From House Flipper to Full Time Real Estate Agent; Why Joe Delia Made the Change

Have you ever started out doing
something you thought you could make a lot of money at, only to find out that the grass actually was greener on the other side?

Hence Joe’s move from house flipper to full time real estate agent. Prior to getting into real estate sales full time, he was an investor, flipping houses while running his real estate agent business part-time. It wasn’t until he spent an entire year trying to flip a house, only to make $2,500 that he realized it was much easier being a real estate agent than it was to flip that house.

It was then that Joe decided to turn his full attention to real estate sales with 2014 being Joe’s first year as a full-time real estate agent. This decision definitely turned out to be the right one for Joe as he was able to end the year with a total of 50 transactions adding up to about $7.5 million in sales. Joe’s desire to keep his momentum going in 2015 prompted a jump to Keller Williams Realty and expansion of his team, which includes a full-time mortgage broker.

What does a successful marketing plan look like?

Joe utilized a blend of traditional and newer marketing strategies as a part of his overall business plan to increase sales in his first year as a full time sales agent. One of Joe’s biggest method of lead generation was the creation of a reciprocal referring relationship with a trusted mortgage broker. “It always makes sense to affiliate yourself with those individuals who are pre-approving people on a daily basis,” says Joe. His team refers prospective home buyers to their preferred mortgage broker, and vice versa. “It’s a win-win relationship,” claims Joe. This networking strategy became one of the most profitable lead generation tools for Joe, which he says continues to bring him in a large portion of his business.

In most cases, giving back to the community is not considered a typical method of marketing, however Joe found that through his volunteer work with Homefurever.com anddawghous.com dog rescue organizations, he created some really great relationships that fortuitously resulted in a valuable network of referral business. Although unintentional, this landed him about $2.5 million dollars in business; that’s about 33% of all of his sales from 2014.

We’ve all heard that Facebook is among the top social media sites for marketing your business and this was no exception for Joe. Using his Facebook business page, Joe tags himself whenever he is at a closing. He is also constantly inviting people he meets to like his business page. This allows anyone who follows him to see his real estate transaction activities including his recent closings. Joe believes that it is important to let everyone know you are very active in the business and his method of using Facebook in this way accomplishes this goal. In fact, Joe says many of his referrals are a direct result of his Facebook marketing efforts.

More recently, Joe has started using Mojo Dialer as a lead generation tool and has also begun focusing on FSBOs (For Sale By Owners). Joe has experienced both positive and negative feedback when attempting to solicit a listing from a property owner. While there are those that will not want what you are offering, he encourages agents to hang in there. He says every so often you will come across someone who will welcome the help of an agent and that’s where all your efforts can pay off.

The Importance of Recognizing Our Strengths

Anyone in sales can probably tell you that overcoming rejection is probably one of their biggest struggles and this certainly rang true with Joe. Luckily he says, “Once you’ve been rejected a few times it’s not that big of a deal any longer.” Yeah!! There is hope.

Being organized or the lack there of, was another area Joe struggled in while trying to keep up with his transaction load, however, with the help of his wife, he and his team are now in a better place with managing their workflow and client follow through.

Joe also points out that fortunately for him, he is keenly aware of his weaknesses and strengths. “I am not an agent that thinks I am the best person to handle every task,” says Joe. “I am probably the worst person to handle 99% of the tasks but the best person to handle 1% of the tasks and that’s what I try to focus on.”

Joe is right on target with the way he operates his business. We have heard from some of the most successful entrepreneurs just how important it is to determine what part of your business is your forte. In other words, what are your strengths? Where can your skills best be utilized? After you figure this out, you need to make sure you are spending the majority of your time doing this part of your business and give the rest to someone else to handle.

This advice can be hard to follow if you’re someone who wants to have your hands in all aspects of your business but honestly it’s the only way to make sure that you are putting your best skills to work on the most important part of your business.

And Then This Happened…

How many times have you been scared by something that you noticed, but didn’t pay much attention to until it started moving? Maybe it was the trash can out back that you didn’t realize had an animal rummaging through it until it fell over? Or it was the six-legged black paint stain on the wall that was completely harmless until it started to make its way down to the floor?

Well, while Joe was looking for his next flip, he was forced to take notice when an unassuming pile of blankets started looking back at him.

While inspecting a vacant potential investment property to flip in Cincinnati, Joe noticed a few blankets in the corner of one of the rooms, but didn’t pay them much attention. Shortly thereafter, he noticed a head slowly turning until finally someone was staring right at him. He quickly left the house and called the police. While on the call, he discovered that the unlawful tenant was actually quite well known around the area and apparently holds the name of “Tommy Two Toes.” Not sure if we want to know how he earned that name. Needless to say, Joe now takes his dogs with him when inspecting a vacant property.

Paying It Forward

 We asked Joe if he had any advice for new agents and he shared 3 great tips that can be used by new real estate agents and experienced ones alike.

• Network with people who are constantly in the game, making phone calls, meeting with clients, closing deals, and create a win-win situation with them.
• Give back to the community.
• Get in to the market, start calling people, and get over your fear of being rejected.

Joe recommends that real estate agents and business people alike, read “Rich Dad, Poor Dad.” He explains that this book will help most people restructure their mindset, helping them to avoid the rat race that we often get caught up in.

He also recommends “Millionaire Real Estate Agent.” The book discusses a wide range of helpful topics including leverage, following up with clients, avoiding the urge to wear every hat in your business, and more.

Sourced- Real Estate Radioshow