S1 E5: Success Story of a New Real Estate Agent 2023
In this episode of Today’s Brew, we sit down with Atlanta-based real estate agent Jaden Stein. Jaden saw success early on in his career as a new real estate agent in 2022-2023.
Jaden got his realtor’s license in 2021, at the age of 20. In June, 2022, he was off and running as a full-time agent. His early investment in Espresso Agent began to pay dividends immediately. He leans on Espresso’s expired listing leads during his daily prospecting window. But Espresso’s CRM also plays a critical role in Jaden’s follow-up strategy. “I go into Espresso with the goal of getting two nurtures and one listing appointment every day,” he says. “Every two weeks I follow up with my nurtures to see what’s going on.” His 2023 goal is a minimum of one, $400,000 listing a month, which he exceeded in January.
Check out this episode of Today’s Brew to hear how a relatively new agent like Jaden Stein used Espresso Agent to drive his early success in real estate.
Noel (00:00):
Hi, I’m Noel with Today’s Brew, where top producing real estate agents share their tips on taking more listings, making more money, and having fun doing it. On today’s episode, we welcome Jaden Stein from Atlanta, Georgia. Hi Jaden, how are you?
Jaden (00:17):
What’s going on? How are you?
Noel (00:18):
Hi, I am great. Thanks for joining us today.
Jaden (00:22):
Thank you guys for having me. Let’s have some
Noel (00:24):
Real estate. How are you today?
Jaden (00:27):
I’m doing good. How about yourself?
Noel (00:29):
I am doing very well. How is the market down in Atlanta right now?
Jaden (00:33):
Um, I would say that the market is a little slow. Um, so I’ve, I started when it was kind of slow, I guess, you know, like back when Covid happened, um, or like right before Covid, it was crazy. You could put a home on the market and it would have multiple offers and there were huge bidding wars, stuff like that. So I’ve noticed a lot more agents picking up the phone more than ever.
Noel (00:55):
To prospect, you mean?
Jaden (00:57):
To Yeah, to prospect, to find new clients.
Noel (00:59):
Okay. Okay. So you have a little more motivation, a little more fire under you because you’ve gotta go out and search for the lease. How long have you been in the business?
Jaden (01:09):
Uh, so I started in June of 2022. Uh, I got my license, I turned 20 in January of last year, so 2022. Um, so started in June, um, went to eXp I ended up having a better opportunity with Katie, Alton Associates. Um, so I decided to go there and I love it, and that’s where I started Espresso at.
Noel (01:32):
Okay. So are you on a team with Katie?
Jaden (01:34):
Yes, ma’am.
Noel (01:35):
And, uh, she recommended Espresso for you? Is that how you got started? Ma’am? Maam. Okay. So tell us a little about, a little bit about Espresso, how you use it in your daily business. Uh, how your prospecting schedule are you on every day? Do you have a timeframe?
Jaden (01:52):
Yeah, so I’m on like a, a, I guess you could say a block schedule. Um, I’ll wake up in the morning, shower, do my morning routine, um, and then I’ll start prospecting immediately in the morning. Um, I like to do morning and night, but in the morning time, uh, when I get on, I notice that not as many people answer as nighttime. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Um, so when I get on in the morning, it’s from about 1130 to 1230 or 1130 to one 30. Um, and then at one 30 I’ll go do my appointments for the day if I have any. Um, and then after that it’s just follow up calls with our crm and then with anything from Espresso.
Noel (02:25):
Okay. So how many calls would you say you’re making in on a daily basis?
Jaden (02:30):
Um, so I’ll try to go through the whole contact list. So I do off market on Espresso as what I’ll select, um, and then expireds, anything like that off market. Um, and I’ll go through the whole contact list of 99 people. Usually espresso has three numbers, uh, for each contact, so I’ll do those. And it ends up being about 200 calls. Sometimes it’s more, um, because, you know, some of the contacts have two numbers on them or three numbers on them, or one number. It just varies. Um, so it depends. But I’ll either set a goal for a calls 150 calls, or I’ll do the whole contact list.
Noel (03:02):
That’s a lot of calls. Yes. And not always a lot of friendly people. So how do you keep a positive mindset? Um, if you’re getting hung up on or, you know, any negativity, how do you keep going Yeah. To make your, your goal every day?
Jaden (03:17):
Um, I would say short answer would be to just ignore it. You know, I started, I know this is off topic, but I started, um, sales with door knocking when I was younger and people weren’t always nice. They don’t like when you, you know, you’re an unwanted uninvited guest <laugh>, uh, at their door. So I would, I would just tell them, you know, I really wouldn’t say anything if they hang up, uh, if they’re rude, you know, I just, Hey, have a great day. Like, I’m sorry. Um, and then just keep it pushing honestly. Like, it’s my job, it’s how I get paid. So
Noel (03:45):
That’s, well, that’s the right attitude to have and you gotta have something that keeps you going. And, and money is definitely a, a motivation. Right, right. <laugh>. So do you have a coach?
Jaden (03:56):
Um, I don’t, but I wanna touch a little more on what, what you just asked me before. I think, um, the mindset that you have to have is, it’s kind of you versus them. And I don’t know if this is like the healthiest mindset, but it’s damn near like a challenge. Like it’s you versus them. You’re having to sell them and they don’t want to be sold. Um, for the most part, a lot of them don’t. So I think when people hang up on you or they’re rude, you just have to keep pushing. Like you just have to stay motivated. And, but most importantly is discipline. Like, if somebody hangs up on you, you can’t just get off. It’ll ask you. Like if somebody hangs up on you and you click the rude button, it’s like, what do you want to do? Next call, next contact. And I always thought that was funny because it gives you an option, like, do you want to call the next contact or do you want to get off and cry about the person hanging up on you
Noel (04:40):
<laugh>, you know? And, and let me guess, you don’t cry, you call
Jaden (04:44):
<laugh>. No, never, never
Noel (04:46):
<laugh>. So how many, now that you’ve brought it up, uh, how do you follow up with those people that don’t give you an appointment right off the bat? Uh, how many times will you follow up with them and, and how do you make it meaningful?
Jaden (04:59):
So Espresso is great because they have a bunch of different folders that you can sort people into. Um, you have different conversations. Somebody may hang up on you and you’ll click the root button. You’ll never talk to ’em again. Um, somebody that’s a follow up or an ISA nurture, you know, they just need a little bit of time. They’re gonna think about it. I talk to their, their spouse, talk to their family, decide what they want to do. Uh, I will put them into ISA Nurture, and as soon as I get off of my calls, all the people that I put into nurtures, I go into Espresso with the goal of getting two nurtures a day and one appointment. Um, so those nurturers will go into my CRM as soon as I get off of Espresso. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. And then every, um, either two weeks, uh, or, or two a month, I’ll follow up with those people and, and see what’s going on. I like to do two weeks. Um, but if they still are kind of like, then I’ll switch it to a month and it will give me a reminder of my serum to go ahead and call them when it’s, when it’s time.
Noel (05:49):
Have you had luck with those people that you follow up with? The ones that don’t Oh, yeah. Make an appointment right away?
Jaden (05:54):
Yeah, so I’ve had people that, when I call them first on espresso, you know, they’re very, um, I wouldn’t say against getting, but it’s a cold call, so they’re not exactly gonna just say, Hey, yeah, come on, let’s do it. So I’ll even call ’em later on in the day because I’ll, like, I, I use my intuition with it. I have a feeling like, okay, I might be able to get something done with this just by the way that they sound, or I can tell that they feel on the phone mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Um, so I’ll call ’em later that day once they’ve had a second to think about it and they remember me. Um, and so I’m like, yeah, we talked earlier, like, thank you for talking to me. Um, and I’ll tell them, yeah, like, um, I can come out, um, and talk to you about listening your home.
Noel (06:32):
Do you follow a script on all of these phone calls?
Jaden (06:35):
So my brokerage, I started with Mike Ferry scripts, um, and that’s just what I liked. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. And then I kind of like developed my own thing and it’s worked for me, so,
Noel (06:46):
So a little bit of a twist, but, but standard Mike Ferry, but Exactly. Makes a little more personable for you.
Jaden (06:52):
Exactly.
Noel (06:53):
Uh, what about listing appointments? Do you follow Mike’s listing presentation or do you have your own Same, same thing.
Jaden (07:01):
Yeah. I, I kinda spun off of his.
Noel (07:03):
Okay. How much success do you have with that? When you get in front of your, uh, potential clients right now, what is, what’s your rate of a success when you sit down in front of them? How do you know how quickly you’re gonna get them to sign a guess? Or if they’re going to choose another agent? How do you stand out versus other people? Right.
Jaden (07:22):
Um, I was actually just talking about this with my broker. So I did the math for all the listing appointments that I went on. All the listings that I got ended up being about 33%. So one in three chance that I’ll get a listing appointment when I, or listing when I go on the appointment mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Um, so when I go out to the appointment to stand out, um, it’s certain things that you have to do that another agent is not gonna do that when you leave, they’re gonna be like, okay, well this agent did this. There’s no way the other, I’ll give you an example. If I go in there and I take measurements of rooms like with a laser, um, or I go around and I’m just, as soon as I get in the house, I’m like, Hey, can I take a look? And I go around the entire house or I’m writing down full notes, uh, of just anywhere where we could get more money, like crown molded ceilings, uh, double will pay, stuff like that. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Um, and then the, the laser measuring the room is a big thing because when you leave and another agent comes and they leave, the homeowner’s gonna be like, they didn’t even measure my house like the other agent did. How are they gonna sell my house? Very. This little stuff like that. Yes, exactly.
Noel (08:19):
So what’s your favorite, um, source then? Expireds or fsbo?
Jaden (08:24):
Expired. Which expireds? That’s the only one. Yes.
Noel (08:28):
Well, let’s elaborate on that because you sent me a pretty cool text recently. Uh, you were at your first espresso agent closing with your clients, which was very cool. And I love seeing your success story six months into the business pretty much. Yes. And you’re already coming in full swing really. And you have another closing at the end of the month, right?
Jaden (08:52):
Yes.
Noel (08:53):
Two. And that was the EA lead.
Jaden (08:56):
Yeah. That’s
Noel (08:57):
Awesome. So for newer agents out there, you’re, you’re someone to look up to, you’re like an idol for them because they might not be having the same success as you. So what is something that you would tell them to do to not to keep going every day? What would be your number one piece of advice?
Jaden (09:15):
Um, so the way that I look at it, I would say is I’ve had times where I don’t wanna make calls and then I end up not doing it and it makes no difference for me. Right? But then when I do get on the phone and I’ve gotten two appointments in one day, um, and both of them go under contract eventually, and it’s like, okay, well the way I think about it is there’s somebody that I didn’t call today that I could have gotten or I could have helped, um, to sell their house and get where they want to be. Um, so when you look at it like that, I feel like that’s the best way to stay motivated. And I guess more importantly, it’s staying disciplined with it. Because if you set a schedule and you stick to that schedule, then that’s the only way that you can earn your dopamine, you know what I mean? Like, you have, you have to earn it, um, instead of, cuz if you don’t do it, then it’s, it’s gonna not feel great.
Noel (10:06):
<laugh> no, it’s not. Feels good to feel good. <laugh> feels good to take your listings and make money and enjoy your time doing it as well.
Jaden (10:14):
Of course.
Noel (10:15):
So, um, what is your goal for the end of the year? We’re, we’re just getting into it. So you pretty much can do whatever you want,
Jaden (10:24):
Uh, goal for the end of the year. Um, so I have a, a monthly goal, which is a $400,000 house sold each month. Okay. Um, I can’t remember what the math is on that. Um, I know the commission’s number, but I don’t know what the math is for the volume commission
Noel (10:43):
Number.
Jaden (10:43):
Of course everyone does. Yeah. But, um, I guess that’s my goal. 400,000, uh, a $400,000 house every month. Um, and more importantly I want to help multiple families each month get to where they want to be.
Noel (10:58):
So then you far have exceeded your, uh, January goal if 400 K is definitely a goal. You had 505 last week right? Without closing from EA and then you have two more, so you’re hitting it out of the park. Congrats. Yeah, that’s very cool.
Jaden (11:13):
Thank you.
Noel (11:15):
If there’s any way for people to reach out and, and send you business referral wise or any new agents simply just want to reach out to you and maybe get some advice and some encouragement, how can people do that?
Jaden (11:28):
Um, so my phone number is (470) 880-9980. Email is gonna be Jaden, which is jaden@karefirm.com.
Noel (11:48):
That’s it. Any social media,
Jaden (11:50):
Social media? Jaden, j a d e n s t e i n with two Ns, um, on Instagram and then just my name on Facebook. Okay. Um, I think that’s it.
Noel (12:02):
Perfect. Is there anything that I may not have hit on that you would like to share with everybody?
Jaden (12:09):
Um, I think obviously, I mean, everybody knows like the calls, isn’t it, like once you get past the call and the appointment, you actually get it. It’s, that’s just the beginning. Um, but that does seem like the hardest part is getting through to the, the homeowner that, you know, you wanna sell their house and then they, you gotta make them trust you. Um, and then you get the listing agreement signed with expireds. Um, so that’s just the beginning. Um, and there’s a lot more to it that you have to do. Um, you have to
Noel (12:36):
Take care of your clients
Jaden (12:38):
<laugh>, of course. Exactly. Yes ma’am.
Noel (12:41):
Well, exciting and thank you so much for coming on today.
Jaden (12:45):
Absolutely. Thank you so much for having me guys.
Noel (12:48):
Of course. We appreciate you. Thank you so much.