November 13, 2025 • 25 mins
Ready for a real look at what makes a durable real estate firm in a hot market like Charlotte? Mike Sposato, owner of Carolina Realty Advisors, shares how he turned corporate sales awards and early investing into a 20-year brokerage built on one core promise: the right advice at the right time changes everything. We trace his leap from burnout to business owner, then unpack the systems, training, and hiring decisions that keep clients calm and deals clean.
We get specific about why great agents don’t “sell houses” so much as deliver real estate transaction services, guiding people through a complex path they only walk every six to seven years. Mike explains how Sandler selling reshaped his approach to needs analysis, negotiation, and client trust, and how he combined that with a teacher’s mindset and neurolinguistic programming to craft a repeatable training program. From short, focused videos to live role plays and audio refreshers, the goal is muscle memory: agents who can diagnose, advise, and execute under pressure.
If you’re thinking about starting a team or stepping out on your own, Mike lays out the two leverage hires that change everything: an operations-minded office manager who owns compliance and paperwork, and a licensed assistant who keeps showings and open houses moving. We also walk through the tech stack—Follow Up Boss for CRM, Brokerment for transaction management, MLS, and e-sign tools—that gives a small firm enterprise-level rigor. Recruiting against big brands like Keller Williams and eXp is no small task, so Mike looks for grit, teachers who can break down complex steps, and proven sellers who want mentorship over hype.
Whether you’re an aspiring broker, a seasoned agent, or a curious homeowner, you’ll come away with a practical blueprint for building a resilient, client-centered business in the Charlotte real estate market. If this conversation helps, tap follow, share it with a colleague, and leave a quick review—what’s the one system you’ll implement next?
Carolina Realty Advisors
Mike Sposato
(704) 619-7070
mike@carolinarealtyadvisors.com
carolinarealtyadvisors.com
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_00 (00:03):
Welcome everyone to Advice on the Charlotte Real
Estate Market podcast featuringMike Spizzato, owner of Carolina
Realty Advisors.
Welcome, Mike.
SPEAKER_01 (00:15):
Thanks for having me.
Actually, I'm excited.
This is my very first podcastthat we're going to be doing to
kick off the new uh series onadvice on the Charlotte real
estate market.
And really the intention I wantto do, it's going to be
all-encompassing.
So we're going to talk aboutthings like if you know for
realtors, if you ever want tostart your own company or start
(00:38):
your own team, to of courseinformation about the market,
submarkets, different types ofthings like uh residential,
commercial, different facets ofcommercial real estate.
So it's going to be a lot of umdifferent topics covered, a lot
of advice overall that wouldhelp people that are, you know,
connoisseurs or you know, peoplereally are interested in real
(01:00):
estate, which honestly it seemslike everybody to a degree has
got some level of interest inreal estate.
SPEAKER_00 (01:07):
So anyway, I even have my real estate license.
So uh and Charlotte is a hop-inarea.
Well, I know you have been inreal estate a minute.
So tell us a little bit aboutyour journey and your why.
Why did you become a realtor andwhy did you start your own firm?
SPEAKER_01 (01:24):
Hmm.
Well, um, when I first moved toCharlotte a long time ago, I my
first job was out, it was abusiness-to-business sales job.
And from that, I was prettyfortunate, did well well enough
to start to buy my own portfolioof real estate.
(01:44):
And as time went on at mycorporate job, it became a real
grind for me.
And I started to think tomyself, why am I making all this
money for somebody when I coulddo it for myself?
Because I had been recognized inmy corporate job as what they
called the rookie of the yearnationwide.
And then for the first couple ofyears that I was in sales, I was
(02:06):
the number one salesperson inthe country out of 350 um sales
reps across the United States.
And so, you know, I was doingreally well and I was learning a
lot about um not only sales andmarketing, but when I got
promotions, I learned aboutsales management, recruiting,
sales training, accounting, allthe stuff that you would need to
(02:27):
know in order to have a fairchance at you know having a
successful business.
And so it just I got to a pointwhere I literally got burned
out, started to have minorhealth problems that could have
escalated if I didn't make achange.
And so once I had this portfolioof real estate, took an interest
in it, I was like, you knowwhat?
I think maybe I'm gonna get intoreal estate.
(02:49):
But the funny thing is, is thiskind of dates me.
Um, when I started going and getmy license, I was only
interested, I wasn't committed.
And what I mean by that is thisis back in the time where you
know, we the internet was justcoming out, there was no uh
social like media, like therewas no Facebook or Instagram or
(03:13):
ways to meet people.
So I was somewhat newer intoCharlotte, even though I had my
job here for a while.
I worked 24-7, it felt like forthis corporation.
So I didn't really have a lifeoutside of work.
So I was taking a real estatecourse because I was interested,
but I also just wanted to meetpeople and get out.
And so they used to have used tohave to go to a classroom.
(03:36):
And when I started, there was 88people in my class.
And of the 88, I believe onlylike eight to ten of us actually
passed the class.
And you know, within a couple ofyears, like two years, I think I
was the only one that took thatclass that actually got into
real estate and was still doingit.
SPEAKER_00 (03:57):
That's amazing.
SPEAKER_01 (03:58):
It's a big churn in our business, um, for sure.
And you know, it's somethinglike what I'd like to talk about
today is you know, for thosepeople out there that are
thinking they're having somesuccess in real estate and maybe
they want to start their owncompany, either their own team
or branch off and start theirown company like I did.
(04:20):
So we we started our company, itwas January of 2006.
So we're just a couple of weeksaway from our um 20th
anniversary as Carolina RealtyAdvisors.
SPEAKER_00 (04:30):
So that's amazing.
Congratulations.
What an achievement.
SPEAKER_01 (04:34):
Thank you.
SPEAKER_00 (04:35):
Yeah, this market is is insane.
And and in your 20 some years,you have seen all the growth and
the craziness.
Well, what do you find, youknow, what is your mission then?
Now you've started your owncompany.
What did you decide you wantedit to look like and how have you
done that?
SPEAKER_01 (04:55):
That's a great question.
So um my business partner and I,back when we started the
company, we we we calledourselves Carolina Realty
Advisors because we saw a gap,at least in the residential
sector of you know, brokerage,that there was not a lot of what
(05:16):
we call savvy business peopleout doing the real estate um
sales.
It was more or less, you know,just I'm kind of joking when I
say this was a lot of part-timeum people that maybe, you know,
maybe a woman who's uh the kidsare off to school, husband.
So she was out doing it andselling a couple houses to, you
(05:38):
know, here and there to thegirls she played tennis with,
and you know, uh brand newagents getting in and really not
being trained very well, um,people who just didn't have a
business background.
And so therefore, what we wereseeing is you know, people were
out trying to make a sale sothey could make a commission so
(05:58):
they could pay their rent or payfor their car bill or whatever
it was, but they weren't reallytaking a higher road and trying
to really give advice becausehonestly, we we've carved out
our slogan.
It says, really, the right realestate advice makes all the
difference to our clients.
And if somebody were to look atmy reviews, you'll see time and
time again, it's always theadvice, timely advice here or
(06:22):
there that saves them thousandsof dollars or tons of stress or
helped them win a deal orsomething like that.
So it's really thatforward-thinking level of
intelligence in the middle of adeal, or when you're you know
meeting with a new client thathelps them get the outcome they
want.
And so culturally, you know, wewe we took that approach and
(06:44):
then we backed it with um weactually with what we call it's
it's Sandler selling systems.
That's our sales training model.
And if anybody out therelistening has ever heard of
Sandler, which you can Google,and it once you hear it for the
first time and you start lookingit up, it's everywhere.
But um, you know, when when Ifirst got in the business, I
(07:07):
hadn't heard of it either.
And I became a member of theirpresident's club, and that's a
long story within itself.
But the Sandler sales approachis really it's like a higher-end
psychological-based approachthat's really about needs
analysis.
It's not featuring benefits atall, ever.
It's always about talking toyour clients, really, really,
(07:29):
what's in it for them?
How is this going to benefitthem?
What do they need?
Because you know, the one otherthing that going back to like
why we started the business isbecause what you know, if I were
to ask you, Regina, just justhonestly, because I'd never
asked you this question before,but what is it that you think
real estate agents sell?
What is it we do?
SPEAKER_00 (07:49):
You most of us would say a home, a house.
SPEAKER_01 (07:52):
Right.
Yep.
Or I hear people when Iinterview them, like, oh, we
sell dreams and things likethat.
I disagree.
I personally think what we sellare real estate transaction
services.
Because if you think about it,most people when they they
usually buy a home on average,like once every six through
(08:14):
maybe six to seven years onaverage, they'll move.
So when you only do somethingthat infrequently, learning the
dance moves, how to do itconsistently the right way is
difficult.
So showing a house is easy, youknow, listing a house is a
little bit more difficult, butthe the hardest part is taking
(08:37):
somebody from where they aretoday on step one and step 100,
the outcome of selling a house,buying a house, or selling and
buying a house.
And there's so many littlethings along the way that could
go wrong that if they do gowrong, could cost the consumer
thousands of dollars, maybe evenmore.
(08:58):
And not only that, but theamount of stress and sleepless
nights and things that canhappen that you know
unfortunately do happen if youdon't have a forward-thinking
advisor as a realtor who'sreally in your corner.
SPEAKER_00 (09:12):
Oh, I love that.
And I I that makes so muchsense.
So, what do you what isimportant in your opinion as the
owner of a firm when looking foryour team?
SPEAKER_01 (09:24):
To hiring, um, well, I learned this lesson many times
over, and the first couple oftimes I learned it the hard way.
I think as a broker, once ifyou're if you're an agent who
starts to gain some traction,you kind of have your approach
down and you have a repeatablerevenue model where you have
inbound leads or somethingthat's working for you, where
(09:48):
you can consistently bring in acertain amount of business.
In order to grow, you reallyhave to have two key people, in
my opinion.
One of them is somebody on theback end who can handle a lot of
the tedious um day-to-daypaperwork.
Um the paperwork component ofdoing a real estate transaction
(10:09):
literally is like a six to 10hour endeavor.
SPEAKER_00 (10:13):
Wow.
SPEAKER_01 (10:14):
Um, so if you're gonna do four or five deals in a
month, that alone is a reallygood part-time job just on the
paperwork side.
But then you've got to worryabout compliance, technology,
things of that nature.
So you have to have somebodywho's like a almost like an
office manager who really is youknow good with paperwork and
(10:36):
enjoys doing that.
But secondarily, I think havinga license assistant, someone who
can help you with open houses,showing property, and doing
things that requires to have alicense.
And so, you know, in your firstcouple of years, you might have
to forego putting all the moneyin your pocket in order to get
the right people behind you.
SPEAKER_00 (10:57):
Invest in your business.
SPEAKER_01 (10:59):
Invest in your business, really.
I mean, it it's it's peopleinitially, and so you know, um,
I would say if I had to do itall over again, I would look for
an office manager who waspassionate and excited to be
there and was okay with some ofthe mundane paperwork and was
(11:20):
looking to grow and help yougrow, and similar with a
licensed assistant, in so muchthat you want somebody who is um
maybe tied to your um pay plan.
In other words, instead of justa based salary, give them
something where they can makeevery time you make a sale when
they're involved in it, you cangive them a percentage of it so
(11:42):
that they're excited to continueto go out and help you and grow
and so forth.
So I think position-wise, youneed to have those two people,
or it's going to be a long sledto get to where you want to go.
SPEAKER_00 (11:53):
I love that idea.
That's that's amazing.
So, what is your method forrecruiting great agents?
SPEAKER_01 (11:59):
That's a that's a that's a challenge because being
a smaller firm, um, we, youknow, there's right now, I think
we have 15 total people in ourfirm from admin staff, you know,
full-time licensed assistants,and then agents in general.
So it's not easy recruitingbecause we're recruiting and
we're working against like theKeller Williams, the EXP, those
(12:22):
bigger firms.
And so, like, as an example,Keller Williams has people that
are not actually agents that arepaid as recruiters, but they,
you know, they have a license,they work at Keller Williams,
but their deal is to go out andhost events.
And, you know, the when peoplecome through and they graduate
from getting their real estatelicense, their name
(12:45):
automatically gets put on a listwith their phone number and
contact info.
And that person whose full-timejob is recruiting has all the
time set aside to go after thosepeople.
Same with EXP, and actually, I Ihave that list too.
I just don't have the time to doit as a business owner.
The one thing, though, to bewarefor those who are getting into
(13:07):
the business, there arecompanies out there that
monetize their training.
So there's companies, if you goto work there, first thing,
literally, when you fill out allyour paperwork, you have to give
them your credit card and theywill charge you for different
training programs.
So they're monetizing thetraining, they charge monthly
fees.
(13:27):
They, if you're on a team, thecompany takes a split and then
the team lead takes a split.
So your your take-home dollargets really diluted when you're
working at a lot of the biggerfirms out there.
They just don't really tell youall that up front.
Um, I've never been somebodywho'd want to work in a bigger
firm because I worked in a bigcompany in corporate America and
(13:48):
hated it.
I'd rather work in a smallerfirm where I have direct access,
you know, in a to the owners ormy agents, and everybody knows
everybody, and it's kind of youknow, almost like a tight-knit
type of family type oforganization.
And that's more like who we are.
You know, we're not a boutiquefirm by any stretch, but you
know, the other agents I lookfor, they got to have sales
(14:10):
experience, or believe it ornot, I love school teachers.
SPEAKER_00 (14:14):
How about that?
SPEAKER_01 (14:15):
Yeah, because school teachers, if they've never been
in sales, what you're taught tobecome a teacher is to take and
build lesson plans.
And that's how we sell is like alittle mini lesson plans.
It's taking a big topic likebuying a house and be able to
break it down into tiny littledigestible steps where you can
(14:36):
help educate your clients alongthe way.
And teachers make really greatreal estate agents.
Um, obviously, somebody who'sgot previous sales experience.
And I also like looking forpeople who have what I call
grit.
And so grit could mean differentthings for different people.
For me, grit means um you're notgonna quit because things will
(14:59):
get tough in this business.
They do all the time.
You know, sometimes it's really,really lean, and sometimes it's
you're making money hand overfist and everything in between.
So if you're the kind of personthat's gonna just crumble when
things get you know rough, thenthis is not for you.
Because at the end of the day,you know, people don't realize
(15:20):
that real estate agents what wereally are is we're independent
contractors, there's no basesalary, there's no benefits,
there's no health insurance.
So we're independent contractorsthat are really outside sales
position people.
So we get to eat what we kill,so to speak.
I know that sounds kind ofgraphic, but it's the truth.
(15:41):
It's like if you can'tconsistently bring business to
the table, then sooner or lateryou're gonna be out of the
business.
And so finding those kinds ofpeople with grit, sales
experience, and you know, thatkind of that that go-getter like
driven mentality is critical.
SPEAKER_00 (15:59):
What is your philosophy then, once you find
that amazing person, in trainingthem, developing them, mentoring
them?
SPEAKER_01 (16:08):
All right, well, that's another great question.
So early on, um, because Iactually have my degree in
education.
So when I graduated and wasgoing through early development
in my career, I took a lot ofsales training courses, um, like
I mentioned, Sandler salestraining.
And I also have a master'scertification in neurolinguistic
(16:28):
programming.
So if anybody knows what NLP is,then you know.
And if you don't know, I not Idon't have any time here to even
get into that topic.
But what we do is when weonboard somebody, we we have a
whole video series internally inour company G Drive that's got
over a hundred different littlevideos that are anywhere from
(16:48):
three or four minutes to youknow 10 minutes long, so they
don't make you gloss over andfall asleep.
But they're the foundation toget you into the training room,
so to speak.
And so you you kind of firstcouple days you'll be watching
those videos, learning aboutsome of the software programs
and things that we do.
But then once you've kind ofbeen in a company for a couple
(17:10):
of days, we start to do in youknow, in class, like in training
where we do role-playing,rehearsing, you know, scenarios
that come up every day in ouryou know, real estate
experience.
You know, I've written a book,I've got um, like I said, the
videos, we have audio umreinforcement and a little flash
drive that we give to everybodyand require that they listen to
(17:34):
them.
But overall, it's anall-encompassing training
program.
And you know, when you tellpeople that you have a great
sales training program,everybody's like, yeah, yeah,
yeah.
Everyone, and and even I waswhen I first got in, because I
was like, Well, I was winningall these awards in corporate
America.
I don't need sales training, andboy, was I wrong because selling
(17:56):
in corporate America is 180degrees different than selling
real estate in Charlotte, NorthCarolina.
It's just different.
And so it took me a couple ofmonths to realize that.
And once I realized it andjumped into the Sandler program,
then I was able to extrapolatepieces from that and build a
proprietary sales trainingprogram.
(18:16):
The good news is um the peoplewho have gone through it in the
past and they've embraced it, ifeven if they've left the company
for whatever the reason mightbe, they're still successful in
this business.
That's it's it's kind of I'mproud of it.
And and it's like they're likelittle ninjas and they're
speckled all over the area.
And that you know, some peopleleft because you know they
(18:39):
started having children and theylive too far away for daycare
and you know that kind of thing.
And other people maybe justwhatever the reason was, they
just went a different direction.
But the ones that were like myshining stars, all of them are
still in the business and all ofthem are thriving.
SPEAKER_00 (18:56):
That's amazing.
unknown (18:57):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (18:58):
What kind of software programs do you use to
support your operations?
SPEAKER_01 (19:03):
So that's a um there's a lot of different.
Let's start with the CRM.
So the CRM is basically whereyou're going to keep all your
leads, prospects, etc.
Um, we use follow-up boss.
There's others out there.
Um, some of them are reallygood, some of them aren't.
Um, but that's like the main hubfor keeping track with
(19:26):
everybody.
And so follow-up boss is reallyimportant.
And luckily, we were early on, Iguess, into getting into
follow-up boss.
And very luckily, um my previousbusiness partner, who's he's
still here, he works here.
He just I bought him out andhe's he's one of our agents now.
But he and um our assistant backthen, both of those guys were so
(19:50):
smart when it came to technologythat I mean the the things
they've done in this companywith technology, there's no way
I could have done it personally.
But it's like we have thesoftware programs and systems in
place that you would see at likea major, like, you know, a
company that's got you know,thousand or fifteen thousand
(20:12):
agents across the country, kindof thing.
So we've we've leveled up andwe've made those investments.
So we have a variety ofdifferent things.
The main one being follow-upboss is one of the ones that we
use.
Um obviously every agent's gonnahave access to the MLS.
And then um from there, there'sgonna be some back office things
(20:32):
that we use as some people likeeverybody's got like DocuSign or
zip forms.
We use um a company or a umsoftware program called
Brokerment for tracking all ofour deals.
And so what that means is likewhen if you were gonna buy a
house for Gina and you were myclient, as soon as we agree that
you're gonna work with me, viceversa, and we sign an agreement
(20:54):
that starts a new file in ourbrokerment.
And then as we go along eachstep of the way, there's a
checklist of things that need tobe put into there so that we
make sure we're you know on topof everything, our transaction
managers keeping up witheverything, we're compliant, you
know, and in that kind of thing,just in case real estate
commission wherever knock on ourdoor.
So we've thought through all ofit.
(21:15):
And we you know, we've beenaround, and like I said, we're
just weeks away from being inbusiness for 20 years.
So having the right softwareprograms that are going to help
you grow are important.
SPEAKER_00 (21:26):
My very last question.
You're almost at your 20-yearanniversary, Mike.
What are you most proud of whenyou look back?
SPEAKER_01 (21:37):
That's a good question.
I hadn't thought about that.
I kind of, I mean, I try to stayhumble and all this stuff, and
and just, you know, I thinkprobably the sales training and
helping people who have come inthe door that thought real
estate was going to be, youknow, get rich quick, easy.
(21:57):
You know, they didn't needeverything, they didn't need the
training.
They just, you know, theythought they were hot shots and
taking them and kind of buildingthe foundation underneath of
them and helping mentor them,yeah, support them, coach them
all along the way while still,you know, producing broker and
you know, kind of burning thecandle at both ends.
(22:17):
But um, yeah, I think that'sprobably it.
The what the the people that arestill in the business that have
ever worked here, if anybodywere to talk to them, my gut
says you're gonna hear a lot ofamazing stories about the things
we did to develop their careers.
And I think that's probably thething I'm most proud of.
SPEAKER_00 (22:37):
That's amazing.
Well, congrats.
That's a huge accomplishment.
And in such a competitive marketlike Charlotte.
SPEAKER_01 (22:44):
Yeah, I mean, it's it's not easy, and uh, you know,
nothing worth it ever is easy.
Um recruiting's, you know, hardwhen you're especially when
you're going against big firmsthat are.
I mean, there's a firm calledEXP, which I'm sure you're aware
of.
And you know, that you go towork there, and they have it's
(23:05):
it's it's like multi-levelmarketing, it's like a pyramid.
It's essentially if you went towork there, you pay them a
certain amount of money.
If you find two people, thosepeople underneath you pay money,
you get a little bit of that.
And then the people they hire,you get a little bit of that,
and so on and so forth.
And so there, I've as anexample, I've run up against EXP
(23:26):
agents that don't even sell realestate.
They just do that recruitingthing, and that's how they make
a little, you know,month-to-month passive income.
So you've got all kinds ofdifferent business models all
over, but you know, here it'sit's basically you get your
license, you come in, you getthe sales training, and it's not
(23:47):
just once.
We do sales training probablythree to four times a year.
It's the same information, it'sjust sometimes a little bit
slightly different viewpointbecause most people I find there
most people are two or threetime learners.
And I don't know if you knowwhat that means or not, but it
means the first time they don'tget it, it just goes right over
(24:08):
their head.
Second time they're like, Oh,that made a lot more sense.
And then the third time theyreally, really get it.
And so, you know, if somebody'sout there and they're like, I
need mentorship, I need a coach,I need training, I need support,
I need leads, I need all of thatin order to get going.
That's the smart person, that'sthe humble smart person.
(24:30):
The person out there that thinksthey're, you know, they don't
need any of this stuff, they'rejust fooling themselves because
this industry is not easy atall.
SPEAKER_00 (24:39):
Well, Mike, congrats on your very first podcast uh
with many more to come.
Um, Mike Spadato, owner ofCarolina Realty Advisors in
Charlotte, North Carolina.
Thank you so much for today.
SPEAKER_01 (24:52):
Yeah, thanks, Regina.
I appreciate your help.
Welcome everyone to Advice on the Charlotte Real
Estate Market podcast featuringMike Spizzato, owner of Carolina
Realty Advisors.
Welcome, Mike.
SPEAKER_01 (00:15):
Thanks for having me.
Actually, I'm excited.
This is my very first podcastthat we're going to be doing to
kick off the new uh series onadvice on the Charlotte real
estate market.
And really the intention I wantto do, it's going to be
all-encompassing.
So we're going to talk aboutthings like if you know for
realtors, if you ever want tostart your own company or start
(00:38):
your own team, to of courseinformation about the market,
submarkets, different types ofthings like uh residential,
commercial, different facets ofcommercial real estate.
So it's going to be a lot of umdifferent topics covered, a lot
of advice overall that wouldhelp people that are, you know,
connoisseurs or you know, peoplereally are interested in real
(01:00):
estate, which honestly it seemslike everybody to a degree has
got some level of interest inreal estate.
SPEAKER_00 (01:07):
So anyway, I even have my real estate license.
So uh and Charlotte is a hop-inarea.
Well, I know you have been inreal estate a minute.
So tell us a little bit aboutyour journey and your why.
Why did you become a realtor andwhy did you start your own firm?
SPEAKER_01 (01:24):
Hmm.
Well, um, when I first moved toCharlotte a long time ago, I my
first job was out, it was abusiness-to-business sales job.
And from that, I was prettyfortunate, did well well enough
to start to buy my own portfolioof real estate.
(01:44):
And as time went on at mycorporate job, it became a real
grind for me.
And I started to think tomyself, why am I making all this
money for somebody when I coulddo it for myself?
Because I had been recognized inmy corporate job as what they
called the rookie of the yearnationwide.
And then for the first couple ofyears that I was in sales, I was
(02:06):
the number one salesperson inthe country out of 350 um sales
reps across the United States.
And so, you know, I was doingreally well and I was learning a
lot about um not only sales andmarketing, but when I got
promotions, I learned aboutsales management, recruiting,
sales training, accounting, allthe stuff that you would need to
(02:27):
know in order to have a fairchance at you know having a
successful business.
And so it just I got to a pointwhere I literally got burned
out, started to have minorhealth problems that could have
escalated if I didn't make achange.
And so once I had this portfolioof real estate, took an interest
in it, I was like, you knowwhat?
I think maybe I'm gonna get intoreal estate.
(02:49):
But the funny thing is, is thiskind of dates me.
Um, when I started going and getmy license, I was only
interested, I wasn't committed.
And what I mean by that is thisis back in the time where you
know, we the internet was justcoming out, there was no uh
social like media, like therewas no Facebook or Instagram or
(03:13):
ways to meet people.
So I was somewhat newer intoCharlotte, even though I had my
job here for a while.
I worked 24-7, it felt like forthis corporation.
So I didn't really have a lifeoutside of work.
So I was taking a real estatecourse because I was interested,
but I also just wanted to meetpeople and get out.
And so they used to have used tohave to go to a classroom.
(03:36):
And when I started, there was 88people in my class.
And of the 88, I believe onlylike eight to ten of us actually
passed the class.
And you know, within a couple ofyears, like two years, I think I
was the only one that took thatclass that actually got into
real estate and was still doingit.
SPEAKER_00 (03:57):
That's amazing.
SPEAKER_01 (03:58):
It's a big churn in our business, um, for sure.
And you know, it's somethinglike what I'd like to talk about
today is you know, for thosepeople out there that are
thinking they're having somesuccess in real estate and maybe
they want to start their owncompany, either their own team
or branch off and start theirown company like I did.
(04:20):
So we we started our company, itwas January of 2006.
So we're just a couple of weeksaway from our um 20th
anniversary as Carolina RealtyAdvisors.
SPEAKER_00 (04:30):
So that's amazing.
Congratulations.
What an achievement.
SPEAKER_01 (04:34):
Thank you.
SPEAKER_00 (04:35):
Yeah, this market is is insane.
And and in your 20 some years,you have seen all the growth and
the craziness.
Well, what do you find, youknow, what is your mission then?
Now you've started your owncompany.
What did you decide you wantedit to look like and how have you
done that?
SPEAKER_01 (04:55):
That's a great question.
So um my business partner and I,back when we started the
company, we we we calledourselves Carolina Realty
Advisors because we saw a gap,at least in the residential
sector of you know, brokerage,that there was not a lot of what
(05:16):
we call savvy business peopleout doing the real estate um
sales.
It was more or less, you know,just I'm kind of joking when I
say this was a lot of part-timeum people that maybe, you know,
maybe a woman who's uh the kidsare off to school, husband.
So she was out doing it andselling a couple houses to, you
(05:38):
know, here and there to thegirls she played tennis with,
and you know, uh brand newagents getting in and really not
being trained very well, um,people who just didn't have a
business background.
And so therefore, what we wereseeing is you know, people were
out trying to make a sale sothey could make a commission so
(05:58):
they could pay their rent or payfor their car bill or whatever
it was, but they weren't reallytaking a higher road and trying
to really give advice becausehonestly, we we've carved out
our slogan.
It says, really, the right realestate advice makes all the
difference to our clients.
And if somebody were to look atmy reviews, you'll see time and
time again, it's always theadvice, timely advice here or
(06:22):
there that saves them thousandsof dollars or tons of stress or
helped them win a deal orsomething like that.
So it's really thatforward-thinking level of
intelligence in the middle of adeal, or when you're you know
meeting with a new client thathelps them get the outcome they
want.
And so culturally, you know, wewe we took that approach and
(06:44):
then we backed it with um weactually with what we call it's
it's Sandler selling systems.
That's our sales training model.
And if anybody out therelistening has ever heard of
Sandler, which you can Google,and it once you hear it for the
first time and you start lookingit up, it's everywhere.
But um, you know, when when Ifirst got in the business, I
(07:07):
hadn't heard of it either.
And I became a member of theirpresident's club, and that's a
long story within itself.
But the Sandler sales approachis really it's like a higher-end
psychological-based approachthat's really about needs
analysis.
It's not featuring benefits atall, ever.
It's always about talking toyour clients, really, really,
(07:29):
what's in it for them?
How is this going to benefitthem?
What do they need?
Because you know, the one otherthing that going back to like
why we started the business isbecause what you know, if I were
to ask you, Regina, just justhonestly, because I'd never
asked you this question before,but what is it that you think
real estate agents sell?
What is it we do?
SPEAKER_00 (07:49):
You most of us would say a home, a house.
SPEAKER_01 (07:52):
Right.
Yep.
Or I hear people when Iinterview them, like, oh, we
sell dreams and things likethat.
I disagree.
I personally think what we sellare real estate transaction
services.
Because if you think about it,most people when they they
usually buy a home on average,like once every six through
(08:14):
maybe six to seven years onaverage, they'll move.
So when you only do somethingthat infrequently, learning the
dance moves, how to do itconsistently the right way is
difficult.
So showing a house is easy, youknow, listing a house is a
little bit more difficult, butthe the hardest part is taking
(08:37):
somebody from where they aretoday on step one and step 100,
the outcome of selling a house,buying a house, or selling and
buying a house.
And there's so many littlethings along the way that could
go wrong that if they do gowrong, could cost the consumer
thousands of dollars, maybe evenmore.
(08:58):
And not only that, but theamount of stress and sleepless
nights and things that canhappen that you know
unfortunately do happen if youdon't have a forward-thinking
advisor as a realtor who'sreally in your corner.
SPEAKER_00 (09:12):
Oh, I love that.
And I I that makes so muchsense.
So, what do you what isimportant in your opinion as the
owner of a firm when looking foryour team?
SPEAKER_01 (09:24):
To hiring, um, well, I learned this lesson many times
over, and the first couple oftimes I learned it the hard way.
I think as a broker, once ifyou're if you're an agent who
starts to gain some traction,you kind of have your approach
down and you have a repeatablerevenue model where you have
inbound leads or somethingthat's working for you, where
(09:48):
you can consistently bring in acertain amount of business.
In order to grow, you reallyhave to have two key people, in
my opinion.
One of them is somebody on theback end who can handle a lot of
the tedious um day-to-daypaperwork.
Um the paperwork component ofdoing a real estate transaction
(10:09):
literally is like a six to 10hour endeavor.
SPEAKER_00 (10:13):
Wow.
SPEAKER_01 (10:14):
Um, so if you're gonna do four or five deals in a
month, that alone is a reallygood part-time job just on the
paperwork side.
But then you've got to worryabout compliance, technology,
things of that nature.
So you have to have somebodywho's like a almost like an
office manager who really is youknow good with paperwork and
(10:36):
enjoys doing that.
But secondarily, I think havinga license assistant, someone who
can help you with open houses,showing property, and doing
things that requires to have alicense.
And so, you know, in your firstcouple of years, you might have
to forego putting all the moneyin your pocket in order to get
the right people behind you.
SPEAKER_00 (10:57):
Invest in your business.
SPEAKER_01 (10:59):
Invest in your business, really.
I mean, it it's it's peopleinitially, and so you know, um,
I would say if I had to do itall over again, I would look for
an office manager who waspassionate and excited to be
there and was okay with some ofthe mundane paperwork and was
(11:20):
looking to grow and help yougrow, and similar with a
licensed assistant, in so muchthat you want somebody who is um
maybe tied to your um pay plan.
In other words, instead of justa based salary, give them
something where they can makeevery time you make a sale when
they're involved in it, you cangive them a percentage of it so
(11:42):
that they're excited to continueto go out and help you and grow
and so forth.
So I think position-wise, youneed to have those two people,
or it's going to be a long sledto get to where you want to go.
SPEAKER_00 (11:53):
I love that idea.
That's that's amazing.
So, what is your method forrecruiting great agents?
SPEAKER_01 (11:59):
That's a that's a that's a challenge because being
a smaller firm, um, we, youknow, there's right now, I think
we have 15 total people in ourfirm from admin staff, you know,
full-time licensed assistants,and then agents in general.
So it's not easy recruitingbecause we're recruiting and
we're working against like theKeller Williams, the EXP, those
(12:22):
bigger firms.
And so, like, as an example,Keller Williams has people that
are not actually agents that arepaid as recruiters, but they,
you know, they have a license,they work at Keller Williams,
but their deal is to go out andhost events.
And, you know, the when peoplecome through and they graduate
from getting their real estatelicense, their name
(12:45):
automatically gets put on a listwith their phone number and
contact info.
And that person whose full-timejob is recruiting has all the
time set aside to go after thosepeople.
Same with EXP, and actually, I Ihave that list too.
I just don't have the time to doit as a business owner.
The one thing, though, to bewarefor those who are getting into
(13:07):
the business, there arecompanies out there that
monetize their training.
So there's companies, if you goto work there, first thing,
literally, when you fill out allyour paperwork, you have to give
them your credit card and theywill charge you for different
training programs.
So they're monetizing thetraining, they charge monthly
fees.
(13:27):
They, if you're on a team, thecompany takes a split and then
the team lead takes a split.
So your your take-home dollargets really diluted when you're
working at a lot of the biggerfirms out there.
They just don't really tell youall that up front.
Um, I've never been somebodywho'd want to work in a bigger
firm because I worked in a bigcompany in corporate America and
(13:48):
hated it.
I'd rather work in a smallerfirm where I have direct access,
you know, in a to the owners ormy agents, and everybody knows
everybody, and it's kind of youknow, almost like a tight-knit
type of family type oforganization.
And that's more like who we are.
You know, we're not a boutiquefirm by any stretch, but you
know, the other agents I lookfor, they got to have sales
(14:10):
experience, or believe it ornot, I love school teachers.
SPEAKER_00 (14:14):
How about that?
SPEAKER_01 (14:15):
Yeah, because school teachers, if they've never been
in sales, what you're taught tobecome a teacher is to take and
build lesson plans.
And that's how we sell is like alittle mini lesson plans.
It's taking a big topic likebuying a house and be able to
break it down into tiny littledigestible steps where you can
(14:36):
help educate your clients alongthe way.
And teachers make really greatreal estate agents.
Um, obviously, somebody who'sgot previous sales experience.
And I also like looking forpeople who have what I call
grit.
And so grit could mean differentthings for different people.
For me, grit means um you're notgonna quit because things will
(14:59):
get tough in this business.
They do all the time.
You know, sometimes it's really,really lean, and sometimes it's
you're making money hand overfist and everything in between.
So if you're the kind of personthat's gonna just crumble when
things get you know rough, thenthis is not for you.
Because at the end of the day,you know, people don't realize
(15:20):
that real estate agents what wereally are is we're independent
contractors, there's no basesalary, there's no benefits,
there's no health insurance.
So we're independent contractorsthat are really outside sales
position people.
So we get to eat what we kill,so to speak.
I know that sounds kind ofgraphic, but it's the truth.
(15:41):
It's like if you can'tconsistently bring business to
the table, then sooner or lateryou're gonna be out of the
business.
And so finding those kinds ofpeople with grit, sales
experience, and you know, thatkind of that that go-getter like
driven mentality is critical.
SPEAKER_00 (15:59):
What is your philosophy then, once you find
that amazing person, in trainingthem, developing them, mentoring
them?
SPEAKER_01 (16:08):
All right, well, that's another great question.
So early on, um, because Iactually have my degree in
education.
So when I graduated and wasgoing through early development
in my career, I took a lot ofsales training courses, um, like
I mentioned, Sandler salestraining.
And I also have a master'scertification in neurolinguistic
(16:28):
programming.
So if anybody knows what NLP is,then you know.
And if you don't know, I not Idon't have any time here to even
get into that topic.
But what we do is when weonboard somebody, we we have a
whole video series internally inour company G Drive that's got
over a hundred different littlevideos that are anywhere from
(16:48):
three or four minutes to youknow 10 minutes long, so they
don't make you gloss over andfall asleep.
But they're the foundation toget you into the training room,
so to speak.
And so you you kind of firstcouple days you'll be watching
those videos, learning aboutsome of the software programs
and things that we do.
But then once you've kind ofbeen in a company for a couple
(17:10):
of days, we start to do in youknow, in class, like in training
where we do role-playing,rehearsing, you know, scenarios
that come up every day in ouryou know, real estate
experience.
You know, I've written a book,I've got um, like I said, the
videos, we have audio umreinforcement and a little flash
drive that we give to everybodyand require that they listen to
(17:34):
them.
But overall, it's anall-encompassing training
program.
And you know, when you tellpeople that you have a great
sales training program,everybody's like, yeah, yeah,
yeah.
Everyone, and and even I waswhen I first got in, because I
was like, Well, I was winningall these awards in corporate
America.
I don't need sales training, andboy, was I wrong because selling
(17:56):
in corporate America is 180degrees different than selling
real estate in Charlotte, NorthCarolina.
It's just different.
And so it took me a couple ofmonths to realize that.
And once I realized it andjumped into the Sandler program,
then I was able to extrapolatepieces from that and build a
proprietary sales trainingprogram.
(18:16):
The good news is um the peoplewho have gone through it in the
past and they've embraced it, ifeven if they've left the company
for whatever the reason mightbe, they're still successful in
this business.
That's it's it's kind of I'mproud of it.
And and it's like they're likelittle ninjas and they're
speckled all over the area.
And that you know, some peopleleft because you know they
(18:39):
started having children and theylive too far away for daycare
and you know that kind of thing.
And other people maybe justwhatever the reason was, they
just went a different direction.
But the ones that were like myshining stars, all of them are
still in the business and all ofthem are thriving.
SPEAKER_00 (18:56):
That's amazing.
unknown (18:57):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (18:58):
What kind of software programs do you use to
support your operations?
SPEAKER_01 (19:03):
So that's a um there's a lot of different.
Let's start with the CRM.
So the CRM is basically whereyou're going to keep all your
leads, prospects, etc.
Um, we use follow-up boss.
There's others out there.
Um, some of them are reallygood, some of them aren't.
Um, but that's like the main hubfor keeping track with
(19:26):
everybody.
And so follow-up boss is reallyimportant.
And luckily, we were early on, Iguess, into getting into
follow-up boss.
And very luckily, um my previousbusiness partner, who's he's
still here, he works here.
He just I bought him out andhe's he's one of our agents now.
But he and um our assistant backthen, both of those guys were so
(19:50):
smart when it came to technologythat I mean the the things
they've done in this companywith technology, there's no way
I could have done it personally.
But it's like we have thesoftware programs and systems in
place that you would see at likea major, like, you know, a
company that's got you know,thousand or fifteen thousand
(20:12):
agents across the country, kindof thing.
So we've we've leveled up andwe've made those investments.
So we have a variety ofdifferent things.
The main one being follow-upboss is one of the ones that we
use.
Um obviously every agent's gonnahave access to the MLS.
And then um from there, there'sgonna be some back office things
(20:32):
that we use as some people likeeverybody's got like DocuSign or
zip forms.
We use um a company or a umsoftware program called
Brokerment for tracking all ofour deals.
And so what that means is likewhen if you were gonna buy a
house for Gina and you were myclient, as soon as we agree that
you're gonna work with me, viceversa, and we sign an agreement
(20:54):
that starts a new file in ourbrokerment.
And then as we go along eachstep of the way, there's a
checklist of things that need tobe put into there so that we
make sure we're you know on topof everything, our transaction
managers keeping up witheverything, we're compliant, you
know, and in that kind of thing,just in case real estate
commission wherever knock on ourdoor.
So we've thought through all ofit.
(21:15):
And we you know, we've beenaround, and like I said, we're
just weeks away from being inbusiness for 20 years.
So having the right softwareprograms that are going to help
you grow are important.
SPEAKER_00 (21:26):
My very last question.
You're almost at your 20-yearanniversary, Mike.
What are you most proud of whenyou look back?
SPEAKER_01 (21:37):
That's a good question.
I hadn't thought about that.
I kind of, I mean, I try to stayhumble and all this stuff, and
and just, you know, I thinkprobably the sales training and
helping people who have come inthe door that thought real
estate was going to be, youknow, get rich quick, easy.
(21:57):
You know, they didn't needeverything, they didn't need the
training.
They just, you know, theythought they were hot shots and
taking them and kind of buildingthe foundation underneath of
them and helping mentor them,yeah, support them, coach them
all along the way while still,you know, producing broker and
you know, kind of burning thecandle at both ends.
(22:17):
But um, yeah, I think that'sprobably it.
The what the the people that arestill in the business that have
ever worked here, if anybodywere to talk to them, my gut
says you're gonna hear a lot ofamazing stories about the things
we did to develop their careers.
And I think that's probably thething I'm most proud of.
SPEAKER_00 (22:37):
That's amazing.
Well, congrats.
That's a huge accomplishment.
And in such a competitive marketlike Charlotte.
SPEAKER_01 (22:44):
Yeah, I mean, it's it's not easy, and uh, you know,
nothing worth it ever is easy.
Um recruiting's, you know, hardwhen you're especially when
you're going against big firmsthat are.
I mean, there's a firm calledEXP, which I'm sure you're aware
of.
And you know, that you go towork there, and they have it's
(23:05):
it's it's like multi-levelmarketing, it's like a pyramid.
It's essentially if you went towork there, you pay them a
certain amount of money.
If you find two people, thosepeople underneath you pay money,
you get a little bit of that.
And then the people they hire,you get a little bit of that,
and so on and so forth.
And so there, I've as anexample, I've run up against EXP
(23:26):
agents that don't even sell realestate.
They just do that recruitingthing, and that's how they make
a little, you know,month-to-month passive income.
So you've got all kinds ofdifferent business models all
over, but you know, here it'sit's basically you get your
license, you come in, you getthe sales training, and it's not
(23:47):
just once.
We do sales training probablythree to four times a year.
It's the same information, it'sjust sometimes a little bit
slightly different viewpointbecause most people I find there
most people are two or threetime learners.
And I don't know if you knowwhat that means or not, but it
means the first time they don'tget it, it just goes right over
(24:08):
their head.
Second time they're like, Oh,that made a lot more sense.
And then the third time theyreally, really get it.
And so, you know, if somebody'sout there and they're like, I
need mentorship, I need a coach,I need training, I need support,
I need leads, I need all of thatin order to get going.
That's the smart person, that'sthe humble smart person.
(24:30):
The person out there that thinksthey're, you know, they don't
need any of this stuff, they'rejust fooling themselves because
this industry is not easy atall.
SPEAKER_00 (24:39):
Well, Mike, congrats on your very first podcast uh
with many more to come.
Um, Mike Spadato, owner ofCarolina Realty Advisors in
Charlotte, North Carolina.
Thank you so much for today.
SPEAKER_01 (24:52):
Yeah, thanks, Regina.
I appreciate your help.
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