How to Build a Real Estate Business From Scratch (No Leads, No Buyers)

Haley Cole (00:00)
You cannot give up. feel like a lot of realtors nowadays and because like I feel like we’re so saturated with agents now, like even more probably than ever. Everybody wants to be a realtor. ⁓ And so it can be hard to kind of keep your motivation up and keep your eye on the goal, which is obviously to end up being successful in the business. ⁓ But you just you can’t give up. I’ve seen a lot that

You know, even some that have come to me and they expect to kind of like be me overnight or just any hardworking agent who has worked very hard. It’s been eight years in the making for myself and that doesn’t happen and they get discouraged and they quit. But you just can’t give up.

Dylan Silver (02:15)
Hey, folks, welcome back to the show. Today we’re joined by Haley Cole, a top producing real estate broker serving all of Oklahoma across residential, commercial and leasing. She built her business from the ground up, securing 22 listings her first year without earning a commission until year two and has since become the highest producing agent in her county. Alongside her sales business, she’s also a buy and hold investor and flipper, giving her a real operator’s perspective on how deals actually work from acquisition to exit. Haley.

Thanks for joining us today.

Haley Cole (02:46)
Thank you for having me. I’m so excited to be here.

Dylan Silver (02:49)
Now I want to ask you about really bootstrapping the business and how was that first year like?

Haley Cole (02:56)
So it was grueling. ⁓ It was 2018 and the market was really not good, very slow. ⁓ basically, as soon as I started, hit the ground running, tried to secure every For Sale By Owner that I could. This consisted of me driving through town looking for For Sale By Owner signs, but also going on Facebook Marketplace, all the most ⁓ local marketplace websites, people will post their houses For Sale By Owner.

So I did a lot of that and yeah, I got a lot of listings very soon. ⁓ But the problem was there were no buyers. So that’s where I didn’t make any money right away, which was kind of hard. ⁓ But with that being said, I’m gonna walk back here because one of my agents is about to walk in. But with that being said, yeah, I worked really, really hard. I was able to… ⁓

Finally sell something but yeah, it wasn’t until you know year one because There just wasn’t really a lot going on at that time ⁓ But I just worked hard and I feel like it really paid off

Dylan Silver (04:00)
Now, when we talk about the on-ramp into real estate success as a realtor, I hear all types of different methodologies, but if you right now had to start over again, what steps would you take?

Haley Cole (05:04)
goodness. ⁓ I would probably still stick with trying to find all the for sale by owners that I could. ⁓ Also expired listings, just doing everything that I could there. I would probably still do the same thing honestly in marketing. That was a huge thing. I was building my business page at that time. So posting every day multiple times a day even if it looked annoying when people thought of real estate I wanted them to think of Haley Cole. So I worked really hard at branding myself.

Dylan Silver (05:29)
Someone recently told me, it’s not annoying, it’s professionally present. And I said, okay, I’ll ⁓ co-op that one. I like that. Now, when you talk about going from that into then becoming a part owner of a brokerage and then becoming a brokerage owner earlier this year out on your own, was the intent from the beginning to scale a team underneath you, when did that idea come in?

Haley Cole (05:39)
Cheers.

So I got my broker’s license in 2023, because in Oklahoma you have to be a licensed realtor for four years before you can apply and take your test, of course. So I did that. And right when I decided to get my broker’s license, I knew that I wanted to build a team. So I started doing that right away. And you know, have a lot of people who are interested, right? And not a ton who actually follow through, like with the schooling, take their test and pass it.

But I knew building a team was like definitely what I want to do because I want to expand. I don’t want coal properties just to be an altis. I would like it to be in the metro. ⁓ Lawton is close to us, which is another big city, kind of like Oklahoma City, a little smaller, but still lots of real estate going on. So I knew to have a team would really help me with that. Just kind of expand.

Dylan Silver (06:42)
Now how has being a flipper and buy and hold investor changed the way you look at deals as a broker?

Haley Cole (06:50)
It’s been helpful because I think like if it were me, you know, and then also the knowledge, of course, of going into a property and taking it down to the suds, redoing everything, it’s also helped me notice things that look, you know, potentially concerning when showing my clients houses, which has been nice. ⁓ Just having that knowledge that comes with time and experience, I think it’s been very beneficial because I can then help my clients the best that I can having been on both sides.

Dylan Silver (07:18)
I want to ask you a question pivoting back to scaling a business as a realtor and then as a broker. There’s so many people right now who may have a real estate license. They’re trying to find their rhythm, right? Or maybe they took a break and they’re getting back in. Real estate is cyclical, but also you can deal with kind of a cyclical level of motivation and of production. How have you managed to swim in those waters and to stay consistent?

Haley Cole (07:44)
You cannot give up. feel like a lot of realtors nowadays and because like I feel like we’re so saturated with agents now, like even more probably than ever. Everybody wants to be a realtor. ⁓ And so it can be hard to kind of keep your motivation up and keep your eye on the goal, which is obviously to end up being successful in the business. ⁓ But you just you can’t give up. I’ve seen a lot that

You know, even some that have come to me and they expect to kind of like be me overnight or just any hardworking agent who has worked very hard. It’s been eight years in the making for myself and that doesn’t happen and they get discouraged and they quit. But you just can’t give up.

If it’s something you want, and I know you’ve heard this saying, probably everybody has, but nothing worth having is easy. And you can’t give up if you know that it’s what you want to do and it’s your dream.

And I feel like for me, I sell insurance too. And the way I got into real estate was I had a broker approach me who asked if I wanted to do both. And I was like, well, sure, I’ll try it. Not knowing that real estate was gonna end up being my niche, which here we are. ⁓ But my advice would just be to literally never give up. And helping people is the most rewarding thing in the world. And there’s lots of ways to do that. But I love the aspect of they’re making a huge life decision.

You get to be a part of that. can make or break it for them as far as the way the process goes. You can make it simpler. You can make it hard. That means a lot to me. And I just love to make my clients happy.

Dylan Silver (09:15)
What type of insurance were you involved in at that time?

Haley Cole (09:19)
All kinds. Life, property casualty, commercial. I still do all of that too.

Dylan Silver (09:58)
Now, one of the things that I’ve heard people talk about, I’d say recently now more so than ever is, you know, what should they really niche down into in their marketing? And one of the things that is truly admirable about your story is you were treating real estate like a contact sport. You’re driving around, you’re, you know, reaching out to the for sale by owners, right? You’re seeing how many of these listings can I get locked up?

Sometimes people have this approach of, we’ve got AI now, I’m trying to do everything that I can online. I was just having this conversation with a buddy. How much are these people producing versus how much are they just posting online and showing someone else’s listing, right? What would you say is the importance and role of both of those? of that boots in the ground, pound the pavement, contact sport mentality versus having some type of digital presence.

Haley Cole (10:53)
You have to do it all. Like seriously, if you want to make this your bread and butter and you want to make a difference or you want to be the top producer in your area, you can’t pick and choose. You kind of have to go in head first and just do it all. ⁓ My marketing is constant, but also like you said, and like I was talking about earlier, boots on the ground is imperative. And even though AI is huge, personable,

⁓ Business face-to-face is still so important. ⁓ You know, I might use AI for an MLS property description, but like I’m still in my listings if they need to be cleaned or swept, I’m doing that. Air fresheners and changing the air, making sure that it’s gonna show well. I mean, just all kinds of things. It takes it all to set yourself apart because like I said, there are a lot of agents. Our area is saturated for not being a huge city.

⁓ And you have to set yourself apart, but I believe that’s gonna be in any market. You have to put your heart in it and show you truly care and be more than just a social media presence. It is important, but you also have to mirror that in person.

Dylan Silver (12:00)
Yeah, I think there’s certainly a lot of truth to that. And I think people sometimes can get caught up in media without the production. And I think there’s a lot of that in real estate. But on all sides, too, it’s not it’s not just specific to realtors. think investors as well and syndicators and lots of folks. But pivoting here, Haley, or investors who are looking at Oklahoma and Oklahoma is a great opportunity both for the acquisitions price and because of

Haley Cole (12:04)
Mm-hmm.

True.

Dylan Silver (12:28)
urban sprawl of the city’s expanding. Are there any areas in Oklahoma that you’re either really interested in or particularly bullish on?

Haley Cole (12:37)
So where I’m at in particular, we have a high demand for rentals because we do have our Altus Air Force Base here. We have pilots who come for short-term training on our Air Force Base. Because of that, they need short-term rentals. They’re usually here for six months or less for their training. But also we have military families who move here that are stationed here who are here anywhere from two to four years. So we have a high demand for rentals and houses that need to be bought and sold because also once they’re here,

well, eventually they’re going to move and they’re going to need to sell their house. So Altus is a revolving door for investors, whether you’re going to be on the long-term investment side or you’re going to buy a property and flip it and sell it. ⁓ In Oklahoma in general, would say Oklahoma City, have Tinker Air Force Base, same thing, high demand for properties because of that fluctuation of military families moving in and out. ⁓ Tulsa, just because it’s a big area would also do well. I would say

anything that’s a decent size, 20,000 people or more. Small towns, they’re hit or miss. You could get away with rentals, but they’re not going to be good for flipping a property and reselling it making a good profit.

Dylan Silver (13:46)
Now, if you’re looking at a single family home, and of course, it’s going to range based on the market value and what the market is like at large jobs, etc. What is an acquisitions price where you’re thinking, hey, if I can get a deal for this amount in Oklahoma, this the same.

Haley Cole (13:56)
Mm.

Okay, so it will depend on neighborhood area. I’ll tell you here in our area, like a steel for me is like if I can buy a property for $10,000 but it’s a full rehab, like it’s a gut, that’s a great deal. But if it’s in one of the nicest neighborhoods here, if I can get it for 150, that’s a steel too. So it depends on the neighborhood for sure, the area. Also cities do depend on that as well.

Oklahoma City, you’re going to spend some more money, but you’re going to also make some more money because there’s more people. Bigger buyers pool there for sure.

Dylan Silver (14:34)
And now for flippers who are looking at getting active out there, who may already be active, is there a mistake that you see people ⁓ regularly make in Oklahoma that you think, you know, this is avoidable, but you see people making it nonetheless?

Haley Cole (14:39)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah, I think you need to have some knowledge before you just decide to start flipping houses. And obviously you learn as you go for sure. But I think a lot of people are thinking that it’s just something they can wake up and decide to do and they don’t really learn about it. And so when that happens, they’re usually overpaying for a property or they’re paying a contractor way too much money or they’re paying someone who’s like, yeah, I have a crew of guys and what they’re doing is subcontracting out. So then they’re making more money, which means you’re spending more money.

⁓ I would say just not being knowledgeable, just deciding it’s something you want to do. Probably look into it first, figure out all the things you need to know because you can make big mistakes and definitely lose some money that way.

Dylan Silver (16:10)
Now, I consider myself to be a wholesaler agent ⁓ and I’m looking at investor friendly agents as well. And I think that there’s more and more people who are interested in doing the investing while also being active in brokerage. But there’s still a large contingency of ⁓ folks who are realtors and educators in this space who seem to think that there’s this huge division between those who invest and

those who are helping people find, you know, their forever home, their homestead. You know, what really separates agents who are working with investors or invest themselves versus the ones who don’t do that at all.

Haley Cole (16:49)
⁓ Literally the knowledge because the more knowledge you have and the more advice you can give to your clients Especially when you’ve been there done that that’s priceless to me Not that other agents can’t learn for sure because they can even if they’re not an investor theirself But they haven’t done it. So it’s a little bit different. You know what I mean? They can’t offer the same Help to the clients that I can because I can say well, this is what I did. This is what I recommend This is how I do it

It’s just a little bit different. I would say there is a huge difference ⁓ and it is important for your agent to have the knowledge and all of those areas to be able to help you in the best way.

Dylan Silver (17:28)
I’m convinced as well too that there’s a level of just language barrier, if you will. There’s just a vernacular that investors use where they’ll start to throw out a lot of these words just kind of as a test to see if their realtor knows what’s going on here. And I think a realtor can honestly do a great job working with an investor, but if they aren’t able to keep up with the lingo, they may lose it just from not being able to get through that kind of ⁓ screening, if you will.

Haley Cole (17:41)
yeah.

Dylan Silver (17:55)
And I also think that this is where things like co-listings work great. Because if I’m a realtor and I’m trying to get into working with investors and I have great rapport with someone, but I don’t understand the investment side of the game, if I’m in a brokerage like your brokerage and I’m able to co-list it with someone who has that background, that’s a win-win. They get a listing, I get experience working with someone who is well-versed in that arena.

Haley Cole (18:20)
Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely.

Dylan Silver (18:22)
We are coming up on time here, Haley, any new projects that you’re working on and then as well, what’s the best way for folks to get in contact with you or your team?

Haley Cole (18:30)
New projects as I’m building my team, expanding for sure within the next five years, absolutely. We’ll have multiple brokerages in other areas. ⁓ Best way to contact me is gonna be my cell phone. I do have a business phone, but I have my cell phone with me, literally 24 seven. So phone number is best to reach me. Email is also good, right? Because you know, a realtor like how many times do we check our email? A million times a day. So ⁓ cell phone or email, honestly, they’re pretty equal.

because I’m on both constantly.

Dylan Silver (19:02)
Haley, thank you so much for joining us today. Thank you for your time.

Haley Cole (19:05)
Thank

you. Thank you. See you later.