Business Lawyer Real Estate Client Orange County – Jordan Bennett (A  Processed Video Transcription)

Interview of a Business Lawyer Orange County California with a Real Estate Broker

Hi, my name is Andy Gale.  I’m a business lawyer Orange County California.  Today I’m going to interview one of my clients as part of my ongoing client profile series; we’re going to interview Jordan Bennett who is a residential real estate broker in the southern part of Orange County.

He is a very, very successful real estate broker. 

I think this year he has done about $25 million in sales and hopefully he’ll give you a little bit of an idea of the kinds of clients that I have and some of the businesses that he actually does.  I hope you enjoy the interview.

Andrew Gale- Business Lawyer Orange County California

Andy:  Tell us a little bit about what you do.

Jordan:  I am a real estate broker focusing in the residential area.  I help people buy and sell real estate; and work with buyers, sellers, and investors.

Andy:  Where do you do that?  We’re in Orange County, California.  Is it all over the county or just some place specific?

Jordan:  I’ve got a fantastic referral network through Keller Williams, so I’ve interacted with clients across the country.  Personally, I live and work primarily in South Orange County California.

Andy:  Alright.  So tell us how you got started.  You seem to be a young guy.  I know you’ve got a lot of traction in the market which we will get to in just a second, but where did all start for you?

Jordan Bennett – Orange County’s Preferred Realtor Testimonial Videos

Jordan:  I started my career in accounting and realized pretty quickly that I wanted to be in the real estate field.

I think like most entrepreneurs I wanted the opportunity to work for myself, just have my own schedule, to have more opportunity, and ultimately to work with people.  I wasn’t finding that in accounting and I stumbled across real estate. And now we’re looking at four years later.

Business Lawyer Client Jordan Bennett – Orange County California

Andy:  So you’re sitting there as an accountant one day decided,  “I need to have a little bit more interaction with people,” and you picked real estate; because that was another love of yours?

Jordan:  They say sometimes things kind of happen to you in life and you end up with a completely different path ahead of you, and that happened to me.

I was working in accounts payable for a fellow in Malibu back in my college days and he was doing commercial real estate.  He was buying and selling apartment buildings, fixing them up, and I became really intrigued with real estate.

I ended up getting my real estate license.  And even though I went on practicing accounting, I did have a real estate license.  So when I realized accounting was not for me, I kind of already had this background in real estate.

I figured it was a great jumping off point and I pursued it.

Being a Real Estate Broker – How He Started

Andy:  How did you get started?  What was the first step?

Jordan:  It’s not about what you know it’s who you know. I ended up meeting a gentleman in real estate who became a friend of mine. He began to encourage me that real estate might be a good option for me.  He shared some of his successes and I kind of shared with him what I was looking to do.

It was really through that relationship I ended up being recruited towards real estate.  I started doing it part-time, moonlighting like many entrepreneurs.  We realized pretty quickly that this was something that I really enjoyed, I was passionate about, and really saw a lot of potential in.  It was in a short period of time that I went from part-time to full-time.

It was the best decision I ever made!

Andy:  What was the thing that you needed to get started?  Was it a capital thing or a location?  What was the first step?

Client Jordan Bennett – Real Estate Broker

Jordan:  The nice thing about being a real estate broker is you do not need a whole lot of capital to get involved.

I started doing it part-time to really see if there was enough potential business for me to quit my full-time job.  But in terms of capital investment, it was minimal.

It was really making sure that the job description aligned with my personality style and really what I wanted to do. And it was a good fit.

The Biggest Challenge in Becoming a Real Estate Broker

Andy:  What was your biggest challenge in getting started?

My Average Closing is 4 to 5 Transactions a Month!

Jordan:  I learned early on that having a great value proposition is really what allows you to be successful, and so I always boil it down to four things.

1. I boil it down to marketing.

When I’m working with a home seller, I do more than any other agent I know to market that home for sale using all the latest technologies and all resources available to me to make sure that the clients I represent are going to be selling for top dollar.

2. Customer service is critical.

It’s communicating with the client, being available throughout the transaction.  Thankfully I’ve come to a point in my business where I have enough past clients now that when I meet with a new client I’ve got this great big list of references that they can call, that people are going to be excited to share about what a great experience it was.

Being available to my clients after the transaction is over, you know, having that continued relationship, I still have clients from my first year who four years later that reach out to me should they need something even if it’s unrelated to real estate.  A lot of times I’m the first call if they need a plumber or whatever it may be.

3. Negotiation is a big one.

Jordan Bennett California – I managed to be a very busy realtor

Knowing how to negotiate, being very honest in pricing, having a track record of my listing selling at or over market because of the strategies that I use and experience.

4. Experience.

I haven’t been in the business for 20 years but, in real estate, the great thing is it’s really an equal playing field.

Regardless if somebody’s in the business for 20 years or a year, you’re only as good as your last transaction.

I managed to be a very busy Realtor in the sense that when the average Realtor closes 3 to 4 transactions a year, this year my average closing is 4 to 5 transactions a month.

Having that kind of pulse on the market, knowledge of the purchase contract, I guess that’s my value proposition: the marketing, negotiation, customer service, and experience.

Andy:  Were there any big successes in the last year that you could share with me?  Just pick one.

Jordan:  There have been some great ones.  One of the most fun things about this business is looking back at each transaction and getting excited about what happened that was different about this transaction that I really added value to it and earned my keep.

A great one was working with an investor who was a contractor and I was able to put him into a short sale transaction in Laguna Niguel where he purchased a piece of property for about $380, 000 that had a significant amount of work to be done, and invested about $70, 000 into that property.

Today, two years later, that property is worth about $750, 000.  I’ve put a lot of money in his pocket, so he’s a happy camper.

Every transaction has its own set of obstacles and hurdles that you have to overcome.  So at the end of the day if we get through all that and it’s as seamless as possible and the clients are happy, that’s a success.

Andy:  If somebody was interested in trying to reach out to you, how would they do that?

Jordan: I’m always available by phone, 949-282-9381.  You can also find me on Yelp and Zillow.  You can find me online on JordanBennettOnline.com.

You can also email me.  I try to have a good web presence, so people can find me and see what I’m about online.  It’s easy to find me there.

Andy:  Fantastic!

If you have a business like this and need legal advice, choose Gale and Vallance Business Lawyers.  We provide legal assistance for the success of your business. Click here to visit our website – Business Lawyer Orange County California.