Does experience matter for first-year Realtors? If you dig a little deeper into the backgrounds of the agents on the Real Trends Verified list, you might think so. Most have blue-chip professional experience or personal connections with wealthy homeowners. Some have both. But Brandon Halperin had neither. He was a bartender who started his real estate career in a market that was brand new to him. He didn’t know a soul.
Despite the odds being almost comically stacked against him, Brandon cleared a little over $200,000 in gross commission income (GCI) in his first year in real estate. He more than doubled that income in 2024. How did he do it? To find out, we sat down with Brandon to get his best advice for new Realtors.
- Market: San Clemente, California
- Niche: Downsizers and empty nesters
- Year one GCI: $200,000
- Year two GCI: $463,000
- Top lead source: The Share Group
- Highest ROI software: Mojo Dialer, Follow Up Boss
Hire the right real estate coach on day one
Like most new agents, Brandon struggled for his first few months. He didn’t close his first deal — an investor— until month six. While this is sadly common for new agents, Brandon partially blames his lack of deals on an unlikely source — his real estate coach. He had the foresight to sign on with a popular coaching company in his first year but felt he was getting very little return for his (sizeable) coaching investment. He was locked into a one-year contract, but the minute it ended, he began his search for a new coach.
After signing up for coaching with social media sensation Brandon Mulerin, his business began to skyrocket. Mulerin’s advice was simple but revelatory: niche down and cold call relentlessly.
“After I started working with Brandon [Mulerin], my results have been a lot better. Now I’m calling specific niches of people — downsizers and absentee owners. I’m not just randomly calling through neighborhoods having no idea who I’m going to talk to. I’m calling a group of people that I know at least might be thinking about selling.”
Finding the right coach for your business isn’t easy. You need to consider their track record helping agents similar to you and make sure they are a fit for your personality. To help, we curated a list of the best real estate coaches for 2025:
Find riches in the niches
Choosing the right niche early is another key decision that can mean the difference between struggling and thriving in real estate. Of course, not every niche will work in every market or for every agent. That’s why Brandon recommends exploring multiple niches until you find one that does.
Once Brandon discovered his niche at an open house, he immediately tripled down. While doing open houses six days a week, he stumbled upon a fix-and-flip investor:
“I didn’t even know what fix-and-flipping was at the time. But I know anyone else that wanted to buy a house from me, so I decided to just put all my eggs in one basket and go find these people’s properties.”
He did fairly well scouring his MLS and other sources for listings, but his business didn’t take off until he niched down again, calling absentee homeowners using Mojo’s triple-line dialer. Initially, he had no idea what to say, so he’d simply ask, “Hey, have you ever considered selling your home?” and eventually, he got a bite — turning his first cold call into a client who has since become a good friend. “That’s when I realized, hey, this cold calling, this prospecting stuff works.”
Pick up the phone and start dialing…
Brandon was running six open houses per week but told us that his success came from picking up the phone and calling people. Cold calling isn’t easy, but no matter what many so-called “top producers” will tell you, it’s still one of the best ways to have conversations that lead to leads. Here’s why: most agents never take the time to hone their skills enough to get good at it. They get hung up on a few times, they get chewed out for interrupting someone’s lunch, and then shrink away to running Facebook ads.
He admitted to us that he had no clue what he was doing in the beginning. That inexperience led to many deals slipping through his fingers, but he persevered and improved every day. Remember, a one percent improvement every day is a 365% improvement after one year.
Want to avoid the cringe on your first few calls? Try coach Ashley Harwood’s circle prospecting scripts:
…But know that the money is in the follow-up
Brandon’s follow-up game is simple but effective. If he has a good conversation with a lead, he follows up with:
- A handwritten note (You can get these from Handwrytten)
- Listing emails with properties that fit their criteria
- A scheduled follow-up phone call
If the lead is hostile or tells him they’re never moving, he just trashes them. There is a simple lesson here for new agents: Don’t throw good money after bad leads. Spinning your wheels pestering people who have made it clear they don’t want to talk to you has zero upside. They’ll be annoyed, associate you with sleazy salespeople, and worse, you’ll feel like a sleazy salesperson. Instead, spend your precious budget and time working leads who actually want to talk to you.
Another key follow-up tip from Brandon: Don’t be afraid to ask your leads when they want you to reach out again! You don’t have to religiously stick to their timeline for a follow-up call, but asking them when they want to speak again shows them you actually care about their timeline and are there to help, not sell.
Want more creative marketing and follow-up ideas? Check out our list of proven marketing ideas top agents swear by here:
Show up…Every. Single. Day.
There are no shortcuts to success. All producing agents and brokers we’ve interviewed over the years have one thing in common. They show up every single day. No matter what. Agents who relied on easy money in the red-hot pandemic market are in for a rude awakening. 2025 is all about leveraging the basics. Skills pay the bills.
Here’s Brandon on how his work ethic helped him build a sustainable business in just two years.
“I’ve always been a really hard worker — I was a college athlete, so I just do what I’m supposed to. So I knew that whatever I did, I would find success with it, not because I’m overly talented or anything, but just because I care and I work hard.”
Your Turn
Know an agent who’s thriving despite the odds and has actionable insights to share? We’d love to hear from you. Reach out to us here: [email protected].
