How Karina Furlin turned one expired call into $2.9 million in closed sales

Karina Furlin00:01

So I decided I’m gonna move to another area, and I left the team behind, and I say, “That’s it. I’m going to do this.” But guess what was the one thing that I knew? I was no fear. I say, “My team right now is Vulcan7, and I’m gonna make…” Because I’m gonna get the numbers, I’m gonna be on the phone.

00:24My first listing when I move here was a $900,000 listing, and I sold it over a million dollars. So that was my first listing when I arrive here. So I never fear the move. Never. Never once in my mind was like, “Are you crazy?” No. I say, “It’s gonna be a new beginning, but I have my team set up.” And that was, in this case, was Vulcan7.

01:01“I gonna make this goal.” So I been here… I started in 2022 in this area, and I would say that I sold over 40 homes in this area, so I’m very happy.

Aaron Wittenstein01:19

Hey, what’s going on, everybody? It’s me, it’s Aaron Wittenstein, and I’d like to welcome you to Vulcan7 Roadmap. This is where we interview agents across the country that are actually doing amazing things, and we’re gonna help you learn how to take one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, 17 additional listings per week.

01:33And we actually have someone that I know a little bit over here. And if we could all give a big rousing welcome for my friend Karina Furlin. Karina, how are you doing today?

Karina Furlin01:43

Good. Thank you. Thank you for inviting me to your show.

Aaron Wittenstein01:46

You’re very welcome. You’re very welcome. So before we got on, you’ve had a good day so far today, haven’t you?

Karina Furlin01:54

Yes, amazing day.

Aaron Wittenstein01:56

Do tell.

Karina Furlin01:57

Yeah. I just closed a $1.8 million house on the water in Indian Rocks Beach. And it’s all thanks to Vulcan7, because it was an expire. I follow up for a whole year. She told me exactly what needed to happen for me to sell her house. I needed to find her a house, a condo first, which I did.

02:22And then when I closed in the condo, she says, “Well, okay, you have to keep my promise. Let’s sell this house.”

Aaron Wittenstein02:30

There we go. So 1.8 million plus a condo sale. How much was the condo?

Karina Furlin02:36

The condo was, I believe, 250, something like that.

Aaron Wittenstein02:41

So over $2 million, and from making one phone…

02:44Am I hearing this right?

Karina Furlin02:49

You’re hearing it right. And you know what? There’s more.

Aaron Wittenstein02:54

No, there’s not. Stop it.

Karina Furlin02:54

Yes. Out of that house, I already closed another house in Indian Rocks Beach for 925,000. So a buyer came from that house. And the same

03:07buyer is gonna buy another house on the water for 1.5, so I’m looking for a new house. And I have another buyer that is also looking to buy in the area. All from that one phone call that I did with Vulcan7.

Aaron Wittenstein03:22

Oh, so one phone call turns into a lot of money and a lot of volume.

Karina Furlin03:31

So far three.

03:33Right? So, so far, 2 million point nine. I have a potential of two more for another three million.

Aaron Wittenstein03:40

That definitely is not bad at all, is it? That is pretty darn good. That is amazing. And it’s all because… I mean, here’s what I’ll say though, is that, like I said, from what I know about you, is you put in the work, right?

03:56I mean, you put in the work. So it’s not just like, “I made one phone call and I made $1,” or, “I’ve got one transaction.” I mean, you’re putting in the hours to be able to get these results, right?

Karina Furlin04:10

Yes. So if I go to look into my Vulcan7 right now, would I get off the screen?

04:15‘Cause I can tell you how many dials I have made up to this year, how many conversations I had, okay. So the goal-

Aaron Wittenstein04:24

I would love to hear that. I would actually love to hear that number.

Karina Furlin04:26

I’m gonna tell you right now, because I am good on… My goal is 250 dials or conversations a month.

04:34That’s my goal. So I tell you where I am right now.

Aaron Wittenstein04:41

Yeah, that’s a good number. So 250 conversations. You figure… You’re working, what, 18 days out of the month, give or take, right? 18 to 20. So 250 divided by 20 equals… The math is not working in my brain so far, so good.

04:56But that’s like 15 people you’re speaking to a day, roughly. Check my math for everybody watching at home, by the way, okay? It’s been a crazy day today so far.

Karina Furlin05:07

Okay. So let me get my-

05:11My Vulcan7 going.

Aaron Wittenstein05:13

And just so everybody knows, I did not mention, by the way, that Karina is from Clearwater, which is a gorgeous area of Florida. All right? So if you know of anybody who’s looking to make a move into the Clearwater area, you need to be… I can never point properly here.

05:30Her. You need to be calling her, by the way, okay?

Karina Furlin05:35

I’m very generous with referral fees.

Aaron Wittenstein05:37

There we go. There we go. There we go. So, Karina, would you be open to doing a role play? Is that something you’d be open to doing?

Karina Furlin05:46

Yes, absolutely. I don’t know if you can still see me. I don’t know

05:51if this is not… I’m trying to get these numbers from 1/1/2024 to now.

06:01Of course, today I have a closing, so I didn’t do my calls, and trust me, I feel guilty when I don’t do my phone calls.

Aaron Wittenstein06:07

Don’t you feel like, for me, it’s like it’s such a part of my day

06:12where if I don’t do it, I feel like I didn’t brush my teeth or something. You know what I mean?

Karina Furlin06:15

Yes. I feel like I didn’t work, you know?

Aaron Wittenstein06:18

‘Cause, I mean, you know as well as I do, when you put in those three hours a day, no matter what happens, you know that you at least put the effort in for the day.

06:28Result or not the result you’re looking for, you know you’ve at least done what you need to do to help support yourself.

Karina Furlin06:35

Yes. It’s results or excuses, right? In order to have the results, you really need to put in the time. So I go to the office and I for sure, for sure start at 8:00 AM.

Karina Furlin06:47

And I try to do my first outside appointment 11:30.

06:52But if I don’t have an appointment, I go on the phone until noontime. So that’s my ideal scene, right? It’s beautiful. And I do get a lot of wrong numbers and whatever, right? But sometimes I turn those wrong numbers into conversations, you know?

07:10“Hey, who do you know that needs to buy or sell real estate?

07:14Have you been open about buying or selling in real estate?” Okay, good. So you wanna hear my stats? Since January 1st, 2024 to today, I have 1,111 live answers. So 1-1-1-1.

Aaron Wittenstein07:28

1-1-1-1. I swear we did not set that up whatsoever. That’s absolutely amazing. That is awesome.

07:37And the duration is?

Karina Furlin07:39

7 days, 26 minutes and 58 seconds of time. And that 1,111 live answers was from 9,062 calls.

Aaron Wittenstein07:45

So about… once again, math isn’t working today. If that comes out to be, like, 12 to 14% pickup rate, I would think. Please, once again, check my math, okay? So, all right, so I’d like to bounce it back to that $1.8 million expired listing you have.

08:05And those numbers are phenomenal, because it just shows you, time over task, over time you get the results and you pull in some success there. All right. So let’s say that you’re gonna give me a call, okay? Are you open to sharing a quick role play?

08:26Because your personality, I mean, it’s your personality, just intoxicating, is the best way to put it. But would you mind giving me a call?

Karina Furlin08:38

Yes, yes. Sometimes I use your script. I love your script, because it’s right to the point, right? And it’s sweet and gets you the appointment right there, right?

08:48So I love your scripts.

Aaron Wittenstein08:50

Thank you.

Karina Furlin08:50

I don’t have any scripts in front of me. I am in my lender’s office, because I came for the closing, and I didn’t have time to make it to my office, so I am in the lender’s office. I said, “Can I use your room so I can do this video?” So let’s do it.

Aaron Wittenstein09:05

Okay. Give me a shout.

09:06Give me a shout.

Karina Furlin09:07

Yeah. Ring, ring.

Aaron Wittenstein09:09

Hello.

Karina Furlin09:10

Hi, this is Karina Furlin. I’m a real estate agent here in the area. I have a quick question to ask you. What happened that your house did not sell? It’s so beautiful.

Aaron Wittenstein09:21

I have no idea. I mean, our other agent, they were just not very good. I was not a fan of my other agent.

Karina Furlin09:30

I completely understand. Now, if you could sell it, would you still sell it?

Aaron Wittenstein09:35

Yeah, I mean, I think we may wind up holding off for a little bit. But we’re just so frustrated with this right now. You know what I mean? Now, do you have a buyer or no?

Karina Furlin09:47

Well, I haven’t seen your house, so I cannot answer that.

09:51But I have… So if you were to have an offer right now that makes sense to you, you would be ready to go under contract today, would you?

Aaron Wittenstein09:58

I mean, it’s gotta be the right price, you know what I mean? We’re looking for a number, you know what I mean? And I guess if we hit our number.

10:07I mean, how much do you think the house is worth?

Karina Furlin10:10

Well, that’s a great question, and that would be the first thing that I will answer to you when I meet you in person. So would you be offended if I stop by today around 4:00, or tomorrow will be better?

Aaron Wittenstein10:23

What would be the purpose of the conversation?

Karina Furlin10:26

Well, we’re just gonna meet. I wanna see the house really quick, take a really quick peek, and see exactly why your house didn’t sell.

Aaron Wittenstein10:35

Okay. I mean, I’m open to that, but we’re not listing, you know what I mean? We’re definitely not gonna list.

Karina Furlin10:41

Absolutely.

Aaron Wittenstein10:41

Okay. Okay.

Karina Furlin10:42

I’m not saying you’re gonna sign anything.

10:44It is just a presentation. I wanna see your house. I think your house is beautiful, and I really wanna know why it didn’t sell. And if I can get you to where you wanna achieve, or the goal that you wanna achieve, I wanna help you to do that. So tomorrow at 4:00, or today is better?

Aaron Wittenstein11:02

Can we do tomorrow at 3:15?

Karina Furlin11:05

Absolutely. Good. So I see you tomorrow at 3:15.

Aaron Wittenstein11:10

Do you know what I love about you?

Karina Furlin11:12

What?

Aaron Wittenstein11:13

You were smiling the entire time.

Aaron Wittenstein11:16

Do you even know that you… Are you that smiley when you’re prospecting all the time?

Karina Furlin11:24

Yes. Yes. Yes.

Aaron Wittenstein11:26

Okay.

11:26Well then, I would like to ask you another question, okay? Because I think that there’s a lot of people that it’s a struggle for them to do this, right? But how do you maintain that level of… You know what I mean? Like, of you. How do you

Karina Furlin11:43

maintain… You wanna know the truth?

Aaron Wittenstein11:45

Yeah.

Karina Furlin11:46

I am a salsa dancer, a salsa lover, so I put my salsa music in the background.

11:51I’m standing up, I’m dancing. So I keep my energy level high

11:56that way, because I like to dance, I like to keep myself happy. Sometimes, that’s another trick, I have a coloring book on my desk. So I look like a little five-year-old. So I’m, like, coloring, and I put anything that is aesthetics, right?

12:17Because aesthetics keep you lively, right? Music, something. I’m not gonna hear something depressing, right? I have to hear something cheerful. Sometimes I have just American music that I love and it’s upbeat, right? So I listen to my music to get myself into the level of being happy.

12:42And you communicate that happiness through the phone, and people wants to hear cheerfulness. Confidence, right?

12:48Definitely, for sure, confidence and cheerfulness. And you know what I do for my presentation of who am I? I says, “I want you to go look for me in Zillow. You will see everything that you need to know about myself.

13:04I’m done.” So they can see how many years I’ve been in the business, how many transactions I closed in the last 12 months, how many transactions I closed in my entire career. So I’m happy with that and I’m done, right? So it’s not about me, now it’s about them.

Aaron Wittenstein13:24

So it’s mindset.

Karina Furlin13:28

Yes.

Aaron Wittenstein13:28

Okay. So-

Karina Furlin13:30

It’s not easy.

13:31You know that. It’s not easy. Sometimes I have very lows, and sometimes I hit the lows. But you know one thing I never stop? Is doing the calls.

Aaron Wittenstein13:41

Okay. Walk me through this for a second, okay? Because what’ll happen is, let’s say for example you hit a week, week and a half where you’re just like…

13:49You know how it goes, right? Like, you’re just getting nothing for, like, a week, a week and a half, two weeks, three weeks. All right? And you wanna quit, you wanna stop, but you know stopping’s not an option. So what do you do to get yourself through that, let’s just say it’s a wall, to open up the wall, to break through?

14:04Like, what does that look like?

Karina Furlin14:06

I keep showing up. You know? It is like if you’re on a basketball team, right? Doesn’t matter how bad you’re doing, you still have to keep showing up, right? Number one. Number two is that I go, “Okay, I need to find a partner that I can do the script practice.”

14:27So do more script practice. More practice, practice, practice to get me to the conversation. And sometimes when I have your script, honestly, in front of me… your script is the only one that I have taped to the wall. So I follow the script, and I get appointments with the script. So sometimes I use it.

14:48How in the world? You probably did not sell… And sometimes I get click, you know. And sometimes they really wanna tell you, “Oh, because da, da, da, da.” Right? But… I mean, I have gone through a whole month and I got nothing.

15:05You know? I wasn’t getting nothing. You know? And I go to…

15:08You speak to somebody, they can call you and say, “Hey, Aaron, I’m not getting anywhere.” But the number one thing I would say, do not give up. Number two, you have to practice your scripts, right? You have to practice until you feel comfortable. And most of my listings are expires. Here and there I get for sale by owners, but it’s not my forte.

15:32My personality is not so much being after you constantly, right? Although I have great videos from my clients, and I do do follow-ups, sometimes the best calls are not the calls that just expired yesterday. Sometimes the calls that expired the beginning of the year or last year. So I follow them up.

15:52I have January, February, March, the whole 12 months, and somebody says, “I’m not ready,” da, da, da, I put it on the next month. Right? Or they say, “Oh, I just rented.” “Oh, do you mind if I follow up with you and next year maybe you’re ready to sell?” So I put it in the next year, you see? So when I finish all my calls of the day, then I do the follow-up, and my last follow-up is the month, right?

16:21So I call them, and whatever I contacted and I spoke with them, if they say, “No, we’re not ready yet, da, da, da, give me a follow-up in two, three months,” so I know I’m gonna put it in… if they say three months, I’m gonna put it in the next month. If they say four months, I’m gonna put it in two months.

16:39I’m gonna go halfway.

Aaron Wittenstein16:40

The one thing that I don’t wanna gloss over here, ’cause you mentioned it a couple times, okay? Is showing up, right?

16:50It’s just, it’s about… I mean, I think that everybody needs to realize that when you do the activity, the results will follow.

17:00Yet when you don’t do the activity, there’s no results to be had, right?

17:05And from what it sounds like, at least from you, is that you are showing up. I mean, how often do you miss a dial session?

Karina Furlin17:13

I feel horrible when I do. Like today, I didn’t do the dial session, and sometimes I gonna go home around 4:00 o’clock and say, “Okay, it’s time for me to be on the phone.” ‘Cause when I am not doing the phone calls, I feel I didn’t work.

17:26I’m not concerned about today. If I don’t do the calls today, I don’t have tomorrow, and I don’t have the next month, right? So you have to always think in futures, right? And my future is I have to close two to three transactions a month, right? So that’s what my goal is. When this close… By the end of June, I have two more closings.

17:52Yeah, I will be close to 6 million for this year so far. So I keep pushing myself to, okay, what is the goal? I want to be over 10 million this year. Okay, I need to keep pushing myself to get to that. There’s a mindset of achieving your goals, let’s put it that way.

Aaron Wittenstein18:12

100%, 100%. And it’s knowing where you are

18:16yet where you wanna go.

18:19And it’s chunking it out over periods of time. You know your goals. You have your goals in play. I mean, do you have any idea how many appointments you need to set per week or anything like that? Have you broken it down that much?

Karina Furlin18:32

In the past, in the past I did it, right?

18:36Because I count the live conversations, includes the wrong numbers and so forth, right? Which I don’t mind. So in the past… I don’t have it for this year. But I counted that 84 of those live conversations equals one closing.

Aaron Wittenstein18:53

I’ve become a numbers person in my old age.

18:58But part of it is knowing your numbers, right? Like, you need to know what you’re working with, and it sounds like you’ve done that. So how schedule-oriented are you? Are you pretty schedule-oriented in general?

Karina Furlin19:12

Well, you know, thanks to you, this is also thanks to you, now I wake up right at 7:00 in the morning, because I was giving my all to work.

19:25Only thing I could think is work. My kids are grown, 26, 28, and I don’t have kids home, right? So that heart of being a mother, which I love, is done, so I was like, work, work, work. But my body was getting into, like, oh my God, do some exercise, girl, right? And I don’t like the gym.

19:46So you said to me, “Just wake up early.” And you did that in some of your shows. So now, I wake up at 7:00, I go for a walk for 30 minutes. I don’t run. I listen to the birds. I listen to my music. I’m dancing. I love the birds. So by the time I come home, 7:30, I already did some exercise, did something for myself.

20:09Then I get all ready, and by 8:00 AM… you don’t know how, but by 8:00, 8:05, 8:10 the max, I am at the office, and I drop everything and I’m on the phone. So just like that.

Aaron Wittenstein20:22

You’re ridiculous. I just… I love everything about you. You know what I mean? I love your attitude, and it’s not just your personality, it’s the way that you are, okay?

20:35And it’s just… You make me smile. It’s the best way to put it. So let me ask you this. You’ve been doing this for a while, right?

20:48And let’s say that you’re sitting in your office, you’re prospecting, da, da, da, da, da, and a new agent comes across and knocks on your door and says, “Karina, what’s one piece of advice to be as successful as you are?”

21:00What is that?

Karina Furlin21:02

Well, you mean like if I’m a brand new agent and starting?

Aaron Wittenstein21:05

No, a brand new agent comes to you.

Karina Furlin21:08

Okay. So, well, number one is that I would say go to Vulcan7, number one. Because you really need to learn how to be on the phones. This is a business that is not, because you have your license, all the business coming to you.

21:25There is, I’m sorry to say, but there’s a lot of competition, right? So you need to know your scripts, right? Be on the phones, right? And really be mindful about your goals. Now, if I was a new agent, I have to start anew, I will be part of a team.

21:44That would be the first thing. Be part of a team that is successful, and then you can learn from it.

21:51But when you become part of the team, you become a buyer’s agent. But if you want to last in real estate, you list to last. So I always recommend you learn how to list properties.

Aaron Wittenstein22:06

Okay. Just side note real quick then, because there may be some agents here that want to join a team.

22:12What would you suggest looking for if you’re gonna join a team? Like, what would be, like, three things you’d suggest looking for?

Karina Furlin22:19

Well, I will say, how much structure do they have, where you can learn, you know? You first have to be learnable. Like, you have to be open to learn, right?

22:32You have to be open to be disciplined, right? And I think, to me it’s more like, if you’re in a team, a basketball team, right? Everybody has to show up for training. Everybody has to show up and do the practice. Everybody has to have the same discipline of, don’t do it, no partying or no this or no that, right?

22:53So, and they’re part of the team, right? But the same thing when you are in a real estate team, even if the team is yourself, right? Because your team could be your spouse, right? Or your kids, because you make them part of the team, you know? “If I don’t hit my goal, we cannot go to Disney,” you know?

23:16That would be your team. “Did you make your calls today?” Right?

Aaron Wittenstein23:23

It is my team.

Karina Furlin23:25

Yeah. So you have to look at it from different viewpoints. It can also be your team people in the office, you know? Your broker, he is your team, because he wants you to succeed, so you can make him make you accountable for your numbers.

Aaron Wittenstein23:45

Got it. Perfect. Perfect. All right. So, as we wrap up here, what final last words do you have for everyone listening to Roadmap?

Karina Furlin23:55

Well, I would say first of all, I wanna thank Vulcan7, okay, because I tried all their services and this one was the best for me, because the numbers are good, the customer service is fantastic.

24:09So I’m thankful because, something that you don’t know, I moved from Miami, right? So I was a real estate agent for 16 years, and 12 out of those, almost 13, I was in Miami.

24:23So I decided I’m gonna move to another area, and I left the team behind. My partner did not wanna expand.

24:33So he stay with the team of six people, and I came by myself and I say, “That’s it. I’m going to do this.” But guess what was the one thing that I knew? I was no fear. I say, “My team right now is Vulcan7, and I’m gonna make…” Because I’m gonna get the numbers, I’m gonna be on the phone.

24:56My first listing when I move here was a $900,000 listing, and I sold it over a million dollars. So that was my first listing when I arrive here. So I never fear the move. Never. Never once in my mind was like, “Are you crazy?” No. I say, “It’s gonna be a new beginning, but I have my team set up,” and that was, in this case, was Vulcan7.

25:23“I gonna make this go.” So I been here… I started in 2022 in this area, and I would say that I sold over 40 homes in this area, so I’m very happy. I’m pushing.

Aaron Wittenstein25:39

Okay. So let’s say someone is moving to Clearwater, an agent has someone who’s moving to Clearwater and they need to get in touch with somebody, and they need an amazing referral partner, and that would happen to just be you.

25:48How does one get in touch with you? What’s the best way?

Karina Furlin25:53

Well, I live in Pinellas… sorry, Pinellas County. So Pinellas County is Palm Harbor. My office is in Palm Harbor. I live in Clearwater. I just sold a house in Indian Rocks Beach, so the entire peninsula, the entire Pinellas County, and they can call me.

26:08I still keep my Miami number. I’m a 305 girl. So 305-213-4672 is my phone number. So again, it’s 305-213-4672. And I do have a cellphone for this area that I put on all my signs, which is 727-335-9953. So I have two phones.

Aaron Wittenstein26:33

That was amazing. Thank you so much. Karina, it’s a pleasure. This was amazing.

26:38And guys and girls, just watch out for more Vulcan7 Roadmap. Karina, thank you so much. Everybody have an amazing day.

Karina Furlin26:47

Thank you, Aaron. You’re amazing. I like to watch you every Monday, because I learn so much about it. I saw you. I use your scripts. And now, thanks to you, I’m walking every morning, so my body also helps you.

Aaron Wittenstein27:01

Thank you. Now I’m blushing. All right. I will see you later. Okay, everybody, take care. Be well. Thank you all.