Author: Daniel Francis

For decades, Real Estate Professionals have had to choose between the path of being a Licensed Agent or being a Creative Real Estate Investor.

As a Real Estate Agent, you likely have been told that investing techniques are illegal or unethical. These myths have led to an environment today that has caused brokers to institute archaic rules on you such as a prohibition on wholesaling, listing your own property or wrapping “sub2” deals.

As an investor, it’s very likely you have been told that you should avoid getting a real estate license. You might have heard that by having a license, you will have to treat sellers differently which can cost you good deals. Or worse, that a broker will trap you into a J-O-B and make you show buyers around.

Continue reading “StepStone Realty: The Home of the Black Sheep” →

Many of you have heard me tell the story of what Creative Real Estate Investing was like when I started, 15 years ago.  It was very much an underground, unheard of business practice.  So much so that it invited a lot of scams and unethical practices.

It should be no surprise, then, that Wikepedia, still today, defines Creative Real Estate Investing in the following way:

“Creative real estate investing is any non-traditional method of buying and selling real estate.  Confidence tricks and pyramid schemes … have embraced the term, leading contemporary usage of the term to be synonymous with unscrupulous practices.”

To find out this is how the general public really thinks, we did our own survey.  When asked what you think of when you hear the word “creative real estate investor” or see an “I Buy Houses” advertisement… the top answers that emerged were “Fraud”, “Scam”, “Greedy”, “Unprofessional” and “Uncaring”. Continue reading “Help us Bring Creative Real Estate Investing into the Mainstream!” →

It’s not secret that StepStone has been enjoying tremendous growth over the past two and a half years.  As of this morning, we have gone from 4 to 136 agents and now are in the top 4% of brokerages in the state of Texas!  Thank you to all who have entrusted your license with us… it’s been humbling and yet exciting!

It’s time we take this brokerage to the next level for all of us!  We know that making it in this business requires help.  Now that we’ve grown into a large brokerage, it’s time we start giving our agents the tools and training necessary to take YOUR business to the next level.

Luckily, our size means that we have a very predictable income stream.  We know what our revenue will be based on our number of agents, and therefore, what it will be in the future as we continue to grow. Continue reading “Own a Piece of StepStone!” →

Phase I of the Captain Program was a pilot program that met with a lot of success (and some learning/tweaks).  But we are excited to move into Phase II!

What is the Captain Program?  The Captain Program is first and foremost a way for those more experienced with StepStone to introduce new Agents to StepStone.

Captains also help those who are newly licensed learn the mechanics of licensed deals.  And they are there to help those who want or need it, to navigate investment deals.

Benefits to being a captain include:

·  Education:  Nothing will teach you advance skills faster than having to teach someone else.  We don’t always have the best answer, but by working with you, we will learn and we hope the same is true for you by working with us. Continue reading “Join our Captain Program” →

Recruiting new agents to StepStone is a great way to build residuals!  Last quarter, we sent out a check to one agent who has recruited several other agents that was more than $2,000.00!

So how do you recruit and make sure YOU get credit?  Below are the guidelines we recently posted in MojoDocs.  In the MojoDocs recruitment folder, you will find a lot of resources including sample emails and all of our marketing material.

Read these guidelines and ensure you get paid for people you help bring into StepStone! Continue reading “Guidelines to Recruiting New Agents” →

Sometimes, we don’t always get it right.  But you will easily correct mistakes with one simple rule.  Stay true to your core values!

Last month, Angie wrote a blog about our our core values.  Angie, Cameron and I spent over a month debating, changing, refining and making sure that they were the core values that really epitomized what StepStone was all about — not just to the staff, but to our agents and our clients as well.

Every business needs to spend time developing and sharing their core values.  Some recommended reading on the subject are Good To Great by Jim Collins and Traction by Gino Wickman.  Put these on your MUST READ list! Continue reading “Tough Lessons” →

I want to thank all of our agents who participated in our agent survey in August.  This was extremely helpful as we look at various programs and avenues for expansion that will best serve you!  We have worked hard to instill a culture of honesty and integrity with all of our agents.  I believe that includes being transparent as a company.  Therefore, this month we want to share with all of you the results of the survey.

However, I also recognize that a full report of the survey results may be a little boring and tedious.  Therefore, I’ve uploaded into MojoDocs a full report that you can read here: Full Survey Report

I definitely encourage everyone to read it as it will give you some insight into where we are and where we can go.  But for this blog, I want to hit the highlights.

What we are most proud of Continue reading “Survey Results – Key Findings” →

I realize it was just a short time ago, Angie wrote a blog about the Black Sheep as we introduced our new mascot.

Since then, we’ve gotten a lot of comments on the drawing that we call our own (Thanks again, Liz!).

“He looks angry”, we’ve heard.  “Why is he so smug?”

The look of the black sheep was important as we went through many iterations of the drawing.  From the way the hair flips up, the lifted foot over the stepping stone and yes, the smirk upon his face.

So why did we choose this look?

As you know, Angie and I recently returned from vacation and have been working on improving our systems to get ready for more agents.  We’ve spent some time away reflecting and some time in the office analyzing our brokerage.  Its through this retrospective time that I’ve realized why, subconsciously, we were drawn to this version of the mascot. Continue reading “What the Black Sheep Means to Me” →

The success of StepStone Agent/Investors is our #1 goal.  Everything we add, build, offer and talk about is with sincere hopes that it will give more of our agents more opportunities to find more success in this business.

When recruiting agent/investors onto the team, we are careful to let them all know, we are not coaches.  The Facebook page and the masterminds are great opportunities to throw out general questions about investing, but Angie and I have to protect our time by not becoming coaches.

It used to be, when someone would call and start seeking advice about an investment deal, our response was to ask, “So are we partners on this deal?”  I hope that never offends anyone, we just have to be careful to not get bogged down in coaching, but instead make sure our time is free to continue to build opportunities and the brokerage and to make sure Angie is always available to answer licensing questions.  In other words, we have to keep up with our broker-duties! Continue reading “Introducing Deal “Coaching”” →

FREE LUNCHEON

San Antonio:  The Impending Millennial Squeeze: How to Survive the Changing Real Estate Landscape

REAL ESTATE PROFESSIONALS,

Join us for a Free luncheon  – Friday, February 12 from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm

Holiday Inn & Suites

5535 University Heights Blvd.

San Antonio, TX  78249

The Millennial Generation is already having an impact on the way agents work with buyers.

Currently the largest group of buyers, Millennials — the do-it-yourself generation — are already squeezing agents with demands for fee-for-services. Continue reading “The Millennials Are Coming!” →