Successful Young Realtors Share Their Secrets

Miami native Karley Chynces, a 27-year-old sales associate with ONE Sotheby’s International Realty in Coral Gables and part of Gen Z, was scrolling through social media when she stumbled upon the Instagram Story of a local “celebrity” doctor she follows. The post announced the physician’s expansion of her practice and invited prospective employees to send her a direct message, so Chynces seized the opportunity to reach out.

“I quickly DM’d her ‘It looks like you’re going to need a bigger space’ and included a winky face [emoji],’” says Chynces. “Then I added, ‘Let’s hop on a call; I have a space for you.’ Shortly after, she DM’d me: ‘I see where this is going LOL.’” Chynces followed up with a phone call and shared the address of a commercial property that hadn’t yet hit the market. “I know the owners, so I asked the doctor to let me show her the space that I felt would be great for her growing business.” The doctor agreed and leased it for her practice.

In just four years, Chynces has carved out a niche in a sector previously dominated by men: selling and leasing office space, retail, industrial properties, medical facilities, and land. “My parents are in construction, and I’ve had a passion for real estate since I was [young],” she says. She recently attained exclusive representation of a $45 million sale/lease property and credits her tenacity for landing her the opportunity. “I consider myself a ‘hype girl’ because I’m all about giving a lot of love and encouragement to everybody in my network,” she says. “Plus, I’m constantly posting, commenting and engaging with people’s stories on social media.”

Her advice for her peers? “Don’t be afraid to be a beginner,” she says. “You don’t need to brand yourself as a multimillion-dollar agent in the first few years. It’s actually detrimental. People will respect your hard work and see your growth.”

Some might say they lack experience, or that they’re too glued to their screens and rely solely on social media and technology to run their businesses. But they bring fresh perspectives and stay on top of the latest industry trends. What’s more, their digital savviness often translates into groundbreaking marketing strategies.

Here’s a look at other trailblazers who are not only dispelling the myths but redefining business norms, cultivating meaningful connections and charting their own course.

Hitting the high notes

In Courtney Welch’s former career as a mezzo-soprano on the opera circuit, she faced a never-ending cycle of auditions and rejections. Now, the 30-year-old millennial sees those trials as training ground for her career in real estate. “I sang professionally for two years and achieved some success, but I was still living at home,” says Welch, now the team lead of Welch Family Group at Keller Williams South Shore in Seffner.

Given her knack for connecting with people, and her lineage—her great-grandmother was the first female broker in Lexington, Kentucky, and her grandmother carried on the tradition—Welch was confident in her own potential to excel in real estate sales. So, she left performing behind and signed up for a real estate course alongside her mother, Betsie Welch, a homemaker for over 30 years. “After getting my license, I officially became a fourth-generation Realtor® and never looked back,” Welch says.

Here’s what she’s doing:

• Repeat business. Prior to the pandemic, she established the Welch Family Group, a team that includes her mother, her brother Ben Welch and her brother’s best friend, Juan Corredor. “We’ve never paid for leads, we’ve thrived on repeat business within our sphere because we treat our clients as lifelong friends—and we genuinely mean that,” she says.
• Word-of-mouth referrals and social media. Her father has been a dentist in Seffner for 35 years, and a significant portion of their business is generated through word-of-mouth referrals. “We have social media platforms like Facebook, Google Business Profile and Instagram, and we are rebranding our website, but Dad sees about 40 patients a day and he promotes us on the wall in his waiting room,” she says.
• Old-school service. In an age dominated by social media, she leans toward the old school approach, placing high value on the Golden Rule and treating her $100,000 clients and million-dollar clients with equal care and attention. “I’m a support system and a part-time therapist for one of the biggest transactions my clients will ever make,” Welch says.
• Radio ads. Recently, her team worked with a seller who reached out after hearing their ad on a local Christian radio station. “Her consultation with another agent didn’t go well and it left her feeling bad about her property, so she invited us over for a second opinion.” They acknowledged the effort and resources she had placed into her home, and she hired them on the spot.
• Welch is mindful of trends but plans to stay consistent with what’s already yielding results for her team. “We are going to dabble in social media more, but those platforms really only show us the highlight reels of people’s lives. People I know are living traditional lives with regular jobs.”

Forging an inner circle

Eighteen months into her career, Katherine Arteta, a 38-year-old millennial, found a core group of mentors who offered her their guidance. “Having that support system has helped me tremendously because, although I came from the corporate world and have been in sales and management my whole life, it’s lonely out there unless you know someone to take you under their wing,” says the branch manager of LUXE Properties in Pembroke Pines.

Here are her success secrets:

• Join a team. “Joining one of the top teams in Miami also helped because the agents were rock stars. If you needed anything, everyone was just one call away. I’ve been doing real estate for a little over eight years and I’m still learning. Agents in the business for 20 years will tell you they’re still learning, because every transaction is completely different.”
• Get involved. Four years ago, Arteta got involved with the Miami Realtors® Young Professionals Network (YPN), and was elected 2023 president. “I can call people all around South Florida to ask for advice and get together to mastermind,” she says. “It’s a phenomenal group with a focus on building relationships, collaboration, and sharing ideas and experiences that will enhance future generations.”
• Embracing changing tech. Arteta believes the younger generation of Realtors® is revolutionizing the industry through their innovation. “They’re embracing technology and social media at a faster rate, and it’s helping sell properties faster,” she says. “Older generations couldn’t build international relationships via Zoom, for example. Before all of this existed, they had to fly over there to meet people in person.”

Online and offline connections

Florence Zimmerman, lead of the ZMRMN Group at Compass in Winter Park and a 29-year-old millennial, learned a lot from her parents—both successful Realtors in the San Francisco Bay Area for over 20 years—who introduced her to real estate. But she graduated with an accounting degree and went to work for Ernst & Young. After two years, she realized that a 9-to-5 job wasn’t her calling. “My parents coincidentally needed my help at the time, so I stepped in as their transaction coordinator,” she adds. “It was an ideal way for me to get my feet wet because they did a lot of volume.”

Fast-forward to 2019, and Zimmerman and her husband relocated to Orlando where she found herself in unfamiliar territory. “I wasn’t even licensed when we arrived, so I spent the first month taking pre-licensing courses,” she says.

Moving gave Zimmerman the chance to build her business her way. “Giving in to a one-size-fits-all approach or trying to replicate what [my parents were] doing was like chasing the latest shiny object. I’m probably most proud of the fact that I’ve built my business in a completely different way than my mom did.”

Here are her success secrets:

• Build a sphere. Her first year as a Florida agent resulted in only six closings. That’s because her training revolved around marketing to her sphere, but her sphere was back in California. She had to build a new sphere, and that took time. Then, while at a dog park one day with her pets, she struck up a conversation with a woman looking to sell her current home and buy a new one. As luck would have it, the woman chose Zimmerman to list her property, giving her career a jumpstart and opening doors to future opportunities.
• Engage on social media. Zimmerman attributes her success to a 50-50 balance of social media engagement and referrals. “I dove full force into Instagram, and it currently accounts for over half my business,” she says, adding that she isn’t affiliated with any organizations, doesn’t buy leads, door knock or cold call.
• Work open houses. Zimmerman was scheduled to work an open house for the woman she met at the dog park, but it was pouring rain, and she was doubtful that anyone would show up. “I was about to cancel but thought, ‘I’ll just do it,’” she says. “I’m happy I did because I met a first-time buyer [who] I helped buy a different home. She referred me to one of her friends who worked in media for the UCF [University of Central Florida] athletic department,” says Zimmerman. That connection introduced her to multiple UCF football coaches whom she has helped with their real estate needs.  “Twelve different pieces of business sprouted from meeting that woman at the dog park. You never know what one conversation will do.”
• Build a Google Profile. An affluent cash buyer found Zimmerman on Google. Dissatisfied with his current agent and eager to see a property the next day, he told her he was interested in buying properties in north Central Florida.  “I’m proud that I was able to overcome my feelings of imposter syndrome and just go for it because it’s one of my highest sales to date.”

All these next-gen Realtors understand the importance of relationships. So, be intentional about your target audience and come from a place of genuinely wanting to help others. #

Leslie C. Stone is a Vero Beach-based freelance writer.