The Millionaire Real Estate Agent by Gary Keller Summary

In this article, I will share the millionaire real estate agent book summary by Gary Keller. Read the summary till the end if you want to get more leads, sell more houses, and become a successful agent in your area. The book will change your life and the way you do business.

Gary Keller started his journey as an agent in 1979. Over time, he has built the biggest real estate company in the world, worth over $517 Billion. All these ideas, techniques, and the story of his failures, are shared in this book. As his famous quote says:

• Anyone can do it, but not everyone will. The question is, ‘will you?’

It is his story from his best-selling book, the millionaire real estate agent. So, let’s begin.

The Millionaire Real Estate Agent Book by Gary Keller Summary

The author shares the ten steps for becoming a successful real estate agent, and those are listed below. Let’s start with the first step and become a better millionaire real estate agent.

1. Becoming A Better Real Estate Agent 

You must understand these three concepts before becoming a better agent and are:

• Why: Why exactly do you want to become an agent?
• What: What is your reason for starting the business?
• How: And how are you going to do that?

Think a little bit, write it down, and try to answer these questions. So that way, you can tell what your main focus is. 

A Constant Purpose

The author says in order to become a successful agent. You must have a constant purpose.

• A Constant Purpose. A never-ending motivation.

Suppose your main goal is to earn $1 million in a year. In order to do that, you must sell over $100 Million worth of properties because an agent gets on an average 1% of the deal as commission. 

But the problem is that when you achieve that mark of $100 million, you will lose your motivation. You have achieved your goal. The author Gary Keller says in his book the millionaire real estate agent, you must set your goal ten times higher than average. Don’t set $1M. Set it at $10M.

That way, you will work 10x harder and 10x faster. You will get not exactly $10M but close to $10M ($7M, $8M probably). That is the power of constant purpose, a purpose that will never end. 

All of these are material goals, but if you have non-material goals that will push you even harder. That is the main inspiration you need. Why are you doing it? If not for the money, why exactly?

Aim For the SUN, and Get The MOON

Aim for the SUN. So you can have the MOON. If you aim for the MOON, you will have CLOUD. If the CLOUD, then ROOF of your house, if ROOF then the CEILING and so on and on. Aim for the SUN, the highest point.

Have a constant purpose. When you have found it, the ‘What’ and ‘How’ will automatically open. They will show you the path, but first, you must show your purpose. What and why are you aiming for it?

2. Getting More Leads, Listings, and Leverage 

You need three things in this business.

• Lead
• Listing
• Leverage

First, collect leads, get listings, and leverage your network to sell properties. These are the main three things that every agent struggles for. 

• The more leads you have, the more money you will make. 

So, focus on lead generation more and more.

Focus More on Seller Leads, Not Buyers

It might be confusing, but the author Gary Keller says you should focus more on the seller side leads, not on the buyer leads. There is a reason for that. 

When you list more properties on your database and the social media handle you use to promote those houses, people will notice those, and that will become indirect marketing for you. People will call you to purchase Houses. That is why you should focus on more seller leads, not buyers. It will help to expand your reach.

Get More Listings

When you show your clients a huge amount of properties to choose from, they will surely appreciate you and your effort. They will start to trust you and probably buy from you.

If you want to build a good amount of trust in their eyes, then you must list more properties. They can choose whatever they what.

• List more properties, and build trust.

Gary Keller does it all the time as a millionaire real estate agent. You should do the same.

Use Leverage by Hiring Someone

Look, you can not handle all the work by yourself. You must hire someone to do the job. That is what leverage is, hiring quality people. These people or agents will help you to move forward in your business if you can afford them. 

You will not get any growth in a few months, but after a year or so, you will see the impact. You will sell more properties with less work. That is the power of the team. Remember my friend, 

• Real estate is a people business. 

You can not run the business by yourself all the time. Hire someone.

Leads, listing, and leverage are the three main things in the real estate business. Take it series and do as the author says. Success is waiting for you.

3. Building A Successful Business Strategy 

In this step, you need to create an economic model of your business to manage all the money and the cash flow with a great plan.

As I have said earlier, you are aiming for $10 Million in a year as a commission, so you have to sell $100 Million worth of houses to get to that point. It is your primary goal. To reach that goal, how many leads do you need? Have you thought about that? 

• The more leads you have, the more money you will make. 

Let’s assume your ‘Lead to Conversion Ratio’ is 10%.

• Lead to conversion ratio = 10%
• Required leads= 100+
• Total commission = $10M

That is the math. If your lead to conversion rate is 5%, then you need 200 leads. If it’s 3%, then you need more leads. Aim for more leads, do not expect that 100 leads will do the work. You might be wrong. Aim for the SUN.

Get A Token or A Ticket

Before we move forward, I want to tell you, never forget the Ticket. A ticket is a legal document that will protect your commission. They might choose not to pay you for your service, you must get them signed. Frauds are everywhere. Be prepared for it. Get the Token or Ticket and then serve them.

Lead Generation Model 

So til now, we have learned how important leads are. Now, we will discuss how to generate quality leads to sell the property faster. 

There are a lot of real estate lead generation ideas out there, but here Gary Keller says, use this one metric that will drive the most leads. And that is by using the contacts and networks you have. 

He says you Cold Call an unknown person 12 times a year. Don’t do more than that. They will feel annoyed, and they will block you. Calling 12 times is enough for a new client. You can send them SMS, gifts, calendars, and wishes on their birthdays and anniversaries. But don’t do it for more than 12.

If you know them and they know you a little, you can expand the 12 times to 20 times a year. They will not feel disturbed. And make it 33 times to whom you know very well, and they also know you like a friend.

• 12 times to a new client
• 20 times to an unknown person
• 33 times to a friend

If you follow these methods, leads will automatically come to you. As research says, more than 32% of total leads come from referrals (from friends or someone you know). It is a free method that you can use, but be patient to make this work.

Using Real Estate Apps to Build All of These

You can do all this on paper or in a notebook, but you need CRM software. A CRM app has everything you need to manage, all the lead data, client data, and listings data. You can send them automatic SMS on time, call them, and can use their behavior to target them at the right time. 

All these you can get by CRM software. There are some free and paid apps out there. You can start with any of these:

• Monday
• Asana
• Pipedrive
• Trello
• ZOHO
• Insightly
• Freshworks

Check out these real estate apps, select one according to your budget, and start monitoring everything.

4. How to Budget Your Cash Flow Properly 

If you spend over your budget, you may go out of business. A budget is a simple plan to manage your money effectively. 

• Cash flow is the king, you know it. 

Manage your cash flow well, and your business will automatically grow.

The 1999 Dot Com Boom

You have heard of the 1999 dot com boom. People invested huge amounts of money by going over their investing budget in order to get a 10x return on their investment.

But when they realized that the value they were expecting from those companies are not real, they started to panic. They are losing the market cap, and the share price is falling rapidly as the effect of the market crash.

All those people did not budget their money. That, I am not going to spend not more than that. If they did, they might not lose all those money.

Don’t Spend It All

The author says, don’t spend everything you have. Use a budgeting method and know where to invest. How much to invest, and why you must invest in that thing. Make your priorities and identify what is more important than others. The budget will help, do it now.

Now the question is, how can we identify the exact point, where to spend more money and where to less? There is a way to find that out the Traffic Light Method.

The Traffic Light method for Budgeting

You are spending money on marketing, salaries, and all the maintenance of your business. If you see a red light, you will not spend a single penny until the signal is Green again.

For example, you want to earn $10 Million a year as a commission. Until you get that $10 million, don’t increase your real estate marketing budget. I know spending more money will help you expand the business, but the author says, wait for the light to get Green, and then you are free to spend money.

It is a mindset, but I think you should follow this. It will help you control your emotions. You will spend less money. Remember:

• The money is like the fuel of your car. If you don’t have enough of it, your car will not go further.

Make sure you manage the cash flow and the business well by creating a simple budget.

They Will Increase Your Spending

When you hire someone, he will ask for some extra money to work for you. If he did, don’t hesitate to pass it, it will come back to you if the guy is talented. For example, you are hiring an agent for $40,000 per year. He is asking for $45,000, don’t hesitate to approve it.

You need to check how this guy will give me my money back and the profit with it. Because I am spending $45,000 for him, he must give me at least $100,000 or $200,000. Otherwise, there is no point in hiring him.

How to Hire Great People

Brokers hire people from their families who are not qualified enough. They make mistakes and cost huge money to the broker. It is a mistake. Hire those who are qualified, not those who are your friend. 

• Focus on quality, not friendship.

In this real estate business, there is nothing like friendship or relationship, only money. And who will help you generate more cash? Quality people who are skillful in getting the work done without any mistakes.

5. Four Models to Maximize Your Property Leads 

I have talked about the three important things in the real estate business, and those are

• Leads
• Listings 
• Leverage

To understand these better, you should follow these four models to maximize your real estate leads.

Lead Generation Model

Select how you are going to generate leads. Look it is not necessary to follow the author’s lead generation model. You can build your own. But you must know what works best. That way, you will move faster in this business. Select a lead generation model that may work for you.

Economic Model

Your economic model will show you the amount you need to run the business. I mean the total GDP of your business, the whole economy. Manage all the economic factors that may come along with your processes. It is what the economic model is.

All these strategies will help you execute your goal to reach that $10 million mark in a year. If you do it right, your goal will become short. Otherwise, it will take way more time to reach there.

Organization Model

As a millionaire real estate agent, you must design your business in a way that goes ahead without any legal blockage. Most agents start a business without any legal documentation. It costs them heavily in the long run. Prepare your organization in a simple and protected way that always runs smoothly.

• Remember, simple is beautiful.

Make it as simple as possible. Your business will accelerate.

Budgeting Model

Budgeting the cash flow is like controlling the fuel of your car. The more control you have, the further you will go. When you do your budgeting right, you will operate all the above three models with more efficiency.

So, using these four models, you can generate more property leads than any agents in your area. Cash flow is the king know it.

6. Turn Failure into Success 

You will fail many times. People will knock you, hit you, and advise you to leave this business. But if you stay strong and learn from those failures, no one will be able to hold you back. You will achieve tremendous success.

A story of a failure who is going to rule the world

Let me tell you a story of a famous failure that will open your eyes. There is a US congressman who filed for bankruptcy two times. He lost two political campaigns and the chance to become the Vice President of his country.

He has experienced many failures that we can not even imagine. But in the end, he got successful. Become the most influential president in the history of the United States. He was Abraham Lincon. 

Mahatma Gandhi

You know Mahatma Gandhi, the British tortured him so much that any other person would give up and wish to die. The British sent him to jail for five years to force him to forget everything and stop his rebellious behavior and the independent movement. 

But that did not work. He came out and started the campaign again, ‘Leave India.’ After a lot of struggles and torture, he tasted success in 1947. India has become an independent country.

Learn From Your Failures

These guys made the impossible possible by challenging themselves again and again. It is what you need. The failure that will drive you crazy to beat it.

If you stay strong and believe in yourself, you can achieve success. No power in this world will be able to stop you. It’s only you against yourself. So, don’t be afraid to fail. Learn from it, make your next move and keep going until you reach your destinations.

7. How to Maximize Your Earning Potentials 

Gary Keller explains in his book millionaire real estate agent, to maximize tour revenue at the highest point, work on the business, not in the business like everyone else.

• Work on the business, not in the business.

If you work in the business, you will become a self-employed person. A self-employed person rarely becomes rich. You must build the business, not just complete every task by yourself. You need to hire people.

Gary Keller’s First Business

When he was in school, he cleaned the Lawns of his neighbor’s houses. By doing that, he earned $5 per house. As a teenage boy, he has earned some good money by cleaning Lawns for those people in his area.

But when more and more people started to call him to clean their lawn, he hired his school friends to do the work. He used to give them $4 for their work and took $1 by himself. He did not work that much after hiring his friends, but he earned more money than before.

That is what building business means. If you work by yourself to clean all those Lawns, you are a self-employed person. You are working in your business. The author wants to know the difference. Because it is the best way to maximize your revenue in this real estate agent business.

The 95 Percent Self-Employed People  

In today’s world, more than 95% are self-employed. Their main motto is, do the work as I say you should do. Don’t try to do it by ourselves. You will break it. 

They want to do everything by themselves as I am the best. Those people are arrogant. But, I want to tell them that it does not matter how they do the work. The main point is the work needs to be done.

Never force your employee if you want to become a millionaire real estate agent. They will complete the work via whatever they like. Just don’t force them. If you do, they will leave, and you will earn less money.

So, if you want to maximize your earning potential, work on the business, not in the business like those 95% self-employed. Become like Gary Keller, not like an average self-employed man.

8. How to Stay Successful in Life 

The only thing that will help you to hold your success forever is ‘a High-Level Focus.’ The author says this is the only thing that makes the most difference between an average real estate agent and a successful agent, focus, a complete focus.

A High Level of Focus

Let’s say you are in the GYM. You saw two new men there, just beginning their workouts. Two of them are doing similar things. But after a year, you saw one man got a tremendous improvement on his body and one just average improvement, nothing noticeable.

Those two men worked the same amount, followed the same formula, and practiced almost the same, but why the difference? The answer is FOCUS. One man had a high focus on his work, and the other, not that much that is why one is way better than the 2nd one.

As a millionaire real estate agent, you must give your 100% in the business. Focus on only one thing dont try to multitask because you can’t focus on the most important lead and follow it till the end.

The 80 20 Rule

You have heard of the 80 20 rules. 20% work, 80% profit, according to Pareto. So your work is to find the 20% leads that work best in your area and focus on those things firsts. You don’t need other 80% leads. Focus on the 20% that will help you earn the maximum money.

You can use your previous year’s data or data from the last five years to identify 20% of your business and how well it performed in the past. Just look at your data, focus on those leads and then follow the same strategy to get similar results.

The way you will say successful for life as leads will come to you as it did back in time. That is the formula:

• FOCUS on the things that worked best in the past and repeat them.

Use 80 20 rules and find that 20% and make your move.

9. A Short Summary and What to Do Next

Follow the trio of lead generation lead, listing, and leverage. These three are the most important part of the book millionaire real estate agent.

Start budgeting your money from today, minimize all the expenses, and increase your income. Set the highest goal. Like, I will earn $10 Million in a year. I need more than 200 leads to get there.

Have faith and start your journey. Aim for the SUN and never give up. Success is waiting for you. Have faith, my friend, have faith.

10. Recommended Books for Success 

Now I am going to recommend some books to you that will help you to become a better agent, and those are:

• SHIFT by Gary Keller full summary
• Sell or be sold by Grant Cardone
• The millionaire real estate investor by Gary Keller (summary available)
• The Real book of real estate by Robert Kiyosaki (complete book summary available)
• FLIP by Gary Keller
• The rental property investing book by Brandon Turner

Read all these books to become a millionaire real estate agent. I have read all of these thy are outstanding. They will help you to understand the business, generate more leads for your business and negotiate a better price. You must read them.

Last Words

So that is all for the millionaire real estate agent book summary by Gary Keller. I hope you have liked my writing. It took me two days to write this monstrous article with over 3600 words. Please share it with your friends. Thanks.