learning, and what they are feeling. Davis says that leaders need to ask how people are. “We need to ask what is stressing them out. How are they really?”

Offer recognition regularly. One of the main reasons workplace burnout happens is because an employee or agent doesn’t feel appreciated for their contributions to the business, Davis says. “Even a cursory thank you can help. But encourage and push leaders to move beyond that. Identify the specific behavior that made the good outcome,” she adds. It’s easy to recognize top performers, but it’s also important to make sure to recognize each agent for their strengths and what they bring to the brokerage.

Present resources to ease the workload. Make sure agents have enough training and knowledge to use all the systems and processes available so they can save time, Thomson says. Understand what you as a leader can help them automate to reclaim their time. Find other ways to free them up so they can spend more time with family, friends and on hobbies.

Teach them to say no. Thomson realized that her Type A personality was pushing her toward burnout. “I began to realize that I couldn’t say yes to everything. I then began to understand that we can’t expect ourselves [to perform at] 100% all the time. Sometimes, 80 to 90% is OK.” Helping agents realize this is important to their mental health. An email doesn’t have to be worded perfectly, for example. It just needs to be professional, kind and timely.

Get educated about burnout. “There’s a ton of education missing at the leader level about burnout,” Davis says, and one of the best ways you can help your agents is by understanding what burnout is and what resources are available. She also feels that leaders need to understand what makes people light up when it comes to their work. “When you are excited about what you are doing, the time is flying by.”

A study from the Mayo Clinic discovered a few years ago that physicians who spend 20% of their time doing “work they find most meaningful are at dramatically lower risk for burnout.” For real estate agents, that translates to figuring out what makes them light up in their careers and doing more of it. A couple of tweaks might be all that’s needed.

National Association of REALTORS®
Reprinted with permission

When an agent puts in the extra hours to become an expert through designations and certifications, helping them promote their continued education could set them apart in the marketplace.

Patrice Willetts believes each real estate professional should highlight what makes them the best candidate for consideration, including skills, experience and acquired expertise. That includes showcasing and sometimes explaining the designations and certifications they earn throughout the years.

“We can do this by letting them know in different ways when we attend education classes or seminars, when we participate in the community, and when we go above and beyond the basic steps for our clients,” says Willetts, instructor and broker at The Property Shop International in Wilmington, N.C.

Helping consumers understand that agents take their roles seriously by earning designations and certifications is an important element, especially with how the market is today. Even if those outside of the real estate industry may not have a clue what the acronyms behind a practitioner’s name mean, most understand that they furthered their education, WillIetts adds.

“We have a saying here at our firm: professional, connected, educated,” she says. “We encourage our agents to stay up on trends, get designations and to market themselves with this saying.”

As people walk into the office, a banner with the same mantra greets them. Designations and certifications take time, money and effort and make agents better at their jobs. Clients should know how the work the agent as put in can benefit their experience.

Understand the Difference

According to NAR, designations and certifications are different in that “a designation requires annual dues, but a certification only requires an application fee without annual dues.” The cost of certain designations and certifications varies depending on the complexity of the educational content. Some courses are simple, while others require more work and time. For most 16-hour courses, NAR members pay $535, except for the Land Investment Analysis course which runs $750.

For real estate practitioners who want more information on which continuing education options are best for them, the Center for REALTOR® Development (CRD) is the primary resource.

Encourage Continuing Education

Agents can choose from a range of designations and certifications that covers everything from negotiations, smart homes and vacation homes to luxury homes, investing, digital marketing and home finances.

Many of these offerings include as-needed updates so agents have the most current information for the marketplace, says Michael Gobber, partner and designated managing broker at Century 21 Circle in Westchester, Ill. He is also the immediate past president of the Illinois REALTORS®. 

“These designations set agents apart,” he says.

“The GRI was my first designation, and it took a couple years [to complete],” Gobber comments. “I looked at it then—and still do—as a graduate class, because it really specializes and dives deep into the business.”

He recommends the course to his agents, especially to those who are new to the business or haven’t zeroed in on a specialty.

“It opened my eyes to so many things. It’s broad on taxes and teaches you things such as understanding the details of how homes are built, things about sewers and silt plates, and so many things you didn’t know,” he says.

Market Credentials

Janine Spiegelman has met many real estate professionals who have numerous designations but never promote them.

“With tight inflation, high interest rates and low inventory, it would make sense to use and market these designations to distinguish themselves and gain more clients and market share,” says Spiegelman, broker/owner at Janinesworld Realty, Pompano Beach, Fla.

Here are Spiegelman, Willetts and Gobber’s ideas on how to get your agents to highlight their designations and certifications to help clients and gain clients:

Tell clients about designations. The general public doesn’t know what all the acronyms behind your name mean, Gobber says. “But open up the conversation. You can simply say, ‘I’ve taken time to be more experienced and more successful and professional.’”  When you attend a listing or buying presentation, explain how these designations benefit them as clients. Explain that you spent the extra cost and time to get better at your job to provide an elevated level of service to your clients, he says.

Spiegelman believes that the Pricing Strategy Advisor (PSA) certification—one she holds—is especially attractive in periods of volatility. Explaining the valuable knowledge absorbed through the coursework necessary to obtain the designation can ease client apprehension and help them feel confident about their offer.

Use Facebook groups for referrals. Most of the available designations have Facebook groups where agents often refer their clients—who are either moving out of the area or require someone with specific expertise—to other agents who meet those clients’ needs.

“For instance, if you get your GRI, apply to be on the GRI referral page. Once you are in there, look for clients who are located in a different city and need help in your area,” Gobber says. “And if you need to refer a client to someone, let’s say in Denver, then look for a GRI agent there.”

Use media to get the word out. Willetts says that in some cases, local papers or business journals might print updates about local experts. Using press releases to alert the public to the new designations and certifications acquired could garner some attention.

You can also find local podcasts or talk radio stations and pitch relevant real estate topics to speak about on an episode. “For instance, if you get your SRES, you can go on a local radio show and talk about things such as power of attorney, conservatorships and more,” she states.

Create a video. “I’ve seen some agents, not my own yet, create videos regarding designations they just earned. It just takes a 30 second video post,” Gobber says. Use the video to explain what you’ve learned and how it will benefit the consumer.

Team up with businesses who could benefit from your expertise. People in other industries like financial planning, accounting and insurance work with a variety of clients who could benefit from real estate advice. One such group is the senior population. Real estate practitioners who have earned the Seniors Real Estate Specialist® (SRES®) designation, have useful knowledge and expertise to share with this population. Partnering with professionals who work with seniors could be mutually beneficial. “As our population ages, some people don’t want to leave their home,” Spiegelman adds. “They want to be able to age in place gracefully and with dignity. This group of clients need information and not hard pressure sales tactics.”

Update marketing materials. “You need to put in all the letters there that you’ve earned on your website, Facebook, LinkedIn, Realtor.com and everywhere else you are,” Gobber says. “Announce your new specialty with those social media platforms and your website.”

If, as the broker, you provide personalized marketing materials for agents, make sure they’re updated to include the agents’ most recent designations.

Celebrate your agents’ accomplishments. Gobber’s brokerage celebrates their agents’ new designations and certifications on their internal Facebook group and external Facebook page. “We also share their first closing and other accomplishments in a post.”

“All those letters at the end of an agent’s name shows that they are vested in the profession,” says Spiegelman. “Not everyone who holds a real estate license is a REALTOR®, and now more than ever, it is important to show your value.”

National Association of REALTORS®
Reprinted with permission

In slow or volatile times, making sure you and your brokerage are recognized as an authority in your market can make a difference

In slow or volatile times, a solid and reputable public image can set your brokerage apart and garner trust.

The real estate industry is in a state of flux, and it’s likely that won’t change anytime soon. Though interest rates have subsided some, an inventory shortage and high prices still make for a competitive market.

As a result, brokers need to do everything they can to create a competitive advantage, and one of the most effective ways to do that is through public image and influence. When used properly, becoming a recognized authority in your market can create exposure and trust in ways that other marketing channels can’t.

The below DIY approach is one that you and your agents can execute in-house, but it’s worth mentioning that the option to work with a coach or hire a publicist is always available.

Build a Personal Brand

People want to know who you are before they work with you. A strong personal brand showcases your competence, knowledge and expertise—and that inspires trust and helps build your status as an authority figure in the industry. Where applicable, it also plays a role in whether a journalist will feature you or not.

You want your brand to be representative of your principles. The first step is to home in on your personal core values, which should then drive the values of your brokerage. You want to distill what you know about yourself into an effective personal brand that inspires trust. Start with some questions to help clarify things:

What drives you?

What do you stand for?

Who do you serve?

What’s your backstory?

These factors create the foundation for your brand. Once you’ve answered these questions, you’ll need to identify what I call your 5 Pillars. These pillars will act as the backbone of your content creation. They should be topics that are important to you and relevant to your audience. For example, my 5 Pillars are:

• Public relations
• Entrepreneurship
• Overcoming adversity
• Veterans’ issues
• Personal freedom

Anything you share, whether on social media, in articles, on stage or anywhere else, should fall under one of the five categories. This demonstrates who you are and what you stand for, and it gives your audience insight into your competence, knowledge and expertise on the topics.

Take Control of Your Online Image

Your first step is to search Google and Bing for your name, each of your agents’ names, and your brokerage’s name. Note what shows up on the first three pages of each search engine.

What you’re looking for is anything that might make a prospective client doubt whether they should work with you. Obviously, anything overtly negative falls under this category, but so does a lack of an online presence.

At a minimum, you’ll want to ensure your brokerage and your personal website and social media profiles show up first. You’ll also want to make sure you have an active and complete Google Business Profile. Next, you’ll want to ensure your agents’ websites and social media profiles show up first when you search for their names. Ideally, you should also build a personal brand website, with your personal name as the domain, which will secure another position in the search results; this site can also be used to help cross promote your brokerage site. For NAR members, the .realtor domain enables you to secure a uniquely branded website tailored with your name that includes the well-known REALTOR® brand.

Secure Media Features

It’s tempting to focus on the biggest and most authoritative publications, but trade publications and local news outlets are important as well.

Start by building a list of the journalists who cover real estate and topics related to it. This is critical because you need to ensure that you’re only pitching journalists who will see your pitch as relevant to their specific audience. You can find them on each media outlet’s website and on social media. On a publication’s website, simply search for and read articles that are on the topics you’ve identified, and look for the author’s byline and bio. These sometimes include contact information.

Finding them on social media is almost as simple. All you need to do is open the LinkedIn company page for a media outlet and click the “People” tab; then you’ll see every employee that has that outlet listed as their employer.

Now you’ll begin pitching your story to the media. The key is to open with a powerful hook that grabs the recipient’s emotions, and then support your pitch with additional information. You’ll also need to distill your pitch into the most concise and potent message possible, breaking it up in an easy to scan and digest format.

Leverage Publicity in Your Marketing

Most people are over the moon with excitement when they get their first media feature, and eagerly share it all over social media, but then they don’t do anything else with it.

You want to make the best use of the publicity you receive, so you need to create a library of content from each piece of publicity. You can extract snippets and quotes from articles and TV segments to use in marketing content. You can also come up with the points you wished you had an opportunity to say but didn’t have a chance to. Add all of these to a document for now, and then create a few templates for quote graphics, which you’ll insert these statements into. Always lead back to the original article or segment when links are available.

As a broker, you’ll want to share this content through all of your marketing channels. You’ll also want to encourage your agents to share this content. Let them know how publicity for the brokerage and for you helps boost their credibility in the eyes of their audience as well. Since the content is already created and available, it also takes some of the onus off of them. They can plug the content into their channels rather than having to worry about creating it themselves.

Take things a step further and make it part of your brokerage’s culture to have and maintain a strong, reputable public image. Teach your agents what it takes to do so and walk them through the steps. Teaching your agents the importance of a public image and how to cultivate one is great for your brokerage and for agent retention.

The bottom line: If you ensure a robust public image and then leverage it in your marketing, you’ll stand out from your competitors in ways you probably have never imagined. It will transform you and your agents into recognized authorities in your market, helping to attract new listings, and it can even help to attract new agents and retain existing ones.

National Association of REALTORS®
Reprinted with permission

As smart home tech becomes more mainstream, an increased number of clients will have these tech-saavy features on their radar. Your brokerage should be ready.

For 15 years, Lindsay Hall worked in corporate technology sales and marketing before making a shift to a career in real estate. When the pandemic hit and the industry stalled, she decided to use the time to earn her Smart Home Certification.

“I was just wondering what was out there that I can take, so I chose something in my background and made it relevant to real estate,” says Hall, co-founder of Ink Properties in Greenville, S.C. “A smart home can simplify and make your life better.”

Through her certification and continuing research, she tells home buyers and sellers how simple tech installs added to their properties can qualify them as smart homes.

The Lowdown on the Smart Home Certification

The Smart Home certification was launched to help real estate professionals become experts in a growing trend in the housing industry—technologically advanced homes. The 12-hour certification equips practitioners with the information they need on smart home technology, its economic and environmental impact and more. It cost $125.

About 740 agents across the nation initiated the Smart Home certification since its inception. Yet, only 358—about 47% of those who started the class—have completed the certification, according to the Residential Real Estate Council, formerly the Council of Residential Specialists (CRS).

“Many times, I hear more often than not real estate professionals tell me they are so glad they signed up for the class even though they weren’t sure about technology,” says Kim Cameron, CRS, instructor of the smart home certification in many states. She is broker associate at the Kim Cameron Group at Better Homes & Garden Real Estate Preferred Properties in St. Louis.

She notes that smart home features are becoming more mainstream every day. With builders and rehabbers, smart homes have become mainstream.

“They are putting in temperature and light controls so you can do everything from your phone. Blinds are being automated. Security systems are becoming easier and less expensive, and everything is as easy as a push of a button.”

She breaks down the course into segments so any practitioner can wrap their head around it.

“For a decade, many homes have had a Nest camera doorbell. But we never had the dialogue to talk to them at a listing meeting about being a smart home,” she comments. “And only a handful of MLSs have a button to click to say that a home is a smart home.”

A smart home, according to the course, is a home equipped with network-connected products that connect via Wi-Fi, Bluetooth or similar protocols. The protocols control and automate several home functions like lighting, security and temperature. Homeowners can customize and control the features, typically from an app or computer. To be considered a true smart home on the market, a home must have an internet connection and either a security or temperature control device, plus at least two additional smart home features.

How the Certification Enhances Business

Cameron believes that adding the words “Smart Home” to real estate signs, social media pages and websites garners attention that agents might not otherwise receive. People who are tech savvy or environmentally conscious will gravitate to someone with the certification. General curiosity could play a role as well. Whatever the case, agents should make sure their potential customers understand the value of the certification, Cameron says.

She has a script that she teaches to her students, which goes over how to talk with potential clients about a smart home. Confidence and knowledge are important when relaying information, she says.

Having the certification distinguishes a real estate professional as an expert in a growing niche. Those earning the certificate can tap into pre-made toolkits available to help promote themselves, and getting the certificate earns credit toward the CRS designation.

Help a Home Be a Smart One

For Cameron, the process of determining a smart home starts in the driveway.

“You see the camera doorbell right away. You start telling the clients that you noticed they have a NEST doorbell,” she says. “You explain to them that they have a smart home or could have a smart home with a few tweaks, and (you also tell them) how they can use that as an advantage when (listing) their home.”

Hall notices that the larger the home, the more automation possibility.

“I don’t lead into the smart home talk with money savings,” she says. “I go for the overall picture. It does cost money for the smart home technology, but not as much as some people think.”

Hall believes in talking with clients about smart home features that make sense for them based on their needs. Blinds, for instance, might be a hefty expense, but if a client wants them, there are ways to cut down on the cost.

“We don’t advise to put them in every window,” Hall states. “I try and talk with them about how long they will be living there. Most people want a smart home, but most people don’t call it that.”

The certification means that real estate professionals understand the full breadth of what makes a home a smart home, and relaying this information to clients is invaluable. Technologies like appliances, entertainment, and automated vacuums, for instance, might not be on their radar.

“There’s an infinite number of scenarios that you can help your client with,” she says.

National Association of REALTORS®
Reprinted with permission

Increasingly, millennials and Gen-Z are entering into leadership positions in the industry, and they’re sharing what they’ve learned.

Young leaders are no stranger to volatility or change. Morgan Hoffman, now 38, saw first-hand the aftermath of the 2008 housing crash. She’d obtained her real estate license in 2003 at the age of 18, and the company she worked for specialized only in foreclosed properties.

Six years ago, she and a business partner opened up JPAR Live Local in Boise, Idaho; after a couple of “normal” years, she found herself guiding her brokerage through a pandemic. During  one stretch, she remembers, she worked 54 days in a row, unable to take time off in an intense market of bidding wars and clients who felt desperate to find homes.

“I have empathy for my agents. I have been there, and I guide them to what is coming next,” she says.

Millennial and Generation Z leaders are making their mark in top roles in the real estate profession. Hoffman is just one example of an influx of young leaders using their perspectives and experience to breathe fresh ideas into the space. One such area, research shows, is that of work-life balance, which members of younger generations say is central to their lives. A 2023 Deloitte Global Gen-Z and Millennial survey found that these two generations say their careers are central to their identity, but that well-being and mental health are just as important. 

Empathy Leads the Way

Hoffman has seen all sides of the business. Along with a stint in the marketing world, she’s worked as an assistant, an agent, and now as a broker. She’s faced the market when it was up and when it was down. She says her superpower is using her experience to guide her agents through they myriad issues they might face as they grow their businesses.

“I’m able to help develop a road map. Ultimately, that’s my job as a leader,” she says. “I give them the resources to guide them on the questions they have but give them a buffer zone on things they don’t know about.”

Hoffman says that when she started out, she learned the skills she needed on her own. She didn’t necessarily have a guide in the business. She does not want her agents to have to go through that, so she offers weekly classes to her team members so they can learn the skills they need to succeed. Her classes cover building client relationships, confidence and communication.

Hoffman says she’s aware that much of the time, millennials get a bad rap. On the whole, the generation is seen as whiny, too soft, or unwilling to work hard. She believes otherwise, which is exemplified by her own grit and determination. She also thinks that empathy is one of a millennial’s greatest assets. It’s her belief that the generation cares about people, desires a more balanced and meaningful life outside of work and isn’t afraid to go for it.

“With my parents’ generation, you climb the corporate ladder. But are you happy? Are you fulfilled? There was no focus on that,” she says.

So, she works hard to build a brokerage where her agents and her clients can find that sense of balance and fulfillment. She does this by fostering trust and leading with empathy.

Make Space for Young People

When Alec Roth worked at a hometown grocery store during high school, he quickly moved up the ranks to the role of office manager. That opportunity provided him experience that transferred well to his real estate career.

“I was in charge of people two or three times my age. But I feel in real estate, that isn’t so different,” says Roth, who is a team lead partner at Arthur & Roth Real Estate with Edina Realty in Edina, Minn. “There’s a lot of different age groups and generations in this industry. Some are working their first job, and some have been there a long time.”

While in college in Minnesota, he worked as an assistant for a real estate company, and then he moved into a transaction coordinator position. He reviewed files for around 1,000 transactions per year, giving him invaluable insight into the industry. When he decided to obtain his real estate license, he felt like he was positioned to succeed.

“I really knew exactly what I was doing when I got into the business,” Roth, now 25, says. At age 20, his first sale was a small townhouse. Those clients have since completed five more transactions with him.

Roth says that his move from Chicago to Minnesota for college helped stretch his skills. Without a sphere or network, he had to build his confidence and his business with intent.

“I did deals that other agents didn’t want to do. I travel a wider circle of miles,” he says.

This experience shaped Roth as a leader. He believes in investing much of his time helping his four agents develop their business. He also believes in making intentional space for younger real estate professionals.

Edina Realty, a non-franchised brokerage, has about 2,400 agents; about 450 of them are 35 years or younger. Roth and a fellow agent approached the brokerage president last year to propose a new organization called New Voices. The organization within the brokerage gives younger and new-to-the-business agents a dedicated space to foster connection.

“We need to show newer and younger agents that they can be here for the long run. We do events monthly or every two months, including volunteer events and games,” he says. “We bring this group together just to show them there are others their age in this industry.”

Recognized for his leadership, Roth has also been invited by the brokerage’s president to meet with a few other professionals for lunch and an open conversation about the future of the company and how to improve.

Honesty and Determination Make the Difference

Kadee French, a salesperson with Keller Williams Central in Edmond, Okla., and vice chair of the National Association of REALTORS®’ Young Professionals Network Advisory Board, says real estate professionals need three qualities to be successful: an open mind, the ability to adapt to change, and a willingness to explain things to people in a direct, honest and kind way.

As a leader in many areas of the real estate world, French, 29, looks at the big picture and does all she can to avoid letting negativity get in her way. “I don’t want to be set in my ways. I want to listen to other people’s opinions but also listen to my own ethics and morals.”

She says her age doesn’t get in the way of her gaining clients and she knows her guiding principles of honesty and adaptability make a difference. “Some hire me because I’m younger and go straight to the point,” she says.

French recently acquired a listing that had expired with another agent. French was hosting an open house in the same neighborhood, and the new client invited her to come take a look at his property. After viewing the space, she was very straightforward with him, encouraging him to be flexible on pricing and suggesting some improvements before relisting it.

“We are painting the entire house,” she told him. “And we’re going to bring it down another $40,000. That’s where I think we need to be.”

He was relieved by her honesty and her willingness to be forthright in what she thought was required to sell in the current market. In the end, after it was relisted, the home garnered multiple offers.

When French started her real estate career at the age of 22, she did so with leadership in mind. In a short time, she’s accomplished quite a bit, and it started with active involvement in her local, state and national associations. Two years ago, she was included among REALTOR® Magazine’s 30 Under 30. She served as the 2023 President of the Edmond Board of REALTORS® and was recognized as that organization’s 2023 REALTOR® of the Year.

In addition to her vice chair position at the national YPN level, she is current chair of Edmond’s YPN and Oklahoma’s YPN Advisory Board.

Many of the boards she has been a part of have included older people from different generations, she says.

“The good thing is that they came to me with open arms. They wanted a younger opinion,” she says. “I’ve been busting my butt, and I’m actually good at what I do. They can respect me even though I’m young.”

National Association of REALTORS®
Reprinted with permission