How Andy Nelson averages 70 deals a year as a solo agent with a six-day routine

Andy Nelson00:00

I want really every real estate agent across America to look at this as you are a professional. You are a licensed professional. You’ve taken a test, you’ve taken a class. You’re governed by a local board that deems you a professional. So protect your time the same way that a doctor would protect his time, or the same way that a dentist would protect his time.

00:21Because we know if you do this well enough at a high level, you can be on par in terms of income and surpass those professionals that we look at with admiration. Why are we not considered on the same level, or why would we not look at ourself or our time as just as important?

Loida Velasquez00:40

Hi, everyone. Welcome back to a brand new episode of Vulcan7 Coaches and Mentors, where we bring you some of the best in the industry to share with you their tips and strategies so that you can implement in your business immediately. If you haven’t caught up on our previous episodes, make sure to check it out.

00:57You can watch them on YouTube or listen to them on your favorite streaming platforms. So with that being said, on today’s episode, we’re gonna be talking about something that is vital to your success, and that is your routine. So with that being said, I’m gonna go ahead and bring on today’s guest, Andy Nelson, and he will be sharing with you exactly how you can develop a consistent routine with accountability and structure.

01:22So Andy, welcome to the show.

Andy Nelson01:26

Thank you so much for having me. I’m excited to be here.

Loida Velasquez01:29

Absolutely. So for everyone that’s watching that maybe is not familiar with you, go ahead and share with us a little bit about your background.

Andy Nelson01:37

Yeah, so background, thank you so much for asking. I was originally… Well, I say originally.

01:43I served in the United States Navy from 2006 to 2012. While on active duty, that’s when I got into real estate, back in 2011. So I’ve been in real estate now, this is 13 years. I say off and on, 13 years off and on, ’cause I’m one of those that have actually failed out of the business multiple times.

02:05And it really took the global pandemic to get me back into real estate and to keep me here for the last time. So full-time now for the last four plus years, and in that amount of time I’ve gone from essentially a newly licensed agent again, all the way up through brokerage owner and coach.

Loida Velasquez02:26

Okay, awesome. So consistency, routine is something that I think many agents, some of them take very seriously. Others, you do a routine for a couple days, maybe a couple weeks, and then they kind of fall off. So let’s get started with your journey when it comes to a routine. Have you always been consistent?

02:48Was there a point in your career that you’re like, “You know what? I gotta get it together if I really wanna make it this time.”

Andy Nelson02:54

Yeah, so it was exactly that. The first few years, very personality-based. I was talking to the people that I knew, maybe the people that I had served in the military with, and that was my primary clientele base.

03:08And eventually that well dried up, especially once I got out of the military, and I had to adapt or fail out of the business, and I didn’t adapt, so I failed out of the business. It wasn’t until 2020, like I said, with COVID, when I got back into the business. I saw a lot of success, as many of us did in 2020 because, you know, if you had a pulse you could sell a house during the COVID market.

03:36But it was the following year, in 2021, when I plugged into an organization called GloverU. And when I plugged into GloverU, they really helped me establish the systems needed and the structure necessary to really take my business to the next level.

Loida Velasquez03:53

So at that point you were doing real estate full time, right?

03:58Right. So when you got plugged into the system, did you already have some type of foundation, or what was like the beginning starting point to help you get to the point to succeed?

Andy Nelson04:11

Yeah. So GloverU operates in these phrases that we call Gloverisms. And the very first Gloverism that stuck with me is, “Own the morning, win the day.”

04:24And I adapted that, and what that really means is we treat the morning for client generation and the afternoon for client servicing. So we’ve blocked out everything that’s not client generation from the morning. So literally no closings in the morning, no walkthroughs in the mornings, no inspections in the morning.

04:45Everything is client generation focused from roughly 8:00 AM to noon.

Loida Velasquez04:51

You know, something, as you’re saying that, something that came to my mind is when agents, especially maybe newer agents that are getting transactions going, and they feel that something comes up in the morning that they feel they have to take care of, as a coach, and even you in your experience, how do you train them to almost believe like, hey, you know, that thing can wait until the afternoon.

05:18You don’t have to handle it right now.

Andy Nelson05:20

Yeah, so I really liken this to an attorney or a doctor or a dentist. You make an appointment to see these professionals. We all have… Unless it’s an emergency, you know, you’re going to the emergency room or the hospital. Otherwise, we’re making appointments to see these professionals.

05:39I look at, and I want really every real estate agent across America to look at this as you are a professional. You’re a licensed professional. You’ve taken a test. You’ve taken a class. You’re governed by a local board that deems you a professional. So protect your time the same way that a doctor would protect his time, or the same way that a dentist would protect his time.

06:02Because we know if you do this well enough at a high level, you can be on par in terms of income and surpass those professionals that we look at with admiration. Why are we not considered on the same level, or why would we not look at ourself or our time as just as important?

Loida Velasquez06:19

And when it comes to accountability, I think that is extremely important, along with discipline, in order to keep a consistent routine.

06:28So for you, obviously you have the military background, so I’m sure that you’re very structured. But for an agent that maybe didn’t have that or doesn’t have that, are there any mindset shifts or things that you recommend for them?

Andy Nelson06:44

Yeah. So the idea here really looks into what are the things that I can do, or what are the activities that I can do every single day regardless of what’s happening in my business?

06:58And that’s it. Like, if you can identify… And listen, break it down as simple as, you know, if I do these three tasks, or if I check these five boxes today, then I know that the results will follow. And if we can identify what those boxes are, listen, I don’t necessarily care if you do it at 7:00 AM, at 5:00 AM, or at 2:00 PM.

07:20As long as those boxes are being checked on a daily basis, that’s all we need to make sure that we’re doing to yield the results that we’re looking for, as long as we know what those items are.

Loida Velasquez07:31

Exactly. Awesome. So when it comes to Andy Nelson, you are a coach. You are also an agent. So I’m sure it can get very busy and hectic, so let’s talk about balance, because obviously

07:45your routine, you have to be very structured to be able to accomplish what you want and get things done and still have a life with your family. So what does that look like for you?

Andy Nelson07:55

Yeah. So I’m actually at my desk, so butt in seat, 7:00 AM Monday through Saturday. Now the reason for that is twofold.

08:07One, to make sure that I’ve established that routine and I get started there. Actually, the very first thing that I do every morning at 7:00 AM is log into Vulcan. That’s where my day starts, and that’s because I’m a coach and an agent. My day starts six days a week with Vulcan. I’m not calling at 7:00 AM, don’t worry.

08:27But I’m starting my day and I’m planning how I will proceed about prospecting for new business. I work through that for usually one to two hours, depending on the client load for the day in terms of coaching. And then I take that hat off, I put my coach hat on, and I go into coach mode.

08:47That’s Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. Those three days are 95% coach, 5% real estate. So we protect that and make sure that the coaching clients get all of the attention that they deserve. And then at the end of the day, at 3:30 or four o’clock, I take the coach hat off, I put the real estate hat back on and catch up on anything that I need.

09:09And then Thursday, Friday, Saturday are full-time real estate days.

Loida Velasquez09:15

So Monday through Saturday in that schedule, have you always included Saturday, or at some point did you start incorporating that day?

Andy Nelson09:24

So actually, when I met Jeff Glover back in 2021, Jeff shared with me his schedule to sell 100 homes.

09:32He shared with me the exact schedule that he worked each year that he sold at least 100 homes, and that included Saturdays. So while Saturday is not a full, you know, eight-hour, nine-hour, 10-hour day, I still start it at 7:00, and usually around noon I’m trying to wind it down, unless I have client appointments in the afternoon.

09:56But when you look at it, and Jeff, I love Jeff for this, because he’ll talk about it and say, you know, most of the competition are treating Saturdays like, “I’m available if you need me,” right? “If anyone wants to see a home, I’m here.” But they’re not treating it with intention. If you can add a Saturday, you know, two Saturdays a month, that’s 24 Saturdays a year.

10:20That’s putting yourself three weeks to a month ahead of the competition when you’re working basically an extra day a week, two times a month. Jeff says if you can work 30 Saturdays a year, you’ll outwork the competition by an entire month.

Loida Velasquez10:35

Yeah. And I know even from my personal experience, when I call on Saturdays, I usually have better conversations, because people, they just end up telling me their life story.

10:45Sometimes, depending at the time that I’m calling, a lot of people pick up, and I’ll also just call again the people that I couldn’t reach during the week, and Saturdays and the weekends are a huge opportunity for agents. So if you’re watching this, if you’re not calling Saturdays, take Andy’s advice and get on the phones.

Andy Nelson11:04

Absolutely. Absolutely. And you have the… One, there are less agents that have been calling on Saturdays historically. So if your home came off the market on Tuesday and that seller got bombarded with calls Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, most agents, again, and we talk about consistency at the beginning of this, most agents will fall off after day two or three.

11:26I have a ton of success with those five to seven-day-old expireds as well, because people have stopped calling. They’ve survived the initial barrage, and now they’re willing to have a conversation.

Loida Velasquez11:39

So currently, what does your business look like? Because you’re getting on Vulcan, so obviously you’re going after listings.

11:45But what does it look like for yourself, and do you have a team?

Andy Nelson11:48

No. So I’m a solo agent. I do have some admin staff. So I have a director of operations, a virtual assistant, and an ISA. But in terms of production, I’m a solo agent. And I average around 70 deals or 70 units per year.

12:06It’s kind of been that way the last four or five years. I’m looking at my board right now. We have 48 closed, two, four, six, eight, 12 pending, and seven active listings.

Loida Velasquez12:19

So very busy, along with the coaching and the Monday through Saturday. So for any agents that are watching and listening and they’re like, “Man, Andy, sounds like he can do it all, and he’s a solo agent.”

12:33For you, is it mostly listings? Do you have buyers, or how do you handle any buyers? Are you showing yourself as well?

Andy Nelson12:40

I am. So my business is about 50/50 buyers and sellers. The buyer process is really nailed down from the consultation through the showing process to make it streamlined. I would say on average we probably show between three and five houses and we’re ready to write an offer.

13:00Now, obviously we hope the offer gets accepted, but we’ve got a pretty quick turnaround. I can usually show one or two days and that buyer’s ready to go. And then on the listing side, the majority of my listings come from two places. Database, past client referral, or Vulcan7.

Loida Velasquez13:19

Okay. Awesome. So I know that you mentioned you’ve been in the business for quite some time, almost like in and out type of thing.

13:26When it wasn’t going as you planned or as you hoped for compared to now, what are some of the mistakes that looking back now you’re like, “You know, if I could’ve changed this, I could have already succeeded.” Like what would that be, if you can think about it?

Andy Nelson13:42

Yeah, so this is a topic that’s really near and dear to my heart, because I’ve seen it so much.

13:49When I first got into real estate, I got really good at golf, because I spent a lot of time on the golf course and not a lot of time in the office. So I had to work through that. So we’re based out of Virginia Beach. We’re a heavy military market, and we have a lot of agents, or service members, that will transition out of the military into real estate as their next phase of life.

14:16And I watched this over and over and over, and this is why it bothers me. So we’ve been trained in the military to, you know, wake up at 5:00 AM, go run in the morning, be at your designated location by 6:30 in uniform, dressed, ready to go. We’ve been trained for that. And I see so many of these service members transition out of the military into real estate, and it’s like they forgot what it’s like to go to work.

14:42So in that aspect, whether you’re transitioning from the military into real estate, which is probably a small group, or if you’re just getting into real estate or trying to figure this thing out, treat it like a job. Honestly, treat it like a job where you get up every morning and you get dressed and you go to work.

15:01If you work from home, get dressed and go to your home office and shut the door. You have to eliminate the distractions and treat this thing like a job, because it is a real career that can change your life if done correctly.

Loida Velasquez15:15

Yeah. And I love that you say that, because many times I do hear agents that are excited about getting into real estate.

15:23They become a realtor and they think they’re gonna be their own boss, and next thing you know, they don’t have structure. They don’t have a routine. They maybe do one or two deals a year, and then they’re like, “You know what? This doesn’t work,” or, “Calling doesn’t work. Expireds, they don’t answer.

15:38They’re all mean.” But in reality, it just goes back to the discipline and the consistency about having a routine and believing that this is a business, so treat it like one.

Andy Nelson15:50

I chuckle, because I make the joke all the time that most real estate agents get into this business because they wanna work for themselves, they wanna be their own boss,

16:01and they wanna make their own schedule. And then all of them, not all of them, a lot of them realize that they can’t really do that, so they go hire a mentor or they hire a coach. Effectively, they’re hiring a boss to tell them what to do, because they’re not disciplined enough to tell themselves what to do, but that’s the whole reason they got in the business in the first place.

16:22So it’s like, treat it like a job. There’s no one needed to hold your hand. Just get up and go to work.

Loida Velasquez16:31

And you know, another mistake I think that I see is when agents get in the business and they immediately want to hire other people to make the calls for them. So for you, right, when you transitioned and you got into real estate, how long did it take you to get the skills to be able to handle objections, to make these phone calls?

16:53What did that look like?

Andy Nelson16:55

It’s always a work in progress, to be honest. You know, right now we’re seeing objections about the election. Like, I don’t really care what political party you’re with, but it’s an objection that you see. That one only comes up once every four years, so if you haven’t gone through an election, you’ll never know.

17:12But what I’ll say, honestly, the biggest key for me was not to memorize the scripts, but to internalize the scripts. And what I mean by that is, like, you know, I can recite a Bible verse from memory, or children can recite nursery rhymes from memory, but that doesn’t mean they really know what it means.

17:34When you internalize the script, it becomes a part of your dialogue. It just becomes a part of your everyday conversation, so it doesn’t sound scripted. It doesn’t sound like every other realtor. Even though you may be saying the exact same words, when you internalize it and make it a little bit of your own, it just makes such a difference in the way the conversations flow.

Loida Velasquez17:57

Yeah. You know, it’s funny that you’re saying that, because many times I hear also, you probably do as well, of agents that they kind of bounce around with scripts, and they think, you know, “Tell me which one you use, Andy, because you’re getting results, so what you have must be the one that I have to use.”

18:15Right. When in reality, you know, it can be the same script, but we’re gonna get different results because of our skill set, our tonality, our delivery. Some agents maybe are not listening to what the seller or the person on the other side is saying. So yeah, no, I’m glad that you brought that up.

18:33And, you know, as we’re getting ready to wrap this up, what right now are you hearing from the agents that you are coaching, that maybe they’re struggling with or that they need to start preparing for as we head into 2025?

Andy Nelson18:48

Yeah. So this is actually a really great piece that I’ve shared with a few of my coaching clients this week, and I don’t want it to be a struggle.

18:56I want this to be a tip that we can all use moving forward. So inevitably, at some point as a real estate agent in the last six months to this year, we’ll say, in 2024, we’ve had a conversation with someone who said, you know, “Yes, Andy, I’m planning to list my house in March,” or, “We wanna move in the spring of 2025.”

19:22We all have a database of people who have told us things like that. And if we spend a little bit of time, you know, right now, this time of year, to reflect back to that list of people, we can start to fill that pipeline for 2025. I actually went through this exercise with one of my coaching clients on Monday, and she goes, “Andy, like, my goal for next year is 36 transactions.

19:50I already have nine of them identified.” We’re in October of 2024, and she’s already identified nine… 25% of her goal for next year has already been identified. Think about how easy that makes the other 75% when you’ve got a 90-day head start on the business for next year, and we can all do that right now and start future pacing what 2025 will look like.

Loida Velasquez20:15

That’s awesome.

20:16And I’m sure that even for her, maybe now seeing that, maybe it’ll motivate her to increase the number that she wants to go after, because it might seem very attainable just with the structure and everything that you told her to do.

Andy Nelson20:30

Now you’re thinking like a coach.

Loida Velasquez20:33

There you go. So if you’re listening, you gotta do that.

20:35If you wanna get ahead and maybe crush it or go further, you have to re-watch this clip and write down what Andy said to do.

20:45So when it comes to coaching, let us know how can people reach out to you, connect with you, just anything.

Andy Nelson20:52

Yeah, so in terms of coaching, we would recommend everyone visit our site.

20:56It’s gloveru.com, just G-L-O-V-E-R-U.com. All of the resources that GloverU puts out are available on the website, as well as coach bios, so you can read some more about myself, or more about any of the other coaches in the organization. And then my personal Instagram would be @masterplannin’, which I believe is on the screen there.

21:18Reach out, DM, any of that stuff works for me.

Loida Velasquez21:22

And for any referrals, just remind everyone once again where it is that you’re located.

Andy Nelson21:27

So we’re in southeastern Virginia. The largest military base, or the largest Navy base in the world, is right here in Norfolk. Norfolk, Virginia, Virginia Beach, Virginia.

21:37We also service all the way up to Richmond and all the way down to the Outer Banks of North Carolina.

Loida Velasquez21:42

Awesome, awesome. Well, Andy, thank you so much for hopping on here, sharing some knowledge. I’m sure that everyone’s gonna re-watch this video a couple of times, reach out to you. And with that being said, thank you everyone for watching.

21:54We’ll see you on the next one. Bye.

Andy Nelson21:56

Thank you.