How Top Producers Scale Real Estate Teams, Close More Deals, and Build Wealth in Any Market

Esther Nahmani Isman (00:00)
I was able to actually become a top producer within the first three years in real estate, only doing it 50% of my time. I still ran my other business at the time. But the reason I was making it and I got Hall of Fame, which is a great— just to give you an idea, I made a million dollar within commission in three years, only doing it 50 times. But that was because I was committed. I was committed to what— where I wanted to be in, how I wanted to shine and how I wanted to do. But it wasn’t about the money. I was more committed to really making sure that my clients know the service I’m going to give them and my knowledge. And it’s interesting enough because I remember people said to me, “Esther, no matter what you’re going to sell, we’re just going to buy from you because it’s not with you— it’s not about the dollar. It’s about the process”

Scott Bursey (02:19)
Welcome back to the Real Estate Pros Podcast, powered by Investor Fuel. I’m your host, Scott Bursey. And today, pros, we’re tapping into a different kind of power. We’re joined by Esther Isman, a true powerhouse in the real estate space. Esther isn’t just navigating the market, she’s orchestrating it, balancing leadership roles at RE/MAX West Realty and Coldwell Banker, while actively scaling her own single family residential investment portfolio. Esther brings a rare high octane fuel to the table. She’s mastered the art of building systems that work for both the a brokerage team and a private investment business simultaneously. Whether you’re looking to sharpen your leadership or scale your residential holdings, you’re going to walk away with a roadmap today. Esther, welcome to the show.

Esther Nahmani Isman (03:08)
Thank you. Thank you for having me.

Scott Bursey (03:11)
It is just awesome to have you here and help our listeners get up to speed. Please give us the front row seat on how your career began and where you’re pouring your fuel now.

Esther Nahmani Isman (03:23)
So my real estate started when I was 20. Actually, I purchased my first townhouse. And I always knew that real estate was in my DNA. I always liked it. My family was involved in it. But something that I can remember quickly that I’ve always, as a child, like I remember since I’m 13, I read the book of Mr. Donald Trump that says, “Make money with the bank’s money.” So the first thing I thought was real estate. And I knew that this is where my career would go. And this is what exactly I did. So I pretty much made that 20%, put a down payment, kept going, kept going, kept going. And this is how I grew my portfolio. Just without fear, felt like there was need. People are always going to need a place to be in to rent. And why not have someone else pay your mortgage?

Scott Bursey (04:16)
Absolutely. And that’s incredible. You know, what really caught my attention about you, Esther, was the way you’ve been able to balance the high level demands of a leadership team at RE/MAX West and Coldwell Banker with the precision required to execute on a single family residential strategy. That’s— that’s not easy.

Esther Nahmani Isman (04:39)
Nothing is easy. I mean, life isn’t easy, but we don’t want it to be easy. We want it to challenge— be challenged. So yeah, I am the co-founder— I mean, not the co-founder, I am the founder of YOLO Realty Group. YOLO stands for You Only List Once, when you list with us. And currently I have six members on my team, and that’s in Canada. I was able to actually become a top producer within the first three years in real estate, only doing it 50% of my time. I still ran my other business at the time. But the reason I was making it and I got Hall of Fame, which is a great— just to give you an idea, I made a million dollar within commission in three years, only doing it 50 times. But that was because I was committed. I was committed to what— where I wanted to be in, how I wanted to shine and how I wanted to do. But it wasn’t about the money. I was more committed to really making sure that my clients know the service I’m going to give them and my knowledge. And it’s interesting enough because I remember people said to me, “Esther, no matter what you’re going to sell, we’re just going to buy from you because it’s not with you— it’s not about the dollar. It’s about the— it’s about what is the results with you.” And I think a lot of people forget that. Yeah, so I grew my— slowly I created my team, which is called the YOLO Realty Group. And then we moved to Miami three years ago and we started with Coldwell Banker, great company, slowly growing through it. It’s not easy to be in Miami, I have to say. You— you’re one of 300,000 agents, but I do have to bring something different, which is customer service. And I think it’s lacking here with the agents. Not generating— I’m just saying in general, my experience, a lot of them not a hundred percent committed to their job. There’s a lot of part-timers, not a lot of full-timers. So I think this is where I have my knowledge and my customer service that really helps. And I think that’s something that’s— that’s where I’m seeing the defects here in Miami with customer service.

Scott Bursey (07:34)
Well, thank you for highlighting that. And I love— I love the trajectory that you’re on. Esther, let’s dig into the foundation. When you look at the way your leadership team operates, what is the biggest strength that allows you to consistently outperform in this very difficult market?

Esther Nahmani Isman (07:53)
Right. So first of all, as I mentioned, we’re six. So when we go to a listing presentation, we’re telling the sellers, “You’re not just having one agent, you’re having six of us. We’re an army. An army is going to sell your house.” So, which is huge. I mean, it’s— we multiply, you know, the marketing by six. Everything is going to be six times more than any other agent can give you. So building a team was a big asset for me. Being a coach and knowing that I am a negotiator— this is my thing, this is my niche, I know how to negotiate. I feel that that helped a lot, my team. Like sometimes I would hop on a deal with them and I’ll just close it if they’re having a hard time with the other agents. So definitely— I mean, if you’re a beginner of real estate, join a team because first you get to use all the trophies that the leader got. So this is going to be a huge startup because it’s not easy. Real estate is not an easy job. It’s not a nine to five, you’re opening the door and that’s it, you’re in business. You have to create business every day. And I think it’s one of the most difficult jobs to have because you don’t have inventory, you have to keep creating it.

Scott Bursey (09:10)
It sounds like your team really rallies together.

Esther Nahmani Isman (09:15)
Yes, we— yeah, we do hop on calls. I do— I give them training. I helped them with closing if they need, but they’re great. They know what they’re doing, which is wonderful. You know, that’s part of— know, that’s part of a team leader is really to teach them how they can become independent one day. I mean, it’s great if they want to stick around forever, but I think you do have to give them the chance if they want to shine one day, this is how they’re going to do it. And I think that’s one of the reasons they’re not leaving. They love the concept. And I think I am very different than other team leaders. I actually give leads. Many team leaders do not give leads, you know, they’re keeping it all to themselves. But I feel sharing is caring.

Scott Bursey (09:59)
That chemistry is so important. And Esther, curious to get your perspective on this. When you were first balancing your brokerage commitments and your personal investing, what was the one weakness or hurdle you had to overcome to keep both sides of the business moving?

Esther Nahmani Isman (10:18)
With my own investments or you said?

Scott Bursey (10:22)
Yes, it could be your own investments and also if you could also take us down the path of the University of Life as well.

Esther Nahmani Isman (10:28)
Right. So when I— I found that again, going back to sales, so everybody’s in sales, right? We all in sales. And when somebody says to me, “Well, I don’t know how to sell,” I said, “No, you do. You know how to sell. If you have kids, you negotiated with them for that candy when they were two years old and they get away with it. If I tell you it’s hot outside, you believe me, it’s hot outside. You negotiate your mortgage, right?” So we all in sales, but there’s the professionals. So what I decided to do is to open the University Of Life, which really, it was open to everybody, not just real estate agent. It was really open to any profession. What we did is we got together every Tuesday. I was doing the coaching and then we were practice one-on-one. How— know, let me be the tough client, no matter what it was. And we had different clients I had. I had doctors, engineers, mortgage consultant, realtors, anything, you know. And I found that I gave them that— the little nuggets, “How can you close a sale?” Because a sale really starts with energy. That’s how I feel. If you come too aggressive on the first 30 seconds— you have 30 seconds to impress me. It’s either I like you or I don’t. And this is us, this is human being, we can’t be fake. So how many of us are getting calls and right away just want to hang up? Like, “I don’t feel you.” It’s the voice, it’s the tone, it’s the— whatever you said. So the University of Life was there to train people really how to connect with people. And even if it’s your wife or your kids, how to negotiate with them, how to close the deal. So it went very well. And then I moved into Miami, and I have to mention I’m also a licensee coach with Grant Cardone 10X. And I did use some of his, you know, some of his university to teach, you know, my university students, as I call them, but it was a— was a community. That’s— that’s the nice thing. And I think we all can learn from everybody and anybody. I mean, we all have something to give to somebody, you know, no matter what it is, right.

Scott Bursey (13:14)
We really do and that connection is so powerful. As far as the University of Life is concerned, where do you see the biggest opportunity? Where do you see the vision?

Esther Nahmani Isman (13:25)
Wow. I would love for it to be literally like a McDonald drive-through. I want to see a physical— I think with what’s going on now with AI and this whole— like we’re going too fast. We’re going to miss that one-on-one. We’re going to miss— we’re already feeling it. We’re on social media. Everything is like online. Everything is Zoom, like what we’re doing now. I think that I would love to see an actual location opening all over the States. It’s a great concept. People get to get to meet each other to close deals together, but at the same time to actually learn from each other. So it’s like the average social club for the average people, which I think there’s a niche and there’s a need. So I would love for it to be literally worldwide. If anybody’s listening to this podcast and are interested to hear more about it, I think there would be a huge need for that. And you know, I remember when I came to Miami, I knew some people, but I really didn’t know a lot of people. And if there was something like that, I would definitely join because I’m going to go sit in class, social, meet other people that I may earn some business out of them, right. And that was a huge thing, and I felt like there’s a need for that niche.

Scott Bursey (14:46)
There certainly is, and that is some powerful vision right there. Esther, let’s pivot for— for a moment. When is the biggest threat that you see individual investors facing when they try to scale without the backing of a strong team or system?

Esther Nahmani Isman (15:05)
The biggest strength— I mean, you feel that there might be a threat for being a realtor with all the technology, is that the question?

Scott Bursey (15:16)
Really what we’re looking at is some threats, some challenges that you’re facing as far as, you know, scaling the business, things of that variety.

Esther Nahmani Isman (15:29)
Okay, so if I’m talking about Canada, the Canadian market isn’t great. Right now, it’s not the best. So it’s very challenging— I mean, to get some listings, to convince the sellers that, “This is what your house is worth,” versus 2021, 2022, when you bought this, now it’s 30 to 40% below. So this is a big challenge to try to communicate in a nice way, because remember, you’re dealing with people emotion— this is the biggest decision they’ve made. And the last thing you want to do is give them the bad news. So you’re also almost like a professor— I mean, a psychologist, you know, like a little psychologist with them. I think a lot of real estate agents are giving up their license because there’s no more income in Canada. I’m talking— the economy is a bit different. Miami, I’m seeing Miami going big time. I mean, it was underestimated for a very long time. I think that a lot of people are discovering what a great state— I mean, Florida, there is no state tax. There’s no federal— no, there’s no state, there’s federal tax, but it’s so low. But I think it’s been underestimated for such a long time. A lot of big companies are coming down here. There is need. There’s no more land. I mean, there’s so limited amount of land in the state of Florida that I think real estate will go up. I don’t see it as a challenge. But there was— there are a lot of condos right now on the market, but eventually I feel with the amount of immigration coming out here from all over the world, like South America, North America, Americans themselves moving into Florida. I think Florida is gonna do very well in the next few. For all the investors, they’re gonna do very well.

Scott Bursey (18:02)
Thank you for highlighting that. And on that note, please give us the play by play. For a pro who is currently working a full-time role and wants to start building a single family portfolio, what is the absolute first step they should take to define their investment strategy?

Esther Nahmani Isman (18:20)
So first, I mean, you do need your down payment, but depends if you’re in America, there’s so many programs, some of the programs even with 5%, 3.5%. So, you— you got to remember they giving you literally every door to open to own a property. And I think a lot of people are scared. They look at it as, “Yes, it’s a big investment.” But the way to look at it is— that I tell a lot of my investors, sometimes they say, “Well, this house is only worth $1 million, and I don’t think it’s, you know, I want to give them that much.” And I say, “Well, are you actually writing a check for a million or the bank is writing the check?” So you got to remember it’s not how much the house is worth because it’s not your money. You’re using someone else money to purchase that. What you have to pay attention is, is the location good, is going to go up in value, right? So go ahead and take that chance on yourself and purchase single families, but make sure you’re buying it location, location, location, because you’re going to rent it most likely, right? You building your portfolio. So you got to make sure you are near a major street. You got to make sure that you have, you know, grocery nearby, like grocery stores, schools. This is all important things. Yes, you can buy cheaper somewhere else, but I always say to people, “It’s not what you buy, is can I sell it?” And this is really the end. Most of you are going to eventually want to sell and get into the multifamily and buy a fourplex, so buy, you know, a much larger portfolio. So I think starting, go ahead, start it. Location is important. Don’t worry so much. Don’t deal with a five, 10,000. “Can I do it? Can I not?” If 5,000 is too much, don’t fight it too much. Just go ahead and do it. Don’t let fear stop you. That’s how I do it.

Scott Bursey (20:10)
That’s so smart. You know, aligning your assets with your capacity is the winning recipe for staying in the game long term.

Esther Nahmani Isman (20:19)
Exactly. And again, remember guys, there’s no more land. I mean, this is it. We’re not creating another planet. I mean, yes, they’re working on, you know, Mars, but this is it. There’s no more land. That’s what I said to people. A lot of the time I’ll also get that, you know, the rates are high. Well, but you don’t want them to drop and then you buy because you’re creating competition. And what happened when the rates are going down, the prices are going up. So what I say to my clients is, “Date the rate, marry the house.” The rate can always go up. Can always refinance. You can always leverage. So a little trick from what I did is I bought my properties and then I leverage out of them. So I don’t even sell them. So now that my tenant paid my mortgage for the, you know, 10 years, five years, whatever it is, there’s enough equity that I can pull some money out and go buy my next one and next one and next one. So now you’re making money with the bank’s money and you don’t want to pay it in full because you don’t want to park your money in your walls. You want your money to make money. Money is just a tool. Remember, it’s just a note. It says, “This is a promising note.” So don’t think, “My God, how am I going to make it? How am I going to make the payments?” I mean, I always suggest to people to— I mean, if you can only buy one house, perfect. But if you have money, start with four units, five units, six units, because if one unit does not have a tenant, you’re still in business, you know? With a house, if the tenant comes out, so you’re out of business for a little bit until you rent it.

Scott Bursey (21:52)
Esther, I love that framing. That was an excellent breakdown. And you have so much wisdom. I’m curious, are you involved in any peer groups, networking groups, anything of that nature?

Esther Nahmani Isman (22:05)
I am, so a couple of them. First, I founded the EmpowerHer, which is strictly for ladies. And I wanted to really empower ladies. This is my mission, is to teach them how I made it, how I got my confidence. I was a very shy kid. I didn’t have this my whole life, and this is something you’re not born with, you build and you get to develop. And then I’m also an ambassador with Kamunity, which is a great community. It’s a little more of the upscale community that you know, do a lot of events worldwide. And I’m also an ambassador with The Owl App. So The Owl App is a great app— unlike LinkedIn, and there’s nothing against that, it’s an app that you’re being paid to talk to people. So every time somebody calls you for advice, you’re actually getting paid, and even to text them, you’re getting paid. It’s a great way to network and meet people. So I’m an ambassador with those too. Yep.

Scott Bursey (23:03)
That’s— that’s just awesome. And Esther, if you had to start your investment portfolio over from scratch today with only, let’s say, ten thousand dollars and the knowledge you have now, what is the very first high octane move you would make to build a sustainable pipeline?

Esther Nahmani Isman (23:23)
Try to, if you’re in the States, try to get into Section 8. Section 8 is great for beginners. Why? Because you’re guaranteed to get rent. And this is the— the government’s going to pay you. And some people say to me, “Yeah, but they’re going to wreck the apartment. They’re going to wreck it.” Don’t worry about that. You can always power wash it. I call it power wash, you know, new fresh paint and new vanity and a new lights and it’s brand new. So don’t worry so much, but getting to Section 8— Section 8 is great. I mean, if you have that or buy— I wouldn’t buy a condo to be honest. I would buy a house because now you own the land that’s gonna go up in value. Condos, you’re gonna have your mortgage plus the maintenance fee, and that creates a little more of expenses and a lot of them are going through assessments. So it’s not the best investment to be honest with you.

Scott Bursey (24:21)
Point well taken and thank you for highlighting that. You’ve given us a lot of really good wisdom here today. But Esther, is there any other advice that you can leave with our pros today?

Esther Nahmani Isman (24:35)
You know what? Believe in yourself, believe in the process. Don’t overthink. Overthinking is paralyzing because that— you let that little noise talk you always out of it. Always, always, no matter what you’re to do, you have more to lose by not trying. What the worst can happen, right? Bet on yourself, really fall in love with yourself, bet on yourself and just go for it. Like, just do it.

Scott Bursey (24:56)
Yes, yes.

Esther Nahmani Isman (25:05)
You know?

Scott Bursey (25:06)
Couldn’t agree any more hundred percent. And Esther, for those of our listeners that would like to keep this conversation moving, stay in your lane or collaborate with you, what is the best way for them to plug into your pipeline and to reach you?

Esther Nahmani Isman (25:20)
So they can follow me on Instagram. My name is Esther Nahmani-Eisman. It may be hard to find, but you can also go into YOLO Realty Group on Instagram. You can find me on LinkedIn, Esther Isman. I’m sure if you put Esther Isman, you’ll find me. I think I’m the only girl, Esther Isman. Or I can give you my direct line, but please don’t bombard me with a lot of questions. I mean, not a lot of questions— I mean, I’m here to help. That’s my mission is to really help. Don’t use it for, you know, spam. So you can reach me out on 786-423-1961 or YOLO—

Scott Bursey (26:05)
Real awesome.

Esther Nahmani Isman (26:08)
[email protected]. Maybe we should move that.

Scott Bursey (26:14)
Thank you so much. And Esther, you brought the fuel today. Thank you so much for joining us.

Esther Nahmani Isman (26:22)
Thank you, thanks for having me.

Scott Bursey (26:25)
It was an absolute pleasure. And to our listeners, we appreciate you. If you got value from today’s episode, please make sure that you subscribe. We’ll be filling your tanks with the lineup of elite guests, just like Esther Isman, who are accelerating and setting the pace for the rest of the industry. Until next time, keep your standards high and your vision clear. We’ll see you in the next episode, everyone.