Realty Genie: The App Every Realtor Needs in 2025

GREG KELLY (00:00)
She said, but dealing with all these phone calls from buyers

agents calling me about my listing she said that’s just gonna be such a pain and I just like looked at her like just dumbfounded I had no answer and I said well Susan I said you’re right that is gonna be a bit of a bit of a hassle but then I just said to her said you know what we’re not gonna put up with that I said there’s there’s way too much creativity out there I said we’ll figure it out but that’s unsustainable and so that night I was asleep and I woke up

turn the light on, grab my notepad, and I just wrote the word genie on it. Turn the light back off, went to bed. Came in to work the next morning, started doing my research on how the heck do you find a mobile app developer, where do they live, how do you rate and rank them? I had to find a patent attorney, how do you do that? But I got to work that very next day.

Michelle Kesil (02:20)
Hey everyone, welcome to the Investor Fuel podcast. I’m your host, Michelle Kesil. And today I’m joined by someone I’ve been really looking forward to chatting with. We have Greg Kelly, who’s been making serious moves in the app development space for realtors. So really glad to have you here with us, Greg. I think our listeners are really going to take something away from how you’re approaching this new app that’s going to help so many agents. So let’s dive in.

GREG KELLY (02:49)
Thanks, Michelle. Pleasure being here.

Michelle Kesil (02:50)
Awesome. So glad to have you. So first off for people who may not be familiar with you and your world, can you give us the short version? What is your main focus these days?

GREG KELLY (03:02)
So I was in residential construction for most of my career, got into residential brokerage. I’ve been a brokerage owner now for about 13 years and just recently launched a new entity called Realty Genie LLC. It is the only mobile application in the US designed specifically to realtors to help them get the COBRO data back on their phone.

Michelle Kesil (03:25)
Amazing. I love that. That’s such a niche in this industry. Can you expand a bit on how this app can be supportive?

GREG KELLY (03:34)
Yeah, sure. ⁓ You know, when the code broke data was taken out of the MLSs, it really put everybody kind of in a hole, so to speak.

This is a very competitive business. listing agents want to get the listing sold, and buyer’s agents want to find their buyer’s properties. But when we’re standing around making phone calls and playing phone tag, trying to find out what, if any, compensation may be offered, we’re losing time. We’re wasting time. We’re wasting money. And the app just puts it right back into your hands. You have your answer in 10 seconds. Listing agents love it, as do buyer’s agents.

Michelle Kesil (04:09)
amazing and yeah like how is this app like how is the look of this app like can you explain the functionality and how people can use it to their best advantage

GREG KELLY (04:22)
Sure, it’s really simple. It was designed to be simple. Once you download the app, there’s basically two avenues that you can go on. One, you can click a button saying you’re a listing agent. You want to go ahead and input your property’s address, the city, state, and the zip code. And there’s three little boxes that open up. For compensation, it could be a percentage. It could be a flat fee. And there could be a bonus involved. You hit Submit. The Genie saves that listing. And the listing agent is basically done. A buyer’s agent can grab the app, push the other avenue, which is a little picture. It’s a character.

for buyer’s agents. They click the buyer’s agent icon, they type in the address, the city, the state, and the zip, and the instant it just comes up within seconds, you have the answer to that question.

Michelle Kesil (05:49)
That’s amazing, yeah, it sounds like something that’s really innovative and needed in the market.

GREG KELLY (05:54)
Well, I don’t think we’ve seen something like this since the introduction of the Supra iBox back in 2014, where Supra put that app on your phone. It was just revolutionary. made everything so much easier. And then the Showing Time mobile app came out in 2016, which really was a game changer and a time saver. And this app fits into that same kind of category. It’s quick, it’s efficient, it’s simple, it’s inexpensive. It’s just a no-brainer.

Michelle Kesil (06:21)
amazing and is this app specifically for agents or are there other people that could benefit from using it?

GREG KELLY (06:28)
Well, I know a lot of realtors personally do a lot of ⁓ their own investing. If you’re an investor and you’re looking to buy a property, right, lots of times if you’re not going to pay yourself a commission, you can negotiate better terms with the seller, get that price down. So anybody who’s buying, selling, flipping, rehabbing, ⁓ you’re a professional realtor, you’re just an investor. It’s designed to help everybody solve that problem because the data that they took out of the

is never coming back.

Michelle Kesil (07:00)
Yeah, that’s amazing. I know there’s a lot of investors listening to this show, so I’m sure they’re excited to hear that you have the solution for them.

Awesome. So what has been like the key to this creation process?

GREG KELLY (07:13)
Well, I mean, we conducted a lot of focus groups. After the settlement, was like the dust literally settled. And then we were really just gearing toward the fines and the new forms and the new documents. No one was really anticipating the chaos that this was going to cause when everybody’s just standing still waiting for a callback. So I think that it kind of took us by surprise.

This is going to make everybody’s life so much easier. It’s just that simple.

Michelle Kesil (07:41)
Yeah, and how was it for you to create this app?

GREG KELLY (07:44)
Okay, so the design of it, like I said, is really, really simple. ⁓ There’s a landing page, by the way, if you want. It’s kind of like a storyboard. It’ll walk you through what does this app look like, who is it for, what does it do, what problem does it solve, and that’s basically realty-genie.com.

Michelle Kesil (08:02)
Simplicity is key sometimes.

Now every operator I know had a moment where things got real. Maybe you had to pivot fast or something went sideways. Did you have an experience like that? Sure.

GREG KELLY (08:16)
sure.

You know, we have the developers, we have the design and the concept done like within the first month, but going through the Apple Store and the Google Play review process, it is a frustrating gauntlet because they never really finish the review. It’s just if they find something that needs to be addressed, they literally just kick the app back at you, kick it back in your lap, and then you’ve got to make the change and resubmit, and it just goes round and round. It’s like a home inspector who comes

to a house and he says, the GFI in the kitchen needs to be replaced and he walks out the door and he doesn’t finish his home inspection. So that was probably the most frustrating, just arduous year of my life.

Michelle Kesil (08:59)
Yeah, I’m sure. Did you learn a lot of new skills through this process?

GREG KELLY (09:05)
That’s a great question.

That’s a great question, Michelle. I had to learn a whole new vocabulary. ⁓ The beta testing program, you you take your app to the sandbox. like, they use words that no one else even understands what they mean. But, you know, just through trial and error and having some good support and my team up in Tennessee, you know, they help hold my hand. So I know a whole new vocabulary now.

Michelle Kesil (09:29)
Yeah,

I’m sure now you’ve got some new skills under your belt.

GREG KELLY (09:34)
Yeah, you could say.

Michelle Kesil (09:35)
Yeah, so how are you planning to scale this up?

GREG KELLY (09:40)
Hey, that’s another great question. We’re right now doing a beta program with the mid Florida regional MLS. That’s my local MLS here in central Florida. It’s comprised of about 17 counties. It’s the third largest MLS in the country. It 65,000 agents.

And then we plan to roll it out through the rest of Florida and that’ll get us to about 230,000. And then once we’ve got the analytics and maybe some feedback, ⁓ we’re gonna take this thing from coast to coast. If you’ve got an internet connection and a smartphone, you’re in business and you’re gonna love this thing.

Michelle Kesil (10:45)
Amazing, yeah, so you’re going to use this across the US.

GREG KELLY (10:49)
Yeah, yes, yes indeed.

Michelle Kesil (10:52)
amazing. yeah, like what is that? Like next big goal for you in terms of marketing or selling or creation?

GREG KELLY (11:04)
Well, next month is the annual Florida Association of Realtors ⁓ convention down in Orlando.

and there’s a lot of ⁓ vendors that come to the expo. So we’ll be talking it up with the tech people, certainly the folks that are down there in the tech space. We want to definitely get them involved. We have an SMS text marketing platform. We’ve got an email platform with loads of ⁓ database. Our databases are loaded in there. We started the Whisper campaign last February. Like I said, we just went live at the

Michelle Kesil (11:40)
Yeah, there’s a big market, definitely.

GREG KELLY (11:43)
We’ve got projected in our five year plan, whether it be TikTok influencers, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, we’ve got lists of all of these people. And we’re gonna get them involved to make it not such a heavy lift. think with the right critical people, ⁓ this is gonna spread like poison ivy.

Michelle Kesil (12:05)
Yeah, that’s amazing, like what the power of social media and relationships can support you with. Awesome. So yeah, if an investor is listening to this show and maybe they’re like curious about this app, are they able to get started with it right away or is it still like pending?

GREG KELLY (12:09)
Absolutely.

no, this, if you’ve got an Apple phone, just go to the Apple store and just type in Realty Genie. Same if you’ve got an Android, just go to Google Play and it’s a simple, and there’s actually, we’re doing a 30 day free trial. I said it’s a $5 subscription, so after your 30 days, if you’d like to go ahead and subscribe, it’s gonna cost you 60 bucks for the year.

And no, we are in the app stores and it’s not hard to find us.

Michelle Kesil (12:53)
amazing. So yeah, people can already start digging in.

GREG KELLY (12:56)
correct.

Michelle Kesil (12:56)
⁓ That’s big, yeah. So I know a lot of people listening to this show are either early in their journey or potentially just looking to level up. And I think they could benefit from hearing this when it comes to building relationships and growing your network. What has made the biggest difference for you? ⁓

GREG KELLY (13:17)
Well, I think you just touched on it. think, you know, it’s all about relationships. ⁓

you know, if you’re just getting started, you know, it’s about getting out there and meeting new people. And the thing I would add to that is, you know, sometimes you surprise yourself when you go out and hang out and meet people that don’t necessarily do the same things that you do and they don’t think the same way. Because if all we do is hang out with a peer group and everyone’s like, we’re all like the same type of person, like, I don’t think that’s a good recipe for growth. think, I love

going out into big rooms full of people from all different walks of life and just having a conversation. You’ll be amazed at what you’ll learn.

Michelle Kesil (14:01)
Absolutely, relationships and growth mindset are everything.

So what sparked this idea to create this app for you? Like how did that creation process look like?

GREG KELLY (14:11)
Well, I’m going to tell you, I’ll try to make it short, but one of my top agents came in to me one day right before the new rules were going into effect, and she wanted me to go over the documents again, and we did the role plays, and we did the scripts, and this, that, and everything. And I said, Susan, you’ve been doing this for 26 years. I said, you got this. And she was walking out the door, and she said, you know what? She goes, you’re right. She goes, that helped a lot. But she’s a big lister. And she looked at me, right? And it didn’t even occur to me, but she looks at me says, Greg, I understand the forms now. She’s like, I’m good.

She said, but dealing with all these phone calls from buyers

agents calling me about my listing she said that’s just gonna be such a pain and I just like looked at her like just dumbfounded I had no answer and I said well Susan I said you’re right that is gonna be a bit of a bit of a hassle but then I just said to her said you know what we’re not gonna put up with that I said there’s there’s way too much creativity out there I said we’ll figure it out but that’s unsustainable and so that night I was asleep and I woke up

turn the light on, grab my notepad, and I just wrote the word genie on it. Turn the light back off, went to bed. Came in to work the next morning, started doing my research on how the heck do you find a mobile app developer, where do they live, how do you rate and rank them? I had to find a patent attorney, how do you do that? But I got to work that very next day.

Michelle Kesil (16:08)
Wow, that’s so powerful. Like, what did this whole process teach you?

GREG KELLY (16:13)
I think.

I think it’s about helping others. you know, it just came to me in a dream, but I saw like I could be the one who can solve this problem. So it can be anybody. You could be in a room full of people and the ones who are going to accomplish the greatest things, it’ll never be the person that you predict. It’ll always be someone who surprises you. So.

I don’t know, I just never thought I’d be the one to like just pursue it, but I said I’m gonna do it.

Michelle Kesil (16:46)
Amazing what happens when we take action on our ideas. feel many people are flooded with ideas, but it’s the ones that take the action.

GREG KELLY (16:53)
Yeah, I mean, how many times

have you seen something on TV and you’re like, look at that. That’s, you know what, that’s really neat. I used to, you know, I had that idea, but you never did anything. Well, I just knew that this was going to be such a necessary cure to the pain that has been caused. I said, I’m going to take this one all the way.

Michelle Kesil (17:03)
Yeah, all the time.

Yeah, and are there any objections that any agent or someone that’s used this app has given you as to why they wouldn’t want it?

GREG KELLY (17:27)
No, not really. ⁓ But you bring up a good question. There is a little bit of a misconception that this application violates some of the prohibitions that were put into place last August. And we made extremely sure and had multiple attorneys, talented attorneys, vet this from the very beginning before I was going to start developing it.

And the two third rails that you have to avoid to stay in compliance is number one, the genie has no connectivity with any MLS in the country. We’re a completely independent data exchange. We do not touch any MLS. So that’s third rail number one.

Third rule number two is the Gini doesn’t interface or share any data from any IDX websites. So we’re not pulling off a feed. We’re not pulling, we’re not. It’s voluntary agent to agent communication. And the cool thing about it is like we can communicate with each other without talking. Because I can put the address in, you can push the button, you can pull it up, you’ve got the buyer, I’ve got the seller, and we’re gonna do business without even having a phone call.

We’re 100 % NAR compliant and that’s important because there are people who just look at it on the surface and they want to kind of shy away. They’re like, I don’t know if I can do that. And I wouldn’t have even started down this journey if an attorney told me that you’re going to have trouble. So that’s a good question.

Michelle Kesil (18:53)
Yeah,

yeah, absolutely. It sounds like everything’s locked in and you did a lot of due diligence.

GREG KELLY (18:58)
Well, my dad was an attorney, my brother’s an attorney, my uncle’s an attorney, so I don’t know, rubs off on you.

Michelle Kesil (19:04)
Yeah, but it worked out.

GREG KELLY (19:06)
Yeah, we’re really excited because we have just begun to tell the world and that’s why I’m really pleased that Investor Fuel reached out to me. We’re just gonna work this thing little by little and we’re gonna get up that hill and one of these days maybe you’ll see me on Shark Tank or something.

Michelle Kesil (19:08)
Amazing.

Yeah, absolutely. Is there?

GREG KELLY (19:29)
We’ve

reached out to Governor DeSantis’ office. We have reached out to Mark Cuban and Barbara Corcoran. We’re taking this all the way.

Michelle Kesil (19:37)
That’s amazing. Yeah, I wish you guys the best of luck in that journey and I hope you can reach the masses that you’re hoping to reach.

GREG KELLY (19:45)
Thank you, Michelle. I appreciate that.

Michelle Kesil (19:47)
Yes, absolutely. yeah, all right. Before we officially wrap up here, if people are listening and yeah, they’re interested in this product, they want to collaborate, learn more, reach out to you. Where is the best place for them to reach you?

GREG KELLY (20:03)
So I would say realty-genie.com, take you to the landing page. And then there’s some contact information to tell how to get ahold of me from there as well. But I think that’s probably the easiest way to take a look at what it does, who is it for, how does it work, and where do I get it.

Michelle Kesil (20:21)
Perfect. Well, listen, I really appreciate your time, your story, and your perspective. We need more people in this space that are innovative and creating new ways of business and solving problems. So thank you for being here.

GREG KELLY (20:35)
Okay, right on. Thanks, Michelle.

Michelle Kesil (20:36)
Absolutely. And for those of you tuning in, if you got value from this episode, make sure you’re subscribed. We’ve got more conversations coming with operators just like Greg, who are out here building real businesses. And we’re going to see you all on the next episode.