Latest / The Real Estate Agent Playbook / The Harsh Truth About Running a Brokerage in 2026 (And What’s Next)| Bryan Knisley

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The Harsh Truth About Running a Brokerage in 2026 (And What’s Next)| Bryan Knisley · The Real Estate Agent Playbook

• 0:00
  welcome to another episode of the Wolf Pack
• 0:01
  Way on the Real Estate Agent Playbook
• 0:02
  I'm so excited to bring my good friend
• 0:04
  Brian Nisley from Las Vegas Nevada
• 0:06
  a 25 year vet in the real estate industry
• 0:09
  and through talking to Brian
• 0:11
  we go through a ton of places in his career
• 0:15
  where he felt like he was at the top
• 0:17
  and then was able to step back and
• 0:20
  analyze the situation the market
• 0:22
  the industry the people around him
• 0:24
  and make pivots that have only leveled him up
• 0:27
  from chasing financial freedom to then realizing
• 0:31
  owning a brokerage
• 0:32
  that the time freedom was more important
• 0:35
  to bringing his team over to the Wolf Pack here at EXP
• 0:40
  all the way now to focusing solely on revenue share
• 0:43
  and growing assets for agents
• 0:46
  that he now has time to do
• 0:47
  because of the leverage he has gained
• 0:49
  this is an incredible interview
• 0:51
  an incredible story about a broker owner
• 0:54
  who has gone through the struggles
• 0:56
  has gone through the successes
• 0:57
  and now is able to say that the weight is lifted
• 1:00
  so if you like what he has to say
• 1:02
  please reach out and let's co sponsor uh together
• 1:06
  myself Brian
• 1:07
  and you are the dream team and we can make it happen
• 1:10
  but without further ado
• 1:11
  let's bring on Brian Niceley from Las Vegas Nevada
• 1:15
  alright we got Brian Niceley
• 1:16
  my buddy from Vegas
• 1:17
  just like we talked about in the intro
• 1:20
  and we are coming together to talk all
• 1:23
  about his story
• 1:24
  from a very successful broker owner in Vegas to
• 1:29
  you know a
• 1:30
  a bringing his brokerage over to our group
• 1:33
  and starting a production team
• 1:35
  to now really going full bore into his own production
• 1:38
  again in Rev share
• 1:39
  so we're gonna talk about all that but first Brian
• 1:42
  thanks so much for coming on man
• 1:43
  great to see you uh
• 1:45
  how are things going awesome dude
• 1:47
  I I I really can't believe
• 1:48
  this is first time I'm on your channel
• 1:50
  so that's a epic fail on my part
• 1:51
  I'm sorry about that
• 1:52
  but I'm I'm really happy to be here
• 1:54
  so thanks for having me on man
• 1:55
  hey man you've had a lot going on the last couple years
• 1:58
  and that's kind of where we're gonna dive in
• 1:59
  so take me back to you know
• 2:02
  the initial decision to become a broker owner
• 2:05
  and kind of how that looked
• 2:07
  because obviously
• 2:08
  you know the story of my dad and and yeah
• 2:10
  him going that route
• 2:11
  after just two years in the business
• 2:13
  so tell me a little bit about Brian Nisle
• 2:15
  the Realtor and what what got you into uh
• 2:18
  the brokerage world
• 2:19
  yeah I was looking to take over the world man yeah
• 2:22
  you know really
• 2:24
  you know I think the brokerage was kind of two fold
• 2:26
  you know I
• 2:27
  I started my career
• 2:28
  you know 25 years ago in the in the investing space
• 2:32
  and so I got heavily into the investing space working
• 2:35
  with hedge funds
• 2:36
  and building portfolios and working with small
• 2:40
  private capital groups and things like that
• 2:41
  and flipping properties and we did all that
• 2:44
  and you know
• 2:45
  the brokerage actually was
• 2:46
  was kind of born out of a convenience
• 2:49
  to my asset management company
• 2:51
  mm hmm you know
• 2:52
  cause we're doing a lot of unique things
• 2:53
  and I didn't want to have to have broker buy in
• 2:55
  I'm like
• 2:55
  I just want to have control over this whole process
• 2:58
  plus it was a little bit more of a
• 2:59
  you know a
• 3:00
  a a
• 3:01
  you know revenue capture for us as well
• 3:02
  it was like hey
• 3:03
  if I can control this whole process
• 3:04
  then it makes more sense to do the brokerage yeah
• 3:07
  I open up the brokerage and then I realized
• 3:09
  you know this is a
• 3:09
  this is another opportunity for us to kind of
• 3:12
  separate duties cause at that point
• 3:14
  we've been you know
• 3:15
  operating our asset management company
• 3:16
  my partner and I for for 10 years
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  and so our flip process was kind of on autopilot
• 3:21
  and he could manage that whole thing
• 3:23
  I said well
• 3:23
  let's just separate duties
• 3:24
  you take over the asset management side
• 3:26
  I'll take over the brokerage side
• 3:27
  and we'll just build this thing
• 3:29
  we'll build two legs to our business and
• 3:31
  and they'll they'll compliment one another
• 3:34
  so that's really kind of what it was born from
• 3:36
  true vertical right
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  we're always talking about getting the vertical
• 3:39
  opportunities in our business and um
• 3:42
  so a better life reality kind of came of that
• 3:45
  and obviously out of necessity or need on the
• 3:49
  you know asset management side
• 3:51
  but then talk a little bit about the expansion
• 3:53
  and bringing other agents on
• 3:54
  and kind of how that process worked
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  and how you kind of you know
• 3:59
  came into that that piece of the yeah
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  and that you know
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  and if any other small brokerage owners are out there
• 4:06
  they can probably relate to my story
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  um you know I
• 4:10
  I really started out as you know is
• 4:12
  is wanting to to leave
• 4:14
  you know
• 4:14
  to create something from my 25 years of experience in
• 4:17
  in real estate like I
• 4:18
  I didn't want to just just
• 4:20
  you know head off into the sunset and go OK
• 4:22
  that was a great 25 years
• 4:23
  and now I have nothing to show for it right
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  so the brokers was really kind of like
• 4:28
  this is a chance for me you know
• 4:29
  you hear people talking about legacy all the time
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  I mean what does that actually mean
• 4:33
  you know and for me
• 4:33
  it was just it was about
• 4:35
  being able to have something that I could pour
• 4:37
  my heart and soul into
• 4:39
  and help other people create success
• 4:41
  in an industry that I absolutely love
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  and that's given me everything that I've
• 4:44
  that I have today you know
• 4:47
  and the freedom and the lifestyle that I have today and
• 4:49
  and be able to give back to those agents and
• 4:51
  and build that that way and uh um
• 4:54
  it didn't turn out that way
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  yeah so I mean
• 4:57
  at at the when it was cooking
• 5:00
  what was the you know
• 5:01
  agent count and kind of what was the
• 5:03
  the transaction amount you guys were doing
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  yeah I mean
• 5:06
  I got to I was small I got to 35 agents and you know
• 5:09
  and it's 100% my fault that I
• 5:12
  I didn't grow to a bigger account than that
• 5:15
  a bigger production and you know
• 5:17
  I've always been taught in business
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  to lead with revenue right
• 5:19
  you you gotta lead with revenue
• 5:20
  you can't just throw money at this business
• 5:22
  and expect to succeed that's gonna be a a quick
• 5:25
  you know track to to failure
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  and so
• 5:28
  you're always playing this kind of seesaw thing with
• 5:30
  like you know
• 5:31
  I'm I'm putting
• 5:32
  all this energy and effort into getting my agents
• 5:34
  producing getting me in the door
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  you know I'm training retaining
• 5:37
  you know bringing in new systems and training
• 5:39
  and all that type of stuff
• 5:40
  I'm getting the producing
• 5:41
  and then now we got some more volume
• 5:43
  and now so I'll bring in some more leverage
• 5:45
  which creates you know
• 5:46
  more overhead basically more liability
• 5:49
  and then you start playing this kind of like
• 5:50
  this game of back and forth
• 5:52
  you know I maybe I'll lose some agents
• 5:53
  maybe I'll gain some agents
• 5:55
  you know I've
• 5:56
  I've got to bring in new up to date training
• 5:58
  so now I've got to go out and find this training
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  cause as a broker owner you
• 6:02
  you don't want to just turn your agents
• 6:03
  onto somebody else yeah
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  like hey
• 6:05
  here's Jeremy's training go check out his stuff
• 6:07
  he's awesome well
• 6:08
  Jeremy's gonna take my agents now
• 6:10
  yeah right
• 6:10
  and so I always had to be the guy that was out there
• 6:14
  you know learning and growing
• 6:15
  and providing them with the most up to date training
• 6:18
  that I could possibly provide
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  and that's so I was always hiring trainers and mentors
• 6:22
  and
• 6:23
  building systems around the things that I could learn
• 6:26
  well that's not exactly a scalable model
• 6:29
  you know right
• 6:30
  yep and so as we kind of see
• 6:33
  there's a couple ceilings
• 6:34
  and you didn't mention how many homes you sold
• 6:35
  in that one year one magical year
• 6:37
  but we're we're not dealing with somebody that uh
• 6:41
  haha is
• 6:42
  is new to the business so what was that
• 6:44
  what was your high point in transactions that one year
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  personally yeah
• 6:48
  yeah personally when I was in production
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  so when I started my brokerage
• 6:51
  I got out of production yeah
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  um you know
• 6:53
  basically into the asset management company
• 6:56
  once we started working with hedge funds
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  I got out of production um
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  and just became you know
• 7:01
  basically managing the entire process
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  but we were flipping 500 and some yeah
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  we were flipping properties down at the auction
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  and this was in like 2012 in a declining market
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  here in Vegas cause
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  you know the
• 7:15
  the real estate industry fell off the shelf there
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  you know 2008 crash and then 2,010
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  12 was like the bottom of the barrel
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  we were selling the houses at 50 bucks a foot
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  at that time which is crazy
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  we're at like 3 to 500 foot right now in Vegas
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  yeah
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  so it was it was
• 7:30
  you know out of necessity
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  we were flipping properties down there
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  and at the auction well
• 7:35
  the hedge funds now came into town
• 7:37
  and they just wiped out all of our margins
• 7:39
  like there was no buying at auction anymore
• 7:41
  because they could buy at retail and above
• 7:43
  because they're buying for yield and not for a
• 7:45
  for a spread yeah
• 7:46
  right long term hold
• 7:47
  as long as they got a 6 net on their portfolio
• 7:50
  they're good yeah
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  so we got an opportunity
• 7:52
  because we made a name for ourselves
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  and we were you know
• 7:55
  a responsible operator of
• 7:57
  of you know
• 7:58
  investors funds and
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  and you know and
• 8:01
  and really building bridges in
• 8:02
  in the business
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  because I've always been coming from a place of
• 8:06
  of building relationships
• 8:08
  and treating everybody as if I work for them
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  and not the other way around
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  and it creates additional opportunities for you
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  and this is where
• 8:14
  it created the opportunity for me to be able to um
• 8:17
  you know I got approached by two
• 8:19
  two of the largest hedge funds in the country
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  at the time
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  and one of them wanted me to be a corporate head
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  and squash my asset management company
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  and sign a contract that was like
• 8:27
  this thick and I'm like
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  I'm unemployable I can't do that yep
• 8:31
  you know it was a great opportunity
• 8:32
  but I just you know
• 8:33
  and then the other hedge fund
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  which was the one I went went to work for was colony
• 8:37
  and they allowed us to be a vendor of theirs
• 8:39
  they said hey
• 8:40
  just here's a here's a blank check
• 8:41
  go buy us everything that fits within this box
• 8:44
  so in you know
• 8:45
  2013 late 2012 into 2013
• 8:48
  I was able to close 587 homes in 2013 with one client
• 8:53
  so you know
• 8:54
  right niche and down
• 8:55
  there's something to that
• 8:56
  you know there's something that are listening
• 8:58
  you know I've
• 8:59
  I've always been like follow the money
• 9:01
  where is the money and
• 9:02
  and then get yourself in front of that and put in
• 9:04
  create opportunities for that yeah
• 9:05
  that's what that's where that LED yeah
• 9:07
  finding the winners in the market for sure
• 9:09
  right and then it's just opportunity based right
• 9:12
  you had an opportunity
• 9:13
  because of the market in your local area
• 9:16
  was perfect for that right
• 9:19
  like if you could imagine what all those houses
• 9:21
  sold for then and what they're worth now
• 9:23
  like that's why we have hedge funds
• 9:25
  so that's why they're smarter than we are right
• 9:28
  so so then we're
• 9:29
  we're moving on to the brokerage
• 9:31
  and kind of hitting that ceiling right
• 9:32
  the asset management had kind of hit the ceiling
• 9:34
  the market had changed a little bit
• 9:35
  then you're like okay
• 9:36
  I love helping people and then we're okay 35
• 9:39
  but then we're up against the ceiling of
• 9:41
  you know of training and providing that value
• 9:44
  um and so what was
• 9:45
  what was that turning point where you're like okay
• 9:48
  well there has to be something else
• 9:50
  like what that was it just that
• 9:52
  that you were sick of you know
• 9:53
  trying to pull in
• 9:55
  everything
• 9:56
  and having to be the person that's creating the value
• 9:58
  or what what did that look like when you yeah
• 10:00
  I just felt like the
• 10:01
  the water level just kept rising and
• 10:03
  you know and I'm now here with this little straw
• 10:06
  trying to keep my my
• 10:07
  my head above water and it
• 10:09
  it just wasn't what I was
• 10:10
  what I got into it for you know
• 10:12
  it was like this isn't
• 10:13
  this isn't what I got into this for
• 10:15
  and I started projecting you know
• 10:18
  into the future it's like well
• 10:19
  if I stay on this same trajectory
• 10:21
  for five years from now what does that look like
• 10:23
  you know I'm like
• 10:24
  how do I how do I get out of this
• 10:25
  but at the same time it was
• 10:27
  it was everything that I had at the time
• 10:29
  so I I was kind of stuck
• 10:31
  I'm like I created this to leave a legacy
• 10:33
  and have something where I
• 10:34
  could eventually after 25 years of the industry
• 10:37
  start to let off the gas pedal a little bit
• 10:39
  and maybe even start to exit out of the business
• 10:41
  but still have something to you know
• 10:44
  provide for my family and in
• 10:45
  in in like that legacy that we talked about right
• 10:48
  and I was quickly starting to realize that
• 10:50
  there is no exit from
• 10:52
  you know from an independent broker joiner
• 10:55
  cause you are the business
• 10:56
  even if I were to get enough market share
• 10:58
  where I get an interest in a larger brokerage
• 11:00
  you got an interest in me
• 11:01
  or an investor that wants to come in
• 11:03
  you still are the business
• 11:04
  those agents are there because of you
• 11:06
  not because of the sign on the door
• 11:07
  so they would make you stay behind and and and you know
• 11:11
  they would pay me a certain amount to keep you know
• 11:13
  retention for years and I'm like
• 11:14
  if I'm not gonna stay here and build it
• 11:16
  I might as well not even sell it right
• 11:17
  so it's like the what to do now
• 11:19
  you know that's that's where I was
• 11:21
  and that's kind of where I started to
• 11:22
  to realize that there's gotta be something better
• 11:25
  yep for sure
• 11:26
  and so the decision to EXP was there other options
• 11:31
  what what was that
• 11:32
  because obviously now in our position
• 11:35
  we are able to cross collaborate
• 11:37
  and co sponsor and all of those things
• 11:40
  so if you're watching this
• 11:41
  you like what you hear
• 11:42
  you're in a similar position to Brian right here
• 11:44
  right now because this is where the transition happened
• 11:47
  please book a call below and mention Brian
• 11:49
  Nisley's name and we'll definitely hook up
• 11:50
  because you can co sponsor with both of us and have
• 11:53
  have both of our our stuff
• 11:55
  so talk to me a little bit about the decision
• 11:57
  why EXP why
• 11:59
  why the the group that you chose and
• 12:01
  and we'll go from there well
• 12:03
  first off you know
• 12:04
  I didn't have a strategy I was just
• 12:06
  you know churning and churning and churning
• 12:08
  one of those YouTube viewers
• 12:09
  aren't you haha
• 12:10
  click the button and there you are
• 12:12
  I was like okay
• 12:13
  something's gotta give here at some point
• 12:15
  you know and in between you and I and all your viewers
• 12:18
  it's like I was almost at a point where like
• 12:20
  I might have to shut this thing down
• 12:23
  like if I can't figure something out
• 12:24
  cause this I'm burning myself out at a at a high rate
• 12:27
  you know
• 12:27
  so I was burning the candle at both ends and just
• 12:30
  you know every single day in it trying to figure out a
• 12:32
  a way to to fix it and it just so happened that
• 12:36
  you know I just talked about earlier
• 12:37
  like I was the one that was always training my agents
• 12:40
  because as like that independent broker joiner
• 12:42
  you're competing for a small market
• 12:45
  like in your micro market of agents
• 12:47
  that's
• 12:47
  the only pool of agents that you have to compete with
• 12:50
  to bring on to provide you with your source of revenue
• 12:54
  right so I always had to I was always like
• 12:57
  how can I be better like be better right
• 13:00
  how can I be better to
• 13:02
  to attract more agents to my brokerage
• 13:04
  so that I can keep growing
• 13:06
  yep and so that's when I found Michelle Art
• 13:09
  because I was like social media
• 13:11
  and this was you know
• 13:12
  three three plus four years ago
• 13:14
  something like four or five years ago
• 13:15
  social media was like you know
• 13:17
  just up and coming and everybody's on YouTube
• 13:19
  everybody's starting to get on YouTube
• 13:20
  and I was like I gotta get in front of this
• 13:22
  so I looked for the best person in that space
• 13:25
  to hire as a coach and mentor and
• 13:27
  and and find systems
• 13:28
  so that I can learn it and train my agents
• 13:30
  well that's when I found Mike Sherard and uh
• 13:34
  you know and
• 13:35
  and I hated EXP at the time
• 13:37
  I hated it I'm like
• 13:38
  I had agents coming into my office
• 13:40
  trying to recruit me to EXP
• 13:41
  and I'm like get just go like I
• 13:44
  I already have revenue share
• 13:46
  because I own the brokerage right yeah
• 13:48
  but what I didn't realize was that anybody
• 13:50
  that came into my office at that time
• 13:51
  they didn't understand the business model
• 13:53
  well enough to explain it to me
• 13:54
  as a as a as a business person
• 13:57
  you know
• 13:57
  on a level that I understood and that made sense to me
• 14:00
  cause it was a benefit to me
• 14:01
  so that's really where kind of the
• 14:04
  the light bulb or aha moment came in was like
• 14:06
  now when I met Mike you know
• 14:08
  he introduced me to Garth and Garth had just brought
• 14:11
  just closed down his five agent offices up in Seattle
• 14:14
  and and joined EXP and brought everybody over with him
• 14:17
  and I saw one of these podcast interviews
• 14:19
  that Mike did with Garth and it's like the same thing
• 14:22
  it was like man
• 14:23
  this is my story I'm like
• 14:25
  I have to I have to talk to Garth
• 14:27
  like I have to figure out why he made this transition
• 14:30
  like he's he's
• 14:31
  he's at five offices he's got hundreds of agents
• 14:33
  like he's where I wanna be and he made the
• 14:36
  the transition so I have to talk to him
• 14:38
  so long story short is that we got together and
• 14:40
  and they sat down and said hey
• 14:42
  let's take a look at this
• 14:44
  you're like you're a smart businessman
• 14:45
  let's take a look at this for the numbers aspect of it
• 14:47
  forget about the feature benefit
• 14:49
  and all that other stuff that everybody
• 14:50
  else is trying to sell you
• 14:51
  that you're kicking out of your office right
• 14:52
  um and
• 14:53
  and once we sat down and ran the numbers
• 14:55
  and what it looks like right now
• 14:57
  and what it could look like
• 14:58
  and then what it could look like five years from now
• 14:59
  it's like I couldn't unsee that now yeah
• 15:02
  so now I'm doing in my office for for 6 months going
• 15:06
  how in the world
• 15:07
  am I actually gonna close down my brokerage
• 15:09
  and move my entire agent pool over to EXP
• 15:13
  mm hmm but I knew it had to be done yep
• 15:16
  and upon that like the overhead eventually reduced
• 15:20
  right the the other thing
• 15:22
  so a better life reality to a better life team
• 15:27
  talk a little bit about that
• 15:28
  because essentially
• 15:29
  you didn't lose any of your identity
• 15:32
  no no
• 15:33
  that that was you know like I said
• 15:35
  I I molded over for 6 months and like
• 15:37
  how can I possibly do this
• 15:38
  because you know
• 15:39
  as a as a as a small independent brokerage
• 15:42
  like your your agents are your family yeah
• 15:44
  these people are my family
• 15:45
  they count on me they depend on me
• 15:48
  to provide for their families and their livelihood
• 15:50
  and so when I was making this decision
• 15:52
  I had to know that this decision wasn't just for me
• 15:55
  it was for my entire agent pool like this is my team
• 15:59
  this is my family
• 15:59
  so I need to know that if I make this move
• 16:02
  that there's gonna be a huge benefit for my agents
• 16:06
  and I'm able to articulate that to them
• 16:08
  in a way that's gonna get them on board
• 16:10
  and get them excited about this move right
• 16:12
  because it's a big deal right
• 16:14
  you're so you were there yeah yeah
• 16:16
  oh I was already there
• 16:17
  I'm like now how do I
• 16:18
  how do I now get them excited about this
• 16:20
  and get them to see the vision that I now see
• 16:23
  that I couldn't see before
• 16:24
  yep and I was able to do that because of the
• 16:28
  the leverage and value stack now that they have
• 16:31
  that I could never provide them
• 16:32
  as an independent brokerage owner
• 16:34
  like it was just it was an easy transition
• 16:36
  and because
• 16:37
  of the relationship that I have with my agents
• 16:39
  I believe I had one of the highest conversion rates
• 16:41
  of any brokerage going over to EXP hmm
• 16:43
  um it was
• 16:45
  it was just an easy transition
• 16:46
  because once I showed them
• 16:48
  you know what the benefit was to them
• 16:50
  they're like we trust you
• 16:52
  we see the vision we're all in
• 16:53
  let's go right
• 16:54
  I I believe it was a 90
• 16:56
  95% conversion rate from all my agents coming over
• 16:59
  right huge
• 17:00
  that was everything to me
• 17:02
  mm hmm and that's once that does it
• 17:04
  you're like why did it take me six months
• 17:06
  hahaha
• 17:07
  I was like why did it take me five years
• 17:09
  yeah right
• 17:10
  and so I mean
• 17:12
  as you've kind of grown into that
• 17:14
  you had the team concept and
• 17:16
  you know that kind of
• 17:17
  you know faded away a little bit
• 17:19
  so talk about that transition
• 17:21
  keeping your brand as you know
• 17:22
  a better life and
• 17:24
  and kind of where that where that took you
• 17:28
  yeah that was
• 17:28
  that was really important to me
• 17:29
  because anybody that runs a brokerage knows that
• 17:32
  that's like your
• 17:33
  your brand
• 17:34
  and your vision and everything is everything to you
• 17:36
  because that's like
• 17:37
  I built this thing from the ground up and um
• 17:40
  it was important for me to be able to keep that
• 17:42
  and keep the branding
• 17:42
  and keep a lot of things the same with my agents
• 17:45
  as well because that was
• 17:46
  you know one of the things that I promised them like
• 17:48
  there's not a lot's gonna change
• 17:50
  as far as the face of this thing yeah
• 17:52
  we're gonna add a little logo in the bottom corner
• 17:54
  that says brokered by EXP
• 17:56
  but everything else is gonna stay the same
• 17:57
  as far as branding and the team structure
• 17:59
  and all that type of stuff
• 18:00
  so that's one of the
• 18:02
  one of the things that was really important to me
• 18:03
  to know that I was able to keep that branding
• 18:06
  to keep that um
• 18:07
  you know intact as we made that transition
• 18:10
  it was easy XP made it easy for us
• 18:12
  yep and then talk a little bit about how you know
• 18:14
  eventually your agents and and everybody
• 18:17
  you kind of dissolved that production team within that
• 18:21
  and kind of went to the revenue share model
• 18:23
  was that kind of freeing for them
• 18:25
  what was the that conversation like when you felt like
• 18:29
  okay the I'm still running the same thing
• 18:32
  I'm still trying to train
• 18:33
  we're having a lack of plugging into
• 18:36
  other things that we have available
• 18:38
  talk a little bit about that
• 18:39
  decision to go full revenue share versus production
• 18:41
  team
• 18:42
  yeah it it was going back to what I was you know
• 18:46
  being true to who I was and
• 18:48
  and what my mission was for creating the brokerage
• 18:50
  in the first place like
• 18:52
  I wanted to be able to pour all my time into agents
• 18:55
  and helping them build successful businesses
• 18:57
  and changing their lives yeah
• 18:59
  and running my team now that I have you know
• 19:02
  bringing my team over to to my brokerage over to EXP
• 19:07
  it provided so much leverage for me now
• 19:10
  that now I could plug in all of my agents to like hey
• 19:13
  now I've got Jeremy
• 19:14
  I could plug my agents into Jeremy stuff
• 19:16
  I've got you know
• 19:17
  like the entire value stack of top of me you know
• 19:20
  and and
• 19:22
  they no longer
• 19:24
  had to depend on me to provide for them to
• 19:27
  for the training and the support
• 19:28
  and the systems and everything
• 19:29
  that they needed to go out there and produce
• 19:31
  I now have so much leverage
• 19:32
  because of the community that I introduced them to
• 19:35
  which as we know is the Wolf Pack
• 19:37
  and the value stack of everybody in there
• 19:39
  it's like now I am able to take a step back
• 19:41
  because now
• 19:42
  all I have to do is plug them into all of the systems
• 19:44
  and training and support
• 19:46
  and now just be there to support them
• 19:48
  and then bring in attract more agents into the system
• 19:51
  so that I can continue to build and grow
• 19:52
  as I wanted to do right
• 19:54
  so first off you got out of Vegas right
• 19:57
  like the the geographical boundary was lifted
• 20:00
  the day that you decided to partner with a national
• 20:02
  independent brokerage yeah
• 20:04
  and then you were able to probably to remove the splits
• 20:09
  right the additional splits that come with a team and
• 20:11
  and those kind of things and so as you see
• 20:14
  you're just building those
• 20:15
  those people up
• 20:16
  and plugging them into the right assets
• 20:19
  because a lot of people don't need the same thing right
• 20:23
  you've probably had people that
• 20:24
  have gone crazy with Social Agent Academy
• 20:27
  and gone through YouTube and
• 20:28
  you've probably had people that haven't even logged
• 20:30
  into it that
• 20:31
  you know made that transition two or three years ago
• 20:34
  so as we kind of move forward
• 20:36
  and you're kind of at it's
• 20:37
  I mean it's just a story of ceilings
• 20:39
  and you absolutely busting through right
• 20:41
  and choosing one to pivot just just a little bit right
• 20:44
  you're the same same asset manager owner
• 20:47
  but you're you're revealing these market things
• 20:50
  and what's going on in your life
• 20:52
  and your you know
• 20:53
  people surrounding you's life
• 20:55
  so talk a little bit about your strategy
• 20:57
  just to be able to continually pivot
• 20:59
  and make the right decisions as you move
• 21:02
  move forward because I mean
• 21:03
  sure there's been some wrong steps
• 21:06
  but to me just sitting here talking to you
• 21:08
  it's very much so that you're paying attention to
• 21:13
  the other people around you
• 21:14
  your business and the market
• 21:15
  so talk to me a little bit about your
• 21:17
  your vision and your pivoting kind of strategy
• 21:21
  yeah it's
• 21:22
  it's about quality of life for me now at this point
• 21:25
  you know 54 years old
• 21:26
  25 years in the industry
• 21:28
  I'm looking for that leverage and I'm looking to
• 21:31
  at some point
• 21:31
  be able to take my foot off the accelerator
• 21:34
  and still be able to continue to create momentum
• 21:37
  yeah
• 21:37
  so that's that's really my entire motivation for this
• 21:40
  but still be able to support everybody that's around me
• 21:43
  and I don't think that
• 21:44
  there's a better environment that I'm in right now
• 21:47
  that I can do that so now everything that I now try to
• 21:50
  to to focus on is all about growth and production
• 21:54
  and helping people get there
• 21:56
  yeah and they all now
• 21:57
  everybody that I can bring into this space now
• 21:59
  all has the exact same opportunity that I now have
• 22:02
  which is basically
• 22:03
  like the broker owner position that I was in
• 22:05
  before that
• 22:06
  I couldn't give anybody that opportunity to be there
• 22:09
  because there was only one person
• 22:11
  that could have that opportunity
• 22:13
  in a small independent brokerage
• 22:14
  yeah
• 22:15
  now the ecosystem and now that it's like now we all the
• 22:19
  the loving playing field has been leveled
• 22:22
  we now all have the exact same opportunity to
• 22:24
  to get absolute massive leverage
• 22:28
  access to systems and training
• 22:30
  and support that I could never provide them before
• 22:33
  and the ability to
• 22:34
  to grow their revenue share organization
• 22:36
  which allows
• 22:36
  them to have some sort of an exit out of this business
• 22:38
  at some point in the future
• 22:40
  like and I would say
• 22:41
  trust me after 25 years of not focusing on this
• 22:45
  please take my word for it
• 22:46
  you'll be sorry you didn't focus on it
• 22:48
  if you don't start now
• 22:50
  and so production always comes first
• 22:52
  like we need production is where everything starts
• 22:55
  and everybody needs to produce first
• 22:56
  so we put all of the leverage
• 22:58
  assistance and support in place to help them produce
• 23:01
  but at the same time it's like
• 23:02
  let me also show you how
• 23:04
  now you can create additional streams of revenue
• 23:06
  and eventually have an exercise business
• 23:09
  which is gonna create more leverage in your business
• 23:11
  because you're gonna see the duplication
• 23:12
  side of things start to kick in
• 23:13
  as well right
• 23:15
  yeah
• 23:15
  and that and that's where the time freedom comes right
• 23:18
  like you spent your whole
• 23:19
  whole career building financial freedom
• 23:21
  so to speak right 500+ homes in a year
• 23:24
  almost 600 starting a brokerage having your asset made
• 23:28
  like I'm sure the financial pieces were
• 23:31
  were in pretty good shape for most of of that growth
• 23:35
  but then all of a sudden you're like
• 23:36
  I'm 54 or I'm 50 or whatever you were when you started
• 23:40
  you know looking at this opportunity
• 23:42
  and financial freedom doesn't do you much good when
• 23:45
  when you're tied to a brick and mortar
• 23:46
  or you're tied to to an office
• 23:48
  or your cell phone and those kind of things
• 23:50
  so talk a little bit about the time freedom and where
• 23:53
  where that's going like when you're gonna get there
• 23:56
  yeah well
• 23:57
  I mean you can see
• 23:58
  I've had a pretty successful career in real estate
• 24:01
  lots of trophies up here and these
• 24:04
  you know these trophies of like No. 2 in the world
• 24:07
  No. 2 in the country
• 24:08
  No. 6 in the world with Remax in the
• 24:10
  you know
• 24:10
  hall of Fame war those are those are great you know
• 24:13
  vanity metrics
• 24:14
  but they didn't like that was 10 years ago
• 24:18
  those don't mean anything to me now you know
• 24:20
  and in my whole career has always been burn and turn
• 24:23
  yep the flipping business the production business
• 24:25
  everything that you do is you
• 24:27
  every time you close a transaction
• 24:28
  you start over yep
• 24:30
  and now it's like I understand the power of leverage
• 24:34
  and the power of duplication
• 24:35
  and everything that I put now
• 24:37
  moving forward is going to be towards that
• 24:39
  and then helping other people create that
• 24:42
  but it it's just
• 24:43
  it's just kind of that shift in mindset
• 24:45
  and knowing that there is a better model
• 24:47
  and now I'm a part of that right
• 24:50
  so from you know the
• 24:53
  the final year at your brokerage to um
• 24:57
  your day to day today
• 24:59
  what is the time you're putting in to
• 25:01
  what was the time you're putting in to other agents
• 25:03
  and other agents production first
• 25:06
  what it is today and what's the value of
• 25:09
  of each of those
• 25:11
  oh I mean
• 25:12
  it's night and day you know
• 25:13
  when I when I was in running my brokerage
• 25:16
  I would come in and it's you know
• 25:18
  two thirds of my day was putting out fires
• 25:20
  and just reacting right
• 25:23
  and and it wasn't it wasn't helping anybody
• 25:26
  you know
• 25:26
  it wasn't helping me it wasn't helping my agents so
• 25:28
  you know I was distracted and
• 25:30
  and busy work doing the things that
• 25:32
  you know that
• 25:34
  didn't allow us to create those opportunities
• 25:36
  for anybody and so now it's like
• 25:38
  you know making that shift and transition
• 25:41
  it's like I have so much leverage now
• 25:42
  that I can now focus all my efforts onto
• 25:45
  the things that are gonna
• 25:46
  move the needle for all of us
• 25:47
  and creating additional opportunities for all of us
• 25:49
  yeah I think the
• 25:50
  I would agree that the reactivity is a lot less
• 25:55
  you may be
• 25:55
  you're probably managing more agents than you had
• 25:58
  when at the top of your brokerage
• 26:00
  but you're not wearing all the hats right no
• 26:03
  no but now it's now it's good conversations
• 26:06
  like these are the conversations I wanna have
• 26:08
  it's like hey
• 26:09
  what are we doing your business
• 26:10
  how can I help you grow
• 26:11
  and and having those good conversations
• 26:14
  that's
• 26:14
  that's promoting growth and production and all of that
• 26:16
  whereas before it was like just problems
• 26:18
  just solving problems yeah
• 26:20
  and checklist right
• 26:21
  just running down the checklist
• 26:23
  that's growing faster than you're checking it off
• 26:26
  it was just it was a you know
• 26:28
  the hamster wheel that you don't want to be on
• 26:30
  and that was one of the reasons why
• 26:31
  I had enough to hear with the brokers
• 26:33
  I'm like I've got to get out of this yes
• 26:36
  not what I'm you know so night and day difference
• 26:38
  like I mean
• 26:39
  you can probably see it in my face
• 26:40
  I feel like the you know
• 26:41
  800 pound gorilla has been lifted off of my back
• 26:44
  and now
• 26:44
  I can focus on the things that I actually like doing
• 26:46
  you know that it keeps me excited about the business
• 26:49
  cause after 25 years in the business
• 26:51
  you have to find things that keep you excited
• 26:53
  yeah and it's not the market turns right
• 26:56
  it's not the market crafting or exploding anymore right
• 26:59
  we all we all go through it
• 27:00
  I've been through you know
• 27:01
  more market cycles than I than I care to to to mention
• 27:05
  and none of that stuff matters
• 27:07
  it's like it's always gonna be there
• 27:08
  it's like you know
• 27:10
  what what fires you up about this business
• 27:11
  and just start to focus your efforts on that
• 27:13
  especially with somebody like me
• 27:14
  that's been in it for long enough
• 27:16
  I'm like it's all about lifestyle now and and
• 27:19
  and like you said creating that time freedom
• 27:21
  because eventually
• 27:22
  I do want to take my foot off the accelerator
• 27:24
  yep I
• 27:24
  I do wanna be able to have something that's gonna
• 27:27
  to allow me to exit from this business and
• 27:29
  and leave a legacy that I'm proud of
• 27:31
  and I feel like I'm there now
• 27:33
  yep it's just a matter of time now for when
• 27:36
  when I get there right
• 27:38
  and so a lot of this has been
• 27:40
  you know based on personal
• 27:42
  you know
• 27:44
  reaction and all of that right
• 27:46
  you're just continuing to grow and continuing to grow
• 27:48
  and pivoting here and pivoting there
• 27:49
  and you made a lot of right moves
• 27:51
  but now that you're on this side of the fence
• 27:53
  at the place that you said you hated before
• 27:57
  um with our industry and everything that's going on
• 28:00
  that's changing right
• 28:01
  we've had two
• 28:02
  pretty headline lawsuits over the last two years that
• 28:06
  you know may or may not have tremendous impact
• 28:10
  from this side of the fence
• 28:12
  why does it make sense
• 28:14
  based on where you see the industry going
• 28:16
  to look at opportunities such as this
• 28:20
  I I can't imagine still being in that broker
• 28:23
  Jonas seat right now you know
• 28:25
  I really can't it's
• 28:26
  it's kind of a scary position to be in
• 28:29
  um there's
• 28:32
  the the industry is shifting
• 28:34
  it's clear that it's completely shifting
• 28:37
  and if I was a broker joiner right now
• 28:40
  I would definitely want to be taking a look at
• 28:42
  my business model and
• 28:44
  and and
• 28:45
  and having an honest conversation
• 28:46
  like sometimes you're you're so blinded by
• 28:49
  you know your baby put so much time into it right like
• 28:52
  and it's like
• 28:53
  you can't hear what you need to hear sometimes
• 28:55
  so I I would definitely say
• 28:57
  you know make sure you're looking at your business and
• 29:00
  and if nothing changes
• 29:02
  what does that look like five years from now
• 29:03
  and have that honest conversation
• 29:04
  if that's the path that you want to be on
• 29:06
  and that sounds good to you
• 29:07
  then great keep going
• 29:08
  but if you're honest with yourself
• 29:10
  you're gonna
• 29:10
  you're gonna realize that the industry is changing
• 29:13
  and there's you have to
• 29:16
  continue to shift and pivot with the industry
• 29:18
  and creating like
• 29:21
  have that honest conversation about what
• 29:24
  if things change five years from now
• 29:27
  what does my business look like
• 29:29
  and if I don't have that kind of leverage and
• 29:31
  and if that's not then
• 29:33
  then make a shift now like have
• 29:36
  have a have a
• 29:37
  a conversation about what that could look like
• 29:39
  and just be open to it and put your ego aside
• 29:42
  yeah and
• 29:42
  and you can you know
• 29:43
  that's that's where I made the shift was it was
• 29:45
  I had to put my ego aside and
• 29:47
  and and really sit down
• 29:48
  and have an honest conversation about the business
• 29:50
  cause I was
• 29:51
  I was in denial for a very long time for sure
• 29:53
  and lawsuits aside
• 29:55
  which I'm sure we'll continue to see lawsuits
• 29:57
  you know move forward with this industry
• 29:59
  now that these class action lawsuits have
• 30:01
  you know gained some steam
• 30:03
  but the technology and the cost of technology alone
• 30:08
  right if yeah
• 30:09
  if we're not utilizing technology
• 30:11
  and on the forefront of technology
• 30:14
  as a brokerage as independent agents who
• 30:18
  you know broker owners are required to train
• 30:20
  or should be training
• 30:22
  like if we're not on the front edge of it
• 30:24
  I have no doubt that there will be opportunities
• 30:27
  for technology to replace us right
• 30:30
  and I think you know
• 30:31
  like our good friend Adam talks about the
• 30:33
  the person who is utilizing technology and
• 30:38
  you know utilizing it for good
• 30:41
  will still maintain the human connection
• 30:42
  which will be needed for at least
• 30:44
  the next 20 or 30 years depending on where we go
• 30:48
  and so
• 30:49
  do you have the ability to keep up with the technology
• 30:52
  right as a broker owner
• 30:53
  and do do you want to right
• 30:56
  because as broker owners get older
• 30:58
  you know it's just like when the computers came in
• 31:00
  right I remember my dad vividly being like
• 31:02
  oh you don't need that computer
• 31:03
  like we got the typewriter over here right
• 31:05
  and I'm playing
• 31:06
  we got our listing book over here in the car for sure
• 31:08
  the MLS book and I think that technology is just a huge
• 31:12
  huge piece of it
• 31:13
  and we all know that nothing's getting cheaper
• 31:16
  but technology is certainly not um
• 31:18
  so you know I think that's a great point you make like
• 31:22
  where are we gonna be in five years
• 31:23
  and do I have the capital
• 31:27
  cause we live with revenue to continue to do this where
• 31:31
  you know within the wolf pack and and so on and EXP
• 31:34
  we're very tech forward
• 31:36
  so the brokerage is handling some of it you know
• 31:39
  the Wolf Pack's handling some of it
• 31:40
  and then individually
• 31:42
  we're able to kind of make our own trail um
• 31:45
  so as a broker owner I don't
• 31:47
  I don't see that as you're pretty much the
• 31:50
  the brokerage the
• 31:52
  the team and I'm just exhausted
• 31:56
  just even thinking
• 31:57
  about having to make those transitions
• 31:58
  without having the leverage that I have now right
• 32:01
  like cause I got out just before
• 32:03
  we had this whole commission
• 32:04
  lawsuit changes and things that were going on
• 32:06
  and I couldn't imagine having to navigate that myself
• 32:10
  and and having to figure out all of that out
• 32:12
  as an independent brokerage owner um
• 32:15
  because I made the transition to EXP
• 32:17
  just before that happened
• 32:18
  and now we've got an entire
• 32:19
  you know
• 32:20
  staff of 2,000 people that are handling it for us right
• 32:23
  and I can still continue to focus on
• 32:25
  on what I need to focus on because of that leverage
• 32:28
  but the technology like said
• 32:30
  when AI was introduced like it
• 32:32
  it's hard for us to keep up with
• 32:34
  you know and
• 32:34
  and I'm I'm now in immersed in AI because of Adam
• 32:38
  because of Mike
• 32:39
  because of the leverage that I have now
• 32:40
  and the access to the training
• 32:42
  and support systems that I have now
• 32:44
  I'm able to now go and teach agents
• 32:47
  you know I
• 32:47
  I do a a
• 32:48
  a an event once a month here in Vegas
• 32:51
  uh and giving back to the agent community here in Vegas
• 32:53
  on teaching them how to effectively use AI
• 32:56
  in social media to become more effective and
• 32:59
  and more profitable in their business
• 33:01
  there's no possible way I could have done that
• 33:03
  as in my previous role of what I was doing
• 33:06
  I just didn't have the resources or the time
• 33:08
  or the leverage to do that time
• 33:09
  time to even learn it let alone learn yeah
• 33:12
  keep even though I'm in it
• 33:13
  I'm in it every day and learning new stuff every day
• 33:15
  and I'm teaching stuff
• 33:16
  that's just blowing agents out of
• 33:17
  they're like I can't believe we can do this
• 33:19
  I'm like I can't believe you don't know this already
• 33:21
  like this is just basic level stuff
• 33:23
  like how do you not know this
• 33:24
  but you know you gotta understand that
• 33:26
  you know the leverage part of it
• 33:27
  like I now created enough time for me
• 33:30
  to be able to go out and
• 33:31
  and and learn the stuff and now be able to again
• 33:34
  bring it back to my agents
• 33:35
  which is what I got
• 33:36
  the business for in the first place right
• 33:38
  and so I'll leave you this
• 33:39
  one question about your brokerage life
• 33:41
  if you if somebody
• 33:43
  would have latched onto that class action lawsuit
• 33:46
  on the buyer agent commission
• 33:48
  would you have been able to afford an attorney
• 33:51
  to even respond as a broker owner to that
• 33:55
  that response to that hundred percent no
• 33:57
  like the the margins are so thin as a brokerage owner
• 34:00
  you know I
• 34:01
  I had the privilege of owning an asset
• 34:03
  management company while I was running my brokerage
• 34:05
  that provided me with the income that I needed
• 34:08
  the revenue that we needed to support the brokerage
• 34:11
  mm hmm but without that
• 34:12
  like I wouldn't have been able to pay myself I mean
• 34:15
  I would have had to stay in production
• 34:17
  in order to run a 35 agent brokerage
• 34:20
  that's how thin the margins are and that's how
• 34:22
  you know
• 34:23
  how how really terrible to business pilot right
• 34:27
  and as we move forward
• 34:29
  that's there and that's that's my biggest fear right
• 34:30
  because once they slap a class action
• 34:32
  label on these lawsuits anyone can raise their hand
• 34:36
  yeah and if you have 35 agents
• 34:38
  your name's on a few transactions
• 34:39
  I'm sure in Vegas over the years
• 34:41
  so that's that's definitely something that uh
• 34:44
  that I've thought about
• 34:45
  and I don't know if everybody else is thinking about
• 34:48
  it's it's not about what happens or whatever like
• 34:51
  can you even respond to that
• 34:53
  can you even you know
• 34:54
  get in that mix because we all know it's you know
• 34:57
  certainly a money play and those kind of things too
• 34:59
  I went I went from having all of that liability
• 35:02
  all of my overhead all of the stress
• 35:05
  all of the pressure of being the one and only
• 35:09
  to continue to push this brokerage forward and
• 35:12
  and support my family cause that's what my agents were
• 35:15
  to now running a global empire for $85 a month
• 35:19
  with zero liability and very
• 35:21
  very little uh overhead like almost zero overhead yeah
• 35:25
  and now being able to grow and
• 35:27
  support even more than I was able to do before
• 35:29
  so it's like where is the downside to that right
• 35:32
  and that's what I would like for other people to see
• 35:34
  is like you know
• 35:35
  just like I said take your
• 35:36
  put your ego aside
• 35:37
  and just look at the numbers aspect of it
• 35:39
  and the leverage side of it
• 35:41
  if it makes sense great if not
• 35:43
  if you're on the right trajectory
• 35:44
  then keep going but man
• 35:45
  I can almost guarantee you once you see it
• 35:47
  you're like hmm
• 35:48
  that makes sense to me yeah
• 35:50
  yep and if that's the case
• 35:52
  if that's the case we'll link all of Brian's stuff
• 35:54
  you can reach out to him for a private conversation
• 35:57
  mention me mention this interview
• 35:58
  but Brian where can
• 35:59
  where's the best place for people to connect to you
• 36:02
  just on social media you know
• 36:04
  I got a YouTube channel and
• 36:05
  and I'm on Instagram Brian underscore nicely um
• 36:09
  just you can find me anywhere
• 36:11
  yeah check that check that spelling Brian nicely
• 36:15
  but you'll find them Vegas Realtor
• 36:17
  so hey Brian
• 36:18
  thanks so much for your time today man
• 36:20
  appreciate you and again
• 36:21
  if you're interested in just looking behind the curtain
• 36:24
  seeing what's you know
• 36:26
  possible within you know
• 36:28
  this as Brian and I can co sponsor together
• 36:31
  and really help you with these decisions
• 36:34
  and we know it's not for everybody
• 36:36
  but it's for most people
• 36:37
  so thanks so much for tuning in
• 36:39
  like comment subscribe
• 36:40
  reach out to Brian and I can't wait to connect