Keep Showing Up in Residential Real estate Sales Until Everything Changes with Christian Givens

[0:00] Welcome back to the REI agent. My guest today is Christian Givens, a DMV native real estate agent serving the Washington DC metro area who has built one of the most distinctive personal brands in real estate with over 68,000 Instagram followers drawn to his faith driven values based approach to his business. Christian has grown his audience without paid ads leading into authenticity, community and a clear point of view that resonates far beyond his market. He operates in one of the most politically and economically dynamic markets in the country and brings both a ground level read on the DMV and a thoughtful perspective on how agents can build real influence without compromising who they are. Christian, welcome to the REI agent podcast.

[0:43] Thanks for having me. It’s always fun to talk to somebody that’s not too far away that knows what, when I say go Dukes, you understand what I’m saying? Yeah. Christian, you said you actually went to school not too far from me as well. And then that’s kind of when maybe where you got your start in real estate. Tell us a little bit how you’re, yeah, what got you into real estate and that whole story. Yeah. So I went to Liberty University class of 2014, crazy. And while I was in college, I don’t think I mentioned this to you. Like I was, my senior year, I was an assistant for an agent down there for like maybe a month or two. It wasn’t very long, but it was a very interesting experience. It wasn’t a bad one. And then when I graduated, stayed down there for extra year, got a job working at the school and I purchased my first house down there at 22. It was a duplex and probably the best investment I could have ever purchased at that age.

[1:40] You know, like what else do you do with your money when you’re that young? I’m not making a lot of money either. I’m just like, I’m gonna put it into this house. And then I purchased my second one down there. After I moved away, I just realized like the Lynchburg market was just so good for cashflow. So I purchased the second property down there. I think I was like 25 at that point. That house didn’t last very long. That was a lesson learned. I only hold onto that one house for a year, mainly because we didn’t have the best time getting a tenant in it. And we were just putting so much money into that house. And I was just like, I can’t maintain two mortgage. Well, the one mortgage was covered by my tenants, but this new mortgage plus investing every month into some major update.

[2:20] So I ultimately ended up like putting the house for sale. And as soon as I got it, put it on the market, we had a tenant, which I was so, I was happy about, but I was bummed about it. I was like, this could have happened a year ago and I would have kept the house. Wait, so did you, did you have it for a year without a tenant the whole time? Yeah. A year without a tenant. The mortgage was a lot, but I wasn’t making a lot of money at that point. So it was like when you’re making what? $36,000 a year. It’s like, that’s nothing. Like I’m spending all my money on this mortgage that I’m not paying for. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. No, totally. That’s, that’s a, that’s a lot of vacancy. That’s pretty crazy.

[2:55] So wait, so that would have been what, like 2018 ish, 2016? Yeah. 26, 17. Okay. Yeah. Ish. Yeah. Yeah. Interesting. That’s a, that is a long time to go without. Yeah. Without having a tenant, that’s, that would be rough. And I would think a lot of people would be considering to sell there. I mean, and you know, you typically try to do the, all the analysis you can for, you know, like try to have like your CapEx, try to have your maintenance, all that kind of stuff. But, and then you also are supposed to factor in vacancy, but I don’t think anybody would factor that long with vacancy. So that’s, that’s definitely, definitely a cashflow eater. Yeah, it was definitely. And I think the, the biggest thing that changed us finding a tenant was that we had our house listed with the same property manager to maintain our other house and different parts of towns, you know, completely different lives. One was in a more friendly, like family friendly neighborhood. The first one, the second house is more downtown and different environment. So I should have moved to a property manager that knew that particular part of town

[3:56] better. And I think I would have gotten someone a lot quicker, but that’s my. Yeah. Well, yeah. I mean, and you know, the, you did the, I mean, kudos to you for, for investing that early. That’s pretty crazy. I don’t think a lot of people can say they bought a house that young, let alone too. So that’s, that’s awesome. And you know, it’s, it’s, it can be a challenge. I mean, you did the classic, it sounds like classic house hack for the first one, right? You were living in it and running at the second half. Did the second half pay for the full mortgage? Yeah. 100%. Yeah. That mortgage was so cheap. Different days, right? Oh yeah. It was good. That’s awesome. Okay. So that, so when you moved and you moved to the, to Maryland, to the DC market?

[4:38] Yep. Back to Maryland where I’m from, originally from Laurel, Maryland, which is in PD, is in Fort County. So I grew up in the Prince George’s County side of Laurel, which is North of DC, south of Baltimore. I was living with my parents and moved up here for a job that was only for about a year, actually it wasn’t even a full year, it was probably seven months. And then once that seven months was up on that job, I got my real estate license and was doing real estate full-time for a couple of years on a team, then got a full-time job at a nonprofit working there for three years. And then my father got sick while I was working there and he passed away. And I was just kind of like, thank you. I was just, you know, once he passed and I was, I was, I stayed in my job for maybe two more years after he passed. But I think once I was like over, not over the grief, but kind of in a better head space, I was like, okay, I need to do something that’s going to help me go to the next level of my life. You know, and I stopped, you know, you’re capped at your income when you’re working at certain places. I was at a nonprofit at that. So I wasn’t making a ton and I just had bigger

[5:41] vision for my life, you know? And I couldn’t shake my love for real estate. So that’s when I decided to get back into real estate full-time. So it was in 2021 that I came back full-time. Okay. And at that, and when you, when you came back, were you on a team immediately again, or you were, did you go in solo? Solo. Yeah, I was solo for a while. Actually up until, I guess, early this year, last year at some point. So yeah, it’s been solo. And it was the, my biggest challenge coming back was trying to find mentorship. I was really seeking it out, but people are so busy and I wasn’t seeking out in the right way. But I just had a hard time finding somebody. And then I eventually met who was now my business partner at the Yacht Club in DC at an event. And, you know, she recruited me to our old brokerage and then she was coaching me. And I owe a lot of my growth, I feel like, to the coaching that I had with her. It really helped me to become focused on the business methods that we’re working on, like working for me to get clients. So yeah.

[6:41] Yeah. I mean, mentorship is so huge. It really is. I mean, if, if the, the Holy Grail, if, if I could like, you know, draw out a map of, of, of how a young hungry agent could kind of start their, their career in the whole REI agent world would be to do what you did by a duplex, like have that W2 so you can get a duplex, live in one half or make it, you know, rent out rooms, whatever you got to do, live for free. Maybe have a little bit of cushion for the utilities as well from the rent. And then, and then find a, like an agent that’s so busy that they need help and they’re willing to pay a little bit for the help. And then you do everything that you can for them. Um, and while, you know, you have your license and you’re trying to build your business as well, and you learn and you, and you take that opportunity also as a, as a great mentorship where it’s a true win-win where you’re, you know, again, bending over backwards, um, having that mindset of like, I don’t focus on what is it in what’s in it for me. Like when you’re trying to attract a mentor, like if, if, if everything is just kind of like you’re analyzing, is it worth my time?

[7:53] What they’re asking me? You need to be like, no, give me more. Yeah. Yeah. Like, how can I help you more? Um, and, and then, you know, that is a great way to learn and kind of build your business. And, and, you know, as I say in the show a lot, you know, from as soon as you’re able to buy another kind of duplex or whatever, start building up that portfolio and don’t let your, you know, as your income increases, don’t let your lifestyle just skyrocket as well. Cause things aren’t always great. Um, and let your passive income, uh, help fund your, uh, lifestyle increase. But, um, it’s awesome that you were able to find that then. Um, and I guess what in 2021, uh, the business was moving. Um, what, what kind of strategies did you use to, I think honestly, in that kind of timeframe, and this may not be the case for you, I feel like it’s almost harder to learn the fundamentals of the business when things are so crazy. Um, depending on your, on your, you know, your lead source, kind of like if you’re, if you’re growing it organically, whatever, or if, if I think if you’re people who were like, uh,

[8:58] paying for Zillow, for example, in that, in that timeframe could get a ton of business coming in, like they could get a ton of deals and it can maybe seem like transactional and that, that deal flow will always be there. And it’s maybe hard to remember or hard just to find the time to nurture the past, uh, clients. I’m curious what kind of strategies you, you did to kind of get started then and what the mentor was teaching you. Yeah. So my biggest thing was, um, when I was looking into getting back to the business, I was already active on social media, like just doing my own thing. I used to model in college for fun. So most of my content was just like me going to street meets in DC for photography. Um, so I was already active on social media. We were going to call some agents that were doing social media content. And I was like, Oh, this is a cool way to grow your business. So, um, I started really delving into creating real estate content and it wasn’t just houses. It was more so at that point, me doing like the voiceovers on Tik TOK and like some educational pieces. Um, and that’s kind of where I was like, I’m going to grow my business here.

[10:00] So while everyone is having a great 2021, my 2021 was awful. Like it was the worst. I think I took a loss that year. Um, I did sell a couple of houses, maybe two. And I think I took like a $20,000 loss because I were, I was investing money into just growing. Like since I didn’t find a natural mentor at that point, I paid for coaching. I forgot to mention that I did pay for coaching. Um, I don’t think I met Keesa until 2022. So I paid for a coach in 2021 and it was a great experience. It was expensive, you know, coaches are not cheap. And I had a little bit extra money in my bank cause I was living with my parents. So I was able to save some money and I was just like, I’m going to invest in this. And, you know, I was just determined like whatever it took to grow, um, and to get the acumen I needed to have the mindset to stay in the business, to do that.

[10:48] So I paid the money for that. Um, so yeah, 2021 was hard. 2022 was getting better. I was just learning consistency, you know? So my biggest thing was, okay, I’m going to show up and be consistent no matter what it looks like. Um, everyone else was having an amazing year in 2021, you know, and closing all these deals. And I’m just back here making my little TikTok videos and people at my church are like, how’s your business going? And so you’re just making all these videos. You actually get clients from it. And at that point I wasn’t getting a ton of clients from it, but I was like, I will. And I just kept doing it. And then I guess look up, I wake up like closing, you know, consistently 10 or more deals a year from just social media. And that’s kind of where Keesa and I were like delving in. She’s like, okay, where’s your business coming in? So 2022, 2023, you know, we were looking at my numbers and she was like, yeah, if most of your business is coming from this source, then you delve in more. So from her conversation or looking at my numbers and actually the stats, you know, I was like, okay,

[11:47] let’s look at it. I just focused on social and that’s what I was like. So when things get slow, cause it’s been, you know, it’s been an interesting year. It’s been a good year, but not like last year, that year was amazing. I just delve in on my content. I’m like, okay, I’m going to just create, I have time to think, I have time to get out there and create what I want to create. I’m doing events with my clients every year as well as another way to, you know, stay engaged and in touch with my previous clients. So I’m trying to just be top of mind at all times. And yeah, that’s where everyone is right now. Everyone’s online. So I show up there daily. Yeah, no, I think consistency, it sounds like you were really focused on building the, yeah, like that, that, that pipeline in 2021 and, and showing up consistently just means a ton.

[12:34] Like I just, you know, I’ve, I’ve mentioned this a couple of times as well, but I, you know, I, I started off blogging when I, when I started and I don’t think there was a ton of people reading it consistently. The blog didn’t really take off and grow and become this like, you know, big thing, but I shared it every time on social media. And I feel like that alone did something like people, you know, whether they clicked on it or not, they saw, okay, Matias is posting another thing about real estate. It’s really doing it. Cause he’s just like, you know, three times a week, he’s putting a blog out there about real estate that I’m not reading, but you know, it’s like, it was, it was consistent. And I think that like it did you know, it was just a constant reminder that, you know, I’m in this game, you know, I’m in this, I’m doing this, this is my job.

[13:19] And I think, you know, to your, it sounds like you, you caught a vein where people were actually using your content or consuming it, but it does the same thing, right? Like it reminds people constantly that, you know, you’re in the business. Absolutely. Yep. And it’s so funny because that is the, that was the goal. It’s like, I just want people to know I’m in the business. And I remember one thing my coach taught me was when you’re talking to people, you don’t have to talk about real estate, you know, but if you’re on the phone with somebody, end it with real estate, like, okay, sorry, I got to go. I have to go meet a client to show a house. Yeah. It’s good chatting with you. I’m like, that was like a game changer. It’s like, dang, I don’t have to call you and ask you for business. You already know what I do. I’m just going to subtly remind you what I do.

[13:59] Like, okay, I got to go. I have a contract to work on. I got to go. I’m going to shoot some content. You know, I’m like, I’m always reminding people and not a noxious ways. Okay. I’ve worked it now. So let me go do the thing that pays my bills. I like that a lot. I think, I think it’s where if you focus on the other person, if you focus on value and you’re, you’re caring about the other person and they know that what you do, like, you don’t have to, yeah, you don’t have to be like, so do you know anybody that’s buying yourself in your house? You know, like thinking about it, you know, like it’s, it comes out naturally if you’re like, if you’re in flow with people. So we, you know, we talk about the, the, like the ninja method or, or the, you know, the, just the forward method of communicating with people. So you’re talking about their family, talking about their occupation, you’re talking about their recreation and their dreams, all the things that they care about. Right. They’re going to remember that you’re in real estate. And so like, if they had a really good experience with you, had a really good conversation,

[14:55] they felt really heard. They couldn’t believe that you remembered this detail about them or whatever. Next time they are in a conversation with somebody who’s thinking about buying or selling things, like, Oh yeah, this person’s awesome. You should talk to them. And it doesn’t have to be like this, like, Oh God, he’s calling me again. Like what does he want? What’s he want from me? And I got to just quickly plug it. Cause I do now we have a CRM that’s kind of built to kind of build that relationship with your clients, with your sphere. Like we have the Ford stuff built in there. It’s got an algorithm. So I, I’m a little bit tired of AI. I think like when there is unauthentic content out, it doesn’t really, it kind of has inverse effect.

[15:35] If you’re, you’re talking to a robot, if you’re, if you know, you’re in a chat, if you’re having a voice call and it’s, it’s obviously AI on the other end or, or whatever, it’s an AI image. Even if I feel like if a blog is a perfectly crafted blog and there’s an AI image on it, I’m like, I don’t really believe this. But, but anyway, so this, this whole, the whole concept of this CRM is that it is, you are entering the data. The data helps give you better ways of connecting with your clients. Okay. And, and so like, you’re still the person talking to the people, but it’s easy. It’s like five, six people a day. You reach out to them and you know, it gets better and better because you’re, you’re giving it more data. You’re asking questions about their family. You’re asking, you’re trying to figure out their kids’ ages. You’re trying to figure out, you know, so that it can tell you, Hey, you know, so-and-so’s kid is going to first grade. That’s going to be a big transition.

[16:29] Like, you know, you want to, you want to reach out to them and wish them luck on this new journey or whatever. And so this is, this is where like we can use technology to increase our like actual real authentic relationships with people. And I think that’s what gets lost often in this space. Yeah. That’s awesome. That’s awesome. Which, which CRM is it? So yeah, go to reiagent.com and it’s, and it’s on there. So it works with Google or Outlook. Okay. If you have any of those accounts, then it would, it would work. I’m a Google person. So that’s awesome. I’ll have to check it out. Yeah. Yeah. But anyway, so, so tell us a little bit more about like what kind of content ideas you have and what kind of, where, where you saw, saw some growth, like from like certain content types that were real estate related.

[17:12] Yeah. So I think, like I mentioned earlier, I started with just like the voiceover, kind of the trendy things that were on TikTok. And I enjoyed those things. Like I did a lot of comedy things. Okay. And I, but I recognized partially that I was in a really dark space and I, I’m like, you know, still grieving my dad, going to do my personal stuff. I realized like when I’m mentally just going through it, humor is like my default. So I need to watch something funny. I just need to make everything lighter. So that’s kind of what I defaulted to when I was, you know, creating my TikToks at that point. And then, you know, I would say my, around my 30th birthday, before my 30th birthday, I started to do a little bit more home tours just by myself.

[17:51] I would go out and just shoot houses and model homes and things like that. But then I took a trip with one of my good friends, like my best friend, William from college for my 30th birthday, went on a cruise to Mexico. And when we got back to DC, he was like, I feel like I need to help you with your videos. He’s a videographer. And so he helps me like to really, really be consistent with my, my house tours. Okay. And the quality went up. Okay. And I was just like, this is it. This is what I was missing. So I kind of shifted from the comedy stuff. I don’t do as much. I still do it every blue moon, like probably once a quarter, but like my bread and butter has become like just showcasing the real estate in the DMV area.

[18:33] I’m worth it. And I focused solely on new construction for a long time. Okay. And I do a lot of new construction as a result of that. I’m just, I’ll say at least every year, about a third of my business is new construction. Okay. But I started shifting more in the more recent years into showing like luxury homes in the DMV. Okay. That’s the goal is to shift to more, you know, luxury clientele. My price point went up for sure. I still serve all price points. If you’re watching this, don’t worry. I serve all price points. But I just love, I realized people love beautiful homes. Like no matter if we can afford it or not, I can’t afford a $5 million house. I still want to go see it too. You know what I mean?

[19:12] So I’m like, yeah, people love that. And what I find is that when I started doing the content on, the TikTok content, the feedback I got from clients meeting me then was, oh, you are relatable. Oh, you are who you, you are who you display yourself to be online, you know? And then the feedback from the house tours is, oh, you understand the aesthetic I like, you know? Okay. But it’s still the same. Like you’re still showing up. And when we meet you in person, we’re not disappointed in who you are. You are the person that you portray yourself to be online, which is like the highest compliment in my opinion. Yeah. Because I’m like, thank you. Cause I don’t want to be not myself like on camera, you know? So that’s, that’s kind of, that was my strategy. And yeah. So now I’m still doing the house tours. Right now, my team and I, we have a comedy series ish that we work on together. Like, so every time we have a new listing, we do this thing called open house and we, it’s kind of like the office, but for real estate. So we, you know, we just kind of keep it short three minutes just to introduce the house and, you know, just to get people to see us in a different light.

[20:15] We’re humans. We like to have fun. Real estate is stressful enough. So we try to make it as light and fun as we can with that series. So. Let me, let me ask you about some of the comedy approaches you’ve taken and kind of like things that have resulted from it. I see, I see it a lot. I see a lot of different angles. I don’t know if you’ve seen Tampa Bree. She is hilarious. Oh yeah. She is hilarious. She is like a standup comedian. It is insane. But you know, I, my broker would roll over. I mean, he’s not in his grave, but he would, he would die and then roll over. If I did anything like that, cause it wouldn’t be, it wouldn’t come across as professional to him. Right. Right. Right. And, and like, I mean, I, that she is so funny. So I’m not, I’m not saying that in a negative light to her, but I’m just curious about what lines you have to draw or what kind of, how you have to walk, like showcasing professionalism. Yeah. Yeah. And then also I think I’ve seen, um, content that gets negative on the house itself that they’re in. Um, and I feel like that’s to be funny. And I think that can also, I don’t know if how that would go over with the client, if they would find it funny or if they

[21:28] were like, are you marketing my house? So I’m curious if what kind of like approaches you’ve taken and, and, and what’s worked for you. Yeah. So, um, it’s when it comes to the comedy approach, like one, I want my con my content to reflect who I actually am. Right. I’m not crass. I’m not inappropriate in most cases. You know, I’m, I’m, I’m, I grew up in a very conservative family. Um, so I tend to lean more, Hey, I’m more reserved. I’m more moderate in my approach to everything. Sure. I don’t want to turn anyone away. So I try to be middle ground when it comes to the comedy, like I’m not being dark, super dark. I’m not being inappropriate. You know, I just, if it makes it me cringe, then I’m not posting it. Sure. Sure. You know, and, and more so like if, if I would be ashamed of my mom saw it or if my pastor saw it, I’m not posting it.

[22:19] Like I’m not explaining myself to anybody. Um, so that’s kind of my line for that. So yeah, just, I just try to keep it, you know, family oriented. Like it’s someone that if your kid watched it, they can, they can watch it, it would not, you know, be something that they couldn’t watch. Um, and also I have like a ton of these synopsis. So I’m like, I just want to be respectful of that. Sure. Um, and then when it comes to the homes, you know, yes, I’m never, I’m not going to be a critic of anybody’s house. And if I don’t like it, I probably won’t post it. Like this is how I am. Um, if I have a client’s home who is a little bit of a fixer upper, I try to find the positive in it. Um, I’m going to do my best to find the selling point, whether it be a community or it be the size.

[23:00] Um, like I’m focusing on what is the reason you want the house and not the, the ick that someone else might focus on. Um, because my job is to sell the house, you know? Um, so yeah, when I’m, when I’m featuring homes that are not my listings on social media, I’m always going for eye candy or something that’s just like a wow factor or something that’s unique. Um, I’m not looking for things that are like, I can poke, I can poke at anything if I really wanted to. Um, but like I said, when it comes to my own, my own clients homes, I’m highlighting the best part about that house, whether it be the community location, whatever it is. So yeah, my job is to protect my client’s best interest in that home. And that’s what I do. Can you describe like one of the comedy things that like, like kind of, uh, you said it’s kind of like the office. Can you kind of explain a little bit more if, if somebody has an, I mean, go check out his socials, um, and you’ll see it, but like, yeah, I’m just curious if you can explain that a little bit. Yeah. So for example, we just, I just have a listing that launched maybe two weeks ago, um, in Bowie and, um, my business partner,

[24:00] she has a grandson. So we, for this episode, you know, he was acting as a buyer and there’s only two. So he throws all his stuffed dolls and he’s like, they’re all around the listing and I’m just like giving them a tour. And I’m like, it seems like your friends have made this so comfortable, you know? So I’m like going through, like trying to figure out, are they really going to buy the house or not? So things like that, you know? So that’s one example. And then another example, we, um, me and my other team, team members, we did, uh, at my other listing and Glendale, also near Bowie, um, it’s a bigger home. Um, and Ed, who is my team member, who I love dearly, we were like joking with him, like he would get lost in this house. So like looking for Ed in the house, you know, like at the beginning and then poking fun at Ed and like, help you just, just making light of things. Okay. I love it. Things like that. Yeah. Did you ever have a, something that you posted that, um, you regretted or, or that like a client or somebody kind of reacted poorly to?

[24:58] Oh, that is a great question. I don’t think I’ve had anything that a client has ever reacted poorly to. Um, but I’ve definitely posted things that I’m like, maybe I shouldn’t have posted that. And for me it’s more so like, cause on Tik TOK, you can rent, you can vent, like, you know, that’s where I go and vent about life. So I always, sometimes I would like go and vent about what’s going on personally. Like I’m not talking about real estate all the time. And then I realized like, I think some people really appreciate the authenticity. Um, but for me, it’s like finding the lines, like, okay, where do I draw the line in my personal life that like, people don’t need to know this about me. Um, or this is more appropriate for my counselor.

[25:33] Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So it’s like, this may not be appropriate for everyone to know, but there are so many things I want to talk about on Tik TOK that I just haven’t. Cause I’m like, if you guys knew the drama my family has been through, like I could have the most viral account on Tik TOK if I really, really wanted to air everything that we’ve been through. Um, but I’m like, dang, I don’t want to do that. Cause it would involve everyone else. Everyone else involved around the situation would see it in. Yeah. It become a big thing. And I’m like, I don’t need to air out. I know the reality of what actually happened and people have perceptions of what happened. You know, I’m like, I know the truth. Um, and I’m just like, ah, just, I can’t post what I want to post because people are going to have perceptions of me that may not be true, but yeah. So, yeah, no. And I think like, you know, again, it seems like even if you’ve had some things that you may be like, ah, maybe I shouldn’t have shared that. Like, I mean, you’ve, you’ve continued. And I think a lot of people will get, um, hung up on, uh, like maybe wanting everything to be perfect or they just have

[26:39] this lock to social media to start for a lot of people. And I think, you know, getting in front of the camera and just talking is difficult for a lot of people. So I think, you know, it’s something that I’ve, you know, I’ve mentioned this again a few times, but I think, you know, doing some sort of challenge where you’re just recording yourself talking to a camera and just have no intention of actually posting it. Uh, yeah. It’s something I think that could help you kind of just get comfortable with it. Cause you just get better at it as you go. I think I like, I don’t know. I feel a lot of people that have content out there that have YouTube channels or whatever, they will often like talk about their first, um, like their first videos is being really cringe or like, Oh, I don’t even want to, I feel like I should go back and delete them, but they’re still getting views. They’re still getting like leads for me. Like, you know what I mean? Like, yeah, no, I’m with you. Like I, I, I could go back and just like do the same thing. Like my, my home tours that I was doing on my own, like they were so bad quality. Like, I’m like,

[27:35] Oh my gosh. Like, and you know, it’s so funny. Cause now like when I see agents who post videos like that, I’m like, yo, keep going. Yeah. You know, people reach out to me and they ask me, you know, what, what to do differently. And like, one of my biggest advice is like, clean your lens. Like I see video people with their videos or let’s just, it’s just fogging. I’m like, just clean the lens. Your video will be like 10 times better. I promise. But yeah, that was me. You know, I was the kid that had the foggy lens and that was like, the videos were way too fast. I couldn’t see anything. And you know, like, I’m not, like not knowing the materials in the home and like, just, just growing. But I didn’t let my lack of like skill or the lack of quality that I wanted stopped me from showing up. And I think that’s what, you know, really does set you apart. Like you got to really push past that perfectionism, you know, for the sake of growth. Yeah. I mean, you got to put yourself out there.

[28:28] If you’re not, if you’re not putting yourself in a position that you’re a little bit uncomfortable, you’re not growing. Like you got to in, in, in all different areas. And if this is something you want to do, like you gotta, you gotta do it. You gotta just get reps. Like, yeah, get the reps. Yep. 10,000 reps to master something is what Arnold talks about. Right. Yeah. I think what helped me a lot to get the reps, like there was another agent who we were friends on Tik TOK. I don’t know if he’s doing real estate now, but I should check in on him, but we were talking and I remember we were just like, yeah, we should like do a challenge. So we did a challenge where we posted three times a day. Oh wow. Three months. And that was the hardest three months content. Um, but I did it and it really, really helps me to grow that consistency bone.

[29:10] So now I’m like, I can pose a day. One, once a day is nothing like that is, I do that in my sleep, you know? Right. I’m trying to get back to like a twice a day rhythm, you know, and that I’m just to grow again exponentially. But I don’t think my account grew a lot during that three months, but what I did do, it, it grew my confidence and it helped me to learn the content that I enjoyed making and content that people engage with more. Um, so it just, it was just a good lesson for me. Yeah. Sometimes you just have to set up like very intentional and that’s just a life thing. Like, I think like the, if you’re not intentional about how you spend your time, you’re, you’re, you’re going to get consumed by whatever, um, you know, and, and maybe consuming content, maybe consuming the thing you get consumed by, but you need to be aware of where you spend your time and what you want. Um, and I think if you do find success in real estate, like it’s very easy to then also just get consumed by that and not forget about everything else and not live healthy, not exercise, eat unhealthy, not, you know, spend as much time with your family as you want,

[30:14] sorry, whatever is important to you. So I think, I think just taking like, you know, annual quarterly, all those kinds of things, like taking a look at your business, your life, really thinking about where you want to be in five years, where you want to be, what, what does your life look like in an ideal world? Cause you can make it happen. You just have to be intentional and use your time. Yeah, no, I appreciate you saying that. That’s been my goal this year is like holistically. What do I want outside of just doing well in my business? Like I, I can’t, I can’t sacrifice my health for the sake of business. You know, I can’t sacrifice my relationships for the sake of business or just the things I want to do. Um, so yeah, you saying that really is my, a good reminder for me too. Yeah. Um, what about, um, some golden nuggets for our audience? What do you got there?

[30:59] Yeah. I mean, so, um, since we were talking about it, I would say don’t focus on perfectionism, um, focus on consistency, show up, you know, even if it’s not perfect. Like if your goal is to do content, just push it out. Like don’t focus on the perfectionism. You’ll grow like you’ll, you will get better with time, you know? And that’s, that’s the one thing you got to remember. Um, two, I would say be patient with yourself, you know, like this business real estate is not always a fast business. You know, sometimes it might take a year or two to really build out a robust pipeline and that’s okay. Like be patient with yourself, be kind to yourself. The market is hard. Even for top producing agents is hard. Um, this year has been the year of the hard deal. Like I’ve done decent business, but every deal has had something that has made it so difficult. And this is the time that we really get to like grow our, like show our worth, you know, it’s like when every transaction is easy, it’s like, are you really working? But it’s the hard deals that really allow you to just kind of show like, this is why I’m getting paid, but I’m getting paid. Um, so that’s the second thing. I guess the

[32:08] third thing would be to holistically to your point, like take care of you first. Um, whether if you had to get up earlier to do that, you know, to work out or to pray or to eat a proper breakfast or spend time with your loved ones, um, just do that. Like you have to show up for yourself first in order to show up for everybody else. And that’s something I am actively working on. Like I’m not, I don’t do that the best, you know? So, um, yeah, that’s advice I’m giving you guys, but I’m also taking myself. I love it. I have to say quick, I don’t know, you know, talking to people in different areas, uh, every market’s different. And, um, uh, but I, I definitely understand what you’re, where you’re coming from. And I’ve heard a lot of people say, you know, like this has been a year, this has been really difficult. Um, and, uh, just real quick, like, you know, the dynamic we see often is, is kind of this, it’s not really a shift of, of the, the power in the negotiations and stuff yet, but it’s kind of a little bit less, um, off balance. And so sellers are a little bit frustrated that they’re not, they don’t have as quite as much leverage and buyers are expecting

[33:11] more and, um, kind of leaves both a little bit frustrated. I think maybe some of that is where that, that difficultness comes from. Um, and so I don’t know if there’s a way to get like better, um, perceptions like on the, on the forefront so that people have like better expectations, um, in the transaction that, that might help. Um, but, uh, I did talk to somebody recently who said that they, you know, like the amount of, they had like this, uh, amount of activities that result in a sale. Like they keep, this is a, this is a coach for like teams. And if you, if you do as many activities, um, this usually results in a sale and it was like 150 or something like that. Um, uh, and he’s like, now it’s 300. And, um, and, and, and, you know, that that’s, that might sound depressing.

[33:54] That might be like, uh, but a lot of people who like really, really killed it. Like people who like seasoned agents that were like, just really hitting their stride and just, you know, just dominating markets in, in the last boom. Um, they built everything kind of through the slow times, right? They were perfecting their skill. They were perfecting their stuff. Now is the time to do that. And, and it, people are getting weeded out a little bit. There’s going to be people that lead the industry. Um, and so this is time to, you know, perfect your craft to, to build up and, um, it will be worth it. Um, and this is just the reality of the, of the market. It’s not always a sunshine and rainbows. It’s not. And I would say if you’ve done well in the last two years, which were some of the hardest real estate markets, then, you know, to your point, like get ready for the good ones. Um, but use these years to build, you know, build upon your foundation. Um, for me, that’s all right.

[34:50] What am I, what’s my content strategy? You know, what are the systems I want to implement to make my client experience smoother? Um, that is a big deal for me. Um, so that’s what I’m like my client experience. Yeah. Sure. Um, Christian, uh, what about a favorite book? Um, what one that’s fundamental that you think everybody should read or just one that you currently really enjoy? Yeah. Um, one of my favorite books that I’ve read, oh, it’s probably who, not how. Um, and I think it really made me realize that, you know, like having people around you, a solid network to help support is really, really, really essential. If you’re going to grow, um, not as a business owner, but as a person, you know, there’s always someone that has the answer to the problem that you have and you might be someone too, as well.

[35:34] So, um, yeah, that, that book was really good for me in my growth and business. I love it. I love it. It’s a great one. Um, and then where can people find you, um, on social media? Obviously you mentioned TikTok and Instagram. Um, what are your handles? We’ll have this in the show notes. And then, and if anybody, you know, listen to these golden nuggets, all this stuff that we’ve talked about today, um, and you’re driving down the road and you can’t write things down, go to reiagent.com. You can, uh, get, uh, the newsletter that will have the, the two weeks or the, sorry, the two episodes that week summarized, sent to you by email, um, every week. And then also there will be a blog, um, for this, uh, episode as well. So you can get that content that way as well. But anyway, uh, Christian, where can people find you?

[36:16] Yeah. So my handle on Instagram and TikTok are the same. It’s Christian G Realtor. Um, that’s the handle for both. And then I have a team page as well on Instagram. It’s givens.group. Awesome. Well, Christian, thank you so much for being on the show. It was a lot of fun talking to you. Thank you so much for having me. It’s great. Thanks for listening to the REI agent. If you enjoyed this episode, hit subscribe to catch new shows every week, visit REIAgent.com for more content until next time. Keep building the life you want. All content in the show is not investment advice or mental health therapy. It is intended for entertainment purposes only.