AoG #8: Jordan Cohen - The Agent's Edge & Secret Strategies

Welcome to another episode of the "Art of Greatness" podcast, where we dive deep into the minds of industry leaders and trailblazers. In this episode, we're thrilled to have Jordan Cohen, the author of the best-selling book, "The Agent's Edge: Secret Strategies to Win Listings and Make Your Fortune Selling Real Estate."

Jordan opens up about his journey in the real estate world, the challenges he faced, and the strategies that propelled him to the top. From mastering the art of the listing presentation to understanding the nuances of client relationships, Jordan shares invaluable insights that every realtor can benefit from. Whether you're a seasoned agent or just starting out, this episode is packed with actionable advice that can transform your career.

Tune in to discover the secrets behind Jordan's success and learn how you can implement his strategies to achieve greatness in the real estate industry. Don't miss this enlightening conversation!

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Transcript

Fahad: All right, welcome back to the art of greatness. We've got another exciting guest today Probably one of the most exciting guests that we've had he just wrote this phenomenal book the agent's edge if you don't have a copy you need to go out there Buy one. How are you brother? 

Jordan: I'm good, man. So I'm not going with the headphones thing.

It's all good Where do you where you at? I'm in toronto. 

Fahad: Oh right now. I'm really excited to have you I, I'm honored and I'm humbled genuinely to to host you on the podcast. I really appreciate you giving us some time. 

Jordan: Cause I, I appreciate that I never you know, for all these years, I've always just kind of, you know, put my head down and work, you know, but because of the book, I have to do these promotional things.

Cause it's uncomfortable. I, I, I'm not an ego guy, so I don't like love being on this kind of stuff or doing the speaking, you know, which I've been, I've been doing a lot of, I don't like doing it. It's not fun for me, but I'm doing it because. I promised the publisher I would. So have you read it? 

Fahad: Hell yeah, so I so I started reading it and i'm not much of a reader So I had to get the audible version So I listened to the rest of it and it was nice because you also had that bonus part with matt and And eric in the end, which was really nice And I really I actually got that from the book as well one of the and I wrote you a review by the way I wrote it today because I finished the last Pretty much that bonus part today.

And one of the things that I got from it is that you're a humble You're not trying to brag. You're not telling people how many millions that you've done how much money you've made Flaunting rolexes or rolls royce and those the only two things that you mention in the entire book About any brand, which is Altman's Rolls, and then the Rolex that you ended up buying yourself.

But you don't come off, off as show off y. So I felt, I felt like it was very, very genuine. I felt like it was the best embodiment of a book that a realtor can get today. And get straight forward answers as to what they can implement. And even if they use one, two, three, or the many things that you had in there.

I think it could help really expedite their level of success that they will have in their career in a much shorter period of time, because it's. 

Jordan: I appreciate that 

Fahad: man. No, and I genuinely mean this. I wrote the review for you I actually really mean this and this is not just me saying it. I said it to the agents.

We had a meeting this morning so in our meeting I was sharing with them guys. This is a great book. So we're gonna pass it around We've got two copies at the office as well So we're gonna make sure that our guys get to at least read it, get some knowledge out of it, and hopefully they'll go out, buy their own copy.

So I've got the hardcover. Yeah, ive got the audible. You a lot of 

25 

Jordan: bucks, don't you? You get a lot of, a lot of good shit for 25 bucks. I think. 

Fahad: You really do. And there's, there's a lot in here. So I, I think if we begin to unpack it, it would take us pretty much the hour. And then beyond that. Well, beyond that, there's.

There's so much, but I really want to start off by, well, let me do the proper introduction for our guests here. I'm very excited today with our newest guest. We have one of the best real estate agents and people from throughout the world. He is the number one REMAX agent five years. And in all of REMAX and he's not just that he's actually one of the truest best agents in the world.

He's written a best selling book already. It's best selling on Amazon. You can buy it at Barnes and Noble. You can buy that pretty much any bookstore. Correct. Jordan. 

Jordan: Yeah. Yeah. It's online, obviously, and tons of bookstores and I'm excited to save it in airports. So I saw it in a couple of airports. So really very humbling and exciting.

Fahad: Amazing. He is a realtor to stars, celebrities, actors, sports athletes has done transactions with over a hundred of them. I think close to one 50, and you've got this phenomenal list, even on your website of all the people that you've helped and maybe not all, but a few of the people that you've helped.

And it's just amazing to see one of the humblest people that I've met so far. And he gets to share his expertise in this phenomenal book that will honestly take anyone's career to the next level. And I've really enjoyed it. I feel like I'm going to be implementing a lot of things into my business from the book as well.

Without further ado, please allow me to welcome Jordan Cohen. 

Jordan: Well, after that great introduction, I think we might drop it, Bob. I think we're done. I think we're good. It's all right. Yeah, I appreciate those kind words sincerely. So thank you from the bottom of my heart for those amazing kind words. I appreciate that, man.

Yeah, 

Fahad: and it's amazing, right? You have 30 plus years of experience and you pull that together with the old, the new and you Bring out a lot of old school things in here and then a lot of the new school and you have Eric Simon, Matt Leonetti as guest speakers and as co authors to help write one of the chapters, which I thought was absolutely amazing to do.

And that's their expertise to bring that back in and it really ties everything in. Very nicely. And I'm not just saying that just to see it. I genuinely mean it when I say I will personally be implementing these things. And I urge every realtor out there to go buy this book because it will genuinely help them better their career to the next level and help them become more of a listing agent.

And I think you've, you've kind of embodied that throughout your 30 plus year career as of right now, and you continue to live it today. 

Jordan: Yeah. To me. And like I said, in the book is if you're going to be a committed real estate agent, this is what you're going to do for a living. And you truly want to make as much money as you can.

The top agents, anywhere you're at, any city, state, country are always listing agents and to really make the utmost of, of income, right? You have to be a listing agent, have inventory and control inventory. And then once you have a good listing inventory, obviously other agents are running around all day, every day showing your listings.

So it's it's just better. So I made that commitment, you know, over 30 years ago that I wanted to focus. But I do represent a ton of buyers to probably about a third of my business, you know, are buyers, but but I learned many years ago that in order to be a great listing agent, you have to be able to compete and win.

That's what it comes down to. Cause in today's day and age. Before someone's going to list with you, odds are they're going to interview multiple realtors. You know, I've had as many as I just listed one where it's the most I think I've ever heard where they said they interviewed 10 agents. And I'm like, wow, got a lot of time on their hands to be doing that.

And then, but I think the norm is two to three agents, right? Where someone's going to interview two or three. So at the end of the day, somebody is going to win that listing. against competitors, and then I get that listing and hopefully you price it right, market it, and then sell it. So I learned that, if you want to know, I learned that like the hard way.

So when I first started, I was trained to geographical farm, prospect, cold call, door knock, all that stuff. The same tactics that are used today, but I wasn't really trained in what to say when given the opportunity to interview. So when I got my first two listing interviews, I went after them and I went after them hard and I was super excited.

I was young. I was in my early twenties. But I was a lost. I really didn't know besides just saying the shit that I was told to say, which is about my company and comps, I really wasn't. And I was not prepared to have them listen to me and say, Hey, that's the guy, that's the guy that's going to sell our home for the most amount of money.

So I failed on those first two listings. Both of those listings would have been there were each 200, 000 homes, a little less actually. So I would have made, you know, five or 6, 000 on each one. I was living with my parents in the same bedroom, so I had no money. So that those paychecks would have been massive for me.

It would have doubled my net worth. I had no money. And but I lost. I failed. So after I lost those two listings, I said to myself, I said, there's got to be a better way. So I switched my entire life, basically. My whole trajectory, everything was preparing myself to be able to walk in. Owner room and convince somebody why they should listen to me.

So that's kind of my story. And and I did that and I practiced every day. Once I started creating my own language, my own system, my own the order in which I was going to say everything right down to who I'm going to look at in the interview, the very scientific. Then I practiced it and I practiced my stuff all day, every day.

I made a commitment to myself and to my girlfriend at the time who became my fiance has now been my wife for 30 years, but I literally, this is true. I know I wrote about in the book and I've said it on a couple of podcasts, but I made a pact. I wasn't going to watch TV for six months. I was going to practice.

I never wanted to be uncomfortable again. So I practiced. My presentation every single night for hours. So then when, as I was practicing, I was getting better and better. So then real estate became fun because then I started winning. I became, without sounding arrogant, but I became really good in a listing interview.

And my presentations evolved through the years, but a lot of it has stayed the same. About the same techniques we use then, we use now. It's just how you say it. And you say it better, you explain it better to get a seller to understand why they should list with you. So that's kind of like my power, my passion for being a good listing agent came into play is winning and taking advantage of every situation.

Fahad: And I love that. This reminds me of one of the Ed Milet talks that I was at. He says, winning is more fun than fun is fun. And instead of trying to just have fun, go try to win, try to be better. And I think through repetitiveness and I feel like that's what's. Maybe missing today and people not potentially putting in the work in what you did and how long did it really take you, Jordan?

Kind of walk me through this that six month period that you weren't let's say watching tv You weren't doing anything. You're focused on this. How long did it really take you to start landing listings? And of course you had becky's parents transact with you. That was one of your first transactions then how long after that till you really started gaining some confidence and traction within the market?

And what was that run up like and did you ever feel like giving up or is this the right thing that I'm doing because you were new to real estate, although your parents had been in it, and we'll get to that in a bit but really want to focus on what, what did it really take to get there. And what were some of the struggles and did you want to quit in the middle?

Jordan: I didn't want to quit, but real is I had no backup plan. So I cheated my way through school. You know, I wasn't going to be anything but a salesman. And I, this was, I was, I passed my test miraculously. And I, and I was like, I wasn't going to go do anything else, but you gotta understand going back real estate 30 years ago, it was a kind of a, I want to say like a loser occupation in people that went into real estate.

We're mainly people that failed at other stuff. So you didn't have college educated people. You didn't have young people, honestly, like when, and at least the area where I worked, I was 23 when I started. And I think the next youngest person that I was was like 30. So it was an older occupation. And. What made real estate kind of a cool job, honestly, is reality TV because people are able to see that you can make a lot of money.

They're all young. They all look great. All their teeth are bright, white, shiny, tight suits. So now it's a cool occupation. But 30 years ago, you know, it really wasn't. So for me, I had no backup plan. It took me about six months before I was starting to win Fahad and then real estate became a lot of fun that motivated me to prospect more.

I couldn't wait to get in front of people. When you're not confident in your listing presentation, prospecting sucks because you're almost like, at least for me in the beginning. I was like, why am I being a pro? I'm not gonna win. Like what? You know what I mean? So once I felt I can't be beat, then it was, you couldn't get me off the phones.

I was calling expires. I was the first one in the office, the last to leave. I'd called before everybody got there. Then I'd call again from five at night till seven at night. I'd cold call, I'd prospect, I'd call expires. I, I just called around, just listeds and sold. Then what happened? I became within, within about a year, I became so confident in my listening.

Presidency. I was listening. It took me after about nine months to a year. I was, I was listening anywhere from five to 10 or 15 homes a month because I was just winning. Then I hired telemarketers to start hiring young kids to come in. I hired two to just call people. You know, I gave him a little script and then I'd come in the next day with potential leads and just beg to get in front of people, like to interview.

And that's when my business took off. So it took me six. That's a great question. I've been asked that probably six months to a year. And then I was I was off and running and I still think it's today. I if you're not confident, confidence is contagious. It's a very contagious thing. If you're not confident in yourself, then you better make yourself confident by becoming good and practicing, but knowing what to do and say.

So a lot of your listeners are probably saying, what do I do and say? Well, I pour it out in my book. That's why I wrote the book. You know, that's true. I give you really good stuff. And there's a 

Fahad: lot of good scripts in there, right? There's a lot of things you can use. You can repeat and see those things.

You actually walk us through each one of those in here, which I absolutely love. I've got a few that I'll I'll bring up and I'll talk about. That I, I really enjoyed because you brought something up that I hadn't thought of in a different way, which was really trying to get the buyer their price or more.

And even if they're overpriced by a little bit, trying to convince them on getting their price or more. Where did that strategy come from and how's that either work positively or even negatively in some sense? directly in cost cases where you have you really have a client who's got a 2 million home thinks that's worth 3 or even 3 times and then vice versa right the other way 

Jordan: around but well that part that you're just talking about That has evolved.

So it used to be the saying was fair market value. If you want, I'm going to get you fair market value. But I've learned over the past three or four years that people really don't want fair market value. They want, I want my price as we always hear it. So they want their price or more. So remember in my prep, we're kind of skipping a little bit, but in my presentation, I'm not giving the price till the end.

So you read my book. So you know what I mean? It's the last thing that comes up. It's the last thing. So at this point, I don't even know what their price is, but they know what it is. So I'm going to say exactly what they want to hear that in order to get your price or more, the job of a realtor is to maximize the exposure of the property, get as many people as possible to become aware of it.

Have to pay your price or more, you never know where they're gonna come from. It could come from social media, it could come from print, it could be from a cold call. You don't know where it's gonna come from. But in order to get your price or more, what I'm good at, I give you the best chance to get your price or more, right?

So I say that throughout the presentation. But then at the end, when you start tackling the price and the price objection, if you're just way off, I mean, you gotta be, you have to make a decision. Do I want that listing? What's their motivation? Are they going to become realistic at some point or not? And if like your example, if it's a 2 million home, but their price is 2.

5 or they're not going to sell. They might owe 2. 2, they might owe 2 million, or they're just not motivated. If I can't get 2. 5, I'm not going to sell, then you got to be prepared to walk. But I want to be the one that makes that decision. So during the presentation, you have to, by the end of the presentation, like I say in the book, my goal is not to have them want to list with me, but to have them feel they need to list with me.

Fahad: Because of everything that you've said 

Jordan: prior to that. Through all my. Marketing tools, all my strategies, all the bullets in my gun, all the tools in my toolbox. And I give, I don't remember how many, maybe five or six, whether it's the photography and all that kind of stuff, but there's more to it than that.

It's whatever, you never know what's going to resonate with a, with a seller. So that's why I give them a lot. I don't talk about comps. I don't talk about any of that till the very end. I want them to sit there and go, holy shit. This guy, and I'm telling them the benefit of everything, right? Let me tell you the benefit of, you don't know where that one buyer is going to come from.

That one guy that's sitting at a carwash. That's not even thinking about buying a home, but if the right home came across his desk, he's a real buyer. So it's a good real estate agent. That's going to bring your home to them. It's half the battle. So it's all the different stuff that I lay out and saying the same stuff, right?

Cause most realtors, I still think walk in. They're going to talk about themselves. They do research. They talk about the house, how beautiful the house is. They talk about themselves and they talk for an hour about the company. You know, I work for the agency. We're this big company. We're on TV. We're on all that kind of stuff.

Then they're going to talk about the price and they hope to get the listing. Well, I've, I believe seller really doesn't give a shit so much about all that. They care about what you're going to do for them. What are you going to do? To maximize the exposure in my home. What are you going to do to get buyers interested in my home?

And then, the better you say that, the more fluid you are in your speech. The smoother you are, the easier it is to hit them at the end with, and then at the end of the day, Fahad, you have to be a salesman. You have to be able to get a buyer to make a commitment to do something they may not be wanting to do or they're unsure about.

It comes down to salesmanship. Well, if you've spoken fluid and well rehearsed and practiced for the first 45 minutes, it's It's really easy for them to go. Wow, I get that and then don't be afraid to say it like I do And I am a great salesman and numbers back it don't be afraid to say that because people want a great salesman They don't want a shitty salesman.

They want a great sale 

Fahad: Love that and I wholeheartedly believe in that. I think the name on the door just helps you maybe get a foot in the door Establish tiny bit of credibility and then it's about what you're going to do for them And I've had this question on the last two listing presentations that I went on And then the ask the commission question as we're walking through the home and I didn't answer it.

I said, you know what? I'd love to walk you through everything. It is that we are going to do for you and how we're going to position your home for maximum exposure to find the right buyer for that property. And then that price and commission question is always in the end. Here's the price. Here's the commission in the end.

That's the last thing we're tackling because it's easier to justify what you're charging them. Because I. I try to get my listings at that full and our average is five two and a half each side I think you guys are two and a half or three each side five as well. Okay yeah depending on of course the state it's a little bit different But you can charge that full price based on the service that you're providing them But if the first thing you're discussing is commission, then you're always trying to catch up to that number and trying to justify that number versus here's everything I'm going to do for you.

And I'm going to work for you harder to sell your property or to maximize it to the most amount of buyers possible. Would you agree with that or would you say, yeah, 

Jordan: always, always at the end. So if somebody asks me that they will like during the tour, like, Hey, by the way, what was your, I appreciate you asking me that I never make somebody feel uncomfortable for asking me that I said, I appreciate you asking that a lot of people do that, but with all due respect, why I'd love to talk about that after my presentation, you know, listen to love to talk about that to you after, because what I think is most important.

Is the marketing because you never know where that one buyer is going to come from. So we'll definitely tackle that. But first please just give me the opportunity to kind of show you what I'm going to do for you. And I have pushed that, whatever I got to do or say to talk about the commission, because you know, it's the truth.

If you just talk about the commission, you hit them, that what have you done to earn full commission? What have you done to convince them that you're the best realtor? What are you showing them? So, so I want to show them and then, you know, the, the, what I say about the commission, I have really good stuff on how to get full command.

I'm very proud. Listen, there's no a hundred percent. Nobody says they get full commission on every deal. And I don't want to lie to you and say, but my broker will tell you I get it more than anybody else. And these are on big deals. 10 million, 15, 20 million. I'm, I'm proud that I earn, I think all realtors earn it.

If you work your ass off and you, and you're, and you're really good and you're talented. I don't think realtors sellers really realize how much work it takes and skill. Maybe, maybe not necessarily work, but skill to get a deal done, right? It's like a, a singer, right? They, they sing there's a skill they get paid.

You know, Bruce Springsteen probably makes 5 million to go sing. For two hours, some people say that he's getting paid too much. I'm really skilled and people are paying to see him. So it's the same thing with us. We earn our commission really good. But you gotta, you gotta show them why you earn your commission.

Then it becomes easy. And then do you remember, I'm curious, cause you read the book, how do I address the commission issue? How do you, what's your, what's your commission, Jordan? Bottom line. What is your, I appreciate you Jordan. Everything you've said is amazing. None of the other brokers explain why social media is so important.

They don't even explain why the photography. So explain all this stuff like you did. Yeah. So you're amazing. By the way, it's almost embarrassing for a seller to ask you what your commission is. If you've given a phenomenal presentation, right? Hard for them because you know, we've all had this, you know, when you're going to win.

Right. So it's almost like, you know, but how do you explain your commission for hot? Do you remember what I said? 

Fahad: You actually, well, once you've gone through that entire presentation of epic photography, and then we get into the social media the print campaigns, the magazine side, and 

Jordan: now you see all that aggressive marketing.

Yeah. 

Fahad: Yeah. The, and I want to, you want to be the most aggressive person that's there to show them that you're going to get the best price for them and sell it for their price and you charge 5%, but then you break it down. Two and a half goes to the listing side. The two and a half goes to the buyer side and everything that I'm going to do is going to be included within that two and a half.

Jordan: Well, that's good. So, so I'll, I'll give the listeners again what I do. So that that's really good. So I say. I say, when, when you ask me, when a seller says to me in this, so you can hear my tonality when a seller says to me, Jordan, let's, I appreciate this by the way, what's the commission? I said, I don't blame you.

So the commission is 5%, two and a half goes to the buyer's agent, two and a half percent comes to me. If I represent both sides, which I do all the time, I adjust it down to 4%. You save money. I make a bonus. We're both happy. The reason for that, and this is so important. It's the way that I say that I came up with that.

I say 5%, 2. 5%. Notice how I said 5 percent quickly. I want them to hear it, but I want them to listen to the 2. 5%. It's easier to swallow. So I say 5%, 2. 5 percent goes to the buyer's agent. You can understand that they're going to get 2. 5%. And then I'll say, depending on the buyer, I'll say 2. 5 percent comes to me, which I earn.

So I earn and I throw that out there, which I earned that 2. 5%. However, all in one sentence, if I represent both sides. Which I do all the time through my marketing. I'm happy to adjust it to 4%. You save money. I make a bonus. We all celebrate. And then you like the hair. Wow. I hope you sell it yourself. And I say me too and then I get asked a lot Why would I even lower it to that four percent?

It's very easy It protects my two and a half percent if you're selling a five dollar home two and a half percent is an awful lot of money By letting them know that pigs get fat and hogs get slaughtered. Listen, i'm happy To bring it from five to four to represent them happy to do that. It just makes everybody happy and i'll say that to them Listen, i'm happy to adjust it to four you save money.

I make a bonus. I'll get referrals from you. We're all happy So then what I didn't even write in the book, but I follow up with I say That's the one of the reasons why I invest so much money in my market Money, time, passion, and energy. I'm investing in myself. A lot of realtors, I don't invest in stocks and bonds.

I invest in myself. So by me investing some money, time, passion, and energy in marketing, I have enough confidence in myself that I'm going to be able to land that buyer. Get them to make the commitment to pay your price or more. And there's so much more stuff. But you throw it all in the mix. I like to think I'm going to win more than I'm going to lose.

In the listing interview that one hour someone's gonna get paid and somebody's not and we're just talking about that There's so much more I talk about in the book right how to do open houses and all that kind of stuff But but the listing presentation is the key to longevity in our business. It's 

Fahad: the key.

I love it And that one percent does work. It's my last two listings same kind of concept and this is exactly Like, it's something that I've followed for a bit, which is that 1 percent commission reduction if we do end up getting the buyer, which we do for a portion of times that we do end up listing the home, one in three, let's just say, or one in four.

And we give them the stats that here's how many times that we've double ended properties and here's what we'll do to put some money back into your pockets and to help you guys out. And I think they do appreciate that. And one thing that I want to get into that we don't get into as much in the book is Negotiations.

And I want people to really pick up this book, start reading this because it's honestly, I love the scripts. I've taken so many notes as well as I've gone through it but I want to get into the negotiation side of things. And I feel that really helps quantify value along with the experience that you bring to the table.

What do you say to sellers when you're at the table talking to them about how you negotiate and what you've done? You bring up some of your past sales and how you were able to bring up an X price from this to that, what you've done, just walk us through that a little bit. 

Jordan: You know, it's funny. I haven't been asked that.

And, and I think I'm going to write some more books, like I've exceeded expectations. So I I'm talking about writing a couple more and in, in one of them, I'll write about. You know, real estate negotiations, because, because I, I like to think that I'm, I've been doing this long enough and I'm, and I'm pretty good at, but so that's a lot to talk about, but I will say this.

I always get a laugh. I came up with a good line a long time ago. I say. You know, that's the fun part for me. It's like playing Monopoly with your money and I love it and I want to win and I get a laugh out of that, but that hits home. That's a, that's something I came up with. Listen, the negotiations of your home, I always say at your home, what you're willing to take is none of my business, frankly, because it's your home.

My job is to negotiate on your behalf. The most I can't pre negotiate. For the offers even written, get them excited, but you're hiring me to sell it for your price or more. So you don't even have to tell me what you're willing to take because you're not hiring me to sell it for what you're willing to take.

You're selling, you're hiring me to sell it for your price or more. That's all I care about. And honestly, that's the fun for me. It's playing monopoly with your money and I love it and I'm great. And I usually get that whole thing. Wow. That's great. That's great. That's just some of the lines I say, but let's think about it.

When you're selling a high end luxury home, they've already, they've, they're smart. They're they're rich. They're this isn't their first rodeo. So I don't want them thinking that they're not negotiating because they are. The key is to communicate with the other realtor and the buyer to get you the most amount, right?

What I usually get asked is how are you going to represent both sides? How are you going to get the buyer to pay my price when you represent them? You know, it's. It's, you get that kind of question all the time. I get that a lot, you know, and it's that's a, that's a tap dance, right? That's a tap dance, but negotiations on real estate, it's just like the commission confidence.

It's excitement. Excitement's contagious. Confidence is contagious. Knowing when to talk and knowing when not to talk. It's usually talking last. Let the other guy talk first. Right? Let him talk, and then you know where their head's at. Then you take it from there. But as realtors, we want to get the most we can.

We get paid more. We get a happier seller. It's usually competition. But you want everybody happy at the end of the day. Or at least, you want them to think they're happy. You want them to think they won. Even if they haven't. That makes sense. 

Fahad: That makes sense with you on this. But yeah, I actually felt the same way.

So I'd actually written this down. I felt like. At the end of this book, this could lead to a series of multiple books because of the amount that you had to give. And this is, it's really about the listing presentation and how to win there. I felt like you could write two or three more books. That was actually one of my questions.

What are the next books that are coming in? Are there any in the works, but I guess maybe 

Jordan: some, I mean, I'll do one, hopefully on prospecting, you know, lead generation. Like the way that I've done farming, you know, that's, that's the bulk of my business is in my geographical farm. I have some very unique strategies and tactics in my farming.

It's funny when I, when I decided to write this. Do you want to hear the story or so? So what happened with me was, yeah, 

Fahad: yeah, 

Jordan: please, please. Yes, I, I had a, I sold a home to a big movie agent, big movie agent. He was with CA at the time. Name is Ilan Roosevelt. Amazing guy. Now he's a partner at WME. He was a CA.

I sold him a big home in Westlake and then I sold his other home in Hollywood Hills, literally said, man, you're so good at this. You got to write a book. You ever thought about that? And I, you know, it's funny. I have. Like 20 years. I thought about writing a book. I didn't really know what the format would be or anything, but he goes, he goes, can I connect you with one of our literary agents?

Cause I mean, you're the number one REMAX agent in the world. That's a, that's kind of a big deal. There's a hundred thousand, you know, I mean, everybody's heard, heard of REMAX. And I said, man, yeah, that'd be bad ass, you know? So I zoomed with a literary agent and he said he'd like to represent me. And that was a win, man.

I couldn't even believe, I still can't. Right. Cause I sell real estate, dude. We're, I mean, it's like fucking, it's guys like us don't have agents. Right. So I was like, wait a minute, are you telling me that I have an agent? And he goes, yeah. And I go, that was, couldn't wait to tell my wife, right? Like there's a chance I actually write a book.

So then you do what's called a treatment where you, you write a treatment, what the book would look like, how it'd be marketed, the And I was so I did that. That took me several months. Cause that's very important, even though it's not very long, it took me months cause every word had to be the way I envisioned in my head, but what was funny, I was going to write a book covering everything prospect.

And then, so I wrote my treatment and then the agent takes that and he's puts it out. And then I had multiple offers from several publishers and I chose Harper Collins leadership because I love the, the, the people that I zoomed with. And the name and obviously Harper Collins, it's a big deal and I felt great about it.

So that's what I went with. And then it comes down to writing a book. So the first thing they asked me before they signed me was, are you really going to give because you're not retiring? I said, no, hell no. I'm not. I'm not anywhere close to retire. I still like what I do. I've worked very hard to get to a point where, you know, my, my income steady and everything.

So he said, but are you really going to give? like all your youth, well, I hate to say the word secret, but your language, you came out. I said, yeah, fuck. Yeah. I'm, I'm cool with that, man. Like I think I'm already established enough. If I'm going to write a book, I want to write a good one I want to write a book that will help realtors new experience.

Just kind of get over the top a little bit. If they're not winning every time, at least give them what, what works for me. So I said, okay, then it was like, they signed it and then I had to write 58, 000 words. And I'm like, wow, how am I going to do it? So I started thinking what my outline would be, and it was going to cover farming, prospecting, all this stuff.

But then when I started getting into it, I realized, man, I got enough for two or three books. So I started cutting parts out, like the prospect. And so that kind of stuff and negotiations and how to really negotiate. Real estate. I think all that will come in my next book because now I'm getting asked that I'm very humbled and grateful that I've had probably 2000 real estate agents reach out to me on direct message, email, phone call, asking me to write another book and asking me how are, now that they got a good leg on how to win because realtors like you have enjoyed what I wrote.

Very flattered by that and grateful for that. Now it's, Jordan, what are you doing to get in front of people? What did you do in farming? What unique things different? Which I, I come up with unique stuff. So that'll be in my next one. Will be, I think, or, or two books down the road. Will be on how to get in front of somebody.

So I'm, I'm excited. I 

Fahad: like the idea of keeping them separate. Personally, I like that prospecting idea. And I like the negotiations idea. Because the negotiations are a book on its own. And prospecting. There's so many lead generation tools. There's so much free prospecting, paid prospecting. There's, you could write two books on that one alone, but there's a lot that goes into it.

Jordan: But Fahad now, if you've read my book and you study what I wrote. And you practice what I wrote, I really think you're a better realtor. I, I, for 25 bucks, I would have killed for that book when I was young. I really would have, I used to go to seminars. I spent a max out my credit cards. I'd go to all the seminars.

Fahad: You talk about it in your book. You spent all your money at seminars. 

Jordan: It's so true, bro. If I learn one thing in a four day seminar. It was worth it. That one thing, especially when you're going after expires, right? When you know you're competing against great realtors and you know that like they're going to interview three or four people, you see the same cast of characters in every spot.

Like if I learned that one thing that was different that might win, it was worth that. I like to think I give tons of stuff. Just like the photography. I'm going to bet that you and most realtors, they say, Oh, I'm going to have your home professionally photographed. And then they're on to the next Fod, what are you going to do to sell my home?

Oh, we'll have your home shot. And then we'll do that. Right. But I like to think what I give is something like shooting it at dusk. And let me tell you why, why it's over where that might be that one thing where they go, man, this guy's an expert. This guy is not just an expert negotiator and an expert, expert on all aspects of real estate.

So you never know what that one thing that's going to trigger, it's going to make them go, I need this guy, this guy's sharp, he's polished, he's good. 

Fahad: Yeah. One of my favorite. 

Jordan: This is late afternoon. Usually I'm tired right now. I don't know what it is. I haven't even had a Diet Coke or nothing. And yet I'm cooking with you, brother.

I'm cooking right now. Oh, I 

Fahad: love this. I think we're, we're dropping a lot of gems for people. And the thing is, I don't want to, I don't like, and I'll share this with you about me. I've actually gone to a few of your other podcasts and I've watched them and I wasn't able to listen to all of them because it's like a good five, six hours worth stuff there, but I've zoomed through it and I don't like asking the same questions.

I don't want to be the generic person sitting here. Somebody covered geographic farm with you. I don't want to cover the shit everyone else covers. I want to talk about other things. That's why I appreciate it when you say, well, I haven't gotten this question before three, four times. In the interview, that's the way I want it to go.

I do want it to be different than everyone else. It's all about truly how you became great and your greatness, which I think is encompassed in this book. And this, it's not just this book, which I think this is like. 15 percent of what you probably even have to share. There's a lot to come. I feel like, and I felt like this going through this to say, he's going to write a couple more books, at least three.

That was my field thing. 

Jordan: I hope, you know, I came in the hard knocks, bro. Like my, my average sales price was under 200 grand for seven years. I wasn't like, it was, it was actually even harder for me the most because I was trained by like you said, by my parents who were really old school. So, you know, everyone to help me when I started, I have a nice personality.

I'm a nice guy and I was young and everybody knew my mom. So I was trained all the wrong ways. So it took me months to unravel that before I realized like, God, I mean, my parents always struggled, you know what I mean? My dad, I owned a hamburger stand and then went into real estate. My mom was a manicurist, your typical realtor was something else and then went into real estate.

So they weren't trained the right way either. So I was taught all these things, you know, in the advice I always give like new realtors, when they asked me, I say, what you don't want to do is listen to every realtor in the office. Don't just walk up there. Don't ask everybody their advice and what to do.

Maybe ask the best one and see if they're kind enough, the obvious ones that are really making money. See, that's learning from my mistake, because I would ask everybody, and then I thought everybody was successful. I'd gone caravans with all these, and then just bombarded all these information before I realized that I better do my own thing.

I better listen to the top, which is why I went across the street to paramount properties and learn from Sean, who I wrote about as the top and bring him lunch and listen to him cold call because he was doing it. He was making big money when nobody else really was. So that's kind of like advice. Don't just listen to everybody.

But for me, I never, I'm more of a background guy, like personally, like, you know, I'm obviously my Instagram is big now and everything, but I'm only doing these podcasts. It's not an ego thing would be fine. I don't know. I can tell. Well, yeah, it's not my thing, bro. It's I have to do this because I obligated to the publisher that I gave them my word that I would do podcasts and speaking because they paid me to write a book.

So I told them I would do everything I could to help promote the book, but it's not an ego thing for me. Like, Oh man, do a podcast. I'm on a podcast. It's not, it's not a. 

Fahad: No, I, I think I speak on behalf of everyone that will be listening or watching. I think everyone really appreciates this because there's so much information that you have to share and you're helping other people get better at this craft that you're truly an expert in.

You have 30 plus years and year after year after year, you did 300 million plus last year. And you've continuously kind of held this. This number like that's insane to sell 300 million dollars worth of real estate It's one of the top agents in the world. 

Jordan: You know, what's funny is like, I read, I've had over a hundred reviews on Amazon and I'm like, so grateful for that.

It blows my mind, man. I love it. But a couple of them say like, and he's does this with two agents. I don't have any agents that are Fahad. I, I have two assistants, big difference. Neither of them sell a single home. So I'm very proud of that, that I do it all on my own. I'm not a team. I don't have a group, no partners and none of that, man.

So I am proud of. That that's what registered people at my club to watch is on the fifth floor that the Cuna agreed to a lease because what this is is that

because of this s in00. Man, so 

Fahad: if you were to start today, let's say you're in your mid twenties, mid thirties, you get into real estate in 2023 knowing what you know now. Where would you focus your time and money? Let's say you don't have a whole lot of money. What would you say would be your top two or three things that you'd recommend somebody to do to get a headstart in real estate and to really propel their career in the right 

Jordan: direction?

Okay, without sounding stupid or bullshit, I'd get my book and I'd read it five times. So then when you start doing the prospecting, it becomes fun and you're ready. You're going to can't wait. Nothing's more depressing than losing and being uncomfortable, not really knowing what to do or say. And then try to do something, right?

So I would, I would first work on my skill set, whether that's watching YouTube videos or video or, or seminars or reading my book, whatever it is, I would become really good at it before I'd spent a whole lot of time prospecting, because that would just depress you. So I would squish as much as I can into a fast period.

I wouldn't watch TV. I wouldn't do anything. You have to make a commitment. Am I going to do this for a living? If the answer is yes, then get good at it, work on your skillset. I think there's way too much, just from what I see online or whatever, way too much talk about lead generation and prospecting and internet leads, but very little on what to do once you get in front of the people.

So I like to think that by reading my book and, and all the other people that offer good advice on how to compete, when is everything same with buyers, there's a skillset to working with buyers, there's a skill to selling and not showing. Now, maybe I'll put that in my next book. I'm, I'm good at that.

There's a skill to pre selling for even get them in the house, all that kind of stuff. Then you're just triggering it in my head now for another book on how to work with buyers. I can write a book on that. So I would become really good at it. And then I would prospect. I believe in geographical farming. I think that it's not too difficult to become a household name in new and new geographical area.

And then once you are, then the phone rings for you. Then they call you and then you interview and then you win and then you have a steady income flow then the prospecting Coal calling all that sphere of influence. All that kind of stuff is a bonus to me That's probably what I would do. I said I would pick a geographical farm and then how do you pick a geographical?

What's the best way to pick a geographical? That's a whole nother that's another book in itself. Everybody wants to become a household name in an area, right? Everybody wants to, I know that's how I do the book of my business. So that's what I would do. 

Fahad: And you're not going to get there taking selfies in front of the agency sign, right?

Jordan: Yeah. Yeah. That's sometimes the new age. 

Fahad: That is the new age. A lot of times, a lot of, why do 87 percent of agents fail in real estate in their first four years? 

Jordan: Yeah. Well, I would say. because they're not good enough to compete and win. And if you're not good, I had a, it's funny you say that. So I had a young realtor literally say to me, I've been doing it, God, it's so funny you just said that, for four years.

And he says, Jordan, I've sold five homes in four years. And they were lucky. Open houses and things. By the way, I'd be doing open houses the right way too. But you know, I don't understand. And I go, you're doing, you're doing fine. And I go, do you have a listing presentation? Can you? Well, I think so. Right there.

They go. And I said, let me ask you this. If you're competing against three agents, are you going to win every time? No, no, no. I go, dude, get out of the business. That's your answer to your, to your problem. Make yourself or you say, hell yeah, I have a great listing presentation and I am going to win every time.

Business will fall in place. You might be at a supermarket and run into somebody, hear them, or your mom might refer you to somebody. And they say, yeah, but we're going to be going with, you know, Jim, we kind of promised them, you know, he's been giving us pumpkins for years and he's a nice guy. We kind of promise you don't have a great presentation.

You're not going to say interview me. Outlist with me, interview me. Let me show you what I do better than Jay. Let me show you that the job of a realtor is to maximize the exposure of the property. Cause you never know where that buyer's going to go. Let me show you what I'm going to do. If you don't have a great presentation, you're not going to ask or beg or urge them to interview you.

So you got to get that presentation. That's key. 

Fahad: And I love what you said earlier, because you kind of led everything into this one word. It's education. You need to be educated and learn how to have these conversations. The scripting, the dialogue, the practice, the repetitiveness, every It's repetition, right?

Like, going back to And I know you're a big Kobe Bryant fan. He was one of your clients. But that mamba mentality in ensuring that you go out there and fucking get it. And I I love that. Just to have Instill the confidence in yourself. To say that I can get this, I will get this, or if you're not, then I will get better and I will get to a point where I'm not losing.

I'm going to win. 

Jordan: How a realtor could be in this business for any period of time and not say, I have a great presentation. Man, I am great at this. I'm great with buyers. I'm great. Then you shouldn't be in the business. Or you'll always be deal to deal. You know, you'll always be okay. It's not that hard to become great.

Study practice become confident. The only way you're going to become confident is if you have The strategies down pat to become confident. That make sense? Yeah. Yeah. I hate to do this to you, 

Fahad: brother. We're, we're a wrap. Last, last 

Jordan: question. As I'm talking to you, my phone is just. All right. 

Fahad: Last question before we wrap.

How has your family life kind of shifted with now the book coming out, increasing business and business continuing? You're now being hit up on social media, podcasts, TV, like. There's a lot that's going to happen. I think you'll probably end up going to more speaking engagements, if that's what you want to do.

Because people would genuinely love to hear what you have to say. How has family life kind of changed? And are any of your kids, I know, Cassidy and Cameron, is that correct? Cassidy and Cameron. One was in film school. You talk about Cassidy. Is Cameron going to follow into your footsteps? Or talk to me a little bit about 

Jordan: family life.

My son's 28 years old. He sells credit card processing merchant services and he slays it. He makes fucking wildly successful. He's bought himself a house. No help from me. He's killing it. And my daughter graduated from NYU film school. And she works at WME, basically in the mail room. And you know, just working her way up the ladder.

So, I'm an empty nester, and I've been happily married for 30 years. So, my life is great. But yeah, this book has been very exciting. Right? Someday I'll be a grandparent, and someday my grandkids will say that their grandfather wrote a book. So it's been really cool. It's been very different. You know, besides this book, everything has been status quo.

I've been, I've been selling real estate for many, many years. I'm comfortable with, you know, everything. And that shook up a little bit because I finally bought myself a nicer home this you know, two years ago, I've been renovating it. Besides that, I was very comfortable in the same home for 25 years.

You know, I was very comfortable. But now it's not so comfortable with the, with the nicer home. So I gotta, I gotta keep working. I gotta keep focusing, gotta keep kicking ass. And then hopefully in about five years, I'll start slowing down. 

Fahad: I love this. Hey, you're, you're so humble and like no ego and it comes, comes across in the book.

I said this to Peter, this Peter Torkin, who's our managing partner said this to someone like he's genuinely humble. Like, I feel like. I know Jordan after listening to his book, and now I know you even better after having you on the podcast. But guys, if you are out there, any real estate agency, even if you're not, guys, pick this up.

This is a great read. I am behind this 100%. I've gone through it. And I will be going through it again because I've marked down some chapters that I want to go back to certain things that I want to implement. And I feel like it can truly help you excel your career in the right direction. And who better to learn from than one of the top agents, not just at Remax, in the world.

In the fucking world. This guy is honestly incredible. And I love everything that you've shared. And you've just kind of lifted the curtain to say, you know what? Hell, you can have all my scripts. You can have everything that I see. It's okay. I don't, I 

Jordan: have no problem. Not, not scripts. You get to have my whole systems, the entire system, my, my whole process on what it takes to compete, what it takes to win, and if a realtor gets one thing that can get them one listing that they might not have had, and I'm getting a lot of comments that they are.

Man, I made it all worth it. I had a guy send me a message that, man, I showed it to my wife. I haven't been doing a lot of that. I showed her a message about this guy that literally was just struggling, man. And now he's, he's not, he says his business has doubled and he's winning and he loves it now. He can't wait for the next appointment and he owes it to me or whatever, man.

I got, dude, there's nothing more special than that. Back to the other thing you said about being humble. Hey Fahad, no realtor should be anything but humble. I mean, we're not, and I said this in the book, it's the truth. We're not doctors, we're not scientists, we're not school teachers. We don't mold young minds.

Those are more important jobs than real estate. We provide a good service. We help people sell their homes and move. But it only takes a couple weeks to get your license. There's no reason for any real estate agent to be cocky or arrogant. Some sell more than others. We all try to do our best to make as much money as we can move people the right way, but man, I hate running into cocky, arrogant real estate.

There's no reason for it. There's no reason for it. Just keep your head down, do your job and we're all good. So I appreciate you calling me humble, but I think we're all humble. So we should be humble at least. Love it. 

Fahad: Love it. Thank you, Jordan, so much for your time. Any last bits or pieces of advice 

Jordan: or find yourself one sec behind.

If you are, if you like what I said today. Please go on www. jordancohen. com forward slash book jordancohen. com forward slash book and buy the agent's edge. I think you'll be glad you did. I think you'll be happy at the day. 

Fahad: This is the one guys. Make sure you go out there, buy it, let's support Jordan and let's sell another couple million copies.

Thank you so much for your time. Thanks. 

Jordan: I'm humbled to have 

Fahad: you on. Thank you.