How I Became a $20 Million Real Estate Agent: Coaching + Consistency
People ask me how I became a $20 million real estate agent.
The answer isn’t complicated.
Coaching and consistency.
I didn’t try to figure everything out myself. I invested in people who had already built successful real estate businesses and learned from them.
My Real Estate Coaching Journey
First, I hired Tom Ferry for approximately two years.
Then I spent approximately three years with Brian Buffini, where I really learned the power of building a relationship-based, referral-driven real estate business.
Those five years helped change the trajectory of my career.
But here’s the important part:
The coach didn’t do the work for me.
Coaching gave me the systems, accountability, ideas and direction. Consistency turned those things into production.
Eventually, I built something even more valuable:
I owned my referral business.
Instead of constantly wondering where my next lead was coming from, I had relationships with past clients, friends, Realtors and people in my sphere who knew me, trusted me and referred business to me.
What’s the Secret Sauce?
If I were giving advice to an agent today, it would be pretty simple:
Pay your brokerage as little as reasonably possible — and invest the difference in YOU.
Your brokerage doesn’t need to be your biggest expense.
I’d rather see an agent pay something like $699 per transaction and put the rest of their money toward:
- A great real estate coach
- Marketing themselves
- Staying in touch with their database
- Client events
- Past-client gifts
- Education and training
- Technology that actually produces business
- Creating an incredible customer experience
Think about the math.
If you’re giving thousands — or tens of thousands — of dollars every year to a brokerage, ask yourself: what would happen if you invested more of that money into building a business that YOU actually own?
Tom Ferry vs. Brian Buffini: What Did I Learn?
I don’t think there’s one “best real estate coach” for every Realtor.
Different coaches teach different approaches.
My time with Tom Ferry coaching helped reinforce the importance of activity, accountability, goals and consistently doing the things required to produce.
My experience with Brian Buffini strengthened my belief in relationships and working by referral.
I took lessons from both.
And over time, I developed a business model that worked for me.
That’s the point of coaching.
You’re not trying to become your coach.
You’re trying to become the best version of yourself as a real estate professional.
Coaching Doesn’t Replace Consistency
You can hire the greatest real estate coach in America and still fail.
Why?
Because somebody still has to make the calls.
Somebody has to follow up.
Somebody has to ask for the appointment.
Somebody has to stay in touch with the client after closing.
Somebody has to show up when they don’t feel like showing up.
Coaching gives you the playbook. Consistency builds the business.
That’s how I eventually became a $20 million real estate agent.
It wasn’t one magic lead source.
It wasn’t one website.
It wasn’t one brokerage.
It was years of investing in myself, learning from successful people, taking care of my customers and consistently doing the work.
Looking for a Real Estate Coach?
If you’re looking for real estate coaching, my first advice isn’t necessarily to hire the same coach I hired.
Figure out what you’re missing.
Do you need accountability?
Lead generation?
Sales skills?
Database management?
A referral system?
Better business planning?
Then find a coach whose system matches the kind of real estate business you actually want to build.
And before spending another $10,000, $20,000 or $30,000 on brokerage fees and commission splits, ask yourself one more question: could some of that money be better invested in me, my coach and my customers?
For me, the answer was yes.
Keep your brokerage costs low. Invest in yourself. Take care of your customers. Stay consistent. That’s the secret sauce.
This Is Exactly Why ArHaus Realty Exists
The “pay your brokerage as little as reasonably possible” math above isn’t hypothetical — it’s ArHaus Realty’s actual fee structure. Keep 100% of your commission, and pay a flat $500 transaction fee plus a $199 broker review fee per closing.
That’s the whole point: less going to the brokerage, more available for your coach, your marketing, your database, and your clients — the things that actually built a $20 million business.