June 17, 2025 • 19 mins
What happens when a firefighter brings his values of service, integrity, and leadership into real estate?
Meet Tristan Calabro, founder of The Calabro Group, whose remarkable journey from emergency services to real estate entrepreneurship proves that trust and heart still have a place in business. Driven by a desire to spend more time with his family and take back control of his schedule, Tristan transitioned from fire trucks to open houses, building a multi-state real estate business that’s as personal as it is professional.
Operating in both Colorado and Florida, Tristan has tackled the complexities of varying state regulations and market conditions with grit and clarity. As a first-generation American, he’s also made deep cultural inroads, especially within Florida’s Italian community, connecting with clients through shared values and lived experiences.
His philosophy?
“Knowledge is your script.”
Instead of relying on rehearsed sales pitches, The Calabro Group takes a data-informed, client-first approach. By staying ahead of federal housing policies and market trends, the team offers customized guidance to everyone from first-time homebuyers to veteran investors.
What truly sets Tristan apart is his servant leadership, honed through years in the military and emergency response. Guided by a “leaders eat last” principle, he leads by example, earning the respect of his team not through hierarchy, but through support, presence, and purpose.
The result? A tight-knit, mission-driven group committed to quality over quotas.
LinkedIn:
Tristan Calabro
https://www.linkedin.com/in/tristan-calabro-420645298
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
What's up everybody.
This Ryan Van Ornam back withanother episode of scaling up
success podcast, brought to youby synergist, the place where
you can scale your business at afraction of the cost.
Today I have Tristan Calabro ofthe Calabro group here in
Colorado.
Tristan, how are you today, myfriend?
Speaker 2 (00:23):
doing good man.
How about yourself?
Speaker 1 (00:26):
Man, it's a great day and I'm so excited to catch up
with you.
We've been friends for years,man, and I'm just so excited to
hear more about what you've beendoing and how you've been
building out what you got goingon, man.
Really cool to have you onagain, man.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
Yeah, no, appreciate it.
Thanks for the invite.
Really cool to have you onagain man.
Speaker 1 (00:45):
Yeah, no, appreciate it.
Thanks for thanks for theinvite, absolutely so.
Um well, tell everybody youknow kind of like you're, you're
, you have the Colabro group, uh, that that you've built in real
estate here in Colorado.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
Tell, tell everybody kind of like your, your origin
story of this superhero, uh realestate group that you got going
on.
Man, yeah, um's pretty simplereally.
I was a fireman for severalyears in a couple different
cities and I just I wanted toget into real estate.
Kind of the long story, shortof it, is I wanted more time
with my kids.
You know, of course we allthink that when we get into
owning our own business thatwe're going to have a bunch of
time and then that's veryquickly.
Uh, you realize that's not thecase, but I want to be more with
(01:30):
present with my kids and atleast this way allowed me to
control a little bit more ofthat time.
You know, I work a lot more butI can at least kind of tailor
it to, you know, making sure I'mthere for birthdays or for
christmas and all those things Ididn't have before.
So that's kind of where itstarted as far as real estate.
And from there, you know, I hada really successful first year.
(01:51):
I was really blessed, but Ilearned very quickly that
there's a lot of, you know,people and people in this
industry that aren't really themost trustworthy and aren't the
greatest to work with at alltimes and I fell victim to that
and I kind of decided at thatpoint after a couple of years
(02:12):
like, hey, listen, I want to bethat beacon for people that they
feel like they can come hereand be really successful, they
can start a really good business, learn how to do all the things
that I've now done for myself,but in a way that doesn't take
away, you know, 90% of theirpaycheck or make their life
miserable.
So I created my own team.
Speaker 1 (02:33):
I love that man.
I honestly thought the reasonwhy you were getting out of
being a firefighter and intoreal estate was because you got
tired of doing all the calendarshoots.
Yeah, yeah, Well, that was partof the diet the calendar shoots
yeah.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
Yeah, well, that was the diet, of course.
Speaker 1 (02:48):
Exactly, exactly so.
Man, I know you've beenextremely successful.
I've seen your growth, you know, over the years and I couldn't
be more proud of the successthat you're having and now that
you have, you know, built whereyou have people that you're
working with on a team together.
What challenges have you facedwhen scaling up your real estate
(03:11):
business?
Speaker 2 (03:12):
Yeah, great question.
So for me personally, it's alittle bit different, because we
operate in multiple states.
Whereas a lot of agents andteams are, you know, they're
obviously in their one area,teams are, you know, they're
obviously in their one area.
I'm very fortunate that I havea very successful team both in
Colorado, the Front RangeColorado and also Southeast
Florida.
So you know, palm Beach County,miami, fort Lauderdale, and so
(03:36):
that's a really that's one ofthe big challenges is because
you know they're two verydifferent states.
The contracts are very different, the legal ramifications, of
course, we have our nationallaws that we have to follow, but
then there, you know, we haveour state rules and our little
nuances, and so that's one ofthe bigger challenges is making
(03:56):
sure that I am not justproficient for myself, but now I
have people that are relying onme.
I've got team members that lookto me.
So I have to make sure that youknow I understand every single
contract, every single legalterm, the right way to advise
people, not just from a realestate perspective but from a
legal standpoint as well.
Speaker 1 (04:16):
Man, I love that.
I love that.
And you're taking care of yourclients.
You're taking care of your,your team members.
You're taking a lot of times.
You take care of your teammembers.
You're taking a lot of times.
You take care of the other sideof the transaction.
You know that maybe thatthere's people involved on the
other side that maybe not havehad as much experience in the
contract negotiation side andunderstand, maybe, how the
(04:40):
timelines are affected oncertain deadlines and stuff like
that.
That's really I'm glad that youtake that very seriously,
because you know that's that'snumber one for a lot of people
is, you know, protecting thefiduciary side of things for
their clients.
So that's that's wonderful thatyou do that.
Speaker 2 (04:59):
Yeah, and if I can touch on that too, because
you're you're a hundred percentright, and in Florida I have
this conversation a lot becauseFlorida's got more licensed
agents than any state in thecountry and it's a significant
difference.
I think California is numbertwo, but there's like $130,000
person difference there.
Wow, I would say the last dozenof our transactions in Florida
(05:21):
we've ended up having to do themajority of the other side's
work because you just don't knowhow to prepare documents, they
don't know how to followdeadlines and you know, at the
end of the day, ourresponsibility, like you said,
our fiduciary responsibilitiesto our clients.
I want to make sure that notonly they're getting a good deal
, but they're protected legally.
You know, everything transfersthe way it should be, all of
(05:42):
those types of things, whetherthey're buying or selling, and
it's just not easy with theamount of new agents that just
don't take the time.
Everybody wants to be onselling sunset the day after
they get their license.
You know what I mean right,right, no.
Speaker 1 (05:54):
And you brought up an interesting point because, uh,
it's not just um in real estate,but a lot of different
businesses, think our businessgenres.
People think that it's going tobe easy stepping into a certain
career and a lot of timesthere's a lot of factors that
(06:15):
you don't really see before youactually get into the business.
So you know, kind of switchinga little bit on this though,
like as you have gotten into thereal estate career genre, what
unexpected opportunities havehave kind of helped you along
the way to experience thisgrowth?
Speaker 2 (06:44):
been kind of I've always been a really outgoing
person.
I like to go in you knowdifferent events and go and talk
to people and speak to people.
It's just kind of in my nature,which has been awesome, because
a lot of real estate you know,that's what it is in the
beginning, you know.
And to kind of go back towhat's a difficult thing for me
in real estate, it's being asalesman, because I'm not a
salesman, I'm, you know, I'mjust a guy that wants to help
people out and support my family.
(07:04):
So that's been a really awesomeopportunity for me.
Or something that's reallyhelped me grow is, you know,
just being able to be myself.
You know not being so held tothe constraints that I was when
I was in the military, when Iwas a fireman.
You know it's not as regimented, it's not as you know SOPs and
(07:25):
step by step.
Obviously you have those whenyou get into the actual you know
contracts and those types ofthings.
But that's been a really great,great thing for me being
involved in the local community.
I'm also first generationItalian.
I mean, I'm sorry, firstgeneration American.
So my dad immigrated here as ateenager and what's really
(07:46):
awesome is South Florida is fullof the Italian community.
All first generation areimmigrants and so being plugged
into that community also is justamazing, because I get to help
people that were like my fatherand like myself, that don't
understand or didn't understandor need assistance with real
estate and operating in a newcountry and stuff like that and
(08:07):
it's.
It's really, really profound,it's awesome.
Speaker 1 (08:09):
That is really cool, man, and props to you because
you know making, making your ownway from the military and the
fire dog side of stuff, uh, andand building this successful
business.
Man, props to you.
I.
I've really respected yourgrowth man.
Really cool, appreciate itAbsolutely.
So, uh, how.
One of the things, man, and uh,the thing that I kind of see is
(08:32):
in real estate is it's almostlike a uh, like shifting sands.
The industry's changingconstantly, so like, how do you
stay ahead of those type ofindustry trends?
Speaker 2 (08:43):
Yeah, the biggest thing is being informed.
I'm a big proponent, I say thisall the time.
My agents probably get tired ofhearing it, but I don't do
scripts and our agents don't doscripts, and I always tell
people the same thing over andover your knowledge is your
script, and I'll give you anexample of what I mean by that.
Speaker 1 (09:04):
So there's a lot of agents and I'm not knocking
agents that do scripts.
Speaker 2 (09:07):
If that's how they choose to do their business,
it's totally fine.
It's just for me it doesn'twork that way.
But I'll give you an example.
You know, we are in this weirdenvironment where, you know, one
week you'll have an interestrate that's close to eight and
then the next week you'll be inthe high fives.
Houses are sitting, houses aregoing it's kind of all over the
place, and I really preachknowledge, knowledge, knowledge
(09:31):
to my agents.
So learn how to read the market,learn how to follow the feds,
learn how to talk to yourlending partners and your title
partners.
What are people seeing in themarket?
What are buyers seeing?
What are they feeling?
Same thing on the sales sideand when.
What are people seeing in themarket?
What are buyers seeing?
What are they feeling?
Same thing on the sales side andwhen you, when you learn how to
do all those things and youlearn how to read the data, you
(09:51):
can, you can paint yourself apicture.
That is more or less.
You know.
It's not an exact science, ofcourse, but it can at least give
you an idea of where things aregoing, based on the trends, or
where you're at right now andand then from there you can
determine how do I advise thisparticular client.
Is it a business owner?
Is it a first time home buyer?
(10:12):
Is it somebody that wants tobuy rental properties?
You learn all those trends andyou specialize in the market and
your area and that'll tell youthe patterns.
That'll help you give at leastan idea of where the market is
going in the future and how toadvise those clients.
Speaker 1 (10:28):
Love that man.
That's super solid right there.
So one of the things, as you'vebeen building out your team,
how do you like I've always beentold in in building teams, uh,
(10:48):
having the right hires can makea break the business.
So how do you, how do youcreate that strong culture that
people people want to be there,want to continue to grow with
you and and finding the rightpeople to be a part of that as
you continue to build it.
Speaker 2 (11:04):
Yeah, you have that's the biggest thing, right?
I mean, you're only as strongas your weakest link.
And my approach to a team is Idon't want there's some mega
teams out there that have, youknow, 20, 30, 40, 50 agents and
they do a ton of volume.
They do all these things.
Okay, that was never myintention.
You know, I'm the type ofperson that I set my goals for
(11:26):
the year and whatever thosevolume goals are, whatever those
transaction side goals are,those are what I'm going to aim
for, and once I hit that, youknow, I know there's a lot of
agents that they're like man,once I hit my goal, I'm going to
keep trucking.
I'm going to keep going, youknow, floor pedal to the metal
and I'm going to try and doubleor triple or whatever.
That's not me.
That's not why I got into thisbusiness, and so I want to
(11:48):
connect with other people thatare like that.
We're going to work really,really hard for our clients.
We're going to work really,really hard for our families.
But, first and foremost, whenI'm talking to agents that are
interested in joining the teambecause we don't do any outbound
marketing to get team members,we really don't when I'm talking
and interviewing with theseguys.
(12:09):
I want to know what theirpurpose is.
Why are they in real estate?
Why do they want to join theteam?
What are their goals?
What are their and it's notreal estate related.
You know, a lot of times I'llhear people come and they'll
tell me oh, I want to sell Xamount of real estate.
That's great.
Whether it's 5 million, 10million, 20 million, 2 million,
whatever that goal is, that'sgreat, we'll get you there.
But I want to know why you'redoing those things right.
(12:32):
Are you a good fit that if Ileave, right Like I've been
burned a lot in real estate fromother agents, team members, all
these things and I want to havethe comfort of, hey, I can go
on a three-day trip or aweek-long trip with my family
and I can trust that an agent onmy team, if they have to step
in, they're not going to try andsteal that client, and I want
(12:53):
them to feel that same thing.
So that's really what it's allabout.
If you're a good person, let'sdo it.
Let's figure out your goals andlet's make it happen.
Speaker 1 (13:03):
I love that man and and building that, that
camaraderie and with integrityfrom the start.
That's huge.
Speaker 2 (13:11):
Yeah, sorry, I didn't mean to cut you off there, but
if I could, one more thing too.
You know A lot of agents and Idon't blame them for this at all
but team agents, well, theyhave team agreements.
As soon as somebody comes on,they sign their team agreements.
Hey, you can't do this, you cando this, you're withheld into
these certain things.
I don't do that.
I look at it when I'm talkingto somebody and I say listen,
(13:33):
you want to join my team, that'sgreat.
I look at it from a differenttype of leadership perspective.
I have a different view onleadership.
A lot of agents, especiallywhen they get to be producing a
lot, they kind of get this, youknow, big head on their
shoulders and they think thatall their agents work for them.
I don't look at it like that.
(13:56):
My view is much more like amilitary fire approach Leaders
eat last and lead by exampletype of deal.
So in my look at it is hey, youwant to join?
If Ryan wants to join my team,I need to, as the team lead, I
need to show Ryan why I deserveto earn a portion of his
business.
Why is Ryan or Joe or whoever?
(14:17):
Why are they trusting me togive me a portion of their
compensation.
I have to earn that and I haveto earn it by providing those
resources.
So I love that I don't.
I don't do team agreements.
One day that might bite me, youknow, I'm very well aware of
that.
But in my opinion, if I go intoit with this very structured
rule system, you know we'rewe're not starting off on a on a
(14:39):
level of trust, we're startingoff on a level of employee,
employer, and that's not what Iwant.
Speaker 1 (14:43):
No, I gotcha, and and it's got to fit the way that
you feel comfortable with it,man, so do what you got to do on
that side of it.
So, um, what?
What unique challenges do yousee in your industry right now?
Uh, that that are facing, youknow, real estate agents as a
whole that are facing realestate agents as a whole.
Speaker 2 (15:03):
So I think the biggest challenge it's not
anything to do with the market.
That's what a lot of peoplefocus on.
Listen, houses are always goingto be needed.
People are always going to bebuying and selling.
It's just the way it is.
I think the biggest challengefor professional real estate
agents is dealing with all ofthese newer agents that come in
and they, you know, they thinkthat they can just make a social
(15:26):
media video and run the worldof real estate.
I think it's a really bigproblem.
I think it's a problem becausethey're not learning the
contracts, they're not learningthe business and, at the end of
the day, the clients are theones that are paying the price.
And the clients don't knowRight, and we can't go have that
conversation with the client.
But for to give you a quickexample, about a month ago we
(15:46):
had an agent submit an offer andshe wrote it improperly that if
we wouldn't have said anything,which we had no moral
obligation to do so we no legalobligation, rather, we felt we
had a moral obligation to, buther client would have ended up
paying $41,000 at the closingtable for absolutely no reason
because she filled in incorrectpaperwork.
And that's the biggest realestate industry right now is.
(16:08):
You have all of these agentsand you know people joke about
you know the military will takeanybody with a with a heartbeat.
It's easier to get your realestate license nowadays.
So, yeah, right, I see thebiggest problem, especially when
you have these clients that aretrusting this agent.
The agent puts on a nice suit,they go out and rent the G-Wagon
(16:29):
to make it look like they'redoing all this business, but
they're selling one house a yearand then people on property.
So I think that's number one,by far the biggest challenge in
the real estate industry today.
Speaker 1 (16:40):
Man, that's quality.
Dropping some knowledge rightthere.
My friends love that stuffright there.
So as you continue to growwhat's where?
Speaker 2 (16:53):
where do you see your group headed in in the next
year or two?
That's a great question.
You know where I would like tosee us at.
I want to just continue to grow.
You know, maybe add a couple ofagents here or there.
Like I said, I want to keep usreally a really smaller, tight
knit team.
The goal is not to be a bigteam that does average business.
The goal is to be a tight smallgroup that does a lot of
(17:14):
business and we're known forbeing ethical.
We're known for being goodpeople, known for being ethical,
we're known for being goodpeople.
So that that way, if an agenton the other side, if I work
with that agent and then I endup having an opportunity to do
another deal with them in thefuture, that they're going to
tell their clients hey, listen,tristan and his team, they're
squared away, they know whatthey're doing, they're great
agents.
We're not going to have aproblem.
(17:35):
That's what I want and I wantour name to continue to grow and
to continue to get out there sothat these people, when they
you know the clients, theaverage people when they see our
name, they think of us as beingthat higher tiered team, right,
not just your average agents.
We're not making all of thesocial media videos where you
know we're not jumping intopools with our clothes on Again,
(17:56):
if that's the way you do yourbusiness, totally fine.
We don't do it like that.
I strictly operate fromprofessionalism and I want
people to see that and I want itto continue to grow in that
direction.
Speaker 1 (18:06):
That's phenomenal stuff right there, my friend.
So, man, I could talk to youall day long on these questions,
because I just love hearingyour perspective on where the
industry is going.
I just love hearing yourperspective on where the
industry is going, but you know,unfortunately our time is up
for tonight.
But thank you so much forcoming on, man.
(18:26):
And if people are interested inyour services, how can they get
a hold of you, my friend?
Speaker 2 (18:31):
Yeah, any social media platform, we're there.
You can go on to Facebook, theCalibro group on Facebook.
We're on Zillow, instagram,tristan Calibro or the Calibro
group.
You can find us there.
Anybody is always free tomessage me.
I'm super super open, superhonest.
If it's just hey, I want tobriefly chat with you about
(18:52):
something, or hey, I'm reallyinterested, get me on any of
those.
You guys can call me mynumber's on all those platforms
also, so I'm always here.
Speaker 1 (19:00):
Phenomenal man.
Always a pleasure getting tochat with you, my friend.
It is, you know, definitelyrespect what you got going on in
in here in Colorado and inFlorida.
Man, keep up the good work andbest of luck in everything that
you got going on, my friend.
Speaker 2 (19:15):
Right on.
Thanks, sir, appreciate you.
What's up everybody.
This Ryan Van Ornam back withanother episode of scaling up
success podcast, brought to youby synergist, the place where
you can scale your business at afraction of the cost.
Today I have Tristan Calabro ofthe Calabro group here in
Colorado.
Tristan, how are you today, myfriend?
Speaker 2 (00:23):
doing good man.
How about yourself?
Speaker 1 (00:26):
Man, it's a great day and I'm so excited to catch up
with you.
We've been friends for years,man, and I'm just so excited to
hear more about what you've beendoing and how you've been
building out what you got goingon, man.
Really cool to have you onagain, man.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
Yeah, no, appreciate it.
Thanks for the invite.
Really cool to have you onagain man.
Speaker 1 (00:45):
Yeah, no, appreciate it.
Thanks for thanks for theinvite, absolutely so.
Um well, tell everybody youknow kind of like you're, you're
, you have the Colabro group, uh, that that you've built in real
estate here in Colorado.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
Tell, tell everybody kind of like your, your origin
story of this superhero, uh realestate group that you got going
on.
Man, yeah, um's pretty simplereally.
I was a fireman for severalyears in a couple different
cities and I just I wanted toget into real estate.
Kind of the long story, shortof it, is I wanted more time
with my kids.
You know, of course we allthink that when we get into
owning our own business thatwe're going to have a bunch of
time and then that's veryquickly.
Uh, you realize that's not thecase, but I want to be more with
(01:30):
present with my kids and atleast this way allowed me to
control a little bit more ofthat time.
You know, I work a lot more butI can at least kind of tailor
it to, you know, making sure I'mthere for birthdays or for
christmas and all those things Ididn't have before.
So that's kind of where itstarted as far as real estate.
And from there, you know, I hada really successful first year.
(01:51):
I was really blessed, but Ilearned very quickly that
there's a lot of, you know,people and people in this
industry that aren't really themost trustworthy and aren't the
greatest to work with at alltimes and I fell victim to that
and I kind of decided at thatpoint after a couple of years
(02:12):
like, hey, listen, I want to bethat beacon for people that they
feel like they can come hereand be really successful, they
can start a really good business, learn how to do all the things
that I've now done for myself,but in a way that doesn't take
away, you know, 90% of theirpaycheck or make their life
miserable.
So I created my own team.
Speaker 1 (02:33):
I love that man.
I honestly thought the reasonwhy you were getting out of
being a firefighter and intoreal estate was because you got
tired of doing all the calendarshoots.
Yeah, yeah, Well, that was partof the diet the calendar shoots
yeah.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
Yeah, well, that was the diet, of course.
Speaker 1 (02:48):
Exactly, exactly so.
Man, I know you've beenextremely successful.
I've seen your growth, you know, over the years and I couldn't
be more proud of the successthat you're having and now that
you have, you know, built whereyou have people that you're
working with on a team together.
What challenges have you facedwhen scaling up your real estate
(03:11):
business?
Speaker 2 (03:12):
Yeah, great question.
So for me personally, it's alittle bit different, because we
operate in multiple states.
Whereas a lot of agents andteams are, you know, they're
obviously in their one area,teams are, you know, they're
obviously in their one area.
I'm very fortunate that I havea very successful team both in
Colorado, the Front RangeColorado and also Southeast
Florida.
So you know, palm Beach County,miami, fort Lauderdale, and so
(03:36):
that's a really that's one ofthe big challenges is because
you know they're two verydifferent states.
The contracts are very different, the legal ramifications, of
course, we have our nationallaws that we have to follow, but
then there, you know, we haveour state rules and our little
nuances, and so that's one ofthe bigger challenges is making
(03:56):
sure that I am not justproficient for myself, but now I
have people that are relying onme.
I've got team members that lookto me.
So I have to make sure that youknow I understand every single
contract, every single legalterm, the right way to advise
people, not just from a realestate perspective but from a
legal standpoint as well.
Speaker 1 (04:16):
Man, I love that.
I love that.
And you're taking care of yourclients.
You're taking care of your,your team members.
You're taking a lot of times.
You take care of your teammembers.
You're taking a lot of times.
You take care of the other sideof the transaction.
You know that maybe thatthere's people involved on the
other side that maybe not havehad as much experience in the
contract negotiation side andunderstand, maybe, how the
(04:40):
timelines are affected oncertain deadlines and stuff like
that.
That's really I'm glad that youtake that very seriously,
because you know that's that'snumber one for a lot of people
is, you know, protecting thefiduciary side of things for
their clients.
So that's that's wonderful thatyou do that.
Speaker 2 (04:59):
Yeah, and if I can touch on that too, because
you're you're a hundred percentright, and in Florida I have
this conversation a lot becauseFlorida's got more licensed
agents than any state in thecountry and it's a significant
difference.
I think California is numbertwo, but there's like $130,000
person difference there.
Wow, I would say the last dozenof our transactions in Florida
(05:21):
we've ended up having to do themajority of the other side's
work because you just don't knowhow to prepare documents, they
don't know how to followdeadlines and you know, at the
end of the day, ourresponsibility, like you said,
our fiduciary responsibilitiesto our clients.
I want to make sure that notonly they're getting a good deal
, but they're protected legally.
You know, everything transfersthe way it should be, all of
(05:42):
those types of things, whetherthey're buying or selling, and
it's just not easy with theamount of new agents that just
don't take the time.
Everybody wants to be onselling sunset the day after
they get their license.
You know what I mean right,right, no.
Speaker 1 (05:54):
And you brought up an interesting point because, uh,
it's not just um in real estate,but a lot of different
businesses, think our businessgenres.
People think that it's going tobe easy stepping into a certain
career and a lot of timesthere's a lot of factors that
(06:15):
you don't really see before youactually get into the business.
So you know, kind of switchinga little bit on this though,
like as you have gotten into thereal estate career genre, what
unexpected opportunities havehave kind of helped you along
the way to experience thisgrowth?
Speaker 2 (06:44):
been kind of I've always been a really outgoing
person.
I like to go in you knowdifferent events and go and talk
to people and speak to people.
It's just kind of in my nature,which has been awesome, because
a lot of real estate you know,that's what it is in the
beginning, you know.
And to kind of go back towhat's a difficult thing for me
in real estate, it's being asalesman, because I'm not a
salesman, I'm, you know, I'mjust a guy that wants to help
people out and support my family.
(07:04):
So that's been a really awesomeopportunity for me.
Or something that's reallyhelped me grow is, you know,
just being able to be myself.
You know not being so held tothe constraints that I was when
I was in the military, when Iwas a fireman.
You know it's not as regimented, it's not as you know SOPs and
(07:25):
step by step.
Obviously you have those whenyou get into the actual you know
contracts and those types ofthings.
But that's been a really great,great thing for me being
involved in the local community.
I'm also first generationItalian.
I mean, I'm sorry, firstgeneration American.
So my dad immigrated here as ateenager and what's really
(07:46):
awesome is South Florida is fullof the Italian community.
All first generation areimmigrants and so being plugged
into that community also is justamazing, because I get to help
people that were like my fatherand like myself, that don't
understand or didn't understandor need assistance with real
estate and operating in a newcountry and stuff like that and
(08:07):
it's.
It's really, really profound,it's awesome.
Speaker 1 (08:09):
That is really cool, man, and props to you because
you know making, making your ownway from the military and the
fire dog side of stuff, uh, andand building this successful
business.
Man, props to you.
I.
I've really respected yourgrowth man.
Really cool, appreciate itAbsolutely.
So, uh, how.
One of the things, man, and uh,the thing that I kind of see is
(08:32):
in real estate is it's almostlike a uh, like shifting sands.
The industry's changingconstantly, so like, how do you
stay ahead of those type ofindustry trends?
Speaker 2 (08:43):
Yeah, the biggest thing is being informed.
I'm a big proponent, I say thisall the time.
My agents probably get tired ofhearing it, but I don't do
scripts and our agents don't doscripts, and I always tell
people the same thing over andover your knowledge is your
script, and I'll give you anexample of what I mean by that.
Speaker 1 (09:04):
So there's a lot of agents and I'm not knocking
agents that do scripts.
Speaker 2 (09:07):
If that's how they choose to do their business,
it's totally fine.
It's just for me it doesn'twork that way.
But I'll give you an example.
You know, we are in this weirdenvironment where, you know, one
week you'll have an interestrate that's close to eight and
then the next week you'll be inthe high fives.
Houses are sitting, houses aregoing it's kind of all over the
place, and I really preachknowledge, knowledge, knowledge
(09:31):
to my agents.
So learn how to read the market,learn how to follow the feds,
learn how to talk to yourlending partners and your title
partners.
What are people seeing in themarket?
What are buyers seeing?
What are they feeling?
Same thing on the sales sideand when.
What are people seeing in themarket?
What are buyers seeing?
What are they feeling?
Same thing on the sales side andwhen you, when you learn how to
do all those things and youlearn how to read the data, you
(09:51):
can, you can paint yourself apicture.
That is more or less.
You know.
It's not an exact science, ofcourse, but it can at least give
you an idea of where things aregoing, based on the trends, or
where you're at right now andand then from there you can
determine how do I advise thisparticular client.
Is it a business owner?
Is it a first time home buyer?
(10:12):
Is it somebody that wants tobuy rental properties?
You learn all those trends andyou specialize in the market and
your area and that'll tell youthe patterns.
That'll help you give at leastan idea of where the market is
going in the future and how toadvise those clients.
Speaker 1 (10:28):
Love that man.
That's super solid right there.
So one of the things, as you'vebeen building out your team,
how do you like I've always beentold in in building teams, uh,
(10:48):
having the right hires can makea break the business.
So how do you, how do youcreate that strong culture that
people people want to be there,want to continue to grow with
you and and finding the rightpeople to be a part of that as
you continue to build it.
Speaker 2 (11:04):
Yeah, you have that's the biggest thing, right?
I mean, you're only as strongas your weakest link.
And my approach to a team is Idon't want there's some mega
teams out there that have, youknow, 20, 30, 40, 50 agents and
they do a ton of volume.
They do all these things.
Okay, that was never myintention.
You know, I'm the type ofperson that I set my goals for
(11:26):
the year and whatever thosevolume goals are, whatever those
transaction side goals are,those are what I'm going to aim
for, and once I hit that, youknow, I know there's a lot of
agents that they're like man,once I hit my goal, I'm going to
keep trucking.
I'm going to keep going, youknow, floor pedal to the metal
and I'm going to try and doubleor triple or whatever.
That's not me.
That's not why I got into thisbusiness, and so I want to
(11:48):
connect with other people thatare like that.
We're going to work really,really hard for our clients.
We're going to work really,really hard for our families.
But, first and foremost, whenI'm talking to agents that are
interested in joining the teambecause we don't do any outbound
marketing to get team members,we really don't when I'm talking
and interviewing with theseguys.
(12:09):
I want to know what theirpurpose is.
Why are they in real estate?
Why do they want to join theteam?
What are their goals?
What are their and it's notreal estate related.
You know, a lot of times I'llhear people come and they'll
tell me oh, I want to sell Xamount of real estate.
That's great.
Whether it's 5 million, 10million, 20 million, 2 million,
whatever that goal is, that'sgreat, we'll get you there.
But I want to know why you'redoing those things right.
(12:32):
Are you a good fit that if Ileave, right Like I've been
burned a lot in real estate fromother agents, team members, all
these things and I want to havethe comfort of, hey, I can go
on a three-day trip or aweek-long trip with my family
and I can trust that an agent onmy team, if they have to step
in, they're not going to try andsteal that client, and I want
(12:53):
them to feel that same thing.
So that's really what it's allabout.
If you're a good person, let'sdo it.
Let's figure out your goals andlet's make it happen.
Speaker 1 (13:03):
I love that man and and building that, that
camaraderie and with integrityfrom the start.
That's huge.
Speaker 2 (13:11):
Yeah, sorry, I didn't mean to cut you off there, but
if I could, one more thing too.
You know A lot of agents and Idon't blame them for this at all
but team agents, well, theyhave team agreements.
As soon as somebody comes on,they sign their team agreements.
Hey, you can't do this, you cando this, you're withheld into
these certain things.
I don't do that.
I look at it when I'm talkingto somebody and I say listen,
(13:33):
you want to join my team, that'sgreat.
I look at it from a differenttype of leadership perspective.
I have a different view onleadership.
A lot of agents, especiallywhen they get to be producing a
lot, they kind of get this, youknow, big head on their
shoulders and they think thatall their agents work for them.
I don't look at it like that.
(13:56):
My view is much more like amilitary fire approach Leaders
eat last and lead by exampletype of deal.
So in my look at it is hey, youwant to join?
If Ryan wants to join my team,I need to, as the team lead, I
need to show Ryan why I deserveto earn a portion of his
business.
Why is Ryan or Joe or whoever?
(14:17):
Why are they trusting me togive me a portion of their
compensation.
I have to earn that and I haveto earn it by providing those
resources.
So I love that I don't.
I don't do team agreements.
One day that might bite me, youknow, I'm very well aware of
that.
But in my opinion, if I go intoit with this very structured
rule system, you know we'rewe're not starting off on a on a
(14:39):
level of trust, we're startingoff on a level of employee,
employer, and that's not what Iwant.
Speaker 1 (14:43):
No, I gotcha, and and it's got to fit the way that
you feel comfortable with it,man, so do what you got to do on
that side of it.
So, um, what?
What unique challenges do yousee in your industry right now?
Uh, that that are facing, youknow, real estate agents as a
whole that are facing realestate agents as a whole.
Speaker 2 (15:03):
So I think the biggest challenge it's not
anything to do with the market.
That's what a lot of peoplefocus on.
Listen, houses are always goingto be needed.
People are always going to bebuying and selling.
It's just the way it is.
I think the biggest challengefor professional real estate
agents is dealing with all ofthese newer agents that come in
and they, you know, they thinkthat they can just make a social
(15:26):
media video and run the worldof real estate.
I think it's a really bigproblem.
I think it's a problem becausethey're not learning the
contracts, they're not learningthe business and, at the end of
the day, the clients are theones that are paying the price.
And the clients don't knowRight, and we can't go have that
conversation with the client.
But for to give you a quickexample, about a month ago we
(15:46):
had an agent submit an offer andshe wrote it improperly that if
we wouldn't have said anything,which we had no moral
obligation to do so we no legalobligation, rather, we felt we
had a moral obligation to, buther client would have ended up
paying $41,000 at the closingtable for absolutely no reason
because she filled in incorrectpaperwork.
And that's the biggest realestate industry right now is.
(16:08):
You have all of these agentsand you know people joke about
you know the military will takeanybody with a with a heartbeat.
It's easier to get your realestate license nowadays.
So, yeah, right, I see thebiggest problem, especially when
you have these clients that aretrusting this agent.
The agent puts on a nice suit,they go out and rent the G-Wagon
(16:29):
to make it look like they'redoing all this business, but
they're selling one house a yearand then people on property.
So I think that's number one,by far the biggest challenge in
the real estate industry today.
Speaker 1 (16:40):
Man, that's quality.
Dropping some knowledge rightthere.
My friends love that stuffright there.
So as you continue to growwhat's where?
Speaker 2 (16:53):
where do you see your group headed in in the next
year or two?
That's a great question.
You know where I would like tosee us at.
I want to just continue to grow.
You know, maybe add a couple ofagents here or there.
Like I said, I want to keep usreally a really smaller, tight
knit team.
The goal is not to be a bigteam that does average business.
The goal is to be a tight smallgroup that does a lot of
(17:14):
business and we're known forbeing ethical.
We're known for being goodpeople, known for being ethical,
we're known for being goodpeople.
So that that way, if an agenton the other side, if I work
with that agent and then I endup having an opportunity to do
another deal with them in thefuture, that they're going to
tell their clients hey, listen,tristan and his team, they're
squared away, they know whatthey're doing, they're great
agents.
We're not going to have aproblem.
(17:35):
That's what I want and I wantour name to continue to grow and
to continue to get out there sothat these people, when they
you know the clients, theaverage people when they see our
name, they think of us as beingthat higher tiered team, right,
not just your average agents.
We're not making all of thesocial media videos where you
know we're not jumping intopools with our clothes on Again,
(17:56):
if that's the way you do yourbusiness, totally fine.
We don't do it like that.
I strictly operate fromprofessionalism and I want
people to see that and I want itto continue to grow in that
direction.
Speaker 1 (18:06):
That's phenomenal stuff right there, my friend.
So, man, I could talk to youall day long on these questions,
because I just love hearingyour perspective on where the
industry is going.
I just love hearing yourperspective on where the
industry is going, but you know,unfortunately our time is up
for tonight.
But thank you so much forcoming on, man.
(18:26):
And if people are interested inyour services, how can they get
a hold of you, my friend?
Speaker 2 (18:31):
Yeah, any social media platform, we're there.
You can go on to Facebook, theCalibro group on Facebook.
We're on Zillow, instagram,tristan Calibro or the Calibro
group.
You can find us there.
Anybody is always free tomessage me.
I'm super super open, superhonest.
If it's just hey, I want tobriefly chat with you about
(18:52):
something, or hey, I'm reallyinterested, get me on any of
those.
You guys can call me mynumber's on all those platforms
also, so I'm always here.
Speaker 1 (19:00):
Phenomenal man.
Always a pleasure getting tochat with you, my friend.
It is, you know, definitelyrespect what you got going on in
in here in Colorado and inFlorida.
Man, keep up the good work andbest of luck in everything that
you got going on, my friend.
Speaker 2 (19:15):
Right on.
Thanks, sir, appreciate you.
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