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Show Summary
In this episode of the Real Estate Pros podcast, host Michelle Kesil interviews Aaron Morton, an independent broker in Clarksville, Tennessee. Aaron shares his journey from education to real estate, emphasizing the importance of knowledge and education in his business. He discusses common misconceptions about the real estate industry, strategies for client acquisition, and the role of technology and AI in enhancing business efficiency. Networking and building relationships within the community are highlighted as crucial elements for success in the real estate market.
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Investor Fuel Show Transcript:
Aaron Morton (00:00)
understand that there are going to be ebbs and flows in this business Some people come right out of the gateand have a successful year. And some people don’t. But you have to understand it’s gonna take time to build up your database. It’s gonna take time to build up your skill level. And it’s gonna take time for you to just overall know the process of the business. If you don’t take time with those pillars of the business, I think the industry rate is 89 % of new agents
leave the business after one year. ⁓ But if you take the time, stay consistent, know that there are gonna be ebbs and flows in the business, you will be fine. You’ll be fine.
Michelle Kesil (02:22)
Hey everybody, welcome to the Real Estate Pros podcast. I’m your host, Michelle Kesil and today I’m joined by someone I’m looking forward to chatting with, Aaron Morton, who is an independent broker in the Tennessee area. So excited to have you here today, Aaron.Aaron Morton (02:37)
Thank you very much for having meMichelle Kesil (02:39)
Yeah, of course. So let’s dive in for those who are not familiar with you and your work. Can you share what your main focus is?Aaron Morton (02:48)
Sure, like you mentioned, I’m an independent broker here in the Clarksville, Tennessee area, which is right outside of Nashville. I work with primarily ⁓ listings, but I don’t have any problems working with buyers as well. ⁓ I would like to get to that 50-50 mark where I’m working with both equally. I am an educator by… ⁓By design, I’ve been in the education field for over 15 years and my goal was to bring that into my real estate business ⁓ over 11 years ago. And so far it’s been great. It’s been a big asset to my business.
Michelle Kesil (03:30)
Awesome, and which markets do you operate in?Aaron Morton (03:34)
⁓ So I am actually in ⁓ near Fort Campbell, ⁓ which is a military this and technically this becomes a military town, Clarksville is. So I work with a lot of ⁓ active duty and veteran clients as well ⁓ and being close to the Nashville area.⁓ I have a lot of people that are coming in who are in the music industry who I’ve helped purchase homes in this area as well. So ⁓ it’s a very diverse market that I’m in right now.
Michelle Kesil (04:12)
Awesome. And so how did you get started in real estate?Aaron Morton (04:18)
⁓ so… ⁓So I think I was coming to the end of my teaching realm. After being in it for 15 years, I was starting to get worn out. I love teaching, however, I wasn’t seeing the benefits of it. And with me being a former STEM teacher, I was also, of my biggest subjects was architectural design. So I knew that I could take my skills and my knowledge into the real estate realm.
and become successful. I just had to come to Jesus moment said I’m not going back after the school year and dove straight into real estate. It was a challenge. It was a big challenge. had
Michelle Kesil (05:04)
Why was it a challenge?Aaron Morton (05:53)
⁓ So, you know, a lot of people feel that real estate is easy where you’re just closing deals left and right and the deals just fall right in your lap. However, I had to learn how to market myself. I had to learn how to… ⁓communicate with a different market of people. ⁓ People who are buying a house or selling a house, and nine times out of 10, one of their biggest transactions of their life. So I had to learn the language of real estate. And there were a lot of sleepless nights. There was a lot of days sitting at the kitchen table, like did I make the right decision? ⁓ But I had to stick with it. I had to push forward and I’m glad where I’m at today.
Michelle Kesil (06:41)
Awesome. What do you feel are some of the main keys that made the biggest difference in allowing your business to grow and run smoothly?Aaron Morton (06:42)
You⁓ Education. ⁓ Just being knowledgeable about the subject, that was a big plus. As I mentioned, there were a lot of sleepless nights and those sleepless nights included actually
Studying the real estate business overall and once I got to a point where I felt comfortable where I can sit in front of a customer and explain the entire process That was probably my biggest asset being able to explain the process getting them to understand What to expect through the process and then just moving forward smoothly and also just letting them know Some points there may be some hiccups during the process. So
you know just be prepared but I felt like once I was able to explain that to my clients they felt much better moving forward through the process of either buying or selling their own.
Michelle Kesil (07:50)
Yeah, and what are some like common misconceptions that you often have to support clients through?Aaron Morton (08:01)
Right. ⁓ How much commission real estate agents make and we are just ⁓ opening doors and showing homes and we get paid a boatload of money. The misconception is the things that we do behind the curtain. And probably about five, six years ago,I built that into my presentation as to exactly what we do outside of what the consumer or the customer or the client would see. And once I kind of microed that down to explain that to them.
It made the process more easy for me and for the clients because now they knew what type of service they were getting and it wasn’t just a as you know the running joke is all we do is turn key open up doors and let people look at homes and we get paid a lot of money once they understand exactly what we do when it comes to negotiating knowing our contracts knowing the law knowing the proper way to either ⁓
help a client buy or sell a home, think that was ⁓ one of the misconceptions that was cleared up ⁓ on my end. And I think that’s something that a lot of agents should put into their presentation when they’re talking to their clients so that they can know what’s actually happening behind the scenes. ⁓
Michelle Kesil (09:26)
Yeah, absolutely. What do you, are some of the opportunities you’re excited about for this year?Aaron Morton (09:36)
Wow, so this is my, I just opened up my firm this past December. One of the biggest things that I’m looking to do and I’m very excited is I’m putting together my complete vision board of my team, of what I want my team to look like later on this year. Another thing is I do want to move into the luxury division. ⁓More so in the Nashville area, Clarksville is more of a hub for military families, so you’re not gonna have too many luxury homes in this area, but 30 minutes east from where I am into Nashville, you see more of those type homes. And I definitely wanna move into that realm. So I’m very excited about that. I’m very excited about building up my firm, bringing on competent agents who can help me build it to the highest level.
Michelle Kesil (11:07)
Awesome. Is there anything else you’re focusing on scaling to next in your business?Aaron Morton (11:08)
Yeah.⁓ So I have a age or a year in service that I would like to stop.
and have my business work like a well-oiled machine where I can be out of town somewhere and it’s still working while I’m sleeping. ⁓ That’s the ultimate goal. I feel like I’m maybe five, maybe five to seven years away from that. So I’m definitely pushing the envelope to get to that realm and I’m very excited to do that. So, ⁓ can’t wait.
Michelle Kesil (11:53)
Yeah, of course. And what is it? Like, what are the steps that you need to take in order to get there?Aaron Morton (12:00)
Great question. ⁓ I’m actually still trying to figure that out. So the more people that I align myself with that has been in this business longer than me, where I can learn different techniques or different aspects of the business, ⁓ who are actually where I wanna be, just kind of pick their brain ⁓ and just keep building, staying consistent. And that’s the key, by the way, staying consistent. ⁓in this business I feel like I will get to that step but basically just aligning myself with those folks those agents that have already made it to that position and seeing how I can do it in this day and time to make it even better.
Michelle Kesil (12:46)
Yeah, absolutely. Is there any like advice you would give to someone who’s wanting to get into real estate?Aaron Morton (12:57)
Yeah, so I have a few things I would definitely say understand your market understand when I say your market understand where you are where you live Find out the best way to dominate your area start small That’s oneunderstand that there are going to be ebbs and flows in this business Some people come right out of the gate
and have a successful year. And some people don’t. But you have to understand it’s gonna take time to build up your database. It’s gonna take time to build up your skill level. And it’s gonna take time for you to just overall know the process of the business. If you don’t take time with those pillars of the business, I think the industry rate is 89 % of new agents
leave the business after one year. ⁓ But if you take the time, stay consistent, know that there are gonna be ebbs and flows in the business, you will be fine. You’ll be fine.
It’s not easy, but you will be fine if you just stick with your process. And also align yourself with a mentor. That’s one thing I wish I would have did earlier in my career. ⁓
I felt like I could do it all on my own and eventually after three years in the business, I was able to align myself with a mentor who just made everything so much clearer for me. ⁓ And I was starting to get the numbers that I wanted to see throughout the year or at the end of the year to make ⁓ myself feel like I was successful. So those are probably the top things I would recommend.
Michelle Kesil (14:51)
Yeah, absolutely, those are important. And how do you like meet your clients? Is there any sort of like strategies you use for that?Aaron Morton (15:44)
⁓ yes. So I work off of a referral system. So, ⁓ once I close a deal, I’m always asking my clients, Hey, do you have five people that you think would be interested in either having information about real estate, looking to move, or, ⁓ just want to know what’s going on in the business. So usually I get a lot of referrals that way, but I’m also⁓ Staying active in the community. I like to be a part of a lot of community events. That’s where you just meet people, you talk to them about your business, and then you just start to build relationships. And then if you build your database that way, ⁓ using ⁓ monthly or weekly emails to the people that you just met, you’ll stay at top of mind to those people. ⁓ So next thing you know, you’re gonna have people calling you and like,
I was referred by such and such or you know so that’s how I retain some of my business.
Michelle Kesil (16:48)
Yeah, definitely. Is there anything that you are working on like solving right now?Aaron Morton (16:57)
Yes, ⁓ I am constantly tweaking with my AI apps that I use for my business. ⁓tech nerd when it comes to those things. So I’m trying to find the best way to use AI to make my business better. ⁓ It’s not going anywhere. AI is here to stay. And if you’re not learning something ⁓ pertaining to AI every day, you’re going to be falling behind.
And it doesn’t matter what industry you’re in. And for me, I feel like there’s so many opportunities to utilize AI to make the business better. That’s the project. I have to sometimes slow down and say, wait a minute, I’m picking up too many different things here. How am I going to incorporate all this into one? But the thing is learn one thing a day, learn one aspect a day pertaining to AI and…
just stay on top of those things and that’s what I’m doing to ⁓ build my business project wise.
Michelle Kesil (18:03)
For sure.can you expand on how AI is supporting your
Aaron Morton (18:07)
Sure, ⁓ so I have two apps that I use. One is called Gamma and another one is called Lovable. ⁓ With Lovable, I have created different apps, different websites.different landing pages that help guide people to me, which is great. And when I’m teaching, as far as anything real estate, I use gamma to help put my presentations together. And it cuts down my time significantly. ⁓ In the past, to put a presentation together, it would maybe take me three or four hours where using gamma, it only takes me maybe 20 minutes. ⁓
when using lovable, ⁓ used to put websites together, it would take me a week. Now it’s done in maybe 10 minutes. So landing pages, apps, web pages, all of those type of things, ⁓ it’s just cut my time down with doing those type of technical things down significantly and it gives me more time to actually focus on the main thing.
So I would highly recommend those two apps for anybody looking to get into the business.
Michelle Kesil (19:29)
Awesome, and are you also doing any type of networking that supported your business?Aaron Morton (19:35)
Absolutely. ⁓ So I have made it a habit to ⁓ reaching out to local lenders in the neighborhood or in the city.⁓ I do feel working with local banks, local lenders is a big plus for my community of clients because we can actually go sit in their office. We can ⁓ reach out to them at any time to get any information we need. So I’m always networking with lenders. I’m always building up my database with contractors, which includes painters, home contractors, people like that who can help expand my
business and provide a better service. I think that’s ⁓ imperative to do ⁓ in today’s market. There’s so much misinformation out there. If you can put a team of or a group of people that you trust, I feel like that can definitely help out as far as networking and helping your clients in the long run.
Michelle Kesil (20:41)
Absolutely. So before we begin to wrap up here, if someone wants to reach out, connect, or learn more, where can people find you and connect with you?Aaron Morton (20:53)
Absolutely. So ⁓ I am on, ⁓ well, let me start with my website, which is AaronMortonRealEstate.com. You can pretty much find everything you need. It’s a hub for anything pertaining to real estate. ⁓ Also, it does have the link to my Facebook and Instagram pages. ⁓I would probably say Aaron, you could probably go to Instagram and use Aaron Morton underscore R-E underscore T-E-N-N, which is abbreviated for Aaron Morton Real Estate Tennessee. And then if you just plug in Aaron Morton in Facebook, you should be able to find me. ⁓ And those are my top platforms that I use ⁓ to help push my business out.
⁓ And obviously I could be reached at 931-919-9467. That’s my office number and I’m more than willing to talk to anybody looking to get into the business who has been in the business or even network with somebody that we can collab off of each other.
Michelle Kesil (22:02)
Perfect, well appreciate your time and your story. Thank you for being here.Aaron Morton (22:07)
Awesome, thank you. Thank you for having me.Michelle Kesil (22:10)
Of course. And for those tuning into the show, if you got value, make sure you’ve subscribed. We have more conversations with operators like Aaron who are building real businesses and we’ll see you on our next episode.
