How Anthony Iemmello hit $30 million in production in 3 years on old expireds

Anthony Iemmello00:00

I’ve been having a lot of success cold calling, specifically expireds with Vulcan7. What I do is I try to look at the homes that were on the market one, two years plus. I kinda focus on those. So I do a lot of expired cold calls. And then when I get those listings, I think it’s extremely important to sit those open houses yourself and generate business from the open houses, because those are the best kind of people.

00:23They’re out there, they’re active, they’re looking for homes.

Aaron Wittenstein00:34

Hey, what’s going on, everybody? It’s me, it’s Aaron Wittenstein, and I would like to welcome you to Vulcan7 Roadmap. This is where we chat with agents across the country that are actually crushing it and learn how to take an additional, I don’t know, two, three, four, five, six, seven, just a lot of listings a week.

00:49Okay? So we got someone from kind of my old area, all right, from Hoboken, New Jersey, Anthony Iemmello. Anthony, how you doing, my friend?

Anthony Iemmello00:57

I’m good. How are you? Thank you for having me on today.

Aaron Wittenstein01:00

So, Anthony, we were chatting a little bit here. So let me… I just want everybody to take this into context right now.

01:06He is 32 years old. 32 years old. And just for reference point right now, we are December 9th, 2024, is when we’re having this conversation. Year to date, Anthony has done $30 million in production. He’s been in business for three years. Three years, okay?

01:26And about a third of his business is prospecting based. Off of memory, did I get that right?

Anthony Iemmello01:32

I think you’re pretty spot on. Yes, sir.

Aaron Wittenstein01:34

So all right. Thank you very much. I appreciate that. Okay. So talk to me. I know you have a lot to say in general with what you’ve done, so just give me an idea.

01:46Give me an idea a little bit about your journey, if you will.

Anthony Iemmello01:49

Yeah. It’s definitely an interesting journey. I really didn’t ever think I was gonna be at this point as a real estate agent, right? My first job was financial advisor, you know, working with ultra-high net worth clients. So I got a pretty good background on being a professional and dealing with people with super sensitive assets, let’s call it that way, right?

02:14So I came up from that, and meanwhile, I was actually buying multi-families, you know, Jersey City Heights, in my area, renting them out, and started doing a little property management on the side. So I was at a financial advisor firm. Didn’t love my life. Wanted to get away from behind the computer because it was just driving me crazy.

02:37I’m too high energy to be behind a computer all day. Started being in that real estate life. My mother is the broker of an office in North Jersey. So kind of just took the plunge, jumped into real estate, and I’ve been absolutely loving every step of the way, and I couldn’t be happier where I am today.

Aaron Wittenstein02:54

Very nice. Oh, and by the way, what I didn’t want to forget, he doesn’t have a team, okay? He’s doing this by himself, okay? So $30 million producing agent by themselves, that’s something that’s relatively significant. It really is. I mean, you know as well as I do, it’s a lot of hard work that goes into it by doing that.

03:12So talk to me. So where are you right now? Where are you generating business from? It sounds like you kind of cut into thirds a little bit, if I’m not mistaken. But where’s business coming from?

Anthony Iemmello03:23

Sure. So, first things first, I’ve been having a lot of success cold calling, specifically expireds with Vulcan7.

03:30What I do is I try to look at the homes that were on the market, you know, one, two years plus. I kind of focus on those. So I do a lot of expired cold calls, and then when I get those listings, I think it’s extremely important to sit those open houses yourself and generate business from the open houses, because those are the best kind of people.

03:56They’re out there, they’re active, they’re looking for homes, they’re ready to go, they’re pre-approved, and they’re trying to see what’s in the market for them. So I think it’s extremely important to pair, if you’re cold calling, if you’re prospecting with Vulcan7, to also mix in the open houses, doing them yourself, so you can get to know the people on the streets, get to know your neighborhood, get to know who is out there.

Aaron Wittenstein04:19

I wanna take it back for a second. What you said was, is that a lot of stuff you go one to two years out. Is that correct?

Anthony Iemmello04:26

Yeah, I think that’s… Yeah.

Aaron Wittenstein04:28

Why is that?

Anthony Iemmello04:30

I think that people were having problems one or two years ago when it came to selling their home. You know, a lot of people maybe felt their home was worth more than it was at that time.

04:40For me, it’s been successful where I ask them, “Well, what did you want?” Right? “Well, we wanted 850.” “Okay, no problem.” In that market last year, maybe they couldn’t get 850, or two years ago they couldn’t get 850. Well, guess what? In Hoboken, Jersey City, and I’m sure where a lot of the listeners are also, appreciation has gone up significantly, right?

05:00So in my area, it’s been going up at least 6 to 10% a year. So these numbers that these owners were looking for previously is now more attainable. But if it’s not, if you just give these owners a level of service that they respect and understand and show that, “Hey, listen, we’re doing all we can to get you the best,” not only price, ’cause price is always on everyone’s mind, but it’s also about best terms, right?

05:27So as long as you keep it professional and you show them you’re doing everything you can and you’re working your butt off to get them the best of everything, they’re gonna stick with you and they’re gonna trust you when an offer comes in that’s maybe not 850, right? Maybe it’s 825, but that’s all we’ve been getting, and we’re waiving inspection and appraisal, and it comes down to a different point now, where I guess back then it was just a little bit different, if that makes sense.

Aaron Wittenstein05:53

For sure. So let’s do this. I mean, anybody who watches the show knows I’m all game for a role play here. So I would assume, this is just for context purposes, you get a lot less guff, if you will, when you’re calling a one to two-year-old expired rather than a today expired, right?

Anthony Iemmello06:11

Right.

06:12Yeah, because when you get a today expired, if you’re not calling them at 6:30, 7:00 AM, they’re gonna be getting a lot of people on them.

06:22You know?

06:23At least in my area. I don’t know about other areas, but in my area, there’s some people out here that go hard.

Aaron Wittenstein06:28

Eight o’clock is legal, everybody. Keep that in mind. Eight o’clock is when you can make phone calls. 8:00 AM, 8:00 AM is legal to make phone calls. All right. So-

Anthony Iemmello06:34

No, 6:30, 7:00. Sorry.

Aaron Wittenstein06:36

No, I’m totally kidding. All right, give me a call. Let’s see how this goes.

06:41Give me a shout.

Anthony Iemmello06:42

Sure. I’m doing this off the top of my head. I don’t have my script here. I’m at my apartment, but let’s do it. So, ring, ring.

Aaron Wittenstein06:47

Hello.

Anthony Iemmello06:49

Hey, good morning. I was looking to speak with the owner of 123 Washington Street, please.

Aaron Wittenstein06:53

Yeah, this is. How can I help you?

Anthony Iemmello06:54

Hey, my name is Anthony. I’m a local agent here at Weichert Realtors in Hoboken.

06:58Reason for my call is I saw your home was listed back in April 2021. I was wondering if you guys ever wound up selling that home.

Aaron Wittenstein07:07

No, we didn’t. We wound up staying.

Anthony Iemmello07:09

You wound up staying. Got it. And is this an investment property for you guys, or is this your primary residence?

Aaron Wittenstein07:14

Oh, no. We live here. This is our

07:16home.

Anthony Iemmello07:16

You live there. Awesome. It’s an absolute beautiful neighborhood. I’ve sold a few homes over in that area. Question for you. Why did you guys originally put the home on the market?

Aaron Wittenstein07:24

We wanted to get something a little bit bigger.

Anthony Iemmello07:27

Yeah. That makes sense. So you wanted to get something a little bit bigger, and you went and you looked and you couldn’t find anything, or you weren’t getting the offers you were looking for?

Aaron Wittenstein07:34

There was nothing for sale at that time, you know? So, I mean, do you have a buyer for my house, or

Anthony Iemmello07:41

Listen, I have a pipeline that’s about to burst with buyers. I have an unbelievable amount of people looking to move into that neighborhood, right? You are in one of the best areas in Hoboken.

07:50Let me ask you this. Are you guys still kind of open to entertaining the idea of… If it’s the right number and something that makes you excited, would you guys be open to having the conversation of having me come take a look at it and see if we can get that best price and terms for you guys?

Aaron Wittenstein08:07

What’s the right number?

Anthony Iemmello08:09

You tell me. What were you looking for before? I see right here you said 750. Is that kinda still in your brain?

Aaron Wittenstein08:13

Yeah. I mean, things have gone up, you know, 6% to 10% at least, from what I’ve looked at here. So we’d be looking at, what, 10% of 750 is what? 75,000. So, I don’t know, like eight, eight and a half probably.

Anthony Iemmello08:26

Yeah. Yeah, for sure. I don’t see that being an issue at all. I could run some comps and bring them over when I stop by. But does today at six o’clock work for you guys?

Aaron Wittenstein08:34

Yeah, I mean, like I said, we’re not really looking… Like I said, the numbers would really have to make sense, and then we have to find something.

08:39For sure. I mean, are there a lot of houses up for sale right now? ‘Cause I mean, my concern is I gotta find a place for my family, so.

Anthony Iemmello08:46

Oh, I totally get that. And you know what? You’re in the absolute driver’s seat here. So if you wanted to wait a little bit while we put your home on the market, we could always have you put the home on the market and go and take a look at homes as we kinda go along and see if something makes sense.

09:00You know, if it makes sense for you, we can move forward. If it doesn’t, then we can stay in touch, and when the time does come, you know, I would love to be that guy that you reach out to.

Aaron Wittenstein09:07

Yeah. Yeah, sure. 6:00 AM works out perfectly.

Anthony Iemmello09:10

6:00 AM? That’s even better. I’ll see you at 6:00 AM on Friday morning.

Aaron Wittenstein09:15

You’re smooth.

Anthony Iemmello09:20

Listen. It’s just, you just gotta be able to respond, you know? And you just gotta go for the appointment. I feel like a lot of times people don’t really go for the appointment. And if you kind of gave me a problem, I would’ve just kept trying to… I would’ve had a conversation and then tried to go back for the appointment, and had a conversation, tried to go back for the appointment.

09:36I think that’s the most important part, is just getting in front of the people. Being on the phone, people get phone calls all day, right? They don’t wanna hear it. I actually have a good example from someone I called before, and this is actually two weeks ago. I called him, an old expired.

09:53Oops, sorry about that. Yeah. And I was going to drop off a sign, right? ‘Cause I had no listing in the neighborhood. And he’s like, “I don’t wanna talk real estate. I don’t wanna talk anything.” I’m like, “Listen, I just wanna stop by, shake your hand. I’m putting a sign up. Do you have two minutes for me today at 2:00?”

10:10He’s like, “Whatever.” Went by, stopped by. I was there for an hour and a half, right? It’s a $3 million triplex in downtown Jersey City. So you just gotta try to get in front of these people. You know, you don’t have to be a salesman. You don’t have to pitch them. You just gotta go and meet them, so when the time is right and they’re ready to make a move, they have your card in their back pocket.

10:31‘Cause not everyone wants to sell today or yesterday, right? You have to build your little farm and just farm them.

Aaron Wittenstein10:38

All right, so let’s say this. Based upon that statement there, let’s say you go meet with 100 people. Let’s say you can meet with 100 people, okay?

10:45Out of that, how many people will wind up listing their property?

Anthony Iemmello10:49

Not a lot. If you meet with 100 people, I would say you’re probably gonna get maybe, like, 20%.

10:57Listen, let’s use an easier number for me to digest. Let’s just say you go on five appointments. If I go five appointments this week, I’ll get three of them, right? The other two will be… So those are better odds. 100 just kind of-

11:15No, I understand.

Aaron Wittenstein11:15

Totally. I totally understand.

Anthony Iemmello11:16

I’m not a numbers guy. So if I went on five appointments, I would say I would get two or three of them, right? And then the remainder is just someone I’m gonna follow up with, ’cause maybe it’s not the right time. You know, maybe they connected better with someone else.

11:30But you just gotta put yourself in a situation, right? That’s all you gotta do. Put yourself in that situation.

Aaron Wittenstein11:37

So how much competition do you have when you’re dealing with one to two-year-old expireds? I mean, I assume not a lot, right?

Anthony Iemmello11:47

You would assume that. It’s very funny, though, because…

11:51So I remember, this is funny. This was a Vulcan7 call I made two years ago, and I followed up with this owner for about six months, and I finally got the listing. And I listed the home, and my buddy, who was an agent in Hoboken also, he called me. He’s like, “How’d you get that listing? I’ve been following up with that owner for years.”

12:13So it’s funny, ’cause you would think that there’s not competition, but there’s still people that are gonna be calling these homes. They’re gonna be doing neighborhood dials. It’s still gonna be getting hit. So you can’t really get lax with it, you know?

Aaron Wittenstein12:29

So let me ask you this.

12:30So I mean, this is the vibe that I get from you, is very smooth, even keel, just a very relaxed person, right? Well, you hide it well then. Okay. No, but you seem like… I would assume when you come off to your clients, you come off the same way that you’re coming off with me right now.

12:49Is that correct?

Anthony Iemmello12:52

Yes. And I think that’s because it comes down to, like, education, right? And it comes down to being able to educate your owner, right? Or in this case, being able to educate the listener. Because, you know, I’m really doing this every single day, right? So for me, it’s easy to have these conversations, ’cause I’m in here and I’m doing it.

13:13So I’m calm and chill now, but when it hits the fan, you know, and I gotta get to negotiating all that stuff, that’s when I get… Listen, I’m crazy. It’s funny you said I’m chill and even keeled, but I’m a crazy guy. But yeah, I mean, when it comes down to having conversations with people, if I’m comfortable with the subject matter and I have…

13:30I’m educated on it, I’m knowledgeable, then I’m chill about it.

Aaron Wittenstein13:35

What do they say? We’re like a duck, right? It’s like everything’s relaxed above the water, but then you are paddling like crazy below. You know what I mean? Exactly. So that’s what it is with this.

13:46You know? And that’s the best analogy I’ve ever seen in my entire life.

Anthony Iemmello13:49

That’s awesome. I haven’t heard that in a while, and I like that a lot.

Aaron Wittenstein13:52

So, all right. So the expireds, and then you’re working… So walk me into, like, so now you got the expireds, and now are you leveraging those out more once you get them to get more listings?

14:04Is that the intention, or is it to get more buyers? What does that look like?

Anthony Iemmello14:09

I’m definitely more focused on the list side. I would never turn down a buyer, but I’m definitely more focused on it. So when I nail someone in a neighborhood, I’ll go ahead and I’ll call and be like, “Hey, I just, you know, sold your neighbor’s home,” right?

14:24‘Cause it’s the same thing, and you’re just trying to connect with them. Like, you just gave them a call also out of the blue, blah, blah, blah. So it’s super important to leverage, if you’re calling in a neighborhood and you get a listing, I think it’s important to kinda mention that when you’re making your calls, so that people understand that you are a local professional in that neighborhood.

14:43You’re just not some random guy calling from, you know, wherever, and calling into some neighborhood because there’s expensive properties, right? So I think it’s important to mention that for sure.

Aaron Wittenstein14:53

So, like, when you’re sitting an open, ’cause you said it’s important to sit the opens, you know, for the-

Anthony Iemmello14:56

Yeah, very important.

Aaron Wittenstein14:57

Neighborhood, you know, so that’s very important. And, you know, so some people are open, some people aren’t open, you know, whatever they wanna do. I don’t care. I’m not here to judge. So do you get a lot of sellers that come through open houses?

Anthony Iemmello15:09

For sure. Yeah. And I think it’s funny that you bring that up, ’cause I don’t think I’ve ever actually said this before, but I’ve always been thinking it.

15:17I think that an open house is essentially a job interview, right? And that’s because if I’m sitting an open house, I have music on, maybe I have a candle on. I blast the neighborhood with open house signs, balloons. I’ll actually call the neighborhood before I do the open house to invite people in.

Aaron Wittenstein15:38

What do you say?

Anthony Iemmello15:40

I would say, “Hey, listen, my name is Anthony Iemmello,” blah, blah, blah, “from whatever realty. Just wanted to invite you to your neighbor’s open house at 72 Essex Street. Would love for you to come by, get to know me, shake my hand. And if anyone’s parking in front of your driveway, come get me, let me know, and I’ll get them out of there.”

15:58So I try to add something, like, funny, stupid in there so they remember the conversation, right? So if I… I’m more city-based, so for me it’s like if there’s people out in the hallway or if someone brought their dog in. But if I’m in the suburbs, then it’s like, “If anyone’s blocking your driveway,” and this and that.

16:13I’ll just say, “Come knock on the door, let me know. I’ll kick them out.” But definitely it’s important to invite people to the open houses. But back to the open house interview. I know, my brain goes everywhere. I’m sorry. I think you have to absolutely use every single open house as a job interview and show how you run one professionally.

16:35I think you should dress professional. I think you should let one group in at a time, have a line out the door. I always do that. But you never know who’s gonna walk in, right? So a lot of times sellers and owners will walk in, you know, ’cause they’re curious and they wanna know, “Well, what’s this home gonna go for?”

16:53Right? So when they meet you, “Oh, well, I own, you know, 82 Essex, six units down. What do you think our place is worth?” And this and that. And then you start having that conversation. You write it down, right? You be professional with them. You show them around the place, and then that’s another listing appointment that led from a cold call, right?

17:12So you can really multiply one cold call listing to a lot more business if you do it the right way. I think that’s extremely important for people to understand.

Aaron Wittenstein17:24

Yeah. So I mean, you have the systems down. I mean, it’s the systems down in place, and you’re properly utilizing your time to make one thing just kinda spider web into a bunch of others, right?

17:35I mean, that’s basically what you’re doing, right?

Anthony Iemmello17:38

Trying to, yeah.

Aaron Wittenstein17:39

For sure. I don’t think you’re trying, you are. You know? There’s no trying with that stuff, man. All right. So let me ask you this. So a brand new agent happens to be coming across your office, knocks on your door and is like, “Anthony, I hear you’re the man.

17:53I hear you’re crushing it, you’re doing amazing things. What is one piece of advice that you could give me, being a brand new agent?”

Anthony Iemmello18:01

Persistence. I think the absolute most important part of real estate is persistence. I would love to show you clients that I’ve texted from open houses. I have a specific client from that same story I keep telling you about.

18:18I don’t know why, it just was one of my best open houses from a cold call. I’ve texted him over 110 times, and I love it and I think it’s so funny. I screen recorded a video, and he never responded to me. But guess what? Every single time a home popped up in the neighborhood that I met him at with the exact specifics that he was looking for, I texted him.

18:41Okay? Of course, I try to call him every now and then, never responds. But I texted him over 100 times. Finally, I think it was eight months later, he finally started talking to me again. Took him out and got him under contract. I’m actually under contract with him right now. So, persistence.

18:58So back to the story. Persistence is extremely important. People get upset, right? If someone’s not answering them, they take it personally. Listen, the majority of the people when you’re cold calling are gonna tell you no and curse at you, and the majority of people when you’re prospecting, reaching back out to prior clients or open house buyers or whatever, or even sellers, aren’t gonna answer you.

19:23So you just gotta keep bringing them knowledge, right? Don’t text them, say, “Hey, hope all is well. Haven’t heard from you.” There’s no reason for them to answer. Text them and say, “Hey, your neighbor’s home just sold for 875. I know you wanted 825. Are you guys still open to selling?” Or, “Hey, this home just went up for sale next to the place that we met at, for, you know, X price.

19:46Are you still in the market looking?” And I’ll send them the link to the property. So you just have to bring people knowledge. So be persistent and bring people knowledge, and they will trust you and they will work with you, and they will be ecstatic about the service that you give them.

Aaron Wittenstein19:59

Perfect. All right, my friend, let’s tie this up in a nice little bow.

20:02All right? Let’s do it. What are your final last words for Vulcan7 Nation?

Anthony Iemmello20:08

Vulcan7 Nation, get on the phone, hit it hard. Don’t get upset when people curse at you, scream at you. Just keep going. Every no is gonna get you closer to a yes. And just go after it. Set a goal and smash that goal.

Aaron Wittenstein20:22

Easy.

20:23It’s easy. It’s that easy.

Anthony Iemmello20:24

That’s it.

Aaron Wittenstein20:25

It’s that easy.

Anthony Iemmello20:25

That’s it. It’s so simple.

Aaron Wittenstein20:26

It really… We make things difficult, don’t we? 100%. All right, my friend. So let’s say someone has a referral. They’re coming from Little Rock, Arkansas, and they wanna move to Hoboken, New Jersey.

20:39How does one get in touch with you?

Anthony Iemmello20:42

Ant.mello_realestate. Reach out to me on Instagram. You can Google my name. You’ll find my website. You’ll find all my information. If you guys ever have any referrals or have any questions about the neighborhood area, anything at all, feel free to reach out. Would love to talk to you guys and have a conversation, and maybe we can teach each other something new.

Aaron Wittenstein21:01

Beautiful. All right, my friend. Thank you very much. This was absolutely amazing. I love what you had to say. I’m excited to see what happens for you in the future, because, I mean, you’re just building one heck of a business right now. So, thank you.

Anthony Iemmello21:13

Thank you, guys. I appreciate it.

Aaron Wittenstein21:14

You’re very welcome.

21:15So everybody do me a favor. Don’t forget, from the little sign over here, to trust the process and go make some money. Y’all take care of yourselves. Be well.