Interview with Brett Starke – Real Estate Agent

The realtor of choice for high earning millennials looking to buy or sell in Toronto’s more life styled oriented real estate market.

Toronto, ON

Starke Realty

Brett Starke | brettstarke | Starke Realty | kerealty.ca

What inspired you to start in real estate and how did you motivate yourself to keep going?

Making money was/is a huge factor at the beginning and now! I think that’s why everyone (secretly) gets into real estate.

Another thing that keeps me going is the ability to literally build a community. We place people in the homes that become communities. I think that’s pretty cool. We have a major say in creating the fabric and vibrancy of what people love about the city of the city of Toronto.

Comparing your business from back then to now, what has been the main thing that allowed you to expand your business?

The ability to grow an effective team.

What’s the most profitable aspect of your business, why do you think this is and how can others apply this to what they are doing?

The most profitable aspect to our business is our follow up systems along with our weekly accountability meetings for the team.

When did you realize you were successful/made it and how did you feel/celebrate?

I still haven’t! Every year in January I feel like I’m starting all over again. I think this drive is what makes our team successful.

Looking back, what could you have done sooner to get to that point quicker?

I used to trade real estate in Ottawa, I would have made the move to Toronto quicker if I could go back and do it again. It’s important to trade in a market with larger sale prices if you want to make a larger impact.

What should other real estate entrepreneurs reading this be focusing on to expand their own business?

Being themselves, building their database, keeping themselves accountable, continuously learning from every other top performer in the industry with an ‘adapt and overcome’ attitude

How much more success have you had now after implementing social media and online marketing efforts?

Absolutely. Social media brings in about 1/3 to 1/2 of our business. (Thank you Property Spark!) My entire business was based on social media when I made the jump to Toronto. If I didn’t have social media, nobody would know I exist!

How did you build your team?

Caitlin was my first hire, she started in an assistant role then ended up getting her license. Veronique was one of my competitors in Ottawa, and when she moved to Toronto she decided to join the team as well. Stephanie hired herself, I literally told her I wasn’t hiring, and she showed up at the office anyways. Taylor came to our interview day for the client care coordinator position and brought her resume in a box of cookies. I have quite the sweet tooth.

How did you become a good leader?

I study leadership. I was in the Army when I was younger & I’ve kept a lot of those lessons and theories and apply them every day.

Did You Experience Failures? If So, What Did You Learn From Them?

We experience a failure almost every week. In our Monday morning meetings we have something called ‘The challenge of the week’ where we talk about the thing that was the hardest the week before as a team and how to overcome it in the future.

What do you consider the main differences between those people who have been successful in your industry and those who have failed?

Showing up, going to work, building, and working an effective database.

What’s Your Approach To Marketing?

I like the Red bull approach. Dump money, time, and effort into marketing and eventually it will pay off.

Final Thoughts

I just want you to know that the last Property Spark article that you wrote about me resulted in 3 sales!!!!